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Babylon, South Dakota by Tom Lin When Saul Keng Hsiu and his wife, Mei Lee, move from China to the United States to take possession of a 160-acre homestead bequeathed to them by a distant relative, all they have are the possessions on their back, some hidden gold, and a pocketful of chrysanthemum seeds. After a rocky start and a long, harsh winter, the couple find themselves successfully raising chrysanthemums and livestock, and soon after, a daughter, Mara. But when representatives from the US Army Corps of Engineers buy an acre of the Hsiu's farmland and begin building a missile silo, the inexplicable starts to occur: Mara can commune with the animals on the farm, Mei develops a hidden talent for augury, and the chrysanthemums become impervious to everything. When the Hsius learn that the project on their farm is an effort to make America's nuclear deterrent invulnerable, they see firsthand the long arm of power and empire. In the years and generations that follow, increasingly impacted by the silo and its residue, the Hsius experience strange, wondrous, and tragic events on their farm. An ambitious epic and an ode to the beauty and glory of our connection to the natural world, Babylon, South Dakota upends the idea of strangers in a strange land to become a classic American story. It is a daring novel about how choices reverberate across generations and asks us what we owe to one another.
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The Brothers McKay: A Longmire Mystery by Craig JohnsonWhen Pepper McKay, one of the most hated men in Absaroka County, is found murdered on his ranch in Crazy Woman Canyon, suspects aren't in short supply. But Sheriff Walt Longmire's attention is on those who had gathered for a family meeting that evening, McKay's very different sons: a smooth-talking charmer, a cosmopolitan journalist, a reclusive monk, and a half-Native ranch hand who keeps the place running. Each had a motive. Each claims he's innocent. As Walt investigates what happened that night at the O-Kay Lodge, he's pulled into a tangle of old grudges and long-buried secrets. Then the case takes a sharp turn: a second body surfaces, and a wildfire tears through the canyon, trapping Walt and forcing him into a fight for his life as both the killer and the elements close in. The twenty-second novel in the Longmire series, The Brothers McKay is a murder mystery and a survival thriller that tests the sheriff's hard-won sense of justice--all while paying sly homage to Dostoevsky's classic.
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The Deal
by Elle Kennedy
The first book in an all new series featuring college hockey stars and the women they fall for, by New York Times bestseller Elle Kennedy.
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The Divorce by Freida McFaddenNaomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family...Then--he kicks her out, hires the city's best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something.It's a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life. Except, why should she? Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband's new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession--and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger. But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn't it worth it? In The Divorce, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a razor-sharp, subversive thriller where love curdles into vengeance, and survival becomes the most dangerous game of all.
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Enormous Wings by Laurie FrankelAt seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is too old to be a stranger in a strange land. She didn't choose the Vista View Retirement Community of Austin, Texas-that would be her three grown children-but when she grudgingly moves in, she not only makes new friends, she falls in love. Then the exhaustion, vomiting, and confusion start. Her children and grandchildren worry it's cancer, dementia, a stroke. But a raft of tests later, the news is even more shocking: she's pregnant. Once word gets out, everyone wants a piece of her: the press and the paparazzi, activists and medical researchers, all descending on Vista View as Pepper tries to determine her next move. Soon Pepper has some hard decisions to make-and some she's not allowed to make. Enormous Wings is an urgent novel about female agency and bodily autonomy, morality and mortality. It's about what happens when you don't get to choose. It's about motherhood and family, sex and love and friendship, and how those bedrocks-even so late in the day-can still change, and then change everything--
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A Good Animal by Sara MaurerIn the farm country outside Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan-a border town where life moves slow and dreams run fast-most kids want out. Not Everett Lindt. He's set on staying put, rebuilding his family's sheep farm, and carving a future from the land he loves. Then he meets Mary, a new girl in town with restless energy and bigger plans. When their relationship reaches a crossroads, Everett sees a life together. Mary, however, is desperate to find a way out. Together, they make an impulsive choice-one that could change everything. Tense, lyrical, and deeply felt, Sara Maurer's unforgettable debut breathtakingly captures the ache of first love, the beauty and brutality of rural life, and how one decision can echo through generations and shape who we become--
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Japanese Gothic: A Gothic Dual-Timeline Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings and Redemption by Kylie Lee BakerOctober, 2026: Lee Turner doesn't remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge--his father's new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls. October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father's face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window. One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie. Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it. For readers who love: Grady Hendrix and Stephen King Japanese mythology Friendship and family themes Terrifying, gory stories Horror with heart A new take on the classic haunted house trope
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The Ones We Wait For
by Michael V. Ivanov
Bestselling author Michael V. Ivanov delivers a profound and unforgettable tale of loss, love, faith, and redemption. In this captivating novel, the lives of two strangers collide in a heavenly realm, where an unexpected reunion reshapes their journeys and reveals the power of grace and connection. As a guide, Luke has helped countless new arrivals journey from the old train station in the valley to the city beyond, in a strange and wondrous land. Once a new arrival himself, he aids visitors in healing old wounds and confronting life's greatest mysteries while awaiting a long-lost friend. When an elderly woman named Anna arrives, familiar yet unknown, Luke embarks on what will be his final journey as a guide, unaware of the profound connection about to unfold. The Ones We Wait For is a novel about loss, love, faith, and heaven. Other Books by Michael: The Mount of Olives: 11 Declarations to an extraordinary lifeThe Traveler's Secret: Ancient proverbs for better livingThe Servant With One Talent: Five Success Principles from the Greatest Parable Ever ToldThe Cabin at the End of the Train: A Story About Pursuing DreamsThis Is Why I'm Here: A Practical Guide to Discovering Your Purpose and Nurturing Your Dreams
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The Original by Priya ParmarWhen young Katharine Hepburn loses her beloved brother, she makes two decisions: she will become famous, and she will never let anyone hurt her again. Leaving home at twenty-one to pursue an acting career Kate is lured to Hollywood, accompanied by her lover, Laura. Los Angeles in the early 1930s is a town full of secrets and Kate has plenty to hide. Soon she is scooped into the studio system and launched as a star--but stars must play by the rules and Kate, brilliant, bisexual, and strong-willed, refuses to conform. Surrounded by a legendary circle of intimates, including the powerful David and Irene Selznick, charming and romantically conflicted actor Cary Grant, ambitious director John Ford, and millionaire tycoon Howard Hughes, Kate navigates a web of sex, ambition, and betrayal. As her career ascends, she faces an agonizing choice: be the star everyone wants her to be, or risk everything to become the woman she always was. The author of New York Times Notable Book Vanessa and Her Sister has created a propulsive, emotionally charged novel exploring the cost of fame. With sharp prose and unforgettable characters, The Original is a story of love, aspiration, and the price of living authentically.
