History through the Operaglass

When I found this book, about 4 years ago, I was thrilled that one of my favorite subjects had been addressed and compiled at such length. Opera tends to tap the most dramatic of stories, so there are plenty of fictional or mythological plots, but many librettists have seen dramatic potential in real stories. That is not to say that "historically based" operas are always accurate: sometimes they can have more legend in them than those based in myth.George Jellinek guides the reader through approximately 1800 years of opera plots, from Giulio Cesare to Tosca and many others in between. Google Books also has a preview and e-book available.

Perhaps someday this book will be updated to the modern era.

Books for summer and beyond

It's summer, and I have more time to read. Here are 27 of the books which I return to over and again, in no particular order, with some quick keywords and Google or Amazon previews when possible. I could write blurbs about all of them, but in most cases the previews explain better than I could. Suffice it to say that what I love most about a book is an author you can connect with, and handsome writing.

Davies, Norman: Europe: a History not so conservative European history
Mumford, Lewis: The City in History
Johnson, Paul: Modern Times conservative American history
Gould, Steven Jay: Wonderful Life on the Burgess Shale fossil deposit
Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina
Hawthorne, Nathaniel: Short Stories try “The Great Stone Face” and “The Wives of the Dead”
Morrison, Samuel Eliot: Old Bruin - life of Matthew C. Perry
Gombrich, E. M.: Little History of the World
Sandburg, Carl: Remembrance Rock nostalgic American epic
Van Loon, Conrad: Van Loon's Lives quirky biography
Dickens, Charles: Dombey and Son
Dawkins, Richard: The Ancestor's Tale evolution in fast rewind
Cozzens, James Gould: By Love Possessed
Russo, Richard: Straight Man college professor humor
Barbery, Muriel: The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Schmitt, Eric Emmanuel: Il Lottatore di Sumo che non diventava grosso *not yet in English that I can find, but well worth the read if you speak Italian.
Atkins, Peter: The Periodic Kingdom chemical geography
McPhee, John: Annals of the Former World *a collection of 5 books* geology and America
Robertson, Don: Praise the Human Season a shared life
Melville, Herman: Moby Dick beautiful words
Conroy, Frank: Body and Soul a musical life
Helprin, Mark: Freddy and Fredericka Charles and Diana
Sobel, Dava: Longitude John Harrison’s chronometer
Livy: Ab Urbe Condita *links to books 1-8, 9-38 also available* nostalgic Roman history
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander: The Cancer Ward humanity 
Connolly, John: The Book of Lost Things modern fable
Steve Hely: How I became a famous novelist book humor