The shell collector / Anthony Doerr -- The boy who talked to animals / Roald Dahl -- Live life king-sized / Hester Kaplan -- The cove / Gina Berriault -- The royal palms / Matthew Klam -- The handsomest drowned man in the world / Gabriel García Márquez -- Under the pitons / Robert Stone -- The ocean / Frederick Reiken -- The hotel / Isaac Bashevis Singer -- Air mail / Jeffrey Eugenides.