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Prestige Drama by Séamas O'ReillyIn Derry, the locals are already in a twist about the arrival of Hollywood actress Monica Logue to research her role for a show about the Troubles--and then she goes missing. Everyone has a story to tell--about Monica's possible whereabouts, and about the historic events that brought her here in the first place: the show's screenwriter, desperate for this last shot at success; the grieving mother whose story he's adapting; the ex-IRA member who knows the price of survival; the local psychic who's seen too much ... Prestige Drama brings to life a chorus of characters as they locate themselves in Monica's disappearance, and in the truth about their own history. From the author of the acclaimed memoir Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?, Prestige Drama is heartbreaking, hilarious, and profound, an indelible portrait of a community both obsessed with its past, and desperate to forget it.
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First and Forever by Lynn PainterDuffy Distefano loves three things: her dad, the family cat, and Minneapolis Coyote football. So after she gets booed out of a game and becomes the internet's villain following an awful encounter with the team's beloved mascot, she is disgruntled, to put it mildly. Eager to clear the air, Duffy agrees to an interview on a hit morning show. She doesn't expect a co-guest to join her--especially not the Coyotes' star tight end. When MVP Connor Cunningham gets tasked with damage control to help his team out of a PR nightmare, he finds himself in a highly amusing verbal sparring match with a recently wronged fan on live TV. The interview instantly goes viral, and the public is obsessed with them. Despite his distaste for PR stunts, a strong push from the Coyotes' PR team to ride the wave results in Connor asking Duffy out. But he quickly discovers being with Duffy is much easier than he anticipated, and somehow it doesn't feel fake to him. This secret can only blow up, but all he knows is that if he messes things up with Duffy, it'll be the greatest fumble of his life. Oozing with chemistry that feels like fireworks and banter that makes you swoon, Lynn Painter delivers her signature blend of heart and humor in this love story that you won't soon forget.
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A Fortune of Sand by Ruta SepetysDetroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets. Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit dynasty--a family rich in money and poor in charm. Creative, reckless, and never quite what they wanted, Marjorie has spent her life overlooked by her controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. But when she secretly applies to an elite arts program backed by a mysterious patron, she grabs the chance to finally step out of her family's shadow. The building is grand. The talent is extraordinary. And something is deeply wrong. The program is strict in ways that feel sinister. Doors lock at strange hours. Rumors spread about women going missing. And the handsome benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling. As Marjorie gets pulled deeper into his world, she must fight to discover the truth before she loses herself completely. Set in the fading splendor of 1920s Detroit and inspired by real, long-buried events, A Fortune of Sand is a glittering, gothic page-turner about power, control, and the price women pay when they demand to be seen.
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The Final Target by Nora RobertsHe showed up at Arden Bowie's debut author appearance with a copy of her novel and an eager smile. He showered her with compliments and got her autograph. Then he came to her next event. And the one after that. Dustin was just an aspiring writer who wanted advice, Arden reassured herself. But after giving in to one of his incessant invitations and chatting with him over coffee, she discovered that ignoring her inner alarm bell had been a terrible mistake... An introvert at heart, Arden had long craved solitude--but now, after a harrowing assault, she finds herself hiding behind locked doors and startling at every sound. And her relief at his imprisonment is tempered by anxiety when Dustin's wealthy mother helps to get him a paltry five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility. Arden decides to write a new story for herself, moving to a tiny Oregon town and befriending Gideon, an ex-LAPD detective. But while she learns to thrive, Dustin remains his delusional, twisted self, as fixated as ever and now seething with anger. He still believes Arden's purpose on earth is to serve and please him. And his job is to protect her. But who will protect her from him?
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Dolly All the Time: A GMA Book Club Pick by Annabel MonaghanDolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn't solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home. So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield--annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family--with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it's in her nature to help. But Stewart's proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She's never relied on anyone besides herself--can she really start now?
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The Midnight Train by Matt HaigWhen your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop? No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were. For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away. He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything . . . A magical, time-travelling love story, from the world of The Midnight Library.
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Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne PalmerThirty years ago the world nearly ended. Be was there, but the old robot has since settled into a life of isolation in the abandoned New York Botanical Gardens, determined to forget their role in that cataclysmic conflict. But then they wake up in a bathtub. And their leg is missing. And the only one to ask for help is a very chatty cyborg dog. Be may want to forget the world, but it seems the world hasn't forgotten them. Forced out of solitude, Be embarks on a quest to reclaim their leg, accompanied by that talkative (read: smart-ass) dog and a human mechanic with nightmares of her own. Their motley crew soon discovers that recovery from the war is uneven and faltering, and Be begins to suspect a malicious hand trying to rekindle old conflicts. In order to stop them, Be needs to come to terms with both their own past and who they have become. Being left alone is no longer an option, and peace may be impossible. A tale of resilience and hope, this is an ode to those struggling to become whole in a world half-broken.
