Readers’ Choice: The Top 10 Most Shelved Books in March

Oliver Ryan has the perfect life, sharing a lovely home with his wife, Alice, who illustrates the award-winning children’s books that have brought him wealth and fame. But then one evening, Oliver assaults her and leaves her for dead. UNRAVELING OLIVER is a brilliant, compulsively readable novel of psychological suspense about the truth behind a shocking act of savagery and the profound lies and deceptions that come to light in its wake.

From the bestselling author of EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU, this riveting novel traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood.

Ann Patchett’s novels are known for their romance and humanity, and her most recent, COMMONWEALTH, is no different. Spanning five decades, it traces the effects of a chance encounter on four parents and six children. One of those children is Franny Keating, who begins an affair with a legendary author, not realizing that he will take her story and make it his own. What follows is a story of loss, guilt, loyalty, and responsibility that is not to be missed.

To the delight of their husbands and children, Liv and Nora are taking their families on a holiday cruise. While the adults relax, the four children—ages six to 11—enjoy the nonstop buffet and their newfound independence. But on an excursion ashore in Central America, a series of minor misfortunes and miscalculations erodes the safety they had experienced aboard the ship, when one minute the children are there, and the next they’re gone.

This novel about community and courage will dazzle you. As Beartown’s junior ice hockey team sets its sight on a big prize, all the hopes of the tiny community rest on the shoulders of teenage boys. By the beloved author of A MAN CALLED OVE, BEARTOWN explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain.

A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, THE ALICE NETWORK, is an enthralling blend of historical fiction, engaging drama, and mystery. It’s the story of two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—who are united in this fast-paced, breathtaking tale of courage and redemption.

Ruth Ware is one of our—and your—favorite writers. First we obsessed over IN A DARK, DARK WOOD, and then we couldn’t stop talking about THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10. Now THE LYING GAME has our full attention. Ruth Ware’s latest thriller is an atmospheric, twisty novel about four friends whose past lies come back to haunt them. It will keep you on your toes until the last page.

The Spring Girls—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—are a force of nature on the New Orleans military base where they live. As different as they are, with their father on tour in Iraq and their mother hiding something, their fears are very much the same. Struggling to build lives they can be proud of and that will lift them out of their humble station in life, one year will determine all that their futures can become. This modern-day retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN is perfect for book clubs.

THE LONELY HEARTS HOTEL is a gorgeous and compelling novel filled with vivid descriptions and set in an alluring and poetic world. In this captivating story that takes place in Montreal on the cusp of the Great Depression, two gifted orphans possess talents that allow them to open themselves up to new possibilities.

In the book that inspired the award-winning movie The Theory of Everything—starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones—Stephen Hawking’s first wife, Jane Wilde Hawking, depicts the ups and downs of their marriage—from the high price of fame to the difficulties in being married to someone who requires 24-hour care. This is a moving and honest memoir that is resoundingly extraordinary and must-read in the wake of Stephen Hawking’s recent passing.