All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
Vast Western landscapes are the backdrop to this story of a boy trying to find himself in a world that's changing.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chambon
Two young artists – one New Yorker, one Jewish immigrant – create comic books out of their fears and dreams as Hitler's power grows in Europe. This novel won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize.
Amigas: Letters of Friendship and Exile, Marjorie Agosin and Emma Sepulveda
A book of letters between two Chilean friends, starting with their separation in 1958, covers topics as diverse as love, loneliness, beauty pageants, and political exile. Both women are now writers, professors, and human rights activists living in the United States.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The focus is on the Russian aristocracy, but Tolstoy also provides his readers with a portrait of the peasants. The reader becomes involved in a heart-wrenching love story as well as a battle between the dictates of society and of the heart.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
This autobiography of a great Hindu yogi recounts his search for truth in India and his life in the United States -- an inspiring window to mystical experiences and universal truths.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X and Alex Haley
A controversial political and social activist of the 1960s, whose influence continues to grow, tells his life story. Spike Lee's recent movie has restored this classic to its bestseller status.
Bad Blood, Lorna Sage
It wasn't a pleasant life Lorna lived with her mother and her grandparents in the vicarage, but it wasn't dull. The times weren't dull either in this transition era following World War II when almost everything in rural England changed, except, of course, the need to survive adolescence, and the need for love and acceptance.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie
Set during China's Cultural Revolution in 1960s and 70s, this charming and poignant novel follows two young, learned men who are banished to a tiny peasant village where they are to be "re-educated." They are denied all intellectual stimulation until they discover a suitcase filled with "forbidden" books, including the works of many famous European authors such as Balzac, Dumas, and Dickens. The books allow them not only to escape their surroundings but also to fall in love with and woo a young woman in the village, the Little Chinese Seamstress.
A Bend in the River, V.S. Naipul
This novel tells the harrowing story of a Muslim Indian merchant who opens a store in a newly independent African nation caught between "the alluring modern world and its own past and traditions."
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
An autobiographical novel about a young woman's nervous breakdown, attempted suicide, hospitalization, and subsequent recovery. Contains both humorous and emotionally disturbing parts.
Blanche on the Lam, Barbara Neely
Witty, intelligent, African-American, and a feminist, Blanche White, on the run from the law, works as a domestic in a remote, wealthy household. She must solve a murder before the finger of blame is pointed at her.
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
11-year-old Pecola yearns to have blue eyes like the little white girls she sees. With blue eyes, she thinks, everything in her life would be different. The horror at the heart of her yearning, however, is exceeded only by the evil of its fulfillment.
The Bone People, Keri Hulme
A woman artist of New Zealand wins the lottery and a shipwrecked boy and a Maori man come into her life. The mysteries of love, relationships, Maori tradition, cancer, and lost pasts engross the reader as she accompanies the three protagonists on their personal journeys.
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius ReinventedArchitecture, Ross King
Anyone with an interest in architecture will want to read about Brunelleschi, who designed the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, one of the most towering achievements of Renaissance architecture.
Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood
By focusing on the relationships among four adolescent girls, Atwood delineates the training of females in North American culture. We see our childhood once again.
Cider House Rules, John Irving
Wilbur Larch is a physician, philosopher, obstetrician, and abortionist at St. Cloud's Orphanage in Maine who struggles through his relationship with his apprentice and surrogate son, Homer Wells. The quirky characters in this book break all the rules, and yet they remain noble and kind.
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
In the final weeks of the Civil War, Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier, decides to return home to Ada, the woman he loves. There are parallels here to The Odyssey as Inman has his share of hostile encounters with strangers intent on disrupting his journey.
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, J. Anthony Lukas
This is a fascinating account of the court-ordered desegregation of Boston public schools in the 1970s. Told through a focus on three diverse families, this story is a compelling history of race and class conflict in Boston.
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, Tony Horowitz
Horowitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent, tackles the subject of our own Civil War and how its history is actively replayed by scores of grown men and women. He wound up having some odd adventures with the "hardcores," the fellows who try to immerse themselves in the war, hoping to get what they lovingly term a "period rush." Horwitz spent two years reporting on why Americans are still so obsessed with the war, and the ways in which it resonates today.
