POB Library Book Club in a Bag Annotated Bibliography

Eric Larson (author of Isaac's Storm) tells the story of architect Daniel Hudson Burnham who was the driving force behind the 1893 World's Fair, celebrated for its' innovative architecture, and H.H. Holmes who was America's first serial killer. The juxtaposition of the heights of human achievement and the depths of human evil as the modern age was born have created a book the Denver Post calls "an unqualified success."

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and bean trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gustatory, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for "balancing."

Emma by Jane Austin
	Emma is a pretty girl of sterling character and more will than she can properly manage. She thinks she knows what is best for everybody, and is prey to many deceptions. She is imposed upon, and imposes upon herself; and it is a long while before she sees things as they are, recognizing where her own happiness lies.

Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Georgia Walker, a single mother of 12-year old Dakota, runs a knitting shop in midtown Manhattan where a varied group of women meet every Friday night for food, gossip and tips. The knitting club members chat about, and occasionally clash over, their stories of love, life and everything else as they form a close bond. The story centers on Georgia, as her life gets more complicated with the return of Dakota's father, James, who wants to be part of their life and a tragedy that occurs unexpectedly.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
	The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and a distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and the will to leave home.

Hidden by Victoria Lustbader

Hidden spans the years 1917 to 1928, which is a time of great turmoil and change in America: world war, Prohibition, the Roaring Twenties. This lengthy novel tells the story of two disparate families: the Gates family --- headed by Joe, who is wealthy, powerful, and highly regarded both politically and socially --- and the Warshinsky family, headed by impractical, impoverished Viktor, a Russian Jewish immigrant. Jed Gates and David Warshinsky meet while enlisting in the Army; their chance encounter sets the stage for the two families and their many layers of secrets to become forever entwined.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
	In April 1992, Christopher Johnson McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He has given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.

Last Van Gogh by Alyson Richman

The last years of Van Gogh's life were spent, according to this historical novel, under the care of Dr. Gachet, a physician proud of his extensive art collection, whose daughter Marguerite Gachet becomes Van Gogh's frustrated lover and model for three of his painting.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

This is an historical novel of the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright
and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. They were both married with children
at the time and it created a great scandal. They lived and traveled together, although the press hounded them, while Mamah pursued her intellectual interests and love for Frank at great personal cost. The author brings to life the character of this strong and intelligent woman. Their story is one that will fascinate you until the last page and beyond.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
	An epic, classically Victorian novel in shape and form, Middlesex is startlingly contemporary in theme. Ranging from Asia Minor in the 1920's to the 1967 race riots in Detroit and then to modern-day Berlin and beyond, Eugenides chronicles the ever-surprising exploits of a narrator who was "born twice: first as a baby girl...and then again, as a teenage boy."

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
	It is summer at the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-private detective, is a bystander who is drawn into the case of tracking the elusive killer.

Secret of Lost Things by Sheriday Hay
	The Secret of Lost Things is many things at once: a mystery, a coming-of-age novel, and an inquiry into literary obsession. Arriving in New York from Tasmania with $300, her mother's ashes and a love of reading, 18-year-old Rosemary Savage finds work in the Arcade Bookshop. The discovery of a missing manuscript sets the stage for the employees of the bookshop to get involved in the mystery.

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

Sera Dubash is an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife in Bombay trying to find a way to form a relationship with her long-time servant, Bhima. Although they share some common bonds, Sera's dead husband was abusive and Bhima's abandoned her, they are separated by class. Bhima cannot sit on the furniture she cleans or drink from the glasses that Sera uses. Her hope is for her granddaughter, Maya, whose college costs are paid by Sera. Maya's unexpected pregnancy by a man she won't identify threatens to dash all their dreams.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Jewish Russian-born Nemirovsky, a convert to Catholicism, began a planned five-novel cycle as Nazi forces overran northern France in 1940. This gripping "suite," of the first two sections surfaced more than six decades after her death at Auschwitz in 1942. The first, "Storm in June," chronicles Parisians' flight from the advancing Germans. The second, "Dolce," is set in 1941 in a farming village under German occupation.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . .
One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

As a result of an accident while mountain climbing, the author was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Read this for the compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious schoolgirls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. Read this for the relationships that will touch your heart.

To My Dearest Friends by Patricia Volk
	New York City is a lively backdrop for two women who become executors of their deceased friend’s safety deposit box, which holds a secret that their mutual friend has kept hidden all these many years. Sharp dialogue and observations grace the pages of this discussible book.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
	You know that old story about the young man who joins the circus in search of romance and adventure? Well, here's a novel that proves that such a decision may be more dark, complex and deeply moving that it first appears.