The Plague is remembered as one of the classics of the French Existentialist movement, although Albert Camus denied that label. Set in Oran, Algeria during the 1940s, it's the absurdist story of an idealistic doctor who finds himself in the middle of a medical crisis that is sweeping the city and raising the spectre of death all around. If you've enjoyed the works of Franz Kafka, you should check out this book.

A true story of a group of men who, in 2001, attempted to cross the US-Mexican border in the middle of the Arizona desert, and what happened to them.  Luis Alberto Urrea is an acclaimed writer and poet.

From Kirkus Reviews -- "Despite its rainy weather, Vancouver has a sunny disposition: diverse, optimistic, welcoming. But editor Wiebe maintains that it has its share of urban troubles: poverty, drugs, violence. Gentrification may make Vancouver’s crime look a little less gritty, but it’s just as corrosive, as Timothy Taylor’s “Saturna Island” and Robin Spano’s “The Perfect Playgroup” prove.  Vancouver’s crime is also equal-opportunity. Women get their share of the action in Linda L. Richards’ “Terminal City” and R.M. Greenaway’s “The Threshold,” although the line between male domination and female empowerment can blur, as Don English reveals in “Stitches.” "

A dazzling, emotionally gripping, yet cutting-edge panorama of Los Angeles, home to Hollywood, manufactured fame, glittering temptation and the hope of new beginnings for the lost and the desperate.  This novel of intertwining stories features a retinue of liars, frauds, con men, actors, addicts, bikers, criminals, and their unforgettably innocent victims.  Superbly written, impossible to put down, edge-of-your-seat terrifying at times, and filled with unique cultural nuggets about the City of the Angels. 

Are you aware that hundreds of people live in the underground flood channels of Las Vegas? Few were until Matthew O’Brien grabbed a flashlight, tape recorder and expandable baton for protection and explored the storm-drain system in depth. This research resulted in his landmark book Beneath the Neon. Now the drains have been covered by CNN, Fox News, NPR, Dr. Phil, the New York Times, the BBC, Al Jazeera and many other media outlets. They have even found their way on to popular TV shows, including CSI and Criminal Minds, and into mainstream movies.

"It began with a handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on the radio..." The thrilling story of the punk rock scene's struggle against police repression in East Germany.  Read Tim Mohr's fascinating chronicle of how rebellious youth influenced the Cold War culture of the 80s, and the power of music to tear down barriers.

This is the first novel written by the celebrated German-American writer Charles Bukowski, published in 1971.  It's an autobiographical memoir, focusing on the life of Bukowski's autobiographical anti-hero, Henry Chinaski, his day-job as a postal clerk, and his aimless private life of drinking, gambling and womanizing. 

Based on Jack Kerouac's own travels, this dynamic novel recounts the story of Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise, two hipster friends and members of the American counterculture of the late 1940s, who take a hectic, frenetic drive across the USA. The point?  There is no point, other than living life day to day, minute to minute, and to the fullest, with little money in their pockets but lots of music playing and lots of ideas in their heads.

A seminal work of the U.S. Civil Rights movement, in which millions of Black Americans, still suffering under the weight of officially-supported discrimination, galvanized the nation with a plea for justice.  The Fire Next Time, which appeared in 1963, is perhaps Baldwin’s most famous work.  A brief work, it consists of two “letters” written to mark the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, in which enslaved African-Americans were freed.  The New York Times Book Review called it a “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament and chronicle … all presented in searing, brilliant prose.”

Transported to modern-day Puerto Rico from the distant past, young Karaya is torn between her place in history and her struggle to save a farm -- and the soul of her beloved island.

Paul Heiney, a well-known British broadcaster and story-teller, recounts the tale of his voyage, setting sail from the east coast of England, to the Orkney Islands, and northward to the Arctic Circle, towards Iceland.  Along the way he longed for an encounter with the elusive puffin, a national symbol of Iceland.  This light-hearted, real-world story weaves the author's love for the sea with interesting facts about the exploration and early settlement of the northern islands.

When a young Russian woman is found murdered off the coast of Iceland, Detective Inspector Hulda Hermansdóttir, chooses this case to investigate. But some chilling surprises followed. Ragnar Jónasson is one of Iceland´s best fiction writers today.