Book clubbing, that is. (Though the other kind would also be amazing). NPL now offers several book club options if you want to deep dive into various kinds of reads or listens. Among these are:
Saleem Sinai, the hero of Midnight's Children, is one of the thousand and one children born in India at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the dawn of its independence from British rule—the moment, in the words of its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, when India had her "tryst with destiny." At once a fairy tale, a furious political satire, and a meditation on the ways in which time and change both shape and are shaped by the life of a single individual, Midnight's Children anticipated and to a certain extent defined the multifarious, dislocated, ever-expanding world in which, increasingly, we all live.
Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. As Morrison follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, she introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized Black world.
In this groundbreaking debut, Justin Torres plunges us into the chaotic heart of one family, the intense bonds of three brothers, and the mythic effects of this fierce love on the people we must become.
As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.
Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. .
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice—but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.
The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under -- maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. His mother, Leonie, wants to be a better mother but can’t put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. When the children’s father, Michael, is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity.
At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished Haitian village to New York to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child should ever know, and a legacy of shame that can be healed only when she returns to Haiti—to the women who first reared her. What ensues is a passionate journey through a landscape charged with the supernatural and scarred by political violence. In her stunning literary debut, Danticat evokes the wonder, terror, and heartache of her native Haiti—and the enduring strength of Haiti’s women—with vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people’s suffering and courage.
The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes-sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous-Sandra Cisneros' masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.
Regina Gottlieb had been warned about Professor Nicholas Brodeur long before arriving as a graduate student at his prestigious university high on a pastoral hill. He’s said to lie in the dark in his office while undergraduate women read couplets to him. He’s condemned on the walls of the women’s restroom, and enjoys films by Roman Polanski. But no one has warned Regina about his exceptional physical beauty—or his charismatic, volatile wife. My Education is the story of Regina’s mistakes, which only begin in the bedroom, and end—if they do—fifteen years in the future and thousands of miles away.
Baldwin's classic novel opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Originally published in 1953, Baldwin said of his first novel, "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else."
Uprooted from their family home in the Dominican Republic, the four Garcia sisters - Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia - arrive in New York City in 1960 to find a life far different from the genteel existence of maids, manicures, and extended family they left behind. The novel begins with thirty-nine-year-old Yolanda's return to the island and moves magically backward in time to the final days before the exile that is to transform the sisters' lives. Although the girls try to distance themselves from their island life by ironing their hair, forgetting their Spanish, and meeting boys unchaperoned, they remain forever caught between the old world and the new.
After the unexpected loss of their parents, the six adult Whittier children must reunite in the family home without their parents for the first time ever. The oldest, Lyle, is reaching a breaking point in his marriage and must decide whether a divorce would be best for him and his two children. Gloria’s big job on Wall Street has kept her single at thirty-nine, and growing ever more cynical. The twins, Caroline and Charlie, moved out long ago to start a fashion business that may now be faltering. Benjie, with special needs, is hit hard by the loss of his parents and needs his siblings’ help. And Annabelle, the youngest, drops out of college and starts to spin out of control. The eldest four are forced to put aside their personal issues and their grief to keep the family together and support each other and their two youngest siblings.
As a girl, Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana until tragedy upended her life. Now at thirty-four, she is drawn by disturbing appeals back to the Montana farmstead. And she's not alone. People from all walks of life have converged at the remote ranch. All are haunted, on the run, obsessed, and seeking answers to the same omniscient danger Joanna came to confront.On the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a frightening manifesto that only mass murder can bring to fruition.
John A. Farrell’s magnificent biography of Edward M. Kennedy is the first single-volume life of the great figure since his death. Farrell’s long acquaintance with the Kennedy universe and the acclaim accorded his previous books—including his New York Times bestselling biography of Richard Nixon, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—helped garner him access to a remarkable range of new sources, including segments of Kennedy’s personal diary and his private confessions to members of his family in the days that followed the accident on Chappaquiddick. Farrell is, without question, one of America’s greatest political biographers and a storyteller of deep wisdom and empathy. His book does full justice to this famously epic and turbulent life of almost unimaginable tragedy and triumph.
Theodora Morgan, one of the most successful businesswomen in the world, prefers to keep a low profile since one year ago when her husband, industry mogul Matthieu Pasquier, and their son were kidnapped and held for ransom. That nightmare that ended in tragedy. Theo has reluctantly gone back to work running her company when she crosses paths with high-society networker Pierre de Vaumont. She invites him to a company event, unaware that Pierre has suspicious Russian contacts linked to the kidnapping. Senior CIA operative Mike Andrews realizes that Theo and Pierre will be on the same flight and learns of the event invitation. He poses as a lawyer to ensure Theo's safety. When Mike and Theo meet, their connection is instant, but Theo is completely unaware of Mike’s true objective or identity or that the life she is rebuilding is in grave danger.
Jake Brigance is called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, who three years earlier stole money from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and left his family in the middle of the night. Now Mack is back, but his homecoming does not go as planned. In “Strawberry Moon,” young Death Row inmate Cody Wallace has one final request as the clock winds down three hours to his scheduled execution. “Sparring Partners” and brothers, Kirk and Rusty Malloy, loathe each other, speaking to each other only when necessary. As the firm disintegrates, the resulting fiasco falls into the lap of Diantha Bradshaw, the only person both partners trust.
