Books for when you're stuck inside

Seven Days of Us

“The holidays are always a stressful time, but imagine being with your immediate family for a full seven days of quarantine! This is the premise of Hornak's Seven Days of Us. To ride out the weeklong quarantine imposed due to daughter Olivia's work treating patients of an epidemic in Liberia, the Birch family plans to spend the Christmas holiday in mother Emma's crumbling ancestral home, Weyfield Hall, in Norfolk. On top of isolation and the lack of escape, each member of the family is dealing with their own secrets. A wonderful tale full of humor and heartache and all the issues families deal with - love, longing, and regret. Sometimes being forced together gives you a new perspective on your family and yourself.”

Maxwell Gregory, Lake Forest Book Store

An irresistible, deftly observed novel about the secrets, joys, and jealousies that rise to the surface over the course of an American family’s two-week stay in Mallorca.

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth... Read more »

A Gentleman in Moscow

“I believe A Gentleman In Moscow is without dispute a modern day masterpiece. Towles uses exquisite language to tell the story of Count Rostov, a charming and witty "man of intent", who is confined to a fabulous hotel in Moscow for all his days. But that doesn't stop the count from living a sumptuous and meaningful life and he, in turn, graciously affects all the lives around him. I can't praise this book enough.”

Mary , R.J. Julia Booksellers

Risk everything . . . for love with this #1 New York Times bestseller. 

What if you couldn’t touch anything in the outside world? Never breathe in the fresh air, feel the sun warm your face . . . or kiss the boy next door? In Everything, Everything, Maddy is a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and Olly is the boy who moves in... Read more »

The Escape Room

“Megan Goldin’s debut is sheer perfection. I was enthralled, obsessed, and utterly delighted from the gripping first chapter to the very end. The genuine quality of Goldin’s voice is so engaging, you feel like you’re discussing your favorite topics with a best friend. In The Escape Room, four investment bankers trapped in an overheated elevator reach a literal and figurative boiling point as survival becomes questionable. As these deeply flawed central characters fight to keep it together, a mysterious force works behind the glass walls to ensure they leave the elevator changed forever, if they leave at all. I loved every second of this novel and simply cannot wait to tell everyone about it!”

Lauren Messamore, Watermark Books

The Mars Room

“Rachel Kushner writes some seriously smart and gorgeous prose, so when she headed to prison in The Mars Room, I went. It is dark. It is painful. At times, the level of detail in the book and its fabulously invented and drawn characters make it feel like a documentary. We are struggling with so many social justice issues across the country right now it is overwhelming, and I worried that The Mars Room would push me over the edge. Instead, I couldn't stop reading. What really happened? Who is to blame? How will things turn out? How can we make things better? Ultimately, Kushner's great success is profoundly illustrating a very simple message: It's complicated.”

Sara Hinckley, Hudson Booksellers

The award-winning bestseller that became one of the most talked about and memorable novels of the decade, Room is "utterly gripping...a heart-stopping novel" (San Francisco Chronicle).   Held captive for years in a small shed, a woman and her precocious young son finally gain their freedom, and the boy experiences the outside world for the first... Read more »