Tuesday, June 30, 2020

iTunes Store: Top 25 Books in Fiction & Literature 2020-06-30

Pam Jenoff - The Ambassador's Daughter artwork The Ambassador's Daughter
A Novel
Pam Jenoff
Genre: Historical
Price: $2.99
Publish Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: MIRA Books
Seller: Harlequin Enterprises Limited

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris. For one woman in the aftermath of World War I, the City of Light harbors dark secrets and dangerous liaisons. Paris, 1919. Margot Rosenthal has arrived in France with her father, a German diplomat. She initially resents being trapped in the congested capital, where she is still considered the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all. Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, a naval officer who gives Margot a job—and a reason to question everything she thought she knew about where her true loyalties should lie. Against the backdrop of one of the most significant events of the century, a delicate web of lies obscures the line between the casualties of war and of the heart, making trust a luxury that no one can afford. Look for these other sweeping epics from New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff. The Lost Girls of Paris The Orphans Tale The Diplomat’s Wife The Kommandant’s Girl The Last Summer on Chelsea Beach The Winter Guest



Laura Heffernan - Anna's Guide to Getting Even artwork Anna's Guide to Getting Even
Laura Heffernan
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: March 16, 2020
Publisher: Empress Books
Seller: Laura Heffernan

Anna's perfect life has become a category 5 disaster.   A hurricane destroying her home is only the beginning of Anna's troubles. Her ex, Eric, plasters private photos of her on billboards all over the city and across the internet. The backlash against her makes the storm look tame: She's instantly suspended from her job. Her current boyfriend dumps her. The cops blame her for the pictures. Her friends vanish. Trapped in despair, Anna enters a downward spiral. When she hits rock bottom, holding Eric accountable is her only way out of the mess her life's become. He always seemed untouchable, but if there's one thing Anna knows now, it's that no one is too perfect to be brought down. She just has to create a perfect storm of her own. Fans of Kerry Lonsdale will love this tale of loss and redemption.



Kevin Kwan - Sex and Vanity artwork Sex and Vanity
Kevin Kwan
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians returns with a glittering tale of love and longing as a young woman finds herself torn between two worlds--the WASP establishment of her father's family and George Zao, a man she is desperately trying to avoid falling in love with. On her very first morning on the jewel-like island of Capri, Lucie Churchill sets eyes on George Zao and she instantly can't stand him. She can't stand it when he gallantly offers to trade hotel rooms with her so that she can have the view of the Tyrrhenian Sea, she can't stand that he knows more about Curzio Malaparte than she does, and she really can't stand it when he kisses her in the darkness of the ancient ruins of a Roman villa and they are caught by her snobbish, disapproving cousin, Charlotte. "Your mother is Chinese so it's no surprise you'd be attracted to someone like him," Charlotte teases. Daughter of an American-born-Chinese mother and blue-blooded New York father, Lucie has always sublimated the Asian side of herself in favor of the white side, and she adamantly denies having feelings for George. But several years later, when George unexpectedly appears in East Hampton where Lucie is weekending with her new fiancé, Lucie finds herself drawn to George again. Soon, Lucy is spinning a web of deceit that involves her family, her fiancé, the co-op board of her Fifth Avenue apartment, and ultimately herself as she tries mightily to deny George entry into her world--and her heart. Moving between summer playgrounds of privilege, peppered with decadent food and extravagant fashion, Sex and Vanity is a truly modern love story, a daring homage to A Room with a View , and a brilliantly funny comedy of manners set between two cultures.



