LadyBlue@abctales.com

At the moment I am reading 3 lovely books.

• “Rumpole and The Reign of Terror,” by John Mortimer.
This latest in the Rumpole series pits England’s most politically incorrect old lawyer against a modern establishment that has set aside civil liberties to combat terrorists. Yet Mortimer somehow maintains his estimable sense of humor, and She Who Must Be Obeyed is the object of alien affections.

• “Prime Green: Remembering The Sixties,” by Robert Stone.
Stone is one of the great novelists to come out of the 1960s (“Dogs of War,” “Children of Light,” “Damascus Gate,” etc.), and his recollections of the era are fascinating. His memories of drugs, hippies, tabloid journalism and Vietnam are worth sharing.

• “The Audacity of Hope,” by Barrack Obama.
Barrack Obama has an outside chance to lead the free world someday soon, so you should read this book. In it, the first-term Illinois senator reveals himself to be a Bill Clinton type — a moderate-seeming liberal — minus the bimbo eruptions (at least, so far).

Other books I have read in the last year are:

• “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy, Knopf. The world as we know it has ended, we don’t know how, but love endures between father and son. This book contains terror, imagination and a stark vision of the apocalypse.

• “Gallatin Canyon,” by Thomas McGuane, A great short story writer, returns to his favored genre with 10 new stories, including the one of the title, which is brilliant.

• “The Lay of the Land,” by Richard Ford.
This is the third in Ford’s cycle about Frank Bascombe, sports writer-turned real estate novelist. Well, it’s actually about American life as we know it, sadly. Ford is one of our best living novelists, and his last work in this trilogy (Independence Day) won the Pulitzer.

• “The Creation,” by E.O. Wilson. Skeptics who do not believe in the threat of global warming should read this book. A renowned Harvard biologist writes to an imagined Southern Baptist preacher to enlist understanding and cooperation to save the earth. The book is clear, accessible and persuasive.

• “Echo Park,” by Michael Connelly.
I don’t think anyone writes crime fiction better than Connelly. This is the latest in his Harry Bosch series, and it’s a stunner involving a 20-year-old unsolved murder and a serial killer genius.

• “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor.
This book of odd Southern-gothic short stories makes the list of my 20 favorite books of all time.

• “The Mission Song,” John LeCarre.
The Cold War is over, but LeCarre still finds material for angst and intrigue. Here, an African-born interpreter intercedes with multinational corporations and brutal African warlords while his marriage crumbles.

• “Robert E. Lee,” by Roy Blount Jr.
There’s value in this brief, readable biography of Lee, who has been vilified as a defender of slavery or canonized by Southern apologists. The truth, of course, lies somewhere between the extremes. Surprisingly, Blount argues that Lee was less than a brilliant military strategist.