Mike Cassidy

Suggested Reading: Mr. Mike Cassidy
TITLE & AUTHOR	SYNOPSIS
1984 ORWELL, G	Orwell's bleak 1984 vision of a totalitarian England under Big Brother.
Adventure Of Huckleberry Finn TWAIN, M	A young boy reaches manhood while fleeing down the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave.
Adventure Of Tom Sawyer TWAIN, M	The story of an exuberant, high-spirited boyhood by the Mississippi River that captures the magical years of the very young.
Age Of Innocence WHARTON, E	Brilliant portrayal of New York society in the 1870's where money counted more than manners or morals.
All The Pretty Horses MCCARTY, C	John Grady Cole is a young Texas rancher who sets off for adventure in the beautiful but dangerous borderland of Mexico.
Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days In L.A. RODRIGUEZ, L	The author discusses his life with gangs in East Los Angeles and in the San Gabriel Valley during the 1960's.
Am I Blue? BAUER, M (ed.)	Sixteen short stories about gay adolescent experiences.
America Street: A Multicultural Anthology Of Stories* MAZER, H	Fourteen short stories introduce readers to the rich differences and striking similarities of growing up in a multicultural world.
American Dragons: Twenty-Five Asian American Voices YEP, Y (ed.)	A collection of short stories, poems and dramatic pieces on what it is like to grow up Asian American.
American Eyes. New Asian Short Stories For Young Adults* CARLSON, L	Short stories exploring the conflicts young people feel living in two distinct worlds - one of memories and traditions, and one of today.
Amistad PATE, A	True story of the 1839 mutiny on the Spanish ship "La Amistad". When the ship is intercepted by the US Navy, and the captives imprisoned, a series of charged trials for their freedom begins that call into question the controversial institution of slavery.
Angela's Ashes MCCOURT, F	Frank McCourt tells the story of his poverty-stricken childhood years after his family returned to the slums of Limerick, Ireland.
Animal Farm* ORWELL, G	A devastating, satirical attack on the avaricious rulers in an imaginary totalitarian state.
Anna Karenina TOLSTOY, L	Sensual, rebellious Anna renounces a respectable marriage and a fine position for a passionate and destructive romantic involvement.
As I Lay Dying FAULKNER, W	The harrowing account of a family's struggle to get their mother properly buried.
At All Costs GILSTRAP, J	Jake and Carolyn have spent thirteen years on the FBI Most Wanted List for murders they did not commit. Now they are caught and are fighting for their freedom and their lives.
Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories CRUTCHER, C	Six deeply touching stories in which the reader revisits some memorable characters from the author's distinguished novels.
Atlas Shrugged RAND, A	The story of a man who said he would stop the motor of the world - and did.
Autobiography Of Jane Pitman GAINES, E	A fictional biography of a black woman born in slavery whose long life span saw the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of her people.
Autobiography Of Malcolm X MALCOLM X	The absorbing personal story of Malcolm X's rise from hoodlum, dope peddler and pimp to dynamic leader of the black revolution.
Ballad Of The Sad Café And Other Stories MCCULLERS, C	A collection of McCuller's best short stories about grotesque people and situations in the southern United States.
Beach Music CONROY, P	The story of Jack McCall, an American expatriate in Rome, desperately seeking peace after his wife's suicide, and trying to find a way to heal himself and his closely-bound group of fiends.
Beet Queen ERDRICH, L	When Mary Adare's father dies, and her mother abandons her, the young girl takes a freight train to an aunt and uncle in North Dakota. She lives with them and her cousin Sita as well as a friend of both, Celestine. Years later, her older brother Karl turns up in the town, and fathers a daughter with Celestine.
Bell Jar PLATH, S	Autobiographical novel about a young woman on the brink of madness and suicide.
Beloved* MORRISON, T	In post-Civil War Ohio, the past continues to haunt the ex-slave Sethe, and the surviving members of her family.
Bend In The River NAIPAUL, V	Salim, a young Indian man, moves to a town on a bend in the river of a recently independent nation in Africa. As Salim strives to establish his business, he comes to be closely involved with the fluid and dangerous politics of the newly created state, the remnants of the old regime clashing inevitably with the new.
