The Library owns the following sets of books which may be checked out for a book discussion. The preceeding number indicates the number of copies owned. Click on the book titles below to see book discussion guides and other links.
11 Atwood, MargaretRobber Bride
Roz, Charis and Tony are drawn together by a mutual enemy - Zenia, the woman who betrays each of their friendships and steals each of their men. When Zenia comes back into their lives years later, they plot their revenge!
8Bohjalian, ChrisMidwives
One stormy night a midwife is called to perform a difficult delivery.
Complications occur and she is later arrested for murder.
10Brooks, GeraldineYear of Wonders
This gripping historical novel is based on the true story of Eyam, the “Plague Village” in 1666 England
that heroically quarantines itself after an outbreak of plague. Anna, a timid servant girl who works for
the charismatic and powerful minister and his compassionate wife, becomes the healer and miracle worker of the village in this uplifting novel of compassion and hope.
12Byers, MichaelLong For This World
A geneticist searches for a cure for Hickman's disease, a fatal illness making children grow old too fast. As the quest becomes desperate, ethical issues and huge financial gains haunt this decent man.
9Cather, WillaMy Antonia
Follow the life of an immigrant girl whose early life was spent enduring nature’s hardships on the Nebraska plains and later worked as a family maid in a pioneer town.
15Chevalier, Tracy Girl with a Pearl Earring
History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and
sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by
her brief encounter with genius…even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil. This is a richly imagined portrait of the young woman who inspired on of Vermeer’s most celebrated paintings.
15Cisneros, SandraHouse on Mango Street
Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong--not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.
15Coelho, PauloThe Alchemist
In this international bestseller, the quest of an Andalusian shepherd boy to find a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt becomes a tale of faith, power and courage.
14Dai, SijieBalzac and the Little Chinese
Seamstress
Under Mao’s regime, two university students are sent to the countryside to be “reeducated.” A violin and a stash of books
become their salvation during this ordeal.
11DeRosa, TinaPaper Fish
A Park Ridge author presents a fictionalized version of her coming of age in the Italian American section of Chicago.
8Diamant, AnitaRed Tent
The ancient world of biblical times comes alive with the fictional story of Dinah, as do the stories and traditions of the women of the red tent.
11Dubus, AndreHouse of Sand and Fog
A disturbing exploration of the collision of two very different cultures clashing in the USA today, The House of Sand and Fog is a gripping, suspenseful unforgettable novel and a modern tragedy for these times.
20Edwards, KimMemory Keeper's Daughter
Dr. David Henry makes a fateful decision when he delivers his own twins during a raging snowstorm, not realizing how his decision will serve to destroy the very things he wishes to protect.
15Ehrenreich, BarbaraNickel and Dimed
A reporter goes undercover to test whether a single woman can survive working at a minimum wage position. For
one month at each job, she works as a waitress in Florida, a cleaning woman in Maine and a Wal-Mart saleswoman in Minnesota. (Nonfiction)
15Ferber, EdnaSo Big
Winner of the 1924 Pulitzer Prize, So Big is widely regarded as Edna Ferber's crowning achievement. A rollicking panorama of Chicago's high and low life, the novel follows Selina DeJong as a single mother struggling to provide a life and values for her son.
12Frazier, Charles Cold Mountain
As the Civil War is ending, a wounded soldier escapes from the hospital and ventures on a trek home while his sweetheart struggles
tosurvive on her farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
8Gibbons, KayeCharms for the Easy Life
Follow the lives of three generations of spunky, independent women living in North Carolina.
11Golden, ArthurMemoirs of a Geisha
Follow the fascinating life of Sayuri from her childhood in a Japanese fishing village to the geisha house in Kyoto to her purchase by a World War II general. The rites and rituals of a geisha world long gone are intricately detailed and explained.
15Guterson, DavidSnow Falling on Cedars
Bitter memories of the World War II internment are awakened ten years later when a local fisherman is found dead and the accused is a Japanese American whose farm land was confiscated by the deceased man’s family.
9Hickam Jr., HomerOctober Sky
A high school boy growing up in Kentucky decides to study rocketry rather than work alongside his father in the coal mines. (This book is also known as ROCKET BOYS.)
15Hillenbrand, LauraSeabiscuit
Seabiscuit is an inspiring tale of unlikely heroes, a classic story of three embattled individuals, and a remarkable racehorse overcoming the odds in the Great Depression.(Nonfiction)
15Hosseini, KhaledThe Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is an unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant. Set against the turbulent background of Afghan history in the last thirty years, it is an epic story of family, love, friendship and betrayal.
10Jin, HaWaiting
Lin Kong is a Chinese Army doctor trapped in an arranged marriage. This situation becomes almost unbearable when he falls in love with Manna. Every year Lin asks his wife for a divorce so that he can marry Manna and for eighteen years he is kept waiting. Winner of the National Book Award.
15Kingsolver, BarbaraBean Trees
While traveling west, Taylor Greer stops to have a tire repaired and while she’s inside the shop, a baby is left in her car. Rather than calling the police, Taylor decides to care for the abused infant and find out what happened herself.
