Shana Abe

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Washington

A Novel of the Gilded Age Inspired by the True Story of Arabella Huntington Who Became the Richest Woman in the Country

"Abé is an exquisite storyteller." --Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace

The New York Times bestselling author of The Second Mrs. Astor returns with a spellbinding new book perfect for fans of HBO's The Gilded Age and readers of Marie Benedict, Karen Harper, and Allison Pataki. This sweeping novel of historical fiction is inspired by the true rags-to-riches story of Arabella Huntington--a woman whose great beauty was surpassed only by her exceptional business acumen, grit, and artistic eye, and who defied the constraints of her era to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty.

Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and thirty years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair. With Collis's help, Arabella eventually moves to New York, posing as a genteel, well-to-do Southern widow. Using Collis's seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts, she begins to amass a fortune.

Their relationship is an open secret, and no one is surprised when Collis marries Arabella after his wife's death. But "The Four Hundred"--the elite circle that includes the Astors and Vanderbilts--have their rules. Arabella must earn her place in Society--not just through her vast wealth, but with taste, style, and impeccable behavior. There are some who suspect the scandalous truth, and will blackmail her for it. And then there is another threat--an unexpected, impossible romance that will test her ambition, her loyalties, and her heart . . .

An American Beauty brings to vivid life the glitter and drama of a captivating chapter in history--and a remarkable woman who lived by her own rules.

"This story of one woman's ascent offers a fascinating look at the choices she made to become a Gilded Age titan."-- Kirkus Reviews

An American Beauty

b1ac0a3f-56e6-43a0-b216-fa3a79d10404-1

Rachel Gillig

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom--but the monster in her head isn't the only threat lurking.



Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.



Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home--she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King's own nephew, Captain of the Destriers...and guilty of high treason.

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards--the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

One Dark Window

2d448edf-458c-4942-8116-6c380941ce70-1

Tessa Bailey

A Novel

In the follow-up to It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey delivers another deliciously fun rom-com about a former player who accidentally falls for his best friend while trying to help her land a different man... King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows he's a guaranteed good time--in bed and out--and that's exactly how he prefers it. Until he meets Hannah Bellinger. She's immune to his charm and looks, but she seems to enjoy his... personality? And wants to be friends? Bizarre. But he likes her too much to risk a fling, so platonic pals it is. Now, Hannah's in town for work, crashing in Fox's spare bedroom. She knows he's a notorious ladies' man, but they're definitely just friends. In fact, she's nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport's resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker's eye... yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead. As the line between friendship and flirtation begins to blur, Hannah can't deny she loves everything about Fox, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost. Living with his best friend should have been easy. Except now she's walking around in a towel, sleeping right across the hall, and Fox is fantasizing about waking up next to her for the rest of his life and... and... man overboard! He's fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker. Helping her flirt with another guy is pure torture, but maybe if Fox can tackle his inner demons and show Hannah he's all in, she'll choose him instead?

Hook, Line, and Sinker

172ed6af-2b7c-4547-8e87-5fec390d88f6-1

Ashley Bennett

Leviathan Fitness is the favorite place of monsters, muscles, and a tentacled creature who can seduce even the hardest to win over human. When parks department supervisor Reece Rollins decides to sign up for a triathlon- there are two things holding him back. One, his fear of monsters. Two, his sub-par swimming skills. At the urging of his sister's wolven mate, Reece joins Leviathan Fitness to train in the gym's olympic size swimming pool. After running into Reece at the pool, Cyrus offers to help Reece get ready to win the race. New feelings arise from the depths as Reece and Cyrus learn that monsters and humans go together, tentacle in hand. The only question is- can these two hold on to their new found love despite their differences? Tentacles & Triathlons is book two in the Leviathan Fitness series. Each book will center around the gym and feature a different monster pairing.