Black Boy WRIGHT, R	Richard Wright's unforgettable story of growing up in the Jim Crow South. The book is told from the perspective of the adult Wright, who was still trying to come to grips with the cruel deprivations and humiliations of his childhood.
Black Elk Speaks: Being The Life Story Of A Holy Man Of The Oglala Sioux NEIHARD, J	The life story and personal vision of a Sioux warrior and medicine man who lived through the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the massacre at Wounded Knee and the death of his people.
Black Like Me GRIFFIN, J	A medically darkened white man's record of his month traveling as a black man in the South.
Bless Me, Ultima ANAYA, R	Ultima, a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic, comes to Antonio Marez's New Mexico family when he is six years old, and she helps him discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past. A depiction of life for a Chicano family in the American Southwest.
Bluest Eye MORRISON, T	Haunting story of a young black girl who prays every night for blue eyes, thinking that blue eyes would change her life and make it better.
Bonesetter’s Daughter TAN, A	LuLing Young searches for the name of her mother, the daughter of the "Famous Bonesetter from the Mouth of the Mountain". Trying to hold on to the evaporating past, she begins to write all that she can remember of her life as a girl in China.
Boy Called "It". One Child's Courage To Survive PELZER, D	Dave Pelzer shares his unforgettable story of the many abuses he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic mother and the averted eyes of his neglectful father. Someone with no one to turn to, his dreams barely kept him alive. Through each of his struggles, readers will find themselves enduring his pain, comforting his loneliness and fighting for his will to survive.
Brave New World HUXLEY, A	Huxley´s vision of the future in his astonishing 1931 novel Brave New World - a world of tomorrow in which capitalist civilization has been reconstituted through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, where the people are genetically designed to be passive, consistently useful to the ruling class.
Bud, Not Buddy* CURTIS, C	When his mother dies in 1936, Bud hits the road, convinced that his mother's posters of a jazz band would lead him to the father he has never met.
Catch-22 HELLER, J	A savagely funny war novel: military madness and civilian insanity in WW II.
Catcher In The Rye SALINGER, J	Holden Caulfield is the typically alienated private school rebel in this 1945 classic.
Catherine, Called Birdie CUSHMAN, K	A young girl's hilarious account of her 14^th year against a background of everyday life on a medieval English manor in the year 1290.
Chinese Handcuffs CRUTCHER, C	Dillion Hemingway must pick up the pieces of his own life after his brother's suicide, plus deal with girlfriend problems and peer pressure.
Cider House Rules IRVING, J	The story of Dr. Wilbur Larch - obstetrician, director of St. Cloud's orphanage, ether addict and abortionist - and his favorite orphan, Homer Wells.
Clear And Present Danger CLANCY, T	Jack Ryan, hero of The Hunt for Red October, is in the middle of America's war on drugs. Colombian drug lords have assassinated three top American officials. America's response is unprecedented and shocking!
Cold Mountain FRAZIER, C	A Confederate soldier's trek brings him into intense situations with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, as he travels on his journey home to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Cold Sassy Tree BURNS, O	On July 5^th, 1906, Will Tweedy's newly widowed grandfather elopes with Love Simpson, half his age, and a Yankee to boot!
Color Purple WALKER, A	A triumphant novel of a black woman's life in the South.
Confessions Of Nat Turner STYRON, W	A 25^th anniversary edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel based on the true story of an abortive slave rebellion in 1831 gives a chilling account of a noble man's moral decline.
Cry The Beloved Country PATON, A	Beautifully told and profoundly compassionate story set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940's
Death In Holy Orders JAMES, P	When the body of the one of the students of an Anglican theological college is found on the shore, smothered by a fall of sand, Commander Dalgliesh finds himself embroiled in one of the most horrific and puzzling cases of his career.
Deep End Of The Ocean MILLER, F	Beth Cappadora, brings along her children to a school reunion. She asks 7-year-old Vincent to watch his younger brother Ben as she makes her way to the hotel's registration desk. When she returns, Ben is gone.
Depths Of Glory: A Biographical Novel of Camille Pissarro STONE, I	Biographical novel based on the life of the impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro.
