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Do you have a favorite author? Are you searching for more good books to read?
Check out these lists for further reading suggestions.
Author Read-Alikes    
Jean M. Auel Dick Francis Elizabeth Peters
Jane Austen Diana Gabaldon Jodi Picoult
Elizabeth Berg Dorothy Gilman Anne Rice
Maeve Binchy Sue Grafton Nicholas Sparks
Agatha Christie John Grisham Danielle Steel
Tom Clancy Carl Hiaasen Amy Tan
Mary Higgins Clark Jan Karon Anne Tyler
Patricia Cornwell Stephen King Stuart Woods
Clive Cussler Louis L'Amour  
Janet Evanovich James Patterson  
     
Title Read-Alikes    
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
 
Notable Books for Adults
*NEW* 2010 List 2009 List 2008 List
2007 List 2006 List 2005 List

 

If you like... Jean M. Auel
You might enjoy these other authors:
Stephen Baxter- Silverhair Judith Redman Robbins- Sun Priestess
Bernard Cornwell- Stonehenge, 2000 B.C. William Sarabande
John Darnton- Neanderthal Linda Lay Shuler
Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear James Alexander Thom
Sue Harrison Elizabeth Marshall Thomas- Reindeer Moon
Cecelia Holland- Pillar of the Sky Joan Wolf
Morgan Llywelyn- The Horse Goddess Barbara Wood- The Blessing Stone, Sacred Ground

 

If you like... Jane Austen
You might enjoy these other authors:
Joan Aiken Jane Feather Patrick O'Brian
Stephanie Barron Georgette Heyer Patricia Veryan
Charlotte Bronte Karleen Koen  
George Eliot Elinor Lipman  

 

If you like... Elizabeth Berg
You might enjoy these other authors:
Kaye Gibbons Elinor Lipman Jeanne Ray
Beth Richardson Gutcheon Sue Miller Anne Tyler
Kristin Hannah Jacquelyn Mitchard  
Alice Hoffman Anna Quindlen  

 

If you like... Maeve Binchy
You might enjoy these other authors:

Jacqueline Briskin

Eva Ibbotson

Anne Rivers Siddons

Catherine Cookson

Edna O’Brien

Joanna Trollope

R. F. Delderfield

Rosamunde Pilcher

Phyllis A. Whitney

J. Lynne Hinton

Belva Plain

 

If you like... Agatha Christie
You might enjoy these other authors:
Nancy Atherton- Aunt Dimity series P. D. James
M. C. Beaton- Agatha Raisin series Michael Pearce- Mamur Zapt series
Marjorie Eccles Ruth Rendell
Martha Grimes Dorothy L. Sayers
Carolyn G. Hart- Henrie O series  

 

book cover image of the Da Vinci Code
If you liked... Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code
You might enjoy these other books:
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell
The Genesis Code by John Case
The Assassini by Thomas Gifford
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Book of Q by Jonathan Rabb
The Confessor by Daniel Silva
The Prophetess by Barbara Wood

 

book cover image of Girl with a Pearl Earring
If you liked... Tracy Chevalier's Girl With a Pearl Earring
You might enjoy these other books:
I Am Madame X by Gioia Diliberto
Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker
Canaletto and the Case of the Westminster Bridge by Janet Laurence
The Serpent Garden by Judith Merkle Riley
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland

 

If you like... Tom Clancy
You might enjoy these other authors:
Dale Brown Vince Flynn David Poyer
Stephen Coonts Ken Follett Patrick Robinson
Harold Coyle David Hagberg Craig Thomas
Clive Cussler Jack Higgins  

 

If you like... Mary Higgins Clark
You might enjoy these other authors:
Sandra Brown Lisa Gardner Judith Kelman
Carol Higgins Clark Tami Hoag Elizabeth Lowell
Catherine Coulter Iris Johansen Barbara Michaels
Joy Fielding Faye Kellerman Karen Robards

