OLD RES CLUB ~ BOOK GROUP READING LIST ~ 1995 - 2017 _________________________1995 – 1996__________________________ The Road from Coorain, by Jill Ker Conway. Conway spent her first 11 years in the windswept grassland of Australia where her dad owned 30,000 acres of arid land. Though his ability to understand the land was extensive, an 8 year drought led to his suicide. Her older brother’s death a few years later plunged her mother into depression. This memoir tells the full details of her life up until the time she left for America. She went to Harvard after graduating from the University of Sydney and eventually became the first woman president of Smith College. The Alienist, by Caleb Carr. A society-born police reporter and psychologist, the ‘alienist,’ is recruited in 1896 by the NY reform police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt to track down a serial killer of boy prostitutes. Opposed by crime bosses and hidden rulers like J.P. Morgan, they utilize the alienist’s new and novel methods. Girl Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen. In 1967 after a session with a psychiatrist she’d never seen before, 18 year old Susanna was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. She spent the next two years on the ward for teenage girls. This story is a razor – edged perception providing portraits of fellow patients and their keepers. Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austin. Austin’s first published novel is the story of two starkly different English sisters: Elinor, the epitome of prudence and self control and her younger sister Marianne, who embodies impetuous emotion and enthusiasm. Both struggle to maintain their integrity and find happiness in the face of a competitive marriage market. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson. On San Piedro, an island of rugged, spectacular beauty in the Puget Sound, a Japanese – American fisherman stands trial for murder. Set in 1954 in the shadow of World War II, it’s a beautifully crafted courtroom drama, love story and war novel. Having Our Say, by the Delaney Sisters. Filled with humorous and poignant anecdotes, this dual memoir of their 200+ years offers a rare glimpse into the birth of black freedom and the rise of the black middle class in America. Sadie and Bessie provide a priceless oral history of the past century. My Own Country, by Abraham Verghese. The true story of a young doctor specializing in infectious disease in Tennessee. His life was thrown off path by an unexpected visitor from the city with aides. Verghese traces the penetration of the disease into the fabric of the town, weaving an incredible story. First Wives Club, by Olivia Goldsmith. A wickedly funny story of three 1st wives who band together to seek revenge on the husbands, who used and abused and then abandoned them when they were in their forties for younger women. _______________________ 1996 – 1997 __________________________ The Wedding, by Dorothy West. During summers of the 1950s in a small black enclave in Martha’s Vineyard, the Coles are the hub of an elite community. As preparations for their youngest daughter’s wedding unfold cracks begin to form on the ‘perfect’ family as she prepares to marry a white jazz musician. How to Make An American Quilt, by Whitney Otto. The stories of the members of a contemporary women’s quilting group in a small Californian town, including two sisters whose love for each other survives sexual betrayal, a fearless teenager trapped into marriage, a half black woman unable to escape her heritage and a wife who forgives her husband’s affairs .It reveals the beauty and complexity of the quilting process as well as the reality of being a woman in America. The Greenlanders, by Jane Smiley. Fourteenth century Greenland, great detail about the day to day lives – joys and innumerable hardships. The story of one family, the proud landowner Asgeir Gunnarsson, his daughter Margret and son Gunnar. A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr. The true story of an obsessed young lawyer who gives up just about everything to fight two prestigious law firms and two of the nations largest corporations on behalf of the families and citizens of Woburn, Mass., whose loved ones died because they drank the water. Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler. At 40, Dela Grinstead runs away from her disapproving physician husband and three surly children. Gradually she becomes part of her new community and takes a job caring for 12 year old Noah whose mother has also run away. She’s Come Undone, by Wally Lamb. Dolores Price’s journey from childhood to middle age. Bruised by her parents divorce, her mother’s breakdown and brutal betrayal by a neighbor, she retreats from life and grows into an obese woman with a gutsy manner. She battles for love and acceptance supported by some unconventional friends. Dolores is not always likeable but her story combines sorrow and wonder in a remarkable way. Montana Sky, by Kathleen Norris. Western Mystery ______________________1997 – 1998______________________________ To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird, a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus’s children, Scout and Jem, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. A Great Deliverance, by Elizabeth George. Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley along with detective Barbara Haver have been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the countryside. Fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress beside her headless father. Her last words were “I did it and I’m not sorry.” As Lynley and Havers wind their way through dark secrets and scandals, they uncover shattering revelations that reverberate through this tranquil English valley and in their own lives as well. Mona in the Promised Land, by Gish-Jen. Moving to Scarshill, NY with her newly prosperous family in 1968, Mona Chang discovers that the Chinese have become the “new Jews.” Mona quickly bleaches her bell bottoms; then it’s off with her friends to reform race relations. They find a cause in Alfred, the handsome black cook at Mona’s parents’ pancake house and soon there is a mansion hideout with an underground railroad. Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres. The Greek island of Cephallonia is peaceful and remote until World War II rolls onto its shores. This is a lyrical, heartbreaking and hilarious chronicle of 50 years in the lives of the Island’s inhabitants. The doctor’s daughter Pelagia finds herself caught between two men, a fisherman who joins the resistance, and Capt. Corelli, an Italian mandolin playing reluctant officer. Love is found, changed, misplaced, and altered by war with the arrival of the Germans and then the communists. The Color of Water, by James McBride. A narrative of Rachel Shilshy, the daughter of an angry, failed Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the South, by her son James. He writes of the inner confusion he felt as a black child of a white mother and of the love and faith with which his mother surrounded their large family. Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt. McCourt shares his story of growing up in the slums of Limerick, Ireland, after his immigrant parents returned to Ireland. Although his childhood was filled with poverty, death and disease; his story shines with love, music and humor. Independence Day, by Richard Ford. Frank Bascombe is no longer a sportswriter still living in New Jersey where he sells real estate. His ex is remarried and living in Connecticut with their two children. He has high hopes for his 4th of July weekend at the shore with his girlfriend and then to pick up his emotionally troubled teenage son. Together they will visit as many sports halls of fame as they can in 2 days. But Frank’s Independence Day does not turn out as planned. Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, by Alix Kates Shulman. Explores every facet and cliché of what it means to grow up female and beautiful in the 1940s. A challenging and bitter brew. _____________________1998 – 1999_______________________________ Last Orders, by Graham Swift. A group of men, friends since World War II whose lives revolve around work, family, the racetrack and their favorite pub, must drive the ashes from the first of them to die, from London to the seaside for scattering. Life and Death in Shanghai, by Nein Cheng. In August of 1966, Red Guards ransacked Nein Cheng’s home. Her background, the wife of an official of Chiang Kaishek’s regime and an employee of Shell Oil made her an obvious target. When she refused to confess to being an enemy of the state, she was placed in solitary confinement for more than 6 years. This is the story of her resistance and quest for justice when she was released. It also tells the story of Mao Tse-tung’s campaign to topple party moderates. Fifth Business, by Robertson Davis. Ramsey is a man twice born who has returned from the hell of the battle-grave at Passchendale in World War I, decorated with the Victorian Cross and destined to be caught in no man’s land where memory, history, and myth collide. As Ramsey tells his story it seems that from boyhood he has exerted a mystical influence on those around him. His apparently innocent involvement in such events as throwing snowballs or teaching card tricks proves not so innocent.( This is the first book of a trilogy.) Foreign Affairs, by Alison Lurie. 1985 Pulitzer Prize. Vinnie Miller and Fred Turner are two Americans conducting literary research in London. The plain, wryly, self-pitying Vinnie and handsome young Fred are both English teachers on sabbatical from a university in London. Vinnie loves England, which she equates with her love of children’s classics and a prim moral social superiority. Sitting next to a mid-westerner, Chuck; she disdains him at first only to be gradually captivated by his good qualities. Fred ends up having an affair with an actress. Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian. Written in the voice of Connie, a 14yr. old girl in 1981. Through her eyes we see her mother a lay midwife, who goes on trial when one of her homebirths goes terribly wrong. Object Lessons, by Anna Quindlen. A commentary on the 60's and coming of age of mother and daughter. As 13 year old Maggie struggles with her identity within her boisterous Scanlin clan her mother also finds her place within the patriarchal family that has never accepted her. Fast paced plot involves small fires set in a new development by Maggie’s friends and romantic tension between mother and a man from her past. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazer. Based on local history and family stories passed down by the author’s great, great grandfather, Cold Mountain is the tale of a wounded soldier Inman, who walks away from the ravages of war and back home to his prewar sweetheart Ada. Inman’s odyssey through devastated landscape of the South interweaves with Ada’s struggle to revive her father’s farm with the help of a young drifter named Ruby. As their long separate lives begin to converge at the close of war, Inman and Ada confront a vastly transformed world.. Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells. When Vivi and Siddalee Walker, an unforgettable mother-daughter team, get into a savage fight over a NY Times article that refers to Vivi as ‘a tap-dancing child abuser,’ the ya-yas sashay in and conspire to bring everyone back together. It moves from present to past, unraveling Vivi’s life and her enduring friendship with the ya-yas. The ya-yas, each of them totally individual and authentic, permeates this story of a tribe of Louisiana wild women who are impossible to tame. ______________________1999 – 2000____________________________ Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. A novel set in pre-war Japan specifically the Gion district, this the story of Sayuri and her metamorphosis from an impoverished beginning in a poor fishing village where her father sold her to her standing as one of Japan’s most renowned geishas. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling. The 1st in a series about a young wizard in training. Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley, 11 year old Harry finds himself at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He discovers a talent for broom riding and Quidditch. With true friends Ron and Hermione, he discovers his true destiny but must overcome the evil one who killed his parents. