Michael Dirda's recommendations from Bound to Please (pt. 1)

1.
Vermeer: A View of Delft
Vermeer: A View of Delft 3.86 avg rating — 316 ratings
2.
Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson
Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson 4.07 avg rating — 156 ratings
3.
Les Fleurs du Mal
Les Fleurs du Mal 4.20 avg rating — 77,708 ratings
4.
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment 4.28 avg rating — 1,024,655 ratings
5.
Emerson: The Mind on Fire (Centennial Books)
Emerson: The Mind on Fire (Centennial Books) 4.43 avg rating — 745 ratings
6.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde 4.01 avg rating — 5,107 ratings
7.
Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America
Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America 3.67 avg rating — 237 ratings
8.
Nightwood
Nightwood 3.61 avg rating — 14,252 ratings
9.
Chester Himes: A Life
Chester Himes: A Life 3.83 avg rating — 52 ratings
10.
Lectures on Literature
Lectures on Literature 4.33 avg rating — 2,602 ratings
11.
The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages 3.87 avg rating — 3,559 ratings
12.
Possession
Possession 3.90 avg rating — 83,123 ratings
13.
Georges Perec: A Life in Words
Georges Perec: A Life in Words 4.33 avg rating — 162 ratings
14.
The Histories
The Histories
by: Herodotus
4.01 avg rating — 54,680 ratings
15.
The Bible: King James Version
The Bible: King James Version
by: Anonymous
3.98 avg rating — 102 ratings
16.
Tales from Ovid: 24 Passages from the Metamorphoses
Tales from Ovid: 24 Passages from the Metamorphoses 4.26 avg rating — 2,871 ratings
17.
The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph & Diversity 200–1000
The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph & Diversity 200–1000 4.18 avg rating — 684 ratings
18.
Arabian Nights. A Companion
Arabian Nights. A Companion 4.17 avg rating — 203 ratings
19.
The Name of the Rose
The Name of the Rose 4.14 avg rating — 387,272 ratings
20.
Civilization of Europe
Civilization of Europe
by: J.R. Hale
3.89 avg rating — 351 ratings
21.
William Tyndale: A Biography
William Tyndale: A Biography 4.10 avg rating — 302 ratings
22.
A Dead Man in Deptford
A Dead Man in Deptford 3.81 avg rating — 1,511 ratings
23.
The Complete Works of Francois Rabelais
The Complete Works of Francois Rabelais 4.24 avg rating — 126 ratings
24.
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self 3.89 avg rating — 4,339 ratings
25.
Mason & Dixon
Mason & Dixon 4.13 avg rating — 12,150 ratings
26.
Blake
Blake 4.07 avg rating — 902 ratings
27.
The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World
The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World 3.98 avg rating — 814 ratings
28.
Pushkin: A Biography
Pushkin: A Biography 3.79 avg rating — 387 ratings
29.
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa 4.10 avg rating — 4,048 ratings
30.
Victor Hugo: A Biography
Victor Hugo: A Biography 3.96 avg rating — 218 ratings
31.
The Letters of Gustave Flaubert, 1830-1857
The Letters of Gustave Flaubert, 1830-1857 4.52 avg rating — 162 ratings
32.
The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas 4.26 avg rating — 36,389 ratings
33.
Dom Casmurro
Dom Casmurro 4.32 avg rating — 36,383 ratings
34.
Lewis Carroll: A Biography
Lewis Carroll: A Biography 3.85 avg rating — 350 ratings
35.
John Ruskin: The Early Years
John Ruskin: The Early Years 3.35 avg rating — 20 ratings
36.
John Ruskin: The Later Years
John Ruskin: The Later Years 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings
37.
An Autobiography of Anthony Trollope
An Autobiography of Anthony Trollope 3.83 avg rating — 548 ratings
38.
William Morris: A Life for Our Time
William Morris: A Life for Our Time 4.22 avg rating — 194 ratings
39.
