Here’s the second installment of my weekly book selection, Friday Favorites which comes just in time for some weekend reading.

My colleague, reporter Chris Serico was interviewing actor-comedian Chevy Chase and had the chance to ask him: “Are you reading anything cool right now?”

He said he was reading “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln� by Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and Presidential historian. And at more than 900 pages, this serious historical study will keep him busy reading for a while.

As Chevy Chase said: “She’s a great historian. It looks at the perspective of Lincoln from at least three of his rivals who are running against him for the nomination. That’s (William) Seward and (Edward) Bates and (Edwin) Stanton, who are ultimately on his cabinet. And that was already magnanimous of Lincoln — so inclusive. And you get a good picture of who he was from the (extolments) of these people. And also it’s interesting that you can see some of the statements that people like Leo Tolstoy, back in 1909 or whatever — I don’t know when he said it, I think it was around then — what a great, great man Lincoln was. I mean, that kind of thing is rather exciting to consider. The man who wrote ‘War and Peace’ is extolling the virtues of Abraham Lincoln, who’s the greatest leader of his time. It’s interesting. It’s history, you know?�

Now there’s a really thoughtful book recommendation.

Frankly, I am shocked that “How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read” by a Frenchman Pierre Bayard has become a bestseller generating write-ups in nearly every literate publication from The New York Times to The Economist and The Times Literary Supplement. You can catch a whole slew of reviews, mostly ones gushing about how clever the writer is, in one of my favorite book chats at Book Browse. Some reviewers have even written their review tongue in cheek saying they hadn’t read the book they are discussing. Quite appropriate, I think.

It is not that I think anyone can or even wants to read everything — who has the time or energy? But gosh, whatever happened to listening to others talk and asking good questions. Why does the author think everyone has to be a “know it all.”