Explore this recommended reading list from award-winning author Geraldine Brooks. Her first novel, Year of Wonders, is an international bestseller and has been translated into more than 25 languages. She was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel March. Her novels, Caleb's Crossing and People of the Book, are New York Times bestsellers.

"Something old and something new. Here's what I've read since the beginning of lockdown."

 

The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel

A tale inspired by the final years of Thomas Cromwell describes how after the execution of Anne Boleyn and childbed death of Queen Jane, the former blacksmith’s son orchestrates a desperate plot to fortify England and save his own life.

 

 

 

 

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Enter the provincial town of Middlemarch, circa 1830, where the individual destinies of tradespeople, middle classes, and country gentry shape and are shaped by the community.

 

 

 

 

 

Weather by Jenny Offill

Hired by her famous podcaster mentor to answer letters from increasingly polarized fans, a librarian who has acquired her education from a lifetime spent reading, struggles between the limits of her knowledge and growing crises in the outside world.

 

 

 

 

 

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

Reeling from her beloved husband’s sudden death in the wake of her retirement, an immigrant writer is further derailed by the reappearance of her unstable sister and an entreaty for help by a pregnant undocumented teen.

 

 

 

 

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

Investigating dozens of mysterious deaths in an Indonesian internment camp, a World Health Organization doctor finds himself on a race to uncover the origins of a mysterious killer virus and find a cure before it decimates world populations.

 

 

 

 

Apeirogon by Colum McCann

Two fathers, a Palestinian and an Israeli, navigate the physical and emotional checkpoints of their conflicted world before devastating losses compel them to work together to use their grief as a weapon for peace. By the best-selling author of TransAtlantic.

 

 

 

 

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NYPL cardholders can find these books on SimplyE, the Library's free e-reader app. Plus, new users who live in New York State can apply for a library card directly through the app. Learn more and download for iPad/iPhone and Android.

The Library has begun to reopen our physical locations, with eight branches currently offering limited grab-and-go service. Visit our website for more details about placing holds and what to expect when visiting one of our open locations.

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Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.

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