Fiction - Literary bestsellers

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is beautiful in every way. The character dynamics, the narrative structure, and even the cover design made me fall in love with this book. The story takes place over three decades and follows the friendship between Sam and Sadie. While it is told mostly linear, there are still several points where the reader gets a glimpse into the future that serves as a reminder of the ever changing nature of our relationships. I listened to this as an audiobook and one thing that stood out to me (about the audio production specifically) was the narrator change for Marx's POV. This shift made Part VII even more emotional as a turning point in the novel. It was a great choice. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a testament to the ebb and flow of our lives. All we can do is try to navigate the storm together. ”

Emma, Books Inc.

Lessons in Chemistry

“I loved this book so much that I read the hard cover and listened to the audio 2x!”

Jane, Rediscovered Books

WINNER OF THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTIONA New York Times "Ten Best Books of 2022 • An Oprah’s Book Club Selection • An Instant New York Times Bestseller • An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller • A #1 Washington Post Bestseller "Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy,... Read more »

If you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, then you’ll love Remarkably Bright Creatures.

“I did not want this book to end! It's the latest book I’ve fallen 'deep' for — and moved right into my instant recommendation booklist. A very particular septuagenarian keeps busy at her aquarium job, tidying up while keeping to herself — like her equally senior and solitary octopod acquaintance (who provides us with his own narration). I just loved this story that's full of heart, multiple even. Narrator Marin Ireland, who is always masterful in her vocal performance, is matched by Michael Urie who voices the octopus with perfect aplomb and a touch of cephalopodic sass. A delight to the ears.”

Ernio, River Bend Bookshop

If you enjoyed Cutting for Stone, then you’ll love The Covenant of Water.

“Seven decades (in book time!) and more than 700 pages later, I closed The Covenant of Water, the story of a family haunted by drownings. Abraham Verghese has written a spellbinding novel set in a Christian community in India. Verghese draws, as he did in the other two books, on his vast knowledge of medicine, and exhibits his ability to delve deep into character and setting. In the past six months, I have left two novels of more than 500 pages unfinished, but I read this one to the very end, moved by the quest of three generations of a family trying to save themselves from destiny and solve the mystery of their affliction. This book is a stunner, and it is sure to be high on the list when awards are given out this year. ”

Mamie, Quail Ridge Books

Yellowface

“I hated every character in this book but could not put it down. It was so compelling and truly made you think about how awful people can be. The main character basically murdered her friend and stole her manuscript. Wanting the celebrity that her friend afforded, she is overwhelmed with the publishing world. Such great storytelling”

Suzanne, Page 158 Books

I Have Some Questions for You

“Rebecca Makkai redefines the campus novel for our current times. This was deftly written with such a fresh perspective and clever deconstruction of a murder case, I walked around my apartment fully immersed, book in hand.”

Kira, Merritt Bookstore

Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

“Hernan Diaz does things I've never seen in a novel before. Trust ties up threads of money and art, family and history, lies and truth. Think historical fiction turned meta, with a beating heart and spectacular writing.”

Mark Haber, Brazos Bookstore

Hello Beautiful (Oprah's Book Club)

“As a bookseller, it’s common to read through books at a breakneck pace; always on to the next tale, the next genre, the next page-turner. When you come a cross a book so achingly beautiful as Hello Beautiful...time slows. Or, you wish it would. I wanted to spend YEARS within this story. I adored the complexity AND simplicity of the sisters’ relationships with each other. Reading Hello Beautiful was like spending time with the friend who ‘knew me when…’ and the sister who knew me always. This book is the very definition of a GEM. ”

Kathy, The Well-Read Moose

Daisy Jones & The Six (TV Tie-in Edition)

“Written in interviews given by various members of the band Daisy Jones & The Six and those they encountered, the novel is an engrossing look at a fictional band in 1970s Los Angeles. It reads like a rock memoir, so much so that you often forget they were not a real band. I highly recommend listening to this one on audio from Libro.fm: it's read by a full cast that really brings the whole things to life. ”

Maggie, Carmichael's Bookstore

Babel

“Finishing a book like this is equal parts pleasure and pain: pleasure in reading something so striking and beautiful juxtaposed by the pain of it ending. Few books have brought tears to my eyes; Kuang’s Babel is now numbered among them.”

