Books to Movies

(108 books)

Books that have inspired some great (and not so great) movies - is the book always better than the movie?
Schindler's List

Schindler's List

Thomas Keneally

4.631982History
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A novel based on the true story of how German war profiteer and factory director Oskar Schindler came to save more Jews from the gas chambers than any other single person during World War II.In this milestone of Holocaust literature, Thomas Keneally uses the actual testimony of the Schindlerjuden—Schindler’s Jews—to portray the courage and cunning of a good man in the midst of unspeakable evil.Endorsements“Extraordinary” — New York Review of Books“Astounding… in this case the truth is far more powerful than anything the imagination could invent” — Newsweek

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

4.091936Romance
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Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell's huge historical epic is a timeless tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided by issues of slavery and racism and of a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O'Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler.Since its first publication in 1936, Gone With The Wind has endured as an epic love story set in a time almost beyond our comprehension.Tomorrow is another day...

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn

4.212012Thriller
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On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller.Marriage can be a real killer. An unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.Endorsements“Draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” — Chicago TribuneNew York Times bestseller — Gillian Flynn

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants

Sara Gruen

3.922006Romance
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When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

The Giver

The Giver

Lois Lowry

3.911993Adventure
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It's a perfect world where everything looks right, but ugly truths lie beneath the surface. It is the future. There is no war, no hunger, no pain. No one in The Community wants for anything. Everyone is provided for. Each Family Unit is entitled to one female and one male child. Each member of The Community has their profession carefully chosen for them by the Committee of Elders, and the Committee never makes a mistake. Jonas, a sensitive twelve-year-old boy, had never thought there was anything wrong with his Community—until one day. From the moment Jonas is selected as the Receiver of Memory at The Ceremony, his life is never the same. Jonas discovers that The Community is not as perfect as it seems. Although they appear to have everything, they are missing something of great importance. It is up to Jonas, with the help of the Giver, to find what had been lost long ago. And so Jonas embarks on an adventure to save the world as he knows it.Simply and beautifully written, The Giver is sure to touch the heart of every reader. Lois Lowry deals with issues of everyday life that are so often taken for granted. Through the noble character of Jonas, she presents a glimpse of what could be the future. As the tension in the novel mounts, so does the number of questions that Lowry confronts the reader with. The Giver is a book of courage and adventure, and most importantly, one of deep thought. Once readers make contact with Lowry's treasure, they may never see things exactly the same. Lowry presents a forceful novel that demands to be heard and philosophically dealt with.

The Shining

The Shining

Stephen King

4.311977Fantasy
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Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote—and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

James Dashner

4.222009Fantasy
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When the lift cranks open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone — an army of boys welcomes him to the Glade, an encampment at the centre of a terrible maze. The Gladers have no idea why they're there, or what's happened to the world outside. And following the arrival of a girl with a message, they must find a way out — or die.

Atonement

Atonement

Ian McEwan

4.432001Romance
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Ian McEwan’s symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses the flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

Michael Crichton

4.381990Horror
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An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind's most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them — for a price. Until something goes wrong.In Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton taps all his mesmerizing talent and scientific brilliance to create his most electrifying technothriller.A classic thriller of science run amok that took the world by storm.EndorsementsNo. 1 New York Times bestseller"Wonderful... powerful." — The Washington Post Book World"Frighteningly real... compelling... It'll keep you riveted." — The Detroit News"Crichton's dinosaurs are genuinely frightening." — Chicago Sun-Times"Full of suspense." — The New York Times Book Review

Holes

Holes

Louis Sachar

3.901998Adventure
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Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.

The Color Purple

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

4.351982Historical Fiction
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A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery and Sofia and their experience. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker's epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.Read the original inspiration for the new, boldly reimagined film from producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino.EndorsementsWinner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.“Reading The Color Purple was the first time I had seen Southern, Black women’s literature as world literature. In writing us into the world—bravely, unapologetically, and honestly—Alice Walker has given us a gift we will never be able to repay.” — Tayari Jones“The Color Purple was what church should have been, what honest familial reckoning could have been, and it is still the only art object in the world by which all three generations of Black artists in my family judge American art.” — Kiese Laymon

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson

4.252005Thriller
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Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of iniquity and corruption.Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into a complex and atmospheric novel.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

John Boyne

4.412006Young Adult
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The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it's about.If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence.

The Road

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

4.132006Horror
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A post-apocalyptic classic set in a burned-out America, a father and his young son walk under a darkened sky, heading slowly for the coast. They have no idea what, if anything, awaits them there. The Road is a masterpiece of American fiction from Cormac McCarthy.The landscape is destroyed. Nothing moves save the ash on the wind. Cruel, lawless men stalk the roadside, lying in wait. Attempting to survive in this brave new world, the young boy and his protector have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves. They must keep walking.In this unflinching study of the best and worst of humankind, Cormac McCarthy boldly divines a future without hope, but one in which, miraculously, this young family may yet find tenderness.Adapted into a critically-acclaimed film starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.EndorsementsWinner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.'The Road made me cry for days.' — Emma Donoghue, author of Room and Haven.'[T]he most important environmental book ever written.' — George Monbiot, author of Feral and Regenesis.

Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier

3.881997Romance
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Cold Mountain is a novel about a soldier’s perilous journey back to his beloved near the Civil War's end. At once a love story and a harrowing account of one man’s long walk home, Cold Mountain introduces a new talent in American literature.Based on local history and family stories passed down by Frazier’s great-great-grandfather, Cold Mountain is the tale of a wounded Confederate soldier, Inman, who walks away from the ravages of the war and back home to his prewar sweetheart, Ada. His odyssey through the devastated landscape of the soon-to-be-defeated South interweaves with Ada’s struggle to revive her father’s farm with the help of an intrepid young drifter named Ruby. As their long-separated lives begin to converge at the close of the war, Inman and Ada confront the vastly transformed world they’ve been delivered to.Frazier reveals insight into human relations with the land and the dangers of solitude. He also shares, with the great 19th-century novelists, a keen observation of a society undergoing change. Cold Mountain recreates a world gone by that speaks to our time.

The Hours

The Hours

Michael Cunningham

3.951998Historical Fiction
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'The Hours' is a daring and deeply affecting novel inspired by the life and work of Virginia Woolf. It is a passionate, profound, and haunting story of love and inheritance, hope and despair.

