The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti

This classic Italian coming-of-age story features Pietro and Bruno, who meet one summer as children and whose friendship endures the years and their divergent paths.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The first of Atkinson’s beloved series introduces readers to Edinburgh-based private investigator Jackson Brodie, who is on the trail of three seemingly unconnected mysteries.

Beirut Noir, edited by Iman Humaydan Younes

Part of a series of original noir set around the world, many of the stories in Beirut Noir are influenced by the Lebanese Civil War. And unlike many translated books set in Beirut, most of the authors still live in the city, making this an important contribution to contemporary Middle East literature.

Duty Free by Moni Moshin

This contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is set amongst Lahore’s high society and offers biting social commentary alongside the classic love story.

Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

Cantoras tells the epic story of five women who, despite the Uruguayan dictatorship, create a sanctuary for themselves as lovers, friends, and family on a remote cape. Through the next 35 years the women are tested and the social tumult will test their abilities to live authentic lives.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The library’s description says it best: “A boy named Daniel selects a novel from a library of rare books, enjoying it so much that he searches for the rest of the author's works, only to discover that someone is destroying every book the author has ever written.”

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Set during the ‘Prague Spring,’ this classic novel explores the philosophy of being, set amidst the love affairs of two couples.

The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien

Selected as Dublin’s 2019 One Book, One City read, these novels were originally published in the 1960s and relate the misadventures of two girls who leave rural Ireland for Dublin’s bright lights.

Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón

Set in Reykjavik in 1918, Moonstone is the story of Mani Steinn, a sixteen-year-old who is infatuated with the new narrative form of cinema. An outbreak of the Spanish flu forces Mani to evaluate his place in the community as his isolated island is swept up in global events.