Gilbert's Picks

Matrix

“Lauren Groff has created an incredibly powerful portrait of the compelling Marie de France, banished to 12th-century England to live in a failing abbey. I fell in love with Marie and the sisters she lives with.”

Rosanna Nissen, Barrett Bookstore

As complex in their own way as their Mitford cousins, Winston and Clementine Churchill’s daughters each had a unique relationship with their famous father. Rachel Trethewey's biography, The Churchill Sisters, tells their story.

Bright, attractive and well-connected, in any other family the Churchill girls – Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary – would...

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."—The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well... Read more »

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire
 
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of... Read more »

The Vanishing Half

“Brit Bennett’s second novel broke my heart. She doesn’t shy away from the sadness inherent in each character’s life, yet she left me feeling better for having met all of them. I read The Vanishing Half with a sense of hope, despite my dread that terrible things might befall the characters. Desiree and Stella’s story unfolds with a deft delicateness in a book that is astonishingly accomplished and sweeping, and yet so very intimate.”

Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First

Mexican Gothic

“Best book I have read this year. An amazing, gripping tale of a young woman in a strange old house. It's an epic ghost story mixed with some element for "Girl with all the Gifts." Compelling characters and a twist ending that will have you in the edge of your seat until the very end. 10/10 would recommend. ”

Tiffany, Leaves Book and Tea Shop

The Lincoln Highway

“Like so many other Amor Towles fans, I’ve been impatiently awaiting his next novel, so I delved right in and didn’t totally emerge until a few days later! As always with his work, it’s immersively readable and his word crafting is such a pleasure. What’s happening in the characters’ lives is chaotic and unsettled, but Towles’ writing is as crisp and precise as ever. I was immediately impressed with how distinctive and age/time-appropriate each of the characters’ voices is--right from the start. Most of the characters are young people, kids really, and their choices and actions are life-altering and often heartbreaking. But there’s lots of humor and amusement as well in following their physical, emotional, and moral journeys. A delightful and satisfying read. ”

Shirley, Watermark Books

A Slow Fire Burning

“This is a slow burning novel, as the title suggests. It has lots of unlikeable and unreliable characters, it jumps around a lot, it has at least one bona fide murder and maybe some others that weren’t really accidents. Despite all of this you just must keep listening because the writing is superb, the narration is brilliant, the atmosphere is intoxicating, and it all comes together in a very satisfying manner.”

Nancy, Fiction Addiction

The Exiles

“"The Exiles" is a powerful and gorgeously written portrait of colonial Australia during the Transportation. From Evangeline, a pregnant convict determined to make a better life for herself after incarceration, to Mathinna, a Palawa Aborigine forcibly adopted from her home and community in Flinders, and still to so many others, Kline creates a page-turning story about how disempowered women survive the fates bestowed onto them, and effect change both in their lives and those of others. I read between print and audiobook, and must mention that Caroline Lee's mastery of a variety of accents from the British diaspora made the characters all the more distinct and real. She brought Kline's words, already compelling, to life.”

Cat, Oxford Exchange

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Now a Hulu original series

"Narrator Caroline Lee's animated performance brings listeners along as the story changes perspective...Listeners will be hooked as the retreat begins to unravel." — AudioFile Magazine

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies.

Could ten days at a health resort really...