Britton Summer Reading Club

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

The decisions of a few industrial leaders shake the roots of capitalism and reawaken man's awareness of himself as a heroic being.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D Salinger

Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his 16-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck introduces readers to the Salinas Valley of northern California and two of its families. The lives of the wealthy Trasks and the poor Hamiltons intertwine between the Civil War and World War I.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Capote combined painstaking research with a narrative feel to produce one of the most spellbinding stories ever put on the page. Two two-time losers living in a lonely house in western Kansas are out to make the heist of their life, but when things don't go as planned, the robbery turns ugly. From there, the book is a real-life look into murder, prison and the criminal mind.

Lolita by Vlaimir Nabokov

A novel that studies the moral disintegration of a man whose obsessive desire to possess his step-daughter destroys the lives of those around him

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Simple dignity marks the telling of this story of an old fisherman who catches a tremendous fish after an unusually long run of bad luck.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Poetic, open and raw, Kerouac's prose lays out a cross-country adventure as experienced by Sal Paradise, an autobiographical character. A writer holed up in a room at his aunt's house, Paradise gets inspired by Dean Moriarty (a character based on Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady) to hit the road and see America.

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious "Third Force." As his naïve optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as he intervenes he wonders why: for the sake of politics, or for love.

The Robe by Lloyd Douglas

Marcellus, a young Roman soldier, wins the robe of Jesus Christ at dice, and it changes his life.

Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor

A senile general administering Andersonville Prison in Georgia during the Civil War allows many Union soldiers to suffer from exposure, disease and starvation.

Exodus by Leon Uris

People from different backgrounds come to Palestine to help create the Jewish state of Israel after World War II.

Hawaii by James Michener

Michener introduced an entire generation of readers to a lush, exotic world in the Pacific with this classic novel. But it is also a novel about people of strength and character: the Polynesians; the fragile missionaries; the Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos who intermarried into a beautiful race called Hawaiians.

Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

A young Jewish girl experiences love, pain and disappointment in her struggle to become an actress.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

The charming widow of Philip's uncle comes to Cornwall from Italy, but soon Philip suspects she might have poisoned his uncle.

On the Beach by Nevil Shute

Following a nuclear war in the Northern Hemisphere, the inhabitants of a small Australian community await the inevitable after-effects of the bombs to reach them

Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

A group of California alcoholics, whores and idlers form bonds of affection among themselves and with a biologist in post-World War II Monterey. A sequel to Cannery Row.

The Ugly American by William Lederer

The attack on American policy in Asia this book makes is clothed in sharp characterizations, frequently humorous incidents and perceptive descriptions of the countries and people where the action occurs.

Across the River and Into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway

Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver

Battle Cry by Leon Uris

The Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter

Blue Camellia by Frances Parkinson Keyes

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates

Don't Go Near the Water by William Brinkley

From Here to Eternity by James Jones

Giant by Edna Ferber

Joy Street by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier

Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious

Return to Paradise by James Michener

Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier

Ten North Frederick by John O'Hara

The Nun's Story by Kathryn Hulme

The Wall by John Hersey

Victorine by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

Bone, an illegitimate child in a family of social outcasts, sees her mother's happiness with her new husband and will not tell when the stepfather begins abusing her in the 1950s.

Dreaming Southern by Linda Bruckheimer

Traveling cross-country with four children to outrace her husband's creditors, Lila Mae Wooten is enthralled by the scenic wonders she encounters, until her trip takes an offbeat turn thanks to the family of a Native American waitress.

Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley

Paris Minton's world is turned upside down when a woman named Elana Love walks into his bookstore and asks a few questions. Within the next 24 hours, Paris is beaten up, made love to, shot at and robbed, and his bookstore is burned to the ground. He's in so much trouble he gets his friend Fearless Jones out of jail because this man knows violence better than any man should.

Fine Dark Line by Joe Lansdale

Young Stanley Mitchell, Jr., enters the underworld of his 1958 East Texas home when he discovers a cache of love letters by a murdered girl and experiences his first encounters with blues music, racism and lost dreams.

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio

At the age of 10, an Appalachian girl develops croaks, jerks and spasms, which lead to her expulsion from school. After treatment - she has Tourette's syndrome - she learns to control herself and attends college.

