When an earthquake hits, nine men and women are trapped in the Indian consulate. Two are consulate employees, and the others were there to get visas. While the building slowly crumbles, and the area where they're trapped begins to flood, survival becomes an issue. To pass the time while they await rescue, Uma, a college student, suggests that they each tell an “important story” from their lives. The diverse characters and their tales—of dreams and disappointments, of youth and old age—come vividly to life. A rich book full of great wisdom and compassion.

This book is smart, funny, and sly. The book opens with Joe and Joan Castleman traveling to a ceremony where Joe will be awarded a prestigious literary prize. But on the plane, as Joan looks back over the course of their marriage, we learn that she is actually the more gifted writer. So why is it that he's the one being awarded a literary prize? Wolitzer's dry wit and crisp pacing propel us toward a brilliant finish—and a devastating message about the price (for women) of love and the seeming impenetrability of the male ego. Wolizter clearly has great fun satirizing the academic and literary worlds but never lets anyone—neither the men nor the women—off the hook.

It's New York City, the summer of 1974. A Frenchman walks back and forth across a cable strung between the newly completely World Trade Towers. People look up and see the tight-rope walker, and this shared experience becomes a part of them. Beyond all expectations, the characters in this story—a radical priest, an opera lover who lives in the Bronx, a judge, a young artist, several recent immigrants and several prostitutes—come together on that day. Do things happen for a reason? Or is at all just chance? The best thing I've read in ages. Read it!!!! Winner of the National Book Award.

This is an unflinching memoir of a not-very-happy childhood. Small's mother likely had a difficult childhood and was cold and distant to her son. His radiologist father subjected him to experimental x-rays for minor ailments, leading to cancer, which his family failed to have treated for years. Some of the most harrowing moments contain no words at all. Through the drawings, the reader sees Small's fear and anger and feels it, too. Although this is a deeply sad story, there are funny and sweet moments as well. Most importantly, Small is not judgmental and seeks to understand the people and events that made up his childhood.

A terrific read! Dunant weaves a rich tapestry of politics, religion, art, and human nature set in a 16th-century Italian convent. This book is full of fully realized characters that you will never forget—from Serafina, the young girl brought to the convent against her will, and Zuana, her mentor, to the convent's abbess, who is steely in her defense of the convent from outside influence (even when that influence comes from the Vatican!) and who artfully manages the emotions and piety of the women in her care.

This is the first Andrea Barrett I ever read, and it's still my favorite. The ship The Narwhal heads up to Greenland and the Canadian Arctic to search for the reamains of John Franklin and his crew. It is the mid-1800's, and no one even knows if there is an open Arctic Ocrean, so success is far from assured. The book is full of flawed and believable characters, as well as a near-perfect tension between introspection adn a narrative that moves along. The prose is gorgeous but tightly controlled. A page-turner in the best sense of the word!

A beautifully written book with a riveting plot. Roseanne McNulty, a 100-year-old woman, has been institutionalized for decades. She is secretly writing the story of her life on scraps of paper that she hides around her room. At the same time, the superintendent is trying to get her life history so he can make a decision about her discharge when the hospital shuts down. The two versions of her life story differ vastly from each other. We see an Ireland in turmoil, a church willing to ruthlessly exercise its power over women, and a woman caught up in that history. Roseanne could easily be a mere victim of her time and gender but she is never, ever that.

This wonderfully funny and warm novel explores the tensions between motherhood and work. The story focuses on four women, all vividly drawn, who have been stay-at-home moms for a while but are now considering going back to work. Making this decision involves considering a whole array of difficult questions, including: Was staying home the right thing to do? Will I have to start my career over because I've been away so long? The characters all realize they are incredibly lucky to have this choice, but the anxiety and frustration they feel are very real all the same. A wonderful book-simultaneously wry and thoughtful.

This is a wonderful first novel! In 1983, 14-year-old Saira travels alone from California to Pakistan to represent her family at a wedding in Karachi. On this trip, Saira learns many family secrets, including that her maternal grandfather (who she'd been told was dead) is alive and well. She also learns about her family's experiences during the Partition and that her favorite great aunt is a college professor. Saira is soon dreaming of going to college, too-in contrast to her sister, who marries a boy selected by her parents. As Publisher's Weekly said, "Haji achieves an effortless commingling of family and social history in this intricate story that connects a young woman and her family over continents and through generations."