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The Tuxedo Society
by Paul Rudnick
If Guy Ritchie directed a James Bond caper starring a queer 007, it might look something like this hilarious and action-packed spy thriller by Paul Rudnick, acclaimed screenwriter and author of Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style, that blends espionage and social commentary, with an elite, gay secret society. They are fierce patriots. They are licensed to kill. And they are really, really gay. Welcome to democracy's secret weapon, the Tuxedo Society. When Andrew Birnbaum, a struggling actor making ends meet by working in a candle shop, gets invited to have dinner with the exclusive Tuxedo Society by his best friend, Brock, his life takes an unexpected turn. What seems like a group of wealthy socialites gathering for gossip and cocktails quickly spirals into a world of espionage, danger, and hilarity. Andrew soon meets Reggie O'Malley, a Navy SEAL with a penchant for black tie, who recruits Andrew to join the society's covert mission to protect national security. Armed with gadgets like an inflatable life raft backpack, a yoga mat that doubles as an assault rifle, and, of course, an AMEX Black Card, Andrew quickly finds himself tackling spies, thwarting assassinations, and facing a host of unexpected threats in settings from the White House to the Vatican to the Summer Olympic Games. The stakes escalate when Andrew and his comrades are sent on a jet-setting mission to uncover the truth about an ancient artifact. Along the way, they clash with oligarchs, crooked senators, and a smarmy televangelist with sinister plans for world domination. Packed with Paul Rudnick's signature wit, The Tuxedo Society is a wild ride through decadence, danger, and unexpected heroism, as Andrew discovers that saving the world might just be the role he's been waiting for.
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Waiting on a Friend by Natalie AdlerWhen Renata's best friend Mark dies of complications from AIDS, Renata is devastated by the loss of the person she loved most in the world. And to her disappointment and increasing despair, Mark seems unwilling or unable to return for the proper goodbye they both were denied. While Renata waits anxiously for Mark, she must stay vigilant: a mysterious, police-like force has begun ridding their East Village neighborhood of anything abnormal or inexplicable. What first seems like a scam reveals itself to be far more sinister, targeting the soul of Renata's community. With her band of lovably eccentric pals and lovers, Renata is determined to fight back against the erasure of her friends' memories and the sanitizing of her beloved New York. But haunting her every step is Mark, the one ghost who stubbornly refuses to reappear. Both heartbreaking and healing, tragic and triumphant, Waiting on a Friend is a magical retelling of queer history and a celebration of youth and camaraderie. With pathos and humor, empathy and an edge, Natalie Adler freshly reimagines the past for a new generation, reclaiming the spirit of resistance and determination that would become one of the era's defining legacies.
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The Summer Boy
by Philippe Besson
On an island off the coast of France, six teenagers come together for a summer of desire and discovery until one of them vanishes forever, leaving the rest with an enduring mystery. Tell me, do you know why the most beautiful love stories must always end badly? In the summer of 1985, on a scruffy resort island off the coast of France, six teenagers--five boys and one girl--band together for a final golden season before adulthood. Their days are drenched in sun and freedom, and their nights simmer with secrets, jealousy, and longing. Philippe is drawn to Nicolas, the quiet new boy who sees him in a way that no one else does. As their bond deepens, part of Nicolas remains unreachable--until a sudden tragedy brings their summer to a brutal end. The Summer Boy is a lush and unforgettable autobiographical tale, capturing the ineffable summers of youth in amber. Celebrated novelist Philippe Besson has shaped his memories into an aching meditation on how one summer night--and one fierce connection--can echo across a lifetime.
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After blowing her cover as a double agent within Silver Elite and fleeing the Prime-controlled capital, Wren Darlington is finally safe behind allied lines. As her lover and former commander Cross Redden works to disrupt the Primes from inside their ranks, Wren turns her focus toward assisting the Uprising in overthrowing their rule once and for all. LOYALTIES WILL BE TESTED. Though she's back among her own people, trust is hard-won and hidden agendas abound on the Mod base. And beyond those walls, Wren can't help but worry that Cross is keeping secrets of his own . . . secrets that could jeopardize everything. Complicating matters even further is her shocking reunion with hotshot fighter pilot and undercover operative Grayson Blake. Once her closest friend in Silver Elite, Gray seems to understand Wren on a level she never thought possible. AND THE FIGHT FOR THE CONTINENT IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING. With the war between Mods and Primes growing more brutal by the day, and with her own role in the conflict becoming more essential than ever, Wren must confront some gut-wrenching questions. Who is she fighting for . . . and who is she willing to lose? |
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Ghalen: A Romance in Black by Walter MosleyOne of the most acclaimed writers working today, Walter Mosley spins magic once again in this beautiful novel that explores the lives of Black characters and one remarkable family through a lens both universal and unique. It touches on the lives of those whose deepest thoughts and motivations are seldom explored--including the neurodivergent, the incarcerated, and the immigrant tortured by their past--characters who will stay with you and change how you see the world. Ghalen, a brilliant young Black man, is the son of two seemingly mismatched parents. His mother, a gifted scientist, whose own mother expected her to exceed all the achievements in her family, and his father, a gentle cook at a small vegan restaurant, whose idiosyncratic nature shows the young woman a radically different love and understanding of life, despite his inexperience and lack of education. His parents' grand love story starts it all off, setting us up to follow Ghalen and his family so deeply, that each new twist and turn feels personal. The journey through Ghalen's coming-of-age tale, as he ventures out into the world, is marked with peaks and valleys and such a drive that you can't help but strap in for it all, while not wanting it to end.
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Once in a Blue Moon
by Kristan Higgins
From NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author, Kristan Higgins, comes a new romantic women's fiction novella set in picturesque Cape Code.
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Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It by Brooke AverickIs it possible to find true love when going on a date makes you want to throw up? Phoebe Berman fears the one thing she wants the most: love. Thanks to an extremely unfortunate first kiss attempt, crippling intimacy anxiety has plagued her since she was a teen. Phoebe has so much going for her: a dream teaching job, a supportive and hilarious group of best friends, and all the romance novels a girl could want at her fingertips--but she can't help but beat herself up over the one thing she can't quite seem to figure out. Determined to change this, she drafts up the ultimate Guide to Losing My Virginity checklist with the hope of finally getting laid. Suddenly, she goes from a relatively boring (basically non-existent) dating life to juggling three romantic prospects at once. There's the gorgeous new fourth grade teacher at her school, a former high school classmate that resurfaces through Words with Friends, and there will always be her roommate, who might just be the best friends-to-lovers situation of her dreams. Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It is a brutally honest and completely relatable story for anyone who's ever felt stuck between coming of age and coming apart.
