On the advent of the longest day of the year and the true beginning of summer, here's a list of books to cherry pick for your summer reading. They are riveting, involving, devastating or simply delightfully satisfying. But if you're looking for new releases, they're not here.
Category: Used Books
Why “Black Boy” still matters
Published in 1945, Richard Wright's classic childhood autobiography vividly reveals what it was like growing up black and poor in the Jim Crow South long before the Civil Rights Movement. It’s an unsentimental but moving and distressing travel back in time that should not be missed.
A bookshop closes
Much of my book collecting mania got spent at Acorn Bookshop that’s now going out of business. Here are a few of the treasures I found, in this tribute.
A city inspector’s book list
Every once in a while, a person I hire to work at my house will pause in front of the book cases. This is one of those occasions.
An old good book for the beach
"Birdsong" by Stephen Faulks is a powerful epic not to be overlooked and a stunning portrayal of courage and redemption.
Great books go a step further
What's the difference between a good book and a great one? Jonathan Safran Foer answers in an introduction to "The Fixer" by Bernard Malamud.
“They think we’re different, you know.”
Most know "In the Heat of the Night" for the 1967 Academy Award-winning movie starring Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film is based on the mystery novel with the same title by John Ball, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. I thought it was time I read it.
A bibliomaniac’s burden
I became determined in my need to find the right reading copy of Pat Barker's World War I novel, "Regeneration." Here's what happened that afternoon.
The Longest Chapter 