If you’re lucky enough to have a newspaper that reprints articles from the Washington Post, you may have read some of the dazzling pieces in The Fiddler in the Subway: The Story of the World-Class Violinist Who Played for Handouts. . . And Other Virtuoso Performances by America’s Foremost Feature Writer. The “fiddler” in question is Joshua Bell, the virtuoso violinist who played in the Washington, D.C. subway and was mostly ignored. Only a few of the commuters recognized him. Mystery fans will enjoy Weingarten’s article on Leslie McFarlane who wrote many of the Hardy Boy novels under “Franklin W. Dixon.” I’ve been a fan of Gene Weingarten for years. If you haven’t read his work, you’re missing out on a masterful writer. Fiddler in the Subway is a terrific collection of Weigarten’s work. GRADE: A

This season of MAD MEN sparkled with the energy of the first season. Once again, Don Draper is threatened. First, his false identity was almost revealed when his advertising firm attempted to do business with a defense contractor. The security check put Don into conniptions. Then the entire firm teeters on bankruptcy when their biggest client, Lucky Strike, dumps them. In a desperate move, Don Draper takes out an advertisement in the New York Times with the headline: “Why I Gave Up Tobacco.” Don sees the problems the cigarette companies are going to be facing before they do. Of course, Don’s partners think he’s insane. And, in Don’s personal life, plenty of women sleep with him. His wayward daughter, Sally, tests everyone’s limits. It’s going to be a long wait until next summer before anything this good appears on TV.

I’ve been an admirer of Tony Dungy for years. I liked his quiet, but firm style of coaching. Dungy brought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the brink of the Super Bowl (they won it the next year after Dungy was fired–Jon Gruden got the credit). Fortunately, the Indianapolis Colts hired Dungy and he took them to the playoffs and finally to a Super Bowl win. Tony Dungy’s The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently holds plenty of great football stories. Dungy talks about helping Michael Vick rebuild his career and his life. He also talks about the huge effect Chuck Noll, coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Dungy was a player (and later a coach) had on his life. The chief secrets Dungy shares is that leaders must be teachers and role models. Nothing earth-shattering, but execution is everything. GRADE: B

Ed Gorman mentioned on James Reasoner’s blog that Clifton Adams had written five or six of the best westerns ever. Imagine my dismay at reading those words with the realization that while I had a stack of Clifton Adams’ novels, I’d never read one of them! Well, that deficiency has been rectified by my enjoyment of Clifton Adams’ Tragg’s Choice first published in 1969. Tragg is an aging performer. As a U. S. Marshal, he shot a desperado ten years before and then went on a lecture tour to cash in on his fame. But, after ten years, audiences have forgotten the desperado and Tragg finds himself looking for another profession. He meets Jessie Ross, girlfriend of a contemporary desperado with a $10,000 bounty on his head. Jessie tries to talk Tragg into helping her collect the bounty on her boyfriend, but Tragg wants nothing to do with it. A hired assassin, a crazed killer, and a lynch mob keep the plot of Tragg’s Choice unpredictable. Tragg’s Choice won the Spur Award in 1969 for Best Western Novel. It’s well deserved.

Arvo Part’s “Fourth Symphony,” written in 2008 for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is scored for strings, harp, and percussion. This is melancholy music. Think of Symphony 4 as a cousin to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Stings and you won’t be far off. This CD includes excerpts from “Kanon Pokajanen,” sung by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir led by Tonu Kaljuste. If you like Part’s music, you’ll want to hear this. GRADE: A-

Sigrid Nunez’s latest novel, Salvation City, revolves around a deadly flu pandemic that kills millions in the U.S. and around the world. Cole, a teenager whose parents die in the plague, finds himself adopted by a fundamentalist religious couple. Cole, also a plague victim, recovers with some memory problems. As Cole tries to adjust to his new parents and a whole new post-plague world, the past starts to exert its power as his memory slowly returns. I found Salvation City reminiscent of post-nuclear holocaust novels of the 1950s. This book could also have been marketed as a Young Adult novel. GRADE: B

I love all of Nancy Pearl’s collections of book lists: BOOK LUST and MORE BOOK LUST and BOOK CRUSH (books for kids and teens). Now we have BOOK LUST TO GO: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers. Like her previous books, librarian Nancy Pearl recommends wonderful books in every conceivable category. And, the amazing part is Pearl seems to have read every book she recommends! As I grow older and travel becomes more onerous, reading travel books provides an entertaining escape without all the aggravation. Check out this new Nancy Pearl volume. It’s a browser’s delight! GRADE: A

I read the novels in this wonderful LIBRARY OF AMERICA volume as they were published, but it’s nice to have them in one handy volume. Saul Bellow: Novels 1970-1982 includes some of Bellow’s best novels: Mr. Sammler’s Planet, Humboldt’s Gift, and The Dean’s December. I’m constantly surprised at the number of people I encounter who haven’t read Saul Bellow. Trust me, that Nobel Prize for Literature that he won in 1976 was well deserved. And, sadly, Bellow doesn’t appear on college reading lists, either. I’m mystified by the academic neglect of one of our greatest novelists. If you haven’t read these fine novels, you’re in for a treat. You can find the LIBRARY OF AMERICA volumes discounted substantially in bookstores and online. GRADE: A

Emma Stone as suburban high school student in California delights in this comic confection. Emma pretends to have sex with a friend trying to disguise his gay proclivities and that “good intention” leads her to pretending to have sex with a number of high school social outcasts. However, as the outcasts’ social status goes up after encounters with Emma, her own social status goes way down. In English class, taught by “cool” teacher Thomas Haden Church, the class is reading Hawthorne’s classic: The Scarlet Letter. Emma, feeling the student body against her, starts dressing provocatively and wearing a scarlet A on her breast. Emma has high powered parents: Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. Lisa Kudrow plays a ditzy guidance counselor who will make you laugh. Easy A is very entertaining and surprisingly sweet. GRADE: B+