Thank you to those of you who responded to our query for “The Best Book of 2011.” We asked that the title be published in 2011 and only the following two titles fulfilled that criterion:

Stephen King’s 11/22/63 and Geraldine Brooks’s Caleb’s Crossing are both readers’ favorites. They have also made many 2011 lists elsewhere.


Other Fiction titles mentioned were Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone (2009) and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (1957), as well as nonfiction: Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken (2010) and Zachary Mason’s The Lost Books of the Odyssey (2010).

Click on the titles below to search the catalog 

Beattie, Ann. Mrs. Nixon: a novelist imagines a life.
Pat Nixon remains one of our most mysterious and intriguing public figures, the only modern first lady who never wrote a memoir. Beattie, like many of her generation, dismissed Richard Nixon’s wife as “interchangeable with a Martian.” But decades later, she wonders what it must have been like to be
married to such a spectacularly ambitious and catastrophically self-destructive man. Drawing on a wealth of sources from Life magazine to accounts by Nixon’s daughter, and his doctor, to The Haldeman Diaries and Jonathan Schell’s The Time of Illusion, Beattie reconstructs dozens of scenes in an attempt to see the world from Mrs. Nixon’s point of view.

Bessette, Alicia. A pinch of love.
After she joins a baking contest to try to shake off the lingering grief from her husband’s death, Zell Carmichael Roy befriends her nine-year-old next-door neighbor, a motherless girl who joins Zell’s quest for dessert-competition glory.

Brokaw, Charles. The Temple Mount code. [SUSPENSE]
“An old friend summons dashing linguistics professor Thomas Lourds to Jerusalem to examine an ancient text. But Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also wants the same document. Khamenei and many others believe that the book contains a secret that will allow its owner to rule all of Islam and wage a Global Jihad the likes of which has never been seen before. Arriving in Jerusalem, Lourds discovers that his friend has been murdered and his apartment ransacked. With the help of Miriam Abata, a beautiful Iranian-American Jewish graduate student, he races against the clock to seek the dangerous document: Lourds seeks to save civilization while his enemies hope to destroy it. Continuing the New York Times bestselling series that includes The Atlantis Code and The Lucifer Code, The Temple Mount Code will appeal to readers interested in history and treasure hunting in the Holy Land and is perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Brad Meltzer, James Rollins, and Steve Berry.”–Provided by publisher.

Buchanan, Edna. A dark and lonely place. [MYSTERY]
A century ago, when Indians and alligators roamed frontier Miami, the legendary John Ashley was accused of murder and sentenced to hang. He went on the run with his sweetheart, Laura. Their crime spree lasted years longer and became far more deadly than the exploits of Bonnie and Clyde a decade later. This is their true story of prison breaks, bootlegging, bank robberies, and piracy on the high seas. Their saga of love, passion, and violence is juxtaposed with the story of their fictional descendants who share the same love and dangers a hundred years later. In today’s Miami, Homicide Sergeant John Ashley investigates a millionaire’s spectacular murder and instantly recognizes a stunning model linked to the case as the girl who has haunted his dreams since childhood. The homicide case goes bad, Ashley is falsely accused of murder, and the new lovers go on the run as history repeats itself. The question is, how powerful is the past?–From publisher description.

Coffey, Billy. Paper angels.
Andy Sommerville seems no different than others in his rural Virginia community, but what sets him apart is that his best friend is an angel.

Cohen, William S. Blink of an eye. [SUSPENSE]
Nuclear terrorism from former Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton.

Connelly, Michael. The drop. [MYSTERY]
LAPD detective Harry Bosch simultaneously investigates a killer who has been operating undetected for thirty years and a political conspiracy that has its origins in his police department. Harry has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two. DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? The latter possibility could compromise all of the lab’s DNA cases currently in court. Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving’s son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch’s longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation. Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department.

Cornwell, Patricia Daniels. Red mist. [MYSTERY]
Kay Scarpetta returns.

Crichton, Michael with Richard Preston. Micro. [SUSPENSE]
Biological thriller completed after Crichton died.

Doherty, P. C. The Templar magician. [MYSTERY]
Robert de Payens, grandson of Eleanor, one of the co-founders of the Temple, and Englishman Edward Sendal find themselves caught up in a murder mystery when Raymond, Count of Tripoli, is brutally assassinated.

Gabaldon, Diana. The Scottish prisoner. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Lord John Grey–soldier, gentleman, and no mean hand with a blade–fights for his crown, his honor, and his own secrets. Set in the heart of the eighteenth century during the Seven Years’ War.

Garlock, Dorothy. Come a little closer. [ROMANCE]
It’s 1946, after the end of WWII, and Christina Tucker decides to take a nursing job in the small town of Longstock, Wisconsin, working with Dr. Samuel Barlow. Dr. Barlow is well-regarded by the people of Longview, except for one man: Morris Doyle. Morris believes that his younger brother Jimmy died as a result of Barlow’s shoddy care and he is determined to punish the doctor for what he’s done — even if it means hurting those the doctor loves most, including Christina Tucker.

Grafton, Sue. “V” is for vengeance. [MYSTERY]
California PI Kinsey Millhone investigates the death of Audrey Vance, a woman she helped arrest for shoplifting, and antagonizes just about everyone, including Audrey’s fiance, several loan sharks, a stone-cold killer, and a hapless burglar who knows more than is healthy for him.

Hall, James W. Dead last. [MYSTERY]
Thorn series

Harrison, Rashad. Our man in the dark. [SUSPENSE]
An historical noir novel about a worker in the civil rights movement who became an informant for the FBI during the months leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Haynes, Dana. Breaking point. [SUSPENSE]
Follow-up to Crashers.

Hill, Susan. The betrayal of trust: a Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler mystery.
When a series of flash floods throughout Lafferton exposes the skeleton of a teenager who went missing 20 years earlier, Simon Serrailler investigates the girl’s tragic family story and uncovers bizarre complexities and dangers.

James, Erica, Promises, promises. [ROMANCE]
Love triangle

James, Peter, Dead man’s grip. [MYSTERY]
“Carly Chase is still traumatized ten days after being in a fatal traffic accident which kills a teenage student from Brighton University. Then she receives news that turns her entire world into a living nightmare. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved have been found tortured and murdered. Now Detective Superintendent Roy Grace of the Sussex Police force issues a stark and urgent warning to Carly: She could be next. The student had deadly connections. Connections that stretch across the Atlantic to America and an organized crime group. Someone has sworn revenge and won’t rest until the final person involved in that fateful accident is dead. The police advise Carly her only option is to go into hiding and change her identity. The terrified woman disagrees. She knows these people have ways of hunting you down anywhere. If the police are unable to stop them, she has to find a way to do it herself. But already the killer is one step ahead of her, watching, waiting, and ready”– Provided by publisher.

Jensen, Nancy, The sisters.
Growing up in hardscrabble Kentucky in the 1920s, with their mother dead and their stepfather an ever-present threat, Bertie Fischer and her older sister Mabel have no one but each other–with perhaps a sweetheart for Bertie waiting in the wings. But on the day that Bertie receives her eighth-grade diploma, good intentions go terribly wrong. A choice made in desperate haste sets off a chain of misunderstandings that will divide the sisters and reverberate through three generations of women.

Johansen, Iris. Bonnie. [SUSPENSE]
“When Eve Duncan gave birth to Bonnie, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Eve’s entire life came into focus and nothing was going to stand in the way of giving her daughter a wonderful life–the kind of life she herself never experienced. And then, the unthinkable happened. On an ordinary class trip to a local park, seven-year-old Bonnie vanished. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare that permeated her days and nights, and from which there was no escape. But a new Eve emerged: a woman who would use her remarkable talent as a forensic sculptor and her passion for helping others to find closure when the unthinkable happens to their child. A woman who would stop at nothing to find her own daughter’s killer and bring her body home. A woman with both justice and vengeance on her mind. Finally, in the trilogy that began with EVE and continued with QUINN, comes the story that fans have been dying to read. With the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA Agent Catherine Ling, Eve Duncan gets closer and closer to answering the questions that have tormented her. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father, John Gallo, is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle. And that Bonnie’s disappearance was not as random as everyone had always believed. Eve, Joe, Catherine, and John find themselves in a deadly dance where answers will be uncovered, and justice might finally be served– if they can all stay alive long enough to make it happen”– Provided by publisher.

