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Summaries of 9,835 books.

  1. Manhattan Beach

    Jennifer Egan

    ★ 3.6 (73k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In 1940s New York, a young woman works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard and uncovers the secrets of her father's disappearance, navigating gangsters and wartime changes to build her own life.

  2. The Overstory

    Richard Powers

    ★ 4.1 (73k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Nine lives, bound by the silent wisdom of trees, unite in a desperate fight against humanity's destruction of nature.

  3. Less Than Zero

    Bret Easton Ellis

    ★ 3.6 (73k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    A college student returns home for Christmas to 1980s Los Angeles and falls into a world of moral apathy, drug abuse, and the dark side of his wealthy social circle.

  4. The Stone Sky

    N.K. Jemisin

    ★ 4.3 (73k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    With the broken moon threatening cataclysm, a mother with immense power and a daughter embracing destructive godhood race to decide if humanity deserves a future, or if the world needs remaking through fire and stone.

  5. Dear Edward

    Ann Napolitano

    ★ 4.2 (73k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    After being the only survivor of a plane crash, twelve-year-old Edward copes with grief and an unexpected discovery to find meaning and connection.

  6. War Storm

    Victoria Aveyard

    ★ 3.9 (73k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Mare Barrow must form an uneasy alliance with the prince who betrayed her to overthrow the tyrannical king obsessed with her, even if it means sacrificing everything.

  7. American Born Chinese

    Gene Luen Yang

    ★ 3.9 (73k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A graphic novel about an Asian-American teen, a mythical Monkey King, and a stereotypical cousin, exploring identity, self-acceptance, and the roles we play.

  8. Sizzling Sixteen

    Janet Evanovich

    ★ 4.0 (72k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    When her boss is kidnapped over a massive gambling debt, Trenton bounty hunter Stephanie Plum must wrangle a mobster, a toilet paper bandit, and a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles, all while deciding which of two dangerously attractive men will be her lucky charm.

  9. Hallowed

    Cynthia Hand

    ★ 4.1 (72k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Clara, a part-angel, faces a prophecy of death and the fallout of a fiery vision, forcing her to choose between forbidden love and her supernatural calling.

  10. Cyrano de Bergerac

    Edmond Rostand

    ★ 4.1 (72k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A brilliant but insecure poet with a prodigious nose secretly pours his soul into eloquent love letters for the woman he adores, only to have them delivered by a handsome but inarticulate rival.

  11. The Regulators

    Richard Bachman

    ★ 3.7 (72k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    On a quiet Poplar Street, an idling red van unleashes a surreal, cartoonish nightmare as evil forces transform the suburban neighborhood into a battleground.

  12. Zeitoun

    Dave Eggers

    ★ 4.1 (72k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    After Hurricane Katrina, a Syrian-American man's efforts to help his community are misunderstood, leading to his imprisonment during the War on Terror.

  13. Sweet Evil

    Wendy Higgins

    ★ 4.1 (72k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A tenderhearted Southern girl with a dangerous heritage must choose between her angelic destiny and the allure of a fallen angel who embodies forbidden temptation.

  14. Flawless

    Sara Shepard

    ★ 3.9 (72k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In the exclusive town of Rosewood, four 'perfect' girls discover their darkest secrets are being used against them by a hidden tormentor, who knows everything, even about their supposedly dead friend, Alison.

  15. Hawaii

    James A. Michener

    ★ 4.2 (72k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    From volcanic origins to clashing cultures, Michener's saga tells Hawaii's story through millennia of struggle for identity.

  16. The Bonfire of the Vanities

    Tom Wolfe

    ★ 3.9 (72k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In the opulent, cutthroat world of 1980s New York, a 'Master of the Universe' bond trader's life spectacularly unravels after a seemingly minor hit-and-run, exposing the city's ravenous media, political machinations, and class warfare.

  17. A Fatal Grace

    Louise Penny

    ★ 4.1 (71k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    In the quiet, snow-covered village of Three Pines, a disliked socialite is electrocuted on a frozen lake during a curling tournament, and Chief Inspector Gamache must solve a murder everyone saw but no one understood.

  18. Bad Luck and Trouble

    Lee Child

    ★ 4.2 (71k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Jack Reacher reunites with his elite ex-army team to unravel a deadly conspiracy when their former comrades start turning up dead, leading them from the California desert to the neon glow of Las Vegas and the shadows of international terrorism.

  19. The Chemist

    Stephenie Meyer

    ★ 3.7 (71k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A rogue government chemist, on the run from her shadowy ex-employers, must risk everything on one last, deadly assignment, only to find her heart ensnared by the very man who could compromise her survival.

  20. As You Like It

    William Shakespeare

    ★ 3.8 (71k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    In the Forest of Arden, Rosalind, exiled and disguised as a boy, tests her beloved Orlando's feelings amidst philosophers, banished dukes, and intertwined romances.

  21. The Friday Night Knitting Club

    Kate Jacobs

    ★ 3.4 (71k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    In a cozy New York City yarn shop, a group of women finds friendship, support, and shared secrets, confronting life's challenges and past heartbreaks with needles and a bond stronger than any yarn.

  22. The Crying of Lot 49

    Thomas Pynchon

    ★ 3.7 (71k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Tasked with executing her ex-lover's will, Oedipa Maas spirals into a hallucinatory quest through 1960s California, uncovering a vast, secret postal conspiracy that may or may not exist.

  23. Forever Odd

    Dean Koontz

    ★ 4.0 (71k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Haunted by a murdered child's plea, short-order cook Odd Thomas uses his ability to see the dead to unmask a monster and save his abducted friend from a terrible fate.

  24. The Bane Chronicles

    Cassandra Clare

    ★ 4.2 (71k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Explore Magnus Bane's most outrageous adventures, heartbreaking romances, and untold secrets over millennia, from Parisian catacombs to the Peruvian Andes, as he navigates the world of Shadowhunters and demons with style and wit.

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