Dolores Clairborne KING, S	Folks on Little Tall Island have been waiting 30 years to find out what happened the day Dolores Claiborne's husband Joe died - but the police want to know what happened yesterday, when Dolores's long-time employer died suddenly in her care.
Don Quixote CERVANTES, M	The unabridged saga of the fabulous knight and his simple squire and their adventure / Survivals in Medieval Spain.
Dubliners JOYCE, J	Seminal modernist collection of stories describing the moral history of Joyce's community: middle-class Catholic Dublin.
Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man In The Moon Marigolds ZINDEL, P	The story of Tillie, a young girl who uses science to help escape from her odd family life.
Ethan Frome And Other Short Fiction WHARTON, E	This tragic love story set in New England has become a timeless classic.
Everything That Rises Must Converge O’CONNOR, F	This collection of short stories is an exquisite legacy from a genius of the American short story. They encompass the comic and the tragic, the beautiful and the grotesque.
Fahrenheit 451* BRADBURY, R	Unsettling view of the future in which all books are banned or burned.
Farewell To Arms HEMINGWAY, E	One of Ernest Hemingway's most enduring creations, a tale of love set on the Italian front during WW I.
Finding Laura Buggs WEST, S	One perplexing clue to her past sets Sandy Meyer on an incredible and harrowing journey in search of her lost family, a pilgrimage that brings her face to face with nerve-shattering suspense, unbearable terror and the magnificent capacity of the human heart.
Floating In My Mother’s Palm* HEGI, U	A moving account of Hanna Malter, a young girl growing up in a small town in Germany in the 1950s, a time when Adolf Hitler isn't mentioned in history classes - or by anyone in town.
Flowers For Algernon KEYES, D	Provocative novel of a dramatic medical experiment and its implication for society. 30-year-old retarded Charlie is turned into a genius.
For Whom The Bells Toll HEMINGWAY, E	The epic story of Robert Jordan, who fought, loved and died with the anti-Fascist guerrillas of the Spanish Civil War.
Fountainhead RAND, A	Novel of rebellious architect who refuses to lower his standards in work or love.
Frankenstein SHELLEY, M	A genius rejected by society exacts his revenge through the monster he brings to life.
Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe FLAGG, F	A folksy, funny and endearing story of life in a small town in Alabama in the Depression and in the 1980s.
Gathering Of Old Men GAINES, E	In this eloquent novel, set in Louisiana in the 1970's, eighteen old, black men each claim to have shot a white man, and in the process, experience their first taste of power and pride.
Ghost Boy LAWRENCE, I	Harold, an albino, joins a visiting circus to escape the taunts of townspeople and to find a place that seems like home.
Girl With A Pearl Earring CHEVALIER, T	The story behind the advent of a famous painting, Girl With A Pearl Earring, by Vermeer, all the while depicting life in 17^th-century Delft, a small Dutch city with a burgeoning art community.
Go Tell It On The Mountain BALDWIN, J	Autobiographical novel of a family in Harlem composed of an angry father, a stoic mother, a rebellious older son and a sensitive younger one.
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater VONNEGUT, K	A rich man attempts a noble experiment with human nature. The result is an etched-in-acid portrayal of universal greed, hypocrisy and follies of the flesh.
Godfather PUZO, M	A searing novel of the Mafia underworld.
Gorky Park SMITH, M	Chief Police Inspector Arkady Renko was a man too just for Russia and too cynical for anywhere else. When he found three frozen corpses in Gorky Park, their fingerprints obliterated and their faces skinned, he was immediately propelled into an international intrigue.
Grand Opening HASSLER, J	Brendan's parents decided to buy a run-down grocery store in a tiny Minnesota town in 1944-45. What they discover about small town idealism, bigotry and good old American values will change them and the town forever.
Grapes Of Wrath STEINBECK, J	Powerful chronicle of dispossessed landowners who leave Oklahoma during the Great Depression and head for the "promised land" of California.
Great Expectations DICKENS, C	The story of young Pip's difficult coming-of-age in the genteel but corrupt world of Victorian society.
Great Gatsby FITZGERALD, S	Classic novel of life in the 1920's.
