The Help
by Kathyrn Stockton

I found this book to be unusually interesting, even shocking in parts. In the voices of three women, it tries to answer the question: What is it like to be black in the summer of 1962 in Jackson, Miss.? Read more.....29K Word doc.

Journey From The Land of No
by Roya Hakakian

This book provides an eye-witness account from a talented teen-ager’s viewpoint of the Iranian revolution of 1979, when the Shah’s regime was toppled by followers of the Ayaytolla Khomeini. Read more.....24K Word doc.

The Condition
by Jennifer Haigh

What happens when a family member is diagnosed with a rare genetic "condition"? This interesting novel explores the impact of Turner’s Syndrome on the McKotch family over a 21-year period. Read more.....23K Word doc.

When You Are Engulfed With Flames
by David Sedaris

A hilarious collection of stories and essays, on top of the Boston Globe and The New York Times best-seller lists. Read more.....23K Word doc.

The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch

A cancer diagnosis strikes like a lightning bolt, terrorizing both the victim, the family, and friends. It starts the very stressful routine of consultations, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation with all the debilitating side effects. How does each cancer victim/survivor handle the roller coaster experience of highs and lows, hopes and fears? Read more.....27K Word doc.

Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhmupa Lahiri, Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Namesake, presents a new collection of 8 stories which form a jewelled crown, each story a sparkling diamond and a perfect masterpiece, illuminating the trials and tribulations of families from India, mostly West Bengalis from Calcutta, who emigrate to the Boston area. Read more.....27K Word doc.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by David Wroblewski

Get ready for a big old-fashioned epic saga complete with a mute boy, a mysterious breed of magnificent dogs, fateful sibling rivalry between brothers, a father’s ghost, a Biblical journey into the wilderness, and retribution for a father’s death. All this makes for a great read! Read more.....27K Word doc.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows

This is a charming and historically fascinating book based on letters exchanged between a writer in London and residents of Guernsey, the British island occupied by the Germans during World War II. Read more.....22K Word doc.

A Thousand Splendid Suns
 by Khaled Hosseini, author of  "The Kite Runner"

The resiliency of the human spirit is the inspiring theme of this book, which portrays two generations who struggle against incredible odds to survive and love in war-torn Afghanistan. Read more.....22K Word doc.