The Godfather

The Godfather

Mario Puzo

4.441969Thriller
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With its brilliant and brutal portrayal of the Corleone family, The Godfather burned its way into our national consciousness. This unforgettable saga of crime and corruption, passion and loyalty continues to stand the test of time, as the definitive novel of the Mafia underworld.It is the original classic that has often been imitated, but never matched. A tale of family and society, law and order, obedience and rebellion, it reveals the dark passions of human nature played out against a backdrop of the American dream.EndorsementsNominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read.A #1 New York Times bestseller in 1969.Adapted into the film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Eat, Pray, Love

Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert

3.842006Romance
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A celebrated writer's irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and what she really wanted out of life.Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone.Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way—unexpectedly.An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada

Lauren Weisberger

4.212003Romance
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Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.The Devil Wears Prada gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

4.392005Young Adult
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Here is a small fact - you are going to die.1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.Some important information - this novel is narrated by Death.Endorsements'Life affirming, triumphant and tragic . . . masterfully told. . . but also a wonderful page-turner' — Guardian'Brilliant and hugely ambitious' — New York Times'Extraordinary' — Telegraph

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Supremacy

Robert Ludlum

4.111986Adventure
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Re-enter the shadowy world of Jason Bourne, an expert assassin still plagued by the splintered nightmares of his former life. This time the stakes are higher than ever. For someone else has taken on the Bourne identity—a ruthless killer who must be stopped or the world will pay a devastating price. To succeed, the real Jason Bourne must maneuver through the dangerous labyrinth of international espionage—an exotic world filled with CIA plots, turncoat agents, and ever-shifting alliances—all the while hoping to find the truth behind his haunted memories and the answers to his own fragmented past. This time there are two Bournes—and one must die.A killer with no face, no identity and a name the world wanted to forget: Jason Bourne

The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans

James Fenimore Cooper

3.701826Adventure
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During the fierce French and Indian Wars, an adroit scout named Hawkeye and his companion Chingachgook weave through the spectacular and dangerous wilderness of upstate New York, fighting to save the Munro sisters from the Huron renegade Magua.The Last of the Mohicans is the most popular of James Fenimore Cooper’s five Leatherstocking Tales. With its death-defying chases and teeth-clenching suspense, this American classic established many archetypes of American frontier fiction. An engrossing “Western” by America’s first great novelist, The Last of the Mohicans is a story of survival and treachery, love and deliverance.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

4.371813Romance
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Pride and Prejudice is one of the most cherished love stories in English literature, delighting generations of readers with its high comedy, social observation and compelling romance, and spawning an entire industry of spin-off books, film adaptations and works of literary criticism. The pride of high-ranking Mr Darcy and the prejudice of middle-class Elizabeth Bennet conduct an absorbing dance through the rigid social hierarchies of early-nineteenth-century England, with the passion of the two unlikely lovers growing as their union seems ever more improbable.With a host of Bennet sisters playing out their own triumphs and disasters, and the unforgettable tragicomedy of their parents’ marriage demonstrating just how high the stakes can be, Jane Austen’s second novel has a lasting effect on everyone who reads it.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

J R R Tolkien

4.521954Adventure
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Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power - the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring - the ring that rules them all - which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as the Ring is entrusted to his care. He must leave his home and make a perilous journey across the realms of Middle-earth to the Crack of Doom, deep inside the territories of the Dark Lord. There he must destroy the Ring forever and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of young and old alike.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins

4.472008Fantasy
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In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.Could you survive on your own in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

4.052012Young Adult
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Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd

4.082001Young Adult
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Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four years old. Now, at fourteen, she yearns for forgiveness and a mother's love. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh and unforgiving father, she has only one friend, Rosaleen, a Black servant.When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily chooses to flee with her. Fugitives from justice, the pair follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world as about the mystery surrounding her mother.The Secret Life of Bees: a novel about a young girl's journey toward healing and the transforming power of love.Endorsements'I adored The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings, which were both wise, charming and sensual' — Santa Montefiore'A wonderful book, by turns sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris' — Daily Telegraph'Charming, funny, moving' — The Times'Wonderfully written, powerful, poignant . . . read it' — Joanna TrollopeQueen's Reading Room pick 2023 — Queen's Reading Room

Fight Club

Fight Club

Chuck Palahniuk

4.261996Thriller
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Chuck Palahniuk showed himself to be his generation’s most visionary satirist in this, his first book. Fight Club’s estranged narrator leaves his lackluster job when he comes under the thrall of Tyler Durden, an enigmatic young man who holds secret after-hours boxing matches in the basement of bars. There, two men fight "as long as they have to." This is a gloriously original work that exposes the darkness at the core of our modern world.

The Silver Linings Playbook

The Silver Linings Playbook

Matthew Quick

3.982008Romance
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Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. His God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him — the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat's now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he's being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he's being hunted by Kenny G!In this enchanting novel, Matthew Quick takes us inside Pat's mind, showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing perspective.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Truman Capote

3.851958Romance
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“What I've found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany's. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits...”Meet Holly Golightly — a free-spirited, lopsided romantic girl about town. With her tousled blond hair and upturned nose, dark glasses and chic black dresses, Holly is a style sensation wherever she goes. Her apartment rocks to Martini-soaked parties and she plays hostess to millionaires and gangsters alike. Yet Holly never loses sight of her ultimate dream — to find a real-life place like Tiffany's that makes her feel at home.Full of sharp wit and exuberant, larger-than-life characters that vividly capture the restless, madcap era of 1940s New York, Breakfast at Tiffany's will make you fall in love, perhaps for the first time, with a book.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer

4.212005Historical Fiction
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A heartrending and unforgettable novel set in the aftermath of 9/11.In a vase in a closet, a couple of years after his father died on 9/11, nine-year-old Oskar discovers a key. The key belonged to his father—he's sure of that. But which of New York's 162 million locks does it open? So begins a quest that takes Oskar — inventor, letter-writer and amateur detective — across New York's five boroughs and into the jumbled lives of friends, relatives and complete strangers. He gets heavy boots, he gives himself little bruises and he inches ever nearer to the heart of a family mystery that stretches back fifty years. But will it take him any closer to, or even further from, his lost father?Adapted into a feature film with Tom Hanks.Endorsements"Utterly engaging, hugely involving, tragic, funny and intensely moving... A heartbreaker." — Spectator"The most incredible fictional nine-year-old ever created... a funny, heart-rending portrayal of a child coping with disaster. It will have you biting back the tears." — Glamour"Pulsates with dazzling ideas." — Times Literary Supplement"It's a miracle... So impeccably imagined, so courageously executed, so everlastingly moving." — Baltimore Sun"Jonathan Safran Foer is a writer of considerable brilliance." — Observer

Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary's Baby

Ira Levin

4.141967Horror
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Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband takes a shine to them.Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant — and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets' circle is not what it seems…

American Psycho

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis

3.711991Horror
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Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and works on Wall Street. He is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to a head-on collision with America's greatest dream—and its worst nightmare—American Psycho is a bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognize but do not wish to confront.

