Tuesday, September 3, 2024

iTunes Store: Top 25 Books in Fiction & Literature 2024-09-03

Gabriella Saab - The Last Checkmate artwork The Last Checkmate
A Novel
Gabriella Saab
Genre: Historical Fiction
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: October 19, 2021
Publisher: HarperCollins
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

A PopSugar Best Book of the Year! Readers of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring   the man who destroyed her family to justice. Maria Florkowska is many things: daughter, avid chess player, and, as a member of the Polish underground resistance in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, a young woman brave beyond her years. Captured by the Gestapo, she is imprisoned in Auschwitz, but while her family is sent to their deaths, she is spared. Realizing her ability to play chess, the sadistic camp deputy, Karl Fritzsch, decides to use her as a chess opponent to entertain the camp guards. However, once he tires of exploiting her skills, he has every intention of killing her. Befriended by a Catholic priest, Maria attempts to overcome her grief, vows to avenge the murder of her family, and plays for her life. For four grueling years, her strategy is simple: Live. Fight. Survive. By cleverly provoking Fritzsch’s volatile nature in front of his superiors, Maria intends to orchestrate his downfall. Only then will she have a chance to evade the fate awaiting her and see him punished for his wickedness. As she carries out her plan and the war nears its end, she challenges her former nemesis to one final game, certain to end in life or death, in failure or justice. If Maria can bear to face Fritzsch—and her past—one last time. 



Kristin Hannah - The Women artwork The Women
A Novel
Kristin Hannah
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: February 06, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Seller: Macmillan

A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times! From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's T he Women —at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided. Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam. The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.



Herman Wouk - Inside, Outside artwork Inside, Outside
A Novel
Herman Wouk
Genre: Family Fiction & Literature
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: June 11, 2024
Publisher: Open Road Media
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

A “truly enjoyable” journey through one man’s Jewish American experience by the #1 New York Times –bestselling author of Marjorie Morningstar ( Newsday ). Israel David Goodkind is a minor bureaucrat in the Nixon White House, killing time in the office by writing the story of four generations of his large, sprawling Russian Jewish immigrant family. As he recounts his brief stint in show business, his torrid affair with a showgirl, and his encounters with a hassled and distracted President Nixon, Goodkind also witnesses historical events firsthand—the Watergate scandal, the Yom Kippur War—and eventually finds his way back to his Jewish faith. Combining Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk’s wildly comic streak with his deep respect for religious tradition, Inside, Outside is both an individual’s story and “a social comedy of Jewish-American life reaching from New York to Jerusalem and spanning much of the 20th century” ( Publishers Weekly ). “Extremely funny.” — The Wall Street Journal “Wouk reaffirms his position as one of the nation’s eminent storytellers.” — Newsday “Wouk’s most significant work since The Caine Mutiny .” — Chicago Tribune “Generously stuffed with zestfully old-fashioned humor and sentiment.” — Kirkus Reviews



Neil Boyd - Bless Me, Father artwork Bless Me, Father
Neil Boyd
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: March 24, 2015
Publisher: Open Road Media
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

The inspiration for the hit London Weekend Television series of the same name, this is one confessional you’ll want to make a point of visiting Young Neil Boyd has just finished divinity school and has been newly ordained as a priest. His first post? St. Jude’s parish, a corner of London with a raucous congregation full of Irish immigrants. The flock is an odd pairing with the gentle Father Boyd, but he just might be both mad enough and tender enough to get through to them.   Later adapted into a beloved British sitcom, Bless Me, Father is a humorous and sweet-natured look at Catholicism in the 1950s. Joining Boyd is the cantankerous, scheming, and brilliant Father Duddleswell, a man who is willing to do anything to make sure the Lord’s will be done, and Mrs. Pring, the sharp-tongued housekeeper who both coddles and cajoles her priestly family of two. If the church needs money, Duddleswell will place a bet to get it. If a Catholic wants to marry a Protestant . . . well, maybe he won’t go that far.   Father Neil’s adventures with his parishioners are sure to delight readers of all creeds.