A.E. Housman: A Critical Biography
A.E. Housman: A Critical Biography 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
40.
Bernard Shaw, Vol. 2: The Pursuit of Power, 1898-1918
Bernard Shaw, Vol. 2: The Pursuit of Power, 1898-1918 3.91 avg rating — 22 ratings
41.
Marcel Proust: A Life
Marcel Proust: A Life 4.05 avg rating — 229 ratings
42.
Selected Letters, Vol. 4: 1918-1921
Selected Letters, Vol. 4: 1918-1921 it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
43.
Proust's Way: A Field Guide to In Search of Lost Time
Proust's Way: A Field Guide to In Search of Lost Time 3.89 avg rating — 342 ratings
44.
The Essential Remembrance of Things Past
The Essential Remembrance of Things Past 4.34 avg rating — 13,694 ratings
45.
Memoir of Italo Svevo
Memoir of Italo Svevo 3.96 avg rating — 24 ratings
46.
The Letters of T. S. Eliot: Volume 1: 1898-1922 (Volume 1)
The Letters of T. S. Eliot: Volume 1: 1898-1922 (Volume 1) 4.14 avg rating — 131 ratings
47.
Eliot's New Life
Eliot's New Life 3.88 avg rating — 17 ratings
48.
Ford Madox Ford
Ford Madox Ford
by: Alan Judd
3.91 avg rating — 23 ratings
49.
Complete Short Stories
Complete Short Stories 3.78 avg rating — 23 ratings
50.
The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa
The Selected Prose of Fernando Pessoa 4.29 avg rating — 322 ratings
51.
No Laughing Matter: The Life and Times of Flann O'Brien
No Laughing Matter: The Life and Times of Flann O'Brien 4.04 avg rating — 155 ratings
52.
Collected Fictions
Collected Fictions 4.56 avg rating — 25,156 ratings
53.
Djuna: The Life and Work of Djuna Barnes
Djuna: The Life and Work of Djuna Barnes 3.80 avg rating — 142 ratings
54.
Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett
Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett 4.28 avg rating — 575 ratings
55.
Hauntings and Other Fantastic Tales
Hauntings and Other Fantastic Tales 3.80 avg rating — 793 ratings
56.
Yours, Plum The Letters of P.G. Wodehouse
Yours, Plum The Letters of P.G. Wodehouse 4.06 avg rating — 36 ratings
57.
Algernon Blackwood: An Extraordinary Life
Algernon Blackwood: An Extraordinary Life 3.94 avg rating — 51 ratings
58.
Tarzan Forever : The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Creator of Tarzan
Tarzan Forever : The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Creator of Tarzan 3.63 avg rating — 81 ratings
59.
Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die
Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die 3.93 avg rating — 42 ratings
60.
The Avram Davidson Treasury: A Tribute Collection
The Avram Davidson Treasury: A Tribute Collection 4.15 avg rating — 210 ratings
61.
The Wine-Dark Sea
The Wine-Dark Sea 4.10 avg rating — 1,942 ratings
62.
Suspects
Suspects 3.56 avg rating — 85 ratings
63.
Sergio Leone: Something to Do With Death
Sergio Leone: Something to Do With Death 4.44 avg rating — 280 ratings
64.
Grievance (Mario Balzic Detective Mystery, #16)
Grievance (Mario Balzic Detective Mystery, #16) 3.94 avg rating — 53 ratings
65.
Second Sight (Paul Christopher #7)
Second Sight (Paul Christopher #7) 4.11 avg rating — 450 ratings
66.
Night Watch (Discworld, #29; City Watch, #6)
Night Watch (Discworld, #29; City Watch, #6) 4.50 avg rating — 116,552 ratings
67.
Theory of Prose
Theory of Prose 4.14 avg rating — 269 ratings
68.
Kipling, Auden and Co.: Essays and Reviews 1935-1964
Kipling, Auden and Co.: Essays and Reviews 1935-1964 4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings
69.