Alison Littman - Radio Underground artwork Radio Underground
Alison Littman
Genre: Historical
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: November 28, 2018
Publisher: Last Syllable Books
Seller: Chicago Review Press, Inc. DBA Independent Publishers Group

With swift, bold and powerful writing, debut author Alison Littman tells the story of a family ripped apart by revolution, illuminating a time when news, rock 'n' roll and underground journalism forever changed the lives of those living behind the Iron Curtain. After years of suffering under the communist regime in Cold War Hungary, Eszter Turján—fanatical underground journalist—would sacrifice anything, and anyone, to see the government fall. When she manipulates news broadcasts on Radio Free Europe, she ignites a vicious revolution, commits a calamitous murder and is dragged away screaming to a secret underground prison. Her daughter Dora, then a teenager, cowers in her bedroom as the secret police arrest her mother. Haunted and hurt, Dora vows to work against everything Eszter believes in. But, it's not that simple. After nine years, Dora meets a strapping young fan of Radio Free Europe and is unwittingly drawn back into Eszter's circle. She finds her mother, driven mad by years of torture, is headed for death. On the brink of losing Eszter again, Dora must decide if she should risk her life to save the mother who discarded her—or leave it to fate.Radio Underground is a beautiful, relevant novel that explores the lengths and limits of love, family and the power of expression.



Nora Roberts - Hideaway artwork Hideaway
A Novel
Nora Roberts
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $15.99
Publish Date: May 26, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Seller: Macmillan

"Reading Hideaway is like a mini vacation, as Roberts transports you from the sun-drenched mountains of Big Sur to the rolling hills of Ireland to the bustling streets of New York City." - Associated Press A family ranch in Big Su r country and a legacy of Hollywood royalty set the stage for Nora Roberts’ emotional new suspense novel, Hideaway . Caitlyn Sullivan had come from a long line of Hollywood royalty, stretching back to her Irish immigrant great-grandfather. At nine, she was already a star—yet still an innocent child who loved to play hide and seek with her cousins at the family home in Big Sur. It was during one of those games that she disappeared. Some may have considered her a pampered princess, but Cate was in fact a smart, scrappy fighter, and she managed to escape her abductors. Dillon Cooper was shocked to find the bloodied, exhausted girl huddled in his house—but when the teenager and his family heard her story they provided refuge, reuniting her with her loved ones. Cate’s ordeal, though, was far from over. First came the discovery of a shocking betrayal that would send someone she’d trusted to prison. Then there were years spent away in western Ireland, peaceful and protected but with restlessness growing in her soul. Finally, she would return to Los Angeles, gathering the courage to act again and get past the trauma that had derailed her life. What she didn’t yet know was that two seeds had been planted that long-ago night—one of a great love, and one of a terrible vengeance…



Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing artwork Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
Genre: Literary
Price: $14.99
Publish Date: August 14, 2018
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENON More than 6 million copies sold A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick A Business Insider Defining Book of the Decade  "I can't even express how much I love this book! I didn't want this story to end!"--Reese Witherspoon "Painfully beautiful."-- The New York Times Book Review For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing  is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.



V.C. Andrews - Shadows of Foxworth artwork Shadows of Foxworth
V.C. Andrews
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: Gallery Books
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

Forbidden passions have been the hallmark of the Dollanganger clan since Flowers in the Attic debuted more than forty years ago. In this third book of a new related trilogy, witness the birth of the Dollanganger curse as Corrine Foxworth’s children learn that family is but destiny by another, crueler name. As a young girl in France, Marlena Hunter’s life was a fairy tale. She had a talented artist for a father, a doting mother, and a brother she couldn’t be closer to. She loved her family; she just didn’t know what her family actually was. When a car crash kills their parents, Marlena and Yvon lose not only France, but also their identity. Sent to Richmond, Virginia, they arrive at the home of two aunts they’ve never met before, who tell them that their true last name is Dawson, that their father had fled the family years back—and that now the family is calling in the debt. Trapped in a mansion with as many secrets as rooms, Marlena yearns for escape. But in America, you can either make friends or make profit, and Yvon suddenly seems much more interested in the latter. While he is free to leave the house, Marlena is left to avoid lecherous tutors and the secretary-to-wife track expected of a woman. Caught between mastering the game to escape it and falling prey to its allure, she needs to learn fast—for Malcolm Foxworth has cast his eye in her direction. And no family name can protect her from the twisted roots of the Dollanganger family tree.



