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Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of November 24, 2019

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1
BLUE MOON
Lee Child

BLUE MOON

by Lee Child · Delacorte Press

2 wks at #1 · 2 on list

Jack Reacher offers aid to an elderly couple only to be confronted by the most dangerous opponents of his career, and finds himself in the middle of a turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.

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THE GUARDIANS
John Grisham
Cover of THE GUARDIANS

THE GUARDIANS

by John Grisham · Doubleday

4 wks on list

Books are leather-bound, signed and numbered, with printed endpapers, gold stamping, a slipcase, and a ribbon marker. The suspense never rests in John Grisham's pulse-pounding new legal thriller. The latest novel from the New York Times #1 bestselling author moves at breakneck speed, delivering some of his most inventive twists and turns yet. In the small north Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues behind. There were no witnesses, no real suspects, no one with a motive. The police soon settled on Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo's. Quincy was framed, convicted, and sent to prison for life. For twenty-two years he languished in prison with no lawyer, no advocate on the outside. Then he wrote a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small innocence group founded by a lawyer/minister named Cullen Post. Guardian handles only a few innocence cases at a time, and Post is its only investigator. He travels the South fighting wrongful convictions and taking cases no one else will touch. With Quincy Miller, though, he gets far more than he bargained for. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith Russo, and they do not want Quincy exonerated. They killed one lawyer twenty-two years ago, and they will kill another one without a second thought.

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THE STARLESS SEA
Erin Morgenstern
Cover of THE STARLESS SEA

THE STARLESS SEA

by Erin Morgenstern · Doubleday

1 wks on list

THE TIKTOK SENSATION Discover the enchanting, magical bestseller from the author of The Night Circus, now in a stunning new edition. We are all stardust and stories... When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a mysterious book containing details from his own life among its pages, it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Following the clues inside, he is guided to a masquerade ball, a dangerous secret club, and finally to an ancient library hidden far beneath the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians - it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. But when the library is threatened, Zachary must race through its twisting tunnels and sweetly soaked shores, searching for the end of his story. PRAISE FOR THE STARLESS SEA: 'Enchanting read... an ode to stories and storytelling itself, and the joy of reading' Independent 'Spellbinding' Daily Mirror 'A magical mix of quests and fables...beautifully written' Heat

4
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
Delia Owens
Cover of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

by Delia Owens · Putnam

62 wks on list

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE—The #1 New York Times bestselling worldwide sensation with more than 18 million copies sold, hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “a painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature.” New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

5
2
THE NIGHT FIRE
Michael Connelly
Cover of THE NIGHT FIRE

THE NIGHT FIRE

by Michael Connelly · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch come together again on the murder case that obsessed Bosch's mentor - but was this flame kept alive, or a secret that was meant to be snuffed out? Back when Harry Bosch was just a rookie homicide detective, he had an inspiring mentor who taught him to take the work personally and light the fire of relentlessness for every case. Now that mentor, J.J. Thompson, is dead, but after his funeral his widow hands Bosch a murder book that Thompson took with him when he left the LAPD 20 years before - the unsolved killing of a troubled young man in an alley used for drug deals. Bosch brings the murder book to Renée Ballard and asks her to help him find what about the case lit Thompson's fire all those years ago. That will be their starting point. The bond between Bosch and Ballard tightens as they become a formidable investigation team. And they soon arrive at a worrying question: Did Thompson steal the murder book to work the case in retirement, or to make sure it never got solved?

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1
THE GIVER OF STARS
Jojo Moyes
Cover of THE GIVER OF STARS

THE GIVER OF STARS

by Jojo Moyes · Pamela Dorman/Viking

5 wks on list

THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK The spellbinding story of love, community and the power of reading from the bestselling author of Me Before You ______ THE GREATEST LOVE STORY IS THE ONE YOU LEAST EXPECT . . . Alice Wright doesn't love her new American husband. Nor her domineering father-in-law or the judgmental townsfolk of Baileyville, Kentucky. Stifled and misunderstood, she yearns for escape and finds it in defiant Margery O'Hare and the sisterhood bringing books to the isolated and vulnerable. But when her father-in-law and the town turn against them, Alice fears the freedom, friendship and the new love she's found will be lost . . . ______ 'A beguiling tale of unlikely love. The most appealing thing is Moyes' wonderful way with romance. Delightful' The Times 'Beautiful, special . . . with characters so real they feel like dear friends. I loved it and didn't want it to end!' Liane Moriarty 'Inspiring and wildly romantic' Daily Mail, Books of the Year 'Her best book yet. It's a romance - but about female friends, the outdoors and the magic of reading' Grazia 'Epic' David Nicholls, bestselling author of One Day Jojo Moyes, Sunday Times bestseller, June 2024

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THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS
Lisa Jewell
Cover of THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS

THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS

by Lisa Jewell · Atria

1 wks on list

'Really good, gripping. I couldn't bear for it to finish... I don't want to move onto the next book too soon as it feels like a betrayal.' OLIVIA COLMAN 'I swear I didn't breathe the whole time I was reading it. Gripping, pacy, brilliantly twisty.' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'A twisty and engrossing story of betrayal and redemption.' IAN RANKIN ____________________ FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF INVISIBLE GIRL In a large house in London's fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up. In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note. They've been dead for several days. Who has been looking after the baby? And where did they go? Two entangled families. A house with the darkest of secrets. A compulsive thriller from Lisa Jewell. ____________________ 'Rich, dark and intricately twisted, this enthralling whodunnit mixes family saga with domestic noir to brilliantly chilling effect.' RUTH WARE 'You don't read a Lisa Jewell book, you fall into it. It takes huge talent to establish a whole world in the turn of two pages.' ERIN KELLY 'Creepy, intricate and utterly immersive- an excellent holiday read.' GUARDIAN 'I had an unrelentingly pleasurable and thrilling for-God's-sake-tell-me-what-happened sensation in my stomach for the entire read ... Stupendous!' RUTH JONES 'Absolutely brilliant. Great characterisation, a fascinating and dark set up and a great conclusion. She's always great but this is next level stuff.' SARAH PINBOROUGH 'Few writers of psychological suspense devise such swift, slippery plots; fewer still people their stories with characters so human and complex. Lisa's Jewell's The Family Upstairs glitters like a blade and cuts even deeper.' AJ FINN 'Whenever I pick up a Lisa Jewell novel I know I'm in for a compelling, immersive and unputdownable read and The Family Upstairs is one of her very best' CL TAYLOR 'I had hoped to save The Family Upstairs for my holiday, but failed miserably ... I was hooked from the first page. I think it's her best yet and hands down my favourite book so far this year.' ALICE FEENEY 'Utterly compelling. Deliciously dark and twisty with characters who live on in your head. Lisa Jewell just keeps getting better and better.' JANE CORRY 'It's absolutely bloody brilliant and I can't tell you much I wish I'd written it.' TAMMY COHEN 'It's SO GOOD!' INDIA KNIGHT 'I loved The Family Upstairs!' SARAH JESSICA PARKER ____________________ Readers are obsessed with The Family Upstairs- 'I read so many books in the crime/mystery genre that it becomes harder to find a book that stands out. This one succeeded!! Hooked from page one' 'I totally adored this book. All of Lisa Jewell's books are fabulous, but something about this one is extra special.' 'Absolutely absorbing ... thoroughly enjoyed it' 'Kept me captivated from the very beginning ... Definitely worth reading - as long you like reading into the night!' 'What a book. Clever would be an understatement. And those last pages left me with chills. The concept had me intrigued and the execution had me captivated. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!' #1 Bestseller in the UK, Sunday Times, August 2019

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THE INSTITUTE
Stephen King
Cover of THE INSTITUTE

THE INSTITUTE

by Stephen King · Scribner

9 wks on list

SOON TO BE A MAJOR SERIES FROM MGM + NO ONE HAS EVER ESCAPED FROM THE INSTITUTE. Luke Ellis, a super-smart twelve-year-old with an exceptional gift, is the latest in a long line of kids abducted and taken to a secret government facility, hidden deep in the forest in Maine. Here, kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - like Luke's new friends Kalisha, Nick and Iris, are subjected to a series of experiments. There seems to be no hope of escape. Until Luke teams up with an even younger boy whose powers of telepathy are off the scale. Meanwhile, far away in a small town in South Carolina, former cop Tim Jamieson, looking for the quiet life, has taken a job working for the local sheriff. He doesn't know he's about to take on the biggest case of his career . . . THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY OUT. 'It does everything you'd expect of a masterpiece - and it is one' Sunday Express 'Hums and crackles with delicious unease' Independent 'Captivating' The Sunday Times 'An absorbing thriller' Mail on Sunday 'An epic tale of childhood betrayal and hope regained... an immersive tale full of suspense and thrills that will keep readers up late at night racing towards a heartbreaking yet glorious finale... a dazzling achievement' Daily Express

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5
OLIVE, AGAIN
Elizabeth Strout
Cover of OLIVE, AGAIN

OLIVE, AGAIN

by Elizabeth Strout · Random House

4 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout continues the life of her beloved Olive Kitteridge, a character who has captured the imaginations of millions. “Strout managed to make me love this strange woman I’d never met, who I knew nothing about. What a terrific writer she is.”—Zadie Smith, The Guardian “Just as wonderful as the original . . . Olive, Again poignantly reminds us that empathy, a requirement for love, helps make life ‘not unhappy.’”—NPR ONE OF PEOPLE’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge is “a compelling life force” (San Francisco Chronicle). The New Yorker has said that Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” and she has never done so more clearly than in these pages, where the iconic Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, to move us, and to inspire us—in Strout’s words—“to bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can.” A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, Vogue, NPR, The Washington Post,Chicago Tribune, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Esquire, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, The New York Public Library, The Guardian, Evening Standard, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, BookPage