Maxwell Leaning, Paragraphs Bookstore

Romantic Comedy (Reese's Book Club)

“Curtis Sittenfeld is back! With Romantic Comedy, Sittenfeld creates a believable romcom between Sally, a writer for The Night Owl (think SNL) and Noah, a musician who guest hosts. Their unlikely romance is chuck full of laugh out loud lines and seamless writing. What can I say? I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK!”

Kathleen, A Great Good Place for Books

The Dutch House

“This is a wonderful story - well written, excellent character development, and interesting. A story of redemption for siblings. This novel hits an emotional chord on many levels - personal choice, the importance of being present in your everyday life, and letting others make life choices for you instead of you making them for yourself. The novel reinforces the importance of being engaged throughout our life not sleepwalking through it because that is easier. The Dutch House makes one look at your own life and wonders why you made the choices you did and how things could be drastically different with just a small twist of fate.”

Megan, The Willow Bookstore

Horse

“This book centers on Lexington, often considered the greatest horse in history. But this book is much more than the story of a horse. Brooks writes of slavery, the Civil War, academia, art and publishing, love and loyalty, and racism in history and today. I loved the bond between Jarret, an enslaved boy, and Lexington. I will be thinking of this book for quite some time.”

Melanie, Bookstore1Sarasota

Circe

“A bold retelling of the Circe episode from Homer's Odyssey that not only captures the interlocking pieces of Greek mythology, but also gives each god, titan, and Grecian a pulsing complexity. Both Circe the book and the character are quiet, sensual and--at times--freewheeling, adventurous, and devastating. Perdita Week's performance here is multi-layered and captivating. The voices she chooses to portray each character captures the unfolding drama and humor beautify.”

Luis, Avid Bookshop

Pineapple Street

“Funny and full of heart, this book follows three women in an affluent Brooklyn Heights family. While the Stocktons have extreme privilege, author Jenny Jackson has somehow made them relatable, and I found myself rooting for their happiness. Against the backdrop of an opulent home, the novel poses important questions about how wealth shapes a person, the responsibilities that should come with it, what belonging means, and the love of family, despite everything. ”

Courtney, Greene Books

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“Schwab has a masterpiece on her hands with this title. I loved it from the beginning, and that love grew until the very end. Addie needed to find a way to escape the life she is supposed to live as a woman in France, 1714. “No matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.” As the sun sets, she is praying to any god that will listen to help her be free, someone eventually hears her... and they answer. 300 years later Addie walks into a bookstore to find a young man at the counter. Upon her return she realizes he remembers her...”

Maxwell, Paragraphs Bookstore

The Vanishing Half

“This is a beautifully written, stunning, and scandalous story about two identical black twin girls, one who runs away from home at age 16. And then their lives completely shift, as one continues living her life as a Black woman, and the other that tries to pass herself off as white. This novel came at just the right time, in the middle of the Black Lives Matter protests and racial unrest in the United States. Brit Bennett has done a brilliant job with her novel! It is compelling and the audiobook on Libro.fm is exceptional!”

Marilyn, BookBar

Snow

“A great literary mystery, Banville’s deeply nuanced protagonist ranks right up there with those of Louise Penny, P. D. James and Donna Leon. It's hard to stop listening, but even when I was forced to, I couldn’t wait to get back to it. You’ll want to find out “who done it,“ but you’ll also feel so attached to the characters that, like me, you won’t want it to end.”

Bob, Changing Hands

Chain Gang All Stars

“Sometimes I read a book so profound, and yet so profoundly disturbing, that I don’t know whether to beg everyone to read it or caution them not to. Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is a novel, but I found myself checking again and again to see what was factual and what was fiction, and much of the commentary on the prison system is based on fact. If you like books that make you think about hard things, that shake up your complacency, preorder this one. And find a friend to read it with you. You’ll want to discuss it as soon as you turn the last page. ”

Mamie, Quail Ridge Books

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • “A heartwarming mystery with a lovable oddball at its center” (Real Simple), this cozy whodunit introduces a one-of-a-kind heroine who will steal your heart.
 
