Thirteen top stories about pride

"[V]ice ... is what makes characters interesting," writes Kathryn Williams at The Barnes & Noble Book Blog in her introduction to a reading list on pride. One book she tagged:

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel

Henry VIII had enough self-regard to completely dismantle the religious underpinnings of his country for the privilege of upgrading to the newer model. Epic balls.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Wolf Hall made the Barnes & Noble Review's list of books on baby-watching in Great Britain, Julie Buntin's top ten list of literary kids with deadbeat and/or absent dads, Hermione Norris's 6 best books list, John Mullan's list of ten of the best cardinals in literature, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on dangerous minds and Lev Grossman's list of the top ten fiction books of 2009, and is one of Geraldine Brooks's favorite works of historical fiction; Matt Beynon Rees called it "[s]imply the best historical novel for many, many years."

--Marshal Zeringue