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NOEL STREET
Richard Paul Evans
Cover of NOEL STREET

NOEL STREET

by Richard Paul Evans · Gallery

1 wks on list

In this new offering from “the king of Christmas fiction” (The New York Times), #1 bestselling author Richard Paul Evans shares a story of heart, loyalty, and hope as he explores the deeper meaning of the holiday season and asks what it truly means to love and forgive. The year is 1975. Elle Sheen—a single mother who is supporting herself and her six-year-old, African-American son, Dylan, as a waitress at the Noel Street Diner—isn’t sure what to make of William Smith when his appearance creates a stir in the small town of Mistletoe, Utah. As their lives unexpectedly entwine, Elle learns that William, a recently returned Vietnam POW, is not only fighting demons from his past, but may also have the answer to her own secret pain—a revelation that culminates in a remarkable act of love and forgiveness.

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KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM CRY
Mary Higgins Clark
Cover of KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM CRY

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM CRY

by Mary Higgins Clark · Simon & Schuster

1 wks on list

An electrifying thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author and “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark! When investigative journalist Gina Kane receives an email from a “CRyan” describing her “terrible experience” while working at REL, a high-profile television news network, Gina knows she has to pursue the story. But when Ryan goes silent, Gina is shocked to discover the young woman has died tragically in a jet ski accident while on holiday. Meanwhile, REL counsel Michael Carter finds himself in a tricky spot as several more female employees have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. Carter approaches the CEO, offering to persuade the victims to accept settlements in exchange for their silence. It’s a risky endeavor, but it could well make him rich. As more allegations emerge, Carter’s attempts to keep the story from making headlines are matched only by Gina Kane’s determination to uncover the truth. Was Ryan’s death truly an accident? And when another accuser turns up dead, Gina realizes someone—or some people—will go to depraved lengths to keep the story from seeing the light. “Clark’s usual mixture now updated, with surprising and welcome assurance, for a new generation of imperiled women” (Kirkus Reviews).

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THE WATER DANCER
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Cover of THE WATER DANCER

THE WATER DANCER

by Ta-Nehisi Coates · One World

7 wks on list

"Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage--and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child--but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn't understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram's private rebellion. Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he's ever known. So begins an unexpected journey into the covert war on slavery that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the deep South to dangerously utopic movements in the North. Even as he's enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, all Hiram wants is to return to the Walker Plantation to free the family he left behind--but to do so, he must first master his magical gift and reconstruct the story of his greatest loss. This is a bracingly original vision of the world of slavery, written with the narrative force of a great adventure. Driven by the author's bold imagination and striking ability to bring readers deep into the interior lives of his brilliantly rendered characters, The Water Dancer is the story of America's oldest struggle--the struggle to tell the truth--from one of our most exciting thinkers and beautiful writers"--

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THE 19TH CHRISTMAS
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Cover of THE 19TH CHRISTMAS

THE 19TH CHRISTMAS

by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro · Little, Brown

5 wks on list

If the Women's Murder Club can't be together this Christmas, a killer is to blame. As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends in the Women's Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The medical examiner's office is quiet. Even the courts are showing some Christmas spirit. And the news cycle is so slow that journalist Cindy Thomas is on assignment to tell a story about the true meaning of the season for San Francisco. Then a fearsome criminal known only as "Loman" seizes control of the headlines. He is planning a deadly surprise for Christmas morning. And he has commissioned dozens of criminal colleagues to take actions that will mask his plans. All that Lindsay and the SFPD can figure out is that Loman's greed? for riches, for bloodshed, for attention? is limitless. Solving crimes never happens on schedule, but as this criminal mastermind unleashes credible threats by the hour, the month of December is upended for the Women's Murder Club. Avoiding tragedy is the only holiday miracle they seek.

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FINAL OPTION
Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison
Cover of FINAL OPTION

FINAL OPTION

by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison · Putnam

JOIN JUAN CABRILLO AND THE OREGON AS THEY GO UP AGAINST THEIR TWIN NEMESES IN THIS BLISTERING NOVEL FROM ADVENTURE KING, CLIVE CUSSLER 'An all-out nonstop action thriller . . . the best one yet. The story hits the gas pedal and never taps the brakes' Daily Mail __________ When a routine mission is compromised, Captain Juan Cabrillo learns of a sinister plot. Off the Brazilian coast is another one-legged captain, with a ship just like the Oregon. Same weaponry, same technology, same ability to evade capture. And when this wolf in sheep's clothing begins sinking innocent vessels, the truth becomes clear: Someone is out to frame Cabrillo and his crew. Not only is this impersonator as cunning as Cabrillo - his ship is also every bit as dangerous. Who is this nemesis from Cabrillo's past? What is it that they're after? To find answers will require terrible sacrifices from Cabrillo, his crew and even the Oregon itself . . . __________ 'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail 'The Adventure King' Sunday Express 'Nobody does it better . . . nobody!' Stephen Coonts 'Just about the best storyteller in the business' New York Post

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