We asked Prince Edward County Book Clubs for the “best” book they read in 2016 – whether that was the book that created the best discussion or the most well-written. These are the books they chose.
The Sellout
by Paul Beatty
After his down-trodden hometown is removed from the map of California to save the state further embarrassment, a young man undertakes a radical course of action to draw attention to the town, resulting in a racially charged trial that sends him to the Supreme Court.
Etta and Otto and Russell and James
by Emma Hooper
Embarking on a walking journey from rural Canada to the East coast so that she can see the ocean for the first time in her life, an octogenarian woman has experiences that blur her perspectives between illusion, memory, and reality.
The devil’s chessboard : Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government
by David Talbot
This non-fiction book describes how the longest-serving director of the CIA befriended the wealthy elite, targeted foreign leaders for assassination, and manipulated American presidents to further his own agenda, and offers new evidence of his involvement in the assassination of JFK.
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
A blind French girl on the run from the German occupation and a German orphan-turned-Resistance tracker struggle with their respective beliefs after meeting on the Brittany coast. By the award-winning author of About Grace.
H is for Hawk
by Helen Macdonald
This memoir recounts how the author, an experienced falconer grieving the sudden death of her father, endeavored to train for the first time a dangerous goshawk predator as part of her personal recovery.
My Brilliant Friend : Childhood, Adolescence
by Elena Ferrante
Beginning in the 1950s Elena and Lila grow up in Naples, Italy, mirroring two different aspects of their nation.
The Jaguar’s Children
by John Vaillant
A man trapped inside a tanker truck during an illegal border crossing reflects on the trials of his life in Oaxaca and the events leading to his present circumstances while fellow passengers and he desperately wait for rescue. A first novel by the award-winning author of The Golden Spruce. Online reader’s guide available. 50,000 first printing.
The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
For 84 days, the old fisherman Santiago has caught nothing. Alone, impoverished, and facing his own mortality, Santiago is now considered unlucky.
The Excellent Lombards
by Jane Hamilton
Desiring nothing more than to tend her family’s apple orchard and enjoy time with her loved ones, young Frankie finds her peace threatened by threats of urbanization, disinheritance and college and must choose between clinging to the past and letting go.
His Whole Life
by Elizabeth Hay
This book delves into the life of Jim, beginning when he is ten and follows the subsequent years as he grows closer to his mother, moving from city to county, wellness to illness, and summer to winter, all as the family begins to unravel.
Crimes Against My Brother
by David Adams Richards
A brilliant, heartbreaking novel from a Canadian icon that tackles the theme of debt, and what we owe each other, through three unforgettable characters. This is Richards’ best and most complex work since his Giller-winning Mercy Among the Children, and a fitting companion to that novel.
A tale for the time being
by Ruth L. Ozeki
A novelist on a remote island in the Pacific is linked to a bullied and depressed Tokyo teenager after discovering a Hello Kitty lunchbox that washed ashore in this new novel from the award-wining, bestselling author of My Year of Meats.
Fifteen dogs : an apologue
by André Alexis
Gods Apollo and Hermes grant human intelligence and consciousness to fifteen dogs who wrestle with the challenges that arise as the result of their elevated thinking.
If you are interested in joining a book club, please contact Dianne Cranshaw at : dcranshaw@peclibrary.org and she can match you with an open club.
Thank you to Dianne for her many hours of volunteer service ensuring that all members of each book club have access to the books the group is reading!