Carol's Picks

Carol grew up as a typical bookworm, voraciously consuming all kinds of books from the Hardy Boys to Peanuts collections to Charlotte's Web to Dorrie and the Blue Witch. In junior high she went through a science fiction mini-phase and then a romance phase, before turning into an English major who read mostly classics. Yeah, Jane Austen!! Carol still loves a good literary novel, especially if there's a bit of a mystery in it. Sometimes a bit of romance, travel, or intrigue. Always, compelling characters and a delectable plot. For non-fiction, Carol picks and chooses a bit more, dipping in between fiction reads for something that makes her think even more deeply or makes her laugh or even better, makes her want to do some writing.

 

Staff Pick Badge
A Theater for Dreamers By Polly Samson Cover Image
$26.95
ISBN: 9781643751498
Availability: This book is not at our warehouse, but probably is available from another source. We'll contact you to let you know for sure.
Published: Algonquin Books - May 11th, 2021

"Sublime and immersive . . .


The Searcher: A Novel By Tana French Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780735224650
Availability: This book is not at our warehouse, but probably is available from another source. We'll contact you to let you know for sure.
This book is non-returnable except in the case of manufacturing defect.
Published: Viking - October 6th, 2020

Best Book of 2020
New York Times |NPR | New York Post

"This hushed suspense tale about thwarted dreams of escape may be her best one yet . . . Its own kind of masterpiece." --Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post


Transcription: A Novel By Kate Atkinson Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780316176668
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Back Bay Books - April 23rd, 2019

A dramatic story of WWII espionage, betrayal, and loyalty, by the #1 bestselling author of Life After Life


Holding: A Novel By Graham Norton Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781501173271
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Atria Books - May 8th, 2018

A New York Times bestseller

From Graham Norton—the BAFTA Award–winning and hugely popular BBC America television host—comes a charming debut novel set in an idyllic Irish village where a bumbling investigator has to sort through decades of gossip and secrets to solve a mysterious crime.


Celine: A novel (Vintage Contemporaries) By Peter Heller Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781101973486
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Vintage - January 2nd, 2018

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of The River and The Dog Stars comes another "gorgeously wrought story—equal parts character study and mystery—a young woman asks Celine, a badass Brooklyn private eye, to investigate the death of her father, a nature photographer" (Entertainment Weekly).


The Muse: A Novel By Jessie Burton Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780062409935
Availability: This book is not at our warehouse, but probably is available from another source. We'll contact you to let you know for sure.
Published: Ecco - May 16th, 2017

“Love, war, desire, and art—it’s all here.” —Elle

A picture hides a thousand words . . .


A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel By John Irving Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780062204097
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Mariner Books Classics - April 3rd, 2012

“A remarkable novel. . . . A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation. ... An amazingly brave piece of work ... so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. . . . Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world.” —STEPHEN KING, Washington Post


Staff Pick Badge
Beautiful Ruins: A Novel By Jess Walter Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780061928178
Availability: This book was in stock at the store 24 hours ago but could have sold since then. Please call to confirm if your order is urgent.
Published: Harper Perennial - April 2nd, 2013

The #1 New York Times bestseller—Jess Walter’s “absolute masterpiece” (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author): the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962 and resurfaces fifty years later in contemporary Hollywood.


The Vacationers: A Novel By Emma Straub Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781594633881
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Riverhead Books - June 2nd, 2015

"Delicious . . . richly riveting . . . The Vacationers offers all the delights of a fluffy, read-it-with-sunglasses-on-the-beach read, made substantial by the exceptional wit, insight, intelligence and talents of its author.”—People (four stars)


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel By Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780385341004
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback - May 5th, 2009

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A NETFLIX FILM • A remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

“Treat yourself to this book, please—I can’t recommend it highly enough.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love


I Capture the Castle: Movie Tie-In Edition By Dodie Smith Cover Image
$20.99
ISBN: 9780312316167
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
This book is non-returnable except in the case of manufacturing defect.
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - April 1st, 2003

One of the 20th century's most beloved novels is still winning hearts, Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle!

“This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met.” -- J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series


The Essex Serpent: A Novel By Sarah Perry Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780062666383
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Custom House - April 24th, 2018

NOW AN APPLE TV+ SERIES

Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction * Winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year *A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of The Year * Waterstones Book of the Year * Costa Book Award Finalist


The Brothers K By David James Duncan Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780553378498
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback - June 1st, 1996

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
 


Burial Rites By Hannah Kent Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780316243926
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Back Bay Books - April 1st, 2014

Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.


To the Bright Edge of the World: A Novel By Eowyn Ivey Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316242837
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Back Bay Books - August 29th, 2017

An atmospheric, transporting tale of adventure, love, and survival from the bestselling author of The Snow Child, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.


Sweet Tooth: A Novel By Ian McEwan Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780345803450
Availability: This book is not at our warehouse, but probably is available from another source. We'll contact you to let you know for sure.
Published: Anchor - July 2nd, 2013

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement, an “effortlessly seductive” novel (The New York Times) that masterfully entwines espionage and desire in an unforgettable story of intrigue, betrayal and love.


The Ghost Clause By Howard Norman Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780358305620
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Mariner Books - July 7th, 2020

National Book Award finalist Howard Norman delivers another “provocative . . . haunting”* novel, this time set in a Vermont village and featuring a missing child, a newly married private detective, and a highly relatable ghost.

*Janet Maslin, New York Times

Simon Inescort is no longer bodily present in his marriage.


Longbourn By Jo Baker Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780345806970
Availability: This book is not at our warehouse, but probably is available from another source. We'll contact you to let you know for sure.
Published: Vintage - June 17th, 2014

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR “Fans of Austen...will take particular pleasure” (People) in this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice.


My Brilliant Friend (HBO Tie-In Edition): Book 1: Childhood and Adolescence By Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (Translator) Cover Image
By Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (Translator)
$17.00
ISBN: 9781609455064
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Europa Editions - October 2nd, 2018

Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times-bestselling "enduring masterpiece" about a lifelong friendship between two women from Naples (The Atlantic).


The Bell in the Lake: A Novel (Sister Bells) By Lars Mytting, Deborah Dawkin (Translated by) Cover Image
By Lars Mytting, Deborah Dawkin (Translated by)
$27.00
ISBN: 9781419743184
Availability: This book is not at our warehouse, but probably is available from another source. We'll contact you to let you know for sure.
Published: The Overlook Press - September 29th, 2020

Lars Mytting’s engrossing epic novel The Bell in the Lake—a #1 bestseller in Norway—is the story of a young woman whose fate plays out against her village’s mystical church bells.
 
As long as people could remember, the stave church’s bells had rung over the isolated village of Butangen, Norway.


Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel By Celeste Ng Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780735224315
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Penguin Books - May 7th, 2019

The #1 New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and more


Snow By John Banville Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781335629036
Availability: Depending on warehouse location, this book could arrive at the store within 3-4 days, or it might take around 10 business days.
Published: Hanover Square Press - September 14th, 2021

*NATIONAL BESTSELLER*

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD*

A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick


April in Spain: A Detective Mystery By John Banville Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781335471406
Availability: This book is backordered at the warehouse. When you order, we'll contact you with more info about availability.
Published: Hanover Square Press - October 5th, 2021

Don't miss this page-turner for the mystery lover

*NATIONAL BESTSELLER*

Booker Prize winner John Banville returns with a dark and evocative new mystery set on the Spanish coast


Don't disturb the dead...