FINALIST FOR THE EDGAR® AWARD • “The reader comes to understand Molly’s worldview, and to sympathize with her longing... Read more »

A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick

A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises—especially to ourselves—by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle.

It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation when their adult lives... Read more »

If you enjoyed Once Upon a River, then you’ll love How High We Go in the Dark.

“Interlinked short stories comprise this novel in the same way gears and levers make an astronomical clock. Many of the stories are heartbreaking, and others seed hope; each has either a narrator in the midst of a journey, or a narrator stuck in one place (literal or figurative) while events explode around them. The two types of characters provide two poles of a perspective; in this book, a plague and emerging environmental catastrophe force the characters to think about what they thought they wanted and what, in the end, they can actually have. The audio producers wisely chose a diverse company of narrators; the book is a sort of Decameron, and the variety of voices helps you keep each story vividly in mind so that you catch all the interconnections. (Reader, keep track of the crystal pendant! Trust the author. It will answer your questions.)”

Nialle, The Haunted Bookshop

Mad Honey

“This is an incredibly powerful story that I think everyone should read. Told from the perspective of two different characters, who despite being at different stages in their lives, are trying to figure out who they are. It examines the traumas that we experience in life, how we process those (or don't), and how they shape us. It looks at who we know ourselves to be, how we honor that (or don't), and the strength it takes to truly be yourself. The people that read the two different narrators are perfectly cast, and really add to the impact and experience of the story for the listener. I don't think that it is possible to read this book and not come away changed in the best ways. I believe that if everyone read this, the world would be a much more empathetic place.”

Allie, Oblong Books

The Fifth Season

“The Fifth Season is an amazing, dark, and gripping work that will hook you from the first sentence. I cannot express to you how much this book stunned me. Robin's narration is well paced and engaging. While I wish this was a book for everyone to listen to, it isn't; destruction, trauma, and rage follow the women and girls who tell their stories. This book is about the end of the world, that you actually don't want to stop reading.”

Jessica, Once Upon A Time

If you enjoyed The Good House, then you’ll love Lone Women.

“Small historic details and sweeping descriptive vistas place this unusual novel among the most interesting we've read in historical fiction this year. The hell-for-leather plot combined with deeply realized characters make it one of the best, period, and Joniece Abbott-Pratt's unsettlingly calm reading of even the most fantastical elements does the book perfect justice...Good historical fiction will challenge our memories and established stories by showing us more of what happened, to more of the people (including people of color), with more truth about inequality. LaValle, already accomplished in the field, has delivered a genuinely new story that hovers in the realm of parable and races on a thriller's edge. I desperately wish Zora Neale Hurston were here to read it! ”

Nialle, The Haunted Bookshop

Now Is Not the Time to Panic

“Wow! My first Kevin Wilson book! I am still stunned. A coming of age told with humor. So original, relatable and current. I will never forget:‘The edge is a shanty town filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives and the law is skinny with hunger for us.' I listened on Libro.fm and it was so well produced!”

Melanie, The Well-Read Moose

Cloud Cuckoo Land

“A beautiful tribute to the human need to preserve and share stories. One to read and read again! One of my Top 3 for 2021!”

Samantha, A Great Good Place for Books

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.

In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to... Read more »

Sea of Tranquility

“Incredibly crafted mystery through time & space that attempts to answer if we exist in a simulation, or the reality that we have always accepted.”

