FALL 2008

The Art of Racing in the Rain
By Garth Stein
"The car goes where the eyes go," an idea often repeated in this novel, is applied to life not just to racing. The Art of Racing in the Rain is not just a novel about racing but one about life. Enzo, the canine narrator, offers insights and wisdom usually attributed to a wise old man. The story is one of family, love, sadness, despair, and hope. One need not be a fan of racing or of dogs to become totally engrossed in this book.

The Last Lecture
By Randy Pausch
Although thousands have watched the "Last Lecture" or clips of it on YouTube, the book offers greater insight into Randy’s life and his reasons behind choosing to present the lecture. This is not a book about dying; it is a book about living! It is about having dreams and living in such a way that the "dreams will come to you". It is about caring for family and wanting to impart a legacy beyond worldly goods to that family. It truly celebrates honesty, humor, love, family, and life.

SUMMER 2008

Unaccustomed Earth
By Jhumpa Lahiri
A series of eight eloquent, sparely written, stories connected by character or theme which explore the immigrant experience and the human heart. Her prose is deceptively simple, but rich. I think it is her best work yet.

The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
By Steve Lopez
Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, happens upon a homeless man playing Beethoven on a battered old violin. In the chance encounter Lopes sees the potential for a column--he doesn't see that it will be a life-altering experience for him. Following up, Lopez learns that Nathaniel Ayers was once a gifted and promising student at Juillard but spiraled down into the depth of schizophrenia.This is not a "happily ever after" story, but one of growth, understanding, and the realization of what can come from a simple act of kindness.

SPRING 2008

The Eyre Affair
By Jasper Ffordeirca
This is a very original book for fans of mystery, fantasy or literary fiction of all ages. It takes place in the current time, but in an alternate reality where things like time travel and cloning are common and literature has a popularity we normally associate with network TV. A fun, light read, I'd recommend this for a vacation.

Firefly Lane
By Kristin Hannah
Kate and Tully are opposites who become best friends forever as they weather the trials of a thirty year friendship. All readers who are members of a “best friend’s club” will relate to this poignant tale of two women who test the bounds of love, loyalty, success, and mortality. Have a tissue box handy!

The Scapegoat
By Daphne DuMaurier
An Englishman, while lost in France, meets a stranger who could be his twin and shares a drink with him. He awakens the next day to find that he has been thrust into the identity of the stranger, a wealthy Frenchman with complex family and business problems. While sorting out this new life, he learns much about himself in his former life.

Those Who Save Us
By Jenna Blum
Past and present, mothers and daughters, Nazis and the German Resistance, secrets and revelations are all key to the drama of the novel Those Who Save Us. Trudy, a professor of German studies, has never known her mother’s story of life in Germany during World War II. The reader learns the story as the novel alternates between the present and the past.

Lady of the Roses
by Sandra Worth
Set in 15th century England during the War of the Roses, this novel is about love-marriage that defies the odds by crossing political factions. A young Richard III is a side-line character. Like many others of this genre, the story features a strong female protagonist, but not as much detail as longer historical works (like those of Sharon Kay Penman, for instance).

Quest for a Maid
By Frances Mary Hendry
The perfect mixture of historical fiction, magic, delightful characters, wholesome romance, and a strong woman in the lead....leading this staff member to read this book every year since she was twelve with delight. Meg Wright lives in 13th century Scotland and hears her sister, a witch, kill King Alexander the III while hiding under a table. Meg's quest involves the safe keeping of the princess of Norway as she travels to claim her rightful position, yet having to battle with the dangerous magic her sister creates to try and stop the succession. A delightful tale of love and perseverance.

Souvenir
By Therese Fowler
A debut novel along the lines of Jodi Picoult meets Nicholas Sparks. A heart-breaking story about the choices we make and why we make them. Meg Powell and Carson McKay grew up together and eventually fell in love with plans to marry. At the last minute she chooses another man and their lives go in opposite directions. Years later, their paths cross and the truth comes out, but Meg is now dealing with Lou Gehrig’s disease ALS. Grab the Kleenex!

The Bright Side of Disaster
By Katherine Center
Fun and bittersweet story of single motherhood in a Texas town. Left by her fiancé the day before she has her baby girl, Jenny bumbles and stumbles her way through motherhood with “help” from her friends and mother. A predictable plot and a happy ending make this an easy and amusing read.

See You In A Hundred Years
By Logan Ward
Circa 1900 in rural America, a time without electricity, antibiotics, refrigeration, cars and a yearlong experiment in time for Logan Ward, his wife and toddler. This is a memoir filled with snakes, spoiled food, frayed emotions, good friends, quiet nights and introspection. You decide if they are courageous or just plain foolish.

The Sum Of Our Days
By Isabel Allende
In this memoir written in the form of a conversation with her beloved, deceased daughter, Paula, Isabel Allende reveals that her own life is at least as interesting and complicated as the fascinating characters in her novels.

People of the Book
By Geraldine Brooks
Geraldine Brooks has done it again – plotted another captivating historical tale based on extensive research. Follow a Hebrew work of art backwards in time from 1996 Sarajevo into biblical time with a contemporary narrative woven throughout.

