Random Walk in My Library

The title Random Walk by my Library is prompted by what I regularly do; walk by my library, look at the covers and pull out different books that I read in the past and want to browse or, in some cases, read again. The series of reviews included in this book is the result of these walks. Apparently, there is no particular reason for the choice, but now that they are together I can see some patterns and some underlying themes that attracted my attention and desire to share my views on these texts.
Some of these reviews have connections. Several have a relation to everyday human tragedies, mostly examples of deceit, seduction, adultery, and their consequences.
Terrorism is another topic found in books with fanatics as the main characters or individuals manipulated by governments that use terror to promote their interests.
Another set of books is a selection of letters written by famous people like those between Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse, two great Nobel Prize Winners.

"All these are readers, and their gestures, their craft, the pleasure, the responsibility and the power they derive from reading, are common with mine. I am not alone."
Alberto Manguel, The History of Reading
A classic is a book which has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers.
Italo Calvino. Why Read the Classics