Elin Hilderbrand - 28 Summers artwork 28 Summers
Elin Hilderbrand
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $18.99
Publish Date: June 16, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

A "captivating and bittersweet" novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Summer of '69 : Their secret love affair has lasted for decades -- but this could be the summer that changes everything ( People ). When Mallory Blessing's son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he's not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It's the late spring of 2020 and Jake's wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election. There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other? Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother's bachelor party. Cooper's friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere -- through marriage, children, and Ursula's stratospheric political rise -- until Mallory learns she's dying. Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.



Celeste Ng - Little Fires Everywhere artwork Little Fires Everywhere
A Novel
Celeste Ng
Genre: Literary
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

The #1 New York Times bestseller! Now a Hulu original series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. “I read  Little Fires Everywhere  in a single, breathless sitting.” —Jodi Picoult “To say I love this book is an understatement. It’s a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears.” —Reese Witherspoon “Extraordinary . . . books like Little Fires Everywhere  don't come along often.” —John Green From the bestselling author of  Everything I Never Told You , a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned—from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren—an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides.  Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster. Named a Best Book of the Year by:  People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly,  NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month,  Paste ,  Kirkus Reviews ,  St. Louis Post-Dispatch,  and many more... Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more. 



Taylor Caldwell - A Pillar of Iron artwork A Pillar of Iron
A Novel of Ancient Rome
Taylor Caldwell
Genre: Historical
Price: $15.99
Publish Date: January 31, 2017
Publisher: Open Road Media
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

New York Times Bestseller: A magnificent novel of ancient Rome and the tragic life of Cicero , who tried in vain to save the republic he loved from tyranny. In this riveting tale, the Roman Empire in its final glory is seen through the eyes of philosopher, orator, and political theorist Marcus Tullius Cicero.   From his birth in 106 BC in the hill town of Arpinum, Cicero, the educated son of a wealthy member of the equestrian order, is destined for greatness. At a young age, he discovers the legend of the Unknown God, the coming Messiah, and it propels the rising lawyer on a journey of spiritual conflict and self-discovery. From his tumultuous family life to his tenuous alliance with Julius Caesar to a fateful love affair with the Roman empress Livia and, finally, to the political role that will make him a target of powerful enemies, A Pillar of Iron is the story of Cicero’s legacy as one the greatest influences on Western civilization.   Based on hundreds of speeches, voluminous private correspondence, and ancient texts and manuscripts, this bestselling epic brings into focus Cicero’s complicated relationships with his contemporaries, including Caesar, Mark Antony, and Crassus, and brilliantly captures the pageantry, turmoil, and intrigue of life in ancient Rome. According to legendary editor Maxwell Perkins, author “Taylor Caldwell is a storyteller first, last and foremost, and once you begin reading one of her books, you can’t help finishing it.”   This ebook features an illustrated biography of Taylor Caldwell including rare images from the author’s estate.



Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg - The Nine artwork The Nine
A Novel
Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: August 20, 2019
Publisher: She Writes Press
Seller: Ingram DV LLC

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam’s intellect becomes Hannah’s life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam’s acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices. When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother’s close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom—until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery. Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules—even if it means jeopardizing his mother’s hopes and dreams.



Jeanine Cummins - American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club) artwork American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club)
A Novel
Jeanine Cummins
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $15.99
Publish Date: January 21, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Seller: Macmillan

#1 New York Times Bestseller OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK “ Extraordinary .” — Stephen King “This book is not simply the great American novel; it’s the great novel of las Americas . It’s the great world novel! This is the international story of our times. Masterful.” —Sandra Cisneros También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams . Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia —trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte , Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times. Already being hailed as "a Grapes of Wrath for our times" and "a new American classic," Jeanine Cummins's American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.



Alan Hlad - The Long Flight Home artwork The Long Flight Home
Alan Hlad
Genre: Historical
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: June 25, 2019
Publisher: Kensington Books
Seller: Kensington Publishing Corp.

