Fiction

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks opens in “Leaf-Fall, 1666”, after the worst of the Plague in their village, with Anna attending to the grief-stricken Reverend Mompellion.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is such a classic of modern English literature that I fear I can't add anything to the discussion other than to say how much I appreciated it. I loved the thoughtfulness of the writing, how Virginia would cover a scene from several points of view, and how characters would argue with themselves.

Counted as one of the most controversial books of all times for the ideas it purports, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown directly challenges the authority of the Vatican, garbing real facts in clever fiction and telling a narrative that's interesting, full of intrigue and thought provoking, not to mention an unforgettable cast of characters and events. 

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown introduces Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon in a breathtaking adventure to save the Vatican City, Rome from a perilous threat from an ancient brotherhood died four hundred years ago.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is a sharp, sensitive and absorbing novel of 17th century Netherlands, combining history art and fiction. The remarkable author Tracey Chevalier fleshes out and embellishes the story who the girl in the painting by Johannes Vermeer could be.