The World According to Garp

The World According to Garp

John Irving

4.101978Classics
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This is the life of T.S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields—a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes—even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with "lunacy and sorrow"; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than forty countries, this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."

The Bridges of Madison County

The Bridges of Madison County

Waller

3.691992Romance
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The Bridges of Madison County tells the story of Robert Kincaid, the photographer and free spirit searching for the covered bridges of Madison County, and Francesca Johnson, the farm wife waiting for the fulfillment of a girlhood dream. It gives voice to the longings of men and women everywhere—and shows us what it is to love and be loved so intensely that life is never the same again.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

4.162001Adventure
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After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger, and Pi — a 16-year-old Indian boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years. Yann Martel's Life of Pi is a transformative novel, a dazzling work of imagination that will delight and astound readers in equal measure. It is a triumph of storytelling and a tale that will, as one character puts it, make you believe in God.

Rebecca

Rebecca

Daphne Du Maurier

4.481938Romance
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On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows the man she has married. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump

Winston Groom

4.011986Adventure
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It's Forrest Gump as you've never seen him before, but just as lovable as ever.At 6'6", 240 pounds, Forrest Gump is a difficult man to ignore. Follow Forrest from the football dynasties of Bear Bryant to the Vietnam War, from encounters with Presidents Johnson and Nixon to powwows with Chairman Mao.Go with Forrest to Harvard University, to a Hollywood movie set, on a professional wrestling tour, and into space on the oddest NASA mission ever.The wonderfully warm, savagely barbed, and hilariously funny novel that inspired the iconic film starring Tom Hanks.Discover the bestselling novel that inspired the classic Oscar-winning film.Endorsements"Rollicking, bawdy" — People"Superbly controlled satire" — Washington Post"Joyously madcap" — Publishers Weekly

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ken Kesey

4.001962Psychology
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In this classic of the 1960s, Ken Kesey's hero is Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, brawling, fun-loving rebel who swaggers into the world of a mental hospital and takes over. A lusty, life-affirming fighter, McMurphy rallies the other patients around him by challenging the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. He promotes gambling in the ward, smuggles in wine and women, and openly defies the rules at every turn. But this defiance, which starts as a sport, soon develops into a grim struggle, an all-out war between two relentless opponents: Nurse Ratched, backed by the full power of authority, and McMurphy, who has only his own indomitable will. What happens when Nurse Ratched uses her ultimate weapon against McMurphy provides the story's shocking climax.

The Silence Of The Lambs

The Silence Of The Lambs

Thomas Harris

4.311988Horror
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FBI trainee Clarice Starling has an elusive serial killer to hunt. Only one man can help: psychopathic cannibal Hannibal Lecter. The serial killer nicknamed 'Buffalo Bill' has been capturing and starving women, then murdering and skinning them. FBI rookie Clarice Starling is assigned to solicit help from imprisoned psychopath Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter, whose insight into the depraved minds of serial killers is second to none. But in exchange for inviting her into the darkest chambers of his mind, Hannibal begins to probe at hers, demanding knowledge of her childhood demons as the price of understanding Buffalo Bill's. Clarice knows how dangerous this man is, and the terrible things he can do with this information. But women are still disappearing, and time is running out...The classic thriller behind the Oscar-winning movie.

The First Time I Saw Him

The First Time I Saw Him

Laura Dave

3.812026Thriller
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Laura Dave continues Hannah Hall’s journey in the sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me.Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California. Together, they’ve forged a relationship with Bailey’s grandfather Nicholas and are putting the past behind them.But when Owen shows up at Hannah’s new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again.Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them. As a thrilling drama unfolds, Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety—and finds there just might be a way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance.A pulse-pounding, riveting, and deeply moving sequel. A gripping, rich novel about the power of forgiveness.Endorsements#1 New York Times bestseller — The New York Times"Genuinely moving." — The New York Times

The Notebook

The Notebook

Nicholas Sparks

4.331996Romance
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Noah Calhoun has just returned from World War II. Attempting to escape the ghosts of battle, he tries to concentrate on restoring an old plantation home to its former glory. And yet he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met there fourteen years before, a girl who captured his heart like no other.But when these distant memories begin to slide into reality, the passion that had lain still is ignited once more. Though so much stands in their way, the miraculous force of their love refuses to fade.How far can love endure?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

4.451979Science Fiction Fantasy
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Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formerly Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time in between? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

Alexandra Fuller

4.572001Autobiography
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Alexandra Fuller was the daughter of white settlers in 1970s war-torn Rhodesia. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is a memoir of that time, when a schoolgirl was as likely to carry a shotgun as a satchel. Fuller tells a story of civil war; of a quixotic battle against nature and loss; and of her family's unbreakable bond with a continent that came to define, shape, scar and heal them. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she looks back with rage and love at an extraordinary family and an extraordinary time.

The Seven Dials Mystery

The Seven Dials Mystery

Agatha Christie

3.801929Thriller
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Gerry Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper, so the other houseguests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6:30 a.m. But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank then backfired, with tragic consequences.For Jimmy Thesiger in particular, the words "Seven Dials" were to take on a new and chilling significance...A practical joke goes chillingly, murderously wrong in Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie’s classic detective story, The Seven Dials Mystery.

Conclave

Conclave

Robert Harris

4.132016Religion
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The Pope is dead.Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election.They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.