Inspired by fascinating, true, yet little-known events during World War II, The Long Flight Home is a testament to the power of courage in our darkest hours—a moving, masterfully written story of love and sacrifice.   It is September 1940—a year into the war—and as German bombs fall on Britain, fears grow of an impending invasion. Enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping Forest home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie. After losing her parents to influenza as a child, Susan found comfort in raising homing pigeons with Bertie. All her birds are extraordinary to Susan—loyal, intelligent, beautiful—but none more so than Duchess. Hatched from an egg that Susan incubated in a bowl under her grandfather’s desk lamp, Duchess shares a special bond with Susan and an unusual curiosity about the human world.    Thousands of miles away in Buxton, Maine, young crop-duster pilot Ollie Evans decides to join Britain’s Royal Air Force. His quest brings him to Epping and the National Pigeon Service, where Susan is involved in a new, covert mission to air-drop hundreds of homing pigeons in German-occupied France. Many will not survive. Those that do will bring home crucial information. Soon a friendship between Ollie and Susan deepens, but when his plane is downed behind enemy lines, both know how remote the chances of reunion must be. Yet Duchess will become an unexpected lifeline, relaying messages between Susan and Ollie as war rages on—and proving, at last, that hope is never truly lost. “Hlad adeptly drives home the devastating civilian cost of the war.” —Booklist



Sally Rooney - Normal People artwork Normal People
A Novel
Sally Rooney
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: April 16, 2019
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

L ONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE: A wondrously wise, genuinely unputdownable new novel from Sally Rooney, winner of the 2017 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award (at 26, tied with Zadie Smith for the youngest-ever recipient)--the quintessential coming-of-age love story for our time. Connell Waldron is one of the most popular boys in his small-town high school--he is a star of the football team, an excellent student, and never wanting for attention from girls. The one thing he doesn't have is money. Marianne Sheridan, a classmate of Connell's, has the opposite problem. Marianne is plain-looking, odd, and stubborn, and while her family is well-off, she has no friends to speak of. There is, however, a deep and undeniable connection between the two teenagers, one that develops into a secret relationship.      Everything changes when both Connell and Marianne are accepted to Trinity College. Suddenly Marianne is well-liked and elegant, holding court with her intellectual friends while Connell hangs at the sidelines, not quite as fluent in language of the elite. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle each other, falling in and out of romance but never straying far from where they started. And as Marianne experiments with an increasingly dangerous string of boyfriends, Connell must decide how far he is willing to go to save his oldest friend.      Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a novel that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the inescapable challenges of family and friendships. Normal People is a book that you will read in one sitting, and then immediately share with your friends.



Karen Robards - The Black Swan of Paris artwork The Black Swan of Paris
A Novel
Karen Robards
Genre: Historical
Price: $14.99
Publish Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: MIRA Books
Seller: Harlequin Enterprises Limited

“A truly outstanding novel.”—Heather Morris, #1 bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz “Emotional and powerful.”—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris From New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards comes one of the most anticipated novels of the summer… A world at war. A beautiful young star. A mission no one expected. Paris, 1944 Celebrated singer Genevieve Dumont is both a star and a smokescreen. An unwilling darling of the Nazis, the chanteuse’s position of privilege allows her to go undetected as an ally to the resistance. When her estranged mother, Lillian de Rocheford, is captured by Nazis, Genevieve knows it won’t be long before the Gestapo succeeds in torturing information out of Lillian that will derail the upcoming allied invasion. The resistance movement is tasked with silencing her by any means necessary—including assassination. But Genevieve refuses to let her mother become yet one more victim of the war. Reuniting with her long-lost sister, she must find a way to navigate the perilous cross-currents of Occupied France undetected—and in time to save Lillian’s life. For fans of The Nightingale, The Women in the Castle and The Lost Girls of Paris, this exquisite novel illuminates three women’s strength, courage and capacity for unconditional love.



