Books that captivate with their exquisite prose and unforgettable storytelling. Perfect for readers who appreciate the art of language.
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Tracy Kidder, 2003
336 pp.
April 2007
If you've never read anything by Tracy Kidder, start with this book.
Kidder is one of the finest non-fiction authors today. Whether he's writing about designing computers or building a house, he writes with the intricacy of a specialist and the intimacy of a novelist.
Crossing to Safety
Wallace Stegner, 1987
368 pp.
March 2007
Like other famous authors who claimed to write small (Jane Austen's miniatures on "a little bit of ivory" and William Faulkner's "postage stamp" of native soil), Wallace Stegner says of Crossing to Safetythat he "was trying to make very small noises and to make them thoughtful."
He succeeded on both counts, creating an intimate, thoughtful portrait of friendship between two married couples over a 35-year span. It's a powerful tale.
Bel Canto
Ann Patchett, 2001
318 pp.
February 2007
In Bel Canto Ann Patchett uses an age-old plot device which hinges on a group of strangers trapped in an isolated environment. As old as the technique is—it goes back to The Decameron of the 14th century—Patchett's use of it is fresh, elegant and, at times, very funny.
Fifty-seven men, and one female opera singer, from different countries with different languages, are held hostage in an unnamed Latin American country by a group of terrorists. Patchett turns up the heat, or in this case the music, and we get to watch what happens.
Atonement
Ian McEwan, 2002
480 pp.
January 2007
His fellow Brits once dubbed him "Ian Macabre" due to his string of dazzling yet morbid novels.
But this time around, Ian McEwan has written a gorgeous, lush book, taking on the genteel shades of Jane Austen, specifically her Northanger Abbey and its young heroine with the over-active imagination that lands her in so much trouble.
Ahab's Wife
Sena Jeter Naslund, 1999
668 pp.
December 2006
Some people devour this book; others have told me they couldn't get through it. Certainly, it's an ambitious underaking: the retelling of Moby-Dick, America's great epic, from a woman's vantage point.
Much of the book I love—though not all of it. Mostly, I admire the intelligence and courage of a writer to attempt such a work, especially a writer with a such a powerful sense of myth and elegant prose style.