This list was selected by librarians Sarah Yates and Nancy Brown, and by St. Stephen’s faculty. The annotations are from sources including the American Library Association, Senior Library Catalog, and other professional journals and reading lists, as well as the librarians. The list includes both fiction and non-fiction titles, in separate sections. The notation IB means that this particular book is on the International Baccalaureate Prescribed Booklist: English. The notation YA means this book was written specifically for Young Adults. Note that all books on the list are available from the Edward C. Carter Library, and can be found on the shelf at the call number given. Lists in the Italian and French languages follow the English-language non-fiction reading list.
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FICTION AND LITERATURE Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart F Chi The novel chronicles the life of Okonkwo, the leader of an Igbo (Ibo) community, from the events leading up to his banishment from the community for accidentally killing a clansman, through the seven years of his exile, to his return. This book addresses the problem of the intrusion in the 1890s of white missionaries and colonial government into tribal Igbo society. It describes the simultaneous disintegration of its protagonist Okonkwo and of his village. The novel was praised for its intelligent and realistic treatment of tribal beliefs and of psychological disintegration coincident with social unraveling. (IB) Adams, Douglas – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy F Ada Based on a BBC radio series, this is the extremely popular episodic story of Arthur Dent. He is a contemporary Englishman who discovers first that his unpretentious house is about to be demolished to make way for a bypass, and second that a good friend is actually an alien galactic hitchhiker who announces that Earth itself will soon be demolished to make way for an intergalactic speedway. A suitably bewildered Dent soon finds himself hitching rides throughout space, aided by a reference book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a compendium of "facts", philosophies, and wild advice. Agee, James - A Death in the Family F Age Six-year old Rufus Follet, his younger sister Catherine, his mother, and various relatives all react differently to the unexpected announcement that Rufus's father has been fatally injured in an automobile accident. The poignancy of sorrow, the strength of personal beliefs, and the comforting love and support of the family are all elements of this compassionate novel. Anand, Mulk Raj - Untouchable F Ana Untouchable is a novel by one of India's most prolific and established authors, and a social protest against caste injustice. Anand, a socialist, humanist, and realist, always wrote to be understood (even by middle school level students). (IB) Angelou, Maya - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings F Ang Angelou is a skilled writer; her language ranges from beautifully lyrical prose to earthy metaphor, and her descriptions have power and sensitivity. Austen, Jane - Emma F Aus Emma (1816) is Jane Austen's most characteristic work. Written with irony, wit and faultless control, it is both a novel of intense emotional power, and a comic masterpiece. Emma Woodhouse, convinced that she understands the world, rules over her invalid father and the small social circle of Highbury with well-meaning tyranny. But she is highly fallible where love is concerned, and her failings there cause many misunderstandings. (IB) Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice F Aus The novel is concerned mainly with the conflict between the prejudice of a young lady and the well founded though misinterpreted pride of the aristocratic hero. The heroine's father and mother cope in very different ways with the problem of marrying off five daughters. (IB) Austen, Jane - Sense and Sensibility F Aus A story in which two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, represent "sense" and "sensibility" respectively. Each is led to expect an offer of marriage from young men who then for different reasons don't make the offer. Elinor bears her deep disappointment with dignity and restraint, while Elinor expresses her grief violently. (IB) Baldwin, James - Go Tell It on the Mountain F Bal This novel is an autobiographically-based story of a Harlem child's relationship with his father, told against the background of his being saved in the Pentecostal church, and the ensuing guilt, bitterness, and spiritual journey. (IB) Baldwin, James - If Beale Street Could Talk F Bal Tish, aged 19, and Fonny, 22 years old, are in love and pledged to marry, a decision hastened by Tish's unexpected pregnancy. Fonny is falsely accused of raping a Puerto Rican woman and is sent to prison. The families of the desperate couple search frantically for evidence that will prove his innocence in order to reunite the lovers and provide a safe haven for the unexpected child. There is some explicit sex but it is not treated in a sensational manner, nor is the use of street language gratuitous. (IB) Beckett, Samuel - Murphy F Bec First published in 1938, this is a very Irish novel both in its background and conception. It draws heavily on the author's experiences in Dublin and London as a young man, especially on his time spent as a male nurse in a mental hospital. Murphy is a tragi-comedy, rich in that stoical graveyard humor, full of originalities of language and observation. Historically, it can be considered a bridge between the novels of James Joyce and the new literature of the post-war world. One of the greatest comic masterpieces of our time. (IB) Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March F Bel This is a picaresque story of a poor Jewish youth from Chicago, his progress, sometimes highly comic, through the world of the 20th century, and his attempts to make sense of it. Boyle, T. Coraghessan – A Friend of the Earth F Boy Bursting with imagination and humor, this is nevertheless a black comedy with very sharp teeth, from the inventive Mr. Boyle. Set in the not-distant future in a California where global warming is a reality, an aging former eco-terrorist gets a new lease on life when his beloved second wife re-enters the picture. Although she will never forgive him for the death of their daughter, sparks still fly. Boyle, T. Coraghessan - The Tortilla Curtain F Boy With his vivid prose and true-to-life characters, Boyle paints a provocative portrait of both sides of the divide in the United States: a wealthy white Californian runs over a poor illegal-immigrant Mexican, and does not even report the incident to the police. The opposing worlds of these two men and their wives continue to intersect in this tragicomedy which shows so well the hypocrisy of the American upper class and also the way in which nature can still level us all. Bradbury, Ray - Dandelion Wine F Bra A novel about one summer in the life of a twelve-year old boy, Douglas Spaulding, in 1928. The place is Green Town, Illinois, and Doug and his brother Tom wander in and out among their elders, living and dreaming,, sometimes aware of things, sometimes just having a great time. Doug's big discovery that summer is that he is alive. The writing is beautiful and the characters are wonderful living people. Bradbury, Ray - Something Wicked This Way Comes F Bra We read here of the loss of innocence, the recognition of evil, the bond between generations, and the purely fantastic. These forces enter Green Town, Illinois, on the wheels of the Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show. Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, two 13-year-olds, explore the sinister carnival for excitement, which soon becomes desperation as the forces of the dark threaten to engulf them. Bradbury's gentle humanism and lyric style serve this fantasy well. Brontë, Charlotte - Jane Eyre F Bro In both heroine and hero the author introduced types new to English fiction. Jane Eyre is a shy, intense little orphan, never for a moment, neither in her unhappy school days nor in her subsequent career as a governess, displaying those qualities of superficial beauty and charm that had marked the conventional heroine. Jane's lover, Edward Rochester, to whose ward she is governess, is a strange, violent man, bereft of conventional courtesy. Rochester's moodiness derives from the fact that he is married to an insane wife, whose existence, long kept secret, is revealed on the very day of his projected marriage to Jane. (IB) Brontë, Emily - Wuthering Heights F Bro Forced by a storm to spend the night at the home of the somber and unsociable Heathcliff, Mr. Lockwood has an encounter with the spirit of Catherine Linton. He learns that Catherine's father, Mr. Earnshaw, had taken in Heathcliff as a young orphan. Heathcliff and Catherine, growing up together, had fallen in love, but after Mr. Earnshaw's death, Catherine's brother treated Heathcliff in a degrading manner and Catherine instead married the rich Edgar Linton. Heathcliff gradually worked his revenge on the people who had injured him. (IB) Buckley, Christopher – Thank You for Smoking F Buc Buckley is a master of political and social satire. Here we have a sympathetically portrayed hero in a wickedly funny novel. The "hero" is a slimy yuppie who does PR for the tobacco industry, yet we almost end up rooting for him when he is kidnapped by anti-tobacco terrorists. The whole book is a great send-up of the consumer-oriented U.S.A. Burns, Olive Ann - Cold Sassy Tree F Bur Young Will Tweedy lives in a small Georgia town called Cold Sassy in the early 1900's. He is hardworking (when pushed) because he has chores to do at home and work to do at his Grandpa Blackslee's store. That still leaves him with time to plan practical jokes with his pals and to overhear family dramas. The biggest drama begins when Grandpa, only three weeks after the death of his wife whom he had dearly loved, marries Miss Love Simpson - young enough to be his daughter. Miss Love has to face not only the town gossip but also rejection from Will's mother and Grandpa's other daughter. The story has humor, excitement, and realistic family confrontations. (YA) Camus, Albert - The Plague F Cam Using an epidemic of bubonic plague in an Algerian city as a symbol for the absurdity of man's condition, Albert Camus has in this novel articulated his firm belief in mankind's heroism in struggling against the ultimate futility of life. The plague makes everybody in the city intensely aware both of mortality and of the fact that cooperation is the only logical consolation anyone will find in the face of certain death. Though each character, from doctor to priest, represents some aspect of mankind's attempts to deal with the absurd, none is a cardboard figure. The reader cares what happens to the people depicted here. One takes pleasure in the moments of deep human connection that leave us with the conviction that people are, on the whole, admirable. (IB) Coetzee, J.M. – Disgrace F Coe Short, powerful novel set in post-apartheid South Africa. It tells an unforgiving story of a divorced white middle-aged professor who experiences deep dilemmas of personal and cultural accountability when he and his daughter live through a hugely traumatic event soon after his own troubles with a student. Cohen, Leonard – Stranger Music 811.54 Coh A collection of the well-known Jewish Canadian poet/singer’s dazzling lyrics and imagery-rich poems. His passion and clarity of emotion come through, even without musical accompaniment. Colette - The Collected Stories of Colette F Col This collection includes two novellas that rank as classics, not only in Colette's canon, but in all of 20th century French literature. "The Tender Shoot" is the story of a singularly nasty middle-aged roué's pursuit of a 15-year-old peasant girl. As Colette remarked of her writing, her "great landscape was always the human face", and no work demonstrates this better than "The Képi", the portrait of a doomed 46-year-old French lieutenant. Cormier, Robert - The Chocolate War F Cor In the Trinity School for Boys the environment is completely dominated by an underground gang, the Vigils. During a chocolate sale, Brother Leon, the acting headmaster, defers to the Vigils, who reign with terror in the school. Jerry Renault is first a pawn for the Vigils' evil deeds, and then their victim. (YA) Cormier, Robert - I am the Cheese F Cor Adam Farmer's mind has blanked out. His past is revealed in bits and pieces - partly by Adam himself, and partly through a transcription of Adam's interview with a government psychiatrist. Adam's father, a newspaper reporter, gave evidence at the trial of a criminal organization which had infiltrated the government itself. He and his family, marked for death, came under the protection of the super-secret department of Re-Identification, which changed the family's name and kept them under constant surveillance. Now an adolescent, Adam is finally let in on his parents' terrible secret. The suspense builds relentlessly to an ending that, although shocking, is entirely plausible. (YA) Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage F Cra A young Union soldier, Henry Fleming, tells of his feelings when he is under fire for the first time during the battle of Chancellorsville. He is overcome by fear and runs from the field. Later he returns to lead a charge that re-establishes his own reputation as well as that of his company. One of the great novels of the Civil War. Craven, Margaret - I Heard the Owl Call My Name F Cra Not knowing that he has a fatal illness, a young Anglican priest is assigned to serve a parish of Kwakiutl Indians in the seacoast wilds of British Columbia. Mark Brian learns enough of life not to fear death. The author's writing glows with delicate, fleeting images, and a sense of peace. Her characters' hearts are laid bare in a few words - or by the fact that nothing is said at all. (YA) Crutcher, Chris - Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes F Cru Authentic teenage voices from this sensitive Young Adult author: a fat teen must choose between losing weight and becoming a popular athlete, and staying overweight so as not to betray his best friend, a disfigured outcast girl. Eventually her dark story is revealed to him, and they both mature through their friendship. (YA) Dickens, Charles – David Copperfield F Dic The novel incorporates material from the autobiography Dickens had begun shortly before but soon abandoned, and is written in the first person, a new technique for him. Although Copperfield differs from his creator in many ways, Dickens uses many early personal experiences that had meant much to him – his own period of work n a factory while his father was jailed, his schooling and reading, his passion for Maria Beadnell (a woman much like Dora Spenlow), and his emergence from parliamentary reporting into successful novel writing. (IB) Dickinson, Peter – A Bone from a Dry Sea F Dic Li, a female child in a tribe of "sea-apes" living some four million years ago, and Vinny, a teenage daughter of a modern-day paleontologist, are the protagonists of alternating third-person stories. One extrapolates what life might have been like for an intelligent youngster in pre-historic times, and the other demonstrates the difficulty of interpreting ancient shards. Basing his account of Li’s people on an intriguing recent theory that we evolved from a semi-aquatic, ape-like mammal, the author brilliantly suggests how we might have started along the road to what we are today. As readers have come to expect from him, the plot, characters, and background science are engrossing. