Mike's Picks

Transcription

“While World War II isn’t my usual era of interest, Juliet’s hilarious inner monologue about everything that happens around her won me over. There is espionage and intrigue, and twists and turns emerge where you least expect them. I can see the 1940s so clearly, thanks to Atkinson’s fantastic writing. This is a book that will be a hit for a lot of different kinds of readers: people who like historical fiction, mystery, or literary fiction.”

Karena, Bookshop Santa Cruz

Now an AMC+ original miniseries event starring Colin Farrell and Jack O'Connell! A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller

One of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year, and named a Best Book of the Year by The...

If you enjoyed Station Eleven (Television Tie-in), then you’ll love The Book of M.

“Very good audio, keeps you pulled in. Great for fans of "Station Eleven."”

Julia, The Bookloft

A novelist and a neuroscientist uncover the secrets of human memory.

What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a memory?

With playfulness and intelligence, Adventures in Memory answers these questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most fascinating faculties: our memory. The authors—two Norwegian...

A personal and insightful call to action and a much-needed book about one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world—the relationship between Canada and the US—and why diplomacy matters now more than ever before.

All over the world, diplomacy is under threat. Diplomats used to handle sensitive international negotiations, but... Read more »

New from Ian McEwan, Booker Prize winner and international bestselling author of Atonement and The Children Act Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London. Britain has lost the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power, and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like... Read more »

This "soul stirring" novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Room (O Magazine) is one of the New York Post's best books of the year.
Noah Selvaggio is a retired chemistry professor and widower living on the Upper West Side, but born in the South of France. He is days away from his first visit back to Nice since he was a child, bringing... Read more »

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

From the #1 nationally bestselling author of By Gaslight, a novel of exquisite emotional force about love and art in the life of one of the great writers, reminiscent of Colm Tóibín's The Master, or Michael Cunningham's The Hours.

In sun-drenched Sicily, among the decadent Italian aristocracy of the... Read more »

A brilliant, of-the-moment political satire like no other, from the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement. Kafka meets the world of Brexit in this bitingly funny novel centered on a cockroach transformed into the prime minister of England.

That morning, Jim Sams, clever but by no means profound, woke from uneasy dreams to find... Read more »

2020 THRILLER/SUSPENSE AUDIE AWARD WINNER!

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King whose “storytelling transcends genre” (Newsday) comes “another winner: creepy and touching and horrifyingly believable” (The Boston Globe) about a group of kids confronting evil.

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE • The Testaments is a modern masterpiece, a powerful novel that can be read on its own or as a companion to Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale.

More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on... Read more »

Chances Are . . .

“This book reads like a literary mystery. Forty years ago, a woman disappeared while at a get-together at Martha’s Vineyard. Now, the four friends who were with her have returned to the scene, still driven by a need to know what happened. This latest story by Richard Russo has all the elements that make him one of the most popular authors today: characters we can relate to, settings that we see in our dreams, and a story both perplexing and satisfying. Fans and new readers alike will enjoy diving in.”

Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore

*** Memento meets Sharp Objects in this superb thriller from the bestselling author of Something in the Water, a 2019 Richard & Judy Book Club pick ***

‘Original, ingenious and utterly gripping, with characters you’ll really care about as they race towards the brilliantly unexpected ending.’   J P Delaney

When a man is found on a Norfolk... Read more »

A therapist creates moving portraits of five of her most memorable patients, men and women she considers psychological heroes.

Catherine Gildiner is a bestselling memoirist, a novelist, and a psychologist in private practice for twenty-five years. In Good Morning, Monster, she focuses on five patients who overcame enormous trauma--people she... Read more »

Talking to Strangers

“I have always considered myself to be a very open-minded person. But Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers" is a revelation in the mistakes we humans make in interpreting each other's motives and intentions. The common assumptions that we make in order to navigate daily life often lead us to grossly err in our decisions and judgments concerning others. When we seek to determine whether someone is lying, whether they've committed a crime, or if we can trust a stranger--we use faulty tools. Gladwell helps us to see and understand this phenomenon using stories from recent events such as the trials of Bernie Madoff, Amanda Knox, and the rape case of Brock Turner and Emily Doe. I can't wait to share and discuss this book with my friends and family.”

Tracey, Commonplace Reader

Normal People

“What a treat to discover Sally Rooney! This novel stands out shining from the current onslaught of mediocre prose and less-than-suspenseful thriller plots. Normal People is the story of a relationship between two high school classmates in a small town in Ireland, and how it changes over time, through their last year of college in Dublin. Rooney’s spare and brilliant writing illuminates her insight and makes the unfolding of these two personalities completely compelling.”

Georgiana Dix Blomberg, Magnolia's Bookstore

THE NEW #1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE WONDER AND ROOM 

Dublin, 1918: three days in a maternity ward at the height of the great flu. A small world of work, risk, death and unlooked-for love, by the bestselling author of The Wonder and Room. 

In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • When did America give up on fairness? The author of Fantasyland tells the epic history of how America decided that big business gets whatever it wants, only the rich get richer, and nothing should ever change—and charts a way back to the future.
 
“Essential, absorbing . . . a graceful, authoritative guide . . . a... Read more »

One of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2019 
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, Lit Hub, The Millions, The Paris Review, and NPR 
No. 1 Irish Times Bestseller
Longlisted for The Booker Prize 

From the acclaimed author of the international sensations City of Bohane and Beatlebone, a striking and... Read more »

Anxious People

“This book made me feel all the feels! It was sad, it was funny, it was hopeful, it was everything. The character development is incredible at revealing what’s inside each of the characters, and the way their stories link and interconnect is genius. It’s a story about sadness and hope and human connections. I couldn’t put it down and barreled to the end, but now I am sad it’s over. Anxious People is truly the best thing I’ve read in a long time!”

Lisa Driban, Hockessin Book Shelf