This novel tells the stories of ordinary people, struggling to raise families, eke out a living, keep their faith, and understand the changing times they live in. To me, this book is about love and the importance of living one’s life boldly and embracing every moment of joy that you can. And it shows that no matter who you are or what you do, you are never too old to chase your dreams. Alice Walker has said that Cooper's style "is deceptively simple and direct, and the vale of tears in which her characters reside is never so deep that a rich chuckle at a foolish person's foolishness cannot be heard."

Grenville (Orange Prize, Commonwealth Prize) has written another beautiful, must-read book. Posted to New South Wales in the late 1700s, young Lt. Daniel Rooke is assigned a project by the Royal Astronomer-to observe a comet that can only be seen in the southern hemisphere. After building a rudimentary observatory, this shy and solitary man settles down to watch and wait. Gradually, Rooke becomes fascinated with the natives and they, in turn, with him. For the first time of his life, he makes a real connection, with a girl named Tagaran. However, Rooke's idyllic world is shattered when he is ordered to participate in a brutal action against the natives. The Lieutenant is a searingly beautiful story about the fragility of human connection and the risks of taking a stand for what is right.

I never had a chance to see Wallander on PBS Masterpiece/Mystery, so have been reading the books on which the series was based-and they are terrific. This one, the first in the series, focuses on the brutal killing of an elderly couple who lived on an isolated farm. Before she died, the old woman said the word "foreign" over and over again. Detective Kurt Wallander, whose personal life is in a shambles and is working for the first time with a new DA, struggles to figure out why the killers took the time to feed the couple's horse the night of the killings, and, if the killers really were foreigners, can he prevent a backlash against immigrants in his community?

In the hands of Rachel Cusk, the tried-and-true examination of marriage, motherhood, and life in the suburbs is made entirely new. You might think you know these themes, but you've never seen them in quite this way before. Cusk is not making fun of these characters, but she is definitely not cutting them any slack, either. By the end of the book, you may feel like you know Juliet, Christine, Maisie, and Solly better than you know yourself.

In this book, Lively explores the life she might have lived had she (and others around her) made different decisions along the way. What if Lively's family, evacuating Egypt during WWII, had gone to South Africa rather than Palestine? What if she had gone on an archeological dig in college and become an archeologist rather than a writer? This book will have you examining the consequences of various events and decisions you've made in your own life. A fascinating read.

I love this quirky book about awkward, middle-aged love in a small town in the Australian outback. Both Harley and Douglas are shy, unattractive, and insecure people. Plus their work puts them on opposite sides of a local controversy, so it is doubly unlikely that these two will ever get together. But as one reviewer said, "Grenville's careful articulation of their social anxiety will have you smiling (or cringing) with recognition. . . . Such frankness is rare, and very refreshing." I agree! This is a very special book.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age story as well as an exploration of grief. Both threads are handled with subtlety, and the writing is beautiful. The main character, Nico, is an innocent, confused teenager made painfully vulnerable by the sudden loss of her older sister. This is a wise and powerful book.

Gilchrist's latest book looks at the ways in which 9/11 and the war in Iraq affect the lives of three young women in the Hand family-Winifred, Louise, and Olivia. In particular, we trace the evolution of Olivia's opinions about the war through the newspaper editorials she writes for her work. Olivia ponders human nature and why it is inevitable that our opinions change when we have "some skin in the game." For Olivia, that "skin" is her new husband, a Marine reservist who is deployed to Iraq. This book will have you asking yourself not only what is right, but is it possible for a person to ever really know? And, as usual, Gilchrist's writing is beautiful. This is an interesting and enjoyable read.

Helen puts her own life on hold for three weeks when her friend Nicola comes to town to pursue a course of alternative treatment for cancer. Helen tries to balance her friend's needs and desires with her own but is soon battling exhaustion, guilt, anger, and despair. It doesn't help that Nicola blithely refuses to acknowledge that her condition is worsening or that she requires around-the-clock care. In a completely honest way, this book shines a light on the toll illness takes on both the patient and those around her. This well-crafted novel by veteran novelist Garner explores the limits of love, friendship, and generosity.