Katsu, Alma. The taker. [SUSPENSE]
Vampire historical love story

Kelby, N. M. White truffles in winter. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Auguste Escoffier, 1846-1935 — for foodies

King, Stephen, 11/22/63.
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? The author’s new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history. Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students, a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night fifty years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane, and insanely possible, mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life, a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

Kingsbury, Karen. Longing. [ROMANCE]
“After a long and lonely silence from Cody Coleman, Bailey Flanigan becomes closer to her one-time Hollywood co-star, Brandon Paul. Nights on the town in New York City and long talks on the balcony of Brandon’s Malibu Beach home make Bailey dizzy with new feelings. Meanwhile, Cody’s work coaching a small-town football team has brought him and his players national attention. In the midst of the celebration and success, Cody finds himself much closer to a woman who seems to better understand him and his new life. Even so, never does much time go by without Bailey and Cody experiencing deep feelings of longing for each other, longing both for the past and for answers before they can move forward. Will an unexpected loss be the turning point for Cody? Will Cody and Bailey find a way back together again for the first time in more than a year? And if they do, will their brief time together be enough to help them remember all they’ve been longing for?”– Provided by publisher. Bailey Flanigan series; bk. 3

Maguire, Gregory. Out of Oz: the final volume in the Wicked years.
Glinda, former Throne Minister, held under house arrest by General Cherrystone, obtains the infamous Grimmerie, supposedly a volume of magical lore, coveted by Oz. Meanwhile, Lir’s daughter Rain begins her quest to discover her true identity and unravel the layers of political and personal secrets that have caused strife and division in Oz.

Marshall, Bev. Right as rain. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
“Though the women are as different as water and wine. Icey is feisty, hot-tempered, and impulsive, while Tee Wee is more submissive and disciplined–both are driven by a passionate determination to give their children a better life. Through trying times, they are the pillars, fierce and resilient; yet they celebrate life with a love of food, music, and family that makes even the most traumatic moments endurable. The illicit love between Tee Wee’s daughter Crow and the white landowner’s son Browder; the heartbreaking death of one of Icey’s children, for which she will blame herself; the murder trial of Tee Wee’s youngest son which threatens to tear apart not just their family but the entire town–all these events are interwoven with occasions of joy, including Crow’s fulfillment of her lifelong dream and Tee Wee’s own hard-fought success.” –Publisher description.

Murakami, Haruki, 1Q84. [SCIENCE FICTION]
An ode to George Orwell’s “1984″ told in alternating male and female voices relates the stories of Aomame, an assassin for a secret organization who discovers that she has been transported to an alternate reality, and Tengo, a mathematics lecturer and novice writer.

Nadzam, Bonnie. Lamb.
Lamb traces the self-discovery of David Lamb, a narcissistic middle aged man with a tendency toward dishonesty, in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and even comes to believe that his devotion to Tommie is in her best interest. But when Lamb decides to abduct a willing Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness, they are both shaken in ways neither of them expects.

Patterson, James, Kill Alex Cross. [SUSPENSE]
Detective Alex Cross is thwarted at every turn while he attempts to investigate the abduction of the president’s son and daughter and also discovers a deadly contagion released in the capital’s water supply that foreshadows a larger, more devastating attack.

Perry, Jolene B. The next door boys. [ROMANCE]
While Leigh Tressman recovers from her recent cancer treatments, she follows her brother Jaron to BYU where she meets and falls in love with his roommate.

Picardi, John C. Oliver Pepper’s pickle.
Crushed by his wife’s infidelity, suffocated by his sister and her new-age boyfriend, and harassed by all the friends and strangers who think his salvation depends on a crazy self-help book, Oliver Pepper’s life is in comic disarray. Then, at an AA meeting, he meets Rosa, a sexy public school principal. Hoping to date her, he agrees to teach a riotous middle-school class. At Rosa’s school, Oliver meets two troubled boys. By helping them, he comes to terms with the traumatic death of his father and discovers a capacity for bringing unadulterated goodness–even beauty–into his world.

Pollock, Donald Ray, The devil all the time. [SUSPENSE]
This novel reads like a gothic Western as lawlessness roams the rural, god-fearing landscape of Ohio and West Virginia, inhabitated by the likes of Pollock’s deranged-yet-compelling cast of characters–a husband and wife who take vacations to murder hitchhikers, a faux preacher and his crippled accomplice on the lam for manslaughter, and an orphan with a penchant for exacting violent justice. Needless to say, this is a brutal novel, but Pollock exacts the kind of precision and control over his language that keeps the violence from ever feeling gratuitous. The three story lines eventually converge in a riveting moment that will leave readers floored and haunted.

Rankin, Ian. The impossible dead. [MYSTERY]
A major inquiry into a neighboring police force sees Malcolm Fox and his colleagues cast adrift, unsure of territory, protocol, or who they can trust. An entire station-house looks to have been compromised, but as Fox digs deeper he finds the trail leads him back in time to the suicide of a prominent politician and activist. There are secrets buried in the past, and reputations on the line. Sequel to The complaints.

Russell, Paul Elliott. The unreal life of Sergey Nabokov. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Biograhical look at Vladimir Nabokov’s gay brother

Santiago, Esmeralda. Conquistadora. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Plantation saga in Puerto Rico

Skibell, Joseph. A curable romantic. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
When Dr. Jakob Josef Sammelsohn arrives in Vienna in the 1890s, he happens to meet Sigmund Freud, has a series of affairs, is haunted by the ghost of his abandoned wife, and eventually ends up in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. His Candide-like adventures illuminate a Europe moving between a new scientific age and age-old superstitions and beliefs. NOTE = Includes interview with the author and discussion questions.

Steele, Pamela, Greasewood creek.
Examination of grief

Stefaniak, Mary Helen. Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
In 1938, eleven-year-old Gladys Cailiff watches as her new teacher, Miss Grace Spivey, puts the entire town in an uproar. Miss Spivey has some unusual teaching methods, which include reading from her multi-volume set of The Thousand Nights and a Night. But when Miss Spivey revives an old festival and turns the town into a replica of Baghdad, the lives of Gladys and everyone around her are touched.

Thurlo, Aimee. Black thunder: an Ella Clah novel. [MYSTERY]
“A construction crew found the first body. The cops found three more, in a cluster that lay on both sides of the border of the Navajo Reservation. Because some of the bodies were buried outside the Rez, Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah and her team must work a delicate joint investigation with the New Mexico police. Identifying the dead isn’t easy–some had been buried for years–and at first the cases look to be nothing but dead ends. Then one of the bodies turns out to be that of a missing man who was believed to have embezzled funds from his construction firm and suspicions focus on the man’s partner. With no obvious links between any of the corpses and the anniversary of their deaths fast approaching, Ella feels frustrated by the investigation’s lack of progress. Unless they can find what connects these victims, someone else may soon be killed. Ella’s ability to concentrate is battered by worries about her teenage daughter, who has been skipping school, and her mother, who is cooking up a storm, a sure sign that trouble is brewing in the household.”– Provided by publisher.

Urbach, Linda. Madame Bovary’s daughter. [HISTORICAL FICTION]

White, Karen S. The strangers on Montagu Street.
“Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton returns-only to be greeted by a house full of lost souls. Psychic realtor Melanie Middleton is still restoring her Charleston house and doesn’t expect to have a new houseguest, a teen girl named Nola. But the girl didn’t come alone, and the spirits that accompanied Nola don’t seem willing to leave… “– Provided by publisher.

Wiehl, Lis W. Waking hours. [SUSPENSE]
The East Salem trilogy; bk. 1/forensic horror

Winer, Andrew. The marriage artist.
Searching for the meaning behind his wife’s suicide with her (suspected) lover, art critic Daniel Lichtmann discovers a link to pre-World War II Vienna, forgotten artist Josef Pick, and a remarkable woman.

Woodhouse, Kimberley, Race against time. [SUSPENSE]
A teenage girl in Alaska witnesses a murder with FBI and top-secret military information connections that winds its way back to the racing dog kennel she runs with her mother.

**Highly Recommended by readers

Black, Cara. Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis Aimee LeDuc series; bk.7

Block, Lawrence. A Drop of the Hard Stuff. Matthew Scudder series; bk.17

Brandman, Michael. Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues. Jesse Stone series; bk.10.
First title is series written by Brandman based on Parker’s character.

