The author, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, is the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, and aims to convert even the most sun-loving reader.

ECONOMIST: Meteorology

The emphasis on dance in French opera started with Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), himself a dancer, who became the court composer to France's music-loving "Sun King, " Louis XIV.

NPR: Opera Beyond Words: Rameau's Radiant Dances

The young man who emerges from Virgil Tanase's biography in particular is seductive, funny and loving, but constantly on the move: between the raw, sun-drenched Mediterranean and cramped, grey Paris, ever in search of respite from crippling bouts of tuberculosis, as well as comfort from the various women he charmed and loved with a passion.

ECONOMIST: In search of the real Camus