Hello everyone. As Autumn begins, and the weather cools, passions heat up. This week there are many books about love, romance, hardships, and heart adorning our shelves. We also do have a new R.A. Salvatore fantasy, one mystery, one literary fiction book and one Neil DeGrasse Tyson science book. Enjoy!
ROMANCES:
DRUNK ON LOVE by Jasmine Guillory
An intoxicating and sparkling new romance by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory.
Margot Noble needs some relief from the stress of running the family winery with her brother. Enter Luke: sexy, charming, and best of all in the too-small world of Napa, a stranger. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and Margot is delighted that she lucked into the perfect one-night stand she’ll never have to see again. That is, until the winery’s newest hire, Luke, walks in the next morning. Margot is determined to keep things purely professional, but when their every interaction reminds her of the attraction still bubbling between them, it proves to be much more challenging than she expects.
Set against a lush backdrop of Napa Valley wine country, nothing goes to your head as fast as a taste of love—even if it means changing all your plans.
KISS CURSE: A NOVEL by Erin Sterling
A Paperback Original—Also Available as a Hardcover Library Edition
Welcome to Spooky Season!! The follow-up to Erin Sterling’s New York Times bestselling hit The Ex Hex features fan favorite Gwyn and the spine-tinglingly handsome Wells Penhallow as they battle a new band of witches and their own magical chemistry.
Wells and Gwyn are determined to put aside their feelings, but when a new coven arrives in town they must work together to figure out how to restore Gwyn’s magic before it’s too late.
THE VIPER by J.R. Ward (Paranormal Romance)
In this newest Prison Camp installment, #1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward pens a heart-wrenching tale of love and betrayal in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world…
WHEN IN ROME by Sarah Adams
A burnt-out pop star stranded in small-town Kentucky can’t help falling for her unlikely knight in shining armor—the notoriously grumpy owner of the local pie shop—in this charming slice of romance from the author of the TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.
DREAMLAND: A NOVEL by Nicholas Sparks
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wish comes a poignant love story about risking everything for a dream—and whether it’s possible to leave the past behind.
Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St. Pete Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, making him wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. The daughter of affluent Chicago doctors, Morgan has graduated from a prestigious college music program with the ambition to move to Nashville and become a star. Romantically and musically, she and Colby complete each other in a way that neither has ever known. While they are falling headlong in love, Beverly is on a heart-pounding journey of another kind. Fleeing an abusive husband with her six-year-old son, she is trying to piece together a life for them in a small town far off the beaten track. With money running out and danger seemingly around every corner, she makes a desperate decision that will rewrite everything she knows to be true. In the course of a single unforgettable week, two young people will navigate the exhilarating heights and heartbreak of first love. Hundreds of miles away, Beverly will put her love for her young son to the test. And fate will draw all three people together in a web of life-altering connections . . . forcing each to wonder whether the dream of a better life can ever survive the weight of the past.
FICTION:
HUMOR:
LESS IS LOST by Andrew Sean Greer
In the follow-up to the “bedazzling, bewitching, and be-wonderful” (New York Times) best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Less: A Novel, the awkward and lovable Arthur Less returns in an unforgettable road trip across America.
For Arthur Less, life is going surprisingly well: he is a moderately accomplished novelist in a steady relationship with his partner, Freddy Pelu. But nothing lasts: the death of an old lover and a sudden financial crisis has Less running away from his problems yet again as he accepts a series of literary gigs that send him on a zigzagging adventure across the US.
With all of the irrepressible wit and musicality that made Less a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning, must-read breakout book, Less Is Lost is a profound and joyous novel about the enigma of life in America, the riddle of love, and the stories we tell along the way.
LITERATURE:
LUCY BY THE SEA by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction/literature)
From Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout comes a poignant, pitch-perfect novel about a former couple in lockdown together—and the love, loss, despair, and hope that animate us even as the world seems to be falling apart.
With her trademark spare, crystalline prose—a voice infused with “intimate, fragile, desperate humanness” (The Washington Post)—Elizabeth Strout once again turns her exquisitely-tuned eye to the inner workings of the human heart, this time following the indomitable heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William! through the early days of the pandemic.
MYSTERY:
THE BULLET THAT MISSED: A THURSDAY MURDER CLUB MYSTERY by Richard Osman
A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman. It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind–leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.
While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?
From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.
FANTASY:
THE DAO OF DRIZZT by R.A. Salvatore
For over thirty years, Drizzt Do’Urden has been one of the most important characters in fantasy literature. Throughout his novels, Drizzt has written down his thoughts about life and love, the nature of good and evil, the joys (and frustrations) of family, and so much more. Bound together for the first time, the collected wisdom and philosophy of Drizzt will be a beautifully packaged gift book—complete with an introduction by bestselling fantasy author Evan Winter—for his biggest fans and readers wanting to learn about this iconic figure.
Growing up in the chaos of Menzoberranzan, one young drow elf tries to make sense of the conflict between the traditions he must serve and the protestations of his own conscience. To lay bare the injustices he sees and to strengthen his own resolve to follow the ethical call of his heart, Drizzt Do’Urden is both an agent of action and self-reflection.
These, his writings, become critical to his salvation, the way in which he makes sense of a world that to him makes little sense at all. The power of his writings, of his meditation, of his inward determination will carry him forward, forcing upon him decisions that others would consider noble, perhaps, but surely foolhardy…impossible even. But to Drizzt, the choices are true and right, so there can be no other course.
These journal entries, then, show the struggle between tradition and truth, where the courage to choose right over wrong climbs the many obstacles of societal expectations and entrenched power—if nowhere else, then in the heart of an idealist. They were written to help Drizzt understand himself. But the universal truths will resonate with readers throughout the Realms.
NON-FICTION:
SCIENCE:
STARRY MESSENGER: COSMIC PERSPECTIVES ON CIVILIZATION by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Science)
Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all.
In a time when our political and cultural perspectives feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment—a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science. After thinking deeply about how science sees the world and about Earth as a planet, the human brain has the capacity to reset and recalibrates life’s priorities, shaping the actions we might take in response. No outlook on culture, society, or civilization remains untouched.
With crystalline prose, Starry Messenger walks us through the scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, an array of brilliant and beautiful truths that apply to us all, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.
As always, thank you for making our shelves your destination.
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