The Outrun

The Outrun

Amy Liptrot

4.012015Autobiography
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At the age of thirty, Amy Liptrot finds herself washed up back home on Orkney. Standing unstable on the island, she tries to come to terms with the addiction that has swallowed the last decade of her life. As she spends her mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, her days tracking Orkney's wildlife, and her nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy discovers how the wild can restore life and renew hope.EndorsementsThe Sunday Times top ten bestsellerWinner of the 2016 Wainwright PrizeShortlisted for the 2017 Ondaatje PrizeShortlisted for the 2016 Wellcome Prize

Kensuke's Kingdom

Kensuke's Kingdom

Michael Morpurgo

4.121999Adventure
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I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday.Washed up on an island in the Pacific, Michael struggles to survive on his own. With no food and no water, he curls up to die. When he wakes, there is a plate beside him of fish, of fruit, and a bowl of fresh water. He is not alone ...Kensuke's Kingdom is a gripping adventure from the author of War Horse.EndorsementsKensuke's Kingdom was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and won the FCB Award.Michael Morpurgo has won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Award, the Circle of Gold Award and the Children's Book Award, and has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.'A dazzling adventure' — The Times

Arrival

Arrival

Ted Chiang

4.262002Science Fiction Fantasy
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From a soaring Babylonian tower that connects a flat Earth with the heavens above, to a world where angelic visitations are a wondrous and terrifying part of everyday life; from a neural modification that eliminates the appeal of physical beauty, to an alien language that challenges our very perception of time and reality... Chiang's rigorously imagined stories invite us to question our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

Finding Her Edge

Finding Her Edge

Jennifer Iacopelli

3.312022Romance
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Adriana Russo is figure skating royalty, born to gold-medalist parents and an equally talented sister. Adriana's dream? To conquer the Junior World Championships and uphold the family legacy. But when the family's legendary skating rink faces financial ruin, everything she's worked for is at risk.Training with her new partner, Brayden, ignites a chemistry that convinces the world their on-ice connection isn't only for show. The fake-dating ruse gains traction, and Adriana realizes she may actually be falling for Brayden. But then her past crashes into her present when Freddie, her former partner and first crush, reenters the scene.As the biggest competition of her life draws closer and her family's legacy hangs in the balance, Adriana is torn between the future she's worked so hard for with Brayden and the one she gave up long ago with Freddie. Will she find her edge and claim her place at the top, or will her heart lead her in a different direction?A swoony YA sports romance filled with fake dating drama, reality show rumours and a love triangle that's heating up on and off the ice. Perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Jenny Han.Endorsements"Sure to ignite dreams and warm hearts." — Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times bestselling author of A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Rebecca Wells

3.671996Chick Lit
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When Siddalee Walker, oldest daughter of Vivi Abbott Walker, Ya-Ya extraordinaire, is interviewed in the New York Times about a hit play she's directed, her mother gets described as a "tap-dancing child abuser." Enraged, Vivi disowns Sidda.Devastated, Sidda begs forgiveness, and postpones her upcoming wedding. All looks bleak until the Ya-Yas step in and convince Vivi to send Sidda a scrapbook of their girlhood mementos, called "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." As Sidda struggles to analyze her mother, she comes face to face with the tangled beauty of imperfect love, and the fact that forgiveness, more than understanding, is often what the heart longs for.Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood may call to mind Prince of Tides in its unearthing of family darkness; in its unforgettable heroines and irrepressible humor and female loyalty, it echoes Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

Perfume

Perfume

Patrick Süskind

4.291985Horror
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Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is abandoned on the filthy streets of eighteenth-century Paris as a baby, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Gradually he learns how to exploit this gift in the art of creating the most sublime perfumes in France. Yet there is one odour he cannot capture: the scent of an innocent young virgin. In order to perfect his experiments, he must have this final ingredient — at any cost.Perfume is a bewitching, darkly humorous tale of desire, obsession and death.

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

4.321939Historical Fiction
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First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America.The Grapes of Wrath summed up its era in the way that Uncle Tom’s Cabin summed up the years of slavery before the Civil War. Sensitive to fascist and communist criticism, Steinbeck insisted that “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” be printed in its entirety in the first edition of the book—which takes its title from the first verse: “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American classics.EndorsementsThe Pulitzer Prize–winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized—and sometimes outraged—millions of readers.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary

Helen Fielding

4.061996Romance
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A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something?Helen Fielding's devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton launched a genre and transcended the pages of fiction to become a cultural icon.

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas

David Mitchell

4.002004Fantasy
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A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan's California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified diner server on death row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation — the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other's echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.In his extraordinary third novel, David Mitchell erases the boundaries of language, genre and time to offer a meditation on humanity's dangerous will to power, and where it may lead us.'Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies ...'

An Offer From a Gentleman

An Offer From a Gentleman

Julia Quinn

3.882001Romance
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Will she accept the offer before the clock strikes midnight?Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball. Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, waltzing in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.Who was that extraordinary woman? Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps, this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid's garb. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. If he offers her his heart, will he sacrifice his only chance for a fairy-tale love?

The Housemaid

The Housemaid

Freida McFadden

4.452022Thriller
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Don't miss the New York Times and USA Today bestseller and addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist that’s burning up Instagram and TikTok--Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid is perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, and Verity.Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.But I reassure the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.They don’t know what I’m capable of…

Animal Farm

Animal Farm

George Orwell

4.141945Fantasy
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“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned—a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.

Man on Fire

Man on Fire

A.J. Quinnell

4.281980Thriller
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Known only as Creasy, he was hired to protect, not to kill. A battle-scarred, burnt-out mercenary, working as a bodyguard for the young daughter of an Italian industrialist, he thought he had lost the power of feeling until the girl's beguiling touch awakened in him the ability to love.Then something happened, something so devastating that Creasy was consumed by a single-minded rage for revenge. At a stroke he was transformed into the terrifying killing machine he had been trained to be...

H is for Hawk

H is for Hawk

Helen Macdonald

4.332014Nonfiction
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As a child, Helen Macdonald was determined to become a falconer. She learned the arcane terminology and read all the classic books, including T.H. White's tortured masterpiece, "The Goshawk," which describes White's struggle to train a hawk as a spiritual contest.When her father dies and she is knocked sideways by grief, she becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk. She buys Mabel for £800 on a Scottish quayside and takes her home to Cambridge. Then she fills the freezer with hawk food and unplugs the phone, ready to embark on the long, strange business of trying to train this wildest of animals.Destined to be a classic of nature writing, "H is for Hawk" is a record of a spiritual journey - an unflinchingly honest account of Macdonald's struggle with grief during the difficult process of the hawk's taming and her own untaming. At the same time, it's a kaleidoscopic biography of the brilliant and troubled novelist T. H. White, best known for "The Once and Future King." It's a book about memory, nature and nation, and how it might be possible to try to reconcile death with life and love.

