Readers' picks

My favorite new book is The Unworn Necklace (collection of haiku and senryu) by Roberta Beary. It is beautiful, heartwarming, and real. – Fonda Bell Miller, Alexandria, Va.

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, is one of the best historical novels I've ever read. It's very noticeable that Mosse did her "homework" before writing this book. It was a delight to read from beginning to end. – Margaret Ellis, Fairfax, Va.

Reading What Are People For?: Essays by Wendell Berry is like getting a fascinating letter from a wise, loving friend. Berry's thoughtful comments on writers from Virgil and Milton to Abbey and Stegner as well as about our relationships to one another and to the earth on which we live are well worth passing on to our children and grandchildren. I love this book.– Anita Alvarez Williams, Boulevard, Calif.

Power, Faith, and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren gives a great introduction to the US relationship with the Middle East from the Barbary states to Iran, from 1776 to the present. The information is fascinating. Who knew the US Navy was created to fight the Barbary states?– Kirsten Pape, Granville, Ohio

G.K. Chesterton's Heretics – wow!!– Richard Oliver, Casper, Wyo.

I just finished rereading The Coroner's Lunch, the first of Colin Cotterill's mysteries about the very unusual (and only) coroner in 1970s Laos following the Communist takeover. You'll never meet a more memorable character than Siri Paiboun in this amusing and enlightening series.– Kathy Walls, Kanab, Utah

I was given a copy of The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers and have hardly been able to read anything else since!– Doug Loftis, Fairfax, Va.

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