Book recommendations from the Biblioracle

John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.

1. “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

2. “The Most Fun We Ever Had” by Claire Lombardo

3. “The Mirror and the Light” by Hilary Mantel

4. “The Book of Longings” by Sue Monk Kidd

5. “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson

— Mary Ann I., Oak Park

If Mary Ann hasn’t yet read Marilynne Robinson’s “Home,” she’s in for a treat.

1. “Brown Dog” by Jim Harrison

2. “Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery” by Henry Marsh

3. “Last Bus to Wisdom” by Ivan Doig

4. “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles

5. “Stoner” by John Williams

— Jim E., Naperville

I think Jim will enjoy the work of Ron Rash, a masterful chronicler of the western Carolinas: “One Foot in Eden.”

1. “The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light” by Paul Bogard

2. “How the Scots Invented the Modern World” by Arthur Herman

3. “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex” by Nathaniel Philbrick

4. “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries” by Kory Stamper

5. “The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily ot the Gates of Dachau” by Alex Kershaw

— Bob J., Rockford

Bob looks to be a fan of narrative history about people and subjects off the beaten path, which brings to mind Paul Collins’ “Banvard’s Folly,” a collection of narrative historical essays that will have you marveling that such people existed and such things happened.