 

If you like... Patricia Cornwell
You might enjoy these other authors:
Edna Buchanan Jeffery Deaver Sarah Lovett
Carol Higgins Clark Aaron J. Elkins Sharyn McCrumb
Michael Connelly Linda A. Fairstein Kathy Reichs
Robin Cook Tess Gerritsen Stephen W. White

 

If you like... Clive Cussler
You might enjoy these other authors:
Dale Brown Ian Fleming Robert Ludlum
Tom Clancy Ken Follett Matthew Reilly
Bernard Cornwell Brian Freemantle James Rollins
Nelson DeMille Jack Higgins  

 

If you like... Janet Evanovich
You might enjoy these other authors:
Linda Barnes- Carlotta Carlyle series Stuart M. Kaminsky
Lawrence Block Karen Kijewski- Kat Colorado series
Jennifer Crusie Gillian Roberts- Amanda Pepper series
Linda A. Fairstein- Alexandra Cooper series Sarah Strohmeyer- Bubbles Yablonsky series
Carl Hiaasen Donald E. Westlake- Dortmunder series

 

book cover image of Bridget Jones's Diary
If you liked... Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary
You might enjoy these other books:
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
Until the Real Thing Comes Along by Elizabeth Berg
Four Blondes by Candace Bushnell
Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook
Mr. Maybe by Jane Green
Simply Divine by Wendy Holden
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes
"Shopaholic" books by Sophie Kinsella

 

If you like... Dick Francis
You might enjoy these other authors:

Len Deighton

Jonathan Gash Philip McCutchan
Stephen Dobyns Gerald Hammond

Nancy Pickard

Daniel Easterman Richard Herman

Gerald Seymour

John Francome

Jack Higgins

Randy Wayne White

Brian Freemantle Tony Hillerman  

 

If you like... Diana Gabaldon
You might enjoy these other authors:

Marion Zimmer Bradley

Roberta Gellis

Sharon Kay Penman

Jude Deveraux

Cecelia Holland

Eugenia Riley

Sara Donati

Katherine Kurtz

Judith Merkle Riley

Barbara Erskine

Linda Lael Miller

 

J. Suzanne Frank

Karen Marie Moning

 

 

If you like... Dorothy Gilman
You might enjoy these other authors:

Heron Carvic

Carolyn Hart

Rosamunde Pilcher

Agatha Christie

Susan Isaacs

Cynthia Riggs

Jill Churchill

Alexander McCall Smith

Mary Stewart

Diane Mott Davidson

Elizabeth Peters

 

 

If you like... Sue Grafton
You might enjoy these other authors:
Linda Barnes Sara Paretsky- V.I. Warshawski mysteries
Nevada Barr- Anna Pigeon mysteries Julie Smith- Skip Langdon mysteries
Janet Evanovich- Stephanie Plum mysteries Dana Stabenow
Laurie R. King Kate Wilhelm- Barbara Holloway mysteries
Marcia Muller- Sharon McCone mysteries  

 

If you like... John Grisham
You might enjoy these other authors:
David Baldacci Steve Martini Perri O'Shaughnessy
William Bernhardt Brad Meltzer Lisa Scottoline
James Grippando Richard North Patterson Robert Tanenbaum
John T. Lescroart Nancy Taylor Rosenberg Scott Turow


If you like... Carl Hiaasen
You might enjoy these other authors:
Dave Barry James W. Hall Laurence Shames
Edna Buchanan Elmore Leonard Donald E. Westlake
Tim Dorsey Christopher Moore Randy Wayne White
Janet Evanovich Tom Robbins  

 

book cover image of The Kite Runner
If you liked... Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
You might enjoy these other books:
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus
The Warlord's Son by Dan Fesperman
The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad

 

