  Thursday, March 15, 2012  "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The Secret History is blessed with the absolute best
combination: brilliant writing and a riveting story. Why can't
all books be like this? Well, really, I don't need
allthebooksintheworld to be this good: just all the books I
read. So I guess the real question is, why can't all the books I
choose to read be this great? I suppose the answer lies buried
somewhere beneath my penchant for giving obscure books a chance
as long as they're cheap.  But never mind--this book certainly
didn't fall in the category of cheap, obscure books. I can't for
the life of me remember when or where I bought it, but I'm
pretty sure I actually paid full price for it, based on previous
assurances that I would love it. Not only is it on this list,
but my favorite person claims it as a favorite book.  And love
it I did. I was enthralled by the unfolding story. It wasn't
truly the narrator's story; it was merely a record of the events
he observed. Californian Richard Pape