Britton Summer Reading Club

Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks

In a futuristic world in which civilization is near total collapse, evil forces control the ruins of the former United States, killing and enslaving the survivors, until Logan Tom embarks on a mission to find a child who bears a powerful magic that could save the world.

Beyond the Outposts by Max Brand

From pre-Civil War Virginia to the distant prairies of the far West, the epic journey of young Lew Dorsey begins as he searches the frontier for his father - an escaped convict on the run - but finds much more than he was looking for.

The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian

The devastating loss of their twin daughters in a flash flood turns the lives of Terry and Laura Sheldon upside down as their marriage is tested by grief, Terry's brief love affair, and their growing relationship with their foster child, a 10-year-old African American boy.

The Camel Club by David Baldacci

After witnessing a murder, conspiracy theorist Harry Stone steals a crucial piece of evidence from the scene and is subsequently pursued.

Cape Refuge by Terri Blackstock

After Thelma and Wayne Owens, the no-nonsense hosts of a Christian halfway home for ex-convicts and derelicts, are found murdered in their warehouse church, suspicion is cast on the Owens' son-in-law and two former residents.

Challenge to Honor by Jennifer Blake

Hoping to save her brother's life after he challenges New Orleans' most notorious swordsman to a duel, Celina Vallier offers herself to Rio de Silva in exchange. Rio, enchanted by Celina's courage and beauty and seeking revenge on her betrothed, sets out to save her from an unwanted marriage.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Satire of the present inhumanity of man to man through a futuristic culture where teenagers rule with violence.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois Bujold

Seeking a position in the royal household, Cazaril is offered the post of secretary to the Royesse Iselle, the sister to the heir to Chalion's throne, but his new assignment brings him face-to-face with old enemies.

Echoes of Lies by Jo Bannister

Hired to find a young teacher named Daniel Hood, Brodie Farrell learns that her employers had deadly intentions when she discovers Daniel tortured and left for dead. Feeling responsible, she agrees to help him find his attackers.

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

A young girl suffering from amnesia wakes up to find that she's actually a middle-aged vampire.

The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary & Sewing Circle by Lois Battle

A close-knit group of settled small-town ladies bands together to help each other through their most difficult life passage - middle age.

The Gilded Web by Mary Balogh

Fleeing the heat and crowds of a London ballroom, innocent Alexandra Purnell seeks refuge outside, only to be whisked away by Edmund, Earl of Amberley, who rescues her from certain scandal by offering her marriage.

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

This novel of Black life in America is written with an impartial attitude.

A Greater Glory by James Bell

Kit Shannon, a 19th-century Los Angeles lawyer, takes the case of a society woman who fears her dark past will be exposed, while Ted Fox's approaching marriage and professional ambition are thwarted when he is falsely accused of treason.

Just Between Us by Deborah Bedford

After his wife dies, Richard Small arranges for a Big Sister to offer his daughter Ann the support he feels incapable of giving himself, but what he did not count on was both feeling resentful of the bond growing between Ann and Monica Albright and falling in love with Monica.

Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen

Fleeing a false accusation of murder in Ireland, Molly Murphy becomes involved in another murder case when the man who was harassing her on the boat to America turns up dead.

Possession by A. S. Byatt

The lives of two modern scholars parallel the lives of the two Victorian poets that the scholars are researching.

Thanksgiving Night by Richard Bausch

Encumbered with the challenges of his bookstore and his wife's teaching career, Will Butterfield fears he will soon reach the end of his patience with his wildly eccentric mother and aunt, a situation that is both lightened and complicated by new friendships with the local handyman and his own chaotic family.

Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr

Fleeing New York to find refuge as a ranger in the remote backcountry of West Texas, Anna Pigeon stumbles into a web of violence and murder when fellow park ranger Sheila Drury is mysteriously killed and another ranger vanishes.

A Woman of Substance by Barbara Bradford

Emma Harte rises from impoverished, pregnant servant to the heights of wealth and power as she parlays a small shop into the world's finest department store, outwitting her enemies, seeking revenge on her betrayers and realizing her greatest dreams.

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton

In order to introduce herself to the picturesque English village where she has just retired, Mrs. Agatha Raisin enters a quiche in a local competition and promptly finds herself a murder suspect when the judge dies from her poisonous pie.

Alison's Automotive Repair Manual: A Novel by Brad Barkley

Two years after losing her husband, Alison reluctantly agrees to move out of her sister's West Virginia home as soon as she fixes - and learns how to fix - a 1976 Corvette that has been rusting in the garage.

The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

Returning home for a family reunion, Laura Bartone and her brother, Steve, are stunned by their sister's allegations of shocking behavior on the part of their mother, and must come to terms with the truth and lies within their family.

