The New York Times Best Sellers

“This is an intriguing story, part family saga, part social commentary, about twin sisters whose lives diverged into two very different directions. Desiree and Stella grew up in Mallard, Louisiana, a place that didn't show up on any map and a community that in the 1960s was racist in a peculiar way: the population was almost exclusively very light-skinned African Americans, many of whom could pass for white. Fourteen years before the story begins, Desiree and Stella suddenly left home together to find work in New Orleans. Shortly afterwards, Stella disappeared without a trace. Desiree married, had a child, and in 1968 decided to return to Mallard to her mother's house to escape an abusive husband. Skipping ahead ten years to 1978, we meet Stella, who has also married and had a child, and now lives in California in an exclusively white upscale neighborhood where not even her husband knows about her African American blood. In a coincidence that the author makes seem believable, the twins' daughters meet, and Stella's secret is in danger of being exposed. Bennett's characters are well-developed and provide a clearly-drawn portrait of race, gender, and the ties that hold families and relationships together.”

“Tangled secrets and dark, haunting pasts unravel at the posh wedding of celebrities Will and Jules. As the tension mounted and more was revealed, I couldn’t stop listening until I knew not only “whodunnit”, but to whom it was done. Foley tells her tale from alternating viewpoints, bringing us gradually and suspensefully into the minds and hearts of her characters. A riveting psychological thriller and murder mystery, The Guest List presents a story as dark as the stormy remote island on which it unfolds.”

“I read this book non-stop for a week, underlining, reading passages to my friends & recommending it to anyone with a pulse. There are many great stories inside, but their charm & power, really, is all Glennon. She is a spiritual seeker & leader who loves reality tv, a formidable activist on the global scale who gets anxiety sweats when the doorbell rings. Equal parts poetic & conversational, memoir & manifesto. Her love story will make you swoon. Her shamelessness & relentless self-interrogation will make you feel deeply exposed. This is not a "you can do it, girl!" book. It's more like a spiritual marathon that invites you to jump the guardrail & take off.”

“In this literal master class on literature and writing, Saunders earnestly yet playfully dissects 19th-century Russian short stories to discover how they exude life to this very day, while highlighting methods any aspiring writer can employ. The huge bonus: reading the wondrous stories themselves, and experiencing Tolstoy’s authority, Chekhov’s humanity, and the joy and glory of Gogol.”

“I adore our former president and I miss him. Yet I cannot help but be ecstatic that Michelle is coming out with a book about her own life so that I can learn more about this powerful, intelligent, and singularly awesome woman. Barack would be the first to say that his wife is a superstar, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Becoming to read about her in her own words.”

“This first novel by nature writer Delia Owens has something for everyone. Fans of poetry, natural history, murder mysteries, southern food, and romance will be caught up in the deeply moving prose and memorable characters. Plus, the narrator adds in the North Carolina accents, too!”

“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...”

“Gladwell's synthesis of famous news clips, infamous moments in history, and a collection of behavioral studies is uncannily fascinating. I found myself at turns nodding along with his points and shaking my head incredulously. While I was reading, I would over-analyze conversations and encounters I had with strangers, and then laugh at myself for being so paranoid. I rose to the enraged defense of the victims of violent crimes he recounted in the book and was horrified to find myself possibly trying to understand with some of the behaviors of the perpetrators. In the end, I'm not sure I agree with everything Gladwell discussed. But then again, I don't think he set out to convince anyone of any particular thing. His goal was to answer what could have happened in the case of Sandra Bland and to peel back the layers to expose human behaviors and assumptions that could have possibly played a role in the incident. This was the first book by Gladwell that I've read and I look forward to exploring more of his work. This audiobook was particularly interesting. Gladwell narrated but integrated interview clips, news sound bites, and actor reenactments throughout the audio. At first jarring and a little worrisome, because I thought I wasn't going to understand the clips due to audio quality, it was an addition that I found myself enjoying and really added depth to the book's thematic goals. I definitely recommend this book! Especially the audiobook version.”

“At its simplest, we could just say this is a story about the human condition. Backman’s wry and deceptively simple storytelling provides us an exquisite and astute study of the little complexities that fills our lives with joy and pain. Through his rich story exploring second chances, missed opportunities, and unintended consequences, he captures the essence of what it means to be human and the complexities of navigating relationships with each other by exploring what we say and do not say to one another. The audio version is absolutely spectacular. The narrator brings each character to life with unique and spot-on personalities that I cannot imagine creating myself in my head. Her delivery of the dialogue and story is spot on and kept me laughing throughout.”