Why Women Should Rule the World
By Dee Dee Myers
This is not just Dee Dee Myers’s story although she does use examples from her own experiences. She clearly states that this book is not an attack on men, but rather a discussion of how, if women had more power, the world might be a better place. She cites studies and statistics, as well as anecdotal accounts to support her points. Stereotypes, double standards, and prejudice have impacted women’s advancement. For example, the number of women in major orchestras has increased fivefold since the candidates have auditioned behind screens and therefore are judged solely on their musical talent. An interesting read for both women and men.

Out Stealing Horses
By Per Petterson
This is a novel of exquisite imagery, a narrative of place and person beautifully detailed. One can almost hear the crunching of snow underfoot, feel the sun through the trees, hear the lapping of the lake as you read the story of a man who returns to a fateful place of his youth to live out his days, sort out his father’s life, and in turn his own.

WINTER 2007

Without a Map
By Meredith Hall
This memoir is the story of a girl who grows into a woman caught in both her personal turbulence and that of the sixties. Meredith is rejected by her family when, as a truly naïve teen, she becomes pregnant. She gives the child up for adoption and marks time for many years by the age of the child she never saw. She travels through life “without a map” but learns to love, forgive, and understand others and herself.

The Third Secret
By Steve Berry
Deceit, suspicion, murder and passion are all components in Steve Berry’s fast paced Vatican thriller.

Someone Knows My Name
By Lawrence Hill
An early American slave story told from an unusual perspective. Meena begins as an African girl and remains truly African during her noble journey through the slave experience and beyond. While Meena’s story is imagined, much of the book is well researched and factual; from history books, diaries, letters, etc.

The King in The Window
By Adam Gopnik
Oliver, an American schoolboy living in Paris, puts a paper crown on his head on Epiphany and is identified and summoned by the Window Wraiths to be their king, and to defeat the Master of the Mirrors. His adventure takes the reader all over Paris, and into the minds of Nostradamus, Racine, Molière, and Alice Liddell. Don't be fooled by the Juvenile Fiction cataloging, this book is sure to be enjoyed by a variety of ages. If you like Paris, the teachings of French Enlightenment, riddles, or an adventure story you should enjoy this story. A nice diversion read.

Peace Like a River
by Leif Enger
Miracles abound as a boy and his family travel the badlands in search of an older brother who is running from the law. The characters are well-developed and the plot is original. Overall, Enger is a skilled storyteller, apt to please a wide range of readers.

Peter Jennings: A Reporter’s Life
By Kate Darnton (editor)
This is a wonderful portrait of Peter Jennings—the reporter, the anchor, the Canadian, the American, and above all the man. For those who regularly follow ABC news, it reads as if you are seated around a table listening to the familiar voices of Charlie Gibson, Martha Raddatz, and George Stephanopoulos as well as many others who touched Peter’s life or whose lives were touched by Peter.

Gone with the Wind
By Margaret Mitchell
" Have you seen the movie? Well, I have too (many years ago), but I just recently picked up the book and what a read! Characters that are fully drawn and developed with all the human drama of passion, courage, revenge, hope, failure and more against the backdrop of war and the changing South."

American Crescent
By Hassan Qazwini
This is the memoir of an Iraqi Muslim who became a naturalized citizen of the United States, and the cleric of the largest Muslim center in the country in Detroit. His life from a displaced Iraqi family to U.S. citizen is fascinating. Discussion of the difference between the Shia and Sunni faith is both interesting and informative. It sheds considerable light on the current events in the Middle East. Additionally, there is an honest evaluation of the struggle of Muslims in the U.S. with regard to prejudice directed at these communities since 9/11. This is a MUST read.

The Invisible Wall
By Harry Bernstein
Harry's street ( a cobbled one in an English mill town) and the people who lived there in the early 1900's are the framework of this memoir. One side of the street is inhabited by Christians the other by Jews and the invisible wall divides them. It is an insightful memoir penned by ninety-three year old Harry who never forgot that street and the fact that his sister Lily and a Christian boy named Arthur dared to fall in love and break the barriers.

The Serpent’s Daughter
By Suzanne Arruda
If you enjoy the period and characters in Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries, you should enjoy this latest mystery by Suzanne Arruda. Jade de Cameron is a young journalist whose adventure takes her through the back alleys of Tangiers to the fabled city of Marrakesh and into a Berber village in the Atlas Mountains. Jinns, amulets and hashish are all a part of this 1920’s mystery set in the fascinating country of Morocco.

Breakfast With Buddha
By Roland Merullo
Join two likeable, but very different characters, on an intriguing, quirky and humorous journey through the heartland of our country as they get to know America, themselves, and each other, There are many questions asked and some answered.

Run
By Ann Patchett
Run is a fast-paced novel weaving together the lives of characters from different social classes in the same city. Issues such as adoption, politics, parental influence, mother’s love, poverty, and privilege are intertwined as the lives of the characters become intertwined following an accident.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
By Sherman Alexie
Young adults can certainly relate to Alexie’s colorful, frank story about the life of a bright, funny, and courageous Spokane Indian teenager, but adults will also be highly entertained by the young cartoonist’s unique narration of small town life among reservation dwellers and townies. His bittersweet story of hope and irony in the midst of bleak reality will leave you smiling even as your heart aches.

The Geography Of Bliss
By Eric Weiner
If you’ve ever pondered the question of what happiness means and where it is found, this could be the book for you. For instance, Americans seem to suffer from “the unhappiness of not being happy” while Icelanders embrace the darkness and celebrate failure. This is a journey both serious and humorous that may make you question your own ideas of happiness.

