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Editorial Content for Klara and the Sun

Teaser

KLARA AND THE SUN, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to love?

Promo

KLARA AND THE SUN, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to love?

About the Book

KLARA AND THE SUN is a magnificent new novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, author of NEVER LET ME GO and the Booker Prize-winning THE REMAINS OF THE DAY.

KLARA AND THE SUN, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her.

KLARA AND THE SUN is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to love?

In its award citation in 2017, the Nobel committee described Ishiguro's books as "novels of great emotional force" and said he has "uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world."

Editorial Content for What's Mine and Yours

Teaser

From the author of HALSEY STREET comes a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family, and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

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From the author of HALSEY STREET comes a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family, and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

About the Book

From the author of HALSEY STREET, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family, and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the span of the next 20 years.

On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee's steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he'll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious, young Black man. On the other side is Noelle's headstrong mother, Lacey May, a white woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. She strives to protect them as she couldn't protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.

When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers --- each determined to see her child inherit a better life --- will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.

As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, WHAT'S MINE AND YOURS is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.

Editorial Content for Who Is Maud Dixon?

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WHO IS MAUD DIXON? is a taut, twisty and character-driven psychological thriller about a famous novelist and a small-town striver locked in a struggle for fortune and fame.

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WHO IS MAUD DIXON? is a taut, twisty and character-driven psychological thriller about a famous novelist and a small-town striver locked in a struggle for fortune and fame.

About the Book

A "stylish and sharp" character-driven suspense novel, "with wicked hairpin turns," about a famous novelist and a small-town striver locked in a struggle for fortune and fame. (Maria Semple, author of WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?)

Florence Darrow is a low-level publishing employee who believes that she's destined to be a famous writer. When she stumbles into a job as the assistant to the brilliant, enigmatic novelist known as Maud Dixon --- whose true identity is a secret --- it appears that the universe is finally providing Florence’s big chance.

The arrangement seems perfect. Maud Dixon (whose real name, Florence discovers, is Helen Wilcox) can be prickly, but she is full of pointed wisdom --- not only on how to write, but also on how to live. Florence quickly falls under Helen’s spell and eagerly accompanies her to Morocco, where Helen’s new novel is set. Amidst the colorful streets of Marrakesh and the windswept beaches of the coast, Florence’s life at last feels interesting enough to inspire a novel of her own.

But when Florence wakes up in the hospital after a terrible car accident, with no memory of the previous night --- and no sign of Helen --- she’s tempted to take a shortcut. Instead of hiding in Helen’s shadow, why not upgrade into Helen's life? Not to mention her bestselling pseudonym.

Taut, twisty and viciously entertaining, WHO IS MAUD DIXON? is a stylish psychological thriller about how far into the darkness you’re willing to go to claim the life you always wanted.

Editorial Content for The Windsor Knot

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THE WINDSOR KNOT is the first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.

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THE WINDSOR KNOT is the first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.

About the Book

The first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.

It is the early spring of 2016, and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals --- until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.

Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.

SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd and, most importantly, a great judge of character.

March 12, 2021

As we think back on the past year, I love how many book groups did a quick pivot to Zoom and/or socially distanced meetings once the pandemic hit. If your group is still meeting, celebrate. If your group is not meeting, think about the books you want to talk about when you resume meeting. If you are in the latter category, start sharing lists of what you have been reading and use a sharing software like Google Docs to start planning your next read(s).

Bookaccino Event on April 14th

Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Klara and the Sun

KLARA AND THE SUN, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. The book offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator and explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to love?

Editorial Content for The Kitchen Front

Teaser

From the bestselling author of THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

Promo

From the bestselling author of THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

About the Book

From the bestselling author of THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses: The Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called "The Kitchen Front" is holding a cooking contest --- and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it’s a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. For a kitchen maid, it’s a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For a lady of the manor, it’s a chance to escape her wealthy husband’s increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it’s a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all --- even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together only serve to break it apart?

Editorial Content for The Nature of Fragile Things

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From the acclaimed author of THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR and AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.

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From the acclaimed author of THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR and AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.

About the Book

April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

From the acclaimed author of THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR and AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.

Lauren Willig, author of Band of Sisters

A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith’s Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend, Emmeline Van Alden, reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit. Four months later, Kate and 17 other Smithies set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies and good intentions --- all of which immediately go astray.