For fans of Maria Semple and Rainbow Rowell, a comedy-drama for the digital age: an epistolary debut novel about the ties that bind and break our hearts.Iris Massey is gone. But she's left something behind. For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris's last wish. Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris' big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who's been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy - funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet - that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.
Publisher: n/a
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9780062834676
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Hardcover
Beartown
By Backman, Fredrik
New York Times bestseller * The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream - and the price required to make it come true. "You'll love this engrossing novel." - People "Backman is a masterful writer, his characters familiar yet distinct, flawed yet heroic....There are scenes that bring tears, scenes of gut-wrenching despair, and moments of sly humor....A thoroughly empathetic examination of the fragile human spirit." - Kirkus ReviewsPeople say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
Publisher: n/a
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9781501160769
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Hardcover
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss
By Balasubramanyam, Rajeev
Follow the completely infuriating, utterly charming Professor Chandra as he tries to answer the biggest question of all: What makes us happy? "Professor Chandra is as acerbic and unbending a curmudgeon as one could wish to find scowling from the pages of a novel. Brilliant, pompous, and baffled by the world outside his Cambridge study, Chandra is forced on a reluctant quest to America to find himself and his family. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss is searingly funny, uplifting, and wonderful." - Helen Simonson, New York Times bestselling author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Summer Before the War Professor Chandra is an internationally renowned economist, divorced father of three (quite frankly baffling) children, recent victim of a bicycle hit-and-run - but so much more than the sum of his parts. In the moments after the accident, Professor Chandra doesn't see his life flash before his eyes but his life's work. He's just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize (again) , and even though he knows he should get straight back to his pie charts, his doctor has other ideas. All this work. All this success. All this stress. It's killing him. He needs to take a break, start enjoying himself. In short, says his doctor, he should follow his bliss. Professor Chandra doesn't know it yet, but he's about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.Advance praise for Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss"There's a long tradition of trying (and failing) to describe the spiritual search and the ineffable mystery without sounding like a pretentious snob or a sappy Pollyanna. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss manages to pull it off. The book tackles perennially difficult and deep questions with humor and humanity, beautiful writing, and a page-turning story line. I gave myself over to Professor Chandra's journey as he opens himself to self-examination, family healing, and a more courageous experience of being alive." - Elizabeth Lesser, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Open and co-founder, Omega Institute "I loved this beautiful, beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, it's written with exquisite care and verve, and it's so so so funny." - Marian Keyes, internationally bestselling author of Angels and Last Chance Saloon "A smart, funny, generous story about an eminent Indian economist who comes of age, finally, at seventy... comic and heartfelt, bracing and moving." - Susan Rieger, author of The Heirs
Publisher: n/a
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9780525511380
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Hardcover
Death and Other Happy Endings
By Cantor, Melanie
There's nothing like being told that in three months you'll be dead to make you think about what you really want in lifeJennifer Cole has just been told that she has a terminal blood disorder and has just three months to live--ninety days to say goodbye to friends and family, and to put her affairs in order. Ninety days to come to terms with a diagnosis that is unfair, unexpected, and completely unpronounceable. Focusing on the positives (she won't have to go on in a world without Bowie or Maya Angelou; she won't get Alzheimer's or Parkinson's like her parents, or have teeth that flop out at the mere mention of the word apple) , Jennifer realizes she only has one real regret: the relationships she's lost.Rather than running off to complete a frantic bucket list, Jennifer chooses to stay put and write a letter to the three most significant people in her life, to say the things she wished she'd said before but never dared: her overbearing, selfish sister, her jelly-spined, cheating ex-husband, and her charming, unreliable ex-boyfriend--and finally tell them the truth. At first, Jennifer feels cleansed by her catharsis. Liberated, even. Her ex-boyfriend rushes to her side and she even starts to build bridges with her sister Isabelle (that is, once Isabelle's confirmed that Jennifer's condition isn't genetic) . But once you start telling the truth, it's hard to stop. And as Jennifer soon discovers, the truth isn't always as straightforward as it seems, and death has a way of surprising you....
