Reading Guides

• Non-Fiction
• Fiction & Literature

Reading Guides

1. Coventry

   Helen Humphreys

   “Elegant . . . illuminates the impact of war on ordinary people . . . an elegy and a celebration.”—Ann Hood, author of The Knitting CircleMore

2. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

   Daniyal Mueenuddin

   Finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in Fiction: “The rural rootedness and gentle humour of R.K. Narayan with the literary sophistication and stylishness of Jhumpa Lahiri.”—Financial TimesMore

3. The Nightingales of Troy

   Alice Fulton

   “Outstanding....Alice Fulton reveals herself to be triumphantly at home in the short story.”—Boston Sunday GlobeMore

4. The Size of the World

   Joan Silber

   “A sublime and humane jigsaw puzzle of a novel.” —Boston GlobeMore

5. The Garden of Last Days

   Andre Dubus, III

   “So good, so damn compulsively readable, that I can hardly believe it.” —Stephen King, Entertainment WeeklyMore

6. Scottsboro

   Ellen Feldman

   Set in the 1930s South, this resonant novel of race and class turns on the awful power of a lie.More

7. The Painter from Shanghai

   Jennifer Cody Epstein

   “A historical novel on a grand scale . . . a dark love story, a triumphant tale of survival.” —Maureen HowardMore

8. Bonk

   Mary Roach

   “Rich in dexterous innuendo, laugh-out-loud humor and illuminating fact. It’s compulsively readable.” —Los Angeles Times Book ReviewMore

9. All Other Nights

   Dara Horn

   A gripping epic about the great moral struggles of the Civil War.More

10. The Abyssinian Proof

    Jenny White

    "An immensely enjoyable read, richly textured and wonderfully atmospheric."—Sarah GravesMore

11. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

    Daniyal Mueenuddin

    Finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in Fiction: a major literary debut that explores class, culture, power, and desire among the ruling and servant classes of Pakistan.More

12. Someone Knows My Name

    Lawrence Hill

    "Wonderfully written...as in the slave narratives that inspired it, language is power."—Nancy Kline, New York Times Book ReviewMore

13. Orpheus Lost

    Janette Turner Hospital

    A Library Journal Best Book and Booklist Editor's Choice: "This astonishingly rich novel...will entrance readers."—Library Journal, starred reviewMore

14. The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken

    Laura Schenone

    A Newsday Best Cookbook of 2007: can a recipe change your life? A quest for an authentic dish reveals a mythic love story and age-old culinary secrets.More

15. The Air We Breathe

    Andrea Barrett

    "An evocative panorama of America...on the cusp of enormous change" (Newsday) by the National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever.More