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Need a good book? Browse through our extensive reading lists created by your APL librarians.
Best Fiction by Year
2009
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2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
2003 |
2002 |
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2000
2009
The American Painter: Emma Dial. Samatha Peale. FIC Pea
Subversive, intelligent book about the hazards of being creative, brilliant, and female in the New York art world.
American Rust. Phillipp Meyer. M Mey
Dark, moving novel is set in a dying Pennsylvania steel town, where two aimless friends are trapped by economic and personal circumstance. Reviews compared Meyer to Faulkner, Lehane, Cormac McCarthy, Richard Russo, and Hemingway.
Appassionata. Eva Hoffman. FIC Hof
Richly imagined portrait of a thinking, feeling artist coming to terms with her world.
Apologize, Apologize!. Elizabeth Kelly. FIC Kel
Off beat novel about perversely charmed world of the Flanagans and their son, Collie, who is struggling to find his place within his wildly wealthy, hyper-articulate, resolutely crazy Irish-Catholic family.
Await Your Reply . Dan Chaon. FIC Cha
Thriller with three converging stories about the search for identity and the pursuit to reinvent oneself.
The Believers. Zoe Heller. FIC Hel
Tragic, comic story of a Jewish family, including a demanding mother; an overweight daughter; and a drug-addicted son.
Big Machine. Victor LaValle. FIC Lav
In this imaginative, comic novel, a bus depot porter is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their lives heard The Voice.
Blonde Roots. Bernadine Evaristo. FIC Eva
Thought- provoking satire imagines an alternative history in which the roles of Africans and Europeans in the slave trade are reversed.
Border Songs . Jim Lynch. FIC Lyn
Quiet book about the strange culture of a U.S.-Canada border town, written with humor, striking imagery, and colorful characters.
Brothers. Hua Yu. FIC Yu
A bestseller in China, recently short-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and a winner of France's Prix Courrier International, is an epic and wildly unhinged black comedy of modern Chinese society running amok.
Color of Lightning. Paulette Jiles. FIC Jil
Meticulously researched and beautifully crafted story of revenge, dedication and betrayal set mainly in Kentucky and Texas near the end of the Civil War.
Cutting for Stone. JA. Verghese. FIC Ver
Gripping family saga about twins who come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution that brings mid-century Ethiopia to vivid life.
Dark Places. Gillian Flynn. FIC Fly
Story of a murder that took place in the '80s during the height of the scare over satanic cults and ritualistic murders, and a tale of a woman’s coming to terms with herself and with the consequences of her selfish, fearful choices.
Dream House. Valerie Laken. FIC Lak
Rriveting domestic drama that begins with a young couple remodeling a house where a murder took place 20 years ago.
English. Gang Wang. FIC Wan
Set during the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution, a twelve-year-old boy living in China's remote northwest throws himself into learning English, and a whole new world opens up for him.
Family Man. Elinor Lioman. FIC Lip
An actress finds a champion in her long-lost father, and he finds new life—and maybe even new love—along with their reconnection..
Eve, a Novel of the First Woman. Elissa Elliott. FIC Ell
Portrayal of how the first family functioned, failed, and went on to populate the world.
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. Wells Tower. FIC Tow
Sad but funny stories explore the troubled relationships of men down on their luck.
Far Bright Star. Robert Olmstead. FIC Olm
Dark tale about an expedition of American soldiers dispatched to Mexico in search of Pancho Villa.
The Forgotten Garden. Kate Morton. FIC Mor
Spanning 100 years, this old fashioned novel transports the reader from the back alleys of poverty of pre-World War I London to the shores of colonial Australia.
Gate at the Stairs. Lorrie Moore. FIC Mor
Portrait of a young woman coming of age in the Midwest in the year after 9/11.
The Help. Kathryn Stockett. FIC Sto
Heartbreaking story of three women from opposite sides of the racial divide in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi.
Tn Other Rooms, Other WondersDaniyal Mueenuddin. . FIC Mue
Eight melancholic, interconnected stories explore a wealthy Pakistani land-owning family.
The Increment. David Ignatius. FIC Ign
Spy novel about Iran's nuclear program by the prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post, who has been covering the Middle East and the CIA for more than twenty-five years.
It's Beginning to Hurt . James Lasdun. SS Les
Dramatic tales chart the metamorphoses of their midde-aged, middle-class characters as they deal with loss.
Lark and Termite. Jayne Ann Phillips. FIC Phi
Lyrical novel about sibling love is narrated by four characters and set during the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea.
Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. C. M. Mayo. FIC May
Sweeping historical novel of Mexico during the short, tragic, at times surreal, reign of Emperor Maximilian and his court.
Let the Great World Spin. Colum McCann. FIC Mac
Sweeping novel hinges on Philippe Petit's illicit 1974 high-wire walk between the twin towers in New York. .
Love and Summer. William Trevor. FIC Tre
Passions and frustrations felt by the people of a small Irish town during one long summer.
Lowboy. John Wray. FIC Wra
A 16-year-old boy who has stopped taking his medication wanders through New York's subway believing that the world will end within a few hours and that only he can save it.
Marriage Bureau for Rich People. Farahad Zamay. FIC Zam
Entertaining chronicle of a contemporary Indian matchmaking service and as insightful commentary on the lingering dictates of caste, religion and civil unrest.
New World Monkeys. Nancy Mauro. FIC Mau
A young couple with a troubled marriage make the fateful decision to summer in a decaying upstate New York house, leading to a series of bizarre events.
Pictures at an Exhibition. Sara Houghtelling. FIC Hou
Set in a Paris darkened by World War II, Sara Houghteling’s sweeping and sensuous debut novel tells the story of a son’s quest to recover his family’s lost masterpieces, looted by the Nazis during the occupation.
Reliable Wife. Robert Goolrick. FIC Gol
Suspenseful, historical mystery about two complex characters engaged in a darkly dangerous game of check and checkmate.
Rhino Ranch. Larry McMurtry. FIC Mac
McMurtry ends the west Texas saga of Duane Moore, begun in 1966 with The Last Picture Show.
Sag Harbor. Colson Whitehead. FIC Whi
Whitehead, who calls this an autobiographical novel, explores the in-between space of adolescence through one boy's summer in a predominantly black Long Island neighborhood.
Shanghai Girls. Lisa See. FIC See
Sisters in prewar World War II Shanghai must marry Chinese men in the US to pay off their father's debts.
Shimmer. Eric Barnes. FIC Shi
Story of high-tech, corporate chicanery depicting how people can become dehumanized in their single-minded drive for success.
Sing Them Home. Stephanie Kallos. FIC Kal
Moving portrait of three siblings who have lived in the shadow of unresolved grief since their mother's disappearance when they were children.
The Song is You. Arthur Phillips. FIC Phi
Heartbreaking tale of love and alienation in an iPod world, and the mystical power of music to stir the soul
.