Publisher: n/a
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9780525562115
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Hardcover
The Helpline
By Collette, Katherine
An eccentric woman who is great with numbers - but not so great with people - realizes it's up to her to pull a community together in this charming, big-hearted debut perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and The Rosie Project. Germaine Johnson doesn't need friends. She has her work and her Sudoku puzzles. Until, that is, an incident at her insurance company leaves her jobless - and it turns out that there are very few openings these days for senior mathematicians with zero people skills. Soon enough though, Germaine manages to secure a position at City Hall answering calls on the Senior Citizens Helpline. But it turns out that the mayor has something else in mind for Germaine: a secret project involving the troublemakers at the senior citizens center and their feud with the neighboring golf club - which happens to be run by the dashing yet disgraced national Sudoku champion, Don Thomas, a celebrity of the highest order to Germaine. Don and the mayor want the senior center closed down and at first, Germaine is dedicated to helping them out - it makes sense mathematically, after all. But when Germaine actually gets to know the group of elderly rebels at the senior center, they open her eyes to a life outside of boxes and numbers and for the first time ever, Germaine realizes she may have miscalculated. Filled with an eccentric, totally unique, and (occasionally) cranky cast of characters you can't help but love, The Helpline is a feel-good page-turner that will make you reexamine what it means to lead a happy life - and is bound to capture your heart along the way.
Publisher: n/a
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9781982111335
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Hardcover
Less
By Greer, Andrew Sean
A struggling novelist travels the world to avoid an awkward wedding in this hilarious Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of "arresting lyricism and beauty" (The New York Times Book Review) .WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZENational BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of 2017A Washington Post Top Ten Book of 2017A San Francisco Chronicle Top Ten Book of 2017Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the Lambda Award, and the California Book AwardWho says you can't run away from your problems? You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes--it would be too awkward--and you can't say no--it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world.QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town?ANSWER: You accept them all.What would possibly go wrong? Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last.Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, Less is, above all, a love story.A scintillating satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, a bittersweet romance of chances lost, by an author The New York Times has hailed as "inspired, lyrical," "elegiac," "ingenious," as well as "too sappy by half," Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy."I could not love LESS more."--Ron Charles, The Washington Post"Andrew Sean Greer's Less is excellent company. It's no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful."--Christopher Buckley, The New York Times Book Review
Publisher: n/a
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9780316316125
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Hardcover
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
By Halpern, Sue
From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. Halpern's novel is an unforgettable tale of family...the kind you come from and the kind you create.People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget her problems. But that changes when fifteen-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary. The judge throws the book at Sunny - literally - assigning her to do community service at the library for the summer. Bright, curious, and eager to connect with someone other than her off-the-grid hippie parents, Sunny coaxes Kit out of her self-imposed isolation. They're joined by Rusty, a Wall Street high-flyer suddenly crashed to earth. In this little library that has become the heart of this small town, Kit, Sunny, and Rusty are drawn to each other, and to a cast of other offbeat regulars. As they come to terms with how their lives have unraveled, they also discover how they might knit them together again and finally reclaim their stories.
New York Times best seller Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today "Everything a romantic comedy should be: witty, relatable, and a little complicated." (People) A heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman whos lost her husband and a Major League pitcher whos lost his game.Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPRIn a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth "Evvie" Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husbands death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesnt correct them.Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andys childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the "yips": he cant throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he cant figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Deans future.When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvies house, the two make a deal: Dean wont ask about Evvies late husband, and Evvie wont ask about Deans baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken - and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts - the friendships theyve damaged, the secrets theyve kept - but in life, as in baseball, theres always a chance - up until the last out.A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year - and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.Praise for Evvie Drake Starts Over"A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own." (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times best-selling author of Daisy Jones & the Six) "Effortlessly enjoyable...[a] pitch-perfect...adult love story that is as romantic as it is real." (USA Today) "Charming, hopeful, and gently romantic...Evvie Drake is great company." (Rainbow Rowell, number one New York Times best-selling author of Eleanor & Park)
Publisher: n/a
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9780525619246
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Hardcover
Miss Benson's Beetle
By Joyce, Rachel
From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an uplifting, irresistible novel about two very different women on a life-changing adventure where they must risk everything, break all the rules, and discover their best selves - together. She's going too far to go it alone. It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolmarm and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist - the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind.
Publisher: n/a
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9780812996708
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Paperback
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
By Lyons, Annie
Infused with the emotional power of Me Before You and the irresistible charm of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Be Frank with Me, a moving and joyous novel about an elderly woman ready to embrace death and the little girl who reminds her what it means to live.Eudora Honeysett is done with this noisy, moronic world - all of it. She has witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age and has lived a full life. At eighty-five, she isn't going to leave things to chance. Her end will be on her terms. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland, a plan is set in motion. Then she meets ten-year-old Rose Trewidney, a whirling, pint-sized rainbow of color and sparkling cheer. All Eudora wants is to be left alone to set her affairs in order. Instead, she finds herself embarking on a series of adventures with the irrepressible Rose and their affable fellow neighbor, the recently widowed Stanley - afternoon tea, shopping sprees, trips to the beach, birthday celebrations, pizza parties.
Publisher: n/a
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9780063026063
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Hardcover
The Lido
By Page, Libby
**INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** "In many ways, this meditation on community and swimming follows in the footsteps of the enormously popular A Man Called Ove ... Both are charming and heartwarming." - Kirkus Reviews WE'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS - OR TO MAKE A DIFFERENCERosemary Peterson has lived in Brixton, London, all her life but everything is changing. The library where she used to work has closed. The family grocery store has become a trendy bar. And now the lido, an outdoor pool where she's swum daily since its opening, is threatened with closure by a local housing developer. It was at the lido that Rosemary escaped the devastation of World War II; here she fell in love with her husband, George; here she found community during her marriage and since George's death. Twentysomething Kate Matthews has moved to Brixton and feels desperately alone. A once promising writer, she now covers forgettable stories for her local paper. That is, until she's assigned to write about the lido's closing. Soon Kate's portrait of the pool focuses on a singular woman: Rosemary. And as Rosemary slowly opens up to Kate, both women are nourished and transformed in ways they never thought possible. In the tradition of Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove, The Lido is a charming, feel-good novel that captures the heart and spirit of a community across generations - an irresistible tale of love, loss, aging, and friendship.
Publisher: n/a
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9781501182037
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Hardcover
Dear Mrs. Bird
By Pearce, A J
"A marvelous treat. Charming and delightful." - Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina An irresistible debut set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist - a warm, funny, and enormously moving story for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls.London, 1940. Emmeline Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent suddenly seem achievable. But the job turns out to be working as a typist for the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down. Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant notes from women who may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men, or who can't bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smoldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles. Prepare to fall head over heels for Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are gutsy and spirited, even in the face of a terrible blow. The irrepressible Emmy keeps writing letters in this hilarious and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.
Publisher: n/a
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9781501170065
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Hardcover
The Authenticity Project
By Pooley, Clare
"A clever, uplifting book that entertains and makes you think."--Sophie Kinsella, #1 New York Times bestselling author The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even loveJulian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local caf. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Caf. The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends--is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness. The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for--and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.
Publisher: n/a
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9781984878618
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Hardcover
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
By Waxman, Abbi
"Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful." - #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily GiffinThe author of Other People's Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar. Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell. The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is? Nina considers her options. 1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.) 2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee) . 3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.) It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.
Publisher: n/a
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9780451491879
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Paperback
Something Like Happy
By Woods, Eva
A deeply moving, wildly uplifting tale of two strangers with nothing to lose and an unlikely friendship that will grab hold of your heart and never let go. Annies heart cant be broken - or so she thinks. After a series of tragic events tore a hole through the perfect life shed built, theres nothing left to break. Jaded and alone, shes been sleepwalking through life, with a boring job, an irritating roommate, and a serious binge-watching addiction. But shes okay with that - if youve lost everything, youve got nothing to lose, right? Polly is everything Annie doesnt need in her life - or so she thinks. But Polly is determined to finally wake Annie up to life. Because if having a terminal illness has taught Polly anything, its that time is short. Too short to waste a single day, which is precisely why she wants Annie to join her on a mission. One hundred days. One hundred happy things. Annies convinced its impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. Now Annies doing things, and saying things, and feeling things she hasnt felt in a very long while - if ever. Pollys convinced dancing in fountains and riding on roller coasters could heal Annies shattered heart. But how can she possibly find happiness when letting people in means opening herself to more heartache?
When You Read This
By Adkins, Mary
For fans of Maria Semple and Rainbow Rowell, a comedy-drama for the digital age: an epistolary debut novel about the ties that bind and break our hearts.Iris Massey is gone. But she's left something behind. For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris's last wish. Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris' big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who's been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy - funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet - that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.
