By Jonas Jonasson. Translated by Rod Bradbury

A larger-than-life old man with a fondness for vodka goes on an unexpected adventure in this whimsical novel -- perfect for fans of Forrest Gump and A Man Called Ove.. The international publishing sensation -- more than six million copies sold worldwide! A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert) decides it's not too late to start over . . .

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant).

It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.

NY. Hachette. 2009, 2012. 381p.

By Markus Zusak

The Dunbar boys bring each other up in a house run by their own rules a family of ramshackled tragedy their mother is dead their father has fled they love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world. It is Clay, the quiet one, who will build a bridge; for his family, for his past, for his sins. He builds a bridge to transcend humanness. To survive A miracle and nothing less. Markus Zusak makes his long-awaited return with a profoundly heartfelt and inventive novel about a family held together by stories, and a young life caught in the current: a hoy in search of greatness, as a cure for a painful past. “‘Brilliant and hugely ambitious...the kind of book that can be life changing.” The New York Times. “‘Unsettling, thought-provoking, life affirming, triumphant and tragic, this is a novel of breathtaking scope, masterfully told.” Guardian. ‘Zusak’s novel is a highwire act of inventiveness and emotional suppleness’ The Australian.

Australia. Picador Macmillan. 2018. 581p.

By Tim Winton

In the 1990s Tim Winton made his mark through tough spare stories about youth and promise; of early age parenthood and the challenges of loyalty. Now almost 20 years since his last collection he returns to the form with 17 overlapping stories of second thoughts and mid-life regret set in the brooding small town world of coastal WA. Brilliantly crafted and as tender as they are confronting these ellagic stories examine the darkness and frailty of ordinary people and celebrate the moments when the light shines through.

Picador. Australia. Pan Macmillan. 2004. 317p.

By Woody Allen

From the cover. In Getting Even Woody Allen revenges himself upon such significant subjects as death, obe­sity, organized crime, the invention of the sandwich, adult education, laundry lists of famous people, and Latin American revolu­tionaries. Here is Woody Allen at his philo­sophical deepest: •    "... Death is an acquired trait.'' •    "If man were immortal, do you realize what his meat bills would be?" •    "Why pork was proscribed by Hebraic law is still unclear, and some scholars believe that the Torah merely suggested not eating pork at certain restaurants." •    "Eternal Nothingness is OK if you're dressed for it." •    "My mind can never know my body although it has become quite friendly with my legs."

NY. Random House. 1978. 124p.

By Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Translated from the Russian by Michael Guybon. “*The First Circle asks to be compared to Dostoevsky. Solzhenitsyn is in the great story-telling tradition. When he introduces a character, he fills in the complete background. His portrait of a Soviet prosecutor and his family circle is unforgettable. So are chapters devoted to the brooding Stalin. A future generation of Russians will be able to come to terms with their history through books like Dr. Zhivago and The First Circle.'“ David Pryce-Jones, Financial Times.

London Collins. Fontana Books. 1970. 680P.

By Phillip Crocket Thomas.

Abolition Science Fiction is a new, free collection of sci fi short stories written by activists and scholars involved in prison abolition and transformative justice in the UK. The stories are not all explicitly about prison abolition, but all of them explore the underlying question of how we can live well together, tackling complex topics like violence, revenge, responsibility, care, and community. As such they can help us imagine a future where we respond to harm without exclusion and punishment, illustrating Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s contention that ‘abolition requires that we change one thing: everything.’ Alongside the stories are extracts from discussions from the workshops where we wrote and shared the stories. There are also creative writing exercises and discussion prompts, included to help readers explore ideas about abolition and transformative justice in creative ways. The book is aimed both at those curious about abolition and at seasoned activists who want to explore abolition through creative writing. The book is free and can be downloaded below. There is a limited number of print copies available, to request one please email abolitionscifi [at] gmail [dot] com.

Abolition Science Fiction. 2022. 94p.

By Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Translated from the Russian by Ralph Parker. With an Introduction by Marvin L. Kalb. Foreword By Alexander Tvardovsky. From the cover: This extraordinary novel is one of the most significant and outspoken literary documents ever to come out of Soviet Russia. It is both a brutally graphic picture of life in a Stalinist work camp and a moving tribute to man's will to prevail over relentless dehumanization. A masterpiece of modern Russian fiction, ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH first brought to world attention the work of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, brilliant author of THE CANCER WARD and THE FIRST CIRCLE.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in 1918, a year after the Bolsheviks stormed to; power through­out Russia. He studied at the University of Rostov and served with distinction in the Russian Army dur­ing World War II. In 1945 he was arrested and im­prisoned in a labor camp for eight years because he allegedly made a derogatory remark about Stalin. He was released in 1953 after the death of Stalin, but was forced to live in Central Asia, where he remained until Premier Khrushchev’s historic “secret speech” denounced Stalin in 1956. Rehabilitated in 1957, Solzhenitsyn moved to Ryazan, married a chemistry student, and began to teach mathematics at the local school. In his spare time, he started to write. This novel is his first published work.

NY. A Signet Classic from New American Library. 1963. 158p.

By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

From the jacket: Cancer Ward, which has been compared to the master­piece of another Nobel Prize winner, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain,examines the relationships of a group of people in a provincial Soviet hospital in 1955, two years after Stalin's death. Through their stories, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has created a vivid portrait of life in the So­viet Union. Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born in 1918. In 1945, while a captain in the Soviet Army, he was arrested—for criticiz­ing Stalin in a letter to a friend—and sentenced to an eight-year term in a labor camp and permanent exile. In exile, he became a patient in a cancer ward, and later re­covered. Although he was allowed to publish One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in 1962, Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet Writers Union in 1969. When the KGB discovered the manuscript of The Gulag Archi­pelago, it became imperative for Solzhenitsyn to have the book published in the West. The authorities retaliated in 1974 by exiling him from the Soviet Union. He settled in the United States in 1976 and now lives in Vermont.

NY. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1968. 630p.