If you like... Jan Karon
You might enjoy these other authors:
Jennifer Chiaverini Catherine Marshall Miss Read
Fannie Flagg L.M. Montgomery Ann B. Ross
Grace Livingston Hill Janette Oke Adriana Trigiani
Emilie Baker Loring Rosamunde Pilcher  

 

If you like... Stephen King
You might enjoy these other authors:
Clive Barker Douglas J. Preston &
Lincoln Child
Peter Straub
Joe Hill Whitley Strieber
Dean R. Koontz Anne Rice F. Paul Wilson
Ira Levin John Saul  
David L. Lindsey Dan Simmons  

 

If you like... Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins's Left Behind Series
You might enjoy these other books:

Birth of an Age by James BeauSeigneur

The Stand by Stephen King

Acts of God by James BeauSeigneur

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Messiah Stones by Irving Benig

This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

Showdown by Ted Dekker

Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti

Day of Confession by Allan Folsom

The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg

 

If you like... Louis L'Amour
You might enjoy these other authors:

Clifford Blair

Zane Grey

Lauran Paine

Max Brand

Tony Hillerman

Luke Short

Don Coldsmith

Terry C. Johnston

Richard S. Wheeler

Robert J. Conley

Douglas C. Jones

 

Loren D. Estleman

Elmer Kelton

 

 

book cover image of The Time Traveler's Wife If you liked... Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife
You might enjoy these other books:
Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve
Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegardner

 

book cover image of Master and Commander
If you liked... Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander
You might enjoy these other books:
Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester
The Blooding of the Guns by Alexander Fullerton
The French Admiral by Dewey Lambdin
Sloop of War by Alexander Kent
The Nautical Chart by Arturo Perez-Reverte
The Battle by Patrick Rambaud
Kydd: A Novel by Julian Stockwin

 

If you like... James Patterson
You might enjoy these other authors:
Lee Child Jeffrey Deaver Phillip Margolin
Harlan Coben Greg Iles Ridley Pearson
Michael Connelly John Katzenbach John Sandford
Patricia Cornwell Andrew Klavan Stuart Woods

 

If you like... Elizabeth Peters
You might enjoy these other authors:

M. C. Beaton- Agatha Raisin series

Carolyn Hart

Simon Brett- Mrs. Pargeter series & Fethering series

Laurie R. King- Mary Russell series

Fiona Buckley- Ursula Blanchard series

Charlotte MacLeod

Dorothy Cannell- Ellie Haskell series

Sharyn McCrumb- Elizabeth MacPherson series

Amanda Cross- Kate Fansler series

Sharan Newman- Catherine LeVendeur series

Lindsey Davis- Marcus Didius Falco series

Robin Page- Kate Sheridan series

Carola Dunn- Daisy Dalrymple series

Michael Pearce- Mamur Zapt series

Kathy Lynn Emerson- Susanna Appleton series

Elliott Roosevelt- Eleanor Roosevelt series

Dorothy Gilman- Mrs. Pollifax series

Amanda Quick

H. Rider Haggard- King Solomon's Mines

Phyllis Whitney

Dashiel Hammett- The Thin Man

 

 

If you like... Jodi Picoult
You might enjoy these other authors:
Elizabeth Berg Alice Hoffman Luanne Rice
Christopher A. Bohjalian Sue Miller Anita Shreve
Rosellen Brown Jacquelyn Mitchard  
Diane Chamberlain Anna Quindlen  

 

If you like... Anne Rice
You might enjoy these other books:

Donna Boyd

Charlaine Harris

John Saul

Tananarive Due

Tom Holland

Darren Shan

Christine Feehan

Jeanne Kalogridis

Peter Straub

Barbara Hambly

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Whitley Strieber

Laurell K. Hamilton

Tanith Lee

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

 

book cover image of The Lovely Bones
If you liked... Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones
You might enjoy these other books:
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks
Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

 

