This curated list highlights the powerful histories of slavery, segregation, and the ongoing fight against racism. Featuring works across genres like historical fiction, magical realism, memoirs, and essays, these books explore resilience, identity, and systemic inequality. Each title offers a profound lens into the Black experience, celebrating and honoring Black history and culture through powerful storytelling and personal reflections.

#BlackHistoryMonth
#BlackVoices
#DiverseReads
#OwnVoices
#HistoricalFiction
#MagicalRealism
#MemoirsThatMatter
#AntiRacismReads
#CelebratingBlackAuthors
#BooksForChange
#ReadWithPurpose
#SocialJusticeReads
#BlackLiterature
#MustReadBooks
#HonoringHistory

Christine Pride

Jo Piazza

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Hawaii

A Novel

“Now these women, they can WRITE!” —Terry McMillan, New York Times bestselling author of It’s Not All Downhill from Here “We Are Not Like Them will stay with you long after you turn the last page.” —Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me Told from alternating perspectives, an evocative and riveting novel about the lifelong bond between two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event—a powerful and poignant exploration of race in America today and its devastating impact on ordinary lives. Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia. But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend. Like Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. But at its heart, it’s a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges.

We Are Not Like Them

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Victor LaValle

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Texas

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Publishers Weekly New Hyde Hospital’s psychiatric ward has a new resident. It also has a very, very old one. Pepper is a rambunctious big man, minor-league troublemaker, working-class hero (in his own mind), and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York. He’s not mentally ill, but that doesn’t seem to matter. He is accused of a crime he can’t quite square with his memory. In the darkness of his room on his first night, he’s visited by a terrifying creature with the body of an old man and the head of a bison who nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It’s no delusion: The other patients confirm that a hungry devil roams the hallways when the sun goes down. Pepper rallies three other inmates in a plot to fight back: Dorry, an octogenarian schizophrenic who’s been on the ward for decades and knows all its secrets; Coffee, an African immigrant with severe OCD, who tries desperately to send alarms to the outside world; and Loochie, a bipolar teenage girl who acts as the group’s enforcer. Battling the pill-pushing staff, one another, and their own minds, they try to kill the monster that’s stalking them. But can the Devil die? The Devil in Silver brilliantly brings together the compelling themes that spark all of Victor LaValle’s radiant fiction: faith, race, class, madness, and our relationship with the unseen and the uncanny. More than that, it’s a thrillingly suspenseful work of literary horror about friendship, love, and the courage to slay our own demons. Praise for The Devil in Silver “A fearless exploration of America’s heart of darkness . . . a dizzying high-wire act.”—The Washington Post “LaValle never writes the same book and his recent is a stunner. . . . Fantastical, hellish and hilarious.”—Los Angeles Times “It’s simply too bighearted, too gentle, too kind, too culturally observant and too idiosyncratic to squash into the small cupboard of any one genre, or even two.”—The New York Times Book Review “Embeds a sophisticated critique of contemporary America’s inhumane treatment of madness in a fast-paced story that is by turns horrifying, suspenseful, and comic.”—The Boston Globe “LaValle uses the thrills of horror to draw attention to timely matters. And he does so without sucking the joy out of the genre. . . . A striking and original American novelist.”—The New Republic

The Devil in Silver

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Ernest J. Gaines

Oklahoma

Grant Wiggins, a college-educated man who returns to his hometown to teach, forms an unlikely bond with Jefferson, a young Black man convicted of murder and sentenced to death, when he is asked to impart his learning and pride to the condemned man

A Lesson Before Dying

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Black History Month

New books being added. 

Looking for a great new read for yourself, or as a gift, that feels like it was perfectly matched? We’re not just simply wrapping a random book with a few keywords.

What Makes Us Special:

* Curated Selections: Thoughtfully chosen books with a Goodreads rating of at least 3.6 or higher (and often much higher!) and in excellent condition—as they’re new. 

