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Brick Lane by Monica Ali

496 pages

Set in the the Asian community in London's East End, this is the story of Nazneen, a village girl from Bangladesh and how she makes the urban village of Brick Lane her new home. Strikingly imagined, gracious and funny, this novel is at once epic and intimate. Exploring the role of Fate in our lives - those who accept it, those who defy it - it traces the extraordinary transformation of an Asian girl, from cautious and shy to a bold and dignified woman. Shortlisted for the 2003 Booker-Mann Prize.

October 13th

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
251 pages

Gaskell's witty and poignant comedy of country town life

A gently comic picture of life in an English country town in the mid-nineteenth century, "Cranford" describes the small adventures of Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two middle- aged spinster sisters striving to live with dignity in reduced circumstances. Rich with humor and filled with vividly memorable characters — including the dignified Lady Glenmire and the duplicitous showman Signor Brunoni — "Cranford" is a portrait of kindness, compassion, and hope.

September 8th

The Thin Man by Dashiel Hammett
208 pages

Nick and Nora Charles are Hammett's most enchanting creations, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.

August 11th