The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
This book follows the life of Amir and Hassan, two Afghan boys living in Kabul. Amir is from a well-to-do family and Hassan is from the servant class. Once the Taliban begin to take over Afghanistan, Amir flees to the U.S. with this father, leaving Hassan and his family in Afghanistan. After many years Amir receives a letter from Hassan which begins his transformational journey home to retrieve Hassan’s son and save him from the Taliban.
His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis
This biography of George Washington discusses the life and personality of our first president. The most well-known man in the country at the time, Washington served his country diligently despite his reluctance to lead. Always seeking for the peace of civilian life, George Washington answered the call to serve and set the standard for leadership in America. You will be entertained and come to appreciate this Indispensable Man.
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The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
This book is a comic and heartfelt novel about how we get to the edge of ruin—and how we begin to make our way back.
The protagonist is losing his job, his wife, his house, and his mind—until, all of a sudden, he discovers a way that he might just possibly be able to save it all . . . and have a pretty great time doing it. Of course, plans don’t always work out the way we want them to.
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Watchmen by Alan Moore
This graphic novel is used as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to critique the superhero concept. Watchmen depicts an alternate history where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s, helping the United States to win the Vietnam War. As the country edges towards nuclear with the Soviet Union, the story focuses on the personal development and struggles of former costumed vigilantes as they discover a plot would stave off nuclear war by killing millions of people. The central theme is the idea of good versus evil and the shades of gray in this line of thinking, particularly when it comes to those in whom the public trusts.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
This novel about “The Lost Generation” chronicles the lives of American expats in Paris and parts of Spain. World War I undercut traditional notions of morality, faith, and justice. No longer able to rely on the traditional beliefs that gave life meaning, the men and women who experienced the war became psychologically and morally lost, aimlessly wandering in a seemingly meaningless world. With no beliefs and no direction, they seek to fill their empty lives with inconsequential and escapist activities, such as drinking, dancing, and debauchery. As the current generation experiences a resurgence of this emptiness, this novel gives an excellent way to view ourselves through the lens of the past.
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Life of Pi by Yann Martel
You may have seen this movie, but as is the case with most books that have been turned into films, you cannot truly appreciate the emotions and growth of the character unless you ingest every word of the author. This story chronicles the childhood of Pi Patel and his life in his family’s zoo in Pondicherry, India. Pi searches for God by attempting to follow Hinduism, Christianity and Islam at the same time, choosing to learn from each religion. Eventually, his family leaves India for Canada with their zoo, and their ship capsizes in a storm. Pi is the only human survivor and the only animal survivor is Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger. They spend 227 days on the ocean in a lifeboat, struggling for survival. Throughout his ordeal Pi hearkens back to his search for God, and attempts to reconcile his existence with the reality of his ordeal.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
This story documents a world where nuclear warfare has killed off most of the population of the planet. Because of wind currents, the fallout from the war has not yet reached most of the southern hemisphere. With a limited amount of time left before the radiation reaches them, this book chronicles the lives of the survivors and what they do with the time they have left.