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Week of October 9, 2022

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1
NEW
DREAMLAND
Nicholas Sparks
Cover of DREAMLAND

DREAMLAND

by Nicholas Sparks · Random House

1 wks at #1 · 1 on list

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wish comes a poignant love story about risking everything for a dream - and whether it's possible to leave the past behind. Fate drew them together . . . but will their dreams tear them apart? Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, but tragedy grounded his dreams. Now the dust has settled, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, and Colby can't help but wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. Morgan is on her way to Nashville with plans to become a star and she wants Colby to come with her. While they are falling headlong in love, Beverly is on a heart-pounding journey of another kind. Fleeing an abusive husband with her six-year-old son, she is trying to piece together a new life in a small town far off the beaten track. Danger is never far and her money is fast running out. In the course of a single unforgettable week, three very different people will have their own ideas of love put to the test. As fate draws them together, they will each be forced to question whether the dream of a better life can ever overcome the weight of the past. Praise for Nicholas Sparks: 'This one won't leave a dry eye' Daily Mirror 'A fiercely romantic and touching tale' Heat 'An A-grade romantic read' OK! 'Pulls at the heartstrings' Sunday Times 'An absorbing page-turner' Daily Mail

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FAIRY TALE
Stephen King
Cover of FAIRY TALE

FAIRY TALE

by Stephen King · Scribner

3 wks on list

BIENVENIDOS AL LADO OSCURO DE ÉRASE UNA VEZ Estoy seguro de que puedo contar esta historia. También estoy seguro de que nadie se la creerá. Eso me da igual. Me basta con contarla. Para mí —y está claro que para muchos escritores, no solo los novatos como yo—, el problema es decidir por dónde empezar. (…) Y ahora, mientras pienso en esas cosas, veo un claro hilo que conduce a lo largo de los años hasta el señor Bowditch y el cobertizo cerrado con candado detrás de su vieja y ruinosa casa victoriana. Aunque un hilo puede romperse fácilmente. Por tanto, no un hilo, sino una cadena. Una cadena sólida. Y yo era el crío con el grillete en torno a la muñeca. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a 17-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher - for their world or ours. King’s storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle. Early in the Pandemic, King asked himself: “What could you write that would make you happy?” “As if my imagination had been waiting for the question to be asked, I saw a vast deserted city - deserted but alive. I saw the empty streets, the haunted buildings, a gargoyle head lying overturned in the street. I saw smashed statues (of what I didn’t know, but I eventually found out). I saw a huge, sprawling palace with glass towers so high their tips pierced the clouds. I saw a magic sundial that could turn back time. Those images released the story I wanted to tell.”

3
NEW
THE BULLET THAT MISSED
Richard Osman
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THE BULLET THAT MISSED

by Richard Osman · Pamela Dorman

1 wks on list

"It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case--their favorite kind--leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.The n a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot. While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?"--

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BLOWBACK
James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
Cover of BLOWBACK

BLOWBACK

by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois · Little, Brown

2 wks on list

'So hard to put down' The Express 'Turn up the heat' New York Times '[Patterson] always takes thrills to the next level' Pittsburgh Tribune _______________________________________ He's America's most brilliant president ever. He's also a psychopath. US president Keegan Barrett swept into office on his success as director of the CIA. Six months into his first term, he devises a clandestine power grab with a deadly motive: Revenge. President Barrett personally orders Special Agents Liam Grey and Noa Himel to execute his plan, but their loyalties are divided. As CIA agents they've sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all threats, both foreign and domestic. When the threat comes directly from the Oval Office, that's where the blowback begins. _______________________________________ Readers are loving Blowback . . . 'I loved this book!' 'Love James Patterson's books and once again, he doesn't disappoint.' 'A real page turner' 'Amazing storyline and hard to put down' 'Superb pace, gripping and unpredictable' 'Deserves 10 stars' 'Great read from start to finish' ______________________________________ Praise for James Patterson 'The master storyteller of our times' Hillary Rodham Clinton 'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades' Lee Child 'Nobody does it better' Jeffery Deaver 'A writer with an unusual skill at thriller plotting' Mark Lawson, Guardian 'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' Patricia Cornwell 'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' Ian Rankin

5
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LUCY BY THE SEA
Elizabeth Strout
Cover of LUCY BY THE SEA

