What is a Book Club Kit?
A book club kit contains 15 paperback copies of one title, a discussion guide to assist book club leaders and when available, a large print copy of the same title, and a DVD or video relating to the book. These items are placed in a canvas tote for your convenience and checked out to you for six weeks. Just grab it and go!
How do I Reserve a Kit?
Kits can be reserved up to three years in advance so that your group can plan their upcoming year and schedule the appropriate book kit for each month. You must see your library?s book club kit manager to schedule kits. Kits cannot be requested via the library catalog, however you can see what kits are currently available for reserves by using the General Keyword search in the library catalog, typing in the term book club kit and then pressing enter on your keyboard.
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Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Nasland-Inspired by a brief passage in Moby Dick, Sena Jeter Naslund has created an enthralling and compellingly readable saga, spawning a rich, eventful, and dramatic life. At once a family drama, a romantic adventure, and a portrait of a real and loving marriage, Ahab's Wife gives a new perspective on the American experience.
All Souls: A Family Story From Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald- A saga if the MacDonald family caught up in a web violence, injustice and rage in South Boston.
Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler-From the inimitable Pulitzer Prize-winning
author of "Breathing Lessons" comes a rich and compelling novel--a "New York
Times" bestseller--about a mismatched marriage, and its consequences spanning three generations.
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix - In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt-"When I look back on my childhood I wonder
how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depressionera Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland.
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown- A Harvard symbologist analyzes a mysterious symbol seared to the chest of murdered physicist and discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood to carry out its vendetta against the Catholic Church.
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner- Wallace Stegner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning
novel is a story of discovery – personal, historical and geographical. Confined to a wheelchair, retired historian Lyman Ward sets out to write his grandparents’
remarkable story, chronicling their days spent carving civilization into the surface of America’s western frontier. But his research reveals even more about his own life than he’s willing to admit. What emerges is an enthralling portrait of four
generations in the life of an American family.
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik- Five friends live through three decades of marriages, child raising, neighborhood parties, bad husbands and good brownies. When Faith Owens's husband is transferred from Texas to the "stupid godforsaken frozen tundra" of Freesia Court, Minn., in 1968, her life looks like it's going to be one dull, snowy slog-until the power goes out one evening and a group of what appear to be madwomen start a snowball fight in her backyard.
Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen & Bruce Coville - Fourteen-year-old Marina and sixteen-year-old Jed accompany their parents' religious cult, the Believers, to await the end of the world atop a remote mountain, where they try to decide what they themselves believe.
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver- Outspoken, gritty Taylor Greer, leaves
Kentucky to head west. She becomes mother to an abandoned baby and ends up sharing a room with a young, battered divorcee who also has a little girl. Despite the hurt and rage, themes of love and nurturing emerge.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo - Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian-On a balmy July night in New Hampshire a shot rings out in a garden, and a man falls to the ground, terribly wounded. The wounded man is Spencer McCullough, the shot that hit him was fired (accidentally?) by his adolescent daughter Charlotte. It's a family saga that is timely in its examination of some of the most important issues of our era, and timeless in its exploration of the strange and unexpected places where we find love.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett-Celebrated American soprano Roxane Coss has just
finished a recital in the home of the vice-president of a poor South American country when terrorists burst in, intent on taking the country's president hostage. The president, however, has not attended the concert, which is a birthday tribute in honor of a Japanese business tycoon and opera aficionado. Determined to fulfill their demands, the rough, desperate guerrillas settle in for a long siege. The hostages, winnowed of all women except Roxane, whose voice beguiles her captors, are from many countries; their only common language is a love of opera. As the days drag on, their initial anguish and fear give way to a kind of complex domesticity, as intricately involved as the melodies Roxane sings during their captivity.
Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman - With incantatory prose that sweeps over the reader like a dream, (Philadelphia Inquirer), Hoffman follows her celebrated bestseller The Probable Future, with an evocative work that traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years. In a rare and gorgeous departure, beloved novelist Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House. These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home. From the writer Time has said tells "truths powerful enough to break a readers heart comes a glorious travelogue through time and fate, through loss and love and survival. Welcome to Blackbird House.
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause-Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan-Tan's empathetic insight into the complex relationship of Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters is again displayed in her latest extraordinary, multi-layered tale. Now suffering from Alzheimer's, Lu Ling's references to the past are confusing and contradictory particularly her desperate attempts to communicate with her deceased Precious Auntie, who was her nursemaid and Ruth worries about her mother's health. But when Ruth translates Lu Ling's lengthy journal, she learns that her mother was once a strong-willed, courageous girl who overcame a background of family secrets and lies, persevered despite romantic heartbreak and survived tremendous hardships and suffering in wartorn China.
Boy by Roald Dahl - Boy is a funny, insightful and at times macabre glimpse into the early life of Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors. We discover his experiences of the English public school system, the idyllic paradise of summer holidays in Norway, the pleasures (and pains) of the sweetshop, and how it is that he avoided being a Boazer. This is the unadulterated childhood - sad and funny, sinister and delightful - that inspired the much-loved children's writer. (Book jacket.)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley- Far in the future, the world controllers have finally created the ideal society. In laboratories world-wide, genetic science has brought the human race to perfection. Man is bred and educated to be blissfully content with a pre-destined world. But Bernard Marx in unhappy. He wants to be free.
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn-A 16-year-old boy deals with a turbulent
home life and problems with dating violence.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson – The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terebithia, during a storm.
Broken Paradise by Cecilia Samartin – Cousins Alicia and Nora experience profound life changes from different perspectives when Castro's rise to power incites political turbulence and revolution in Cuba, forcing Alicia to flee the country with her parents while Nora remains behind.
Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis - Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach- A barren, isolated planet's whole
economy turns around weaving carpets, allegedly for the emperor's palace, out of the hair of the weavers' wives. Although a weaver must have several wives to make his particular carpet, he may have only one son, who becomes his successor when he finishes his carpet and dies. And so life goes, generation after generation, even after rumors and, finally, ships from the new government arrive with word of the emperor's removal. The new interstellar government learns the emperor secretly maintained thousands of carpet-making planets. Why? Find out!
The Castle in the Attic by Andreas Eschbach – A gift of a toy castle, complete with silver knight, introduces William to an adventure involving magic and a personal quest.
The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty- Set in Kerrville, Kansas, The Center of Everything is told by Evelyn Bucknow, an endearing character with a wholly refreshing way of looking at the world. Living with her single mother in a small apartment, Evelyn is a young girl wincing her way through adolescence. With a voice that is as charming as it is recognizable, Evelyn immerses the reader in the dramas of an entire community. The people of Kerrville, stuck at once in the middle of nowhere but also at the center of everything, are the source from which Moriarty draws on universal dilemmas of love and belief.
Class Clown by Johanna Hurwitz - Lucas Cott, the most obstreperous boy in the third grade, finds it hard to turn over a new leaf when he decides to become the perfect student.
Clearing Land by Jane Bronx-In this clear-eyed, lyrical account, Brox twines two
narratives--personal and historical--to trace the evolution of the romanticized family farm to the modern world, where much of our food is produced by industrial agriculture.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier- Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, leaves the hospital before his gashed neck heals enough to get him sent back to war. Still weak, he heads for the mountains, where a minister's daughter named Ada is his objective. Inman's return could hardly be timelier for the Charleston-raised Ada: her father has died, and she finds she knows little about operating a farm. Frazier blends the story of Inman's journey with that of Ada's efforts, with the help of a drifter named Ruby, to wring a subsistence living from the neglected land; in the background are the yelping dogs of war (most dramatically, gangs chasing Confederate deserters like Inman), as well as hints of changes the end of war will bring.
Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - This volume combines the first two novels in the popular "Vorkosigan" series, telling the story of Cordelia Vorkosigan nee Naismith from the day she met her then-enemy Lord Aral Vorkosigan through the boyhood of her son, Miles. A Hugo Award winner.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen-A comic, tragic masterpiece of an American family breaking down in an age of easy fixes, Franzen's third novel brings an old-time America into wild collision with the era of home surveillance and New Economy speculation. Winner of the National Book Award.
Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber- Cresent is the story of Sirine, a thirty-nine year old single woman living in the Arab-American community of Los Angeles. Sirine is a passionate cook, and works in a Lebanese restaurant, where her storytelling uncle and her saucy boss believe she should be trying harder to find a husband. Her encounter with a professor of Arabic literature causes her to question her identity and the world around her.
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner- This book traces the lives, loves, and aspirations of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin.
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson- Set in northern Ontario, Crow Lake is a gentle and moving story of a family living on an isolated farm. After the tragic death of their parents two older siblings are forced to make choices to keep the family together. Those choices have disturbing repercussions on all their lives. Issues of selfsacrifice, relationships, forgiveness, tragedy and happiness run throughout this thoughtful novel.
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton-Paton's deeply moving story of Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set against the backdrop of a land and people riven by racial inequality and injustice, remains the most famous and important novel in South Africa's history.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon- Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown- Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and French cryptologist Sophie Neveu work to solve the murder of an elderly curator of the Louvre, a case which leads to clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci and a centuriesold secret society.
Dark Tide: Great Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo-Shortly after noon on January 15, 1919, a fifty-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses collapsed on Boston"s waterfront, disgorging its contents as a fifteen-foot-high wave of molasses that briefly traveled at thirty-five miles an hour. Dark Tide tells the compelling story of this man-made disaster that claimed the lives of twenty-one people and scores of animals and caused widespread destruction.
The Devil in White City: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America by Erik Larson- The story of two men's obsessions with the Chicago World's Fair, one its architect, the other a murderer. "The Devil in the White City" draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others.
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat-We meet him late in life: a quiet man, a good father and husband, a fixture in his Brooklyn neighborhood, a landlord and barber with a terrifying scar across his face. As the book unfolds, moving seamlessly between Haiti in the 1960s and New York City today, we enter the lives of those around him, and learn that he has also kept a vital, dangerous secret. Edwidge Danticat's brilliant exploration of the "dew breaker"-or torturer-is an unforgettable story of love, remorse, and hope; of personal and political rebellions; and of the compromises we make to move beyond the most intimate brushes with history. It firmly establishes her as one of America's most essential writers.
Digging to America by Anne Tyler - "In this novel, Anne Tyler gives us a story about what it is to be an American, and about Maryam Yazdan, who after thirty-five years in this country must finally come to terms with her "outsiderness."" "Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport - the Donaldsons, a very American couple, and the Yazdans, Maryam's fully assimilated son and his attractive Iranian American wife. Each couple is awaiting the arrival of an adopted infant daughter from Korea. After the babies from distant Asia are delivered, Bitsy Donaldson impulsively invites the Yazdans to celebrate with an "arrival party," an event that is repeated every year as the two families become more deeply intertwined." "Even independent-minded Maryam is drawn in. But only up to a point. When she finds herself being courted by one of the Donaldson clan, a good-hearted man of her vintage, recently widowed and still recovering from his wife's death, suddenly all the values she cherishes - her traditions, her privacy, her otherness - are threatened. Somehow this big American takes up so much space that the orderly boundaries of her life feel invaded." "A novel brimming with subtle, funny, and tender observations that cast a penetrating light on the American way as seen from two perspectives, those who are born here and those who are still struggling to fit in." (BOOK JACKET).
