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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Ninety-three year old Jacob Jankowski, remembers his life nearly 70 years earlier when shattered by loss, he inadvertently joined the circus, met the woman of his dreams and encountered the elephant that changed everything.
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Away by Amy Bloom
Lillian, a Russian immigrant arrives in New York in 1924 after witnessing the murders of her husband and parents and enduring the disappearance of her daughter, Sophie in a pogrom. When Lillian discovers that Sophie may still be alive, she embarks on an unforgettable journey across the country toward Alaska in hopes of getting to Siberia to find her daughter and to reclaim a part of herself.
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The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
On the heels of a devastating political loss, Theodore Roosevelt escapes to the Amazon in a journey of physical endurance and exploration where he uncovers unmapped territory, and faces the ultimate challenge: the demons within himself.
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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Eight-year-old Jean Louise, nicknamed Scout, tells about growing up as the daughter of a widowed lawyer, Atticus Finch, in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930's. She and her older brother Jem happily occupy themselves with resisting "progressive education," bedeviling the neighbors, and stalking the local bogeyman--until their father's courageous defense of a black man falsely accused of rape introduces them to the problems of race prejudice and brings adult injustice and violence into their childhood world.
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The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud
Three friends on the verge of their thirties--beautiful, sophisticated Marina Thwaite, daughter of a noted journalist; Danielle, a quiet TV producer; and Julius, a cash-poor freelance writer--make their way through New York City, until Marina's idealistic, college-dropout cousin, Bootie, arrives to complicate all of their lives.
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Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
After a decade of spending the delightful summer week at their country house in New Hampshire, the members of the extended Seton family are confronted by a terrible accident when a partially loaded hunting rifle in the wrong hands leads to tragedy, testing the values, convictions, and relationships that hold the family together.
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The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller
Two unconventional women, neighbors in adjacent New England townhouses--Meri Fowler, pregnant, newly married, and discovering the gap between reality and expectation, and Delia Naughton, wife of a notoriously unfaithful liberal senator--confront the costs and challenges of love.
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The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Walker and Daughter is Georgia Walker's little yarn shop, tucked into a quiet storefront on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Friday Night Knitting Club was started by some of Georgia's regulars, who gather once a week to work on their latest projects and to chat-and occasionally clash-over their stories of love, life, and everything in between.
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Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
In 1946, writer Juliet Ashton finds inspiration for her next book in her correspondence with a native of Guernsey, who tells her about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club born as an alibi during German occupation.
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Nickel and Dimed: on (not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich, a PhD in biology turned essayist, describes her 1998-2000 journey into the world of the “unskilled worker” earning low wages and living in cheap accommodations. In her jobs, as waitress, hotel maid, cleaning woman, nursing home aide and Wal-Mart sales clerk that took her from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, Ehrenreich lived the lives of desperation that many Americans face today.
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The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Wang Lung, a simple peasant farmer, takes as a wife a battered slave girl who becomes an indomitable, loyal woman. Working the land together, they prosper and increase their holdings, yet Wang eventually betrays his family and neglects the earth he had worshipped.
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The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Time, tradition, and ties to culture tell the story of four mothers as they immigrate from China and raise their American-born daughters.
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Marley and Me by John Grogan
Follows the life story of an exuberant golden Labrador who gets into perpetual trouble and experiences a range of inspiring adventures, from comforting his human companions in the aftermath of a devastating miscarriage, to shutting down an entire beach, to guarding a seventeen-year-old neighbor in the aftermath of a stabbing attack.
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The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Passionately in love, Clare and Henry vow to hold onto each other and their marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel.
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Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
The private and social worlds of three families are revealed through the experiences of the heroine, Fanny Price.
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Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
Years after painter Elaine Risley flees Toronto for Vancouver, she returns to search for long-missing parts of her life and pursue the elusive Cordelia, her best friend and sometimes enemy.
