August 2023 Adult Top 10 Picks

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  1. None of This Is True
    by Lisa Jewell
    Atria Books
    Aug 08, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    None of This Is True
    by Lisa Jewell
    Atria Books
    Aug 08, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her “superb pacing, twisted characters, and captivating prose” (BuzzFeed), Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.


    Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

    A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

    Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

    But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

    Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
    View this title on BNC CataList
  2. Learned By Heart
    by Emma Donoghue Canada
    HarperAvenue
    Aug 29, 2023
    Hardback
    Learned By Heart
    by Emma Donoghue Canada
    HarperAvenue
    Aug 29, 2023
    Hardback

    A heartbreakingly gorgeous novel based on the true story of two girls who fall secretly, deeply and dangerously in love at boarding school in nineteenth century York, from the bestselling author of Room and The Wonder

    Finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize

    National Bestseller

    Drawing on years of investigation and Anne Lister’s five-million-word secret journal, Learned by Heart is the long-buried love story of Eliza Raine, an orphan heiress banished from India to England at age six, and Anne Lister, a brilliant, troublesome tomboy, who meet at the Manor School for Young Ladies in York in 1805 when they are both fourteen.

    Emotionally intense, psychologically compelling and deeply researched, Learned by Heart is an extraordinary work of fiction by one of the world’s greatest storytellers. Full of passion and heartbreak, the tangled lives of Anne Lister and Eliza Raine form a love story for the ages.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  3. Happiness
    by Danielle Steel
    Delacorte Press
    Aug 08, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    Happiness
    by Danielle Steel
    Delacorte Press
    Aug 08, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Danielle Steel comes an uplifting novel about an author who—to her surprise—inherits a grand estate near London.

    Sabrina Brooks is a wildly successful bestselling author of gripping thrillers. Unlike her fictional characters, Sabrina lives a quiet life in the Berkshires with her two beloved dogs. But behind this peaceful exterior is a dark, painful past. As a child raised by an emotionally distant father, Sabrina rarely felt love. And as an adult, her marriage twisted into an abusive relationship from which she had to escape.

    Sabrina channeled that fear into her writing, and now she has everything she’s ever wanted—until the arrival of a mysterious letter disrupts it all, declaring that Sabrina, as the only living relative of her recently deceased uncle, is now the heir to his title and estate outside London. This shocking news forces her to cross the Atlantic and see the manor for herself, stirring up her father’s past and the secrets he kept.

    Determined at first to sell the estate quickly and return home, Sabrina is surprised by how much she loves roaming the gardens and exploring the historic manor. She can’t help but admire her surroundings, especially with the handsome estate attorney, Grayson Abbott, acting as her tour guide. As she learns more about the family history, Sabrina begins to wonder what life would be like as “Lady Brooks,” and if she could upend the stability for which she has worked so hard. Is she brave enough to choose a different path?

    In Happiness, Danielle Steel creates an unforgettable story about inner strength, following your joy, and the rejuvenating power of love.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  4. After That Night
    by Karin Slaughter
    William Morrow
    Aug 22, 2023
    Hardback
    After That Night
    by Karin Slaughter
    William Morrow
    Aug 22, 2023
    Hardback

    Don’t miss the next Will Trent thriller, This Is Why We Lied, coming this August!

    WATCH WILL TRENT ON ABC!

    New York Times Bestseller

    GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton are back in this electrifying thriller from bestselling author Karin Slaughter.

    “Enter the world of Karin Slaughter. Just be forewarned, there’s no going back.” —Lisa Gardner

    After that night, everything changed . . .

    Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton’s life changed forever when a celebratory night out ended in a violent attack that tore her world apart. Since then, Sara has remade her life. A successful doctor, engaged to a man she loves, she has finally managed to leave the past behind her.

    Until one evening, on call in the ER, everything changes. Sara battles to save a broken young woman who’s been brutally attacked. But as the investigation progresses, led by GBI Special Agent Will Trent, it becomes clear that Dani Cooper’s assault is uncannily linked to Sara’s.

    And the past isn’t going to stay buried forever . . .

    View this title on BNC CataList
  5. Lion & Lamb
    by James Patterson
    Little, Brown and Company
    Aug 14, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
    Hardback
    Lion & Lamb
    by James Patterson
    Little, Brown and Company
    Aug 14, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
    Hardback

    Veena Lion and Cooper Lamb are rival PIs in Philadelphia in this “fun ride…the romance between Cooper and Veena is artfully handled...endearing characters including Cooper’s two preternaturally clever kids and his Rhodesian ridgeback puppy.” –Publishers Weekly

    ​“Great storytelling…a spectacular murder case.” –Kirkus, starred review

    The city is in a state of shock over the fate of two hometown heroes: Eagles starting quarterback Archie Hughes, and his even more famous wife, Grammy-winning singer Francine Hughes.

    One spouse is murdered. The other is suspect #1.

    Even before the case hits the courtroom, it’s the hottest ticket in town.

    For the defense: Cooper Lamb, private investigator to the stars.

    For the prosecution: Veena Lion, a sleuth so bright she’s got to wear shades.

