Book Club Kits 2020 by diglib

2020 book club kits

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wake county public libraries

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2020 book club kits

NEED HELP SELECTING OR SCHEDULING TITLES FOR YOUR BOOK CLUB? Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here to help! Sign up for Book Club Assistance. Meet with an adult services librarian for one hour to hear about great books and schedule your kits. Make an appointment online: www.wakegov.com/libraries/services/adults

The Age of Miracles Karen Thompson Walker Fiction On a seemingly ordinary Saturday, Julia awakens to discover that the rotation of the earth has begun to slow. Days and nights grow longer, gravity is affected, and the environment is thrown into disarray. As she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life: fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues. Published in 2012; 284 pages. The Alchemist Paulo Coelho Fiction Coelho’s masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel to Egypt in search of treasure. The story of the riches Santiago finds along his journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, above all, following our dreams. Published in 1988; 182 pages. The Alice Network Kate Quinn Fiction This gripping tale of the lengths one goes to for love is inspired by the true story of the courageous women and men who created a spy network for the Resistance in German-occupied France during World War I. The Alice Network tells the dual stories of Eve and Charlie who are separated by decades but united by two world wars. Eve is haunted by her time as a spy in World War I; Charlie is unmarried, pregnant, and searching for her beloved cousin Rose who disappeared in the chaos of World War II France. Published in 2017; 503 pages. All Creatures Great and Small James Herriot Nonfiction Herriot remembers his early apprenticeship years under the colorful tutelage of Dr. Siegfried Farnon who ran a happily untidy but highly respected practice. Most of Herriot’s working hours were spent in barns dragging calves from laboring cows, often while snow drifted through the door in the small hours. But there are also tales of sturdy old dogs and kittens, starving piglets revitalized by new sow’s milk, a pony saved by unorthodox measures, and ample insights into the ways of humans when coping with ailing beasts. Published in 1972; 442 pages.

All the Birds in the Sky Charlie Jane Anders Science Fiction An ancient society of witches and a hipster technological startup go to war in order to prevent the world from destruction. To complicate things, each of the groups’ most promising followers, Laurence and Patricia, may be in love. As the battle between magic and science wages in San Francisco, Laurence and Patricia are forced to choose sides. But their choices will determine the fate of the planet and all mankind. Published in 2016; 316 pages. All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Fiction Marie-Laure adores her father, who works at the Museum of Natural History as a locksmith. Father and daughter flee the Nazi occupation of Paris to the seaside city of Saint-Malo, carrying the museum’s most valuable jewel. Meanwhile, in Germany, Werner becomes an expert at building radios, a talent that lands him a coveted assignment to track the resistance. Increasingly aware of the human cost of war, Werner travels with his battalion to Saint-Malo, where the two stories converge. Published in 2014; 531 pages. The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion Fannie Flagg Fiction Spanning decades and generations, The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion is a fun-loving mystery about a present-day Alabama woman and five women who worked in a Phillips 66 gas station during the 1940s. This is a riveting, fun story of two families, filled to the brim with Flagg’s trademark funny voice and storytelling magic. Published in 2013; 367 pages. Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Fiction As teenagers in Nigeria, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Ifemelu departs for America to study. She suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Years later, Ifemelu and Obinze reunite in newly democratic Nigeria but their future together remains uncertain. Published in 2013; 588 pages.

And the Mountains Echoed Khaled Hosseini Fiction Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the impoverished village of Shadbagh. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for Pari, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, which will tear them apart. Published in 2013; 431 pages. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story George Orwell Fiction When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr. Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless élite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take control. Soon the other animals discover that they are not all as equal as they thought and find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another. Published in 1945; 97 pages. Another Brooklyn Jacqueline Woodson Fiction August is 35 the year she returns to Brooklyn to bury her father, and a chance encounter with a friend in her old neighborhood prompts a flood of memories from her youth. Having moved to Brooklyn at 8, August’s coming of age was marked by a search for belonging, close friendships, freedom, and the little-understood absence of her mother. Her memories explore what it was like to be an African-American girl in the 1970s, including what possibilities and challenges existed. Published in 2016; 175 pages. The Art Forger B. A. Shapiro Fiction Almost 25 years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — still the largest unsolved art theft in history — one of the stolen Degas paintings arrives at the studio of artist Claire Roth, who has agreed to forge the Degas in exchange for a one-woman show in a renowned gallery. As she begins her work, she starts to suspect that this masterpiece — which had been hanging at the Gardner for 100 years — may itself be a forgery. Published in 2012; 369 pages.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats Jan-Philipp Sendker Fiction When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be… until they find a letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery of her father’s past, Julia travels to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love. Published in 2012; 325 pages. The Art of Racing in the Rain Garth Stein Fiction With his love of television and his philosopher’s soul, Enzo knows he is different from other dogs. In his old age, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through, including the sacrifices that his master Denny has made to succeed professionally. Having learned what it takes to be a compassionate and successful person, the wise canine looks forward to his next lifetime, when he is sure he will return as a human. Published in 2008; 321 pages. The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story Lily Koppel Nonfiction As America’s Mercury 7 astronauts were launched into space, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed into American royalty. As their celebrity rose — and as divorce and death began to touch their lives — they continued to rally together, and the wives have now been friends for more than 50 years. The Astronaut Wives Club tells the story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history. Published in 2013; 302 pages. The Aviator’s Wife Melanie Benjamin Fiction As a college senior with literary aspirations, Anne Morrow meets Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his flight across the Atlantic. Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, and the two marry in a headlinemaking wedding. Despite her own achievements — she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States — Anne is viewed as the aviator’s wife. Anne will reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence and embrace life’s possibilities for change and happiness. Published in 2013; 434 pages.

Beautiful Ruins Jess Walter Fiction In 1962, on the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an American actress, and she is dying. The story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man appears on a movie studio’s back lot, searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier. Published in 2012; 337 pages. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death,and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity Katherine Boo Nonfiction Annawadi is a settlement in the shadow of Mumbai’s luxury hotels, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are hopeful. Even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a teenage scrap thief, are inching closer to the good lives they call “the full enjoy.” But suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, and power turn brutal. As the tenderest individual hopes intersect with global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed along with the courage of the people of Annawadi. Published in 2012; 256 pages. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End Atul Gawande Nonfiction What is the meaning of quality of life in the end? To extend life through medical treatment, or, choose approaches that enable more dignified and comfortable choices. It seems easy to decide, but sometimes it is against modern medical practices that have evolved over the last century. Dr. Atul Gawande accounts his own experiences with his elderly patients, including his own father and younger patients who have terminal diseases. Published in 2014; 282 pages. Beneath a Scarlet Sky Mark Sullivan Fiction Italian teenager Pino Lella tries to keep himself distant from the Nazis during World War II. Events take a turn, however, when his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs. When Pino’s parents force him into enlisting as a German soldier believing that he will not have to see combat, an opportunity arises to become a spy inside the German High Command. Pino will learn the horrors of war and Nazi occupation and the challenge of keeping his courage alive for his love Anna. Published in 2017; 513 pages.

Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty Fiction Follows three mothers, each at a crossroads, and their potential involvement in a riot at a school trivia night that leaves one parent dead in what appears to be a tragic accident, but which evidence shows might have been premeditated. The novel begins six months before that fateful evening and lets us in on the lives of single mother Jane, twice-married Madeline, and Celeste, who secretly suffers from domestic abuse. Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive. Published in 2014; 512 pages. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Malcolm Gladwell Nonfiction Utilizing case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the shooting of Amadou Diallo, Gladwell reveals that what we think of as decisions made in the blink of an eye are much more complicated than assumed. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, he shows how the difference between good decision-making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but on the few particular details on which we focus. Published in 2005; 296 pages.

The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison Fiction Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in. Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing. Published in 1970; 164 pages. The Book Thief Markus Zusak Young Adult It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger lives outside of Munich, scratching out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist — books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. Published in 2005; 552 pages.

Bootlegger’s Daughter Margaret Maron Mystery An episode from the recent past threatens to derail attorney Deborah Knott’s campaign for district judge. An unsolved murder haunts the victim’s daughter, who begs Deborah to investigate. As she uncovers troubling new evidence, Deborah soon faces the realization that the disadvantages of being the single female candidate in a southern judgeship race, and even the disadvantages of being a bootlegger’s daughter, are nothing in comparison to posing a threat to a successful murderer. Published in 1992; 261 pages.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood Trevor Noah Nonfiction Trevor Noah, the funny guy who hosts The Daily Show on Comedy Central, shares his remarkable story of growing up in South Africa with a black mother and a white father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child to exist. This fascinating memoir blends drama, comedy, and tragedy to depict the dayto-day trials that turned a boy into a young man. In a country where racism barred blacks from social, educational, and economic opportunity, Trevor surmounted staggering obstacles and created a promising future for himself, thanks to his mom’s unwavering love and indomitable will. Published in 2016; 282 pages. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics Daniel Brown Nonfiction The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys took on successive echelons of privilege and power. They vanquished the sons of bankers and senators rowing for elite eastern universities. They defeated the sons of British aristocrats rowing for Oxford and Cambridge. And finally, they stunned the sons of the Nazi state as they rowed for gold in front of Adolf Hitler. Against the grim backdrop of the Great Depression, they reaffirmed the American notion that merit outweighs birthright. Published in 2013; 404 pages. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Susannah Cahalan Nonfiction When Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a promising career at a major New York newspaper. In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing story of her descent into madness, her family’s faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen. Published in 2012; 266 pages.

Bridge to Haven Francine Rivers Inspirational Pastor Ezekiel Freeman found Abra, a wailing newborn abandoned on the outskirts of Haven, and watched her grow into an exotic beauty. But the circumstances surrounding Abra’s birth have etched scars deep in her heart that leave her vulnerable to a fast-talking charmer who lures her from Haven. In Hollywood, Abra quickly learns the devastating price of fame. She has burned every bridge to get what she thought she wanted. Now all she wants is a way back home. Published in 2014; 468 pages.

Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying Nina Riggs Biography Poet and essayist Nina Riggs was just 37 years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancer: it was just one small spot. Within a year, she received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal. Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, Nina poses the questions: How does a dying person learn to live each day “unattached to outcome”? What makes a meaningful life when one has limited time? How do we want to be remembered? Published in 2017; 310 pages. Broken for You Stephanie Kallos Fiction When we meet septuagenarian Margaret Hughes, she is living alone in a mansion in Seattle. Enter Wanda Schultz, a young woman who has come west to search for her wayward boyfriend. Both women are guarding secrets and have spent years building up defenses against the world. As they begin their tentative dance of friendship, the armor begins to fall away. Broken for You is testament to the saving graces of surrogate families and homage to the beauty of broken things. Published in 2004; 371 pages. Brooklyn Colm Tóibín Fiction Eilis Lacey comes of age in Ireland in the years following World War II. When an Irish priest offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides to go, leaving her fragile mother and charismatic sister behind. Eilis finds work, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves baseball and his big Italian family, wins her over with patient charm. But as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future. Published in 2009; 262 pages.

Bruno, Chief of Police Martin Walker Mystery Benoit Courréges, affectionately named Bruno, is chief of police in a small village in the South of France. A former soldier, Bruno has embraced the slow rhythms of country life. But the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army galvanizes his attention: the man had a swastika carved into his chest. When a visiting scholar helps untangle the dead man’s past, Bruno’s suspicions turn toward a motive more complex than hate. Published in 2010; 273 pages.

The Burgess Boys Elizabeth Strout Fiction Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown for New York as soon as they could. Jim, a corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a legal aid attorney, always taken it in stride. Suddenly their sister calls them home. The Burgess brothers return to Maine, where the tensions that have shadowed their relationship surface in ways that will change them forever. Published in 2013; 332 pages. Burial Rites Hannah Kent Fiction In Iceland, 1829, Agnes is condemned to death for her part in the murder of her lover. Agnes waits out her final months on the farm of the district officer, his wife, and their two daughters. Horrified to have a murderer in their midst, the family avoids contact with Agnes. As the hardships of rural life force the household to work together, Agnes’s story emerges and with it the family’s realization that all is not as they had assumed. Published in 2013; 352 pages. Byrd Kim Church Fiction Coming of age in the small-town South of the 1970s, Addie and Roland form an unlikely friendship. Their whirlwind reunion leaves Addie pregnant, and reality sets in. Unready to be a mother, she surrenders her baby for adoption without telling Roland, little imagining how the secret will shape their lives. Told through sharply drawn vignettes and Addie’s letters to her son, Byrd is an unforgettable story about making and living with difficult, intimate, and far-reaching choices. Published in 2014; 239 pages.

Caleb’s Crossing Geraldine Brooks Fiction Growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans, Bethia Mayfield yearns for an education that is closed to her due to her gender. As soon as she can, she slips away to explore the island’s glistening beaches and observes its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At 12, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Published in 2011; 318 pages. The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger Fiction In an effort to escape the hypocrisies of life at his boarding school, from which he’s just been expelled, 16-year-old Holden Caulfield seeks refuge on his own in New York City. Holden narrates his story in this classic portrait of alienated youth. Published in 1951; 214 pages. China Dolls Lisa See Fiction In 1938, three girls from very different backgrounds find themselves competing to audition for showgirl roles at San Francisco’s exclusive “Oriental” nightclub, the Forbidden City. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl, fled the Midwest and an abusive father. Helen’s Chinese family has deep roots in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Ruby is Japanese but passing as Chinese. Their differences are pronounced, but the girls grow to depend on one another until everything changes when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Published in 2014; 401 pages. Circe Madeline Miller Fiction In the house of Helios, god of the sun, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. She turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft. When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, she is banished to a remote island. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe’s place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. Published in 2018; 416 pages.

Circling the Sun Paula McLain Fiction This powerful tale brings to life a fearless and captivating woman, Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen (author of the classic memoir Out of Africa). McLain reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, exploring the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit. Published in 2015; 366 pages. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness Alexandra Fuller Biography In this follow-up to Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller traces the stories of her parents’ respective childhoods in Kenya and England, recounts her own upbringing in Africa, and offers insight into the impact of their beliefs and the waning of the British empire on her parents’ marriage. Published in 2011; 238 pages.

Code Girls Liza Mundy Nonfiction We have heard stories of the men who served during the deadliest war in history, but what of the women? During World War II, more than 10,000 women were recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy to serve as codebreakers. Not only did these women break codes that helped bring an end to the war, they also worked to create codes for the United States. Though their work has been held a secret for years, Code Girls breaks the silence and enlightens readers to the scientific accomplishments of these women. Published in 2017; 416 pages. Commonwealth Ann Patchett Fiction The Cousins and the Keatings are two California families forever intertwined and permanently shattered by infidelity. Bert Cousins starts a new life with Beverly Keating, leaving behind a wife and four children. Beverly, with two children of her own, leaves her husband for Bert. The six children involved are forced to forge a childhood bond based on the combined disappointment in their parents. As adults, they find their families’ stories revealed in a way they couldn’t possibly expect. Published in 2016; 322 pages. Concussion Jeanne Marie Laskas Nonfiction In September 2002, in a dingy morgue in downtown Pittsburgh, a young forensic pathologist from Nigeria picked up a scalpel and made a discovery that would rattle America in ways he’d never

intended. Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in football players, one of the most significant medical discoveries of the 21st century. His findings challenge the very existence of America’s favorite sport and put him directly in the crosshairs of the powerful National Football League. Published in 2014; 269 pages. The Cove Ron Rash Fiction Living deep within a cove in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina during World War I, Laurel Shelton experiences true companionship and happiness for the first time when she encounters Walter, a mysterious mute stranger. But Walter harbors a dangerous secret from which love alone may not protect them. Published in 2012; 239 pages. The Cuckoo’s Calling Robert Galbraith Mystery Working as a private investigator after losing his leg in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike takes the case of a legendary supermodel’s suspicious suicide and finds himself in a world of multi-millionaire beauties, rock star boyfriends, desperate designers, and hedonist pursuits. You may think you know detectives, but you’ve never met one quite like Strike. This gripping mystery was pseudonymously written by none other than J.K. Rowling. Published in 2013; 456 pages. Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese Fiction Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born from a secret love affair between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, they come of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, where their love for the same woman drives them apart. Published in 2009; 667 pages. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania Erik Larson Nonfiction The sinking of the Lusitania was a turning point in world history. Larson tells the thrilling story, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, dreading the widening war while also captivated by the prospect of new love. Published in 2015; 430 pages.

Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads Paul Theroux Nonfiction Novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux has traveled all over the world. In his latest journey, he turned his eyes to a region of his home country he wanted to know better. Traveling to various Southern states on a variety of road trips, Theroux bypassed the big cities and gleaming towns. Instead, he focused his keen eye on smaller, rural towns, where he visited with people in churches, restaurants, corner stores, farms, and gun shows, and explored the culture and paradoxes of the region. Published in 2015; 441 pages. Defending Jacob William Landay Fiction Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than 20 years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided as his 14-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Published in 2012; 435 pages.

Devil in the White City Erik Larson Nonfiction The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair director of works who built the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds. In deft prose, Larson conveys Burnham’s herculean challenge to build the White City in less than 18 months. Concurrently, he describes how, in a malign parody of the achievements of the fair’s builders, Holmes built his own hotel - a torture palace complete with a dissecting table, gas chamber, and 3,000 degree crematorium. Published in 2004; 447 pages. The Dinner Herman Koch Fiction It’s a summer evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse — the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened. Published in 2009; 310 pages.

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood Alexandra Fuller Biography The author describes her childhood in Africa during the Rhodesian Civil War (1971-1979). She tells of her life on farms in southern Rhodesia, Malawi, and Zambia with an alcoholic mother and frequently absent father. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time. Published in 2001; 315 pages. The Dressmaker Kate Alcott Fiction A spirited woman survives the sinking of the Titanic only to find herself embroiled in the tumultuous aftermath of that great tragedy. Tess is one of the last people to escape into a lifeboat. When an enterprising reporter turns her employer, Lady Duff Gordon, into an object of scorn, Tess is torn between loyalty and the truth. Published in 2012; 368 pages. The Dry Jane Harper Mystery This Australian debut novel crackles with the slow burn of a town filled with secrets and lies. Federal agent Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for his boyhood friend’s funeral 20 years after being driven away by small-town suspicion linking him to the death of a young girl. Drought punishes the land and the people living on it as Falk investigates both deaths; this culminates in a shocking climax as long-held secrets are brought to light. Published in 2016; 328 pages.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman Fiction An introvert with little to no social graces, Eleanor Oliphant gets through each day by ritual and routine. Wednesday evenings, however, are shadowed by phone calls with her mother that leave Eleanor worse for wear. When Eleanor meets Raymond, and then Sammy, routines are eschewed for social interaction and connection as Raymond slowly helps Eleanor realize that she has value and worth. As heart-warming as it is heart-wrenching, Eleanor Oliphant is a character you’ll never forget. Published in 2017; 327 pages. Emma Jane Austen Fiction Beautiful, clever, rich and single Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage.

Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protégé Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. Published in 1815; 474 pages. Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee Nonfiction A “biography” of cancer from its origins to the epic battle to cure, control, and conquer it. A combination of medical history, cutting-edge science, and narrative journalism that transforms the reader’s understanding of cancer and much of the world around them. The author provides a bold new perspective on the way doctors, scientists, philosophers, and lay people have observed and understood the human body for millennia. Published in 2010; 573 pages. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quannah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History S.C. Gwynne Nonfiction Empire of the Summer Moon spins two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second focuses on one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by Comanches as a 9-year-old girl, and her mixedblood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Published in 2010; 371 pages.

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune Bill Dedman Nonfiction Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the 19th century with a 21st century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, so secretive that, at the time of her death, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Published in 2013; 456 pages.