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler- The Tull family resembles families most of us know. Each family member takes a turn telling their story. Lovable in the complicated way only family members are.
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey - HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD? To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise--and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . . "From the Paperback edition."
East of Eden by John Steinbeck- Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families -- the Trasks and the Hamiltons -- whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine -
Ella Minnow Pea : a progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable by Mark Dunn- Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop, South Carolina. Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island's Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet in this love letter to language.
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud - In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.
Empire Falls by Richard Russo- The proprietor of a local diner struggles to raise his teenage daughter in a small town in Maine long after the logging and textile industries, that provided its citizens with their livelihood, shut down.
Evening by Susan Minot- Ann Grant is dying of cancer. Memories of a weekend 40 years ago come rushing back, and with those memories, the all-consuming passion of love.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer-Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, and pacifist. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser- Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food's flavors are concocted.
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson-In 1793 Philadelphia, a sixteen-year old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and selfreliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
The Five People That You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom-Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers.
Fluke, Or I Know Why The Whale Sings by Christopher Moore – In his wacky new whale tale, Moore "writes in laid back fables straight out of Margaritaville, on the cusp of humor and science fiction." --Janet Maslin, "New York Times."
The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley - Orphan Corinna disguises herself as a boy to pose as a Folk Keeper, one who keeps the Evil Folk at bay, and discovers her heritage as a seal maiden when she is taken to live with a wealthy family in their manor by the sea.
Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis-In this landmark work of history this National Book Award winning author, Joseph J. Ellis, explores how a group of greatly gifted but deeply flawed individuals - Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison confronted the overwhelming challenges before them to set the course for our nation.
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume – Andrew wants freckles so badly that he buys Sharon's freckle recipe for fifty cents.
Frindle by Andrew Clements - When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel- Galileo's Daughter introduces us to the man
whose belief that the Earth moved around the sun caused him to be brought before the Holy Office of the Inquisition, accused of heresy, and threatened with torture. In contrast, his daughter Virginia chose the quiet life of a cloistered nun. Sobel takes us through the trials and triumphs of Galileo's career and his familial relationships, and simultaneously illuminates an entire era of flamboyant Medici Grand Dukes, the bubonic plague, and history's most dramatic collusion between science and religion.
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry-Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland-The ownership of a supposed Vermeer painting is traced back to the moment of its inspiration; and as the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden or forgotten or repressed quietly surfaces. Like Vermeer's paintings, this bestselling novel illuminates the poignantly dear moments in people's lives.
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier-Chevalier transports readers to a
bygone time and place in this richly imagined portrait of the young woman who
inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings. "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is the story of 16-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius, even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - "Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever." "Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town - and the family - Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home." "What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms." (BOOK JACKET).
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman- Carnegie Medal Award Winner-Lyra
Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College. But when her uncle, Lord Asriel, returns from the North with tales of mystery and danger, it sets off a chain of events that draws Lyra into the heart of a terrible struggle.
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell-A monumental classic considered by
many to be not only the greatest love story ever written, but also the greatest Civil War saga.
The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian – Seventeen-year-old Josh, a loner-philosopher who wants to make a difference in the world, tries to maintain his secret identity as the author of a web site that is receiving national attention.
The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr - In 1860, a somewhat simple-minded fifteen-year-old boy attempts to herd one thousand turkeys from Missouri to Denver, Colorado, in hopes of selling them at a profit.
Growing Up by Russell Baker-Russell Baker is the 1979 Pulitzer Prize winner for Distinguished Commentary and a columnist for The New York Times. This book traces his youth in the mountains of rural Virginia. When Baker was only five, his father died. His mother, strong-willed and matriarchal, never looked back. After all, she had three children to raise. These were depression years, and Mrs. Baker moved her fledgling family to Baltimore. Baker's mother was determined her children would succeed, and we know her regimen worked for Russell. He did everything from delivering papers to hustling subscriptions for the Saturday Evening Post. As is often the case, early hardships made the man.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood-In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right Schlafly/Falwell-type ideals have been carried to extremes in the monotheocratic government. The resulting society is a feminist's nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the "morally fit" Wives.
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie- Story about a storyteller who loses his skill and a struggle against mysterious forces attempting to block the seas of inspiration from which all stories are derived.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers-When she was only twentythree, Carson McCullers's first novel created a literary sensation. She was very special, one of America's superlative writers who conjures up a vision of existence as terrible as it is real, who takes us on shattering voyages into the depths of the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition. This novel is the work of a supreme artist, Carson McCullers's enduring masterpiece. The heroine is the strange young girl, Mick Kelly. The setting is a small Southern town, the cosmos universal and eternal. The characters are the damned, the voiceless, the rejected. Some fight their loneliness with violence and depravity, Some with sex or drink, and some – like Mick -- with a quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien-Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit lives comfortably in his hobbit -hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Holes by Louis Sachar – As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
Homeland by R.A. Salvatore – Drizzt the Dark Elf finds adventure, peril, and awesome magical power as he confronts the underground civilization of the evil race of Drow elves.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen - Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
The Hours by Michael Cunningham- Virginia Woolf is brought back to life in an intertwining of her story with those of two more contemporary women. In Woolf's life, she awakens one morning in London in 1923 with a dream that will become Mrs. Dalloway. In the present, Clarissa Vaughan is planning a party in Greenwich Village for her oldest love, a poet dying from AIDS. And in Los Angeles in 1949, Laura Brown is pregnant and unsettled, trying to prepare for her husband's birthday, but wanting nothing more than to sit and read Woolf.
