Around the World

Zoli by Colum McCann - A unique love story, a tale of loss, a parable of Europe; this haunting novel is an examination of intimacy and betrayal. Based loosely on the true story of the Romani poet Papsuza who was raised as a traveling Gypsy. (March 2008)

I Love Dollars and Other Stories of China by Zhu Wen - An immediate sensation upon publication in China, I Love Dollars is a hilarious send-up of China’s love affair with capitalism by one of its most gifted new writers. In the title story, a young man, acutely aware of his filial duty, sets out to secure a prostitute for his father, only to haggle his old man out of a good time. Here, gleefully exposed, are the inanities of everyday life in contemporary China. (February 2008)

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar - Shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, Matar's debut novel tracks the effects of Libyan strongman Khadafy's 1969 September revolution on the el-Dawani family, as seen by nine-year-old Suleiman, who narrates as an adult. (February 2008)

This Human Season by Louise Dean - Set in Belfast during the Troubles in the winter of 1979. (February 2008 )

Secondhand World by Katherine Min - Min poignantly captures the dilemma of second-generation Americans as they try to find a place in their universe, but she also tells of a quest for self-discovery, which is universal. (February 2008)

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak - When The Bastard of Istanbul was published in Turkey, Elif Shafak was accused by nationalist lawyers of insulting Turkish identity. The charges were later dropped, and now readers in America can discover for themselves this bold and powerful tale. Populated with vibrant characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is the story of two families, one Turkish and one Armenian American, and their struggle to forge their unique identities against the backdrop of Turkey’s violent history. (January 2008)

Matters of Honor by Louis Begley - (January 2008)

Winterwood by Patrick McCabe - In this spellbinding new novel, nothing—and no one—are ever quite what they seem. A disturbing and unforgettable tale of love, death and identity. (January 2008)

House of Meetings by Martin Amis - In 1946, two brothers and a Jewish girl fall into alignment in pogrom-poised Moscow. The fraternal conflict then marinates in Norlag, a slave-labor camp above the Arctic Circle, where a tryst in the coveted House of Meetings will haunt all three lovers long after the brothers are released. (January 2008)

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra - Draws the reader deep into the life of Inspector Sartaj Singh—and into the criminal underworld of Ganesh Gaitonde, the most wanted gangster in India. (January 2008 )

Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle - This beautifully wrought tale revisits the Dublin housewife-heroine of his earlier acclaimed novel, The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. Paula is now forty-seven, her abusive husband is long dead, and it’s been four months and five days since she’s had a drink. (December 2007)

Wolves of the Cresent Moon by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed - Banned in Saudi Arabia , this provocative, gorgeously written novel confirms what The Washington Post reported about its award-winning author: “Yousef Al-Mohaimeed is taking on some of the most divisive subjects in the Arab world . . . in a lush style that evokes Gabriel García Márquez.” (December 2007)

The Sound of Language by Amulya Malladi - In this luminous story of bravery, tradition, and the power of language, an Afghan woman and Danish widower form an unexpected alliance. (December 2007)

The Underground City by H. L. Humes - Originally published in 1958, now back in print after nearly fifty years–the acclaimed fiction debut of novelist H. L. Humes, co-founder of The Paris Review. (December 2007)

Men Die by H. L. Humes - Originaly published in 1959, now back in print after nearly fifty years the second novel by novelist H. L. Humes, co-founder of The Paris Review. (December 2007)

The Light of Evening by Edna O'Brien - A story of attachments, the attachment to land and especially the attachment between mother and daughter, who yearn for closeness but are also estranged. (October 2007)

Kabbalah: A Love Story by Lawrence Kushner - Hidden within the binding of an ancient text that has been passed down through the ages lies the answer to one of the heart’s eternal questions. When the text falls into the hands of Rabbi Kalman Stern, he has no idea that his lonely life of intellectual pursuits is about to change once he opens the book. (October 2007)

The Splendor of Silence by Indu Sundaresan - Set in India during four searing pre-monsoon days in May 1942, the author mergers her Indian and American backgrounds into a heartrending tale of love and clashing cultures in a time of war. (September 2007)

Half of Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - When the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria seceded in 1967 to form the independent nation of Biafra, a bloody, crippling three-year civil war followed. That period in African history is captured with haunting intimacy in this artful page-turner from this Nigerian novelist. (September 2007)

Everyman's Rule for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany - The "Better-Farming Train" slides through the wheat fields and small towns of 1930s Australia, bringing advice to farmers. Amid the swaying cars full of cows, pigs, and crops, a strange and swift seduction occurs between Jean Finnegan, a sewing instructor, and Robert Pettergree, a scientist with an unusual taste for soil. In an atmosphere of heady idealism, they settle in the impoverished Mallee farmland with the ambition of transforming the land through science. (July 2007)

Brothers by Da Chen - Acclaimed memoirist Chen draws on his experiences growing up during the Cultural Revolution for this arresting novel about two brothers negotiating the momentous changes that have buffeted China in recent decades. (June 2007)

Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali - Ali follows a group of individuals who call the village of Mamarrosa home, whether permanently or temporarily. (June 2007)

Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey - The hero of the book is genuine artist neglected, reckless and bitter from a failed marriage. He is forced out of his home by his ex-wife, who is out to milk him of every last penny and is in league with his art dealer. (May 2007)

Terrorist by John Updike - Ahmad Mulloy Ashmawy is 18 and attends Central High School in the commuter city of New Prospect, N.J. He is the son of an Egyptian exchange student who married a working-class Irish-American girl and then disappeared when Ahmad was three. Ahmad, disgusted by his mother's inability to get it together, is in the thrall of Shaikh Rashid, who runs a storefront mosque and preaches divine retribution for "devils." (May 2007)

It's Getting Later All the Time by Antonio Tabucchi - Seventeen men write seventeen strangely beautiful letters—tender or rancorous—lonely monologues which move in circles, each describing an affair, and each desperate for a reply which may never come. (May 2007)

Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart - a wild ride that follows its protagonist and narrator, Misha Vainburg, from St. Petersburg (or St. Leninsburg as he prefers to call it) to a tiny country in the Caucasus called Absurdsvani, with occasional detours via flashbacks to New York City and Misha's midwestern alma mater, Accidental College. Misha, whose life seems to be a series of outlandish adventures, continues in that manner after the murder of his wealthy gangster father. (April 2007)

Seeing by Jose Saramago - On election day in the capital, it is raining so hard that no one has bothered to come out to vote. The politicians are growing jittery. What's going on? Should they reschedule the elections for another day? Around three o'clock, the rain finally stops. Promptly at four, voters rush to the polling stations, as if they had been ordered to appear. But when the ballots are counted, more than 70 percent are blank. (April 2007)

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky - This extraordinary work of fiction about the German occupation of France is embedded in a real story as gripping and complex as the invented one. (April 2007)

Whiteman by Tony D'Souza - Whiteman is an extraordinary debut novel about a maverick American relief worker deep in the West African bush. (April 2007)