2017 Book Recommendations
​
ARCHIVE - PAST LISTS
(2002- 2017)​
​
2017
​
ILZA'S TOP RECOMMENDATIONS
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Everybody's Son by Thrity Umrigar
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
The Frozen Hours by Jeff Shaara
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
ILZA'S INTERESTING PICKS
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Wonder by Emma Donahue
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Power by Naomi Alderman
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hanna Tinti
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
The Leavers by Lisa Ko
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
​
2016
ILZA'S TOP PICKS​
Nutshell by Ian McEwan
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
​
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan
Grace by Natasha Deon
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
ILZA'S INTERESTING PICKS
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
La Rose by Louise Erdrich
The North Water by Ian McGuire
City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Shelter by Jung Yun
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters
The Nix by Nathan Hill
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
La Rose by Louise Erdrich
The North Water by Ian McGuire
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
​
2015
ILZA'S TOP PICKS - FICTION
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockinbird by Haper Lee
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Euphoria by Lily King
​
ILZA'S TOP PICKS - NONFICTION
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larsen
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
ILZA'S INTERESTING PICKS
Loving Day by Mat Johnson
A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk
Confessions of the Lioness by Mia Couto
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Gods of Tango by Carolina de Robertis
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Euphoria by Lily King
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
The Turner House by Angela Floury
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Marriage of Opposites by Alica Hoffman
​
2014
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Life Boat by Charlotte Rogan
​
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
China Dolls by Lisa See
Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
Peace Like a River by Lief Enger
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Station Eleven by Hilary St. John Mandel
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Son by Philipp Meyer
Peace Like a River by Lief Enger
All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
​
2013
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie
Cartwheel by Jennifer Dubois
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent by Julia Alvarez
The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
The Wedding Gift by Marlen Suyapa Bodden
The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
The Gravity of Birds by Trazy Guzeman
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie
The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
The Lowland by Jumpa Lahiri
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
​
2012
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Freeman by Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson*
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
Perla by Carolina De Robertis
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Arcadia by Lauren Grott
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
2011
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
The Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
LALITA'S TOP PICKS
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry
The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
​
2010
​
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Cleopatra, A Life by Stacy Schiff*
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji
The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
A Good Fall: Stories by Ha Jin
The Long Song by Andrea Leavy
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
Beneath the Lions' Gaze by Maaza Mengiste
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Room by Emma Donoghue
Disintegration by Eugene Robinson*
The Big Short by Michael Lewis*
LALITA'S MORE INFORMED PICKS
Room by Emma Donoghue
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow
How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu
​
2009
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (rec. by Compass Book Store - San Francisco, CA)
The City of Thieves by David Benioff (rec. by Lalita Tademy)
Little Bee / The Other Hand by Chris Cleave (rec. by Book Passages - Marin, CA)
Someone Knows My Name / The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (rec. by Lalita Tademy)
The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (rec. by San Francisco Chronicle Book Review)
Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (rec. by Mason Sizemore - Seattle, WA)
​
ILZA'S VERY SOLID PICKS
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Defector by Daniel Silva
Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
Say You're One of Them by Uwen Akpan
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
A Good Indian Wife by Anne Cherian
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Brothers by Da Chen
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenudin
The Servants Quarters by Lynn Freed
LALITA'S MORE INFORMED PICKS
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
​
​
2008
ILZA’S TOP PICKS
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (rec. by San Francisco Airport Bookstore)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (rec. by Nina Smiley Wilkins - St. Louis, MO)
The Boat by Nam Le (rec. Book Passages' List - Marin County, CA)
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (rec. by Maryellen Herringer)
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (rec. by Lalita Tademy)
