Nov. 25, 2008Note:  date is out of sequence

Originally published in 1719.  Based on a real-life incident, Robinson Crusoe tells the story of a young man who yearns to escape the mundane world and set sail for a life of adventure in faraway places. Defying his father's wishes he leaves on board a ship, and then finds himself marooned on a tropical island where he wrestles with his fate and ponders the nature of God and man. The world has gotten smaller since Defoe penned his novel, but the human imagination still looms large. So even in today's world of space exploration, this story of an ordinary man struggling to survive has not lost its appeal for modern readers. 300 pages depending on edition.

Note: Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest practitioners of the novel, helped popularize the genre in Britain and is even referred to as one of the founders, if not the founder, of the English novel.

Historical fiction. In Horan's first novel, she draws on years of research to weave little known-facts into a compelling narrative portraying the conflicts and struggles of Mamah Borthwick Cheney as she strives to justify her clandestine love Frank Lloyd Wright. She is forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual, seeking to find her own creative calling in the world. Her choices that reshape her notions about love and responsibility lead to a stunning conclusion. The book's cover is classic F. L. Wright design, complete with shadowy profile, perhaps symbolizing the complexities of his life. 384 pages

Anyone who despairs of the individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools-especially for girls-that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit. 338 pages. Nonfiction.

Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory - the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother." When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina - a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother. 336 pages