 | Title: Away Author: Bloom, Amy Summary: After her husband and parents are killed in a Russian pogrom and she is separated from her three-year-old daughter, 22-year-old Lillian Leyb immigrates to New York City. Against the odds, she lands a job as a seamstress at the Goldfadn Yiddish Theatre and becomes the mistress of both the theatre owner and his bisexual son. When word reaches Lillian that her daughter may still be alive in Siberia, she begins the arduous journey across the United States to Canada, Alaska and the Yukon trail to try to reach her missing child. Bloom’s writing is full of humor as well as tragedy. |
 | Title: The Children of Hurin Author: Tolkien, J.R.R. Summary: Turin, the son of human lord Hurin and elven lady Morwen, is a crucial force in the battle between good and evil in this epic, fantasy adventure full of intrigue and exciting battle scenes which include the familiar elves, dwarves, orcs, a wily dragon and a malicious dark sorcerer. Begun in 1918, revised several times but never published, this tale of Middle Earth during the Elder Days (thousands of years before the action of the Lord of the Rings) was reconstructed by the author’s son Christopher. |
 | Title: Everything is Elluminated Author: Foer, Jonathan Safran Summary: This imaginative first novel intertwines three stories about a man with the same name as the author. The various plots are well corchestrated and provide a satisfying blend of tragedy and comedy. The reader follows Jonathan Safran Foer, the American college student who travels to Ukraine in search of his roots and hoping to find Augustine, the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Additionally, Jonathan has a novel in progress, a fictionalized history of Trachimbrod, the Polish shtetl where his ancestors settled in the 18th century. The third thread is provided through letters written to Jonathan by his Ukrainian translator and guide Alex, an Americanophile who speaks hilariously fractured English. |
 | Title: The Next Big Thing Author: Brookner, Anita Summary: Brookner tells the “inner life” story of a 73 year old Jewish man whose parents sought refuge in London from Germany before the end of World War II. He has lived a quiet life as a storekeeper, and after retirement contemplates what to do with the time he has left. — Move? Travel? Propose marriage to an old sweetheart he hasn’t seen in 30 years? The result is an elegantly written novel with perceptive insights into loneliness and the sadness of an unfulfilled life. |
 | Title: The Serpent’s Tale Author: Franklin, Ariana Summary: In 12th century England, Sicilian-born forensic specialist Adelia Aguilar has settled into life in the fens of East Anglia, where she practices medicine and dotes on her baby daughter. But then King Henry II commands her to discover who poisoned his mistress Rosamund, and particularly whether it was his estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is known to be inciting rebellion. Adelia reluctantly takes up the challenge, only to discover more murders and numerous abominable deeds. Franklin again provides an intriguing story rich in historical detail in this sequel to Mistress of the Art of Death |
 | Title: Running Man Author: Bachman, Richard Summary: "In 2025, the world is ruled by the Network who programs the Free-Vee. Fortunately, the Compulsory Benefit Bill of 2021 failed so you are allowed to turn off the Free-Vee. When Ben Richards finds himself in desperate need of money to provide medicine for his baby daughter, he turns to Network Game Building. They determine he is in good physical health, anti-authoritarian, and antisocial; thus, he is a perfect candidate for their top selling show The Running Man. As Ben runs, we see and learn from a variety of characters the system has created. Although the Network backstabs him and the majority of viewers hope for his death, we do see glimpses of hope and enlightenment from unexpected sources. This nightmarish and melodramatic thriller gives us a glimpse of a modern day breadand-circuses distraction that can be provided through a conspiracy between government and the entertainment industry. It is a tale of forewarning where the issues and actions take center stage while the characters are mere placeholders. Given the current craze of “reality TV” The Running Man seems newly fresh and foreboding. |
 | Title: Alice Adams Author: Tarkington, Book Summary: Alice Adams is a young woman coming of age just as the role of women in society is changing. Although her story is set in the 1920s, her family would be familiar to many today. Alice’s mother is in inveterate social climber, who must keep up with the Jones in appearance if not reality. Her father is over worked, over burdened by his wife’s social aspirations, and torn between what he knows is right and an opportunity for easy money. Alice’s brother is the ne’er-do-well who is hanging with the wrong crowd and destined for trouble. Tarkington lets us observe this domestic story full of the melodrama of young adulthood. Alice is obsessed with having the perfect dress for the upcoming dance, and is ecstatic when she catches the eye of a wealthy bachelor. Meanwhile, the other members of the family have their own crises. And as in real life, some members weather life’s storms better than others do. The bittersweet ending shows Alice beginning a new, more independent, chapter of her life. |
 | Title: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Author: Sijie, Dae Summary: In 1971 Maoist China, several teenaged boys are sent from the city to a chain of small villages on an isolated mountain for re-education to be proper communists. The boys mourn the lost of their families as well as the culture of the city. Further, they know they will likely spend the rest of their lives confined on the mountain. When the friends discover a suitcase full of Western classics translated into Chinese, they become obsessed with reading the forbidden books. Their lives are transformed again when they meet the beautiful daughter of the community’s tailor, Little Seamstress. After Luo, whose favorite author is Balzac, and Little Seamstress become lovers, he sets out to refine her. Using the books, he believes he can teach her and make her worthy of his love. In the surprising ending, the Little Seamstress becomes the educator and shows there are trade offs and consequences for every action. In a surprisingly short, tight, and swift novel, Sijie provides a fascinating glimpse into China under Mao’s Cultural Revolution. |
 | Title: Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard Author: Desai, Kiran Summary: After an auspicious birth, Sampath has reached 20 without finding a direction for his life, although it is not for lack of family’s suggestions. After Sampath cracks at a wedding, dresses in the bridesmaid’s finery, joins the crowd, dances, sings, strips, and moons the guests from the top of a fountain, he discovers his true path as the Monkey Baba in the tallest tree of an abandoned Guava Orchard. Following Sampath, his father sees money, his mother reconnects with the world, and his sister finds, and bites, her true love. Then things become truly ludicrous. All the while, Desai’s language is reminiscent of a verbal presentation of a fable or mythic legend and full of wonderfully, vibrant imagery of India. |
 | Title: Sights Unseen Author: Gibbons, Kaye Summary: Like may of Gibbons’ works, this is a family-center story created by the scattered, and non-linear, reminisces of an adult daughter looking back on her childhood with a bi-polar mother. Because the family lived in rural Carolina from the 1950s to the 1980s, her mother’s condition becomes the family secret and there is a delay in getting treatment for her mother. Overall, Sights Unseen provides a wonderful insight into living with a manic depressive parent. Because the mother finally receives treatment and both children have successful personal and professional adult lives, the tale also gives inspirational hope. |