J. Peder Zane:Literature's great subject may be our connection to the world, but I've always thought of these books pages as an island off the coast of The News & Observer.

J. Peder Zane:If I could burst through this page, I'd give you a copy of "With." Donald Harington's 2004 magical novel about a kidnapped girl who grows up in an Edenic (and haunted) patch of the Ozarks is one of the best books I've read since becoming The N&O's book review editor in 1996.

J. Peder Zane:If Don Imus collected his radio program's greatest hits, "nappy-headed hos" wouldn't make the cut.

J. Peder Zane:Before I praise Oprah, let me tell you about this very French man I read about in The New York Times.

J. Peder Zane:If a great historical event occurs but no one remembers it, did it really happen? The question arose last fall as I read Timothy B. Tyson's stirring account of the race riot that ripped through Wilmington in 1898.

J. Peder Zane:Let's be honest: Investigative journalism can make readers feel like they're trapped in the movie "Groundhog Day."

J. Peder Zane:Yin and yang? Cognitive dissonance? Whatever you call it, Book World spins your head. While reading, your brain and bosom are filled with wonder and hope.

J. Peder Zane:Nowadays, when the soundtrack of our lives thunders "do what you wanna do, be what you wanna be," the concept of free will sounds so 16th century.

J. Peder Zane:Birds singing, flowers blooming, sun shining-- it's time to fall in love. Readers eager for a spring fling will have no trouble falling head over heels as top authors offer enchanting objects of affection.

J. Peder Zane:After completing two towering masterpieces, "Anna Karenina" and "War and Peace," Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) began working on the book he would consider his most important contribution to humanity.

J. Peder Zane:Everything has a history -- even Black History Month. Known as Negro History Week when it was launched in 1926, it was brainchild of Carter G. Woodson, a Virginia scholar known as the Father of Black History.

J. Peder Zane:What am I doing? I don't ask myself that question too often for fear of a wide range of probable answers. But it was hard to avoid in a recent discussion with a distinguished historian -- we have some crazy times over here at book central.

J. Peder Zane:How hard is it to win an award? Competition begins with 170,000 contestants. That's about how many books are published in the United States each year.

J. Peder Zane:'What are you optimistic about?" editor John Brockman asked some of the world's leading scientists on his Web site, www.edge.org.

J. Peder Zane:Peering into their crystal telescopes, the world's leading scientists see a magnificent future: