Fiction

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese ($26.95).  My favorite fiction of the year so far!  A British doctor and an Indian nun produce identical twins who grow up to be doctors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the setting of the book.

The Spare Room by Australian novelist Helen Garner ($22).  A beautiful story of friendship that takes on a new twist when a woman offers the “spare room” of her home to an old friend who comes to Melbourne for treatment of late-stage cancer.

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith ($23.95).  Smith’s colorful words and names add to the enjoyment of this latest in his Precious Ramotswe series.

Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears ($27.95).  Another superlative mystery, love story, and historical novel by one of Britain’s “greats.”  Said the Boston Globe of Pears’ An Instance of the Fingerpost: “May well be the best ‘historical mystery’ ever written.”

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ($14 in paperback). The story of a love affair – and a “literary” affair—during the German Occupation of the island of Guernsey during World War II.

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville ($21.99).  I loved this book—taking place in the Midwest and dealing with issues of adoption, parenthood, and love.  Somerville is an outstanding storyteller! 

Running from the Devil by Jamie Frevelletti ($24.99).  This Chicago author has written a thriller with pace and endurance.  The heroine, in Bogota on a downed plane, uses remarkable agility to save her life

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld ($15 in paperback).  A great summer read and portrait of one woman’s life from her days as a school librarian to becoming the First Lady—patterned after Laura Bush. 

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ($14 in paperback).  Olive is “everywoman.”  As we read about her, we say, “Oh, my goodness, that’s me!”  Strout deservedly won this year’s Pulitzer Prize in fiction for this stunning book!

Netherland by Joseph O’Neill ($14.95).  A post-9/11 story about a Dutch expatriate in New York who falls in with a cricket-playing gang. Another of my favorites and winner of the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award.

Non-Fiction

The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell ($27.99).  Fascinating reading about what it takes to be successful!

The First Tycoon:  the Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles ($37.50).   Vanderbilt, a genius in the world of steamships and transportation, was also the founder of modern capitalism. 

Pay to Play  by Elizabeth Brackett ($24.95).  The correspondent for PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and WTTW’s Chicago Tonight brings us a wonderful book about our unbelievable former governor, Rod Blogojevich.

Perfectly Imperfect by Lee Woodruff ($25).  Woodruff explains her story as “a life in progress.”  She speaks as a mother, wife, daughter, and friend—sometimes very personally, but always with a sense of humor!

A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz ($18 in paperback).  We all remember Columbus’s discovery of America, but what happened in North America between 1492 and the Pilgrims’ arrival in 1620?  Horwitz crosses the continent to find clues and writes about them in an hilarious and entertaining manner.

The Garden of Invention:  Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants by Jane Smith ($25.95).  An Evanston woman, a noted cultural historian, has written a cozy book about plans and how Burbank made such a difference. 

The Downhill Lie:  A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport by Carl Hiaasen ($14 in paperback).  One of today’s funniest writers, Hiaasen takes on the game of golf, and his adventures and misadventures are very familiar to those who play!

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron ($12.95).  Still one of my favorite books about life in New York and women in general.  Ephron is a marvelous comic and her book is perfect for a light summer read.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali ($15).  A beautifully written account of life in many countries in Africa.  This memoir tells the plight of Muslim women in today’s world.   Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu and currently resides in the Netherlands.