* Creative Dating Profiles: Each book is introduced with a fun, one-of-a-kind dating profile that showcases its “personality.”

* Literary Treasures: I play book matchmaker, carefully selecting extraordinary stories from respected authors and publishers. Rather than reaching for the obvious choices, I dive deeper to uncover books with glowing reviews that you may not have had on your radar. These thoughtfully chosen gems are compelling, well-loved, and waiting to be discovered by you.

* Thoughtful Packaging
Every book arrives reflecting the care and attention we put into every detail. Inside, you'll find:
* Your book beautifully wrapped
* Book stickers (varieties differ)
* An herbal tea bag (varieties differ)
* A TBR list bookmark with a rating log
* A pack of wildflower seeds to plant and enjoy 🌼—a special nod to our name, Wildflower Books & Events
* A wax seal, the perfect finishing touch
* Sending a gift? Let us know, and we’ll include your brief message on a notecard.


How It Works
* Each book is listed individually. Browse our shop’s selections to find your perfect match, with more being added.
* Each listing includes a “dating profile” with its genre and release year, plus creative and fun hints to spark your curiosity—enough to intrigue you without spoiling the surprise, but just enough to help you avoid a book you’ve already read!
* Choose your book, and we hope it’s your perfect love match.
* Let’s stay connected! Follow us on Facebook and tag us when you meet your blind date.

#blinddate #blinddate #dontjudgeabook

Hannah Bonam-Young

Pennsylvania

A hot one-night stand—and an unexpected pregnancy—lead a young woman to someone she can depend on, from the viral TikTok author of Next of Kin and Next to You. “A beautiful love story, full of joy from beginning to end!”—New York Times bestselling author Sarah Adams Winnifred “Win” McNulty has always been wildly independent and not one to be coddled for her limb difference. Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. With some minor adjustments, she’s done just fine. Hooking up at a costume party with the incredibly charming Bo changes everything. Win finds herself pregnant—and decides to keep the baby. While Bo is surprisingly elated to step up to the plate, Win is unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge. Together, Win and Bo decide to get to know one another as friends and nothing more while they embark on this parenting journey together. But, as they both should know by now, life rarely goes according to plan.

Out on a Limb

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Dating Profile BD3-1–NP-T1

* Thoughtful Packaging: Every book arrives and includes:
* Beautifully wrapped 
    * Book stickers (varieties differ)
    * An individually wrapped tea bag (varieties differ)
    * A TBR bookmark with a rating log
    * A pack of wildflower seeds to plant and enjoy 🌼
 Looking for a book that feels like it was made for you? We’re not just simply wrapping a random book and providing a few keywords, instead I carefully curate each selection and create a one-of-a-kind “dating profile” that truly captures the book's essence. [See below and picture attached. ]

What Makes Us Special:
* Curated Selections: Thoughtfully chosen books with a Goodreads rating of at least 3.6 or higher (though often much higher!) and in excellent condition—as most are bought brand new, or, if not, are gently used.

* Creative Dating Profiles: Each book is introduced with a fun, one-of-a-kind dating profile that showcases its “personality.”

* Beyond the Bestseller Lists: I play book matchmaker, seeking out incredible stories that aren’t flooding the bestseller lists or online sites—as they’re less likely to be books that you have already read. These hidden treasures are waiting to find the right reader—you.

How It Works: Browse each book’s “dating profile” to uncover clues about its genre, themes, release year, and more—enough to tempt you without giving away the surprise!
Find your perfect match and fall in love with your next story!

DATING PROFILE 
Age: 2015. I’ve been around long enough to wander through the fae realm before and lived to tell the tale, but I’m still brimming with secrets waiting to be uncovered.

Hometown: A mysterious town where faeries and humans coexist

About Me: I’m a young adult dark fantasy with a flair for romance and family intrigue. Expect fae, hidden magic, and sibling dynamics that are as complicated as they are heartfelt.