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Silver Elite
by Dani Francis
Wren Darlington has spent her whole life in hiding, honing her psychic abilities and aiding the rebel Uprising in small ways. On the Continent, being Modified means certain death--and Wren is one of the most powerful Mods in existence. When one careless mistake places her in the hands of the enemy and she's forced to join their most elite training program, she's finally handed the perfect opportunity to strike a devastating blow from inside their ranks. But training for Silver Block can be deadly, especially when you're harboring dangerous secrets and living in close quarters with everyone who wants you dead--
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Villa Coco by Andrew Sean GreerAn aspiring archivist determined to begin a serious life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa's extensive collection of art and antiques--although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose. Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco's great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it's too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we've always wanted to be.
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Father Material by Alexis HallFirst comes love, then comes marriage, then comes...what was that, exactly? Luc and Oliver have been through it all: fake dating to save Luc's career, I-guess-this-is-actually-for-real dating when all of that blew up spectacularly, (briefly) breaking up over irreconcilable differences, (definitively) getting back together over perfectly reconcilable everything else, (almost) getting married, (finally) moving in together, and ultimately celebrating years of perfect domestic bliss. But as all their very grown-up-now friends begin reaching new life milestones, advancing careers and having babies, Luc and Oliver decide it's time to open their hearts and lives to something new: a tiny, squirming, adorable bundle of furry joy named Spud. And maybe now that hearts-and-lives are already open, there's room for someone else. Something more. Something that may require them to find in themselves a little father material.
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A River Red with Blood: A Thriller
by John Connolly
Two intertwined disappearances leave a rural community in shock in the latest gripping Charlie Parker novel from New York Times bestselling author John Connolly. In a darkly brilliant thriller set in Maine's rural Kennebec River Valley, the body of a young runaway from a troubled teens school has been found in the water, seemingly drowned, while a teenage girl has gone missing, believed dead. Now it is up to one man, private investigator Charlie Parker, to find the connection, and bring two evils--one new and one ancient--to an end...
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Road Trip
by Mary Kay Andrews
New from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of Summers at the Saint and Hello, Summer Pack your bags for a summer journey shaped by family secrets, long-buried history, and charming men with Irish accents. Maeve and Therese Dunigan haven't spoken in years. Raised under the same roof in Savannah, the two sisters could not be more opposite--Maeve the rule follower, Therese the unapologetic rebel. But when their mother's death pulls them back together, they inherit more than just grief: a mysterious painting that may be worth millions...if it's real. Determined to uncover the truth--and desperately in need of the money--the sisters set out on a journey to Ireland, tracing their family's roots and the origins of the portrait. What begins as a search for answers soon becomes something deeper--a reckoning with the past, as they uncover secrets that span generations and reshape everything they thought they knew about their family. With tensions simmering, the two hit the road and find themselves on twisty lanes, in colorful villages, at local pubs, and with handsome men whose gift of the gab is surpassed only by their charm. Can Maeve and Therese actually survive the journey without killing each other? Join Mary Kay Andrews on a road trip that will entertain you for miles.
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Whistler by Ann PatchettWhen Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn't seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again. Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It's a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.
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Land by Maggie O'FarrellOn a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tom s and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tom s, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster. The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tom s is unexpectedly sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and the lives of those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tom s, and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home? Land is a novel about separation and reunion, tragedy and recovery, colonization and rebellion. It is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away. As spellbinding and varied as the landscape that inspired it, Land is, above all, a story of survival, for our times and for all time.
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Stuart Woods' Deep Water
by Brett Battles
In the latest action-packed adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Stone Barrington must avenge attacks on two of his dear friends. When Stone Barrington meets one of his clients, Trenton Sidney, for a sunset drink on Trenton's new yacht, the last thing he expects is to be a victim of a shipwreck. As one of the four survivors of the incident but with little memory of the sinking, Stone finds himself diving straight back into work. His first task? To reach out to the beneficiaries in Trenton's will. But when new evidence that points to foul play comes to light, Stone must probe the tragedy in more ways than one in order to uncover the identity of the perpetrator . . . before they find another lethal way to get themselves out of deep water.
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The Hill
by Harriet Clark
After her mother is sentenced to life in a hilltop prison, Suzanna vows to return to the hill forever. An unexpectedly funny and deeply moving novel about the many ways we punish and return to each other. Suzanna Klein was a baby when her mother got up early one morning to rob a bank with a group of fellow radicals. Now, every Saturday, Suzanna lines up at the prison gates among the other children, each dressed as if for celebration. Inside there is a nursery and a cemetery; there are watchful guards and distractable nuns; there are women counting down to release and women like Suzanna's mother, who will never be released. At home, Suzanna is raised by her grandmother, who is entirely unforgiving of her daughter's crime and refuses to visit the prison. Surrounding Suzanna are her grandmother's friends, who know one another from their years in the Communist Party and still spend extended cocktail hours debating the Hitler-Stalin pact. Though these women once insisted on changing the world, they are torn between teaching Suzanna how the world works and shielding her from it. Suzanna vows to return to the prison forever but her mother wants her to be free. Harriet Clark's The Hill is an incandescent novel of a child growing up between worlds, the last of three generations whose fates have been tied to punishment. It is the tale of a family broken apart by the desire for change, told with irreverent wisdom and visionary force. The Hill brings new music to American fiction.
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Rocket's Red Glare: A Thriller by James PattersonNat Phillips leads an elite roster of special operators. They are ex-Special Forces, communications specialists, and intelligence officers. Phillips is a brilliant strategist and battle-tested leader who inspires total loyalty in his team. Now these decorated veterans of international warfare are at home and on stand-by--until a presidential campaign is interrupted by murder. Suddenly, the plan is no longer the stuff of Mission: Impossible. Emergency operations happening not overseas but in the centers of American power, from Nantucket to Washington, DC. This national crisis is real.
