VOTE on the right side of this page. Here are the options, described:

(WARNING. I tried to keep this short, but.....failed.)

Here's a glimpse at the options. Why not be an educated voter?

Please pick two on the poll on the right of this page. That should narrow down our options. By the way, these look great. Way to pick out some fabulous literature. Several....well I'll just have to read them, whether or not we get to them in book group or not.

Olive Kitteridge
Elizabeth Strout

Thirteen linked tales in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel delve into small-town life in coastal Maine, unveiling ordinary people’s lives including retired schoolteacher Olive Kittredge.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Muriel Barbery

“This story of an aging concierge and a 12-year-old girl in an exclusive apartment house in Paris was a huge hit in France. Pithy, erudite, and full of heart, this book should be on everyone’s must-read list”

The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner

This Faulkner novel is considered one of the key works of the century. It explores loveless family relationships through four (masterfully) fractured narrator voices.

The Trial
Franz Kafka

[opening line] “Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning…”
This psychological novel follows an ordinary man, Joseph. Repeatedly required to appear in court, Joseph grows frustrated and desperately watches his life spiral out of control.

Peace Like a River
Leif Engel

When his older brother is arrested for murder, Rube—an 11-year-old in 1960s Minnesota—and his father and sister take to the road, hoping to find Rube before the law does. In the end it's not Rube who haunts the reader's imagination; it's his father, torn between love for his outlaw son and the duty to do the right, honest thing.

Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion

This is a memoir of a year of the author’s life, in which she grapples with the grief of her husband’s sudden heart attack and death that accompanied the coma of their only child. It’s about “Didion's efforts to make sense of a time when nothing made sense.” Tribute to life and marriage.

The Turn of the Screw
Henry James

This terrifying psychological/supernatural(take your pick….seriously. Ambiguity at its finest) tale about follows a (maybe neurotic) narrator, a (mostly crazy) governess, and two innocent little kids.

Tinkers
Paul Harding

Harding's debut unfurls the final thoughts of a dying New England grandfather who made his living repairing clocks. “His deathbed revisits his turbulent childhood as the oldest son of an epileptic smalltime traveling salesman…The real star is Harding's language, which dazzles whether he's describing the workings of clocks, sensory images of nature, the many engaging side characters who populate the book, or even a short passage on how to build a bird nest.”

The Idiot
Fyodor Dostoevsky

Erm. This one is too tricky for me to give a synopsis. Seems like a really innocent sort of figure gets into some tragic mess in his society that’s all about money, power, and manipulation.

Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortensen

Mortensen fails climbing K2—the world’s second tallest mountain—and ill, is cared for by a small Pakistani village. In return, he promises to build the town’s first school—a project that grew to constructing other schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Cat's Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut

This science fiction thriller (did I just characterize that right?) follows a random mix of characters in search of the world’s most dangerous substance: ice that freezes at room temperature. One review explained its thematic issues as nuclear terror, the complications of science, American imperialism, global capitalism and the role of religion in public life.

Picture This
Joseph Heller

(Here’s what Britt tells us: He also wrote "Catch-22," which was so bizarre and fascinating. A review of "Picture This:" "Mr. Heller treats the whole panorama of history past and present with the bravado of Mark Twain in one of his sassier moods." Aristotle discusses history with Heller's main character.)