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The 21st Century’s 12 Greatest Novels (Bookshop)
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items 
Insightful description of an immigrant family’s experience escaping Greece at a traumatic time and locating in Detroit. The characters are vivid, the characters experiences engaging - also a good read for someone struggling to understand the current ...
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
The novel is super lengthy, about 500 pages or close to. I like the way it talks about Britain and it's first and second generation immigrants and their struggles. However, it reads like a story with some minimal mysticism in it regarding twins. Lots...
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
This book robbed me of my peace. I trembled as I read the accounts of life during the Biafran war for independence. The characters are so incredibly well developed and so vibrant that once you have met them, you feel as though you are with them, watc...
Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I wish I had the energy to write down everything that this book made me think and feel. My notebook is full of McEwan's beautiful phrases. I love seeing the world through the eyes of his characters because they are so honest. Reading them makes me mo...
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Very comprehensive examination of the many perspectives of the War in Iraq as seen through the eyes of a young US soldier. The premise is that an amazing act of selfless bravery by US soldiers in Iraq is caught live on TV news, and the patrol gets br...
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk a - Ben Fountain
The constant change in each chapter’s protagonist provides a multi-faceted perspective on each of the characters and events throughout the book. I found it very clever the way the author would take one character from the previous chapter and write th...
A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
Nostalgic and fun. The author is an excellent story teller. Great character development and evolution throughout the span of the tale. World history and period topics are carefully woven into the story. Highly recommend.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
Do not be mistaken. This is not a quick, fun, easy-to-read novel about a quirky family in the Ann Tyler vein; think more along the lines of John Irving and "real literature." There's a reason that more books like this don't land on book club reading ...
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
I absolutely love this book. What does a man do when he’s facing his death? What issues does he need to resolve? Who does he need to make peace with? How does he make sense of his life‘s work? What legacy does he leave his son? What is the one last d...
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson
This book certainly isn’t for everyone. It’s Booker and Pulitzer bait if there ever was any. It’s an interesting look back at one history’s biggest villains. The POV is very distant, as if we’re following these characters through the mists of time. R...
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
A few lines into the first page and I knew right away it was going to be, not a good, but great read. Jones writing skill is like no other. Amazing how he can write in a style that has you convinced it was written during a primitive period for a mill...
The Known World - Edward P. Jones
I so loved this book! Junot Díaz is a magnificent writer. He writes from the heart, and from facts! He is political, as he is sentimental, and a realist. This is a great story read from several perspectives. It gives a complete picture of Oscar Wao i...
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Díaz