South of Broad. Pat Conroy. FIC Con
Unlikely group of teens in Charleston, SC form a friendship in 1969 and over the next two decades, these friends find success in journalism, the bar, law enforcement, music, and Hollywood
.
Suicide Collectors. David Oppegaard. FIC Opp
Frightening and powerful story of a plague that is causing suicides.
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Alan Bradley. FIC Bra
Witty, detective story featuring an intrepid 11-year old sleuth with a penchant for poisons.
The Tourist. Olen Steinhauer. M Ste
Complex spy thriller with heart-stopping action, and dozens of interesting characters. George Clooney, who has bought the rights, will produce the film and star.
Wanting: a Novel. Richard Flanagan. FIC Fla
Story of three sensational events which took place in Victorian England, told throught the lives of three iconic characters: Sir John Franklin, governor of the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land and later a doomed Arctic explorer; Charles Dickens; and Mathinna, a beautiful, charismatic aboriginal child adopted by the Franklins in an infamous experiment.
The Women. T. C. Boyle. FIC Boy
Powerfully written, Frank Lloyd Wright's complicated, overlapping relations with three wives and a mistress, each of whom paid a heavy price for loving such a self-centered man..
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2008
America, America . Ethan Canin. FIC Can
Stunning novel, set in a small town during the Nixon era and today, about America and family, politics and tragedy, and the impact of fate on a young man’s life.
American Wife . Curtis Sitterfield. FIC Sit
A realistic, highly sympathetic fictional portrayal of Laura Bush.
The Appeal. John Grisham. FIC Gri
In Grisham's new cautionary tale, Mississippi judges are bought, marketed and sold.
Beautiful Children: a Novel. Charles Bock. FIC Boc
In this edgey first novel, a couple's 12-year-old son mysterioulsy vanishes in Las Vegas which puts their already rocky marriage under insurmountable strain.
Beginner's Greek. Jim Collins. FIC Col
Witty, romantic comedy about two professionals who meet on a plane.
A Better Angel. Chris Adrian. FIC Adr
Illness, loss and grief are dealt with in this short-story collection from a uniquely gifted author who is also a practicing pediatrician and divinity-school student.
Black Out. Lisa Unger. FIC Ung
Gruesomely realistic tale of a troubled teen.
Blue Star. Tony Earley. FIC Ear
The small but painful dramas of teenage first love get caught in the crosswinds of World War II in this sequel to Jim the Boy.
Breath. Tim Winton. FIC Win
Latest book by Australia's favorite author, an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one’s limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you.
Child 44. Tom Robb Smith. FIC Smi
Gripping thriller about a serial killer of children in Stalinist Russia.
City of Thieves. David Benioff. FIC Ben
An adventure story set within the infamous siege of Leningrad is also an intimate coming-of-age tale with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.
The Commoner. John Burnham Schwartz. FIC Sch
A moving portrait of the suffocating life women lead behind palace walls In Japan's Imperial Palace.
Dangerous Laughter. Stephen Milhauser. FIC Mil
Mysterious and darkly comic short stories explore every nook and cranny of our strange lives.
Duma Key. Stephen King. FIC Kin
Psycholgical suspense turns to very scary supernatural in this story of redemption.
Elegance of a Hedgehog. Muriel Barbery. FIC Bar
Tender, funny philosphical fable narrated by two French characters who live in an upscale Parisian apartment building.
The English American. Alison Larkin. FIC Lar
Heartfelt journey through the dual life of an American girl adopted by an English couple.
The English Major. Jim Harrison. FIC Lar
Former 60-year old English teacher sets off on trip after his wife leaves him.
Exiles. Ron Hansen. FIC Han
Story ofthe 1875 shipwreck that prompted Gerard Manley Hopkins to break years of silence with an outpouring of dazzling poetry.
The Finder. Colin Harrison. FIC Har
Masterful corporate thriller set in New York City.
Fine Just the Way it Is. Annie Proulx. FIC Pro
Unforgettable characters in nine stories that range in tone from crude cowboy humor to heartbreaking American tragedy.
The Flowers. Daoberto Gilb. FIC Gil
Portrait of a cast of characters living in and around the Los Flores apartment building in the mid-1960s.
Fraction of the Whole. Steve Toltz. FIC Tol
In this rollicking debut novel packed with humor and unforgettable episodes, a son reflects on the crackpot father who raised him in intellectual captivity, and what he realizes is that, for all its lunacy, theirs was a grand adventure.
The Garden of Last Days. Andre Dubos . FIC Dub
Powerful novel begins in a stripper clubs then pulls us into the world of 9/11.
The Gargoyle. Andrew Davidson. . FIC Dav
Debut novel, narrated by a burn victim and former pornographer, combines Christian mysticism and medieval imagery to create a diverting, unvonventional romance.
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson . FIC Lar
First of a trilogy, a fresh political and journalistic thriller about a decades-old disappearance of a teen heiress from her family’s remote island retreat north of Stockholm.
Good Parents. Joan London . FIC Lon
Excellent parent-child drama rooted in rural Australian lives. The characters reflections reveal the ways in which one life needs to be abandoned before another can begin.
Gossip of the Starlings. Nida de Gramont . FIC Gra
First novel describes the intense friendship of two girls attending an upper-crust East Coast prep school during the Reagan era.
The Great Man. Kate Christensen . FIC Chr
Scintillating comedy of life among the art avant-garde.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Mary Ann Shaffer . FIC Sha
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises.
His Illegal Self. Peter Carey. FIC Car
Che—raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, and the precocious son of radical student activists at Harvard in the late sixties, begins a journey that leads him to a hippie commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland. Here he slowly, bravely confronts his life, learning that nothing is what it seems.
Hold tight. Harlan Coben. M Cob
Gripping page-turner about family and trust.
How the Dead Dream. Lydia Millet. FIC Mil
T. is a young Los Angeles real estate developer consumed by power and political ambitions when a series of calamities forces him to a tropical island, where he takes a Conrad-esque journey up a river into a remote jungle.
Johnny One Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution. Jerome Charyn. FIC Cha
Comic masterpiece reimagines the American Revolution with a one-eyed spy, a heroic whorehouse madam, and a cunning George Washington.
Lazarus Project. Aleksandar Hennon. FIC Hen
Immigration epic inspired by the 1908 killing of Lazarus Averbuch, a 19-year-old Jewish immigrant, by the chief of Chicago police, after being admitted into his home to deliver a letter.
Life Class. Pat Barker. FIC Bar
Explores the impact of World War I on three student artists in England.
Lush Life. Richard Price. FIC Pri
Gripping murder-mystery set in the Lower East Side of New York full of interrogating cops, wry bartenders and street-wise kids.
Man in the Dark. Paul Auster. FIC Aus
A retired book critic deals with his insomnia one night by making up a story about an ordinary man thrust into a parallel reality, one in which America is embroiled in a civil war brought about by the disputed presidential election of 2000.