What I’m Looking For: I’m ideal for anyone who craves faerie lore, shadowy mysteries, and romance with a darker twist. If secrets and unexpected twists are your thing, we’ll make a great pair.

Dating History: I’m a well loved hidden gem—as my author’s other works in this imagined world tend to steal the spotlight.

My Ideal Date: At around 330 pages, we’ll begin at a faire, our conversation as lively as our surroundings. Then, we’ll escape for a moonlit walk, letting magic spark in the stillness

Red Flags:
* Violence
* Emotional abuse
* Death

North Carolina

Curated Books with Fun Dating Profiles

Blind Date With a Book

Dating Profile BD4-1-NP-T1. Brand New. 
Looking for a great new read for yourself, or as a gift, that feels like it was perfectly matched? We’re not just simply wrapping a random book with a few keywords.

What Makes Us Special:

* Curated Selections: Thoughtfully chosen books with a Goodreads rating of at least 3.6 or higher (and often much higher!) and in excellent condition—as they’re new. 

* Creative Dating Profiles: Each book is introduced with a fun, one-of-a-kind dating profile that showcases its “personality.”

* Literary Treasures: I play book matchmaker, carefully selecting extraordinary stories from respected authors and publishers. Rather than reaching for the obvious choices, I dive deeper to uncover books with glowing reviews that you may not have had on your radar. These thoughtfully chosen gems are compelling, well-loved, and waiting to be discovered by you.

* Thoughtful Packaging
Every book arrives reflecting the care and attention we put into every detail. Inside, you'll find:
* Your book beautifully wrapped
* Book stickers (varieties differ)
* An herbal tea bag (varieties differ)
* A TBR list bookmark with a rating log
* A pack of wildflower seeds to plant and enjoy 🌼—a special nod to our name, Wildflower Books & Events
* A wax seal, the perfect finishing touch
* Sending a gift? Let us know, and we’ll include your brief message on a notecard.


How It Works
* Each book is listed individually in our shop, as every story is as unique as its reader! Browse our shop’s selections to find your perfect match, with more being added.
* Each listing includes a “dating profile” with its genre and release year, plus creative and fun hints to spark your curiosity—enough to intrigue you without spoiling the surprise, but just enough to help you avoid a book you’ve already read!
* Choose your book, and we hope it’s your perfect love match.
* Let’s stay connected! Follow us on Facebook and tag us when you meet your blind date.
* 
~DATING PROFILE~

Age: 2022. New & Fresh – I’m a couple of years into the dating scene, bringing youthful energy and excitement but with enough experience to know how to keep things fun and meaningful.

Hometown: Pacific Northwest 

About Me: I’m a contemporary romance with a playful yet heartwarming vibe. My story revolves around family dynamics, second chances, and the rediscovery of love and connection. With humor, emotional depth, and just a touch of chaos, I’ll keep you laughing, crying, and rooting for happily ever afters.

What I’m Looking For: I’m perfect for readers who adore family-centered stories with a romantic spark. If you enjoy quirky characters, heartfelt moments, and laugh-out-loud banter, we might just hit it off.

Dating History: While I’ve gained a bit of attention, I’m still not what you’d call “oversaturated.” I’m a delightful catch, waiting to charm readers who are looking for something fresh yet familiar.

My Ideal Date: At about 400 pages, I’m just the right length for a dinner date with plenty of laughs and meaningful conversation. Followed by a stroll along a quaint harbor, where the sea breeze carries our stories into the night.

Red Flags: Family conflicts
and minimal spicy (sexual) situations.