Jodi Picoult - By Any Other Name artwork By Any Other Name
A Novel
Jodi Picoult
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $17.99
Publish Date: August 20, 2024
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, an “inspiring” ( Elle ) novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name. “You’ll fall in love with Emilia Bassano, the unforgettable heroine based on a real woman that Picoult brings vividly to life in her brilliantly researched new novel.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women As an undergraduate, Melina Green had a rare opportunity to have one of her first plays judged by famous theatre critic Jasper Tolle, only to be publicly humiliated by a harsh and biased critique. Ten years later, her confidence as a playwright hasn't recovered, even though she has just completed a work that she thinks is her best yet. It is based on the life of her ancestor Emilia Bassano, the first published female poet in England—and rumored to be the “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets—but whom some scholars suspect may be the real author of a number of his plays. Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, and then her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits it to a festival under a male pseudonym. In 1581, the young orphan Emilia Bassano is being raised in the ways of the English aristocracy by the Baron Willoughby and his sister. Her lessons on languages, reading and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling. But like most women of her day, she has no control over her fate, and is ripped from her old life and forced to become a courtesan to Lord Hunsdon, a man knighted by Queen Elizabeth as the Lord Chamberlain in charge of all theatre in London. Though she has no other freedoms, she pseudonymously sets her own pen to paper, inspired by the work of the most brilliant playwrights of the time. Told in dual intertwining timelines, this sweeping tale of ambition, courage and desire centres two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. As Emilia alters the course of her life, and the world, she blazes a trail. Centuries later, will Melina face the same terrible fate—to have her work celebrated, but only at the price of letting another take credit?



Elaine Russell - When the Tamarind Tree Blooms artwork When the Tamarind Tree Blooms
Elaine Russell
Genre: Historical Fiction
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: April 01, 2024
Publisher: Elaine Russell
Seller: Draft2Digital, LLC

Geneviève Dubois, half-Lao/half-French, turns eighteen and leaves the French orphanage where she has been trapped for fourteen unhappy years. She is determined to uncover the story of her parents and locate her missing twin brother. Stepping into the deeply divided world of 1931 French colonial Laos, she finds neither French colons nor native Lao readily accept her mixed heritage. Even falling in love is fraught with the cultural restrictions of two dissonant societies. Where does she fit in?



Annie Rains - The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle artwork The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
Annie Rains
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: May 21, 2024
Publisher: Kensington Books
Seller: Kensington Publishing Corp.

In a grown-up twist on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants , USA Today bestselling author Annie Rains pens a powerful, uplifting story of female friendship and resilience in a small Southern town, as former childhood friends overcome grief and begin to take new chances in their lives…with the help of a long-lost gift they were meant to share. Perfect for readers of Karen Hawkins’ The Book Charmer or Heather Webber’s Midnight at the Blackbird Café . "Magic shines in the pages of this uplifting story about love and forgiveness." –Heather Webber, USA Today Bestselling Author of Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe Ten years after she left her hometown of Trove Isle, NC, Melody Palmer is back to receive an unexpected inheritance—her great aunt’s thrift store, Hidden Treasures. There, in a glass case beneath the register, Melody spies the long-lost charm bracelet she shared with her high school friends, Liz and Bri, and her younger sister, Alyssa. After a devastating prom night accident, it disappeared, and the girls’ friendship evaporated with it. Slipping the bracelet on her arm for safekeeping, Melody soon finds herself crossing paths with her former friends once more. While Melody fled, Liz has stayed in Trove Isle, helping with her parents’ business instead of pursuing her photography goals. Guilt still weighs on her after that fateful night when they lost Alyssa. For Bri, the consequences were even more stark. After spiraling into self-destruction, Bri served four years in a women’s state prison and is about to be released—but can Trove Isle ever feel like home again? Yet despite everything that’s changed, the promise that the bracelet once held—of adventures, achievements, love, and lifelong friendship—hasn’t quite faded. And together, they might yet find a way to reconcile their pasts and futures, one charm at a time . . .



