TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of September 17, 2017

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
1
GLASS HOUSES
Louise Penny
Cover of GLASS HOUSES

GLASS HOUSES

by Louise Penny · Minotaur

1 wks at #1 · 2 on list

An instant New York Times Bestseller and August 2017 LibraryReads pick! “Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” —PEOPLE “Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” —The New York Times Book Review “You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end....Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.... It takes nerve and skill — as well as heart — to write mysteries like this. ‘Glass Houses,’ along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is ‘just noise.’” —Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead. From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized. But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied. Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment. In Glass Houses, her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others.

2
NEW
“Y” IS FOR YESTERDAY
Sue Grafton
Cover of “Y” IS FOR YESTERDAY

“Y” IS FOR YESTERDAY

by Sue Grafton · Marian Wood/Putnam

Sue Grafton is back with the New York Times bestselling twenty-fifth book in her Alphabet series The darkest and most disturbing case report from the files of Kinsey Millhone, Y begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate - and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns in evidence for the state and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace. Now, it's 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents - until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That's when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he's not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find . . .

3
NEW
THE RIGHT TIME
Danielle Steel
Cover of THE RIGHT TIME

THE RIGHT TIME

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

1 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Filled with heartbreak and betrayal, triumph and fulfillment, The Right Time is an intimate, richly rewarding novel about pursuing one’s passion and succeeding beyond one’s wildest dreams. Abandoned by her mother at age seven, Alexandra Winslow takes solace in the mysteries she reads with her devoted father—and soon she is writing them herself, slowly graduating to dark, complex crime stories that reflect skill, imagination, and talent far beyond her years. After her father’s untimely death, at fourteen Alex is taken in by the nuns of a local convent, where she finds twenty-six mothers to take the place of the one she lost, and the time and encouragement to pursue her gift. Alex writes in every spare moment, gripped by the plots and themes and characters that fill her mind. Midway through college, she has finished a novel—and manages to find a seasoned agent, then a publisher. But as she climbs the ladder of publishing success, she resolutely adheres to her father’s admonition: Men read crime thrillers by men only—and so Alexandra Winslow publishes under the pseudonym Alexander Green, her true identity known only to those closest to her, creating a double life that isolates her. Her secret life as the mysterious and brilliantly successful Alexander Green—and her own life as a talented young woman—expose her to the envious, the arrogant, and Hollywood players who have no idea who she really is. Always, the right time to open up seems just out of reach, and would cost her dearly. Once her double life and fame are established, the price of the truth is always too high.

4
2
THE STORE
James Patterson and Richard DiLallo
Cover of THE STORE

THE STORE

by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

The Store doesn't just want your money – it wants your soul. The Store is history's most powerful retailer. It can deliver anything to your door, using your data to anticipate needs and desires you didn't even know you had. Most people are fine with that. But for Jacob and Megan, writers whose livelihood is on the brink of extinction, The Store is the enemy – and it's fighting dirty. Going undercover to expose The Store's dirty secrets, their investigation could change the American way of life – but as they make a series of unsettling discoveries, their worst fears start to look like a best-case scenario. Harbouring a secret that could get him killed, Jacob knows he must escape The Store's watchful eye and publish the truth. Because otherwise, the truth dies with him.

5
1
CAMINO ISLAND
John Grisham
Cover of CAMINO ISLAND

CAMINO ISLAND

by John Grisham · Doubleday

13 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Soak up the sun—and the intrigue—with the first novel in John Grisham’s beloved Camino series. “A happy lark [that] provides the pleasure of a leisurely jaunt periodically jolted into high gear, just for the fun and speed of it.”—The New York Times Book Review A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, but Princeton has insured it for twenty-five million dollars. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts. Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous offer of money convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close enough to him to learn his secrets. But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise as only John Grisham can deliver it. Look for all of John Grisham’s rollicking Camino novels: Camino Island Camino Winds Camino Ghosts

