Brentwood Book Stacks

Have you seen Newsday’s list for top 12 books of 2012? Interested in picking up a copy of any one of these? Just come into the library and pick it up for yourself!

• WILD: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed (Link to Catalog, Ebook, Audiobook Download)

A powerful, blazingly honest, inspiring memoir: the story of a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.

• BEAUTIFUL RUINS, by Jess Walter(Link to Catalog, Ebook)

The award-winning author of The Financial Lives of the Poets presents his most romantic and enjoyable novel yet that follows a young Italian innkeeper and his almost-love affair with a beautiful American starlet, which draws him into a glittering world filled with unforgettable characters.

• THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON: The Passage of Power, by Robert A. Caro(Link to Catalog, Ebook)

Examines Lyndon Johnson’s volatile relationships with John and Robert Kennedy, describes JFK’s assassination from Johnson’s viewpoint, and recounts his accomplishments as president before they were overshadowed by the Vietnam War.

• GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn(Link to Catalog, Ebook, Large Print, Audiobook Download)

When a woman goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, her diary reveals hidden turmoil in her marriage, while her husband, desperate to clear himself of suspicion, realizes that something more disturbing than murder may have occurred.

• FIRE IN THE BELLY: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz, by Cynthia Carr (Not In Brentwood, Click here to Request and have it sent by Inter-Library Loan)

A full-length account of the life and career of the artist and gay activist centers on the infamous 2010 censoring of “A Fire in My Belly,” exploring Wojnarowicz’s brutal childhood, relationship with his contemporaries, and early death from AIDS in 1992.

• MONKEY MIND: A Memoir of Anxiety, by Daniel Smith (Not In Brentwood, Click here to Request and have it sent by Inter-Library Loan)

Shares the author’s personal experiences with anxiety, describing its painful coherence and absurdities while sharing the stories of other sufferers to illustrate anxiety’s intellectual history and influence.

• THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE HER, by Junot Díaz (Link to Catalog)

Presents a collection of stories that explores the heartbreak and radiance of love as it is shaped by passion, betrayal, and the echoes of intimacy.

• BUILDING STORIES, by Chris Ware (Not in Brentwood, Click here to Request and have it sent by Inter-Library Loan)

Building Stories imagines the inhabitants of a three-story Chicago apartment building: a 30-something woman who has yet to find someone with whom to spend the rest of her life; a couple, possibly married, who wonder if they can bear each other’s company another minute; and the building’s landlady, an elderly woman who has lived alone for decades. Taking advantage of the absolute latest advances in wood pulp technology, Building Stories is a book with no deliberate beginning nor end, the scope, ambition, artistry and emotional prevarication beyond anything yet seen from this artist or in this medium, probably for good reason.—Publisher.

• BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, by Katherine Boo(Link to Catalog, Ebook, Audiobook Download, Large Print)

The dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities. - Publisher

• MAY WE BE FORGIVEN, by A.M. Homes (Not at Brentwood, Click here to Request and have it sent by Inter-Library Loan)

Feeling overshadowed by his more-successful younger brother, Harold is shocked by his brother’s violent act that irrevocably changes their lives, placing Harold in the role of father figure to his brother’s adolescent children and caregiver to his aging parents.

• THE PATRIARCH: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy, by David Nasaw (Not At Brentwood, Click here to Request and have it sent by Inter-Library Loan)

Draws on exclusive access to the subject’s records to offer insight into his shrewd financial talents and considerable ambition for his family, discussing the controversies surrounding his character and his role in several mainstream political events.

• CARRY THE ONE, by Carol Anshaw (Link to Catalog)

When a car of inebriated guests from Carmen’s wedding hits and kills a girl on a country road, Carmen and the people involved in the accident connect, disconnect and reconnect throughout 25 subsequent years of marriage, parenthood, holidays and tragedies.

*Annotations by Novelist unless noted.

A ‘difficult story’ for Nicholas Sparks to write, this paranormal romance is about two lovers from opposite families. Dawson is not like his Cole family members who are known in town as a rough and violent family. Fear of them forces him to live up to his family’s reputation. Amanda Collier is from a well to do family who sees Dawson for who he is, infuriating her family when they fall in love. Unfortunately, Dawson is involved in an accident in which his misfortune in being a Cole causes him to be unfairly tried and sentenced to four years of prison.

It’s twenty years later, and the death of their close friend reunites them. Tuck Hostetler’s final wish was to have his ashes scattered on his ex-wife’s cottage. Upon seeing each other, Dawson and Amanda’s feelings are reignited due to feelings that never quite disappeared. Amanda is a stay at home mom with three children who lives for what comes. Dawson is haunted by his past and lost love, a dreamer who must stay a step ahead of his two cousins out to kill him.

Told by different points of view, the story is a character-driven romance where all actions are tied together in driving Dawson and Amanda’s fate. (Link to Catalog; Large Print; Book on CD; Audiobook Download)

I’ve fared better at this list than the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels. Need some new books to read during the Summer? Look at these lists and then come in to the library to pick up copies of the novels you want. If you’ve already read them, maybe it’s time you read them again? Studies show that re-reading a favorite novel enhances the experience of reading and could benefit your mental health.

30 Books Everyone Should Read Before Turning 30.