November 2018 list by Donalee Jacobs
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Beauchamp Hall
by Danielle Steel
Winona Farmington once dreamed of graduating from college, moving to New York City, and pursuing a career in publishing. Then real life got in the way when she returned home to care for her sick mother. Years later, stuck in a dead-end job and an unsatisfying relationship, Winnie has concluded that dreams were meant for others. She consoles herself with binge-watching the British television series that she loves, Beauchamp Hall. On the day Winnie is passed over for a promotion, she is also betrayed by her boyfriend and her best friend. Heartbroken, she packs her bags and flies to England to see where Beauchamp Hall is filmed, which is a drama all its own. What happens next is the stuff of dreams, as Winnie takes the boldest leap of all.
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The Colors of All the Cattle
by Alexander McCall Smith
When Mma Ramotswe learns about the proposed construction of a flashy Big Fun Hotel next to a graveyard, she decides to run for a seat on the City Council. Her opponent is Violet Sephotho, who is in the pocket of the hotel developers. Although Violet is intent on using every trick in the book to secure her election, Mma Ramotswe refuses to promise anything beyond what she can deliver--hence her slogan: "I can't promise anything--but I shall do my best." Meanwhile, she has acquired a new client: the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Charlie volunteers to be the lead investigator to prove he’s ready to be more than an apprentice. With Charlie’s inquiries landing him in hot water and Election Day fast approaching, Mma Ramotswe will have to call upon her good humor and generosity of spirit to help the community navigate these thorny issues.
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Dark Sacred Night
by Michael Connelly
Teaming up with Harry Bosch to reopen a cold case, LAPD detective Renée Ballard navigates interpersonal differences to pursue justice for a murdered runaway in Hollywood.
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Elevation
by Stephen King
A timely, upbeat tale about the power of finding common ground, traces the story of a man whose mysterious affliction unites a small community.
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Family Trust
by Kathy Wang
Struggling to fulfill a terminally ill father's final bequest, a privileged Chinese-American family in Silicon Valley is forced to contend with the realities of their ambitions and actual desires.
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Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before a Game of Thrones (A Targaryen History)
by George R. R. Martin
Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.
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Forever and a Day
by Anthony Horowitz
Forever and a Day is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking readers into the very beginning of James Bond’s illustrious career and the formation of his identity.
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Heads You Win
by Jeffrey Archer
In a single moment, a double twist decides Alexander’s future. During an epic tale of fate and fortune, spanning two continents and thirty years, we follow his triumphs and defeats as he struggles as an immigrant to conquer his new world. As this unique story unfolds, Alexander comes to realize where his destiny lies, and accepts that he must face the past he left behind in Russia.
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Homeward Hound
by Rita Mae Brown
Amidst the revelry of the Christmas Hunt, mystery and intrigue abound! When the fanfare is interrupted by the discovery of a body, "Sister" Jane Arnold and her company of loyal hounds find themselves faced with a pressing task--to uncover who has killed a beloved club faithful. It's no help that the meddling, loathsome Victor Harris lurks in the shadows, weaseling his way back into the life of his disinherited daughter. As always, the gang must untangle the complex web of clues laid before them, and with Sister Jane at the helm, they will not rest until the truth is laid bare.
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Killing Commendatore
by Haruki Murakami
A thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors. Killing Commendatore is a tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as an homage to The Great Gatsby.
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Leopard's Run
by Christine Feehan
With lethal skills honed from a violent upbringing, Timur is a leopard shifter who sees any newcomers as possible threats--and the petite blond barista who his sister-in-law, Evangeline, has hired to work in her bakery is definitely hiding something. While Timur still needs to determine if Ashe is an enemy, he does know that she is the only woman whose presence has ever truly calmed the beast roaring inside of him.
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Long Road to Mercy
by David Baldacci
Introducing a remarkable new character from bestselling writer David Baldacci: Atlee Pine, an FBI agent with special skills assigned to the remote wilds of the southwestern United States who must confront a new threat . . . and an old nightmare.
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Look Alive Twenty-Five
by Janet Evanovich
Stephanie Plum faces the toughest puzzle of her career in the twenty-fifth entry in Janet Evanovich's bestselling series. There's nothing like a good deli, and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World-famous for its pastrami, cole slaw, and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, and the only clue in each case is one shoe that's been left behind. The police are baffled. Lula is convinced that it's a case of alien abduction. Whatever it is, they'd better figure out what's going on before they lose their new manager, Ms. Stephanie Plum.