Great Santini CONROY, P	A tyrannical father brutalizes his family, and particularly his oldest son, interpreting humanity as weakness in this unsparing novel. Tragedy is the outcome.
Green Grass, Running Water KING, T	The story of five Blackfoot Native Americans in the town of Blossom and its nearby reserve, whose very different lives nevertheless continually cross.
Green Mile KING, S	Set in the 1930s at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death-row facility, The Green Mile is the riveting and tragic story of John Coffey, a giant, preternaturally gentle inmate condemned to death for the rape and murder of twin nine-year-old girls.
Grendel GARDNER, J	Witty, original retelling of Beowulf's legend from the monster's point of view.
Handmaid's Tale ATWOOD, M	The story is set in a future America where women are categorized in terms of whether or not they are able to bear children, and function in the strictly defined roles assigned to them by men.
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (Book 2) ROWLING, J	Harry Potter is in terrible danger indeed when he returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Chilling, malevolent voices whisper from the walls only to Harry, and it seems certain that his classmate Draco Malfoy is out to get him.
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. (Book 4) ROWLING, J	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry vies with two other magicians' schools, the stylish Beauxbatons and the icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky contenders?
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (Book 3) ROWLING, J	Harry Potter "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment, Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) ROWLING, J	Orphan Harry Potter's life changes when destiny calls and he isenrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Heart Is A Lonely Hunter MCCULLERS, C	Unsentimental yet compassionate portrayal of a cross-section of humanity in a small Southern town.
Heart Of Darkness And The Secret Sharer CONRAD, J	Two brilliant short novels that explore the human soul, its capacity for good, and its inclination for evil.
Hiroshima HERSEY, J	Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, John Hersey interviews with survivors of Hiroshima's bomb when the ashes were still warm.
Hobbit TOLKIEN, J	Tolkien has created a world of fantasy called Middle-Earth, populated by small creatures known as Hobbits. This prelude to Lord of the Rings trilogy chronicles the adventures of Bilbo Baggins.
Horse Whisperer EVANS, N	Teenager Grace Maclean loses a leg in a terrible accident while riding her horse, Pilgrim. Grace and Pilgrim are both emotionally scarred as well as physically devastated by the accident. Realizing that the fates of her daughter and the horse are linked, Grace's mother launches a campaign to find a '"horse whisperer'", someone who can cure troubled horses with only a calm voice and a soothing touch.
Hound Of Baskerville DOYLE, A	The most famous adventure of the peerless detective Sherlock Holmes concerns a family living under the ancient curse of a spectral hound.
House On Mango Street CISNEROS, S	Esperanza Cordero, a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago, captures her thoughts and emotions in poems and stories in order to rise above hopelessness and create a space for herself.
How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents ALVAREZ, J	Fifteen interconnected stories portray the immigrant experience with humor and insight when the four Garcia girls come to America from the Dominican Republic in 1960.
Hunt For Red October CLANCY, T	Gripping military thriller about the chase of for a top-secret Russian missile sub.
I Am Mordred: A Tale From Camelot SPRINGER, N	Merlin has prophesied that King Arthur will die at his son Mordred's hand. Mordred wants a way to fight his fate in this retelling of the Arthurian tale.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings ANGELOU, M	The moving and beautiful autobiography of a talented black woman confronting her own life with dignity.
I Sing The Body Electric! And Other Stories BRADBURY, R	Spellbinding collection of short stories that mixes horror, science fiction and fantasy.
If Beale Street Could Talk BALDWIN, J	Fonny, a talented young artist, finds himself unjustly arrested and locked in New York's infamous (prison) tombs. His girlfriend, Tish, is determined to free him, and to have his baby.
Into The Wild KRAKAUER, J	When 24-year old Christopher McCandless walked into the Alaskan wilderness alone, never to be seen alive again, he left behind a storm of controversy and conflicting emotions over his odyssey.
Into Thin Air KRAKAUER, J	The tragedy that took the lives of experienced mountain guides and novice climbers in a raging blizzard atop Mt. Everest in 1996 is chronicled with clarity, poignancy and brutal honesty by someone who had witnessed the event first-hand.
