My Personal (nonmath.) Book (Movies/Music) Page

Books/Movies Read/Reading/Want-to-Read/Watched/Want-to-Watch:

• Webpages

  • 5 Places to Find Free E-Books
  • 22 books That Expand Your Mind and Change The Way You Live.
  • SOME TEXTS FROM EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY, online, free, translated

• Fiction

  General

  • What Should a First-Time Visitor to America Read? , local copy
  • Reading list from Ernest Hemingway, local copy; and 7 Hemingway tips on writing.
  • Simon Brett recommends the(five) best Whodunnits and a local copy
  • 28 books to read in 2016
  • OBSERVER: Decades From Now, You?ll Thank Yourself for Having Read These Books"
  • The 15 Best Books of 2015 and a local copy
  • 10 Russian Novels to Read Before You Die and a local copy
  • Fall 2015 Is Here and So Are Books, Here Are 9 Must-Reads; and local copy
  • Books that shaped America, 2015 and a local copy Books that shaped America, 2015
  • best fiction of 2013
  • THE HUMAN STAIN, By Philip Roth
  • The Finkler Question (2010 Booker prize winner) by Howard Jacobson ("laugh-out-loud exploration of Jewishness")
  • The Journeys of Socrates by: Dan Millman (excellent book about 19th century Russia - good story, good philosophical thoughts)
  • W. Somerset Maugham (at Wikipedia) Read at cottage summer
  • Daphne Du Maurier with book reviews
    • 1. The Loving Spirit; 2. I'll Never be Young Again; 3. Julius;
    • 4. Jamaica Inn; (read summer 2006 at cottage; great book)
    • 5. Rebecca;
    • 6. Frenchman's Creek; 7. Hungry Hill; 8. The King's General;
    • 9. The Parasites;
    • 10. My Cousin Rachel ;
    • Flight of the Falcon;
    • My cousin Rachel (read Dec/06 - excellent);
    • Frenchman's creek;
    • Scapegoat, movie review (book read summer 2006 at cottage - great book)
    • to get: Lisa Randall's book 'knocking on heaven's door' The Math Book, by Clifford A. Pickover Castle Dor; Don't look now; Winding stair; Mrs. de Winters; House on the Strand; Hungry Hill; Loving Spirit; The birds; The breaking point; Mary Anne
  • John Grisham "Playing for Pizza, 2008 book. Fun read.
  • Whirlwind by James Clavell, ... unlike his previous 'Shogun' and 'Noble House' ... this is **boring**.
  • Robert Ludlum's The Arctic Event (Covert-One), fun and interesting when listened to as an audiofile.
  • The Juror, by George Dawes Green; fun 'cottage' read - hard to put down - psychological thriller. (read Aug/13)
  • The Lost, by Daniel Mendelshohn. (search for family after WWII.
  • Just Revenge, (book on a holocaust survivor - legal/ethical arguments on revenge) by Alan M. Dershowitz. ( other reviews)
  • five best about: Betrayals of Love: Spring Torrents By Ivan Turgenev (1872); Broken Lives By Lawrence Stone (1993); The Heat of the Day By Elizabeth Bowen (1948); The House by the Sea By Jon Godden (1947); The Maples Stories By John Updike (2009)
  • Winning Novels About Failure : Conrad; Joseph Roth; Philip Roth; Mario Vargas Llosa; Steve Tesich! and a local copy
  • No Way Back, by William Shawcross, about dislocated people after WWII.
  • Deathless accounts of mourning: A Grief Observed, By C.S. Lewis (1961); Two Lives, By William Trevor (1991); The Year of Magical Thinking, By Joan Didion (2005); Grief, By Andrew Holleran (2006); The Good Soldier, By Ford Madox Ford (1915).
  • The way we ail now, books on illnesses.
  • Five Best hypochondria books, Moliere, Kant, Poe, Man, Beckett.
  • Five Best novels on friendship and a local copy
  • Five Best I Spy and a local copy.
  • five best on WW II (The Duel; Commander in Chief; the Caine Mutiny; Other Clay; A World at Arms
  • Five best on Arctic Exploration
  • Five best arduous travels and a local copy
  • (five best) Books on Finance During Trouble
  • Five best immitgrants to America and a local copy
  • Five Best; Pete Dexter chooses his favorite works of fiction about families
  • Five Best on Marriage and a local copy.
  • Five Best spy tales and a local copy.
  • Five Best Adventure and a local copy.
  • On Innocents and Innocence Lost(five best) and a local copy
  • Five Best Literary Finds (journeys of discovery and a local copy.
  • Five Best Books on Southern Fiction and a local copy.
  • Youthful Passages: These coming-of-age tales are timeless triumphs. and a local copy.
  • Novels of Ideas,
  • Books That Evoke Time and Place, local copy.
  • Us: Americans Talk About Love Author: John Bowe.

