Readers' picks

I just read Cormac McCarthy's harrowing The Road. I think it is an American masterpiece (McCarthy's second, after "Blood Meridian"). In a few words, McCarthy can cause images to spring up in your mind that won't let you go. I challenge anyone to read this book and see if they're not still thinking about it weeks later.
– Jim Reddoch, Portland, Tex.

For readers interested in Hawaii post-Pearl Harbor the novel Aloha: Goodbye & Hello by Jessica K. Saiki follows the life of a Japanese-American girl who marries a G.I. She moves to a small Wisconsin town, is widowed, then moves to Chicago and life with a sculptor. Eventually she and her daughter return to Hawaii where mixed marriages are commonplace.
– Lorel Keiko, Los Angeles, Calif.

Internal Combustion by Edwin Black: Here, for the first time, is the whole sordid history, thoroughly documented, of how corporations and governments have, with deliberation, addicted the world to oil – and derailed the alternatives. This is a book for all humankind, a brave manifesto that should make every world citizen pause ... and think!
– Al Mankoff, High Point, N.C.

I'm currently reading Karen Armstrong's The Great Transformation: the Beginning of Our Religious Traditions. The period of about 900-200 BCE (or BC) was important for the great spiritual advances made in societies from Greece to Israel to India to China. Ms. Armstrong is an excellent writer and speaker who has written many books on religion. This book is invaluable to understanding the basis of much of the intellectual history of our time.
– Michael Stewart, Wharton, N.J.

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