Mercy: a Novel. Toni Morriosn. FIC Mor
Called a "rich, little masterpiece" by the Washington Post, a prequel to Beloved begins when American slavery is in its infancy.
Night Train to Lisbon. Pascal Mercier . FIC Mer
Entertaining story about putting together the pieces of a story where you learn about the characters in their tragic, romantic youth as legendary figures, then encounter them as old people, when the drama is long over.
Olive Kitteridge. Elizabeth Strout. FIC Str
Thirteen linked tales with themes of suicide, depression, poor communication, aging and love, revolve around Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher.
The Other. David Guterson. FIC Gut
Explores the compromises we make to balance meaning and security in our lives.
The Outcast. Sadie Jones. FIC Jon
Written with nail-biting suspense and cinematic pacing, story of a WWII soldier returning home to provincial English suburban society.
Oxygen. Carol Cassella. FIC Cas
Very readable new novel by a real-life anesthesiologist, an intimate story of relationships and family that collides with a high-stakes medical drama.
People of the Book. Geraldine Brooks. FIC Bro
A complex love story, thrilling mystery, and vivid history lesson that includes the details from the most terrible times of religious intolerance, from the Inquisition to the Nazis.
Pharmakon. Dirk Wittenborn. FIC Wit
Family saga and guided tour through some of the worst ideas of 20th century medicine. Engaging writing style siminlar to Richard Russo's.
Plague of Doves. Louise Erdrich. FIC Erd
Mult-generational saga that begins with a senseless and horrific crime in 1911 that forever changes the lives of several families living in a white town on the far western edge of an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota
.
The Reserve. Russell Banks. FIC Ban
Part love story, part murder mystery, set on the cusp of the Second World War in the Ariondacks, novel explores what happens when two powerful personalities, trapped at opposite ends of a social divide, begin to break the rules.
Run. Ann Patchett. FIC Pat
Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Patchett's fifth novel is about the infinitely surprising ways in which families can intersect with each other.
Secret Between Us. Barbara Delinsky. FIC Del
Family relationships are brought to the limit in this engrossing exploration of what a lie can do to family dynamics.
Serena. Ron Rash. FIC Ras
Story of a brilliant, ambitious, seductive woman who would kill anyone who falls out of her favor, even her husband's illegitimate son.
So Brave, Young and Handsome. Leif Enger. FIC Eng
Gritty western set in the early 20th century is an intelligent tale of redemption.
Song Yet Sung. James McBride. FIC Mac
The lyrical story of a runaway slave who has visions of the future and a Chesapeake Bay waterman who becomes a slave catcher.
Story of Edgar Sawtelle. David Wroblewski. FIC Wro
A literary thriller about people, dogs, and ethics set in rural Wisconisn.
The Story of a Marriage. Andrew Greer. FIC Gre
Story of a love triangle which begins in San Fransisco in 1953, hinges on racial and sexual issues and a climate of fear and repression.
Telex from Cuba. Rachel Kushner. FIC Kus
Wonderful, character-driven read about prerevolutionary Havana.
Three Girls and Her Brother. Theresa Rebeck. FIC Reb
In this New York city drama, an awful incident with a celebrity blasts three famous girls--and their brother--out of their self-destructive spiral.
Unaccustomed Earth: Stories. Jhumpa Lahiri. FIC Lah
Beautiful stories about the burden of immigrant childrens' families’ dreams and their awareness of their role in the generational process of Americanization.
Wasted Vigil. Madeem Aslam. FIC Asl
Ambitious and moving look at the human cost of Afghanistan's war-torn reality.
When We Were Romans. Matthew Kneale. FIC Kne
Skilfull and touching portrayal of a child’s attempt to make sense of his mother’s mental illness.
The White Tiger. Aravad Adiga. M Adi
Darkly comic mystery about a chauffeur who commits a murder reveals the class struggle in modern-day India.
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2007
Abstinence Teacher. Tom Perrota. FIC Per
A sex education teacher is pressured to create a church-friendly curriculum.
Arlington Park. Rachel Cusk. FIC Rus
Set over the course of a single day in an English suburb, story moves from one household to another, examining the characters’ lives.
Big Girls. Susanna Moore. FIC Moo
Heartbreaker set in a women's prison in New York examines the bond between a young psychiatrist and a mentally ill patient.
Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. Junot Diaz. FIC Dia
Keenly observed first novel unfolds the tumultuous life of Oscar, a sweet, overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd, and his family
.
Charity Girl. Michael Lowenthal. FIC Low
Absorbing page-turner about the young women who were quarantined and incarcerated during World War I for having venereal disease
.
Collaborator of Bethlehem. Mark Rees. M Ree
Powerful novel humanizes the struggle of the West Bank, where a modest 56-year-old school teacher becomes an unlikely detective
.
Con Ed. Matthey Klein. FIC Kle
Funny, fast-paced book about a likeable con man who does his scamming in the world of the Internet nouveau-riche in Silicon Valley
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Dead Father's Club. Matt Haig. FIC Hai
A ghost story with a twist— a suspenseful and poignantly funny update of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
The Double Bind. Chris Bohjalian. FIC Boj
Psycholgical thriller about homelessness, random violence, and obsession.
Dry Ice. Stephen White. FIC Whi
White brings back his popular character, psychologist Alan Gregory, to take on the sociopathic killer from White’s first novel—who, many years later, has walked away from a mental hospital, hungry for revenge.
The Exception. Christian Jungersen. FIC Jur
A best-seller in Europe, this page-turner about genocide and evil, has the usual thriller plot, an ordinary person falls foul of a ruthless and resourceful villain, but this time the setting is an offfice.
Fellow Travelers. Thomas Mallon. FIC Mal
A story of dangerous love and cloak-and-dagger politics set in mid-1950s Washington DC during McCarthyism.
Fieldwork. Mischa Berlinski. FIC Ber
Haunting novel expands into a mystery set among the Thai hill tribes, whose way of life became a battleground for the missionaries and the anthropologists living among them.
Finn. John Cinch. FIC Cin
Haunting history of one of American literature’s most brutal and mysterious figures: Huckleberry Finn’s father.
The Fifth Vial. Michael Palmer. FIC Cin
Medical thriller about the illegal transplant trade.
Five Skies. Ron Carlson. FIC Car
Deeply moving story of three men, each damaged emotionally in a different way, who gather one summer high in the Rocky Mountains to build a ramp for a daredevil motorcylist.
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The Gathering. Anne Enright. FIC Enr
Haunting look at an Irish family tainted by generations of hurt and disappointment, struggling to make peace with a sibling’s suicide.
The God of Animals. Aryn Kyle. FIC Kyl
Breathtaking and beautiful novel set on a horse ranch in small-town Colorado.
Heart-Shaped Box. Joe Hill. FIC Hil
Riveting horror about a rocker who comes under the spell of the vengeful ghost of a deceased ex-girlfriend's step-father.