LUCY BY THE SEA

by Elizabeth Strout · Random House

1 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of My Name is Lucy Barton and Olive Kitteridge comes a “poised and moving” (Vogue) novel about a divorced couple stuck together during lockdown—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart. “Strout’s understanding of the human condition is capacious.”—NPR A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Time, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, PopSugar, She Reads With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout turns her exquisitely tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton through the early days of the pandemic. As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea. Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we’re apart—the pain of a beloved daughter’s suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love. Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize

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THE BUTCHER AND THE WREN
Alaina Urquhart
Cover of THE BUTCHER AND THE WREN

THE BUTCHER AND THE WREN

by Alaina Urquhart · Zando

2 wks on list

THE CHILLING SERIAL KILLER THRILLER FROM THE CO-HOST OF CHART-TOPPING PODCAST MORBID 'AMAZING TWISTS. UNPUTDOWNABLE' SAMANTHA DOWNING 'CAPTIVATING. The reader might want to shut their eyes, but the joust between the killer and the pathologist makes that impossible' DAILY MAIL Wren was never afraid of the dark. Until she learned that some monsters are real . . . _________ In deep Louisiana, a serial killer with a taste for medical experimentation is completing his most ambitious project yet. The media call him 'The Butcher' - and, so far, he's proved impossible to catch. With her encyclopaedic knowledge of humanity's darkest minds, and years of experience examining their victims, forensic pathologist Dr Wren Muller is the best there is. The longer the Butcher's killing spree continues, the more determined she is to bring him to justice. And yet, he continues to elude her. As body after body piles up on Wren's examination table, her obsession grows. Pressure to put an end to the slaughter mounts. And her enemy becomes more brazen. How far is Wren willing to go to draw the Butcher into the light . . .? _________ An addictive read with straight-from-the-morgue details only an autopsy technician could provide, The Butcher and the Wren promises to ensnare all who enter. 'Can a medical examiner outsmart a serial killer? The Butcher and the Wren will keep you waiting for an answer until the last bloody page. Prepare to be disturbed. A deliciously dark debut' REA FREY, bestselling author for Not Her Daughter and Secrets of Our House

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ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE
Ashley Flowers with Alex Kiester
Cover of ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE

ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE

by Ashley Flowers with Alex Kiester · Bantam

6 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the propulsive debut novel from the host of the #1 true crime podcast Crime Junkie, a journalist uncovers her hometown’s dark secrets when she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor—and the disappearance of another girl twenty years later. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar You can’t ever know for sure what happens behind closed doors. Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the infamous case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist. But she’s always been haunted by the feeling that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice. When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembers—genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and to solve January’s murder once and for all. But the police, Natalie’s family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could January’s killer still be out there? Is it the same person who took Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night twenty years ago? Twisty, chilling, and intense, All Good People Here is a searing tale that asks: What are your neighbors capable of when they think no one is watching?

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2
CARRIE SOTO IS BACK
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Cover of CARRIE SOTO IS BACK

CARRIE SOTO IS BACK

by Taylor Jenkins Reid · Ballantine

4 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An epic adventure about a female athlete perhaps past her prime, brought back to the tennis court for one last grand slam” (Elle), from the author of Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo “A heart-filled novel about an iconic and persevering father and daughter.”—Time “Gorgeous. The kind of sharp, smart, potent book you have to set aside every few pages just to catch your breath. I’ll take a piece of Carrie Soto forward with me in life and be a little better for it.”—Emily Henry, author of Book Lovers and Beach Read ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, PopSugar, Glamour, Reader’s Digest Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan. At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever. In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.

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THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY
Matt Haig
Cover of THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

by Matt Haig · Viking Press

94 wks on list

Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?

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THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT
Maggie O'Farrell
Cover of THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT

THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT

by Maggie O'Farrell · Knopf

3 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The author of Hamnet—New York Times best seller and National Book Critics Circle Award winner—brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court. "O’Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station ... You may know the history, and you may think you know what’s coming, but don’t be so sure." —The Washington Post Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance. Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.

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DESPERATION IN DEATH
J.D. Robb
Cover of DESPERATION IN DEATH

DESPERATION IN DEATH

by J.D. Robb · St. Martin's

The #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a gripping new thriller that pits homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil... New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate. Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene. Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear--because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.

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