New, Curated Books with Fun Dating Profiles, Perfect Unique Bookish Gifts by Wildflower Books & Events

Blind Date With a Book 

Blind Date With a Book: Wildflower Dating Profiles

Rolling Stone list - Year in Review. BOOKTOK’s 21 MOST TALKED ABOUT BOOKS OF 2024
#8 All Fours - Miranda July, not on Pango
#booktok
#mosttalkedabout
#2024
#rollingstone
#yearinreview

Rebecca Makkai

Massachusetts

"A twisty, immersive whodunit perfect for fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History." --People 

"Spellbinding." --The New York Times Book Review

"[An] irresistible literary page-turner." --The Boston Globe

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by TIME, NPR, USA Today, Elle, Newsweek, Salon, Bustle, AARP, The Millions, Good Housekeeping, and more

The riveting new novel -- "part true-crime page-turner, part campus coming-of-age" (San Francisco Chronicle) -- from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers

A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past--the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia's death and the conviction of the school's athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers--needs--to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent ﬂaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn't as much of an outsider at Granby as she'd thought--if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.

In I Have Some Questions for You, award-winning author Rebecca Makkai has crafted her most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman's reckoning with her past, with a transﬁxing mystery at its heart. Timely, hypnotic, and populated with a cast of unforgettable characters, I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive page-turner and a literary triumph.

I Have Some Questions for You

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Olivie Blake

Kansas

The much-acclaimed viral sensation from Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six--now newly revised and edited with additional content. • The tag #theatlassix has millions of views on TikTok • A dark academic debut fantasy with an established cult following that reads like The Secret History meets The Umbrella Academy • The first in an explosive trilogy The Alexandrian Society, caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity, are the foremost secret society of magical academicians in the world. Those who earn a place among the Alexandrians will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams, and each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians are selected to be considered for initiation. Enter the latest round of six: Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, unwilling halves of an unfathomable whole, who exert uncanny control over every element of physicality. Reina Mori, a naturalist, who can intuit the language of life itself. Parisa Kamali, a telepath who can traverse the depths of the subconscious, navigating worlds inside the human mind. Callum Nova, an empath easily mistaken for a manipulative illusionist, who can influence the intimate workings of a person’s inner self. Finally, there is Tristan Caine, who can see through illusions to a new structure of reality—an ability so rare that neither he nor his peers can fully grasp its implications. When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they will have one year to qualify for initiation, during which time they will be permitted preliminary access to the Society’s archives and judged based on their contributions to various subjects of impossibility: time and space, luck and thought, life and death. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. The six potential initiates will fight to survive the next year of their lives, and if they can prove themselves to be the best among their rivals, most of them will. Most of them. "Lethally smart. Filled with a cast of brilliantly realized characters, each entangled with one another in torturously delicious ways, The Atlas Six will grip you by the throat and refuse to let go. Olivie Blake is a mind-blowing talent. " — Chloe Gong, author of NYT Bestselling These Violent Delights "The Atlas Six is a fantasy novel that understands that what the people want is more dark academia stories with flawless vibes and aesthetics and hot morally fraudulent characters who are constantly on the verge of either killing each other or fucking each other. I'm the people." — chai, viral book reviewer @proyearner

The Atlas Six

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Liz Moore

Brand new unread first edition:

-SIGNED!!
-very minor shelfwear on inside corners of jacket (see pictures) 

**First-time buyers can save $5 on a $10+ purchase with my ambassador code CATLADYSBOOKS at checkout!**

New York

"Riveting from page one to the last breathless word."—Rebecca Makkai, New York Times bestselling author of I Have Some Questions For You “Brilliant, riveting .. an epic mystery, a family saga and a survival guide...I loved this book.” —Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace 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.

The God of the Woods SIGNED

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BOOKTOK’S TOP IN 2024

Here’s a list of fantasy books featuring dragons, ranging from epic sagas to intimate, character-driven stories to childrens stories. 

#dragon
#dragons
#fantasy
#mythicalcreatures
#mythical

Robert Munsch

Over seven million copies in print!

When the fiercest dragon in the whole world smashes Princess Elizabeth's castle, burns all her clothes, and captures her fiancé, Prince Ronald, Elizabeth takes matters into her own hands. With her wits alone and nothing but a paper bag to wear, the princess challenges the dragon to show his strength in the hopes of saving the prince. But is it worth all that trouble?

