A beautiful, engaging look at an obstinate family of loggers on the Oregon coast. The book is wrapped up in its location, describing it perfectly. A modern classic in every way.

A decent collection of the essays Orwell wrote between the late thirties and the mid forties. Covers a range of topics, from his school days to the Spanish Civil War to Henry Miller, all of them with lucidity and focus. One of the best essay writers ever to grace the English language, regardless of his topic.

A beautiful piece of American Gothic from Jackson. The offbeat language and ideas of the narrator, a young woman who lives in isolation with her sister and uncle after the rest of their family is poisoned, show Jackson's poetic skill at imagistic pastiche. Highly enjoyable.

A solid guide to grammar and writing style. Anyone who writes should have a copy.

Beautiful, funny, grumpy and occasionally touching poetry from one of the great masters of the art. A new favorite.

Decent history of horror cinema from its earliest days up through the early 1970s. Comes from a British perspective (a lot of notes on how the films were censored in Britain) and the author does have his biases, but if you are looking for a solid guide to horror cinema's early days you can't do much better.

Part of my project to read as many different English translations of Borges as I can find. A solid collection of his stories, though the translations are hit and miss compared to some of the ones found in "Labyrinths" or even the Andrew Hurley-translated "Collected Fictions."

Short, concise primer on philosophical questions, at least in regards to logic and the nature of reality and thought. Russell attempts to make the subject readable for novices, though it's difficult given some of the heady areas he goes into.

Quick, fascinating and, given its age, surprisingly relevant look at modern electronic media and its effects on our perception of our world.

Interesting piece of speculative fiction that describes a dystopian society where women are entirely subjugated to men, seen through the eyes of a "handmaiden," whose only purpose to the state is to breed children. Examines the roles of gender and power in a stark political context. It often feels emotionally disconnected, but it's still an enthralling read.