Mickey7

Mickey7

Edward Ashton

3.782022Science Fiction
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Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.

Three Bags Full

Three Bags Full

Leonie Swann

3.652005Fantasy
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Something is not right with George the shepherd. His sheep have gathered around him outside the cozy Irish village of Glennkill to assess the situation. George has cared for the sheep, reading them books every night, and now he lies pinned to the ground with a spade. His flock, far savvier about the workings of the human mind than your average sheep, sets out to find George’s killer, led by Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world).Her team of investigators includes Othello, who was rescued from the Dublin Zoo; Mopple the Whale, who is always hungry and remembers everything; and Zora, an existential ewe—just to name a few. Together, the sheep discuss the crime late into the night, and their speculations vary wildly. Determined to unravel the mystery, they embark on furtive missions into the village, where they encounter a hoof-full of two-legged suspects. There’s Ham, the terrifying butcher who smells of death; Rebecca, the secretive village newcomer; and Father Will, a sinister priest the sheep call God.With wit and heart, this is a mystery to chew on—and savor.EndorsementsSoon to be a major motion picture starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson, this funny and surprising mystery features a new breed of detectives you’ve got to read to baaaaa-lieve.

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt

4.352022Magical Realism
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After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

The Deal

The Deal

Elle Kennedy

4.322015Romance
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Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she's carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush's attention, she'll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice...even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he's worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he's all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn't take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn't going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy... ...and it's going to be oh so goodEndorsementsNew York Times bestseller Elle Kennedy brings you the first in the sexy Off-Campus series.

The Testaments

The Testaments

Margaret Atwood

4.422019Science Fiction
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When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead.Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades. With The Testaments, the wait is over.Endorsements"Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." — Margaret Atwood

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Rufi Thorpe

4.042024Chick Lit
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As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet has always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and she soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling, like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world.EndorsementsPEN/Faulkner finalist

Vladimir

Vladimir

Julia May Jonas

3.452022Romance
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“When I was a child, I loved old men, and I could tell that they also loved me.”And so we are introduced to our deliciously incisive narrator: a popular English professor whose charismatic husband at the same small liberal arts college is under investigation for his inappropriate relationships with his former students.The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extra-marital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both. And when our narrator becomes increasingly infatuated with Vladimir, a celebrated, married young novelist who’s just arrived on campus, their tinder box world comes dangerously close to exploding.A provocative, razor-sharp, and timely debut novel about a beloved English professor facing a slew of accusations against her professor husband by former students—a situation that becomes more complicated when she herself develops an obsession of her own. With this bold, edgy, and uncommonly assured debut, author Julia May Jonas takes us into charged territory, where the boundaries of morality bump up against the impulses of the human heart. Propulsive, darkly funny, and wildly entertaining, Vladimir perfectly captures the personal and political minefield of our current moment, exposing the nuances and the grey area between power and desire.

Hamnet

Hamnet

Maggie O'Farrell

4.322020Historical Fiction
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On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week.Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.Two extraordinary people. A love that draws them together. A loss that threatens to tear them apart.EndorsementsWinner of the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction"Richly sensuous... something special" — The Sunday Times"A thing of shimmering wonder" — David Mitchell

The One Hundred Nights of Hero

The One Hundred Nights of Hero

Isabel Greenberg

4.402016Graphic Novels
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In the tradition of The Arabian Nights, a beautifully illustrated tapestry of folk tales and myths about the secret legacy of female storytellers in an imagined medieval world.In the Empire of Migdal Bavel, Cherry is married to Jerome, a wicked man who makes a diabolical wager with his friend Manfred: if Manfred can seduce Cherry in one hundred nights, he can have his castle—and Cherry.But what Jerome doesn't know is that Cherry is in love with her maid Hero. The two women hatch a plan: Hero, a member of the League of Secret Story Tellers, will distract Manfred by regaling him with a mesmerizing tale each night for 100 nights, keeping him at bay.Those tales are beautifully depicted here, touching on themes of love and betrayal and loyalty and madness.As intricate and richly imagined as the works of Chris Ware, and leavened with a dry wit that rivals Kate Beaton's in Hark! A Vagrant, Isabel Greenberg's One Hundred Nights of Hero will capture readers' hearts and minds, taking them through a magical medieval world.

Peter Hujar's Day

Peter Hujar's Day

Linda Rosenkrantz

4.192021Art
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On December 18, 1974, Linda Rosenkrantz asked her friend Peter Hujar to write down everything he did one day. Hujar met Rosenkrantz at her apartment on 94th Street the following day, where she asked him about it in detail. Rosenkrantz taped their conversation, and this book is the full transcript of that exchange, published here for the first time since it was recorded 47 years earlier.Edited and designed by Jordan Weitzman and Francis Schichtel. With an introduction by Stephen Koch.

I Wish You All the Best

I Wish You All the Best

Mason Deaver

4.172019Romance
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It's just three words: I am nonbinary. But that's all it takes to change everything.When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.At turns heartbreaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.

The Running Man

The Running Man

Richard Bachman

3.891982Horror
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Ben Richards is out of work and out of luck. His eighteen-month-old daughter is sick, and neither Ben nor his wife can afford to take her to a doctor. For a man from the poor side of town with no cash and no hope, there's only one thing to do: become a contestant on one of the Network's Games, shows where you can win more money than you've ever dreamed of — or die trying. Now Ben's going prime-time on the Network's highest-rated viewer participation show. And he's about to become a prey for the masses...In the year 2025, the best men don't run for president, they run for their lives...