Readers the world-over have fallen in love with this classic story of girl power. Now a newly designed Classic Munsch edition will introduce the tale to a new generation of young feminists.

The Paper Bag Princess

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Nebraska

The Lost Heir

The New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series soars to new heights in this graphic novel adaptation!The lost heir to the SeaWing throne is going home at last.She can't believe it's finally happening. Tsunami and her fellow dragonets of destiny are journeying under the water to the great SeaWing Kingdom. Stolen as an egg from the royal hatchery, Tsunami is eager to meet her future subjects and reunite with her mother, Queen Coral.But Tsunami's triumphant return doesn't go quite the way she'd imagined. Queen Coral welcomes her with open wings, but a mysterious assassin has been killing off the queen's heirs for years, and Tsunami may be the next target. The dragonets came to the SeaWings for protection, but this ocean hides secrets, betrayal -- and perhaps even death.The New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series takes flight in this first graphic novel edition, adapted by the author with art by Mike Holmes.

Wings of Fire

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Travis Baldree

Delaware

A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes

The much-beloved BookTok sensation
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2022
An Indie Next Pick

*This paperback edition includes a very special, never-before-seen bonus story, 'Pages to Fill.'*

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success -- not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

"Take a break from epic battles and saving the world. Legends & Lattes is a low-stakes fantasy that delivers exactly what's advertised: a wholesome, cozy novel that feels like a warm hug. This is my new comfort read."--Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart

Legends and Lattes

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Fantasy: Because real life is low on dragons 🐉

Books set during or at least having pivotal scenes on New Years, and/or about making resolutions
#newyear
#happynewyear
#newyears
#nwyearsresolution
#resolutions

John Green

Lauren Myracle

Maureen Johnson

Three Holiday Romances

Christmas magic, blossoming romances, and unexpected friendships are intertwined in this collection of three holiday-inspired tales for young adult readers. Original.

Let It Snow

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California

A Mystery

The Brighton police force is on the hunt for another killer, but this time they have some competition--a newly formed all-women's private eye firm, led by none other than the police chief's wife. Newly minted PI Emma Holmes and her partner Sam Collins are just settling into their business when they're chosen for a high-profile case: retired music-hall star Verity Malone hires them to find out who poisoned her husband, a theater impresario. Verity herself has been accused of the crime. The only hitch--the Brighton police are already on the case, putting Emma in direct competition with her husband, police superintendent Edgar Stephens. Soon Emma realizes that Verity's life intersects closely with her own--most notably in their mutual connection, Max Mephisto, who has returned to England from America with his children and famous wife, Hollywood star Lydia Lamont. Lydia, desperately bored in the countryside, catches wind of what Emma and Sam are up to and offers her services. What secret does Lydia know about Verity's past? The team of female PIs circle closer to the killer, with the Brighton police hot on their tail. The clues suggest they're looking for a criminal targeting the old music-hall crew. How long will it be before that trail leads straight back to Max?

The Midnight Hour

098328ef-408c-46fc-8f71-d8d5135676d8-1

Matthew Sullivan

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Washington

When Joey Molina kills himself in the Bright Ideas bookstore's upper room, clerk Lydia's life comes unglued. As she untangles the mystery of Joey's suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

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Happy New Year!

Work in progress ..
#love 
#Traditional #steamy #unconventional #queer #young #paranormal #secondchance #neurodivergent #vampire 
#valentine
#valentines
#galentines
#romance
#hiddengem

Tessa Dare

Lightly creased spine. No stepback. 

Check out my shop for more books by Tessa Dare. 