The End of Your Life Book Club Will Schwalbe Nonfiction During her treatment for cancer, Mary Anne Schwalbe and her son Will spent many hours sitting in waiting rooms together. To pass the time, they would talk about the books they were reading. Soon, they began to trade books, and an informal book club of two was born. Through their wide-ranging reading, Mary Anne and Will are reminded of how books can be comforting, astonishing, and illuminating. Published in 2012; 336 pages. Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng Fiction Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the ways in which family members struggle, all their lives, to understand one another. Published in 2014; 297 pages.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Matthew Desmond Nonfiction In this groundbreaking book, Harvard sociologist and 2015 MacArthur “Genius” Award winner, Matthew Desmond, takes readers into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee, where families spend most of their income on housing and where eviction has become routine — a vicious cycle that deepens our country’s vast inequality. Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, Evicted transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem. Published in 2016; 418 pages. Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local — and Helped Save an American Town Beth Macy Nonfiction The Bassett Furniture Company was once the world’s biggest furniture manufacturer. After decades of inexpensive Asian furniture imports threatening to force the company overseas, chairman John Bassett III fought for his more than seven hundred employees in a small Virginia town using legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, in addition to his wits and determination. His story reveals shocking truths about American business, including the hidden fallout of offshoring on communities across the country. Published in 2014; 451 pages.

Finding Nouf Zoë Ferraris Mystery Nayir al-Sharqi, a Saudi Arabian desert guide, is hired by wealthy friends to find their missing daughter, Nouf. When the girl turns up dead, apparently drowned in a flash flood in the desert, Nayir suspects that all is not as it seems. As he looks into her death he develops an uncomfortable partnership with Katya Hijazi, a female technician at the local coroner’s office. This leads Nayir to confront and question everything he thought he believed in. Published in 2008; 305 pages. Flat Broke with Two Goats Jennifer McGaha Nonfiction When Jennifer discovered that she and her husband owed back taxes—a lot of back taxes—her world changed. Desperate to save money, they foreclosed on their beloved suburban home and moved their family to a one-hundred-year-old cabin in a North Carolina holler. Soon enough, Jennifer’s life began to more closely resemble her Appalachian ancestors than her uppermiddle-class upbringing. But what started as a last-ditch effort to settle debts became a journey that revealed both the joys and challenges of living close to the land. Published in 2018; 370 pages. Flight Behavior Barbara Kingsolver Fiction Dellarobia Turnbow is a discontented farm wife engaging in a flirtatious relationship with a younger man when she discovers an unusual fire in a forested valley behind her house. This curiosity causes a stir in the scientific and local communities, garners a great deal of media attention, and leads Dellarobia to confront and question everything she thought she believed in. Published in 2012; 436 pages. Fly Girls Keith O’Brien Nonfiction “In 1926, there were countless ways to die in an airplane.” So begins an exciting and fascinating history of the air shows of the 20s and 30s, featuring women aviators piloting prop planes. The women’s air race circuits of the 20s and 30s inspired and spurred on pilots like Amelia Earhart. People flocked to air races in their home towns to watch the death defying spectacle. Journalist O’Brien focuses on five women who broke into the male dominated field and captured the imagination of the American public. Themes for discussion are women in non-traditional roles, airshow circuits, 20th century American history.

The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton Fiction In 1913, a tiny girl arrives in Australia completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her 21st birthday, they tell her the truth, and she sets out to trace her real identity. Her mysterious quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. Published in 2008; 552 pages.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things Jenny Lawson Nonfiction In Furiously Happy, a humor memoir tinged with just enough tragedy and pathos to make it worthwhile, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest. Furiously Happy is about depression and mental illness, but deep down it’s about joy — and who doesn’t want a bit more of that? Published in 2015; 392 pages. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America Jill Leovy Nonfiction Leovy, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, explores the culture of inner city violence, specifically in South Central L.A., describing a world that seems to exist hermetically sealed off from the rest of the city. With nearly zero mobility and little policing, the people of South Central are left to fend for themselves — further amplifying the devastating drumbeat of gangs and violence. Published in 2015; 366 pages. Girl in Translation Jean Kwok Fiction When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn, she begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl by day, Chinatown sweatshop worker at night. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life, like her family’s poverty and her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition, Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself between the worlds she straddles. Published in 2010; 307 pages.

Girl Waits with Gun Amy Stewart Fiction Based on actual events, this story follows Constance Kopp and her two sisters on their family’s farm in 1914 New York. One day, as Ms. Kopp and her sisters are riding in their horse drawn buggy, they have an accident with a car driven by a powerful silk factory owner. When Constance insists that the owner pay for the damages, the women find themselves in a dangerous situation that threatens their sense of security and the very fabric of their lives. Published in 2015; 408 pages. The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Denise Kiernan Nonfiction The town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, boomed at the height of World War II. Its electricity usage matched New York’s, and its population reached 75,000, yet it didn’t appear on a single map. Thousands of young women from across the country were recruited to work in the secret city without ever being told what they were working on. It wasn’t until the end of the war that Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed and the world was changed forever. Published in 2013; 373 pages. The Glass Castle: A Memoir Jeannette Walls Biography Author Jeannette Wall’s father could be brilliant and charismatic, capturing his children’s imagination by teaching physics, geology, and how to embrace life. However, when he drank excessively, he became dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who didn’t believe in domestic life and never wanted the responsibility of a family. The Walls children therefore took care of themselves and looked out for each other. This memoir shares the life of one woman’s peculiar yet loyal family. Published in 2005; 288 pages.

Glitter and Glue: A Memoir Kelly Corrigan Biography When Kelly Corrigan traveled to Australia in 1992, the only job she could find was as a nanny. Instead of just carpools and babysitting, she walked into a household still grieving the recent loss of the children’s mother. To her surprise, she found herself deferring to the wisdom of her own mother, who once said that her father “may be the glitter, but I’m the glue” — a pattern that would become more pronounced years later. This is a story about growing up and stepping up, but most of all, it’s about the great adventure of motherhood. Published in 2014; 224 pages.

Go Set a Watchman Harper Lee Fiction Returning home to Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her father, Jean Louise ”Scout” Finch struggles with personal and political issues involving Atticus, society, and the small town that shaped her. Exploring how her characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are adjusting to the Civil Rights movement and the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set a Watchman casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring classic. Published in 2015; 278 pages. The Goldfinch Donna Tartt Fiction A young boy in New York, Theo, miraculously survives a national tragedy that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, his odyssey begins when he is taken in by a friend’s family and struggles to continue with school. In the years that follow, he becomes entranced by one of the few things that reminds him of his mother: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the art underworld. Tartt won the Pulitzer for her haunting novel. Published in 2013; 771 pages. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald Fiction The story follows the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby, his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, and the lavish parties on Long Island at a time when, The New York Times remarked, “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession.” This exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s resonates with the power of myth and is one of the great classics of 20th century literature. Published in 1925; 180 pages.

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War Mary Roach Nonfiction With the trademark blend of humor and empathy that made her previous books Bonk, Gulp, Spook, and Stiff bestsellers, Mary Roach continues her fearless exploration of the vagaries of the human body in Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War. Readers will come away with a new respect for the fortitude of soldiers and the dedication and ingenuity of the scientists who work to protect and heal them. Published in 2016; 285 pages.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society Mary Ann Shaffer Fiction Winding up her book tour, Juliet is looking for a more serious project. Opportunity comes in the form of a letter she receives from Mr. Adams, a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. No ordinary book club, it was formed as a ruse for people to gather without raising the suspicions of Nazi occupiers. Captivated by their stories, Juliet sets sail for Guernsey and what she finds will change her forever. Published in 2008; 277 pages. Guests on Earth Lee Smith Fiction It’s 1936 when orphaned 13-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital, a mental institution in Asheville, North Carolina, known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions, including diet and gardening, but also electroshock therapies. Taken under the wing of the hospital’s most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses cascading events that lead up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them. Published in 2013; 348 pages. The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood Fiction Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only for their fertility. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived with her husband Luke; when she played with her daughter; when she had a job, money, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now... Published in 1985; 311 pages.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Margot Lee Shetterly Nonfiction Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden — four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future. Published in 2016; 346 pages.

Homegoing Yaa Gyasi Fiction Spanning 250 years, Homegoing tells the story of half-sisters Effia and Esi, and their descendants, from the 18th century to present day. Effia is married to an Englishman, and her sister Esi is held as “cargo” by him and sold into slavery. While Esi and her descendants must struggle through slavery, the civil war, the great migration, and the civil rights movement, Effia’s family struggles through years of war in Ghana as well as the effects of British Imperialism. Published in 2016; 305 pages. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Jamie Ford Fiction Henry Lee, a Chinese-American living in Seattle in 1986 hears that the belongings of Japanese immigrants interned during WWII have been found in the basement of the Panama Hotel. This discovery prompts Henry to recall the difficulties of life in America during WWII when he and his Japanese-American school friend, Keiko, wandered through wartime Seattle. Keiko and her family faced internment while Henry, horrified by America’s antiJapanese hysteria, was conflicted because of his Chinese father’s anti-Japanese sentiment. Published in 2009; 301 pages. The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle Mystery Could the sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville have been caused by the gigantic ghostly hound which is said to have haunted his family for generations? The legendary detective Sherlock Holmes characteristically dismisses the theory as nonsense. Claiming to be immersed in another case, he sends Watson to the mysterious English moors to protect the Baskerville heir and to observe the suspects at close hand. Published in 1902; 196 pages. The House Girl Tara Conklin Fiction Law associate Lena Sparrow is handed a plum assignment to find the perfect poster child for a class-action suit on behalf of the descendants of American slaves. She searches for a descendant of Josephine Bell, a house girl rumored to have been the actual artist of a series of paintings credited to her white mistress. This rich story weaves together the lives of two unforgettable heroines. Published in 2013; 372 pages.

