The Uncollected Stories of Allan Gurganus by Allan Gurganus (Liveright Publishing, 2021)

Interesting short stories—most located near the Eastern Shore or Florida. Some will outright make you laugh; others will hold you in rigid suspense; others will just charm you. A worthy read from a master writer.

Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Graywolf, 2020)

You can’t always count on the Booker Prize to bring you a winner. In this case, the book is a tight, painful story of death, religion, and the lack of communication among members of a contemporary Dutch farm family. A worthy read, but not an enjoyable one.

Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto (Vintage 2014)

Shorto’s earlier book, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America (Vintage 2005) was a great read about the earliest colonial history in New England. Likewise, this book about Amsterdam sheds a different light on Amsterdam’s history, and how it differs from overall Dutch history. I listened to this book and I’ll bet the print edition is littered with helpful maps and illustrations. Read it.

The Bayeux Tapestry: The Complete Tapestry in Color (Thames & Hudson; 2004)

In a museum in the small town of Bayeux in Normandy, specially devised to hold this single object, is a strip of linen nearly one thousand years old. It is 230 feet long and about 20 inches high. On it, embroidered in brightly colored wool, are figures of men, animals, buildings, and ships. In a series of vivid scenes, with a running explanatory text in Latin, it relates the invasion of England by William of Normandy and his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. This book is a 54% size color reproduction of the tapestry to savor page by page.

My interest comes from viewing The Last Invasion of Britain tapestry in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. In 1797 the last ever invasion of mainland Britain took place when a French force landed three miles west of Fishguard. The fascinating story of this event is told in an embroidered tapestry which was designed and sewn by around 80 local women for the bicentennial in 1997. It is in a similar format and shape as the Bayeux tapestry. It took four years to complete and is on permanent exhibition in the gallery attached to the Library in Fishguard Town Hall.

Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson (Vintage 2011)

I wasn’t looking forward to this book, but I needed one to listen to and it was available. I arrogantly thought there was not much new to be learned about the Great Migration of Blacks from south to north. Wilkerson proved me wrong—mostly in the way she developed her three central characters, their road and settlement stories. Read this book. You will learn, and you will become involved in the stories.

The One by John Marrs (Hanover Square Press, 2018)

Fun, gripping sort of sci-fi about genetic tests and how they could figure in our future. Light, enjoyable read.

Nutshell by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese, 2016)

An amazing romp by an excellent writer. It’s so short, you can enjoy it at one sitting. I entirely bought the premise, and never looked back. Recommended it to my book club and some just could not get on board, so be warned.