Castles Ever After

On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shy, pretty, and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart. A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter . . . and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely. Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He's wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters . . . and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

When a Scot Ties the Knot

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Jill Santopolo

The New York Times Bestseller and A Reese’s Book Club Pick “This love story between Lucy & Gabe spans decades and continents as two star-crossed lovers try to return to each other…Will they ever meet again? This book kept me up at night, turning the pages to find out, and the ending did not disappoint.”—Reese Witherspoon “One Day meets Me Before You meets your weekender bag.”—The Skimm “Extraordinary.”—Emily Giffin He was the first person to inspire her, to move her, to truly understand her. Was he meant to be the last? Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning. Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated—perhaps they'll find life's meaning in each other. But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York. What follows is a thirteen-year journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, betrayals, and, ultimately, of love. Was it fate that brought them together? Is it choice that has kept them away? Their journey takes Lucy and Gabe continents apart, but never out of each other's hearts. This devastatingly romantic debut novel about the enduring power of first love, with a shocking, unforgettable ending, is Love Story for a new generation. “It's the epic love story of 2017.”—Redbook

The Light We Lost

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Simone Elkeles

A little wear and look like a light water mark from the side 

When wealthy, seemingly perfect Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, develop a relationship after Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who she seems to be, they must face the disapproval of their schoolmates--and others.

Perfect Chemistry

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Hidden Gems for Valentines & Galentines

I’m absolutely drawn to these books purely for their covers… Bold, colorful, eye-catching designs? You’ve got me! I’m a sucker for a cover that stands out and makes a statement
#judging
#bookcover
#nicecover
#beautiful
#colorful
#artwork
#visual
#design
#goodbook

Tracy Higley

No writing or pages torn. Only a cover crease. Spine intact.

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

You're invited...

to a timeless party in a Secret Garden.

Expect to come back transformed.

Kelsey Willoughby doesn't have time to pursue her writing dreams. Imagination doesn't pay the bills, and she's busy saving her beautiful bookshop from online competition, hotel developers, and the sneaking suspicion that nobody reads anymore.




Not to mention all those voices telling her she doesn't have talent.




But then the vacant lot of weeds next door starts to shimmer.




When Kelsey stumbles into a luminous nighttime garden party, larger than the vacant lot that holds it and filled with enigmatic guests, she suspects they hold the key to saving the bookshop, and perhaps even to her own mysterious origins.




But answers aren't forthcoming, not until Kelsey is willing to confront her past, step into her potential, and push deeper into the unknown edges of the garden, where an unexpected journey takes her into a world of dangerous revelation.

With evocative prose and a deeply-embedded mystery, Nightfall in the Garden of Deep Time immerses readers in a delicious adventure of creativity and the arts. A must-read for anyone pursuing a creative life.

Nightfall in the Garden of Deep Time

00739821-edb6-4f9f-8926-03596432564d-1

Julia Heaberlin

"A seasoned cop's interest in a mysterious one-eyed girl takes her back to the worst night of her life in this fast-paced thriller from the internationally bestselling author of Black-Eyed Susans. They call her Angel. Found on the side of a remote highway, half-dead and blowing wishes in a field of dandelions, the young girl refuses to speak. No one knows who she is or where she came from--only that she fell from the sky. It's Wyatt who finds her and takes her home to nurse her back to health, setting into motion the town's rumor mill. A pariah, Wyatt still believes he can still communicate with his long-gone sister, and he might be the only one left who knows the truth about the night of her disappearance. The night that Wyatt's cousin, Odette Tucker, also lost something important: her leg. Now a cop, uninhibited by her prosthetic, Odette must reenter Wyatt's ghost-ridden world. In Angel's case and her beautiful green eye, she sees her once-broken self and all the things she was told she'd never do. As she begins to coax Angel into speaking and slowly pieces together her identity, Odette is ignited to reopen the cold case that has haunted her. Soon she is ensnared in a lethal game of cat and mouse with someone who doesn't want that night revisited. The night that inspired her to become a cop, the night her friend disappeared and they both exploded into a small Texas town's dark, violent mythology"--

We Are All the Same in the Dark

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Stacy Willingham

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Following up her instant New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham delivers a totally gripping thriller about a desperate mother with a troubled past in All the Dangerous Things. One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year. Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.

