Fiction | Nonfiction

FICTION

Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen
In this witty, timeless comedy of manners, the charming Bennet sisters seek the perfect husband. A sprightly commentary on society and marriage in Regency England. The One Book, One Batavia 2013 selection.(Classic; Romance)

The Feast of Love  by Charles Baxter
When Charles Baxter wanders to a park during a sleepless night, he encounters a neighbor who tells him the first of several tales of love that interweave to create this luminous novel. (Literary Fiction)

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake  by Aimee Bender
As a child, Rose discovers she can taste the emotions of the person who cooked the food she eats—which often discloses people’s secrets. She narrates this story about her unusual family and their unexpected talents. This lyrical novel, infused with magical realism, captures the sweet and sour flavor of family life. (Literary Fiction; Magical Realism)

The Uncommon Reader  by Alan Bennett
When the queen of England discovers the delights of reading books, her advisers worry—and with good cause: her ideas and behavior are changing… dramatically. This novel is a paean to the joys of reading. (General Fiction)

Kindred  by Octavia Butler
Dana, a 26-year-old African-American woman living in the 1970s, is transported back to the antebellum South, where she experiences life in slavery. While she is able to return to her real life in 1976, periodically she is called back to the past to protect the young man who will become her own ancestor. A thought-provoking novel by an author who was awarded a Macarthur “genius” grant. (Time Travel)

The Sisters Brothers  by Patrick deWitt
When the Sisters brothers—professional hit men in the old West—agree to do “one last job,” things go horribly awry. Funny and irreverent and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. (How often does that happen with a Western?) (Western; Mystery; Noir; Historical Fiction)

Stones for Ibarra  by Harriet Doerr
In this lyrical novel, a retired American couple moves to a Mexican village to re-open an old copper mine. This quiet, character-driven story brings to life many of the town’s residents, who are perplexed by the strange ways of their new neighbors. (Literary Fiction)

The Hound of the Baskervilles  by Arthur Conan Doyle 
In this classic mystery, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson take a case involving a mysterious death and a terrible family legend about a ghostly hound on the menacing moor. The One Book, One Batavia 2016 selection. (Mystery; Classic)

LaRose  by Louise Erdrich 
A somber, lyrical novel about a man who honors his family’s Ojibwe traditions by giving his young son to his neighbors after accidentally killing their child in a hunting accident. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction. (Literary Fiction; Complex; Moving)

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
In this moving, character-driven story about complex family dynamics, the 13 Turner siblings must decide what to do with their family home in Detroit. (Literary Fiction; Compelling; Complex)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  by Jonathan Safran Foer
In this poignant and complex story, a precocious 9-year-old boy narrates his quest to find the lock for a key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center attack. (Literary Fiction; Bittersweet; Quirky; Multiple Narrators)

Safe from the Sea  by Peter Geye
After years of estrangement, Noah visits his stoic father, a shipwreck survivor, near the end of his life. A somber, hushed story of a father and son, set on Minnesota’s north shore. (Literary Fiction)

Disobedience  by Jane Hamilton
Narrated with pitch-perfect sarcasm and sadness by the teenage son who discovers his mother’s affair, this is the absorbing, bittersweet story of a family silently ruptured by infidelity—even as the pre-teen daughter and her father joyfully pursue their passion for Civil War reenactment. (Literary Fiction)

The Remains of the Day   by Kazuo Ishiguro
In this subdued, introspective novel, Stevens—the consummate butler for all his adult life—embarks on a rare vacation. During his drive, he finds himself reflecting on his many years of unfailing service to Lord Darlington – and wondering at his own ability look past the terrible truth about the man he served. (Literary Fiction)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The very strange Blackwoods—18-year-old Mary Katherine (who narrates the story), her sister Constance, and their uncle Julian—live in seclusion in their family mansion, scorned by the townspeople who fear them following a horrific event. A creepy contemporary classic. (Classic; Psychological Suspense)