  • Historical/Political/Mathematical Fiction

    • What the Freshman Class Needs to Read Opinion by Niall Ferguson, Aug. 2024.
    • Telling the Story of World War II in 10 Movies and a local copy
    • This Gulf of Fire: The Destruction of Lisbon, or Apocalypse in the Age of Science and Reason Hardcover, Nov 3 2015 by Mark Molesky (Author) (Amazon) and Review
    • top books in 2011
    • Five Best Books: Historical Fiction and a local copy
    • Goldman's Theorem (Paperback/interview), by R J Stern
    • Past Tense, (FIVE) Favorite fictional tales rooted in history, and a local copy
    • Steven Saylor: - Roma sub Rosa, e.g. (Cambridge library - reading Nov/03)
    • Tom Clancy, thrillers.
    • Imre Kerte'sz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002: e.g. Fateless, first part of a trilogy.
    • An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears (review by MAA online)
    • Five Best Military and a local copy.
    • Full Disclosure (1977, novel), by William Safire. (assassination plot; but, mainly about the 'office' intrigue with regard to the presidency; good read but too much 'office politics' and not enough world politics)
      Other books be Safire, e.g. Freedom, historical novel - Civil War fiction.
    • Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer. Story about George Mallory - was he the first to climb everest? (Excellent story.)
    • Measuring the World, by Daniel Kehlmann; imagines the lives of two famous German men, explorer Alexander von Humboldt and mathematician and astronomer Carl Friedrich Gauss.
    • Passage to Nowhere. The long, tragic effort to link oceans by going over the top of the world. (Northwest passage books)

  • Science Fiction

    • The Singularity is Near, subjects as artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, human longevity, reengineering the digestive system, wormholes, extraterrestrial life, manipulation of the genome and, above all, the idea that we are fast approaching the day when human beings and machines will merge into a human-machine civilization.
    • FIVE BEST, Sci-Fi That Soars, The creator of "Battlestar Galactica" lists his favorites. BY RON MOORE. And, a local copy
    • Ursula K. Le Guin - "The Lathe of Heaven": Dreams become reality -
      Reviews: "The Lathe of Heaven is set in the sort of worlds that one would associate with Philip K. Dick, but Ms. Le Guin's treatment of the material, her plot and characterization and concerns, are more akin to the humanistic, ethically engaged, psychologically nuanced fiction of Theodore Sturgeon. The Lathe of Heaven is an insightful and chilling examination of total power, of war and injustice and other age-old problems, of changing the world, of playing God. --Cynthia Ward"
    • Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz. (borrring - borrring - hero is talking to the dead ....)

