The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Good read in this time of talk of global warming . Speaks to the past and how history can always reap itself. This is a narrative of the dust bowl during the depression, with the seeds of environmental disaster.

The Commoner by John Burnam Schwartz

This novel is a “Princess Diana” set in an earlier time and a far different location. It is modeled on the current empress of Japan. It tells the story of entering the hermetically sealed world from that of a commoner , and being forced to surrender and even suppress her own identity.

A Widow for One Year by John Irving

This is John Irving at his best as he chronicles the life of writer Ruth Cole. Tragedy strikes the Cole family before Ruth’s birth and this leaves her mother and father broken and shattered. As Irving often does in his novels we follow the main character throughout most of her life. There is a particularly riveting scene that has been stuck in my head since first reading this gem.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Tart’s first novel follows a group of highly intelligent and eccentric college students as they plunge into a world of drinking, drugs, and darkness. An accidental murder is at the heart of this book which is part literary fiction and part psychological thriller. The prose is absolutely wonderful and you’ll want to savor every word.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Ignatius J. Reilly is a bumbling 30 year old who still lives at home with his mom. He is scribing his life story on giant writing pads that he keeps hidden under his bed. A car accident by his drunk mother sends him looking for a job, and then he finds himself in some pretty ridiculous situations. In real life Ignatius would drive me crazy, but as a literary character he is hilariously memorable, so much so that I named by dog after him.

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman is a trilogy of books that follows Lyra Belacqua as she navigates a world with many similarities but also some differences from our own. In Lyra’s world every person has a daemon, an animal that is a representation of a person’s inner being. This special connection is at risk as children are being taken and experimented on. Pullman is a master world builder and he is in the process of expanding on the original books with a second related trilogy called The Book of Dust.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

This time-traveling sci-fi book travels from 2057 to Victorian England to World War II and medieval Britain. With wit, adventure, and a fair amount of romance, Connie Willis has created a perfect sci-fi Victorian comedy of manners, of all the things.

Bomb: the Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

A non-fiction book for elementary schoolers, this book combines science, espionage, and international politics to tell the story behind the atomic bomb.

Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson

This young adult book is a fascinating look at the importance of the arts, the resiliency of the Russian people, the lengths humans will go to in order to survive, the unfathomable corruption of the Russian government, and the role the arts play in government propaganda.

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

A love letter to roller derby and a spot-on look at how complicated middle school friends can be, all perfectly portrayed in graphic novel format.

True Letters from a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan

Another read with humor while tackling serious issues. James seems to have it all going for him; popular, all-star athlete, funny, sort of boyfriend to Theresa. But when James is at his desk he writes letters telling the truth, never intending to send them. When the letters get sent James is forced to confront his truths.

The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith

A modern version of the novel Speak this story is told in four parts, freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year, the reader move's through Eden's high school experience after her sexual assault seeing how one incident can completely change a person.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

This heartwarming story will appeal to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider or struggled in school. Ally has learned to adapt, and thinks she has everyone fooled until a new teacher arrives. He can see that she's struggling, and helps her learn to understand her dyslexia.

Schizo by Nic Sheff

This is a quick read even though it covers the heavy issue of mental illness. Miles is an unreliable narrator but takes the reader on a trip of what it is like to live with schizophrenia.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor is a master of world building and the myths that go with it. In this fantasy, the reader is transported to the lost city of Weep where blue-skinned gods control the city from their citadel floating above. It is a fast, fascinating read and the perfect beginning to a new series.

Salt to the Sea by Ruth Sepetys

It is at the end of WWII, the Germans are losing and the Russians are advancing westward. Thousands of refugees are fleeing and seeking escape on the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. The story is told from the point of view of four refugees of four differing homelands who must unite for survival on the journey to the coast. This is the tragic story of history’s most tragic (and little known) ship sinking in which 9,400 civilians died in the Baltic Sea. A gripping tale that you will not be able to put down!

Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo

I love historical fiction and this rich, multi-layered story does not disappoint! This book offers the historical setting of WWI and the sinking of the Lusitania but also mystery, friendship, community, and survival.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

This is the story of the author’s childhood told in verse. Woodson tells of her experiences as an African American child growing up in the dual worlds of the Jim Crow South and New York City in the 60’s and 70’s. Brown Girl Dreaming is a beautifully written journey of identity as well as an inspiring life for children and adults.

Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante

It is the story of a 50 years old friendship between two girls that grew up together in the same poor neighborhood in Naples after WWII , one bookish and intelligent –Elena, and the other rebellious and street smart- Lila. They ended up in different places as adults, yet stay very close at heart all through their life. Through the four novels we follow them, and their friends and families, and watch how their dreams grow and dash when reality confronted them and took them in different directions. I thought it was a treasure.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The book takes place in Nigeria, the US and the UK. The protagonist takes on race, immigration, emigration, interracial relationship, feminism, what it means to leave home and then go back, all wrapped up in a complicated love story. The people described are real and flawed and her honesty is striking and vibrant, all together a great experience.

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Two different story lines decades apart, taking place in Cornwall, UK. The book is very descriptive and atmospheric. It has suspense, family tragedy, secrets and at the end they all connect and make sense. Overall an enjoyable experience.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

The book is a psychological, atmospheric drama that later becomes a melodramatic crime story taking place in the 1920s in London. Very detailed, great sense of the period and strong characters . I enjoyed it a lot.

The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway wrote a series of short stories that chronicle the coming of age of Nick Adams. We follow him from his boyhood, going on adventures with his father, confronting death for the first time, to his experiences as a soldier confronting the horrors of war.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I know this is very controversial book, but I love its use of dark humor and the way we are forced to question the narrative because of the idiosyncrasies of Humbert as narrator. I also love the way Nabokov manipulates the reader into feeling sympathy for the protagonist, which is perhaps as unsettling as the (taboo) subject matter of the novel.

Robert Lowell Collected Poems

Lowell’s struggles with mental illness are well-known, but I love his work because it manages to be totally intimate and personal, while at the same time engaging with universal themes such as mortality, family lineage and class. He was the first and probably the best of what came to be known as the confessional poets, a label he hated. But when he discovered this new style of using metaphor, he was able to embrace private experience, and to express it without resorting to allegory, which was an abstraction.