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor – Crime and Punishment F Dos The novel is a psychological analysis of the poor student Raskolnikov, whose theory that humanitarian ends justify evil means leads him to murder a St. Petersburg pawnbroker. The act produces nightmarish guilt in Raskolnikov. The narrative’s feverish, compelling tone follows the twists and turns of Raskolnikov’s emotions and elaborates his struggle with his conscience and his mounting sense of horror as he wanders the city’s hot, crowded streets. In prison, Raskolnikov comes to the realization that happiness cannot be achieved by a reasoned plan of existence but must be earned by suffering. (IB) Dostoyevsky, Fyodor – The Idiot F Dos Dostoyevsky puts into a world of foolishness, vice, pretense, and sordid ambitions, a being who in childhood had suffered from mental disease, and who with an intellect of more than ordinary power retains the simplicity and clear insight of a child. The deeply absorbing drama in which he is a protagonist turns on the salvation of a woman, Nastsya Filipovna, who had been corrupted in young girlhood. (IB) Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan – The Hound of the Baskervilles F Doy This is the case of an eerie howling on the moor and then strange deaths at Baskerville. Sir Charles Baskerville is murdered, and Holmes and Watson move in to solve the crime. Effective use is made of apparently supernatural elements. Plot and subplot are thoroughly integrated, and false clues are put in and removed masterfully. Du Maurier, Daphne – Rebecca F DuM Rebecca, the lovely and charming wife of English aristocrat Maxim de Winter, dies unexpectedly, and the mystery surrounding her death haunts all who remain at the Manderly country estate. Eight months after the sailing accident in which Rebecca lost her life, Maxim remarries. Through his new wife’s writing, the reader learns the truth about Rebecca’s death and her character. Esquivel, Laura – Like Water for Chocolate F Esq (Note: The library also has this book in the original Spanish: 863.64 Esq) Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico, this novel relates the story of Tita, the youngest of three daughters. Practically raised in the kitchen, she is expected to spend her life waiting on Mama Elena and never to marry. Her habitual torment increases when her beloved Pedro becomes engaged to one of her sisters, so that at least he can stay close to Tita. Tita and he are thrown into tantalizing proximity and manage to communicate their affection through the dishes she prepares for him and through his rapturous appreciation. Eventually Tita’s culinary wizardry unleashes uncontrollable forces, with surprising results. A poignant, funny story of love, life, and food, told with touches of magical realism, which proves that all three are entwined and interdependent. Faulkner, William – As I Lay Dying F Fau To each member of the Brundren family, the death of Addie Brundren means something different. For Anse, who is her husband but not the father of all her children, it brings release and the opportunity to buy some new teeth; for Cash it is the moment for action; for Vardaman it means confusion - confusing his mother with a fish; for Jewel it offers the chance of a good ride, but he accepts the loss of his horse as calmly as the death of his mother; for Darl, who sees too clearly, it leads to madness; and for Dewey Dell it is meaningless because she has her own problems. Though they make this last journey together, surviving flood and fire along the way, the Brundrens are a family who fail to draw strength from each other. In describing Addie Brundren's journey to burial, as seen by more than a dozen characters, William Faulkner displays his narrative genius at its most masterful. Fitzgerald, Francis Scott - Tender is the Night F Fit The story of Dick Diver, a young psychologist whose career was thwarted and whose genius numbed through his marriage to the exquisite and wealthy Nicole Warren. On the outside their life was all glitter and glamour, but beneath the smooth, beautiful surface lay the corroding falseness of their social values and the tragedy of her disturbed mind. Despite the book's many terrifying scenes, the warm tenderness of its writing lifts it into the realm of genuine tragedy. (IB) Franklin, Miles – My Brilliant Career F Fra In this famous Australian novel, first published in 1901, the irrepressible and enchanting Sybylla Melvyn, aged sixteen, tells the story of her life. In the 1890’s, Sybylla, trapped in drudgery on her parents’ outback farm, loves the wild Australian bushland and its way of life. But she hates the bitter constraints and physical burdens which will always be her lot as a mere woman. Sybylla longs for beauty – to read, to think, to sing – but most of all, to do great things, to have a "brilliant career" as a writer. (IB) Fugard, Athol – "Master Harold"…. and the Boys 822.914 Fug This wrenching play, based on Fugard’s own experience as a teenager in 1950s apartheid-era Port Elizabeth, concerns a white boy whose problematic relationship with his drunken father leads him to ill-treat the two black family servants who have been his best friends. It has been described as a provocative journey into the psychosis of racism. Gaines, Ernest J. - A Lesson Before Dying F Gai The story of two African American men struggling to attain manhood in a prejudiced society, the tale is set in Bayonne, LA, in the late 1940's. It concerns Jefferson, a mentally slow, barely literate young man (who, though only a bystander at a shootout between a white store owner and two black robbers, is convicted of murder) and the sophisticated, educated man who comes to his aid. When Jefferson's own attorney claims that executing him would be equivalent to killing a hog, his incensed godmother, Miss Emma, turns to a black teacher, Grant Wiggins. She pleads with him to gain access to the jailed youth and help him to face his death by electrocution with dignity. Garcìa Màrquez, Gabriel - Love in the Time of Cholera F Gar While delivering a message to her father, Florentino Arizza spots the barely pubescent Fermina Daza and immediately falls in love. What follows is the story of a passion that extends over 50 years, as Fermina is courted solely by letter, decisively rejects her suitor when he first speaks, and then joins the urbane Dr. Juvenal Urbino, much above her station, in a marriage initially loveless but ultimately remarkable in its strength. Florentino remains faithful in his fashion; paralleling the tale of the marriage is that of his numerous liaisons, all ultimately without the depth of love he again declares at Urbino's death. The poetry of the author's style, the humor in his voice, the joyous detail with which the plot is upholstered - all are reasons to live in this lush, luxurious novel for as long as you desire. Golden, Arthur – Memoirs of a Geisha F Gol To write this beautifully paced and engrossing story of a Japanese geisha, the author researched for ten years. The result is an enormously successful and authentically detailed narrative which transports the reader into the erotic yet exploitative world of early twentieth century Japanese society. Graves, Robert - I, Claudius F Gra Claudius is lame and a stammerer who seems unlikely to carry on the family tradition of power in ancient Rome. Immersing himself in scholarly pursuits, Claudius observes and lives through the plots hatched by his grandmother Livia, political conspiracies, murders, and corruption, and he survives a number of emperors. He becomes emperor at last and is a just and well-liked ruler, in contrast to those who preceded him. (IB) Guedj, Denis – The Parrot’s Theorem F Gue This is an unusual mix, a journey through the history of mathematics told in fictional form. A reclusive Parisian bookseller, with the help of a loquacious parrot, teaches three children (including a blind boy) about the wonders of mathematics. Gunn, Thomas - Selected Poems, 1950-1975 821.914 Gun The poems in this