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Daughters of the Sun and Moon
by Lisa See
From beloved New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post-Civil War Los Angeles. In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty, and violent pueblo of Los Angeles. Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and innocent. These characteristics should bring her great rewards, beginning with her arranged marriage to a much older merchant. Petal, the big-footed daughter of peasants, has grown up hungry and with dirt between her toes. In a moment of desperation, Petal's father sells her to buy money for rice seed, and she is loaded onto a ship to the Gold Mountain--America--where she is once again sold. Moon is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She is educated, speaks fluent English, and has been endowed with a face of great beauty, yet her failed footbinding as a child has left her with a limp that lessens her value in the eyes of many. Each woman has her own desires. Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom, and Moon seeks justice. Together they face a larger society that wishes them not one ounce of good will. Anti-Chinese sentiment is strong in Los Angeles, and this eventually leads to the Night of Horrors during which all three women are challenged in ways they could not have imagined. Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, they must use their bravery, endurance, and ability to eat bitterness to discover their voices, find freedom, and connect through solace and friendship. Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.
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The Children by Melissa AlbertGuinevere Sharpe has two childhoods. In one, she and her brother, Ennis, live in the wooded shadow of their family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of their mother's world-famous Ninth City books, where their magical adventures have made them household names. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother's readers imagine: she and Ennis are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the wild woods they've made their playland. As Edith Sharpe's books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame--until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith's series unfinished and her children the sole survivors. Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled, simply, Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere's childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother's fantasy world? The Children is wise to the mythic weight childhood memories gather over time, and the way our most beloved stories grow up with us. It's for anyone who's ever revisited an old favorite and found its pages cast in a darker light, the line separating magic from reality blurring as we discover the books that once comforted us carry shadows of their own.
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Clive Cussler Cold Fire
by Graham Brown
When a NATO weapon that could ensure peace or start World War Three vanishes in the Arctic, Kurt Austin and NUMA race to recover it before it falls into enemy hands in the latest novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series created by the grand master of adventure Clive Cussler. In the frigid air high above the Arctic Ocean an American C-17 carrying a cutting-edge laser of immense power, successfully shoots down a ballistic missile nearly four hundred miles away. Before the celebration can even begin, the aircraft goes dark, vanishing off radar and disappearing into mist at the top of the world. As the details emerge it becomes obvious that the aircraft has been hijacked, the crew murdered at their stations. Its last known heading would take it directly to Russia, but the CIA insisted it never arrived. An odd signal suggests it crashed into the Arctic Ocean halfway between Norway and the North Pole. In a tense meeting the President asks how deep the waters are in that area. Not deep enough, is the answer. Russian ships are seen putting out to sea in large numbers. Chinese vessels are spotted north of Norway. The only American asset in the area is a small research vessel operated by NUMA. The President orders NUMA to send it into the fray. Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala lead the search but soon find that all is not as it seems. The Chinese were waiting for the planes arrival, the Russians had expected it to land on their territory and now all three are closing in on a shooting war to keep the others from finding the missing plane. With the rules of engagement suspended and lives hanging in the balance, Kurt and the NUMA special projects team pull on the threads connecting the mystery only to discover the great nations of the world being manipulated by a single man with a deadly plan of revenge.
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Confessions of an Amateur Sleuth
by Lynn Cahoon
Bainbridge Island bookseller, aspiring author, and amateur sleuth Meg (no relation to Bill) Gates investigates the murder of a crabby food critic in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon's latest Pacific Northwest-set mystery for fans of Kate Carlisle, Lorna Barrett, Jenn McKinlay, and Ellery Adams. Twenty-something bookseller and sleuth Meg Gates has a confession: solving crimes may be easier than writing. She's been working on a guide to becoming a detective--but she's her own worst critic. She needs a how-to in order to write her how-to! At the Bainbridge Island writers' group, she meets freelance food critic Lee Anderson, who invites her to join him for dinner at the Local Crab so he won't be suspected of reviewing the place. Lee is a bit of a crab himself and intends to do a hatchet job on the eatery. Instead, someone does a job on the critic--he's found dead by the marina. Now Bainbridge's culinary elite are on the suspect list. With help from her beau, Dalton, and the Mystery Crew at Island Books, Meg dons her sleuthing cap to solve the mystery du jour--before another murder is served cold . . .
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Down with the Shipmans by Meg Mitchell MooreIt's the week after Fourth of July, and the Shipman sisters are returning to their picturesque summer home on the New Hampshire coast for what they believe is a family reunion, the first without their late mother. However, their tranquil setting quickly becomes a stage for drama when their father, Calvin, drops the bombshell news that he plans to sell the cherished beach house. Mae, the youngest daughter, who has a newfound penchant for attracting trouble, is distraught, already dealing with her own emotional scars and a problematic rescue dog. Natalie, the middle sister and social media darling known for her seemingly idyllic life as a tradwife, is equally anxious, especially since her flawless public image is on the verge of imploding. Meanwhile, Jordan, the eldest, a high-powered crisis communications expert, is ready to be rid of the house so she can tend to her own professional disaster. As old memories are stirred up and the sisters navigate both the packing of the house and their personal crises, the arrival of Calvin's new wife pushes Jordan, Natalie, and Mae to decide how far they're willing to go to preserve the Shipman bond. A delicious summer read that explores the enduring power of family and sister connections, Down with the Shipmans is a humorous, heartfelt reminder that home is not a place, but the people who love you, no matter how imperfectly.
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Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller1987: After a childhood trauma and years in and out of the care system, sixteen-year-old Ursula finds herself with a new job delivering mail at a local art school, a bed in a halfway house, and some new friends, including wild-child Sue. When Ursula is invited to join a squat at the Underwood, a mysterious house whose owners met a terrible end, she can't resist this hodgepodge family. But as Sue's behavior and demands become more extreme, Ursula, who has always been hungry--for food, but more importantly for love and acceptance--carries out her friend's terrible dare. And, for this, Ursula finds herself literally haunted. Thirty-six years later, Ursula is a renowned but reclusive sculptor living under a pseudonym in London when her identity is exposed by a true-crime documentarian researching an unsolved disappearance. But the filmmaker is not the only one who has discovered Ursula's whereabouts, and as her past catches up with her present, Ursula must work out whether the monsters are within her or without--and if they will finally make her pay for her past mistakes. Part gothic horror, part coming-of-age, and a with contemporary twist on the haunted-house story, Hunger and Thirst is a chilling tale of loneliness, of the dangerous line between wanting and needing, and of how far a person will go to truly belong.
