All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)
Historical Fiction. "From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II." (448 pages)
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (2013)
Historical Fiction. An evocative tale of love and murder in early 19th century Iceland, this story is based on true events. In exquisite and haunting prose, the story of Agnes, convicted and awaiting execution while working on a remote farm, is gradually revealed. This is a multilayered and gripping story that illuminates a little known landscape and history. (256 pages)
Cataract City by Craig Davidson (2013)
Realistic Fiction. Duncan Diggs and Owen Stuckey grew up on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in a gritty industrial town. Duncan become a boxer and small-time crook; Owen, a cop. When they meet again as adults, their childhood friendship brings them up against some hard choices in this propulsive story, reminiscent of Joyce Carol Oates and Dennis Lehane. (398 pages)
Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani (2013)
Political Fiction. The realities of living through post-revolutionary Iran are intensely portrayed across three decades and from various points of view. Vibrantly explored are the all-too-real themes of suffering, imprisonment, the deep emotional scars borne by the children, the burden of continuous upheaval, but also the ultimate hope of a culture that is still full of poetry and beauty. (288 pages)
The Commandant of Lubizec by Patrick Hicks (2014)
Historical Fiction. A harrowing tale that explores the mind of the commandant at a Nazi death camp and how he compartmentalized his life: murdering thousands by day and going home to kiss his wife and laugh with his children. A brutal story of survival and guilt, it illustrates Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil". (240 pages)
Euphoria by Lily King (2014)
Historical Fiction. Set in 1930s New Guinea and inspired by the life of Margaret Mead, the story follows three anthropologists caught in a love triangle. As they study the artistic, female-dominated Tam tribe, their lives spin out of control. This is a captivating story of desire, possession, exploration and sacrifice. (368 pages)
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (2014)
Psychological Fiction. "Lydia is dead" runs the first line of the novel. From there, Ng weaves a devastatingly adept story of a mixed race American family in the late 1970s, exploring themes of family secrets, identity, gender perspectives and race. This profound family portrait is also a riveting page-turner. (304 pages)
Foreign Gods, INC. by Okey Ndibe (2014)
Immigrant Fiction. The American Dream is recast from the perspective of a Nigerian immigrant, Ike, who despairs of success but still seethes with ambition to the extent of traveling back to his homeland to steal a religious statue. Brilliant and unforgettable, full of sly humor and pathos, Okey Ndibe's tale offers up an insider's biting view of both America and Nigeria. (336 pages)
Marching to Zion by Mary Glickman (2013)
Historical Fiction. This dramatic and tumultuous story of interracial love and the struggles of African Americans and Jewish Americans against prejudice and economic depression in America's heartland takes place over a period of 20 pivotal years from 1916 to 1936, in St. Louis and Memphis. Race riots, tragedy, betrayal and forbidden love are explored in this fast-paced novel. (247 pages)
Neverhome by Laird Hunt (2014)
Historical Fiction. Based on the lives of women who disguised themselves as men during the Civil War, this tale follows Ash, a farmer's wife, who abandons a conventional life to fight for the Union cause. Fearless and an excellent marksman, Ash lives a precarious life as a soldier, with betrayal always a breath away. It is a fascinating story of identity and reinvention with a vivid historical setting. (224 pages)
The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis (2014)
Literary Fiction. The lives of two children who come together through an horrific event in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are explored in alternating voices over 30 years, covering the themes of faith, betrayal, family secrets, and violence. Atmospheric and passionate, the culture of the Massachusetts coastline and its Portuguese heritage are richly depicted. (336 pages)
Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks (2014)
Literary Fiction. Archaeologist Catherine Lemay arrives in Montana in the 1950s to find out if historical artifacts will be lost in the flooded lands resulting from the construction of a dam. She opens her heart to the wild and magnificent landscape as it is revealed to her by John H, a former mustanger and recluse. Elegantly written, it is a love song to a vanishing way of life that raises many topics for discussion: the treatment of Native Americans, the politics of big corporations, preservation of the past, and the role of women post-WWII. (336 pages)
Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement (2014)
Literary Fiction. The harsh, desolate landscape of a Mexican region owned entirely by drug lords has forced women to hide their girls in the ground and make them 'ugly' so they will not be stolen away. Is there any hope for Ladydi, a young girl who dreams of a better life? This poetical, enchanting, and disturbing portrait of a strange and foreign world right in our midst is powerful, redemptive, and unforgettable. (224 pages)
The Promise by Ann Weisgarber (2014)
Historical Fiction. In 1900, Catherine, a talented pianist who tried but failed to establish an independent life, finds herself in such a desperate situation, that she agrees to marry an acquaintance, now a widower and rancher in Galveston, Texas. She arrives there to make a life under primitive conditions, and is put to a harsh text--the massive hurricane which would prove to be the deadliest disaster in 20th century America. (304 pages)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (2013)
Romantic Comedy. Don Tillman, a socially-challenged genetics professor who has never been on a second date, sets out to find the ideal wife with a 16-page questionnaire. Enter Rosie Jarman, who doesn't quite fit the profile, but as Don is drawn into Rosie's project to find her biological father, an unlikely relationship develops. In this delightful, feel-good novel, Don and Rosie finally draw the unscientific conclusion that sometimes you don't find love, it finds you. (329 pages)
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (2014)
Realistic Fiction. Recently widowed A.J. Fikry has problems: his bookstore is failing, he’s drinking too much, and his rare collection of Edgar Allen Poe’s poems has been stolen. The arrival of a mysterious package brings A.J. an opportunity to make his life over and see everything with new eyes. This is a delightful story of transformation, second chances and above all the power of love. (320 pages)
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay (2014)
Psychological Fiction. Mireille Jameson returns to Haiti to visit her wealthy parents, but the happy reunion is shattered when she is kidnapped by a gang of armed men and her father refuses to pay the ransom they demand. Gay keeps the reader glued to the page with her harrowing, suspenseful, and graphically violent story about identity, guilt and the obligations we owe our loved ones. (368 pages)
What Is Visible by Kimberly Elkins (2014)
Historical Fiction. Fifty years before Helen Keller, Laura Bridgman was the first American deaf-blind child to acquire language and with that, great celebrity. Set amidst the chaotic beginnings of 19-century social reform and experimentation, this poignant novel tells Laura’s story, alternating her convincing voice with that of her calculating mentor, Dr. Samuel Howe, his poet wife, Julie Ward Howe, and Laura’s beloved teacher. (352 pages)
Where Somebody Waits by Margaret Kaufman (2013)
Love Stories. Tall, red-haired Ruby Davidson lives her life in small-town Arkansas, and the reader follows her voice in vignettes over 60 years, as she falls in love, marries into a southern Jewish family, encounters small and large dramas, and carries on with courage and spirit. This story transports the reader directly into the South of the 1940s and 1950s. (200 pages)
The World of Rae English by Lucy Rosenthal (2013)
Realistic Fiction. Rae English, a smart yet conflicted young woman has secrets. Set in the strait-laced early sixties when women were supposed to be married and pretty, she finds herself divorced from a disgraced politician. Hoping to conceal herself as a writer and rediscover love, she leaves New York and relocates to Iowa City. Book groups will have much to discuss on the themes of abandonment, holding secrets and letting go. (246 pages)
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