Book Beginning: The Angels' Share

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

Leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.

TWITTER: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the has tag #BookBeginnings. Maybe in connection with #FridayReads, if you participate in that twitter event. Thanks!

Also, if you are on Twitter, please leave a comment with your Twitter handle.  I have tried to find everyone, but know I have missed some. My Twitter handle is @GilionDumas.

MY BOOK BEGINNING & GIVEAWAY REMINDER

My Book Beginning is from a great debut novel called The Angels' Share.

Thanks to intrepid book publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek, I have THREE advanced copies to giveaway.  The details and sign up page are here. The giveaway ends this Sunday, July 15, at 9:00 pm Pacific Time. 

At first, I thought I was alone. I woke face down in the gravel to rivets of pain when I tried to blink or move or take more than a tiny sip of air.

The Angel's Share by Rayme Waters, published by Winter Goose Publishing.

GIST: The story of a recovering meth addict who rebuilds her life working for a small Sonoma County winery. With elements of both a love story and a mystery, The Angels’ Share is a great read for book clubs.


— Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce, says it "will completely absorb you.”

— Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters, calls it a "compassionate debut novel" and says, "Set in the quiet luxury of Nob Hill, the counterculture of Bolinas, and the evocative wine country of Sonoma, Angels' Share is as tasty as the 1919 Primitivo [the heroine] drinks on this journey of recovery.”

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION: Born into a tumultuous world of neglectful bohemian parents and an overbearing grandmother, Cinnamon Monday lives through an imagination inspired by the nineteenth-century heroines she admires. As she grows older, and her make-believe worlds are not enough to protect her, she descends into drug addiction and eventual resignation. When this finally leads her to be physically beaten near the point of death, she is saved by a compassionate neighbor named Sam who gives Cinnamon the opportunity to reclaim her life. Now, working at Sam’s vineyard in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley, Cinnamon Monday attempts to put her life in order, find the will to overcome past demons, and utilize her strengths to live a positive, successful life on her own terms.

Review: Greene on Capri

 

What literature fan would not want to read a book called Greene on Capri: a Memoir, by Shirley Hazzard? Graham Greene. The enchanting island of Capri. Written by a National Book Award winner.  All good.

But wait. The title explains both its appeal and its limits. This is Hazzard's memoir, her memories of Greene, focusing only on his time, in his later years, when he owned a house on Capri and regularly spent a month there every spring and autumn. The two met at a Capri restaurant in 1960, when Hazzard interrupted a conversation between Greene and his dining companion to offer the lines of a poem Greene was trying to remember. She and her husband remained friends with Greene until his death in 1961.

Although their friendship lasted many years, it was mostly limited to a seasonal series of cocktails, dinners, and outings on Capri's rocky shores, followed up with occasional correspondence. There is only so much one can write about that kind of social relationship, mostly distilled to observations of Greene's personality and character, rather than descriptions of particular events. For example, Hazzard examines Greene's disinterest in aesthetic beauty, including the spectacular natural beauty of Capri. In contrast, Greene was a voracious and eager reader:

Promptly generous with time and public praise for new books that please him, he brought enthusiasm to his reading. A fresh book never ceased to be a possibility, a promise. It was, I think, his only consistent form of optimism.

Hazzard's memoir is worthwhile for these observations, but they are not enough to fill a book, even one as short as this.  She fills in the spaces with Roman emperor Tiberius' lingering influence over Capri, the island's history as a haven for artists and writers since at least the 1700s, and thumbnail portraits of famous and infamous member's of Capri's 20th Century expatriate population, including Norman Douglas, Harold Acton, and Compton Mackenzie. This is all fascinating stuff, even if the connections to Greene are slim.

What is noticeably missing is a little more information about Hazzard herself, which would go a long way to provide context for her relationship with Greene. By the time she wrote Greene on Capri (published in 2000), Hazzard had published two volumes of short stories, three non-fiction books, and three novels, including The Transit of Venus, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1980. But in this memoir, she does not mention her own writing at all, leaving any reader unfamiliar with her work wondering what she had in common with Graham Greene that would develop into a 30-year friendship and why she had the clout to write about it. Even less is said about her husband Francis Steegmuller, although he was quite a distinguished man of letters who had won two National Book Awards for his non-fiction.