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes

Chronicles the lives of two boys - one who is forgotten by history, and one who becomes the creator of the world's most famous detective - as they pursue their separate destinies until they meet in a remarkable alliance.

The Book of Fred by Abby Bardi

Raised in an isolated fundamentalist sect, Mary Fred Anderson experiences upheaval in her life when circumstances leave her in a foster home.

Breaking Point: A Novel by Suzanne Brockmann

When Gina Vitagliano, the young woman he had rescued during a terrorist hijacking, is kidnapped once again, Max Bhagat races against time in a desperate gamble to save the woman he loves.

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Braun

Former author and newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran is assigned a story about an artist, Cal Halapay. As Qwilleran begins meeting artists in the city, he senses strange undercurrents among the modern art set. When vandalized paintings, accidents and murder occur, Qwilleran and his landlord's Siamese cat Koko together solve the puzzle.

The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog by Marian Babson

Melodramatically grieving over the death of her Pekinese, Dame Cecile Savoy takes the dog's body to the taxidermist, where she discovers a fire, a dead body and a cat in need of rescue and becomes involved in a case of arson, kidnapping and murder.

Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker

When a Hollywood star hides while his plastic surgery scars heal, the president of his fan club comes looking for him, only to run into creatures fighting for his soul.

The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter by Lawana Blackwell

Elizabeth's heart is torn asunder when the man who broke her heart returns to town a changed man who is determined to win her back.

A Cry from the Dark: A Novel of Suspense by Robert Barnard

Unable to forget a life-shattering moment from when she was an Australian schoolgirl, author Bettina Whitelaw works on her memoir and becomes increasingly disturbed when she realizes that someone she knows may be trying to kill her.

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear

Molecular biologist Kaye Lang has a theory on human retroviruses, and it has just been verified with the discovery of SHEVA, a virus that has slept in our DNA for millions of years and is now waking up. Kaye and her colleagues must race against a genetic time bomb in this international adventure taking place in a cave high in the Alps and in Southern Russia.

Diary of a Working Girl by Daniella Brodsky

A struggling freelance writer desperate to sell an article to pay her rent, Lane Silverman makes a successful pitch to Cosmopolitan on how to find true love in the workplace, and now all she has to do is to meet a successful eligible man who will find her irresistible - in the next two months.

The Doctor's House by Ann Beattie

Nina is a reclusive copyeditor who has become obsessed with her brother's sexual exploits and indiscretions.

Dragon Blood by Patricia Briggs

Ward, the ruler of Hurog, joins the rebellion against the evil High King, who has obtained a mysterious artifact that has the power to destroy entire cities. Ward soon discovers that this tool of destruction can only be awakened by dragon's blood - the very substance that courses through his veins.

Drop City by T. Boyle

Set in 1970, Drop City, a California commune, decides to relocate to Alaska, where tensions rise between the commune and a group of homesteaders.

Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley

Florence Farfarletti has a plan for female emancipation in the Middle East. She enlists the help of a diverse group to help her reach her audience with TV shows.

Footloose by Leanne Banks

When she accompanies her boss to her estate in the Keys, overworked temp Amelia Parker encounters Jack "The Shark" O'Connell, a sexy venture capitalist who dares her to let loose and do something wild.

Four Blondes by Candace Bushnell

Four very different women endure romantic intrigues, betrayals, liaisons and victories as they seek love amid the playgrounds of the rich and powerful.

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

Follows the life lessons of Jane, from defiant teenager to reluctant career girl, as she makes her way through love, sex, relationships and workplace perils, prompted by dubious advice from a pop-psych guide to life.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, 16-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school, where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.

Half a Heart by Rosellen Brown

When her biracial daughter appears suddenly after 18 years of searching for the mother who left her, former civil rights activist Miriam Vener begins a painful confrontation with her past.

Hannah Coulter: A Novel by Wendell Berry

The author's celebration of life in a Kentucky town continues with his latest installment - the stories of Port William matriarch Hannah Coulter, an 80-year-old woman who has been widowed twice and has watched the town's sense of community gradually deteriorate.

Hawke by Ted Bell

Alexander Hawke heads for the Caribbean on a secret mission for the U.S. government to locate an experimental stealth submarine which has fallen into the hands of an unstable government planning a preemptive strike against the United States.

Hit Man by Lawrence Block

A sharp assassin who has always been cool, confident and remote finds himself struggling with a mid-life crisis that plunges him into loneliness. As he continues with his work, he begins to question his choice of careers.

Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Recounts the holiday of Edith Hope, meek and unmarried at 39, who, on the mend from a disastrous love affair, becomes intimately involved with her fellow guests at the Swiss Hotel du Lac.

In His Image by James BeauSeigneur

While examining the Shroud of Turin, Professor Harold Goodman discovers a cluster of living cells and successfully conspires to clone Jesus Christ, setting in motion a cataclysmic series of events.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre becomes a governess in Mr. Rochester's home and falls in love with him before she finds that he has a tragic secret.

Lamb in Love: A Novel by Carrie Brown

Norris Lamb, a timid English postmaster and church organist, falls helplessly, secretly in love with Vida Stephen, a nanny to the mentally handicapped son of a rich American widower.

The Marines of Autumn: A Novel of the Korean War 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.

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

A continuation of the lives of the characters from the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, covering their marriage and life on the Pemberley estate.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley

When Morgan le Fay (Morgaine) has to sacrifice her virginity during fertility rites, the man who impregnates her is her younger brother Arthur, whom she turns against when she thinks he has betrayed the old religion of Avalon.

The Poet of Tolstoy Park by Sonny Brewer

In 1925, Henry Stuart leaves his home and grown sons in Idaho to move to the woods on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, Ala., where he builds a round house and lives for more than two decades on the property he names after Leo Tolstoy.

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy

Thanks to a chance phone call, Ria from Dublin and Marilyn from New England switch houses for the summer with extraordinary results when they are drawn into lifestyles vastly different from their own.

The Truth About Celia by Kevin Brockmeier

A novel about the disappearance of a young girl, narrated from her father's point of view as he struggles to come to terms with her vanishing.

The White Russian: A Novel by Tom Bradby

In 1917 St. Petersburg, police inspector Sandro Ruzsky investigates the murders of a young couple - a nanny at the tsar's palace and a young American from Chicago - found stabbed to death on the ice of the river Neva.

You Look Nice Today: A Novel by Stanley Bing

Robert Harbert, an executive vice president at a large corporation, finds his life and career unraveling when his rise to the top begins to stall, his position becomes vulnerable and his assistant charges him with sexual harassment.

The Ash Garden by Dennis Bock

The lives and fates of three people - a scientist smuggled into America to work at Los Alamos, a young woman quarantined on a refugee ship in the Atlantic, and a young Japanese girl - collide in August 1945 when the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.

Beautiful Dreamer: A Novel by C. W. E. Bigsby

A Faulknerian parable set in early 20th-century Tennessee follows a tragic evolution of race relations along the claustrophobic forests, rivers and railroads of the region's back country.

The Book of Sand by Jorge Borges

Thirteen stories by the celebrated writer, including two that he considered among his greatest achievements, artfully blend elements from many literary genres.

Dances With Wolves by Michael Blake

A former army officer establishes a relationship with a lone wolf who visits his camp, then becomes friends with the Native Americans in the area.

The Devil's Own Rag Doll by Mitchell Bartoy

The murder of a popular white heiress in the black part of town threatens to engulf Detroit in a wave of mob violence, and Pete Caudill, a new detective, is charged with uncovering the truth in the interest of preserving civic peace.

Don't Tell Anyone by Frederick Busch

A collection of short stories explores the connections among people and asks why some succeed and others do not.

Epileptic 1 by David B

A personal memoir told in the form of a graphic novel chronicles the author's experiences growing up with an older brother suddenly afflicted with epilepsy, and the effects of the disease on the family and the roots of his career as a cartoonist.

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories by Robert Butler

A collection of stories about Vietnamese immigrants living in Louisiana as they face love, loss, despair and the challenges and conflicts of a new life.

The Grace that Keeps this World by Tom Bailey

Living on the edge of the Adirondack wilderness with his wife and two sons, Gary Hazen, a respected hunter and forester has raised survival to an artform, until a hunting trip transforms life forever for the three Hazen men.

Hand-me-down Heartache by Tajuana Butler

A recent college graduate, Nina Lander moves back in with her parents while she tries to find a job, only to become increasingly frustrated with her father's treatment of her mother and her mother's acceptance of it, and becomes involved in her own relationship with a charming but unfaithful rookie NBA player.

Hens Dancing by Raffaella Barker

Abandoned by her husband, former urbanite Venetia Summers finds herself marooned in the country, surrounded by her three children, a dilapidated house and garden, a houseful of animals and an abiding family love.

The Hero's Walk: A Novel by Anita Badami

When his long-estranged daughter dies in a car accident in Canada, an aging Bengali man finds his life transformed by the arrival in India of his seven-year-old granddaughter.

