Overlooked Books

I'm not much of a bestsellers kind of reader. As a librarian it's my job to know what's on all of the bestsellers lists, but I'm usually not in a hurry to read any of them. I'm more of the type of reader that likes books that are a little off the radar. Or I just wait until the frenzy is over!

So no matter what kind of reader you are you might want to give one or two of the following titles a chance. They were all well received, but did not sell as many copies as a lot of other books. You never know, you might find a new favorite author!


Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde - From the bestselling author of "Thursday Next" comes a brilliant new novel--part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller--about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors one can see.



Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín - From the award-winning author of "The Master" comes a moving historical novel set in Brooklyn and Ireland in the early 1950s, concerning a young woman torn between her family and her past in Ireland and the American who wins her heart.



Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - The author of the phenomenally successful novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" returns with a spectacularly compelling and haunting second book set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.



Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared. Eggers's riveting nonfiction book, three years in the making, explores Zeitoun's roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy -- an American who converted to Islam -- and their children, and the surreal atmosphere (in New Orleans and the United States generally) in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun was possible.



Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, with Erin Torneo - Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her apartment while she slept. She was able to escape, and eventually positively identified Ronald Cotton as her attacker. Ronald insisted that she was mistaken-- but Jennifer's positive identification was the compelling evidence that put him behind bars. After eleven years, Ronald was allowed to take a DNA test that proved his innocence. He was released, after serving more than a decade in prison for a crime he never committed. Two years later, Jennifer and Ronald met face to face-- and forged an unlikely friendship that changed both of their lives. In their own words, Jennifer and Ronald unfold the harrowing details of their tragedy, and challenge our ideas of memory and judgment while demonstrating the profound nature of human grace and the healing power of forgiveness.



The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Dave Eggers - In "The Worst Hard Time," Egan put the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl at the center of a rich history. Now he performs the same alchemy with this story of the largest-ever forest fire in America, painting a moving portrait of the people who lived through the disaster.



-- Post by Tracy