Greene on Capri is still a wonderful book, even if it is tantalizingly incomplete as any kind of biography of Graham Greene or history of Capri.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

It might be a short book, but it inspired a long review! This one counts as one of my choices for the TBR Challenges I  have going and for the Memorable Memoirs Challenge.  It also put me in the mood for the Graham Greene Challenge.

Teaser Tuesday: Paradise Postponed

She was known to be beautiful and thought to be impossible, but she was an asset at a party.  Her tireless activity was felt to be in search of a great and glittering marriage and her final acceptance of the dullish Nicholas Fanner was widely held to be something of a defeat.

-- Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer.

This is my favorite kind of comic story about English village life.  This one moves between the present in the 1980s back to post WWII days.  There are the requisite nutty vicar, illicit lovers, country doctor, and mix of difficult and lovable family members, all involved in a series of funny adventures.

I've gathered many of John Mortimer's books on my TBR shelf, including several of his Rumpole books,  but this is the first I've read. I am enjoying it and have the sequel, Titmuss Regained, to look forward to.


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday & GIVEAWAY

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Jennifer at Mrs. Q: Book Addict is hosting in July.  Please stop by her fun and pretty blog to see what she has been reading.

I got one terrific book last week and have THREE advanced reader's copies to GIVE AWAY, thanks to intrepid book publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek.  It looks like a novel that would really appeal! It is not available until later in August, so sign here up to win an early copy.

THE BOOK

The Angel's Share by Rayme Waters, published by Winter Goose Publishing.

GIST: The story of a recovering meth addict who rebuilds her life working for a small Sonoma County winery. With elements of both a love story and a mystery, The Angels’ Share is a great read for book clubs.


— Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce, says it "will completely absorb you.”

— Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters, calls it a "compassionate debut novel" and says, "Set in the quiet luxury of Nob Hill, the counterculture of Bolinas, and the evocative wine country of Sonoma, Angels' Share is as tasty as the 1919 Primitivo [the heroine] drinks on this journey of recovery.”

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION: Born into a tumultuous world of neglectful bohemian parents and an overbearing grandmother, Cinnamon Monday lives through an imagination inspired by the nineteenth-century heroines she admires. As she grows older, and her make-believe worlds are not enough to protect her, she descends into drug addiction and eventual resignation. When this finally leads her to be physically beaten near the point of death, she is saved by a compassionate neighbor named Sam who gives Cinnamon the opportunity to reclaim her life. Now, working at Sam’s vineyard in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley, Cinnamon Monday attempts to put her life in order, find the will to overcome past demons, and utilize her strengths to live a positive, successful life on her own terms.

THE GIVEAWAY

This is a "leap-frog" giveaway.  This means that I have three (3!) ARCs to giveaway to Rose City Reader readers, and each winner will get to host another giveaway for an additional copy.

The contest is for readers in the USA and Canada and is open until Sunday, July 15, 2012. There are five ways to enter and each one is worth a chance to win.  To enter, do any or all of the following, but you must leave a comment for each one:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include a way to contact you (email or website address in your comment or available in your profile). If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable. Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to my rss feed, follow me on blogger, or subscribe via email (or tell me if you already are a subscriber or follower). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

5. Post this on facebook, pin it on Pinterest, Stumble it, digg it, technorati fave it, or otherwise put it out there in the social network. Leave a separate comment with a link or explaination. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will use random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. and Canada only. The deadline for entry is 9:00 PM, Pacific Time, on Sunday, July 15, 2012. I will draw and post the winner's name in my Mailbox Monday post for July 16, 2012.

Review: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 

Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is the classic tale of split personality, examining how the forces of good and evil develop within the same psyche. Everyone knows the basic plot by now, so the book doesn't have the shocking surprise ending it had for its original 1886 audience.