6
NEW
MY ABSOLUTE DARLING
Gabriel Tallent
Cover of MY ABSOLUTE DARLING

MY ABSOLUTE DARLING

by Gabriel Tallent · Riverhead

1 wks on list

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST NBCC JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FINALIST ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017 ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST’S MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017 ONE OF NPR’S ‘GREAT READS’ OF 2017 A USA TODAY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR AN AMAZON.COM BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A BUSINESS INSIDER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Impossible to put down." —NPR "A novel that readers will gulp down, gasping.” —The Washington Post "The word 'masterpiece' has been cheapened by too many blurbs, but My Absolute Darling absolutely is one." —Stephen King A brilliant and immersive, all-consuming read about one fourteen-year-old girl's heart-stopping fight for her own soul. Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At fourteen, she roams the woods along the northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous: Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father. Then Turtle meets Jacob, a high-school boy who tells jokes, lives in a big clean house, and looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. And for the first time, the larger world begins to come into focus: her life with Martin is neither safe nor sustainable. Motivated by her first experience with real friendship and a teenage crush, Turtle starts to imagine escape, using the very survival skills her father devoted himself to teaching her. What follows is a harrowing story of bravery and redemption. With Turtle's escalating acts of physical and emotional courage, the reader watches, heart in throat, as this teenage girl struggles to become her own hero—and in the process, becomes ours as well. Shot through with striking language in a fierce natural setting, My Absolute Darling is an urgently told, profoundly moving read that marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

7
4
SEEING RED
Sandra Brown
Cover of SEEING RED

SEEING RED

by Sandra Brown · Grand Central

3 wks on list

From a New York Times bestselling author, a tale of thrilling sexual tension and vengeance without mercy. Kerra Bailey is a TV journalist chasing a career-changing story: an interview with hero Major Franklin Trapper, who led survivors to safety after a hotel bombing twenty-five years ago. Kerra will do anything for this story–even if she has to secure an introduction from his estranged son, former ATF agent John Trapper. Trapper wants no association with the bombing or the Major, but Kerra rouses his interest despite himself. When the interview goes catastrophically awry, Trapper realizes he's close to discovering who was responsible for the Dallas bombing. Kerra and Trapper join forces to expose a sinuous network of lies and conspiracy––and uncover the identity of who would want to kill a national hero.

8
3
THE LATE SHOW
Michael Connelly
Cover of THE LATE SHOW

THE LATE SHOW

by Michael Connelly · Little, Brown

7 wks on list

Introducing Renee Ballard, a fierce young detective fighting to prove herself on the LAPD's toughest beat, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Renee Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood--also known as the Late Show--beginning many investigations but finishing none, as each morning she turns everything over to the day shift. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor. But one night she catches two assignments she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the investigations entwine, they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won't give up her job, no matter what the department throws at her.

9
1
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW
Amor Towles
Cover of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

by Amor Towles · Viking Press

41 wks on list

Selected as a BOOK OF THE YEAR in THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND IRISH TIMES More than half a million readers have fallen in love with the New York Times bestseller A Gentleman in Moscow ‘This novel is astonishing, uplifting and wise. Don’t miss it’ Chris Cleave ‘No historical novel this year was more witty, insightful or original than Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow’ Sunday Times, Books of the Year ‘Charming ... shows that not all books about Russian aristocrats have to be full of doom and nihilism’ The Times, Books of the Year On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval. Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?

10
NEW
STAR WARS: PHASMA
Delilah S. Dawson
Cover of STAR WARS: PHASMA

STAR WARS: PHASMA

by Delilah S. Dawson · Del Rey

1 wks on list

Discover Captain Phasma’s mysterious history in the official prequel to The Last Jedi, the highly anticipated blockbuster film directed by Rian Johnson. One of the most cunning and merciless officers of the First Order, Captain Phasma commands the favor of her superiors, the respect of her peers, and the terror of her enemies. But for all her renown, Phasma remains as virtually unknown as the impassive expression on her gleaming chrome helmet. Now, an adversary is bent on unearthing her mysterious origins—and exposing a secret she guards as zealously and ruthlessly as she serves her masters. Deep inside the Battlecruiser Absolution, a captured Resistance spy endures brutal interrogation at the hands of a crimson-armored stormtrooper—Cardinal. But the information he desires has nothing to do with the Resistance or its covert operations against the First Order. What the mysterious stormtrooper wants is Phasma’s past—and with it whatever long-buried scandal, treachery, or private demons he can wield against the hated rival who threatens his own power and privilege in the ranks of the First Order. His prisoner has what Cardinal so desperately seeks, but she won’t surrender it easily. As she wages a painstaking war of wills with her captor, bargaining for her life in exchange for every precious revelation, the spellbinding chronicle of the inscrutable Phasma unfolds. But this knowledge may prove more than just dangerous once Cardinal possesses it—and once his adversary unleashes the full measure of her fury.

