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Book Recommendations for Book Groups
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Such a Fun Age
by Kiley Reid F REI
Seeking justice for a young black babysitter who was wrongly accused of kidnapping by a racist security guard, a successful blogger finds her efforts complicated by a video that reveals unexpected connections.
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Equal of the sun : a novel
by Anita Amirrezvani F AMI
When the court of 16th-century Iran is thrown into turmoil by the heirless Shah's death, his daughter, Princess Pari, incites dissent with her efforts to instill order and taps the assistance of a eunuch servant to navigate a Machiavellian power struggle. By the Orange Prize-nominated author of The Blood of Flowers.
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Carry the one
by Carol Anshaw F ANS
When a car of inebriated guests from Carmen's wedding hits and kills a girl on a country road, Carmen and the people involved in the accident connect, disconnect and reconnect throughout 25 subsequent years of marriage, parenthood, holidays and tragedies.
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The sense of an ending
by Julian Barnes F BAR
Follows a middle-aged man as he reflects on a past he thought was behind him, until he is presented with a legacy that forces him to reconsider different decisions, and to revise his place in the world
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The O'Briens : a novel
by Peter Behrens F BEH
A family saga spanning half a century in the lives of a restless and ambitious clan starts with the story of backwoods youth-turned-railroad magnate Joe O'Brien, who after leaving the Canadian wilds and sharing a passionate courtship with Iseult becomes the patriarch of a family that sees the first airplanes, two world wars and the election of JFK. By the award-winning author of The Law of Dreams.
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Running the rift : a novel
by Naomi Benaron F BEN
Rwandan runner Jean Patrick Nkuba dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal and uniting his ethnically divided country, only to be driven from everyone he loves when the violence starts, after which he must find a way back to a better life.
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The postmistress
by Sarah Blake F BLA
The stories of a small Cape Cod postmistress and an American radio reporter stationed in London collide on the eve of the United States's entrance into World War II, a meeting that is shaped by a broken promise to deliver a letter.
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The sandcastle girls : a novel
by Chris Bohjalian F BOH
A historical love story inspired by the author's Armenian heritage finds early 20th-century nurse Elizabeth Endicott arriving in Syria to help deliver food and medical aid to genocide refugees, a volunteer service during which she exchanges letters with an Armenian engineer and widower.
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Caleb's crossing
by Geraldine Brooks F BRO
Forging a deep friendship with a Wampanoag chieftain's son on the Great Harbor settlement where her minister father is working to convert the tribe, Bethia follows his subsequent ivy league education and efforts to bridge cultures among the colonial elite.
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A land more kind than home : [a novel]
by Wiley Cash F CAS
Jess Hall, growing up deep in the heart of an unassuming mountain town that believes in protecting its own, is plunged into an adulthood for which he is not prepared when his autistic older brother, Stump, sneaks a look at something he isn't supposed to, which has catastrophic repercussions.
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Little Bee
by Chris Cleave F CLE
The Somerset Maugham Award-winning author of Incendiary presents a tale of a precarious friendship between an illegal Nigerian refugee and a recent widow from suburban London, a story told from the alternating and disparate perspectives of both women.
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The orchardist : a novel
by Amanda Coplin F COP
When two feral girls--one of which is very pregnant--appear on his homestead, solitary orchardist Talmadge, who carefully tends the grove of fruit trees he has cultivated for nearly half a century, vows to save and protect them while trying to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.
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The language of flowers : a novel
by Vanessa Diffenbaugh F DIF
Discovering the symbolic meanings of flowers while languishing in the foster-care system, 18-year-old Victoria is hired by a florist when her talent for helping others is discovered, a situation that leads to a romantic prospect and the confrontation of a painful secret from her past.
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The round house
by Louise Erdrich F ERD
When his mother, a tribal enrollment specialist living on a reservation in North Dakota, slips into an abyss of depression after being brutally attacked, 14-year-old Joe Coutz sets out with his three friends to find the person that destroyed his family.
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The marriage plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides F EUG
Madeleine Hanna breaks out of her straight-and-narrow mold when she enrolls in a semiotics course and falls in love with charismatic loner Leonard Morten, a time which is complicated by the resurfacing of man who is obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is his destiny.
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Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet : a novel
by Jamie Ford F FOR
When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered during renovations at Seattle's Panama Hotel, Henry Lee embarks on a personal quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment and of Keiko, a Japanese girl whose love transcended cultures and generations.
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We are all completely beside ourselves
by Karen Joy Fowler F FOW
Coming of age in middle America, 18-year-old Rosemary evaluates how her entire youth was defined by the presence and forced removal of an endearing chimpanzee who was secretly regarded as a family member and who Rosemary loved as a sister. By the best-selling author of The Jane Austen Book Club.
