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DISCUSSION GUIDES
- 1.Heather: A Novel
A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author of Please See Us.
1990. In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley's twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what's going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.
In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she's always called home.
A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman's life is often complicated and unknowable—to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself. - 2.Lázár: A Novel“Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us.” —Patti Smith
“Virtuosic...riveting...audacious.” —The New York Times
An “astonishing…disturbingly dreamlike” (Daniel Kehlmann, The Director) debut, inspired by the author’s own family story—a gothic, intergenerational family saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family against the backdrop of the two world wars.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Lázárs welcome their newest member in their rural summer estate, surrounded by a menacingly dark, enchanting forest. Lajos von Lázár is a baby boy with translucent skin and light-blue eyes who looks nothing like the rest of his family. Sándor, the imposing patriarch, is ashamed of his son’s peculiarity. Ilona finds her baby brother quite ugly. Mária is terrified that her son’s uncanny resemblance to the stagehand who died a couple weeks earlier might spell disaster. While Imre, Sándor’s brother whose otherworldly foresight is often confused for insanity, is struck by visions of a great catastrophe.
Lajos’s birth is emblematic of the many secrets, affairs, and peculiar otherworldly happenings that plague the Lázárs. As the decades go by, they will continue to fall prey to their desires, leading grand lives, and experiencing even greater tragedies as they’re swept by the tides of war and revolution that befall their country. But time and again, in the lighter years, extraordinary love and hope shine through.
Masterfully written and deeply haunting, Lázár is a magisterial novel that presents the sweeping history of a nation through the lives of one extraordinary family. - 3.The Sunflower Boys: An Award-Winning Coming-of-Age Story of Queer Love and Survival in Ukraine
FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR GAY FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE MASS BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION"That rarest phenomenon: a war novel that feels at once timeless and precisely of the moment…" —Washington Post
A poignant coming-of-age story with the sensitivity and haunting power of What Belongs to You and Swimming in the Dark, about a young boy wrestling with his sexuality as war breaks out in modern Ukraine.
In many ways, twelve-year-old Artem’s life in Chernihiv, Ukraine, is normal. He spends his days helping on his grandfather’s sunflower farm, drawing in his sketchbook—a treasured gift from his father, who works in America—and swimming in the river with his little brother, Yuri. In secret, Artem has begun wrestling with romantic feelings for his best friend, Viktor. In a country where love between two boys is unthinkable, Artem has begun to worry that growing up, his life will never be normal.
Then, on a February night, Artem and Yuri are woken by explosions—the beginning of a war that will tear their life in two. The invading Russians destroy their home, killing their mother and grandfather, and leaving young Artem and Yuri to fend for themselves. Fleeing in hopes of somehow reuniting with their father, the brothers traverse the country their ancestors once fought and died for, with nothing but their backpacks and each other. Surrounded by death and destruction, Artem is certain of one thing—that whatever may come, he must keep himself and his brother alive.
A harrowing and gorgeous tale of love, identity, lost innocence, and survival set in a time of devastating war, The Sunflower Boys is a powerful, heartrending exploration of young queer love, the Ukrainian spirit, and a family’s struggle to survive.
- 4.Summer of '69
Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of the '60s summer when everything changed in Elin Hilderbrand's #1 New York Times bestselling historical novel. Hilderbrand's characters are utterly convincing and immediately draw us into their problems, from petty to grave...To use the parlance of the period, a highly relevant retrospective." ―Kirkus
- 5.The Revelation of Dionne Daphne: A NovelMara Brock Akil, the award-winning creator of Girlfriends, Being Mary Jane, Love Is, and Forever, pens an emotionally enthralling debut novel about enduring love, world-shattering secrets, and self-awakening.
What happens when one knock at your door sends your entire world into chaos? When a stranger becomes a lifeline? When the reality you’ve meticulously curated seems to be a mirage?
From the outside looking in, one might say that Dionne Daphne had it all: being the beauty editor at a prestigious New York magazine, a boyfriend who could have been plucked out of its model pages, the social life of the upper echelon, and a girlhood steeped in debutant balls.
But that is from the outside. When the now ex-boyfriend arrives at her Brooklyn doorstep Dionne imagines reconciliation, going back to the good life brimming with the possibility of marriage; the life her mother always wanted for her. Instead, he delivers life-threatening news that creates a crack in her picture-perfect world. A crack that grows legs and runs her right into her past, unearthing a secret that she has hidden since childhood.
