Sisi

Author: Allison Pataki

Category: Bestsellers & Book Club Favorites

Regular price: $9.99

Deal price: $1.99

Deal starts: June 07, 2024

Deal ends: June 07, 2024

Description:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A sweeping historical novel that tells the dramatic story of Sisi, the empress of Austria-Hungary who fought for her family, her people, and her empire in a changing world“Irresistible—completely impossible to put down . . . Allison Pataki reimagines the reign of the nineteenth-century Princess Diana in this stunning book.”—Michelle Moran, bestselling author of Rebel QueenMarried to Emperor Franz Joseph, Elisabeth—fondly known as Sisi—captures the hearts of her people as their “fairy queen,” but beneath that dazzling persona lives a far more complex figure. In mid-nineteenth-century Vienna, the halls of the Hofburg Palace buzz not only with imperial waltzes and champagne but with temptations, rivals, and cutthroat intrigue. Feeling stifled by strict protocols and a turbulent marriage, Sisi finds solace at her estate outside Budapest, where she rides her beloved horses and enjoys visits from a man with whom she’s unwittingly become enamored. But tragic news brings the empressout of her fragile seclusion, forcing her to return to her capital and a world of gossip, envy, and sorrow where a dangerous fate lurks in the shadows. Through love affairs and loss, dedication and defiance, Sisi struggles against conflicting desires: to keep her family together, or to flee amid the collapse of her suffocating marriage and the gathering tumult of the First World War. In an age of crumbling monarchies, the empress fights to assert her right to the throne beside her husband, to win the love of her people and the world, and to save an empire. But in the end, can she save herself?Featuring larger-than-life historic figures such as Bavaria’s “Mad King Ludwig” and the tragic Crown Prince Rudolf, and set against many of Europe’s grandest sites—from Germany’s storied Neuschwanstein Castle to England’s lush shires—Sisi brings to life an extraordinary woman and the romantic, volatile era over which she presided.

Second Act

Author: Danielle Steel

Category: Bestsellers & Book Club Favorites

Regular price: $14.99

Deal price: $1.99

Deal starts: June 01, 2024

Deal ends: June 01, 2024

Description:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this gripping novel from Danielle Steel, a top Hollywood executive seeks a new beginning when his career takes an unplanned turn.As the head of a prestigious movie studio for nearly two decades, Andy Westfield has had every conceivable professional luxury: a stunning office on the forty-fourth floor, a loyal assistant who can all but read his mind, access to a private jet and company cars. The son of Hollywood royalty, Andy always put his career before his marriage, and now, besides his daughter and young grandchildren, it’s the only thing he truly loves. But then Andy’s world is upended. The studio is sold, and the buyer’s son demands the top seat. Out of a job and humiliated, Andy spirals. When his head clears, he decides to get as far away from Los Angeles as possible until the dust settles and he can find a new way forward. Andy signs a six-month rental agreement for a luxurious home in a tiny, forgotten coastal town two hours from London. When he arrives, he hires a local woman to help get his affairs in order. A former journalist, Violet Smith is at a crossroads as well, and this temporary job is exactly what she needs to tide her over. But when Violet leaves the manuscript of her unfinished novel behind after work one day, Andy lets his curiosity get the best of him and is captivated by a story that begs to be adapted for the big screen. Could this be the miracle they’ve both been looking for?  In Second Act, Danielle Steel presents a heartening tale of how challenging times give way to opportunities and an original outline does not always contain the perfect ending.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Author: John Berendt

Category: Bestsellers & Book Club Favorites

Regular price: $14.99

Deal price: $1.99

Deal starts: May 15, 2024

Deal ends: May 15, 2024

Description:

THE LANDMARK NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city: “Elegant and wicked.... [This] might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime." —The New York Times Book Review • 30th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author.Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this true-crime book has become a modern classic.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Category: Bestsellers & Book Club Favorites

Regular price: $11.99

Deal price: $4.99

Deal starts: May 03, 2024

Deal ends: May 03, 2024

Description:

NEW YORK TIMES 

BESTSELLER BY THE AUTHOR OF 

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING LUCY HALE & KUNNAL NAYAR

“A fun, page-turning delight.” —

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Funny, tender, and moving,

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

reminds us all exactly why we read and why we love.” —

Library Journal 

(starred review)

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over—and see everything anew.   

“This novel has humor, romance, a touch of suspense, but most of all love--love of books and bookish people and, really, all of humanity in its imperfect glory.” —Eowyn Ivey, author of

The Snow Child

 “Marvelously optimistic about the future of books and bookstores and the people who love both.”—

The Washington Post

“You won’t want it to end.” —

Family Circle

“A natural for book groups.” —

Richmond Times-Dispatch

“A reader’s paradise of the first order.” —

The Buffalo News

“Captures the joy of connecting people and books . . . Irresistible.” —

Booklist

“A wonderful, moving, endearing story of redemption and transformation that will sing in your heart for a very, very long time.” —Garth Stein, author of

The Art of Racing in the Rain

“Readers who delighted in

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,

 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry,

and

Letters from Skye

will be equally  captivated by this novel.” —

Library Journal,

starred review

The Dead Romantics

Author: Ashley Poston

Category: Bestsellers & Book Club Favorites

Regular price: $4.99

Deal price: $1.99

Deal starts: March 08, 2024

Deal ends: March 08, 2024

Description:

A New York Times Notable Book of 2022!The New York Times Bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club Pick!"I LOVED this book! ...Funny, breathtaking, hopeful, and dreamy.”—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love HypothesisA disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead. When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won't give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father. For ten years, she's run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it. Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is. Romance is most certainly dead . . . but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories."One of the Summer's Hottest Reads"—Entertainment Weekly

The Blue Bistro

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Category: Bestsellers & Book Club Favorites

Regular price: $11.99

Deal price: $1.99

Deal starts: February 29, 2024

Deal ends: February 29, 2024

Description:

Elin Hilderbrand, author of the enchanting Summer People and The Beach Club, invites you to experience the perfect getaway with her sparkling novel, The Blue Bistro. Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she is desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket's hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business...and they share an instant attraction. But there is a mystery about their situation: what is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro's chef, that captures Thatcher's attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether to open her heart for the first time, or move on, as she always does.Infused with intimate Nantucket detail and filled with the warmth of passion and the breeze of doubt, The Blue Bistro is perfect summer reading.