The Middle Place
By Kelly Corrigan
The middle place—“that sliver of time when childhood and parenthood overlap—is the focus of Kelly Corrigan’s book. Kelly is wife and mother but very much George Corrigan’s only daughter. What makes Kelly’s “middle place” more challenging is that both she and her father are battling cancer.

The Commoner
By John Burnham Schwartz
Schwartz offers us a personal glimpse into the life of Haruko Endo, a beer brewer’s daughter, who becomes the Crown Princess and then Empress of Japan. Her emotional struggles relay a bittersweet tale of love, abandonment, duty and friendship as we experience her isolation with the palace walls.

The Long Walk Home: a Novel
By Will North
This is a folksy novel to curl up with in front of a warm fire - a gentle love story with twists and turns which force the reader to suspend disbelief, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Agnes and the Hitman
Jennifer Cruisie and Bob Mayer
This is the kind of book that you don’t want to put down because you want to find out what surprising, crazy, ridiculous, yet coincidental thing will happen next. At the same time you don’t want the book to end because the characters really grow on you as you get to know them better. Once you get over the swearing (they are hit men, after all, and the MOB is involved here too) you just can’t stop laughing. A fun read.

Gardens of Water
By Alan Drew
Gardens of Water is a story filled with tensions - familial, cultural, and religious. Following a massive earthquake near Istanbul, a Kurdish Muslim family’s life becomes intertwined with that of an American family with strong connections to Christian missionary workers. The book makes one pause to reflect on one’s own values and traditions.


FALL 2007



The Thirteenth Tale
By Diane Setterfield
A dying author calls upon a young woman working in a bookstore to transcribe her memoirs. What unfolds is a richly textured, Daphne DuMaurier-style, melodramatic mystery. Makes you want to read it in an overstuffed chair with a cup of tea and a cat on your lap.

The Tenderness of Wolves
By Stef Penney
If you are looking for an original story in an unusual setting with fascinating characters this is your ticket. There is a murder, but so much more. I wanted to know more about each person as the story unfolded.

One Thousand White Women
by Jim Fergus
“ Brides for Indians” was the name of the President’s program to supply the Cheyenne Indians with women in 1874. We get a first hand glimpse of life with these Indians through the journals of a woman escaping her present lifr and hoping for better future.This is fascinating reading as we learn about her day to day existence with the “savages”.

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
by Gail Tsukiyama
Her writing reminds me of the flow of a Japanese scroll painting. Follow the lives of two orphaned brothers - one an artist, the other a sumo wrestler before, during and after the World War II firebombing of Japan.

Lucky Child: a daughter of Cambodia reunites with the sister she left behind
by Loung Ung
This is the story of sisters—two years apart in age and thousands of miles apart as they grow up (one in Vermont and one in Cambodia). Their story underscores the importance of family and celebrates the strength of individuals.

Girls of Riyad
by Rajaa Alsanea (see Sani, R)
The Girls of Riyad created a sensation in the Arab world following its publication in 2005. This novel gives the reader an eye-opening view of the lives of four Saudi women. Written in an e-mail format, it discusses the conflicts and private lives of Saudi Arabian women in the modern world.

Mary: A Novel
by Janis Cooke Newman
Mary Todd Lincoln suffered numerous losses from an early age. An intelligent, ambitious woman, perhaps ahead of her time, one wonders if she was truly “insane” or a victim of her son’s and others expectations of the role of a woman. Newman’s story brings alive this time of tragedy for the nation and the Lincolns.

The Best of Friends: two women, two continents, and one enduring friendship
by Sara James and Ginger Mauney
This is the story of a friendship that began in middle school and spanned the years. It is, as the authors say, “one memoir… written by two authors”. The alternating voices share the heartaches and successes of each and how their lives were entwined. Sara is a journalist working at NBC in New York; Ginger is a wildlife filmmaker in Namibia.

The Machiavelli Covenant
by Allan Folsom
Allan Folsum pens another thriller with all the bells and whistles. Part thriller, part love story, with a little espionage thrown in, a former LAPD detective uncovers a sinister plot regarding the President of the United States that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Sweet Caroline
by Christopher Andersen
A beautifully written introspective into the life of Caroline Kennedy, this book creates a compelling portrait of a woman shaped by her mother, brother and the legendary Kennedy family. It is insightful and entertaining at the same time.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman
by Vanora Bennett
This fantastic story weaves fact and fiction to tell the story of the family of Sir Thomas More during the Protestant Reformation. The second half of the novel is especially appealing as family secrets emerge and the complexity and symbolism in Tudor era portrait painting is explored.

Monique and the Mango Rains
by Kris Holloway
This is a personal narrative in which Holloway tells of Monique, a midwife in Mali, with whom she worked during her two year assignment in the Peace Corps. Monique worked tirelessly to educate herself and the women of Nampossela regarding maternal and child health and women’s issues.

Waiting for Teddy Williams
by Howard Frank Mosher
You don’t have to be a Red Sox fan to savor this quirky and utterly charming coming of age story (but, all the better if you’re a member of the Red Sox Nation.) E.A. Allen and the citizens of Kingdom Common, VT, will steal your heart as most of Mosher’s characters tend to do.

In An Instant
by Lee and Bob Woodruff
In An Instant is the story told by both Lee and Bob Woodruff of the incredible journey to recovery following the tragedy in which Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury while embedded with the military in Iraq. This is a candid account of their life together. Accounts of the events that changed their lives are interspersed with memories of the early days of their courtship, marriage and the beginnings of Bob’s journalistic career. It is a memoir filled with love, courage, hope, and humor.

