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You Must Read This "You Must Read This" presents conversations with writers about the books they love to read and recommend.
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You Must Read This

Writers recommend their all-time favorite books

Thursday

Thursday

Wednesday

In 'Last Exit,' Brooklyn Is A Character, Too

Review

In 'Last Exit,' Brooklyn Is A Character, Too

It may be graphic, it may be violent, but author and humorist Mishna Wolff has purchased no less than three copies of Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn. As much as she is revolted by the characters' flaws, she is inspired by their courage.

In 'Last Exit,' Brooklyn Is A Character, Too

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Tuesday

Tragic Loss And Love Affirmed In 'Figment'

Review

Tragic Loss And Love Affirmed In 'Figment'

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination is much more than a memoir about a stillborn child. Elizabeth McCracken's story of stunning loss and grief is also a moving and affirming story of love.

Tragic Loss And Love Affirmed In 'Figment'

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Monday

'If I Stay': Trapped Between Life And Death

Review

'If I Stay': Trapped Between Life And Death

Writer Kaleb Nation admits that he buys books for their covers — that's why he first picked up Gayle Forman's If I Stay. But he was quickly drawn into the story of Mia, a young cellist who must choose whether to return to her destroyed life, or simply let it all go.

'If I Stay': Trapped Between Life And Death

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Tuesday

In Saramago's 'Blindness,' A Vision Of Human Nature

Review

In Saramago's 'Blindness,' A Vision Of Human Nature

Jose Saramago tells the grim tale of a city devastated by an epidemic of blindness. Myla Goldberg says Saramago vividly illustrates disaster's potential to bring out both the best and the worst in people.

In Saramago's 'Blindness,' A Vision Of Human Nature

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Tuesday

'Ship Of The Line': Sailing To Fantasy And Back

Review

'Ship Of The Line': Sailing To Fantasy And Back

When writer Abraham Verghese was 10 years old, he went off to sea in a British frigate to battle Napoleon's navy. Verghese made this perilous journey thanks to C.S. Forester's unforgettable series about the adventures of Captain Horatio Hornblower, books he still loves, years later.

'Ship Of The Line': Sailing To Fantasy And Back

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Wednesday

Monday

'Finkler' Questions The Meaning Of Jewishness

The Finkler Question is one of six novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. hide caption

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Review

'Finkler' Questions The Meaning Of Jewishness

The hero of this year's Booker Prize winner, The Finkler Question, is a non-Jew fascinated by Jewishness. For writer David Sax, these efforts to simulate Judaism — to take on a persona outside of one's own — offer a broader commentary on human experience.

'Finkler' Questions The Meaning Of Jewishness

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Wednesday

Review

Arthur Comes Alive In 'The Once And Future King'

Writer Lev Grossman was raised on a strict diet of literary classics — until he discovered T.H. White's masterful retelling of the King Arthur tale. In The Once and Future King, what was once as stiff and two-dimensional as a medieval tapestry becomes rich and real and devastatingly sad.

Arthur Comes Alive In 'The Once And Future King'

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Thursday

Monday

Carried Away By The 'Night Soldiers'
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Review

Carried Away By The 'Night Soldiers'

Author Jake Halpern is all about mood. When he's looking to deluge his senses, he turns to Night Soldiers. Whether ambling down Parisian streets on the eve of war or taking a crisp train ride through the Pyrenees, Alan Furst's prose takes him instantly there.

Carried Away By The 'Night Soldiers'

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Friday

Henry James' Heroine: 'Portrait' Of A Complex Lady

Review

Henry James' Heroine: 'Portrait' Of A Complex Lady

In James' Portrait of a Lady, Isabel Archer is wise enough to understand that if you're not happy without a man, you certainly won't be happy with one. Writer Rhoda Janzen loves the book because it shows what a woman does once she acknowledges her own complicity in the life she has chosen.

Henry James' Heroine: 'Portrait' Of A Complex Lady

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Tuesday

'McKay's Bees' Alive With Wit And Wonder

Review

'McKay's Bees' Alive With Wit And Wonder

Thomas McMahon's novel isn't long, but writer Sue Miller says it manages to accomplish frequent hilarity, tender sexiness and sheer erudition. With intelligence and humor, McKay's Bees wonders about all that is funny, sad and amazing in the world.

'McKay's Bees' Alive With Wit And Wonder

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