sign in sign up
<<
Home , Andrew Sean Greer, Caroline Fraser, Hisham Matar, Interpreter of Maladies, Marilynne Robinson, Michael Shaara

September 2020 Reading Challenge: Read a -Winning Book

Key for on which services the books are located: A = Axis 360 C = CloudLibrary H = Hoopla L = Libby O = Overdrive ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ P = Print LP = Large Print eAudio = AudioCD = CD ​ ​ ​ ​

March by Geraldine Brooks (fiction) P, LP ​ In a story inspired by the father character in "Little Women" and drawn from the journals and letters of Louisa May Alcott's father, a man leaves behind to serve in the Civil War and finds his beliefs challenged by his experiences.

The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by E. Davis (non-fiction) P, C H ​ A comprehensive history of the Gulf of Mexico and its identity as a region marked by hurricanes, oil fields, and debates about population growth and the environment demonstrates how its picturesque ecosystems have inspired and reflected key historical events.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (fiction) P, LT, O, L, O L ​

Living with an old-world mother and rebellious sister, an urban misfit dreams of becoming the next J. R. R. Tolkien and believes that a long-standing family curse is thwarting his efforts to find love and happiness.

Late Wife by Claudia Emerson (poetry) P ​ In Late Wife, a woman explores her disappearance from one life and reappearance in another ​ ​ as she addresses her former husband, herself, and her new husband in a series of epistolary poems. Though not satisfied in her first marriage, she laments vanishing from the life she and her husband shared for years. She then describes the unexpected joys of solitude during her recovery and emotional convalescence. Finally, in a sequence of sonnets, she speaks to her new husband, whose first wife died from lung cancer. The poems highlight how rebeginning in this relationship has come about in part because of two couplesâ respective losses. ​​

The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner (non-fiction) P, CD, H , C , ​ ​ In a landmark work of deep scholarship and insight, Foner gives us a life of Lincoln as it intertwined with , the defining issue of the time and the tragic hallmark of American history. The author demonstrates how Lincoln navigated a dynamic political landscape deftly, moving in measured steps, often on a path forged by abolitionists and radicals in his party, and that Lincoln's greatness lay in his capacity for moral and political growth.

Locking up Our Own by James Forman, Jr. (non-fiction) P, O, L, H , C ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ A consequential argument about race, crime and law in today's America by a Yale legal scholar and former public defender examines the urgent debates surrounding the criminal justice system and its activities involving mass incarceration, aggressive police tactics and their impact on at-risk people of color and beleaguered law-enforcement officers.

Prairie Fires by (non-fiction) P, L, O, C ​ ​ A comprehensive historical portrait of Laura Ingalls Wilder draws on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries and official records to fill in the gaps in Wilder's official story, sharing lesser-known details about her pioneer experiences while challenging popular misconceptions about how her books were ghostwritten.

The End of the Myth by Greg Grandin (non-fiction) P, L, O, H ​ ​ The author of the Pulitzer finalist, Fordlandia, examines how the identity-shaping idea of an open and ​ ​ ever-expanding American frontier has evolved from early westward expansion into the reactionary populism of Donald Trump's border wall proposals.

Less by (fiction) P, LP, CD, O, L, O , L ​ ​

Receiving an invitation to his ex-boyfriend's wedding, Arthur, a failed on the eve of his fiftieth birthday, embarks on an international journey that finds him falling in love, risking his life, reinventing himself, and making connections with the past.

Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold (non-fiction) P, L, O, L , O , H ​ ​ Explores the costs of fracking as demonstrated by the volatile personalities and politics of a rural Allegheny town where an unlikely whistle-blower tried to investigate the sources of mysterious local illnesses.

The Orphan Master’s Son by (Fiction) P, H, L, O, L , O ​ ​ The son of a singer mother whose career forcibly separated her from her family and an influential father who runs an orphan work camp, Pak Jun Do rises to prominence using instinctive talents and eventually becomes a professional kidnapper and romantic rival to Kim Jong Il.

The Known World by Edward P. Jones (fiction) P, O, L, O , L H, H , C, C ​ ​ When a plantation proprietor and former slave--now possessing slaves of his own--dies, his household falls apart in the wake of a slave rebellion and corrupt underpaid patrollers who enable free black people to be sold into slavery.

The Pope and Mussolini by (non-fiction) P ​ A finalist analyzes the relationship between Pius XI and the notorious Italian dictator as revealed by the recent opening of Vatican archives covering the former's papacy, tracing how after coming into power in the same year they forged covert ties to one another to consolidate power and pursue respective political goals. A novel about a young Chinese woman whose graduate studies in chemistry go off track and lead her to discover the truths about her goals and desires.

Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser (poetry) P, H, L, O ​ ​ Kooser's ninth collection of poems reflects the simple and remarkable things of everyday life. That he often sees things we do not would be delight enough, but more amazing is exactly what he sees.

Interpreter of Maladies by (fiction) LP, C ,L, O, L , O ​ ​ Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, this stunning debut collection unerring charts the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations. In stories that travel from to America and back again, Lahiri speaks with universal eloquence to everyone who has ever felt like a foreigner. W.E.B DuBois by (non-fiction) P ​ A definitive biography of the African-American author and scholar chronicles DuBois's life from his formative years, through his role as a founder of the NAACP, to his self-exile to Ghana.

The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land Between by (biography) P, L, O ​ The award-winning author of Anatomy of a Disappearance describes his journey to after a 30-year absence due to his family's political exile and his father's kidnapping in Cairo, and his inextinguishable hopes that his father will be found alive.

Stag’s Leap by Sharon Olds (poetry) P, L, O ​ A poignant sequence of poems traces the evolution of a divorce while exploring themes of love, sex, sorrow, memory and freedom as reflected by everyday familiarities and the poignancy of former lovers parting, in a collection by the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of The Dead and the Living.

The Overstory by (fiction) P, H ,CL ,L,O, ​ The National Book Award-winning author of presents an impassioned novel of activism and natural-world power that is comprised of interlocking fables about nine remarkable strangers who are summoned in different ways by trees for an ultimate, brutal stand to save the continent's few remaining acres of virgin forest.

The Shipping News by (fiction) P, H ,CL ,L,O, L , O ​ Surprising transformations take place when a newspaperman's elderly aunt and two daughters decide to move back to their family home on the coast of Newfoundland. by (fiction) P, H ,L,O, L ,O ​ As the Reverend John Ames approaches the hour of his own death, he writes a letter to his son chronicling three previous generations of his family, a story that stretches back to the Civil War and reveals uncomfortable family secrets.

Empire Falls by (fiction) P, L, O, L , O ​ Welcome to , a blue-collar town full of abandoned mills whose citizens surround themselves with the comforts and feuds provided by lifelong friends and neighbors and who find humor and hope in the most unlikely places.

The Killer Angels by P, L, O ​ Incisive portraits of Lee, Longstreet, Meade, and other Civil War leaders are interwoven with rich historical detail to provide a fictional recreation of the bloody battle at Gettysburg.

The Color Purple by P, H, L, O, ​ This is the story of two sisters-one a missionary in Africa and the other a child wife living in the South-who sustain their loyalty to and trust in each other across time, distance, and silence. Beautifully imagined and deeply compassionate, this classic novel of is rich with passion, pain, inspiration, and an indomitable love of life.

The Nickel Boys by P, LP, L, O, L , O ​ Follows the experiences of two African-American teenagers at an abusive reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.