Heyday. Kurt Anderson. FIC And
A fresh portrait of America in the middle of the 19th century, an era very reminiscent of our own times
.
In the Country of Men. Hisham Matar. FIC Mat
A boy is caught up in a political nightmare during Gaddafi's Libya and his childhood is abruptly ended
.
Indian Clerk. David Leavitt. FIC Lea
Moving novel, set in Cambridge at the beginning of the 2oth century, is about the real-life partnership between the shy British mathematician G. H. Hardy and his Indian protégé Srinivasa Ramanujan.
The Killing Jar. Nicila Monaghan. FIC Mon
The horrors of life as a young female drug dealer in a Nottingham, England public housing development.
Kalooki Nights. Howard Jacobson. FIC Jac
A Jewish cartoonist whose seminal work is a comic history titled Five Thousand Years of Bitterness, recalls his childhood in a British suburb in the 1950s in this funny, but profound novel.
Kockroach. Tyler Knox. FIC Kno
Fans of experimental fiction and Kafka's Metamorphosis will enjoy this story about a cockroach that wakes up to discover he has turned into a man
.
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name. Vendela Vida. FIC Vid
The hunt for her biological father—and the resumption of a search for her mother who left when Clarissa was 14—lead Clarissa to mystical Lapland.
Lost City Radio. Daniel Alarcon. FIC Ala
Powerful and searing novel of three lives fractured by civil war in a fictional South American country
.
Measuring Time. Helo Habila. FIC Hab
Heart-wrenching history of Nigeria, portrayed through the eyes of a single family
.
Michael Tolliver Lives. Armistead Maupain. FIC Tol
Tolliver, the sweet-spirited Southerner in Armistead Maupin's classic Tales of the City, tells his story in his own voice
.
Ministry of Special Cases. Nathan Englander. FIC Eng
Beginning with an unforgettable opening scene in a forgotten cemetery in Buenos Aires, this story about Argentina’s Dirty War casts a powerful spell.
Mistress of Art and Death. Ariana Franklin. FIC Fra
Chilling historical thriller, where the serial killer may have fought in the Crusades with the king.
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Mothers and Sons. Colm Toiben. FIC Toi
Beautifully written, intensely intimate short story collection centers on a transformative moment that alters the delicate balance of power between mother and son, or changes the way they perceive one another.
Nineteen Minutes. Jodi Picoult. FIC Pic
Bestselling author tackles the troubling subject of
a school shooting.
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On Chesil Beach. Ian McKewan. FIC Mac
Intense, short book is a story of a newly married couple in 1960s Enlgand whose lifes are transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.
The Perfect Man. Naeem Murr. FIC Mur
An unwanted child is dragged from India to Britain to a small 1950s Missouri river town which, for all its idyllic virtues, is a hotbed of racism, incest, adultery, and murder.
Red River. Lalita Tademy. FIC Tad
Generational family saga based on the author's ancestors who emerge from Reconstruction to fight for their new rights.
Reluctant Fundamentalist. Moshin Hamid. FIC Ham
Unsettling novel about a Princeton-educated Pakistani man whose rise to the top of New York's social circle is
dramatically altered after 9/11.
Saffron Kitchen. Yasmin Crowther. FIC Cro
An English woman returns to the remote Iranian village she had to leave as a child, and is followed by her daughter who finally uncovers her mother's secrets.
Savage Detectives. Roberto Bolano. FIC Bol
An ambitious picaresque road novel narrated by scores of characters and spans 20 years was translated into English this year.
Spellman Files. Lisa Lutz. FIC Lut
New series starring Izzy Spellman, part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, who works as a private investigator for her family’s business.
Striver's Row. Kevin Baker. FIC Bak
Historical fiction envokes 1940s Harlem and the two separate paths toward personal empowerment taken by two black men with very different backgrounds.
Ten Days in the Hills. Janet Smiley. FIC Smi
Bawdy tale of love and war, sex and politics, friendship and betrayal—and the allure of the movies.
The Tenderness of Wolves. Stef Penney. FIC Pen
Debut author deftly weaves adventure, suspense, revelation, and humor into an exhilarating thriller set in the 19th-century Canadian frontier.
Terror. Dan Simmons. FIC Sim
Dazzling historical thriller about the tragic exploration which set out in the 1840s to discover the Northwest passage.
Then We Came to the End. Joshua Ferris. FIC Fer
Wickedly funny, big-hearted novel about life in the office during a business downturn
.
Tree of Smoke. Denis Johnson. FIC Joh
Fat novel brings fresh life to the Vietanm War story by uniting it with unconventional plot and character choices.
The Watchman. Robert Crais. FIC Cra
Intense, emotional thriller about protecting a valley girl heiress from a team of killers.
What the Dead Know. Laura Lippman. M Lip
One of two abducted sisters reappears 30 years later in this compelling thriller.
White Night: a Novel of the Dresden Files. Jim Butcher. FIC But
Professional wizard Harry Dresden is investigating a series of deaths in Chicago.
The Year of Fog. Michelle Richmond. FIC Mitt
Page-turner with a phiisophical bent about a missing child.
Yiddish Policemen's Union. Micahel Chabon. FIC But
Murder mystery set in the imagined Alaskan district of Sitka, an area that was supposedly designated a safe haven for displaced Jews after World War II.
You Suck: a Love Story. Christopher Moore. FIC Mor
Irreverent, witty novel about a vampire couple trying to cope in the modern world.
Zoli: a Novel. Colum McCann. FIC Mac
Beautifully written story chronicles the imperiled world of the Slovakian Roma from World War II through the establishment of the Communist bloc.
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2006
Absurdistan. Gary Shteyngart. FIC Sht
Witty, cultural and political satire about the creation of a sudden democracy.
Against the Day. Thomas Pynchon. FIC Pyc
Complex read that spans the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I.
After This. Alice McDermott. FIC Mac
The lives of Irish Catholics on Long Island from post WW II to the 1970s.
The Amalgamation Polka. Stephen Wright. FIC Wri
Bizarre Civil War tale of the growth and travels of the son of fervent upstate New York abolitionists who is drawn to his slaveholding extended family.
Brief History of the Dead. Kevin Brockmeier. FIC Bro
The City is inhabited by those who have departed Earth but are still remembered by the living. They will reside in this afterlife until they are completely forgotten. But the City is shrinking, and the residents are leaving because of a deadly virus that has struck the inhabitants of Earth.
Brookland. Emily Barton. FIC Bar
Absorbing epic novel about an 18th century woman who is obssessed with building a bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Arthur & George. Julian Barnes. M Bar
Late-Victorian Britain is brought to life in the true story of the intersection of two lives: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and an obscure country lawyer, George Edalji.
Brothers: A Novel. Da Che. FIC Che
Maoist China and its aftermath come to life.
