"Miss Jane Pittman. She is one of the most unforgettable heroines in American fiction, a woman whose life has come to symbolize the struggle for freedom, dignity, and justice. Ernest J. Gaines's now-classic novel -- written as an autobiography -- spans one hundred years of Miss Jane's remarkable life, from her childhood as a slave on a Louisiana plantation to the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. It is a story of courage and survival, history, bigotry,...

"They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose. Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life--steady boyfriend, close family--who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident. Will has always lived a huge life--big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel--and now...

"Light-skinned Clare Kendry married a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage after deciding to 'pass' as a white woman. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, chose to remain within the African American community, and is both allured and repelled by Clare's racial masquerade. Clare's own interest in Irene turns into a homoerotic longing for the identity she abandoned and can never regain, and forces her...

"Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold. Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no...

"A Room with a View" by E. M. Forster is a delightful and satirical exploration of the Edwardian society, love, and the clash between societal expectations and individual desires. Set against the picturesque backdrop of England and Italy, Forster's novel is a nuanced portrayal of the awakening of a young woman's spirit in the face of societal constraints. The story follows the journey of Lucy Honeychurch, a spirited and independent young woman...

"A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It's supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother's even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can't imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's well-behaved...

Accepting a job at the Virgin River branch of Haggerty Construction, Leslie Petruso, using this opportunity to start over after a bitter divorce, tries to ignore the chemistry between her and Connor Danson, who has also been burned by love, but to no avail.

The Bean Trees is bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver's first novel, now widely regarded as a modern classic. It is the charming, engrossing tale of rural Kentucky native Taylor Greer, who only wants to get away from her roots and avoid getting pregnant. She succeeds, but inherits a 3-year-old native-American little girl named Turtle along the way, and together, from Oklahoma to Tucson, Arizona, half-Cherokee Taylor and her charge search for a new...

"Shannon was once the queen bee of Buckhead. But she's been unceremoniously dumped by Bryce, her politician husband. When Bryce replaces her with a much younger woman, Shannon sets out to take revenge... Crystal has stepped into Shannon's old shoes. A young, innocent Texan girl, she simply has no idea what she's up against... Olivia has waited years to take Shannon's crown as the unofficial queen of Buckhead. Finally her moment has come. But to take...

"Paris for One and Other Stories is an irresistibly romantic collection filled with humor and heart. Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She's never even been on a romantic weekend away--to anywhere--before. Everyone knows travelling abroad isn't really her thing. But when Nell's boyfriend fails to show up for their romantic mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone--including herself--wrong. Alone and in Paris, Nell uncovers...