booklist & Links to Supplementary material
Alphabetized by Author
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| Author |
Title |
|
Setting |
Author's Birthplace |
|
| Achebe, Chinua |
Things Fall Apart |
|
Nigeria |
Nigeria |
|
| Published two years before Nigeria's independence from the UK, the novel tells the story of an Ibo village before colonialism and after colonialism. The protagonist,
Okonkwo is more connected to the old traditions than the new which does not work in his favor. Although simply written, a powerful and informative tale.
|
| Ali, Monica |
Brick Lane |
|
England |
Bangladesh |
|
| Nazeen is an uneducated 18 year old who is living in a Bangladeshi community in London. She is in an arranged marriage with Chanu, a 40 year old intellectually pretentious man. The reader sees everything through Nazeen's eyes, the neighborhood, her husband Chanu, and Muslim radical Karim with whom Nazeen has an affair. The story moves along, the characters well drawn, the writing is gond, all of which makes Nazeen's journey an absorbing . immigrant story. |
| Ali, Tariq |
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree |
|
Spain |
India |
|
| One of the most popular BookTalk selections, a family saga which tells the story of a Muslim family and community driven from Granada without mercy in 1499 by the Church and rulers, Ferdinand and Isabel. |
| Ali, Tariq |
The Stone Woman |
|
Turkey |
India |
|
The unraveling of the Ottoman Empire is revealed through the story of a sophisticated family's life at their seaside home some distance from Istanbul. The stone woman is a stone or sculpture of
unknown ancestry to which family members whisper their secrets. (The reader listens carefully) |
| Aswany, Alaa Al |
The Yacoubian Building |
|
Egypt |
Egypt |
|
| An international best seller set in the 1990's in Cairo, the author a well-known Egyptian journalist. The Yacoubian building offers shelter to a variety of interesting characters ranging from a young disillusioned student turned Muslim radical to a gay newspaper editor. The residents of the historical building have interesting and surprising lives. Worth reading. more,,, |
| Barrett, Andrea |
Ship Fever |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Science forges link among Barrett's eight excellent short stories. The author reveals the forces, both internal and external that affect the lives of the men and women who commit themselves to advancing knowledge. |
| Bausch, Richard |
Peace |
|
Italy |
USA |
|
| Berry, Wendell |
Hannah Coulter |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Kentucky's favorite poet, essayist, philospher, and novelist sets his story in Port William, a Kentucky farm town of families who care about and depend on each other. Hannah marries, has children, experiences love, loss, hope and disappointment. Berry offers Hannah's story as a gift to the reader. |
| Brooks, Geraldine |
March |
|
USA |
Australia |
|
| Brooks, Geraldine |
Nine Parts of Desire |
|
USA |
Australia |
|
| Brooks, Geraldine |
People of the Book |
|
Europe |
Australia |
|
| Cezair-Thompson Margaret |
The True History of Paradise |
|
Jamaica |
Jamaica |
|
| Chabon, Michael |
The Yiddish Policemen's Union |
|
Alaska |
USA |
|
| Chang, Samantha Lan |
Hunger |
|
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 the daughter's rebellion. |
| Chang, Samantha Lan |
Inheritance |
|
China |
USA |
|
| Claudel, Phillippe |
By A Slow River |
|
France |
France |
|
| The narrator, a depressed policeman, tells a story of events 20 years earlier during World War I, when his beloved wife died in childbirth shortly after a young beautiful 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. |
| Coetzee, J.M. |
Disgrace |
|
South Africa |
South Africa |
|
| Crace, Jim |
Quarantine |
|
Palestine |
England |
|
| Dangarembga, Tsitsi |
Nervous Conditions |
