10 Enticing Books New in Paperback This May

May 11 2021
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These cloudy, rainy spring days can leave anyone feeling restless. Instead of fighting the feeling, settle in with one of these engrossing books, new to paperback this May! Whether you’re looking for pulse-racing fiction or mind-blowing nonfiction, eerie and atmospheric mysteries or funny and inspiring coming-of-age tales, these titles have you covered. Varied and engaging enough to capture even the most distractable mind, all ten of these one-of-a-kind page-turners will have you glued to the page until the next sunny day.

The End of the Day
by Bill Clegg

Everything can change in one day. For a retired widow in Connecticut, that eventful day is when her childhood best friend unexpectedly arrives at her doorstep. For another man, it’s when he finds himself collapsed on the floor of a Pennsylvania hotel lobby, just as he was about to introduce his estranged father to his newborn daughter. And for a middle-aged taxi driver in Hawaii, it’s when she receives a fateful phone call that brings all the trauma of the past back. In this complex and moving novel, sixty years of secrets surface to bring these three seemingly disparate people together.

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The End of the Day
Bill Clegg

Following his acclaimed New York Times bestseller Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg returns with a “delicate, deeply observed, and deftly crafted” (Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs) second novel about the complicated bonds and breaking points of friendship, the corrosive forces of secrets, the heartbeat of longing, and the redemption found in forgiveness.

A retired widow in rural Connecticut wakes to an unexpected visit from her childhood best friend whom she hasn’t seen in forty-nine years.

A man arrives at a Pennsylvania hotel to introduce his estranged father to his newborn daughter and finds him collapsed on the floor of the lobby.

A sixty-seven-year-old taxi driver in Kauai receives a phone call from the mainland that jars her back to a traumatic past.

These seemingly disconnected lives come together as half-century-old secrets begin to surface. It is in this moment that Bill Clegg reminds us how choices—to connect, to betray, to protect—become our legacy.

“Written in lyrical, beautiful prose that makes even waking up seem like a poetic event” (Good Morning America), this novel is a feat of storytelling, capturing sixty years within the framework of one fateful day.

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The Book of Lost Names
by Kristin Harmel

In 1942, after being forced to flee Nazi-occupied France, Eva finds safety in a mountain village in the Free Zone. There, with the help of a magnetic forger named Rémy, Eva starts forging identity documents for Jewish refugee children. But to avoid erasing their identities altogether, Eva begins to document their original identities in a coded book, for a day when she imagines they may want to learn the truth of who they once were. Years later, Eva is a semi-retired librarian in Florida and must come to terms with the secrets she’s kept.

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The Book of Lost Names
Kristin Harmel

A fascinating, heartrending page-turner that, like the real-life forgers who inspired the novel, should never be forgotten.” —Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday

Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, a young woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis in this “sweeping and magnificent” (Fiona Davis, bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue) historical novel from the #1 international bestselling author of The Winemaker’s Wife.

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books when her eyes lock on a photograph in the New York Times. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in more than sixty years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer, but does she have the strength to revisit old memories?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris and find refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, where she began forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

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The Giver of Stars
by Jojo Moyes

By beloved storyteller Jojo Moyes, THE GIVER OF STARS is an inspiring historical drama with five extraordinary women at its center. Alice Wright married her handsome American husband to escape her suffocating life in England. But small-town Kentucky isn’t offering her much relief, so she signs up to join a group of four other women to be part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s call for a traveling library. The five women, known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky, must face danger, adventure, and heartbreak to bring books to those whose lives will be changed by the written word.

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The Giver of Stars
Jojo Moyes

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The Dreamseller Collected
by Augusto Cury

No one knows exactly who he is, but the man who calls himself the Dreamseller has a gift. He can listen, inspire, disrupt, and compel all those who meet him. From the professor who has lost his passion, to the alcoholic who has lost his family, to the elderly who have lost their drive, the Dreamseller moves them all to search for the root of human life and the heart of the soul. The captivating modern fable is both a spiritual and intellectual look into modern life that will have every reader reflecting on their values, dreams, and purpose.