Lake Woebegon, Summer 1956 by Garrison Keillor

During the summer of 1956, 14-year-old geek Gary struggles with the hormonal pains and obsessions of puberty, as he experiences a passionate devotion to his rebellious cousin Kate and pursues his dream of becoming a writer. But when Kate gets into trouble with the local basketball star, Gary is forced to deal with the first pangs of a broken heart.

Old Flames by John Lawton

At the height of the Cold War, Chief Inspector Troy of Scotland Yard, assigned to both protect and spy on Khrushchev, investigates the killing of a Royal Navy diver and begins to suspect that one of his own colleagues may be responsible.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, come to Shutter Island's Ashcliffe Hospital in search of an escaped mental patient, but uncover true wickedness as Ashcliffe's mysterious patient treatments propel them to the brink of insanity.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

After returning from internment and trying to get his land back, Kabuo Miyomoto is arrested and tried for the murder of Carl Heine.

Something Dangerous by Patrick Redmond

At first Jonathan Palmer is glad to turn to wealthy student Richard Rokeby for protection at their harsh private school, but as Richard gets more possessive, Jonathan realizes there's something seriously wrong with his protector

Sugar by Bernice McFadden

A young prostitute comes to Bigelow, Ark., to start over, far from her haunting past. Sugar moves in next door to Pearl, who is still grieving for the daughter who was murdered 15 years before. Over sweet potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming both women's lives - and the life of an entire town.

Taps by Willie Morris

Sixteen-year-old Swayze Barksdale watches from his Mississippi Delta front lawn as the town's young men go off to the army, and when he is called to unexpected duty himself, his life becomes filled with funerals and the tragic note of the times.

Underworld by Don DeLillo

This work combines fiction and history to give readers a glimpse into the realities upon which America's modern culture is based, while it explores the complex relationship between "waste analyst" Nick Shay and artist Klara Sax.

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

A nostalgic look back at the 1950s in a story of first love set in a small North Carolina town.

White Widow by James Lehrer

Although faithful to his wife for years, Jack T. Oliver becomes enamoured with a beautiful woman who boards his bus one night in the 1950s.

Annie Dunne by Sebastian Barry

A novel set in 1950s Ireland follows the adventures of Annie Dunne and her cousin Sarah, who live and work on a farm in rural Wicklow at a time when the country around them is changing rapidly.

Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart by Joyce Carol Oates

Jinx Fairchild fights and kills a boy who bothers Iris Courtney in racial incident in western New York during the 1950s.

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg

Daisy Fay Harper turns 17 during the 1950s, and her experiences evoke in the deep South in the time of strapless net evening gowns and Red Ryder.

Iris by Jean Marsh

A portrait of London's social facades in the years after World War II follows Iris, a girl who comes close to prostitution, as she loses any pretext to innocence in an increasingly dangerous world.

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry

The youth of a small town in mid-20th-century Texas search for ways to escape boredom and experience life and love

The Marines of Autumn by James Brady

Captain Tom Verity is part of one of MacArthur's last forays into the mountains of Korea, where his eyes are opened to the horrors of the Korean War.

Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter

In 1951, the disappearance of Sam Vincent, who was investigating a prison for violent African American convicts in Thebes, Miss., draws Earl Swagger into a confrontation with a town guarded by a private army of brutal, Klan-type thugs and rednecks.

Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman

During the steamy summer of 1959, a sleepy Long Island suburban community is transformed by the arrival of Nora Silk, an attractive young divorcee, and her two young sons.

The Season of Lillian Dawes by Katherine Mosby

Two brothers, Gabriel Gibbs and his older brother Spencer, fall in love with the same woman, the free-spirited, mysterious Lillian Dawes, in Greenwich Village in the 1950s.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Edward Gorman

A murder in the heart of 1950s Iowa entangles a love-struck Sam McCain in an investigation that could stir up trouble in the wake of Nikita Khrushchev's upcoming visit to the state.

Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands by Susan Carol McCarthy

My Last Days as Roy Rogers by Pat Cunningham Devoto

Where Trouble Sleeps by Clyde Edgerton