Kate Galley - Old Girls Behaving Badly artwork Old Girls Behaving Badly
the BRAND NEW feel-good uplifting read from Kate Galley for 2024
Kate Galley
Genre: Family Fiction & Literature
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: May 13, 2024
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Seller: Boldwood Books Ltd

A delightfully heartwarming and funny story that proves it's never too late to change the habits of a lifetime, perfect for fans of Judy Leigh, Hazel Prior and Maddie Please. Something old, something new, something stolen…? Gina Knight is looking forward to the prospect of retirement with her husband of forty-three years. Until, to her surprise, said husband decides he needs to 'find himself' – alone – and disappears to Santa Fe, leaving a Dear John letter in his wake. Now Gina needs a new role in life, not to mention somewhere to live, so she applies for the position of Companion to elderly Dorothy Reed. At eighty-nine, ‘Dot’ needs someone to help her around the house – or at least, her family seems to think so. Her companion’s first role would be to accompany Dot for a week-long extravagant wedding party. But when Gina arrives at the large Norfolk estate where the wedding will take place, she quickly discovers Dot has an ulterior motive for hiring her. While the other guests are busy sipping champagne and playing croquet, Dot needs Georgina to help her solve a mystery – about a missing painting, which she believes is hidden somewhere in the house. Because, after all, who would suspect two old ladies of getting up to mischief? Praise for Kate Galley's books: 'An uplifting, positive story... Eat Pray Love for the older generation' Judy Leigh 'I thoroughly enjoyed this poignant and heartwarming debut!' Fiona Gibson 'I loved this book! I wouldn't have thought it was a debut novel, it was so well-written. I loved the author's style and also the pace of the story', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'The perfect holiday read! I'll be looking for more books by Kate Galley in the future', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Wonderful story about friendships, second chances, and what ultimately can make life feel worth living', NetGalley Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Sad, funny and uplifting. I really think we need a sequel to this one!', NetGalley Reviewer 'Wonderfully fluent and evocative writing, complemented this beautifully textured, fast-paced, multi-layered storyline... This story was definitely one of a kind', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'What a brilliant debut novel from Kate Galley', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Uplifting and joyous, I didn't want to turn the last page. I can't wait to read more from Kate Galley', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Really refreshing... A very enjoyable read', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'What an utterly adorable book! I was totally invested.... Highly recommended', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'What a fantastic book!...I didn't want to put down... The ending was perfect and made me cry', NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



A.J. Bruford & D.A. MacDonald - Scottish Traditional Tales artwork Scottish Traditional Tales
A.J. Bruford & D.A. MacDonald
Genre: Fairy Tales, Myths & Fables
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: July 27, 2017
Publisher: Birlinn Limited
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

Stories of heroes, clans, and more in a collection that “savours the Scottish rendering of old folk tales . . . A treasure house of the oral tradition” ( The Wee Review ).   All over the world, traditional tales were told at the fireside until books, newspapers, radio, and television took their place. This is an entertaining collection from Scotland, recorded and collected by researchers from the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh over the past fifty years. Taken from a variety of sources, from the Hebridean Gaelic tradition to recordings of Lowland cairds (travellers), some are well-known tales which have equivalents in other cultures and languages, whilst others are unique to Scotland. The tales are arranged by theme: tall tales, hero tales, legends of ghosts and evil spirits, tales of fate and religion, fairies and sea-folk, children’s tales, trickster tales, tales of clan feuds, and robber tales. This “fine book which is highly recommended” quickly establishes itself as a classic ( Dalriada ).



Elena Ferrante - My Brilliant Friend artwork My Brilliant Friend
Elena Ferrante
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Europa Editions
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

Named the #1 Book of the 21st Century by the New York Times : The “enduring classic” about the lifelong friendship of two women from Naples ( The Atlantic ).   Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence.   Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between two women. “An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends.” — Entertainment Weekly   “Spectacular.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air   “Captivating.” — The New Yorker Basis for the HBO series



Carl Hiaasen - Bad Monkey artwork Bad Monkey
Carl Hiaasen
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: June 11, 2013
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