It is still worth reading, or even re-reading, because Stevenson could spin a yarn with the best of them. The story rips right along, with plenty of suspense and drama, and even some humor. Stevenson can be very droll, with lines like this, describing the fusty narrator, Mr. Utterson: "his affections, like ivy, were the growth of time, they implied no aptness in the object."

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde should be on everyone's Must Read list.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This was my "re-read" choice for the Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Sarah at Sarah Reads Too Much.   It also counts as one of my books for the Audio Book Challenge hosted by Teresa at Teresa's Reading Corner.

Book Beginnings: Paradise Postponed

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

Leave a link to your post. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

"I had a disagreeable dream," the old man said.

-- Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer.  

That is a troublesome opening sentence for me because, as a rule, I dislike the recounting of dreams in fiction.  A personal dislike.  But it works here -- the full opening scene is very good.

I've gathered many of John Mortimer's books on my TBR shelf, including several of his Rumpole books,  but this is the first I've read. I am enjoying it and have the sequel, Titmuss Regained, to look forward to.

Review: The Hapless Valet

 

Len Stevens brings sparkle and snap and a little old-fashioned Hollywood glamor to his debut mystery novel, The Hapless Valet. In what will hopefully be the first of a series, the dashing hero Draper Burns – a “gentleman’s gentleman” fresh from duty in the French Foreign Legion, with a penchant for Shirley Temples, a way with the ladies, and an eye for fancy men’s watches – is sent to evaluate his employer’s investment in a movie being filmed in Portland.

After a suspicious “suicide” on the movie set, Draper starts seeing connections between the film’s stars, a retro jazz club, an animal rights protest turned ugly, local thugs, a right-wing tabloid, and a Mexican drug lord. There are times when the sheer number of characters and sub-plots verge on overwhelming the story, but Stevens manages to keep it all moving forward and eventually ties up every loose string – even the thing about the watches.

As a cross between James Bond and Bertie Wooster, Draper Burns makes an appealing hero. And Stevens make an appealing new author, with an ear for dialog and an eye for comic detail. The Hapless Valet is a fun, off-beat mystery that is sure to entertain.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

See my interview of Len Stevens, here.

Happy Independence Day!

State of the Blog: Part Three, the Challenges

 

Four times a year, I review the books I've read to that point and see what kind of progress I've made on my books lists and reading projects.  2012 is half over, but I've made some progress on the many challenges I joined this year.

This is the last of my three quarterly blog assessment posts.  The first part addressed the book lists.  Part Two dealt with my favorite authors. 

The list of all the challenges I've joined (so far) this year is here.  So far, I've completed four of the 24, made progress on another 16, and haven't started four.


First, the three challenges I am hosting here at Rose City Reader.  There is still plenty of time to sign up! Click on the title to go to the main challenge page.

EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE
(finished, but for one more review)

• High Stakes by Dick Francis (UK; reviewed here)
• Serenissima by Erica Jong (Italy; reviewed here) 
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Bosnia; reviewed here)
• Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley by James Haller (France; reviewed here)
  
• Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Norway; not reviewed yet) 

BATTLE OF THE PRIZES, AMERICAN VERSION

• Tinkers by Paul Harding (National; reviewed here)
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (Pulitzer; reviewed here)

BATTLE OF THE PRIZES, BRITISH VERSION

• The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson (reviewed here)

  Second, the challenges I've joined:

AUDIO BOOK CHALLENGE

I've read a lot of book with my ears -- 25 out of my goal of 40 -- but haven't reviewed very many.

• The Coffee Trader by David Liss   
• High Stakes by Dick Francis (reviewed here) 
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (reviewed here) 
• Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here) 
• My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas 
• Shroud for a Nightingale by P. D. James
• Blood Sport  by Dick Francis (reviewed here) 
• Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill  (reviewed here)
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  
• Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie 
• What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza 
• The Black Tower by P. D. James 
• Driving Force by Dick Francis 
• The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie  
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (reviewed here) 
• Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (reviewed here) 
• Dressed for Death by Donna Leon  
• The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Booker winner; reviewed here)  
• Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (reviewed here)  
• Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
• Other People's Children by Joanne Trollope
  
• Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman 
  
• Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst 
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 
• Trespass by Rose Tremain
   

BACK TO THE CLASSICS and the CLASSICS CHALLENGES

• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (19th Century; reviewed here)
• Dracula by Bram Stoker (horror; reviewed here)
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (award winner -- Pulitzer; reviewed here)
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

BIRTH YEAR READING CHALLENGE

None yet, but I plan to read Graham Greene's The Comedians very soon -- as soon as I can figure out if it was really published in my birth year.

BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE FIRST YEARS OF MY LIFE CHALLENGE

None yet.  This is a three-book challenge, so I had better find some overlapping options if I hope to finish.

CHUNKSTER and TEA & BOOKS CHALLENGES

• World Without End by Ken Follett (1,024 pages); reviewed here;
• Glittering Images by Susan Howatch (462 pages), reviewed here

EASTERN EUROPE READING CHALLENGE

• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Bosnia; reviewed here) 

FOODIE'S READING CHALLENGE

• Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (reviewed here);
• Vie de France: Sharing Food, Friendship, and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley by James Haller (reviewed here);
• On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry (reviewed here)

GRAHAM GREENE READING CHALLENGE

None yet, but I plan to read The Comedians very soon.

HENRY GREEN WEEK 
(finished)

•  Living (reviewed here)

I LOVE ITALY READING CHALLENGE
(finished) 

• Serenissima by Erica Jong (reviewed here) 
• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (reviewed here)
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (reviewed here) 
• Dressed for Death by Donna Leon (an extra; not reviewed) 

MEMORABLE MEMOIRS CHALLENGE

• My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas 
• Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (reviewed here)
• Vie de France: Sharing Food, Friendship, and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley by James Haller (reviewed here)
• Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard

MT. TBR, OFF THE SHELF, and the TBR PILE CHALLENGES

• The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark (reviewed here)
• Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (reviewed here)
• A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
• Living by Henry Green (reviewed here)
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré (reviewed here)
• Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe. by Thomas Cahill (reviewed here)
• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (reviewed here)
• Serenissima by Erica Jong (reviewed here)
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here)
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (reviewed here) 
• Murder in Belleville by Cara Black (reviewed here)
• World Without End by Ken Follett (reviewed here)   
• The World of Herb Caen by  Barnaby Conrad (reviewed here) 
• The Black Book by Ian Rankin (reviewed here) 
• A Month of Sundays by John Updike (reviewed here) 
• Vie de France by James Haller (reviewed here) 
• The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (Booker winner; reviewed here)
• On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry (reviewed here) 
• A Time of Hope by C. P. Snow (reviewed here) 
• Home Truths by David Lodge (reviewed here) 
• Glittering Images by Susan Howatch (reviewed here) 
• Christine Falls by Benjamin Black  
  
• Trespass by Rose Tremain
• Greene on Capri: A Memoir by Shirley Hazzard

NON-FICTION, NON-MEMOIRS CHALLENGE

• Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill  (reviewed here)
• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (19th Century; reviewed here)
• What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza  
• The World of Herb Caen by  Barnaby Conrad (reviewed here)On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael and Ariane Batterberry, (reviewed here)

SOUTHERN LITERATURE READING CHALLENGE

None so far, but now that it is summer, I am in the mood.

VENICE IN FEBRUARY CHALLENGE 
(finished)

• Serenissima by Erica Jong (reviewed here)

VINTAGE MYSTERY CHALLENGE

• Dracula by Bram Stoker (reviewed here);
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (reviewed here);
• Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie;
• The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (reviewed here);
• The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie; 

WHAT'S IN A NAME CHALLENGE

• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here);
• Home Truths by David Lodge (reviewed here);
• A Month of Sundays by John Updike (reviewed here);

Teaser Tuesday: Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau

After the buffalo hunt, the Coeur d'Alene set out for their permanent winter camp in what is now known as Kingston, Idaho. According to the oral record, Circling Raven conducted a medicine dance that year, fulfilling a vision experienced some twenty years prior in which he had been told of Jesus and his resurrection.

-- Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau: The Jesuit, the Medicine Man, and the Indian Hymn Singer by Chad S. Hamill, published by OSU Press.

This is a really interesting story about the connections between music, religion, and Native American spirituality.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Jennifer at Mrs. Q: Book Addict is hosting in July.  Please stop by her fun and pretty blog to see what she has been reading.

It is garage sale season, so I found several books last week:



The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan (even though I saw the movie and hated it, I am a completist when it comes to McEwan; and it goes on my list of Venice books)



Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks (I am always a little behind on my pop culture)



Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (to feed my vintage mystery addiction)



The Patriotic Murders by Agatha Christie (also published as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and An Overdose of Death)



Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson (got this one for Hubby -- it is right up his alley)

State of the Blog, Part Two: The Authors

 

Four times a year, I review the books I've read to that point and see what kind of progress I've made on my books lists and reading projects.  2012 is half over, but I like to think still have time to catch up.

This is the second of three quarterly blog assessment posts.  The first part addressed the book lists. Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

My lists of my favorite authors are over in the right-side column. These are now divided into General favorites and Mystery favorites.

NOTE: If you are working on any of these lists, please leave a comment here or on the post for the list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the list post.

So far in 2012, I have read the 12 books by my favorite authors. 

GENERAL FAVORITES

Susan Howatch

• Glittering Images (1987) (reviewed here)

David Lodge

• Home Truths (1999) (reviewed here)

C. P. Snow

• A Time of Hope (1949) (reviewed here)

P. G. Wodehouse

• The Pothunters (reviewed here)

MYSTERY FAVORITES

Cara Black

• Murder in Belleville (reviewed here)
  

Dick Francis

• High Stakes (1975) (reviewed here)
• Blood Sport (1967)
• Driving Force (1992)

P. D. James

• Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
• The Black Tower (1975)

Donna Leon

• Dressed for Death 

Ian Rankin

• The Black Book

Book Beginnings: Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

Leave a link to your post. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Among religious prophetic traditions, found at the roots of many faiths throughout the world, indigenous Plateau prophecy stands out for one reason in particular: its reliance on song to relay its message and bring forth its power.

-- Songs of Power and Prayer in the Columbia Plateau: The Jesuit, the Medicine Man, and the Indian Hymn Singer by Chad S. Hamill, published by OSU Press.

This is a really interesting story about the connections between music, religion, and Native American spirituality.

List: National Review's 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century

The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th Century appeared in the May 3, 1999, issue of National Review magazine, in response to the announcement of the Modern Library's Top 100 non-fiction list.

The editors described how they went about creating their list:

We have used a methodology that approaches the scientific. But-certainly beyond, say, the first 40 books-the fact of the books' presence on the list is far more important than their rankings. We offer a comment from a panelist after many of the books; but the panel overall, not the individual quoted, is responsible for the ranking. So, here is our list, for your enjoyment, mortification, and stimulation.

The list of panel members is here.

There is no way I will ever read all the books on this list.  Setting aside that many are out of print or only available in expensive academic editions, some of them just look too overwhelming or deadly dull for me to ever undertake.

If anyone else is working on this list or has reviewed any of the books on it, please leave comments with links to related posts. 

Those few that I have read are in red; those on my TBR shelf are in blue. 

1. The Second World War, Winston S. Churchill

Richard Brookhiser: "The big story of the century, told by its major hero."

2. The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

Richard John Neuhaus: "Marked the absolute final turning point beyond which nobody could deny the evil of the Evil Empire."

3. Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell

Arthur Herman: "Orwell's masterpiece-far superior to Animal Farm and 1984. No education in the meaning of the 20th century is complete without it."

4. The Road to Serfdom, F. A. von Hayek

Mark Helprin: "Shatters the myth that the totalitarianisms 'of the Left' and 'of the Right' stem from differing impulses."

5. Collected Essays, George Orwell

Florence King: "Every conservative's favorite liberal and every liberal's favorite conservative. This book has no enemies."

6. The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper

Herman: "The best work on political philosophy in the 20th century. Exposes totalitarianism's roots in Plato, Hegel, and Marx."

