The Nimrod Flipout: Stories
by Etgar Keret
These stories are smart, substantial, and most of all strange. A fascinating debut from this new Israeli writer.

Absurdistan: A Novel
by Gary Shteyngart
The author of The Russian Debutant's Handbook returns with this satire of the American Dream written with his usual zany humor.

A Long Way Down
by Nick Hornby
Only Nick Hornby could make a book about suicide funny.

The History of Love: A Novel
by Nicole Krauss
Does love ever end when two hearts are torn away? Nicole Krauss investigates in this haunting and evocative novel.

Londonstani
by Gautam Malkani
With edgy, quick-paced dialect and prose, it's "Trainspotting" set among London's Pakastani youth.

The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks
by Susan Casey
The Farollone Islands are the only location in the world where sharks are being studied in their natural habitat. Casey shares plenty of suspense and gory details in photos, research and personal experience. It’s a beach book!

Everybody Into the Pool:True Tales
by Beth Lisick
We’ve met her, we like her and we believe her gritty, druggy, totally funny “true tales.” But wait, what if she’s a guy impersonating a woman so that she can hang with celebrities and gain notoriety? Naaah! Hmmm...

Possible Side Effects
by Augusten Burroughs
Burroughs makes the everyday funny, from alcoholism to doll collecting, and this latest collection of essays is simply more of a good thing.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel
Comic artist of Dykes to Watch Out For shares the story of her childhood as her parents struggle to maintain a family against all odds, tragically and comically.

Grab Onto Me Tightly As If I Knew the Way: A Novel
by Bryan Charles
Coming-of-age in the 90s was all about Nirvana and George Bush Sr. If nothing else we learned that the only thing you can rely on is not being able to rely on anything.

Case Histories: A Novel
by Kate Atkinson
By far the best mystery our esteemed Carla has read in years. Clever, complex, dark, and hilarious. Atkinson offers up more good writing in one book than most do in a lifetime.

Black Swan Green
by David Mitchell
A stuttering boy growing up in 1980’s England wants more than anything to fit in with his rowdy group of friends. Mitchell takes from Lord of the Flies, creating a thirteen-year-old poet, Jason Taylor, who shows us his life in thirteen humorous and melancholy stories. The fun is being inside Jason’s head.

The Man of My Dreams
by Curtis Sittenfeld
None of the relationships in Hannah's life are without complications as this twenty-something grapples with love's most bewildering questions. A keen and satisfying follow-up to Sittenfeld’s debut, Prep.

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
by Umberto Eco
This lively tour of 20th century history and pop culture unfolds like a graphic novel. Eco at his most accessible.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy
by Jeanne Birdsall
A classic tale with a modern tone. The plot is fun for younger kids as a read-aloud and for older kids who will sympathize with the early growing pains.

Olivia Forms a Band
by Ian Falconer
We say this every time, but this is our favorite Olivia book yet! We all knew Olivia was destined to be a band.

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread
by Kate DiCamillo
The odd young mouse Despereaux whisks his way through an adventure of castles and dungeons, rats and princesses, in this plot-twisting, fanciful tale for grades three and up.

King Dork
by Frank Portman
What's a boy to do when he wants to be cool. Join a band and get the girl? Why not! Local rocker, Frank Portman, lets dorks reign (finally!!) in his stellar debut.