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III- On a road crew in California, a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force under the Shah yearns to restore his family’s dignity.When an attractive bungalow comes available on a county auction for a fraction of its value, he sees a great opportunity for himself, his wife and his children. But the house’s former owner, a recovering alcoholic and addict down on her luck, doesn’t see it that way, nor does her lover, a married cop driven to extremes to win her love and get her house back.
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer- Matteo Alacran was not Born; He was Harvested. His DNA came from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez- It's a long way from Santo Domingo to the Bronx, but if anyone can go the distance, it's the Garcia girls. Four lively Latinas plunge from a pampered life of privilege on an island compound into the big-city chaos of New York, where they embrace all that America has to offer.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote- On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. A classic account by one of the 20th century's most intriguing writers.
In Revere, In Those Days by Roland Merullo- A coming-of-age novel about an Italian-American boy growing up in Revere, Massachusetts. Anthony Benedetto navigates his way to adulthood, shaped by the old-country culture, the working-class city, and the elite prep school that widens his world.
In the Heart of the Sea; the tragedy of the whaleship Essex by Nat Philbrick-The Essex, a Nantucket whaler, was rammed and sunk by an enraged sperm whale in the South Pacific. Philbrick details the next three months in the lives of the twenty-man crew asthey try to reach the coast of South America. Readers learn of the resiliency of the human spirit and the community of whalers.
In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien- On a lake deep in Minnesota's north woods, John and Kathy Wade are trying to reassemble their lives. John, a rising political star, has just suffered a devastating electoral defeat. Kathy attempts to comfort her husband, but soon it becomes apparent that something is horribly wrong between them, that they have hidden too much from each other. Then one day Kathy vanishes.
Industry of Souls by Martin Booth- As he wakes up on his 80th birthday, Alexander Bayliss, a British citizen who spent 25 years in a Soviet gulag after being falsely charged with espionage and the next 20 years in the Russian village of Myshkino, has a major decision to make: Will he remain in the village or return home to England, where his family has just discovered that he is alive?
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri-Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The nine stories in this stunning debut collection unerringly chart the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations. Imbued with the sensual details of Indian culture, these stories speak with passion an wisdom to everyone who has ever felt like a foreigner. Like the interpreter of the title story, Lahiri translates between the strict traditions of her ancestors and a baffling new world.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl – When James Henry Trotter accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it's as big as a house. Then James discovers a secret entranceway into the fruit, and when he crawls inside, he meets a bunch of marvelous oversized friends -- Old-Green-Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, Miss Spider, and more. After years of feeling like an outsider in the house of his despicable Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, James has finally found a place where he belongs. With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away, and the exciting adventure begins!
Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos – Joey, who is still taking medication to keep him from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer with the hard-drinking father he has never known and tries to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.
Joshua’s Song by Joan Hiatt Harlow - Needing to earn money after his father's death during the influenza epidemic of 1918, thirteen-year-old Joshua works as a newspaper boy in Boston, one day finding himself in the vicinity of an explosion that sends tons of molasses coursing through the streets.
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane-Mark Mathabane was weaned on devastating poverty and schooled in the cruel streets of South Africa's most desperate ghetto, where bloody gang wars and midnight police raids were his rites of passage. Like every other child born in the hopelessness of apartheid, he learned to measure his life in days, not years. Yet Mark Mathabane, armed only with the courage of his family and a hard-won education, raised himself up from the squalor and humiliation to win a scholarship to an American university. This extraordinary memoir of life under apartheid is a triumph of the human spirit over hatred and unspeakable degradation. For Mark Mathabane did what no physically and psychologically battered "Kaffir" from the rat-infested alleys of Alexandra was supposed to do -- he escaped to tell about it.
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara- In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two conflicting dreams at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty were also the casualties of war.
The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin- After being acquitted of murder, seventeenyear- old David goes to stay with relatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he finds himself forced to face his past as he learns more about his strange young cousin Lily.
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander - Drawing from decades of work, travel, and research in Russia, the author recreates the tragic, perennially fascinating story of the final days of Nicholas and Alexandra as seen through the fictional eyes of the Romanovs' young kitchen boy, Leonka. Now an ancient Russian immigrant, Leonka claims to be the last living witness to the Romanovs' brutal murders and sets down the dark secrets of his past with the imperial family.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini- Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, is a Hazzara—a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California Amir thinks he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.
Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvas-A traditional Jewish community in Memphis, Tennessee, is given a jolt with the arrival of a new art teacher from New York. A convert to Judaism, Batsheva Jacobs brings new ideas and before you know it, a rabbi's son does not want to be a rabbi anymore.
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman- Returning to the Heart Lake School for Girls as a Latin teacher to start a new life with her daughter, Jane is haunted by past tragedy and terrifying memories when she begins receiving menacing messages.
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant- Based loosely on a true story of a historic community, this novel is set on Cape Ann in the early 1800s. Peopled with widows, orphans, spinsters, scoundrels, free Africans, and "witches," it resurrects a forgotten sector of society.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel-The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional -- but is it more true?
Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff – During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner - The bestselling author of "In Her Shoes" and "Good in Bed" creates a tale of romance, forgiveness, and extreme sleep deprivation, as four very different women navigate one of lifes most wonderful and perilous transitions: the journey of new motherhood.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold- Sebold, whose previous book, Lucky, told of her own rape and the subsequent trial of her attacker, here offers a powerful first novel, narrated by Susie Salmon, in heaven. Brutally raped and murdered by a deceptively mild-mannered neighbor, Susie begins with a compelling description of her death. During the next ten years, she watches over her family and friends as they struggle to cope with her murder. She observes their disintegrating lives with compassion and occasionally attempts, sometimes successfully, to communicate her love to them. Although the lives of all who knew her well are shaped by her tragic death, eventually her family and friends survive their pain and grief. In Sebold's heaven, Susie continues to grow emotionally. She learns that human existence is "the helplessness of being alive, the dark bright pity of being human feeling as you went, groping in corners and opening your arms to light all of it part of navigating the unknown." Sebold's compelling and sometimes poetic prose style and unsparing vision transform Susie's tragedy into an ultimately rewarding novel.