If you like... Nicholas Sparks
You might enjoy these other authors:
Maeve Binchy Catherine Ryan Hyde Anne Rivers Siddons
Richard Paul Evans Terry Kay Robert James Waller
Dorothy Garlock James Michael Pratt  
Emily Grayson Luanne Rice  

 

If you like... Danielle Steel
You might enjoy these other authors:
Elizabeth Adler Cynthia Freeman Nora Roberts
Barbara Taylor Bradford Eileen Goudge LaVyrle Spencer
Barbara Delinsky Fern Michaels Katherine Stone
Jude Deveraux Belva Plain  

 

If you like... Amy Tan
You might enjoy these other books:

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Spring Moon by Bette Lord

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat

Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Philippe Mason

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Eating Chinese Food Naked by Mei Ng

 

If you liked... J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
You might enjoy these other books:
Shannara series by Terry Brooks
The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton
The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
Lord of Isles series by David Drake
Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
Sword of Shadows series by J.V. Jones
Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay

 

 

If you like... Anne Tyler
You might enjoy these other authors:
Pat Conroy Alice Hoffman Joanna Trollope
Gail Godwin John Irving Alice Walker
Mary Gordon Barbara Kingsolver Eudora Welty
Jane Hamilton Jane Smiley  

 

book cover image of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
If you liked... Rebecca Wells' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
You might enjoy these other books:

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns

The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas

The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc by Loraine Despres

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

The Three Miss Margarets by Louis Shaffer

World of Pies by Karen Stolz

Quite a Year for Plums by Bailey White

 

If you like... Stuart Woods
You might enjoy these other authors:
Jeffrey Archer James W. Hall Lawrence Sanders
David Baldacci Brad Meltzer Sidney Sheldon
Stephen J. Cannell David Morrell  
Michael Connelly Robert B. Parker  

 


Notable Books for Adults
The Notable Books Council of the American Library Association creates an annual list of very good, very readable, and at times very important fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books for the adult reader. The following titles are selections from that list, which the library owns.

2010 List
Fiction

The Year of the Flood: A Novel by Margaret Atwood
In the near future, two women survive an apocalyptic event in a queasily enthralling work.
Await Your Reply: A Novel by Dan Chaon
This chilling exploration of the modern meaning of identity follows three people on the fringes of society.
Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
The compelling voice of a refugee illuminates the life-changing friendship between two women that began with a horrifying encounter on a secluded Nigerian beach.
Spooner by Pete Dexter
A boy struggles to navigate the vagaries of the world with the lifelong guidance of his stepfather in this funny and heartbreaking tale.
The Vagrants: A Novel by Yiyun Li
The execution of a dissident woman reverberates through her small town in the aftermath of China's Cultural Revolution.
Let the Great World Spin: A Novel by Colum McCann
Phillipe Petit's highwire walk between the Twin Towers provides the backdrop for this rich portrait of the unlikely connections among a group of New Yorkers in the 1970s.
A Mercy: A Novel by Toni Morrison
Four women—white, mixed race, black and Native American—become a makeshift family under the care of a “good” man in colonial America.
Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers
In this postmodern indictment of the biotech industry, a student's unnerving happiness seems to hold the key to banishing despair from the human genetic code.
Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin
A young Irish woman faces heart-wrenching decisions in this unabashedly romantic and deceptively simple story of immigration and belonging.

 
Nonfiction

Columbine by Dave Cullen
This fine work of investigative journalism challenges the myths and misconceptions of the Columbine tragedy.
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
This powerful account explores the devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans through the eyes of a Syrian-American who remained and endured the resulting chaos and confusion.
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
An embedded reporter describes the human cost paid by an Army battalion on the streets of Iraq in language that is searing, visceral and immediate.
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
An intrepid reporter sets out to uncover the mysterious fate the last of the great Victorian explorers in this thrilling adventure.
Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld & the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe
Human trafficking and its subsequent effects on the American economy and social structures are documented in this fast-paced panoramic expose.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
One journalist's quest to discover the secrets of the reclusive Tarahumara Indians leads to an exciting and dangerous endurance race.
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael and Elizabeth M. Norman
In-depth, brutal and moving this narrative provides multiple perspectives into a tragic WWII episode in the Philippines.

