Apr 1, 2010 04:05PM - edited Apr 1, 2010 04:09PM by konakat
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (In 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, two African-American maids and one white Junior League socialite -- seemingly as different from one another as can be, will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.)
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amorrezvani (a nameless teenager whose life in 17th-century Iran is derailed by misfortune following her father's death. With no means of support, she and her mother move to the city of Isfahan to live as servants with relatives.)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women.)
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (stories of a small gallery of French Parisians and villagers and occupying German officers and soldiers, each with his or her national and personal idiosyncrasies and destinies.)
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (The story of a young girl's transformation into a geisha. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms.)
Fall on your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald (The Piper family is steeped in secrets, lies, and unspoken truths. At the eye of the storm is one secret that threatens to shake their lives even to destroy them. Set on stormy Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia, chronicles the lives of four unforgettable sisters.)
Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (four people trying to survive war-torn Sarajevo. After a mortar attack kills 22 people waiting in line to buy bread, an unnamed cellist vows to play at the point of impact for 22 days.)
Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (Readers will travel with Aminata Diallo from a West African village to an indigo plantation in South Carolina, through the tough streets of New York City and the harsh climate of Nova Scotia to the coast of Sierra Leone, and finally to an abolitionist's home in London.)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Walls, who spent years trying to hide her childhood experiences, allows the story to spill out in this remarkable recollection of growing up.)
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her.)
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Casually amoral until he is horribly burned in an accident, a man plans suicide but encounters a beautiful but possibly crazy sculptress of gargoyles who says she has rescued him before--in medieval Germany.)
Still Alice by Lisa Genova (Fifty-year-old Alice Howland, a highly respected linguistics professor, suddenly begins feeling disoriented and confused. Her diagnosis-early-onset Alzheimer's.)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (a 14-year-old white girl named Lily Owen who is raised by the elderly African American Rosaleen, after the accidental death of Lily's mother, who find shelter with three black bee-keeping sisters.)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (When his parents are killed in a traffic accident, Jacob Jankowski hops a train after walking out on his final exams at Cornell, where he had hoped to earn a veterinary degree. The train turns out to be a circus train.)
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer (Abandoned by his radio host father and raised by a strong but luckless mother, the author looked to the neighborhood bar for male role models.)
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live.")
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (I think we know this one!)
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon is lured to Washington, D.C., where he believes he is to give a speech. Instead, he finds that an old friend has been abducted. Only Langdon can unlock the hidden mysteries that can save his friend's life.)
Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich (E.g., One for the Money, etc are hysterical!)
Fluke, Or I know why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore (a wild look at interspecies communication, adventure on the high seas, and an eons-old mystery.)
Lamb by Christopher Moore (An angel has resurrected Levi bar Alpheus, known as Biff, to tell this story of his life with Joshua, better known to the modern world as Jesus Christ, in which they set out to find the three magi.)
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee (In 1952 Hong Kong, Claire Pendleton, newly married to a bland postwar British government official, lucks into a job as piano teacher to the untalented young daughter of the powerful and wealthy Chinese family.)
The Sweetness of the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (A delightfully dark English mystery set in rural 1950s, featuring precocious young sleuth Flavia de Luce and her eccentric family.)
The War Against Miss Winter by Kathyrn Miller Haines (A down on her luck actress in NYC - 1943 who takes a part time job at a detective agency - she is feisty, mouthy and a lot of fun.)
Thank-you to 3katz, Jelson, Mantra, Mich, OmahaGirl, RobinWendy and Ruthbru for their suggestions -- I hope I didn't leave anyone out! PM me if I did!