Literary Fiction Book Club
The Literary Fiction Book Club has been meeting at Towne since the mid-2010s and is led by longtime Towne customer Kathy. The Literary Fiction Book Club reads exclusively fiction but across a variety of subgenres and most of the club’s selections have won prestigious literary awards and some have been New York Times and Indie Bestsellers. Selections are voted on by members of the group as a whole.
Literary Fiction Book Club meets on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7pm.
Upcoming Meetings and Selections
Thursday, February 11, 2021: Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel
Thursday, March 11, 2021: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Previous Selections
January 2021: The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
December 2020: Orange World by Karen Russell
November 2020: The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen
October 2020: Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
September 2020: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
August 2020: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
July 2020: Improvement by Joan Silber
June 2020: Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
May 2020: Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth
April 2020: The Overstory by Richard Powers
March 2020: What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan
February 2020: There There by Tommy Orange
January 2020: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
December 2019: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE
A visionary work of fiction by "A writer on the level of W. G. Sebald" (Annie Proulx)
(This book cannot be returned.)
When Frances Shore moves to Saudi Arabia, she settles in a nondescript sublet, sure that common sense and an open mind will serve her well with her Muslim neighbors. But in the dim, airless flat, Frances spends lonely days writing in her diary, hearing the sounds of sobs through the pipes from the floor above, and seeing the flitting shadows of men on the stairwell.
Late one spring night in California, Driss Guerraoui—father, husband, business owner, Moroccan immigrant—is hit and killed by a speeding car.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:
THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • GOOD HOUSEKEEPING • FRESH AIR • THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS • LIT HUB • KIRKUS REVIEWS • LIBRARY JOURNAL • THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Shortlisted for the 2017 International Man Booker Prize
Shortlisted for the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times bestselling follow-up to The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
Finalist for The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE 2018 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION
AUTHOR IS THE WINNER OF THE 2018 PEN/MALAMUD AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE SHORT STORY
Named 1 of 50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2017 by The Washington Post
When a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he secludes himself in the mountain home of a world famous artist. One day, the young painter hears a noise from the attic, and upon investigation, he discovers a previously unseen painting.
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
“The cumulative effect is hypnotic. Hjorth works finely parsed and brilliant variations on her unrelenting theme of familial mistrust and misunderstanding.” –New York Times
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction
Winner of the William Dean Howells Medal
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize
Over One Year on the New York Times Bestseller List
A New York Times Notable Book and a Washington Post, Time, Oprah Magazine, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of t
Set in modern Shanghai, a debut by a Chinese-American writer about a prodigal son whose unexpected return forces his newly wealthy family to confront painful secrets and unfulfilled promises.
$16.00ISBN: 9780525436140Availability: Not In Stock - Usually Available in 1-5 DaysPublished: Vintage - May 7th, 2019“Powerful. . . . a revelation.” —The New York Times
“With a literary authority rare in a debut novel, it places Native American voices front and center before readers’ eyes.” —NPR/Fresh Air
$16.95ISBN: 9780525562962Availability: On Our Shelves NowPublished: Vintage - April 2nd, 2019Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
A New York Times Notable Book
A Washington Post Notable Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year
$14.95ISBN: 9780156034029Availability: On Our Shelves NowPublished: Mariner Books - April 14th, 2008Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize
A New York Times bestseller
A Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Notable Book
“Extreme times call for extreme reactions, extreme writing.