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The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
Seven years ago, Laurel Estabrook was brutally attacked in the woods in Vermont. Now she is a social worker obsessed with the photographs of a dead homeless man. In her quest for his truth, she finds her own.
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Chocolat by Joanne Harris
When Vianne opens a decadent chocolate shop in a small French village the residents are changed, much to the dismay of the village priest.
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The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
It is a snowy night in 1964 when a doctor delivering his own twins, makes the life-changing decision to give away his daughter because she has Down Syndrome. He then tells his wife that the child was stillborn. What follows is a whirlwind life for the doctor, his wife, the nurse who takes his daughter, and the twins.
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Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan is a Jewish college student searching Europe for the one person he believes can explain his roots. Alex, a lover of America and unsurpassed butcher of the English language, is his lovable Ukrainian guide. On their quixotic quest, past and present merge and hysterically funny moments collide with great tragedy.
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The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Gogol’s life, like so many others is a reflection of the legacy of his name. His story is the story of his entire family and the struggles that they face as Bengali immigrants in the United States.
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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer who has a terrible secret.
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Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
When rebels invade the home of the Vice President of an unnamed South American country, the lives of both hostages and captors are irrevocably changed.
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Brick Lane by Monica Ali
When an arranged marriage takes Nazeen to a foreign country to wed a stranger, she must decide if she will merely face her destiny or shape it.
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Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Secrets and tragedies are revealed with humor through the voice of Ruby Lennox as she narrates her life and tells the story of her family.
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A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
The true story of the brilliant Nobel prize winning mathematician and his journey through madness.
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Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
The life of Billy Lynch is revealed through the memories and stories of his friends at his funeral.
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Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel
A fascinating biography of this famous figure and his relationship with his daughter, told through her letters and extensive historical documentation.
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Gilead by Marilynne Robinson A 76 year-old preacher writes an account of his life in the form of a letter to his 7 year-old son. Book suggestions if you liked this title.
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The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
Alessandra struggles to meet the expectations of her family and society during uncertain times in Renaissance Italy. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride The remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan and her mysterious past as told through the eyes of her son. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Huck Finn and a runaway slave, Jim experience adventure and insight as they travel on the Mississippi River. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Known World by Edward P. Jones A freed slave is influenced by his former master to buy slaves of his own. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Peace Like a River by Leif Enger A quiet Midwestern life is upended when a family’s home is invaded and one of the intruders is killed by the oldest son. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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In Cold Blood by Truman Capote A true account of the murder of the Clutter family. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls A memoir of Walls’ distinctive life as she is raised by unconventional parents. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Amagansett by Mark Mills An Amagansett fisherman sets out to discover who killed a woman friend he has pulled up in the net. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Three Junes by Julia Glass Three tales of three Junes, all centered around a complicated Scottish family. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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House of Mirth by Edith Wharton Lily Bart’s love and fortune are determined by society and status set in early 20th-century New York. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon When Christopher Boone, a 15 year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome finds his neighbor’s dog murdered, he sets out on a terrifying journey which turns his world upside down. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd A community of nurturing African-American women gives Lily the courage to discover the truth about her dead mother and about herself. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Best Intentions by Robert Sam Anson An exploration of how Edmund Perry, a 17 year-old black honors student from Harlem was killed soon after graduation by a young white plain-clothes policeman in an alleged mugging attempt. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler An award-winning story of a tumultuous marriage. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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East of Eden by John Steinbeck The fall of Adam and Eve and the rivalry of Cain and Abel are mirrored in the stories of the Trasks and the Hamilitons. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The friendship of two Afghani boys is strained to the brink when issues of betrayal are played out across time. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin A coming-of-age story set in an era when baseball truly was the national pastime that brought communities together. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Twins, Rahel and Esthappen forge a childhood of their own amidst the turmoil of their family and their country. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen An 18-year-old’s startling account of her 2-year stay at a Boston psychiatric facility. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi Seven Iranian women meet secretly to study forbidden works of western literature. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Atonement by Ian McEwan The lives of six people are forever changed on a hot summer’s day in England. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie The story of two young men as they weather years of banishment during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by Sarah Delany The Delany sisters reflect on their family and on their careers as pioneering African American professionals. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson Chronicle of the trail, the people who created it, and the places it passes through. |