 

2009 List
Fiction

City of Thieves : A Novel by David Benioff
As a magazine assignment, a man visits his retired grandparents in Florida to document their experiences during the siege of Leningrad. His grandfather recounts the tale of two young men in prison and the outrageous assignment they are given.

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
The unsolved murder of a farm family haunts the small, white, off-reservation town of Pluto , North Dakota. The vengeance exacted for this crime transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation and shape the passions of both communities for the next generation.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Eight dazzling stories that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Thirteen linked tales from Strout present a heart-wrenching, penetrating portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers living lives of quiet grief intermingled with flashes of human connection.

 
Nonfiction

The Bin-Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century by Steve Coll
Meticulously researched, The Bin Ladens is the story of a remarkably varied and often dangerous family that has used money, mobility, and technology to dramatically different ends.

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
Provides a firsthand account of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, from the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, offering a study of the people involved from all sides of the conflict.

Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris
Explores the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood, and America, forever.

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horowitz
A chronicle of the period in American history between Columbus 's discovery of the New World and Jamestown 's founding evaluates the voyages and first-contact experiences of numerous European adventurers.

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer
Examines how the U.S. made self-destructive decisions in pursuit of terrorism in the wake of 9/11.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
The author proposes a way of eating that is informed by the traditions and ecology of real, well-grown, and unprocessed food.

American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work by Nick Taylor
Introduced in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression, when unemployment and desperation ruled the land, this controversial nationwide jobs program would forever change the physical landscape and social policies of the United States.

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
Analyzes the complex social, physical, psychological, and technical factors that dictate how traffic works, why we drive the way we do, and what our driving reveals about us, discussing the unintended consequences of attempts to engineer safety.

 

2008 List
Fiction

Away by Amy Bloom
Lillian Leyb's journey elevates this novel from familiar immigrant chronicle to a sweeping saga of endurance and rebirth.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
What if Israel were relocated to a piece of land leased from Alaska? This genre-blending tour de force explores an outlandish premise with enthusiasm and flair.
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
A delightfully dark story of Sam Pulsifer, the accidental arsonist and murderer narrator who leads readers through a multilayered, flame-filled adventure about literature, lies, love and life.
Finn: A Novel by Jon Clinch
The dark secrets of Huck Finn's brutal father, "pap," are imagined in this violent tale of life on the Mississippi.
The Pesthouse by Jim Crace
Pestilence is the backdrop for this surprisingly hopeful tale of Margaret and Franklin, young survivors traveling across postapocalyptic America both to escape and begin again.
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander
By turns humorous and tragic, this sometimes surreal novel examines Jewish culture during Argentina's "dirty war" and chronicles the disappearance of one family's son.
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
As her once familiar life crumbles in the face of civil war, a young island girl is transformed by her reading of Great Expectations.
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
This achingly beautiful narrative, which seamlessly flows between the points of view of the two primary characters, peers behind closed doors, but never lasciviously, at a young married couple on their honeymoon night.
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
In this spare and beautiful novel, aging widower Tron Sanders, who lives alone on the Norwegian tundra, contemplates his childhood, which was shaped by World War II, as well as the central tragedy of his youth.
Cheating at Canasta: Stories by William Trevor
Trevor's precise and unflinching insights into the hearts and lives of ordinary people are evidenced once again in this stunning new collection of short stories.
 