His Mistress by Morning by Elizabeth Boyle

An impetuous wish that she could capture the heart of Sebastian, Viscount Trent, a man she has long adored, has unexpected repercussions when shy spinster Charlotte Wilmont awakens in the bed of Sebastian, transformed into London's most notorious rake, while she has inexplicably become a scandalous mistress.

Houston by Doug Bowman

Drovers murder Camp Houston's friend John Calloway, and he searches Texas to bring them to justice.

Jennifer Government: A Novel by Maxx Barry

In a corporate-governed future world where people take the last names of the companies they work for, Hack Nike tries to get out of a contract that requires him to shoot teenagers and finds himself pursued by a government agent.

Little Big Man: A Novel by Thomas Berger

An elderly white man tells about his life as an adopted Cheyenne when he was a scout, gunfighter, buffalo hunter and survivor of Custer's last stand.

The Lovers of Algeria by Anouar Benmalek

When Anna, an elderly Swiss woman, asks nine-year-old street urchin Jallal to accompany her to the mountains so she can locate a lost lover and pray over the graves of her murdered offspring, he agrees, and the two set off on a dangerous journey into the heart of Algeria.

Madeleine is Sleeping by Sarah Bynum

Falling into a deep and impenetrable sleep, young Madeleine leaves behind the tangible world of her provincial French village, joins a gypsy circus and sees in her dreams people experiencing profound and mystical transformations.

The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Set in Moscow of the 1920s, this satirical novel recounts the dealings a writer and his mistress have with Satan.

Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge

Portrays the horrors of war in the story of a group of British soldiers and their adventures in the 19th-century Crimean War.

Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Bates

In this deeply moving coming-of-age story, a young Chinese girl and her family struggle to adapt to life in a small Ontario town.

A Shine of Rainbows by Lillian Beckwith

Primarily at the wife's instigation, a childless Corrie (one of the Hebridean Islands) couple adopt a London orphan. When Mairi brings home the bespectacled, stuttering Thomas, Sandy is aghast. How can such a child survive the rough island life? But Thomas blossoms under Mairi's loving care, and even the taciturn Sandy softens. Then tragedy strikes, and Thomas and Sandy find they must turn to each other for love and companionship. The rugged island setting adds to this gentle story's charm.

Ship Fever and Other Stories by Andrea Barrett

A collection of stories that consider the struggles of love and science includes the title work, in which a young Canadian doctor, treating Irish immigrants who have been driven out by the Great Famine, experiences one of history's most tragic epidemics.

The Son of Laughter by Frederick Buechner

Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, buys Esau's birthright, gets Isaac's blessing, and serves as a slave in Egypt.

Souls Raised from the Dead: A Novel by Doris Betts

Members of a Southern family, a young girl, her state trooper father, two sets of grandparents, her runaway mother and their neighbors and friends struggle to cope with the child's incurable disease.

Three Day Road: A Novel by Joseph Boyden

The nephew of a Canadian Oji-Cree who is the last of a line of healers and diviners, Cree reserve student Xavier enlists in the military during World War I, a conflict throughout which he and his friend, Elijah, are marginalized for their appearances, their culturally enhanced marksmanship, and their disparate views of the war.

The Voyage of the Narwhal: A Novel by Andrea Barrett

A scholar-naturalist embarks on a perilous expedition to the North Pole in the 19th century.

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Being the only person who sees other-worldly creatures, Eddi McCandry plunges into excitement and terror when she becomes a pawn in a bitter age-old battle between two faerie courts in modern Minneapolis.

Whose Names Are Unknown: A Novel by Sanora Babb

The poor but proud Dunne family and their friends struggle to survive on the dust-plagued prairies of the Oklahoma Panhandle, then discover bitter disappointment in the orchards and vineyards of the so-called promised land of California.

Without Blood by Alessandro Baricco

Having witnessed her father's murder by his enemies, young Nina grows into a vengeful old woman and devises a plot against one of the attackers, whom she encounters many years later.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

An account of the decade-long conflict between humankind and hordes of the predatory undead is told from the perspective of dozens of survivors who describe in their own words the epic human battle for survival.

Year of Grace: A Novel by Margaret Bacon

Bacon's Year of Grace is the quiet story of Faith Smedley's last year on earth. A Quaker activist throughout her long life, she must now sit on the sidelines as younger versions of herself fight against the Vietnam War (it's 1968), but she votes for Humphrey and visits with old friends both in the U.S. and France. Finally, she moves to a remote cabin to seek unity with nature before dying and does indeed find grace - all the more convincingly because Bacon doesn't sugarcoat the pain of facing death. In fact, Faith shows such wondrous courage, such faith, that for the right sort of hospice patient her story could provide real solace.