Beartown
By Backman, Fredrik
New York Times bestseller * The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream - and the price required to make it come true. "You'll love this engrossing novel." - People "Backman is a masterful writer, his characters familiar yet distinct, flawed yet heroic....There are scenes that bring tears, scenes of gut-wrenching despair, and moments of sly humor....A thoroughly empathetic examination of the fragile human spirit." - Kirkus ReviewsPeople say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss
By Balasubramanyam, Rajeev
Follow the completely infuriating, utterly charming Professor Chandra as he tries to answer the biggest question of all: What makes us happy? "Professor Chandra is as acerbic and unbending a curmudgeon as one could wish to find scowling from the pages of a novel. Brilliant, pompous, and baffled by the world outside his Cambridge study, Chandra is forced on a reluctant quest to America to find himself and his family. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss is searingly funny, uplifting, and wonderful." - Helen Simonson, New York Times bestselling author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Summer Before the War Professor Chandra is an internationally renowned economist, divorced father of three (quite frankly baffling) children, recent victim of a bicycle hit-and-run - but so much more than the sum of his parts. In the moments after the accident, Professor Chandra doesn't see his life flash before his eyes but his life's work. He's just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize (again) , and even though he knows he should get straight back to his pie charts, his doctor has other ideas. All this work. All this success. All this stress. It's killing him. He needs to take a break, start enjoying himself. In short, says his doctor, he should follow his bliss. Professor Chandra doesn't know it yet, but he's about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.Advance praise for Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss"There's a long tradition of trying (and failing) to describe the spiritual search and the ineffable mystery without sounding like a pretentious snob or a sappy Pollyanna. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss manages to pull it off. The book tackles perennially difficult and deep questions with humor and humanity, beautiful writing, and a page-turning story line. I gave myself over to Professor Chandra's journey as he opens himself to self-examination, family healing, and a more courageous experience of being alive." - Elizabeth Lesser, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Open and co-founder, Omega Institute "I loved this beautiful, beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, it's written with exquisite care and verve, and it's so so so funny." - Marian Keyes, internationally bestselling author of Angels and Last Chance Saloon "A smart, funny, generous story about an eminent Indian economist who comes of age, finally, at seventy... comic and heartfelt, bracing and moving." - Susan Rieger, author of The Heirs
Death and Other Happy Endings
By Cantor, Melanie
There's nothing like being told that in three months you'll be dead to make you think about what you really want in lifeJennifer Cole has just been told that she has a terminal blood disorder and has just three months to live--ninety days to say goodbye to friends and family, and to put her affairs in order. Ninety days to come to terms with a diagnosis that is unfair, unexpected, and completely unpronounceable. Focusing on the positives (she won't have to go on in a world without Bowie or Maya Angelou; she won't get Alzheimer's or Parkinson's like her parents, or have teeth that flop out at the mere mention of the word apple) , Jennifer realizes she only has one real regret: the relationships she's lost.Rather than running off to complete a frantic bucket list, Jennifer chooses to stay put and write a letter to the three most significant people in her life, to say the things she wished she'd said before but never dared: her overbearing, selfish sister, her jelly-spined, cheating ex-husband, and her charming, unreliable ex-boyfriend--and finally tell them the truth. At first, Jennifer feels cleansed by her catharsis. Liberated, even. Her ex-boyfriend rushes to her side and she even starts to build bridges with her sister Isabelle (that is, once Isabelle's confirmed that Jennifer's condition isn't genetic) . But once you start telling the truth, it's hard to stop. And as Jennifer soon discovers, the truth isn't always as straightforward as it seems, and death has a way of surprising you....
The Helpline
By Collette, Katherine
An eccentric woman who is great with numbers - but not so great with people - realizes it's up to her to pull a community together in this charming, big-hearted debut perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and The Rosie Project. Germaine Johnson doesn't need friends. She has her work and her Sudoku puzzles. Until, that is, an incident at her insurance company leaves her jobless - and it turns out that there are very few openings these days for senior mathematicians with zero people skills. Soon enough though, Germaine manages to secure a position at City Hall answering calls on the Senior Citizens Helpline. But it turns out that the mayor has something else in mind for Germaine: a secret project involving the troublemakers at the senior citizens center and their feud with the neighboring golf club - which happens to be run by the dashing yet disgraced national Sudoku champion, Don Thomas, a celebrity of the highest order to Germaine. Don and the mayor want the senior center closed down and at first, Germaine is dedicated to helping them out - it makes sense mathematically, after all. But when Germaine actually gets to know the group of elderly rebels at the senior center, they open her eyes to a life outside of boxes and numbers and for the first time ever, Germaine realizes she may have miscalculated. Filled with an eccentric, totally unique, and (occasionally) cranky cast of characters you can't help but love, The Helpline is a feel-good page-turner that will make you reexamine what it means to lead a happy life - and is bound to capture your heart along the way.