  • Mythology

    • (online) Edith Hamilton's Mythology
    • The Greek World of Mary Renault,
    • Homer's iliad

• Financial/Economics

  • The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World (Hardcover) by Alan Greenspan; excellent book on what happened and what he expects for the world economies.
  • The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson (to read?)
  • Getting Ahead How to succeed in business? Invest some time with these books; and a local copy

• NonFiction

  • Favorite Books of 2017 - Yuval Levin _ National Review; Favorite Books of 2017 - Yuval Levin _ National Review (local copy)
  • The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt - review; I just (June/13) finished 'reading' it. I found it very interesting - "a dazzling study of the origins of the renaissance" -- of modernity.
  • Norman Doidge, MD | The Brain That Changes Itself, "brain plasticity". cbc show; Fascinating stuff about: Neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity, refers to changes in neural pathways and synapses which are due to changes in behavior, environment and neural processes, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury.
  • Five best: Nations and lives in transition
  • The Non-Fiction 100, and a local copy from "The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books Of The Century" appeared in the May 3, 1999, issue of National Review.
  • Best Five books of .....:
    • World War II fiction, and a local copy
    • Bank Books: Blue-chip tales of life on Wall Street; and a local copy
    • Disaster Books: and a local copy
    • Fighting Words, The definitive books on the battles of the 20th century and a local copy; and
      Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant; considered among the greatest of military memoirs.
    • Financial advice, Books a Million The best advice on personal investment. And a local copy
    • Green Gray Areas, Books that question the conventional wisdom on the environment. And, a local copy. Five Best from WSJ.com:
    • Media Elites The best books about the news business and a local copy
    • Memory Books: and a local copy
    • One Nation, A cheer for these books about America. And a local copy
    • Persian Gulf, Insights into Iran can be gleaned from these masterly works. and a local copy.
    • Quest for Knowledge, and a local copy.
    • The Final Frontier: Books on space that soar above the rest. and a local copy
    • Thoughts for Food books, and a local copy
    • tragicomic sense of life and a local copy
  • The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. And a new book by Gladwell in Oct 1, 2013: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.

  • Health

    • Lonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success Thomas Joiner PhD (Author) (***tobuy***)
    • Treat me not my age, Mark Lachs, with NYT review about anti-ageing.

  • Biographies

    • Five Best Biographies of Leaders and a local copy.
    • Five Best portraits of Americans and a local copy.
    • Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden; from the jacket: "An alluring tour de force: a brilliant debut novel told with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism as the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha." - available on audio books/itunes. (Mostly a gossipy type memoir - with extra drama for effect.)

  • Philosophical

    • Mind-Changing Books, by Thomas Sowell, e.g. Max Lerner (Actions and Passions)
    • Five Best Alexander Waugh on books that capture the complexities of father-son relationships, and a local copy.
    • I Will Not Be Broken: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, by Jerry White.
    • Raymond Aron, A great French political theorist and journalist, Aron wrote for the Paris newspaper Le Figaro (1947-77) and the weekly newsmagazine L'Express (1977-83), taught at the Sorbonne and other universities, and authored more than forty thoughtful books on a wide variety of political subjects. His most famous book is probably The Opium of the Intellectuals (1955), in which he lambasted French Marxism. Of all the great French thinkers of the twentieth century (Aron was a schoolmate of Sartre), Aron was the only one who, according to The New Republic, "never lost his head." Dubbed "the last of the liberals" by Allan Bloom, Aron was a fierce anti-Communist and defender of liberal democracy, and was greatly troubled by what Strauss terms the 'crisis of the West.' And: Raymond Aron and the End of Europe By Christopher Caldwell, Thursday, April 7, 2005 from AEI; and Raymond Aron at Amazon
    • God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens. (exerpts exist - search web) Also - related books: The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
    • Five Best, A history scholar selects essential works about fanaticism; and a local copy
    • Eva Hoffman, title: After Such Knowledge summary: Hoffman, author of Lost in Translation, blends personal history with the weighty questions of how to understand the Holocaust, the notions of resistance, collective responsibility and victimhood, as she focuses on the impact that the atrocities had on the children of survivors. e.g. interview
    • Liquidation by Imre Kertesz, ( at amazon.com) Nobel Prize in Literature, 2002, Hungarian writer, (German title: Liquidation) (Original Hungarian title: Felszamolas) Also Kaddish for an Unborn Child
    • Why have Universities Forsaken Studying the Meaning of Life? by Anthony T. Kronman
    • Bernard-Henri Levy, e.g. War, Evil and the End of History (Melville Press 2004); Who Killed Daniel Pearl? (Gerald Duckworth and Co Ltd 2003); Sartre: The Philosopher of the 20th Century (Polity Press 2003); What Good Are Intellectuals?: 44 Writers Share Their Thoughts (Editor: Bernard-Henri Livy) (Algora Publishing 2000)
    • V.S. Naipaul; on Islam and modernity and science; e.g. THE MYSTIC MASSEUR (1957) (adapted for screen), A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS (regarded his masterpiece);...
    • Friedrich Nietzsche by Curtis Cate Hutchinson, ISBN 0091801621, biography.
    • Straussian.net, i.e. "Leo Strauss and the History of Political Thought"; with links to the political philosophy and book reviews, e.g.: Books That Time Forgot: Jacob Klein, Lectures and Essays; etc... with a summary: "Leo Strauss and the Straussians" and the related book: CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND by Allan Bloom