The Samurai’s Garden
by Gail Tsukiyama
While recuperating from tuberculosis, a young Chinese man moves from prewar China to his grandfather’s beach house in Japan. The wise old gardener teaches him about love, honor, loss, and loyalty as his body mends. The prose has the serenity and flow of a Japanese garden.

Garlic and Sapphires
by Ruth Reichl
Ruth Reichl, food critic for the New York Times, is a funny, yet poignant writer, and is an absolute marvel when it comes to writing about food--she can describe a dish in such satisfying detail that it seems unnecessary to eat. Determined to review the "true" nature of each restaurant she visited, she often dined incognito.Each chapter of her book highlights a new disguise, a different restaurant , a fresh culinary adventure, and her personal revelations into human nature as she describes how differently she was treated in her different disguises.

The Silent Miaow
by Paul Gallico
Here is life as seen by your favorite kitty – a manual, so to speak, on how he or she can take over your home! Like all of Paul Gallico’s books, this is charming.

Journal of a Solitude
by May Sarton
One of novelist, poet, and essayist May Sarton’s most influential books tell of her decision to live alone and “take up my real life again”. Sarton writes unflinchingly about her life through many journals and memoirs. Among them are The House By the Sea, At Seventy, After the Stroke, and Encore.

The Codex
by Douglas Preston
Great summer reading! Entertaining adventure ala Clive Cussler. There were even a few good laughs thrown in.

The Seneca Falls Inheritance
by Miriam Grace Monfredo
In her historically authentic and cleverly entertaining first novel, Monfredo skillfully meshes life in Seneca Falls, N.Y., immediately before the First Women's Rights Convention in 1848 with a page-turning suspense story. Historical figures, foremost Elizabeth Cady Stanton, are woven seamlessly into this well-modulated, satisfying tale. If you like a good mystery with a bit of real history, this first book in a series will catch your fancy!

Ella Minnow Pea
by Mark Dunn
A small island nation off the coast of North Carolina worships the statue of a man who came up with the shortest sentence to contain all twenty-six letters of the alphabet. But after a severe storm, the letters begin to break off the monument, and the town elders declare that it is a sign that the fallen letter is no longer to be used. Can Ella Minnow Pea save her homeland before all that remains of her name is LMNOP?

Cry of the Kalahari
by Delia & Mark Owens
As their new book, Secrets of the Savanna, is released, I thought back to this wonderful classic of environmental science. This beautifully written story of their seven years in Africa in the 1970’s is a great reminder the we humans need to share this earth carefully.

Hot Flash Club
by Nancy Thayer
This is a must read for any women over 50. You'll identify with these 4 strangers who ultimately become best friends and laugh out loud with them as they deal with the many changes in their lives, make plans for the future and make the most of life! The best part is that there are 3 more books after this one...

The Good, Good Pig
by Sy Montgomery
This is local (Hancock, NH) nature writer, Sy Montgomery's, first book that offers a window into her life. As she tells the tale of pig runt,
Christopher Hogwood, we see how the pig's growth healed those around him. Some of the pig antics are laugh-aloud funny. This book would appeal to fans of "Marley and Me".

Plum Wine
by Angela Davis - Gardner
This story of a young American professor at a Tokyo university who receives a precious inheritance from her Japanese mentor and friend opens a window into the lives of her Japanese colleagues and friends. It is a love story that illuminates the horror of Hiroshima and its hibakusha (survivors).

Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee
by Charles J Shields
Although Lee never authorized or spoke to Charles Shields, he did interview over 600 sources while writing this biography. Who was Harper Lee? Why did she never complete another novel? What was the impetus for her revered novel To Kill a Mockingbird ? Many of these questions are addressed in this engaging work.

My Latest Grievance
by Elinor Lipman
Lipman is just plain fun! Her characters are so believable. This is a story told through the eyes of a teenager raised on a private college campus near Boston by “the most annoyingly evenhanded
parental team in the history of civilization.”

The Passion of Artemisia
by Susan Vreeland
Post-Renaissance Italy is the backdrop for the story of Artemesia Gentileschi, a painter who struggled to balance marriage, motherhood, discrimination, passion, and genius.

The Space Between Us
by Thrifty Umrigar
An unforgettable and poignant tale of the connection and inevitable division between upper class Sera and her servant Bhima in modern day India. It is a timeless story for all places and people.

Team Of Rivals
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Team of Rivals is an outstanding book that provides incredible insight into Lincoln and the men who surrounded him. In addition, it offers a picture of the women who supported those men. This carefully crafted history presents a well-rounded and well-documented view of the people and the times.

The Last Days of Dogtown
by Anita Diamant
This novel was inspired by a pamphlet about a small abandoned backwater located on the Massachusetts coast, namely Dogtown. Anita Diamant’s Dogtown is populated by unique characters who call forth a variety of emotions in the reader. The descriptions of both the characters and setting transport the reader to a forgotten time and place in history.

Enrique’s Journey
by Sonia Nazario
An astonishingly heartrending true story about a Honduran boy’s attempt to reach his Mother, an illegal immigrant to the U.S. His dangerous “odyssey” on the top of trains, narrated by a Pulitzer Prize winning author, gives us an unvarnished glimpse into this politically current issue.