Crooked Little Heart, Anne Lamott
Lamott tells the story of a precocious 12-year-old tennis champ, her loving but dysfunctional family, and her struggle to be confident and capable despite all odds.
Days of Grace, Arthur Ashe and Arnold Rampersad
The memoir of a tennis player, a social activist, and a man with AIDS, Ashe evaluates himself and his world with intelligence and honor. His courage and grace are present on each page.
Disgrace, J. M. Coetzee
Disgrace takes place in South Africa after the apartheid. It is a novel about racial violence, revenge, rape, love and justice. Winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, it is both brutal and brilliant.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser
An ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé of the fast food world. You may never eat at the drive-through again.
Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Proclaimed the Dalai Lama at the age of five, Tenzin Gyatso watched as Tibet was occupied by China and one sixth of the population died. In his lively autobiography, he recounts his escape to India, leadership of Tibetan Buddhists in exile, and peaceful negotiations with China.
The Gardens of Kyoto, Kate Walbert
Walbert's novel is a mesmerizing narrative of loss, memory and the power of books. The story flows through allusions to mysterious places and times from the Underground Railroad to a Japanese garden, from an innocent America before World War II to the decision to drop the atomic bomb.
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
After studying Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer's famous portrait, “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” Tracy Chevalier charts the life of Griet, a servant girl in the Vermeer household, who, in spite of her social status, Vermeer's jealous wife, and his domineering mother-in-law, becomes Vermeer's model for the painting.
Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin
The spiritual and moral awakening of 14-year-old John Grimes, a member of a tormented black family in Harlem during the Depression.
Half the House, Richard Hoffman
A boy grows up in blue-collar America; his brothers sicken with muscular dystrophy; his coach abuses him; his family struggles. As an adult, he writes this memoir, a testament to healing.
A Handful of Dust, Evelyn Waugh
This story of infidelity in 1940s England blends both tragedy and comedy. Tony and Brenda Last seem to have an idyllic marriage until Brenda begins an affair with a young fortune hunter. Their aristocratic life begins to crumble, and Tony flees England, falling into the clutches of a madman in South America.
House of Spirits, Isabel Allende
Set in remote Chile, this novel explores the lives of the magical, deeply human members of the Trueba family as they survive rebellion, love, hate, and revolution for three generations. Allende's luminous prose and compassionate storytelling weave a tale which is unforgettable and historically enlightening.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Julia Alvarez
A story of sisterhood, friendship, and the personal ramifications of political strife by an award-winning novelist and poet.
Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
A collection of short stories about modern-day Indian culture both in India and in America. A Pulitzer Prize winner.
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
One of the great novels of our century. A sequence of events beginning in a Southern town and moving to Harlem convinces the protagonist that he is visible as an African-American man but invisible as a man.
Jasmine, Bharati Mukherjee
This is a story of migration, both physical and personal. Jyoti, an Indian woman, travels to America to escape the confines of her village life. She transforms herself again and again: as a laborer in Florida, as a nanny in Manhattan, and finally as a housewife in Iowa. Each time Jasmine offers the reader a unique view into America, where the common becomes exotic and new.
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice, James Branch Cabell
Cabell, the father of science fiction and fantasy, wrote this book in Richmond, Virginia in the 1920s, while his esteemed Old South was collapsing and the New South was being pieced together. Though Cabell felt strongly about the Reconstruction, he was unable to write about it as it was happening around him; instead, he "spirited himself away to Poictesme," a land of his own creation, where he dealt with his reality in brilliant satire.
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Told through the lives of two friends from different backgrounds, this novel describes growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan before and during the rule of the Taliban. The sympathetic narrator tries to reconcile his early experiences with class and ethnicity with his new life in America, and the themes of immigration, coming of age, and tradition all give substance to a simple story. The ending offers hope for the survival of individuals and a place to remember and honor those who were trapped by circumstances beyond their control.
The Leopard Hat, Valerie Steiker
When Valerie Steiker was in college her mother, Gisele, was diagnosed with and died of cancer. As a child, Gisele, a Belgian Jew, had to hide from the Nazis. She later traveled the world as a fashion model and acting student, fell in love with a successful businessman, and became a loving mother and wife. Most importantly, Gisele turned the family’s apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side into a magical world for her children. Steiker's episodic memoir is a beautifully written tribute to her glamorous and vivacious mother.
