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Rebecca C Monroe
Reader
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
Roberto Calasso
James Mustich
Part storybook, part research into the wellsprings of our being, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony is a tour de force of invention and erudition. Not a novel, exactly, nor simply a collection of venerable tales retold, and certainly not a critical examination of our mythological legacy, it is rathe...show more
The Transylvanian Trilogy: They Were Counted
Miklós Bánffy
The collapse of the Belle Epoque slays me. The subject is over 100 years old, but the reverberations in this novel ripple from King Belshazzar’s feast in the Book of Daniel to today. (For those of you who need a reminder, the original apocalyptic “writing on the wall” appeared written in flames as t...show more
They Were Found Wanting; They Were Divided
Miklós Bánffy
The collapse of the Belle Epoque slays me. The subject is over 100 years old, but the reverberations in this novel ripple from King Belshazzar’s feast in the Book of Daniel to today. (For those of you who need a reminder, the original apocalyptic “writing on the wall” appeared written in flames as t...show more
Black No More: A Novel
George Samuel Schuyler
This is the greatest American satire ever written. Perhaps the greatest satire, period. It should be required reading at every high school - and I had never heard of it. The writing is brisk and edgy; it feels as if it could have been written yesterday. It would be a brilliant squirm-inducing Jordan...show more
The Bull of Minos: The Great Discoveries of Ancient Greece
Leonard Cottrell
Have you been curious about a subject since childhood but never pursued it?
Then someone you respect shows vast enthusiasm about the subject so your interest sparks?
…And then a book on the subject just – appears. In my case, in the laundry room.
That was me and the Minoans – ancient Greece but wit...show more
Moominvalley in November
Tove Jansson
Do you know a kid reading chapter books whom you sense has a dark soul? An early-onset existential crisis?
I always avoided the Moomin series when I was a kid because I didn’t like whimsy (tiddely pom, my ass) – and the Moomin drawings definitely projected that cutie aura. Recently, I was urged to ...show more
Cheri and The Last of Cheri
Colette
If, like me, springtime has always made you cry, for reasons you can’t pinpoint – just that is beautiful and short – this book may be for you.
I first read Cheri and the Last of Cheri when I was in my teens and it knocked me out. Her writing is deeply sensual and deeply emotional. I had a big po...show more
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
I asked a friend if she had ever read something that made her wish she were friends with the author – I felt this way about The Blind Assassin. She responded:
“Yes. But when I read that novel, my reaction was that I wish I had written it.”
I realized that this is actually what I wanted, too.
It ...show more
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
Count Alexander Rostov is a convicted aristocrat, but because of some revolutionary poetry he wrote as a student (or did he?), he is sentenced not to death, but to spend the rest of his life in the Metropol hotel. This book teems with interesting characters, with insights into Russian history and t...show more
Rules of Civility
Amor Towles
This debut novel reads like a black and white movie featuring Barbara Stanwyck. It has one of the loveliest first and last chapters I’ve encountered in some time – and the middle isn’t so shabby either. Set at the tail end of the ’30s, it is the story of a young, smart single woman, secretary Katey ...show more
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead
I don’t often come to the end of a book and say, “Wow,” aloud. Whitehead draws on materials including life stories of former slaves recorded during the Federal Writers’ Project, runaway slave ads, and The Diary of a Resurrectionist. At the end, he also cites his musical inspirations, mentioning that...show more
Village School
Miss Read
Calm is not a virtue much prized by literary critics, yet, as many readers are well aware, a wisely calm book can be both restful and, paradoxically, deeply stimulating. That is the case with the “Miss Read” books, a modest yet addictively absorbing series of novels by Dora Jessie Saint. Saint was a...show more
The Persian Boy: A Novel of Alexander the Great
Mary Renault
Seen through the eyes of Alexander the Greats lover; you begin to know the man and the times. As much as I dislike war and have zero interest in it; I enjoyed every battle scene and grew to love Alexander. It deepened my understanding of history and war and passion on all levels. Excellent read.
The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot
Robert Macfarlane
This book makes me want to wander all over England on foot, perhaps even sleeping in ditches. Macfarlane evokes the layers of England's history throughout the country – and how it is now part of nature. Crack open your dictionary! This book is oxygen to an Anglophile; I love it so.
Autumn Journal
Louis MacNeice
I learned about this journal in poem form last year, but I didn’t read it until now. I am glad; I appreciate it on a much higher level than I would have a year ago. It was written in the fall of 1938 in the period when England announced it was entering into WWII. It’s an amazing articulation of the ...show more
Aunt Sass: Christmas Stories
P.L. Travers
Aunt Sass is not really Christmas stories. It is three character studies of people who were important to the author when she was growing up in Australia. The first is her great-aunt: “Imagine a bulldog whose ferocious exterior covers a heart tender to the point of sentimentality and you have Christi...show more
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths
Barbara Comyns
I was unable to find the cover for the book I want to talk about: The House of Dolls. I've scrolled the countless covers of Ibsen and hobby books. So we are going to have to settle for a book by the proper author at least.
The House of Dolls by Barbara Comyns!
Barbara Comyns, where have you been...show more
Futility: A Novel
William Gerhardie
Futility by William Gewhardie,1922, paperback, 194 pages, with a preface by EDITH FREAKIN’ WHARTON and praise blurbs by Evelyn Waugh (“I have talent, but he has genius”), Graham Greene, Katherine Mansfield and others.
Do you like Chekhov? Me too! Imagine a novel heavily under his influence written ...show more
A Grief Observed
C. S. Lewis
Two quotes: And grief still feels like fear. Perhaps, more strictly, like suspense. Or like waiting; just hanging about waiting for something to happen. It gives life a permanently provisional feeling. It doesn’t seem worth starting anything. I can’t settle down. I yawn, I fidget, I smoke too much. ...show more
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” That’s the famous opening sentence of Rebecca, a suspenseful romantic tale that has cast its irresistible spell over millions of readers since it was published in 1938. The “I” is the novel’s unnamed narrator. She is a timid and inexperienced young wo...show more