volume range from some of his earliest, written while still an undergraduate at Cambridge, to much later work, written in San Francisco, where he has lived for over 20 years. Gunn's poems have been described as installments in "the adventures of Thom Gunn", and are indeed adventures of discovery through a very varied world - tattoo parlor, art museum, gay bar, Roman battlefield, California beach, crowded street, or isolated hill…. Heinlein, Robert A. – Stranger in a Strange Land F Hei The hero is a human, the offspring of space travelers from Earth, raised by Martians. He is brought back to Earth, to a totalitarian post-World War III world that in many ways is drawn as a satire of the USA of the 1960’s, marked by repressiveness in sexual morality and religion. This tale of how the heroic stranger creates a utopian society in which people preserve their individuality but share a brotherhood of community, gave Heinlein and his novel a cult following among young people dedicated to the counterculture. Hemingway, Ernest – A Farewell to Arms F Hem This novel tells of a passionate love affair conducted against the background of the First World War in Italy. Its excellence lies in the delicacy with which it conveys the impermanence of the best human feelings; the unobtrusive force of its symbolism of mountain and plain; and, above all, the vast scope of its vision of war. The retreat from Caporetto is one of the great war-sequences of literature. (IB) Herbert, Frank – Dune F Her In this novel, Herbert combines several classic elements: a Machiavellian world of political intrigue worthy of 15th century Italy, a huge cast of characters, and a detailed picture of a culture. Duke Leto Atreides and his family are coerced into exchanging their rich lands for a barren planet, Dune, which produces a unique drug. The duke’s son, Paul, after his father’s assassination, becomes the leader of the indigenous people, the Fremen, in the struggle against their common enemy. This is a science fiction story with sociological and ecological import. Hesse, Hermann – Siddhartha F Hes The young Indian, Siddhartha, endures many experiences in search of the ultimate answer to the question, what is humankind’s role on earth? He is also looking for a solution to the problems of loneliness and discontent, and he seeks that solution variously in the way of the wanderer, the company of a courtesan, and the high position of a successful businessman. His final relationship is with a humble but wise ferryman. This is an allegory that examines love, wealth, and freedom while the protagonist struggles towards self-knowledge. (IB) Hesser, Terry S. – Kissing Doorknobs F Hes The author, herself a recovered obsessive-compulsive, puts us inside the head of a young teenage girl whose disorder threatens to ruin her life and relationships. With compassion and dark humor, the author helps the reader to truly understand this treatable disease. (YA) Hinton, S.E. – The Outsider F Hin From the perspective of Ponyboy Curtis, the author relates the story of the Greasers, a lower-class gang, and their conflict with the Socs, their middle-class opponents. For the Greasers, the gang comprises their (street) family, and is all the family that some of them have. In the collision between the two social factions, two buddies die, one as a hood, the other, a hero. This remarkable novel by a seventeen year old girl gives a moving, credible view of the outsiders from the inside – their loyalty to each other, their sensitivity under tough crusts, and their understanding of self and society. (YA) Hobbs, Will – Changes in Latitudes F Hob A sometimes amusing, sometimes dramatic and poignant narrative focuses on the coming of age of a self-centered teen on vacation with his family in Mexico. When his younger brother dies, his whole view of the world and his place in it changes drastically. (YA) Hughes, Ted - Selected Poems 821.914 Hug Made by the poet himself, this selection draws on the whole of his published oeuvre to date, in particular the seven collections from Crow to Under the North Star. The result is to provide for new readers a comprehensive introduction to the work of a major contemporary poet, and to others a portable complement to the other books already on their shelves. (IB) Hugo, Victor – The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris) Everyman 377 The hidden force of fate is symbolized by the superhuman grandeur and multitudinous imageries of the cathedral of the title. The first part is a panorama of medieval life – religious, civic, popular, and criminal – drawn with immense learning and amazing command of spectacular effect. These elements are then set in motion in a fantastic and grandiose drama, in which the characters are romantic sublimations of human virtues and passions: Quasimodo the hunchback, faithful unto death; Esmeralda, incarnation of innocence and steadfastness; Claude Frolla, Faust-like type showing the antagonism between religion and appetite. Splendors and absurdities, the sublime and grotesque are inextricably mingled in this strange romance. The date is 1482. Janeczko, Paul B. - Preposterous: Poems of Youth 811.008 Jan This anthology, selected by Paul Janeczko, looks at different aspects of teenage life, both funny and tragic. Joyce, James – Dubliners F Joy This collection of 15 stories provides an introduction to the style and motifs found in Joyce’s writing. The stories stand alone as individual scenes of Dublin society and intertwine symbolism and autobiography. (IB) Kesey, Ken – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest F Kes Life in a mental institution is predictable and suffocating under the iron rule of nurse Ratched, who tolerates no disruption of the routine on her all male ward. Half-Indian Chief Bromden, almost invisible on the ward because he is thought to be deaf and dumb, describes the arrival of rowdy Randall Patrick McMurphy. McMurphy takes on the nurse as an adversary in his attempt to organize his fellow inmates and breathe some self-esteem and joy into their lives. The battle is vicious on the part of the nurse, who is relentless in her efforts to break McMurphy, but a spark of human will brings an element of hope to counter the despotic institutional power. Kincaid, Jamaica - Annie John F Kin Episodes from the young life of Annie John, aged 10 to 17, as she grows up on the Caribbean island of Antigua. This is a magical coming-of-age tale, ripe with the special ambience of its tropical setting and sustained by Annie's far from naïve awareness of the world around her. Death, illness, and poverty intrude on the narrator's perceptive sensibility from time to time, but even these experiences instruct her and expand her understanding of life and its shifting reality. A poetic and intensely moving work. (IB) Kingsolver, Barbara – The Poisonwood Bible F Kin Compelling, deeply engaging novel set in the complex and dramatic period of the fight for independence in the Belgian Congo, in the 1950’s. An abusive father who is an intractable missionary brings his family to Africa with often calamitous results. The gripping voices of his wife and their four daughters take the reader through the family’s tragic undoing and its eventual reconstruction over time. Compared to Heart of Darkness and As I Lay Dying, this brilliant novel may itself become a classic. Kushner, Tony – Angels in America: part 1- Millenium Approaches Angels in America: part 2- Perestroika 812.54 Kus (both) A prize-winning play (both parts can be read independently) which is shocking, saddening, moving, and ultimately uplifting. Kushner uses wit and black humor to show from a gay perspective how the late 20th century United States dealt with AIDS and homosexuality. Memorable characters include those based on Roy Cohn and Ethel Rosenberg, whose lives are interwoven with five fictional characters and an angel in this emotional and political work. Lawrence, Louise - Children of the Dust F Law Inspiring portrait of a possible future after a nuclear war: a girl and her family struggle to survive, in a new world which includes mutants, and also has room for hope despite the desolation and ruins. (YA) Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird F Lee Scout, as Jean Louise is called, is a precocious child. She relates her impressions of the time when her lawyer father, Atticus Finch, is defending a black man accused of raping a white woman in a small town in Alabama during the 1930's. Atticus's courageous act brings the violence and injustice that exists in their world sharply into focus as it intrudes into the lighthearted life that Scout and her brother Jem have enjoyed until that time. Logue, Christopher - War Music 821.914 Log Based on books 16 to 19 of Homer's Iliad, this is not an adaptation or translation, but an original poem of considerable power. The language of War Music is applied with such a barbaric certainty of touch that, even at its most gorgeous or most ferocious, we are hardly aware of it. The text itself is a brilliant transparency between reader/listener/spectator and the visual and auditory magnificence of the events described. The most appropriate comparison is not with other poems or even with prose, but with film: one is reminded of Kurasawa's Kagemusha. Yet this is a work of literary quality in which everything is vividly imagined, every image freshly minted. MacDonald, Ann-Marie – Fall on Your Knees F Mac Gripping, intricate saga set in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, the battlefields of World War I, and New York City in the jazz age. At its center are four sisters who have lived through more than their share of tragedies, including rape, incest, racial strife, and homosexual repression. Secrets are revealed through several generations of the family’s memories, set against the changing social climate of N. America during that time and treating the themes of sin, guilt, and possible redemption. Maguire, Gregory – Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West F Mag Imaginative, wryly funny, and unique, the author throws light on the themes of the nature of evil and the high costs of love through a marvelously re-created land of Oz. The reader learns the whole story of the misunderstood smart little green-skinned girl who grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West. Mann, Thomas - Buddenbrooks F Man Mann's first novel, it expressed the ambivalence of his feelings about the value of the artist as opposed to ordinary, bourgeois life. The novel is the saga of the fall of the Buddenbrooks, a family of merchants, from the pinnacle of their material wealth in 1835 to their extinction in 1877. (IB) Marsden, John - Tomorrow when the War Began F Mar Australian teenager Ellie and six of her friends return from a winter-break camping trip to find their homes burned or deserted, their families imprisoned, and their country occupied by a foreign military force in league with a band of disaffected Australians. As their shock wears off, the seven decide they must stick together if they are to survive. (YA) McCullers, Carson - The Member of the Wedding F Mcc Twelve-year-old Frankie is experiencing a boring summer until news arrives that her older brother will soon be returning to Georgia from his Alaska home in order to marry. Plotting to accompany the newlyweds on their honeymoon occupies much of Frankie's waking hours, while at the same time she copes with the pressures of puberty and its effects on her body and mind. Particularly revealing are her conversations with her six-year-old sister and with the nurturing black family cook, Bernice. Miller, Walter - A Canticle for Leibowitz F Mil Here is intelligent science fiction of the highest literary excellence. A monastery founded by the scientist Leibowitz is discovered decades after a nuclear war. In the first part of the book, a young novice in the monastery is the protagonist; in the second part we see scholars in a new period of enlightenment; and in the final section we observe humanity's proclivity for repeating mistakes, and the apparent inevitability of history's repeating itself. Moggach, Deborah – Tulip Fever F Mog Amsterdam of the 1630’s comes alive in this very readable romantic drama, in which an artist begins an illicit love affair with the married woman whose portrait he has been commissioned to paint. The background of the frenzied speculation on tulips is woven into the story and leads to several tragedies. Moore, Christopher – Coyote Blue F Moo Irreverent, whimsical, entertaining, and spiritual too: a Californian yuppie insurance agent who is actually a native American but has grown far away from his roots is pulled back to them, when a native trickster god enters his life. With great zest, energy, and unpredictability, the story unfolds, involving our protagonist and the new love of his life in an outrageous plot. Morrissey, Donna – Kit’s Law F Mor Intricate and suspenseful, this entrancing story of the 14-year old illegitimate daughter of a childlike, mentally retarded woman takes place in a small Newfoundland town. With warmth towards her characters and authentic salty dialogue, the author reveals secret after secret, as Kit develops a new relationship with her mother after the feisty grandmother who has always taken care of both of them dies. Neruda, Pablo - Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970 861.6 Ner A selection of the poetry of this winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, including thirty new translations hitherto unpublished. It brings together a harvest of the best poems from Neruda's entire lifetime. (IB) Olsen, Tille – Tell Me a Riddle F Ols Olsen was a left-wing teacher in a small American town in the 1930s, which more or less assured that her writing would be undervalued. Nevertheless, she won the O. Henry award for this novella, truly a classic. Using a brilliant internal monologue, it is an unforgettable portrait of the deep love underlying the apparent hostility between an old man and his wife. Ondaatje, Michael - The Cinnamon Peeler 811.54 Ond Michael Ondaatje's poems are a joy, as so much of his writing is. The wonderful twists, painful and funny; the utterly individual touch and the sumptuous wealth of language - they are all familiar, but as one would expect, they seem to keep getting better, more assured and sometimes, more crazy. Ondaatje, Michael – Coming Through Slaughter F Ond A mesmerizing fictional account of New Orleans jazz musician Buddy Bolden, a musical genius who went mad and died aged 31. The author uses song lyrics and poetry as well as intense prose vignettes to evoke Bolden’s world of alcohol, improvisational non-stop jazz, obsessive love, and doomed passions. Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness - The Scarlet Pimpernel F Orc An adventure of the French Revolution. The apparently foppish young Englishman, Sir Percy Blakeney, is found to be the daring Scarlet Pimpernel, rescuer of distressed aristocrats. Paton, Alan - Cry, the Beloved Country F Pat Reverend Kumalo, a black South African preacher, is called to Johannesburg to rescue his sister. There he learns that his son Absalom has been accused of murdering a young white attorney whose interests and sympathies had been with the natives. Despite this, the attorney's father comes to the aid of the minister to help the natives in their struggle to survive a drought. (IB) Paulsen, Gary - Harris and Me: a Summer Remembered F Pau Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is given an introduction to a whole new world. A hearty helping of old-fashioned entertainment and adventure. (YA) Peacock, Molly - Take Heart 811.54 Pea Molly Peacock's resourcefulness, enduring humor, and remarkable and unobtrusive authority as a poet have long commanded respect. She has a genius for saying the most necessary things in the quietest way - so that intensive dilemmas of feeling become a common fact for all who care to listen/read. Picoult, Jodi- The Pact F Pic Brooding, thought provoking, and moving exploration of teenage suicide. Two teens who have known each other their whole lives fall in love, but their parents are shattered when the girl is found dead and her boyfriend insists it was the result of a suicide pact. Particularly powerful are the courtroom scenes when the boyfriend is put on trial for murder, with the revelations which follow, and the descriptions of what happens then between the surviving parents. Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar F Pla Esther Greenwood, having spent what should have been a glorious summer as guest editor for a young woman's magazine, came home from New York, had a nervous breakdown, and tried to commit suicide. Through months of therapy, Esther kept her rationality, if not her sanity. In telling the story of Esther, Plath thinly disguised her own experience with attempted suicide and with time spent in an institution. (IB) Poe, Edgar Allan – The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe F Poe Poe’s best stories are both macabre and understated, and classics in the genre of horror. The best of them make us imagine the terrible things beyond the edge. Included in this collection are of course: The Gold Bug; The Tell-Tale Heart; The Fall of the House of Usher; and The Pit and the Pendulum, as well as poetry including Annabel le Lee and The Raven. Rhys, Jean – Wide Sargasso Sea F Rhy The madwoman in the attic who you may remember as Rochester’s first wife in Jane Eyre is given a tragic life as a young woman here. A Creole heiress in vibrant Jamaica, her exotic beauty draws the British Mr. Rochester (here unnamed), who marries her. Eventually he destroys her mind with his great hatred for her, which develops after lies and rumors poison him against her. The story is told in alternating first person narratives from the two protagonists. Richler, Mordecai – Barney’s Version F Ric Hilarious and psychologically honest, this is a marvelous first-person narrative from the mind of Barney Panofsky, a Jewish Canadian who has been a lover of wine, women, and the Montreal hockey team his whole life. Now at age 67, his memory is slipping, and the reader is treated to a slightly skewed version of Barney’s life. It includes his ongoing adoration of his ex-wife Miriam, adventures from Paris in the 50’s, and the answer to whether or not he really did murder his best friend. Rushdie, Salman – The Ground Beneath Her Feet F Rus Riveting, astonishing, contemporary love-story which mixes history, religion, philosophy, rock‘n'roll, and pop culture. A retelling of the Orpheus myth, its protagonists are all of Indian background but are firmly entrenched in Western culture as well, particularly the two lovers Ormus and Vina. They become international pop stars. This is a not-to-be-missed dazzling exploration of the mythic, the divine, and the all too human. Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de – Night Flight F Sai In a novel of rare beauty and power, Saint-Exupéry charts the perilous world of pioneer aviation. Night Flight is the story of hazardous flights made in the darkness, and of the destructive splendor of sudden Andean storms. It is a tale of men who risk their lives in flimsy crates in order to deliver the mail. Fabien is a youthful pilot who sees in flying a chance for heroic action, and Rivière, his superior, believes that man’s salvation lies not in freedom but in the acceptance of duty. Salinger, J. D. – Catcher in the Rye F Sal The ever-popular story of adolescent Holden Caulfield, who runs away from his boarding school in Pennsylvania to New York City, where he preserves his innocence despite various attempts to lose it. The colloquial, lively first person narration, with its attacks on the "phoniness" of the adult world, have made the novel accessible to and popular with a wide readership for several generations. (YA) Shakespeare, William - The Works of William Shakespeare + assorted individual plays 822.33 various (IB) Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft - Frankenstein Everyman 429 This famous tale relates the exploits of Frankenstein, an idealistic student of natural philosophy, who discovers at university the secret of imparting life to inanimate matter. Collecting bones from the charnel houses, he constructs the semblance of a human being and gives it life. The creature, endowed with superhuman strength and size, but terrible in appearance, inspires loathing in whoever sees it. Frankenstein goes through the pain of seeing his creation, the monster, try to destroy what they have both loved, and is haunted by his creation until his own death. Shute, Neville - On the Beach F Shu A nuclear war annihilates the world's Northern Hemisphere, and as atomic wastes spread southward, residents of Australia try to come to grips with their mortality. In spite of the inevitability of death, these people face their end with courage and live from day to day. They even plant trees they may never see mature. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich F Sol Drawing on his own experiences, the author writes of one day, from reveille to lights-out, in the prison existence of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Innocent of any crime, he has been convicted of treason and sentenced to ten years in one of Stalin's notorious slave-labor compounds. The protagonist is a simple man trying to survive the brutality of a totalitarian system. (IB) Stendhal – The Red and the Black F Ste Also: Scarlet and Black Everyman 438 (2 vols.) The author's most celebrated work, it is equally acclaimed for the psychological study of its protagonist - the young romantic from the provinces, Julien Sorel - and as a satirical analysis of the French social order under the Bourbon restoration. Its intensely dramatic plot is intentionally romantic in nature, while Stendhal's careful depiction of Sorel's inner states is the work of a master realist, foreshadowing new developments in the form of the novel. Stoker, Bram - Dracula F Sto Count Dracula, an "undead" villain from Transylvania, uses his supernatural powers to lure and prey upon innocent victims from whom he gets the blood on which he lives. The novel is written mainly in the form of journals kept by the principal characters - Jonathan Harker, who contacts the vampire in his Transylvanian castle; Harker's fiancée (later his wife), Mina, adored by the Count; the well-meaning Dr. Seward; and Lucy Westenra, a victim who herself becomes a vampire. The doctor and his friends destroy Dracula in the end, but only after they also drive a stake through Lucy's heart to save her soul. Swindell, Robert – Brother in the Land F Swi A thoughtful novel featuring two well-developed teen characters in northern England who survive a nuclear war and must fight for their survival in a challenging new world. There is a strand of romance, along with a harsh rival survivor group, in the plot of this young adult story. (YA) Tan, Amy – The Bonesetter’s Daughter F Tan Once again (as in her first novel, The Joy Luck Club) Tan explores the generational and cultural conflicts between a Chinese-American woman and her older Chinese mother with energy, warmth, realism, and humor. As the mother begins to show signs of Alzheimer’s, the daughter realizes she must get to know her right away, and thus we learn the truly tragic story of the grandmother. Tan is a gifted storyteller through her characters’ voices. Tan, Amy – The Kitchen God’s Wife F Tan With great depth of feeling, the small family stories and secrets of an American-born daughter and her Chinese-born mother are intertwined with the larger themes of history (pre-revolutionary China to modern U.S.A.), language, and cultural identity. A serious story, beautifully told, with humor and heart.
