Divine December Staff Picks

Norse Mythology

“With a voice like warm milk and honey, Neil Gaiman breathes life into his stories Norse Mythology honors the tale’s past, but still has Neil’s distinctive style. Which is then enhanced by Gaiman reading the story aloud. Gaiman is able to create distinct voices for each of his characters, from the sly and cunning Loki, to the short-tempered, impatient warrior Thor. Gaiman took mythology that I already loved, created something even more enchanting. It is a collection of stories I could hear time after time and never grow tired of revisiting.”

Victoria, Mysterious Galaxy Books

NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES—THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
 
Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace... Read more »

Danish journalist Heloise Kaldan is in the middle of a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying, and she could lose her job over it. Then she receives the first in a series of cryptic and unsettling letters from a woman named Anna Kiel. Wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young lawyer three years earlier, Anna hasn't... Read more »

Good Neighbors

“Set in the near future, Good Neighbors is an unsettling look at mob justice at its absolute worst! Langan teases out the store through to the brutal end with excerpts from newspaper articles and books and even outtakes of interviews about the Maple Street Murders, many of them dating almost twenty years after the events themselves. And they provide a bit of a driving force to the narrative, making the reader really wonder just how bad things are going to get as the events unfold in the book. This is absolutely one I'd recommend listening to on audio! With so many different narrators as well as the outtakes mentioned above, Good Neighbors would be a challenge in less deft hands, but Nicole Lewis does a really phenomenal job as the reader here! She is one of my new favorites!”

Becky, BookBar

Never Saw Me Coming

“An intriguing page turner told from a very interesting constellation of perspectives. Excellent as an audiobook.”

Marianne, East City Bookshop

Dark Roads

“Dark Roads is dark, it is disturbing, and it is very, very entertaining. The mysterious prologue will give you a clue as to how dark it is. It shows us some of the worst of human nature. Disturbing because it is based in part on a highway in Canada where women (most of whom were First Nation) have gone missing with no resolution of their cases. Entertaining because the characters are so compelling, they force you to keep listening and listening and listening. Hailey is a remarkably strong young women whose ability to survive in the wilderness is truly a gift from her beloved father. Beth’s character really evolves in the book from a young woman with no purpose in life, who feels sorry for herself and can’t stand being controlled by her parents into someone with a purpose – find out who murdered her sister Amber in the small town of Cold Creek along the Canadian highway that has claimed many women over the years. Johnny is almost too good to be true – but thank heavens he stays true to himself. And, then there is Wolf – the best dog a woman could ever have. Chevy Stevens is at her best in this thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat through the entire book.”

Nancy, Fiction Addiction

If you enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club, then you’ll love Apples Never Fall.

“I'm obsessed with Liane Moriarty's ability to write miscommunications. Whenever we're with one character, the others feel so annoying and suspicious, but the second we swap POVs my empathy swerves. I think it reaffirms my belief that all people are simultaneously absurd and beautiful. No offense to the designer (kind of), but please don't judge this one by the cover.”

Alyson, WORD Bookstores

If you enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind, then you’ll love Cloud Cuckoo Land.

“I loved this book so much. The intersection of the various stories surrounding a profound awareness of the importance of books was perfect. I also appreciated the weaving of the classic tale intertwined all throughout the book. Each character's story could have been a book all by themselves, but having them all together was brilliant. This is a book that I didn't know I needed, but was the perfect book for the time I listened to it.”

Tim, Schuler Books

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

Named a Best Book Pick of 2021 by Harper’s Bazaar and Real Simple

Named a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by People, Essence, New York Post, PopSugar, New York Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, Town & Country, Bustle, Fortune, and Book Riot

Told from alternating perspectives, this “propulsive, deeply felt... Read more »

An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed

“Eighty-eight-year-old Maud will be your new favorite octogenarian serial killer; do not miss this hilariously quirky collection of stories about what happens to those who get in Maud’s way.”

Olivia, Author's Note

The Book of Hope

“Listening to this on audio has been a special experience simply due to the fact that Jane Goodall’s voice as she delivers her philosophies on hope in regards to the environment is both a balm to a troubled mind and spark of inspiration towards action. There is someone in your life that needs this book and it would make a great gift for them.”

Sofia, Phoenix Books

A powerfully moving book that “could make graspable why today’s prisons are contemporary slave plantations” (Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple), giving voice to the poorest among us and laying bare the cruelty of a penal system that too often defines their lives.

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Chris Hedges has taught courses in drama,... Read more »

*An Outside Magazine Book Club Pick*

"A sparkling account."—Wall Street Journal

An electrifying adventure into the rich history of skiing and the modern heart of ski-bum culture, from one of America's most preeminent ski journalists

The story of skiing is, in many ways, the story of America itself. Blossoming from the Tenth Mountain Division... Read more »

Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his... Read more »

40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, "a magnificent, compulsively readable thriller...Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth—the education of the vampire” (Chicago Tribune). • The inspiration for the hit television... Read more »

Masterful storytelling from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas brings her sexy, action-packed series to new heights. Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she’s now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible... Read more »

The Hunger

“As a child I was obsessed with the Donner Party. I went to the museum and read all about them, but never imagined something as twisted as THE HUNGER. Katsu's reinvention of the history is complex, meticulous, and a perfect metaphor for the white man's obsession with manifest destiny and the terrorism that was inflicted on Native Americans. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the ear eating scene!”

Christy, Avid Bookshop

The first book in a spellbinding fantasy trilogy for fans of The Queen of the Tearling and The Red Queen, where two young women -- a mage with coveted powers, and the scion of a powerful family -- are magically bound in service to the Empire.

Magic is scarce in the Raverran Empire, and those born with such powers are strictly controlled -- taken... Read more »

Under the Whispering Door

“Full of heart, hope, grief, humor, delicious character development and perfectly steeped tea, Under the Whispering Door is one-of-a kind. I laughed, I cried, I stayed up far too late reading. You don't want to miss this book.”

Miriasha, Phoenix Books

Hamnet

“I loved Hamnet in very much the same way I loved Lincoln in the Bardo. This novel explores the way the dead haunt the living—especially how the death of a child haunts their parents—and does it in the context of a fascinating historical figure and time. But we know so much about the Lincolns, and so little about the Shakespeares. Maggie O’Farrell’s ability to construct a palpably real emotional life for all the members of the Shakespeare family—but especially for Shakespeare’s wife—is just magical. This is a powerful and haunting novel.”

Nina Barrett, Bookends & Beginnings