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver. The sage of the Price family led by the father, Nathan Price, an abusive minister who forsakes his family on his quest to save the souls of the natives of the Belgian Congo. The story is related in alternating chapters through Nathan’s four daughters with flashbacks from the mother’s point of view. The family arrives in 1959 on the eve of the Congolese independence. The family is often hilariously but finally woefully unprepared for the hardships of the jungle. Kingslover masterfully explicates the complex tragic history of the Congolese rebels and their struggle for independence and the outbreak of war. Here on Earth, by Alice Hoffman. After 19 years in California, March Murray returns to the small Mass. town where she grew up. Having avoided her past troubled history she encounters the boy she loved who has never forgotten her. Past collides with present as their reckless love is reignited. This dark romantic tale asks whether it is possible to survive a love that consumes you. Widow for a Year, by John Irving. This is the story of a family marked by tragedy. Ruth Cole is a complex, self contradictory character, a difficult woman. Her story is told in three parts, each focusing on a critical time in her life: first summer of 1958 when Ruth is four, second in the fall of 1990 when her personnel life is not nearly as successful as her literary career, and third, it closes in autumn 1995 when, at 41 years, Ruth, a widow and a mother, is about to fall in love for the first time. Richly comic, deeply disturbing, this is a multilayered story, ribald and erotic about the passage of time and relentlessness of grief. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, by Laurie King. Long retired Sherlock Holmes pursues the study of honeybee behavior. He meets 15 year old Mary Russel whose mental acuity matches his own. Under the master’s guidance she hones her talents in a case of the landowner’s mysterious fever and the kidnapping of an American senator’s daughter in the wilds of Whales. But near fatal bombs on both their doorsteps send them on a trail of meaningless clues and motives. The Pilot’s Wife, by Anita Shreve. While grieving for her husband, Jack, a pilot who died in a plane crash, Kathryn Lyons discovers that he had a second life she knew nothing about. Torn between anger and her desire to preserve his memory for their daughter, she seeks out Jack’s secret. Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding. Here is a daily chronicle of a hilarious year in the life of 30 something singleton, Bridget Jones. She resolves to lose 7 pounds, stop smoking and form a functional relationship with a responsible adult. Whenever her plans meet with disaster she manages to pick herself up. __________________________2000 – 2001__________________________ The Hours, by Michael Cunningham. The story of three women: Clarissa Vaughan, planning a New York party for a dear friend; Laura Brown, who in a 1950s LA suburb feels the constraints of a perfect family and home; and Virginia Woolf, recuperating with her husband in a London suburb and beginning to write Mrs. Dalloway. By the end of the novel the three stories intertwine. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamand. The book tells the story of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter whose life is only hinted at in the Bible. Told in Dinah’s voice, it explores the triumphs of ancient women. It begins with her mothers, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhav, the four wives of Jacob; her call to midwifery and a new home in foreign Egypt. White Oleander, by Janet Fitch. Ingrid, a poet, imprisoned for murder and her daughter Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of LA foster homes- each its own universe, with its own laws, dangers and lessons- becomes a surprising journey of self-discovery. Hannah’s Daughter, by Marianne Fredriksson. Three generations of Swedish women told by Anna, a writer, trying to sort out her feelings about her mother, Johanna and her grandmother, Hannah. Holding a bedside vigil for her dying mother Johanna, Anna searches for answers from the past. What was it like for her grandmother when she married a miller and raised an illegitimate child. What drove her own mother, once a fiery revolutionary, to settle down and become a housewife. Power of One, Bryce Courtenay. The moving story of one man’s search for the love that binds friends, the passion that binds lovers, and the realization that it only takes one to change the world. A weak friendless boy growing up in South Africa during World War II, Peekay turns to two older men, one black, one white to show him how to find courage to dream, to succeed, and to triumph over a world when all seems lost, and to inspire him to summon the most irresistible force of all: the power of one. Dreaming the Bones, Deberah Crombie. Duncan Kincaid, Scotland Yard superintendent is called upon by his former wife, a writer, who wants him to investigate the suicide/ death of a poet whose biography she’s writing. He brings his partner /lover Sargent Gemma James. Plainsong, by Kent Haruf. In alternating points of view, it chronicles several lives in a small town in Colorado. Plot involves Tom Guthrie, whose wife leaves him with two young sons, a pregnant teenager whose mother kicks her out and two old bachelor brothers who take her in. Tara Road, by Maeve Binchey. Rita who lives on Tara Rd. Dublin with her husband Danny and their two children, believed she was happily married until Danny left her to be with his pregnant girlfriend. She exchanges houses with a separated American woman coming to terms with the death of her son, for the summer. They each resent how well the other is doing in their place. ___________________________2001 – 2002________________________ The House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Debois. A Californian house becomes the breaking point for three desperate people; an exiled Iranian who bought the property at a bankruptcy sale, a recovering alcoholic who clings to the house to stay sane and a sherriff who is married but loves another