Books of the season

Most years the Register's Commentary pages feature a bunch of books just before the Christmas season, hoping we'll stir a little interest. Here is this year's set of recommendations, from Mark Landsbaum and me. I reviewed John Lukacs' "At the End of an Age," Norman Lebrecht's "The Life and Death of Classical Music" (actually about the recording end and including the 100 best and 20 worst classical recordings of all time), Gwynne Dyers' "After Iraq," and John McWhorter's "All Abut the Beat," about hip-hop, from a realistic fan of the genre. Also a well-done spy novel by first-time author (and Sacramento labor lobbyist) Barry Broad called "The Eve of Destruction." I repeat here that they're all worth reading and/or giving as presents.