Special Collections
New York Times Best Sellers - Fiction
Description: Bookshare is pleased to offer the top 10 fiction books from the New York Times best seller list on a weekly basis. The collection is arranged by month covering the past two years. Books are added in as they become available. #adults
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Swordheart
by T. KingfisherThe delicious bodyguard romance of From Blood and Ash meets the delightful charm of The Princess Bride in this cozy fantasy romance from New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher.
Halla has unexpectedly inherited the estate of the wealthy distant uncle she's been caring for for the past decade. Unfortunately, she is also saddled with money-hungry relatives full of devious plans for how to wrest the inheritance away from her.While hiding in her bedroom to escape her family, Halla inspects the ancient sword that's been collecting dust on the wall since before she moved in. On a whim, she pulls it down and unsheaths it—and suddenly a man appears in her bedroom. His name is Sarkis, he tells her, and he is an immortal warrior trapped in a prison of enchanted steel.Sarkis is sworn to protect whoever wields the sword, and for Halla—a most unusual wielder—he finds himself not fending off grand armies and deadly assassins but instead everything from kindly-seeming bandits to roving inquisitors to her own in-laws. But as Halla and Sarkis become closer, they overlook the biggest threat of all—the sword itself.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
New York Times Bestseller
Battle Mountain
by C. J. BoxOutlaw falconer Nate Romanowski is off the grid and out for revenge in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C. J. Box.The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, especially Nate, who lost almost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to prepare for vengeance.When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law, who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany.As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge . . . at Battle Mountain.
New York Times Bestseller
Midnight Black
by Mark GreaneyWith his lover imprisoned in a Russian gulag, the Gray Man will stop at nothing to free her in this latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.A winter sunrise over the great plains of Russia is no cause for celebration. The temperature barely rises above zero, and the guards at Penal Colony IK22 are determined to take their misery out on the prisoners—chief among them, one Zoya Zakharova. Once a master spy for Russian foreign intelligence, then the partner and lover of the Gray Man, she has information the Kremlin wants, and they don't care what they have to do to get it.But if they think a thousand miles of frozen wasteland and the combined power of the Russian police state is enough to protect them, they don't know the Gray Man. He's coming, and no one's safe.
New York Times Bestseller
First-Time Caller
by B. K. BorisonA hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle–inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.
Aiden Valentine has a secret: he’s fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore’s romance hotline, that’s a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.
Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life—or lack thereof—she begins to question if she’s as happy as she believed. Maybe a little more romance wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending…even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final decision between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.
New York Times Bestseller
Three Days in June
by Anne TylerGail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.
But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life, Three Days in June is a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers.
New York Times Bestseller
We All Live Here
by Jojo MoyesLila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach you: about love, and what it actually means to be family.
New York Times Bestseller
Paranoia
by James Patterson and James O. BornNYPD Detective Michael Bennett will stop at nothing to protect family: his wife, his kids—and his fellow officers—in the latest psychological thriller from bestselling author James Patterson.
At every death scene, Bennett says a prayer over the victim. But recently, too many of the departed have been fellow cops. “I want you to look at these deaths on special assignment,” NYPD Inspector Celeste Cantor says. “Report only to me.”
Bennett excels as a solo investigator. But he's chasing a killer who feeds on isolation... and paranoia.
New York Times Bestseller
Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales
by Heather FawcettThe third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves.
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
New York Times Bestseller
Dream Girl Drama
by Tessa BaileyA steamy chance encounter between a professional hockey player and the manic pixie dream girl he just can’t seem to forget takes a turn when the pair realize that their parents are engaged—in an all-new rom-com by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.When professional hockey player Sig Gauthier’s car breaks down and his phone dies, he treks into a posh private country club to call a tow truck, where he encounters the alluring Chloe Clifford, the manic pixie dream girl who captivates him immediately with her sense of adventure and penchant for stealing champagne.Sparks fly during a moonlight kiss and the enamored pair can’t wait to see each other again, but when Sig finally arrives to meet his dad’s new girlfriend over dinner, Chloe is confusingly also there. Turns out the girlfriend is Chloe’s mother. Oh, and they’re engaged. Sig’s dream girl is his future stepsister. Though the pair is now wary of being involved romantically, Chloe, a sheltered harp prodigy, yearns to escape her controlling mother. Sig promises to teach her the ins and outs of independence in Boston—but not inside his bedroom. They both know there can never be more than friendship between a famous hockey player and his high-society, soon-to-be stepsister. But keeping their relationship platonic grows harder amid the developing family drama, especially knowing they were meant for so much more…
New York Times Bestseller
Deep End
by Ali HazelwoodA competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke.
On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes. So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...
New York Times Bestseller
This Is a Love Story
by Jessica SofferAn intimate and lyrical celebration of great love, great art, and the sacrifices we make for both.
For fifty years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now.
Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew—their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives—and the parts they didn’t always want to know—the determined young student of Abe’s looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood, and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs.
