As one of the few people, it seems, who's not enamored of James Cameron's film but is fascinated by the story of the Titanic, I loved the clever setup for this novel. With complex characters and a love of literature and bookshops set against the backdrop of early twentieth-century Paris, the book hooked me. I really felt for the characters, flaws and all. It made me want to read the books the characters read, especially if I bought them while strolling along the Seine, perusing the used books sold by street vendors . . .
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of The Perfume Thief, a remarkable tale about the life-changing power of books and second chances, following the Titanic librarian who opens a bookshop in Paris where he meets a secret society of survivors.
"Deeply moving and rich with vivid detail . . . Timothy Schaffert is an exquisite storyteller."—Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept
For weeks after the sinking of the Titanic, Yorick spots his own name among the list of those lost at sea. As an apprentice librarian for the White Star Line, his job was…
I've only recently started reading N. K. Jemison, and I'm blown away by her imaginative world-building. The complex seismology and related supernatural powers that drive the characters and plot of this novel . . . wow. And I really have to pitch reading the next two books in the Broken Earth Trilogy, Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky, right after you finish this first one. The trilogy intertwines stories across a few different time periods, and when I had a long break between reading book one and the other two, it took me a while to get the different storylines back in sync!
At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. (The New York Times)
This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time.
It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
I loved Grady Hendrix's My Best Friend's Exorcism, which I recommended last year, so when I started thinking about spooky books to read this October, this was a natural choice. And I know someone who had been a "wayward girl" back in the days when pregnant teens were shipped off to have their babies in secret, so that element caught my interest as well. Hendrix did not disappoint, creating a bunch of complex female characters across a wide range of ages and backgrounds and exploring the social dynamics and prejudices of the 1960s. As the story takes its first turn into witchcraft, you might think you know where it's going, but there are some great twists to keep you guessing along the way.
"Superb ... a perfect horror for our imperfect age.” – The New York Times
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
They were never girls, they were witches . . . .
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they're sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer…
Étienne Joubert is a knight out of time. He fought in the Crusades of the late thirteenth century, but now finds himself facing a different holy war in a twenty-first-century world teeming with the gods humanity has worshipped—except, it seems, for his own. Follow his journey through three exciting stories, all revised for this collection . . .
A Medieval Knight in Vatican City Joubert finds himself at war in a Rome he barely recognizes, dodging metal carts that speed by without horses. In Vatican City, he faces a pope convinced that his return to life is a miracle from God—but Joubert’s time in the Crusades has shaken his faith to the core.
The Many Gods of Manhattan Joubert creates the Nouveau Templar, favoring peace between faiths instead of bloody crusades. The pope sends him to Manhattan, a crazy quilt of religious affiliations spread across the neighborhoods. When a young Catholic woman comes to him about her missing fiancé, he becomes entangled in the turf wars of the gods.
The Squire and the Valet Joubert faces a deadly challenge when a demon goes on a killing spree, including a priest and two Lenape Tribal Elders. It falls to Joubert to keep the peace between two faiths, but his mission is complicated by differences within the Church. Fortunately, he’s got the support of his longtime valet and his new wise-cracking assistant.