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Still Alice : a novel
by Lisa Genova F GEN
Feeling at the top of her game when she is suddenly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease, Harvard psychologist Alice Howland struggles to find meaning and purpose in her everyday life as her concept of self gradually slips away.
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A good American
by Alex George F GEO
The Meisenheimer family struggle to find their place among the colorful residents of their new American hometown, including a giant teenage boy, a pretty schoolteacher whose lessons consist of more than just music and an spiteful, bicycle-riding dwarf.
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Sea of poppies
by Amitav Ghosh F GHO
Preparing to fight China's nineteenth-century Opium Wars, a motley assortment of sailors and passengers, including a bankrupt rajah, a widowed tribeswoman, and a free-spirited French orphan, comes to experience family-like ties that eventually span continents, races, and generations.
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Flora : a novel
by Gail Godwin F GOD
Isolated in a decaying family home while her father performs secret work at the end of World War II, 10-year-old Helen, grieving the losses of her mother and grandmother, bonds with her sensitive young aunt while desperately clinging to the ghosts and stories of her childhood.
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A reliable wife : a novel
by Robert Goolrick F GOO
Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman with a troubled past who lives in a remote nineteenth-century Wisconsin town, has advertised for a reliable wife; and his ad is answered by Catherine Land, a woman who makes every effort to hide her own dark secrets
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Faith : a novel
by Jennifer Haigh F HAI
When her older brother Art--the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish--finds himself at the center of the scandal, Sheila McGann, estranged from her family for years, returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation--until she discovers the truth.
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The art of fielding : a novel
by Chad Harbach F HAR
A baseball star at a small college near Lake Michigan launches a routine throw that goes disastrously off course and inadvertently changes the lives of five people, including the college president, a gay teammate and the president's daughter.
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Iron house
by John Hart M HAR
Two decades after a pair of orphaned brothers are separated when one of them flees in the wake of a murder accusation, the runaway brother, now a seasoned killer affiliated with an organized crime syndicate, returns to his native North Carolina to protect his brother and solve the mystery of their past.
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Blue asylum : a novel
by Kathy Hepinstall F HEP
Arrested and declared insane for seeking justice for her plantation owner husband's slaves at the height of the Civil War, Iris Dunleavy endures a lengthy institutional "rehabilitation" under the eye of a pompous superintendent and bonds with fellow patients, from a woman who compulsively swallows objects to a traumatized Confederate soldier.
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The dovekeepers : a novel
by Alice Hoffman F HOF
A tale inspired by the tragic first-century massacre of hundreds of Jewish people on the Masada mountain presents the stories of a hated daughter, a baker's wife, a girl disguised as a warrior and a medicine woman who keep doves and secrets while Roman soldiers draw near.
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The snow child : a novel
by Eowyn Ivey F IVE
A childless couple working a farm in the brutal landscape of 1920 Alaska discover a little girl living in the wilderness, with a red fox as a companion, and begin to love the strange, almost-supernatural child as their own.
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Mudbound : a novel
by Hillary Jordan F JOR
In 1946, Laura McAllan tries to adjust after moving with her husband and two children to an isolated cotton farm in the Mississipi Delta
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When she woke : a novel
by Hillary Jordan F JOR
In the future, abortion has become a crime as a series of events threatens the existence of the United States. One woman wakes up to discover that her skin color has been changed to red as punishment for having the procedure done. Now she must embark on a dangerous journey in order to find refuge from a hostile and threatening society
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Orphan train : a novel
by Christina Baker Kline F KLI
Close to aging out of the foster care system, Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer takes a community service position helping an elderly woman named Vivian clean out her home and discovers that they are more alike than different as she helps Vivian solve a mystery from her past.
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The cutting season : a novel
by Attica Locke F LOC
When the dead body of a young woman is found on the grounds of Belle Vie, the estate's manager, Caren Gray, launches her own investigation into Belle Vie's history, which leads her to a centuries old mystery involving the plantation's slave quarters--and her own past.
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A constellation of vital phenomena : a novel
by Anthony Marra F MAR
A first novel by a Pushcart Prize-winning writer is set in a rural village in December 2004 Chechnya, where failed doctor Akhmed harbors the traumatized 8-year-old daughter of a father abducted by Russian forces and treats a series of wounded rebels and refugees while exploring the shared past that binds him to the child.
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Sweet tooth : a novel
by Ian McEwan F MCE
Recruited into MI5 against a backdrop of the Cold War in 1972, Cambridge student Serena Frome, a compulsive reader, is assigned to infiltrate the literary circle of a promising young writer whose politics align with those of the government, a situation that is compromised when she falls in love with him. By the award-winning author of Solar.
