I am already scanning the House at Riverton. Fiction A to Z May 2008 "The number one sign you have nothing to do at work: The 4th Division of Paperclips has overrun the Pushpin Infantry and General White-Out has called for a new skirmish." ~ Fred Barling, American humorist New and Recently Released! Unaccustomed Earth: Stories - by Jhumpa Lahiri Publisher: Knopf Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/1/2008 ISBN: 9780307265739 ISBN-10: 0307265730 Author Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for her first collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies, and early reviews suggest that this collection may be even better. The eight stories in Unaccustomed Earth explore themes of identity and family life via the lives of Bengalis and Bengali-Americans in American society, and include three linked tales of a man and a woman who meet as children, as teens, and, years later, as adults. With her usual precise writing and eye for detail, Lahiri has once again produced something special. Table of Contents First Chapter The House at Riverton: A Novel - by Kate Morton Publisher: Atria Books Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/22/2008 ISBN: 9781416550518 ISBN-10: 1416550518 At the age of 98, former archaeologist Grace Reeves is living out her final days in a British nursing home. When she's approached by an American filmmaker on a fact-checking errand, she is prompted to recall her years as a housemaid and later personal maid for the aristocratic Hartford family, whose secrets she has spent "a lifetime pretending to forget." The sibling rivalry between the two Hartford sisters and the 1924 death of a young poet at their family manor, Riverton, provides the focus for this intriguing debut novel, which also faithfully recreates the end of the Edwardian era, the World War I years, and the 1920s. Three Girls and Their Brother: A Novel - by Theresa Rebeck Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/1/2008 ISBN: 9780307394149 ISBN-10: 030739414X After the Heller sisters appear on the cover of The New Yorker, the three teens (all beautiful redheads) are launched into the high-flying world of celebrity stardom, where being hounded by paparazzi and frequenting the covers of fashion magazines is de rigueur. With a mostly absent father and a pushy, ambitious mother, the girls (18, 17, and 14) soon fall prey to the temptations of show business. When the youngest is asked to appear in an off-Broadway play, it unleashes a rivalry that threatens the relationships among the three girls and their wary, neglected brother. Narrated by all four siblings, this entertaining satire is a sure bet for celebrity watchers and cynics alike. The Ginseng Hunter - by Jeff Talarigo Publisher: Nan A. Talese Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/15/2008 ISBN: 9780385517393 ISBN-10: 0385517394 The son of a Chinese mother and a Korean father, a nameless ginseng hunter lives a solitary life in a remote valley along the river that separates North Korea and China. On each of his monthly trips to the nearest Chinese town to sell his roots, he spends one night in a brothel, where he slowly becomes aware of the harshness of the repressive North Korean regime through a young North Korean prostitute. His eyes now opened, he begins to notice other refugees, begging on the streets or drifting, dead, down the river. Soon he must become more than an observer; his story, and that of young girl separated from her mother, create "a memorable, morally stringent tale" (Publishers Weekly). First Chapter If You Like: Louise Erdrich To draw readers into the challenges of life in rural North Dakota, Louise Erdrich writes complex stories that are peopled by a diverse array of characters. The men and women she writes about generally lead difficult lives, often on the fringes of society; the slow pace of her stories and her precise, clear, and simple writing style puts the focus on the relationships among these men and women. Many readers are also drawn to Erdrich's books for the way she writes about Native American culture. For those of you who have already read her latest, The Plague of Doves, or who are waiting for your turn with it, one of the books below might appeal to you. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - by Sherman Alexie Publisher: Grove Press Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/28/2005 ISBN: 9780802141675 ISBN-10: 0802141676 In The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, life on and around the Spokane Indian Reservation is pretty bleak for many of the Native Americans living there; though despair and alcohol-fueled violence are endemic, many still attempt to hold on to valuable and meaningful traditions. Day-to-day life for the reservation's Indians is portrayed through a series of linked stories that convey both pathos and humor, and which are narrated by several different characters. This "lyrically beautiful" (Kirkus Reviews) first novel was the inspiration for the movie Smoke Signals; readers who are drawn to Erdrich's stories about Native Americans will enjoy this book. First Chapter Table of Contents A Yellow Raft in Blue Water - by Michael Dorris Publisher: Picador Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/1/2003 ISBN: 9780312421854 ISBN-10: 0312421850 For many years, Louise Erdrich collaborated with fellow writer Michael Dorris (they eventually married but