A Hundred Summers Beatriz Williams Fiction Returning to an idyllic Rhode Island oceanfront community for the summer of 1938, New York socialite Lily Dane is devastated by the appearances of her newly married ex-fiance and former best friend. She is reintroduced to an alluring acquaintance from her college years but realizes that her ties to her ex remain impossible to ignore. Published in 2013; 357 pages. The Husband’s Secret Liane Moriarty Fiction Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his darkest secret, something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. Author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses — and, ultimately, ourselves. Published in 2013; 445 pages. I am Malala Malala Yousafzai Biography Malala Yousafzai was ten years old when the Taliban took control the Swat Valley in Pakistan. Taught to stand up for what she believes, she fought for her right to be educated. On October 9, 2012 she was shot by a Taliban gunman on her way home from school and no one expected her to survive. Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. Published in 2013; 240 pages. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou Biography Maya Angelou was a poet and Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree who gave an address at President Clinton’s inauguration. Before she won her multitudes of awards and honors, Maya was raised in rural Stamps, Arkansas by her grandmother and uncle during the depression. First published in 1969 and now considered a modern classic, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings details Angelou’s tumultuous childhood in poignant detail. Published in 1969; 289 pages. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street Susan Jane Gilman Fiction In the tenements of old New York a young Russian Jewish immigrant is taken in by an Italian family who sells ice. Through

sheer persistence, she manages to build an ice cream empire under a new name, Lillian Dunkle. Lillian’s rise spans seventy years and is linked to American history, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. When her past begins to catch up with her, everything she has spent her life building is at stake. Published in 2014; 505 pages. If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin Fiction Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin’s story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions–affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche. Published in 1974; 197 pages. If the Creek Don’t Rise Leah Weiss Fiction It is 1970 and pregnant 17-year-old Sadie Blue is trapped in a marriage with her horrific moonshiner husband Roy in an Appalachian mountain town. Their friends and neighbors live stark, gritty lives that are written with vivid and captivating detail. Hope and strength shine through in bits and pieces in this terrific debut about Sadie’s struggles. Weiss’s fresh voice captivates the reader as this tale spins from several perspectives that draw the reader into Sadie’s world. Published in 2017; 305 pages. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love Dani Shapiro Nonfiction In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history–the life she had lived–crumbled beneath her. This is the story of a woman’s urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. Published in 2019; 272 pages.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin Erik Larson Nonfiction In 1933, William Dodd became the first US ambassador to Germany after the Nazis took power. Moving his family to Berlin, he had no conception of the harrowing days ahead. At the time, nothing was certain; Hitler did not yet possess absolute power, and few outsiders expected his government to survive. The family experienced days full of excitement, intrigue, and ultimately horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder revealed Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition. Published in 2011; 448 pages. The Invention of Wings Sue Monk Kidd Fiction Hetty “Handful” Grimke, a slave in early 19th century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls of the wealthy Grimke household. Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, knows she is meant to do something large in the world. On Sarah’s 11th birthday, she is given ownership of 10-year-old Handful. Over the next 35 years, both strive for a life of their own and form a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement, and the uneasy ways of love. Published in 2014; 373 pages. An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny Laura Schroff Nonfiction She was a successful ad sales rep in Manhattan. He was a homeless 11-year-old panhandling on the street. He asked for spare change; she kept walking. But then something stopped her in her tracks, and she went back. And she continued to go back, again and again. They met up nearly every week for years and built an unexpected, life-changing friendship that has today spanned almost three decades. Published in 2011; 238 pages. The Island Elin Hilderbrand Fiction Birdie is shocked when her daughter cancels her wedding; it’s only the first hint of what will be a summer of upheavals and revelations. Reluctantly, Birdie interrupts her own new romance to go with her daughters and her sister to beautiful, rustic Tuckernuck Island: no phones, no television, and no grocery store — a place without distractions where they can escape their troubles. But throw sisters, daughters, ex-lovers, and long-kept secrets onto a remote island and before summer has ended dramatic truths are uncovered, old loves are rekindled, and new loves make themselves known. Published in 2010; 496 pages.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Bryan Stevenson Nonfiction Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinkmanship — and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Published in 2014; 336 pages. Killers of the Flower Moon David Grann Nonfiction In 1920s Oklahoma the Osage Indian Nation possessed immense wealth because their land contained large petroleum reserves. In Killers of the Flower Moon, New Yorker writer David Grann portrays a series of murders on the reservation. Local authorities couldn’t solve the crimes, but an investigation by the relatively new FBI — led by the young J. Edgar Hoover — identified and charged the killers; their primary motivation was greed. Published in 2017; 338 pages. Kindred Octavia Butler Fiction Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous. Published in 1979; 287 pages.

The Kiss Quotient Helen Hoang Fiction Neuroatypical Stella Lane has far less experience in the dating department than the average 30-year-old. Her conclusion is that she needs a lot of practice — with a professional — which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but craves all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense, and the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic. Published in 2018; 317 pages.

The Kitchen House Kathleen Grissom Fiction Lavinia, an Irish indentured servant, arrives at the kitchen house at a thriving Virginia plantation and is placed under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate slave daughter. In time, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master’s opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house, but her skin color will forever set her apart from Belle and the other slaves. Published in 2010; 368 pages. A Land More Kind Than Home Wiley Cash Fiction At the core of this chilling descent into the world of religious frenzy in small town North Carolina is a demonic pastor, Carson Chambliss, an ex-con who uses snakes and poison to prove God’s love. He seduces the town with raucous church meetings where they dance, heal, and speak in tongues until one Sunday when a child dies during evening services. Published in 2012; 309 pages. The Language of Flowers Vanessa Diffenbaugh Fiction The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions, but for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody. Now 18, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through her flowers. When she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness. Published in 2011; 322 pages. The Last Ballad Wiley Cash Fiction The story of little-known union hero Ella May Wiggins is central to this look at unionization during the late 1920s. Once she sings her first song at a union rally, Ella May becomes a beacon for others. As her story becomes intertwined with the violence of the clash between owners and workers, we are swept up in a novel that exposes the prejudice and hatred among races, genders, and economic classes. Published in 2017; 378 pages. The Last Painting of Sara De Vos Dominic Smith Fiction In 1631, Sara de Vos is admitted as a painter to Amsterdam’s Guild of St. Luke. Though women do not paint landscapes, Sara paints a wintery outdoor scene. In 1957, Sara’s only surviving work hangs in

the bedroom of a Manhattan lawyer. A grad student, Ellie Shipley, forges the painting for a dubious art dealer. In 2000, now an art historian, Ellie mounts an exhibition of Golden Age painters, and the life she has constructed threatens to unravel. Published in 2016; 290 pages. The Last Runaway Tracy Chevalier Fiction Forced to leave England and struggling with illness in the wake of a family tragedy, Quaker Honor Bright is forced to rely on strangers in the harsh landscape of Ohio in 1850 and is eventually compelled to join the Underground Railroad network to help runaway slaves escape to freedom. A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history. Published in 2013; 320 pages. Leaving Before the Rains Come Alexandra Fuller Biography A child of the Rhodesian wars and of two deeply complicated parents, Alexandra Fuller is no stranger to pain. But the disintegration of Fuller’s own marriage leaves her shattered. Looking to pick up the pieces of her life, she confronts tough questions about her past, about the American man she married, and about the family she left behind in Africa. Published in 2015; 258 pages. The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula LeGuin Fiction A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters. Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction. Published in 1969; 330 pages. Less Andrew Sean Greer Fiction Can you run away from your problems? Yes, by skipping town. Struggling novelist Arthur Less travels the world thinking to reinvent himself to avoid an awkward encounter from his exboyfriend’s wedding. During his journey, he almost falls in love in Paris and almost dies in Berlin. He barely escapes from a Saharan sandstorm and becomes the only writer-in-residence in Southern

India. Eventually, he makes connections with the past with humorous results. This is a 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of “arresting lyricism and beauty.” Published in 2017; 263 pages. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War Karen Abbott Nonfiction This spellbinding true story illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women — a socialite, a farm girl, an abolitionist, and a widow — who were spies. Abbott draws from primary source material and interviews to weave together the adventures of four courageous women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War. Published in 2014; 513 pages.

The Library Book Susan Orlean Nonfiction On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Published in 2018; 317 pages. Life After Life Kate Atkinson Fiction Ursula Todd is born on a cold snowy night in 1910. As she grows up during the first half of the 20th century in Britain, Ursula dies and is brought back to life again and again. With a seemingly infinite number of lives it appears as though Ursula has the ability to alter the history of the world, should she so choose. What power and force can one woman exert over the fate of civilization — if only she has the chance? Published in 2013; 525 pages. Life After Life Jill McCorkle Fiction Life After Life is filled with a sense of wonder at our capacity for self-discovery at any age. The residents, staff, and neighbors of the Pine Haven retirement center share some of life’s most profound discoveries and are some of the most true-to-life characters that you are ever likely to meet in fiction. Delivered with her trademark

wit, Jill McCorkle’s constantly surprising novel illuminates the possibilities of second chances, hope, and rediscovering life right up to the very end. Published in 2013; 362 pages. The Lifeboat Charlotte Rogan Fiction In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying Grace and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize has exceeded capacity. As the castaways battle the elements and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she’d found. Will she pay any price to keep it? Published in 2012; 278 pages. The Light Between Oceans M.L. Stedman Fiction After moving with his wife to an isolated Australian lighthouse where they suffer miscarriages and a stillbirth, Tom allows his wife to keep an infant that has washed up on the shore. Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them. Published in 2012; 345 pages. Lila Marilynne Robinson Fiction Neglected as a toddler, Lila was rescued by Doll, a canny young drifter, and brought up by her in a hardscrabble childhood. When Lila, now an adult, arrives in Gilead, she steps inside the small-town church and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. Becoming the wife of the minister John Ames, she both begins a new existence and tries to make sense of the life that preceded her newfound security. Published in 2014; 261 pages. Lilac Girls Martha Hall Kelly Fiction Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this debut novel reveals the power of unsung women to change history in their quest for love, freedom, and second chances. The lives of Caroline, Kasia and Herta are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents, as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten. Published in 2016; 487 pages.

Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng Fiction In Shaker Heights, a progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned--from the colors of the houses to the successful lives of its residents. And no one embodies this more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren-artist and single mother--who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter, Pearl, and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Published in 2017; 368 pages. The Little Paris Bookshop Nina George Fiction Quirky and delightful, Jean Perdu is owner of the Literary Apothecary, a floating bookshop. When a new tenant in his apartment building sets in motion events that force Jean to reevaluate his past, he finds himself floating off down the rivers of France in search of lost love, new love, and friends he didn’t know he needed. The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives. Published in 2013; 392 pages. Longbourn Jo Baker Fiction This retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice tells the story of the Bennet household in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars from the servants’ perspective. Using Pride and Prejudice’s familiar setting and characters, Baker tells a very different story of family, love and self-discovery. Bold and intelligent, Sarah is an orphaned housemaid whose days are filled with hard, body-punishing work. A beautiful, uplifting novel full of mystery, hope and romance. Published in 2013; 331 pages. The Longest Ride Nicholas Sparks Fiction After being trapped in an isolated car crash, the life of an elderly widower becomes entwined with that of a young college student and the cowboy she loves. Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart. Published in 2013; 400 pages.

