For a great “at the site of the action” war story, choose any of David Robbin’s books. I  just finished Last Citadel, which deals with German Tiger tanks and the Cossack war front in World War II. Robbins has a great command of description, and he truly researches his history.

I just finished Helen Barolini’s A Circular Journey, essays which take the reader from her home in Syracuse (on a street named after Henry James’s grandfather) through her marriage with the Italian poet Antonio Barolini and their lives in Italy and the United States and on into her career as a novelist, poet, and essayist.

Lee Iacocca’s book Where Have All the Leaders Gone? should be required reading for presidential candidate and everyone who votes.

The Shack by William Paul Young was recommended to me by friends suffering in bereavement.  It’s a book for those who have suffered great loss, especially an untimely one, who are looking for answers in their faith.  Strict doctrinists might disagree with some of the theological interpretations presented, but it’s still a comforting piece of Christian fiction/guidance for those who need it.

I’m a writer for young people and I read a lot of juvenile fiction. I recently read Graceling by Kristin Cashore. What a treat! Cashore uses language richly, creates a believable alterna-world, and provides deft surprises. Her characters are unique and have made diehard fans. I left it on my 14-year-old daughter’s bed after I finished it and am looking forward to discussing it with her.

Ancient history does not have to be boring!  Barry Strauss’s latest book, The Spartacus War, is no exception to the way he informs and entertains the reader.  Never condescending, this scholar explains details without intimidation and often with a light-hearted, humorous, and clever touch. If the reader confuses quaestors and lictors and praetors, there is an index to check.  If the reader can’t keep the players in this history straight, there is a glossary of key names. The “Note on Sources,” listing works used and of interest for further study, was fascinating.  Strauss has written works on Troy, Salamis, and Spartacus so far.  What will be your next book, Dr. Strauss?  I can’t wait to read it!

I’m reading   The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam by Barbara Tuchman for the second time. I like perusing the inside details on the human mistakes triggering  historic events she outlines and thought I would browse over it again.

I just finished Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything.  If textbooks had been written like this, I would have done better in school.  I couldn’t put it down.

I am enjoying The Living, a novel about the northwest US in the 19th century by Annie Dillard.  Her descriptions of life pioneering in the Washington-Oregon area are quite graphic.

After finishing Gloss by Jennifer Oko, I felt as if I had finished a dish made up of fresh, seasonal ingredients that filled me up without slowing me down. The story follows morning news show producer Annabelle Kapner’s adventure from dissatisfied New York network climber to rebellious global changemaker. This satire hit the spot for me.

My teenagers and I really enjoyed Pamela Aidan’s three-book series, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, covering Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” story from the gentleman’s view – and it was with great angst that we waited for that third book to be published. Our copies of the first two would be “valuable first editions” if we hadn’t so thoroughly enjoyed them.

Recently I read a unique book entitled Last of the Donkey Pilgrims by Kevin O’Hara. The author served in the Vietnam War and, in order to overcome the memories of the war’s horrors, he decided to walk around Ireland (his ancestral home) with his donkey, Missie. O’Hara is a skillful, witty writer, recounting history and Irish lore, as well as introducing many unusual characters.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken has everything a little girl dreams of – dark moors, wolves, rich relatives who suddenly become poor and/or dead, mean relatives who gleefully take advantage of newly poor relatives, an orphanage where nobody gets enough to eat, a kind and clever hero who helps the orphans escape, lost relatives who reappear and make everything right again. Completely satisfying in every way.

At roughly 700 pages, Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man seemed daunting, but thanks to Dale Peterson’s deft hand at storytelling I was fully engaged all the way through. This is one I’ll  read again.

Back to Wando Passo by David Payne provides an insightful look at relations between races in the 1860s and in the early 2000s and how the two eras may still be connected.