RECENT & READABLE

A Time to Laugh, by Laurence Thompson. The lighthearted story of poor Ga-dein, a gawky African adolescent, and his triumph over both his tribe and the British army (TIME, April 5).

Minutes of the Last Meeting, by Gene Fowler. More stories about those Hollywood musketeers, John Barrymore, W. C. Fields and Author Fowler, disguised as a biography of their colleague and poetic oracle, Sadakichi Hartmann (TIME, April 5).

The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes, by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr. New yarns lovingly constructed by a pair of contemporary Sherlock fans from "unsolved cases" mentioned in the original stories (TIME, April 5).

The Challenge of Man's Future, by Harrison Brown. A thoughtful, guardedly hopeful but dead-serious speculation about the effect of the world's increasing population on the life of man (TIME, March 22).

Moscow, by Theodor Plievier. A stunning documentary novel about the German drive on Moscow and the confusion and dismay of the Russian defenders (TIME, March 8).

The Night of the Hunter, by Davis Grubb. A beautifully written chiller about an Ohio River town and a Bible-spouting homicidal maniac (TIME, March 1).

The Bright Sands, by Robert Lewis Taylor. A good-humored novel about Cape Cod and Cape codgers (TIME, Feb. 22).

The Lady for Ransom, by Alfred Duggan. The twilight of the Byzantine Empire, caught in a fine historical novel (TIME, Feb. 8).

The Man Who Never Was, by Ewen Montagu. How British intelligence deceived the Germans about the invasion of Sicily by furnishing them a corpse whose pockets were stuffed with false war plans (TIME, Feb. 1).

The Conquest of Everest, by Sir John Hunt. An engrossing account by the leader of the expedition (TIME, Jan. 25).

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