Now an Apple Original series from Ted Lasso Executive Producer Bill Lawrence and starring Vince Vaughn • A wickedly funny novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Squeeze Me in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida—now, of the Bahamas as well—get their comeuppance. “[A] comedic marvel … [Hiaasen] hasn’t written a novel this funny since Skinny Dip. ”— The New York Times Andrew Yancy—late of the Miami Police and soon-to-be-late of the Monroe County sheriff’s office—has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that, but not for how and why it parted from its shadowy owner. Yancy thinks the boating-accident/shark-luncheon explanation is full of holes, and if he can prove murder, the sheriff might rescue him from his grisly Health Inspector gig (it’s not called the roach patrol for nothing). But first—this being Hiaasen country—Yancy must negotiate an obstacle course of wildly unpredictable events with a crew of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including his just-ex lover, a hot-blooded fugitive from Kansas; the twitchy widow of the frozen arm; two avariciously optimistic real-estate speculators; the Bahamian voodoo witch known as the Dragon Queen, whose suitors are blinded unto death by her peculiar charms; Yancy’s new true love, a kinky coroner; and the eponymous bad monkey, who with hilarious aplomb earns his place among Carl Hiaasen’s greatest characters.



Barbara Kingsolver - Demon Copperhead artwork Demon Copperhead
A Novel
Barbara Kingsolver
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: October 18, 2022
Publisher: Harper
Seller: Harper Collins Canada Limited

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century • An Oprah’s Book Club Selection • An Instant New York Times Bestseller • An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller • A #1 Washington Post Bestseller • A New York Times "Ten Best Books of the Year" "Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick "May be the best novel of [the year]. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love.” —Ron Charles, Washington Post From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities. Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.



Danielle Steel - Joy artwork Joy
A Novel
Danielle Steel
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: August 13, 2024
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this deeply moving novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a determined young woman must survive a series of abandonments to find a love that is worthy of her. When she is only six years old, Allegra Dixon’s party-loving mother leaves without so much as a goodbye. Her father, an emotionally distant military officer, is also unable—or unwilling—to care for her. Sent to live like a ghost in her grandparents’ joyless home, Allegra finds her only solace through an escape into books. Attending boarding school, life finally takes a turn when she meets a dashing young West Point cadet named Shep Williams. Soon their friendship blossoms into something more, and they fall deeply in love.  After college, Allegra has established herself as a book editor and Shep is rising through the ranks of the military. But then Shep suddenly receives a posting to Afghanistan, and they decide to marry before he goes. Between his deployments, they cling to their brief and fraught stolen moments together. Each time he leaves, Shep promises the separations will soon come to an end.  But soon Allegra realizes that the horrors of war have begun to change her husband into a man she no longer recognizes. The trauma he has experienced proves to be too harrowing, and Allegra will find herself feeling utterly alone again just when she thought she’d finally found happiness. In her new novel, Danielle Steel tells the unforgettable story of a woman who refuses to give up until she finds the joy she deserves.



Liz Moore - The God of the Woods artwork The God of the Woods
A Novel
Liz Moore
Genre: Family Fiction & Literature
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: July 02, 2024
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER JIMMY FALLON SUMMER READS WINNER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE READS OF SUMMER 2024 “ The God of the Woods should be your next summer mystery. ” — The Washington Post “Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” — Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air , NPR “ Riveting from page one to the last breathless word. ” —Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.



Rachel Kushner - Creation Lake artwork Creation Lake
A Novel
Rachel Kushner
Genre: Literary Fiction
Price: $20.99
Publish Date: September 03, 2024
Publisher: Scribner
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE * Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Time, LitHub , The Millions , Vogue , Harper’s Bazaar , The Guardian , Publishers Weekly, and more! “At last I get to say how deeply, madly, irrecoverably I loved Creation Lake ...it was all stylish and cool, and then somehow the book struck a blow to my heart.” —Louise Erdrich, Kirkus From Rachel Kushner, a Booker Prize finalist, two-time National Book Award finalist, and “one of the most gifted authors of her generation” ( The New York Times Book Review ), comes a new novel about a seductive and cunning American woman who infiltrates an anarchist collective in France—a propulsive page-turner of glittering insights and dark humor. Creation Lake is a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics, bold opinions, and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France. “Sadie Smith” is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the reader. Sadie has met her love, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian, by “cold bump”—making him believe the encounter was accidental. Like everyone Sadie targets, Lucien is useful to her and used by her. Sadie operates by strategy and dissimulation, based on what her “contacts”—shadowy figures in business and government—instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more. In this region of centuries-old farms and ancient caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists who communicates only by email. Bruno believes that the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past. Just as Sadie is certain she’s the seductress and puppet master of those she surveils, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story. Written in short, vaulting sections, Rachel Kushner’s rendition of “noir” is taut and dazzling . Creation Lake is Kushner’s finest achievement yet as a novelist, a work of high art, high comedy, and unforgettable pleasure.