Magic’s Pawn by Jane Hamilton - In Magic's Pawn, an ancient age in the history of Valdemar comes to life--an age when the kingdom was ravaged by the ungoverned fury of bandit warlords, ferocious ice dragons, and the wild magic of wizards.
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton- The Goodwins, Howard, Alice, and their little girls, Emma and Claire, live on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Although suspiciously regarded by their neighbors as "that hippie couple" because of their well-educated, urban background, Howard and Alice believe they have found a source of emotional strength in the farm, he tending the barn while Alice works as a nurse in the local elementary school. But their peaceful life is shattered one day when a neighbor's two-year-old daughter drowns in the Goodwins' pond while under Alice's care. Tormented by the accident, Alice descends even further into darkness when she is accused of sexually abusing of a student at the elementary school. Soon, Alice is arrested, incarcerated, and as good as convicted in the eyes of a suspicious community. As a child, Alice designed her own map of the world to find her bearings. Now, as an adult, she must find her way again, through a maze of lies, doubt and ill will. A vivid human drama of guilt and betrayal, A Map of the World chronicles the intricate geographies of the human heart and all its mysterious, uncharted terrain.
Mayflower : a Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick- The startling story of the Plymouth Colony--from the flight to religious freedom to the war that ravaged New England--is told by the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden- The strikingly pretty child of an impoverished fishing family, Chiyo is taken to faraway Kyoto and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house where she is renamed Sayuri. Initially reluctant, Sayuri must finally invent and cultivate an image of herself as a desirable geisha in order to survive in Gion's cruel hierarchy. Through her eyes, we are given a backstage view of the ancient and secretive geisha district, Gion, and of the lives of the women who learn and practice the rigorous arts of the Geisha.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards-This riveting family drama from the author of the short story collection "The Secrets of a Fire King" explores every mother's silent fears--losing a child and that the child grows up without her.
Mercy by Jodi Picoult- Police chief of a small Massachusetts town, Cameron McDonald makes the toughest arrest of his life when his own cousin Jamie comes to him and confesses outright that he has killed his terminally ill wife out of mercy. Now, a heated murder trial plunges the town into upheaval, and drives a wedge into a contented marriage: Cameron, aiding the prosecution in their case against Jamie, is suddenly at odds with his devoted wife, Allie -- seduced by the idea of a man so in love with his wife that he'd grant all her wishes, even her wish to end her life.
The Middle of Somewhere by Shelia Gordon - Nine-year-old Rebecca and her family, living in a South African village for black people, are threatened with forced removal to a bleak, distant development, to make room for a new suburb for whites.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides- Middlesex tells the story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of her Greek-American family who immigrate to Detroit from Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.
Mingo by Lenice U. Strohmeier; illustrated by Bill Farnsworth – In Massachusetts in 1771, seven-year-old Olivia learns about freedom from her father's slave, Mingo, who was promised that he'd be freed when the tide was low enough that he could walk to a certain spot offshore.
Monster by Walter Dean Myers- While on trial as an accomplice to a murder,
sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder – "At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard Professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life's calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer - brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti - blasts through convention to get results." (BOOK JACKET).
Mowhawk by Richard Russo - Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks. Its citizens, too, have fallen on hard times. Dallas Younger, a star athlete in high school, now drifts from tavern to poker game, losing money, and, inevitably, another set of false teeth. His ex-wife, Anne, is stuck in a losing battle with her mother over the care of her sick father. And their son, Randall, is deliberately neglecting his school work--because in a place like Mohawk it doesn't pay to be too smart. In Mohawk Richard Russo explores these lives with profound compassion and flint-hard wit. Out of derailed ambitions and old loves, secret hatreds and communal myths, he has created a richly plotted, densely populated, and wonderfully written novel that captures every nuance of America's backyard.
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy-A funny, elegantly written account of a young man's search for signs of purpose in the universe.
Murder at Walden Pond by Al Blanchard- Two weeks after a young woman speaks with eighth-grade history teacher Steve Asher about her troubled younger brother Petey one of his students Steve finds her body in Walden Pond. Police suspect Steve when they hear rumors of a relationship between him and the woman and read her diary depicting a fantasized love affair with him. As his job and relationships begin to crumble, Steve hastens to the offensive: a local gubernatorial candidate seems to have much to hide.
The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse- A girl raised by dolphins must choose between two worlds in this critically acclaimed novel about what it means to be a human being.
My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman - "Chafing under the care of "the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization," Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. Into this cozy world, comes Miss Laura Lee French - a wannabe former Rockette and the new dorm mother at the college where Frederica's parents teach and live. Laura Lee proves to be the enthralling and glamorous antithesis of the Hatches, whose passion for liberal political causes is all-consuming - even Frederica's Barbie dolls have been anatomically corected. Lipman turns this seemingly routine faculty hire into a catalyst for havoc and hilarity. For it happens that Miss French - in the distant past - was married to none other than Frederica's earnest and distinctly unglamorous father." (BOOK JACKET).
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult- Written with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity, this novel is about a teen who was conceived as a bone marrow match for her sister Kate, and what happens when she begins to question who she really is.