ILZA'S SOLID PICKS
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Sea of Poppies by Amitan Ghosh
In the Woods by Tana French
A Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezar-Thompson
The Disagreement by Nick Taylor
ILZA'S QUITE INTERESTING PICKS
Peony in Love by Lisa See
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander
Brother I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat
Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino
The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
ILZA'S CULTURAL CONTEXT PICKS
Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner
Lima Nights by Maria Arana
Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo
Slumberland by Paul Beatty
ILZA'S ENJOYABLE (BUT OTHERS ENJOYED MORE) PICKS
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
Things I've Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi
LALITA TADEMY'S PICKS
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
​
2007
TOP SIX PICKS
The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
SOLID PICKS
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini
Everyman by Phillip Roth
New England White by Stephen Carter
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley
VERY INTERESTING PICKS
Madras on Rainy Days by Samina Ali
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Gin Lee
Descendents by Kaui Hart Hennings
Foreigners by Caryl Phillips
LALITA'S TOP FIVE PICKS
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
Away by Amy Bloom
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
​
2006
TOP PICKS
What is the What by Dave Eggers
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamnda Ngozi Adichie
Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
The Bondmaid by Catherine Lim
VERY SOLID PICKS
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desia
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Snow by Ophan Pamuk
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
​
NONFICTION PICKS
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood
At Canaan's Edge by Taylor Branch
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
VERY INTERESTING PICKS
Children of Gebelawi by Naguib Mahfouz
The Jane Austin Book Club by Karne Fowler
The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth
War Trash by Ha Jin
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
LALITA'S PICKS
What is the What? by Dave Eggars
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Unconfessed by Yvette Christianse
​
2005
ILZA’S OUTSTANDING LITERATURE PICKS
The Known World by Edward Jones (rec. by Lalita Tademy - Menlo Park, CA)
Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneggar (rec. by Dirk Hampson - St. Helena, CA)
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (rec. by Barry Chandler Williams - Santa Monica, CA)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (rec. by Lalita Tademy - Menlo Park, CA)
​
ILZA'S VERY SOUND PICKS
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Saturday Ian McEwan
The Mermaid's Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
Small Island by Andrea Levy (rec. by Judy Squier - Menlo Park, CA)
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishigura
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw
A Fine Balance by Mohinton Mistry (rec by Elizabeth Smith - Moraga, CA)
ILZA'S NONFICTION PICKS
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (rec. by Marji Shaw - Oakland, CA)
The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (rec. by Ralph Cox - Houston, TX)
The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
Come Back to Afghanistan by Said Hyder Akbar
LALITA TADEMY'S SUGGESTED PICKS
Small Island by Andrea Levy
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
The Amateur Marriage by Ann Tyler
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
​
2004
ILZA'S BEST LITERATURE PICKS
Train by Peter Dexter
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murhpy
The Darling by Russell Banks
ILZA'S VERY INTERESTING PICKS
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
After by Claire Tristram
The Last Song of Dusk by Siddharth Shanghui
Pompeii by Robert Harris
ILZA'S WANT-TO-BE LIST
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Loving Che by Ana Menéndez
The Sunday Philosphy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck
ILZA'S PRE-PICKS FOR 2005 - (Top Books that Lita wants Barry to read in 2005)
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneggar
Runaway by Alice Monroe
Little Scarlett by Walter Mosley
​
ILZA'S OTHER GREAT SUGGESTIONS - (Suggested by Lita's Literary Band)
Caucasia by Danny Senna
Madeleine is Sleeping by Sarah Shun Li Braum
Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccanatios by Yann Martel
2003
ILZA'S BEST LITERATURE PICKS
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Martyr's Crossing by Amy Wilentz
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
ILZA'S WANT-TO-BE PICKS
Forever by Pete Hamill
Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
ILZA'S MOST INTERESTING PICKS
Catfish and Mandela by Andrew X. Pham
Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
Human Stain by Philip Roth
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
ILZA'S 2004 PICKS (so far)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Train by Pete Dexter
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Love by Toni Morrison
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
​
2002
ILZA'S TOP PICKS
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
ILZA'S WANT-TO-BE LIST
The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts
The Crazed by Ha Jin
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Fortune Catcher by Susanne Pari
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
ILZA'S 2003 PICKS (so far)
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Martyr's Crossing by Amy Wilentz
Flash Back by Nevada Barr
A Bend in the River by W. S. Naipaul
Hard Laughter by Annie Lamott
Atonement by Ian McEwan
