Reading Lists

One Amazing Thing

By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Nine people are in a Visa office in an unnamed city when an earthquake strikes. To keep the trapped strangers from panicking, they decide that each one should talk about "one amazing thing" that has happened in their lives. As they speak, secrets emerge and everyone finds out what has been going on under their lives, often finding out that they are truly extraordinary. Check Our Catalog

Astrid and Veronika

By Linda Olsson
This is the story of an unlikely friendship between two women - one a young writer and the other, her elderly reclusive neighbor. When Veronika moves from New Zealand to a house north of Stockholm in Sweden, she is looking for a quiet place to write and recover from the death of her fiance. However, her solitary, reclusive next door neighbor keeps an eye on her, and when Astrid comes to the aid of the ailing Veronika, a friendship is formed. Both women have a safe place to share their deepest, darkest secrets so that both of them can heal and move on in their lives. Check Our Catalog

The Beach House

By Jane Green
Nan, a widow with a lovely home in Nantucket, is forced to rent out rooms for the summer to make ends meet. This is a great excuse to meet an interesting cast of characters. The house comes alive again, filled with assorted dramas, both happy and sad. Even Nan's son, home for the summer, has a chance to change his life - you'll just have to read it to see who might find true love by the end of this book! Check Our Catalog

Blue Nights

By Joan Didion
Shortly before Joan Didion's last book was published, The Year of Magical Thinking, which talks about the sudden death of her husband, Joan's adopted daughter, Quintana Roo, dies as well. This type of loss is almost too deep for words, but Didion writes with a lovely touch about how deeply she loved her daughter. This is a love story between mother and child written by an eloquent, poetic writer. Check Our Catalog

Cutting for Stone

By Abraham Verghese
The books starts with a birth and a death, and the drama never stops. A young nun in Ethiopia dies giving birth to twin sons, most likely fathered by the surgeon Thomas Stone, who abandons the newborns and disappears. The boys are raised lovingly by adoptive parents with great love. They eventually connect with their father in America in ways that are medical, personal and life changing. Check Our Catalog

The Hare with Amber Eyes

By Edmund De Waal
This is the true story of De Waal, a world renowned sculptor, who decides to research the history of the small Japanese sculptures he has inherited, and in the process, discovers just what happened to his relatives, a dynasty of Jews who started in poverty, made a fortune in the grain business and banking, and then lost everything - except the sculptures or "netsukes" - in World War II. In coming to terms with his inheritance, De Waal gains a greater understanding of his family, and how he is now forever connected to them. Check Our Catalog

Invisible Bridge

By Julie Orringer
This is the story of 3 Hungarian-Jewish brothers told along with a grand love story. Young Andras Levi leaves his native Budapest to become an architecture student in Paris. He falls in love with an older woman, and suffers greatly in his love for her. Just as they marry, their problems increase as Andras has to return to Budapest to get a visa, and is trapped there with his new wife after World War II breaks out. His entire family's life is changed in the war. This is a long book, but you won't want to put it down. Check Our Catalog

Leaving the World

By Douglas Kennedy
Jane is 13 when we first meet her; a young girl whose innocent remark about the parent's marriage destroys it; and who has to pick up the pieces of her own life when her parents break up. This is a rare type of novel, it is written in the voice of a women, from the woman's point of view, but the book is written by a male author. And it works - he captures Jane as she grows from a young girl into a mature woman, making mistakes along the way - but you will be hoping that Jane will work out her life by the time the book ends. Check Our Catalog

The LIfeboat

By Charlotte Rogan
This is a debut novel about Grace, who is a young bride on a ship that sinks. Her husband gets her into a lifeboat, which has too many people on it already. Once the boat sinks, the book becomes a psychological drama of human dynamics, as the passengers learn to trust and dis-trust each other. Grace ends up on trial for murder and you will have to figure out for yourself whether she is guilty or innocent. Check Our Catalog

Luncheon of the Boating Party

By Susan Vreeland
Susan Vreeland paints word portraits of the lives of artists, and in this novel, which is narrated by the artist Renoir and 7 of his models, she tells the story of both the artist and the famous painting and makes the painting come alive. Check Our Catalog