Atwood, Margaret Eleanor. The Handmaid's Tale.  Set in the near future, America has become a puritanical theocracy and Offred tells her story as a Handmaid under the new social order.

Capote, Truman.  In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences.  Examines the lives and deaths of four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, and the two men who murdered them on November 15, 1959.

Chopin, Kate.  The Awakening.  A reprint of the 1899 novel about Edna Pontellier, a Victorian-era wife and mother who is awakened to the full force of her desire for love and freedom when she becomes enamored with Robert LeBrun, a young man she meets while on vacation.

Cisneros, Sandra.  The House on Mango Street.  A young girl living in a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago ponders the advantages and disadvantages of her environment and evaluates her relationships with family and friends.

Conroy, Pat.  The Prince of Tides.  Tom Wingo is a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling. He flies to New York after learning of his twin sister's suicide attempt. He realizes that while trying to save her, this may be his last chance to save himself as well.

Ellison, Ralph.  Invisible Man.  In the course of his from a Southern college to New York's Harlem, an African-American man becomes involved in a series of adventures.

Faulkner, William.  As I Lay Dying.  Describes a family's struggle to get their mother properly buried, while they encounter catastrophes of flood and fire, as well as the chaos of their own feelings.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott).  Bernice Bobs Her Hair and Other Stories.  Classic short stories including: May day -- The jelly-bean -- Myra meets his family-- Babes in the woods -- The camel's back -- Bernice bobs her hair – and more.

Haley, Alex.  Roots.  A black American traces his family's origins back to the African who was brought to America as a slave in 1767.

Heinlein, Robert A. (Robert Anson).  Stranger in a Strange Land.  After his arrival on Earth from his home on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith becomes the founder and pastor of a new religious sect.

Hemingway, Ernest.  A Farewell to Arms.  An American ambulance driverserving on the Austro- Italian front in World War I becomes entangled with an English nurse and deserts to join her after the retreat of Caparetto.

Hemingway, Ernest.  The Sun Also Rises.   A group of American and British expatriates living in Paris go on an excursion to Pamplona, Spain.

Hosseini, Khaled.  The Kite Runner.  Amir, haunted by his betrayal of Hassan, the son of his father's servant and a childhood friend, returns to Kabul as an adult after he learns Hassan has been killed, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing Hassan's son from a life of slavery to a Taliban official.

Irving, John.  The World According to Garp.  The son of a famous radical feminist spends his life struggling with his diverse personal relationships and with his ambition to be a writer.

Kesey, Ken.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  A rebel named Randle Patrick McMurphy is committed to a mental ward and challenges the authority of its dictatorial head nurse.

King, Stephen.  Carrie.  Carrie, an odd girl who is ostracized at school, has the power of telekinesis and after being harassed by her fellow students begins to exact revenge with violence.

King, Stephen.  It.  In 1985, six men and one woman are called back to Derry, Maine in search for a creature of unspeakable evil that had stalked them as children.

Le Guin, Ursula K.  The Left Hand of Darkness.  An official from an interplanetary federation is called in to arbitrate peace on a planet whose inhabitants are technically advanced, androgynous, and have telepathic powers

Melville, Herman.  Billy Budd.  Narrates the hatred of petty officer Claggart  Billy, a handsome Spanish sailor. Billy strikes and kills Claggart, and is condemned by Captain Vere even though the latter senses Billy's spiritual innocence.

Morrison, Toni.  Beloved.  Sethe, an escaped slave who now lives in post-Civil War Ohio, has borne the unthinkable and works hard at "beating back the past."

Myers, Walter Dean.  Fallen Angels.  Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.

Pirsig, Robert M.  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  During a motorcycle trip with his son, the author reveals his past life and muses on philosophical topics.

Rice, Anne.  Interview with the Vampire.  Contains the confessions of a vampire which are hypnotic and shocking.  Book 1. The Vampire Lestat.  The story of the vampire Lestat through the ages as he searches for the origin and meaning of his own dark immortality. Book 2. The Queen of the Damned.  Akasha, mother of all vampires, has been awakened from her six thousand-year sleep and elevates herself and her chosen son/lover to the level of gods. Book 3.

Wilder, Thornton.  Our Town : a play in three acts.  Portrays life in Grover's Corner, New Hampshire, in the early 1900's through the routine daily events and the major moments in the lives of George Gibbs, Emily Webb, and their families; and how their lives, although mundane, are touched by the universal forces of love, despair, apathy, nature, and death.

Williams, Tennessee.  A Streetcar Named Desire.  Blanche DuBois, a haggard and fragile southern beauty finds her pathetic last grasp at happiness cruelly destroyed in large part by her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski.

Williams, Tennessee.  The Glass Menagerie.   A play about a Southern woman who is anxious for her physically handicapped daughter to be married.