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Mercy Hill
by Hannah Thurman
A debut family novel about four sisters growing up on the campus of the underfunded state mental hospital where their strong-willed mother serves as head of psychiatry. A richly moving story of sisterhood, loyalty, and mental health in America. Mercy Hill--both the place and the people who live there--will stay with you long after you put the book down. --Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls The Cross sisters have lived their entire lives on the sprawling grounds of Mercy Hill, the embattled Raleigh mental hospital run by their formidable mother. Since childhood, JJ, Caro, Mimi, and Denise have been inculcated with their mother's mission: they'll work alongside her to protect Mercy Hill from the fate of other state hospitals across the country, which are being gutted and closed, one by one. After an incident involving the highest-security ward, Mercy Hill faces greater scrutiny than ever, and Lisa Cross pushes each of her daughters even harder in the name of her mission. As the sisters cross into adulthood, the pressures of their isolated environment and mercurial mother set them on different--and perilous--paths. And as the battle wages on, youngest sister and narrator Denise grapples with the added responsibility that comes from being the last hope for their mother's dreams. Set in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Mercy Hill's fate hanging in the balance, Denise recounts the transformations that shape and destroy her family, along with the landscape of mental healthcare in the United States. With sharp insight and real humor, debut novelist Hannah Thurman captures the turmoil of growing up, the true meaning of a calling, and the indelible bonds of family.
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Missing in Soho
by Holly Stars
A missing photographer. A megalomaniacal millionaire. A drag queen hellbent on saving her club. The latest glittering mystery from the author of Murder in the Dressing Room... Misty Divine is bold, beautiful and back in action. She's barely settled into her new role as the glamorous hostess of Lady's Bar when a private detective arrives out of the blue. He's been stabbed. With what might be his final breath he whispers a cryptic message. You're in danger, Misty... you must find Jeremy. As Misty dives wig first into the investigation, she gets up close and personal with a number of shady characters, including a notorious televangelist, a group of mysterious financiers, and a bunch of drunken bachelorettes at a drag brunch. And when it becomes clear that Misty's beloved Lady's Bar is under threat, she'll have to seek help in the unlikeliest of allies to solve the case, save the bar, and find Jeremy before he disappears for good. Can Misty find Jeremy and save Lady's Bar? And what, or who, might she lose in the process? Her club, her career, her relationship... everything's at stake. No-one is safe and there's a young photographer Missing in Soho.
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Night Road
by Kristin Hannah
For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children's needs above her own, and it shows; her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia's best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable... --
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The Open Era by Edward SchmitRecently-turned-pro tennis player Austin Hardy has been out since high school and it's never been a big deal. That is, until he becomes the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam tournament. Suddenly, being gay is a huge deal, with headlines to prove it. Unprepared for this new spotlight, Austin's anxiety disorder hits a breaking point, and he trips and falls at practice. Right next to the very attractive, very talented, and probably straight Diego Cruz, ranked second in the world. The two professional rivals start a friendship off the court. But between their flirty banter, mixed signals, and looming showdown, Austin is thrown further off his game by Diego. With the eyes of the world on Austin, the weight of history on his shoulders, and Diego across the net, he must decide whether love means nothing or if it means everything as he battles for the trophy during an electric two weeks at the US Open.
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A Pair of Aces by Marie BenedictEunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan's first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City's five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they've all focused on the crime syndicate's traditional businesses--bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing--or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its role in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can't get Luciano alone. Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all. Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they're trying to convict. It is this very alliance--of two women from vastly different worlds--that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen.
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The Rainy Day Bookshop: A Contemporary Small-Town Story of Family, Community and Books by Raeanne ThayneSandwiched between caring for her mother and rebuilding the relationship with her estranged daughter, Emma, Rosie Lucas's life is full. In the best way. With Emma and her 3-year old daughter, Olive, back home, Rosie has a partner for The Rainy Day Bookshop, the family business, and a chance to fix the past. What she doesn't have time for is a romantic relationship. And even if she did, Andrew Morgan is the last person she'd choose. Not only is he an arrogant and reclusive writer, but he's a single dad with two young kids. She's already been there, done that. Still as an irresistible flirtation builds between them, he becomes her unexpected confidante on the distance Rosie can't seem to overcome with Emma, a secret she can't quite unravel... Emma isn't proud of her past. But she's pulled herself up by the bootstraps, caring for her own daughter, and protecting her mom at all costs. Just as she always has. She never told Rosie what she saw all those years ago and she never will. But some secrets refuse to stay buried, and sometimes the truth is more shocking than fiction. Rosie and Emma will have to navigate an unimaginable path forward. Together.
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Summerland Cove by Ellen BakerLindy has the summer of a lifetime planned at her family's beloved cottage in Summerland Cove, Maine, where she's spent summers all her life and where she and her husband David met as teenagers. She's slated big events three weekends in a row: David's fiftieth birthday party, her parents' fiftieth anniversary party, and her oldest daughter Hailey's wedding. But when David doesn't show up for his own party, everything about the life they've created together is thrown into question, as the shattered family sets out looking for him. Has he been in an accident? God forbid, been the victim of a crime? Or is it something more cliché--a midlife crisis, an affair? Surely, he'll show up for his beloved daughter's wedding--won't he? The agonizing days tick by and still no David. Lindy's four nearly grown children are panicked. Lindy struggles to remain calm, even as long-buried details of the family's past begin to surface, offering distressing clues. Meanwhile, her mother seems to be harboring secrets of her own, her father has grown alarmingly absent-minded, and Hailey wrestles with whether she should get married at all--even if her father does turn up. A richly drawn novel of mothers, marriages, and one endearingly messy family, Summerland Cove beautifully evokes the crisp air and rocky beaches of coastal Maine, while poignantly revealing how complicated histories can shape the present in unexpected ways.