11
4
THE LYING GAME
Ruth Ware
Cover of THE LYING GAME

THE LYING GAME

by Ruth Ware · Scout Press

6 wks on list

'I could not put this book down' Reese Witherspoon' IT ISN'T A GAME WHEN SOMEBODY DIES The text message arrives in the small hours of the morning: I need you. Isa drops everything, takes her baby daughter and heads straight to Salten. She spent the most significant days of her life at boarding school on the marshes there, days which still cast their shadow over her. Isa and her three best friends used to play the Lying Game, competing to convince people of outrageous stories. Now, after seventeen years of hiding the truth, something terrible has been found on the beach. The friends' darkest secret is about to come to light... ______________________ Praise for THE LYING GAME: 'Atmospheric, mysterious, gripping' Marian Keyes 'Surprising twists' Daily Mail 'Another heart-stopping belter of a thriller from an epic talent' Heat 'A gripping, unpredictable narrative that shifts like sand underfoot' Erin Kelly

12
6
ANY DREAM WILL DO
Debbie Macomber
Cover of ANY DREAM WILL DO

ANY DREAM WILL DO

by Debbie Macomber · Ballantine

4 wks on list

Troubled Shay and recently widowed Pastor Drew find the strength to overcome their painful histories. Now, they can face the challenge of learning to trust and love again-- together. But it will take courage and faith for her and Drew to find healing and open their hearts to a brighter future.

13
2
BEFORE WE WERE YOURS
Lisa Wingate
Cover of BEFORE WE WERE YOURS

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS

by Lisa Wingate · Ballantine

7 wks on list

THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller “Poignant, engrossing.”—People • “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection This edition includes a new essay by the author about shantyboat life.

14
NEW
INTO THE WATER
Paula Hawkins
Cover of INTO THE WATER

INTO THE WATER

by Paula Hawkins · Riverhead

17 wks on list

‘Wondering if Into the Water could be as good as The Girl on the Train? It's better. A triumph.’ Clare Mackintosh, bestselling author of I Let You Go The addictive No. 1 psychological thriller from the author of The Girl on the Train, the runaway Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller and global phenomenon. ***** Just days before her sister plunged to her death, Jules ignored her call. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules must return to her sister's house to care for her daughter, and to face the mystery of Nel's death. But Jules is afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of this small town that is drowning in secrecy . . . And of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. ***** ‘Paula Hawkins does it again! Into the Water is a moody and chilling thriller that will have you madly turning the pages. A gripping, compulsive read!’ Shari Lapena, bestselling author of The Couple Next Door ‘Fans of Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train rejoice: her second novel Into the Water is even better. A brilliantly plotted and fast-paced juggernaut of a read that hurtles to a heart-stopping conclusion.’ Good Housekeeping (Book of the Month) ‘A twisting whodunnit that leaves you both gratified and surprised (also the best kind) . . . Not just a brilliant thriller but also a furious feminist howl . . .’ Stylist ‘Dark, gothic and twisty as a snake in the grass. I read it in one sitting.’ Erin Kelly, author of He Said, She Said ‘Into the Water is superb. Sinister layers, complex characters and a plot that'll keep you guessing.’ Ali Land, author of Good Me, Bad Me ***PAULA HAWKINS' ADDICTIVE NEW THRILLER, THE BLUE HOUR IS NOW AVAILABLE***

15
NEW
THE BURNING GIRL
Claire Messud
Cover of THE BURNING GIRL

THE BURNING GIRL

by Claire Messud · Norton

A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist "[A] masterwork of psychological fiction.… Messud teases readers with a psychological mystery, withholding information and then cannily parceling it out." —Chicago Tribune Julia and Cassie have been friends since nursery school. They have shared everything, including their desire to escape the stifling limitations of their birthplace, the quiet town of Royston, Massachusetts. But as the two girls enter adolescence, their paths diverge and Cassie sets out on a journey that will put her life in danger and shatter her oldest friendship. The Burning Girl is a complex examination of the stories we tell ourselves about youth and friendship, and straddles, expertly, childhood’s imaginary worlds and painful adult reality—crafting a true, immediate portrait of female adolescence. Claire Messud, one of our finest novelists, is as accomplished at weaving a compelling fictional world as she is at asking the big questions: To what extent can we know ourselves and others? What are the stories we create to comprehend our lives and relationships? Brilliantly mixing fable and coming-of-age tale, The Burning Girl gets to the heart of these matters in an absolutely irresistible way. The Burning Girl was named one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue, NPR, Financial Times, Town & Country, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Refinery29, and Literary Hub.

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