Tentacles and Triathlons

f3c140dc-9a97-4d4f-865f-3b755ea35f0d-0

Christelle Dabos

Hildegarde Serle

Book One of the Mirror Visitor Quartet

Amazon Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book of 2018 One of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best YA Books of 2018 One of Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of the Year A National Indie Bestseller Longlisted for Irish YA prize Great Reads Award Lose yourself in the fantastic world of the arks and in the company of unforgettable characters in this French runaway hit, Christelle Dabos' The Mirror Visitor quartet. Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima and, what's more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed down to her from previous generations. Her idyllic life is disrupted, however, when she is promised in marriage to Thorn, a taciturn and influential member of a distant clan. Ophelia must leave all she knows behind and follow her fiancé to Citaceleste, the capital of a cold, icy ark known as the Pole, where danger lurks around every corner and nobody can be trusted. There, in the presence of her inscrutable future husband, Ophelia slowly realizes that she is a pawn in a political game that will have far-reaching ramifications not only for her but for her entire world. The World of the Arks Long ago, following a cataclysm called the Rupture, the world was shattered into many floating celestial islands, now known as arks. Over each, the spirit of an omnipotent and immortal ancestor abides. The inhabitants of these arks each possess a unique power. Ophelia, with her ability to read the pasts of objects, must navigate this fantastic, disjointed, perilous world using her trademark tenacity and quiet strength. An unforgettable heroine, a rich and bountiful universe, intrigue and suspense: A Winter's Promise is perfect for readers of Margaret Rogerson's An Enchantment of Ravens, Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood, V.E. Schwab's "Shades of Magic" series, Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone, Kenneth Oppel's "Airborne" series, and N.K. Jemisin "Broken Earth" series. Extract: I think we could have all lived happily, in a way, God, me and the others, if it weren't for that accursed book. It disgusted me. I knew what bound me to it in the most sickening of ways, but the horror of that particular knowledge came later, much later. I didn't understand straight away, I was too ignorant.

A Winter's Promise

2729dec1-8102-4484-a15b-ac472d10c39f-1

Brynne Weaver

The Ruinous Love Trilogy

The viral TikTok friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice--unlike anything you've read before--now available in all bookstores When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive--the friendship of like-minded, pitch-black souls. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

Butcher and Blackbird

c24f9b4a-13b1-4058-9d1b-096053d772bd-1

L. J. Shen

Preorder now and receive the stunning LIMITED EDITION while supplies last - featuring gorgeous sprayed edges as well as a collectible spine design. ﻿"Snow White waited for the prince. You'll be the one saving yourself in this story." Jesse Naked surfer. Habitual pothead. A con, a liar, a thief and a fraud. Last I heard, Bane was extorting the rich and screwing their wives for a living. Which is why I'm more than a little surprised to find him at my threshold, looking for my friendship, my services, and most puzzling of all--looking humbled. Thing is, I'm on a boycott. Literally--I cut boys from my life. Permanently. Problem is, Bane is not a boy, he is all man, and I'm falling, crashing, drowning in his sweet, perfect lies. Bane Hot as hell, cold as ice. I wasn't aware of Jesse Carter's existence until a fat, juicy deal landed in my lap. She's a part of it, a little plaything to kill some time. She is collateral, a means to an end, and a side-bonus for striking a deal with her oil tycoon stepdad. More than anything, Jesse Carter is a tough nut to crack. Little does she know, I have the teeth for it.

Bane

a6501ebc-dcb8-45a9-aca6-83afc22427fd-0

Neil Gaiman

National Bestseller Selected as one of NPR’s Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of All Time The #1 New York Times bestselling author’s ultimate edition of his wildly successful first novel featuring his “preferred text”—and including his new Neverwhere tale, “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back.” Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew. “A fantastic story that is both the stuff of dreams and nightmares” (San Diego Union-Tribune), Neil Gaiman’s first solo novel has become a touchstone of urban fantasy, and a perennial favorite of readers everywhere. “Delightful … inventively horrific.” —USA Today

Neverwhere

9f95cfb9-d5ee-4323-bb09-5f644f4aaae6-1

Danny Caine

The Fight for Local Economics, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future! 2nd Edition