  • Political/Historical

    • A History of the Jews, Paperback September 14, 1988 by Paul Johnson (Author) (Paul Johnson, British Historian and Polemicist Against the Left, Dies at 94 Prolific author who drifted to the right in the 1960s befriended prime ministers and was lionized by American conservatives)
    • Pages of providence Forty new history books worth readingand , 10 (from among thousands) to skip local copy
    • the anthology Before All Memory is Lost, has received the 2017 Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the category of Holocaust Literature. No doubt, the stories of these courageous woman will enrich the knowledge of future generations about the power of the human spirit and enable readers to grasp a deeper understanding of the Holocaust - one story at a time.
      Holocaust Literature: Before All Memory Is Lost: Women's Voices from the Holocaust (Azrieli Foundation), edited by Myrna Goldenberg, is the first anthology ever published by the Azrieli Foundation. Twenty-five women (including one chapter from Chana Mindla Wolkowicz) reflect on their experiences of survival. Each account is woven together by a common thread: women resisted and, ultimately, triumphed against the brutality they faced during the Holocaust. The book features a wide variety of narrative styles, including prose, poetry and diary excerpts.
    • Diplomacy, Henry Kissinger, 1994 book by the Secretary of State. A truly amazing book which covers a wide sweep of history with deep insights.
    • Charles Murray, political scientist, author of: The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life; and more recently Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010
    • The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left, by Yuval Levin.
    • Three books on the end of the Roman Empire: (See David Frum's reviews):
      • In 2005, the British archaeologist and historian Bryan Ward-Perkins published a short, accessible and well-illustrated monograph with the dramatic title: The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization.
      • Peter Heather’s The Fall of the Roman Empire.
      • Adrian Goldsworthy’s How Rome Fell.
      • The Triumph of Empire, The Roman World from Hadrian to Constantine by Michael Kulikowski; and In the Name of Empire (Rome/Europe unification)) review by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes.
    • World Wars:
      • Cataclysm: Victor Davis Hanson's The Second World Wars and the buy link, The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, by Victor Davis Hanson.
      • `Paths of Glory': Stanley Kubrick's First Step Towards Cinema Immortality, at Cinephilia and Beyond.
      • From David Frum's diary mentions and recommendations: Gotz Aly's Hitler's Beneficiaries; Daniel Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners; More from David Frum's diary mentions and recommendations on D-Day: Stephen Ambrose's D-Day: The Climactic Battle of World War II, followed by Max Hasting's Overlord and then John Keegan's Six Armies in Normandy. Frum Review of Hastings' Armageddon
      • The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy, By Peter H. Wilson Belknap/Harvard, 997 pages.
      • Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by JON MEACHAM: read spring/05; contains lots of details on decisions during war time.
      • Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlifee, by Francine Prose.
    • long history of America's encounters with the Arab world - five best.
    • five best works of war poetry; also local copy of Homer's iliad
    • Terrorism and Iraq Wars:
      • The Right War?, by Gary Rosen. A conservative debate on the war in Iraq; review by David Frum
      • War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism; by Douglas Feith. (Excellent book on the decision making process by someone who was actually at the meetings.)
    • Mideast Politics/History:
      • Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews - A History (2001) is a book by James Carroll; istallment 2 of chapt 2; from JPOST blog.
      • The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz. (About the double standard being applied to Israel.)
      • Bernard Lewis books, e.g.
        What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East
        The Arabs in History
        
