I stopped at a bookstore to pick up "Catcher in the Rye," which they didn't have and my eye fell on "The Reader" by Bernard Schlink so I bought that instead. I heard about Oprah selecting it, and about the movie, so I knew the story. Even so, I couldn't put it down. It made me think about what it is that makes a book compelling and readable. You know it when you encounter it, but its hard to pin down. There's something complete and perfect about the story and the writing. There isn't one superfluous word or scene. The main characters in this book aren't especially likeable (at least to me), but they are believable and you want to know what happens to them. Bernard Schlink will never be a favorite writer, for one thing, he has absolutely no sense of humor, but I can't think of any way this book could be better.
--holladay
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