Less
By Greer, Andrew Sean
A struggling novelist travels the world to avoid an awkward wedding in this hilarious Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of "arresting lyricism and beauty" (The New York Times Book Review) .WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZENational BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of 2017A Washington Post Top Ten Book of 2017A San Francisco Chronicle Top Ten Book of 2017Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the Lambda Award, and the California Book AwardWho says you can't run away from your problems? You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes--it would be too awkward--and you can't say no--it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world.QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town?ANSWER: You accept them all.What would possibly go wrong? Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last.Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, Less is, above all, a love story.A scintillating satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, a bittersweet romance of chances lost, by an author The New York Times has hailed as "inspired, lyrical," "elegiac," "ingenious," as well as "too sappy by half," Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy."I could not love LESS more."--Ron Charles, The Washington Post"Andrew Sean Greer's Less is excellent company. It's no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful."--Christopher Buckley, The New York Times Book Review
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
By Halpern, Sue
From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. Halpern's novel is an unforgettable tale of family...the kind you come from and the kind you create.People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget her problems. But that changes when fifteen-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary. The judge throws the book at Sunny - literally - assigning her to do community service at the library for the summer. Bright, curious, and eager to connect with someone other than her off-the-grid hippie parents, Sunny coaxes Kit out of her self-imposed isolation. They're joined by Rusty, a Wall Street high-flyer suddenly crashed to earth. In this little library that has become the heart of this small town, Kit, Sunny, and Rusty are drawn to each other, and to a cast of other offbeat regulars. As they come to terms with how their lives have unraveled, they also discover how they might knit them together again and finally reclaim their stories.
The Keeper of Lost Things
By Hogan, Ruth
Full of character, wit, and wisdom, The Keeper of Lost Things is heartwarming tale that will enchant fans of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Garden Spells, Mrs Queen Takes the Train, and The Silver Linings Playbook.Lime green plastic flower-shaped hair bobbles - Found, on the playing field, Derrywood Park, 2nd September.Bone china cup and saucer - Found, on a bench in Riveria Public Gardens, 31st October.Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects - the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidently left behind - and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners. As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret lifes mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura, in some ways, is one of Anthonys lost things. But when the lonely woman moves into his mansion, her life begins to change. She finds a new friend in the neighbors quirky daughter, Sunshine, and a welcome distraction in Freddy, the rugged gardener. As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthonys last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.Long ago, Eunice found a trinket on the London pavement and kept it through the years. Now, with her own end drawing near, she has lost something precious - a tragic twist of fate that forces her to break a promise she once made.As the Keeper of Lost Objects, Laura holds the key to Anthony and Eunices redemption. But can she unlock the past and make the connections that will lay their spirits to rest?A charming, clever, and quietly moving novel of of endless possibilities and joyful discoveries that explores the promises we make and break, losing and finding ourselves, the objects that hold magic and meaning for our lives, and the surprising connections that bind us.
Evvie Drake Starts Over
By Holmes, Linda
New York Times best seller Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today "Everything a romantic comedy should be: witty, relatable, and a little complicated." (People) A heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman whos lost her husband and a Major League pitcher whos lost his game.Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPRIn a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth "Evvie" Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husbands death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesnt correct them.Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andys childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the "yips": he cant throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he cant figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Deans future.When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvies house, the two make a deal: Dean wont ask about Evvies late husband, and Evvie wont ask about Deans baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken - and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts - the friendships theyve damaged, the secrets theyve kept - but in life, as in baseball, theres always a chance - up until the last out.A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year - and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.Praise for Evvie Drake Starts Over"A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own." (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times best-selling author of Daisy Jones & the Six) "Effortlessly enjoyable...[a] pitch-perfect...adult love story that is as romantic as it is real." (USA Today) "Charming, hopeful, and gently romantic...Evvie Drake is great company." (Rainbow Rowell, number one New York Times best-selling author of Eleanor & Park)
Miss Benson's Beetle
By Joyce, Rachel
From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an uplifting, irresistible novel about two very different women on a life-changing adventure where they must risk everything, break all the rules, and discover their best selves - together. She's going too far to go it alone. It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolmarm and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist - the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind.