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
Set in the midst of the Atlanta child murders, this lyrical and poignant story is told through multiple viewpoints. (Literary Fiction; Sobering)

The Report  by Jessica Francis Kane
A quietly dramatic novel that imagines the cause of a real-life disaster in London, in which people were crushed and killed while trying to enter a Tube station for safety during the Blitz. Sad and thought-provoking.(Historical Fiction)

The Solace of Leaving Early  by Haven Kimmel
In this compassionate, witty novel, Langston abandons graduate school and returns to her small Midwestern town, where she meets the unusual new minister and two troubled, orphaned girls. (General Fiction)

Folly  by Laurie R. King
Rae, a woman who has suffered personal tragedy and teetered on the brink of mental instability, moves to a remote island to restore a peculiar, ruined house she inherited from her great-uncle. Rae believes she is alone on the island, but increasingly she feels as if she is being watched. As odd, menacing incidents begin to take place, she wonders if the danger is real or if it is only her imagination. A smart, intriguing, psychological novel.(Psychological Suspense)

The Leavers by Lisa Ko
In this emotionally charged story of cross-cultural adoption and complicated lives, a woman is deported from America to China, leaving behind an adolescent son who never knew what happened to his mother. (General Fiction)

Mystic River  by Dennis Lehane
Three men, who were childhood friends until a terrible event ruptured their lives, live on the south side of Boston where they grew up. When one man’s daughter is murdered, his old friend, now a police detective, is assigned to the case and must investigate their other childhood friend. A bleak, suspenseful psychological thriller by an award-winning mystery author.(Psychological Suspense)

Moon Tiger  by Penelope Lively
Each person who visits Claudia Hampton at her deathbed reveals another aspect of this flawed, yet fascinating, woman’s life. This quiet, nostalgic Booker Prize winner raises questions about the complexity of human relationships and memory. (Literary Fiction)

The Giver  by Lois Lowry
This Newbery Medal-winning novel initially appears to depict an ideal futuristic society. Then twelve-year-old Jonas receives his life’s assignment as the Receiver of Memory. His daily meetings with the Giver, who conveys memories of life before the establishment of their regimented society, gradually lead Jonas to question their way of life. A thought-provoking novel about freedom, community, family, and love. The One Book, One Batavia 2006 selection. (Children’s Fiction; Dystopian Fiction)

She Walks These Hills  by Sharyn McCrumb
A haunting, homespun, literary mystery set on the lovingly evoked Appalachian Trail, where modern-day travelers encounter the ghost of a young woman who was kidnapped in 1779. (Mystery)

While I Was Gone  by Sue Miller
In this spellbinding novel, a woman is torn between her love for her husband and a growing obsession with a man who reappears many years after she knew him during a secret phase in her past. (General Fiction)

Anagrams  by Lorrie Moore
In this complex, inventive, and surprising novel, the characters’ identities change with every twist of the plot. (Literary Fiction)

In the Lake of the Woods  by Tim O’Brien
Did he kill her, or didn’t he? In this complex, layered, disturbing novel, a politician and his wife escape to the woods to recover, after a horrific secret from his past is uncovered. A master magician who had managed to make his past vanish, he is suspected of murder when his wife disappears. (Literary Fiction; Psychological Suspense)

The Nobodies Album  by Carolyn Parkhurst
When Octavia learns that her estranged son has been arrested for murder, she abandons the manuscript of her latest book to reconcile with him. Their story is interspersed with fragments of Octavia’s books, with both their original and revised endings. Complex, layered, and emotionally charged. (Literary Fiction)

Bel Canto  by Ann Patchett
This lyrical, award-winning novel features an international cast of well-drawn characters and a riveting plot. When guerrillas take hostages at an embassy party in an unnamed South American country, the following months of captivity result in some surprising relationships. (Literary Fiction)

Run by Ann Patchett
In this novel, a stranger risks her life to save someone, and two families become connected. A bittersweet story about family, race,  love, adoption, and all the way people run. (Literary Fiction; Layered; Complex; Heartfelt)