Wicked

Wicked

Gregory Maguire

3.531995Fantasy
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When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

Heated Rivalry

Heated Rivalry

Rachel Reid

4.712019Romance
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Nothing interferes with Shane Hollander’s game—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate.Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option…

The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10

Ruth Ware

3.472016Thriller
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Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins.The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests are jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea.At first, Lo's stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant.But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies gather, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard.The problem? All passengers remain accounted for, and so the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo's desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

The Ballad of a Small Player

The Ballad of a Small Player

Lawrence Osborne

3.512014Mystery
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‘I waited patiently for the next hand to be played out, and I had a feeling it was going to be a Natural, a perfect nine.’His name is Lord Doyle.His plan: to gamble away his last days in the dark and decadent casino halls of Macau.His game: baccarat punto blanco — 'that slutty dirty queen of casino card games.'Though Doyle is not a Lord at all. He is a fake; a corrupt lawyer who has spent a career siphoning money from rich clients. And now he is on the run, determined to send the money — and himself — up in smoke.So begins a beguiling, elliptical velvet rope of a plot: a sharp suit, yellow kid gloves, another naughty lemonade and an endless loop of small wins and losses. When Lady Luck arrives in the form of Dao-Ming, a beautiful yet enigmatic lost soul, so begins a spectacular and unnatural winning streak in which millions come Doyle’s way. But in these shadowy dens of risk and compulsion, in a land governed by superstition, Doyle knows that when the bets are high, the stakes are even greater.The Ballad of a Small Player is a sleek, dark-hearted masterpiece: a ghost story set in the land of the living, and a decadent morality tale of a Faustian pact made, not with the devil, but with fortune’s fickle hand.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

3.891818Horror
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Obsessed with the secret of creation, Swiss scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein cobbles together a body he’s determined to bring to life. And one fateful night, he does. When the creature opens his eyes, the doctor is repulsed: his vision of perfection is, in fact, a hideous monster. Dr. Frankenstein abandons his creation, but the monster won’t be ignored, setting in motion a chain of violence and terror that shadows Victor to his death.Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a gripping story about the ethics of creation and the consequences of trauma, is one of the most influential Gothic novels in British literature. It is as relevant today as it is haunting.

Regretting You

Regretting You

Colleen Hoover

4.242019Romance
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Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

The Girlfriend

The Girlfriend

Michelle Frances

3.762017Thriller
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The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances is a gripping and chilling debut psychological thriller, based on the fallout following an unforgivable lie. It looks at the potentially charged relationship between girlfriend, boyfriend and his mother, which most women can identify with, and locates it in an extreme but believable setting.Laura has it all. A successful career, a long marriage to a rich husband, and a twenty-three-year-old son, Daniel, who is kind, handsome, and talented. Then Daniel meets Cherry. Cherry is young, beautiful, and smart, but she hasn't had the same opportunities as Daniel. And she wants Laura's life.Cherry comes to the family wide-eyed and wants to be welcomed with open arms, but Laura suspects she's not all that she seems.When tragedy strikes, an unforgivable lie is told. It is an act of desperation, but the fallout will change their lives forever.A girl. A boy. His mother. And the lie she'll wish she'd never told. Perfect for fans of Into the Water.

The History of Sound

The History of Sound

Ben Shattuck

4.262024Historical Fiction
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A stunning collection of interconnected stories set in New England, exploring how the past is often misunderstood and how history, family, heartache, and desire can echo over centuriesIn twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families.The haunting title story recalls the journey of two men who meet around a piano in a smoky, dim bar, only to spend a summer walking the Maine woods collecting folk songs in the shadow of the First World War, forever marked by the odyssey. Decades later, in another story, a woman discovers the wax cylinders recorded that fateful summer while cleaning out her new house in Maine. Shattuck’s inventive, exquisite stories transport readers from 1700s Nantucket to the contemporary woods of New Hampshire and beyond—into landscapes both enduring and unmistakably modern. Memories, artifacts, paintings, and journals resurface in surprising and poignant ways among evocative beaches, forests, and orchards, revealing the secrets, misunderstandings, and love that linger across centuries.Written with breathtaking humanity and humor, The History of Sound is a love letter to New England, a radiant conversation between past and present, and a moving meditation on the abiding search for home.

Paradise

Paradise

Lizzie Johnson

4.322021Nonfiction
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The definitive firsthand account of California's Camp Fire—the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century—and a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies as the climate crisis unfoldsOn November 8, 2018, the people of Paradise, California, awoke to a mottled gray sky and gusty winds. Soon the Camp Fire was upon them, gobbling an acre a second. Less than two hours after it ignited, residents were trapped in flames, cremated in their homes and cars. By the next morning, eighty-five people were dead.San Francisco Chronicle reporter Lizzie Johnson was there as the town of Paradise burned. She saw the smoldering rubble of a historic covered bridge and the beloved Black Bear Diner, and she stayed long afterward, visiting shelters, hotels, and makeshift camps. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and reams of public records, including 911 calls and testimony from a grand jury investigation, Johnson provides a minute-by-minute account of the Camp Fire, following residents and first responders as they fight to save themselves and their town. We see a young mother fleeing with her newborn; a school bus full of children in search of an escape route; and a group of paramedics, patients, and nurses trapped in a cul-de-sac, fending off the fire with rakes and hoses.Johnson documents the unfolding tragedy with empathy and nuance. But she also investigates the root causes, from runaway climate change to a deeply flawed alert system to Pacific Gas and Electric's decades-long neglect of critical infrastructure. A cautionary tale for a new era of megafires, Paradise is the gripping story of a town wiped off the map and the determination of its people to rise again.

The Summer Book

The Summer Book

Tove Jansson

4.031972Classics
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An elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. Gradually, the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and yearnings for independence, and a fierce yet understated love emerges — one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the island itself, with its mossy rocks, windswept firs and unpredictable seas.Full of brusque humour and wisdom, The Summer Book is a profoundly life-affirming story. Tove Jansson captured much of her own experience and spirit in the book, which was her favourite of the novels she wrote for adults.

Shy

Shy

Max Porter

3.582023Literary Fiction
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Shy is a novel about guilt, rage, imagination and boyhood. It is about being lost in the dark, and realising you are not alone.You mustn't do that to yourself, Shy. You mustn't hurt yourself like that.He is wandering into the night listening to the voices in his head: his teachers, his parents, the people he has hurt and the people who are trying to love him.Got your special meds, nutcase?He is escaping Last Chance, a home for 'very disturbed young men', and walking into the haunted space between his night terrors, his past and the heavy question of his future.This is the story of a few strange hours in the life of a troubled teenage boy.