Childs, Lee. The Affair. Jack Reacher series; bk.16
Reacher’s first case.

**Cotterill, Colin. Killed at the Whim of a Hat. Jimm Juree series; bk.1 Thailand
—.Slash and Burn. ?Final Dr. Siri Paiboun series; bk.8 Laos

DeMille, Nelson. Plum Island. John Corey series; bk. 1

Gerritsen, Tess. Body Double. Rizzoli & Isles series; bk.4

Grafton, Sue. V is for Vengeance. Kinsey Millhone series; bk.22

**Hart, John. The Last Child.

**Kaaberbol, Lene & Agnete Fris. The Boy in the Suitcase.
Denmark thriller being compared to Steig Larsson

MacDonald, Patricia. Stranger in the House.

**Mina, Denise. Still Midnight. Alex Morrow series, bk.1
—. The End of the Wasp Season.; bk.2
Glasgow, Scotland

**Perry, Douglas. Girls of Murder City: Fame. Lust and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. Non-Fiction.

Stevens, Taylor. The Informationist.
Billed as a thriller–Steig Larsson wannabe falls short

**Willett, Sabin. The Deal.
Boston law firm suspense

Click on the titles below to search the catalog

Adler-Olsen, Jussi. The keeper of lost causes. [MYSTERY]
Chief detective Carl Morck, recovering from what he thought was a career- destroying gunshot wound, is relegated to cold cases and becomes immersed in the five-year disappearance of a politician.

Barclay, Linwood. The accident. [SUSPENSE]
It is the new normal at the Garber household in Connecticut. Glen, a contractor, has seen his business shaken by the housing crisis, and now his wife, Sheila, is taking a business course at night to increase her chances of landing a good-paying job. But she should have been home by now. Waiting for Sheila’s return, with their eight-year-old daughter sleeping soundly, Glen soon finds his worst fears confirmed: Sheila and two others have been killed in a car accident. Adding to the tragedy, the police claim Sheila was responsible. Glen knows it is impossible. When he investigates, Glen begins to uncover layers of lawlessness beneath the placid surface of their suburb, secret after dangerous secret behind the closed doors. Propelled into a vortex of corruption and illegal activity, pursued by mysterious killers, and confronted by threats from neighbors he thought he knew, Glen must take his own desperate measures and go to terrifying new places in himself to avenge his wife and protect his child. — From publisher’s web site.

Box, C. J. Back of beyond. [MYSTERY]
Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor Hank Winters is found burned
to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a
man who’s fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. Sober for fourteen years, Hank took pride in his hard-won sobriety and never hesitated to drop whatever he was doing to talk Cody off a ledge. When Cody takes a closer look at the scene of his friend’s death, it becomes apparent that foul play is at hand. After years of bad behavior with his department, he’s in no position to be investigating a homicide, but this man was a friend and Cody’s determined to find his killer.

Close, Jennifer. Girls in white dresses.
Attending an endless series of bridal showers for their friend Kristi, three bridesmaids struggle with private challenges, including Isabella’s unhappiness at a job where she is nevertheless very successful, Mary’s relationship with a man who prioritizes his mother, and Lauren’s attraction to a man she despises.

Colfer, Eoin. Plugged. [MYSTERY]
When his girlfriend and several people close to him are murdered, Daniel McEvoy finds himself targeted by the New Jersey mafia, corrupt cops, and an eccentric neighbor and searches for a hair-plug technician who may hold crucial answers. Author’s first adult title. he is known for the YA series that begins with Artemis Fowl.

Cussler, Clive & Justin Scott. The race. [SUSPENSE]
Bell has never encountered a case- and an enemy- quite like the one before him now, though. It is 1910, the age of flying machines is still in its infancy, and newspaper publisher Preston Whiteway is offering $50,000 for the first daring aviator to cross America in less than fifty days. He is even sponsoring one of the prime candidates- an intrepid aviatrix named Josephine Frost- and that’s where Bell, chief investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, comes in. Frost’s violent-tempered husband has just killed her lover and tried to kill her, and he is bound to try again. Bell has tangled with Harry Frost before, and knows the man has made his millions leading gangs of thieves, murderers, and thugs in every city across the country. He also knows Frost won’t be after just his wife, but after Whiteway as well. And Bell knows that if he takes the case, Frost will be after him, too.–From front book jacket.

Dahl, Arne. Misterioso. [MYSTERY]
Translated from the Swedish, the novel takes place in Stockholm.

Deveraux, Jude. Heartwishes: an Edilean novel. [ROMANCE]
Book#4

Diffenbaugh, Vanessa. The language of flowers.
“The story of a woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own past”– Provided by
publisher.

Donnelly, Jennifer. The wild rose. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
In 1914, with World War I approaching, polar explorer Seamus Finnegan tries to forget Willa, a passionate mountain climber, as he marries a beautiful young woman back home in England.

Dunn, Matthew. Spycatcher. [SUSPENSE]
Unpredictable agent Will Cochrane must catch the world’s most wanted international terrorist mastermind, who was responsible for the death of his father in Iraq twenty-five years ago, and avert an attack the likes of which the world has never seen.

Francis, Felix. Dick Francis’s gamble. [MYSTERY]
As one of the youngest-ever winners of the Grand National, Nick “Foxy” Foxton was enjoying his career as a world-class jockey. It was on perfect track-until a near-fatal accident cut his dream brutally sort. When he returns to Aintree as a spectator years later, nothing can prepare him for what unfolds.–From book jacket.

Garwood, Julie. The ideal man. [ROMANCE]
Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby she witnesses the fatal shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals. She is targeted by a shadowy criminal couple called the Landrys, and, as the only person to see the shooter’s face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation. After Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case he pledges to protect Ellie until she takes the witness stand. The two of them find their close quarters leading to passionate feelings. He’s definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she’s attracted to him in a way she can’t explain.

Griffin, W. E. B. Victory and honor. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Facing daunting challenges in the form of political threats against the OSS and the early stirrings of the Cold War, Cletus Frade and his colleague conduct a secret operation to counter the growing ambitions of Joseph Stalin.

Harper, Karen S. Fall from pride. [SUSPENSE]
When an arsonist sets fire to their barns one by one, destroying her beautiful murals, Sarah Kauffman must help outsider and arson investigator Nate MacKenzie process the crime scenes while adhering to Amish ways in a community riddled by fear.

Henry, Patti Callahan. Coming up for air.
Romance in Alabama

Hill, Reginald. The woodcutter. [Mystery]
Revenge in Great Britain

Hoffman, Paul. The last four things. [FANTASY]
To the warrior-monks known as the Redeemers, who rule over massive armies of child slaves, “the last four things” represent the culmination of a faithful life. Death. Judgement. Heaven. Hell. The last four things represent eternal bliss-or endless destruction, permanent chaos, and infinite pain. Perhaps nowhere are the competing ideas of heaven and hell exhibited more clearly than in the dark and tormented soul of Thomas Cale. Betrayed by his beloved but still marked by a child’s innocence, possessed of a remarkable aptitude for violence but capable of extreme tenderness, Cale will lead the Redeemers into a battle for nothing less than the fate of the human race. And though his broken heart foretells the bloody trail he will leave in pursuit of a personal peace he can never achieve, a glimmer of hope remains. The question even Cale can’t answer: When it comes time to decide the fate of the world, to ensure the extermination of humankind or spare it, what will he choose? To express God’s will on the edge of his sword, or to forgive his fellow man-and himself?

Horlock, Mary. The book of lies.
Life on the tiny island of Guernsey has become a whole lot harder for Cat Rozier. She’s gone from model pupil to murderer, but she swears it’s not her fault. Apparently it’s all the fault of history. There are secrets deeply woven into the fabric of the island– and into the Rozier family story.

Joyce, Graham. The silent land. [FANTASY]
Buried under a flash avalanche while skiing, young married couple Jake and Zoe miraculously dig their way out only to discover themselves alone in an eerily silent, evacuated region and unable to contact the outside world.

Krueger, William Kent. Northwest angle. [MYSTERY]
Discovering a murdered teen while stranded by a gale on the remote Lake of the Woods, detective Cork O’Connor and his daughter, Jenny, also discover a mysterious baby boy whose life is threatened by powerful adversaries.