Cellophane. Maria Arana. FIC Ara
A hilarious plague of truth has descended on the once well-behaved Sobrevillas, only the beginning of this fabulist novel that takes place in Peru In the 1950s.
Digging to America. Anne Tyler. FIC Tyl
The lives of two very different families become intertwined when they both adopt baby daughters from Korea.
Dirty Job. Christopher Moore. FIC Moo
Comic, unpredictable fantasy about a regular guy who is chosen to become a deputy for Death.
Echo Maker. Richard Powers. FIC Pow
This thriller, the winner of the National Book Award, explores the question of how we know who we are.
Emperor's Children. Claire Messud. FIC Mes
A comedy of manners set in the months immediately before and after the 9/11 attacks and involving three bright young adults who work in the media in New York.
Every Visible Thing. Lisa Carey. FIC Car
Moving, lyrical, nonlinear narrative convincingly portrays a family's slow unraveling after their teenage son disappears.
The Fallen. T. Jefferson Parker. M Par
Carefully woven novel of suspense about the murder of an investigator for the San Diego Ethics Authority Enforcement Unit.
Family Daughter. Malie Meloy. FIC Mel
Riveting sequel to Liars and Saints talks of love, sex, secrets, guilt, and forgiveness, and follows the fascinating Santerre clan to Argentina.
The Foreign Correspondent. Alan Furst. FIC Fur
Suspenseful WW II thriller about an international news correspondent who becomes a target for assassination.
Fugitive Wife: a Novel. Peter c. Brown. FIC Bro
Complicated love story set in Alaska during the 1900s gold rush.
The Good Life. Jay McInerney. FIC Mac
An intelligent 9/11 novel that portrays an upper-middle class Manhattan reaction to the event
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Grief. Andrew Holliman. FIC Hol
Reeling from the recent death of his invalid mother, a weary, jaded professor moves to Washington DC to recover from his loss and discovers letters and journals of Mary Todd Lincoln which show him new, poignant truths about America, yearning, loneliness, and mourning itself.
.
Happiness Sold Separately. Lolly Winston. FIC Win
Darkly funny and messy love story about meeting the wrong person at the wrong time and trying to make it work
.
The Husband. Dean Koontz. FIC Koo
Hair-raising thriller about a landscape gardener who must raise two million dollars to save his kidnapped wife.
The Keep. Jennifer Egan. FIC Ega
Creepy modern gothic thriller that is a novel within novel.
In the Company of the Courtesan. Sarah Dunnant. FIC Dun
Epic novel of life in 16th-century Venice is both a business thriller and a historical love story.
Inheritance of Loss. Kiran Desai. FIC Des
Set in the 1980s, this brisk-paced novel evokes the wonders and tragedies of Himalayan life.
Intuition. Allegra Goodman. FIC Goo
Insightful portrayal of a high-stakes cancer research institute.
Killer Instinct. Joseph Finder. FIC Fin
Masterful business thriller about an electronics salesman whose business friend becomes a foe.
The King of Lies. John Hart. FIC Har
Riveting, literary murder mystery about a southern lawyer whose murder investigation pushes a repressed family history to the surface
.
The Labyrinth. Kate Mosse. FIC Mos
A new quest for the Holy Grail in France links two female protagonists who live 800 years apart.
Lay of the Land. Richard Ford. FIC For
As a Presidential election hangs in the balance, and a family Thanksgiving looms before him along with crises both marital and medical, Frank Bascombe, previously seen in The Sportswriter and the Pulitzer-winning Independence Day, discovers that what he terms the "Permanent Period" is fraught with unforeseen perils
.
Meaning of Night. Michael Cox. FIC Fox
Enthralling story of murder, deceit, love, and revenge in Victorian England.
Moral Disorder. Margaret Atwood. FIC Atw
A series of interconnected stories that trace the course of the life of a skeptical, stoic, book-loving woman named Nell.
Night Gardener. George Pelecanos. M Pel
Literary novel and page-turner set in the gritty inner-city streets of Washington DC.
Now is the Hour. Tom Spanbauer. FIC Spa
Compelling, poignant, coming-of-age novel about a 17 year-old trying to escape religious, racist, and sexual bigotry.
People's Act of Love. James Meek. FIC Mee
A complex Russian revolutionary epic about religious and political extremism.
The Road. Cormac McCarthy. FIC McC
A father and son try to survive starvation, the elements, and cannibals in a postapocalyptic America.
Skinner's Drift. Lisa Fugard. FIC Fug
Engrossing debut novel about a daughter who returns to South Africa to find out what unspeakable accident caused her mother's death.
The Space Between Us. Thrity Umrigar. FIC Umr
Beautifully written novel about a wealthy Bombay woman and her downtrodden servant.
The Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Marisha Pessl. FIC Pes
Darkly hilarious coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale that is full of twists, verbal acrobatics, and literary allusions.
Suite Francaise. Irene Nemirovsky. FIC Nem
A brilliant portrait of French society in 1940, written as the Nazi tanks rolled across France
.
Telegraph Days. Larry McMurtry. W Mac
Rollicking spoof about the wild west that's full of real and fictional outlaws and gunfighters.
.
Theft: a Love Story. Peter Carey. FIC Car
Ironic comedy about the international art world narrated in first-person by two Australian brothers
.
The Thin Place. Kathryn Davis. FIC Dav
Strange novel about a magic, multi-layered world where a 12 year-old girl can bring the dead back to life.
Thirteen Moons. Charles Frazier. FIC Fra
Sincere, sentimental, historically detailed story of a man's odyssey through trials and tribulations to join the woman he loves in the time before the Civil War .
The Thrall's Tale. Judith Lindbergh. FIC Lin
Melodramatic historical novel focuses on the intertwined lives of three women straddling the pagan past and Christian future.
Timothy: Notes of an Abject Reptile. Verlyn Klinkenborg. FIC Kli
Delightful little book narrated by a female tortoise living in an English garden who challenges the way humans look at life.
True Evil. Greg Iles. FIC Ile
Masterful suspense and intense psychological drama about a divorce lawyer who may be orchestrating the deaths of his clients' spouses.
The Unfinished Novel. Valerie Martin. FIC Mar
Sly, canny stories trace and artist's struggle for excellence and public acclaim .
Water for Elephants. Sara Gruen. FIC Gru
An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932.
Whiteman. Tony D'Souza. FIC Dso
Vivid description of life in an Ivory Coast village, narrated by a young American relief worker, is a very entertaining and educational read.
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2005
Acts of Faith. Philip Caputo. FIC Cap
Dark, ambitious adventure about 3 Americans who are trying to protect the Nuba people of Sudan from starvation and genocide.
Adored. Tilly Bagshawe. FIC Bag
Brilliant revival of the Hollywood dynasty novel.
At Risk. Stella Rimmington. FIC Rim
British spy thriller.
Babylon Sisters. Pearl Cleage. FIC Cle
Domestic drama, romance, and a thriller all in one lively narrative.
