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Hardcover Fiction

Week of July 2, 2023

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1
NEW
THE FIVE-STAR WEEKEND
Elin Hilderbrand
Cover of THE FIVE-STAR WEEKEND

THE FIVE-STAR WEEKEND

by Elin Hilderbrand · Little, Brown

3 wks at #1 · 1 on list

Escape to Nantucket for delicious drama, sizzling secrets, and one unforgettable weekend . . . The perfect summer novel from the New York Times bestselling 'queen of beach reads' FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE PERFECT COUPLE, NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES Hollis Shaw, creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis, finds her life turned upside down when her heart-surgeon husband is killed in a car accident on a snowy February morning. As Hollis searches for comfort, she discovers the idea of the 'Five Star Weekend': a gathering of the best friends from each stage of your life. But when Hollis decides to host her own version on Nantucket, the weekend isn't exactly a Hallmark movie... First, there's Tatum, Hollis's best friend growing up on Nantucket - and her husband's best friend, Jack, who just happens to be Hollis's first love. Then there's Dru-ann, her best friend from college, now a prominent Black female sports agent in Chicago, whose Twitter comments have just landed her - and her marriage - in hot water. Brooke is the best friend who helped raise her kids with Hollis during their thirties, until she was ousted from the local mum's group by Electra, self-appointed queen bee. But Brooke and Electra are finally meeting up to make amends this weekend . . . And lastly, Gigi, who reached out to Hollis on her food blog to become 'internet besties', but has never met her in real life. All the weekend needs is Hollis's daughter Caroline, a documentary student, who wants to film the entire party... What could possibly go wrong? Filled with the emotional depth and trademark cast-of-characters perspective of Hilderbrand's novels, The Five-Star Weekend promises a story of a remarkable weekend between friends-old and new-like no other.

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2
HAPPY PLACE
Emily Henry
Cover of HAPPY PLACE

HAPPY PLACE

by Emily Henry · Berkley

8 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry. “The beach-read master hooks us again."—People Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t. They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends. Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most. Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

4
2
CROSS DOWN
James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
Cover of CROSS DOWN

CROSS DOWN

by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois · Little, Brown

2 wks on list

NOW THE INSPIRATION FOR THE ORIGINAL SERIES 'CROSS' ON PRIME VIDEO 'James Patterson is the gold standard by which all others are judged.' Steve Berry 'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' Ian Rankin 'Nobody does it better.' Jeffrey Deaver ________________ With the country in chaos and corruption on all sides, there's only one person to turn to. When a series of military-style attacks erupt across the United States, Detective John Sampson is called in to investigate. The attacks are untraceable, with patterns too random to decipher, leaving Sampson struggling to find a link amongst the carnage. As Sampson discovers a lead through an ex-military contact, his partner Alex Cross is brutally side-lined, leaving him certain about one thing: he can trust no one. With soldiers called on secret assignments and others mysteriously disappearing, Sampson must revisit his military past if he's to save his country's future. ____________ Praise for the Alex Cross series 'Alex Cross is a legend' Harlan Coben 'A character for the ages' Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 'Alex Cross. . . only gets better and better' Lisa Scottoline 'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades. The Alex Cross series proves it' Lee Child Sunday Times bestseller, January 2024

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1
THE COVENANT OF WATER
Abraham Verghese
Cover of THE COVENANT OF WATER

THE COVENANT OF WATER

by Abraham Verghese · Grove Press

7 wks on list

OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER SUBJECT OF A SIX-PART SUPER SOUL PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY OPRAH WINFREY ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023 'One of the best books I've read in my entire life. It's epic. It's transportive . . . It was unputdownable!' Oprah Winfrey, OprahDaily.com Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water follows a family in southern India that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning - and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century a twelve-year-old girl, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this poignant beginning, the young girl and future matriarch - known as Big Ammachi - will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life, full of the joys and trials of love and the struggles of hardship. A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humour, deep emotion and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

6
NEW
DEMON COPPERHEAD
Barbara Kingsolver
Cover of DEMON COPPERHEAD

DEMON COPPERHEAD

by Barbara Kingsolver · Harper

WINNER OF THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION A New York Times "Ten Best Books of 2022 * An Oprah's Book Club Selection * An Instant New York Times Bestseller * An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller * A #1 Washington Post Bestseller "Demon is a voice for the ages--akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield--only even more resilient." --Beth Macy, author of Dopesick "May be the best novel of 2022. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love." (Ron Charles, Washington Post) From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities. Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.

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