Levien, David. Thirteen million dollar pop: a Frank Behr novel. [MYSTERY]
PI in Indianapolis

Lippman, Laura. The most dangerous thing. [SUSPENSE]
Once the best of friends until a terrible secret tore them apart, a group of friends are suddenly brought back together under tragic circumstances and
wonder if their long-ago lie is the reason for their troubles today and if
someone is out to destroy them.

Matar, Hisham. Anatomy of a disappearance.
Born into exile, eleven-year-old Nuri, the son of worldly parents who fled the revolution in their Arab country, is transfixed along with his widowed
father by an Arab-English woman who joins their family, a situation that is
complicated by Nuri’s father’s disappearance.

Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the attic. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Presents the stories of six Japanese mail-order brides whose new lives in early twentieth-century San Francisco are marked by backbreaking migrant work, cultural struggles, children who reject their heritage, and the prospect of wartime internment.

Patchett, Ann. State of Wonder.
A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh journeys into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years–a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past.

Patterson, James & Marshall Karp. Kill me if you can. [SUSPENSE]
A poor art student in New York City discovers a duffel bag full of diamonds in the chaos during an attack at Grand Central Station and is pursued
by the Ghost, an assassin who had murdered the bag’s owner.

Pelecanos, George P. The cut. [SUSPENSE]
Since he got home from Iraq, Spero Lucas has carved out a good life for himself, enjoying his youth and his independence, and making a name as the kind of person who gets jobs done quietly and effectively, usually just on the right side of the law. A quick case for a criminal defense attorney leads him into the world of a high-profile marijuana dealer, currently in prison but with a long reach, who wants to find out who’s been stealing from his dealers. Soon Lucas uncovers a tangle of connections that lead dangerously close to some people in high places – and to Lucas’s own family.

Perrotta, Tom. The leftovers.
What would happen if The Rapture actually took place and millions of people just disappeared from the earth? How would normal people respond? The residents of Mapleton use a variety of coping mechanisms in this thought-provoking novel about love, connection, and loss.

Poyer, David. The towers: a Dan Lenson novel of 9/11. [SUSPENSE]

Preston, Douglas J. & Lincoln Child. Cold vengeance. [SUSPENSE]
“A bonding trip for Pendergast and his brother-in-law, Judson Esterhazy, turns violent. Before abandoning a mortally-wounded Pendergast, Esterhazy
announces his sister, Pendergast’s long-dead wife Helen, is alive”–Provided by publisher.

Reece, Gordon. Mice.
Longing to hide from the world after the trauma of her parents’ divorce and the terrible bullying inflicted on her in school, teenaged Shelley moves
with her timid mother to a remote cottage in the English countryside where all goes well, until an intruder invades their reclusive life and nothing is ever the same again.

Reichs, Kathy. Flash and bones. [SUSPENSE]
“A body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to Lowes Motor Speedway near Charlotte just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for race week. The next day, a NASCAR crew member shares with Tempe a devastating story. Twelve years earlier his sister, Cyndi Gamble, then a high school senior who wanted to be a professional racecar driver, disappeared along with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. Lovette kept company with a group of right wing extremists known as the Patriot Posse. Is the body Cyndi’s? Or Cale’s? At the time of their disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, but the search was quickly terminated. As Tempe is considering multiple theories, including an FBI cover-up, a surprising, secret substance is found with the body, leaving Tempe to wonder what exactly the government was up to…”– Provided by publisher.

Richards, Emilie. Sunset bridge.
Five very different women–Tracy, a former socialite who has discovered that she’s pregnant; Wanda, a waitress turned pie shop owner; Janya, a young
Indian wife dealing with an arranged marriage; Alice, a widow raising her tween granddaughter; and Maggie, a former Miami cop–find love and friendship on the barrier island of Happiness Key.

Rimington, Stella. Rip tide. [SUSPENSE]
Liz Carlyle, MI5′s liaison with French intelligence, investigates Birmingham’s New Springfield mosque, which has disturbing ties to Pakistan and terrorism. Meanwhile, UCSO in Athens, worried that its ships are being specifically targeted by pirates, wonders if there’s a leak in the organization.

Rotella, Sebastian. Triple crossing. [SUSPENSE]
Mexico border intrigue

Schulman, Helen. This beautiful life.
When the Bergamots move from a comfortable upstate college town to New York City, they are not quite sure how they will adapt, or what to make of the strange new world of well-to-do Manhattan. Soon, though, Richard is consumed by his executive role at a large New York university, and Liz, who has traded in her academic career to oversee the lives of their children, is hectically ferrying young Coco around town. Fifteen-year-old Jake is gratefully taken into the fold by a group of friends at Wildwood, an elite private school. But the upper-class cocoon in which they have enveloped themselves is ripped apart when Jake wakes up one morning after an unchaperoned party and finds an email in his in-box from an eighth-grade admirer. Attached is a sexually explicit video she has made for him. Shocked, stunned, maybe a little proud, and scared, a jumble of adolescent emotion, he forwards the video to a friend, who then forwards it to a friend. Within hours, it has gone viral, all over the school, the city, the world. The ensuing scandal threatens to shatter the Bergamots’ sense of security and identity, and, ultimately, their happiness. They are a good family faced with bad choices, and how they choose to react, individually and at one another’s behest, places everything they hold dear in jeopardy. This novel is a devastating exploration of the blurring boundaries of privacy and the fragility of self, a clear-eyed portrait of modern life that will have readers debating their assumptions about family, morality, and the sacrifices and choices we make in the name of love.

Spiegelman, Peter. Thick as thieves. [SUSPENSE]
Carr–ex-CIA–is the reluctant leader of an elite crew planning to take tens of millions of dollars belonging to a disgraced financier, Curtis Prager. But Carr’s seasoned pros are wound drum-tight–months before, the man who brought them together was killed in what Carr suspects was a setup.

Stephens, Jeffrey S. Targets of opportunity. [SUSPENSE]
“Whisked from his Manhattan town house to a gabled CIA safe house in Virginia, [CIA agent Jordan] Sandor faces off with a top terrorist agent from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. In exchange for protection from his own side, Ahmad Jaber is offering the CIA explosive information: word of a secret, unholy alliance forged among operatives in the Middle East, a ruthless South American, and Kim Jong-Il’s North Korea. Jaber claims not to know specific details, only that the strike will target the heart of America”–Publisher description.

Swerling, Beverly. City of promise: a novel of New York’s Gilded Age. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
In the years following the Civil War, as Manhattan experiences a surge in prosperity, Joshua Turner aspires to become a real-estate titan while Mollie
Brannigan, raised by her aunt in a bordello, sees her life change after a chance encounter with Joshua in Macy’s.

Todd, Charles. A bitter truth. [MYSTERY]
A battlefield nurse during World War I, Bess Crawford, returning to London for a well-earned Christmas leave, finds her holiday fraught with mystery and murder when she agrees to help a bruised and battered woman return to her small village in Sussex.

Unger, Lisa. Darkness, my old friend. [SUSPENSE]
Jones Cooper has given up his post at the Hollows Police Department and is having trouble facing a horrible event from his past. Then psychic Eloise Montgomery comes to him with predictions about his future, some of the dire. Another person in town is also working with Eloise while investigating the disappearance of his mother years ago. And fifteen-year-old Willow Graves may be heading for trouble.

Van Rooy, Michael. Your friendly neighborhood criminal. [SUSPENSE]
Human smuggling

Waldman, Amy. The submission.
“When a Muslim architect wins a blind contest to design a Ground Zero Memorial, a city of eleven million people takes notice. Waldman, a former bureau chief for the New York Times, explores a diversity of viewpoints around this fictional event, bringing in politicians, businessmen, journalists, activists, and normal people whose lives–whether by happenstance, choice, or even due to their country of origin–get caught up in the controversy. Incredibly, she manages to keep all the balls in the air without ever fumbling. The story is moving and keeps the pages turning, but there are also bigger themes at work: of individuals versus groups; about the purpose of art, commerce, government, and journalism in society; of how people respond to grief and terror. The result is honest, compelling, and breathtaking.”–Chris Schluep, Amazon Best Book of the Month.

Watson, S. J. Before I go to sleep.
An amnesiac attempts to reconstruct her past by keeping a journal and discovers the dangerous inconsistencies in the stories of her husband and her secret doctor.

White, Kate. The sixes. [SUSPENSE]
“From the New York Times bestselling author of Hush and Cosmopolitan’s editor-in-chief comes a new standalone thriller set in a college-town where a campus death sends one woman on a quest for truth and into the clutches of a deadly secret society”– Provided by publisher.

