Books We've read Alpha by Title

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Books We've Read or are Reading

Alphabetized by Title

Click here for List Alphabetized by Author

Title	Author	Setting	Author's Birthplace
A Pigeon and A Boy	Shalev, Meir	Israel	Israel
Two love stories. One couple's story takes place during Israel’s fight for independence, a carrier pigeon a vital part of their tale; the other love affair a generation later. Beautiful writing and memorable characters demonstrate the need for a person and a nation to have a home and a story. more:
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian	Lewycka, Marina	England	Germany (refugee camp)
An 84-year-old libidinous widower man plans to marry a young voluptuous gold digger from Ukraine. His two daughters work together to break up the match. Lots of fun .
Atonement	McEwan, Ian	England	England
Astrid and Veronica	Olsson, Linda	Sweden	Sweden
Set against a Swedish landscape, a story of an unusual friendship between two women, Veronika, a writer from Australia trying to come to terms with her tragedy and her recluse neighbor, Astrid. more:
Attack, The	Khadra, Yasmina	Israel	Algeria
Autumn Brocade (Kinshu)	Miyamoto Teru	Japan	Japan
Baltasar and Blimunda	Saramago, Jose	Portugal	Portugal
Bel Canto	Patchett, Ann	South America	USA
Bird Artist, The	Norman, Howard	Canada	Ohio
Birdsong	Faulks, Sebastian	France	England
Bookseller of Kabul, The	Seierstad, Asne	Afghanistan	Norway
Breath Brick Lane	Winton, Tim Ali, Monica	Austra;ia England	Australia Bangladesh
By A Slow River	Claudel, Philippe	France	France
The narrator, a depressed policeman, tells of events 20 years earlier during World War I. His beloved wife died in childbirth shortly after a young school teacher commited suicide and a 12-year-old girl was strangled. His search for the story behind the suicide and the true murderer of the young girl lead him to a death years before the two unnatural deaths. Beautifully written and translated.
Cambridge	Phillips, Caryl	B.V.I.	St. Kitts
Canone Inverso	Maurensig, Paolo	Europe	Italy
Case Histories	Atlinson, Kate	England	England
Crossing the River	Phillips, Caryl	Africa and USA	St. Kitts
Disgrace	Coetzee. J.M.	South Africa	South Africa
Drown	Diaz, Junot	Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic
Easter Island	Vanderbes, Jennifer	Easter Island	USA
Embers	Marai, Sandor	Europe	Austria Hungary
Fear and Trembling	Nothomb, Amalia	Japan	Japan
A young Belgian woman, born in Japan, and in love with the country works for a year at a Japanese Corporation, starting at the bottom and going even further down.
Fear of Stones	Miller, Kei	Jamaica	Jamaica
Lyrical short stories by a Jamaican poet/author, written in Jamaican English, peopled mainly by sad and lonely souls who exist on the periphery of society, but, nevertheless search for redemption. more:
Four Letters of Love	Williams, Niall	Ireland	Ireland
Gathering, The	Enright, Anne	Ireland	Ireland
One of 12 Irish children, Veronica narrates a dark but compelling story. She has returned home for the funeral of her brother who committed suicide. Secrets emerge as the family gets together while Victoria, her siblings, and mother mourns. At the same time, Victoria examines her marriage. Winner of The Booker. more:
Gifts	Farah, Nuruddin	Somalia	Somalia
Gilead	Robinson, Marilynne	USA	USA
Gilgamesh	London, Joan	Australia	Australia
Guru of Love, The	Upadhyay, Samrat	Nepal	Nepal
Hanna's Daughters	Fredriksson, Marianne	Sweden	Sweden
Hannah Coulter	Berry, Wendell	USA	USA
Home Ground	Freed, Lynn	South Africa	South Africa
House on the Lagoon	Ferre, Rosario	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico
Housekeeping	Robinson, Marilynne	USA	USA
Hunger	Chang, Samantha Lan	USA	USA
A novella and short stories of Chinese immigrants in the US reveal the hunger for love, acceptance and success by immigrant familes. The novella is about a violinist father and his conflicts with his wife and daughters growing from his expectations and his daughter's rebellion.
In the Country of Men	Matar, Isham	Libya	Libya
Written in the voice of a nine year old boy, a grown man's memory of his family's tumultuous life in Libya after Moammar Khadafy's 1969 revolution. Shortlisted for the 2006 Booker prize.
In the Skin of a Lion	Ondaajte, Michael	Canada	Sri Lanka
Inheritance	Chang, Samantha Lan	USA	USA
Journey Home, The	Olafsson, Olaf	Iceland	Iceland
Kite Runner, The	Hosseini, Khaled	Afghanistan	Afghanistan
Known World, The	Jones, Edward P.	USA	USA
Kristin Lavransdatter	Undset, Sigrid	Medieval Norway	Denmark
La Femme de Gilles	Bourdouxhe, Madeleine	France	Belgium
Last Wondrous Days Of Oscar Wao, The	Diaz, Junot	USA and Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic
An overweight Dominican boy, growing up in New Jersey, is obsessed with science fiction, fantasy novels,comic books, writing, falling in love, and the curse of the "fukú". Included are visits by family members to the Dominican Republic and accounts of the harships his family experienced under the rule of the dictator Trujillo. more:
Liars and Saints	Meloy, Maile	USA	USA
Links	Farah, Nuruddin	Somalia	Somalia
Lover, The	Yehoshua, A.B.	Israel	Israel
Lowboy	Wray, John	USA	Austria
An attractive teenaged paranoid schizophrenic rides the subway in Manhattan while his beautiful mother and a detective search for him. Released from a mental hospital and off his drugs he is sure the world will end if he doesn't have sex with a woman. The writing is excellent, the story gripping. more:
Madonna of Excelsior, The	Mda, Zakes	South Africa	South Africa
March	Brooks, Geraldine	USA	Australia
Memory	Grimbert, Philippe	France	France
Inspired by his own life, a psychiatrist writes about the life of a boy born after World War II who creates fantasies about his parents lives during the war, only to discover the shocking truth. Translated from the French. originally titled "Le Secret". more:
Mirror, The	Freed, Lynn	South Africa	South Africa
Morality Play	Unsworth, Barry	England	England
Mudbound	Jordan, Hillary	USA	USA
In 1946. Laura, a Memphis spinster, marries and moves to a farm named Mudbound in the Mississippi Delta. The story of her family's and her tenant farmers' struggles is told from several points of view. more:
Old Filth	Gardam, Jane	England	England
Nine Parts of Desire	Brooks, Geraldine	Europe	Australia