Told in various points of view, even in conversation with Central Park, these voices weave in and out to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love itself. An homage to New York City, to romance, and even to loss, This Is a Love Story tenderly and suspensefully captures deep truths about life and marriage in radiant prose. It is about love that endures despite what life throws at us, or perhaps even because of it.
New York Times Bestseller
Last Twilight in Paris
by Pam JenoffA Parisian department store, a mysterious necklace and a woman’s quest to unlock a decade-old mystery are at the center of this riveting novel of love and survival, from New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff.
London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe —and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war.
Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of Lévitan—a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison, and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France. Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever.
Inspired by the true story of Lévitan, Last Twilight in Paris is both a gripping mystery and an unforgettable story about sacrifice, resistance and the power of love to transcend in even the darkest hours.
New York Times Bestseller
The Bones Beneath My Skin
by Tj KluneA spine-tingling standalone novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune—a supernatural road-trip thriller featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors on the run from cultists and the government.
There's nothing more human than a broken heart.In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he's been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC.
With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family's summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It's not.
Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn't exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
New York Times Bestseller
The Night Is Defying
by Chloe C. PeñarandaVicious Nightmares Need Peaceful Dreams.
Shaken from the aftermath of the Libertatem, the newly found star-maiden Astraea is determined to keep her freedom, even at the cost of betraying her heart. But time is running out to recover her memories with the hole it will unveil her killer.
Embarking on a journey to discover her past, Astraea’s awakening power spins the hourglass on a history threatening to repeat itself. While Nyte tries to regain control of the vampires hungry for bloodshed, a sinister plan by his brother to overthrow him sparks a dangerous feud. But are they willing to wear the blood of their kin to see it through?
For nothing in the past ever stays buried. Friends have turned into foes, brothers have turned into enemies, and what was written in the stars long ago ignites again in two hearts that were never meant to be. Letting Astraea go would save the world from darkness, but Nyte is no hero. It seems no monster is heartless, and no angel is without sin.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
New York Times Bestseller
Onyx Storm
by Rebecca YarrosAfter nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty.
Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.
Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.
They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.
But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.
The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order.
New York Times Bestseller
Presumed Guilty
by Scott TurowRead Scott Turow&’s new &“unputdownable&” courtroom drama from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent, the phenomenon that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+&’s most-watched drama series ever (Kristin Hannah, #1 NYT bestselling author). &“No one does it better.&”―David Baldacci, #1 NYT Bestselling Author &“The truth is, Turow is just better at this than the rest of us.&”―Greg Iles, #1 NYT Bestselling Author &“This is manna for legal-thriller fans."―Booklist, starred review &“This easily ranks among Turow&’s best."―Publishers Weekly, starred review &“An absorbing and entertaining read.&” ―Kirkus Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that&’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea&’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn&’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail. Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn&’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder. Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent—it&’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.
The Big Empty
by null Robert CraisElvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, race to find a terrifying, unidentified killer in this twisting, unpredictable thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Crais.Traci Beller was thirteen when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Traci never believed it. Now, ten years later, Traci is a high-profile influencer with millions of followers and the money to hire the best detective she can find: Elvis Cole.Elvis heads to Rancha where an ex-con named Sadie Givens and her daughter, Anya, might have a line on the missing man. But when Elvis finds himself shadowed by a gang of vicious criminals, the missing persons cold case becomes far more sinister.Elvis calls his ex-Marine friend, Joe Pike, for help, and they follow Tommy Beller's trail into the depths of a monstrous, hidden evil. The case flips on its head, victims become predators, predators become prey, and the question becomes: Can Elvis Cole save them all from this nightmare?
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
by Grady HendrixThere’s power in a book… They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid...and it’s usually paid in blood. In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).
New York Times Bestseller
The Stolen Queen
by Null Fiona DavisFrom New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City&’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back. Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt&’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. That is until an unbearable tragedy strikes. New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who&’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the &“party of the year.&” Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met&’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She&’s consumed by her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant. The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection&’s most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs Hathorkare&’s legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, and a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she&’d never return: Egypt. But if they have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.
New York Times Bestseller
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus
by null Emma KnightINSTANT #1 BESTSELLERA witty, warm and brilliantly told debut that is at once a love story, a story of female friendship and motherhood, and an irresistible mystery surrounding an extraordinary British family.Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she&’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father&’s—now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox—lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox&’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, intriguing family, Pen begins to unravel her parents&’ secret and to fall in love for the first time... Her best friend, Alice, an aspiring actor, is starring in a university production and making the most of the feminine power she wields—until a tryst with her tutor threatens to spin out of control.As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she uncovers the truth about her own family and comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life. A rich and rewarding novel of campus life, of sexual awakening, and ultimately, of the many ways women can become mothers in this world, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus asks to what extent we need to look back in order to move forward.