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The Typing Lady: And Other Fictions by Ruth OzekiA spellbinding story collection from Booker Prize finalist Ruth Ozeki, about the lives we almost lived, the people we can't quite forget, and the stories that shape us long after the last page is turned In this spirited and emotionally resonant collection, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki turns her singular gaze to the short story, exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age. With her distinctive blend of wit, warmth, and deep humanity, she brings us eleven richly imagined stories of characters standing at life's thresholds--grappling with faded ideals, evolving identities, and the inevitable compromises that shape a life. A college student falls for her professor and learns to transmute longing into language. A disquieted husband watches with tenderness and unease as the ghost of his wife's ambition roams the woods outside their home. A long-deceased Beat poet hijacks the mind of a young publishing assistant during a sales meeting, railing against the state of modern literature. A curious grandmother creates a fake online dating profile to spy on her granddaughter's romantic life--and sets in motion a deception she can't control. Spanning eras and geographies--from a New England college town in the 1970s to downtown Manhattan in the 1990s to a moss-covered Pacific Northwest island during the early pandemic--The Typing Lady is an electrifying meditation on the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we abandon, and the stories we become. Threaded with the tactile ephemera of writing--typewriters, letters, manuscripts, and disappearing ink--the book reveals how we record ourselves in language, and how language, over time, records us in return.
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The Unicorn Hunters
by Katherine Arden
In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest--and unknowingly alters the fate of her world--in this dazzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale. This otherworldly hardcover edition includes an illustrated jacket, a foil-stamped case, and designed full-color endpapers I loved every moment I spent in this magical, dangerous, and haunted realm in the company of its clever and captivating duchess.--Naomi Novik, author of A Deadly Education Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies. But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany. Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France's greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners. The forest of Broc liande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination. While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Broc liande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret. Or so she thinks. In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power.
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The Windsor Affair by Melanie BenjaminThe Windsor Affair recreates the cataclysmic events that nearly toppled the monarchy and incited the power struggle between Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Wallis Simpson. Told from the perspective of both women, the novel propels readers into the fabulous world of the debonair Prince of Wales, caf society of the 1930s, and the glittering private lives of the Windsors. The first novel to be dedicated to this infamous rivalry, The Windsor Affair brings us all the gossip and intrigue between the two very different--yet perhaps more similar than they would admit--wives of royals. As Queen, Elizabeth would become the symbol of British pluck and courage during World War II and remain a British institution the rest of her long life. Wallis would be forever forced to enact the World's Greatest Love Story even after it sours, as she goes from being admired to vilified and, ultimately, pitied. Against the backdrop of the Abdication Crisis, World War II, coronations, funerals, births, and deaths, these two women maintain a biting, sharp-tongued feud--until age and the long arm of history bring about a kind of understanding. For the last communication between these bitter rivals was a simple, surprising message: In friendship, Elizabeth.
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Choke Point: A Thriller by Brad ThorA devastating series of bombings tears through Bangkok. Scores of American citizens are dead. The attacks send shock waves around the world. As global assistance pours into Thailand--including the FBI's famed Evidence Response Team--the president of the United States quietly prepares a plan B: Scot Harvath, America's top spy, trained to operate outside the law and probe the dark corners others can't...or won't. But the bomber Harvath is pursuing isn't a terrorist. He's something far more dangerous--one of ours. Meanwhile, in Washington, a former United States Marine is being hunted--and he has no idea why. Desperate for answers, he turns to the one person he still trusts--his ex-fianc e, a rising star in the White House. The problem is, she isn't sure she can trust him. As Harvath closes in on the bomber, a devastating truth begins to emerge. China has quietly deployed its most elite intelligence unit to Thailand. Their objective: to ignite chaos, trigger a military coup, and seize control of a narrow but critical piece of land, one that could give Beijing a decisive advantage. If the plan succeeds, Beijing will secure a key gateway between two oceans, eroding American naval dominance and tipping the balance in any war between the world's great powers. China will control the ultimate geopolitical choke point.
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Alan Opts Out by Courtney MaumAlan Anderson is a powerful advertising executive who has built a successful life and thriving business by making people buy stuff they don't actually need. He's up for the biggest pitch of his career and the account everyone wants, US Dairy: cow's milk sales are plummeting, and the C-Suite wants to see trendy oat milk kicked to the curb. But when an anarchist farmer tanks Alan's presentation, Alan bombs the pitch but ends the day with an epiphany. No longer will he exploit the insecurities of others in the service of capitalism. Alan is opting out. This development is anathema to his wife, Vivian. She's just a few positive affirmations, a swimming pool, and an exacting series of social tests away from finally becoming part of the elite women's club, the Queen Annes, in their adopted town of Greenwich, Connecticut. As if contending with a daughter who wants to write plays ( ) and another who has an unnatural empathy with animals isn't enough to manage, she can only watch as Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land and--worse--spend time with the family. But instead of shocking the neighbors, Alan's commitment to a less-is-more lifestyle seems to be catching on. Could everyone want what Alan's not selling? Funny, sexy, intelligent, and poignant, Alan Opts Out is the most ambitious novel to date by celebrated author Courtney Maum, acclaimed for her stories that tackle big, chewy subjects of our post-modern America with wit and heart.
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Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu KawaguchiThe sixth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series about a cozy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.In a special seat in a fabled Tokyo cafe, you're offered something irresistible - not just a warm, comforting coffee, but the chance to go back in time to revisit the ones you love...In Before I Knew I Loved You, Toshikazu Kawaguchi takes us back to the warm heart of the mysterious Funiculi Funicula Cafe, with another four guests whose luminous stories of love, lost and won again, will reaffirm your belief in its eternal potential. In this book, we meet: The girl who couldn't call her mother, and yearns to reconnect with her The man who waited for a reply from his girlfriend, and never heard from her The woman anxious to travel ahead to know what her future holds The student who travels back to meet his father again, who passed away many years before.Yet the same rules always apply - you must return before the coffee gets cold. And while it does, memories are revisited, people are changed for ever, and the enduring power of love transcends the boundaries of time.The sixth book in the phenomenal, bestselling series, translated from Japanese, Before I Knew I Loved You asks the irresistible question: what would you do if you were offered the chance to go back in time?