Jennifer Weiner - Big Summer artwork Big Summer
A Novel
Jennifer Weiner
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: May 05, 2020
Publisher: Atria Books
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Sexy and satisfying, Big Summer is the perfect quarantine read.” — USA TODAY “The beach read to end all beach reads.” — Entertainment Weekly “Big fun, and then some. It’s empowering and surprising—a reminder to put down the phone and enjoy each moment for what it is.” — The Washington Post A deliciously funny, remarkably poignant, and simply unputdownable novel about the power of friendship, the lure of frenemies, and the importance of making peace with yourself through all life’s ups and down. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good in Bed and Best Friends Forever , Big Summer is the perfect escape with one of the most lovable heroines to come to the page in years. Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless. Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song. A sparkling novel about the complexities of female relationships, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.



Glen James Brown - Ironopolis artwork Ironopolis
Glen James Brown
Genre: Literary
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: June 30, 2018
Publisher: Parthian Books
Seller: Perseus Books, LLC

Stranded on the outskirts of Ironopolis — nickname to a lost industrial Middlesbrough — the Burn Council Estate is about to be torn down to make way for regeneration. For the future ... But these streets know many stories, some hide secrets … Jean holds the key to the disappearance of a famous artist … Jim's youth is shattered during the euphoric raves of ’89 … A brutal boyhood prank scars three generations of Frank's family … Corina’s gambling addiction costs her far more than money … And Alan, a man devastated by his past, unravels the darkness of his terrifying father, a man whose shadow has loomed large over the estate for a lifetime. And then there is the ageless Peg Powler, part myth, part reality: why is she stalking them all? ‘Human nature? Class politics? Whatever it was, it wasn’t us … Deep down we were part of a whole, single energy, and all we had to do was be ready to sink down together.’



Katherena Vermette - The Break artwork The Break
Katherena Vermette
Genre: Literary
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: September 17, 2016
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc
Seller: House of Anansi Inc

2017 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Literature Finalist Winner, Amazon.ca First Novel Award Winner, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction Winner, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award Winner, McNally Robinson Book of the Year A Canada Reads 2017 finalist National Bestseller 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist 2016 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Finalist National Post 99 Best Books of the Year CBC Best Canadian Debut Novels 2016 Globe and Mail Best 100 Books of 2016 Quill & Quire Book of the Year Kobo Best Books of the Year Walrus Magazine The Best Books of 2016 49th Shelf Books of the Year When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime. In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim — police, family, and friends — tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg’s North End is exposed. A powerful intergenerational family saga, The Break showcases Vermette’s abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature.



Richard Wagamese - Starlight artwork Starlight
Richard Wagamese
Genre: Literary
Price: $4.99
Publish Date: August 14, 2018
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The final novel from Richard Wagamese, the bestselling and beloved author of Indian Horse and Medicine Walk , centres on an abused woman on the run who finds refuge on a farm owned by an Indigenous man with wounds of his own. A profoundly moving novel about the redemptive power of love, mercy, and compassion--and the land's ability to heal us. Frank Starlight has long settled into a quiet life working his remote farm, but his contemplative existence comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of Emmy, who has committed a desperate act so she and her child can escape a harrowing life of violence. Starlight takes in Emmy and her daughter to help them get back on their feet, and this accidental family eventually grows into a real one. But Emmy's abusive ex isn't content to just let her go. He wants revenge and is determined to hunt her down.      Starlight was unfinished at the time of Richard Wagamese's death, yet every page radiates with his masterful storytelling, intense humanism, and insights that are as hard-earned as they are beautiful. With astonishing scenes set in the rugged backcountry of the B.C. Interior, and characters whose scars cut deep even as their journey toward healing and forgiveness lifts us, Starlight is a last gift to readers from a writer who believed in the power of stories to save us.



Brit Bennett - The Vanishing Half artwork The Vanishing Half
A Novel
Brit Bennett
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: June 02, 2020
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick!  “Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel,  The Bluest Eye.”  —Kiley Reid,  Wall Street Journal   “ A story of absolute, universal timelessness …For any era, it's an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it's piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….” – Entertainment Weekly From  The   New York Times -bestselling author of  The Mothers , a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect? Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing . Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins. As with her New York Times -bestselling debut The Mothers , Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.