later divorced); A Yellow Raft in Blue Water was his first novel. The story follows three generations of Native American women beset by hardships, torn by angry secrets and abandonment, yet tied together by the apparently unbreakable bonds of kinship. It is narrated by first 15-year-old Rayona, then her mother Christine, and finally by Christine's supposed mother, who is referred to as Aunt Ida. If you liked Erdrich's Love Medicine, you're sure to appreciate A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. Accordion Crimes - by Annie Proulx Publisher: Scribner Paperback Fiction Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/1997 ISBN: 9780684831541 ISBN-10: 0684831546 Like Louise Erdrich, Annie Proulx uses lyrical prose to express the struggles faced by those living on the fringes of society. Accordion Crimes is a series of stories that follow the path of an accordion as it passes through the hands of various male and female immigrants to the U.S. Brought to New Orleans in 1890 by a Sicilian immigrant and his young son, the accordion finds its way into the lives, dreams, fantasies, and sorrows of Germans in Iowa, French Canadians in Maine, Mexicans in Texas, and so on. Perhaps you too will be "held rapt by Proulx's imagination, [and] cultural and social perception" (Booklist). First Chapter Empire Falls - by Richard Russo Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/1/2001 ISBN: 9780679432470 ISBN-10: 0679432477 For a look at ordinary people stuck in dead-end situations similar to those in Erdrich's books, try Richard Russo's Empire Falls, which focuses on blue-collar Miles Roby as he tries to hold his family together and improve his lot in life in an old logging town. Prosperous no longer, Empire Falls, Maine, has definitely seen better days, but this peek at the broken dreams and missed opportunities of an entire town is also tinged with humor. If you've ever felt squashed by your circumstances, you'll likely find it easy to connect with Miles and his surroundings. First Chapter Working Nine to Five Microserfs - by Douglas Coupland Publisher: ReganBooks Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/1996 ISBN: 9780060987046 ISBN-10: 0060987049 Author Douglas Coupland (popularizer of the term Generation X) is known for his quirky characters and satirical outlook on contemporary culture. Microserfs fills these criteria easily--this novel of life in the 1990s explores the working world of computer giant Microsoft as seen through the eyes of several of its nerds---errr, programmers. These hardworking techies manage to escape their "serf" status in order to found their own company, and in the process find lives outside their cubicle walls. Microserfs was written in the early days of the Internet, but the book itself takes the form of an online journal; for a 21st-century version, try Coupland's jPod, published in 2006. First Chapter Then We Came to the End: A Novel - by Joshua Ferris Publisher: Little, Brown Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/26/2008 ISBN: 9780316016391 ISBN-10: 031601639X As their numbers dwindle, the remaining copywriters and designers at a formerly successful advertising company spend their time gossiping about who's next (or whose anxiety is getting the best of them), competing for the best left-behind office furniture (chairs are particularly sought-after), and relishing secret romances, elaborate pranks, and frequent coffee breaks. They have only one real project--a mysterious pro-bono ad campaign that may or may not have to do with their boss' illness. Quirky and often absurd, this debut novel perfectly captures office life during anxious times. Kings of Infinite Space - by James Hynes Publisher: St. Martin's Press Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 1/30/2005 ISBN: 9780312319663 ISBN-10: 0312319665 In the wake of numerous failed relationships (an affair destroyed his marriage) and a "setback" in his university teaching career, downwardly mobile Paul Trilby is temping as a typist in the mind-numbing General Services Division of the Texas Department of General Services. Slowly, he begins to notice definitively odd things going on at the office (there's a corpse in one of the cubicles, but no one seems to notice) and at home (he's being haunted by a cat that will only allow him to watch cat-related programming on the television). If you're looking for something just a little different, you might want to try this "hilarious supernatural sendup of office life" (Publishers Weekly). First Chapter Can You Keep a Secret? - by Sophie Kinsella Publisher: Dial Press Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/1/2004 ISBN: 9780385336819 ISBN-10: 0385336810 We've all got secrets--and we've all suffered from foot-in-mouth syndrome at one time or another, but imagine how Emma Corrigan feels when, following the worst day of her life, she spills all of her embarrassing secrets (including her preference in underwear) to a complete stranger during a turbulent airplane ride--and he turns out to be the CEO of her company. "Oops" doesn't really cover it when the man who signs your paycheck knows you hate your job. But rather than fire her, handsome Jack Harper seems to like having her around. Complete with entertaining office shenanigans, romance, and an endearing if hapless heroine, Can You Keep a Secret? is just the thing to lift your spirits after a long day. First Chapter