      • The Trouble with Islam, by Irshad Manji. The book is a welcome change to current discussions on Islam.
      • Mark Steyn's 'America Alone'; Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America, by Brigitte Gabriel; and Anything by Reinhold Neibuhr - An American Protestant theologian; Anything by Karen Armstrong (except her book on Mohammad) - a Catholic former nun; How to read the Bible by Marc Brettler (2005) - Uses the historical-critical method to analyse the Torah (the old testament) - not for people who believe that God wrote the Bible; and Dore Gold - Hatred's Kingdom; Bruce Bawer - While Europe Slept; Robert Spencer - The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam; Rachel Ehrenfeld - Funding Evil; Melanie Phillips - Londonistan ;
      • Jessica Stern at Harvard Univ. Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill: (from Cambridge library - reading Dec/03) The book is based on interviews and explains how terrorist organizations are formed. The interviews are with several groups around the world. review 1; review 2; review at Barnes & Noble;
    • US and British Politics:
      • The Roots of Obama's Rage, by Dinesh D'Souza, 2010. Review by Joseph A. Klein: e.g.: (AXcess News) - Dinesh D'Souza provides a compelling case that much of Barack Obama's counter-intuitive actions since his inauguration are a direct result of his 'anti-colonialist' victimhood worldview.
        youtube intro; (read on kindle july/11)
      • The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party , David Horwitz and Richard Poe.
      • The Special Relationship, Five Best; These books illuminate the shared heritage of America and Britain.
      • Indian Summer, The Secret History of the End of an Empire, By Alex von Tunzelmann. (Excellent book on the history of India; concentrating on the partition at the end of British Empire.)
    • How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill; other books: Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Desire of the Everlasting Hills, and The Gifts of the Jews and related sites to latter: Why Do People Hate The Jews? and the book Why The Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism, by Dennis Prager.
    • In Defense of Global Capitalism; Johan Norberg Net Book Forum at the CATO Institute; " A defence of globalisation, systematically refuting the myths and arguments presented by critics of globalisation to show that the world is deteriorating, the poor are getting poorer, free trade causes exclusion, financial markets engender crises and so on. About development, poverty, property rights, free trade, the environment, multinationals etc. "
    • Several 'holocaust' stories: When light pierced the darkness : Christian rescue of Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland and Defiance: The Bielski Partisans (now a movie) and Dry Tears: The Story Of A Lost Childhood (a review), by Nechama Tec (at Stamford - Univ. of Conn.)
    • Gulag, By Anne Applebaum, Doubleday; and A review
    • The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror by Natan Sharansky, Ron Dermer, Anatoly Shcharansky
      with reviews: Review at Commentary; and at Two Great Dissidents

  • Religion

    • The Golden Haggadah at Online Gallery
    • People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. (Book gives the history of an old Haggadah as it moves through history from the inquisition to WWII and on. Excellent read.)
    • C. S. Lewis: Oxford Don vs. the Devil; "A new book provides a concise and compelling introduction to the great author and Christian apologist."

  • Science

    • The Primacy of Doubt, Tim Palmer. (uncertainty/chaos/climate/quantum/...)
    • Lagrangian Mechanics, (online) Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics, second edition, Gerald Jay Sussman and Jack Wisdom
    • Seven Clues to the Origin of Life: A Scientific Detective Story, by A.G. Cairns-Smith; "The mysteries surrounding the origins of life on earth are written in detective story fashion by a world famous scientist"... and an online version of the book.
    • Why the Grass Seems Greener; We are of two minds—one deliberative and rational, the other quick and intuitive. They often don't agree. Article is on the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, Nobel prize winner in economics. 'a must read'.
    • A Passion for Discovery, by theoretical physicist Peter Freund; with review.
    • The Nature of Objectivity, i.e. Peter Galison books, e.g. Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps (and Image and logic). and new book Objectivity
    • Brian Greene at Columbia Univ. and Elegant Universe, the book about string theory (interview) and The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, at Amazon. The Agile Gene - How Nature Turns on Nurture, by Matt Ridley local copy of review
    • Five - Let's Get Physical Books that compare Einstein with other great minds, with local copy, e.g.
      "A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Gödel and Einstein", by Palle Yourgrau (Basic Books, 2005).
    • Paleontology: Stephen Jay Gould" and his list of books
    • For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend by Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D. (Great book on understanding relationships between people and dogs; you have to get a dog after reading this book.)

