I’d almost given up hope of ever reuniting with my long lost love – the unassumingly magical bargain book bin at Winn-Dixie. This beautifully bountiful book bin had seemingly vanished into thin air over a year ago, leaving me to lament the loss of its addictively affordable literary treats on every grocery run. But then, during a recent routine restock, my jaw nearly hit the floor when I turned the corner and spotted…could it be? Yes! There it was, as if a mirage, that familiar blessed bin of bargain beauties! Just shoved haphazardly in some dusty corner by the pharmacy section.
Could it be? Yes! There it was, almost as if it had been tucked away in that dingy nook the whole time, patiently waiting to be rediscovered – that blessed bin of bargain book beauties! My heart leapt as I excitedly skimmed the titles at only $3.33. It was as if an old book lover’s paradise had been hidden in plain sight this whole time!
Leave it to the dusty corners of the mundane to harbor such unexpected bibliophilic bliss.
The Girl Who Survived
In this deviously volatile, deliciously creepy thriller from the #1 New York Times bestseller, the lone survivor of a brutal family massacre must uncover the awful truth about the fateful night that left her forever marked…
Has she already had her last chance to be the final girl?
All her life, she’s been the girl who survived. Orphaned at age seven after a horrific killing spree at her family’s Oregon cabin, Kara McIntyre is still searching for some kind of normal. But now, twenty years later, the past has come thundering back. Her brother, Jonas, who was convicted of the murders has unexpectedly been released from prison. The press is in a frenzy again. And suddenly, Kara is receiving cryptic messages from her big sister, Marlie—who hasn’t been seen or heard from since that deadly Christmas Eve when she hid little Kara in a closet with a haunting, life-saving command: Don’t make a sound.
As people close to her start to die horrible deaths, Kara, who is slowly and surely unraveling, believes she is the killer’s ultimate target.
Kara survived once. But will she survive again? How many times can she be the girl who survived?
Firefly Lane
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all―beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.
So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.
From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness.
Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . .
For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship―jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.
Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone’s Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it’s the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It’s about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you―and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you’ll never forget . . . one you’ll want to pass on to your best friend.
Nine Perfect Strangers
Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out…
Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.
Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can?
It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.
Combining all of the hallmarks that have made her writing a go-to for anyone looking for wickedly smart, page-turning fiction that will make you laugh and gasp, Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers once again shows why she is a master of her craft.
Deadlock
When Rebekah Manvers is contacted by Zoltan, a medium who claims she’s received a message from Rebekah’s now-dead grandfather, she believes the woman is a charlatan. But if so, how does Zoltan know about the secrets Rebekah’s grandfather entrusted her with so many years ago? Certain it’s a con, Rebekah walks away.
The next day FBI Special Agent Dillon Savich witnesses two men trying to force a woman into a van. Savich fights off the men, and rescues the woman, who turns out to be Rebekah Manvers, wife of wealthy congressman Rich Manvers. Why did these men want to kidnap her? To extort ransom from her husband? Or did it have to do with the medium Zoltan? Or with her grandfather?
Then a box addressed to Savich, stamped “PERSONAL,” arrives at the Criminal Apprehension Unit, containing one-third of a puzzle. The assembled pieces show only an ancient pier and a sidewalk littered with human remains, but no one can identify the location. When a second box arrives, Special Agent Pippa Cinelli recognizes the picture on the puzzle as a scene in her hometown, St. Lumis, Maryland. Intrigued, Savich immediately sends Cinelli to investigate. On her second day in St. Lumis, she’s struck down and left bound in an abandoned building. Cinelli and Savich decide it’s time to involve the local police chief, Matthew Wilde.
Savich and Sherlock quickly learn that what happened in the past casts a long shadow. They must discover the truths not only to save themselves but to prevent further bloodshed
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