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahriri- Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world—conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path
through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin- A blistering satire based on the real-life experiences of former New York City nannies McLaughlin and Kraus; this is a hilarious examination of the upper echelons of Manhattan society and the unlovable Park Avenue X family. The novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs. X, a Park Avenue mommy who has little more to do than spend her adulterous, workaholic husband's seven figure salary on manicures, designer clothes and floral arrangements. She delegates the care of her bratty four-year-old son, Grayer, and other small "errands" (e.g., shopping for a 50-guest dinner party) to Nan, an NYU grad student.
Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich- Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job -- any job -- can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - "Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens - until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest friendships and families." "Nineteen Minutes asks simple questions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who - if anyone - has the right to judge someone else?" (BOOK JACKET).
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith- Precious Ramotswe, the “Miss Marple of Botswana”, charms readers in this first of a series of novels about the first-ever female detective in her country in the south of Africa. Mma Ramotswe is rotund, jolly, and possessed of a wealth of common sense as she sets out to help people with their problems. Her solutions are resourceful and thought-provoking, and the book is both entertaining and life-affirming. Additionally, the look at present-day Botswana is quite wonderful.
No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman – Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well.
Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo - In his slyly funny and moving new novel, the author of The Risk Pool follows the unexpected operation of grace in a deadbeat, upstate New York town--and in the lives of the unluckiest of its citizens.
October Sky by Homer Hickam-Originally published as "Rocket Boys", this bestseller--based on a true story--follows a group of boys in a small West Virginia town in 1957 as they light up the skies with their flaming rockets and dreams of
glory.
One Thousand White women: the journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus- Based on an actual historical event, but recounted through fictional diaries, "One Thousand White Women" tells the story of a woman who travels West in 1875 and marries the chief of the Cheyenne nation.
The Orchard: a memoir by Adele Crockett Robertson-A gentle, nostalgic memoir of a young woman's struggle to save her family's farm in Ipswich during the Depression.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory-When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. She soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival, her sister Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.
Parents Wanted by George Harrar - Twelve-year-old Andrew, who has ADD, is adopted by new parents after years of other foster homes and desperately hopes that he will not mess up the situation.
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland- Recently rediscovered by art historians and one of the few female post-Renaissance painters to achieve fame during her own era, Artemisia Gentileschi led a remarkably "modern" life. Susan Vreeland tells Artemisia's captivating story, beginning with her public humiliation in a rape trial at the age of eighteen, and continuing through her father's betrayal, her marriage of convenience, motherhood, and growing fame as an artist. Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Naples, inhabited by historical characters such as Galileo and Cosimo de' Medici II, and filled with rich details about life as a seventeenth-century painter.
Pawn of Prophesy by David Eddings - Garion the farm boy did not believe in magic dooms, but then he did not know that soon he would be on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger when the dread evil God Torak was reawakened. Copyright #169; Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger- October 1991. It was "the perfect storm"—a tempest that may happen only once in a century--a nor'easter created by so rare a combination of factors that it could not possibly have been worse. Creating waves ten stories high and winds of 120 miles an hour, the storm whipped the sea to inconceivable levels few people on Earth have ever witnessed. Few, except the six man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat tragically headed towards its hellish center.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi- Iranian Satrapi was 10 when the Islamic revolution shook her world in 1979. Using the popular graphic-novel format, she vividly portrays a society in chaos. Almost overnight, her progressive family found itself subject to the laws of a fundamentalist religious state. Through a young girl’s eyes, this is the story of how life changed.
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason-In 1886, a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver- A compelling story about a 1950’s Baptist missionary who takes his wife and 4 young daughters from Georgia to the Congo to “convert” the natives. The reverberations of their culture clash are told from each character’s perspective as years go by.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman- For more than two hundred years, the Owens women had been blamed for everything that went wrong in their Massachusetts town. And Gillian and Sally endured that fate as well: As children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One would do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they shared, even into adulthood, brought them back--almost as if by magic...
The Primrose Way by Jackie French Koller-A young Puritan woman from England settles in what is now Ipswich, Mass. with her family in 1633. The story is about the clash of cultures she experiences, along with some adventure and romance.
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver- Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia. At the heart of these intertwined narratives is a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches the forest from her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin where she is caught off-guard by Eddie Bondo, a young hunter who comes to invade her most private spaces and confound her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, another web of lives unfolds as Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself unexpectedly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the complexities of a world neither of them expected.
The Queen's Fool by Philipa Gregory- In this eagerly awaited sequel to "The Other Boleyn Girl," readers return to Tudor England, where the offspring of Henry VIII ascend to the throne amid treason, poisonous rivalries, accusations of heresy, and unrequited love.
The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble- The reading group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books. Over the course of a year, each of these women becomes intertwined, both in the books they read and with one another's lives.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi- Prof. Nafisi resigned from her job as
professor of English literature at a university in Tehran in 1995 due to repressive
government policies. For the next 2 years, until she left Iran, she gathered 7 young women, former students, at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss works of Western literature forbidden by the new regime. They used this forum to learn to speak freely, not only about literature, but also about the social, political, and cultural realities of living under strict Islamic rule.
Reading the Forested Landscape: a Natural History of New England by Tom Wessels - An original portrait of New England's forests, tracing their evolution from precolonial days to the present through a study of the patterns we see today. Landscape is much more than scenery to be observed or even terrain to be traveled, as this fascinating and many-layered book vividly shows us. Etched into the land is the history of how we have inhabited it, the storms and fires that have shaped it, and its response to these and other changes. An intrepid sleuth and articulate tutor, Wessels teaches us to read a landscape the way we might solve a mystery. What exactly is the meaning of all those stone walls in the middle of the forest? Why do beech and birch trees have smooth bark when the bark of all other northern species is rough? How do you tell the age of a beaver pond and determine if beavers still live there? Why are pine trees dominant in one patch of forest and maples in another? What happened to the American chestnut? Turn to this book for the answers, and no walk in the woods will ever be the same.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant- The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers, wives and daughters.