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
A magical journey, including adventure, survival, and faith. A young man finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean with a 450-pound Bengal tiger.
Little Big Man, Thomas Berger
11-year-old Jack Crabb, a white boy adopted by Cheyenne people after his father's slaughter, tells his dramatic story of switching back and forth in war-torn America, caught up in battles with and against General Armstrong Custer, searching for identity and finally finding his place.
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
As she looks down from heaven, 14-year-old Susie Salmon tells us, in her spirited voice, a tale that is "both haunting and full of hope." The reader will be enriched by this novel about love, memory, joy, heaven, and healing.
Mama Day, Gloria Naylor
A provocative novel that delineates the importance of family and community relationships as well as of one's heritage. This story emphasizes the enduring values of love, loyalty, faith, sacrifice.
Meridian, Alice Walker
As the old rules of Southern society collapse in the 1960s, Meridian fights a lonely battle to reaffirm her own humanity — and that of all her people.
Midnight at the Dragon Café, Judy Fong Bates
The story of Su-Jen Chou, a Chinese girl growing up the only daughter of an immigrant family in a small town in the 1950s. Through Su-Jen’s eyes we see the hard life behind the scenes at the Dragon Café, the local diner her family runs.
The Mistress of Spices, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
In this poetic, spellbinding tale, Tilo, a young ordained spice mistress, inhabits an old body in a San Francisco shop, working spice magic to help her customers. A chance meeting with a romantic man challenges her to question her choices in life.
Montana 1948, Larry Watson
David Hayden is 12 years old when his small-town Montana world is turned upside down. A mystery unfolds that involves the suspicious death of his family's Native American housekeeper. How will David's father, the town sheriff, cope with the difficult decisions he confronts as he discovers the source of a string of crimes?
Motherland, Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
Fifteen-year-old Maya is disgruntled when her mother impels her to visit India for the summer to reacquaint herself with her extended Indian family. Over the course of three months, Maya learns why a rift has always existed between her mother and herself, an understanding that allows her to bridge that gap.
My First Cousin Once Removed, Sarah Payne Stuart
The subtitle of Stuart's memoir says it all: Money, Madness,and the Family of Robert Lowell.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich
In this nonfiction book, a respected journalist with a Ph.D. goes undercover as a low-wage worker to see if she can actually earn a living doing minimum wage jobs. Leaving her comfortable house and her fulfilling career, she works as a waitress, a maid, and a Wal-Mart clerk. The results of this courageous experiment are heartbreaking, sometimes funny, and truly eye-opening. This book may change the way you think about American society.
The Night of the Hunter, Davis Grubb
One of the most frightening tales ever to be spun: a fanatic preacher goes in search of two young children who are carrying with them a treasure that he is determined to have even if it means murdering those who stand in his way. To be read only in daylight.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency,Alexander McCall Smith
Mma (aka Precious) Ramotswe, Botswana's one and only lady private detective uses her wisdom and humor to solve her cases. Her insight shines through these pages as she shines her own light on the problems that vex her clients. This is a gem of a book.
Ordinary People, Judith Guest
Here is a novel about an ordinary family — mother, father, and two sons — which begins to unravel after the death of one son. This novel deserves to be read with your family.
The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger
Here's a true story of men against the sea which took place off the coast of Massachusetts in 1991. You will feel the enormous strength of hurricane winds and towering waves as six sword fishermen fight for their lives.
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
In one of Kingsolver’s best works, she follows an evangelical Baptist minister's family to the Congo in the late 1950s, entwining their fate with that of the country during three turbulent decades.
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
Owen Meany, seen through the eyes of his best friend, consistently challenges the traditional New England community in which he grows up, creating hilarious adventures and heartwarming moments.
Reading in the Dark, Seamus Deane
The hero of this novel is a young man whose life turns upside down when a police officer frames him. Hovering over this mystery is the violence, poverty and despair of 1940s Ireland.
The Road from Coorain, Jill Ker Conway
A masterpiece of autobiography tells of a journey from girlhood on a sheep farm in Australia to Conway's departure for America – "one of the few heroic stories of girlhood."
Roots, Alex Haley
This family narrative spans seven generations of African-Americans from the 1700s to the mid-20th century.
