Cannery Row

John Steinbeck

This is a portrait of people on the margin of society, dependent on one another for both physical and emotional survival. Written in 1945 this book focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual....

A History of the World in 100 Objects

Neil MacGregor

Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects takes a bold, original approach to human history, exploring past civilizations through the objects that defined them. Encompassing a grand sweep of human history, A History of the World in 100 Objects begins with one of the earliest surviving object...