If you haven’t made the acquaintance of Olivia Manning and her fabulous BALKAN TRIOLOGY and LEVANT TRIOLOGY written abut an English couple caught in Romania and Greece and then Egypt during WWII, I highly recommend them. They were recently reprinted in a single volume.

Another of Manning’s books, SCHOOL FOR LOVE has been recently reprinted by New York Review Books. It is a delight and is the best book I read all of last year. Set in Palestine right after the end of WWII, it is the story of a few forlorn British refugees who have washed up in Jerusalem by the hazards of the war. Living in pensions, rooming houses and hotels of Jerusalem, they can’t get transport back to England yet, they have very little money, and there are no jobs. In particular, this is the story of a 16 year old British boy, an orphan with no family, no income and thus at the mercy of the “generosity” of a distant relative, a penny pinching, manipulative, sanctimonious middle aged female. He is mourning for his mother recently dead from typhus, he finds a stray cat for a friend, and he gets almost nothing to eat from his landlady/cousin, but his quiet, stoic, stubborn, curious spirit is somehow glowing amidst the dusty streets and gardens of the city. Manning observed the details of everyday life perfectly. (Paperback, $14.00) Recommended by Pat.

Winner of the 2010 Newbery Award. The first and most important thing for me to tell you about this book is that you MUST read it.  Do not miss this book, especially if you are 9-14 years old.  It is spellbinding. It’s kind of a mystery, and it’s kind of a time travel book.  It’s very realistic, it’s funny, and all the characters, including parents and a dentist, are interesting and distinct and real. Miranda, the twelve year old protagonist who tells the story, lives with her mother in New York City and she reads and re-reads one book, WRINKLE IN TIME. She helps her mother practice for a game show she is going to be on, she wonders why her best friend and neighbor Sal has dropped her, and she tries to understand why she is getting weird, tiny notes stuck in books and her backpack telling about events ahead of time that no one could  know about.  Once you read the first page you will not put this down.  A really unusual book, a future classic.  The only thing about the book that isn’t fabulous is the title, which I can never remember.  Just remember Rebecca Stead, the author.  (Hardcover, $15.99) Recommended by Pat.

Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize, WOLF HALL is a complex, multi-layered novel about the time of religious tumult of the 1530s and a story of the life of a moderate, brilliant counselor and financier, Thomas Cromwell. Bookpage wrote that “Mantel’s crystalline style, piercing eye and interest in, shall we say, the darker side of human nature, together with a real respect for historical accuracy, make this novel an engrossing, enveloping read.” ($27.00, hardcover).  Highly recommended by Pat.

In Sarajevo in 1992 during the siege led by Serbs in the hills above the city, a bomb kills 22 people waiting in line for food. This actual event inspired Galloway’s haunting novel, THE CELLIST OF SARAJEVO, about the cellist who played everyday in the same square where the people were blown up to commemorate them and about three other average Sarajevo residents, trying to survive the horrors of the siege. One of the figures in the novel is a young woman code named “Arrow” from a middle class home who surprisingly becomes an accomplished sniper. She kills people to defeat the Serbs in the hills and keep them from killing more of her neighbors and family. But taking part in so much violent death seems to be curdling the person she was, until she hears the cellist. A terrific, almost lyrical telling about one aspect of the Balkan Wars, now only a decade or so ago that most of us have forgotten about or never really paid any attention to. I highly recommend this book. (Softcover, $15.00). Recommended by Pat.

Social critic and environmental writer, Solnit, wrote this book in 2000 and it is now available in paperback.  The essays explore the way all of us get around in our world, by walking.  The author looks at literature: Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet who’s constant walking is both a part of the plot and a way of delineating her character, and she analyzes how our environment affects the way we are able to walk.  I especially loved Solnit’s essay on walking in Paris. This is a delightful book that would please anybody who loves to walk.

The author offers us thoughtful and thorough exploration of Lincoln as an extraordinarily talented writer. He recounts the literature that formed and informed his style, especially focusing on Lincoln’s early life and the influence of his beloved step-mother.  This book is a very significant addition to works on the analysis of Lincoln’s genius, and those who enjoyed Gary Wills’ LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG and Douglas Wilson’s LINCOLN’S SWORD: THE PRESIDENCY AND THE POWER OF WORDS will want to have this book.  Recommended by Pat.