When a company's workers are literally dying on the job, when their business model relies on preying on local businesses and even their own vendors, when their CEO is the richest person in the world while their workers make low wages with impossible quotas... wouldn't you want to resist? Danny Caine, owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas has been an outspoken critic of the seemingly unstoppable Goliath of the bookselling world: Amazon. In this book, he lays out the case for shifting our personal money and civic investment away from global corporate behemoths and to small, local, independent businesses. Well-researched and lively, his tale covers the history of big box stores, the big political drama of delivery, and the perils of warehouse work. He shows how Amazon's ruthless discount strategies mean authors, publishers, and even Amazon themselves can lose money on every book sold. And he spells out a clear path to resistance, in a world where consumers are struggling to get by. In-depth research is interspersed with charming personal anecdotes from bookstore life, making this a readable, fascinating, essential book for the 2020s.

How to Resist Amazon and Why

d878524d-c08c-40a0-aec4-b6fdf1080fa0-1

Robert Chambers

Who dares to read The King in Yellow?

A man pursued by a church organist who wants his soul. An artist plagued by repeated sightings of a watchman who looks like a coffin worm. Ghosts, wayward cats, and scientific dabblings with dire consequences. Each of these ten tales is chilling in its own right, but taken together, they weave a wickedly eerie spell that is sure to enthrall.

United by vague references to a play with the same name, which never appears in the book--a play that "induces despair or madness in those who read it"--The King in Yellow is undoubtedly Robert W. Chambers' finest work. The book quickly gained an influence over generations of writers of "weird tales," long before there was even a name for them. H. P. Lovecraft greatly admired the book, hailing it as achieving "notable heights of cosmic fear."

Chambers' genius will take readers to the most horrifying place of all--their own imaginations.

This beautiful new reprint includes an introduction by creator and writer of True Detective, Nic Pizzalatto.

King in Yellow

f5fd8392-a5be-4815-974a-f97ed5a014d2-1

Sophie Lark

Year One

**Preorder now and receive the stunning LIMITED EDITION while supplies last, featuring gorgeous sprayed edges.*** From the USA Today bestselling author of the Brutal Birthright series comes a dark college mafia romance series. Welcome to Kingmakers, the most brutal college in the world. Bound by blood, torn by love... In the shadowed halls of Kingmakers, a ruthless mafia university, the offspring of the world's most feared families come to master the dark arts of influence and intimidation. Leo, unwaveringly loyal to his childhood friend, Anna, follows her into a world where love is a weapon, trust is a casualty, and survival is the only victory that matters. But the greatest danger comes from Dean Yenin, a Bratva heir with a vendetta as cold as his heart. Dean plans to destroy Leo and take everything he holds dear, starting with Anna. Can Leo win back his soul mate? Or is Anna lost forever?

Kingmakers

58ee5844-45ab-4efc-86b7-f97106b566e1-0

Piper CJ

Pre-order now and receive the stunning LIMITED EDITION while supplies last - featuring gorgeous sprayed edges. The deities you call aren't always the ones who answer. Marlow needs to believe she's crazy. The alternative would mean embracing the gift--or curse--shared by her mother and grandmother: she can see angels and demons, including a dark and haunting entity who's been with Marlow her entire life. At least, she believes that's all he is until a fae from the Nordic pantheon strolls into her life and informs her that she's been sharing a bed with the Prince of Hell. A Prince who's now gone missing. Before she knows it, Marlow is deeply entangled in a centuries-old war, stumbling straight into a battleground between mighty beings of myth and legend from powerful pantheons around the world. And who will come out on top may just depend on her and the love she never dared to believe in.

The Deer and the Dragon

ca552a0e-6870-491f-bb1e-5663507b82f0-0

Gail Carriger

Oversized Paperback (4 to 6 lbs)

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart? SOULLESS is the first book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking. The Parasol Protectorate Soulless Changeless Blameless Heartless Timeless For more from Gail Carriger, check out: The Custard Protocol Prudence Imprudence Finishing School (YA) Etiquette & Espionage Curtsies & Conspiracies Waistcoats & Weaponry Manners & Mutiny

Soulless *SIGNED*

0abf0bae-c74e-488e-b9f0-264adf42fdb9-1

Bookish Box - May 2024

A Ship of Bones and Teeth Lighter Cover 

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Fall of Ruin and Wrath Campfire Mug from Bookish Box

