★★★☆☆ Though living worlds apart, Augustine, an astronomer living alone in the Arctic Circle in his twilight years, and Sully, an astronaut who left her young daughter to embark on a two-year mission to Jupiter, have more in common than their love of the stars.
Category: Bestsellers
Happy Place by Emily Henry
★★★★☆ In Happy Place, college sweethearts Harriet and Wyn are headed to a cottage in Maine to participate in a decades-long beach week tradition with their best pals. One problem: they broke off their engagement six months ago but haven’t confessed the news to their trip mates. The two are forced to keep up the charade of still being engaged to the people who are supposed to know them best.
How to Know a Person by David Brooks
★★★★☆ There’s a loneliness epidemic in America, and it’s having devastating consequences. I see the tragic impact that feeling isolated and misunderstood is having on college students in my daily work on a college campus. I thought How to Know a Person might give me some insight into how I could take steps in my own life to address this societal health crisis.
The Painter by Peter Heller
★★★★☆ A passionate artist, sensitive yet flawed father, detached lover, and contemplative fisherman with a faulty moral compass and an angry streak, Jim Stegner is a multidimensional man. These varied – and sometimes contradictory – elements of Jim’s personality make him a memorable character.
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
★★★☆☆ Rachel Hawkins writes good escapist thrillers. Reckless Girls was deliciously wicked, and her Southern Gothic novel, The Wife Upstairs, had some fun twists. So, when I saw she had a new book, The Villa, I decided to check it out.
Celine by Peter Heller
★★★★☆ Celine Watkins is a 68-year-old private investigator who specializes in helping to reunite families. Gabriela Lamont, a fellow Sarah Lawrence alumna, hires Celine to find out what happened when her father, a National Geographic photographer, mysteriously disappeared twenty years before. The novel delves into Celine’s past as much as it focuses on the present-day investigation into why Paul Lamont vanished from the Wyoming wilderness.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
★★★★☆ Our society glorifies those who ultra-specialize in a field and celebrates them as smarter or more talented than others. We tend to believe a wrist surgeon is better and more qualified to operate on our carpal tunnel than a general surgeon. Using data and the personal stories of musicians and athletes, such as Tiger Woods, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein tackles why this conventional wisdom isn’t necessarily true.
November 9 by Colleen Hoover
★★★☆☆ Fallon and Ben meet on November 9th, the day before Fallon is scheduled to move from Los Angeles to New York City. Despite an instant connection, they are both in a place, especially Fallon, where it doesn’t make sense to be together. The two hatch a plan to go “no contact” except for reuniting on the anniversary of the day they met for the next five years.
Home Front by Kristin Hannah
★★★☆☆ With its portrait of a stoic woman enduring terrible circumstances, Home Front is a difficult read. Just as her marriage begins falling apart, Jolene Zarkades, a mother to two girls, is deployed to active duty as a helicopter pilot in Iraq. Jolene, her husband, Michael, and their daughters are each tested in different ways while she is away and again when she returns.
Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks
★★★★☆ Colby Mills takes a break from running the family farm to play a few gigs in St. Pete’s Beach, Florida. While relaxing during his working vacation, he meets Morgan Lee, and the two have a nearly instant connection. Meanwhile, in a seemingly disconnected storyline, Beverly, with her young son in tow, goes to great lengths to flee an abusive husband.