In an effort to run toward the truth and away from a lie, Dionne sets out on a spur-of-the-moment road trip with an unlikely stranger to confront the long-buried darkness of her past and the family who made it so. As Dionne comes to a final reckoning, she begins to unravel new layers of herself and fresh possibilities for her life, her family, and even her love.
The Revelation of Dionne Daphne is at once a deeply moving and provocatively gripping novel that shows when you dig deep enough into the shadows of your life, light can be revealed. It’s a novel of broken lovers, a fractured family, and distant friendships all making their way back to one another. - 6.The Paris Architect: A WWII Historical Tale of Resistance and Survival
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An extraordinary book about a gifted architect who reluctantly begins a secret life of resistance, devising ingenious hiding places for Jews in World War II Paris.
In 1942 Paris, architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission that will bring him a great deal of money--and maybe get him killed. All he has to do is design a secret hiding place for a Jewish man, a space so invisible that even the most determined German officer won't find it while World War II rages on. He sorely needs the money, and outwitting the Nazis who have occupied his beloved city is a challenge he can't resist.
Soon Lucien is hiding more souls and saving lives. But when one of his hideouts fails horribly, and the problem of where to conceal a Jew becomes much more personal, and he can no longer ignore what's at stake.
"A beautiful and elegant account of an ordinary man's unexpected and reluctant descent into heroism during the second world war."--Malcolm Gladwell
Book clubs will pore over the questions Charles Belfoure raises about justice, resistance, and just how far we'll go to make things right.
Also by Charles Belfoure:
The Fallen Architect
House of Thieves - 7.Sold on a Monday: A True Story of Heartbreak and Resilience
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN A MILLION COPIES SOLD--Sold on a Monday is the unforgettable book-club phenomenon, inspired by a stunning piece of Depression-era history.
"A masterpiece that poignantly echoes universal themes of loss and redemption...both heartfelt and heartbreaking."--Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale
2 CHILDREN FOR SALE. The sign is a last resort. It sits on a farmhouse porch in 1931, but could be found anywhere in an era of breadlines, bank runs and broken dreams. It could have been written by any mother facing impossible choices.
For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family's dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when it leads to his big break, the consequences are more devastating than he ever imagined.
Inspired by an actual newspaper photograph that stunned the nation, Sold on a Monday has celebrated five months on the New York Times bestsellers list and continues to especially captivate fans of Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours and Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds.
Look for the new novel by Kristina McMorris, The Ways We Hide, a sweeping World War II tale of an illusionist whose recruitment by British intelligence sets her on a perilous, heartrending path.
- 8.Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, 1)
See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone -- Season 2 streaming now!
Discover the adventure that started it all and meet Alina, Mal, and the Darkling in Shadow and Bone from #1 bestselling author, Leigh Bardugo.
Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold—a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed.
Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite—and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.
As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation.
Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems.
A New York Times Bestseller
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
An Indie Next List Book
This title has Common Core connections.
Read all the books in the Grishaverse!
The Shadow and Bone Trilogy
(previously published as The Grisha Trilogy)
Shadow and Bone
Siege and Storm
Ruin and Rising
The Six of Crows Duology
Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom
The King of Scars Duology
King of Scars
Rule of Wolves
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
The Severed Moon: A Year-Long Journal of Magic
The Lives of Saints
Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel
Praise for the Grishaverse
“A master of fantasy.” —The Huffington Post
“Utterly, extremely bewitching.” —The Guardian - 9.Milk and Honey"Rupi Kaur is the Writer of the Decade." - The New Republic
#1 New York Times bestseller milk and honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.
The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.
- 10.The Things We Never Say: A NovelNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “profound, resplendent novel”* from Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout, a chance incident sparks a powerful realization in a beloved teacher’s life
“Strout’s capacious empathy and rigorous attention to the nuances of human behavior and psychology are as evident as ever.”—The Boston Globe
“Artie Dam is someone you may never be able to forget.”—Financial Times*
Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?
And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.
Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a moving exploration of the human condition—one that brims with compassion for each and every one of her indelible characters. With exquisite prose and profound insight, The Things We Never Say takes one man’s fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the abiding love that sustains and holds us all.