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Pequot Library

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the Humanities to our Community

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SUSAN EI RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle by Ingrid Betancourt
Organic Crops in Pots by Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell
Starter Vegetable Gardens by Barbara Pleasant
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Ernest Hemingway On Writing by Ernest Hemingway
A Lion Named Christian: the True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion by Anthony Bourke and John Rendalll
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
 
Fiction:
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.by Sandra Gulland (the Josephine Bonaparte Trilogy)
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
by Sandra Gulland
The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland 
The Real Minerva by Mary Sharratt
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA for adults!)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Widow's War: a Novel by Sally Gunning
Bound: a Novel by Sally Gunning
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Thirteenth Tale: a Novel by Diane Setterfield 
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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ROBYN SWAN FILIPPONE RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts 
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand 

Fiction:
The Watch That Ends the Night
by Allan Wolf
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber
The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
The NIght Circus: a Novel by Erin Morgenstern
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
The March by E. L. Doctorow
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson; the first of the trilogy
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson; the second of the trilogy
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling
Tinkers by Paul Harding
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Suite Française by Irène Nemirovsky
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
March by Geraldine Brooks
The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott

Mystery/Novel:
The Beekeeper's Apprentice, first in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Laurie R. King
Maisie Dobbs, first in the series by Jacqueline Winspear
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley; a Flavia de Luce mystery
The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley; the second Flavia de Luce mystery
The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith 

Biography:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
John Adams by David McCullough

Classics:
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - 75th Anniversary in 2011
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - 50th Anniversary in 2010
Anything by Jane Austen:
    Emma
    Sense & Sensibility
    Mansfield Park
    Northanger Abbey
    Pride & Prejudice
    Persuasion
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

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A
DAIR HEITMANN RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
Quiet by Susan Cain
The Journal Keeper by Phyllis Theroux
Holy Ghost Girl by Donna Johnson
The Boy Who Bit Picasso by Anthony Penrose
Lift
by Kelly Corrigan
Here if You Need Me by Kate Braestrup
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen
Yarn: Remembering the Way Home by Kyoko Mori
The Color of Water by James McBride
Red Bird or any poetry book by Mary Oliver
Any book by May Sarton

Fiction:
The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World by Sabina Berman
Big Stone Gap
series by Adriana Trigiani
The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey
Clay's Quilt
by Silas House
The Book of Salt by Monique Truong
Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell
The Language of Flowers
by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Tinkers by Paul Harding
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Whiskey Rebels by David Liss (Historical Fiction)


Mystery/Novel:
False Mermaid by Erin Hart

Cookbooks:
Simply Ming: One-Pot Meals by Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm
The Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World
by Lynn Alley
The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques
Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys by Lucinda Scala Quinn
The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond (As a memoir) 

Young Adults (YA): 
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War ll by Joseph Bruchac
Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes
Heroes Don't Run by Harry Mazer
The Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief series by Rich Riordan
Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan
          The Ruins of Gorlan
          The Burning Bridge
          The Icebound Land
          The Battle of Skandia
          The Sorcerer of the North
          The Siege of Macindaw
          Erak’s Ransom
          The Kings of Clonmel
          Halt’s Peril
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief series by Rich Riordan
Wolf Brother (first in a series) by Michelle Paver
(For kids who have loved Star Wars-themed books you can progress onto books by Walter Jon Williams such as Destiny's Way and Backlash)

For Kids:
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
Three Strong Women by Claus Stamm
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Mama Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse
The Little Bear series by Elise Holmelund Minarik

Classics:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Call of the Wild by Jack London
White Fang by Jack London

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VICTORIA KONOPKA RECOMMENDATIONS
Fiction:
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Hunger Games (Trilogy) by Suzanne Collins
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Non-fiction:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete
The Know-It-All: One’s Man Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs
A Lion Called Christian: the True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion by Anthony Bourke & John Rendall
Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone With the Wind’: a Bestseller’s Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood by Ellen F. Brown
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

Memoirs/Letters:
Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters by Jane Goodall
As Always, Julia: the Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto - Food, Friendship, and the Making of a Masterpiece edited by Joan Reardon
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
Geisha: a Life by Mineko Iwasaki
A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel
I Dreamed of Africa by Kuki Gallmann
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone With the Wind’ Letters, 1936-1949 edited by Richard Harwell
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain
My Life in France by Julia Child
Whatever You Do, Don’t Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison
The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann

Audiobooks:
At Home / The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid / Shakespeare by Bill Bryson (read by the author) 
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle / Poisonwood Bible / Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (read by the author)
Angela’s Ashes / ‘Tis / Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (read by the author) 
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim / Me Talk Pretty One Day / When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (read by the author)
Snowflower and the Secret Fan / Shanghai Girls /  Dreams of Joy by Lisa See (read by Janet Song)
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (read by Jim Dale)
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (read by Linda Stephens)
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (read by Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (read by Atossa Leoni)

MARTHA GATES LORD RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
A Whole New Mind, Why Right Brainers will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkel
Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor

Fiction
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Power
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
Rules of Civility by Amore Towles
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent.