Vineland

Vineland

Thomas Pynchon

3.731990Classics
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Vineland, a zone of blessed anarchy in northern California, is the last refuge of hippiedom, a culture devastated by the sobriety epidemic, Reaganomics, and the Tube. Here, in an Orwellian 1984, Zoyd Wheeler and his daughter Prairie search for Prairie's long-lost mother, a Sixties radical who ran off with a narc. Vineland is vintage Pynchon, full of quasi-allegorical characters, elaborate unresolved subplots, corny songs ("Floozy with an Uzi"), movie spoofs (Pee-wee Herman in The Robert Musil Story ), and illicit sex (including a macho variation on the infamous sportscar scene in V. ).For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

My Oxford Year

My Oxford Year

Julia Whelan

3.892018Romance
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Gazing up at the dreaming spires of Oxford, American student Ella Duran can’t believe she has finally arrived at Oxford University.A new life starts, and not even Ella’s handsome lecturer Jamie Davenport can distract her from her classes. But, as the term goes on, Ella can’t deny the growing attraction between them — an attraction that soon turns to love.And when Ella learns of Jamie’s life-changing secret, their relationship becomes deeper than Ella could have ever anticipated.As Ella’s Oxford year draws to a close, she must decide whether the dreams she arrived with are the same ones with which she will leave…

The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club

Richard Osman

4.232020Thriller
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In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?Endorsements"Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so VERY funny" — Marian Keyes"So smart and funny. Deplorably good" — Ian Rankin"Thrilling, moving, laugh-out-loud funny" — Mark BillinghamThe Times — Crime Book of the MonthGuardian — Best Crime and Thrillers"A warm, wise and witty warning never to underestimate the elderly" — Val McDermid"I completely fell in love with it" — Shari Lapena"This is properly brilliant. The pages fly and I can't stop smiling" — Steve Cavanagh"Steeped in Agatha Christie joy" — Araminta Hall"Pure escapism" — Guardian"As gripping as it is funny" — Evening Standard"An exciting new talent in crime fiction" — Daily Mail"A witty and poignant tale" — Daily Telegraph"Funny and original" — Sun

Caught Stealing

Caught Stealing

Charlie Huston

4.002004Crime
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Henry “call me Hank” Thompson used to play California baseball. Now he tends to a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. When two Russians in tracksuits beat Hank to a pulp, he gets the clue: someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it.Within twenty-four hours, Hank is running over rooftops, playing hide-and-seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor. All because of some Russian hoods and a flat-out freakshow of goons. All because once, in another life, the only thing Hank wanted to steal was third base—without getting caught.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Lois Duncan

3.411973Horror
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It was only an accident but it would change their lives forever.Last summer, four terrified friends made a desperate pact to conceal a shocking secret. But now, someone has learned the truth, and the horror is starting again. There is an unknown avenger out there who is stalking them in a deadly game. Will he stop at terror--or is he out for revenge?This summer, four friends are going to learn that some secrets just won't stay buried.

If It Bleeds

If It Bleeds

Stephen King

3.992020Horror
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From the legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King comes a collection of four new novellas. Readers adore Stephen King's novels, and his novellas are their own dark treats, briefer but just as impactful and enduring as his longer fiction. Many of his novellas have been made into iconic films, including "The Body" (Stand By Me) and "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" (Shawshank Redemption).In the title story, reader favorite Holly Gibney (from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider) must face her fears, and possibly another outsider—this time on her own. In "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" an intergenerational friendship has a disturbing afterlife. "The Life of Chuck" explores, beautifully, how each of us contains multitudes. And in "Rat," a struggling writer must contend with the darker side of ambition.If these novellas show King's range, they also prove that certain themes endure. One of King's great concerns is evil, and in If It Bleeds, there's plenty of it. There is also evil's opposite, which in King's fiction often manifests as friendship—Holly is reminded that friendship is not only life-affirming but can be life-saving. Young Craig befriends Mr. Harrigan, and the sweetness of this late-in-life connection is its own reward.Four brilliant new tales in If It Bleeds are sure to prove as iconic as their predecessors. Once again, King's remarkable range is on full display.EndorsementsNo. 1 New York Times bestseller."Exactly what I wanted to read right now." — Ruth Franklin, The New York Times Book Review."Phenomenal." — Brian Truitt, USA TODAY.

The Amateur

The Amateur

Robert Littell

3.831981Thriller
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Charlie Heller is an ace cryptographer for the CIA, a quiet man in a quiet back-office job. When his fiancée, Sarah Diamond, is murdered by terrorists at the American Embassy in West Germany and the Company refuses to pursue her killers, Heller takes matters into his own hands. Tracking down Sarah’s killers behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, Heller becomes both the hunter and the hunted—an amateur facing off against the world’s deadliest assassins and spies. But nothing will stop him from getting revenge.

Long Bright River

Long Bright River

Liz Moore

4.042020Thriller
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Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then, one of them goes missing.In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit—and her sister—before it's too late.Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.

Dope Thief

Dope Thief

Dennis Tafoya

3.772009Crime
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Ray and his best friend, Manny, have been close ever since they met in juvie almost twenty years ago, and they have a great scam going: with a couple of fake badges and some DEA windbreakers they found at a secondhand store, they pose as federal agents and rip off small-time drug dealers, taking their money and drugs and disappearing before anyone is the wiser. It’s the perfect sting: the dealers they target are too small to look for revenge and too guilty to call the police; nobody has to die, nobody innocent gets hurt, and Ray and Manny score plenty.But it can’t last forever. Eventually they choose the wrong mark and walk out with hundreds of thousands of dollars. A heavy hitter, more than willing to kill to get his money back, is coming after them. Now Ray couldn’t care less about the score. He wants out—out of the scam, out of a life he feels like he never chose. Whether the victim of his latest job—not to mention his partner—will let him is another question entirely.Dennis Tafoya brings a rich, passionate, and accomplished new voice to the explosive story of a small-time crook with everything to lose in Dope Thief, his outstanding hardboiled debut.

The Electric State

The Electric State

Simon Stålenhag

4.442017Science Fiction
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In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her small yellow toy robot travel west through a strange American landscape where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, along with the discarded trash of a high-tech consumerist society addicted to a virtual-reality system. As they approach the edge of the continent, the world outside the car window seems to unravel at an ever-faster pace, as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in.A teen girl and her robot embark on a cross-country mission in this illustrated science fiction story, perfect for fans of Ready Player One and Black Mirror.

The Friend

The Friend

Sigrid Nunez

3.772018Animals
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When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.