Quarantine	Crace, Jim	Ancient Palestine	England
Rules for Old Men Waiting	Pouncey, Peter	USA	USA
Seal Wife, The	Harrison, Katherine	Alaska	USA
Samira and Samir	Shakib, Siba	Iran	Iran
Inspired by a real person, the story of a young Afghan girl raised as a boy. Her father, an Afghan tribal chief, would lose face if his first child were known to be a woman. A contemporary but rarely told tale that gives readers an insight into the extraordinary lives in Afghanistan lived out behind the headlines. more:
Serve the People	Lianke, Yan	China	China
Translated from the Chinese and banned in China, a contemporary satire set during Mao's rule. The tale of the wife of a commander who seduces their fervent Maoist servant.
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree	Ali, Tariq	Spain	India
Ship Fever	Barrett, Andrea	Europe and Canada	USA
Short Histor of Tractors in Ukrainian, The	Lewycka, Marina	England	Refugee camp in Germany
Simon's Family	Fredriksson, Marianne	Sweden	Sweden
Skinner's Drift	Fugard, Lisa	South Africa	South Africa
Small Island	Levy, Andrea	England	England
Snow Country	Kawabata, Yasunari	Japan	Japan
Sound of One Hand Clapping, The	Flanagan, Richard	Tasmania	Tasmania
Slovenian immigrants in Tasmania, Bojan and Sonja Buloh, a father and daughter are caught up in the tragedy and brutality of life, trapped by their history and bound by love. more:
South of the Border, West of the Sun	Murakami, Haruki	Japan	Japan
Space Between Us, The	Umrigar, Thrity	India	India
Poignant novel about a wealthy woman and her downtrodden servant, sympathetic characters whose bond goes deeper than that of employer and employee. A revealing look at class and gender roles in modern day Bombay. more
Stone Woman, The	Ali, Tariq	Turkey	India
Theory of War	Brady, Joan	USA	USA
Things Fall Apart	Achebe, Chinua	Nigeria	Nigeria
This Side of Brightness	McCann, Colum	USA	Ireland
Three Junes	Glass, Julia	USA	USA
True History of Paradise, The	Cezair-Thompson, Margaret	Jamaica	Jamaica
Trumpet in the Wadi, A	Michael, Sami	Israel	Iraq
When the Emperor Was Divine	Otsuka, Julie	USA	USA
White Ghost Girls	Greenway, Alice	Hong Kong	USA
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital	Moore, Lorrie	USA	USA
Wide Sargasso Sea	Rhys, Jean	USA	USA
Winner of the National Book Award, The	Willett, Jincy	USA	USA
Fun to read. Twin sisters, very different, but with a strong connection to each other, have relationships with the same man. Willett's new book is The Writing Class.
Yacoubian, Building, The	Alla, Al Aswany	Egypt	Egypt
Yiddish Policeman's Union, The	Chabon, Michael	Alaska	USA

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