The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
Human prejudice, hatred, kindness and bravery collide as 14 year old Lily and her nanny search for a connection to Lily’s dead mother. Lily and Rosaleen find hope and love in a small rural town in South Carolina where they are both taken in by 3 beekeeping sisters. This is a book that you can enjoy reading more than once!

The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the tangled ties between generations. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta, India, through their difficult transformation into Americans.

Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen
Filled with fascinating circus history, especially during the 1930’s era, this fiction book also follows some interesting characters, human and animal.

Never Let Me Go
by Kauzo Ishiguro
At a measured pace, the story unfolds to reveal the characters who populate a seemingly idyllic Inglish boarding school far removed from the outside world. Ishiguro won the prestigious Booker Prize for his novel The Remains of the Day.

Five Quarters of the Orange
by Joanne Harris
Framboise Dartigen was only a child of nine as the story unfolds. She lives with her brother, sister, and widowed mother in a small French village. She dabbles in trading with the Germans and develops a friendship with a German soldier named Thomas. This friendship leads the family into a series of unfortunate events finally causing them to flee the town. Now as an older widow, she returns and tries to address the reasons for what happened.

Birth Of Venus
by Sarah Dunant
This novel draws the reader into the turbulent times of 15th century Florence as seen through the eyes of the spirited 14 year old daughter of a cloth merchant who wishes to paint, a vocation thought unseemly for a women at that time.. The author focuses on the fate of Renaissance women, on lust and betrayal, and on the role religion played in their everyday life. This is history at it’s best.

Labyrinth
by Kate Mosse
This novel is a real page turner evolving around the lives of two closely linked females born 800 years apart. It is beautifully written and full of suspense and intrigue--a truly enjoyable read.

The Far Pavilions
by MM Kaye
This book is at once a sweeping romance, a gripping adventure story, and a tale about identity and belonging. MM Kaye is simply the most marvelous story teller, and her descriptions of India are breath-taking too. MM Kaye sets this story against the grand displays of Indian courts, the British army, teeming bazaars, and the different cultures and religions of India.

Tatham Mound
by Piers Anthony
Anthony based this saga on early 16th-century artifacts found in an actual North Florida Indian burial mound. Combining myth, fantasy and history, this wide-ranging, picturesque adventure follows the 15-year quest of a young 16th-century Florida Indian,Throat Shot. He wanders far and wide as a trader's interpreter, learning songs and stories as he goes, encountering a series of colorful traveling companions who either regale him with their own unique stories or pull him into one risky escapade after another.

Magic Kingdom for Sale- Sold!
by Terry Brooks
Haven’t you always wished you could live in a Magic Kingdom? Ben Holiday bought one, but he was in for some big surprises. This is a sci-fi/fantasy that stands on it’s own and isn’t part of a long series. There are a few more Magic Kingdom books, but this one’s fun all by itself.

Sky Burial
by Xinran
A mystical tale of lasting love amidst political turmoil in Tibet.

Resurrection
by Tucker Malarkey
The Da Vinci Code goes to Egypt with a twist. It is a very readable and believable story of mystery, romance and archeology in the late 1940’s following the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels. The fiction intertwines very easily with the historical facts making for an interesting tale.

Birds in Fall
by Brad Kessler
This is a lovely story of strangers who meet on a Newfoundland coastal island following a tragic airline crash. It is a beautifully written story and the emotions portrayed are truly poignant. I hope this book will lead you to see the migration of birds differently and that in the end you will have an appreciation of the “halcyon days.”

I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman
by Nora Ephron
A quick read that looks at just about everything with a degree of humor. Whether it is cooking, marriage, face cream, menopause, divorce, or her neck, Ephon has a comment that will make the reader smile or just shake her head. The ideas bounce off the page as they do in a group of women who can openly talk and laugh about where life has taken them.

Ursula, Under
by Ingrid Hill
Ursula is two-years old when she falls down a mine shaft. The novel describes the rescue effort within the context of two thousand years of Ursula’s Finnish and Chinese ancestors.

Sister of My Heart
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Two women, born on the same day and friends from childhood have a closer bond than many sisters. Even the distance between India and America can not keep them apart.

Second Nature
by Alice Hoffman
Is nature or nurture more important? Are humans more violent than animals? What holds a family together, and what can pull it apart? These are just a few questions that Alice Hoffman raises in this “can’t put it down” novel.

Personal History
by Katherine Graham
Katherine Graham reflects generously and candidly about her accomplishments at The Washington Post, her family life, and her growth as a woman through the different phases of her life. An interesting journey and a “fast” read (considering its length) due to her conversational style of writing.

The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Quote from the dust jacket: “The international literary sensation about a boy’s magical journey through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona in search of a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.”

Talking to the Dead
by Helen Dunmore
Nothing is as it seems in this lyrical story of two sisters

The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss
Aging Leon Gursky doesn't know that the book that he wrote 60 years earlier for the girl he loved survived WWII. Nor does he know that a 14 year old Alma Singer is named for the main character in his book. Leon and Alma's stories unfold incrementally on parallel tracks, eventually intersecting

The Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson
The story of the hard work and genius of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition is contrasted against a demonic serial killer. The murders are depicted tastefully and do not include extraneous detail. You will be amazed by the products, sayings and traditions that originated at the Fair!

