The 19th Wife
by David Ebershoff
The history of polygamy in the Mormon Church intertwines the story of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young, and a modern mystery in which a polygamous man has been found murdered and one of his wives is accused of the crime.

Atonement
by Ian McEwan
In 1935 England, 13 year-old Briony Tallis witnesses an event involving her sister Cecilia and her childhood friend Robbie Turner, and she becomes the victim of her own imagination, which leads her on a lifelong search for truth and absolution.

Barchester Towers
by Anthony Trollope
A chronicle of the struggle for control of the English diocese of Barchester. The evangelical (but not particularly competent) new bishop is Dr. Proudie, who with his awful wife and oily curate, Slope, maneuver for power.

The Baron in the Trees
by Italo Calvino
A young  18th century Italian nobleman defies parental authority by adopting an exclusively arboreal life, watching from his perch in the trees the passing of the Enlightenment and participating in its various delights and duties.

Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett
When terrorists seize hostages at an embassy party, an unlikely assortment of people is thrown together, including American opera star Roxane Coss, and Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese CEO and her biggest fan.

Beneath a Marble Sky
by John Shors
In 17th century Hindustan, the emperor, grieving over the death of his beloved wife, commissions the construction of the Taj Mahal, in an account narrated by Princess Jahanara, the couple's daughter, who embarks on a love affair with the architect of the landmark.

Big Stone Gap
by Adrianna Trigiani
Town pharmacist and local spinster Ave Maria has been keeping the secrets of Stone Gap for a long time, but now a skeleton is about to tumble from her own family closet. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the tiny town is home to many charming eccentrics.

The Book Thief
by Marcus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Dead Silence
by Randy Wayne White
When his U.S. Senator girlfriend is kidnapped during an assassination attempt, Doc Ford sets out on a rescue mission in the Florida Keys, an effort that is further complicated by the kidnapper's claims that the senator has been buried alive.

Disgrace
by J.M. Coetzee
In a novel set in post-apartheid South Africa, a 52 year-old college professor who has lost his job for sleeping with a student tries to relate to his daughter, Lucy, who works with an ambitious African farmer.

The Double Bind
by Christopher A. Bohjalian
Working at a homeless shelter, Laurel Estabrook encounters a man with a history of mental illness and a box of secret photos, and when he dies, she embarks on an obsessive search for the truth behind the photos.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery
The lives of 54 year-old concierge Rene Michel and extremely bright, suicidal twelve-year-old Paloma Josse are transformed by the arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu.

Ethan Frome
by Edith Wharton
Nineteenth-century New England villager Ethan Frome is tormented by his love for his ailing wife's cousin. Trapped, he may ultimately be destroyed by that which offers his greatest chance at happiness.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Nine year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson
Forty years after the disappearance of Harriet Vanger from the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family, her octogenarian uncle hires journalist Mikael Blomqvist and Lisbeth Salander, an unconventional young hacker, to investigate.

The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
In 1969 Kerala, India, Rahel and her twin brother, Estha, struggle to forge a childhood for themselves amid the destruction of their family life, as they discover that the entire world can be transformed in a single moment.

The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
During one hot summer on Long Island, Jay Gatsby throws an amazing party every weekend. He is an extremely wealthy man, although no one knows where he or his money come from. But Gatsby has a purpose: to recapture the past and win back his former love, despite the fact that she has married.

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver. Some lines will never be crossed. Aibileen is a black maid: smart, regal, and raising her 17th white child. Yet something shifted inside her the day her own son died while his bosses looked the other way.

The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss
Sixty years after a book's publication, its author remembers his lost love and missing son, while a teenage girl named for one of the book's characters seeks her namesake, as well as a cure for her widowed mother's loneliness.

The Housekeeper and the Professor
by Yoko Ogawa
A relationship blossoms between a brilliant math professor suffering from short-term memory problems following a traumatic head injury and the young housekeeper, the mother of a  10 year-old son, hired to care for him.

La’s Orchestra Saves the World
by Alexander McCall Smith
It's 1939 in a sleepy English town. La, a generous and determined widow, forms an amateur orchestra to entertain the locals. She recruits Feliks, a refugee from Poland, to play the flute, and a touching friendship emerges. When the war is over, La is left pondering her next move.

Ladder of Years
by Anne Tyler
To her family, 40 year-old Delia, last seen strolling down the Delaware shore carrying a beach tote with $500 tucked inside, had disappeared without a trace, but to Delia, "walking away from it all" had been an impulse that will offer her new and exciting things.

Let the Great World Spin
by Colum McCann
In  1974 Manhattan, a radical young Irish monk struggles with personal demons, a group of mothers is separated by personal differences in spite of shared grief over their lost Vietnam soldier sons and a young grandmother attempts to prove her worth by soliciting men at the side of her teenage daughter.

