The Travels of Jamie McPheeters by Robert Taylor (1959) is a sprawling, raucous saga of a boy during California’s Gold Rush.

The only winner in the 1960s that I’ve read is the perennially popular To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1961).  Told in the authentic voice of a young girl, the characters and theme remain unforgettable.

I had no trouble choosing a favorite from the 1970s.  It had to be Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (1972). One of the best writers from the West, Stegner presents a loving, if sometimes harsh, portrait of a couple trying to keep their marriage alive in the mining camps of the late 1800’s.  Wonderful writing.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1986) was my obvious choice from that decade.  The sweeping scope of the novel makes reading it an even better experience than watching the mini-series.

I decided that I would highlight Martin Dressler: the Tale of an American Dreamer by Stephen Millhauser (1997) as my pick from the 90s.  New York City during the Gilded Age is the setting for this story of a young man’s ‘rags to riches’ rise in society.  Concise, dreamlike in places.

The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (2000) is my pick for the 2000s.  The immigrant experience is expertly and poignantly portrayed in a series of short stories featuring Indians in both America and India.

Other favorites of mine include Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, The Shipping News by Annie Proulx and Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie. For a complete list of winners visit the Pulitzer Prize website.

Another author known more for her novels for young people, Judy Blume has written a fast paced story of family and friendship in The Summer Sisters.  The novel features the six summers that wild, wealthy Caitlin and quiet, dull Victoria spend together on Martha’s Vineyard from the time they are in middle school through college.  As breezy as a summer day, this is a perfect beach read.

One teenager’s summer on Long Island is the focus of Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead. Benji and his family are middle class African American New Yorkers who spend every summer at their beach house in Sag Harbor.  The author admits that this book blurs the line between fiction and memoir as he himself was just such a teenager in 1985 when the book is set.  Any reader can relate to the teenage escapades and emotional dramas of this humorous and thought provoking book while also appreciating the glimpse it provides of this particular community.

A sun drenched summer in Tuscany with a group of eccentrics awaits the reader of Love Falls by Esther Freud. Seventeen-year-old Lara accompanies the father she rarely sees to visit an old friend with an Italian villa.  A neighboring villa houses a disgraced British aristocrat and his family. Lara is immediately attracted to the handsome Kip but is charmed by the whole family.  This coming-of-age novel is not always happy and light but it is fascinating and intelligent.

An old woman and her six-year-old granddaughter spend the summer together on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland in The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.  Sometimes cranky, grandmother is also wise; sometimes impetuous, young Sophia is also attentive to her grandparent’s needs.  Together they explore this small, complete world as they discuss the important things in their life: family, love and the nature that surrounds them.

Shatter by Michael Robotham–”an exceptional suspense novel”

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson –”told with a sense of humor. Very cool.”

Tourist by Olen Steinhauer –”best spy novel…not written by John Le Carre.”

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens –”his most sentimental, absorbing, delightful novel.”

Drood by Dan Simmons –”a masterwork of narrative suspense.”

Dog On It by Spencer Quin  –”a new genre–call it canine noir.”

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult –”a medical/legal thriller” that ” never descends into soap opera.”

The Best Indie Buzz Book for fiction went to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Written as a series of letters, this historical novel is both humorous and poignant as it tells a story of the German occupation of one of the Channel Islands during World War II.

Chosen as Best Conversation Starter was the non-fiction book about the Puritans, The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell.

Mystery lovers will welcome the recent announcements of both the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar awards and the Malice Domestic winners for books published in 2008.

The Edgar for best novel went to Blue Heaven by C. J. Box, described as an adrenaline producing adventure featuring two children on the run in the woods of North Idaho.

The Agatha goes each year to a traditional, or ‘cozy’ mystery and is this year awarded to The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. When a seance in a small village in Quebec turns deadly, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to investigate.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth is a sprawling multi-generational story about a Hindu family in 1950 India trying to find a suitable husband for their daughter.

The language in The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is as lush as the landscape of Kerala, the southernmost state in India, in which this family drama takes place.

Written in the mid-fifties, Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya is a poignant portrait of a peasant woman finding solace and joy amidst the tragedies and disappointments of her life.

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh, set in the heyday of the British Raj, tells the amazing life stories of half a dozen or so people whose destinies come together on a ship bound for the Seychelle Islands.

Oprah picked A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry for her book club.  Set in 1975 in a city by the sea, it is the story of four strangers who are forced to live together in a small apartment during the nerve-wracking time of a national emergency.

In Padma Viswanathan’s The Toss of a Lemon a young Brahmin widow shocks her orthodox family by moving back into her husband’s house. This decision has ramifications for generations to come.

Check back each month for new “favorite books” - these are all available for check out.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
Iris Lockhart’s life is further complicated when she learns her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from a mental hospital after 61 years.

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
Told concurrently by Jane Takagi-Little, a Japanese-American documentary filmmaker, andAkiko Ueno, the wife of Jane’s boss (in Japan), this quick read about the American meat industry is serious and well written.

Away by Amy Bloom
When Lillian Leyb’s family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom, she comes to America alone and embarks on an odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater in New York, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska toward Siberia.

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
Managing a failed seafood restaurant in a run-down mall, Manny DeLeon coordinates a final shift of mutinous staff members, an effort that is complicated by his love for a waitress, a pregnant girlfriend, and an elusive holiday gift.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
In a novel that moves back and forth between the Soviet Union during WW II and modern-day America, Marina, an elderly Russian woman, recalls images of her youth during the height of the siege of Leningrad.

Author Hallie Eprhon provides short lists for over 90 moods, from ‘a good laugh’ to ‘reinvent yourself.’ Each title has a short annotation plus a star rating and an icon that gives you a little more information such as ‘page turner’, ‘easy read’ or ‘family friendly.’ You’ll have so much fun reading about the books, you won’t have any time for the books themselves!