Levi’s Will
by W. Dale Cramer
Will Mullett grows up in a Ohio family of the Old Order Amish – a life of comforting ritual and unrelenting judgement. Rejection of the rigid life takes him away from the family to World War II and a life of his own which results in his banishment. But love for his family and circumstances within that circle lead him “home” again.

Journal of a Solitude
by May Sarton
One of novelist, poet, and essayist May Sarton’s most influential books, Journal of a Solitude, tells of her decision to live alone and “take up my real life again’. Sarton writes of depression, rage, courage, hope, creativity and much more. She writes unflinchingly about her life through many journals and memoirs. Among them are The House By the Sea, At Seventy, After the Stroke, and Encore.

The Amber Room
by Steve Berry
The Amber Room, an exquisite work of art seized by the Russians from the Nazis in 1941, hidden, and never seen again, is the subject of this art thriller, written in the style of The DaVinci Code.

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife
by Linda Berdoll
You will never think about the brooding Mr. Darcy the same way again after you read this sexy, funny, boisterous continuation of Jane Austen’s classic. (If you enjoy it, continue on with the story with the sequel, Darcy & Elizabeth : at home at Pemberly.)

A Year By the Sea
by Joan Anderson
With her sons grown and her husband’s job transferred, Joan Anderson decides to move to a Cape Cod cottage alone in an attempt to sort out her life. This is her account of a year of self-examination and discovery. She wrote a second book titled A Walk on the Beach.

A Walk on the Beach
by Joan Anderson
Soon after moving to Cape Cod to spend a year of spiritual exploration alone, Joan Anderson meets an older woman while walking on the beach. Thus begins this memoir of a nourishing friendship and mutual support. Her first book was A Year By the Sea.

Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey is the story of the unsophisticated, sincere, and rather silly young girl named Catherine Morland on her first trip away from home, for a stay in Bath. There she meets the entertaining Henry Tilney; later, on a visit to his family's house (Northanger Abbey) she learns to distinguish between the highly charged calamities of Gothic fiction and the realities of ordinary life (which can also be distressing in their way). Like Austen's Love and Friendship, this book makes fun of the conventions of many late 18th century literary works, with their highly wrought and unnatural emotions; some of this humor derives from the contrast between Catherine Morland and the conventional heroines of novels of the day.

Virgin Earth
by Philippa Gregory
This historical novel takes place in colonial Virginia and follows Gregory’s previous novel Earthly Joys. John Tradescant, Jr. travels to the New World to avoid the civil war in England. He lives among the native Indians and learns their ways with plants and herbs. He becomes more comfortable with the natives than with the colonialists and postpones his return to England. Telling any more would ruin your read – enjoy!

Sahara
by Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler is a master of quirky twists and turns in adventure stories. His topics are always salient and his major character, Dirk Pitt, is bigger than life (think Sean Connery). Watch for “Clive” in all of Cussler’s books. Sahara is just a fun read.

Bachelor Brothers’ Bed & Breakfast Pillow Book
by Bill Richardson
This is a very funny follow-up to his first book which introduced us to the Bachelor Brothers’ B&B – a special B&B for book lovers. The chapters are written in the voices of the two brothers, and their guests, and interspersed with clippings from the local weekly The Occasional Rumor. Definitely a quick, light read!

Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life
by Queen Noor
Lisa Halaby led a charmed life even before she became the Queen of Jordan by marrying King Hussein in 1978. Yet she writes without an elitist outlook and provides an insider’s view of events in the Middle East during the 1970s and 1980s. This is a touching memoir.

The Property of a Lady
by Elizabeth Adler
On the eve of the Russian Revolution, a maharajah gives a large emerald to a Russian princess. Many years later a 45-carat emerald comes up for auction in Geneva – is it the same emerald? This great story weaves a little romance with history, mystery and intrigue.

River Angel
by A. Manette Ansay
This novel is a study of cruelty and redemption. Ten-year old Gabriel is abandoned by his father at a relative’s house on Christmas Eve. This is just one more in a series of disappointments in his young life. Although Gabriel struggles to fit in to his new “home” he becomes a social outcast. Yet his presence eventually impacts the whole town.

Range of Motion
by Elizabeth Berg
This novel tells the story of enduring love, friendship, and the gift of the human spirit. Lainey is a wife/mother/office worker whose life is suddenly changed when her husband enters a coma caused by a freak accident. She is the only person who believes he will one day wake up, and she visits him daily. The novel is about believing in something so desperately that one can make impossible things happen.

Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology
by Eric Brende
After graduating from MIT Brende designed and lived the ultimate experiment: “has technology made our lives easier and ‘better’?” He and his wife spent 18 months living among a group of “Minimites” – totally off the grid. They learned about farming with help from their new community, and they lived by the rhythms of the seasons.

March
by Geraldine Brooks
This novel fills in the missing story of the absent father in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and does so with beautiful lyrical writing. It reminds us that those left behind can never know the pain and dilemmas facing loved ones at war. Likewise, war combatants are always profoundly affected – physically, emotionally or both.

Mr. Emerson's Wife
by Amy Bending Brown
Based on fact, this book explores the life of Lidian Jackson Emerson, who married the renowned transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Sometimes it is difficult to discern fact from fiction, but it is a wonderful read for those who enjoy historical fiction.

