"The Book You Have to Read"

Earlier this year Patti Abbott launched a series about "books we love but might have forgotten over the years. I have asked several people to help me [she wrote] by also remembering a favorite book.... I'm worried great books of the recent past are sliding out of print and out of our consciousness. Not the first-tier classics we all can name, but the books that come next."

The initiative has been a remarkable success, with Abbott and her associates at several blogs posting (on Friday's) the recommendation by people who know books.

For example, today The Rap Sheet posted its 34th installment of its posts in the series:

The Book You Have to Read: “The Scarf,” by Robert Bloch

Bill Crider's pick:

DRIVE EAST ON 66 -- Richard Wormser

And at Abbott's site, Debby Atkinson recommends:

Gun, With Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem

Looking for a forgotten book that you have to read? Suggestions pop up every Friday at these and other sites.

--Marshal Zeringue