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Staff Picks: Doorstoppers
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We like big books and we cannot lie!
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The Luminaries: A Novel
by Eleanor Catton
Upon his arrival in the mining town of Hokatika, New Zealand, during the 1866 gold rush, Walter Moody enters the nearest hotel, where he encounters a group of 12 prominent locals with an unusual hobby: discussing the unsolved crimes that have rocked their small frontier community. Among other dirty deeds, they include the murder of one man, the disappearance of another, the attempted suicide of a local prostitute, and the appearance of a cache of gold in the residence of the town drunk. However, the group's interest in the crimes may not be entirely recreational. Twists and turns abound in this intricately plotted neo-Victorian novel, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2011.
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
Historical Fantasy. Marketed as "Harry Potter for adults," this debut also deals with magical training in England--but is much denser (footnotes abound) and is steeped in history. During the Napoleonic Wars in 19th-century England, magic is real but isn't practiced anymore--until a rich recluse, Mr. Norrell, brings it back. When an untutored, natural magician, Jonathan Strange, appears and becomes Mr. Norrell's pupil, the two men eventually clash and soon become rivals. Reviewers blanketed this 2005 World Fantasy Award winner with compliments; Kirkus Reviews called it an "instant classic."
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The Barefoot Queen: A Novel
by Ildefonso Falcones de Sierra
Historical Fiction. When her Spanish master dies during the long shipboard journey from Havana, Afro-Cuban slave Caridad disembarks -- homeless, penniless, but free -- in Cádiz. Making her way to Seville, she befriends Milagros Carmona, a member of the city's Caló-speaking Romani (gypsy) community. As marginalized, vulnerable women living in male dominated societies, the women find common ground and friendship -- until a royal mandate decrees Milagros and her people outlaws and calls for their expulsion. With its dramatic plot and vivid depictions of both Iberian Romani culture and slavery in the Caribbean, The Barefoot Queen brings to life lesser-known aspects of 18th-century Spanish history. However, sensitive readers should be aware that the novel contains depictions of physical and sexual violence against women.
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The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
Historical Fiction. In 12th-century England, the late King Henry I's daughter Maud and his illegitimate son Stephen are waging a fierce battle for the throne. During these unsettled times, a master mason and the prior of a monastery unite to rebuild a cathedral that was destroyed by fire. Over the course of the next four decades, the surrounding community helps but also hinders their efforts. First published in 1989 and full of fascinating information about architecture and construction, Pillars of the Earth has been capturing the hearts of readers for close to two decades.
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The Memoirs of Cleopatra
by Margaret George
If you like the well-realized settings and fascinating historical characters depicted in Philippa Gregory's books, then you are sure to enjoy this absorbing trip to Ancient Egypt alongside legendary queen Cleopatra, one of history's most intriguing women. From her tumultuous childhood to her relationships with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony to her tragic suicide, Cleopatra narrates her own sweeping and detail-rich story of love, lust, power, and politics. As Publishers Weekly lauds, "Readers looking to be transported to another place and time will find their magic carpet here."
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Les Misérables
by Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience, when, owing to a case of mistaken identity, another man is arrested in his place; and by the relentless investigations of the dogged policeman Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty. A compelling and compassionate view of the victims of early nineteenth-century French society , Les Misérables is a novel on an epic scale, moving inexorably from the eve of the battle of Waterloo to the July Revolution of 1830.
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The Stand
by Stephen King
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction. A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
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Wolf Hall: A Novel
by Hilary Mantel
Historical Fiction. Assuming the power recently lost by the disgraced Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell counsels a mercurial Henry VIII on the latter's efforts to marry Anne Boleyn against the wishes of Rome and many of his people, a successful endeavor that comes with a dangerous price.
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Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
The tumultuous romance of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler is set against the backdrop of the elegance of the antebellum South, the ravages of the Civil War and the desperate struggle of Reconstruction.
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Parallel Stories
by Péter Nádas
The agendas of three European men with dubious political histories converge in the aftermath of a 1989 death linked to the fates of myriad Hungarians, Jews, Germans and Gypsies across the treacherous years of the mid-20th century.
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A Great Circle: The Mayfield Trilogy
by Reynolds Price
Published together for the first time, the three books of the Mayfield Trilogy--The Surface of Earth, The Source of Light, and The Promise of Rest--follows a family through three generations as it struggles with the 1960s and the AIDS epidemic, among other upheavals.
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Against the Day
by Thomas Pynchon
An epic tale spanning the years between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the end of World War I features a sizable cast of characters who are caught up by such events as the labor troubles of Colorado, the Mexican revolution, and the heyday of silent-movie Hollywood.
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Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand
In a scrap heap within an abandoned factory, the greatest invention in history lies dormant and unused. By what fatal error has its value gone unrecognized? In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, one man sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike. Is he a destroyer or a liberator?
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Mercy of a Rude Stream: The Complete Novels
by Henry Roth
A single-volume compilation of the four-volume epic depicts the travails and sexual awakenings of an immigrant youth whose twisted exploits are recalled by a haunted and chastened older man in fits of intensely lyrical, Proustian-like memory.
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London
by Edward Rutherfurd
Edward Rutherfurd’s classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning two thousand years. He brings this vibrant city’s long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and intrigues of half-a-dozen families, from the age of Julius Caesar to the twentieth century. Generation after generation, these families embody the passion, struggle, wealth, and verve of the greatest city in the world.