Invisible Man ELLISON, R	Compelling saga of a black man who struggles from the South to the North, always encountering other people's preconceived notions about him.
Jane Eyre BRONTE,C	The love story of a strong, yet gentle, woman and a harsh mannered society man with a mysterious past and a secret hidden in his attic.
Jazz MORRISON, T	Morrison, in her sixth novel, enters 1926 Harlem, a new black world then (``safe from fays [whites] and the things they think up''), and moves into a love story - with a love that could clear a space from the past, give a life or take one.
Jemmy HASSLER, J	When Jemmy's Chippewa mother dies, and her alcoholic father forces her to quit school to care for her younger brother and sister, she knows she has nothing in life to look forward to. Then she meets Otis Chapman, a famous painter, who discovers Jemmy's artistic talent and opens up a whole new world for her.
Joy Luck Club TAN, A	Chronicles the lives of four Chinese women, their forty-year friendship, and how the death of one member brings her daughter into the group, creating a new understanding for each.
Juneteenth ELLISON, R	Everyone is shocked when Senator Sunraider, mortally wounded by an assassin's bullet, calls an old black minister to his deathbed. A story emerges of how the senator, an orphan raised by the minister, denied everything to achieve his goals.
Jungle SINCLAIR, U	A novel of in satiable human greed and its victims - both human and animal - set in Chicago at the beginning of the 20^th Century.
Kitchen God’s Wife TAN, A	An unfolding of secrets that takes a mother and her daughter back to the small island outside Shangui in the 1920’s and throughout China during WW II.
Legend Of Bagger Vance PRESSFIELD, S	In the Depression year of 1931, on the golf links at Krewe Island off Savannah's windswept shore, two legends of the game - Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen - meet for a mesmerizing thirty-six-hole showdown. Another golfer will also compete - a troubled local war hero, once a champion, who comes with his mentor and caddie, the mysterious Bagger Vance.
Lesson Before Dying GAINES, E	Set in the 1940's, this is a heartbreaking story of friendship between two black men, one condemned to die.
Light In August FAULKNER, W	The story of the orphan Joe Christmas, whose mixed black-white heritage condemns him to life as an outsider who is hated by some and pitied by others.
Like Water For Chocolate ESQUIVAL, L	Tita, the youngest of three daughters, is expected to spend her life waiting on Mama Elena and never to marry. When her beloved Pedro becomes engaged to one of her sisters, Tita and he are thrown into tantalizing proximity and manage to communicate their affection through the dishes she prepares for him and his rapturous appreciation.
Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven ALEXIE, S	Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, presents contemporary life on the Spokane Indian Reservation through 22 linked stories.
Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul ADAMS, D	When a passenger check-in desk at London's Heathrow Airport disappears in a ball of orange flame, the explosion is deemed an act of God. But which god, wonders holistic detective Dirk Gently?
Lord Of The Rings TOLKIEN, J	Tolkien's trilogy of the Hobbits of Middle Earth and the Great War of Rings.
Lords Of Discipline CONROY, P	Will McLean, a rebellious outsider with his own personal code of honor, is battling into manhood the hard way. Immersed in a poignant love affair with a haunting beauty, Will must boldly confront the terrifying injustice of a corrupt institution as he struggles to expose a mysterious group known as "The Ten".
Losing Absalom PATE, A	Absalom Goodman worked all his life to build a home for his family. Now the neighborhood has changed for the worse, lifelong dreams have turned into bitter realities, and Absalom is dying of cancer.
Lost In The Barrens MOWAT, F	Awasin, a Cree Indian boy, and Jamie, a Canadian orphan living with his uncle, the trapper Angus Macnair, are enchanted by the magic of the great Arctic wastes. They set out on an adventurethat proves longer and more dangerous than they could have imagined.
Madame Bovary FLABERT, G	Classic novel in which a woman defies the standards of convention in French society.
Map Of The World HAMILTON, J	A drama about a rural American family filled with grief after their child drowns.
Martian Chronicles BRADBURY, R	These stories of Earth and Mars illustrate the universal forces of love, hate, fear and courage.