True Grit: A Novel  by Charles Portis
In this rip-roaring adventure story, a no-nonsense teenage girl hires a tough U.S. marshal to help avenge the death of her father. Even if you don’t like Westerns, this novel’s sparkling, wry humor and engaging dialogue just might win you over. (Western; Historical Fiction; Plainspoken; Unsentimental; Suspenseful)  

Rise and Shine  by Anna Quindlen
Meghan Fitzmaurice is the successful host of a morning talk show, who seems to have it all—until she makes a terrible gaffe on national television. Her sister Bridget narrates this witty tale of two flawed sisters undergoing dramatic personal changes. (General Fiction)

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid 
In this captivating novel about race and power dynamics, a video goes viral when a babysitter is unjustly accused of kidnapping. (Literary Fiction)

The Killer Angels  by Michael Shaara
Many of us have learned about the Civil War through history books, but this heroic and character-driven novel presents the Battle of Gettysburg through the compelling personalities of the men who fought there. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The One Book, One Batavia 2009 selection. (Historical Fiction)

Larry’s Party  by Carol Shields
Larry Weller is an ordinary guy whose life, to his surprise, twists and turns like the garden mazes he designs. In this quietly triumphant novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields gives us a sympathetic portrait of a Baby Boomer adjusting to society’s changing expectations of men. (General Fiction)

Strange Fits of Passion  by Anita Shreve
A gripping novel about a woman who escapes her abusive husband and arrives in a small coastal town in Maine, along with her infant daughter. Just as she begins to make a new life for herself, she is forced to make a terrible choice. (Psychological Suspsense)

An Unfinished Life  by Mark Spragg
A heartbreaking, yet heartwarming, novel about family and courage. When a young widow seeks refuge in her Wyoming hometown, the welcome she receives from her father-in-law Einar is decidedly cold. Meanwhile, her young daughter becomes fast friends with Einar’s old friend, a man wounded by a bear attack. This novel’s seemingly simple prose brings the characters to life. (General Fiction)

When You Reach Me  by Rebecca Stea
In this suspenseful and intricately plotted novel, sixth grader Miranda finds herself in the midst of a mysterious situation involving secret notes and time travel. The 2010 Newbery Medal winner. Not just for kids. (Children’s Fiction; Time Travel)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
This homespun children’s classic blends adventure and humor to tell the story of a mischievous boy growing up along the Mississippi River. (Children’s Fiction; Classic)

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
In this spare, haunting page turner, a Western sheriff arrests his physician brother for the abuse of Native American women. (Literary Fiction)

Doomsday Book  by Connie Willis
Through a warmly humorous, yet sad, story that alternates between the near future and the 14th century’s outbreak of the bubonic plague, Willis weaves the importance of human relationships and the successes and limitations of science. This time travel novel won all three major science fiction awards (Hugo, Nebula, and Locus). The One Book, One Batavia 2008 selection. (Time Travel)

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NONFICTION

The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities   by Will Allen
When Will Allen developed an urban farm in Milwaukee, he addressed several issues in one fell swoop: the urban food desert, public health, racism, and unemployment. Inspiring and informative. The One Book, One Batavia 2014 selection. (Memoir)

Of Beetles and Angels by Mawi Asgedom
In this inspiring, heartfelt memoir, a young Ethiopian-Eritrean man describes his family’s arrival in the United States as refugees, their struggles to adjust to a new life in Wheaton, IL, and his own motivation to succeed that led to his graduation from Harvard. The One Book, One Batavia 2004 selection. (Memoir)

Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry  selected by Billy Collins
During his tenure as Poet Laureate of the United States, Billy Collins selected these short, clear poems for a project called Poetry 180, in which poems could be read aloud at high schools—just for the joy of hearing a poem each day. The One Book, One Batavia 2011 selection.(Poetry)

The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by Jason Fagone
The engaging true story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, a genius codebreaker who began her career working for Col. Fabyan at Riverbank—and went on to break codes during WWII. The One Book, One Batavia 2021 selection. (Narrative Nonfiction; History; Journalistic)

