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25 Books to Remember from 2006


	All Aunt Hagar's Children Jones, Edward P. \| Amistad, © 2006 \| FIC J In this sophisticated collection, ordinary yet complex African-American residents of Washington D.C. attempt to reconcile past and present realities with elusive hopes for the future. Reserve This Title
	Better for All the World: The Secret History of Forced Sterilization and America's Quest for Racial Purity Bruinius, Harry \| Alfred A. Knopf, © 2006 \| 363.9209 B The eugenics movement in early 20th-century America is exposed in this fascinating and deeply alarming history. Reserve This Title
	Black Swan Green Mitchell, David \| Random House, © 2006 \| FIC M A thirteen-year-old boy experiences the pains and pleasures of adolescence in this nostalgic and poetic coming of age novel set in England. Reserve This Title
	Blue Front: A Poem Collins, Martha \| Graywolf Press, © 2006 \| 811 Collins Collins scrutinizes race and accountability with lyrical force in this book-length poem about a lynching in 1909. Reserve This Title
	The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story Dornstein, Ken \| Random House, © 2006 \| 973.9109 D Dornstein examines the life of his late brother, who was killed in the Lockerbie bombing, and writes a refreshingly personal and uplifting memoir in the process. Reserve This Title
	The Brief History of the Dead: A Novel Brockmeier, Kevin \| Pantheon Books, © 2006 \| FIC B The dead and the living are delicately entwined in this haunting tale, that looks at life, the role of memory, and the meaning of relationships. Reserve This Title
	China Syndrome: The True Story of the 21st Century's First Great Epidemic Greenfeld, Karl Taro \| HarperCollins, © 2006 \| 614.592 G Greenfeld gives a harrowing, illuminating account of the SARS epidemic that swept through South China, and the chaos and cover-up that ensued. Reserve This Title
	The Dead Fish Museum: Stories D'Ambrosio, Charles \| Alfred A. Knopf, © 2006 \| FIC D Powerful and nuanced, each elegantly crafted narrative offers an insightful exploration into the caverns of the wayward soul. Reserve This Title
	District and Circle: Poems Heaney, Seamus \| Farrar, Straus and Giroux, © 2006 \| 821 Heaney Everyday experiences are endowed with gravity, humor, and the supernatural in this exciting collection. Reserve This Title
	The Emperor's Children Messud, Claire \| Alfred A. Knopf, © 2006 \| FIC M Privileged Manhattanites strut and fret through Messud’s humorous and parodic yet morally exact portrait of pre-9/11 social life. Reserve This Title
	The First Hurt: Stories Sherman, Rachel \| Open City Books, © 2006 \| FIC S In this debut collection, the familiar pangs of being human emerge through spare and disarming prose. Reserve This Title
	Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir Erlbaum, Janice \| Villard Books, © 2006 \| B Erlbaum Erlbaum, homeless at fifteen, illustrates the dark side of girlhood in her candid and engaging memoir of surviving group homes, drugs and abuse. Reserve This Title
	The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Brinkley, Douglas \| HarperCollins, © 2006 \| 976.335 B Brinkley delivers a comprehensive, eye-opening account of one the most devastating disasters in American history. Reserve This Title
	Grief: A Novel Holleran, Andrew \| Hyperion Press, © 2006 \| FIC H In Holleran's moving novel, a lonely professor escapes to Washington, D.C. after his mother’s death and learns about the surprising gifts that can come from grief. Reserve This Title
	The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 Wright, Lawrence \| Alfred A. Knopf, © 2006 \| 973.931 W The history of al-Qaeda and its roots in fundamentalism are paired with portraits of those who planned and those who tried to prevent the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Reserve This Title
	The Places in Between Stewart, Rory \| Harvest Books, © 2006 \| 915.8104 S Stewart's walk across Afghanistan provides an informative history of the region as well as an accurate and compelling portrayal of the country and its people today. Reserve This Title
	The Road McCarthy, Cormac \| Alfred A. Knopf, © 2006 \| FIC M In this grim yet ultimately hopeful novel, a father and his son journey across post-apocalyptic America. Reserve This Title
	Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 Thomas, Evan \| Simon & Schuster, © 2006 \| 940.5426 T The Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944, the world's largest-ever naval engagement, is viewed through the eyes of two American and two Japanese commanders. Reserve This Title
	The Secret River: A Novel Grenville, Kate \| Canongate Books, © 2006 \| FIC G Grenville's gripping historical tale pits Aborigines and convict settlers in a fierce battle for the right to call Australia home. Reserve This Title
	Strong Is Your Hold Kinnell, Galway \| Houghton Mifflin, © 2006 \| 811 Kinnell At once masterful and accessible, this uncluttered collection, celebrating the everyday, is a striking achievement from an award-winning American poet. Reserve This Title
	Sweet and Low: A Family Story Cohen, Rich \| Farrar, Straus and Giroux, © 2006 \| 929.2097 C An engaging, vengeful tale of how Sweet'N Low went from being an idea born in a Brooklyn diner to a staple on every table. Reserve This Title
	Sword and Blossom: A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman Pagnamenta, Peter \| Penguin Press, © 2006 \| 941.081 P An English army officer's lifelong romance with a Japanese woman is reconstructed through their letters in this gentle, timeless story, filled with period detail. Reserve This Title
	The Time in Between Bergen, David \| Random House, © 2005 \| FIC B This compelling novel follows two siblings who travel to Vietnam in search of their missing father and discover him to be as elusive and mysterious as the country to which he fled. Reserve This Title
	What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng Eggers, Dave \| McSweeney's, © 2006 \| FIC E This unforgettable novel is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Reserve This Title
	The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl Egan, Timothy \| Houghton Mifflin, © 2005 \| 978.032 E Hardy and resourceful settlers describe the experience of remaining on their land and enduring the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s. Reserve This Title
Back to the Branch Libraries home page Books to Remember is an annual list of 25 titles chosen for their ability to provide an informative or transformative reading experience for adults. Selection criteria include literary excellence, uniqueness of concept and command of subject matter. These books were selected by the following committee from the staff of The New York Public Library: Matthew Baiotto, Tracy Crawford (Chair), Abigail Dreyer, Carol Gladstein, Billy Parrott, Lisa Piraino, Joseph Vissers, with Adele Bellinger, Advisor. Selected titles appearing on this booklist may be available in recorded, braille or large print versions. For more information, please contact the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211, (212) 206-5400, (212) 206-5458 (TTY). The New York Public Library Office of Adult and Information Services 455 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10016-0122