Redwall by Brian Jacques- When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro- A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England.
Renato's Luck by Jeff Shapiro- This is the tale of Renato and his friends, family and fellow villagers, in a small village in Tuscany that is soon to be flooded to make a new dam.
Risk Pool by Richard Russo – Sweeping, humorous and greatly moving, The Risk Pool is a 30-year saga of Sam Hall, a roguish hellraiser, and of his introspective son, Ned. When Sam abandons the family, Ned vacillates between his nervous mother and his reckless father, struggling to win his father's affection. Copyright #169; Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - "A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. They sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearting, a cart of scavenged food-and each other. The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation." (BOOK JACKET).
Road From Coorain by Jill Conway- One women's journey from a childhood in Australia's outback to adulthood as a successful American career woman. The Road From Coorain is about Everywoman, for it is about childhood loneliness, anguished parent-child relationships, dawning sensibility, discovering a vocation, and finding one's own sense of self.
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs- the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock- therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.
The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble - Two sisters, aged ten and twelve, are accused of witchcraft in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1692 and await trial in a miserable prison while their mother desperately searches for some way to obtain their freedom.
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama- On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea, and paint in the brilliant shoreside light. It will be quiet and solitary. But he meets four local residents – a lovely young Japanese girl and three older people. What then ensues is a tale that readers will find at once classical yet utterly unique. Young Stephen has his own adventure, but it is the unfolding story of Matsu, Sachi, and Kenzo that seizes your attention and will stay with you forever. Tsukiyama, with lines as clean, simple, telling, and dazzling as the best of Oriental art, has created an exquisite little masterpiece.
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan – "Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leaders, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers as they come to discover that the Burma Road is paved with less-than-honorable intentions, questionable food, and tribal curses." "And then, on Christmas morning, eleven of the travelers boat across a misty lake for a sunrise cruise - and disappear." "Drawing from the current political reality in Burma and woven with pure confabulation, Amy Tan's picaresque novel poses the question: How can we discern what is real and what is fiction, in everything we see? How do we know what to believe? Saving Fish from Drowning finds sly truth in the absurd: a reality TV show called Darwin's Fittest, a repressive regime known as SLORC, two cheroot-smoking twin children hailed as divinities, and a ragtag tribe hiding in the jungle - where the sprites of disaster known as Nats lurk, as do the specters of the fabled Younger White Brother and a British illusionist who was not who he was worshipped to be." (BOOK JACKET).
The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne - The Puritans thought Hester Prynne's crime was unforgivable. She was convicted, imprisoned--and then forced to wear, forever, a public reminder of her sin. The Scarlet letter. The Letter was unending punishment: it set hester apart from society, it tormented her days and haunted her soul. But the Letter haunted others, as well, its mystery turned Roger Chillingworth from a gentle healer into a man driven by revenge. Its meaning burned into Rev. Arthur Dimsdale's heart, as deadly as cancer. And its power loomed over the life of Hester's daughter, the uncontrollable child Pearl. Four people would be destroyed by a entangled web of guilt and secrets, unless one of them had the courage--and love--to reveal the truth of--The Scarlet Letter.
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand- In this "New York Times" bestseller now in
paperback, Hillenbrand unfolds the spellbinding story of the racehorse Seabiscuit in a riveting tale of grit, grace, luck, and an underdog's stubborn determination.
Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares- With a bit of last summer 's sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the Sisterhood that wears them embark on their 16th summer. Bridget: Impulsively sets off for Alabama, wanting to both confront her demons about her family and avoid them all at once. Lena: Spends a blissful week with Kostos, making the unexplainable silence that follows his visit even more painful. Carmen: Is concerned that her mother is making a fool of herself over a man. When she discovers that her mother borrowed the Pants to wear on a date, she's certain of it. Tibby: Not about to spend another summer working at Wallman's, she takes a film course only to find it's what happens off-camera that teaches her the most.
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd- During the summer of 1964 in rural South Carolina, a young girl is given a home by three black, beekeeping sisters. As she enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, she discovers a place where she can find the single thing her heart longs for most.
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx-A man finds himself taking care of his two daughters after his two-timing wife dies. He decides he will go back to his ancestral home in Newfondland and start fresh. He meets up with an aging Aunt who holds a family secret and quite a past herself. His life does seem to get better, he is hired as a journalist and his children begin to put down roots. He also begins to fall in love and finds it very different this time. This is a wonderfully written story with deep characters and great detail. You can feel the cold of the Newfoundland coast as you read.
Short Novels of the Masters edited by Charles Neider- A collection of ten works by 19th & 20th century literary gods of America, Europe and the U.K.
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park - Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.
Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakarunia-Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family; her cousin Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that family. Sudha is as beautiful, tenderhearted and serious as Anju is plain, whipsmart and defiant. Yet since the day they were born, Sudha and Anju have been bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend. The cousins’ bond is shattered, however, when Sudha learns a dark family secret. Urged into arranged marriages, their lives take sudden, opposite turns. Then tragedy strikes them both, and the women discover that, despite the distance that has grown between them, they have only each other to turn to. This is an exceptionally moving novel of love, friendship, and compelling courage.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham - Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences-and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined. A classic tale for modern times, "Skipping Christmas" offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell- A motley combination of agnostics, true believers, and misfits become the first to explore the Alpha Centuri world of Rakhat with both enlightening and disastrous results.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See- A heart-breakingly beautiful story of the power of women’s friendships, set in rural 19^th Century China when footbinding was the norm and women were routinely isolated from the larger community in separate women’s quarters. It tells the story of Lily and Snow Flower, pledged to a special friendship since childhood, who communicated back and forth over the years in messages inscribed on a paper fan in “nu shu”, the secret written code used by women at that time.