Romeo Preminger - Campus Call Boy artwork Campus Call Boy
Romeo Preminger
Genre: Gay
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: February 01, 2020
Publisher: Romeo Preminger
Seller: Smashwords, Inc.

Twenty-one-year-old Noah Jeffries has a secret. He’s putting himself through college under the rent boy name Max Wilde. He doesn’t mind the sex, most of the time, and he sure doesn’t mind the money. But when he falls hard for Carlos, a hot student activist, he’s clobbered by a tough decision. Can he give up making big money on a chance for love? Will the guy even want to be with him if he knows his secret? Meanwhile, being Max Wilde is getting complicated. A high paying client who’s the provost of Noah’s university wants Noah all for himself. There’s danger as the guy gets more obsessive, and now it could spill out and impact Carlos as well. The first title in Romeo Preminger's Guilty Pleasures series of erotic thrillers.



J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Enhanced Edition) artwork Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Enhanced Edition)
J.K. Rowling
Genre: Action & Adventure
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: November 20, 2015
Publisher: Pottermore Publishing
Seller: Pottermore Limited

"Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'." Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!



Danielle Steel - Daddy's Girls artwork Daddy's Girls
A Novel
Danielle Steel
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: June 09, 2020
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In Danielle Steel’s riveting novel, three women raised by their father on a sprawling California ranch now confront difficult truths about their past.   Decades ago, after the death of his wife, Texas ranch hand JT Tucker took his three small daughters to California to start a new life. With almost no money, a will of iron, and hard work, he eventually built the biggest ranch in California. But when he dies suddenly at the age of sixty-four, the ranch is inherited by his three daughters—each of them finding it impossible to believe that this larger-than-life figure is gone from their lives.   JT’s relationship with each daughter was entirely different. Caroline, the youngest and most reserved, was overlooked by her father for her entire life and fled to become a wife, mother, and writer in Marin County. Gemma, his declared favorite, sought out Hollywood glamour and success and became a major television star. Kate, the eldest, stayed at home with her father to do his bidding as a ranch hand, without thanks or praise, forsaking marriage and a family of her own for the love of him.   Now, upon JT’s death, the paper trail he leaves behind begins to reveal much more than the three sisters ever guessed about who he really was. It will turn their world upside down, and each of them must grapple with a new reality, strengthening their relationships with one another, and discovering who they are now as grown women, in spite of him.   Set against the magnificent backdrop of the West and the drama of a family in turmoil, Daddy’s Girls is the story of three remarkable women and their unique bond to each other—the daughters of a complex, many-faceted, domineering father who left his mark on each of them.



Chanda Hahn - Of Sea and Song artwork Of Sea and Song
Chanda Hahn
Genre: Fairy Tales, Myths & Fables
Price: $6.99
Publish Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: Chanda Hahn
Seller: Smashwords, Inc.

I killed a man to protect my sister, and now I am a fugitive. With bounty hunters hot on my trail— willing to take me dead or alive— I’m forced to disguise myself as a cabin boy on the Bella Donna. I should have been safe at sea, but I cannot escape the dangerous feelings evoked by the ship's handsome captain. For I am Merisol, one of the adoptive daughters of Lady Eville, and to escape my past and save my friends I will make an uncertain bargain with a shady sea witch. The deal sounds too good to be true. What could possibly go wrong?



Alice Munro - Dear Life artwork Dear Life
Stories
Alice Munro
Genre: Literary
Price: $4.99
Publish Date: October 13, 2012
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

With her peerless ability to give us the essence of a life in often brief but spacious and timeless stories, Alice Munro illumines the moment a life is shaped -- the moment a dream, or sex, or perhaps a simple twist of fate turns a person out of his or her accustomed path and into another way of being. Suffused with Munro's clarity of vision and her unparalleled gift for storytelling, these stories (set in the world Munro has made her own: the countryside and towns around Lake Huron) about departures and beginnings, accidents, dangers, and homecomings both virtual and real, paint a vivid and lasting portrait of how strange, dangerous, and extraordinary the ordinary life can be.