Houghton: 1009 books

“Lyrical and haunting . . . A beautiful portrait of urban loneliness, and the pursuit of meaning amid the barbed comforts of solitude.” —The Economist Marie’s job as a security guard at the National Gallery in London offers her the life she always wanted, one of invisibility and quiet...

A young woman’s secret may tear her rural Minnesota community apart, in this “emotional tale of star-crossed love, vengeance and regret” (Publishers Weekly). In the tumultuous days after World War I, Herman Richter returns from the front to find his only sister, Liesel, allied with Lester...

A charming portrait of one man’s dreams and schemes, by “the greatest Italian writer of the twentieth century” (The Guardian). In this enchanting book of linked stories, Italo Calvino charts the disastrous schemes of an Italian peasant, an unskilled worker in a drab northern industrial...

Dark family secrets come to light in this novel of “nearly Dickensian proportions” set in Paris, New York, and St. Petersburg (*TheNew Yorker*).** Thirty-two-year-old Gabriel Glover arrives in St. Petersburg from London to find his Russian mother dead in her apartment. Reeling from grief,...

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize: A “rich, Chekhovian novel” about family and forgiveness from the acclaimed author of Fire on the Mountain (The New Yorker). At the heart of this “wonderful” novel are the moving relationships between the estranged members of the Das family (The...

A young American in Mexico discovers his family’s past—and a present-day danger—in this “elegant, exquisite” novel of suspense (Elle).   Eric is a newly minted historian just out of graduate school, plagued by self-doubt over both his past choices and his future options. With no clear direction,...

A WWII-era Welsh barmaid begins a secret relationship with a German POW in this “beautiful, ambitious novel” longlisted for the Man Booker Prize (Ann Patchett). Set in the stunning landscape of North Wales just after D-Day, this critically acclaimed debut novel traces the intersection of...

One of the New York Times’s Ten Best Books of the Year: These traditional stories of Italy, retold by a literary master, are “a treasure” (Los Angeles Times). Filled with kings and peasants, saints and ogres—as well as some quite extraordinary plants and animals—these two hundred...

Collected in one volume, three counterculture classics that embody the spirit of the 1960s. Included here are three great works by the incomparable Richard Brautigan: Trout Fishing in America is by turns a hilarious, playful, and melancholy novel that wanders from San Francisco through...

In this “deliciously spooky” Victorian Gothic, a woman’s past could be the death of her—if she can remember it (The New York Times Book Review). Confused and disoriented, Georgina Ferrars awakens in a small room in Tregannon House, a remote asylum in England, with no memory of the past...

The tenants of a post-Soviet slum face the absurdity of Russian life in this Flannery O’Connor Award–winning debut novel “of startling redemptive beauty” (*TheNew York Times Book Review*).** In a crumbling apartment building in post-Soviet Russia, there’s a ghost who won’t keep...

The power of collaboration, from Lennon and McCartney to Wozniak and Jobs: “An inspiring book that also happens to be a great read” (Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive). Throughout history, partners have buoyed each other to better work—though often one member is little known to the general...

Set along the Gulf Coast before and after Hurricane Katrina, “these stories evoke places with a sharp, sensuous and at times magical skill” (Colm Tóibín). The sixteen short stories featured in this prize-winning debut collection paint a richly textured vision of the American South. Set...

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. Something may...