obsessively. Girl With A Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier. History and fiction merge as 16 year old Griet shows Holland in the 1660s and inspires one of Vermeer’s most celebrated paintings. Personal History, by Katherine Graham.The woman who piloted the Washington Post through the crisis of The Pentagon Papers and Watergate tells her story. An awkward child growing up amid wealth, who watched her brilliant husband plunge into mental illness, discovers her own strength and sense of self. Bee Season, by Myla Goldberg. An ordinary girl who discovers an extraordinary gift in spelling, experiences a painful journey for this dysfunctional family of four. It also revolves around Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. The Marx Sisters, by Barry Mailand. When the great-granddaughter of Karl Marx is found dead in a quaint section of London, Detective Kathy Kolla is on her 1st case. When a 2nd sister is killed Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard is brought in. In the Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez. On a deserted mt. road in the Dominican Republic in 1960, 3 sisters from a pious Catholic family were assassinated after visiting their jailed husbands. Martyred, they became known as butterflies. A fourth sister tells the tale using each sisters voice. Their stories vary from hair ribbons to prison torture. Mirage, by Soheir Khashoggi. Story of a woman locked behind oppressive walls of a modern day harem. The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood. Iris recalls the afternoon of her sister Laura’s suicide just after World War II. This is a story within a story. Laura’s novel becomes famous after her death. Iris recounts the rise and fall of the Chase family fortune and the events leading to Laura’s death. ___________________________2002 – 2003________________________ Ahab’s Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund.” Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last,” Una tells us. She leaves the violent Kentucky frontier for the peace of a New England lighthouse where she falls in love with 2 young men. Disguised as a boy she earns a berth on a whaling ship. Here she meets Ahab and begins a life on Nantucket. Night Listener, by Armistead Maupin. A psychological drama between a gay, late-night storyteller and a night listener who says he is a young child dying of cancer. Graphic details of storytellers love life. Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahari. A collection of 9 short stories with sensual details of the Indian culture. Lahari translates between the strict traditions of her ancestors and the baffling new world. Friendship Cake, by Lynn Hinton. Warm story of women’s friendship among members of a Community Church who are on the cookbook committee and the new woman preacher. Icebound, by Dr. Jerri Nielsen. The dramatic true story of a physician stranded at a South Pole research station who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer. Rescued by Air National Guard under perilous conditions. Waiting, by Ha Jin. This is the story of a physician living in two worlds. For 17 years he loves an ambitious clever nurse while working in Chinese Army hospital. Back in the traditional world his humble wife refuses his yearly request for divorce. Wild December, by Edna O’Brien. The warring sons of warring sons in the countryside of western Ireland. A sister, brother and stranger converge in misguided ideas of fidelity. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo. Small town living has trapped Miles Roby into a life he never wanted. He is at the constant beck and call of the town matriarch while he tries to make a living for himself and daughter at the diner. ___________________________2003 – 2004________________________ John Adams, by David McCullough. An epic biography of the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot. Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand. Depression mired Americans find something to believe in as a little horse with crooked legs thought to be lazy makes racing history as does his trainer, jockey and owner. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. A boy adrift in a life boat with a 450 lb. tiger. His journey becomes a test of everything he has encompassed in his religious, zoological and survival experiences. Simon’s Family, by Marianne Fredriksson. Set before and during World War II, it unfolds about two families and a schoolboy friendship that links them in Sweden. Simon emulates the intellectual pursuits of his Jewish friend’s father, Ruben, while Isak strives to gain the craftsmanship and manual strength of Simon’s dad, Erik. Simon imagines alternate origins for himself even after his parents tell him the secret of his birth. Simon’s mother, Karin offers love and nurturing throughout this chronicle as threats of German evil as well as past and future events haunt them. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. When three month old Lia Lee arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, CA, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia’s parents were part of a large Hmong community, refugees from CIA run ‘Quiet War’ in Laus. Parents and doctors wanted what was best for Lia but their ideas about the causes and treatment of her illness couldn’t be more different. The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown. While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late night phone call: the curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. Joining forces with a French cryptologist Sophie Nevea, Landon is stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of DaVinci visible for all to see, as well as the curator's involvement in the Priory of Sion, an actual secret society whose members included Sir Issac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo and Da Vinci among others. Three Junes by Julia Glass East of Eden by John Steinbeck _________________________2004 – 2005________________________ The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe, Morality for Beautiful Girls, and The Kalahari Typing School For Men, by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Precious Ramotswe, the traditionally built, sensible, cunning proprietor of the only ladies detective agency in Botswana, confronts wayward husbands and witch doctors with her humble assistant Mma Makutis. Her friend Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is an upstanding mechanic. The sequels take us further into their world with new adventures as Precious tracks a missing American and deals with her fiancé’s resentful maid, finalists in a beauty pageant and a suspicious cook. In the 4th sequel Mma Makusi opens a typing school for men while Precious copes with behavior of an adopted son having no time to plan her own long awaited nuptials. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. Narrated by Cal who for the first 14 years of her life was the daughter of a 2nd generation hard working Greek family in Detroit. Physiologically a hermaphrodite and more male than female, Cal recounts an epic family saga from a 1920s Greek village, (where Calliope’s fate is sealed by grandparents; Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides) to 1960 Detroit. Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi. Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold teacher, Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids. The women immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James and Vladimar Nabokov. The stories intertwine with their actual lives as they face tyranny with the liberating power of literature. The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory. This is the first book in a trilogy. This is a vivid retelling of Anne Boleyn by her sister Mary. The two sisters and brother George are all brought to court at a young age as players in their uncle’s plan to advance the family fortunes. Mary wins Henry’s favor although married to one of his courtiers. Their affair lasts several years until dark clever Anne displaces Mary as the king’s mistress and begins to rid him of Queen Katherine of Aragon . Mercy, by Jodi Picoult. Police chief Cameron McDonald in a small town in Massachusetts, has spent his life guided by duty. When his cousin Jamie arrives at the police station with the body of his wife and a confession that he killed her, Cam must arrest him. Allie, Cam’s wife, is not seduced by the picture that Cam paints of Jamie’s devotion to his wife, being so great that he’d grant all her wishes even death. Mia the new assistant at Allie’s florist shop sparks an inexplicable attraction. Waiting For Snow in Havana, by Carlos Eire. A memoir recounting the author’s idyllic and privileged childhood in Havana and how it came to a sudden halt with the Cuban revolution. He also tells of his remarkable journey after Castro takes over. Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. This is the tale of two motherless boys growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, a city on the brink of destruction at the dawn of the Soviet invasion. The unlikely friendship between a rich boy and the servant’s son turns into a betrayal which grows increasingly devastating. Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder. This is about the quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who would cure the world. The Harvard professor, a renowned infectious disease specialist, was brought up in a bus and on a boat. In medical school he found his calling. He became a leader in international health and a doctor who made house calls in Boston and in the mountains of Haiti. He blasted through conventions to get help believing that “God loves everyone but especially the poor.” Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett. Somewhere in South America at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Opera singer Roxanne Coss is mesmerizing guests until a band of gun-welding terrorists take the entire party hostage. The life threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different as hostages and terrorists forge unexpected bonds. _________________________2005– 2006__________________________ The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli are recent immigrants to Boston from India in 1968. Their first child a son ends up with the pet name Gogul when his real name never arrives from India. Gogul despises his name and grows up as American as he can while his parents cling to their Bengali past while living what appears to be a typical American lifestyle. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Christopher knows all the countries in the world, every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He can’t stand to be touched. At fifteen, gifted, and autistic his carefully constucted world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog has been killed; and he sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes. War Trash by Ha Jin. A fictional memoir, tells the story of a Chinese soldier taken prisoner during the Korean War.Yu Yuan has an uneasy relationship with the communist leadership, but his knowledge of English makes him indispensable as an interpreter and he witnesses key events and decisions. The
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. True story of two
men, the brilliant architect behind the historic World’s Fair of
1893 and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims
to their deaths. Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif. An account of the consequences of British imperialism and the fierce political battles of the Egyptian Nationalism through the romantic love story of Anna Winterbourne and Sharif al-Baroudi. Told through the voice of Amal, Sharif’s grandneice. Their love story is echoed by the love affair between Isabel, their American great-granddaughter, and Omar, Amal’s brother, set against the continuing political turmoil of the Middle East. Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst. Set in England, early to mid-1980s. Nick moves into the household of fellow Oxford graduate, Toby; his eccentric sister, Catherine; aristocratic Mother, Rachel; and Thatcher obsessed father, Gerald. He has romances with council worker Leo and later with Wani, son of rich Lebanese businessman. Heir to the Glimmering World, by Cynthia Ozick. Set in New York in the 1930s, Rose Meadows finds steady employment with the Mitwisser clan. The family recently arrived from Berlin, rely on generous benefactor, James A’Bair, the discontented heir to a fortune his father , a famous children’s author made from Bear Boy stories. Peabody Sisters, by Megan Marshall _________________________2006– 2007__________________________ Snow by Orhan Pamuk Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner All Souls, by Patric MacDonald Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion History of Love by Nicole Krauss The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards When the Astors Owned New York, by Justin Kaplan _________________________2007– 2008__________________________ The Road by Cormac McCarthy Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and March by Geraldine Brooks Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan Saving the World by Julia Alvarez A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Women of Silk by Gail Tsukiyama _________________________2008– 2009_____________________ 1776 by David McCullough Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo Loving Frank by Nancy Horan Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks The Yiddish Policeman by Michael Chabon North River by Pete Hamill Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert The Last Days of Dog Town by Anita Diament _________________________2009– 2010_____________________ The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski Olive Kitteridge, by Eliz Strout The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff The Piano Teacher, by Janicey Lee The Help by Kathryn Stocket _________________________2010– 2011_____________________ Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghesei Little Bee by Chris Cleave Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish Lost City of Z by David Grann Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and Alison Andersony Claude & Camille by Stephanie Cowell Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova _________________________2011– 2012_____________________ A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan State of Wonder by Ann Patchett Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson Don't Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller _____________________________2012– 2013_____________________ Birds Without Wings, by Louis De Bernieres The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough The Girl in the Blue Beret by Bobbie Anne Mason Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter _____________________________2013– 2014_____________________ Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Learning to Die In Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy by Carlos Eire Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Call the Midwife. A Memoir of Birth Joy and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth
_____________________________2014– 2015_____________________ The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt Ordinary Grace by William Kruger The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kieman Orphan Train by Christina Kline The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer _____________________________2015– 2016_____________________ Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple Lila by Marilynne Robinson Me Before You by Jojo Moyes Dead Wake by Erik Larson American Requiem by James Carroll The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain _____________________________________________________________2016– 2017_____________________ The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah The Paris Wife by Paula McLain A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler The Elephant Company by Vicki Constantine Croke _____________________________________________________________2017– 2018_____________________ The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles News of the World by Paulette Jiles Red Notice by Bill Browder Commonwealth by Ann Patchet The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith The Rent Collector by Cameron Wright Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi _____________________________________________________________2018– 2019_____________________ Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann Beartown by Fredrik Backman Pachinko by Min Gin Lee Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng Educated by Tara Westover The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton Circe by Madeline Miller Becoming by Michelle Obama _____________________________________________________________2019– 2020_____________________ In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende This Is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Inheritance by Dani Shapiro Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan Miracle Creek by Angie Kim The Story Teller's Secret by Sejai Badani Little Women by Louisa May Alcott _____________________________________________________________2020– 2021_____________________ The Dutch House by Ann Pacthett The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugong Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher The Huntress by Kate Quinn Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo Born A Crime by Trevor Noah Castes : The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Tyan Stradal _____________________________________________________________2021– 2022_____________________ The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Richardson Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe The Barbizon by Paulina Bren The People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry Four Winds by Kristin Hannah This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer _____________________________________________________________2022– 2023_____________________ The Splendid and The Vile by Erik Larson The Honey Bus by Meredith May Fly Girl by Ann Hood Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict _____________________________________________________________2023– 2024____________________ The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese Horse by Geraldine Brook
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