Lookaway, Lookaway Wilton Barnhardt Fiction Steely and formidable, Jerene Jarvis Johnston sits near the apex of society in contemporary Charlotte, North Carolina, where old Southern money and older family skeletons meet the new wealth of bankers, land speculators, and social climbers. When a scandal threatens the Johnston family’s status and dwindling finances, Jerene swings into action. A headlong, hilarious narrative of a family coming apart on the edge of the old South and the new, and an unforgettable woman striving to hold it together. Published in 2013; 364 pages. Lost Lake Sarah Addison Allen Fiction Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn’t believe in dreams anymore, and her aunt wants to sell the place and move on. Can Kate bring the cottages — and her heart — back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found. Published in 2014; 296 pages. Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez Fiction A masterly evocation of an unrequited passion so strong that it binds three people’s lives together for more than fifty years. In the story of Florentino Ariza, who waits more than half a century to declare his undying love to the beautiful Fermina Daza, whom he lost to Dr. Juvenal Urbino so many years before, García Márquez has created a vividly absorbing fictional world, as lush and dazzling as a dream and as real and immediate as our own deepest longings. Published in 1985; 348 pages.

Luckiest Girl Alive Jessica Knoll Fiction Grooming herself for an ideal life involving a successful career and a happy marriage, a rising young journalist confronts a violent episode from her past that threatens to unravel everything she has worked to achieve. With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that’s bigger than it first appears. Published in 2015; 341 pages.

The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett Mystery A beautiful woman visits hard-nosed private Sam Spade in search of her missing sister. Before he knows it, his partner has been murdered and Spade is wrapped up in the hunt for a priceless artifact, surrounded by memorable and untrustworthy thugs, grifters and femmes fatales. This absolute classic of the mystery genre has charmed readers for generations with its intricate plot, iconic characters and timeless sense of style. Published in 1929; 217 pages. A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman Fiction A curmudgeon hides a terrible personal loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship. A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. Published in 2012; 337 pages. The Marriage of Opposites Alice Hoffman Fiction Rachel Pomie, the daughter of Jewish refugees, grows up on the island of St. Thomas, but dreams of traveling to Paris, the home of her ancestors. Instead, her father arranges her marriage to Isaac, a local widower with three children. When the much older Isaac dies, his nephew Frederic arrives to settle the estate, and he and Rachel fall in love. This novel is inspired by the life of the woman who would become the mother of Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro. Published in 2015; 369 pages. Me Before You Jojo Moyes Fiction Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common, extreme sports enthusiast Will, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident, and his assistant Louisa, who struggles with her employer’s acerbic moods and learns of his shocking plans before demonstrating to him that life is still worth living. This heartbreakingly romantic novel asks, what do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart? Published in 2012; 369 pages.

Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris Nonfiction Sedaris’s move to Paris inspired this book of hilarious stories, including the titular “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” about his attempts to learn French. His family also stars in the stories, as in “You Can’t Kill the Rooster,” a portrait of his brother, who talks incessant hip hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury than David Sedaris in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers and cashiers with 6-inch fingernails. This is blithely sophisticated, loopy humour that might have resulted if Dorothy Parker and James Thurber had had a love child. Published in 2000; 272 pages. Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues Martin J. Blaser Nonfiction A startling look at the harmful effects of overusing antibiotics, from the field’s leading expert. Tracing one scientist’s journey toward understanding the crucial importance of the microbiome, this revolutionary book will take readers to the forefront of trail-blazing research while revealing the damage that overuse of antibiotics is doing to our health. Blaser not only provides elegant support for his theory, he guides us to what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future. Published in 2014; 275 pages. The Mockingbird Next Door Marja Mills Biography A warm and engaging telling of the life story of Harper Lee. The Mockingbird Next Door is the story of Mills’s friendship with the Lee sisters. Mills was given a rare opportunity to know Harper Lee, to be part of the Lees’ life in Alabama, and to hear the sisters reflect on their upbringing, their corner of the Deep South, and how To Kill a Mockingbird affected their lives. Published in 2014; 278 pages. Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History Robert M. Edsel Nonfiction While Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. Published in 2009; 473 pages.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Robin Sloan Fiction After a layoff during the Great Recession sidelines his tech career, Clay Jannon takes a job at the titular bookstore in San Francisco, and soon realizes that the establishment is a facade for a strange secret. A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life. Published in 2012; 288 pages. Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker Jennifer Chiaverini Fiction Jennifer Chiaverini presents a stunning account of the friendship that blossomed between Mary Todd Lincoln and her seamstress, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Keckley, a former slave who gained her professional reputation in Washington, D.C. by outfitting the city’s elite. Keckley made history by sewing for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, and within the White House, she was a trusted witness to many private moments between the President and his wife, two of the most compelling figures in American history. Published in 2013; 356 pages. Murder at the Vicarage Agatha Christie Mystery Miss Jane Marple, spinster sleuth extraordinaire, is introduced in this classic mystery. Here she must use all her intuitive powers to solve the murder of the detested Colonel Protheroe when he is found shot in the local vicar’s study. Miss Marple is drawn into a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death. Published in 1930; 285 pages. Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie Mystery Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer. Isolated by the storm, the legendary detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before it is too late. Published in 1934; 265 pages.

My Beloved World Sonia Sotomayor Biography Appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina to achieve this high judicial office. My Beloved World offers a moving portrait of her gritty South Bronx neighborhood and her extended Puerto Rican family, as well as details the challenges she faced during her formative years and early career. This open, eloquent memoir describes how she overcame poverty and her father’s early death to fulfill her dreams and remain true to her heritage. Published in 2013; 315 pages. My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante Fiction Elena and Lila are best friends growing up in the outskirts of 1950s Naples, Italy. As they grow up, their lives go in very different directions. Elena completes her education and leaves Southern Italy while Lila stays behind, using her beauty and wit to navigate their impoverished neighborhood. Despite their separation, their bond remains strong. Spanning over 60 years, this is the touching first book in the Neapolitan Trilogy series that explores the nature of true friendship. Published in 2011; 331 pages.

My Cousin Rachel Daphne DuMaurier Fiction Lifelong bachelor Ambrose Ashley visits Italy in failing health and meets, then marries, his distant cousin Rachel. He then mysteriously dies and the only evidence — found in erratic letters sent to his cousin, and heir, Philip — points to Rachel’s involvement. Philip believes that Rachel is to blame for Ambroses’s death but soon finds himself enthralled with Rachel and struggles to determine which vision of Rachel is true. The conclusion leaves many wondering, “Who is Rachel after all?” Published in 1951; 387 pages. Necessary Lies Diane Chamberlain Fiction Life is tough for Ivy Hart. Being a 15-year-old and losing both of her parents, Ivy not only has to take care of their small North Carolina tobacco farm but also her grandmother, older sister, and nephew. Social worker Jane Forrester meets Ivy and soon realizes that this farm holds many dark secrets. Along with Ivy, she must determine what is right in the face of tragedy. Published in 2013; 343 pages.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander Nonfiction New Jim Crow is a stunning account of the rebirth of a castelike system in the U.S., one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to secondclass status — denied the very rights won in the Civil Rights Movement. Lawyer-turned-scholar, Alexander shows that by targeting black men through the War on Drugs, the criminal justice system functions as a system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. Published in 2010; 312 pages. News of the World Paulette Jiles Fiction In post-Civil War Texas, an elderly widower earns a living reading newspapers to audiences hungry for news. Then, he is asked to deliver an orphan to her relatives. Four years earlier, Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s family, and raised her as their own. Recently rescued, the 10-year-old has been taken from the only home she knows. The two lonely survivors begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land. Published in 2016; 213 pages. The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern Fantasy One evening a circus mysteriously appears in town. Called Le Cirque des Rêves and only open at night, it offers breathtaking and magical amazements for its visitors. Behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway between two young magicians, Celia and Marco. Unbeknownst to them, it is a competition where only the winner survives. Despite the high stakes, they soon tumble headfirst into love — a deep, magical love that leaves the lives of everyone hanging in the balance. Published in 2011; 516 pages.

The Nightingale Kristin Hannah Fiction With courage, grace, and powerful insight, Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in Germanoccupied, war-torn France — a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. Published in 2015; 440 pages.

Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate Rose George Nonfiction Chronicler Rose George sails from Rotterdam to Suez to Singapore on container ships that are as large as football fields and as tall as Niagara Falls. On her journey, she patrols the Indian Ocean with an anti-piracy task force, learns about the crews who keep these giant ships moving, and investigates the harm that these ships can cause whales. George shares how the overlooked freight shipping industry holds the key to our economy, our environment, and our very civilization. Published in 2013; 287 pages. No Disrespect Sister Souljah Nonfiction Rapper and activist Sister Souljah possesses the most passionate and articulate voice to emerge from the projects. Now she uses that voice to deliver a fiercely candid autobiography. Each chapter is devoted to someone from her life — from the mother who raised her to the men who educated (and mis-educated) her about love — and each bares a controversial truth about the black condition in America: the disintegration of families, combat between the sexes, and the continuing destructive force of racism. Published in 1994; 361 pages. Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West Dorothy Wickenden Nonfiction In 1916, Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood, bored by society luncheons and the effete men who courted them, left their families in Auburn, New York, to teach school in the wilds of northwestern Colorado. They lived with homesteaders in the Elkhead Mountains and rode to school on horseback, often in blinding blizzards. Dorothy Wickenden, Woodruff’s granddaughter, found the teachers’ buoyant letters home, which captured the voices of the pioneer women, and the unforgettable people they got to know. Published in 2011; 286 pages. The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman Fantasy Returning to his childhood home in the English countryside, the unnamed middle-aged narrator finds himself drawn to an ordinary-looking farmhouse that’s anything but. As long-buried memories surface, he recalls events that occurred at Hempstock Farm when he was seven. When the malevolent Ursula Monkton

