Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Sweetness in the Belly: A Novel

by Camilla Gibb, Roger D. Launius

Like Brick Lane and The Kite Runner , Camilla Gibb’s widely praised new novel is a poignant and intensely atmospheric look beyond the stereotypes of Islam. After her hippie British parents are murdered, Lilly is raised at a Sufi shrine in Morocco. As a young woman she goes on pilgrimage to Harar, Ethiopia, where she teaches Qur’an to children and falls in love with an idealistic doctor. But even swathed... (more)

Crazy for the Storm

A Memoir of Survival

by Norman Ollestad

Dad Said Ollestad, we can do it all. . . . Why do you make me do this? Because it's beautiful when it all comes together. I don't think it's ever beautiful. One day. Never. We'll see, my father said. Vamanos. From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and... (more)

Such a Long Journey (Vintage International)

Such a Long Journey (Vintage International)

by Rohinton Mistry

A moving domestic tragi-comedy that introduces readers to Gustad Noble, a devout Parsi and dedicated family man, who becomes enmeshed in the corruption of the Indira Gandhi years. His journey back to himself manages to be comical and heartbreaking, deeply compassionate and unsparing.

Daughters of Britannia: The Lives & Times of Diplomatic Wives (Unabridged)

Daughters of Britannia: The Lives & Times of Diplomatic Wives (Unabridged)

by Katie Hickman

In an absorbing mixture of poignant biography and wonderfully entertaining social history, Daughters of Britannia offers the story of diplomatic life as it has never been told before. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Vita Sackville-West, and Lady Diana Cooper are among the well-known wives of diplomats who represented Britain in the far-flung corners of the globe. Yet, despite serving such crucial roles, the vast... (more)

Clara Callan: A Novel

by Richard Bruce Wright

In a small town in Canada, Clara Callan reluctantly takes leave of her sister, Nora, who is bound for New York. It's a time when the growing threat of fascism in Europe is a constant worry, and people escape from reality through radio and the movies. Meanwhile, the two sisters -- vastly different in personality, yet inextricably linked by a shared past -- try to find their places within the complex web of social... (more)

In Search of Lost Time: Book 1

Swann's Way

by Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is one of the most entertaining reading experiences in any language and arguably the finest single work of the twentieth century. Since the original prewar translation there has been no completely new rendering of the original French. Now Viking makes Proust's masterpiece accessible to a whole new generation, beginning with Lydia Davis's new translation of the first volume,... (more)

The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions

The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions

by Joshua Davis

Joshua Davis dreams like most guys. He wants a fun career, exciting adventures, a happy wife who’s proud of him, and really big muscles that strangers can’t help but admire. Too bad he’s a 129-pound data entry clerk whose wife, Tara, has only three simple requests for their life together: direct sunlight, a dining room, and a bathtub. Since none of these exist in their 250-square-foot San Francisco apartment,... (more)

Slipstream

by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Born in London in 1923, Elizabeth Jane Howard was privately educated at home, moving on to short-lived careers as an actress and model, before writing her first acclaimed novel, "The Beautiful Visit", in 1950. She has written 12 highly regarded novels, most recently "Falling". Her Cazalet Chronicles have become established as modern classics and have been filmed by the BBC. She has been married three times -... (more)

The Chosen

by Chaim Potok

North spirit : sojourns among the Cree and Ojibway

North spirit : sojourns among the Cree and Ojibway

by Paulette Jiles

Jiles (Univ. of Texas, San Antonio), a respected poet, has crafted a flowing, evocative personal narrative based on her seven years of work as a journalist in northern Ontario. She describes it as "a book of creative nonfiction" in which some of the events, times, and places have been rearranged for literary purposes but all the incidents are true. Jiles went to the Canadian North in 1974 to help set up an Indian... (more)

The Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is among the most enduring documents of the twentieth century. Since its publication in 1947, it has been read by tens of millions of people all over the world. It remains a beloved and deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit. Restored in this Definitive Edition are diary entries that were omitted from the original edition. These passages,... (more)

Reading "Lolita" in Tehran

by Azar Nafisi

Brand new. Never read. Excellent condition.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

by James McBride, Andre Braugher, Lainie Kazan

A young African-American man describes growing up in an all-black Brooklyn housing project, one of twelve children of a white mother and black father, and discusses his mother's contributions to his life and coming to terms with his confusion over his own identity. 75,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. Tour.

The Namesake: A Novel

by Jhumpa Lahiri, Mira Nair

Jhumpa Lahiri's debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, took the literary world by storm when it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. Fans who flocked to her stories will be captivated by her best-selling first novel, now in paperback for the first time. The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of... (more)

LOOKING FOR A FIGHT: HOW A WRITER TOOK ON THE BOXING WORLD - FROM THE INSIDE.

LOOKING FOR A FIGHT: HOW A WRITER TOOK ON THE BOXING WORLD - FROM THE INSIDE.

by David Matthews

The White Hotel

by D. M. Thomas

It is a dream of electrifying eroticism and inexplicable violence, recounted by a young woman to her analyst, Sigmund Freud. It is a horrifying yet restrained narrative of the Holocaust. It is a searing vision of the wounds of our century, and an attempt to heal them. Interweaving poetry and case history, fantasy and historical truth-telling, THE WHITE HOTEL is a modern classic of enduring emotional power that... (more)

Family Life (Corgi Book)

by Elisabeth Luard

Food - meals eaten together in many different places and circumstances - is the common thread of this book whose underlying idea is that the family at the table is the source of its strength. The book recounts the Luard family's life in a cork-oak forest in southern Spain, a snow-bound farmhouse in Languedoc or a sheep-farm in Northamptonshire. Containing anecdote, humour and curious food-lore, this book is... (more)

The Field of the Star

by Nicholas Luard

Originally published in 1998 this is an account of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela from Le Puy in France, completed in stages over 3 years by the author, his sister and a friend. Luard took to the road whilst reflecting on the imminent death of his eldest daughter and her life, friends and ultimate absence become interwoven into the text.

A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting

A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting

by Sam Sheridan

In 1999, after a series of wildly adventurous jobs around the world, Sam Sheridan found himself in Australia, loaded with cash and intent on not working until he’d spent it all. It occurred to him that, without distractions, he could finally indulge a long-dormant obsession: fighting. Within a year, he was in Bangkok training with the greatest fighter in muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) history and stepping through the... (more)

The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle

by Robert Anasi

In his last year of eligibility, Robert Anasi, age thirty-two, decided to fight in the Golden Gloves tournament, the premier event in amateur boxing. "The gym becomes a way of life," he explains, and so it does for the reader, as Anasi ushers us into the world of training and competition, of friendly rivalry, of artistry and violence. He tells his story not as a journalist on assignment but as a man in the midst... (more)

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Tags: life experiences