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The Paris wife : a novel
by Paula McLain F MCL
Follows the life of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, as she navigates 1920s Paris. By the author of A Ticket to Ride.
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The night circus : a novel
by Erin Morgenstern F MOR
Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways.
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What Alice Forgot
by Liane Moriarty F MOR
Suffering an accident that causes her to forget the last 10 years of her life, Alice is astonished to discover that she is 39 years old, a mother of three children and in the midst of an acrimonious divorce from a man she dearly loves.
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Home
by Toni Morrison F MOR
The Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sula presents the story of embittered Korean War veteran Frank Money, who struggles against trauma and racism to rescue his medically abused sister and work through identity-shattering memories.
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The cat's table
by Michael Ondaatje F OND
Boarding a 1950s ship and sequestered to an out-of-sight dining table with other marginalized children, an 11-year-old boy shares rollicking adventures while traveling to various world regions, learning about jazz, women and a shackled prisoner along the way.
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The Buddha in the attic
by Julie Otsuka F OTS
The author of When the Emperor Was Divine presents the stories of six Japanese mail-order brides whose new lives in early 20th century San Francisco are marked by backbreaking migrant work, cultural struggles, children who reject their heritage and the prospect of wartime internment
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State of wonder
by Ann Patchett F PAT
A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh must step out of her comfort zone when she is sent into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years--a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past.
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The expats : a novel
by Chris Pavone F PAV
Along the cobble-stoned streets of Luxembourg, mother and expat Kate Moore suspects that another American couple are not who they claim to be and as her paranoia grows, she becomes increasingly terrified that her own past is catching up with her. A first novel.
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The silver linings playbook
by Matthew Quick F QUI
Embracing a philosophy that life is a movie produced by God, neural health patient Pat Peoples endeavors to win back his estranged wife by making strategic sacrifices and coordinating their communications through a depressed widow. A first novel.
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In the shadow of the banyan
by Vaddey Ratner F RAT
Her life of royal privilege in Cambodia shattered by the outbreak of civil war on the streets of capital city Phnom Penh, young Raami endures four nightmarish years of loss, starvation and brutal forced labor while clinging to memories of the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father.
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The lifeboat : a novel
by Charlotte Rogan F ROG
Forced into an overcrowded lifeboat after a mysterious explosion on their trans-Atlantic ocean liner, newly widowed Grace Winter battles the elements and her other survivors and remembers her husband, Henry, who set his own safety aside to ensure Grace's.
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Sarah's key
by Tatiana de Rosnay F ROS
On the sixtieth anniversary of the 1942 roundup of Jews by the French police in the Vel d'Hiv section of Paris, American journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article on this dark episode during World War II and embarks on investigation that leads her to long-hidden family secrets and to the ordeal of Sarah, a young girl caught up in the raid.
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Swamplandia!
by Karen Russell F RUS
A first novel by the author of the short-story collection, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves finds the Bigtree children struggling to protect their Florida Everglades alligator-wrestling theme park from a sophisticated competitor after losing their parents.
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer F SHA
In 1946, as England emerges from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton finds inspiration for her next book in her correspondence with a native of Guernsey and his eccentric friends, who tell her about their island, the books they love, German occupation, and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club born as an alibi during German occupation.
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Please look after mom : a novel
by Kyæong-suk Sin F SIN
An American release of an award-winning South Korean best-seller follows the efforts of a family to find the mother who went missing from Seoul Station and their sobering realizations when they recall memories that suggest she may not have been happy.
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Major Pettigrew's last stand : a novel
by Helen Simonson F SIM
Forced to confront the realities of life in the 21st century when he falls in love with widowed Pakistani descendant Mrs. Ali, a retired Major Pettigrew finds the relationship challenged by local prejudices that view Mrs. Ali, a Cambridge native, as a perpetual foreigner.
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The light between oceans : a novel
by M. L. Stedman F STE
Moving his young bride to an isolated lighthouse home on Australia's Janus Rock where the couple suffers miscarriages and a stillbirth, Tom allows his wife to claim an infant who has washed up on the shore only to witness a rift in their marriage that is further complicated by a search by the baby's desperate mother.
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The art of racing in the rain : a novel
by Garth Stein F STR
Evaluating his life on the eve of his death, atypical canine Enzo considers the sacrifices his master, Denny Swift, has made in his pursuit of becoming a professional race car driver; the painful custody battle between Denny and his in-laws, and the dog's own efforts to preserve the Swift family.
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The Burgess boys : a novel
by Elizabeth Strout F STR
Catalyzed by a nephew's thoughtless prank, a pair of brothers confront painful psychological issues surrounding the freak accident that killed their father when they were boys, a loss linked to a heartbreaking deception that shaped their personal and professional lives. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge.