Snow in August by Pete Hamill- It was an unusual friendship: 11-year-old Michael Devlin, an Irish Catholic from Brooklyn, and Judah Hirsch, a rabbi and refugee from Prague, meet during a swirling blizzard on the Saturday morning. For Michael, Hirsch is an extraordinary window to ancient times and foreign lands; for the Rabbi, Michael is an encyclopedia of cultural knowledge of his new land. In baseball, the two find a common love, but when some anti-Semitic hoodlums threaten them with violence, the two must look for a miracle in a most unlikely place.
So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins – A fictionalized autobiography in which eleven-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell – "AN EXPERIENCE NOT TO BE MISSED . . . If you have to send a group of people to a newly discovered planet to contact a totally unknown species, whom would you choose? How about four Jesuit priests, a young astronomer, a physician, her engineer husband, and a child prostitute-turned-computer-expert? That's who Mary Doria Russell sends in her new novel, The Sparrow. This motley combination of agnostics, true believers, and misfits becomes the first to explore the Alpha Centuri world of Rakhat with both enlightening and disastrous results. . . . Vivid and engaging . . . An incredible novel." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli – After being taken by German soldiers from a local movie theater along with other Italian boys including his Jewish friend, Roberto is forced to work in Germany, escapes into the Ukrainian winter, before desperately trying to make his way back home to Venice.
Straight Man by Richard Russo - In this uproarious new novel, Richard Russo performs his characteristic high-wire walk between hilarity and heartbreak. Russo's protagonist is William Henry Devereaux, Jr., the reluctant chairman of the English department of a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt. Devereaux's reluctance is partly rooted in his character--he is a born anarchist-- and partly in the fact that his department is more savagely divided than the Balkans.
In the course of a single week, Devereaux will have his nose mangled by an angry colleague, imagine his wife is having an affair with his dean, wonder if a curvaceous adjunct is trying to seduce him with peach pits, and threaten to execute a goose on local television. All this while coming to terms with his philandering father, the dereliction of his youthful promise, and the ominous failure of certain vital body functions.
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman- Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot function, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky – Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.
Taste of Salt: a Story of Modern Haiti by Frances Temple - In the hospital after being beaten by Macoutes, seventeen-year-old Djo tells the story of his impoverished life to a young woman who, like him, has been working with the social reformer Father Aristide to fight the repression in Haiti.
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough- This is the chronicle of three generations of Clearys, ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. Most of all, it is the story of only daughter Meggie and her lifelong relationship with the haunted priest Father Ralph de Bricassart-an intense joining of two hearts and souls that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger-A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who involuntarily travels through time and Claire Abshire an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate affair endures across the sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice--but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.
Tracks by Robyn Davidson- A cult classic with an ever-growing audience, Tracks is the brilliantly written and frequently hilarious account of a young woman's odyssey through the deserts of Australia, with no one but her dog and four camels as companions. Davidson emerges as a heroine who combines extraordinary courage with exquisite sensitivity.
The Trolls by Polly Horvath – Eccentric Aunt Sally comes from Canada to babysit the Anderson children while their parents are on a trip to Paris and every night the bedtime story adds another piece to a very suspect family history.
The Twenty-one Balloons by William Penne du Bois – Relates the incredible adventures of Professor William Waterman Sherman who in 1883 sets off in a balloon across the Pacific, survives the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, and is eventually picked up in the Atlantic.
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg – Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
Vote for Larry by Janet Tashjian - Not yet eighteen years old, Josh, a.k.a. Larry, comes out of hiding and returns to public life, this time to run for President as an advocate for issues of concern to youth and to encourage voter turnout.
Waiting by Ha Jin- This is the story of Kin Long, a man living in two worlds, struggling with the conflicting claims of two utterly different women as he moves through the political minefields of society designed to regulate his every move and stifle the promotings of this innermost heart.
War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells-As life on Mars becomes impossible, Martians and their terrifying machines invade the earth. This is the H. G. Wells title on which the Oct. 30, 1938 radio program that frightened listeners was based.
The War with Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith; illustrated by Richard Lauter - Upset that he has to give up the room he loves to his grandfather, Pete decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen-A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.
The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve- When Jean arrives on Smuttynose Island off the coast of Maine to research a century-old crime, she immerses herself in the details of the case--an outburst of passion that resulted in the deaths of two women. At the same time, she suspects her husband is having an affair, leading her to actions that have horrific consequences.
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman - A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws.
A Widow for One Year by John Irving - Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character--a "difficult" woman. By no means is she conventionally "nice," but she will never be forgotten. Ruth's story is told in three parts, each focusing on a crucial time in her life. When we first meet her--on Long Island, in the summer of 1958--Ruth is only four. The second window into Ruth's life opens in the fall of 1990, when Ruth is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career. She distrusts her judgment in men, for good reason. A Widow for One Year closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She's about to fall in love for the first time. Richly comic, as well as deeply disturbing A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force. Both ribald and erotic, it is also a brilliant novel about the passage of time and the relentlessness of grief.
The Wish by Gail Carson Levine – When granted her wish to be the most popular girl in school, Wilma, an eighth grader, forgets that she will graduate in three weeks and her popularity will vanish.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle - One stormy night a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe on a most dangerous and fantastic journeya journey that will threaten their lives and our universe.
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks- It is the year 1666. Bubonic plague descends upon an English mountain village. In an extraordinary decision, the villagers decide to quarantine the village. This is their story seen through the eyes of a housemaid, Anna Frith.
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