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During the 1940s and '50s, Dameron focused his considerable compositional talents on the emerging jazz style called bebop. During a relatively brief period, Dameron composed a body of work that helped define and expand the parameters of this music.

Once upon a time, it was fashionable to adore all things French. Those days are gone — remember "freedom fries"? — but author Danielle Trussoni is convinced that there are plenty of Americans who still love French culture, fashion and food. Trussoni recommends three books about France — all with a certain je ne sais quoi.

David Remnick has a nearly impossible task in his new biography of Barack Obama: writing "the most complete account yet" of the most famous man on the planet. The well-written and well-researched book may be ahead of its time; the events in it are so familiar right now that its scholarship may resonate better in 20 years.

Best-selling mystery novelist James Patterson may be known for his thrillers, but the little book that profoundly influenced his writing was far less conspicuous. Mrs. Bridge, the tale of a Kansas City husband and wife, would stay with him forever.

Food writer Nigella Lawson knows that the holiday season can be overstuffed with planning and decorating. She offers Renee Montagne two recipes — chocolate chip chili and a Christmas-y rocky road — to help keep things warm and simple.

In James' Portrait of a Lady, Isabel Archer is wise enough to understand that if you're not happy without a man, you certainly won't be happy with one. Writer Rhoda Janzen loves the book because it shows what a woman does once she acknowledges her own complicity in the life she has chosen.

George Orwell's dystopian vision offers such devastating political commentary that it's rarely described as a suspense novel. But author and former CIA operative Barry Eisler says the book simply proves just how powerful a thriller with a message can be.

Gabrielle Hamilton wanted her restaurant, Prune, to be a place where a waiter would bring you a meal "that you didn't even ask for when you arrived ... undone by your day in the city." Her captivating memoir carves skillfully into longing and meaning as it relates to food.

Crosley says the novel by Irvine Welsh — also the author of Trainspotting — aces every category of "dirty" we have. Reading it, she explains, is like watching "a rusty car careen into a garbage dump of filthy phonetics and explode into a strangely beautiful ball of flames."

Based on The Count of Monte Cristo, Alfred Bester's saga The Stars My Destination will transport you off the couch and into a roiling world of futuristic teleportation. Author John Baxter says the book injects new life and energy into a classic tale.