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The Dreamseller Collected
Augusto Cury

A moving, inspirational, and “masterfully told” (Mike Dooley, New York Times bestselling author) modern fable about a mysterious man who changes people’s lives for the better—perfect for fans of The Celestine Prophecy.

Wherever he goes, the Dreamseller enchants, stirs up trouble, and inspires his listeners to search for the most important thing: the heart of the human soul. Every person he meets is someone who has abandoned their dreams and is struggling through life: a professor who has stopped pursuing his passions; a lonely alcoholic with no family; the elderly who have lost their zest for life. Through his wisdom, the Dreamseller helps them to look into their silent hearts and get to the root of their unhappiness.

An illuminating and “intellectual novel” (Library Journal) that will not only make you laugh and cry, it will help you reflect on the purpose of your life, teach you to value others, and empower you to believe in your dreams.

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Grand
by Sara Schaefer

In this moving and hilarious memoir, Sara Schaefer takes us on a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with her and her younger sister. When Sara is in first grade, a family scandal reveals that her “grand” life was built on a lie. Her parents become neighborhood pariahs and turn to religion to reestablish community and structure in their lives. Decades later, Sara reflects on her strict Christian upbringings, her ensuing anxiety and depression, and the lie that began it all as she reconnects with her family members, one at a time.

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Grand
Sara Schaefer

Emmy Award–winning writer Sara Schaefer’s hilariously honest memoir follows her “on this wild river descent into the Grand Canyon and her own secret family history. This is a Class 1000 Rapids of a memoir and I urge you to take the ride” (John Hodgman, author of Vacationland). Perfect for fans of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.

When Sara Schaefer is in first grade, her father warns her to always tell the truth because one lie leads to another and soon you will find yourself in a hole you can’t escape. A few years later, the Schaefer family is completely upended when it’s revealed that their grand life is based on a lie. Her parents become pariahs in their upper middle class community and go from non-religious people to devout church members. The idea of good and evil as binary, opposed forces is a lesson she never forgets.

The year she turns forty, Sara decides to take each member of her family on a one-on-one vacation culminating with a whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon with her sister. The only problem is she’s terrified of rafting. Along the way, she grapples with unresolved grief over the death of her mother and the family scandal that changed the trajectory of her life.

“Funny, sweet, heartbreaking, vulnerable, and powerfully written” (Moshe Kasher, author of Kasher in the Rye), Grand is “a wise, funny acknowledgment that we are not always in control—and that growth is most likely to happen when we let go” (BookPage).

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The End of Everything
by Katie Mack

When Dr. Katie Mack was a student, her professor told her that the universe could end at any moment. Stunned and intrigued, Mack launched onto a lifelong journey to learn all she could about astrophysics. In THE END OF EVERYTHING, Mack reflects with levity and humor on everything she’s learned about the five major potential finales for our world: the Big Rip, Heat Death, the Bounce, the Big Crunch, and Vacuum Decay. In this upbeat, fun, and approachable look at where we’re all headed, Mack takes on the biggest questions of the universe using cutting-edge science.

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The End of Everything
Katie Mack

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY * THE WASHINGTON POST * THE ECONOMIST * NEW SCIENTIST * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * THE GUARDIAN

From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an “engrossing, elegant” (The New York Times) look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology.

We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?

Dr. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was a young student, when her astronomy professor informed her the universe could end at any moment, in an instant. This revelation set her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Now, with lively wit and humor, she takes us on a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.

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Fortune and Glory
by Janet Evanovich

In this twenty-seventh installment in Janet Evanovich’s bestselling Stephanie Plum series, Stephanie and her grandmother embark on an adventure of a lifetime. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur’s new husband dies suddenly, leaving behind keys to a larger-than-life fortune. Now, Stephanie and Grandma Mazur must find his treasure before it falls into the hands of the enemies at their doorstep. In addition to two old foes, Gabriela Rosa—a fortune hunter with a penchant for firearms and no remorse—will put Stephanie to the test.

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Fortune and Glory
Janet Evanovich

From “the most popular mystery writer alive” (The New York Times), the twenty-seventh entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series isn’t just the biggest case of Stephanie Plum’s career. It’s the adventure of a lifetime.

