Alice Hoffman

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

25th Anniversary Edition

Sorcery is the legacy of Gillian and Sally Owens, a legacy they both try to escape until they realize their magic is a gift, not an affliction.

Practical Magic

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Claire Fuller

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

From the attic of Lyntons, a dilapidated English country mansion, Frances Jellico sees them--Cara first: dark and beautiful, then Peter: striking and serious. The couple is spending the summer of 1969 in the rooms below hers while Frances is researching the architecture in the surrounding gardens. But she's distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she finds a peephole that gives her access to her neighbors' private lives. To Frances' surprise, Cara and Peter are keen to get to know her. It is the first occasion she has had anybody to call a friend, and before long they are spending every day together: eating lavish dinners, drinking bottle after bottle of wine, and smoking cigarettes until the ash piles up on the crumbling furniture. Frances is dazzled. But as the hot summer rolls lazily on, it becomes clear that not everything is right between Cara and Peter. The stories that Cara tells don't quite add up, and as Frances becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the glamorous, hedonistic couple, the boundaries between truth and lies, right and wrong, begin to blur. Amid the decadence, a small crime brings on a bigger one: a crime so terrible that it will brand their lives forever.

Bitter Orange

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Marie Still

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

ABC’s DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES meets HBO’s DEXTER, MY DARLINGS, a chilling suburban noir set in the deceptively serene Washington D.C. suburbs, where a respected philanthropist and PTO president's secret life as a serial killer enthralls readers seeking a deep, psychological thrill. No one was supposed to know. I've always been so careful. My Darlings, how did we get here? Evil lurks behind the perfectly manicured lawns, ornate iron gates, and long winding driveways of affluent DC–but not for long. Stay-at-home mom Eloise Williams is PTO president and a respected local philanthropist who sits on the boards of many distinguished charities. In addition to being a doting wife and mother, she is also a serial killer. But Eloise isn’t the only lady in society playing a part. As the hidden lives of Eloise's inner circle are exposed, the body count rises. When stalkers becomes prey, Eloise desperately clings to control. Money and power can only buy influence and safety for so long. Eventually, the curtains lift, exposing the chilling reality hiding in plain sight. This dark thriller has numerous content warnings: child death, suicide, hazing, bullying, murder, infidelity, brutal slayings, domestic abuse/violence, child abuse, torture

My Darlings

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Mathias Énard

Frank Wynne

From the winner of the Prix Goncourt, an exciting comic masterwork rooted in the French countryside.

The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild

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Mary Ann Shaffer

Annie Barrows

A Novel

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A NETFLIX FILM • A remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. “Treat yourself to this book, please—I can’t recommend it highly enough.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love “I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. . . . As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever. Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways. Praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society “A jewel . . . Poignant and keenly observed, Guernsey is a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends.”—People “A book-lover’s delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary.”—Chicago Sun-Times “A sparkling epistolary novel radiating wit, lightly worn erudition and written with great assurance and aplomb.”—The Sunday Times (London) “Cooked perfectly à point: subtle and elegant in flavour, yet emotionally satisfying to the finish.”—The Times (London)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

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Starting from Scratch

The Sound of Paper

Rebecca Brown

An Essay on the Four Seasons, Time and Love, Death and Growing Up

We Tell the Stories We Need to Believe

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Alexis M. Smith

"Eerie and intriguing . . . captivates in the first few pages and delivers a gripping, compelling story throughout."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Smith's excellent command of language gives life to arresting characters and their creepy surroundings, keeping the suspense in this dark environmental thriller running high."--Elle

It has been twenty years since Lucie Bowen left the islands--when the May Day Quake shattered thousands of lives; when Lucie's father disappeared in an explosion at the Marrow Island oil refinery, a tragedy that destroyed the island's ecosystem; and when Lucie and her best friend, Katie, were just Puget Sound children hoping to survive.
Now, Katie writes with strange and miraculous news. Marrow Island is no longer uninhabitable and no longer abandoned. She is part of a community that has managed to conjure life again from Marrow's soil. Lucie returns. Her journalist instincts tell her there's more to this mysterious "Colony" and their charismatic leader--a former nun with an all-consuming plan--than its members want her to know. As she uncovers their secrets, will Lucie endanger more than their mission? And what price will she pay for the truth?
 