All the Dangerous Things

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Judging a Book By its Cover 😍

A new sub genre I have recently discovered
This list is some I’ve read and some on my TBR. 

#gothic #latin #latinamerican #southerngothic #americangothic
#bipoc #bipocauthor #femaleauthor #subgenre #genre

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Iowa

"The acclaimed author of Gods of Jade and Shadow returns with a darkly enchanting reimagining of Gothic fantasy, in which a spirited young woman discovers the haunting secrets of a beautiful old mansion in 1950s Mexico"--

Mexican Gothic

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Marina Yuszczuk

Heather Cleary

Virginia

Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic. It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet. In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother's terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back. With echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and written in the vein of feminist Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Carmen Maria Machado, Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.

Thirst

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Indiana

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK * From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a simmering historical noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of the missing woman they're both desperate to find.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, New York Public Library, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, BookPage, She Reads, Library Journal * "An adrenalized, darkly romantic journey."--The Washington Post

Mexico in the 1970s is a dangerous country, even for Maite, a secretary who spends her life seeking the romance found in cheap comic books and ignoring the activists protesting around the city. When her next-door neighbor, the beautiful art student Leonora, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman--and journeying deeper into Leonora's secret life of student radicals and dissidents. 

Mexico in the 1970s is a politically fraught land, even for Elvis, a goon with a passion for rock 'n' roll who knows more about kidney-smashing than intrigue. When Elvis is assigned to find Leonora, he begins a blood-soaked search for the woman--and his soul.  

Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora's disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high.

Velvet Was the Night

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Latin American Gothic

From classics to modern voices…
Its all about an interstellar adventure! Heroic fleets and cosmic battles? Rogue crews on shady missions? Or deep explorations of alien worlds and civilizations?

#scifi
#sci-fi
#space
#fantasy
#modernvoice
#classics
#space
#spaceopera

A Library Journal Best Book of 2019 A Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2019 and “Not the Booker Prize” Nominee An NPR Favorite Book of 2019 A Polygon Best Book of 2019 A Den of Geek Best Book of 2019 A Goodreads Biggest SFF Book of 2019 and Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee "A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation. A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure. "The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love."—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky And coming soon, the brilliant sequel, A Desolation Called Peace!

A Memory Called Empire

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Arkady Martine

Alastair Reynolds

The highly-acclaimed first novel in the Revelation Space universe--a debut that has redefined the space opera with a staggering journey across vast gulfs of time and space to confront the very nature of reality itself...

"[A] TOUR DE FORCE...RAVISHINGLY INVENTIVE."--Publishers Weekly
 
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason--and if that reason is uncovered, the universe--and reality itself--could be irrevocably altered...

Revelation Space

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Space Operas.. because in space, no one can hear you ..sing?

Connie Willis

Ohio

Ned Henry shuttles between the 1940s and the twenty-first century while researching Coventry Cathedral for a patron interested in rebuilding it until the time continuum is disrupted

To Say Nothing of the Dog

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Stephen King

Alabama

"Published in 2012 by arrangement with Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.) --T.p. verso.

11/22/63

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H. G. Wells

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title?offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.

This edition of The Time Machine includes an Introduction, Biographical Note, and Afterword by James Gunn.

The time? 802,701 A.D.

The place? An Earth stranger than you can imagine.

The people? A pretty, childlike race, the Eloi-and their distant cousins, the Morlocks: disgusting, hairy creatures who live in caves and feed on the flesh of-what?

Enter the Time Traveller, who has hurtled almost a million years into the future. After the Morlocks steal his machine he may be trapped there...and at their mercy.

The Time Machine

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Time Travel

Community book club started Jan 2023 where we nominate 3 books each month and vote for the winner, and these are winning selections
#bookclub
#2024
#yearinreview

Amanda Peters

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Florida

A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and will remain unsolved for nearly fifty years July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come. In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret. For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.