Whitehouse, David. Bed.
Black humor about a very overweight man

Wickham, Madeleine. 40 love.
A weekend tennis party becomes study of modern marriage for four very different couples of varying economic, social, and interest levels as together they encounter two days of anger, shock, revelations, and romance.

Williams, Amanda Kyle. The stranger you seek. [SUSPENSE]
Female detective seeks serial killer in Atlanta

Winslow, Don. The gentlemen’s hour. [SUSPENSE]
The Dawn Patrol, a close-knit group of surfers, not only ride waves together but have one another’s backs out of the water. It’s the life Boone loves, all he wants. When one of their own is murdered and another surfer, a young punk from the Rockpile Crew, stands accused, the small world of Pacific Beach is rocked to its core.

This list emphasizes fiction that centers on everyday women and their lives… often featuring eccentric characters. They range in style, time period, and setting. Some dwell on race relations—others are more geared toward women’s friendships.

Berg, Elizabeth. We Are All Welcome Here. (2006) ISBN: 9780812971002 $15.00 pbk
Set in Tupelo, Mississippi during the summer of 1964, 13-year-old Diana butts heads with an African-American caregiver helping her to look after her mother, who has been paralyzed since she contracted polio shortly before Diana was born.

Blake, Sarah. The Postmistress. (2010) ISBN: 9780425238691 $15.00 pbk
The stories of a small Cape Cod postmistress and an American radio reporter stationed in London collide on the eve of the US’s entrance into WWII, a meeting that is shaped by a broken promise to deliver a letter. Also appeals to fans of Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society.

Cook, Claire. The Wildwater Walking Club. (2009) ISBN: 1401341233 $13.99 pbk
This is a character-driven and witty novel in which friendship is a main topic. Three women who are neighbors share their struggles with unfaithful men, rebellious children, and parental expectations while taking long walks near their homes on Wildwater Way.

Devoto, Pat C. The Summer We Got Saved. (2005) ISBN: 9780446697156 $21.99 pbk
While Tab Rutland secretly learns about the Civil Rights movement from her aunt, her African American friend Maude helps her Alabama neighbors prepare for voter registration, and her father considers going against his fellow farmers and voting against George Wallace in the upcoming election.

Feldman, Ellen. Next to Love. (2011) ISBN: 9780812992717 $25.00 HC
Follows the stories of three young couples whose lives are irrevocably changed in the years following World War II, a period during which they struggle with difficult losses and witness profound transformations in American culture.

Jordan, Hillary. Mudbound. (2008) ISBN: 9781565126770 $13.99 pbk
Laura McAllan, a white woman and her family move to a Mississippi farm after WWII to endure a life of privation made worse when her racist father-in-law moves in with them. When Laura’s nephew, a veteran, befriends another veteran – a black man – tragedy ensues.

Marshall, Bev. Right as Rain. (2004) ISBN: 9780345468420 $13.95 pbk
A book that explores issues arising from racial and class boundaries in the South from the 1940s to the 1960s, using interracial friendships to portray challenges to the white-dominated class structure. This is fast-paced, moving Literary or Domestic fiction set in the mid-twentieth century American South. The author also uses strong female characters to explore issues of race, class, and gender within communities undergoing profound societal changes.

Mayhew, Anna Jean. The Dry Grass of August. (2011) ISBN: 9780758254092 $15.00 pbk
A white teenage girl discovers the effects of racism on black women in the mid-1950s South.

Naslund, Sena Jeter. Four Spirits. (2003) ISBN: 006093669X $14.95 pbk
In the wake of racial tensions in 1960s Alabama, sheltered white college student Stella participates in her first freedom movement and finds her life changed in several ways when she develops friendships with local African Americans.

Nicholas, Denise. Freshwater Road. (2005) ISBN: 9781416571230 $7.99 pbk
Celeste Tyree, a black 19-year-old college student, travels to Mississippi to take part in the 1964 summer campaign to register disenfranchised African American voters.

Smith, Lee. The Last Girls. (2002) ISBN: 9780345464958 $15.00 pbk
Smith builds this absolutely inviting, completely compelling novel around the idea that “whatever you’re like in your youth, you’re only more so with age.” Thirty-five years after a trip down the Mississippi on a raft with their classmates, four women are reunited to cruise the river once again where they plan to release the ashes of a fellow rafter, Margaret “Baby” Ballou.

Stefaniak, Mary Helen. The Califfs of Baghdad, Georgia. (2010) ISBN: 9780393341133 $15.95 pbk
In this inventive and comic story, eleven-year-old Gladys Califf and her Depression-era community are turned upside down when a worldly teacher, who is fascinated with all things Arabian, moves into the small town. Though set a generation earlier and in a different sociological stratum, this novel should appeal to fans of The Help.

Umrigar, Thrity. The Space Between Us. (2006) ISBN: 9780062067890 $16.99 pbk
In contemporary India, housewife Sara and her maid Bhima see each other through the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood, until a secret is exposed and they can no longer ignore the class line drawn between them.

If you are looking for something like Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth…with multiple time periods and characters that showcase the history; novels that are educational and entertaining, then try…

Cruise, David  & Alison Griffiths. Vancouver (2003) ISBN 9780061030925 $7.99 pbk
Vancouver from the Ice Age to the 21st Century.

Graham, Winston. Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787. (1977) ISBN 9781402225093 $16.99 pbk
First in series follows Poldark family from American Revolution to Napoleonic Wars.

Hamill,Pete. Forever. (2003) ISBN 9780316735698 $14.99 pbk
New York City from the eyes of a single immortal man.

Jakes, John. The Gods of Newport. (2006) ISBN 9780451222343 $9.99 pbk
Lush saga set on the shores of late 19th C. Newport, RI.

Kelly, Thomas. Empire Rising. (2005) ISBN 0312425740 $16.00 pbk
Empire State Building’s history.

Rutherfurd, Edward. Sarum. (1987) ISBN 9780804102988 $8.99 pbk
10,000 year saga of England swirling around Stonehenge.

Swerling, Beverly. City of Dreams. (2001) ISBN 9780684871738 $16.00 pbk
Manhattan’s 1st C. follows two families from settlement to the Revolutionary War. First of series

Uris, Leon. Trinity. (1976) ISBN 9780060827885 $7.99 pbk
Three families from Potato Famine to Easter Rebellion in Ireland

Wood, Barbara.  The Blessing Stone. (2002) ISBN 0312320248 $14.95 pbk
History of the world through the travels of mysterious stone with feminine point-of-view.

Wouk, Herman. Winds of War. (1971) ISBN 9780316952668 $16.99 pbk
Follows the Henry Family through WWII; First in series

Armstrong, Kelly. The Summoning. (2008) Darkest Powers trilogy; bk.1 ISBN: 9780061450549 $8.99 pbk
After fifteen-year-old Chloe starts seeing ghosts and is sent to Lyle House, a mysterious group home for mentally disturbed teenagers, she soon discovers that neither Lyle House nor its inhabitants are exactly what they seem, and that she and her new friends are in danger. The Awakening (2009) ISBN: 9780061450556 and The Reckoning (2009) ISBN: 9780061450563 both $8.99 pbk

Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones. (2007) Mortal Instruments series; bk.1 ISBN: 978-1416955078 $10.99 pbk
Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster. City of Ashes (2008) ISBN: 9781416972242 $10.99 pbk; City of Glass (2009) ISBN: 9781416972259 $10.99 pbk and City of Fallen Angels (2011) ISBN: 9781442403543 $17.99 HC. Set of first three pbk: ISBN: 9781442409521 $29.99

Durst, Sarah Beth. Drink, Slay, Love. (2011) ISBN: 9781442423732 $17.99 HC
Try this if you like snarky humor and sweet romance. After sixteen-year-old vampire Pearl Sange is stabbed through the heart by a were-unicorn, she develops non-vampire-like traits that lead her to save her high school classmates from the Vampire King of New England.