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The Butler: A Thriller
by Clare Mackintosh
From the New York Times-bestselling author: A glamorous French villa. A carefully curated guest list. A body in the pool.The South of France is stunning, though not without its imperfections, from pickpockets to burglars to the occasional cold-blooded killer. But in his twenty-five years of service, Baxter--with a spotless reputation as a polished, well-mannered butler--has never run into any issues catering to the ultrawealthy. Until now.Baxter's latest assignment is at Villa S r nit , where Alec Prescott is hosting a colorful cast of characters, including his ex-wife, his much younger lady friend, and some Hollywood hotshots, after the Cannes Film Festival. But it doesn't take long for a week of sun, wine, and a family birthday celebration to devolve into bickering and backstabbing. And soon, secrets aren't the only thing floating to the surface . . .When one of the guests is found dead in the villa's glittering pool, the gendarmes turn to the unflappable Baxter to help determine who's responsible. A good butler is expected to see everything and say nothing--but what if he too becomes a target?
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The Chowder House Murder
by Lee Hollis
The first in a brand new, multi-generational cozy mystery series introduces three generations of strong, no-nonsense women who head the Holbrook family seafood dynasty in Downeast Maine...and a murder the Holbrook matriarch and her granddaughter must solve, even as it entangles them in a web of small-town secrets, and a Hatfields and McCoys-level chowder rivalry. Ever since Halibut Cove's popular eatery, The Chowder House, started serving matriarch Maggie Holbrook's famous clam chowder it's been in high demand. Cooked up at the restaurant by Maggie's ambitious 19-year-old granddaughter, Audrey, the dish even has a regular nightly customer, retiree Chips Hogan. . . . Until one fateful Sunday night. After serving Chips his chowder, Audrey rushes off to Maggie's hilltop home for the weekly family dinner with the rest of the Holbrooks--her three uncles, and her mom, Jill. But before the meal's end, Jill, a police chief, gets an alarming call. Chips has been found in the street--dead. Jill races out to investigate . . . and is shocked to learn Chips' chowder was poisoned. When a Chowder House server recalls seeing local diner cook Waldo Duggan in the alley that same evening, he becomes a suspect. And when it's uncovered that Waldo bitterly believed the Holbrooks stole the lucrative chowder recipe from the Duggans in the 1930's, he's only further implicated . . . Despite everything, Maggie can't believe Waldo would murder anyone. For fair-minded Maggie, to keep an innocent man out of jail, and to ease Audrey's guilt over serving the chowder, there's no choice but to team-up to crime solve. Soon grandmother and granddaughter are immersed in a stew of rivalries, long held feuds, and looming threats. Because beneath the surface, even a pretty town has its ugly side . . .
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Contrapposto by Dave EggersCricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school--an experience of dubious value--and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart. Contrapposto is a moving and very funny novel about allies and art, and what it means to be an artist. All through their lives, Cricket sees Olympia as his soulmate and destiny, and while she is always his champion, romantically her eyes are always seeking something--and someone--else. Their love changes over the decades, but their commitment to each other, and their search for meaning in the making of art, never wanes. The novel spans the globe, from New York to Thailand, Indiana to Paris, and follows Cricket and Olympia through sickness and health, war and death. The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it's about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, if only they can start their own movement, dodge charlatans, remain open-eyed and open-hearted, avoid going mad, avoid dying young of rare cancers, stay true to their ideals, and never tire of beauty. Not easy, but not impossible, either.
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Dearly Departed by Chip PonsHope is a dangerous thing for gods. Even former ones. Hayden Harlow, once the mighty Hades, has spent centuries quietly resenting his fall from immortality. Stripped of his godhood by the allegedly irreversible Immortal Retirement Act, he now runs Harlow and Sons Funeral Home--a front for his eternal sentencing among mortals, and a bleak reminder of the purpose he's lost. Still, he's determined to claw his way back...if only the Fates at City Hall would stop toying with him. Enter Levi Wilder: a florist with an artist's heart, an infectious smile, and a gift for finding beauty in life's messiest moments. When Hayden storms into Levi's shop to complain about a bouquet of sunflowers--an offensive choice for a funeral, in his opinion--their worlds collide. Hayden is all restraint and shadows; Levi is all sunshine and charm. But beneath the clash lies an undeniable spark neither can ignore. As their connection blossoms, Hayden finds himself caught between the life he once knew and the bright future Levi dares him to imagine. But trusting Levi means risking the walls he's kept in place all these years--and it's not just his heart on the line. Because in the threads of fate, one choice can change everything.
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Earth 7
by Deb Olin Unferth
An end-of-the-world love story, an epic full of pathos and humor, asking what can be saved of our planetWell, that's about it for the story of planet Earth, poor Earth, reduced to not much more than a piece of burnt coal. But, as Deb Olin Unferth shows in her latest electrifying novel, life and love persist, even in the most unexpected, inhospitable places. Two women meet on a beach of artificial sand. One was raised in a pod in the ocean and the other may or may not be a robot. Their love--or any love--seems so unlikely. Earth is severely depopulated. Some people have given up, gone off to Mars. Others pursue eternal life as digital code. And yet others, like Dylan and Melanie, are holdouts--and some of those holdouts are constructing a vast molecular collection in hopes that a future person may be alive to make a new Earth. Foolhardy? Misguided? Quixotic? Probably. But what can a human (or a robot) do? By the end of Unferth's wild, poetic, revelatory, and slyly philosophical novel, the reader has traveled to the very edges of the cosmos as a soul globule and between grains of sand as a microscopic tardigrade. A slim book tackling big questions (is all matter conscious? will we tech ourselves into salvation, or out of existence?), Earth 7 is a poignant inquiry into death, mourning, and indefatigable life, the most exhilarating work to date by one of our most original and beloved writers.
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