TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of August 9, 2015

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
1
GO SET A WATCHMAN
Harper Lee
Cover of GO SET A WATCHMAN

GO SET A WATCHMAN

by Harper Lee · Harper

6 wks at #1 · 2 on list

An historic literary event: the publication of a newly discovered novel, the earliest known work from Harper Lee, the beloved, bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. Originally written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014. Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch—Scout—struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her. Exploring how the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are adjusting to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set a Watchman casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring classic. Moving, funny and compelling, it stands as a magnificent novel in its own right.

2
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Paula Hawkins
Cover of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

by Paula Hawkins · Riverhead

28 wks on list

THE RUNAWAY GLOBAL BESTSELLER 'Gripping, enthralling - a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read.' SJ Watson, bestselling author of BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. 'Jess and Jason', she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar. Now they'll see; she's much more than just the girl on the train... ***PAULA HAWKINS' NEW ADDICTIVE THRILLER, THE BLUE HOUR IS AVAILABLE NOW***

3
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE
Anthony Doerr
Cover of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

by Anthony Doerr · Scribner

64 wks on list

An imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II and written in short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology.

4
1
THE ENGLISH SPY
Daniel Silva
Cover of THE ENGLISH SPY
6
2
ARMADA
Ernest Cline
Cover of ARMADA

ARMADA

by Ernest Cline · Crown

2 wks on list

PRE-ORDER NOW - READY PLAYER TWO: THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO READY PLAYER ONE _______________________ '[A] masterful tale of Earth's desperate struggle against a powerful alien foe.' - Andy Weir, bestselling author of The Martian _______________________ It's just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom-if he can make it that long without getting suspended again. Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer. At first, Zack thinks he's going crazy. A minute later, he's sure of it. Because the UFO he's staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada-in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. But what Zack's seeing is all too real. And his skills-as well as those of millions of gamers across the world-are going to be needed to save the earth from what's about to befall it. Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can't help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching, and wonder: Doesn't something about this scenario seem a little too... familiar? Armada is at once a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien-invasion tale like nothing you've ever read before-one whose every page is infused with author Ernest Cline's trademark pop-culture savvy. _______________________ Here's what everyone's saying about this epic masterpiece: 'a modern classic' - R.M. Rangeley on Amazon, 5 stars 'A modern masterpiece full of a new style of literary magic' - Spiros Kagadis on Amazon, 5 stars 'Excellent. Even better than Ready Player One.' - David Hay on Amazon, 5 stars 'One of my favourite books of all time. Incredibly well written' - Erin Coppin on Amazon, 5 stars 'Awesome! If you liked Ready Player One, would be very surprised if you don't like this' - T. Llewellyn-Sanders on Amazon, 5 stars 'Absolutely awesome!!! Read in less than 24 hours, hooked on every page' - R. Nicholson on Amazon, 5 stars 'Amazing and a great follow up read to Ready Player One!' - Chris on Amazon, 5 stars 'an incredible story which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time... a joy to read' - Helen Ratcliffe on Amazon, 5 stars 'Cline brings you back to all those amazing, unbelievable things you imagined could happen as a kid and makes them real' - Amazon reviewer, 5 stars 'Absolutely brilliant! Couldn't put it down, a must read' - Sam Bean on Amazon, 5 stars 'a love letter to old school alien invasion sci-fi... Highly, HIGHLY recommended for all fans of Cline's previous novel, Ready Player One, as well as any classic science fiction fan' - Izzy on Amazon, 5 stars 'Ernest Cline is celebrating this culture in a way that's not just adding another book to the genre, but actually truly celebrating it, the possibilities, wonders and madness of it all' - Heather on Amazon, 5 stars 'majorly, fantastically geeky... Armada just ticked all my boxes' - H. Ross on Amazon, 5 stars This book has been published with two different covers and may be delivered with either cover. Please rest assured that regardless of the cover, the content of the book is the same.

7
NEW
SPEAKING IN BONES
Kathy Reichs
Cover of SPEAKING IN BONES

SPEAKING IN BONES

by Kathy Reichs · Bantam

1 wks on list

No one speaks the language of suspense more brilliantly than Kathy Reichs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Temperance Brennan series. In Speaking in Bones, the forensic anthropologist finds herself drawn into a world of dark secrets and dangerous beliefs, where good and evil blur. Professionally, Temperance Brennan knows exactly what to do--test, analyze, identify. Her personal life is another story. She's at a loss, wondering how to answer police detective Andrew Ryan's marriage proposal. But the matter of matrimony takes a backseat when murder rears its head. Hazel "Lucky" Strike--a strident amateur detective who mines the Internet for cold cases--comes to Brennan with a tape recording of an unknown girl being held prisoner and terrorized. Strike is convinced the voice is that of eighteen-year-old Cora Teague, who went missing more than three years earlier. Strike is also certain that the teenager's remains are gathering dust in Temperance Brennan's lab. Brennan has doubts about working with a self-styled websleuth. But when the evidence seems to add up, Brennan's next stop is the treacherous backwoods where the chilling recording (and maybe Cora Teague's bones) were discovered. Her forensic field trip only turns up more disturbing questions--along with gruesome proof of more untimely deaths. While local legends of eerie nocturnal phenomena and sinister satanic cults abound, it's a zealous and secretive religious sect that has Brennan spooked and struggling to separate the saints from the sinners. But there's nothing, including fire and brimstone, that can distract her from digging up the truth and taking down a killer--even as Brennan finds herself in a place where angels fear to tread, devils demand their due, and she may be damned no matter what. From the Hardcover edition.

