Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A Nigerian father's tyranny is robed in Catholic religious fervor, but how much right does it take to pardon what's wrong in this family?

I picked this book for our discussion group because it came up three times in a couple days in random conversations - it was like the universe was trying to tell me I needed to read it. So I did.

What an amazing book for discussion. There's the element of the unfamiliar: the foods and language and terms of Africa that are unexplained in the text (I spent time Googling while I was reading). The religious ideologies. Domestic and child abuse. The idea that the university's struggles mirror the government's issues.

It's a sad book, but very engaging. I read it in essentially one sitting, but have pondered it long after the final page.

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Addressed as a letter to a friend seeking advice, Adichie gives a brief, powerful primer on feminism in a changing world.

While it's addressed to a new mother on raising her daughter, the lessons are equally important for anyone. We all impact the next generation, and the first steps to change must be our own.

It's an amazing, succinct piece with a lot to ponder. It's probably worth repeated reading and is truly the kind of book you should buy to revisit annually.

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

Inside and outside his urban Washington, D.C. grocery store, an Ethiopian refugee watches the neighborhood shift and change around him. Sepha is haunted by his past and frozen in place, unable to move or act in his ill-fitting, lonely American life.

In this literary novel by an Ethiopian-born American author, the themes of loss, friendship, and the American dream make for a rather sad, yearning tale. Nonetheless, it's beautifully done - filled with thoughtful characters and gorgeous prose.

Sepha's life, the store, and, in fact the whole city decay before his wise, analytical gaze, but he takes no actions to forestall their decline. He awkwardly makes friends with a young new neighbor and there's romantic tension with her mother, but again these interactions require actions - enthusiasm, even - that Sepha can't muster.

This would be an awesome book for discussion, and the more diverse the group, the richer: There's a lot to discuss in the way Sepha wanders his neighborhood and ponders its residents, and his African immigrant friends and their war-themed mind games could be quite a conversation in itself.

Me ... Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Jane's the kind of girl who wants to know about animals and nature and how the world works. With her stuffed animal, she explores the backyard and grandma's chicken coop. She dreams of helping animals.

And then Jane the illustrated girl becomes real-life Jane Goodall in the end. The champion of chimpanzees and a grown up who got to live the life she dreamed of as a girl.

I loved this picture book for its cute, universal story that doesn't seem like a biography - until it is.