This collection of five dozen pieces of literary criticism was published in the Washington Post between March 2003 and January 2010. It is a collection of Yardley's opinions of books that he believes are worthy of a second look. They scan the realms of fiction, biography and autobiography, memoirs, and history.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic shares recollections and reviews from his career at the Washington Post. In this book, Jonathan Yardley considers lesser-known works from renowned authors and underappreciated talents, and offers fresh takes on old favorites. Yardley's reviews of sixty titles include fiction by Gabriel García Márquez, John Cheever, and Henry Fielding; the autobiography of Louis Armstrong; essays by Nora Ephron; and Margaret Leech's history of Washington during the Civil War. Second Reading is also the memoir of a passionate and lifelong reader told through the books that have meant the most to him. Playing the part of both reviewer and bibliophile, Yardley takes on Steinbeck and Salinger, explores the southern fiction of Shirley Ann Grau and Eudora Welty, looks into a darker side of Roald Dahl, and praises the pulp fiction of William Bradford Huie and the crime novels of John D. MacDonald. Collected from a popular Washington Post column of the same name, Second Reading is an incisive and entertaining look at the career and times of an esteemed critic and the venerable books that shaped him. This delightful consideration reminds readers that thoughtful criticism and a lively sense of fun can exist side by side.

H.M. Pulham, Esq., by John P. Marquand -- W.C. Fields: his follies and fortunes, by Robert Lewis Taylor -- The autumn of the patriarch, by Gabriel García Márquez -- Reveille in Washington, by Margaret Leech -- The twelve Caesars, by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves -- Lucky Jim, by Kingley Amis -- The dreadful lemon sky, by John D. MacDonald -- The woman within, by Ellen Glasgow -- Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding -- Paper Tiger, by Stanley Woodward -- The Reivers, by William Faulkner -- Notes of a native son, by James Baldwin -- Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier -- Someone like you, by Roald Dahl -- The long season, by Jim Brosnan -- Speak, memory, by Vladimir Nabokov -- The housebreaker of Shady Hill, by John Cheever -- The boys on the bus, by Timothy Crouse -- The sketch book, by Washington Irving -- The catcher in the rye, by J.D. Salinger -- Crazy salad, by Nora Ephron -- A new life, by Bernard Malamud -- Cyrano, by Edmund Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker -- The house on Coliseum Street, by Shirley Ann Grau -- Pogo, by Walt Kelly -- The habit of being: the letters of Flannery O'Conner, edited by Sally Fitzgerald -- The death of the heart, by Elizabeth Bowen -- Satchmo: my life in New Orleans, by Louis Armstrong -- The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin -- Look at me, by Anita Brookner -- Beat to quarters, by C.S. Forester -- The fathers, by Allen Tate -- Sula, by Toni Morrison -- The revolt of Mamie Stover, by William Bradford Huie -- The robber bridegroom, by Eudora Welty -- Fanny Hill, by John Cleland -- Poets in their youth, by Eileen Simpson -- The damnation of Theron Ware, by Harold Frederic -- A moveable feast, by Ernest Hemingway -- The great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- My life and hard times, by James Thurber -- The woman warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston -- Mr. Blandings builds his dream house, by Eric Hodgins -- Morte d'Urban, by J.F. Powers -- I was dancing, by Edwin O'Connor -- Only yesterday, by Frederick Lewis Allen -- Slouching towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion -- Lie down in darkness, by William Styron -- Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck -- The rector of Justin, by Louis Auchincloss -- The shooting party, by Isabel Colegate -- The elements of style, by William Strunk and E.B. White -- Act one, by Moss Hart -- Black boy, by Richard Wright -- The young lions, by Irwin Shaw -- Newspaper days, by H.L. Mencken -- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain -- Pomp and circumstance, by Noel Coward -- The bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder -- The collected stories of Peter Taylor -- The rest of the list This collection of five dozen pieces of literary criticism was published in the Washington Post between March 2003 and January 2010. It is a collection of Yardley's opinions of books that he believes are worthy of a second look. They scan the realms of fiction, biography and autobiography, memoirs, and history