Mystery/Suspense/Psychological Fiction

Atonement by Ian McEwan Ex Libris Selection

A novel of great scope, Atonement takes in the intrigue of a jealous little sister, a tragic love affair, the human costs of World War II, and the power of forgiveness.

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

This book is an autobiographical account of the life of a fictional female contemporary artist. Through funny and sometimes poignant childhood memories and flashbacks to moments in the main character’s middle and early adulthood, the reader learns what it might take to become an artistic force.

Children of Men by P.D. James Ex Libris selection

Women push dolls in carriages through the park. Schools fade from existence and instruct only an aging society. There are no children. This futuristic tale is not a typical P.D. James mystery. In a world that has lost its ability to reproduce, a middle-aged professor questions his society’s values. An unlikely heroic figure, he leaves his sheltered life and openly defies his dictatorial government.

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

This chilling tale involves a corrupt teacher, an insidious underground society, and one teenage boy who attempts to stand up to them.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

This follow-up to Foer's extremely good and incredibly successful Everything Is Illuminated (2002) stars one Oskar Schell, a nine-year-old amateur inventor and Shakespearean actor. But Oskar's boots, as he likes to say, are very heavy--his father, whom he worshiped, perished in the World Trade Center on 9/11. In his dad's closet a year later, Oskar finds a key in mysteriously labeled "Black." So he goes searching after the lock it opens, visiting (alphabetically) everyone listed in the phone book with the surname Black.

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter

This first novel by a Yale law professor has been described as “a first-rate legal thriller” and a “stunning” work of literature. It is dense with subplots that provide an inside view of Washington politics and the privileged upper-crust of Northeast African-American society.

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe This is the classic tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand The protagonist is an unconventional architect whose ideology and architectural vision run contrary to the society in which he lives. The woman who loves him is one of his harshest critics. A fascinating statement on social standards, integrity, and rebellion, the novel has sparked much debate since its appearance in 1943.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

Told from the perspective of a lonely man who just wants to be remembered and a teenage girl, this is a story about misunderstanding, love, broken friendships, and a manuscript that survives the Holocaust. See how Krauss weaves together the stories of these two very different lives.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

We rely, in this world, on the visual aspects of humanity as a means of learning who we are. This, Ralph Ellison argues convincingly, is a dangerous habit. Invisible Man chronicles the travels of its narrator, a young, nameless black man, as he moves through the hellish levels of American intolerance and cultural blindness. Searching for a context in which to know himself, he exists in a very peculiar state. "I am an invisible man," he says in his prologue.

July’s People by Nadine Gordimer

The Smales, a white, middle-class family, flee Johannesburg during a black uprising and live with their servant July in his ancestral village nearly four hundred miles away. How they adapt to this primitive environment constitutes most of the action. But the subtly changing relationship between Maureen Smales and July, her family’s servant for fifteen years, is the most intriguing element of this apocalyptic novel.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

This is a sometimes humorous but basically grim story about the beating down of a nonconformist. Set in a state mental hospital, it focuses on the power struggle between a rigid, authoritarian head nurse (the Big Nurse) and a loud, hard-living con-man named Randall Patrick McMurphy, who contrives to get himself committed to the hospital in order to escape the drudgery of a work farm. Told through the eyes of Bromden, a giant American-Indian inmate, Cuckoo’s Nest will especially appeal to the more mature students.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Owen Meany is distinctly different from everyone else in the world. The first noteworthy thing he does in his life is to kill his best friend’s mother by hitting her with a fly ball during a baseball game. The two boys are bound forever. Owen, undersized and possessing an enormous, strange voice, is the reason why his best friend believes in God. This is one of John Irving’s strangest and most powerful works.

The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx Ex Libris selection

Written by the 1994 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 1983 National Book Award for Fiction, The Shipping News is set in Newfoundland, where Mrs. Proulx lives. It is the story of a newspaperman, age 36, who has to take over the raising of his two daughters when their mother meets a violent end. He takes a job writing the shipping news for a local newspaper, and his job and his life grow as he confronts the forces of nature and society. This book has elements of tragedy, comedy, and magic that will captivate the reader.

A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor

Peter Taylor’s title accurately describes its straightforward plot: spinster sisters summon their middle-aged brother home in order to save the family pride and fortune. As Taylor explores the dynamics of this rather ordinary family, the son (and the reader) gradually obtain understanding about why families evolve as they do.

Waiting by Ha Jin This is the story of Lin Kong, an officer and doctor living in China during the mid-1960s. The young Kong had followed the wishes of his parents, dutifully entering into an arranged marriage and having a daughter. When circumstances dictated by the Communist party require him to live apart from his family for long periods of time, Kong falls in love with a nursing student in the hospital where he works. After waiting eighteen years to obtain a divorce from his wife, Kong finds the love of his life within reach. Will the reality of his beloved match the dream of waiting?

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Ex Libris selection This first novel, which has spent months on the best seller list, depicts the awakening of a low-caste Indian man to the degradation of servitude. As a once impoverished village boy without prospects, Balram Halwai is at first thrilled to become the driver for a wealthy man. Growing increasingly resentful about the inequities of class and culture, Balram plots his employer’s murder. The novel is Balram’s attempt to rationalize the murder in the context of a world of staggering poverty and injustice.