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The Art of Joy
by Goliarda Sapienza
A posthumous novel, published to acclaim in France, traces the events of the 20th century through the experiences of Sicilian-born Modesta, who defies the conventions of her fascist, patriarchal society to rise from poverty and marry an aristocrat without compromising her deeply held values.
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A Moment in the Sun
by John Sayles
In 1897, gold has been discovered in the Yukon. New York is under the sway of Hearst and Pulitzer. And in a few months, an American battleship will explode in a Cuban harbor, plunging the U.S. into war. This is the story of that extraordinary moment: the turn of the twentieth century, as seen by one of our greatest storytellers of all time...'A Moment in the Sun' takes the whole era in its sights--from the white-racist coup in Wilmington, North Carolina to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism overseas. Beginning with Hod Brackenridge searching for his fortune in the North, and hurtling forward across five years and half a dozen countries...this is a story as big as its subject: history rediscovered through the lives of the people who made it happen.
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Nocturnal: A Novel
by Scott Sigler
A strange series of killings haunts San Francisco police detective Bryan Clauser, who becomes even more concerned when he realizes he's dreaming about murders before they occur. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Rex Deprovdechuk is tormented by bullies, and homeless Aggie James is kidnapped and locked up underground, where he is surrounded by mutants. As the murder spree continues, Clauser finds disturbing evidence that it is not the work of an ordinary serial killer...and the threat is much greater than a typical crime wave. The unlikely allies -- Clauser, Rex, and Aggie -- are on their own against this evil force, and considerable amounts of blood will flow before the end.
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Reamde
by Neal Stephenson
Science Fiction. International mercenaries hack the world's most popular MMPORG (massive multi-player online role-playing game) to wreak havoc on international currency markets...but that's just for starters. Game designer and full-time geek Richard Forthrast lands in a real-life power struggle for world domination against an overwhelming horde of ruthless enemies -- the Chinese, the Russians, and more. Can his intrepid, athletic, cheerfully violent niece (think Uma Thurman in Kill Bill) keep him alive long enough to save the world? This amped-up Ready Player One-meets-Pulp Fiction techno-shocker gives away nothing until its violent end. Offbeat characters, superb pacing, plausible technology, and masterfully woven subplots make Reamde all too short, even at 800+ pages.
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A Perfect Heritage
by Penny Vincenzi
The House of Farrell - home of The Cream, an iconic face product that has seen women flocking to its bijoux flagship store in the Berkeley Arcade since 1953. At Farrell, you can rely on the personal touch. The legendary Athina Farrell remains the company's figurehead and in her kingdom at the Berkeley Arcade, Florence Hamilton plies their cosmetics with the utmost discretion. She is sales advisor - and holder of secrets - extraordinaire. But of course the world of cosmetics is changing and the once glorious House of Farrell is now in decline, its customers tempted away by more fashionable brands. Enter Bianca Bailey, formidable business woman, mother of three, and someone who always gets her way. Athina and Bianca lock horns over the future of the House of Farrell but it is the past that tells its devastating tale of ambition and ego, passion and wonder.
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Infinite Jest: A Novel
by David Foster Wallace
Weighing in at over 1,000 pages, this sprawling story is something of an "everything but the kitchen sink" tale that incorporates boarding schools, half-way houses, separatists, and waste management, all set in the near future. There's also a huge cast (think hundreds) and enough cultural references to keep you busy. The format of the novel itself is also unusual, for it incorporates headlines and other documents, not to mention nearly 400 footnotes, and centers around a movie so addictive its watchers can do nothing but watch. It's an undertaking that's not for everyone -- SLJ warns that Infinite Jest is "not for the faint-hearted or the weak-wristed," but those who enjoy lengthy tomes crackling with political satire, themes of addiction, and the late David Foster Wallace's special brand of humor will be rewarded.
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The Black Prism
by Brent Weeks
Fantasy. Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live. When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart. The Black Prism is the first book in the Lightbringer series, followed by The Blinding Knife and The Broken Eye.
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Satori: A Novel Based on Trevanian's Shibumi
by Don Winslow
It is the fall of 1951, and the Korean War is raging. Twenty-six-year-old Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Hel is a master of hoda korosu, or "naked kill," is fluent in seven languages, and has honed extraordinary "proximity sense": an extra-awareness of the presence of danger. He has the skills to be the world's most fearsome assassin and now the CIA needs him. The Americans offer Hel freedom, money, and a neutral passport in exchange for one small service: to go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union's commissioner to China. It's almost certainly a suicide mission, but Hel accepts. Now he must survive chaos, violence, suspicion, and betrayal while trying to achieve his ultimate goal of satori -- the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world.
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Forever Amber
by Kathleen Winsor
Featuring a strong-willed heroine and blatant sexual references, Forever Amber caused outrage when it was first published in 1944. Since then, this novel has gone on to sell more than three million copies, and it's no wonder: the tale of pregnant, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare's bold and determined climb from penniless orphan to mistress of King Charles II vividly captures the events and atmosphere of Restoration England, from the plague epidemic to the fashions of the time. Check this one out and discover a modern classic.
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Cutting for Stone
by A. Verghese
In 1954, conjoined twin boys are born in a hospital in Ethiopia, but their mother, an Indian nun, cannot be saved. Surgically separated, the boys are raised in the hospital by an Indian gynecologist after their father (a British surgeon) disappears. The practice of medicine -- and several medical emergencies -- serves to bring characters together and drive them apart as the twins grow up to work in medicine themselves, in Ethiopia and in New York's inner city. In addition to this absorbing novel, author Abraham Verghese is known for his memoir, My Own Country, about his time in Tennessee treating AIDS patients.
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Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044
http://mclib.org/
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