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
By Lyons, Annie
Infused with the emotional power of Me Before You and the irresistible charm of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Be Frank with Me, a moving and joyous novel about an elderly woman ready to embrace death and the little girl who reminds her what it means to live.Eudora Honeysett is done with this noisy, moronic world - all of it. She has witnessed the indignities and suffering of old age and has lived a full life. At eighty-five, she isn't going to leave things to chance. Her end will be on her terms. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland, a plan is set in motion. Then she meets ten-year-old Rose Trewidney, a whirling, pint-sized rainbow of color and sparkling cheer. All Eudora wants is to be left alone to set her affairs in order. Instead, she finds herself embarking on a series of adventures with the irrepressible Rose and their affable fellow neighbor, the recently widowed Stanley - afternoon tea, shopping sprees, trips to the beach, birthday celebrations, pizza parties.
The Lido
By Page, Libby
**INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** "In many ways, this meditation on community and swimming follows in the footsteps of the enormously popular A Man Called Ove ... Both are charming and heartwarming." - Kirkus Reviews WE'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS - OR TO MAKE A DIFFERENCERosemary Peterson has lived in Brixton, London, all her life but everything is changing. The library where she used to work has closed. The family grocery store has become a trendy bar. And now the lido, an outdoor pool where she's swum daily since its opening, is threatened with closure by a local housing developer. It was at the lido that Rosemary escaped the devastation of World War II; here she fell in love with her husband, George; here she found community during her marriage and since George's death. Twentysomething Kate Matthews has moved to Brixton and feels desperately alone. A once promising writer, she now covers forgettable stories for her local paper. That is, until she's assigned to write about the lido's closing. Soon Kate's portrait of the pool focuses on a singular woman: Rosemary. And as Rosemary slowly opens up to Kate, both women are nourished and transformed in ways they never thought possible. In the tradition of Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove, The Lido is a charming, feel-good novel that captures the heart and spirit of a community across generations - an irresistible tale of love, loss, aging, and friendship.
Dear Mrs. Bird
By Pearce, A J
"A marvelous treat. Charming and delightful." - Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina An irresistible debut set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist - a warm, funny, and enormously moving story for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls.London, 1940. Emmeline Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent suddenly seem achievable. But the job turns out to be working as a typist for the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down. Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant notes from women who may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men, or who can't bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smoldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles. Prepare to fall head over heels for Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are gutsy and spirited, even in the face of a terrible blow. The irrepressible Emmy keeps writing letters in this hilarious and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.
The Authenticity Project
By Pooley, Clare
"A clever, uplifting book that entertains and makes you think."--Sophie Kinsella, #1 New York Times bestselling author The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even loveJulian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local caf. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Caf. The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends--is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness. The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for--and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
By Waxman, Abbi
"Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful." - #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily GiffinThe author of Other People's Houses and The Garden of Small Beginnings delivers a quirky and charming novel chronicling the life of confirmed introvert Nina Hill as she does her best to fly under everyone's radar. Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell. The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is? Nina considers her options. 1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.) 2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee) . 3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.) It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.
Something Like Happy
By Woods, Eva
A deeply moving, wildly uplifting tale of two strangers with nothing to lose and an unlikely friendship that will grab hold of your heart and never let go. Annies heart cant be broken - or so she thinks. After a series of tragic events tore a hole through the perfect life shed built, theres nothing left to break. Jaded and alone, shes been sleepwalking through life, with a boring job, an irritating roommate, and a serious binge-watching addiction. But shes okay with that - if youve lost everything, youve got nothing to lose, right? Polly is everything Annie doesnt need in her life - or so she thinks. But Polly is determined to finally wake Annie up to life. Because if having a terminal illness has taught Polly anything, its that time is short. Too short to waste a single day, which is precisely why she wants Annie to join her on a mission. One hundred days. One hundred happy things. Annies convinced its impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. Now Annies doing things, and saying things, and feeling things she hasnt felt in a very long while - if ever. Pollys convinced dancing in fountains and riding on roller coasters could heal Annies shattered heart. But how can she possibly find happiness when letting people in means opening herself to more heartache?