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman 
This vivid and nuanced portrait of brothers Vincent and Theo Van Gogh explores their turbulent lives and devotion to one another. The One Book, One Batavia 2023 selection. (Narrative Nonfiction; Biography; Art)

Hiroshima  by John Hersey
This understated, yet devastating, nonfiction account by journalist John Hersey tells the stories of six survivors of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. (History)

Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope  by Wendy Holden
A moving book that tells the compelling true story of three women who hid their pregnancies, gave birth in a Nazi concentration camp, and survived along with their infants. The One Book, One Batavia 2017 selection.  (History; Intense; Haunting; Descriptive)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope  by William Kamkwamba
In this inspiring memoir about perseverance and self-sufficiency, a teenager teaches himself to build a windmill to provide electricity to his small African village. A story of youthful exuberance, a love of learning, and hope in grim circumstances. The One Book, One Batavia 2018 selection. (Coming-of-age stories; Memoir)  

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America  by Alex Kotlowitz
This bleak, powerful, true story describes two years in the lives of two boys growing up in Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes, where they live amidst poverty and violence. The One Book, One Batavia 2007 selection.(Society)

Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon by Robert Kurson 
This lively account of the astonishing Apollo 8 mission to the moon provides an inside look at the experiences of the astronauts, their wives, and the NASA officials who all took a chance on this risky launch. The One Book, One Batavia 2019 selection. (True Adventure; Inspiring)

Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II  by Robert Kurson
The exciting, fast-moving, true adventure story of scuba divers’ 1991 discovery of a sunken German submarine off the New Jersey coast, and the years they spent unraveling the unidentified U-boat’s mysteries. (True Adventure)

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America  by Erik Larson
This engrossing book interweaves the fascinating story of the building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago with the creepy true tale of serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes. The story alternates between the architects’ challenges and the murderer’s plotting, and the suspense builds… (True Crime; History)

A Night to Remember  by Walter Lord
Written in 1955, this classic account of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, remains one of the most popular books about the disaster. Walter Lord’s clear, concise storytelling allows present-day readers to feel the immediacy of the events of that terrible night 100 years ago. The One Book, One Batavia 2012 selection.(History)

West with the Night  by Beryl Markham
In this lyrical memoir, Markham vividly evokes her adventures as a groundbreaking pilot and horse trainer in Kenya in the early 20th century. (Memoir; True Adventure) 

Playing with the Enemy  by Gary W. Moore
As a teenager, Gene Moore was recruited by the Brooklyn Dodgers—but World War II interrupted his plans. In this heartfelt true story, Gary Moore describes his father’s unique experience in the Navy, playing baseball and guarding secret German prisoners, as well the challenges he faced during the war’s aftermath. The One Book, One Batavia 2010 selection. (History; Sports)

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War  by Nathaniel Philbrick
While the basic story of the Pilgrims is widely known, the events of the five decades after their arrival at Plymouth are surprisingly unfamiliar, fascinating, and relevant today. In vivid detail, Nathaniel Philbrick brings to life the legendary and less well-known Pilgrims and Native Americans who forged a relationship that eventually was destroyed by war. (History)

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiography  by Richard Rodriguez
In this memoir of his school years, Rodriguez writes beautifully, movingly, and provocatively about his love of learning, the loneliness of achieving an educational level far beyond that of his immigrant parents, and his perceptions of speaking English at school and Spanish at home. (Memoir)

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer  by James L. Swanson
This riveting account of the search for John Wilkes Booth is unexpectedly suspenseful, given that we know the outcome of the chase. Swanson’s detailed narrative puts the reader on the scene, amidst the killers, conspirators, cavalry, and detectives. The One Book, One Batavia 2015 selection. (True Crime; History)

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
In this moving memoir in graphic novel format, Takei shares the story of his family’s internment during World War II. The One Book, One Batavia 2022 selection. (Graphic Novel; Memoir)

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