8
THE NIGHTINGALE
Kristin Hannah
Cover of THE NIGHTINGALE

THE NIGHTINGALE

by Kristin Hannah · St. Martin's

25 wks on list

The bestselling Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick 'One of the greatest storytellers of our time' – Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Soon to be a major motion picture, The Nightingale is a multi-million copy bestseller across the world. It is a heart-breakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the endurance of women. 'I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I’d like to be known' This story is about what it was like to be a woman during World War II when women’s stories were all too often forgotten or overlooked . . . Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals and passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom in war-torn France. Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime. ‘A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival’ - Kate Morton ‘Movingly written and plotted with the heartless skill of a Greek tragedy, you’ll keep turning the pages until the last racking sob’ - Daily Mail ‘I loved The Nightingale . . . great characters, great plots, great emotions, who could ask for more in a novel?’ - Isabel Allende, bestselling author of The House of the Spirits ‘A gripping tale of family, love, grief and forgiveness’ - Sunday Express The Nightingale has sold more than 4 million copies globally, TIME, February 2021

10
2
LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE
Jessica Knoll
Cover of LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE

LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE

by Jessica Knoll · Simon & Schuster

11 wks on list

"In a riveting debut novel that reads like Prep meets Gone Girl, a young woman is determined to create the perfect life--husband, home, and career--until a violent incident from her past threatens to unravel everything and expose her most shocking secret of all. Twenty-eight-year-old New Yorker Ani FaNelli seems to have it all: she's a rising star at The Women's Magazine, impossibly fit, perfectly groomed, and about to marry Luke Harrison, a handsome blueblood. But behind that veneer of perfection lies a vulnerability that Ani holds close and buries deep--a very violent and public trauma from her past that has left her constantly trying to reinvent herself. And only she knows how far she would go to keep her secrets safe. When a documentary producer invites Ani to tell her side of the chilling incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, she hopes it will be an opportunity for public vindication. Armed with the trappings of success--expensive clothes, high-powered byline, a massive engagement ring--she is determined to silence the whispers of suspicion and blame from her past, and prove once and for all how far she's come since Bradley. She'll even let them film her lavish wedding on Nantucket, the final step in her transformation. But perfection doesn't come without cost. As the wedding and filming converge, Ani's meticulously crafted facade begins to buckle and crack--until an explosive revelation offers her a final chance at redemption, even as it rocks her picture-perfect world. Equal parts glitz and darkness, and with a singular voice and twisting plot, Luckiest Girl Alive reads like Sex & the City--if Carrie Bradshaw had a closet full of skeletons instead of shoes. In Ani FaNelli, Jessica Knoll has created a complex and vulnerable heroine who you'll be rooting for to the very last page"--

12
2
IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT
Judy Blume

IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT

by Judy Blume · Knopf

8 wks on list

In her novel In the Unlikely Event?is vintage Judy Blume, with all the hallmarks of Judy Blume's unparalleled storytelling, and full of memorable characters who cope with loss, remember the good times and, finally, wonder at the joy that keeps them going.

13
FINDERS KEEPERS
Stephen King
14
1
THE CARTEL
Don Winslow
Cover of THE CARTEL

THE CARTEL

by Don Winslow · Knopf

2 wks on list
15
5
NEMESIS
Catherine Coulter
Cover of NEMESIS

NEMESIS

by Catherine Coulter · Putnam

3 wks on list

“Fans of Lee Child and Patrick Lee won’t be disappointed”* in this high-octane FBI Thriller featuring Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock from the #1 New York Times bestselling author. In New York, Special Agent Lacey Sherlock foils a terrorist attack at JFK airport, but stopping the grenade-carrying crazy was only the beginning. Another plot unfolds nearly simultaneously with a bomb at St. Patrick’s Cathedral... Meanwhile, Savich—with the help of Agent Griffin Hammersmith—has his hands full trying to track an elusive murderer who is able to control those under his thrall. When an attempt on Savich’s life collides with Sherlock’s terrorist case, they must race against the clock, as more lives are in danger with every passing minute. *Library Journal

16
NEW
NAKED GREED
Stuart Woods
Cover of NAKED GREED

NAKED GREED

by Stuart Woods · Putnam

Stone Barrington gets involved in some dangerous business in this outstanding thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Stuart Woods. Stone Barrington isn’t one to turn away in the face of danger, so when he witnesses a tricky situation, he jumps in to lend a hand. He never expected his involvement would lead to a mutually beneficial business deal with a prominent gentleman who requires the ever-discreet services of Woodman & Weld. But in the ruthless corporate world no good deed goes unpunished, and Stone soon finds himself the target of a ragtag group of criminal toughs who don’t appreciate his interference in their dealings. From the isolated landscape of Maine to the white sand beaches of Key West, the trail of deception, theft, and murder will lead to a perilous confrontation.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.