7. The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis

Brookhiser: "How modern philosophies drain meaning and the sacred from our lives."

8. Revolt of the Masses, Jose Ortega y Gasset

George Gilder: "Prophesied the 20th century's debauchery of democracy and science, the barbarism of the specialist, and the inevitable fatuity of public opinion. Explained the genius of capitalist elites."

9. The Constitution of Liberty, F. A. von Hayek

John O'Sullivan: "A great re-statement for this century of classical liberalism by its greatest modern exponent."

10. Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman

11. Modern Times, Paul Johnson

Herman: "Huge impact outside the academy, dreaded and ignored inside it."

12. Rationalism in Politics, Michael Oakeshott

Herman: "Oakeshott is the 20th century's Edmund Burke."

13. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Joseph A. Schumpeter

Christopher Caldwell: "Locus classicus for the observation that democratic capitalism undermines itself through its very success."

14. Economy and Society, Max Weber

Michael Lind: "Weber made permanent contributions to the understanding of society with his discussions of comparative religion, bureaucracy, charisma, and the distinctions among status, class, and party."

15. The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt

Caldwell: "Through Nazism and Stalinism, looks at almost every pernicious trend in the last century's politics with stunning subtlety."

16. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Rebecca West

Michael Kelly: "For its writing, not for its historical accuracy."

17. Sociobiology, Edward O. Wilson

Lind: "Darwin put humanity in its proper place in the animal kingdom. Wilson put human society there, too."

18. Centissimus Annus, Pope John Paul II

19. The Pursuit of the Millennium, Norman Cohn

Neuhaus: "The authoritative refutation of utopianism of the left, right, and points undetermined."

20. The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

Helprin: "An innocent's account of the greatest evil imaginable. The most powerful book of the century. Others may not agree. No matter, I cast my lot with this child."

Caldwell: "If one didn't know her fate, one might read it as the reflections of any girl. That one does know her fate makes this as close to a holy book as the century produced."

21. The Great Terror, Robert Conquest

Herman: "Documented for the first time the real record of Stalinism in the Soviet Union. A genuine monument of historical research and reconstruction, a true epic of evil."

22. Chronicles of Wasted Time, Malcolm Muggeridge

Gilder: "The best autobiography, Christian confession, and historic meditation of the century."

23. Relativity, Albert Einstein

Lind: "The most important physicist since Newton."

24. Witness, Whittaker Chambers (reviewed here)

Caldwell: "Confession, history, potboiler -- by a man who writes like the literary giant we would know him as, had not Communism got him first."

25. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn

26. Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis

Neuhaus: "The most influential book of the most influential Christian apologist of the century."

27. The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet

28. Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed.

Helprin: "The infinite riches of the world, presented with elegance, confidence, and economy."

29. Up in the Old Hotel, Joseph Mitchell (reviewed here)

30. The Everlasting Man, G. K. Chesterton

John Lukacs: "A great carillonade of Christian verities."

31. Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton

O'Sullivan: "How to look at the Christian tradition with fresh eyes."

32. The Liberal Imagination, Lionel Trilling

Jeffrey Hart: "The popular form of liberalism tends to simplify and caricature when it attempts moral aspiration -- that is, it tends to 'Stalinism.'"

33. The Double Helix, James D. Watson

Herman: "Deeply hated by feminists because Watson dares to suggest that the male-female distinction originated in nature, in the DNA code itself."

34. The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Richard Phillips Feynman

David Gelernter: "Outside of art (or maybe not), physics is mankind's most beautiful achievement; these three volumes are probably the most beautiful ever written about physics."

35. Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, Tom Wolfe

O'Sullivan: "Wolfe is our Juvenal."

36. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, Albert Camus

37. The Unheavenly City, Edward C. Banfield

Neuhaus: "The volume that began the debunking of New Deal socialism and its public-policy consequences."

38. The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud

39. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs

40. The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama

41. The Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (discussed here)

42. The Age of Reform, Richard Hofstadter

Herman: "The single best book on American history in this century, bar none."

43. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes

Hart: "Influential in suggesting that the business cycle can be modified by government investment and manipulation of tax rates."

44. God & Man at Yale, William F. Buckley Jr.

Gilder: "Still correct and prophetic. It defines the conservative revolt against socialism and atheism on campus and in the culture, and reconciles the alleged conflict between capitalist and religious conservatives."

45. Selected Essays, T. S. Eliot

Hart: "Shaped the literary taste of the mid-century."

46. Ideas Have Consequences, Richard M. Weaver

47. The Economy of Cities, Jane Jacobs

48. The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom

49. Ethnic America, Thomas Sowell

50. An American Dilemma, Gunnar Myrdal

51. Three Case Histories, Sigmund Freud

Gelernter: "Beyond question Freud is history's most important philosopher of the mind, and he ranks alongside Eliot as the century's greatest literary critic. Modern intellectual life (left, right, and in-between) would be unthinkable without him."

52. The Struggle for Europe, Chester Wilmot

53. Main Currents in American Thought, Vernon Louis Parrington

King: "An immensely readable history of ideas and men. (Skip the fragmentary third volume-he died before finishing it.)"

54. The Waning of the Middle Ages, Johann Huzinga

Lukacs: "Probably the finest historian who lived in this century."

55. Systematic Theology, Wolfhart Pannenberg

Neuhaus: "The best summary and reflection on Christianity's encounter with the Enlightenment project."

56. The Campaign of the Marne, Sewell Tyng

John Keegan: "A forgotten American's masterly account of the First World War in the West."

57. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Ludwig Wittgenstein

Hart: "A terse summation of the analytic method of the analytic school in philosophy, and a heroic leap beyond it."

58. Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, Bernard Lonergan

Mary Ann Glendon: "The Thomas Aquinas of the 20th century."

59. Being and Time, Martin Heidegger

Hart: "A seminal thinker, notwithstanding his disgraceful error of equating National Socialism with the experience of 'Being.'"

60. Disraeli, Robert Blake

Keegan: "Political biography as it should be written."

61. Democracy and Leadership, Irving Babbitt

King: "A conservative literary critic describes what happens when humanitarianism over takes humanism."

62. The Elements of Style, William Strunk & E. B. White

Abigail Thernstrom: "If only every writer would remember just one of Strunk & White's wonderful injunctions: 'Omit needless words.' Omit needless words."

63. The Machiavellians, James Burnham

O'Sullivan: "Burnham is the greatest political analyst of our century and this is his best book."

64. Reflections of a Russian Statesman, Konstantin P. Pobedonostsev

King: "The 'culture war' as seen by the tutor to the last two czars. A Russian Pat Buchanan."

65. The Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah Berlin

66. Roll, Jordan, Roll, Eugene D. Genovese

Neuhaus: "The best account of American slavery and the moral and cultural forces that undid it."

67. The ABC of Reading, Ezra Pound

Brookhiser: "An epitome of the aging aesthetic movement that will be forever known as modernism."

68. The Second World War, John Keegan

Hart: "A masterly history in a single volume." 

69. The Making of Homeric Verse, Milman Parry

Lind: "Genuine discoveries in literary study are rare. Parry's discovery of the oral formulaic basis of the Homeric epics, the founding texts of Western literature, was one of them."

70. The Strange Ride of Rudyard Kipling, Angus Wilson

Keegan: "A life of a great author told through the transmutation of his experience into fictional form."

71. Scrutiny , F. R. Leavis

Hart: "Enormously important in education, especially in England. Leavis understood what one kind of 'living English' is."

72. The Edge of the Sword, Charles de Gaulle

Brookhiser: "A lesser figure than Churchill, but more philosophical (and hence, more problematic)."

73. R. E. Lee, Douglas Southall Freeman

Robert Conquest: "The finest work on the Civil War."

74. Bureaucracy, Ludwig von Mises

75. The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton

Neuhaus: "A classic conversion story of a modern urban sophisticate."

76. Balzac, Stefan Zweig

King: "On the joys of working one's self to death. The chapter 'Black Coffee' is a masterpiece of imaginative reconstruction."

