Stiff [kit]: the curious lives of human cadavers by Mary Roach — This unusual and thought-provoking book club selection covers topics from medicinal mummies to cadaver models for crash-test dummies. The writer presents a well-researched, lively discussion of offbeat ways that the dead have served the living and treats medical as well as ethical issues.

Sarah's key by Tatiana de Rosnay — Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' D' Hiv roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel' D' Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal and to reevaluate her marriage.  A popular book club selection.

The road from Coorain [kit] by Jill Ker Conway — Inspiring work about Conway's journey from a girlhood on an isolated sheep-farm in the grasslands of Australia to her departure for America where she pursues an academic career and eventually becomes the first women president of Smith College.