LESLIE MAHTANI RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years by Terry A. Anderson Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael M. Lewis Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael M. Lewis The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn Saks Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Black Boy by Richard Wright
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
The Man who Loved China: the fantastic story of the eccentric scientist who unlocked the mysteries of the Middle Kingdom (re: Joseph Needham) by Simon Winchester
Passionate Minds: Emilie du Chatelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment by David Bodanis 
A Beautiful Mind: a Biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr., winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics by Sylvia Nasar
Days of Grace: a memoir by Arthur Ashe and Arnold Rampersad
The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim
A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable by John Steele Gordon
Out of Africa by Isak Dineson (the pen name of Baroness Karen Blixen)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales by Oliver Sacks
On Writing: a memoir of the craft by Stephen King
On Writing Well : An Informal Guide to Writing Nonficiton by William K. Zinsser
Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
Get out of my life, but first could you drive me and Cheryl to the mall?: a Parent's Guide to the New Teenager by Anthony Wolf
Open: an Autobiography by Andre Agassi

Fiction:
The March (re: the Civil War) by E.L. Doctorow
Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye: Five Fairy Stories by A.S. Byatt
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre
Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Howards End by E.M. Forster
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King, the first of a series including Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers including Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, Part 1 of a series
Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers including Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, Part 2
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers including Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, Part 3
Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers including Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, Part 4
Last Orders by Graham Swift
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
The short stories of Katherine Mansfield
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Divisadero by Michael Ondaajte
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy
Quentins by Maeve Binchy
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James
The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon 
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (1st of a trilogy)
Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer (2nd of the trilogy)
An Infamous Arny by Georgette Heyer (3rd of the trilogy)
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton   

For Older Kids:
Twenty and Ten (re: children in Occupied France, World War II) by Claire Huchet Bishop Dear Napolean, I Know Your Dead, But . . . by Elvira Woodruff The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (1st of a trilogy)
Elmer and the Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (2nd of the triolgy)
The Dragons of Blueland by Ruth Stiles Gannett (3rd of the trilogy)

For Younger Kids:
Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gilman
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
The Story Snail by Anne Rockwell
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard (1st of a triogy)
Miss Nelson is Back by Harry Allard (2nd of the trilogy)
Miss Nelson has a Field Day by Harry Allard (3rd of the trilogy)
One of Each by Mary Ann Hoberman
I am Not Cute by Jonathan Allen
Let's Do Nothing by Tony Fucile
Bread, Bread, Bread by Tana Hoban
Hats, Hats, Hats by Tana Hoban
Strega Nona: an Old Tale by Tomie de Paola (and his other books about Strega Nona)

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ELIZABETH PATTERSON RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
At Home by Bill Bryson (all his books are terrific, especially his travelogues)
The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, Cathy Erway
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Origins by Annie Murphy Paul
As Always: The Letters of Julia Child edited by Joan Reardon

Memoir & Biography:
Marmee & Louisa  by Eve LaPlante
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Nothing Daunted
by Dorothy Wickenden

Fiction:
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
When She Woke
by Hillary Jordan
The Beautiful Mystery
by Louise Penny
The Leftovers
by Tom Perrotta
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson


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MARIANNE PYSARCHYK RECOMMENDATIONS
Mystery:
Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs series) by Jacqueline Winspear
One for the Money (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Trilogy) by Stieg Larsson
Full Dark House (Bryant and May series) by Christopher Fowler
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce series) by Alan Bradley
Iron Lake (Cork O’Connor series) by William Kent Krueger

Fiction:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

 

BOB REPKO RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Fiction:
A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash
The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney 
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
Jar City  by Arnaldur Indridason 
Reservoir by John Thompson
The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith
The Cove by Ron Rash
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
Serena by Ron Rash
Savages by Don Winslow
The Tourist by Olin Steinhauer
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto
Scorched Earth by Davin L. Robbins
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford
          Dark of the Moon
          Heat Lightning
          Rough Country
          Bad Blood

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KAI ALEXIS SMITH RECOMMENDATIONS
Non-fiction:
Art in Latin America: The Modern Era, 1820-1980 by Dawn Ades
Art and Revolution in Latin America 1910 – 1990 by David Craven
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature by Susan E. Davis and Margo DeMello
The Guide to Owning Dwarf Rabbits by Dennis Kelsey-Wood

Biography:
Just Kids by Patti Smith

Young Adults (YA):
The Giver by Lois Lowry

For Kids:
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein (30th Anniversary Special Edition) by Shel Silverstein

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