Books to read before they're Movies
The girl on the train
by Paula Hawkins

Obsessively watching a breakfasting couple every day to escape the pain of her losses, Rachel witnesses a shocking event that inextricably entangles her in the lives of strangers.
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
by Margot Lee Shetterly

An account of the previously unheralded but pivotal contributions of NASA's African-American women mathematicians to America's space program describes how they were segregated from their white counterparts by Jim Crow laws in spite of their groundbreaking successes.
In a dark, dark wood
by Ruth Ware

Reluctantly accepting an old friend's invitation to spend a weekend on the English countryside, reclusive writer Leonora awakens in a hospital badly injured, unable to recall what happened and confronting a growing certainty that someone involved has died. (suspense).
Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie

On a three-day journey through the snowbound Balkan hills, Hercule Poirot must weed through an array of international suspects to find the passenger who murdered a gangster on the Orient Express
A monster calls
by Patrick Ness

Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill, but an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.
Tony and Susan
by Austin Wright

Receiving a manuscript and request for feedback from her vengeful ex-husband of fifteen years, Susan Morrow is drawn into the life of the story's fictional character and confronts a devastating parallel darkness from her own past. Reprint.
Inferno : a novel
by Dan Brown

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history's most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces … Dante's Inferno. Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle. By the author of The Da Vinci Code.
The circle
by Dave Eggers

Hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful Internet company, Mae Holland begins to questions her luck as life beyond her job grows distant, a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, and her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public
The queen of Katwe : a story of life, chess, and one extraordinary girl's dream of becoming a grandmaster
by Tim Crothers

Traces the story of an Ugandan teen who was introduced to chess by a missionary mentor and struggled to overcome formidable levels of poverty to become her country's national champion
The lost city of Z : a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon
by David Grann

Interweaves the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who vanished during a 1925 expedition into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, with the author's own adventure-filled quest into the uncharted wilderness to uncover the mysteries surrounding Fawcett's final journey and the secrets of what really lies deep in the Amazon jungle. Reprint. A best-selling book.
Annihilation
by Jeff VanderMeer

Describes the 12th expedition to “Area X,” a region cut off from the continent for decades, by a group of intrepid women scientists who try to ignore the high mortality rates of those on the previous 11 missions. Original. 75,000 first printing.
Love may fail : a novel
by Matthew Quick

Escaping her ritzy Florida life and her cheating pornographer husband, Portia Kane returns to the South Jersey home of her youth and resolves to save herself by assisting a beloved English teacher who has retired after a traumatic incident. 75,000 first printing.
The glass castle : a memoir
by Jeannette Walls

The second child of a scholarly, alcoholic father and an eccentric artist mother discusses her family's nomadic upbringing from the Arizona desert, to Las Vegas, to an Appalachian mining town, during which her siblings and she fended for themselves while their parents outmaneuvered bill collectors and the authorities. 
Thank you for your service
by David Finkel

An award-winning staff writer for The Washington Post discusses the hardships faced by soldiers who have come home from service by following the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion originally depicted in his book The Good Soldiers. 100,000 first printing.
Ready player one
by Ernest Cline

Immersing himself in a mid-21st-century technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's super-wealthy creator, who has promised that the winner will be his heir. (This book was previously listed in Forecast.)
Where'd you go, Bernadette : a novel
by Maria Semple

When her notorious, hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled and agoraphobic mother goes missing, teenage Bee begins a trip that takes her to the ends of the earth to find her in this new novel from the author of This One is Mine. 25,000 first printing.
Live by Night
by Dennis Lehane

Book Annotation
The silent wife
by A. S. A. Harrison

Told in alternating voices, this gripping novel follows the events leading up to the violent dissolution of Jodi and Todd's marriage--a union steeped in lies, infidelity, jealousy and denial. (suspense).
Bel canto : a novel
by Ann Patchett

When terrorists seize hostages at an embassy party, an unlikely assortment of people is thrown together, including American opera star Roxanne Coss, and Mr. Hosokawa--a Japanese CEO and her biggest fan
Americanah : a novel
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Separated by differing ambitions after falling in love in occupied Nigeria, beautiful Ifemelu experiences triumph and defeat in America, while Obinze endures an undocumented status in London until the pair is reunited in their homeland fifteen years later
The Dark Tower : The Gunslinger
by Stephen King

Book Annotation
Billy Lynn's long halftime walk
by Ben Fountain

Asked to be part of the Dallas Cowboys' Halftime Show, Specialist William Billy Lynn, one of the eight surviving men of the Bravo Squad, finds his life forever changed by this all-American event that causes him to better understand difficult truths about himself and those around him. 50,000 first printing.
Map of bones : a Sigma Force novel
by James Rollins

When a group of parishioners is burned to death during the theft of a treasured religious artifact, commander Gray Pierce, a new member of the U.S. SIGMA force, pursues a clandestine aristocratic fraternity of alchemists who would use the artifact to establish a new world order. (suspense). By the author of Sandstorm.
Unless
by Carol Shields

Reta Winter's life is shattered when her eldest daughter drops out to sit on a gritty street corner with a sign reading "GOODNESS" around her neck, a situation that prompts Reta to uncover what drove her daughter to her new existence
The son
by Jo Nesbø

Serving time for crimes he did not commit in exchange for heroin payouts, Sonny Lofthus uses his spiritual charisma to navigate corrupt and violent elements in his life before learning disturbing truths about his police officer father's suicide. By the award-winning author of the Harry Hole series.
Brain on fire : my month of madness
by Susannah Cahalan

A dramatic account of a young New York Post reporter's struggle with a rare brain-attacking autoimmune disease traces how she woke up in a hospital room under guard with no memory of baffling psychotic symptoms, describing the last-minute intervention by a brilliant doctor who identifies the source of her illness. 75,000 first printing
The zookeeper's wife : a war story
by Diane Ackerman

Documents the heroic true story of Warsaw Zoo keepers and resistance activists Jan and Antonina Zabinski who, in the aftermath of Germany's invasion of Poland, saved the lives of hundreds of Jewish citizens by smuggling them into empty cages and their home villa. Reprint. 70,000 first printing.
The nightingale
by Kristin Hannah

Reunited when the elder's husband is sent to fight in World War II, French sisters Vianne and Isabelle find their bond as well as their respective beliefs tested by a world that changes in horrific ways. Discussion guide available online. By the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Firefly Lane.
The secret scripture
by Sebastian Barry

Recording the events of her life from a mental hospital as her hundredth birthday approaches, Roseanne McNulty considers returning to society when she learns that the hospital is about to close
The game : penetrating the secret society of pickup artists
by Neil Strauss

The best-selling author of The Dirt describes his international travels to the bars and clubs of men who have made an art form of picking up and seducing women and shares the inside secrets of a master hypnotist, a millionaire, a spiritualist, and many others. 35,000 first printing.
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