Good reads suggested from across the pond

Jenny and I became friends in the l970s in Bristol, England where we worked at a teacher training college. She was in the art department and I worked in the library. We've remained friends, sometimes exchanging visits, but mainly keeping in touch through letters and via e-mail.

Since we're readers, we often share what we've been reading. In this way, I have learned about books I would have otherwise missed. While England and the United States share a language and sometimes marketing of books, there are differences.

Jenny has been visiting us for the last fortnight and once again I have quizzed her about recent good reads. I found her choices most interesting.

"My father fought on the Western Front in World War I, so I have been very interested in Anne Perry's series of five books about the Reavley siblings. Several mysteries are solved in the series, but I particularly appreciated the meticulous details of life on the Western Front and the bravery of the soldiers in the midst of the horror of the trenches. I'm just finishing 'At Some Disputed Barricade' now. It's the fourth in the series and I understand the fifth and final book will be available shortly.

"My late husband was a theological scholar. For years I heard him speak of the work of Geza Vermes who was born a Jew, raised as a Christian and only as a grown man returned to the Jewish faith. Vermes is now professor emeritus of Jewish studies at Oxford. I just finished reading Vermes' book 'Changing Faces of Jesus' in which he analyzes the Bible to find the man, Jesus, of his time. The picture you get from this book and from Vermes' earlier book, 'Jesus the Jew' is of Jesus in a context extending back to the prophets of the Old Testament and up to John the Baptist.

"As a young woman, I happened to spend some time in Italy and have been fascinated with that beautiful country every since. Author Donna Leon was born in Italy and is one of my favorite mystery writers. Her Commissario Brunetti series not only takes me back to Venice but also presents a believable hero who loves his family and good food and engages in humane detective work. I just finished Leon's book, 'Fatal Remedies.' It features a moral dilemma I pondered long after I finished the book.

"I recently visited Rome. Before my trip I read Robert Harris' 'Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome.' Set between 79 and 64 B. C., it's the first 20 years of Cicero's career as told by a slave who served as his secretary. Cicero was an outsider, a country person. But he had ambition and a burning quest for imperium--the ultimate power of the state. He also was a gifted orator and skilled politician. He was a 'good guy' as you might say in America, but the book also shows the price that politics exacts from all who work in that arena. The book was so thrilling and made the era come alive for me. On my visit to Rome, I could almost see men in togas at the Coliseum and the Forum. I understand it's the first of a trilogy, and I will be asking my librarian to put me on the list as each new tome is released."

For a literary experience closer to home, tune in to my podcast with Illinois poet Larry Janowski at www.sarahlong.org, or see the interview on our cable show, "What's New in Libraries?" You can find broadcast information for your community at www.whatsnewinlibraries.org.