Title Recommendations based on Joan Holloway
Written when landing on the moon was still a dream, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a science-fiction classic that has changed the way we look at the stars—and ourselves. On the moon, an enigma is uncovered. So great are the implications that, for the first time, men are sent deep into our solar system. But before they can reach their destination, things begin to go very wrong. From the savannas of Africa at the dawn of mankind to the rings of Saturn at the turn of the 21st century, Arthur C. Clarke takes us on a journey unlike any other. Brilliant, compulsive, and prophetic, and the basis for the immensely influential Stanley Kubrick film, 2001: A Space Odyssey tackles the enduring theme of man's—and technology's—place in the universe and lives on as a landmark achievement in storytelling.
Fresh Off the Boat is a genre-bending venture into subculture through the lens of food. Raw, wild, and heartfelt, Eddie Huang gets down in the underbellies of cities around the world in search of what's cooking in their back alleys and underground spots. He's hunting rabbits with biker gangs in Oakland, eating seafood and surfing in Taiwan, hitting low-rider BBQs in East LA, and dining on rice and beans with your drug dealer's grandmother in Miami.
In Skins, real life begins after dark, when high school students sneak out of the house to attend various parties. There are drugs, mild arson, and late nights out. But the challenge is making sure their parents never find out.
Pleasantly plump teenager, Tracy Turnblad and her best friend, Penny Pingleton audition to be on The Corny Collins Show. Tracy wins, but scheming Amber Von Tussle and her mother plot to destroy her. Chaos ensues.
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.
Tom, greeting-card writer and hopeless romantic, is caught completely off-guard when his girlfriend, Summer, suddenly dumps him. He reflects on their 500 days together to try to figure out where their love affair went sour, and in doing so, Tom rediscovers his true passions in life.
Jeff Winger thinks he's too cool for school, which is a problem because he just enrolled in community college. Recently disbarred as an attorney and running out of money, Jeff enrolled at Greendale to set himself on a path to redemption, one easy credit at a time. Everyone at Greendale is there because they messed up one way or another, and they've got no choice but to fix their problems together.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Reves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.
Outlander is the story of Claire Randall, who accidentally activated some magical standing stones in the Scottish Highlands and found herself transported back to the 18th century, just before the Jacobite rebellion. She is married to Frank Randall, but he is back in the 20th century. Although Claire is trying to get back to him, she can't help growing attached to a young Scotsman named Jamie.
A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration.
A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this dark crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.
A mysterious Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver seems to be trying to escape his shady past as he falls for his neighbor—whose husband is in prison and who's looking after her child alone. Meanwhile, his garage mechanic boss is trying to set up a race team using gangland money, which implicates our driver as he is to be used as the race team's main driver. Our hero gets more than he bargained for when he meets the man who is married to the woman he loves.
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room as a small site among friends soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history. But for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.
A virus has wiped out seemingly all of humanity, and after a two-year Winnebago tour of America, Phil Miller deems himself the "last man on earth." The human race seems to be in trouble with Phil as the only male left, but hopefully he can rise to the occasion. After he meets Carol Pilbasian, he gets a new lease on life discovering he's not alone.
Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it. Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it's only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is. Never Let Me Go is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.