Darcy and I are preparing to welcome a brand-new addition to our little family. But when I receive a letter from my glamorous best friend, Belinda, Darcy suggests we take a trip to Paris to visit her and conduct some business of his own. Darcy has asked me to take on a small chore as a part of his latest assignment: To covertly retrieve something from an attendee of Coco Chanel’s fashion show. It seems easy enough, but when things go horribly wrong, I am left to find a killer all while trying to fend off a French policeman who is certain that I am a criminal mastermind.
When a sudden crime wave hits several small midwestern towns, the U.S. Attorney for the region calls on Harry Duncan to investigate. An ex-cop known for his unorthodox methods, Duncan is reluctant to go up against a widespread criminal organization—but the attorney in question is Ellen Leicester, the wife who left him fifteen years earlier, and to her, he can’t say no. Duncan begins compiling a “murder book,” the notebook in which a detective keeps records, interviews, photos—everything he needs to build his case. But his scrutiny of the gang soon makes both him and Ellen targets.
After a childhood filled with poverty and neglect, Beyah Grim finally has her hard-earned ticket out of Kentucky with a full ride to Penn State. But two months before she’s finally free to change her life for the better, an unexpected death leaves her homeless and forced to spend the remainder of her summer in Texas with a father she barely knows. Devastated and anxious for the summer to go by quickly, Beyah has no time or patience for Samson, the wealthy, brooding guy next door. Yet, the connection between them is too intense to ignore. But with their upcoming futures sending them to opposite ends of the country, the two decide to maintain only a casual summer fling. Too bad neither has any idea that a rip current is about to drag both their hearts out to sea.
From the founder of the Fat Girls Hiking community comes an inclusive, inspiring call to the outdoors for people of all body types, sizes, and backgrounds. In a book brimming with heartfelt stories, practical advice, personal profiles of Fat Girls Hiking community members, and helpful trail reviews, Summer Michaud-Skog creates space for marginalized bodies with an insistent conviction that outdoor recreation should welcome everyone. Whether you’re an experienced or aspiring hiker, you’ll be empowered to hit the trails and find yourself in nature. Trails not scales!
A high-end stolen car is discovered in Vermont filled with stolen items from a far-flung two state burglary spree as well as the body of the burglar in question, Don Kalfus. Joe Gunther's task force, charged with finding out why Kalfus was murdered, then finds evidence of a notorious unsolved child abduction case within a pile of stolen cell phones in the car. The case leads Joe Gunther's team from the New Hampshire coast to near the Canadian border as they attempt to find and capture the psychopath responsible for a tangled, historical web of misery, betrayal, and loss.
After leaving an abusive husband, Beverly is attempting to create a new life for herself and son Tommie in a small town off the beaten track. Her stress only rises when Tommie insists he’d been hearing someone walking on the roof and calling his name late at night. And their money is running out. Failed musician Colby Mills now heads a small family farm in North Carolina but spontaneously takes a gig playing in a bar in St. Pete Beach, Florida. There he meets Morgan Lee, graduate of a prestigious college music program who wants to become a star in Nashville. It's first love at first sight in the course of a single unforgettable week. And fate will draw all three people together in a web of life-altering connections.
During an intense storm in Dark Harbor, Maine, a perplexing murder lands a dead man on Stone Barrington's doorstep. As secrets swirl around this mystery man's identity, Stone quickly sets out to unravel a web of cunning misdirections and lies. Soon enough, he is embroiled in an elaborate game of cat and mouse between the CIA and nefarious foreign forces, including a bewitching new companion who comes under his protection. But when Stone's actions draw the attention of an old enemy, one who will stop at nothing to prevent the truth from getting out, Stone realizes he may have finally met his match.
Playwright Kate Gamble is struggling to launch a script about the dark side of Big Data, something she knows firsthand. Her father Christian is CEO of Buck Technologies, a private data integration company whose clients include prominent counter-terrorism organizations. This play would be the ultimate betrayal in her father's eyes. But Kate is compelled to tell this story, due in part to her mother's suicide with the note: I did it for Kate. Kate's childhood friend, Patrick Battle, is now Buck's golden boy with security clearance to the company's most sensitive projects. When the company comes under investigation, Patrick is kidnapped. The ransom demand is "Code 6"--the most dangerous technology her father's company has developed. Kate's fight to bring Patrick home safely reveals a cover up implicating powerful executives in the tech industry, while her play unleashes the demons behind her mother's cryptic final note.
Nora Stephens' life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. The only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby, with whom she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August. But Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again, what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they envision giraffes gently eating leaves from the tall acacia trees, great swarms of wildebeests crossing the Mara River, and herds of zebras storming the sandy plains. What Katie and her glittering entourage do not expect is this: a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads. As the powerful sun gives way to night, the gunmen shove them into abandoned huts and Katie Barstow, Hollywood royalty, prays for a simple thing: to see the sun rise one more time.