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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The story of the romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth Bennett and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Life of Pi by Yann Martel A teenaged boy from India is cast adrift on the Pacific Ocean. |
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A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley A modern version of Shakespeare’s classic drama, King Lear, set on an Iowa farm. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold A murdered 14-year-old girl watches her family and her killer from Heaven. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout When her 14-year-old daughter’s affair with a teacher is revealed, Isabelle must find a way to reconcile her feelings about her own life with her feelings about her daughter. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus A historical novel based on an actual proposal by a Cheyenne chief to trade 1000 white women as brides for Indians for 1000 horses to achieve lasting peace between the U.S. government and the Cheyenne. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks The Bubonic plague strikes the small town of Eyam in 1665 and wipes out most of its citizens. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates An act of violence against a teenaged girl wrenches apart a formerly close-knit family. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel The magical novel of a young Mexican woman who uses her cooking to express her emotions when forced by tradition to endure a tragic existence at the hand of her domineering mother. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway Conway’s autobiography which traces her journey from an isolated childhood in the Australian outback to her successes as the first female president of Smith College. |
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Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier A Civil War deserter travels home through the Blue Ridge Mountains to the woman he loves. |
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Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver Three free-spirited women in one Appalachian community have lives that intersect to make the author’s point about environmental issues. |
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Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand The true story of how a great racehorse captured the heart and imagination of a nation. |
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Empire Falls by Richard Russo A middle-aged man waits in vain to be bequeathed the restaurant he has spent most of his life in. |
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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier The fictionalized story about the intriguing girl in Vermeer’s painting of the same name. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Bee Season by Myla Goldberg When Eliza Naumann unexpectedly wins the school spelling bee, the family dynamic shifts drastically. |
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Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian A complex novel of life in China following the Cultural Revolution. |
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Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg When Lainey’s husband, Jay falls into a sudden coma she is comforted by two women who teach her about the lasting bond of friendship and the genuine power of love. |
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Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund A story of the famed character’s wife, Una from her Kentucky childhood, to her adolescence disguised as a cabin boy on a whaling ship, to her marriage to Ahab and life overlooking the sea in Nantucket. |
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Montana 1948 by Larry Watson A lonely life in 1948 Montana as told through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. |
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Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel In their own words, the stories of women’s day-to-day lives as they made their pioneering journeys west. |
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Before and After by Rosellen Brown A teenage girl has been found murdered and the chief suspect is another teenager, Jacob Reiser. |
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One True Thing by Anna Quindlan 24 year-old Ellen Gulden returns home from a promising journalism career to take care of her mother who is dying of cancer. From the prologue we know she will be accused of aiding in her mother’s death, but did she do it? |
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The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver A young woman leaves her home in rural Kentucky and finds herself living in urban Tucson, having picked up an unexpected passenger along the way. |
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Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Four generations of an African-American family as seen through the eyes of Macon “Milkman” Dead. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi Trudi Montag, a dwarf, acts as librarian and historian of a German town during the first half of the 20th century. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman After the death of her father, a California jeweler returns to her hometown where she rediscovers her boyfriend from her teenage years. Loosely based on Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, this is one of Hoffman’s many novels that feature magical realism. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons A spirited 11 year-old girl from the deep South reflects on life-changing events both past and present. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines When a young black man with a promising future is sentenced to death for a crime he was only peripherally involved in, he is visited by someone whose job it is to teach him what it means to be a man. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
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Midwives by Chris Bohjalian A Vermont home birth goes terribly wrong and the mother dies while the midwife tries to save the baby. Told from the point of view of the midwife’s daughter, this moving tale goes back and forth in time to make sense of the tragedy. Book suggestions if you liked this title. |