The Last Anniversary

The Last Anniversary

Liane Moriarty

3.782006Romance
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Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one she let get away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was to propose, she broke his heart. A year later he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island -- home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery.Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family where it seems everyone has a secret. Grace, a beautiful young mother, is feverishly planning a shocking escape from her perfect life. Margie, a frumpy housewife, has made a pact with a stranger, while dreamy Aunt Rose wonders if maybe it's about time she started making her own decisions.As Sophie's life becomes increasingly complicated, she discovers that sometimes you have to stop waiting around — and come up with your own fairy-tale ending.

A Bear Called Paddington

A Bear Called Paddington

Michael Bond

4.231958Fantasy
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Paddington Bear had traveled all the way from Peru when the Browns first met him in Paddington Station. Since then, their lives have never been quite the same... For ordinary things become extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved.First published in 1958, A Bear Called Paddington is the first novel by Michael Bond, chronicling the adventures of this lovable bear. Paddington has charmed readers for generations with his earnest good intentions and humorous misadventures.The classic novel about Paddington—who's now a major movie star!

Dog Man

Dog Man

Dav Pilkey

4.562024Graphic Novels
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In Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, discover the origin of our beloved characters from the Dog Man series as they join forces to stop the Space Cuties from destroying the city. Will the past predict the future for Dog Man and his friends? Will goodness and bravery prevail? Can anything happen if you truly believe?From master graphic novelist and award-winning illustrator Dav Pilkey.

Postmortem

Postmortem

Patricia Cornwell

4.031990Mystery
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Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a human monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it's being sabotaged from within and someone wants her dead.

Reminders of Him

Reminders of Him

Colleen Hoover

4.312022Romance
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A troubled young mother yearns for a shot at redemption in this heartbreaking yet hopeful story. After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter's life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself. The only person who hasn't closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna's daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna's life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them. The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.Endorsements#1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover.

Imperfect Women

Imperfect Women

Araminta Hall

3.392020Mystery
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When Nancy Hennessy is murdered, she leaves behind two best friends, an adoring husband and daughter, and a secret lover whose identity she took to the grave. Nancy was gorgeous, wealthy, and cherished by those who knew her—from the outside, her life was perfect. But as the investigation into her death flounders and her friends Eleanor and Mary wrestle with their grief, dark details surface that reveal how little they knew their friend, each other, and maybe even themselves.Imperfect Women explores guilt and retribution, love and betrayal, and the compromises we make that alter our lives irrevocably.A gripping, immersive novel about impossible expectations and secrets that fester and become lethal, Imperfect Women unfolds through the perspectives of three fascinating women. Their enduring, complex friendship is the knot the reader must untangle to answer the question Who killed Nancy? With the wickedly sharp insights and finely tuned suspense that has drawn comparisons to Patricia Highsmith and Paula Hawkins, Araminta Hall returns with another page-turning, thought-provoking tour de force.Endorsements"Creeps on you slowly, like a fog, until you find yourself enveloped in this tangled skein of relationships, eager to see how all this is going to play out, who is going to betray whom and in what way." — Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review"A psychological thriller in the truest sense of the word . . . At points I was folding pages repeatedly." — Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

4.632021Fantasy
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Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.Or does he?

Box Hill

Box Hill

Adam Mars-Jones

3.572020Historical Fiction
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On the Sunday of his eighteenth birthday, in 1975, Colin takes a walk on Box Hill, a biker hang-out. There he accidentally trips over Ray, a biker taking a nap under a tree. Ray immediately takes control of the situation, and Colin moves in with him that night. A sizzling, sometimes shocking and strangely tragic love story between two men, BOX HILL, the winner of the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize, is a stunning novel of desire and domination by one of Britain's most accomplished writers.

People We Meet on Vacation

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

3.842021Romance
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Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car-share home from college many years ago, they became the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

The Beauty, Vol. 1

The Beauty, Vol. 1

Jeremy Haun

3.732016Horror
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Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty. What if there was a way to guarantee you could become more and more beautiful every day? What if it was a sexually transmitted disease? In the world of The Beauty, physical perfection is only one sexual encounter away. The vast majority of the population has taken advantage of it, but Detectives Vaughn and Foster will soon discover it comes at a terrible cost. Now, they'll have to find their way past corrupt poiticians, vengeful federal agents, and a terrifying mercenary out to collect the price on their heads. Collects the first six issues of the critically acclaimed, Pilot Season winning series by writer/artist JEREMY HAUN (Constantine, Batwoman) and co-writer JASON A. HURLEY. ...a high concept that is, frankly, genius... - multiversitycomics.com This is absolutely a book to check out. - all-comic.com ...one of the strongest introductions to a series in a long time... comicbookresources.com"

The Museum of Innocence

The Museum of Innocence

Orhan Pamuk

3.772008Romance
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A stirring exploration of the nature of romance in late 1970s Istanbul.It is 1975, a perfect spring in Istanbul. Kemal and Sibel, children of two prominent families, are about to become engaged. But when Kemal encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation, he becomes enthralled. And once they violate the code of virginity, a rift begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul bourgeoisie. In his pursuit of Füsun over the next eight years, Kemal becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn progress—amassing a museum that is both a map of a society and of his heart.EndorsementsOrhan Pamuk — Nobel Prize winner"one of the great novelists" — The Washington Post

Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

4.151847Romance
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"May you not rest, as long as I am living. You said I killed you — haunt me, then"Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: of the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.

56 Days

56 Days

Catherine Ryan Howard

3.752021Thriller
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56 days ago, Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.35 days ago, when lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him. She sees a unique opportunity for a new relationship to flourish without the pressure of scrutiny of family and friends. He sees it as an opportunity to hide who — and what — he really is.Today, detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.Will they be able to determine what really happened, or has lockdown provided someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?No one knew they'd moved in together. Now one of them is dead. Could this be the perfect murder?

This Is Not a Test

This Is Not a Test

Courtney Summers

3.842012Young Adult
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Sloane Price knows there are worse things than the end of the world, so when the zombie apocalypse happens, the opportunity to escape her violent home life offers no relief. She’s already lost the one thing that matters most—her sister—and now seems like the perfect time to give up.But when she inadvertently ends up barricaded in her high school with five other teens, their desperate and volatile bids for survival force a series of impossible decisions.As the days creep by and the dead close in, Sloane must confront everything she thought she knew about life, death, survival, and sacrifice and—once and for all—make a choice.

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