The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan
After learning that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea, Percy Jackson is sent to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, and becomes involved in a quest to prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Loving Frank
by Nancy Horan
Fact and fiction blend in a historical novel that chronicles the relationship between seminal architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, from their meeting, when they were each married to another, to the clandestine affair that shocked Chicago society.

Memoirs of a Geisha
by Arthur Golden
The fictional memoirs of one of Japan's most celebrated geishas describes how, as a little girl in 1929, she is sold into slavery, her efforts to learn the arts of the geisha, the impact of World War II,  and her struggle to reinvent herself to win the man she loves.

Mornings in Jenin
by Susan Abulhawa
A heart-wrenching novel explores how several generations of one Palestinian family coped with the loss of their land after the 1948 creation of Israel and their subsequent life in Palestine, which was often marred by war and violence.

Mudbound
by Hillary Jordan
Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946. Henry's love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law.

One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A celebration of the endless variety of life in the mythical village of Macondo chronicles the story of the Buendia family, set against the background of the evolution and eventual decadence of the small South American town.

One Thousand White Women
by Jim Fergus
Based on actual historical events, this novel follows the indomitable May Dodd as she travels to the Cheyenne, becomes the bride of Little Wolf, chief of that tribe, and struggles with living in and being loyal to two different worlds.

People of the Book
by Geraldine Brooks
Offered a coveted job to analyze and conserve a priceless Sarajevo Haggadah, Australian rare-book expert Hanna Heath discovers a series of tiny artifacts in the volume's ancient binding that reveal its historically significant origins.

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
Set in  12th century England, this epic of kings and peasants juxtaposes the building of a magnificent church with the violence and treachery that often characterized the Middle Ages.

Prodigal Summer
by Barbara Kingsolver
Wildlife biologist Deanna is caught off guard by an intrusive young hunter, while bookish city wife Lusa finds herself facing a difficult identity choice, and elderly neighbors find attraction at the height of a long-standing feud.

Recessional
by James A. Michener
Receiving an abundance of support and advice from 5 passionate elders at the Palms Florida retirement home, director Andy Zorn is driven to despondency by a past scandal and falls in love with a special woman in the rehab wing.

Sarah’s Key
by Tatiana de Rosnay
On the 60th anniversary of the 1942 roundup of Jews by the French police in Paris, American journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article on this dark episode and embarks on an investigation that leads her to long-hidden family secrets and to the ordeal of Sarah, a young girl caught up in the raid.

The Shipping News
by Annie Proulx
When Quoyle's two-timing wife meets her just deserts, he retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters and family members all play a part in Quoyle's struggle to reclaim his life.

Short Girls
by Bich Minh Nguyen
Two estranged Vietnamese sisters, each wrestling with their own lives, careers, and romances, are reunited at their father's American citizenship party (their father decides to take the oath in order to compete in an American Idol style reality show) and forge a new relationship.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
by Marina Lewycka
Putting aside a lifetime of rivalry when they learn that their widowed father is planning to remarry, sisters Vera and Nadezhda find themselves at odds with his gold-digging fiancé, a situation that is compromised by a hurricane, family secrets, and the father’s obsession with tractor history.

The Sugar Queen
by Sarah Addison Allen
Quiet, awkward Josey Cirrini's peaceful life—caring for her elderly mother, enjoying romance novels, and indulging in her secret passion for sweets—is turned upside down when Della Lee Baker, a sassy, confident, and bold waitress fleeing an abusive boyfriend, decides to hide out in Josey's home.

That Night
by Alice McDermott
During the sixties in Long Island, Rick and Sheryl are high-school sweethearts and, when Sheryl becomes pregnant, the struggle against the strict conventions of their time to prevent their love from being destroyed.

Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
When independent Janie Crawford returns to her rural Florida home, her small 1930s African-American community is overwhelmed with curiosity about her relationship with a younger man.  A luminous and haunting novel about Janie’s journey from a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence.

Three Junes
by Julia Glass
The interconnected lives, loves, and relationships of different generations of the McLeod family are revealed over the course of three crucial summers, in a debut novel about love, death, and birth in a Scottish family.

To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
The explosion of racial hate and violence in a small Alabama town is viewed by a little girl whose father defends a black man charged with the rape of a young white woman. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and librarians across the country voted it the best novel of the twentieth century.

Ulysses
by James Joyce
Loosely based on the Odyssey, it follows Leopold Bloom and other Dubliners through a seemingly ordinary summer day and night in 1904—a typical day, transformed by Joyce's narrative powers into an epic celebration of life.

Vineyard Chill
by Phillip R Craig
A final installment of the popular mystery series finds J.W. Jackson's happy domesticity with Zee and the kids disrupted by a surprising call from a reckless old friend who needs help hiding from would-be assailants, a situation with ties to a beautiful woman's disappearance.

