The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Set in India, mostly in the 1960s, this first fictional novel by Arundhati Roy invites the reader into a dramatic and well-crafted plot about a family’s tragedy and all the events and characters surrounding it. The style of writing jumps from the viewpoint of a child, a twin, to the recollections and insights of an adult, and it can take a while for the reader to get accustomed to the erratic narrating. But the details of plot reveal themselves along the way and I was enraptured by the detailed descriptions of characters and setting and especially enjoyed experiencing the story unfold through the eyes, ears and sometimes nose of a child. Reading the book was a welcome departure from everyday adult life, although the themes explored throughout the book were decidedly grown-up: politics, death, religion, sexism, class, passion. While unique, memorable language and the wonderment of children illustrate – the book is essentially about how adult circumstances contribute to the loss of innocence of children. Winner of the 1997 Booker Prize. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again.

-Virginia

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

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I listened to this on audio and it was done so wonderfully I flew through the 19 discs.  If you have not read this now is the time.  It was fabulous.

-Barb

Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

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The fourth in the series (Odd Thomas Novels) and still a great character. Reads fast and keeps you wanting more…like a fifth book.

-Barb

Brainiac by Ken Jennings

JEOPARDY! followers know Ken as the 75-time winner. Ken’s experience changed his life from that of a bored, nerdy computer programmer to that of a happily fulfilled nerdy trivia/game writer. I read the book for JEOPARDY! info, but equally one can learn tons about trivia.

-Janice

Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy! by Bob Harris

A super book for fans of JEOPARDY!. Bob Harris is a big winner of the past, and a comedian and writer as well. He answers many of the questions that the TV viewer wonders about, such as “do they study?” (duhh) and “how many shows are taped on one day?” (five). I skimmed the parts about Harris’s life, as interesting as it was, and focussed on his tips, techniques, and high emotions about the game.

-Janice

A Long Way Gone by Kshmael Beah and Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

In A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007), Ishmael Beah tells his story of growing up in Sierra Leone during the civil war there, in the 1990’s, and his rescue by Unicef. (966.404 Beah)

Similarly, in Left to Tell (2006), Immaculee Ilibagiza tells her story of survival during the Rwandan holocaust in 1994 and the spiritual journey that fed her soul during the three months she spent hiding. (B Illibagiza)

-Deb

A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry

This is one of my all-time favorites. The setting (mid-1970’s India), the characters (four individuals of different castes and economic levels), the plot (the title refers to the precarious balance of survival), are all complex and absorbing, somewhat like a modern-day Dickens novel. (Fiction Mistry – we keep ours on the Oprah books shelf.)

-Deb

Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian

Takes place in 1944-5 Poland and Germany. The plot involves the trek of a farm family and their Scottish prisoner of war (who was assigned to help them till their fields) trek from Poland westward, to avoid the arrival of the Russian army. Stories of Uri, an escaped Jew, and Cecile, a young Jewish woman prisoner struggling to survive, alternate with the family’s story. Bohjalian was inspired to write this novel after reading the diary of a family friend who lived in Poland and endured similar travails. (Fiction Bohjalian)

-Deb

The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Duncan Perry

The Boy who was raised as a dog, and other stories from a psychiatrist’s
notebook: what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love and healing, by Bruce Duncan Perry, c2006, tells fascinating true stories of children who experienced early trauma, and how child psychiatrist Perry used his understandings of brain development to help the children to heal.
(618.9289 Perry)

The Red Letter Diary by Lily Koppel

“The Red Letter Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal”

Imagine finding a 70-year-old diary, discovering a kindred spirit in the diary’s pages, and locating the writer of the diary (a woman in her nineties). Imagine being that woman seventy years later and receiving a phone call from a girl in her twenties (the young woman who found the diary), and reconnecting with those dreams, aspirations, and relationships of adolescence. This book provides a glimpse of Manhattan in the early 1930’s, through selected brief diary entries of artistic, literary Florence Wolfson. (B Howitt)

-Deb