James, Bookstore1Sarasota

The City We Became

“What did I just listen to and why did I like it so much? Part of falling in love with this book was the listening experience, to be certain. The narration was stellar. The production was on point. But the story... the story itself is sublime. N.K. Jemisin has written a love letter to New York City - but not the one in bright, bold letters on the silver screen - the real city, and the real people who inhabit it and call it home, even if only temporarily. And it was beyond my wildest dreams (and nightmares). The City We Became is so incredibly layered and nuanced - diving into discussions of racism and sexism and the fallacy of good vs evil. I wanted nothing more than to steep in its long chapters, and get to know its boroughs as intimately as Jemisin would allow - not mere stereotypes but fully fleshed and brilliant, blinding avatars. Witty, subversive, imaginative, unbelievable. Get on this wild ride.”

Britt, Second Star to the Right

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well... Read more »

From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.

"Wild, ambitious and... Read more »

The Golden Spoon

“Imagine The Great British Baking Show with a splash of Agatha Christie murder mystique. Interesting characters, intriguing subplots, and a fun setting kept me turning the pages. This is a book I can put into the hands of any reader.”

Gail Dickson, The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn

Carrie Soto Is Back

“The word 'Amazing' doesn't begin to describe this book. Carrie Soto is a tennis phenom called 'the next Billie Jean King' by reporters in the 1970's and Taylor Jenkins Reid takes you into the life of a competitive tennis player at the highest levels. You crawl inside her head and see the desire to be the BEST and win at any costs - even if it means sacrificing relationships to do so. This audiobook is amazing because not only does Stacy Gonzalez do a brilliant job, but because Mary Carillo, Patrick McEnroe and more lend their voices to the story - so you get the feeling that you're listening to actual segments on ESPN. You quickly forget that you're listening to fiction and you feel like you're getting the autobiography of a female tennis player - complete with men who make comments about how women's tennis is 'not as difficult as the men's game.' I loved every minute of this audiobook and I already know it's going to be on my Books of the Year list for 2022. ”

Jennifer, The Bookstore at Fitger's

Where the Crawdads Sing

“Where the Crawdads Sing is a stunning and beautiful novel that readers will want to simultaneously savor and devour with every luxurious word. You’ll hear the gulls cry on the beach through these pages, you’ll see the light flickering through the marsh trees, you’ll smell the homemade grits sizzling on the stovetop. Your heart will ache for the lonely marsh girl and your wheels will start turning when a body is discovered, but you’ll never regret reading this gorgeous novel.”

Amanda Zirn, Bethany Beach Books

Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Winner of the Orange Prize • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist"Bel Canto is its own universe. A marvel of a book." —Washington Post Book WorldNew York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett’s spellbinding novel about love and opera, and the unifying ways people learn to communicate across cultural... Read more »

A young woman pretends to be someone she isn’t in this “spellbinding” (Vogue), “smoldering” (The Washington Post) novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls.
 
“Under Cline’s command, every sentence as sharp as a scalpel, a woman toeing the line between welcome and unwelcome guest becomes a fully destabilizing force.”—The New... Read more »

The Night Watchman

“The Night Watchman is an extraordinary book based on the life of Edrich's grandfather who was a night watchman at a jewel bearing plant as well as an activitist against Native dispossession. The other featured protaganist is Patrice Paranteau who you will quickly come to adore. The Night Watchman is one of Edrich's best works and I highly recommend it!”

Rachel, Avid Bookshop

Our Missing Hearts

“Set in an uncomfortably plausible dystopian near-future, Our Missing Hearts pulls no punches. Ng wrestles with how to find hope for ourselves and our children against forces that bend toward authoritarianism and nationalism.”

Allyson Howard, Invitation Bookshop

The Lincoln Highway

“Like so many other Amor Towles fans, I’ve been impatiently awaiting his next novel, so I delved right in and didn’t totally emerge until a few days later! As always with his work, it’s immersively readable and his word crafting is such a pleasure. What’s happening in the characters’ lives is chaotic and unsettled, but Towles’ writing is as crisp and precise as ever. I was immediately impressed with how distinctive and age/time-appropriate each of the characters’ voices is--right from the start. Most of the characters are young people, kids really, and their choices and actions are life-altering and often heartbreaking. But there’s lots of humor and amusement as well in following their physical, emotional, and moral journeys. A delightful and satisfying read. ”

Shirley, Watermark Books

If you enjoyed Lily and the Octopus, then you’ll love The Guncle.

