​The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store​

by James McBride

A human skeleton is found at the bottom of a well in 1972 in Pottstown, PA. An investigation ensues but Hurricane Agnes abruptly destroys the town and any evidence of the crime. The story travels back in time to the 1930s when blacks and Jews lived together in a tense harmony. The origins of the crime are revealed through the community's interconnected stories. The book is an inspiring reminder of how we once were and still can be of one civic fabric.

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​The Buddha in the Attic​

by Julie Otsuka

In the early 20th century thousands of Japanese picture brides were uprooted and brought to America as wives to husbands they did not know in a language they couldn't understand. Later they endured the ignominy of internment. The story is told in the first person plural, creating a chorus of voices (instead of just one character) that lends both gravity and intimacy to the shared experience of this historical indignity.

​Small Things Like These​

by Claire Keegan

Shortlisted for a Booker Prize, Small Things Like These is a compact 128 pages but packs an emotional punch. Set in 1985 during Ireland's tragic Magdalene laundries, the story follows the emotional and moral journey of Bill Furlong, a hard-working, dedicated family man, who accidentally uncovers a scandal that everyone understands but is too afraid to challenge. What Furlong decides isn't revealed until the very last lines of the book.

​Address Unknown

by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor

An epistolary novella told entirely through the back and forth letters between friends and business partners, one an American Jew and the other a German returning to his homeland in the 1930s. The letters take a dark turn as the German friend falls deeper into the grasp of rising Naziism. It's deeply unsettling how relevant books about early 30s Germany feel today.

​Erasure​

by Percival Everett

A black novelist struggling to sell books returns home to care for his ailing mother. Stewing in his own professional failure, Thelonious Monk writes an anonymous novel parodying what he thinks white publishers want from black writers. Much to his dismay, but also proving his point, the book becomes a bestseller. Brilliant satire and also a touching story about difficult family dynamics. The book was also made into a fabulous movie, American Fiction.