Looking for an engrossing, thought-provoking read? Check out one of these titles recommended by Madison Public Library book groups.
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Sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt, Count Alexander Rostov nonetheless lives the fullest of lives, discovering the depths of his humanity, as he slowly adjusts to circumstances as a "Former Person." Available to download: eBook Audio
A newlywed couple are on a trip to visit family when the husband is wrongly accused of rape and sentenced to prison for 12 years. His wife knows he is not guilty, and leans on her childhood best friend, who was also best man at the couple’s wedding, for support. As the years pass, the love all three people have for each other gets complicated. Available to download: eBook Audio
Two families’ lives intertwine in this novel set in New York City during the 2008/2009 economic crisis. The narrative begins by flowing back and forth between the men and their domains--a Cameroonian chauffeur’s Harlem and an investment banker’s Upper East Side. The women’s lives intertwine as well, in ways both professional and personal. Available to download: eBook Audio
In the aftermath of the American Civil War, in the American West, an elderly former Captain who makes a living reading newspapers aloud agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people. The girl resists mightily. This National Book Award winner engages us in issues of responsibility, honor, and trust. Available to download: eBook
The story of a Korean family through the generations begins in the early 1900s with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan. Available to download: eBook Audio
An idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors, is accessible only by a small mountain tunnel. Then a young woman is found bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theater. An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and with a killer on the loose rookie cop Ari Thór Arason, is pushed to his limits. Available to download: eBook Audio
This nail-biting thriller is set in Australia, under the blistering sun, in a community suffering an epic drought. An apparent murder-suicide is investigated by a Federal agent who has recently returned to this community, his hometown, where he must deal with long-buried secrets and a number of suspects. Available to download: eBook Audio
In a shabby cabin in the Irish countryside in the 1850s, a nurse is sent to determine whether a girl said to be surviving despite not ingesting any food for 4 months is part of a hoax, is truly fasting and unwell, or something else. Psychologically intense, with each word a potential clue, readers will be drawn in quickly and read urgently. Available to download: eBook Audio
Twelve Native Americans came to the Big Oakland Powwow for different reasons. As we learn the reasons that each person is attending--some generous, some fearful, some joyful, some violent--momentum builds toward a shocking yet inevitable conclusion that changes everything. Available to download: Audio