Kristin Hannah - The Great Alone artwork The Great Alone
A Novel
Kristin Hannah
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: February 06, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Seller: Macmillan

#1 New York Times Instant Bestseller In Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone , a desperate family seeks a new beginning in the near-isolated wilderness of Alaska only to find that their unpredictable environment is less threatening than the erratic behavior found in human nature. Alaska, 1974. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes the impulsive decision to move his wife and daughter north where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. Cora will do anything for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. Thirteen-year-old Leni, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, has little choice but to go along, daring to hope this new land promises her family a better future. In a wild, remote corner of Alaska, the Allbrights find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the newcomers’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources. But as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own.



Amélie Nothomb - Acide sulfurique artwork Acide sulfurique
Amélie Nothomb
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $7.99
Publish Date: January 14, 2009
Publisher: ALBIN MICHEL
Seller: ADILIBRE

« Vint le moment où la souffrance des autres ne leur suffit plus : il leur en fallut le spectacle. »



Richard Bradford - Red Sky at Morning artwork Red Sky at Morning
A Novel
Richard Bradford
Genre: Historical Fiction
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: February 18, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

Hailed as “a sort of Catcher in the Rye out West,” this classic coming-of-age story set during World War II is “a true delight” ( Washington Post Book World ). In the summer of 1944, Frank Arnold, a wealthy shipbuilder in Mobile, Alabama, receives his volunteer commission in the U.S. Navy and moves his wife, Ann, and seventeen-year-old son, Josh, to the family’s summer home in the village of Corazon Sagrado, high in the New Mexico mountains. A true daughter of the Confederacy, Ann finds it impossible to cope with the quality of life in the largely Hispanic village and takes to playing bridge and drinking. Josh, on the other hand, becomes an integral member of the Sagrado community, forging friendships with his new classmates, with the town’s disreputable resident artist, and with Amadeo and Excilda Montoya, the couple hired by his father to care for their house. Josh narrates the story of his fateful year in Sagrado and, with irresistibly deadpan, irreverent humor, describes the events and people who influence his progress to maturity. Unhindered by his mother’s disdain for these “tacky, dusty little Westerners,” Josh comes into his own and into a young man’s finely formed understanding of duty, responsibility, and love. “A minor marvel: a novel of paradox, of identity, of an overwhelming YES to life that embraces with wonder what we are pleased to call the human condition. In short, a work of art.” —Harper Lee “A refreshing book, straightforward, funny, touching and . . . true.” — New York Times Book Review “A terribly funny book with some of the richest characters I’ve read about in some years.” —Groucho Marx



Liane Moriarty - Here One Moment artwork Here One Moment
A Novel
Liane Moriarty
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $17.99
Expected Publish Date: September 10, 2024
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate? Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.   Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.   How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”   Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.   A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.   If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?   Liane Moriarty’s  Here One Moment  is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.



Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life artwork A Little Life
A Novel
Hanya Yanagihara
Genre: Literary Fiction
Price: $14.99
Publish Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” ( NPR ) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.



Evie Woods - The Lost Bookshop artwork The Lost Bookshop
Evie Woods
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $11.99
Publish Date: June 22, 2023
Publisher: One More Chapter
Seller: Harper Collins Canada Limited

