Howard Fast’s THE IMMIGRANTS; a 1906 San Francisco earthquake catapults a roughneck into a wealthy shipping magnate; book one of six.

May Sarton’s A WORLD OF LIGHT: PORTRAITS AND CELEBRATIONS; a potpourri of people who influenced the writer’s work — and life.

William Styron’s SOPHIE’S CHOICE; an unlikely romance between a Southern writer, and a Polish woman who holds a horrifying secret.

Sue Miller’s THE STORY OF MY FATHER; a daughter tends to her parent when he contracts Alzheimer’s disease.