6Kingsolver, BarbaraPoisonwood Bible
A missionary takes his family to a remote area of the Congo in 1959 with the best intentions. but they soon learn that
they are unprepared for the jungle, Congolese politics and life alone with each other.
13Kokoris, JimRich Part of Life
In this witty and moving first novel, a widowed professor raising two young sons hits the jackpot by winning the lottery and finds his newfound prosperity comes with lots of strings attached. A host of zany characters re-enters his life and they all want a piece of his fortune!
8Krakauer, Jon Into Thin Air
Acting as a reporter, Krakauer accompanied an experienced team in a climb to the top of Mt. Everest. Disaster struck and an information book turned into a race to survive. (Nonfiction)
15Lee, HarperTo Kill a Mockingbird
Growing up in the 1930's, a six-year-old experiences Southern prejudice when her father, a lawyer, is asked to represent a black man accused of beating and raping a white girl.
15McCall Smith, AlexanderNo.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Mma "Precious" Ramotswe sets up a detective agency in Botswana on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, making her the only female detective in the country. This is that rare novel that imparts a sage wisdom while inspiring hearty laughter and lasting smiles.
12Marquez, GabrielLove in the Time of Cholera
Florentino Ariza appears to win and then mysteriously loses the love Fermina Daza, for whom he waits more than fifty years to have the opportunity to win her heart once and for all.
14Martel, YannLife of Pi
This is a novel of survival in which a sixteen-year-old boy and a Bengal tiger share a lifeboat for seven months. Winner of Britain's most prestigious literary award, the Man Booker Prize, in 2002.
14Mayes, FrancesUnder the Tuscan Sun
A divorced professor uses her vacations from California State University to absorb the sun and restore a home in Italy. (Nonfiction)
15Ondaatje, MichaelEnglish Patient
It is 1944 and the war has just ended in central Italy. In an isolated villa that had served as a military hospital, two war victims - an exhausted nurse and a burned patient - remain, living through their memories.
15Patchett, AnnBel Canto
During an international birthday party in South America, terrorists burst in and take the guests hostage. During the ensuing long siege, various characters emerge, including a world-class soprano, a Japanese industrialist, and a teenage revolutionary.
6Picoult, JodiPlain Truth
Urban defense attorney Ellie Hathaway finds herself caught in a clash of cultures when a young Amish teen hides a pregnancy, gives birth in secret and then flatly denies it all when the baby's body is found. Moving seamlessly from psychological drama to courtroom suspense, Plain Truth is a fascinating portrait of Amish life rarely witnessed by those outside the faith.
5Proulx, E. AnnieShipping News
When his no-good wife walks out, Quoyle, depressed and desperate, moves with his two small daughters to his ancestral home on the wild coast of Newfoundland to make a new start and regain his dignity.
15Robinson, MarilynneGilead
77 year-old Reverend John Ames of Gilead, Iowa recounts his life for his 7 year-old son, a blessing from a second marriage, in this winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It is a reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons, the nature of love and friendship and the part that faith and prayer play in every life.
9Robinson, MarilynneHousekeeping
Aunt Sylvie, an eccentric free spirit, returns to her hometown, a small mountain community the Pacific Northwest, to care for her two orphaned nieces.
11Russo, RichardNobody’s Fool
Upstate New York is the setting for this tale of a small town filled with losers including its most unluckiest citizen, Sully, who has been doing the wrong thing triumphantly for fifty years.
15See, LisaSnow Flower and the Secret Fan
In a 19th century remote Hunan village, seven year-old Lily is paired with a laotong, a kind of sister, in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The two exchange messages written in a secret language on silk fans but a misunderstanding threatens to tear their friendship apart.
12Smith, DodiI Capture the Castle
Meet the bohemian Mortmain family who live in a crumbling English castle, trying desperately to make ends meet. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to be a writer and finds romance everywhere she looks, especially when the wealthy, adventurous American Cotton brothers take over the nearby estate. Often compared to the novels of Jane Austen, this witty novel is a modern classic!
6Sobel, DavaGalileo’s Daughter
Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love, brings the famous scientist vividly to life while offering a unique perspective on his trial for heresy and subsequent years under house arrest. This book reveals a personal side to Galileo that has never been presented before, while rescuing an extraordinary woman from the depths of history. (Nonfiction)
9Strout, ElizabethAmy and Isabelle
When teenage Amy falls in love with her math teacher, her mother Isabelle struggles to get control over her daughter and recapture the closeness that the two once shared.
9Tsukiyama, GailSamurai’s Garden
As World War II looms, a Chinese teenager is sent to a secluded coastal town in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. There he meets a community of people who at first appear backward but after awhile glow with a depth of humanity.
20Walls, JeannetteGlass Castle
Her father was captivating when sober but destructive when drunk. Her mother didn’t want the responsibility of raising children so the Walls children learned to care for themselves. A deeply dysfunctional yet vibrant family. (Nonfiction)
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