The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
A Dominican immigrant in New Jersey – nerdy, lonely & elegant

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
The Viet Nam war re-visited in all its complexity.

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
Old-fashioned mystery-with-love story set among Jewish refugees in Alaska.

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
The humor & pathos of office politics at a failing ad agency.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Two innocents on their wedding night.

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Powerful look back at youth & a fateful summer.

Savage Detectives by Robert Bolano
Literature & violence interwoven in a contemporary Latin American novel

Falling Man by Don DeLillo
The emotional landscape reconfigured by 9/11.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
The saga concludes!

Exit Ghost by Philip Roth
Interior drama of one contemplating his mortality.

Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
Intriguing tale of murder & taboos among anthropologists in Thailand.

Away by Amy Bloom
Pogrom survivor & immigrant learns to survive as she searches for her daughter.

Legacy of Ashes: the History of the CIA by Tim Weiner
Devastating portrait of the agency through the years.

The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
History of the 20th century through the world of classical music.

Schulz and Peanuts: a Biography by David Michaelis
Reveals the private man behind America’s best-loved cartoon.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
Intersecting personalities of those who decide the law of the land.

Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat
Deeply moving family story of the life and death of Haitian brothers.

Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee
Definitive biography of a tough & modern woman of strong convictions.

The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
The anti-globalization side of the argument.

World without Us by Alan Weisman
Wide-ranging journalistic survey of humanity’s environmental impact.

Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore
How a Georgian cobbler’s son became the Red Tsar.

The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam
Literary history: investigative reporting leavened with personal narratives.

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
The provocative genius presented with flair & understanding.

The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler…by Judith Freeman
Philip Marlowe’s alter image & the woman he married.