Giovanni's Room

The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller

Patroclus narrates his love for Achilles from boyhood to Troy -- the Iliad retold from inside the relationship the poem can only circle around.

Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout

A retired schoolteacher from coastal Maine moves through the lives of her neighbours -- brusque, difficult, sometimes cruel -- and is the most fully human character in any of them.

The Fault in Our Stars John Green

Two teenagers with cancer fall in love at a support group -- a story that refuses to be sentimental and earns every tear.

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler

A dying woman looks back on the family she raised alone -- and what she got wrong about every one of them.

All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven

Theodore Finch counts the reasons to stay alive daily. Violet Markey is counting the days until graduation. They meet on the ledge of the school bell tower.