Nonfiction
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
Ackerman tells the remarkable WWII story of Jan Zabinski, the director of the Warsaw Zoo, and his wife, Antonina, who, with courage and coolheaded ingenuity, sheltered 300 Jews as well as Polish resisters in their villa and in animal cages and sheds.
The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier
This exhilirating introduction presents the fundamentals of science through interviews and clear, witty explanations.
Super-Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart by Ian Ayres
This accessible, thought-provoking work vividly explains how information collection and statistical analysis play a part in every facet of our daily lives.
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa by Peter Godwin
Godwin traces the collapse of Zimbabwe in the course of the past decade (the violently destructive Robert Mugabe is the "crocodile" of the title) in tandem with the decline of his father.
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
A sustained, incisive and sometimes agonized inquiry into the processes by which medical minds synthesize information and understand illness; it is mostly about how doctors get it right, and about why they sometimes get it wrong.
Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations by Georgina Howell
The unexpected story of British explorer, adventurer, and diplomat Bell revelas her influence on the shape of modern-day Iraq.
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
The first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence revealing the personal side of Einstein's richly textured and complicated life.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Novelist Kingsolver recounts a year in southern Appalachia eating home-grown or locally grown food. A well-paced narrative and the apparent ease of the beautiful prose makes the pages fly. Her tale is classy and disarming, substantive and entertaining, earnest and funny.
Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline by Lisa Margonelli
This eye-opening, highly readable account of a commonplace yet indispensable substance is a complete study of oil's journey from well to consumer.
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Weisman's enthralling tour of the world of tomorrow explores what little will remain of ancient times while anticipating, often poetically, what a planet without us would be like.

 

2007 List
Fiction

Beautiful Dreamer by Christopher Bigsby
In this taut, spare parable, a white man tries to prevent the lynching of a black man and gets caught up in a vortex of violent reprisal.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Dean artfully parallels a woman’s descent into Alzheimer’s and her role in the concealment of paintings at the Hermitage during the siege of Leningrad .

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Frustration and loss color the lives of five Indian people. Their interwoven stories, from rural India to Manhattan , are told in lush language with ironic humor.

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Rural Montana in 1909 is the central character in this humorous novel of life on the prairie. Change moves in with a widow from Minneapolis.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville
Convicted of theft and transported to Australia , an Englishman creates a new life for himself and his family in this potent story of dreams transformed.

The Attack by Yasmina Khadra
In this provocative novel, a successful Arab-Israeli surgeon revisits his roots as he seeks understanding of his wife’s death as a suicide bomber.

The Girls by Lori Lansens
Twenty-nine-year-old conjoined twins who know they will soon die set out to record their story. In distinctly separate voices, they reveal lives intertwined yet independent.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
In McCarthy’s unrelenting tale, a father and son struggle to survive on their journey through the deadly, empty winter of a postapocalyptic America.

The People’s Act of Love by James Meek
In 1919, an escaped convict clashes with bizarre cultists and displaced Czech soldiers in a shocking, twist-filled tale set in a remote Siberian village.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Share English teen Jason Taylor’s ace adventures as he takes on unforgiving classmates, a wicked stammer, and the Falklands War, emerging as an unforgettable protagonist.

Blind Willow , Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami
The 24 stories in this collection depict ordinary life at once vivid and surreal. Each story uncovers for the reader the vastness of the small moment.
 
Nonfiction
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
Egan vividly recounts the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, a time in America when weather and human fallibility changed the arc of people’s lives.

The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery
In this stirring call to action, biologist Flannery provides an overview of the impact that global warming has on the environment and suggests possible solutions.

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne
Times-Picayune reporter Horne skillfully attempts to untangle a disaster and its aftermath through victims’ personal stories.

The Judgment of Paris : The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism by Ross King
King provides a detailed and engaging look at an evolving art movement, set against a time of French political upheaval.

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert
Drawing from interviews with front-line scientists, Kolbert calmly and persuasively demonstrates the extent of global warming.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
Philbrick dramatically brings to life, and corrects common misconceptions about, the Pilgrim settlement of Plymouth.

 

2006 List
Fiction

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
For nine-year-old Oskar, grief over the loss of his father turns into a series of riddles in this luminous and inventive post-September 11, 2001, novel.