Member Of The Wedding MCCULLERS, C	Young Frankie cannot understand why everyone disapproves of her idea of going on her brother’s honeymoon. Then she realizes "member of the wedding" doesn't mean what she thinks.
Memoirs Of A Geisha GOLDEN, A	The remarkable story of Nitta Sayuri, a gray-eyed geisha. In a world where ritual is prized above individual happiness, Nitta risks everything she has achieved for a chance at happiness.
Moby Dick MELVILLE, H	Ahab's quest for the great White Whale is an allegory of the individual's struggle with fate.
Monster; The Autobiography Of An LA Gang Member SHAKUR, S	Monster Kody, today known as Sanyika Sakur, spent 16 years as a gangbanger in South Central Los Angeles. His account begins at age eleven, when he was inducted into the ranks of the Crips, and ends (hundreds of bodies later) with Scott serving a seven-year prison term for beating a crack dealer.
Murder On The Orient Express CHRISTIE, A	Agatha Christie's renowned mystery on the fabled Orient Express.
My Name Is Asher Lev POTOK, C	Asher Lev, the religious boy with an overwhelming need to draw, to paint, to render the world he knows and the pain he feels, on canvas for everyone to see. It is a force that must learn to master without shaming his people or relinquishing any part of his deeply felt Judaism.
Native Son WRIGHT, R	Caught up in forces of racism he can't understand or control, Bigger Thomas, a black man living in Chicago in the early 1930’s, turns to violence.
Never Cry Wolf MOWAT, F	True story of a brash young scientist's incredible adventure with a family of wolves in the Canadian wilderness.
Night Shift KING, S	Anthology that features the classic stories "Children of the Corn," "The Lawnmower Man," "Graveyard Shift," "The Mangler," and "Sometimes They Come Back" - which were all made into hit horror films.
Obasan KOGAWA, J	Based on the author's own experiences, this award-winning novel was the first to tell the story of the evacuation, relocation and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War.
Old Man And The Sea HEMINGWAY, E	The tragic tale of a Cuban fisherman and the giant marlin he kills and loses.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. KESEY, K	Cowed by a sadistic nurse, the inmates of a mental hospital are galvanized by a new patient, the free-spirited McMurphy, who enters a pitched battle of wills with the nurse.
One Hundred Years Of Solitude MARQUEZ, G	The everyday and the miraculous blend in this sweeping chronicle of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo, as seen through the eyes of the Buendia family.
Ordinary People GUEST, J	An incisive, unsparing look at family politics among a father, a mother and a son in the wake of a family tragedy.
Perfect Storm JUNGER, S	In 1991 the forces of nature converged to create a 100-year storm that caught the North Atlantic fishing fleet at sea and unprotected.
Pet Sematary KING, S	When Dr. Louis Creed is first taken to the pet cemetery in the woods behind his house, he thinks it is just an eccentric, if morbid, local site. However, after he learns that the Micmac Indian burial grounds beyond it have the power to bring his daughter's dead cat back from death, albeit slightly altered, he discovers that he has been touched by a power beyond anything imaginable.
Pigs In Heaven KINGSOLVER, B	This is a sequel to The Bean Trees. Taylor Greer and her adopted Cherokee Indian daughter, Turtle, are on a trip to the Hoover Dam, where Turtle is the only person to see a man fall over the side. The rescue makes Turtle a heroine, but becoming a heroine engenders a new disaster.
Pilot’s Wife SCHREVE, A	When Kathryn Lyon’s husband, Jack, a pilot, is killed in a plane crash, she must deal with her grief while simultaneously discovering that her husband was not the loyal man she thought.
Poisonwood Bible KINGSOLVER, B	The story of an American missionary and his family in 1959. A compelling exploration of religion, conscience, imperialist arrogance, and the many paths to redemption.
Prince Of Tides CONROY, P	Spanning 40 years, this is the story of turbulent Tom Wingo, his gifted and troubled twin sister Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the extraordinary family into which they were born.
Red Pony STEINBECK, J	Jody is well prepared for the hard work and demands of a rancher's life, but nothing has prepared him for the special connection he will forge with Gabilan, a hot-tempered pony his father gives him. When Gabilan falls ill, Jody discovers there are still lessons he must learn about the ways of nature and, more particularly, the ways of man.