Baker Towers. Jennifer Haigh. FIC Hai
Family drama in a post World War II mining town.
Beasts of No Nation. Iweala Uzodinma Iweala . FIC Iwe
Harrowing story of child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.
Broken Prey. John Sandford. M San
Sexy, bloody, thriller.
Changed Man. Francine Prose. FIC Pro
Masterfully plotted, darkly comic novel illuminates the everyday transactions in our lives, exposing what remains invisible in plain sight in America's drug-addicted and media-driven culture.
Closed Circle. Jonathan Coe. FIC Coe
Engaging satirical portrait of English life at the turn of the century.
Collected Stories. Carol Shields. SS Shi
Short stories about the serious and interesting lives of oridnary women.
Company Man. Joseph Finder. FIC Fin
Hyper-realistic thriller set in the business
world.
Dancing in the Dark. Caryl Phillips. FIC Phi
A devastating story set in Harlem in the early 1900s that is inspired by the life of Bert Williams who was the first black star of the Zeigfeld Follies.
Empire of the Wolves. Jean-Christophe Grangbe. FIC Gra
Suspense thriller which delves into Turkish politics.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Jonathan Foer. FIC Foe
Moving 9-11 narrative told through the eyes of a 9-year old.
Fleshmarket Alley. Ian Rankin. M Ran
Moody detective investigates a Kurdish refugee's death in Edinburgh.
Going Postal: a Novel of Discworld. Terry Pratchett. FIC Pra
Clever alternative universe fantasy.
The Good Wife. Stewart O'Nan. FIC Ona
Woman endures her husband's 28-year incarceration with determination and grace.
The Ha-Ha. Dave King. FIC Kin
Touching drama about a brain-injured Vietnam vet who suddenly must care for a fatherless 9-year old boy.
Heart of the Hunter. Deon Meyer. FIC Mey
South African thriller.
The Historian. Elizabeth Kostova. FIC Kos
Long, artfully constructed historical thriller about a search for the truth behind Dracula.
The History of Love. Nicolle Krauss. FIC Kra
Skilfully written, sentimental novel, narrated by different eccentric but sympathetic characters, about life's missed connections.
Ice Queen. Alice Hoffman. FIC Hof
Bestselling author Hoffman takes risks - most of which pay off - in this heavily metaphorical dark tale of a woman whose life changes when she is struck by lightning.
The Illuminator. Brenda Vantrease. FIC Van
Historical novel captures the essence of feudal England.
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies. Alexander McCall Smith. M Mac
Sixth entry in the delightful series about a detective agency in Botswana.
The Innocent. Harlan Coben. M Cob
Ordinary people are thrown into extreme circumstances in this complex thriller.
A Long Way Down. Nick Hornby. FIC Hor
Grimly comic, but poignant, story of four people who meet while planning to jump to their deaths.
Lunar Park. Bret Easton Ellis. FIC Ell
Fictional autobiography meets Stephen King.
The Memory of Running. Ron McLarty. FIC Mac
A 43-year old, self-professed loser remembers his childhood on a cross-crounty bike trip.
The Mermaid Chair. Sue Monk Kidd. FIC Kid
Exploration of a woman's search for her own identity.
Miss Gazillions. R.H. Weber. FIC Web
Zany, light-hearted thriller.
Never Let Me Go. Kazuo Ishiguro. FIC Ish
Ethical horror story about humans cloned for their organs.
On Beauty. Zadie Smith. FIC Smi
Wise, hilarious story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, MA.
The Position. Meg Wolitzer. FIC Wol
Light, beach read of social and domestic change.
Prep. Curtis Sittenfeld. FIC Sit
Coming of age story and a study of social class in America.
Pride of Carthage. David Anthony Durham. FIC Dur
Epic story of Hannibal's move on Rome.
Saturday. Ian McEwan. FIC Mac
A pivotal day in the life of a 43-year old neurosurgeon.
The Sea. John Banville. FIC Ban
2005 Man Booker Prize winner is an intense meander through the past to the present of a recently widowed Irish man.
Shalimar the Clown. Salman Rushdie. FIC Rus
Political thriller interconnects narratives spanning six decades and travels from Kashmir to California.
Small Island. Andrea Levy. FIC Lev
Tragicomedy of the diaspora of Jamaican immigrants to London.
Snobs. Julian Fellowes. FIC Fel
Tale of snobbery and marital tomfoolery in 1990s London.
Specimen Days. Michael Cunningham. FIC Cun
Brilliantly conceived, empathetic book includes three novellas separated in time: the 1890s, the present, and finally 150 years in the future
.
Strange Affair. Peter Robinson. M Rob
Gripping story about human trafficking.
Sudden Rain. Maritta Wolff. FIC Wol
Detailed portrait of American marriage and politics in 1972.
The Third Secret. Steve Barry. FIC Ber
Vatican-centered conspiracy thriller.
Testing of Luther Albright. Mackenzie Bezos. FIC Bez
Emotionally charged first novel about an engineer who unwittingly distances himself from his son and wife.
Trance. Christopher Sorrentino. FIC Sor
History and fiction are deftly blended in this bold reconstruction of the 1974 kidnapping of the newspaper heiress Patty Hearst.
Veronica. Mary Gaitskill. FIC Gai
Tough-minded novel narrated by a sick, former model who relives her life in flashbacks.
Waterloo. Karen Olsson. FIC Ols
Portrait of contemporary journalists, rockers, politicos, slackers, and lovers adrift in Austin
.
Writing on the Wall. Lynne Sharon Schwartz. FIC Sch
NY author Schwartz spins a breathtaking family novel and love story centered on the September 11 attack.
Zorro. Isabel Allende. FIC All
Lively retelling of Zorro's boyhood.
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2004
Aloft Chang Lee
Jerry Battle, the emotionally detached patriarch of a well-off Long Island family, escapes the disasters his loved ones are facing by flying solo in his small plane.
Birth of Venus Sarah Dunant
The daughter of a wealthy merchant during 16th-century Florence seeks the freedom of marriage in order to paint, but finds that she may have bought her liberty at the cost of true fulfillment.
Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
Six narratives that evoke an array of genres, from high-seas drama to California noir and dystopian fantasy.
Confessions of Max Tivoli Andrew Greer
True love never dies in this tragic and moving tale of a man who ages backwards physically and is forced to act the age that his soul-mate thinks he is.
Crossing California Adam Langer
Humorous look at the distress and transition of four free-spirited teenagers who live on both sides of California Avenue, the street which divides the middle and upper-middle classes in Chicago during the 1980s.
The Darling Russell Banks
An American woman looks back at her unimaginable life in this powerful political-historical thriller set in the US and Liberia between the years 1975 and 1991.
