• Family Adventures: Culture




  • White Teeth



    This family saga begins when Englishman Archie Jones meets Samad Iqbal, a Muslim from Bangladesh. After their lives accidentally intersect, the two men never untangle. We follow them for decades, meet their wives, their children, all while witnessing the cultural evolution of post-World War II London—and on a smaller scale, the cultural evolution of these men’s tiny dynasties. A whip-smart, funny and insightful journey to the end.



     

  • Family Adventures: Psychology


  • The cover of the book A Thousand Acres

    A Thousand Acres



    Ah, King Lear. A man who played favorites, bequeathing his power and land to two of his three daughters. Jane Smiley took this family drama, plopped it into present-day Iowa, and turned the screws, creating a literary masterpiece. The conflict between the Cook sisters builds until it turns into a quiet madness. It’s a unforgettable trip into the head space of dysfunctional siblings.



     

  • Family Adventures: Business


  • The cover of the book The Lager Queen of Minnesota

    The Lager Queen of Minnesota



    So often books explore the conflict that occurs when you mix family and business, but Stradal takes an entirely different approach. He explores what happens when you don’t. This is the story of two sisters—a pie maker and a beer brewer—whose priorities and economics diverge so wildly, it takes one of their children’s children to potentially mend the split.



     

  • Family Adventures: Obligations


  • The cover of the book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

    A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius



    In his very first full-length work, Dave Egger’s narrative choices are mind blowing, as is his life story. While a college senior, Eggers lost both of his parents to cancer and inherited his eight-year-old brother, and this autobiography is a manic mix of parenting angst and twentysomething yearning. The honest look at the push-pull of family obligations cuts super close, and you will never look at the success of McSweeneys the same again.



     

  • Family Adventures: Expectations


  • The cover of the book Everything I Never Told You

    Everything I Never Told You



    Expectations are nothing new in families, but some parents pile them so high that they unintentionally bury themselves and their children. Everything I Never Told You explores this and more after Lydia Lee turns up dead in the opening sentence. But whether it was suicide, murder, or an accident is left to question until the very end, and the answer lies hidden in the each family member’s personal—and often hidden—identity.