Gray, Claudia. Evernight. (2008) Evernight series; bk.1 ISBN: 0061284440 $8.99 pbk
Sixteen-year-old Bianca, a new girl at the sinister Evernight boarding school, finds herself drawn to another outsider, Lucas, but dark forces threaten to tear them apart and destroy Bianca’s entire world. This is an interesting twist on vampires told from the female point-of-view. Stargazer (2009) ISBN: 0061284467 $8.99 pbk; Hourglass (2010) ISBN: 9780061284489 $8.99 pbk and Afterlife (2011) ISBN: 9780061284427 $16.99 HC

Hunter, C.C. Born at Midnight. (2011) Shadow Falls series; bk.1 ISBN: 0312624670 $9.99 pbk
Sixteen-year-old Kylie Galen thinks her misbehavior in the wake of her grandmother’s death and her parents’ separation are the reasons she has been sent to Shadow Falls Camp, but learns it is a training ground for vampires, werewolves, and other “freaky freaks,” of which she may be one. Awake at Dawn (2011) ISBN: 9780312624682 $9.99 pbk

Klause, Annette Curtis. Blood and Chocolate. 1997) ISBN: 9780385734219 $8.99 pbkHaving fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.

Steifvater, Maggie. Shiver. (2009) Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy; bk.1 ISBN: 9780545123273 $8.99 pbk
In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn, has been watching her with increasing intensity. Linger (2010) ISBN: 9780545123297 $9.99 pbk and Forever (2011) ISBN: 9780545259088 $17.99. HC Series 3HC Set: ISBN: 9780545326865 $52.97

Books Like Steig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series…

Adler-Olsen, Jussi. The Keeper of Lost Causes. (2011) Department Q; bk.1 ISBN: 9780525952480 $25.95 HC
More humor and violence, but not as visceral Larsson’s trilogy. Copenhagen Chief Detective Carl Morck, recovering from what he thought was a career-destroying gunshot wound, is relegated to cold cases and becomes immersed in the five-year disappearance of a politician.

Eriksson, Kjell. The Princess of Burandi. (2006) Ann Lindell series; bk.1 ISBN: 9781250000590 $9.99 pbk
When a jogger stumbles upon the mutilated body of the local reformed troublemaker, Swedish Inspector Ann Lindell takes time off from maternity leave to uncover the killer and is drawn into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a vicious murderer. More of a procedural than Larsson. Followed by The Cruel Stars of the Night (2007), The Demon of Dakar (2008), all pbk $14.00 except for The Hand that Trembles (2011) ISBN: 9780312605056 $24.99 HC

Fossum, Karin. Don’t Look Back. (2004) Inspector Sejer mysteries; bk.1 ISBN: 0156031361 $14.00 pbk
The tranquility of a small, idyllic town is shattered when the body of a teenage girl is found, prompting an investigation by Norwegian Inspector Sejer that reveals the sinister truth behind the town’s quiet façade. Followed by He Who Fears the Wolf (2003), When the Devil Holds the Candle (2006), Indian Bride (2007), Black Seconds (2007), The Water’s Edge (2009), all pbk $14-15 range, except for Bad Intentions(2010) ISBN: 9780547483344 $24.00 HC

Kaaberbol, Lene & Agnete Fris. The Boy in the Suitcase. (2011) Nina Borg; bk.1 ISBN: 9781569479810 $24.00 HC
Red Cross nurse Nina Borg is drawn into Copenhagen’s brutal underworld when she becomes the unwitting caretaker of a three-year-old boy who may be a victim of child trafficking.

Roslund, Anders & Borge Hellstrom. Box 21. (2009) Ewert Grens series; ISBN: 9780312655341 $15.00 pbk
Sold into sex slavery in their pursuit of better lives in Sweden, Lithuanian girls Lydia and Alena learn of a chance to secure their freedom and take revenge on their enslavers. A taut and nuanced thriller. 1st in series, The Beast, is not in print.
—-. Three Seconds. (2010) ISBN: 9781402788789 $14.95 pbk
Ex-convict Piet Hoffman–a family man, a rising member of Stockholm’s Polish mafia, and an undercover police informant–is sent to a maximum security prison to make himself the boss of the amphetamine trade so the police can shut it down.

Several authors this summer are writing about the same topical material. This trend seems to be purely coincidental; however, it makes for great thematic reading.

One of the themes is memory loss. S. J. Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep is one of the best debut literary thrillers in recent years. Every day Christine wakes up not knowing where she is. Her memories disappear every time she falls asleep. Her husband, Ben, is a stranger to her, and he’s obligated to explain their life together on a daily basis–all the result of a mysterious accident that made Christine an amnesiac. With the encouragement of her doctor, Christine starts a journal to help jog her memory every day. One morning, she opens it and sees that she’s written three unexpected and terrifying words: “Don’t trust Ben.” Suddenly everything her husband has told her falls under suspicion. What kind of accident caused her condition? Who can she trust? Why is Ben lying to her? And, for the reader: Can Christine’s story be trusted? How can anyone function when they can’t even trust themselves? Suspenseful from start to finish, the strength of Watson’s writing allows this novel to transcend the basic premise and present profound questions about memory and identity.

Also part literary novel, part thriller, Alice LaPlante’s haunting first novel, Turn of Mind, traces the deterioration of orthopedic surgeon Jennifer White, who at 64 is suffering severe dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Told entirely from her viewpoint, this is an often startling portrait of a fiercely intelligent woman struggling mightily to hold on to her sense of self. As her lucidity waxes and wanes, her dire circumstances increasingly come to light. Her husband has recently died, and she lives with a caretaker on Chicago’s North Side. Jennifer is implicated in the murder of her best friend and struggles with fractured memories of their complex relationship and wonders if she actually committed the crime. This masterfully written debut is fascinating on so many levels, from its poignant and inventive depiction of a harrowing illness to its knowing portrayal of the dark complexities of friendship and marriage.

If amnesia continues to intrigue you, then look for Jojo Moye’s Last Letter From Your Lover. More than forty years after a car accident causes Jennifer Stirling to lose her memory on the day she planned to leave her husband for a mysterious lover, journalist Ellie becomes obsessed by the story and seeks the truth in the hopes of revitalizing her career. Originally published in Great Britain last year, the 2011 US edition will arrive any day now. This is a spellbinding, intoxicating love story with a knockout ending, and this novel will appeal to the readers who have made David Nicholls’ One Day and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society bestsellers.

Another trend seems to be riding the wave of popularity from Shaffer & Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and other World War II fiction. Margaret Leroy’s The Soldier’s Wife arrived on shelves in June. As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home. One shared cigarette begins a three-year love affair. As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne. Food and resources grow scant, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week. Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship–and her family–safe. But when she becomes aware of the full brutality of the Occupation, she must decide if she is willing to risk her personal happiness for the life of a stranger.

Ellen Feldman’s Next to Love comes out at the end of July. Set in a small town in Massachusetts, the novel follows three childhood friends whose lives are unmoored when their men are called to duty. And yet the changes that are thrust upon them move them in directions they never dreamed possible—while their husbands and boyfriends are enduring their own transformations. In the decades that follow, the three friends lose their innocence, struggle to raise their children, and find meaning and love in unexpected places. And as they change, so does America—from a country in which people know their place in the social hierarchy to a world in which feminism, the Civil Rights movement, and technological innovations present new possibilities—and uncertainties. And yet these three friends remain bonded by their past, even as their children grow up and away and a new society rises from the ashes of the war. The letters the soldiers write home describe much of the action, and Feldman’s scathing prose intensifies the daily routines of these families and makes readers fearful and worried along with them.

If WWII romantic suspense regales you—also look for April in Paris (2007) by Michael Wallner. Working as an interpreter at Gestapo headquarters in occupied Paris, Roth, a young German soldier, falls in love with Chantal, the daughter of an antiquarian bookshop owner, and finds himself on the opposite side of his Nazi colleagues.

Click on the titles below to search the catalog 

Alliott, Catherine. A crowded marriage. [ROMANCE]
British Chick Lit

Berry, Steve. The Jefferson key. [SUSPENSE]
Cotton Malone adventure

Bourne, Sam. The final reckoning.
“A suspected suicide bomber shot by UN security has turned out to be a harmless old man, and Tom Byrne must placate the family. But it soon emerges that the victim was not quite the innocent man he seemed to be.” — inside cover.

Bronsky, Alina. The hottest dishes of the Tartar cuisine.
Dysfunctional families

Brooks, Geraldine. Caleb’s crossing. [HISTORICAL]
In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure. The narrator of the story is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex.