Dew Breaker Edwidge Danticoat
Shifting back and forth in time, locale and perspective, narrative reveals the confession of a Haitian "dew breaker," a sanctioned torturer of dissidents under the regime of "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
Epicure's Lament Kate Christensen
Wicked black comedy about a trust-fund ex-gigilo who moans about how his family is ruining the perfection of his solitude at his family's crumbling estate, where he writes his journal, cooks gourmet meals, and smokes his way to an early death.
An Evening of Long Goodbyes Paul Murray
Very funny debut novel about an Irish aristocrat who cherishes his estrangement from modern life.
Gilead Marilynne Robinson
Quiet, thoughtful novel about religious beliefs and doubts, written in the form of a letter to a son.
Heir to the Glimmering World Cynthia Ozick
Ozick pays homage to the most beloved writers of the 19th century--Charles Dickens, the Brontes, George Eliot--in a story about a Jewish refugee family living in New York in the 1930s.
Jane Austen Book Club Karen Joy Fowler
Six Californians, who meet once a month to discuss Austen's novels, reveal their poignant and often hilarious life stories through their responses and discussions.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norwell Susanna Clarke
The last two magicians in a fictional 19th century England attempt to resurrect the practice of magic in this 800 page epic that has been called “Harry Potter for adults”.
The Last Crossing Guy Vanderhaeghe
A #1 best-seller in Canada and winner of the Canadian Booksellers Association’s Fiction Book of the Year Award, this is a sweeping tale of breathtaking quests, adventurous detours, and hard-won redemption in nineteenth-century American and the Canadian West.
Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst
Study of a young gay man obsessed with Henry James living in London in the 1980s .
Links Nuruddin Farah
Jeebleh, a New York college professor, returns for the first time in 20 years to his birthplace, war-torn Somalia, to visit his mother's ununmarked grave and contend with the abduction of a friend's child.
Madonna of Excelsior Zakes Mde
Emotionally painted portrait of forbidden relationships in small-town South Africa during the apartheid era.
The Master Colm Toibin
A beautifully imagined and scrupulously researched portrait of Henry James and his family that emphasizes his innocence, his isolation, and ultimately his human wisdom.
Our Kind: a Novel in Stories Kate Walbert
Unique novel about eight friends who married in the 1950s, divorced in the 1970s, and are finally taking the path of their choice without the socially imposed restrictions of yesteryear.
Plain Heathen Mischief Martin Clark
In this seriocomic look at faith and ethics, a defrocked Baptist preacher is lured into an insurance-fraud scheme.
Plot Against America Philip Roth
Alternative history novel about what happens to one Jewish family when Charles Lindbergh, the aviator who admired Nazi Germany, wins the Republican nomination for president and defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the general election.
Runaway: Stories Alice Munro
A beautiful collection of stories that embrace women's reactions to aging, changing, remembering, and regretting.
Sleeping Father Matthew Sharpe
Offbeat story of a man who loses his wife, his career, and then, by the accidental conjunction of two anti-depressants, suffers a stroke and becomes the charge of his two teenage children with mixed results.
Snow Orthan Pamuk
Political thriller takes place in the 1990s in the far-eastern Turkish village of snowbound Kars, where a poet has come to investigate a series of suicides by teenage Muslim girls who refuse to remove their headscarves.
Sweet Land Stories E.L. Doctorow
Longish pieces of short fiction about five alienated characters who remain defiant and resilient when the American dream goes wrong.
Transmission Hari Kunzru
Lyrical narrative about an unemployed Indian computer whiz who unleashes a computer virus, thinking he'll make his name by eradicating it, and not be shipped home.
You Remind Me of Me Dan Chaon
Heart-breaking story focuses on three members of a fragmented family who suffer poverty, depression, and tragic legacies, as they search for connection.
War Torn John Marks
Political thriller centers on the love affair between a Texan journalist and a Yugoslavian Muslim, thrust together in Berlin in the weeks before the reunification of East and West Germany.
War Trash Ha Jin
This fictional memoir of a young Chinese army officer sent with the "People's Volunteers" to help the Communist side in the Korean War describes the experience of Korean POWs in American camps.
With David Harrington
Story of an eight-year-old girl growing up alone in the wilds of the Ozarks, who is left to fend for herself on a remote, inaccessible mountain-top with only animals and a ghost as companions.
Waterborne: an Novel Bruce Murkoff
In this vivid debut novel, four characters move toward a fateful meeting at the Boulder Dam during its epic building in the 1930s.
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2003
As Meat Loves Salt Maria McCann
Set against the backgroundof the English Civil War, this novel tells the love story of Jacob Cullen, a deeply flawed man, and his love for Feriss, an idealist.
Brownsville: Stories Oscar Casares
Collection of stories captures a way of life in and around Brownsville.
The Clearing Tim Gautreaux
In the 1920's a scion of a Pittsburgh lumber family is dispatched to the company's new mill located in rural Louisiana.
Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time Mark Haddon
A
mathematically-gifted autistic teenager decides to discover who murdered the
neighbor's dog and turns to Sherlock Holmes for inspiration.
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere ZZ Packer
Eight stories about African American teenage girls who are unsure of where they belong.
Drop City T. C. Boyle.
The story of a hippie commune
in 1970 that relocates to Alaska where it collides with Alaskan homesteaders.
Evidence of Things Unseen Marianne Wiggins
Poetic novel examines the birth of the nuclear era from the perspective of a passionate part-time scientist, both a victim and a fan of the new technology.
Fortress of Solitiude Jonathan Letham
Narrative covers three decades of
turbulent times in a Brooklyn neighborhood and the difficult friendship of two
boys, one black and one white.
Good Faith Jane Smiley
Novel about the greed and
self-delusion of the economic boom of the 1980’s.
The Great Fire Shirley Hazzard
A British soldier falls in love with a precocious teenager in the smoldering
aftermath of World War II.
The King is Dead Jim Lewis
Story of a father and son whose contrasting lives reflect the dramatic shifts in the last half century of American life.
The Known World Edward Jones
Story explores a neglected chapter of American history, the world of blacks who owned blacks in the antebellum South.
Loving Che Ana Menendez
A contemporary woman from Miami searches for the true story behind the photographs and letters of her vanished mother and Che Guevarra that were mysteriously sent to her.
The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri
Novel takes the Ganguli
family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans.
Long for this World Michael Byers
A medical researcher discovers a genetic anomaly that promises a treatment for a rare
syndrome and implies a major breakthrough in the study of the aging process.
Love Toni Morrison
The widow and granddaughter of a rich, charming resort-owner
struggle over his legacy.
Memory of War Frederick Busch
A Manhattan
psychologist’s newest patient is a scholar specializing in Holocaust denial and
claims to be his half-brother.
Old School Tobias Wolff
Written as a first-person memoir this is coming-of-age story about a scholarship student at a New England prep school in 1960 who desperately wants to win a literary prize.
Pleasure of My Company Steve Martin
An obsessisive-compuslive ex-Hewlett-Packard programmer becomes invloved with a single mother.