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank
by Thad Carhart
Thad Carhart’s memoir is one of my favorite books. The author discovers a mysterious and unwelcoming piano shop that thwarts his every move to procure a piano. Carhart offers a delightful portrait of the French, while blending mystery and piano history in his search for a lost childhood passion. (also available on audiocassette)

Mammal Tracks and Sign of the Northeast
by Diane Kay
One of our staff used this book last year to identify animal tracks in the snow around her home. Here is an edited version of an Amazon.com review: “ Do you find yourself scratching your head when you examine tracks in the snow in your back yard? Have you wondered what animal left that distinctive scat? Diane Gibbons' book will illuminate your world. The book is well illustrated, and makes a great reference for the swift and accurate identification of the tracks and signs of all mammals in the nine northeastern states.”

Charms for the Easy Life
by Kaye Gibbons
This interesting story chronicles the life of three generations of strong willed Southern women living together during World War II. Margaret, the narrator, gently and humorously regales readers with the adventures of her grandmother, a respectable yet unlicensed physician/midwife. This is an easy read, with lovely prose, including descriptions of Raleigh, North Carolina during WWII.

Irish Lace: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel
by Andrew Greeley
Nuala occasionally has visions from the past. While driving down Lake Shore Drive, she is overwhelmed by the screams of thousands of dying men. Her husband begins investigating and discovers that it was the site of the most notorious prison camp of the Civil War. His investigation turns more serious when Nuala is pursued by alleged members of the IRA, and is arrested as an art thief.

The Other Boyelyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
Glittering period details and plenty of conniving ladies-in-waiting bring the Tudor Dynasty to light in this story of a woman who never became wife to Henry VIII.

Dog: A Short Novel
by Michelle Herman
A short feel-good story about a disarming puppy named Phil who interrupts the carefully ordered life of a single middle-aged professor.

Burning Marguerite
by Elizabeth Inness-Brown

A Barn in New England: Making a Home on Three Acres
by Joseph Monninger
A beautifully written and heartfelt account of turning a 4-story, 6,000 square-foot barn into a home. As the work progresses, so does the building of a family unit with the author’s partner and her 8-year old son. The story also incorporates lovely descriptions of their natural surroundings: animals, plants and nighttime star gazing.

The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
This clever and ambitious first novel introduces us to Henry and Clare, whose love story transcends time and age. Clare first meets an adult Henry when she is six; Henry first meets Claire when they are both adults. Although the story jumps around in time, the reader always knows who is narrating each sequence, whether in the past, present, or future.

Plain Truth
by Jodi Picoult
A baby is found dead at an Amish farm in Pennsylvania. An 18-year old Amish girl denies the medical proof that she was the mother. A high-profile attorney arrives from Philadelphia to defend the girl, but finds that all is not as it seems.

Blessings
by Anna Quindlin
This novel interweaves the issues of social class, family secrets, and motherhood. The characters come to terms with their pasts through their connections with each other.

Julie and Romeo
by Jeanne Ray
The Cacciamani and Roseman families despise and distrust each other. Julie Roseman bumps into Romeo Cacciamani at a small-business conference. They’re both running their family florist shops, and struggling to keep them afloat. They’re both single and the dreaded Romeo Cacciamani seems sort of sweet. Now their unexpected relationship is blooming into something big. Julie and Romeo think it’s love, but when their families find out, it’s war. The sequel is Julie and Romeo Get Lucky.

All is Vanity
by Christina Schwarz
Readers will enjoy the timeliness of this laugh-out-loud didactic story.

Renato's Luck
by Jeff Shapiro
Renato, the protagonist and waterworks man, entertains us with descriptions of small town life in Tuscany. With a charming list of interesting characters, readers wait to discover how the fates of the townspeople will change with Renato's "stroke of luck". The author lived in New Hampshire before moving to Italy to teach English and write.

Ice Chorus
by Sarah Stonich
Stories intertwine as a documentary filmmaker recovering from heartbreak on the coast of Ireland attempts to record the family stories of the remote inhabitants

The Illuminator
by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
If you enjoy historical fiction, this 14th century novel portrays the love of Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, for Finn, a widower and master illuminator. Their compelling love story unfolds against a backdrop of political intrigue and religious tyranny testing the ties of family honor and loyalty. The author fashions a compelling narrative about a dark period in history portrayed through characters from all walks of life.

No Angel
by Penny Vincenzi
This engrossing family saga about a headstrong young woman working in a British publishing house on the eve of WW1 is the first of a trilogy. Imagine Barbara Taylor Bradford meets Joanna Trollope ˜ a fun vacation read.

A Man Without a Country
by Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut brings his wit and anger to many topics, including (but not limited to): politics, history, environmental destruction, and extended families. Along the way he quotes Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ. There is plenty to ponder here.

Desert Queen: Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell
by Janet Wallach
Gertrude Bell was the first woman to earn an advanced degree in modern history at Oxford, and wrote seven books on the Middle East. She was oriental secretary to the British High Commission in Iraq after World War I. Bell had a colorful life and a memorable personality.

Catherwood
by Marly Youmans
With sparse, elegant prose, Youmans creates an intensely emotional story about the love of a mother for her child.

The Weight of All Things
by Sandra Benitez

The Promise
by Oral Lee Brown
This inspirational book describes how one woman followed through on her promise to a classroom of first-graders that if they stayed in school she would see that they got to college. Against the odds of extreme poverty, absent or apathetic parents, and neighborhoods full of drugs and violence – she succeeded to see all her “babies” graduate from high school and most of them from college also. A true testament to how one person really can make a difference.

