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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

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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Friday

Tuesday

Review

Takes One To Know One: A Masterful Irish Novelist

John McGahern struggled for 10 years to write the novel Amongst Women. Fellow Irish author Colm Toibin says it was worth the wait: The pacing of the novel is masterly, he says, and its rhythms are filled with hidden emotion.

Takes One To Know One: A Masterful Irish Novelist

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Monday

In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction

Review

In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction

Who says unlikable characters make for unlikable books? The prickly people in Zoe Heller's The Believers are infused with wit and intelligence. Author Meghan Daum says she has recommended the poignant satire to more friends than she can count.

In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction

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Wednesday

Review

Tasting The Flavors Of Life As Only 'George' Could

When author Simon Van Booy looks to puncture the solitude of writing life, he reaches for George, Being George, the oral biography of George Plimpton. Based on hundreds of interviews with his intimates and colleagues, the portrait of Plimpton reveals the richness and flavor of life that the actor and writer knew how to capture so well in his own work.

Tasting The Flavors Of Life As Only 'George' Could

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Wednesday

'Passing' Across The Color Line In The Jazz Age

Nella Larsen was a prominent novelist of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in 1891, her mother was Danish and her father was West Indian. James Allen/Harmon Foundation Records hide caption

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James Allen/Harmon Foundation Records

Review

'Passing' Across The Color Line In The Jazz Age

Writer Heidi Durrow says she has read Nella Larsen's Passing more than a dozen times. The 1929 novel tells the story of two light-skinned, African-American women — childhood friends who are reconnected after leading drastically different lives. Durrow says Larsen demands that her readers transcend society's assigned labels.

'Passing' Across The Color Line In The Jazz Age

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Wednesday

Review

An 'Apprenticeship' In First-Generation Chutzpah

When David Sax was 11, his father handed him The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and said: "Read this if you want to know where I came from." Mordecai Richler's novel about an ambitious teen from Montreal's Jewish working class helped Sax learn to appreciate the immigrant drive.

An 'Apprenticeship' In First-Generation Chutzpah

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Tuesday

Review

Finding Escape In The Familiar With 'Riddley Walker'

When author John Wray is looking for an escape, he doesn't search for a world filled with giants and wands. Instead, he dives into Riddley Walker's post-apocalyptic England. Even this grim, mutant-filled world is riddled with surprising shocks of recognition.

Finding Escape In The Familiar With 'Riddley Walker'

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Friday

Tuesday

Review

All Aboard Historical Thriller 'Finland Station'

Author Aravind Adiga was not interested in stuffy classics or long, drawn-out historical accounts. But Edmund Wilson's history of socialism, To the Finland Station, proved to be anything but dull — it's electrifying.

All Aboard Historical Thriller 'Finland Station'

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Friday

Review

'Book Of Disquiet' Reveals A Reclusive Author's Soul

Author Fernando Pessoa may have been a loner who lived most of his life in a single room in Lisbon, Portugal. But he wasn't alone: He created numerous literary alter egos. Rabih Alameddine describes Pessoa's work, The Book of Disquiet, as one of life's great miracles.

'Book Of Disquiet' Reveals A Reclusive Author's Soul

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Tuesday

Review

The Unexamined Life Examined In 'Mrs. Bridge'

Best-selling mystery novelist James Patterson may be known for his thrillers, but the little book that profoundly influenced his writing was far less conspicuous. Mrs. Bridge, the tale of a Kansas City husband and wife, would stay with him forever.

The Unexamined Life Examined In 'Mrs. Bridge'

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