The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Man Booker Shortlist, 2009)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 — 7:30–9:00 pm

Jewish newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer meet with architect Rainier von Abt, not just an architect but "a poet…of light and space and form," who builds their dream home, a "modern house…adapted to the future rather than the past, to the openness of modern living." World events, however, are about to overtake 1930s Czechoslovakia and once the signs of Nazi occupation become impossible to ignore, the Landauers must abandon their beloved home. As the world spins into chaos, the highly symbolic Landauer house is the only constant; though it shifts identities more than once, the house remains "ageless," a place "that defines the very existence of time." (Publishers Weekly)

Beauty by Raphael Selbourne (Costa First Novel Award, 2009)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010— 7:30–9:00 pm

Forced into an arranged marriage to a 45 year old mullah in her native Bangladesh, Beauty, a spirited young woman returns to her family in England by pretending to be a madwoman. There, she faces a life of bullying and subservience to her father and two brothers. Her life on the dole brings her to a career training center where she meets the types of people she most fears: lecherous Sikhs, black pimps, strong Somali woman, and the mad English. As she emerges from her home, she begins to understand that everyone might not be as they first appear in this economically and racially diverse world.

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell (National Book Award finalist, 2009)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 — 7:30–9:00 pm

These fine-tuned stories are shaped by stealthy wit, stunning turns of events, and breath-taking insights. Campbell's busted-broke, damaged, and discarded people are rich in longing, valor, forgiveness and love, and readers themselves will feel salvaged and transformed by the gutsy book's fierce compassion. (Booklist)