insinuates herself into the fabric of his close-knit family, the farm’s inhabitants offer their friendship and later their protection to the boy. However, their aid comes at a price, requiring a sacrifice he’s unprepared to make. Published in 2013; 181 pages. Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout Fiction Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her. Thirteen rich narratives explore these changes of those in Olive’s life. These include a lounge musician haunted by a past romance, Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities, and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse. Published in 2008; 286 pages. The Optimist’s Daughter Eudora Welty Fiction Coming home to Mississippi from Chicago because her father seems to need her, middle-aged, widowed Laurel McKelva Hand is shaken by the self-centeredness of her stepmother. When her father dies, Laurel honestly examines her own heart and reaches a better understanding of herself and her parents — especially her mother who died not many years before — as she goes through the old home and as memories are prompted by the undisturbed letters and pictures in her mother’s desk. Published in 1972; 180 pages. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison Piper Kerman Biography With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187-424 — one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. Published in 2010; 327 pages. Ordinary Grace William Kent Krueger Mystery Thirteen-year-old Frank Drum enjoys summer like any teenager. However, in the summer of 1961, his town of New Bremen, Minnesota will go through events he will never forget. Murder has come to this town and pretty soon Frank along with his Methodist

minister father, his artistic mother, his older talented sister, and wise beyond his years younger brother, will be placed in a world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal. Published in 2013; 307 pages. Orphan Train Christina Baker Kline Fiction Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” of the foster care system. A community service position helping Vivian, an elderly woman cleaning out her home, is the only thing keeping Molly out of a juvenile detention center. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that as a young orphaned Irish immigrant, Vivian was put on an “orphan train” to the Midwest with hundreds of other children and that they are more alike than different. Published in 2013; 278 pages.

The Other Einstein Marie Benedict Fiction Mitza Maric has always had an interest in physics, however, in late 19th century Serbia women were considered as nothing more than housewives. When Mitza is accepted to an elite school in Zurich, many men begin to take notice; one of them is Albert Einstein. Soon the two will be married, raise a family, and begin a discussion on one of the most important topics in history: the Theory of Relativity. Einstein, however, begins to distance himself from Mitza who will need to prove her strength in order to escape his shadow. Published in 2016; 296 pages. Outliers: The Story of Success Malcolm Gladwell Nonfiction Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers” — those people who are the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. This book examines the question: what makes high-achievers different? Gladwell shares his theories about the cultural, familial, and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires and why the Beatles earned their fame. Published in 2008; 309 pages. The Overstory Richard Powers Fiction Richard Powers’ twelfth novel, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and a stunning paean to nature. It unfolds through interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the Timber Wars of the 1990s and beyond. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and

almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe. Published in 2018; 502 pages.

Pachinko Min Jin Lee Fiction Sunja was treasured by her poor but proud family in 1900s Korea. Her unplanned pregnancy was about to shame them; worst of all, her lover betrayed and deserted her. A young tubercular minister salvaged her life by marrying her and taking her to Japan to start a new life. As outsiders, they endured isolation and dislocation as well as harsh discrimination, catastrophes, and poverty. Yet they are bound together by deep roots as their family faces enduring questions of faith, family, and identity. Published in 2017; 490 pages. The Paris Architect Charles Belfoure Fiction A Parisian architect is paid handsomely to devise secret hiding spaces for Jews in his Nazi-occupied country but struggles with risking his life for a cause he is ambivalent towards, until a personal failure brings home their suffering. Published in 2013; 371 pages. The Paris Wife Paula McLain Fiction Hadley Richardson is a quiet 28-year-old when she meets Ernest Hemingway and sees her life forever changed. Quickly married, the pair moves to Paris where they become the golden couple in the fabled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lost Generationâ&#x20AC;? that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty made all the more poignant because in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley. Published in 2011; 331 pages. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell Nadia Hashimi Fiction Living in Kabul with a drug addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters are rarely allowed to leave the house or attend school. Her only solution is an unusual custom called bacha posh, which allows Rahima to dress and act like a boy until she is of marriageable age. However, Rahima is not the first in her family to adopt this custom. A century earlier, her great-great grandmother saved herself and built a new life the same way. Published in 2014; 452 pages.

People of the Book Geraldine Brooks Fiction This ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in 15th-century Spain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding — an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair — only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultranationalist fanatics. Published in 2008; 372 pages. Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search Martin Sixsmith Biography When she became pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to a convent as a “fallen woman.” Taken at birth by the nuns, her son is sold and sent to America for adoption. Fifty years later, Philomena decides to find him as he begins looking for her. Renamed Michael Hess, he has become a prominent lawyer and struggled to hide secrets that would jeopardize his career and endanger his quest to find his mother. Published in 2009; 420 pages.

A Piece of the World Christina Baker Kline Fiction Inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s mysterious and iconic painting Christina’s World, Kline interweaves fact and fiction in a story about the burdens and blessings of family history, and how artist and muse can come together to forge a new and timeless legacy. To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family’s remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life. Instead, for more than 20 years, she was host and inspiration for the artist Andrew Wyeth, and became the subject of one of the best known American paintings of the twentieth century. Published in 2017; 320 pages. Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 Madeleine Albright Biography Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s world was turned upside down when she was 12 and the Nazis invaded her home country of Czechoslovakia. In her memoirs, Albright recounts the hardships she, her family, and others went through during the years of 1937-1948, including the defeat of fascism, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War. Prague Winter reminds readers that lessons can be learned for the future by observing the past. Published in 2012; 467 pages.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen Fiction When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the beloved and sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions. Published in 1813; 435 pages. The Princess Bride William Goldman Fantasy Beautiful, flaxen-haired Buttercup has fallen for Westley, the farm boy, and when he departs to make his fortune, she vows never to love another. When she hears that his ship has been captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts — who never leaves survivors — her heart is broken. But her charms draw the attention of the relentless Prince Humperdinck who wants a wife and will go to any lengths to have Buttercup. So begins a fairytale like no other. Published in 1973; 414 pages. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking Susan Cain Nonfiction At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. It is to introverts — Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak — that we owe many of the great contributions to society. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the “extrovert ideal” throughout the 20th century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. Published in 2012; 352 pages.

Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women Kate Moore Nonfiction Hundreds of young women worked at factories during WWI to paint clock faces and watch dials using a paint mixture that contained radium. The company assured them that the luminous material was safe, and the dust-covered “shining girls” were considered the luckiest. As the women absorbed high doses of the radium into their bodies, the poison led to mysterious illness, horrific disfigurement, pain, and death. When the company refused to take responsibility, the courageous girls fought to win a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights and left an astonishing legacy. Published in 2016; 477 pages.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend Katarina Bivald Fiction Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden to Broken Wheel, Iowa, just to meet her pen pal Amy, arrives to find that Amy’s funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their tourist — even if they don’t understand her peculiar need for books. Sara starts a bookstore in honor of Amy and shares her love of books with the town. Her unconventional choices however could force a lot of secrets into the open. Published in 2013; 394 pages.

Ready Player One Ernest Cline Science Fiction In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the Oasis. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines — puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. Published in 2011; 374 pages. The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House Kate Andersen Brower Nonfiction Kate Andersen Brower offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas. No one has insight into the true character of America’s first families like the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to their daily needs. Full of stories and details that are by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived. Published in 2015; 309 pages. The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion Fiction Don Tillman, a brilliant geneticist, thinks that having women fill out a six-page, double-sided questionnaire before a date is logical and reasonable. Rosie Jarman, an impetuous barmaid, thinks Don should loosen up and learn to live a little. Follow the unlikely pair in this laugh-out-loud, feel-good story of unexpected joys, discovery and love. Published in 2013; 295 pages. The Round House Louise Erdrich Fiction When his mother, a tribal enrollment specialist living on a reservation in North Dakota, slips into an abyss of depression after

being brutally attacked, 14-year-old Joe Coutz sets out with his three friends to find the person that destroyed his family. This is a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture. Published in 2012; 321 pages. Rules of Civility Amor Towles Fiction A chance encounter with a handsome banker in a jazz bar on New Year’s Eve 1938 catapults Wall Street secretary Katey Kontent into the upper echelons of New York society, where she befriends a shy multi-millionaire, an Upper East Side ne’er-do-well, and a single-minded widow. A sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, with its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters. Published in 2011; 335 pages.

The Second Mrs. Hockaday Susan Rivers Fiction When Major Gryffth Hockaday is called to the front lines of the Civil War, his new bride is left to care for her husband’s farm and infant son. Placidia, a mere teenager herself, must endure the darkest days of the war on her own. By the time Major Hockaday returns, Placidia is bound for jail, accused of having borne a child in his absence and murdering it. What really transpired in the two years he was away? Published in 2017; 264 pages. Secret Daughter Shilpi Somaya Gowda Fiction A debut novel that explores powerfully and poignantly the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love through the experiences of two families — one Indian, one American — and the child that binds them together. A masterful work set partially in the Mumbai slums, so vividly portrayed in the hit film “Slumdog Millionaire,” that reflects the vibrant traditions, sights, and sounds of modern India. Published in 2010; 346 pages. The Secret Keeper Kate Morton Fiction Withdrawing from a family party to the solitude of her tree house, 16-year-old Laurel Nicolson witnesses a shocking murder that throughout a subsequent half century shapes her beliefs, her acting career, and the lives of three strangers from vastly different cultures. A gripping story of deception and passion set in the English countryside and World War II-era London. Published in 2012; 484 pages.

The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, and a Family Secret Catherine Bailey Nonfiction For fans of Downton Abbey, a true story of family secrets and aristocratic intrigue in the days before World War I. After the Ninth Duke of Rutland died alone in a cramped room in the servants’ quarters of Belvoir Castle in 1940, his heir ordered the family archives sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became the first historian given access, and she discovered a mystery: The Duke had erased three periods of his life from all family records — but why? Published in 2012; 465 pages. The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafón Fiction Barcelona, 1945. A boy named Daniel selects a novel from a library of rare books, enjoying it so much that he searches for the rest of the author’s works, only to discover that someone is destroying every book the author has ever written. Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets — an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love. Published in 2001; 486 pages. The Silent Wife A.S.A. Harrison Fiction Told in alternating voices, this gripping thriller exposes the 20year relationship of Jodi and Todd. It’s a comfortable, affluent life marred only by Todd’s infidelities. He is a committed cheater while she lives and breathes denial. He exists in dual worlds and she likes to settle scores.When his last affair goes too far, Jodi learns the lengths she’s willing to go when she’s got nothing left to lose. Published in 2013; 326 pages. The Silver Star Jeannette Walls Fiction Abandoned by their artist mother at the age of 12, Bean and her older sister, Liz, are sent to live in the decaying antebellum Virginia mansion of their widowed uncle. Here, they learn the truth about their parents and take odd jobs to earn extra money before an increasingly withdrawn Liz has a life-shattering experience. A deeply moving novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love each other and the world, despite its flaws and injustices. Published in 2013; 269 pages.

Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward Fiction Jojo is the son of an imprisoned white father and a drug-addicted black mother in rural Mississippi where poverty and racism are rampant. The main story takes place on a road trip to the State Penetentiary for the release of Jojo’s father. Jojo would rather be home with his ill grandmother, however, his mother Leonie has decided to take her children on the trip. Along the way, Jojo speaks with the spirit of his grandfather’s friend Richie. The story is told through Leonie, Jojo and Richie and evokes a strong sense of place and empathy for flawed characters. Published in 2017; 289 pages.

The Sisters Weiss Naomi Ragen Fiction In 1950’s Brooklyn, sisters Rose and Pearl Weiss are growing up in a strict ultra-Orthodox family when Rose commits an unforgivable act. Forty years later, pious Pearl’s sheltered daughter Rivka suddenly discovers the truth about her Aunt Rose, the family outcast. Rivka sets off on a dangerous adventure to find her, stirring up ghosts of the past and altering the future in unimaginable ways. Published in 2013; 327 pages. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Elizabeth Kolbert Nonfiction Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Published in 2014; 319 pages. Small Great Things Jodi Picoult Fiction After 20 years of experience as a labor and delivery nurse, Ruth Jefferson is ordered abruptly to another patient during her charge of a new born because the white supremacist parents don’t want an African-American to touch their baby. When alone in the nursery the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress. Ruth hesitates yet performs CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Her white public defender is of no help when he dismisses the race claims. In searching for justice, Ruth and her lawyer must learn to trust each other, but how? Published in 2016; 470 pages.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory Catilin Doughty Biography As a 20-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre, Caitlin Doughty took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into a profession. Through gallows humor and vivid characters, Caitlin navigates the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased. In a coming-of-age story rife with bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes, caring for bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. Published in 2014; 254 pages. The Snow Child Eowyn Ivey Fiction Alaska, 1920: a brutal place for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. One day, during the season’s first snowfall, the childless couple builds a child out of snow. The next morning, the snow child is gone — but they glimpse a young girl running through the trees. Faina, the girl, seems to be a child of the woods, and the couple loves her as their own. But things aren’t what they appear, and what they learn about Faina will transform them. Published in 2011; 391 pages. The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man Luke Harding Nonfiction Edward Snowden was a 29-year-old computer genius working for the National Security Agency when he shocked the world by exposing the near-universal mass surveillance programs of the United States government. His whistleblowing has shaken the leaders of nations worldwide and generated a passionate public debate on the dangers of global monitoring and the threat to individual privacy. Published in 2014; 346 pages. The Snowman Jo Nesbo Mystery One snowy night, a boy named Jonas discovers that his mother has disappeared. Only one trace of her remains: a pink scarf, now worn by the snowman that appeared in their yard earlier that day. Inspector Harry Hole suspects a link between the missing woman and a suspicious letter. Over the past decade, eleven women have vanished — all on the first snow day. But the killer makes his own rules and he’ll break his pattern to keep the game interesting. Published in 2007; 499 pages.

Something in the Water Catherine Steadman Fiction Erin, a documentary filmmaker, and Mark, an investment banker, are hoping to repair their strained relationship by embarking on the honeymoon of their dreams for two weeks in Bora Bora. However, while they’re out scuba diving alone in the ocean, they find something in the water that might just turn their dream into a nightmare. The secret that they choose to keep could alter the course of their entire lives and reveal the truth about who they really are. As you read this novel you can’t help but ask yourself, “What choice would I have made?” Published in 2019; 371 pages.

The Sound of Gravel Ruth Wariner Biography A memoir based on the author’s life as the 39th child of her polygamist, Morman father, The Sound of Gravel takes the reader on a journey most will never experience: that of abject poverty, parental neglect, and instability. The strength and determination it took Wariner, at only 15 years old, to extricate herself from the cult in which she’d been raised since birth is astounding; it is even more so when the reader finds out that she went on to rescue her younger sisters and raised them by herself. Published in 2016; 342 pages.

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife Mary Roach Nonfiction What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that’s that — the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness, persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my laptop? In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach asks contemporary and historical scientists, schemers, engineers, and mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. Published in 2005; 311 pages. A Spool of Blue Thread Anne Tyler Fiction The Whitshanks are a family that radiates a kind of specialness, but their stories reveal only part of the picture: Abby, Red, and their four grown children have accumulated not only tender moments, laughter, and celebrations, but also jealousies, disappointments, and guarded secrets. From Red’s parents, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920’s, to the grandchildren carrying the legacy into the 21st century, four generations unfold in and around the lovingly worn house that has always been their anchor. Published in 2015; 357 pages.

A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression Jane Ziegelman Nonfiction A time of abundance was no more as the collapse of the economy left a quarter of all Americans without work and undernourished. The devastation of The Great Depression would forever change the way America eats. A Square Meal examines the impact of economic contraction and environmental disaster on how Americans ate then — and the lessons and insights those experiences may hold for us today. Published in 2016; 314 pages. State of Wonder Ann Patchett Fiction Marina Singh, a big pharma researcher, heads to the deepest, darkest corner of the Amazon to investigate the death of her colleague, Anders. He traveled to check on the progress of Dr. Swenson, a rogue scientist developing a fertility drug that could rock the medical profession. After arriving in Manaus, Marina finds Swenson’s camp among the Lakashi, a gentle but enigmatic tribe. As Marina settles in, she goes native, losing everything she held on to in order to find herself. Published in 2011; 353 pages. Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel Science Fiction Kirsten Raymonde remembers the night the famous actor Arthur Leander had a heart attack on stage. That night, a devastating flu pandemic arrived, and within weeks, civilization came to an end. Twenty years later, Kirsten travels the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians, dedicated to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. Published in 2014; 333 pages. Stella Bain Anita Shreve Fiction Stella Bain doesn’t remember her past when she wakes up in a hospital bed in Marne, France in 1916. She wears a British war nurse’s uniform but speaks with an American accent. When she is able, Stella sets out for London, searching for answers. What she discovers — with Dr. August Bridge’s help — shocks and startles her. As Stella’s memories come racing back, she crosses the ocean to confront the haunted past of the woman she used to be. Published in 2013; 265 pages.

Still Alice Lisa Genova Fiction Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At 50 years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life — and her relationship with her family and the world — forever. Struggling to cope with Alzheimer’s, she learns her worth is comprised of far more than her ability to remember. Published in 2007; 293 pages.

Still Life Louise Penny Fiction Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called into the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. Published in 2008; 352 pages. Still Life with Bread Crumbs Anna Quindlen Fiction It begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is declining, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life. Published in 2014; 252 pages. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry Gabrielle Zevin Fiction With his bookstore in decline and his prized possession stolen, recently widowed A.J. Fikry has begun to isolate himself from the world. When an infant is left on his doorstep, his world is changed for the better and he finds a new zeal for life. Humorous and heartwarming, Zevin’s prose is a testament to the transformative power of second chances, and highlights how reading can help, heal, and inspire. Published in 2013; 270 pages.

The Storyteller Jodi Picoult Fiction Sage and Josef met in a grief support group and formed a strong, though unlikely, friendship. One day, Josef asks an unusual and jarring favor: he wants Sage to kill him. He confesses that he deserves to die because he was a Nazi SS guard. What he doesn’t know is that Sage’s grandmother is a Holocaust survivor. As Sage struggles with his request, she questions her belief system, her integrity, and her own perceptions of her life and family. Published in 2013; 460 pages. The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat Edward Kelsey Moore Fiction Earl’s is a second home for Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean. For over four decades they have remained friends, counseled one another through happiness and the blues, and they’re about to experience their most challenging year yet. Clarice is struggling with her husband’s infidelities, Barbara Jean is facing the reverberations of a youthful love affair, and Odette is facing the most terrifying battle of her life. Moore celebrates friendship and second chances in this uplifting novel. Published in 2013; 369 pages. Sweet Tooth Ian McEwan Fiction In 1972, deep into the Cold War, Serena Frome is being groomed for MI5, the British intelligence agency. Sent on Operation Sweet Tooth — a highly secret undercover mission — she meets Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage — trust no one. Published in 2012; 378 pages. The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen Fiction April 1975, Saigon: a South Vietnamese army general is creating a list; those who will be given passage out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one of them is secretly observing and reporting to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. This startling novel examines the clash between political beliefs and individual loyalties; Nguyen offers an important and unfamiliar new perspective on the war through a conflicted communist sympathizer. Published in 2015; 371 pages.

Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather Morris Fiction Based on the harrowing true story of holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a story of courage and love in the darkest of places. Lale was transported to Auschwitz in 1942 where he became the tätowierer. He marked thousands of his fellow prisoners with their prison number. It was through this job of privilege that Lale aided those in the camps less fortunate, and ultimately where he met the love of his life. Out of fear of being deemed a Nazi collaborator, Lale waited until his wife’s death in 2003 to tell his story. Published in 2018; 312 pages. Tell the Wolves I’m Home Carol Rifka Brunt Fiction When June Elbus’ uncle Finn Weiss — the only person who has ever understood her — dies too young of a mysterious illness, her world is in disarray. At his funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most. Published in 2012; 372 pages. Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston Fiction When Janie Starks returns after several years away from her hometown, she seeks identity and independence as the small southern black community buzzes with gossip about the outcome of her affair with a younger man. Told through flashbacks to her best friend Phoeby, Janie recounts her search for fulfilling relationships amongst heavy cultural and societal trappings, her struggle to maintain a sense of self, and her quest to understand her roots. Published in 1937; 219 pages. Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe Fiction Okonowo is the greatest warrior alive, his fame has spread like a bushfire in West Africa. He’s one of the most powerful men of his clan, but he has a fiery temper. Determined not to be like his father, he refuses to show weakness to anyone. When outsiders threaten the traditions of his clan, Okonowo takes violent action. Will the great man’s dangerous pride eventually destroy him? Published in 1958; 209 pages.