Books to Get:

• best 100 books of 2009
• best books of 2007 (at amazon); and a local copy (pdf)
• History Net, world's largest history magazine.
• To Truckee's Trail, by Celia D. Hayes; "which will take you on this harrowing journey in a way that reading history can't. What's unusual about this is that unlike many historic novels it has a documentary feel to it (it is loosely based on real characters and events). The action is punctuated by diary entries, and a (fictionalized) 1932 interview of one of the members of the party who lived into his late 90s and recalls his childhood memories."
• The Castle in the Forest, by Norman Mailer. Norman Mailer: Hitler and the human ego (review),
• Henry Roth: "Call it Sleep" - Roth's book begins in 1907, the peak year in the history of Jewish immigration to U.S., describing the "small white steamer, Peter Stuyvesant, that delivered the immigrants from the stench and throb of the steerage to the stench and throb of New York tenements.
• Saul Bellow: "The Adventures of Augie March"
• JOHN SCALZI'S OLD MAN'S WAR at amazon and Agent to the Stars; and book recommendation
  and Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, -- and John Steakley's Armor.
• History's greatest speeches, 3rd edition of book by William Safire and review by Robert M. Smalley.
• A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS By Amos Oz, Harcourt, 538 pages. REVIEWED BY MARTIN RUBIN, "An Israeli writer looks back on his life and nation"
• Suggestions in David Frum's article of Friday Apr 1, e.g.: (online) Edith Hamilton's Mythology, Robert Graves, ( and his biography) The Greek World of Mary Renault, (online) Autobiography of John Stuart Mill, Proust's Remembrance, (online) Joyce's "Portrait of ...(local copy available)
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain (online)

Online Books:

• FAMILY HAPPINESS, by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy at the Tolstoy web page; also available, e.g. Dostoevski, Fyodor (1821-1881)
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain (online)
• (online) Joyce's "Portrait of ...(local copy available)

Links/Lists:

• top 100 at project Gutenberg
• BOOKS ONLINE
• 100 Notable Books of the Year/07; and The 10 Best Books of 2004, NYT NYT lists, 2004 and NYT lists, 2003 and NYT lists, 2002
• Suggestions:
  • Historical Fiction:
    Steven Saylor - Roma sub Rosa, e.g. Rubicon;
    • John Maddox book series - Roberts series on Rome;
    • The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell (the first ten or so are wonderful books with an English soldier during Napoleonic wars as the protagonist; then the writer slides into a literary hack mode, unfortunately. But the first approx. 10 books are great.) This is not a mystery, but more of an adventure. Lots of historic detail. Very entertaining.
    • The "Master and Commander" series by Patrick o'Brian. The hero is the British Navy captain, again, during Napoleonic wars. Consistently wonderfully written, lots of historic detail, faithful reproduction of the language, great characters, especially fun if you are fond of things related to sea
  • Holocaust:
    • Eva Hoffman, e.g. After Such Knowledge;
      the book discusses the thoughts/questions/problems of children of survivors
    • Primo Levi: with a description of his books
    • "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky

• 100 greatest foreign films, BBC Culture polled 209 critics in 43 countries to find the best in world cinema here's the top 100. local copy
• The Stephen Hunter movie reviewer
• - "Lies My Father Told Me,"
• "The Stranger" (the Mastroianni version of the Camus novel)
• "Osama" and also "Voices of Iraq"
• "Sideways,"