Jane Austen in Boca
by Paula Marantz Cohen

Good Harbor
by Anita Daimant
A heartwarming story of a new friendship between two women as they cope with the obstacles in their lives. Taking long walks on the beach, they share their thoughts and emotions on a journey of self-discovery and renewal. The story takes place in Gloucester, MA so the sights may be familiar to readers.

Wild Designs
by Katie Fforde
A slightly ditzy and loveable heroine turns her passion for gardening into a business of her own in this “delightfully old-fashioned romance”.

The Sad Truth About Happiness
by Anne Giardini
Set in Vancouver, this debut novel follows the life of 32-year-old Maggie as she tries to discover the true nature of happiness.

The Good Journey
by Micaela Gilchrist
This well-researched piece of historical fiction was inspired by the letters and diaries of a Southern belle who traveled West in the 1800’s. The writing is beautiful and the characters are believable and memorable.

The Joy of the Snow
by Elizabeth Goudge
The author of Green Dolphin Street, The Child from the Sea, and many other fine novels writes about her life and the background to her writing. If you’ve read and loved her novels, then don’t miss this book. If you are unfamiliar with Goudge, this is the perfect introduction to her writing.

More Than You Know
by Beth Gutcheon
This ghost story takes place on the coast of Maine and tells two interconnected stories – one from the mid 1800’s and the other from the 1930’s.

The Best Day, The Worst Day
by Donald Hall

The Return of the Native
by Thomas Hardy
If you enjoy the classic tales of Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you are sure to love this novel. Taking place in the woodlands of Wessex, England, the plot surrounds the passions, schemes, and tragedies of mixed-up lovers. Hardy’s gift for describing the rustic landscape is so full of detail it’s as if you were looking at a painting. Also available on audiocassette.

Windfalls
by Jean Hegland
This beautifully written novel examines how one choice can lead us to places we never thought we’d go. The story opens as two young women learn that they are pregnant. Each follows a different path.

The Georgette Heyer Omnibus
by Georgette Heyer
Heyer set a high standard of writing in the Regency romance genre. This volume contains three of her many works: Faro’s Daughter, The Corinthian, and The Nonesuch. If you have read all of Jane Austen and are looking for a new author to fill that void, then you have found her!

The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
This heart-wrenching novel describes the political and social turmoil in Afghanistan during the end of the 20th century. A childhood friendship develops between two boys of widely different social classes, resulting in a betrayal and ultimate separation.

The Grand Complication
by Allen Kurzweil
This is an exceptionally clever biblio-mystery about a reference librarian and an erudite patron involved in a real-life reference project.

In the Fall
by Jeffrey Lent
This novel has the ring of reality and truth. A young Union soldier meets a runaway slave on his way home from war and takes her to his home in Vermont as a wife. It is a searing portrait of race, love, violence and family.

Arctic Dreams
by Barry Lopez
This book celebrates the Arctic landscape and all that is found there: earth, sea, light, ice, animals, and the native people and their way of life. It is also an exploration of dreams that arctic landscapes evoke, and man’s search for a way to belong. This haunting book will provide food for thought for a long time to come.

Tulip Fever
by Deborah Moggah
In 1630s Amsterdam, tulip fever has touched everyone. This quick read has a dynamite ending.

Long Life: Essays and Other Writings
by Mary Oliver
(winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award) This collection of poems and essays “offer praise to the world”.

My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult
This novel is an excellent choice for a book discussion group. The book raises many ethical questions about families, the right to live, genetics, and the meaning of sisterhood.

Disturbances in the Field
by Lynne Sharon Schwartz

Naked
by David Sedaris
These wickedly funny autobiographical essays give credence to the saying, “truth is stranger than fiction”. I would recommend anything written by Sedaris. A commentator for NPR, his radio pieces can be heard on This American Life.

The Storyteller's Daughter
by Saira Shah

The Pilot's Wife
by Anita Shreve
This suspenseful book will keep you reading late into the night. It may also make you question just how well you know your spouse.

Resistance
by Anita Shreve
This was probably my favorite Anita Shreve book. I’ve heard that it was inspired by a letter she found in her Grandmother’s attic. It is a simple story about an American B17 pilot who crashes his plane in Nazi occupied Belgium and comes under the protection of a farmer’s wife who is active in the Resistance.

Without Reservations: Travels of an Independent Woman
by Alice Steinbach
Alice Steinbach is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote for the Baltimore Sun. This book beautifully describes her travels to London, Oxford, Paris, and Italy during her sabbatical from the Sun. She wrote a second book titled Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman.

Over the Moat
by James Sullivan
This true story of modern Vietnam describes a young man’s bicycle journey from Saigon to Hanoi. Along the way he enjoys a cultural education and meets a shop girl who becomes the focus of his life.

There's a Porcupine in My Outhouse
by Michael Tougias
I loved this charming book. The author chronicles his adventures at his cabin in northern Vermont with wit and wisdom.

Brother and Sister
by Joanna Trollpe
This novel explores the definition of motherhood and family. An adopted brother and sister disagree about searching for their “real” mothers.

A Spanish Lover
by Joanna Trollpe
After I read this book I wanted to jump on a plane to Spain (but alas I didn’t). The story follows the lives of twin sisters from a “proper” British family. One sister shocks her family when she becomes the mistress of a married Spanish man.

Easter Island
by Jennifer Vanderbes
This book explores the parallel yet unique stories of two women who travel to Easter Island sixty years apart.

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