Fiction
The girl with the dragon tattoo
Stieg Larsson
FICTION Larsson, Stieg
Fiction
The disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, gnaws at her octogenarian uncle, Henrik Vanger. He is determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. He hires crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, recently at the wrong end of a libel case, to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance. Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old, pierced, tattooed genius hacker, possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness--assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, an astonishing corruption at the highest echelon of Swedish industrialism--and a surprising connection between themselves.--From publisher description.
The cider house rules
John Irving
FICTION Irving, John
Fiction
Set in the pre– and post–World War II era, The Cider House Rules is about a young man, Homer Wells, growing up under the guidance of Dr. Wilbur Larch, an obstetrician and abortionist. The story relates his early life at Larch's orphanage in Maine and follows Homer as he eventually leaves the nest and comes of age in the world.
Lasse Hallström directed the 1999 film version starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Michael Caine. -Beth
The notebook
Nicholas Sparks
FICTION Sparks, Nicholas
Fiction
The Notebook is a 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks. The story centers on the relationship between Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. Spanning over five decades, their love endures an uncertain beginning, the onset and conclusion of World War II, the death of one child, and Allie’s eventual diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Became the 2004 Nick Cassavetes film of the same title, starring Gena Rowlands, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, and James Garner. -Beth
A walk to remember
Nicholas Sparks
FICTION Sparks, Nicholas
Fiction
This novel tells the love story of Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan. Set in 1958 in North Carolina, Landon and Jamie both attend Beaufort High but are worlds apart. Jamie is the minister’s daughter, studies hard, and is shy. Landon, on the other hand, is mixed in with the ‘wrong crowd,’ and does not mind living on the edge despite the trouble he might land in. As these two fall unexpectedly in love, they are just as unexpectedly torn apart as tragedy strikes.
Adam Shankman directed the 2002 film starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. -Beth
A room with a view
E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster
FICTION Forster, E. M.
Fiction
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century.
Became the 1985 film of the same title, directed by James Ivory and starring Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter. -Beth
The godfather
Mario Puzo
FICTION Puzo, Mario
Fiction
Originally published in 1969 the novel details the story of a fictional Mafia family in New York City (and Long Beach, New York), headed by Vito Corleone. The Corleone family fights a mob war with the Five Families of the New York Mafia in the years after World War II. The novel covers the years 1945 to 1955 and provides the back story of Vito Corleone from early childhood to adulthood.
Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo turned the book into the screenplay that eventually became Coppola's 1972 classic film starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. -Beth
Sing, unburied, sing : a novel
Jesmyn Ward
FICTION Ward Jesmyn
Fiction, Diverse Characters, Read Woke
"A searing and profound Southern odyssey through Mississippi's past and present"--
Ward's story grapples with the trauma of racism, gun violence, and incarceration via a multi-generational household. Her story is set in rural southern Mississippi yet these themes are familiar to many in America. Chapters are told from alternating character's point of view including those of a ghost. -Jason
The Thorn Birds
Colleen McCullough
FICTION McCullough, Colleen
Fiction
A magnificent saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian outback. The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.
Adapted into the 1983 television miniseries The Thorn Birds starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. -Beth
Nobody's fool
Richard Russo
FICTION Russo, Richard
Fiction
This slyly funny, moving novel about a blue-collar town in upstate New York—and in the life of Sully, of one of its unluckiest citizens, who has been doing the wrong thing triumphantly for fifty years—is a classic American story.
Adapted into the 1994 feature film Nobody's Fool starring Paul Newman, Bruce Willis and Jessica Tandy. -Beth
Forrest Gump : a novel
Winston Groom
FICTION Groom Winston
Fiction
Six foot six, 242 pounds, and possessed of a scant IQ of 70, Forrest Gump is the lovable, surprisingly savvy hero of this classic comic tale. His early life may seem inauspicious, but when the University of Alabama’s football team drafts Forrest and makes him a star, it sets him on an unbelievable path that will transform him from Vietnam hero to world-class Ping-Pong player, from wrestler to entrepreneur. With a voice all his own, Forrest is telling all in a madcap romp through three decades of American history.
Robert Zemeckis directed the 1994 film version that starred Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise. -Beth
David Fincher directed the 2011 film version that starred Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, and Christopher Plummer. -Beth