77. The Good Society, Walter Lippmann

Gilder: "Written during the Great Depression. A corruscating defense of the morality of capitalism."

78. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson

Lind: "For all the excesses of the environmental movement, the realization that human technology can permanently damage the earth's environment marked a great advance in civilization. Carson's book, more than any other, publicized this message."

79. The Christian Tradition, Jaroslav Pelikan

Neuhaus: "The century's most comprehensive account of Christian teaching from the second century on."

80. Strange Defeat, Marc Bloch

Herman: "A great historian's personal account of the fall of France in 1940."

81. Looking Back, Norman Douglas

Conquest: "Fascinating memoirs of a remarkable writer."

82. Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres, Henry Adams

83. Poetry and the Age, Randall Jarrell

Caldwell: "The book for showing how 20th- century poets think, what their poetry does, and why it matters."

84. Love in the Western World, Denis De Rougemont

Brookhiser: "What has become of eros over the last seven centuries."

85. The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk

86. Wealth and Poverty, George Gilder

87. Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson

88. Henry James, Leon Edel

King: "All the James you want without having to read him."

89. Essays of E. B. White, E. B. White

Gelernter: "White is the apotheosis of the American liberal now spurned and detested by the Left (and the cultural mainstream). His mesmerized devotion to the objects of his affection -- his family, the female sex, his farm, the English language, Manhattan, the sea, America, Maine, and freedom, in descending order -- is movingly absolute."

90. Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov

91. The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe

92. Darwin's Black Box, Michael J. Behe

Gilder: "Overthrows Darwin at the end of the 20th century in the same way that quantum theory overthrew Newton at the beginning."

93. The Civil War, Shelby Foote

94. The Way the World Works, Jude Wanniski

Gilder: "The best book on economics. Shows fatuity of still-dominant demand-side model, with its silly preoccupation with accounting trivia, like the federal budget and trade balance and savings rates, in an economy with $40 trillion or so in assets that rise and fall weekly by trillions."

95. To the Finland Station, Edmund Wilson

Herman: "The best single book on Karl Marx and Marx's place in modern history."

96. Civilization, Kenneth Clark

97. The Russian Revolution, Richard Pipes

98. The Idea of History, R. G. Collingwood

99. The Last Lion, William Manchester

100. The Starr Report, Kenneth W. Starr

Hart: "A study in human depravity."

NOTES

Last updated on December 28, 2022.

What Are They Reading? Tresspass

Authors tend to be readers, so it is natural for them to create characters who like to read.  It is always interesting to me to read what books the characters are reading in the books I read. Even if I can't say that ten times fast.

Usually, the characters' choice of books reflects the author's tastes or, I sometimes think, what the author was reading at the time.  But sometimes the character's reading material is a clue to the character's personality, or is even a part of the story. 

This is an occasional blog event. If anyone wants to join in, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your related post. And feel free to use the button.  If this catches on, I can pick a day and make it a weekly event.

TRESPASS BY ROSE TREMAINE

This is a great, tangled story of grown up, messed up families living in southern France.  None of them are readers.  The French brother and sister barely function, let alone read. The English brother collects antiques,  his sister designs gardens, and her girlfriend paints watercolors, but none of the three read.

So the one book scene really stands out.  Anthony, the Englishman, describes his mother's death of cancer, including the detail of her re-reading favorite book while in the hospital.  The book was Staying On by Paul Scott.

Staying On is the sequel to Scott's Raj Quartet and won the Booker Prize in 1977.  It is the story of a British colonial couple who stays on in the hills of India after India's independence. 

It could be that Anthony's mother read Staying On because she was from South Africa and enjoyed the post-colonial theme of the novel.  But the plot of Staying On also ties in with the "trespass" themes of Tremain's book.  There is a potential, legal trespass involving the boundary lines of the French siblings' property, but there are also trespasses against family ties, emotional bonds, decency, and personal security.

Now I want to read Staying On to see how the book connects with Trespass.  But I am such a completist that I first want to read The Raj Quartet, which is on my TBR shelf.