|
|
|
|
| De Bernieres, Louis |
Birds Without Wings |
|
|
|
|
| Diaz, Junot |
Drown |
|
Domincan Republic |
Dominican Republic |
|
| Diaz, Junot |
The Last Wondrous Days Of Oscar Wao |
|
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". Woven into his family's experiences in New Jersey are visits to his grandmother in the Dominican Republic and accounts of the travails his family members experienced under the rule of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. more: |
| Enright, Anne |
The Gathering |
|
Ireland |
Ireland |
|
| One of 12 Irish children, Veronica's dark but compelling story. She has returned home for the funeral of her brother who has 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: |
| Fallada, Hans |
Every Man Dies Alone |
|
Germany |
Germany |
|
| Farah, Nuruddin |
Gifts |
|
Somalia |
Somalia |
|
| Farah, Nuruddin |
Links |
|
Somalia |
Somalia |
|
| Faulks, Sebastia |
Birdsong |
|
France |
England |
|
| Ferre, Rosario |
The House on the Lagoon |
|
Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
|
| Flanagan, Richard |
The Sound of One Hand Clapping |
|
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 |
| Fredriksson, Marianne |
Hanna’s Daughters |
|
Sweden |
Sweden |
|
| Fredriksson, Marianne |
Simon’s Family |
|
Sweden |
Sweden |
|
| Freed, Lynn |
The Mirror |
|
South Africa |
South Africa |
|
| Freed, Lynn |
Home Ground |
|
South Africa |
South Africa |
|
| Fugard, Lisa |
Skinners Drift |
|
South Africa |
South Africa |
|
| Gardam, Jane |
Old Filth |
|
England |
England |
|
At the end of his life, retired to the country reveals the story of his life. The distinguished, handsome barrister, a raj orphan Edward Feathers, was nicknamed Old Filth by his friends and colleagues because his career as a judge was in Hong Kong. Failed In London, Try Hong Kong. A fascinating story and an education about |
Ghosh, Amitav |
The Hungry Tide |
|
India |
India |
|
| Glass, Julia |
Three Junes |
|
USA |
USA |
|
Greenway, Alice |
White Ghost Girls |
|
Hong Kong |
USA |
|
| Grimbert, Philippe |
Memory |
|
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', also a film. more: |
| Harding, Paul |
Tinkers |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Harrison, Kathryn |
The Seal Wife |
|
Alaska |
USA |
|
| Jones, Edward |
The Known World |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Jordan, Hillary |
Mudbound |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Joyce, James |
Ulysses |
|
Ireland |
Ireland |
|
In 1946 Laura, a Memphis girl, marries and moves to a farm named Mudbound in the Mississippi Delta. The story of her struggles as wife, mother, sister-law to her husband's brother, and daughter-in-law to her cruel father-in-law is told from several points of view. more |
| Kawabata,Yasunari |
Snow Country |
|
Japan |
Japan |
|
| Khadra Yasmina |
The Attack |
|
Israel |
Algiers |
|
| Le Clezio, J.M.G. |
Wandering Star_ |
|
France and Palestine |
France |
|
| Levy, Andrea |
The Long Song |
|
Jamaica |
England |
|
| Levy, Andrea |
Small Island |
|
England |
England |
|
| Lewycka, Marina |
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian |
|
England |
German 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 and truth. |
| Lianke, Yan |
Serve the People |
|
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. |
| London, Joan |
Gilgamesh |
|
Australia |
Australia |
|
| Marai, Sandor |
Embers |
|
Europe |
Austria Hungary |
|
| Matar, Hisham |
In the Country of Men |
|
Libya |
Libya |
|
| Written in the voice of a nine year old boy, a grown man's memory of his and his parents tumultuous life in Libya after Moammar Khadafy's 1969 revolution. Shortlisted for the 2006 Booker prize. more: |
Maurensig, Paolo |
Canone Inverso |
|
Europe |
Italy |
|
| McCann, Colum |
Let the Great World Spin |
|
USA |
Ireland |
|
McCann, Colum |