“If you know me, you know I love Steven Rowley's books, and this is his best one yet!”

Kathleen, A Great Good Place for Books

The Marriage Portrait

“Lucrezia de'Medici is only 15 when she's married off to the Duke of Ferrara, and barely 16 when she realizes he intends to have her killed. Lucrezia is thrust into a world of honey-covered lies and manipulation, where her husband's sisters vie for her favor, her husband is kind one moment and volatile the next, and everyone waits for her to produce an heir. And if she can't...This is the best historical fiction I've read in years - an absolute must-read!”

Emma, Quail Ridge Books

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

“This was the most interesting and wholesome take on time travel I have ever read. Everything in the world is totally normal, but if you sit in a specific seat in a specific cafe in Tokyo, you can travel back in time. There are some rules in order to time travel, but my favorite one? You can only stay in the past for as long as your coffee is warm. This charming and emotional story of four different women teaches about the importance of making the most with the time you’re given.”

Lauren Suidgeest, Schuler Books

If you enjoyed The Lost Apothecary, then you’ll love Weyward.

“Three women with a deep connection to nature maneuver their way in a world where men try to corral and control them. In 1619, Altha knows what it means to be a Weyward woman, taught healing skills by her mother and understanding her connection to nature and its power. Not surprisingly, she is accused of witchcraft. Violet, in 1942, and Kate, in 2019, each learn that they are Weyward women and what that means only after tragedy and violence. Each woman ultimately not only embraces her strength, but uses it to bring some justice against misogyny. A captivating and empowering narrative.”

Nancy, Raven Book Store

If you enjoyed The Maidens, then you’ll love The It Girl.

“Six friends at the exclusive Pelham College in Oxford and a murder. Told in dual timelines (10 years ago at college and the present day) this is dark, compelling, and riveting. A true character driven whodunnit full of twists and red herrings. I thought I knew the culprit but I was so wrong!! Great as an audiobook from Libro.fm!”

Polly, The Hickory Stick Bookshop

Such a Fun Age

“A racial comedy of manners for the digital age, Such a Fun Age is a hilarious and cringe-inducing look at white people trying to do the right thing: badly, and for all the wrong reasons. Nicole Lewis's reading is a dazzling feat: expertly code-switching between the voice Emira uses with her friends, to the voice she uses with her boss, Alix, to the voice her boss's suburban black friend, Tamara, uses with Alix, to the voice Tamara uses with Emira. I don't think I would have enjoyed this book half as much without this effortlessly nuanced narration.”

Rachel, The Book Table

Hamnet

“I wanted to live in this book forever and for it to never, ever end. I have never had a book hangover like the one I had when I finished this book. It is so, so, so, good. Every word is perfectly chosen and often not the expected choice. I can't say enough about both the writing and the narration and I already can't wait to listen to this one again.”

Elisa, Another Read Through

The Sentence

“A heartfelt and occasionally hilarious account of life and work at an independent bookstore through the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. While the reflections on family and pandemic life are cathartic, this book is also about identity and how our history and present shape it. Through encounters with the ghost of a troublesome lifelong customer, and the conversations that ensue, Erdrich masterfully weaves an exploration of community, identity, and family that is guaranteed to entertain.”

Lauren, Chapterhouse Books

Pachinko (National Book Award Finalist)

“A father's gentle nature, a mother's sacrifice, a daughter's trust, and a son's determination are the cornerstones of this grand, multilayered saga. Pachinko follows one family through an ever-changing cultural landscape, from 1910 Korea to 1989 Japan. As the bonds of family are put to the test in the harsh realities of their world, Sunja and those she holds dear manage to carve themselves a place to call home with hard work, self sacrifice, and a little kimchi. Through it all is a message about love, faith, and the deep-rooted bonds of family. Min Jin Lee gives us a phenomenal story about one family's struggle that resonates with us today. It will take hold of you and not let go!”

Jennifer Steele, Boswell Book Company