Up in the Old Hotel
Up in the Old Hotel 4.33 avg rating — 4,190 ratings
70.
My Ears Are Bent
My Ears Are Bent 4.18 avg rating — 429 ratings
71.
One Art
One Art 4.41 avg rating — 460 ratings
72.
The Sixties: The Last Journal, 1960-1972
The Sixties: The Last Journal, 1960-1972 4.12 avg rating — 26 ratings
73.
United States: Essays 1952-1992
United States: Essays 1952-1992 4.40 avg rating — 925 ratings
74.
The War Against Cliché: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000
The War Against Cliché: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000 4.09 avg rating — 1,651 ratings
75.
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette 3.88 avg rating — 1,723 ratings
76.
Robert Graves: The Years with Laura, 1926-1940
Robert Graves: The Years with Laura, 1926-1940 4.12 avg rating — 26 ratings
77.
Between Moon and Moon, 1946-72 (Selected Letters 2)
Between Moon and Moon, 1946-72 (Selected Letters 2) 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings
78.
The Locusts Have No King
The Locusts Have No King 3.94 avg rating — 568 ratings
79.
The Golden Spur
The Golden Spur 3.92 avg rating — 327 ratings
80.
Angels on Toast
Angels on Toast 3.84 avg rating — 373 ratings
81.
A Howard Nemerov Reader (Volume 1)
A Howard Nemerov Reader (Volume 1) 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings
82.
The Complete Fiction of W. M. Spackman
The Complete Fiction of W. M. Spackman 4.10 avg rating — 29 ratings
83.
Lost Property: Memoirs and Confessions of a Bad Boy
Lost Property: Memoirs and Confessions of a Bad Boy 3.24 avg rating — 85 ratings
84.
Licks of Love: Short Stories and a Sequel, "Rabbit Remembered" (Rabbit Angstrom, #5)
Licks of Love: Short Stories and a Sequel, "Rabbit Remembered" (Rabbit Angstrom, #5) 3.80 avg rating — 1,410 ratings
85.
Saint Glinglin
Saint Glinglin 3.65 avg rating — 185 ratings
86.
Surviving: the Uncollected Writings of Henry Green
Surviving: the Uncollected Writings of Henry Green 3.68 avg rating — 34 ratings
87.
Loving / Living / Party Going
Loving / Living / Party Going 3.67 avg rating — 680 ratings
88.
Nothing / Doting / Blindness
Nothing / Doting / Blindness 3.88 avg rating — 59 ratings
89.
Mulligan Stew
Mulligan Stew 3.82 avg rating — 551 ratings
90.
Riddley Walker
Riddley Walker 4.02 avg rating — 8,553 ratings
91.
Larva: A Midsummer Night's Babel
Larva: A Midsummer Night's Babel 3.90 avg rating — 96 ratings
92.
Landor's Tower: or, Imaginary Conversations
Landor's Tower: or, Imaginary Conversations 3.61 avg rating — 64 ratings
93.
The Tale of the 1002nd Night
The Tale of the 1002nd Night 3.62 avg rating — 624 ratings
94.
Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke
Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke 3.80 avg rating — 41 ratings
95.
Uncollected Poems
Uncollected Poems 4.33 avg rating — 521 ratings
96.
Embers
Embers 3.99 avg rating — 41,061 ratings
97.
The Complete Works of Isaac Babel
The Complete Works of Isaac Babel 4.36 avg rating — 696 ratings
98.
Mikhail Bulgakov: A Critical Biography (Major European Authors Series)
Mikhail Bulgakov: A Critical Biography (Major European Authors Series) 3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings
99.
Regions of the Great Heresy: Bruno Schulz, A Biographical Portrait
Regions of the Great Heresy: Bruno Schulz, A Biographical Portrait 4.25 avg rating — 111 ratings
100.
The Last Leopard: A Life of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The Last Leopard: A Life of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa 4.08 avg rating — 143 ratings