Novels
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Davita’s Harp
Stories by Chaim Potok just… get to me. My Name Is Asher Lev. The Gift of Asher Lev. The Chosen. The Book of Lights. Now this one. Davita’s Harp is about a young…
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Phantastes
This is the book that C.S. Lewis read one day on a train and felt his imagination had been “baptized.” I read it back when I was in college and it didn’t capture…
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War and Peace
This novel spans roughly 15 years, from 1805-1820, centering on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and Russia’s resistance. More than 500 characters populate its pages, all of them well developed, and several…
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At the Back of the North Wind
Any story always tells me itself what I’m to think about it… I never can tell what they call clever from what they call silly, but I always know whether I like a…
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The Children of Men
The Children Of Men is my first P.D. James novel. I saw this movie last spring, and though I usually read the book first and see the movie afterward, in this case I…
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The Maytrees
I’ve never been a big Annie Dillard fan. Years ago, I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Holy the Firm. The writing seemed constantly to distract from what was being said to how…
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Cry, the Beloved Country
Cry, the Beloved Country is truly a beautiful book. It’s one I’ve never gotten around to before now, but after reading this review at Hope Is the Word I put it on my…
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So Brave, Young, and Handsome
Not to disappoint you, but my troubles are nothing — not for an author, at least. Common blots aside, I have none of the usual Big Artillery: I am not penniless, brilliant, or…
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The Man who was Thursday
I get cranky with books that are heavily allegorical. Something in me says irritably, “If you have a message this specific, just say it. Why try to hide it in a story?” J.R.R.…
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The Last Days
The Last Days is a page-turner — a political thriller about what its author calls the “epicenter” in his best-selling nonfiction book. I read Epicenter for a book club I belong to, and…