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General Fiction November 19, 2025 |
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Queen Esther
by John Irving
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won't be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won't find any family who'll adopt her. When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren't Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther's gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
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That's Not How It Happened
by Craig Thomas
Paige didn't set out to be a stay-at-home mom, but when her husband's screenwriting career took off right before they had a son with Down syndrome, the decision was made for her. Now, with their children nearly grown and unsure what's next, Paige writes a memoir about the challenges of raising a child with a disability. When a major actress-turned-producer shows up at her door eager to make her 'inspiring' story into a movie, she's shocked, excited, and a little terrified.
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Bad Bad Girl
by Gish Jen
Loo Shu-hsin, later renamed Agnes, grows up in a wealthy but stifling Shanghai household where girls are expected to be silent and obedient. Defying her father’s belief that only sons can succeed, she finds refuge in books and eventually pursues graduate studies in America. In New York, she marries fellow Chinese student Chao-Pei as the situation back home deteriorates, and they attempt to build a typical suburban life. But when their daughter Gish is born, the cracks in their marriage deepen, and Aggie—struggling to bridge the cultural and emotional gap with her independent American child—unconsciously echoes the same limiting judgments she endured in her own youth.
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Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal (Deluxe Edition)
by Meghan Quinn
Atlas "Max" Maxheimer is struggling to keep his family’s Christmas tree farm afloat when a soda-related accident lands him in the snow and face-to-face with Betty, the upbeat newcomer opening a rival farm next door. Their budding feud quickly escalates into blizzards, humiliating mix-ups, chaotic romantic misunderstandings, and the mystery of a stolen ornament with a poignant past. But as their competitive antics grow increasingly wild, Max and Betty begin to realize that beneath all the holiday mayhem, they may be falling for each other.
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Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon
by Matthew Norman
After losing their spouses earlier in the year, Grace White and Henry Adler enter the holiday season still processing deep grief. Despite their mothers’ matchmaking attempts, neither feels ready to date. Instead, they slowly build a tender friendship rooted in shared loss. When Henry misses the Christmas movie marathons he once shared with his wife, Grace—and often her young children—joins him, turning the tradition into a source of comfort and healing. As the movies bring them closer, new romantic possibilities for each force them to question whether their connection is simply born from loneliness or the start of a genuine second chance at love.
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The Christmas Stranger
by Richard Paul Evans
Three years after losing his family in a Christmas Eve accident, grief-stricken Paul Wanlass hasn't just given up on Christmas, he's given up on life. He can't imagine anything to keep him here--not his work as a computer repairman, not the residents in his Salt Lake City neighborhood, and certainly not the idea of connecting with someone new. When a stranger knocks on his door, claiming to be picking up a laptop, Paul allows him in--but discovers the man has a very different mission in mind. Paul wakes the next morning unsure if his encounter with the stranger really happened or was just a dream--but when the stranger shows up again, Paul challenges him to give him just one reason to live. The stranger agrees to the challenge but warns Paul not to expect a path he would have guessed or chosen.
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Holiday Ever After
by Hannah Grace
Clara Davenport, eager to rise within her family’s toy company, is sent to the small town of Fraser Falls to smooth over a PR disaster after Davenport Innovation Creative is accused of stealing a local inventor’s doll design. Her mission: win back the community’s trust and secure her long-awaited promotion. But Jack Kelly—the inventor whose design was copied—is determined to keep the Davenports at arm’s length after their earlier deception. As Clara works to repair the company’s reputation, she begins to see past Jack’s icy exterior, uncovering not only the heart of the town but also unexpected feelings of her own.
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A Ferry Merry Christmas
by Debbie Macomber
Avery and Reed Bond, devoted siblings spending their first Christmas without the grandmother who raised them, plan a quiet holiday together. But when Avery’s ferry stalls in Puget Sound, the delay upends their plans. Stranded onboard, Avery meets a kind sailor and experiences a small Christmas miracle that restores her festive spirit. Onshore, Reed forms an unexpected connection with a coworker who’s also waiting for family. What begins as a frustrating setback turns into a season of surprising romance and renewed hope, proving that the best gifts often arrive when plans go awry.
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