    Between them, they know every secret in Philadelphia. Together, they prove how two wrongs can make a right. They are Lion & Lamb.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  6. Out of Nowhere
    by Sandra Brown
    Grand Central Publishing
    Aug 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    Out of Nowhere
    by Sandra Brown
    Grand Central Publishing
    Aug 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    From a #1 New York Times bestselling author, an emotional thriller where the lives of a young mother and a high-rolling consultant collide under devastating circumstances.

    At a Texas county fair, children’s book author Elle Portman is enjoying a rare night out with her favorite cowboy: her two-year-old son, Charlie. But just as they’re about to head home, the unthinkable happens: a shooter opens fire into the crowd, causing widespread panic to erupt all around them. Also caught in the melee is corporate consultant Calder Hudson. When he wakes up in the hospital, he's told he's lucky. Others didn't fare we well, which instills in Calder a furious determination to get justice.

    A chance encounter with Elle at the police station leads to a surprising gravitation to one another. But even as the attraction grows, Elle and Calder can’t help but wonder if the unimaginable tragedy that brought them together is too painful to bear—especially while the shooter remains at large.

    Includes a Reading Group Guide.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  7. The Bone Hacker
    by Kathy Reichs
    Simon & Schuster
    Aug 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Paperback / softback
    The Bone Hacker
    by Kathy Reichs
    Simon & Schuster
    Aug 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Paperback / softback
    #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-second high-stakes thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, following a series of bizarre disappearances on the islands of Turks and Caicos, enters a sinister labyrinth in which a new technology may wreak worldwide havoc.

    Called in to examine what is left of a person thought to have been struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men—tourists—have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos. Seven years earlier, the first victim was found in a strange location with his left hand hacked off; subsequently, two other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.

    Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common—other than the odd places where their bodies turn up, and the fact that none seems likely to have been involved in criminal activity. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands’ seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn’t so sure. Disturbingly, she discovers evidence that what’s at stake may actually have global significance.

    It isn’t long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud. Then Tempe herself becomes a target.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  8. The Breakaway
    by Jennifer Weiner
    Atria Books
    Aug 29, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    The Breakaway
    by Jennifer Weiner
    Atria Books
    Aug 29, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes a warmhearted and empowering new novel about love, family, friendship, secrets, and a life-changing journey.

    Thirty-three-year-old Abby Stern has made it to a happy place. True, she still has gig jobs instead of a career, and the apartment where she’s lived since college still looks like she’s just moved in. But she’s got good friends, her bike, and her bicycling club in Philadelphia. She’s at peace with her plus-size body—at least, most of the time—and she’s on track to marry Mark Medoff, her childhood sweetheart, a man she met at the weight-loss camp that her perpetually dieting mother forced her to attend. Fifteen years after her final summer at Camp Golden Hills, when Abby reconnects with a half-his-size Mark, it feels like the happy ending she’s always wanted.

    Yet Abby can’t escape the feeling that something isn’t right...or the memories of one thrilling night she spent with a man named Sebastian two years previously. When Abby gets a last-minute invitation to lead a cycling trip from NYC to Niagara Falls, she’s happy to have time away from Mark, a chance to reflect and make up her mind.

    But things get complicated fast. First, Abby spots a familiar face in the group—Sebastian, the one-night stand she thought she’d never see again. Sebastian is a serial dater who lives a hundred miles away. In spite of their undeniable chemistry, Abby is determined to keep her distance. Then there’s a surprise last-minute addition to the trip: her mother, Eileen, the woman Abby blames for a lifetime of body shaming and insecurities she’s still trying to undo.

    Over two weeks and more than seven hundred miles, strangers become friends, hidden truths come to light, a teenage girl with a secret unites the riders in unexpected ways...and Abby is forced to reconsider everything she believes about herself, her mother, and the nature of love.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  9. Tom Lake
    by Ann Patchett
    Harper
    Aug 01, 2023
    Hardback
    Tom Lake
    by Ann Patchett
    Harper
    Aug 01, 2023
    Hardback

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK

    In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

    “Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.” —The Guardian

    In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

    Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  10. Dead Mountain
    by Douglas Preston
    Grand Central Publishing
    Aug 22, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback
    Dead Mountain
    by Douglas Preston
    Grand Central Publishing
    Aug 22, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling duo, renowned archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson investigate a mystery so enigmatic it may have no solution.

    In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their final campsite, searchers found a bizarre scene: something had appeared at the door of their tent so terrifying that it impelled them to slash their way out and flee barefoot to certain death in a blizzard. Despite a diligent search, only six bodies were found, two violently crushed and inexplicably missing their eyes. The case, given the code name “Dead Mountain” by the FBI, was never solved.

    Now, two more bodies from the lost expedition are unexpectedly discovered in a cave, one a grisly suicide. Young FBI Agent Corrie Swanson teams up with archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate what really happened on that fateful trip fifteen years ago—and to find the ninth victim. But their search awakens a long-slumbering evil, which pursues Corrie and Nora with a vengeance, determined to prevent the final missing corpse from ever coming to light.

    View this title on BNC CataList

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