The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien Fiction A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling. The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer. Published in 1990; 233 pages. This is Where I Leave You Jonathan Tropper Fiction Judd Foxman’s father’s death marks the first time that the Foxman family has congregated in years. However, there is a glaring absence: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose affair with his radio shock jock boss has recently become painfully public. Mourning the demise of his father and his marriage, Judd joins his dysfunctional family as they reluctantly spend the week under the same roof. Their visit quickly spins out of control as longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed and old passions are reawakened. Published in 2009; 339 pages. The Tilted World Tom Franklin Fiction In 1927, as rains swell the Mississippi and the river threatens to burst its banks, federal agents Ted Ingersoll and Ham Johnson arrive in Hobnob to investigate the disappearance of two colleagues — and find a baby abandoned at the crime scene. Ingersoll finds a home for the infant with Dixie Clay Holliver, unaware that she’s the best bootlegger in the county and has many consequential secrets of her own. Published in 2013; 303 pages. The Time Keeper Mitch Albom Fiction The inventor of the world’s first clock is punished for trying to measure God’s greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, he is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two mortals the true meaning of time. Published in 2012; 224 pages.

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Fiction Scout Finch, daughter of the town lawyer, likes to spend her summers building treehouses, swimming, and catching lightning bugs with her big brother Jem. But one summer, when a black man is accused of raping a white woman, Scout’s carefree days come to an end. In the county courtroom, she will join her father in a desperate battle against ignorance and prejudice. Published in 1960; 323 pages. A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute Fiction Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, was captured by invaders and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of women and children. Years after the war, she is back in England when an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya, and she learns that a soldier who risked his life to save women in the war has also survived. Her search for him raises challenges that will draw again on her resourcefulness and spirit. Published in 1950; 350 pages. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith Fiction Smith’s classic novel depicts childhood in Williamsburg through the eyes of Francie, in a world that demands strength and resilience. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior, such as her father’s alcoholism and her aunt’s serial marriages, no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, Smith’s depiction of the Nolans’ daily experiences is a raw and honest look at family and city life. Published in 1943; 493 pages. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie Ayana Mathis Fiction In 1923, teenaged Hattie Shepherd flees northward from Georgia. She settles in Philadelphia to build a better life. Instead she marries a man who brings her constant disappointment and her firstborn twins are lost to a preventable illness. Hattie births nine more children whom she raises with grit and mettle; vowing to prepare them for an unkind world. Their lives, captured here in 12 luminous threads, tell the story of a mother’s monumental courage and a nation’s tumultuous journey. Published in 2012; 303 pages.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Laura Hillenbrand Nonfiction On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared — Lt. Louis Zamperini. Captured by the Japanese and driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor. Published in 2010; 473 pages. The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds Michael Lewis Nonfiction The Undoing Project is about a compelling collaboration between two men who have the dimensions of great literary figures. This story about the workings of the human mind is explored through the personalities of two fascinating individuals so fundamentally different from each other that they seem unlikely friends or colleagues. In the process they may well have changed, for good, mankind’s view of its own mind. Published in 2016; 362 pages. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Rachel Joyce Fiction Emotionally numb retiree Harold Fry is jolted out of his passivity by a letter from Queenie Hennessy, who he hasn’t heard from in 20 years. She’s written to say she’s in hospice and wants to say goodbye. Leaving his tense, bitter wife Maureen to her chores, Harold intends a quick walk to the corner mailbox to post his reply but, inspired by a chance encounter, he becomes convinced he must travel 600 miles to deliver his message in person. Published in 2012; 343 pages.

Varina Charles Frazier Fiction With limited marriage prospects, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects the secure life of a Mississippi landowner. Davis instead pursues a career in politics and eventually becomes president of the Confederacy, placing Varina at the center of one of the darkest moments in American history—culpable regardless of her intentions. Intimate in its observations of one woman’s tragic life and epic in its scope and power, Varina is a novel of an American war and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book portrays a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences. Published in 2018; 368 pages.

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail Bill Bryson Nonfiction Back in America after 20 years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100mile Appalachian Trail stretching from Georgia to Maine. The trail offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes; and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. Published in 1997; 284 pages. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson Nonfiction In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Published in 2010; 622 pages. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler Fiction Rosemary’s story begins in the middle. “I was raised with a chimpanzee,” she explains. “I tell you Fern was a chimp and already you aren’t thinking of her as my sister. But until Fern’s expulsion…she was my twin, my funhouse mirror, my whirlwind other half and I loved her as a sister.” Fowler weaves a tale of loving, fallible people whose well-intentioned actions lead to heartbreaking consequences. Published in 2013; 310 pages.

We Were the Lucky Ones Georgia Hunter Fiction The Kurcs are three generations of a Jewish family living in Poland. When the start of World War II erupts, the family is separated and is sent to the far corners of the world. Driven by a desire to survive and the fear of being forever separated, the Kurcs will rely on hope, inner strength, and a desperate attempt to navigate their own path to safety. Inspired by the true story of this remarkable Jewish family, the novel demonstrates how in the darkest moments of history the human spirit can flourish. Published in 2017; 403 pages.

A Week in Winter Maeve Binchy Fiction When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs of Ireland and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone is a skeptic. Helped by Rigger (he’s handy around the house) and Orla (a whiz at business), she is finally ready to welcome guests to Stone House’s spacious kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms. Binchy’s storytelling and unlikely cast of characters lend warmth and humor to this piece. Published in 2012; 407 pages. What Alice Forgot Liane Moriarty Fiction Alice wakes on a gym floor with no memory of the last 10 years. She remembers being 29, pregnant, deeply in love, but finds that she’s 39, getting divorced, and has three kids. She’s attempting to simultaneously reconstruct her past and rebuild her life. Why does her sister barely speak to her? How did she become one of those super skinny moms in expensive clothes? Is forgetting is a blessing or curse, and is it possible to start over? Published in 2009; 488 pages. What She Knew Gilly Macmillan Fiction Rachel Jenner, out for an ordinary Sunday walk with her son, Ben, allows him to run ahead to a swing when he suddenly vanishes into thin air. The police are called, search parties go out and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and days pass, strangers and family members are called into question and Rachel realizes nothing is quite as it seems. This psychological thriller will have you guessing until the very end. Published in 2015; 472 pages.

When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi Nonfiction At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student, into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working on the brain (the most critical place for human identity), and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. Published in 2016; 228 pages. Where’d You Go, Bernadette Maria Semple Fiction Bernadette is notorious, opinionated, difficult, and agoraphobic, but to her 15 year old daughter Bee, she’s just a mom and her

best friend. When Bernadette disappears before a family trip to Antarctica, it’s up to Bee to find her. In her search, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence — creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world. Published in 2012; 330 pages. Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria Beverly Daniel Tatum Nonfiction Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this selfsegregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This critique is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America. Published in 1997, revised 2017; 453 pages. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail Cheryl Strayed Nonfiction In the wake of her mother’s death, Cheryl Strayed’s family scattered and her own marriage soon crumbled. Four years later, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through to Washington State — alone. With no experience as a long-distance hiker, she faced rattlesnakes, bears, intense heat, record snowfall, and the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Strayed’s trademark humor and grace are present in this journey of healing and strength. Published in 2012; 315 pages. Woman in the Window A.J. Finn Fiction Anna Fox, a child psychologist, has developed agoraphobia-a fear which causes Anna anxiety when she tries to venture outside her home. Instead she spends her day watching old movies, drinking wine, helping individuals in an online chat group and spying on her neighbors. However, her life is about to change after the Russell’s move in across the street. One evening, when spying through the window she observes a crime. Did what she witness truly happen or was it a figment of her imagination? In this Rear Window like thriller nothing is what it seems. Published in 2018; 464 pages.

A Woman is No Man Etaf Rum Fiction In her debut novel Etaf Rum tells the story of three generations of Palestinian-American women struggling to express their individual desires within the confines of their Arab culture. Set in an America at once foreign to many and staggeringly close at hand, A Woman Is No Man is an intimate glimpse into a controlling and closed cultural world, and a universal tale about family and the ways silence and shame can destroy those we have sworn to protect. Published in 2019; 352 pages.

Women in the Castle Jessica Shattuck Fiction Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined. As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband’s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Published in 2017; 356 pages. Wonder R.J. Palacio Children’s Fiction August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants to be treated as an ordinary kid — but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. Pullman’s text begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance. Published in 2012; 315 pages. The Wright Brothers David G. McCullough Biography On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers — bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio — changed history. Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius and Orville had rare mechanical ingenuity. Despite only having a high school education, nothing

stopped them in their mission to fly. Published in 2015; 320 pages. Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë Fiction When Heathcliff, a poor Gypsy boy, is adopted into wealthy Catherine Earnshaw’s family, he and Catherine form a bond that progresses from childhood friendship to teenage passion. Because of Heathcliff’s lowly social status, Catherine decides she cannot marry him, and instead marries the gentleman Edgar Linton. This sets in motion a chain of events that ravages both the Linton and Earnshaw families with jealousy, revenge, and bitterness, leaving only the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff to haunt the moors. Published in 1847; 353 pages. The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion Nonfiction Didion’s journalistic skills are displayed as never before in this story of a year in her life that began with her daughter in a medically induced coma and her husband unexpectedly dead due to a heart attack. This powerful and moving work is Didion’s “attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness...about marriage and children and memory...about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.” With vulnerability and passion, Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience of love and loss. Published in 2005; 227 pages. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald Therese Fowler Fiction Beautiful, reckless Zelda Sayre meets F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance in 1918; before long, she’s fallen for him despite his unsuitability. Scott’s neither wealthy nor prominent but insists that his writing will bring him fortune and fame. After selling his first novel, Zelda decides to head north, marry him in the vestry of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and take the rest as it comes. Fowler’s daring, insightful writing captures Zelda’s story as she herself might have told it. Published in 2013; 375 pages.

NOTES

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