Marta Skaði

A delightfully twisted crime novel with an unreliable narrator, Confessions of an Antichrist tells the tale of the rise and fall of a Norwegian band of wannabe-Satanists embarking on a mission to burn the world down with black metal. Marta Skaði is on a mission to destroy the world. Rebelling against the perfect, picturesque Norwegian fishing town she was born in, she has formed a black metal band of such disturbing depravity she knows they’re the perfect weapon to corrupt the masses. When a record deal is dangled before the band after a particularly offensive gig, Marta has to hold the young, wannabe Satanists in her midst together as they reach for their destiny. Not easy when they consist of her ox-brained best friend drummer, a Viking-obsessed bass guitarist, a sex-addicted lead guitarist, and a barely human singer who could well be the Antichrist. Yet as the record deal seems within reach, everything falls apart. And so begins the spiralling descent into madness of Marta and her strange, sordid group as they corrupt Christians on crosses and battle fascists with dildos, while coming to realise that one of them may be more evil than they realised… Set in the grungy heavy metal scene of 2010’s Norway, Marta chronicles her descent into chaos and murder, fuelled by thinly veiled lust described as love. From burning down churches to satanic orgies, Confessions of an Antichrist is a fast paced and hair raising story, detailing the gruesome fulfilment of teenage dreams and nightmares.

Confessions of an Antichrist

0a2211e0-609d-4f51-bd22-1453ab7ebfe2-0

Sarah Adams

Is it ever too late to leave the friend zone? Discover the heartwarming friends to lovers romance that became a sensation on TikTok--now with a new chapter and a Q&A with the author!

The friend zone is not the end zone for Bree Camden, who is helplessly in love with her longtime best friend and extremely hot NFL legend, Nathan Donelson. The only problem is that she can't admit her true feelings, because he clearly sees her as a best friend with no romantic potential, and the last thing Bree wants is to ruin their relationship. But those abs . . .

Nope! Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for Bree. In any case, she has other things to worry about. After a car accident ended her chance at becoming a professional ballerina, Bree changed paths and now owns her own dance studio, with big dreams to expand it. But one more rent increase could mean the end of the studio entirely.

Then, as usual, Nathan comes to the rescue and buys the entire building. A stubborn Bree is not happy about it and decides to rebel with a couple--okay, maybe more than a couple--of tequila shots. Then her plan backfires as she spills her deepest, darkest secret to a TMZ reporter. One viral video later, the world thinks Nathan and Bree are the perfect couple. Before they can really talk about her confession, Nathan's publicist proposes a big opportunity that could mean financial security for Bree. The catch? They have to pretend to be in love. For three whole weeks.

What will happen when Bree gives in to the feelings she's been desperately hiding for so long, and could she be imagining that Nathan is actually enjoying it? Sarah Adams scores more than touchdowns in this exciting romantic comedy.

The Cheat Sheet

5973e2a1-0b6c-4b9a-b53b-086c5455bf40-1

Tamekou

His makeup is flawless! The daily ins-and-outs of an office lady and her beautiful boyfriend. Wako and her androgynous boyfriend don’t exactly have the most traditional of relationships. She spends her days working hard in the world of publishing, while he spends his time obsessing over fashion and makeup—all with the goal of making himself beautiful just for her. This romantic slice-of-life story is about love, relationships, and breaking with tradition!

My Androgynous Boyfriend Vol. 1

1651ab29-2acc-43f9-af8c-be06c7e8687a-1

Hannah Grace

A TikTok sensation! Sparks fly when a competitive figure skater and hockey team captain are forced to share a rink.

Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team.

Nothing will stand in her way, not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.

Nate's focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team--including Anastasia, who clearly can't stand him.

But when Anastasia's skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate to take her shot.

Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn't worried...because she could never like a hockey player, right?

Icebreaker

93ec877d-5fd5-458b-86da-97fea00cb439-1

Mark Kurlansky

A World History

“Kurlansky finds the world in a grain of salt.” - New York Times Book Review An unlikely world history from the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

Browse by categories