**Evie Woods' stunning new novel The Story Collector is available now** The Echo of Old Books meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets. ‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’ On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found… For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives. But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems. Readers have fallen in love with The Lost Bookshop: ‘Beautifully written and captures the wonder and awe that a story can bring to its reader…a delightful story for any book lover…an ode to storytelling and the connections that books can make!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wowwww!! It’s been awhile since I read something so fascinating, captivating and special all in one…It takes you on a journey like most books do, but this one, I just want to inscribe on my back and hope that it becomes a part of me so that I can carry it with me always’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A must read for readers that love books’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A beautiful story that begs to be read in one sitting…a magical story filled with beautiful prose and many surprises that readers will not soon forget’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This spellbinding book hooked me from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down til the end’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A love story, one with books and booklovers at its heart. A warm, wonderful novel that sweeps up the reader into an absorbing, magical tale’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘If you enjoy books by the Brontë sisters … then I would fully recommend you read this book’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This novel has it all: wit, a dash of magic, and a large heart. A fantastic read’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reviews ‘The characters are so very well developed that it makes you feel that you are there with them sharing their stories too… kept me turning the pages’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A truly joyful, magical book…this story will capture your heart’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Couldn’t put it down!…a magical, enthralling read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘One book that I liked so much and would gladly pay more for… one of those books that you constantly ask yourself “how did the author come up with this great story?”’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Utterly magical and absorbing…the mysterious bookshop and the promise of finding a long lost manuscript haunts the pages’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An enchanting plot, fabulous characters, and some good historical fiction… I found myself imagining it as a Netflix series’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely adored this book! A touch of magic, a love of books, pure escapism, perfect!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



Elin Hilderbrand - The Perfect Couple artwork The Perfect Couple
Elin Hilderbrand
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: June 19, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

From New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand, comes a novel about the many ways family can fill our lives with love...if they don't kill us first. * New York Times bestseller* It's Nantucket wedding season, also known as summer-the sight of a bride racing down Main Street is as common as the sun setting at Madaket Beach. The Otis-Winbury wedding promises to be an event to remember: the groom's wealthy parents have spared no expense to host a lavish ceremony at their oceanfront estate. But it's going to be memorable for all the wrong reasons after tragedy strikes: a body is discovered in Nantucket Harbor just hours before the ceremony-and everyone in the wedding party is suddenly a suspect. As Chief of Police Ed Kapenash interviews the bride, the groom, the groom's famous mystery-novelist mother, and even a member of his own family, he discovers that every wedding is a minefield-and no couple is perfect. Featuring beloved characters from The Castaways , Beautiful Day , and A Summer Affair , The Perfect Couple proves once again that Elin Hilderbrand is the queen of the summer beach read.



Liane Moriarty - The Husband's Secret artwork The Husband's Secret
Liane Moriarty
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $2.99
Publish Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

“A novel that’s perfect for vacation reading.” — People “It’s a knowing, touching, and entertaining page-turner. What a wonderful writer—smart, wise, funny.” —Anne Lamott " The Husband's Secret is so good, you won't be able to keep it to yourself." — USA Today “Shocking, complex and thought-provoking, this is a story reading groups will devour. A knockout!" —Emily Giffin, New York Times bestselling author “The Husband's Secret is a smart, thoughtful read… [a] lip-smacking and intelligently written novel.” — Entertainment Weekly "For a provocative page-turner, read The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty." — Woman's World "Brilliant." —Sophia Hannah, international bestselling author of The Wrong Mother At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . . Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret. Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.



Larry Tremblay - L'Orangeraie artwork L'Orangeraie
Larry Tremblay
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $10.99
Publish Date: October 16, 2013
Publisher: Alto
Seller: Diffusion Dimedia Inc.

Quand Amed pleure, Aziz pleure aussi. Quand Aziz rit, Amed rit aussi. Ces frères jumeaux auraient pu vivre paisiblement à l’ombre des orangers. Mais un obus traverse le ciel, tuant leurs grands-parents. La guerre s’empare de leur enfance et sépare leurs destins. Des hommes viennent réclamer vengeance pour le sang versé. Amed, à moins que ce ne soit Aziz, devra consentir au plus grand des sacrifices. Et tous payeront le tribut des martyrs, les morts comme ceux qui restent. Larry Tremblay frappe encore un grand coup, mais vise cette fois le cœur, laissant au lecteur le soin de départager les âmes pures des fourbes, les fanatiques des héros. Un texte à la fois actuel et hors du temps qui possède la force brute des grandes tragédies et le lyrisme des légendes du désert.



Kristin Hannah - The Four Winds artwork The Four Winds
A Novel
Kristin Hannah
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: February 02, 2021
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Seller: Macmillan

"The Bestselling Hardcover Novel of the Year."--Publishers Weekly From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them. “ My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family .” Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows. By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive. In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family. The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.