"Transporting."--Vanity Fair

"Beautifully wrought."--O, The Oprah Magazine
 
"Engrossing and atmospheric, a thorny meditation on environmental responsibility with a big haunted heart."--Laura van den Berg,Miami Herald
 

Marrow Island

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Anne E. O'Neill

A Journal

Sea for Two

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Danny Caine

Bookstores are important. So are booksellers. And they--and the ideas and communities they serve--need protection. Danny Caine, the best-selling author of How to Resist Amazon and Why and co-owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, writes a stirring call to action. Bookstores are not charities, he writes, and they shouldn't get a pass on exploitative labor practices, but they play a vital role in our society that is worth upholding. Preparing the ground for a more expansive book on the topic, Caine offers 50 ideas for protecting this idiosyncratic business niche and, by extension, the neighborhoods that bookstores anchor. Some of the ideas are straightforward: buy books at bookstores, talk them up on social media, and write glowing online reviews. Others ask you to think bigger: support your local bookstore's neighboring businesses, support your local library, and lobby your elected officials to pass legislation that ensures livable wages and makes it easier to run small businesses. Still others are just excellent advice: go on dates at bookstores and buy and read weird books that you've never heard of before. Readers, publishers, politicians, workers, union organizers, and landlords can all find tailor-made calls to action in these pages. Especially now, with freedom of speech under attack from the right, it's time for us to protect books and those who sell them.

50 Ways to Protect Bookstores

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Rory Clements

Munich, 1935: The Bavarian capital is a magnet for young, aristocratic Britons who come to learn German, swim in the lakes and drink beer in the cellars. What they don't see - or choose to ignore - is the brutal underbelly of the Nazi movement which considers Munich its spiritual home. When a high-born English girl is murdered, Detective Sebastian Wolff is ordered to solve the crime. Wolff is already walking a tight line between doing his job and falling foul of the political party he abhors. Now Hitler is taking a personal interest in the case. Followed by the secret police and threatened by his own son, a fervent member of the Hitler Youth, the stakes have never been higher. And when Wolff begins to suspect that the killer might be linked to the highest reaches of the Nazi hierarchy, he fears his task is simply impossible - and that he might become the next victim.

Munich Wolf

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Rosanna Ley

Bay of Secrets

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Betty Firth

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Can the festive cheer warm her heart again? October 1941. Despite the hardships of life during wartime, Bobby Bancroft has never been happier. Engaged to her airman sweetheart Charlie, living in the beautiful Dales village of Silverdale and gainfully employed at The Tyke magazine, her life seems to be going exactly the way she always hoped it would. As the festive season approaches, Bobby is recruited to help produce a Christmas pantomime for the evacuee children billeted in the village. The project introduces her to some new friends, including a handsome Canadian, Flying Officer Ernie King, and her friend Topsy's upper-crust cousin Archie Sumner. However, fresh troubles arise when Charlie discovers his RAF training is to be cut short and he must prepare to join the fight imminently. What's more, his upcoming leave has been cancelled, leaving him to spend a lonely Christmas in his barracks. Can a miracle bring Charlie and Bobby together for Christmas? An absolutely captivating, heart warming and uplifting festive saga that fans of All Creatures Great and Small, Gervase Phinn and Maggie Mason will adore. Reader can't get enough of the Made in Yorkshire series: 'Ms. Firth's storytelling is absolutely spectacular and full of so much heart, and her writing jumps right off the page.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'One of the best books I have read in a very, very long time.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'LOVED IT!!!...My heart ached when reading this...A lovely story, full of heart and home. I didn't want it to end...' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'Read in 24 hours! Exceptional!...The storyline was strong and the characters were all likeable and relatable.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'Fabulous book, loved every page and didn't want to put it down.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'The characters are all so likeable and you want to get to know them more.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'Heartwarming, historical and humorous. Thoroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review 'There are real echoes of All Creatures Great and Small in this story...I loved it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

A Wartime Christmas in the Dales

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Lisa Hall

"Murder and scandal in the heat of 1950s Las Vegas: can Lily Jones stop a murder that happened before she was born? Lily Jones can't forget her incredible time-slip adventure back to the Golden Age of Hollywood and the friends she made there - especially a handsome barman by the name of Louis, with whom she felt such a strong connection. Back in 2020, life isn't going so well for her and Lily is idly googling when she is horrified to discover that Evelyn, Louis' ex-girlfriend, is brutally murdered in 1953. She is compelled to go back to the 1950s and try to save Evelyn's life, but this time it isn't just the gilded stars of Tinseltown she will have to contend with, but The Mob as she finds herself in the seedy glamour of Vegas and learns that Evelyn's future depends upon her first solving the murder of a Vegas showgirl. Thankfully she has Louis and his sister, Tilda, to help her, but her own life is in danger as she tries to find the killer and change Evelyn's fate. What will she risk to save a life?"--Publisher.

The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl

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Chrissie Walsh

The Midwives War

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Glenda Young

In 1915 three women start work at a toffee factory in the market town of Chester-le-Street, Durham. Anne works for the enigmatic owner Mr Jack. She is highly efficient and whips Mr Jack's disorganised office - and Mr Jack himself - into shape. However, behind her business-like façade, Anne hides a heart-breaking secret. Elsie is feisty, fun and enjoys a good time. However, her gadabout ways get her into trouble when she falls for the wrong man in the sugar-boiling room. And there's dependable Hetty, who's set to marry her boyfriend when he returns from the war. But when Hetty is sent on an errand by the toffee factory boss, her life changes in ways she could never imagine and a whole new world opens up. The toffee factory girls begin as strangers before forging a close bond of friendship and trust. And, as the war rages on, they help each other cope through the difficult times ahead.