This Side of Brightness |
|
USA |
Ireland |
|
| McEwan Ian |
Saturday |
|
England |
England |
|
| McEwan, Ian |
Atonement |
|
England |
England |
|
| Mda, Zakes |
The Madonna of Excelsior |
|
South Africa |
South Africa |
|
| Meloy, Maile |
Liars and Saints |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Michael, Sami |
A Trumpet in the Wadi |
|
Israel |
Iraq |
|
| Miller, Kei |
Fear of Stones |
|
Dominican Republic |
Dominican Republic |
|
| 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: |
| Miyamoto Teru |
Autumn Brocade (Kinshu) |
|
Japan |
Japan |
|
| Moore, Lorrie |
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Morrison, Toni |
A Mercy |
|
USA |
USA |
|
Takes place in Virginia in 1690 on the farm of Jacob Vaark and his wife Rebecca |
| Murakami, Haruki |
South of the Border, West of the Sun |
|
Japan |
Japan |
|
| Norman, Howard |
The Bird Artist |
|
Canada |
USA |
|
| Nothomb, Amalie |
FFear and Trembling Fearling |
|
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. |
| Olafsson, Olaf |
The Journey Home |
|
England & Iceland |
Iceland |
|
| Olsson, Linda |
Astrid and Veronika |
|
Sweden |
Sweden |
|
Set against a Swedish landscape, a beautiful 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: |
| Ondaatje, Michael |
In the Skin of a Lion |
|
Canada |
Sri Lanka |
|
| Otsuka, Julie |
When the Emperor Was Divine |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Parsipur, Shahrnush |
Women Without Men |
|
Iran |
|
|
| Patchett, Ann |
Bel Canto |
|
South America |
USA |
|
| Phillips, Caryl |
Crossing the River |
|
Africa & USA |
St. Kitts |
|
| Phillips, Caryl |
Cambridge |
|
B.V.I. |
St. Kitts |
|
| Pouncey, Peter |
Rules for Old Men Waiting |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Rhys, Jean |
Wide Sargasso Sea |
|
Jamaica |
Dominica |
|
| Robinson, Marilynne |
Gilead |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Robinson, Marilynne |
Housekeeping |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Saramago, Jose |
Baltasar and Bilmunda |
|
Portugal |
Portugal |
|
| Seierstad, Asne |
The Bookseller of Kabul |
|
Afghanistan |
Norway |
|
| Shakib, Siba |
Samira and Samir |
|
Afghanistan |
Afghanistan |
|
| Inspired by real events, an extraordinary story of a young Afghan girl raised as a man because her father, a tribal chief, would lose face if his first child were known to be a woman. Samira's journey from birth to adulthood offers readers an insight into the extraordinary lives in Afghanistan, lived out behind the headlines. more: |
| Shalev, Meir |
A Pigeon And A Boy |
|
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. |
| Tearne, Roma |
Mosquito |
|
Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka |
|
| Umigar, Thrity |
The Space Between Us |
|
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 |
| Undset, Sigrid |
Kristin Lavranstatter |
|
Sweden |
Sweden |
|
| Upadhyay, Samrat |
The Guru of Love |
|
Nepal |
Nepal |
|
| Vanderbes, Jennifer |
Easter Island |
|
Easter Island |
USA |
|
| Willett, Jincy |
The Winner of the National Book Award |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Fun to read. Twin sisters, very different, but bound together have relationships with the same man. Willett's new book is The Writing Class. |
| Williams, John |
Stoner |
|
USA |
USA |
|
| Williams, Niall |
Four Letters of Love |
|
Ireland |
Ireland |
|
| Winton, Tim |
Breath |
|
Australia |
Australia |
|
| Wray, John |
Lowboy |
|
USA |
Austria |
|
An attractive teenaged paranoid schizophrenic rides the subway in Manhattan while his beautiful Austrian 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, even though the boy is mentally ill, readers can follow his travels and connect with him. Some people who have lived with or worked with mentally ill people may find the book upsetting. more:
|
| Yehoshua |
The Lover |
|
Israel |
Israel |
|
|
