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John Long

Recent columns

• Assault on religious liberty
• Some people need firing
• You missed the boat; too bad
• Christmas during war

From the RoundTable blog

There are a lot of ways to measure the accomplishments of a year gone by, but one I like to consider is "what worthwhile books did I read in the last 12 months?"

I read a fair amount, though not nearly as much as I used to. These days, much of my available reading time is taken over by student research papers and bluebooks, or by the same children's books read over and over and over at bedtime -- much to the mutual delight of reader and readees.

Even so, I try to experience a memorable tome as often as I can. And I do consider a good book an experience, like taking a trip. There are some books -- Dickens' works come to mind -- that I may never re-read, but, like a one-time voyage to an exotic land, I will never forget. A mediocre book might enliven a day. A good book enriches a life.

I have no illusion that my taste in reading material would be shared by many others. For instance, I seldom read much fiction, while others, like my wife, devour it. Still, I'm happy to recommend a few books I enjoyed in '08.

As a local historian, I try to read anything that comes out on the regional past, and it was a good year for local history buffs. Rand Dotson's excellent "Roanoke: Magic City of the New South" takes a fresh and academic look at the first 20 years of the city of Roanoke, and includes some attention to the seamier (and often ignored) details involved in the growth of a railroad boomtown. Former Roanoke mayor Nelson Harris' "Greater Raleigh Court" cogently explores the development of the neighborhood in which he (and I) grew up.

World War II is another fascination of mine. Preparatory to taking a group of students to tour Normandy, I re-read Stephen Ambrose's wonderful "D-Day" and "Citizen Soldiers," and assigned the same to my students.

After the death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, I re-read his short but important novella "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." The semi-autobiographical account of a victim of Stalin's purges shines the light of truth on totalitarianism, but is also a tribute to the endurance of the human spirit.

Ancient Rome also intrigues me. One of my favorite books ever is Robert Graves' "I, Claudius." If you enjoyed the PBS miniseries years ago, the book is much better. I also picked through some enlightening selections of Suetonius' "Lives of the Twelve Caesars." If you think political corruption and public decadence are products of the modern world, go back 1,900 years and see how little things have changed.

I don't remember what made me pick up "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls, but after a few pages I couldn't put it down. Walls grew up in a poverty-stricken and dysfunctional -- yet oddly charming -- family in West Virginia. How she made peace with her parents, her past and herself makes a great story of perseverance.

As a Christian, I started Jeffery Sheler's "Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America" with some trepidation, but found it a balanced exposé. A reporter for U.S. News and World Report, Sheler explored a subculture all-too-often ignored or mischaracterized by the mainstream media but shared by some 60 million of your neighbors.

I didn't plan it this way, but the next book I read was Chuck Colson's "The Faith: What Christians Believe." The two books made an interesting juxtaposition. Sheler began with the premise that popular culture does not know who evangelical Christians are. Colson postulates that evangelicals don't know who they are, either. Both sides would do well to realize that Christianity is a comprehensive worldview.

Perhaps these last two deal with obscure subject matters, but I enjoyed them enough to recommend. "A Needle in the Right Hand of God" by R. Howard Bloch is a fascinating exploration of the Bayeux Tapestry, a 230-foot embroidered panorama retelling the events of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. "The Buried Book" by David Damrosch tells the story of the loss and rediscovery of the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, the earliest known heroic tale.

Some people look at a new year as a blank slate. I look at it as an empty bookshelf. Can't wait to see what I put on it.

Long, a Roanoke Times columnist, is director of the Salem Museum and teaches history at Roanoke College.