READING LA

Robert Kobrin, feature film editor: “A Walk in the Woods”by Bill Bryson; (Broadway Books).

“This is a captivating tale of obsessional behavior, the story of a novelist who decides he will walk the entire Appalachian trail. It’s a classic essay in the Thoreau school: a travel-nature piece that’s more about human nature and the human aspects of landscape.”

Gregory Slayton, software company president: “Nudist on the Late Shift” by Po Bronson; (Random House).

“This is the best guide to the Silicon Valley zeitgeist written in the last half of the ‘90s. Bronson has an incredible knack for weaving the worlds of business and technology into thought-provoking stories.”

Judith Krantz, author: “Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills”, (Houghton Mifflin).

“Two such noble, complex and fascinating characters will never exist again, nor will the ‘e-mail present’ ever produce something like this book, which is a privileged window into a glorious and incredibly important marriage.”

Carrie Odell, philanthropist: “Black and Blue” by Anna Quindlen (Dell).

“This is an incredible story about a difficult subject. A battered woman breaks free and turns out to be stronger than she ever gave herself credit for. So many women face this story every day, and it’s important for the rest of us to understand their reality.”