The Berry Pickers

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Laurie Frankel

Nevada

The Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick “Every once in a while, I read a book that opens my eyes in a way I never expected.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine book pick) People Magazine’s Top 10 Books of 2017 Amazon’s Best Books of 2017: Top 20 Amazon’s Best Literature and Fiction of 2017 Bustle’s 17 Books Every Woman Should Read From 2017 PopSugar’s Our Favorite Books of the Year (So Far) Refinery29's Best Books of the Year So Far BookBrowse’s The 20 Best Books of 2017 Pacific Northwest Book Awards Finalist The Globe and Mail's Top 100 Books of 2017 “It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me think.” —Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies This is how a family keeps a secret...and how that secret ends up keeping them. This is how a family lives happily ever after...until happily ever after becomes complicated. This is how children change...and then change the world. This is Claude. He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl. Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret. Until one day it explodes. Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever.

This Is How It Always Is

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Crystal King

A Novel of Ancient Rome

Set amongst the scandal, wealth, and upstairs-downstairs politics of a Roman family, Crystal King’s seminal debut features the man who inspired the world’s oldest cookbook and the ambition that led to his destruction. On a blistering day in the twenty-sixth year of Augustus Caesar’s reign, a young chef, Thrasius, is acquired for the exorbitant price of twenty thousand denarii. His purchaser is the infamous gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius, wealthy beyond measure, obsessed with a taste for fine meals from exotic places, and a singular ambition: to serve as culinary advisor to Caesar, an honor that will cement his legacy as Rome's leading epicure. Apicius rightfully believes that Thrasius is the key to his culinary success, and with Thrasius’s help he soon becomes known for his lavish parties and fantastic meals. Thrasius finds a family in Apicius’s household, his daughter Apicata, his wife Aelia, and her handmaiden, Passia, with whom Thrasius quickly falls in love. But as Apicius draws closer to his ultimate goal, his reckless disregard for any who might get in his way takes a dangerous turn that threatens his young family and places his entire household at the mercy of the most powerful forces in Rome.

Feast of Sorrow

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Wildflower’s 2024 Book Club Selections

Books added as year progresses: books nominated but not selected in my community book club for 2025. Will be selection for ‘readers choice’ for Dec 2025

Evie Woods

Michigan

The Keeper of Stories 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'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Lost Bookshop

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Jandy Nelson

From a pet-friendly, smoke-free, mold-free, illness-free bibliophile’s shelf 📖💛

Colorado

A story of first love and family loss follows the estrangement between daredevil Jude and her loner twin brother, Noah, as a result of a mysterious event that is brought to light by a beautiful, broken boy and a new mentor. Simultaneous eBook.

I'll Give You the Sun

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Matt Haig

'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?' A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time. Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

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Blind Date With a Book: Wildflower ...

BOOKTOK’S TOP IN 2024

Fantasy: Because real life is low o...

Happy New Year!

Hidden Gems for Valentines & Galent...

Judging a Book By its Cover 😍

Latin American Gothic

Space Operas.. because in space, no...

Time Travel

Wildflower’s 2024 Book Club Selecti...

Wildflower’s 2025 Book Club Nominee...

Wildflower’s 2025 Book Club Selecti...

Browse by categories

Shelves by Wildflower Books & Events

Wildflower Books & Events

Black History Month

Blind Date With a Book: Wildflower ...

BOOKTOK’S TOP IN 2024

Fantasy: Because real life is low o...

Happy New Year!

Hidden Gems for Valentines & Galent...

Judging a Book By its Cover 😍

Latin American Gothic

Space Operas.. because in space, no...

Time Travel

Wildflower’s 2024 Book Club Selecti...

Wildflower’s 2025 Book Club Nominee...

Wildflower’s 2025 Book Club Selecti...