100 Books
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“Often dismissed by pious Muslims as mere folklore, or falsely condemned as foreign influence, or even blankly denied even in the face of overwhelming evidence, the traces of Zarathustra’s teachings refuse to fade away. In spite of everything, Zarathustra lives.” “In Search of Zarathustra: The First Prophet and the Ideas That Changed the World” by…
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“It wasn’t a case of storming heaven. It was a case of letting heaven storm you.” “The Curse of Chalion” by Lois McMaster Bujold Reading through The Curse of Chalion, a tale about a soldier who finds a second life as a saint and secretary to a cursed princess, I came to a striking revelation:…
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“No one ever really gets used to nightmares.” “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski House of Leaves is one of those books that has showed up on countless recommended reading lists in my life that, for whatever reason (most likely because it was on so many recommended readings lists), I never got around to…
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“From their inception, therefore, both faiths had to deal with sudden death by disease as one of the conspicuous facts of human life. Consequently, it is not altogether surprising that both religions taught that death was a release from pain, and a blessed avenue of entry upon a delightful afterlife where loved ones would be…
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“Who, within his inner conscience, does not feel the same ferine, savage man struggling against the stern, adamantine bonds of morality and decorum?” “Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates” compiled by Merle Johnson Daring and adventurous stories of pirates have captivated audiences (“whether” the book flap suggests, “he be 12 years old or 70”) for centuries,…
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“…it would be exactly like the Mycenaeans to draw it instead of domesticating it.” “Greece in the Bronze Age” by Emily Vermeule Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an absolute nut for books, especially old books that appear to have seen their fair share of use and enjoyment through the decades. When my fiance’s…
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“She had felt somehow that she, by mere exertion of will, could keep him alive, could bring him healing. It seemed impossible for him to die while she lived.” “Magic: The Gathering: The Thran” by J. Robert King Everything has a beginning and this stand-alone book in the Magic: the Gathering series is the beginning…
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” ‘…When a man becomes a writer, he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed.’” “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. As a fan of the few Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. books I have read so far, I was extremely pleased to find an old, endearingly battered copy…
L.S. Engler 