Veronica by Mary Gaitskill
A former model is haunted by the memory of an AIDS-stricken friend in a story that pierces the heart and illumines the excesses of the 1980s.

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
An American biologist drawn to a remote region of India to study river dolphins experiences adventure, love, and a growing social awareness.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
An English boarding school conceals a shocking secret that only gradually dawns on the reader of this finely observed, thought-provoking novel.

Beasts of No Nation by Iweala Uzodinma
In this chilling debut novel set in West Africa, a captured boy tells how he becomes a soldier and learns to kill to survive.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
A veteran Texas sheriff reflects on a troubled society and an increasingly evil breed of criminal as he confronts the fast-moving case of a botched drug deal.

Saturday by Ian McEwan
In this subtly crafted novel, a chance encounter during a typical Saturday in the life of a successful London neurosurgeon leads to a life-altering series of events.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
In this imaginative novel, a 15-year-old Japanese boy embarks on a surreal odyssey after his father's murder.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
A small-town Iowa minister weaves together issues of conscience and commitment with family secrets in a rich tapestry of American life.

 
Nonfiction
Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America by Fergus Bordewich
Bordewich brings to light the secret social movement in which blacks and whites together led thousands of runaway slaves to freedom.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared M. Diamond
Easter Island , Norse Greenland, Rwanda, and other societies reveal the catastrophic consequences of environmental mismanagement.

Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald
The meteoric rise and spectacular downfall of Enron is detailed in this suspenseful blow-by-blow account of executive greed, arrogance, and stupidity.

The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer
Packer skillfully navigates the politics of the United States ' decision to invade Iraq and the postwar reconstruction that has betrayed all sides.

Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima by Stephen Walker
History is brought dramatically alive in this moment-by-moment account of the events immediately surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
A successful writer spots her mother digging through trash on a New York City street , sparking painful and affectionate memories of an unusual childhood.

 

2005 List
Fiction
The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
Kabul under the Taliban provides the backdrop for this riveting, intimate novel of human frailty and societal degeneracy.
Runaway by Alice Munro
Flawless prose and peerless insight into human nature are Munro's gifts to the reader in eight short stories.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
In a chilling alternate history set in 1940s America , hero and anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh wins the presidency over FDR, and a Jewish family endures life in a new society.

Old School by Tobias Wolff
A scholarship student with literary ambitions and a shameful secret experiences an unforgettable year when his prep school is visited by Robert Frost and Ayn Rand.
 
Nonfiction
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
This monumental biography presents a modern perspective on the Founding Father most responsible for the current state of American industry, economy, and government.
Washington 's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer
The full story of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware is brought vividly to life in this revisionist retelling of an iconic event in American history.

Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib by Seymour M. Hersh
Hersh exposes the military abuse in Abu Ghraib prison and the events leading up to it in this groundbreaking report.

1968: The Year That Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky
This engrossing account tells the complete story of the global, social, and political upheaval, warfare, and assassinations that define one year in a tumultuous decade.

The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorists Attacks upon the United States by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States
This report, written with measure and depth, achieves a distinctly unified voice to explicate the traumas of 9/11 and the events leading up to it.
Sea of Glory : America 's Voyage of Discovery: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick
This dramatic account chronicles the little-known story of a six-vessel, 346-man U.S. exploring expedition that took four years, covered more than 84,000 miles, and expanded the role of science in the U.S.
The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw by Michael Sokolove
The individual stories of a vastly talented 1979 L.A. high-school baseball team come to life in this heartbreaking account of the players' last season and the difficulties they faced in the years that followed.
 
Poetry

The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998 by Nikki Giovanni
African American activist Giovanni observes and embraces the world like few other poets; seize on these poems spanning three decades, and listen to her sing.


Reader's Corner for Children
Reader's Corner for Young Adults


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Updated: 1/25/10


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