Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/06/2011
ISBN-13: 9780547577456
ISBN-10: 0547577451

This trio of quietly elegant novellas by award-winning author Anita Desai ruminates on illusion, art, and expectation and is set in modern-day India. Though the stories stand independently, the protagonist of each is faced with hope and despair and experiences disappointment and destruction of one kind or another. Calling the stories "ensnaring novellas of consummate artistry," Booklist is only one source full of compliments for the Indian author, who's been writing for almost 50 years and has been nominated for the Booker Prize three times. If you've never read anything by Desai, now's as good a time to start as any. 

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Publisher: Atria Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9781451632903
ISBN-10: 1451632908

Beagle/poodle mutt Nelson was adopted from a Boston pet shop by pianist Katey and her new husband, but when a gate is left open at their home, Nelson wanders out to explore and is unable to find his way home, despite his strong connection with Katey. His journey across the country in search of Katey -- told mostly from his perspective -- brings him in contact with animal shelters, a fellow stray, a kindly trucker, and a pack of wolves as he skirts starvation and danger. Dog lovers will appreciate how author Alan Lazar portrays the life of a wandering dog (in particular his powerful sense of smell) while hooked readers will be hoping that Nelson finds his "Great Love" once more.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/07/2011
ISBN-13: 9780316129398
ISBN-10: 0316129399

Spanning four generations, this tale of the Jewish Popper family walks a fine line between comedy and tragedy: though author Peter Orner has a firm grasp of the comedic, his characters all suffer from deep unhappiness. Told mostly from the point of view of insecure second son Alex (who, in comparison to his brother, is a failure), the Popper family saga touches on unhappy marriages, loneliness, infidelity, shady business practices, and failed searches for true love. A "richly layered, intimate picture of a distinctive but also typical family" (Publishers Weekly), this novel vibrantly captures the life of a middle-class Jewish family in Chicago (and its suburbs) and is complemented by line drawings done by the author's brother.

Publisher: Berkley Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/01/2011
ISBN-13: 9780425244487
ISBN-10: 0425244482

In this final episode in the Harmony trilogy (which started with Welcome to Harmony), life in the Texas hamlet is as colorful as ever, for the town's populated with memorable individuals trying to make connections in love and friendship. Readers of the series will recognize some familiar characters and welcome new ones, and although some subplots from earlier books pop up here, newcomers to the series will find them easy enough to follow. In addition to the romantic entanglements, there's also an element of suspense -- check it out if you enjoy tales of small towns coming together in the wake of destruction.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/13/2007
ISBN-13: 9781416547556
ISBN-10: 141654755X

This seasonally themed Elm's Creek Quilts tale (the 11th in the series and the 2nd holiday-based one) finds master quilter Sylvia newly married and on her way to visit her husband Andrew's daughter, Amy, to share their news. On the way, she works on a quilt -- called New Year's Reflections -- to give Amy as a peace offering. As she does so, she reflects on her own personal history, including her difficult relationship with her sister, happy holiday seasons as a child, the death of her husband in World War II, and resolutions made and broken. Though this entry fills in a lot of Sylvia's story, you may want to begin at the start of the series, with The Quilter's Apprentice.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/07/2010
ISBN-13: 9780307461421
ISBN-10: 0307461424

Lily (who's "working on" her dissertation) and Duncan (an ad man) are having issues in their chilly, insult-laden marriage, and they hope that a change of scenery will help. But the country house Lily has just inherited is more dilapidated than rustic, and they (literally) run into a bad omen on their way to town, when they hit (and kill) a boar that turns out to be the town mascot and a favored pet. Then Duncan uncovers a human bone and a grave marker in their backyard, and suddenly they've got something to distract them from each other and their intense, paranoid, pig-murdering guilt. Kirkus Reviews calls this unique debut "weird, disturbing and intensely engaging."

First Chapter  

Publisher: PGW
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780802139689
ISBN-10: 080213968X

This novel, originally published in 1986 but not translated into English until 2002, is, like much of Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe's fiction, based on his own life, specifically his relationship with his brain-damaged son. It features K, a renowned writer living in Tokyo, and his 19-year-old son, Eeyore, whose deformed brain causes seizures and episodes of violent behavior. Repeatedly referring to the work of William Blake, K examines the father-son relationship, Eeyore's sudden understanding and fear of death, and his own past, resulting in a contemplative, moving story.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/26/2011
ISBN-13: 9780061713767
ISBN-10: 0061713767

Twenty-six-year-old Lula, who works as a nanny for the teenaged son of a college professor, is an Albanian immigrant trying to make a better life for herself in America. Lonely and bored (her charge is applying to college, after all), Lula tends to embellish the truth, a skill that comes in handy as she balances the emotional demands of her employers (the Mrs. decamped to Norway recently, leaving her sad son behind) and the dangerous requests of three mysterious Albanians. Thanks to an upbringing in the decidedly un-cushy Albania, Lula's observations of the comfortably well-off in modern America are spot-on, so fans of the perspectives of outsiders -- especially those delivered with humor -- will want to check this novel out.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Grove Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/03/2009
ISBN-13: 9780802118912
ISBN-10: 0802118917

This collection of three linked novellas -- Fulbright-winning author Josh Weil's debut -- draws the reader into the remote and unforgiving valleys of West Virginia. At the heart of each novella there's a solitary, lonely man -- a farmer contemplating his isolation after his father's death, a single father facing old age alone after his need for control drives away his daughter, and a developmentally disabled man in love with a manipulative married woman. These men, loners all, are struggling to find meaning in their lives; the ways in which they succeed and fail are powerfully captured in these remarkable stories.

First Chapter