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The barbarian nurseries
by Héctor Tobar F TOB
After the husband and wife that she works for disappear, live-in maid Araceli takes their two boys on a journey through sprawling Los Angeles to locate their grandfather. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Translation Nation.
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Rules of civility
by Amor Towles F TOW
A chance encounter with a handsome banker in a Greenwich Village jazz bar on New Year's Eve 1938 catapults witty Wall Street secretary Katey Kontent into the upper echelons of New York society, where she befriends a shy multi-millionaire, an Upper East Side ne'er-do-well and a single-minded widow.
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Cutting for stone : a novel
by Abraham Verghese F VER
The twin sons of a secret love affair between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Addis Ababa, Marion and Shiva Stone are orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and father's disappearance, coming of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, bound together by a shared interest in medicine and forever divided by their love for the same woman.
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Salvage the bones : a novel
by Jesmyn Ward September 2015
Enduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen pregnancy and a dying litter of prize pups.
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The age of miracles : a novel
by Karen Thompson Walker F WAL
A painstakingly researched debut imagines the coming-of-age story of young Julia, whose world is thrown into upheaval when it is discovered that the Earth's rotation has suddenly begun to slow, posing a catastrophic threat to all life.
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Among others
by Jo Walton F WAL
Seeking refuge in fantasy worlds under the shadow of her mother, who dabbles in magic, Mori Phelps is forced to confront her mother in a tragic battle and gains unwanted attention when she attempts to perform spells herself
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The book thief
by Markus Zusak F ZUS
Living with a foster family in Germany during World War II, a young girl struggles to survive her day-to-day trials through stealing anything she can get her hands on, but when she discovers the beauty of literature, she realizes that she has been blessed with a gift that must be shared with others, including the Jewish man hiding in the basement.
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Behind the beautiful forevers
by Katherine Boo 305.569 BOO
A first book by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist profiles everyday life in the settlement of Annawadi as experienced by a Muslim teen, an ambitious rural mother of a prospective female college student and a young scrap metal thief, in an account that illuminates how their efforts to build better lives are challenged by regional religious, caste and economic tensions.
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One summer : America, 1927
by Bill Bryson 973.91 BRY
The award-winning author of A Short History of Nearly Everything recounts the story of a pivotal cultural year in the United States when mainstream pursuits and historical events were marked by contributions by such figures as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth and Al Capone.
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Brain on fire : my month of madness
by Susannah Cahalan 616.832 CAH
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.
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Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand 940.54725 HIL
Tells the gripping true story of a U.S. airman who was the soul surviver when his bomber crashed into the sea during World War II and had to face thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.
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A house in the sky : a memoir
by Amanda Lindhout B LINDHOUT
Documents the author's backpacking tours through some of the world's most dangerous and war-ridden regions, describing her work as a fledgling television reporter, her brutal 15-month incarceration in Somalia and her founding of a non-profit organization to promote aid, development and education.
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The end of your life book club
by Will Schwalbe 616.994 SCH
A Hyperion editor-in-chief and journalist recounts how his mother and he read and discussed books during her chemotherapy treatments, describing how the activity involved a wide range of literary genres, furthered their appreciation for literature and strengthened their bond.
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The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot 616.0277 SKL
Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization and gene mapping.
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Until I say good-bye : my year of living with joy
by Susan Spencer-Wendel 616.83 SPE
A 45-year-old journalist and mother of three who has Lou Gehrig's disease, an irreversible condition that systematically destroys the nerves that power the muscles, invites readers on her transformational journey to make every day count.
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Travels with Charley : in search of America
by John Steinbeck B STEINBECK
The acclaimed author records his emotions and experiences during a journey of rediscovery in his native land, accompanied by his French poodle named Charley.
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Wild : from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed B STRAYED
A personal account by the Pushcart Prize-winning author of Torch traces the personal crisis she endured after the death of her mother and a painful divorce, which prompted her ambition to undertake a dangerous 1,100-mile solo hike that both drove her to rock bottom and helped her to heal.
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The glass castle : a memoir
by Jeannette Walls B 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.
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The warmth of other suns : the epic story of America's great migration
by Isabel Wilkerson 304.80973 WIL
In an epic history covering the period from the end of World War I through the 1970s, a Pulitzer Prize winner chronicles the decades-long migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West through the stories of three individuals and their families.
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Why be happy when you could be normal?
by Jeanette Winterson B WINTERSON
The author of the best-selling Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit traces her life-long search for happiness as the adopted daughter of Pentecostal parents who raised her in a north England industrial town through practices of fierce control and paranoia, an experience that prompted her to search for her biological mother and turn for solace to the literary world.
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