The Sari Shop: A Novel, Rupa Bajwa
Bajwa dramatically illustrates the class gap in contemporary India in her debut novel, focusing on the fortunes of Ramchand, a lowly clerk in a popular sari shop. This book brings contemporary India to life.
The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx
After the death of his two-timing wife, Quoyle, a third-rate newspaperman, retreats with his two daughters to the wild and starkly beautiful shores of Newfoundland in order to confront his heritage and reclaim his life. This novel won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
The Small Rain, Madeleine L'Engle
L'Engle's first novel, written in the 1940s, tells the story of a young woman struggling to make it as a pianist in New York City. This is a dramatic, compelling, and surprisingly contemporary book.
Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
Part love story, part murder mystery, and part portrait of a painful time in American history, Snow Falling on Cedars has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Pen/Faulkner Award.
So Far from God, Ana Castillo
This wacky, wild, funny novel, set in New Mexico, engages the reader in the lives of a Chicano mother and her four daughters, their loves and struggles, their gossip, recipes, miracles, and community activism.
So Long a Letter, Mariama Ba
A Senegalese woman of Muslim faith writes to her best friend as she struggles to cope with the loss of her husband. Although he abandoned her and their family for a second marriage, this ducated working woman whose marriage for love was long and rich writes with strength and grace of her struggle, revealing a double standard which is devastating to women.
Solar Storms, Linda Hogan
Seeking her real family, fostered, scarred Angel arrives at a remote, water-bound Minnesota island to find her grandmother Agnes, great grandmother Dora-Rouge, and mysterious Bush. The four women travel north by canoe to protect their land and people from hydroelectric dam devastation.
Soul on Ice, Eldridge Cleaver
A spiritual and intellectual biography written by one of the most articulate and prophetic young voices of the African-American community in the atmosphere of turbulence that characterized the early 1960s. An excellent companion volume to TheAutobiography of Malcolm X.
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
Here is a strange science fiction novel whose narrative shifts back and forth between the years 2016 and 2060 as it recounts a scientific mission to a newly discovered extraterrestrial culture. Exciting ideas and disturbing moral issues await readers of The Sparrow.
Stones from the River, Ursula Hegi
Trudi Montag, a dwarf living in Germany during the two World Wars, explores the secrets and actions that shape her townspeople's fates.
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, Simon Weisenthal
Wiesenthal, imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, was asked for forgiveness by a dying soldier. Fifty-three distinguished commentators respond to the questions his story raises about justice, compassion, forgiveness, and human responsibility.
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
If you ask Henry, he first met Clare when she burst into his life at twenty. But Clare says she has known Henry intimately since he appeared in her parents’ yard when she was six. A spellbinding tale of a family caught in the whims and mechanisms of time travel.
To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis
Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He’s been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940’s. Soon Ned also finds himself jumping back to the Victorian era to help put things right and to prevent altering history itself.
A Very Long Engagement, Sebastian Japrisot
You will find here a mixture of those ingredients that make a great story: part romance, part history, part mystery, part quest. Set in France during World War I, the novel is dominated by a marvelous heroine, Mathilde Donnoy.
Wait Till Next Year, Doris Kearns Goodwin
A warm, humorous memoir about a young girl growing up in the suburbs of New York during the 1950s. Doris, her father, and her neighborhood are united by a love of baseball, through which she is also exposed to the fears of polio, the paranoia of McCarthyism, and the ugly face of racial prejudice.
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
Hiking will never be the same for readers who discover Bryson's biting humor and scathing observations while trekking along the fabled Appalachian Trail.
We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses, Elizabeth M. Norman
Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese, Elizabeth M. Norman Women in war: the true, untold account of the first American nurses to prove their mettle under captivity at the hands of the Japanese during World War II.
Wild Swans, Jung Chang
The true story of three generations of Chinese women in the 20th century: the author, her mother, and her grandmother. Their family story gives a moving view of the changes that have swept through China.
The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
This Victorian best-seller has all the ingredients of a suspenseful mystery: a fragile heroine, an insane asylum, and Count Fosco, the villain you love to hate.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
Wonderful descriptions of nature are presented along with the difficulties of living in a technological society -- as well as everything you need to know about motorcycles. | 