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Master of His Fate
by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Victorian England is a country of sharp divides between rich and poor, but James Lionel Falconer, who spends his days working at his father’s market stall, is determined to become a merchant prince. Even as a child, he is everything a self-made man should be: handsome, ambitious, charming, and brimming with self-confidence. James quickly rises through the ranks, proving himself both hardworking and trustworthy, and catching the eye of Henry Malvern, head of the most prestigious shipping company in London. But when threats against his reputation – and his life - begin to emerge, James will have to prove that he truly is the master of his fate.
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Night of Miracles
by Elizabeth Berg
Lucille Howard is getting on in years, but she stays busy. Thanks to the inspiration of her dearly departed friend Arthur Truluv, she has begun to teach baking classes. Her classes have become so popular that she’s hired Iris, a new resident of Mason, Missouri, as an assistant. Iris doesn’t know how to bake but she needs to keep her mind off a big decision she sorely regrets. When a new family moves in next door and tragedy strikes, Lucille begins to look out for Lincoln, their son. Lincoln’s parents aren’t the only ones in town facing hard choices and uncertain futures. In these difficult times, the residents of Mason come together and find the true power of community—just when they need it the most.
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Nine Perfect Strangers
by Liane Moriarty
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.
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Once a Midwife
by Patricia Harman
The women of Hope River trust midwife Patience Hester, whose skill in delivering babies is known for miles around. But though the Great Depression is behind them, troubles are not, for Europe is at war…and it can only be a matter of time before the U.S. enters the fray. And while some are eager to join the fight, Patience’s husband, Daniel, is not. Daniel saw too much bloodshed during the First World War, and has vowed never to take up arms again, which lands him in prison. Patience must support their family and fight for her husband’s release despite her own misgivings. And with need greater than ever, she must also keep her practice running during this tumultuous time…relying on generous friends, stalwart neighbors and her own indomitable strength to see them all through.
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Past Tense
by Lee Child
Jack Reacher's most personal adventure yet, as past and present collide when he goes looking for traces of his family in his father's hometown in rural New Hampshire and his life intersects with two young Canadians who find themselves stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere.
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The Reckoning
by John Grisham
The best-selling author of The Firm returns to Clanton, Mississippi, to trace the unthinkable mid-20th-century murder of a local reverend by a young war hero who refuses to defend his actions during a bizarre trial.
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Sea of Greed
by Clive Cussler
After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs trying to revive a dying field, Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects Team are tapped by the President of the United States to find out what's gone wrong. The trail leads them to a brilliant billionaire in the alternative energy field. Her goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the worlds' most advanced fuel-cell systems. But is she an environmental hero or a rogue genetic engineer?
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Someone Like Me
by M. R. Carey
She looks like me. She sounds like me. Now she's trying to take my place. Liz Kendall wouldn't hurt a fly. She's a gentle woman devoted to bringing up her kids in the right way, no matter how hard times get. But there's another side to Liz; one which is dark and malicious. A version of her who will do anything to get her way, no matter how extreme or violent. And when this other side of her takes control, the consequences are devastating. The only way Liz can save herself and her family is if she can find out where this new alter-ego has come from, and how she can stop it.
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Target: Alex Cross
by James Patterson
Alex has a horrible premonition: is the sniper's strike only the beginning of a larger attack on the nation? It isn't long before his fears explode into life, and the nation plunges into a full-blown Constitutional crisis. His ingenuity, his training, and his capacity for battle are tested beyond limits in the most far-reaching and urgently consequential case of his life. As the rule of law is shattered by chaos, and Alex fights to isolate a suspect, his loyalty may be the biggest danger of all.
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Texas Free
by Janet Dailey
A woman seeking refuge on her inherited ranch and a Special Ranger posing as a rugged cowhand navigate doubts about each other while investigating an outbreak of cattle rustling.
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Tony's Wife
by Adriana Trigiani
Set in the lush Big Band era of the 1940s and World War II, this spellbinding saga from best selling author Adriana Trigiani tells the story of two talented working class kids who marry and become a successful singing act, until time, temptation and the responsibilities of home and family derail their dreams.
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You Don't Own Me
by Mary Higgins Clark
Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke are back with their fifth book in the Under Suspicion series. When TV producer Laurie Moran investigates an unsolved murder, she becomes entangled in a web of long-buried secrets and begins to wonder if her own life is in grave danger as a mysterious stalker plots revenge.
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