Says Cory:
“This list is not exhaustive by any means; that would exhaust me. Just a scan of the highlights on my bookshelves at present. A ‘*’ denotes a personal and/or literary epiphany.”
Nonfiction
Sailing Alone Around The World* by Joshua Slocum
Beautifully spare prose and the adventure of a lifetime.
Engineers of Dream by Henry Petrosky
A chronicle of the great bridge engineers. I have a thing for bridges.
All Creatures Great and Small and others by James Herriot
True (mainly; I have read one story that has two distict endings in different editions, so some liberties were taken) tales from a country vet. OK, so I am a sucker for animal stories.
Biography
The Last Place on Earth* by Roland Huntford
Baby, it’s cold outside.
The Art of Alfred Hitchcock by Donald Spoto
“Good evening . . . ”
History
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
A bit sparse on “why,” probably because it was too soon. But a fine description of what.
The Second World War by Winston Churchill
“Never was so much... etc.”
At Dawn We Slept by Gordon W. Prange
TORA! TORA! TORA!
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
The October Country* by Ray Bradbury
Language as beautifully used as you will find anywhere.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame
(assorted volumes by many authors)
Don’t leave Earth without it!
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Still the benchmark.
Detective/Mystery
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Read it, ya mug ...
One For The Money; Two For The Dough;
and others by Janet Evanovich
Great escapist reads, and from N.J.!
Fiction
Winesburg, Ohio* by Sherwood Anderson
The coming of age of one George Willard.
Poetry
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches* by Matsuo Basho
“Shiny drops of moonlight...”
Cien Sonetos de Amor (100 Love Sonnets)* by Pablo Neruda
“Te amo comose aman ciertas cosas oscuras...”
The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman
Something bad happened to A.E. as a young man, but I have never learned what.
Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by William Blake
“I was angry with my friend...”
Drama
The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild; A Road Trip* by Greg Owens
I got a copy of the play from a friend who was in a Chicago production of it. It is available from www.stageplays.com
MacBeth by William Shakespeare
The infamous “Scottish play.”