The Reading Stack

• Better Under Pressure: How Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others by Justin Menkes [Review pending]


• Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II by George MacDonald Fraser


• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

Late night reading: Refiner's Fire by Mark Helprin. A few years ago, after several unsuccessful tries, I discovered the key to appreciating Helprin. He must be read very slowly. There are single paragraphs that possess a stunning poetic beauty.