DIGGING TO AMERICA, BY ANNE TYLER

[Fiction] Two very different families, one white, middle-class American, and the other Iranian-American, meet at the Baltimore airport. They are each picking up an adopted Korean baby girl. An unlikely, and at first rather forced, friendship develops and their lives become entwined over time.  The characters are both touching and humorous.  This is one of Tyler’s best novels.

THREE CUPS OF  TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION TO FIGHT TERRORISM AND BUILD NATIONS... ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME, BY GREG MORTENSON AND  DAVID OLIVER RELIN

[Non-Fiction]  Greg Mortenson was alone and injured from an attempt to climb K2.  As a way of thanks to the villagers who took him in and nursed him back to health, he promised to return and build a school for them.  That gesture became the basis for this story of a huge humanitarian campaign to build schools for those who don’t have them. The project became the Central Asia Institute, and so far they have built fifty-five schools.

THE WIDOW'S WAR, BY SALLY GUNNING

[Fiction] Set in pre-Revolutionary days on Cape Cod, this well-written story defines the life of women of this era.  Lydia’s husband is lost during a whaling trip and she finds herself without a home or possessions under Colonial law.  This wonderful novel follows Lydia as she tries to make a place for herself in a man’s world.

NEWS OF PARIS: AMERICAN JOURNALISTS IN THE CITY OF  LIGHT BETWEEN THE WARS, BY RONALD WEBER

[Non-Fiction] This bright and lively book offers a piece of history long past. American journalists and writers flocked to Paris after World War I.  They lived the high life: booze, sex, glamour.  Life was good– life was fun!  This is an engaging account of the time.

THE CALIPH'S HOUSE: A YEAR IN CASABLANCA, BY TAHIR SHAH

[Non-Fiction] Shah is an Anglo-Afghani who moves his family from rainy England to sunny Morocco.  There he buys an old house once owned by a Caliph, which has sat empty for the past ten years and is in very poor shape.  As he signs the deed, a car bomb goes off outside the lawyer’s office.  This account is a bit darker than A Year in Provence. This is a snapshot of the time, with 9/11 intrigue and more than one jinni in the house. All in all, a fascinating read.

PARTICLES OF TIME: GREENWICH OP-ED ARTICLES 1984-2004, BY JOHN ROBBEN

[Non-Fiction] For many years, Greenwich resident John Robben published in the Op-Ed section of the Greenwich Time newspaper.  Read his short essays about growing up, becoming a father and grandfather, his relationship with his family members, and commentary about the world at large.