| On Beauty | | Zadie Smith | | "On Beauty" concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family. |  | | |
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| Jemima J: A Novel about Ugly Ducklings and Swans | | Jane Green | | With a fast-paced plot that never quits and a surprise ending no reader will see coming, Jemima J is the chronicle of one woman's quest to become the woman she's always wanted to be, learning along the way a host of lessons about attraction, addiction, the meaning of true love, and, ultimately, who she really is. |  | | |
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| Life of Pi | | Yann Martel | | Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths... |  | | |
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| The Alchemist | | Paulo Coelho | | A simple fable, based on simple truths and places in a highly unique situation. An Andalusian shepherd boy one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. Then he's off, leaving Spain, literally following his dream. |  | | |