Tey, Josephine – The Daughter of Time F Tey A reproduction of a portrait of Richard III, commonly believed to be the murderer of the princes in the Tower, catches the attention of detective Alan Grant while he is confined to hospital as a result of an injury. With the help of a research student, Grant investigates the accusations made against Richard, using contemporary documents as far as possible. The author not only reconstructs the probable historical events, but also re-creates the intense dramatic excitement of the scholarly research needed to uncover them. Theroux, Paul - Themosquito coast F The Allie Fox, a cantankerous Yankee inventor fed up with an America gone soft, pursues his obsessions with total self-sufficiency to the wild coast of Honduras, dragging his devoted but uneasy family behind him. His aim is to make a "slightly better job than God" of this poisoned world, as far from cheeseburgers and drive-in churches as possible. His ingenious pioneer Eden actually works at first, until his swelling egomania finally topples it. The physical impact of the style, the exact observations, and the occasional intrusion of the hallucinatory make this a remarkable and profound work of art. Thomas, Dylan - Collected Poems 821.912 Tho + Everyman 258 In 1952 Thomas authorized the publication of Collected Poems, 1934-1952 which, he said, contained "most of the poems I have written, and all, up to the present year, that I wish to preserve". A year later he was dead, and since then the volume has remained substantially unaltered. (IB) Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Hobbit F Tol This fantasy recounts the adventures of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who joins a band of dwarves led initially by Gandalf the Wizard. Together they seek to recover the stolen treasure that is hidden in the Lonely Mountain and guarded by Smaug the dragon. The events of the Lord of the Rings follow on from those of The Hobbit. (YA) Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Lord of the Rings F Tol (3 vols.) Frodo Baggins, nephew of Bilbo, the hero of The Hobbit, and a group of his friends embark on a journey to prevent a magic ring from falling into the hands of the powers of darkness. The forces of good succeed for the most part in their fight against the Dark Lord, Sauron, and Frodo manages to bring the Ring to Mount Doom, where it is destroyed. Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn F Twa The novel begins with Huck's escape from his drunken, brutal father to the river, where he meets up with Jim, an escaped slave. The story of their journey downstream, with occasional forays into the society along the banks, is an American classic that captures the smells, rhythms, and sounds, the variety of dialects and the human activity of life on the great river. It is also a penetrating social commentary that reveals corruption, moral decay, and intellectual impoverishment through Huck and Jim's encounters with traveling actors and con men, lynch mobs, thieves and Southern gentility. (IB) Undset, Kristin - Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy F Und Although the action in this Norwegian trilogy takes place in the 14th century, the lives of the characters are marked by almost the same problems that trouble characters in modern novels: secret passions, adultery, premarital pregnancy, ambition, and conflicts. Kristin is engaged to Simon, but falls in love with another man who finally wins her father’s approval to let them marry. Her father realizes on their wedding night that that are already lovers. The book follows Kristin’s life as she tries to manage her estate while her husband loses his lands and eventually leaves her. They reconcile, he returns, but is killed in a fight. Their six sons follow different paths. The portrayal of this strong woman is vivid and compassionate. (YA) Voight, Cynthia - A Solitary Blue F Voi Jeff is very young when his mother, Melody, leaves him alone with his quiet, studious father. Sometimes he wonders what it would be like to have her around, but he and his father don't talk about it. Then one summer, Jeff gets an invitation to visit Melody in South Carolina, and he learns all over again how much he loves her. Now he has a lot of feelings to sort out about both his parents. When he meets a girl named Dicey Tillermen, the task becomes a little easier. (YA) Vonnegut, Kurt – God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater F Von This story is as original and deeply human as all of Vonnegut’s books, but unrolls at a less frenzied pace. A rich man attempts a noble experiment with human nature. The result is, unfortunately, a searing portrayal of universal greed and hypocrisy, despite our hopes for mankind’s potential. Waugh, Evelyn - The Loved One F Wau Depicting romance in a mortuary could be gruesome, but the author succeeds both in poking satirical fun at the maudlin pretentiousness of the funeral industry, and in delighting the reader with a hilarious love story. Wells, Rebecca – Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood F Wel This entertaining and insightful novel explores the complexities of the mother-daughter bond and the emotional weight of lifelong friendships. When a daughter publishes a highly critical article about her 70-year-old but still "untamed" Southern mother, old friends make it their mission to bring the furious mother and her daughter back together. In so doing, a history of adventures, passions, fun, and tragedy is revealed involving all of the older women. Wharton, William - Birdy F Wha At the close of World War II, in the mental ward of a veterans’ hospital, there is a patient whose behavior baffles even the psychiatrists. The patient's only childhood friend, another soldier who has a severe facial wound, is transferred to the hospital in the hope he may be of help. The friend instantly recognizes that the patient is behaving exactly like a bird - keeping birds had been an obsession of the patient throughout his adolescence. Only the most rigorous and vivid imagination could make a story of this sort work for a reader who might be indifferent to birds, and Wharton has just such an imagination. White, Patrick - The Cockatoos F Whi This collection of six novellas and stories, one of which has an Italian setting, demonstrates White's eye for the significant, illuminating detail. The general theme is alienation in the midst of bourgeois life. Simple and orthodox situations are transformed by White's ability to render both the surface tedium of life and its inner intensity. (IB) Wiesel, Elie- Dawn F Wie Elisha is a young Jewish terrorist fighting for the creation of Israel in the 1940’s, faced with an agonizing moral dilemma. He is to be the executioner of a British officer in reprisal for the hanging of a captured terrorist. A survivor of the concentration camps and a victim all his life, Elisha considers whether he is any different from his oppressors if he can execute a helpless prisoner in cold blood. The author, himself a concentration camp survivor, has written an unforgettable tale of deep emotional and moral resonance. Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray F Wil An archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, this novel was a romantic exposition of Wilde's aestheticism. Dorian Gray is a wealthy Englishman who gradually sinks into a life of dissipation and crime. Despite his unhealthy behavior, his physical appearance remains youthful and unmarked by dissolution. Instead, a portrait of him catalogues and mirrors every evil deed, by turning his once handsome painted features into a hideous mask. (IB) Wilder, Thornton - The Bridge of San Luis Rey F Wil On Friday, July 20, 1714, high in the Andes of Peru, the famous bridge of San Luis Rey collapsed, killing the five people who were crossing it. A priest who was witness to the event decided that the tragedy provided the chance to prove the wisdom of God in that instance, and thereafter spent years investigating the lives of the people who had been killed. Wright, Richard - Native Son F Wri Bigger Thomas is black. He is driven by anger, hate, and frustration, which were born out of the poverty which has dominated his life. When he gets a job with the Daltons, a white family, he is confused by their behavior and misinterprets their patronizing friendship. Tragedy follows when he accidentally kills Mary Dalton. (IB) Zindel, Paul - The Pigman F Zin John Conlan and Lorraine Jensen, high school sophomores, are both troubled young people who have problems at home. They become friendly with an elderly widower, Mr. Pignati, who welcomes them into his home and shares with them his simple pleasures, including his collection of ceramic pigs, of which he is very proud. When the Pigman, as they call him, goes to hospital after a heart attack, they take advantage of his house for a party that becomes destructive. The consequences are tragic and propel the young people towards more responsible behavior. ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NON-FICTION 303.62 Hon Honderich, Ted – After the Terror A penetrating philosophical examination by a British ethicist of why the September 11th attack happened, and what the First World needs to do to prevent further terrorism 305.235 Dri Drill, Esther – Deal With It: a whole new approach to your body, brain, and life as a "gurl" (YA) 337 Fri Friedman, Thomas – The Lexus and the Olive Tree: understanding globalization An original and clear look at the process of globalization, and at how to keep a balance between the international flow of capital, information, and technology, and the older cultures and traditions
509 Gri Gribbin, John – Science: a history, 1543-2001
510.92 Ose Osen, Lyn M. – Women in mathematics Have you valued ignorance as if it were a social grace? Then read how the aesthetic values of mathematics can give powerful satisfactions which are equal to those offered by any other branch of knowledge. Learn about the impact women have had on the development of mathematical thought, and at the same time explore the social context in which they lived. Women have participated in many of the most enduring intellectual achievements throughout history, and this book looks at some of them, from antiquity to the 20th century. Read about the martyrdom of Hypatia (370-415) as if it were a classic Greek tragedy, and comprehend more about the "feminine mathtique." 511.8 Pap Pappas, Theoni- The Joy of Mathematics Reading this book is similar to discovering something for the first time: once you’ve read it, you won’t forget it. Mathematics is a science, a language, an art, and a way of thinking. You will discover a few of the treasures of mathematics. This is a collection of explorations into many aspects of nature and life. Learn about calligraphy, Thales and the Great Pyramid, mathematics of the billiard table, Leonardo da Vinci designs, fractals, proof that 1=2, Muslim art, the Archimedes screw, Stonehenge, the spider and the fly, soap bubbles, and enjoy finding solutions at the end!
