2020 Holiday Book Catalog List

"A brilliant novel, lyrically lifting history towards myth. It's also compulsively readable. I devoured it in two days." ? Salman Rushdie In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to adapt to her new household as Ethiopia faces Mussolini's looming invasion. As the battles begin in earnest, Hirut and other women must care for the wounded. But... Read more »

In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America's cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation-that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate... Read more »

In Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman examines the revolution of black intimate life that unfolded in Philadelphia and New York at the beginning of the twentieth century. Free love, common-law and transient marriages, queer relations, and single motherhood were among the sweeping changes that altered the character of everyday... Read more »

Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X—all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam figures, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders... Read more »

Patsy

“I feel that Dennis-Benn is unparalleled in writing the insidious unforgivables. The mother who can't find love for her daughter, the more-than-friend who takes everything you give them and never gives back, the daughter told to be a "good girl" who finds difficulty doing either of those things for the woman who ends up raising her. Like her debut, this novel is filled with characters tormented by the compromises they made but whose character Dennis-Benn refuses to compromise. The painfully recognizable humanity of everyone in Patsy asks us all to reach inside for the empathy we're capable of for people we wouldn't normally think to give it to.”

Alice, Water Street Bookstore

How the automobile fundamentally changed African American life—the true history beyond the Best Picture–winning movie.

The ultimate symbol of independence and possibility, the automobile has shaped this country from the moment the first Model T rolled off Henry Ford's assembly line. Yet cars have always held distinct importance for African... Read more »

A searing volume by a poet whose work conveys “the visceral effect that prison has on identity” (New York Times).

Felon tells the story of one man in fierce, dazzling poems― canvassing his wide range of emotions and experiences through homelessness, underemployment, love, drug abuse, domestic violence, fatherhood, and grace― and, in doing so,... Read more »

Combining trenchant philosophy with lyrical memoir, Afropessimism is an unparalleled account of Blackness. Why does race seem to color almost every feature of our moral and political universe? Why does a perpetual cycle of slavery?in all its political, intellectual, and cultural forms?continue to define the Black experience? And why is... Read more »

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a “powerful” (The Washington Post) novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE

Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant... Read more »

Magic Lessons

“I so wanted to read this slowly and savor every page since this may be the last time we get to venture into this world of magic and the Owens family. But as if entranced by Alice Hoffman’s magic, the pages were turning faster and faster and I devoured this book in two sittings. No one tells a story like Alice Hoffman, and I only hope she finds a way to bring this magical family back to us again in the future. I simply loved this book. It’s everything you want from Alice Hoffman — a great story of love and magic!”

Julie Slavinsky, Warwick's

Monogamy

“Bookstore owner Graham is a friend to all and larger than life in every way. His first wife, Frieda, and current wife, Annie, both know and love him for it. But after Graham’s unexpected death, secrets emerge that bring everything Annie thought she knew into question. Daughter Sarah and stepson Lucas help her through her grief, but anger is harder to leave behind. Fans of The Most Fun We Ever Had will love this beautifully written, honest look at the deep but fragile bond of love.”

Beth Mynhier, Lake Forest Book Store

The Exiles

“This is an amazing book filled with unforgettable characters and an in-depth exploration of a time from history that I have never seen covered before. But listening to it just makes the experience of the story so much richer! The accents, character names, and places, when read by the talented voice actors, make experience so much more vibrant!”

Kerry, Anderson's Bookshop

The secrets that might save a nation could shatter a marriage.

Madly in love, Diana Foyle and Brent Somerville married in London as the bombs of World War II dropped on their beloved city. Without time for a honeymoon, the couple spent the next four years apart. Diana, an architectural historian, took a top-secret intelligence post at Bletchley...

Take a Hint, Dani Brown

“I listened to the audiobook in 2 days! This fake-dating, friends-to-lovers, bisexual AF rom-com-romp has it all. What do you get when you add 1 PhD candidate who just wants some stress release in the form of a good lay, plus 1 former rugby player who now dedicates his time to his mental health-sports charity and reading bodice rippers? Certainly this can't add up to the two catching feelings for each other, right? Equal parts hilarious, heartwarming, refreshing, and compassionate. Perfect for the beach, a vacation, or a quiet afternoon.”

Cassie, Wellesley Books

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“Unlike anything I have ever read. Stunning, masterful, epic, dark and rich! Even my friends who usually scoff at sci-fi/fantasy books, loved this one. No short synopsis will properly prepare you, just dive in.”

Zinna, A Great Good Place for Books

The Once and Future Witches

“Alix Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January was my favorite book last year, so I had incredibly high expectations when I picked up The Once and Future Witches. This book is very different, but I adore it just as much! Set in the late 1800s in a world with a slightly alternate history from ours, women are fighting for the vote and losing. Three wayward sisters decide to challenge the patriarchy by bringing back witchcraft. Told through familiar stories twisted in new ways, this book is incredible. You will not be able to put it down, from the beautifully written introduction to the pulse-pounding ending!”

Carrie Deming, Dog Ear Books

Ellen Marie Wiseman, acclaimed author of What She Left Behind and The Life She Was Given, weaves the stories of two very different women into a page-turning novel as suspenseful as it is poignant, set amid one of history’s deadliest pandemics. In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s... Read more »

The untold story of the three intelligent and glamorous young women who accompanied their famous fathers to the Yalta Conference in February 1945, and of the conference’s fateful reverberations in the waning days of World War II.
 
Tensions during the Yalta Conference in February 1945 threatened to tear apart the wartime alliance among Franklin...

Is this Anything?

“My husband and I have had the pleasure of seeing Jerry Seinfeld live on two occasions. Obviously, we are big fans. When I learned that Seinfeld was releasing his book at the same time as a cross-country road trip that we had planned, I was ecstatic. Jerry did not let us down. The miles flew by quickly as we laughed our way through Connecticut. I highly recommend this book - especially if you are planning a road trip during the holidays.”

Melinda, Buttonwood Books and Toys

Jenna Bush Hager, the former first daughter and granddaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and coanchor of the Today show, shares moving, funny stories about her beloved grandparents and the wisdom they passed on that has shaped her life.

To the world, George and Barbara Bush were America’s powerful president and influ­ential first...