The Toffee Factory Girls

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Anita Davison

Murder in the Bookshop

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Tana French

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past. Richly atmospheric, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end, In the Woods is sure to enthrall fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones.

In the Woods

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Agatha Christie

A Hercule Poirot Mystery

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE RELEASING OCTOBER 9, 2020 --DIRECTED BY AND STARRING KENNETH BRANAGH Following the success of Murder on the Orient Express, Kenneth Branagh returns to direct and star in this adaptation of the classic Hercule Poirot mystery for the big screen, also starring Gal Gadot. Beloved detective Hercule Poirot embarks on a journey to Egypt in one of Agatha Christie's most famous mysteries, Death on the Nile. The tranquility of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet in this exotic setting nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Death on the Nile

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Celeste Ng

'There is much here that might impress Pulitzer and Man Booker judges...Ng brilliantly depicts the destruction that parents can inflict on their children and on each other' Mark Lawson, Guardian

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue - in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James's case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the centre of every party. But Lydia is under pressures that have nothing to do with growing up in 1970s small town Ohio. Her father is an American born of first-generation Chinese immigrants, and his ethnicity, and hers, make them conspicuous in any setting.

When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, James is consumed by guilt and sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to make someone accountable, no matter what the cost. Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is convinced that local bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest in the family - Hannah - who observes far more than anyone realises and who may be the only one who knows what really happened.

And if you loved Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, pre-order Celeste Ng's brilliant new novel, Our Missing Hearts, now

What readers are saying:

'Devastating...A truly tragic but devastatingly well written book'

'Ng is a true craftsman. I implore you to read this. Also my favourite ending of a novel so far this year'

'This is the best book I have read this year'

'Really enjoyed this book, deeply moving, sad and thought provoking'

Everything I Never Told You

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Megan Goldin

The bottom right corner of the cover has a fold line

In Megan Goldin's unforgettable debut, The Escape Room, four young Wall Street rising stars discover the price of ambition when an escape room challenge turns into a lethal game of revenge.

"One of my favorite books of the year."--Lee Child

"Cancel all your plans and call in sick; once you start reading, you'll be caught in your own escape room--the only key to freedom is turning the last page!"--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They've mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style--but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.

Invited to participate in an escape room challenge as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high-rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they're caught in a dangerous game of survival.

Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team's darkest secrets, they realize there's a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?

The Escape Room

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Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

“Modern and fresh. Like Bridget Jones, Yinka is a lovable and relatable disaster—which is to say, she isn’t actually a disaster at all . . . I adore her.” —Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation Meet Yinka: a thirty-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a well-paid job, good friends, and a mother whose constant refrain is "Yinka, where is your huzband?" Yinka's Nigerian aunties frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, her work friends think she's too traditional (she's saving herself for marriage!), her girlfriends think she needs to get over her ex already, and the men in her life... well, that's a whole other story. But Yinka herself has always believed that true love will find her when the time is right. Still, when her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences Operation Find-A-Date for Rachel's Wedding. Aided by a spreadsheet and her best friend, Yinka is determined to succeed. Will Yinka find herself a huzband? And what if the thing she really needs to find is herself? Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? brilliantly subverts the traditional romantic comedy with an unconventional heroine who bravely asks the questions we all have about love. Wry, acerbic, moving, this is a love story that makes you smile but also makes you think—and explores what it means to find your way between two cultures, both of which are yours.

Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?

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Gabriella Saab

From the acclaimed author of The Last Checkmate comes a brilliant novel spanning from the Russian Revolution to the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union and following two unforgettable women...their fates intertwined by ties of family and interrupted by the tragedy of war. Perfect for readers of Kate Quinn, Pam Jenoff, and Elena Gorokhova.

Russia 1917: Beautiful, educated Svetlana Petrova defied her stifling aristocratic family to join a revolution promising freedom. Now, released after years of imprisonment, she discovers her socialist party vying for power against the dictatorial Bolsheviks and her beloved uncle, a champion of her cause, was murdered by a mysterious assassin named Orlova. Her signature? Blinding her victims before she kills them. Svetlana resolves to avenge his death by destroying this vicious opponent, even as she longs to reunite with the daughter she has not seen in years.

USSR 1941: Now living in obscurity in a remote village, Svetlana opens her home to Mila Rozovskaya, the eighteen-year-old granddaughter from Leningrad she has never met. She hopes to protect Mila from the oncoming Nazi invasion, but when the enemy occupies the village, Svetlana sees the young woman fall under the spell of the resistance--echoing her once-passionate idealism. As Mila takes up her fight, dangerous secrets and old enemies soon threaten all Svetlana holds dear. To protect her family, she must confront her long-buried past--yet if the truth emerges victorious, it holds the power to save or shatter them. A risk Svetlana has no choice but to take. 

Daughters of Victory

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Island Reads

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