Fiction

This Earth of Mankind and Child of All Nations, Pramoedya      Ananta Toer

The first two books of the Buru Quartet. These novels tell the story of Minke, an young Indonesian man at the turn of the 20th century, who uses education, romance, and political action to challenge the Dutch colonial rule and the traditions of Indonesian society.

East is East, T.C. Boyle

A Japanese merchant marine jumps ship off the coast of South Carolina and is hidden by a woman attending a writer's retreat.

A Fine Balance, Rohynton Mistry

A panoramic novel of India in the 1970's. A middle class widow tries to maintain her independence by taking in a student as a boarder and hiring two tailors to do piecework. The four characters' stories reveal the conflicts and complexities of Indian society.

Widows, Ariel Dorfman

A cruel military dictatorship rules Greece during the 1940's. In a small mountain town, the bodies of men begin to wash up along the riverside where women do their washing. Though the bodies are unidentifiable, the women of the town defy the local commandante and claim that they are the bodies of their husbands, brothers, and sons who have been arrested and taken.

In the Lake of the Woods, Tim O'Brien

A Minnesota senator is in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign. While staying in a vacation cabin in the woods, his wife mysteriously disappears. The search for his wife begins to uncover secrets about his past, including dark secrets about his actions during the Vietnam War.

Cloudsplitter, Russell Banks

A fictionalized account of the story of John Brown, the fanatic anti-slavery activist. The novel is narrated by Brown's son Owen, and follows the family from their farm in New York State, where Brown tried to organize a farming community of ex-slaves, to "bloody Kansas," to the Harper's Ferry debacle.

Rule of the Bone, Russell Banks

A modern day Huck Finn, this novel is the story of Bone, a teenager who leaves his ineffective mother and abusive stepfather and goes on a journey of self discovery that takes him through New England and to Jamaica.

Affliction, Russell Banks

A New Hampshire man deals with the hopelessness of his small town culture.

The Kingdom of This World, Alejo Carpentier

Set in Haiti during the transition to independence, this novel tells of Ti Noel, a leader who draws on African spirituality and wisdom to lead a group of ex slaves through chaotic times.

Waterland, Graham Swift

A retired history teacher recalls his childhood days in "the Fen" region of England, where water has been channeled into canals and the land is in constant danger of being covered with water. This novel is a meditation on the real meaning of "history."

Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole

This hilarious satire is set in New Orleans. Ignatius J. Reilly, an obese thirty year old still living with his mother, sees our society as crude, uncivilized, materialistic, and soulless. As he tries his hand at odd jobs in an attempt to support himself, he runs into a series of hilarious characters that populate the city's underside.

Molokai, O. A. Bushnell

The setting is Hawaii during the reign of King Kalakaua. Newman, a German doctor has petitioned the King for permission to use a convicted murderer as a subject for his experiments to find a cure for leprosy. Though the King initially refuses, Keanu consents, just prior to his execution, to be the Newman's subject. The two go to Kalaupapa. There they meet Father Damien, and the other lepers of Molokai. Bushnell brings together several characters whose lives are profoundly transformed in a novel that reveals the soul of Hawaii.

Non Fiction

Guns, Germs and Steel; The Fates of Human Societies, Jared Diamond

This book begins with the question of a Papuan New Guinea man to the author: "Why do you have more cargo than us?" In other words, why do the U.S. and European nations have more material wealth and economic, political, and military power than the developing nations of the world? Diamond uses anthropology, biology, linguistics, and historical reasoning to trace the patterns of development of human cultures and civilizations.

How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill

After the ministry of Saint Patrick, 8th century Irish monks went out across Europe to spread the gospel, literacy, and Celtic wisdom to the Germanic peoples. During this time of chaos and upheaval, these monks kept the lamp of civilization burning.

The Year 1000; What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millenium, Danny Danziger

This book gives a month by month account of daily life in the Middle Ages. It's filled with anecdotes and fun facts--highly recommended to incoming sophomores who will be putting on the Medieval Fair in November.

Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser

Schlosser examines America's love affair with fast foods from several angles. He explores the nutritional, social, economic, political, and cultural effects of the fast food industry.

In Pharaoh's Army, Tobias Wolff

Wolff writes about his experiences during the Vietnam War era, before, during, and after his service in the military.

Mystery and Crime (by author)

Tony Hillerman

Most of Hillerman's mysteries are set on the Navajo reservation. His two protagonists, officers Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, use a combination of Navajo wisdom and Yankee ingenuity to solve a wide range of crimes involving tribe members and a colorful array of non-Indian characters. Hillerman himself is well respected by the Navajo for his accurate and sensitive treatment of Indian culture.

Elmore Leonard

Leonard is best known for his Florida crime novels, although his most famous book, Get Shorty, is set in California. Leonard creates memorable criminals--brutal, idiotic characters whom we despise but also laugh at. His novels are often devoid of a single likable character, which make them all the more enjoyable.

Ken Follett

Follett specializes political intrigue. His spy novels are set amidst the major political conflicts of the twentieth century--WWII, the Cold War, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Each of his novels features a "super" bad guy with advanced espionage skills and a less skilled but very determined agent for the good side.

John Le Carre

Le Carre is another master of the spy novel. He is more literary than Follett, with more fully developed characters. Le Carre's famous trilogy (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy; Smiley's People) features British agent George Smiley, and is based on the true story of Kim Philby, the Soviet mole that infiltrated British intelligence in the 1960's.