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Lord of the flies
William Golding
William Golding's classic novel of primitive savagery and survival is one of the most vividly realized and reviting works in modern fiction. At once a tale of adventure and a merciless allegory on the darker side of human nature, "Lord of the flies" uses the full range of man's innocence and man's cruelty to expose the underpinnings of civilized society. The novel begins after a plane wreck deposits a group of boys, aged six to twelve on an isolated tropical island. The struggle to survive and impose order on their existence quickly evolves from a battle against nature into a battle against their own primitive instincts.
Recommended by Jordan
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Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia
Elizabeth Gilbert
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want¿a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way,unexpectedly. An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society¿s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.
Recommended by Amy
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Ethan of Athos
Lois McMaster Bujold
(DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOK) Dr. Ethan Urquhart is Chief of Biology at a District Reproduction Center. He delivers babies from uterine replicators. You see, on Athos there are no women. In fact, the planet is forbidden to them. Isolated from the galactic community by distance and a lack of exploitable resources, the Athosians have peacefully lived their peculiar social experiment for two hundred years. But now, the ovarian cultures dating back to the original settlement of the planet are giving out. With the future of Athos at stake, Ethan is chosen on behalf of his cloistered fellows for a unique mission: to brave the wider universe in quest of new ovarian tissue cultures to replenish Athos' dwindling stocks. Along the way, he must tangle with covert operatives, killers, telepathy, interplanetary politics, and—perhaps most disturbingly—an indomitable female mercenary named Elli Quinn.
Recommended by Richard
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College Road Trip
DVD
Choosing a college and striking out on one's own is an exciting time that requires a big adjustment by both child and parent, but few parents will have as much difficulty relinquishing control over their daughter's life as Chicago police chief James Porter. A loving, but overprotective father, James wants his daughter Melanie to attend nearby Northwestern College. When she's waitlisted and called for an interview at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., James gets more than a little nervous. Squashing her plans for a road trip to D.C. with her girlfriends, James insists on a father-daughter road trip which he envisions being full of reminiscing, heart-to-heart conversations, and a healthy dose of persuasive promotion of Northwestern. Melanie's little brother and pet pig stow away in the back of the truck. The Porters manage to keep running into a super sweet dad and his college-bound daughter, who have a close relationship, are full of clean-cut enthusiasm, and for some reason, willing to befriend the Porters.
Recommended by Lily
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The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
Recommended by Chris
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Farm sanctuary : changing hearts and minds about animals and food
Gene Baur
Farm Sanctuary is an organization that rescues discarded living animals from stockyards, slaughterhouses and factory farms, provides shelters for them, and advocates for humane animal treatment. In this impassioned book, Baur paints an appealing picture of these shelters and the animals that live there far from the brutality of industrial farming, which he describes in detail. He makes a strong case that meat eaters have an ethical responsibility to ensure that the animals they eat have not been abused.
Recommended by Debra
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Under the Dome: a novel
Stephen King
The small town of Chester's Mill, Maine, is faced with a big dilemma when it is mysteriously sealed off by an invisible and completely impenetrable force field. With cars and airplanes exploding on contact, the force field has completely isolated the townspeople from the outside world. Now, Iraq war vet Dale Barbara and a group of the town's more sensible citizens must overcome the tyrannical rule of Big Jim Rennie, a politician bent on controlling everything within the Dome.
Recommended by Richard
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Bearers of the Black Staff
Terry Brooks
Together, Ament, two young Trackers, and a daring Elf princess must defend their ancestral home. But suspicion and hostility among their countrymen threaten to doom their efforts from within. Meanwhile, beyond the breached borders, a ruthless Troll army masses for invasion. And in the thick of it all, the last wielder of the black staff and its awesome magic must find a successor to carry on the fight against the cresting new wave of evil.
Recommended by Richard
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Island of the Blue Dolphins
Scott O'Dell
Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.
Recommended by Lily
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The Pearl
John Steinbeck
For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to tragedy. Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems
Recommended by Richard
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