Vernon God Little D.B.C. Pierre
Darkly comic debut novel about a Texas boy
running from the law in the wake of a gory school shooting.
We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver
Through letters to her estranged husband, a mother
chronicles her son's life in an attempt to come to terms with his Columbine-type
crime.
What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal Zoe Heller
A lonely
schoolteacher reveals more than she intends when she records the story of her
best friend’s affair with an underaged student.
You Are Not a Stranger Here Adam Haslett
Short story collection explores a mother’s bereavement, homosexual panic, suicidal melancholy, and sibling guilt with great empathy.
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2002
Atonement Ian Mc Ewan
An insulated upper-class family living in the British countryside in
the years before and during World War II suffers accidents and unanticipated
occurrences in tragic proportions.
Bel Canto Ann Patchett
A famous American
opera singer is to perform at a presidential dinner party in an unnamed
Spanish-speaking country, when guerrillas burst in and take the guests hostage.
Caramelo Sandra Cisneros
Story of a multigenerational Mexican American family
that shuttles among Chicago, Mexico City, and San Antonio.
Child of My Heart Alice McDermott
Theresa, the introspective and unusually perceptive narrator,
recalls the summer of her 15th year on Long Island with wry and bittersweet hindsight.
Crow Lake Mary Lawson
A successful Canadian zoologist narrates the
story of the tragedy that changed her family twenty years earlier.
Dive from Clausen's Pier Ann Packer
A young woman is faced with an unbearable loss and a
moral quandary when her boyfriend is left quadriplegic after a swimming
accident.
Emperor of Ocean Park Stephen Carter
An African Anerican law
professor’s father, a disgraced judge, has died, and left behind a convoluted "arrangement" which his son must unravel if his life is ever to return to something resembling normalcy.
Everything is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer
A young Jewish American writer searches in Ukraine for the woman who might have saved his grandfather from the Nazis.
Family Matters Rohinton Mistry
Set during
the 1990s in an overcrowded and politically corrupt Bombay, novel depicts a
family being torn apart by lies, love, and its unresolved demons of the past.
Life of Pi Yann Martel
After a terrible shipwreck, Pi, the son of a zookeeper, finds himself
adrift in the Pacific Ocean with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal
tiger for company.
Little Friend Donna Tart
Harriet Cleve, a 12-year old girl
haunted by the murder of her brother, who was found hanging from a tree in their
yard when she was just a baby, vows to find his murderer and exact her revenge.
The Piano Tuner Daniel Mason
A 19th century English piano tuner finds himself in
Burma, mesmerized by his unfamiliar surroundings.
Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides
Family saga, which also tells the history of Detroit, about a hermaphrodite son of a Greek immigrant family who finds love after growing up feeling like a freak.
Rosco William Kennedy
Story of a political hack of the
Democratic machine circa 1945 who finds himself pulled back into politics and
aiding the woman he pines for, just as he wants out.
Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd
Lily Owens grows up motherless and neglected on a South Carolina peach farm.
Ship Made of Paper Scott Spencer
Novel about an affair of consuming love
between two married adults asks whether that love is worth the suffering it may
cause to others.
Simple Habana Melody Oscar Hijuelos
An aging composer returns
to his childhood home after World War II after living many years in Europe.
Three Junes Julia Glass
Traces the lives of a Scottish family over a decade as
they confront the joys and longings, fulfillments and betrayals of love in all
its guises.
Unless Carol Shieds
A Canadian writer is happily married with three
children when suddenly her eldest daughter becomes a street person.
Return to Top.
2001
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Sijie Dai
Two friends fight despair during the Cultural
Revolution in China through their discovery of a cache of books written by
classic European authors.
The Bonesetter's Daughter Amy Tan
Novel chronicles the tortured, devoted relationship between Luling Young who left a tiny village in China to come to America and her daughter Ruth, a San Francisco career woman.
Choke Chuck Palahniuk
A med-school dropout takes a job playing an Irish indentured servant in a colonial-era theme park in order to help care for his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother.
John Henry Days Colson Whitehead
Author retells the story of American folk hero John Henry, the black railroad worker who beat a steam drill in a one-on-one contest, by juxtaposing it with the soulless saga of a 21st-century African American freelance writer.
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen
Heart-wrenching story
of a family unglued by the ravages of modern times, but which finds a way to share
tender moments in a Christmas reunion.
Back When We Were Grownups Anne Tyler
A moving exploration of the life of a fifty-three-year-old woman who suddenly
discovers that "she had turned into the wrong person".
Empire Falls Paul Russo
Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, this bestselling novel tells the story of a big-hearted man
who becomes the unlikely hero of a small town.
Eva Moves the Furniture Margot Livesy
A perfectly structured novel about an intense and sometimes inconvenient friendship between the living and the dead.
Gabriel's Story David Anthony Durham
A coming-of-age story about an African American teenager in the violent American West.
Good in Bed Jennifer Weiner
Tale of one woman's struggle to come to terms with her larger-than-life self after her ex-boyfriend writes an embarrassing column about her in a popular women's magazine.
Middle Age Joyce Carol Oates
A tenderly comic, irresistible love story.
Mystic River Dennis Lehane
Wrenching psychological crime drama about the effects of a savage killing on a tightly knit, blue-collar
Boston neighborhood.
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2000
Anil's Ghost Michael Ondaatje
A young woman born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and America, returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island.
The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood
Part family saga,
part Canadian 20th century social history, and part suspense tale.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon
Serious but never somber tribute to the golden age of American comic books.
Being Dead Jim Crace
Story looks backward over the happy
moments, the disappointments, and the compromises of the lives of two married
biologists who were murdered on a beach during a romantic moment.
Disgrace J.M. Coetzee
A divorced literary scholar loses his job for sexually harassing one of
his college students and moves in with his beloved daughter on her small farm in South Africa.
English Passengers Mathhew Kneale
Novel follows the voyage of the Sincerity, a smuggling vessel that takes on a
party of highbrow landlubbers bound for the island of Tasmania where a war is going on against British colonials.
A Hole in the Earth Robert Bausch
Beautiful and aching story of a harrowing summer in the life of a 39-year old high school teacher who still needs to "grow up".
Into the Forest Jean Hagland
Two
sisters, alone in the Northern California forest, face the challenges of
survival after a war has brought about the collapse of industrialized America.
Plainsong Kent Haruf
A high-school history
teacher in Colorado must raise his two young sons when his troubled wife
abandons the family.
White Teeth Zadie Smith
Telling the story of two London families
-- those of Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal's -- this sprawling novel explores the
multicultural England of today.
Unraveling Elizabeth Graver
Set in 18th century England, this novel tells the story of an intelligent and independent
young woman who chooses a nonconformist life.
Tortilla Curtain T. Coraghesson
Depicts the very different lives of illegal
immigrants and a suburban, middle class family when their lives become
intertwined because of an automobile accident.
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