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Summaries of 9,838 books.

  1. Cold Vengeance

    Douglas Preston

    ★ 4.1 (24k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Special Agent Pendergast's search for his wife's killer reveals a multi-generational conspiracy, leading him to question if she faked her own death and was part of it all.

  2. The Given Day

    Dennis Lehane

    ★ 4.0 (24k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In post-World War I Boston, a white police officer and a Black man on the run find their lives connected to historical figures and social movements, fighting for survival and family in a nation facing major change.

  3. Laughable Loves

    Milan Kundera

    ★ 3.9 (24k) average on GoodreadsPhilosophy

    In a world where love is a game of strategy, Kundera shows the bittersweet irony and unexpected vanity, humiliation, and desperate search for reassurance beneath every calculated move.

  4. Skeletons at the Feast

    Chris Bohjalian

    ★ 4.0 (24k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In 1945, a Prussian aristocrat, her Scottish POW lover, and a Jewish corporal hiding his identity flee west through the collapsing Third Reich, testing their love, loyalty, and will to survive.

  5. Titus Andronicus

    William Shakespeare

    ★ 3.7 (24k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In ancient Rome, a decorated general's refusal of the emperorship ignites a brutal cycle of revenge that devours his family and plunges the city into a blood-soaked abyss.

  6. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

    Alan Bradley

    ★ 4.0 (24k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    Twelve-year-old amateur chemist Flavia de Luce is sent to a Canadian boarding school, where a mummified body falls from a chimney, pulling her into a mystery of disappearances and ghostly rumors.

  7. Indulgence in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (24k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A thrill killer targets New York City's elite with old weapons and stolen identities, forcing Lt. Eve Dallas to navigate a world of wealth and perversion that pulls in her husband, Roarke, as she races to find a motive before the next murder.

  8. Pay It Forward

    Catherine Ryan Hyde

    ★ 4.2 (24k) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    A hopeful young boy starts a chain reaction of selfless acts, showing that one simple idea can mend broken lives and spread to transform the world.

  9. Discipline Is Destiny

    Ryan Holiday

    ★ 4.3 (23k) average on GoodreadsPhilosophy

    Ryan Holiday explains how self-discipline helps historical figures reach their full potential, achieve purpose, and avoid excess.

  10. Air Awakens

    Elise Kova

    ★ 4.0 (23k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A shy library apprentice with forbidden elemental magic accidentally saves a scarred sorcerer prince, thrusting her into a dangerous world of war, court intrigue, and an undeniable magical bond that could either save or destroy an empire.

  11. Dexter By Design

    Jeff Lindsay

    ★ 3.8 (23k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Miami's favorite vigilante serial killer, Dexter Morgan, finds his post-honeymoon life interrupted by a new artistic murderer whose gruesome tableaus force Dexter to confront his own dark passenger while navigating married life.

  12. Oona Out of Order

    Margarita Montimore

    ★ 3.9 (23k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Nineteen-year-old Oona Lockhart faints on New Year's Eve, only to awaken years later and discover she will live her life out of order, experiencing each year at a random age and forcing her to find meaning in a perpetually fragmented existence.

  13. Her Every Fear

    Peter Swanson

    ★ 3.8 (23k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A woman dealing with past trauma moves into her cousin's apartment, gets caught up in his neighbor's murder, and questions everyone, including her own mind.

  14. Frog Music

    Emma Donoghue

    ★ 3.2 (23k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In sweltering 1876 San Francisco, a French burlesque dancer risks her life to uncover the killer of her cross-dressing, free-spirited friend, navigating a world of bohemians, millionaires, and dangerous secrets.

  15. Belgravia

    Julian Fellowes

    ★ 3.8 (23k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A passionate night before Waterloo ignites a quarter-century of secrets and scandal, threatening to unravel two prominent London families.

  16. The Pact

    Jodi Picoult

    ★ 3.9 (23k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A teenage romance ends in tragedy, leading to a murder trial that forces two families to confront difficult truths about love, loss, and hidden lives.

  17. Shelter Mountain

    Robyn Carr

    ★ 4.2 (23k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A woman and her son find refuge and love in a small town, forcing an ex-Marine to confront his past and fight for a future he never imagined.

  18. Coraline

    Neil Gaiman

    ★ 4.0 (23k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Coraline unlocks a mysterious door and finds a seemingly perfect alternate reality with an 'Other Mother' who has buttons for eyes. This Other Mother wants to keep Coraline forever, so Coraline must fight for her freedom and the souls of other trapped children.

  19. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew

    Margaret Sidney

    ★ 4.0 (23k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    In a cozy brown house, the five spirited Pepper children, led by their resilient widowed mother, discover that love, laughter, and good cheer are the strongest tools for overcoming poverty and hardship in 19th-century New England.

  20. Visions in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.4 (23k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Lieutenant Eve Dallas races against time and a chilling psychic's visions to unmask a serial killer meticulously removing victims' eyes in a scorching New York City summer.

  21. Airborn

    Kenneth Oppel

    ★ 4.2 (23k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A cabin boy on a luxurious airship dreams of the sky. After a dying balloonist's last words spark a grand adventure, he and the balloonist's granddaughter go on a quest for mythical creatures.

  22. Gaudy Night

    Dorothy L. Sayers

    ★ 4.2 (23k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A female crime novelist returns to her Oxford college to confront a series of escalating, malicious pranks that soon turn deadly, forcing her to seek the help of Lord Peter Wimsey.

  23. Dear Ava

    Ilsa Madden-Mills

    ★ 4.2 (23k) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    A girl, scorned by Camden Prep's elite 'Sharks,' receives a secret admirer letter from one of them, forcing her to confront her anger and the mystery of which boy—the scarred quarterback, his twin, or her ex—is trying to win her heart.

  24. Words in Deep Blue

    Cath Crowley

    ★ 4.1 (23k) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    In a beloved bookstore filled with letters to strangers and lost loves, a grieving Rachel returns to find friendship, new connections, and comfort in shared words, linking her past and future to the enigmatic Henry.

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