When Stephanie’s beloved Grandma Mazur’s new husband died on their wedding night, the only thing he left her was a beat-up old easy chair…and the keys to a life-changing fortune.

But as Stephanie and Grandma Mazur search for Jimmy Rosolli’s treasure, they discover that they’re not the only ones on the hunt. Two dangerous enemies from the past stand in their way—along with a new adversary who’s even more formidable: Gabriela Rose, a dark-eyed beauty from Little Havana with a taste for designer clothes. She’s also a soldier of fortune, a gourmet cook, an expert in firearms and mixed martial arts—and someone who’s about to give Stephanie a real run for her money.

Stephanie may be in over her head, but she’s got two things that Gabriela doesn’t: an unbreakable bond with her family and a stubborn streak that will never let her quit.

She’ll need both to survive because this search for “fortune and glory” will turn into a desperate race against time with more on the line than ever before. Because even as she searches for the treasure and fights to protect her Grandma Mazur, her own deepest feelings will be tested—as Stephanie could finally be forced to choose between Joe Morelli and Ranger.

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One by One
by Ruth Ware

Perfect for Agatha Christie fans, ONE BY ONE joins eight employees of a hip London start-up, Snoop, on a corporate retreat at a ski resort in the French Alps. But tensions rise when someone pushes for a lucrative but controversial buyout. When an avalanche leaves the group stranded at the resort, panic sets in, particularly since one member of the team never made it back from the ski lift. And as the hours tick by and the temperature drops, more members of the team begin to go missing…

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One by One
Ruth Ware

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A claustrophobic spine-tingler.” —People
Not only do Ware’s novels wink at [Agatha] Christie in a saucy way, but Ware herself is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime.” —The Washington Post

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Turn of the Key and In a Dark Dark Wood returns with another suspenseful thriller set on a snow-covered mountain.

Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.

When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech start-up, organizes a weeklong trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper hadn’t made it back from the slopes when the avalanche hit.

As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further…one by one.

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The Dirty South
by John Connolly

In this eighteenth installment of his acclaimed Charlie Parker series, John Connolly takes readers back to Parker’s origin story. Devastated by the unsolved murder of his wife and daughter, former NYPD detective Charlie Parker finds himself in an Arkansas jail cell, in the midst of his desperate search for the killer. It’s 1997 and while Parker’s wife and daughter aren’t the only two young women recently murdered in Burdon County, Arkansas, no one in the South seems willing to talk. Part noir and part Southern Gothic, DIRTY SOUTH follows Parker as he hunts the man responsible.

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The Dirty South
John Connolly

“Mr. Connolly’s slam-bang thriller is studded with memorable characters and boasts cliffhangers within cliffhangers.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Brilliant...Connolly is writing at the top of his game.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

The New York Times bestselling author of A Book of Bones and “one of the best thriller writers we have” (Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author) goes back to the very beginning of Private Investigator Charlie Parker’s astonishing career with his first terrifying case.

It is 1997, and someone is slaughtering young women in Burdon County, Arkansas.

But no one in the Dirty South wants to admit it.

In an Arkansas jail cell sits a former NYPD detective, stricken by grief. He is mourning the death of his wife and child, and searching in vain for their killer. Obsessed with avenging his lost family, his life is about to take a shocking turn.

Witness the dawning of a conscience.

Witness the birth of a hunter.

Witness the becoming of Charlie Parker.

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Catherine House
by Elisabeth Thomas

In this breathless, atmospheric debut, Ines is eager to leave her partying ways behind if it means attending Catherine House: the prestigious school that has produced many of the world’s most powerful and influential figures. But Catherine House comes with a catch: students must agree to spend their three years there cut off from everything in the outside world. Once inside, Ines is shocked by the experimental curriculum, wild revelry, and strange rules the school’s director institutes. And when tragedy strikes, she suspects there is a more dangerous secret beneath the school’s worn velvet upholstery.

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Catherine House
Elisabeth Thomas

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Photo credit: istock / snowflock

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