Sounder by William H. Armstrong

The Powerful Newbery Award-winning classic A landmark in children's literature, winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal, and the basis of an acclaimed film, Sounder traces the keen sorrow and the abiding faith of a poor African-American boy in the 19th-century South. The boy's life is changed forever when his father is caught stealing a ham to feed his starving family. His dog, Sounder, is wounded in the incident and waits faithfully for his master to come home. Read by Avery Brooks, this timeless and compelling parable will move listeners of all ages.

Feb. 7

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan 

Narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire of August, 1910, and Teddy Roosevelt's pioneering conservation efforts that helped turn public opinion permanently in favor of the forests, though it changed the mission of the forest service with consequences felt in the fires of today.

Author interview

Author's video

Theodore Roosevelt Conservationist site

Mar. 7

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Though her life spanned fewer than 40 years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world.

Mar. 1

The Plague by Albert Camus

In the small coastal city of Iran, Algeria, rats begin rising from the filth only to die as bloody heaps in the streets. And just as mysteriously as it appeared, the rodent problem seems to vanish. Shortly after, however, many local residents experience intense fevers and then perish--victims of the unseen menace of the bubonic plague. And as life in the town comes to a halt, the survivors attempt to come to terms with their own mortality and the rigors of isolation.

Feb. 9

Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared--Lt. Louis Zamperini. Captured by the Japanese and driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor.

Author's website

Author biography

New York Times book review

NPR interview