Holmes Is Missing
by James Patterson and Brian Sitts&“Best-selling author James Patterson populates his murder-mystery novels with cold-blooded killers and smart detectives&” (USA Today). In Holmes is Missing, PI Brendan Holmes has committed the perfect crime—he&’s made himself disappear. Success has come quickly to Holmes, Marple & Poe Investigations. The New York City agency led by three detectives—Brendan Holmes, &“the brain,&” Margaret Marple, &“the eyes,&” and Auguste Poe, the &“muscle&”—with famous names and mysterious pasts is one major case away from cementing its professional reputation. But as a series of child abductions tests the PIs&’ legendary skills, the cerebral Holmes&’s absence leaves a gaping hole in the agency roster. Only by closing ranks and solving the mystery within can they recover all that&’s been lost. NewYork Times Bestseller
Never Say Never
by Null Danielle Steel#1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel’s deeply moving novel is the story of a woman who finds her life turned upside down while living temporarily in the French countryside. Oona Kelly Webster has much to be grateful for. A striking woman with red hair and green eyes, she has a loving family and a job she adores, editing a prestigious line of books. To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she and her husband, Charles, have planned a visit to France. But then Charles drops a bombshell. He has been living a lie—hiding an affair for a year—and he is leaving Oona for a younger male lover. Although devastated, Oona decides to travel to France without Charles. She arrives in a charming village an hour outside of Paris, and settles into the house she has rented, called La Belle Florence—named after the king’s mistress for whom it was built.
But just as she’s catching her breath, she’s dealt another blow: Her company’s merger will eliminate her job. In the space of a few months, everything she nurtured for decades has slipped through her fingers. The only silver lining is that she can remain in France, where the simple life in beautiful surroundings slowly begins to heal her, as does the little white dog she rescues, and her friendly neighbor hailing from Trinidad, who delights her with his openness and warmth. Though she does not recognize him at first, she soon realizes her neighbor is a well-known actor. As their feelings for each other begin to deepen, Oona wrestles with the risks of opening her heart again—especially to a younger, very famous man.
Never Say Never is an inspiring novel about a woman who finds a second chance at happiness and love, all because she understands the importance of being brave enough to stay open to change. New York Times Bestseller
The Perfect Marriage
by Jeneva RoseOne million sold: “A tantalizing premise . . . twists at every turn . . . [A] masterful debut about betrayal and justice&” by a New York Times-bestselling author (Samantha M. Bailey, #1 national bestselling author of Watch Out for Her).Optioned by Picture Perfect Federation for development as a film or TV series Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. As a named partner at her firm, life is going exactly how she planned. The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He’s a struggling writer who has had little success in his career and he tires of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working. Out in the secluded woods, at the couple’s lake house, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers. But one morning everything changes. Kelly is found brutally stabbed to death and now, Sarah must take on her hardest case yet, defending her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress. The Perfect Marriage is a juicy, twisty, and utterly addictive thriller that will keep you turning pages. You won’t see the ending coming . . . guaranteed!&“Everything I want in a thriller. Sexy, shocking, and tense with an ending I never saw coming. Jeneva Rose is the queen of twists.&” —Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times–bestselling author on You Shouldn’t Have Come Here &“A twisty, compulsive book that will keep you reading all night! Fast-paced with crisp writing and an intriguing plot. Jeneva Rose is one to watch.&” —Samantha Downing, #1 international bestselling author of My Lovely Wife &“A book to be read in one gulp—this dastardly debut flies to a shocking reveal. I couldn’t put it down; I had to see what happened. Twists galore.&” —J.T. Ellison, New York Times–bestselling author of Her Dark Lies. New York Times Bestseller
Wicked
by Gregory MaguireThe New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination. Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens. But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas. Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch. New York Times Bestseller
Christmas in Bethel
by Richard Paul EvansFrom Richard Paul Evans, the New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Promise and The Christmas Box—“the most popular holiday tale since Tiny Tim” (Newsweek)—a new novel celebrating the life-changing power of the holiday spirit. Leigh Beth Stilton has never liked the holidays. After growing up in an unstable home, escaping an abusive marriage, and witnessing daily tragedies as an EMT, Leigh just can’t bring herself to care about Christmas cheer. In fact, she’s so convinced she’s not worth loving that one winter’s eve, she decides she can’t go on—until she comes across a book called Bethel and starts to read. Leigh is unfamiliar with the author, J.D. Harper, but his words speak directly to her. She’s never felt so seen and understood, and this connection gives her the strength to carry on. She avidly reads every novel Harper has written, and when he comes to town for a book signing, she jumps at the opportunity to meet the writer who means so much to her. In a twist of fate, Leigh runs into J.D. in a coffee shop, and the two immediately click. Before she knows it, she’s swept up in a whirlwind of fancy dinners, exciting travel, and the attention of the man whose work has been so meaningful to her. But she’s leery after a lifetime of pain and when she discovers that J.D. hasn’t been completely honest, her hopes are dashed. Can they find their way back to each other and can Leigh learn to trust her heart? New York Times Bestseller