Water for Elephants
by Sarah Gruen
Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, and his friendship with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and Rosie, the elephant, who gave them hope.

The Water of the Hills: Jean De Florette and Manon of the Springs
by Marcel Pagnol
A Greek tragedy in the hillsides north of Marseilles. It is the search for precious water to irrigate his crops that drives hunchbacked idealist Jean de Florette to his death. In Manon, Jean's daughter redeems her father's wasted life while she wreaks vengeance on his enemies.

The Way the Crow Flies
by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Twenty years after her military officer father is forced to choose between loyalties in the wake of a local murder in the early 1960s, Madeleine begins to understand the case's implication and launches a search for the killer.

What is the What
by Dave Eggers
A biographical novel traces the story of Valentino Achak Deng, who as a boy was separated from his family when his village in southern Sudan was attacked, and became one of the estimated 17,000 "lost boys of Sudan" before relocating from a Kenyan refugee camp to Atlanta in 2001.

NON FICTION

A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog
by Dean R. Koontz
The author presents a tribute to his late golden retriever, Trixie, which describes his family's adoption of the retired service animal, the numerous lessons he learned throughout their relationship, and the family's grief upon her passing.

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao
by Wayne W. Dyer
Eighty-one essays discussing how to apply each verse of the Tao Te Ching to life in the 21st century.

Churchill
by Paul Johnson
Analyses of key moments in the prime minister's career, exploring his early achievements and subsequent leadership while providing anecdotal insights into the experiences and qualities that enabled his successes.

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
by Vicki Myron
Traces the author's discovery of a half-frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small-community Iowa library and the feline's development into an affable library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic
by Alfred Lansing
Recounts how explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew battled against almost insurmountable odds to return to civilization after their ship Endurance sank near the South Pole in 1914

The Forger's Spell:
A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
by Edward Dolnick
The true story of three men and an extraordinary deception: the revered artist Johannes Vermeer,  the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him years later, and the con man's mark, Hermann Goering, the fanatical art collector and one of Nazi Germany's most reviled leaders.

From Beginning to End: The Rituals of our Life
by Robert Fulghum
Examines three levels of observance and celebration of the ritual moments of life, discussing public, private, and secret commemorations of these key rites of passage.

Going Rogue: An American Life
by Sarah Palin
The former governor of Alaska describes her life and political career, tracing her progress from small-town mayor to candidate for vice president and offering her personal view of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by Jared Diamond
A  study of the rise of civilization argues that human development is not based on race or ethnic differences but rather is linked to biological diversity, discussing the evolution of agriculture, technology, writing, political systems, and religious belief.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping.

Julie and Julia : My Year of Cooking Dangerously
by Julie Powell
The author recounts how she escaped the doldrums of an unpromising career by mastering every recipe in Julia Child's 1961 classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a year-long endeavor that transformed her life.

Moral Compass: Stories for a Life’s Journey
edited by William J. Bennett
Presents a selection of spiritually and morally uplifting literature, organized according to the stages on life's way.

Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties
by Ian MacDonald
Assesses the cultural influence of the Beatles from a historical perspective, traces the group's musical evolution, analyzes their music within the context of 20th century music, and examines their creative process.

Savage Summit: The Life And Death of the First Women of K2
by Jennifer Jordan
The true stories of 5 women who climbed the dangerous mountain, how they overcame the harshest climbing and weather conditions of any mountain in the world, and the tragic deaths of 3 of the women on the descent.

Somewhere Towards the End
by Diana Athill
A memoir by the British publishing maven who shares candid observations about the experience of aging into her 90s, and her views on how aging enables such benefits as a loss of inhibitions and the fortitude to face death.

Still Growing: An Autobiography
by Kirk Cameron
The author talks about his early years, his rocket to stardom, his life-changing encounter with Jesus and the hard choices he has made along the way to live in the Way of the Master.

Things I’ve Been Silent About:
Memories of a Prodigal Daughter
by Azar Nafisi
A  portrait of the author’s family and childhood in Iran, centered around her powerful mother, her manipulative fictions about herself, and her past and her unusual marriage.

Three Cups of Tea:
One Man's Journey to Change the World ... One Child at a Time
by Greg Mortenson
Traces how Mortenson, having been rescued and resuscitated by Himalayan villagers after a failed attempt to climb K2, worked to build schools that would benefit the young girls who were forbidden an education by Taliban restrictions.

True Compass: A Memoir
by Edward M. Kennedy
The Massachusetts senator shares his personal perspectives on the tragedies that have shaped his family, his long political career, the major events of the past fifty years, and his health battles.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
by Jung Chang
Traces three generations of a family in 20th century China, during which a warlord's concubine, a powerful Communist Party member, and a Cultural Revolution survivor witness Mao's impact on their nation and their livelihoods.

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