Brown, Dale. A time for patriots. [SUSPENSE]
When the nation’s economy collapses and thousands of Americans turn against their own government, Patrick McLanahan must enlist the aid of his son and fellow citizens to hunt down terrorists any way they can.

Dave, Laura. The first husband. [SMART FUNNY WOMEN]
Her happiness shattered by her movie director boyfriend’s announcement that he intends to reconnect with a woman from his past, travel columnist Annie Adams impulsively marries a charming chef and attempts to restart her life in rural Massachusetts.

Elkins, Aaron. The worst thing. [MYSTERY]
This Edgar’ Award-winning author illustrates how quickly everything can go wrong when you ask: What’s the worst that can happen? For Bryan Bennett, designing hostage negotiation programs is the perfect job–as long as he keeps a safe, theoretical distance. What he can’t do is deal directly with kidnappers or their victims, as a result of his own abduction and imprisonment as a small boy. Thirty-some years later, intense nightmares still plague his sleep, and a fear of enclosed spaces prevents him from attempting to travel. So when Bryan’s boss asks him to fly to Reykjavik,
Iceland, to teach his corporate-level kidnapping and extortion seminar, he automatically says no. But the CEO of GlobalSeas Fisheries, Inc. has specifically requested Bryan–or no one else. Bryan finally relents…

Evans, Justin. The white devil. [SUSPENSE]
When Andrew Taylor is sent to the Harrow School, a British institution for privileged adolescents, he is spurned by nearly all of his peers, and becomes immersed in a two-hundred-year-old literary mystery when he finds a friend in the school’s poet-in-residence.

Farnsworth, Christopher. The president’s vampire. [SUSPENSE]
For 140 years, Nathaniel Cade has been the President’s Vampire, sworn to protect and serve his country. Cade’s existence is the most closely guarded of White House secrets: a superhuman covert agent who is the last line of defense against nightmare scenarios that ordinary citizens only dream of. When a new outbreak of an ancient evil, one that he has seen before, comes to light, Cade and his human handler, Zach Barrows, must track down its source. To “protect and serve” often means settling old scores and confronting new betrayals . . . as only a centuries-old predator can.

Haigh, Jennifer. Faith.
Sheila McGann is estranged from her complicated family. But when her older brother Art, pastor of a large suburban parish, finds himself at the center of a scandal, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him. Her strict mother lives in a state of angry denial; her younger brother Mike has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila’s questions and refuses to defend himself.

Haji, Nafisa. The sweetness of tears.
“Jo March–family member of an Evangelical Christian Dynasty and early questioner of her own faith–knows that there is something she is not being told about her own past. She intends to find out. Told from multiple generational and cultural viewpoints, The Sweetness of Tears skillfully interweaves the lives and stories of Jo’s relatives, many of whom she never knew existed. She travels from California to Chicago, Pakistan to Iraq, chasing loose threads that she hopes will lead to the truth and understanding of her own beginnings that she so craves. As Jo begins to discover who she is, what she learns above all else is that nothing is ever as it seems, and those with the strongest faith, are those who once doubted it the most. “– Provided by publisher.

Hannah, Kristin. Night road. [SUSPENSE]
After a string of foster homes and the death of her heroin-addict mother, Lexi Baill is taken in by a newly discovered great-aunt who lives a spartan life near Seattle. Lexi soon meets Mia and her loving twin brother, Zach. The
friendship flourishes, and Mia’s mother draws Lexi into the family circle. A
slowly growing attraction between Zach and Lexi begins, but then Lexi, Mia, and Zach collectively make a bad decision that results in a tragedy with extreme repercussions.

Hardin, Jude. Pocket-47. [MYSTERY]
“Fifteen-year-old Brittney Ryan has taken to the streets. Leitha, her older sister and legal guardian, hires private investigator Nicholas Colt to
find her and bring her home. Piece of cake, Colt thinks. With Brittney’s
forbidden boyfriend’s address in hand, he plans to make a surprise visit and put this one in the scrapbook. But something more sinister is behind Brittney’s disappearance, and Colt soon finds himself in an ever-widening maze of deceit, betrayal, and murder…”–Dust cover flap.

Hegi, Ursula. Children and fire. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Protecting her beloved students from the devastating world outside of their 1934 Berlin classroom, Thekla Koppen sacrifices some of her personal
freedoms to retain her teaching position until activities within Hitler’s early regime test her moral courage.

Hennesy, Carolyn. The secret life of Damian Spinelli: as told to Diane Miller.
Collected exploits of the General Hospital character, Damian Spinelli, as told to another character on the show, Diane Miller.

Holton, Cathy. Summer in the South. [MYSTERY]
After a personal tragedy, writer Ava spends the summer in Woodburn, Tennessee at the invitation of an old friend and his aunts. But Woodburn Hall is anything but quiet: ancient feuds and modern-day rivalries emerge as Ava stumbles onto the darker side of the family’s history, and becomes tangled in their secrets.

Howrey, Meg. Blind sight.
Follows the experiences of a prospective college student who visits Los Angeles to meet the actor father he never knew, an encounter that introduces him to the gritty realities of show business and leads to a shattering revelation.

Hunt, Angela Elwell. The fine art of insincerity.
Georgia family

Hustvedt, Siri. The summer without men.
Divorce

Ignatius, David. Bloodmoney: a novel of espionage. [SUSPENSE]
Someone in Pakistan is killing the members of a new CIA intelligence unit that is trying to buy peace with America’s enemies. It falls to Sophie Marx, a young CIA officer with a big chip on her shoulder, to figure out who’s doing the killing and why.

Irwin, Stephen M. The dead path. [HORROR]
After the death of his wife, Nicholas Close becomes haunted, literally, by ghosts. Torn by guilt and fearing for his sanity, he returns home to Tallong,
Australia, and becomes entangled in a disturbing series of disappearances and murders–both as a suspect and as the next victim of the malignant evil lurking in the heart of the woods.

John, Sally. Desert gift.
Christian marriage

Jones, Tayari. Silver sparrow.
Polygamy in Georgia

Kendrick, Beth. The bake-off. [SMART FUNNY WOMEN]

Kennedy, Douglas. The moment. [SUSPENSE]
Travel writer Thomas Nesbitt, age 50, retreats into his house in Maine to wallow in memories of living in Germany 25 years earlier after the success of
his first book. In West Berlin as a worker for Radio Liberty, Thomas meets his soul mate, Petra Dussmann, a translator with an iron curtain around her heart. Petra’s mysterious melancholy proves irresistible, and as Thomas is drawn into a passionate affair, he also becomes entangled in spy games played by the Stasi and the CIA.

Kerr, Philip. Field gray. [MYSTERY]
It’s 1954 and Bernie finds himself flown back to Berlin to work for the French or hang for murder. Bernie’s job is simple: to meet and greet POWs
returning from Germany and snag one Edgard de Boudel, a French war criminal and member of the French SS. But Bernie’s past as a German POW in Russia is about to catch up with him — in a way he could never have foreseen.

Lancaster, Jen. If you were here.
“If You Were Here follows Amish-zombie-teen-romance author Mia and her husband Mac (and their pets) through the alternately frustrating, exciting,
terrifying-but always funny-process of buying and renovating their first home in the Chicago suburbs that John Hughes’s movies made famous. Along their harrowing renovation journey, Mia and Mac get caught up in various wars with the homeowners’ association, meet some less-than-friendly neighbors, and are joined by a hilarious cast of supporting characters, including a celebutard ex-landlady. As they struggle to adapt to their new surroundings- with Mac taking on the renovations himself- Mia and Mac will discover if their marriage is strong enough to survive months of DIY renovations”–Amazon.com.

Loehfelm, Bill. The devil she knows. [SUSPENSE]
Long Island, NY political corruption

Lustbader, Eric. Blood trust. [SUSPENSE]
Homeland Security agent Jack McClure sets out to save 23-year-old Alli Carson after she’s accused of murdering her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Alli, who’s training to be an FBI special ops agent, must escape from the clutches of her uncle, Henry Holt Carson, who has ties to a lengthy list of criminals engaged in dirty deeds ranging from a burgeoning trade in sex slaves to causing the recent financial meltdown in the U.S.

Lyle, D. P. Hot lights, cold steel. [MYSTERY]
Dub Walker series; bk. 2

Lyon, Annabel. The golden mean: a novel of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
A bold reimaging of one of history’s most intriguing relationships: between legendary philosopher Aristotle and his most famous pupil, the young Alexander the Great.