Reservation Blues ALEXIE, S	A mythic tale of an all-Indian rock band traveling from reservation bars to Seattle and on to Manhattan.
Saint Maybe TYLER, A	When Ian Bedloe’s older brother, Danny, is killed in a late-night car crash after an angry confrontation with Ian, and Danny's grief-stricken and unstable wife commits suicide, leaving behind three children, Ian is overwhelmed by guilt.
Separate Peace KNOWLES, K	Two young prep school roommates learn to cope with the emotions of adulthood when one of them is struck down by a crippling accident.
Silas Marner ELIOT, G	Silas Marner, a 19^th century English weaver, avoids relationships to guard his gold. One day his wealth is stolen and replaced with a golden-haired child.
Slaughterhouse Five VONNEGUT, K	Slaughterhous-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.
Snow Falling On Cedars GUTERSON, D	In 1954 on the isolated beaches of San Pedro Island in Puget Sound, a local fisherman mysteriously drowns. When a Japanese American is charged with his murder, it becomes clear over the course of the ensuing trial that much more is at stake than one man's guilt.
Song Of Solomon MORRISON, T	Macon Dead, an upper-class Northern black businessman, tries to insulate his family the danger and despair of the rank and file blacks with whom he shares the neighborhood. The plan leads his son onto a path exactly opposite the one his father had hoped.
Sophie’s Choice STYRON, W	The story of a young Southerner who wants to become a writer, the turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman, and an awful wound in the woman's past, one that impels Sophie toward destruction.
Starship Troopers HEINLEIN, R	A recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe - and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against mankind's most frightening enemy.
Streets Of Laredo MCMURTRY, L	In this sequel to Lonesome Dove, Gus McCrae's partner Call is a bounty hunter hired to track down and kill the brilliant, elusive young Mexican bandit Joey Garza. In the ensuing chase, an old man's skills are matched against a young man's daring.
The 13th Warrior (aka Eaters of the Dead) CRICHTON, M	The best selling author of Jurassic Park retells the outrageous adventure of Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, who accompanies a party of Viking warriors to the barbaric north and witnesses their cold-blooded human sacrifices.
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower CHBOSKY, S	Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is navigating through the strange worlds of love, drugs, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and dealing with the loss of a good friend and his favorite aunt.
Tommyknockers* KING, S	Something is happening to the residents of Haven, Maine. Something that gives everyone in the small town powers no human should have, turning Haven into a death trap for outsiders - and plunging the town into the depths of madness.
Toning The Sweep JOHNSON, A	Ola, Emmie's grandma who lives in the California desert is dying of cancer. Emily borrows a video camera and begins to record Ola's friends, reminiscing about their times together. In giving her grandmother a gift of 'memories of her people', Emily's knowledge and understanding of her own family, and especially of Ola, grows.
Waiting To Exhale MCMILLAN, T	In this proud, poignant tale, four 30-something African-American women rely on one another for love and support.
Watership Down ADAMS, R	Picturesque saga of a maverick band of rabbits that, against all odds, seek a new home and a better society.
We Were The Mulvaneys OATES, J	Saga about a seemingly ideal family that is suddenly rocked by the date-rape of 16-year-old Marianne Mulvaney. This shattering event brings about an extraordinary journey into 25 years of shameful secrets and despair, culminating in the unforseen miracles that can bring a family closer together.
What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day CLEAGE, P	Ava Johnson decides to sell her hair salon in Atlanta and move to San Francisco. On the way, she summers in Idlewild, the small town in northern Michigan where she grew up. Will she be able to move on, however, when her friends and family need her?
When We Were Colored TAULBERT	Taulbert looks back at his "colored" childhood in the segregated South with striking honesty and unusual affection, revealing the deep sense of community, optimism and self-worth instilled by his family.
White Oleander FITCH, J	Young Astrid is an only child with strong attachments to her brilliant if unstable mother, Ingrid, and their idyllic life together. Astrid's world is shattered, however, when Ingrid murders her lover after a devastating rejection. Her life becomes a constantly changing whirlwind of strange new faces and foster homes.

Suggested Reading: Mr. Mike Cassidy