526.1 Kea Keay, John – The Great Arc: the dramatic tale of how India was mapped 530.1 Haw Hawking, Stephen W. – A Brief History of Time: from the Big Bang to Black Holes This book is an attempt to simplify and outline some of the most complex and compelling ideas in modern science. The first five chapters are an introduction for the general reader. Where Hawking really hits his stride is in the last six chapters. This is where he describes his own discoveries and work on black holes, the origin and fate of the universe, the arrow of time, and the unification of physical theories. The reader gets an insight into Hawking’s brilliant mind and his fascinating ideas. 574 Dur Durrell, Gerald M. – The Amateur Naturalist This guide describes field observations and experiments in a variety of natural habitats, beginning with the backyard and moving on to meadows, woodlands, marshlands, the seashore, and other environments. 574 Gou Gould, Stephen Jay – Ever Since Darwin: reflections in natural history In this collection of essays the theme is history, both natural and human. The writing is marked by Gould’s usual careful scholarship, erudition, touches of humor, and non-technical language. 575.1 Koe Koestler, Arthur – The Case of the Midwife Toad An investigation of an alleged scientific fraud raises important ethical questions. 575.1 Wat Watson, James – The Double Helix: a personal account of the structure of DNA This is an uncompromisingly honest narrative of the discovery of the structure of DNA, with the struggles and disappointments along the way. It is the inside story from the then- 24-year-old James Watson.
616.8 Sac Sacks, Oliver – The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales Sacks introduces the reader to real people who suffer from a variety of neurological syndromes which exhibit themselves in symptoms such as amnesia, uncontrolled movements, and musical hallucinations. Sacks recounts their stories in a riveting, compassionate, and thoughtful manner. 616.86 GoA Anonymous - Go Ask Alice Supposedly based on an actual diary, this is the story of an innocent fifteen-year-old white middle- class girl who is unsuspectingly introduced to LSD. She immediately becomes an avid user of any drug available. A brief epilogue tells of her death from an unexplained overdose. An important book, very popular with younger teens, deserving a wide readership. (YA) 629.1 Wol Wolfe, Tom – The Right Stuff This is a thrilling history of the early years of the space program, fictional in feel, narrative in style. It blends fact and drama, even romance, in an intense account of the lives of military pilots and their wives, progressing through the selection of the first 7 astronauts and on to their training and the Mercury flights. The "cast of heroes" is well portrayed as the human beings they were.
632 Car Carson, Rachel – Silent Spring A highly influential book which long ago convinced the public that scientific progress is not without its dangers to the environment; now a classic of the ecology movement. 658.8 Kil Kilbourne, Jean- Can’t Buy My Love: how advertising changes the way we think and feel 735.23 Mey Mey, Kirstin, ed. – Sculpsit: contemporary artists on sculpture and beyond 781.57 Bre Brewin, Michael – Soul Jazz: the heart of the music (by an SSS alumni) 909 Dur Durant, Will – Heroes of History: a brief history of civilization 909.6 Wil Wills, John E. – 1688: a global history 917.3 Pir Pirsig, Robert M. – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance A collection of the author’s philosophical musings inspired by a motorcycle trip with his son. 949.5 Gag Gage, Nicholas – Eleni In 1948, in a Greek mountain village, Ileni Gatzoyiannis was arrested, tortured, and shot. Her crime was that she had helped her children to escape the Communist guerillas during the Civil War. Her son, Nicholas Gage, then aged 8, eventually reached the U.S. where he later became an investigative reporter for the New York Times. Gradually yet obsessively he began to reconstruct the story of his mother’s life and death. By the time he was finished, he was ready to confront both his mother’s executioners and his own memory. Eleni is the story of his search. 973 Loe Loewen, James – Lies My Teacher Told Me: everything your American History textbook got wrong Note: Italian-language and French-language lists follow on the next pages, or will be available very soon.
ITALIAN-LANGUAGE READING SUGGESTIONS Italian VI
Campana, Dino - Canti Orfici: poesie scelte Gozzano, Guido - I Colloqui: poesie scelte Penna, Sandro - Poesie
Buzzati, Dino - Il Deserto dei Tartari 853.912 Buz Gadda, Carlo Emilio - Quer Pasticciaccio Brutto de Via Merulana 853.914 Gad Pasolini, Pier Paolo - Scritti Corsari 858.914 Pas Svevo, Italo - La Coscienza di Zeno
Italian V
Quasimodo, Salvatore - Acque e Terre: poesie scelte Saba, Umberto - Poesie scelte
Bassani, Giorgio - Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini 853.914 Bas Calvino, Italo - Le Cosmicomiche, Palomar, Ti con Zero 853.914 Cal De Carlo, Andrea - Due di Due Morante, Elsa - La Storia 853.914 Mor
Italian Studies Benni, Stefano - Il Bar sotto il Mare 853.914 Ben Fenoglio, Beppe - Il Partigiano Johnny Maraini, Dacia - La Lunga Vita di Marianna Ucrìa 853.914 Mar Pavese, Cesare - La Bella Estate 853.912 Pav Pirandello, Luigi - Novelle per un anno 853.912 Pir |