Macomber, Debbie. A turn in the road.
Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth. They’re driving to Florida for Ruth’s 50th high
school reunion. A long-time widow, Ruth would like very much to reconnect with Royce, the love of her youth. Bethanne’s ex-husband, Grant, would like to reconcile, so she also has a major life decision to consider. And Annie is out to prove to her onetime boyfriend that she can live a brilliant life without him. But even the best-laid plans can take an unexpected turn– or even be completely derailed.

Marr, Melissa. Graveminder. [FANTASY]
Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place–and the man–she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected.

McDonald, Ian. The Dervish House. [SUSPENSE]
Seven days, six characters, three interconnected story strands, one central common core–the eponymous dervish house, a character in itself–that pins all these players together in a weave of intrigue, conflict, drama and a
ticking clock of a thriller.

McKeon, Belinda. Solace.
In Ireland at the end of the twentieth century, midlands farmer Tom and his doctoral student son Mark struggle with disparate views about their working
lives. Mark falls for the daughter of a man who once betrayed his father. When they are thrown together by tragedy, they are still unable to overcome their habit of silence.

Mieville, China. Embassytown. [SCIENCE FICTION]
Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist on a distant planet populated by the Ariekei, sentient beings famed for their unique language, returns to Embassytown after many years of deep space exploration to find she has become a living simile in the Ariekei language even though she cannot speak it, and she is torn by competing loyalties when hostilities erupt between humans and aliens.

Mitzner, Adam. A conflict of interest.
Financial Legal thriller

Moore, Meg Mitchell. The arrivals.
Ginny and William’s peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt as their children and grandchildren descend one summer with an assortment of adult problems. By summer’s end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and
responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family–and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true.

Moseley, Meg. When sparrows fall.
Christian Fiction

Mukherjee, Bharati. Miss new India.
Taken under the wing of an expat teacher for her ambition and talent, Anjali Bose hopes to escape unfavorable prospects and falls in with a crowd of
young people in Bangalore, where she endeavors to confront her past and reinvent herself.

Narea, H. T. The fund. [SUSPENSE]
Investigating a suspicious international money trail only to discover a horrifying financial terrorist plot, U.S. Defense Intelligence operative Kate
Molares travels to strategic places throughout the world in a race to prevent an unprecedented economic catastrophe.

Parker, Michael. The watery part of the world. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Set along the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the 1800′s and the 1970s, the novel follows Theodosia Burr, daughter of Aaron Burr, who by many accounts was captured by pirates and lived out the rest of her life on a remote island, and the island’s descendants hundreds of years later.

Patterson, James. 10th anniversary. [SUSPENSE]
Detective Lindsay Boxer’s long awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminals, but that the victim may be keeping secrets as well. At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life, a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki’s career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct? Lindsay’s every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby begins interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she’ll ever be able to start a family.

Patterson, Richard North. The devil’s light. [SUSPENSE]
This book tells the story of an AL Qeda operative named Amer Al Zaroor, who, on orders from Osama Bin Laden, directs the theft of a nuclear weapon from the Pakistani military, and then transports it toward its intended target, Israel. Meanwhile Bin Laden announces to the world that he will make a major terrorist strike on 9/11/10, the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Deep inside Washington, Brooke Chandler, a CIA operative whose cover was blown by an incompetent colleague in Lebanon, thinks he knows how the bomb is being moved toward its target and how to find it. First he must overcome the skepticism of the CIA and the White House, and then he must find the bomb and disable or
detonate it before it causes the Middle East to go up in flames.

Prose, Francine. My new American life.
While working for an idealistic college professor, twenty-six-year old Lula, an Albanian trying to make a better life for herself in America, finds her
life taking a complicated turn when her Albanian “brothers” return, in a novel set in the aftermath of 9/11.

Revoyr, Nina. Wingshooters.
Japanese-American children in Wisconsin

Robinson, Patrick. The Delta solution: an international thriller.
After Somali pirates capture two U.S. ships, Mack Bedford and the Navy SEALs’ Delta Platoon are tasked with not only rescuing the ships, but also
completely obliterating all pirates operating in the Indian Ocean.

Rush, Jonathan. Due diligence. [SUSPENSE]
Investment banking intrigue

Russell, Mary Doria. Doc. [WESTERN]
Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp

Russell, Sean. A battle won. [HISTORICAL FICTION]
Charles Hayden; bk.2/18th C. sea battles

Sandford, John. Buried prey. [SUSPENSE]
Back in 1985, two girls disappeared, and fledgling cop Lucas Davenport couldn’t get over it, even when his boss declared the case closed. Now a house has been torn down, the bodies of two girls wrapped in plastic have been found, and Davenport is back on the case.

Sawyer, Kim Vogel. Courting Miss Amsel. [ROMANCE]
A new schoolteacher has a small 1880s Nebraska town up in arms over her newfangled teaching methods in this charming prairie romance.

Schaffert, Timothy. The coffins of Little Hope.
It’s small town, big drama as Essie Myles, an 83-year-old widowed obituary writer for a small Nebraska newspaper stumbles onto the story of her life. The paper’s printing press has been working double-time since a New York publisher contracted it to print part of the print run for the final installment of a wildly popular YA novel series–part of a plan to keep the book’s contents under wraps–and Essie kicks into high gear as well when she gets a tip from a local that her daughter, Lenore, has been abducted by her photographer boyfriend. But the more Essie digs, it becomes less evident whether the tale is true or the concoction of a lonely woman desperate for attention. Meanwhile, parts of the YA novel are leaked, the missing person story blows up, and the once quiet town suddenly finds itself on the national stage. Schaffert spins out the story and its offbeat characters with compassion, spoofing the nation’s voracious appetite for “news” and suggesting that perhaps not all stories are created equal. Piercing observations and sharp, subtle wit make this a standout.–Publisher’s Weekly.

Shaara, Jeff. The final storm: a novel of World War II in the Pacific.
A fictional account of the struggle for Okinawa through the eyes of combatants on both sides: Private Clay Adams, Admiral Chester Nimitz, General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., and General Mitsura Ushijima, the Japanese general in charge of defending the island.

Smith, Wilbur A. Those in peril. [SUSPENSE]
An adventure set in the violent world of modern piracy and terrorism follows the kidnapping of an oil heiress’s daughter for a multi-billion-dollar
ransom and the efforts of Cross Bow Security head Hector Cross to secure her release.

Spechler, Diana. Skinny.
After her father’s death, Gray Lachmann, finds herself compulsively overeating. Determined to take control again, she takes a job at a weight-loss camp. There she has to deal with devious co-counselors. combative teenage campers and the discovery of a teenage half-sister she never knew she had.

Spillane, Mickey. Kiss her goodbye: a Mike Hammer novel.
Returning to 1970s New York to investigate an old friend’s alleged suicide, Mike Hammer is drawn into a hunt for a cache of Nazi diamonds and a beautiful missing woman who had been close to the victim in his final days.

Strobel, Lee. The ambition. [MYSTERY]
Christian Fiction

Thompson, Jean. The year we left home.
Chronicles the happiness pursuits of the Eriksons from their 1970s coming -of-age to the near-present day, in a story told from revolving viewpoints.

Vincent, E. Duke. The Camelot conspiracy: the Kennedys, Castro and the CIA. [HISTORICAL FICTION]

Waite, Urban. The terror of living. [SUSPENSE]
Drug-trafficking in Washington state

Wax, Wendy. Ten Beach Road. [SMART FUNNY WOMEN]

West, Michael Lee. Gone with a handsomer man. [SMART FUNNY WOMEN]
Mystery in Charleston, S.C.

White, Karen S. The beach trees.
Missing persons in Biloxi

Winman, Sarah. When God was a rabbit.
Traces the evolving bond of love and secrets between a woman and her brother, a relationship marked by family ties in Europe and America, a secretive friend, and historical events from more than three decades.

Woods, Stuart. Bel-Air dead: a Stone Barrington novel.
Stone Barrington receives a rather unexpected phone call from Arrington Calder, the ex-girlfriend with whom he has a son. Arrington’s much older husband, the actor Vance Calder, has just died, leaving her a fortune in Centurion Studios stock. Arrington has plans for the money and asks Stone to represent her in the sale of the company. But when he arrives at her home in Bel-Air to finalize the deal, things take a nasty turn.