Adult

With her fourth-floor walk-up apartment and entry-level New York City job, Muriel Sullivant knows she never will measure up to beautiful sister, Pia, and her wealthy husband, their daughter, and their suburban Connecticut dream home. But then one day, Pia shows up to visit and shares devastating news that Muriel knows she cannot tell --- a secret that will force her to come to terms with the past and help her see her life and her family in unexpected new ways.

When teacher Laura Gantt comes home to settle her recently deceased mother’s household, she encounters a swirl of rumors about the father she lost to the lake 12 years ago --- that he has reportedly been seen around town. Life-long friend and former beau Sean Halloran wants nothing more than to protect Laura from the far-fetched stories of Elliott’s resurrection, but he has his own reasons --- troubling echoes from his childhood --- to put Elliott’s disappearance to rest.

A lowly seamstress at a swanky bridal boutique, Gabi Delgado dreams of doing more than ripping out seams and fitting dresses to doe-eyed brides. She wants to see her own original dress designs gracing the young women of Texas. But when Jordan Singer, reporter for Texas Bride magazine, visits the shop to do a feature, Gabi is humbled in his influential --- and unnervingly handsome --- presence.

At the age of 35, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne has left her philandering husband in San Francisco to set sail for Belgium --- with her three children and nanny in tow --- to study art. Not long after her arrival, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her children repair to a quiet artists’ colony in France where she can recuperate. Emerging from a deep sorrow, she meets Robert Louis Stevenson, and the two begin a fierce love affair that spans the decades and the globe.

Julie Clinton knows from her own life and from the stories of thousands of women she has talked with across the country that what many of us want most is hope. We want to know: Is there really a way forward when I can't see past the pain right now? In BOUNCE BACK, Julie offers three steps to a more hope-filled life: breath, believe and bounce back.

Bestselling author Ken Gire weaves together stories from the Bible, history, and his own life to reveal how we can find strength and encouragement through the storms of life. Experience the joy of knowing the God who is always there to reach out a hand and pull you out of the waves.

When your life falls apart --- through a death, a lost relationship, a diagnosis --- you want more than anything to know that your pain has a purpose. And that beyond your pain, a new day awaits. Tricia Lott Williford discovered this in a few tragic hours when her 35-year-old husband died unexpectedly. In AND LIFE COMES BACK, she writes with soaring prose about her tender, brave journey as a widow with two young boys in the agonizing days and months that followed his death.

Susan Crandall’s latest novel takes place in the summer of 1963 and introduces readers to nine-year-old Starla Claudelle, who runs away from home to be with her mother in Nashville and is offered a ride by a black woman who is traveling with a white baby. As the two unlikely companions make their long and sometimes dangerous journey, Starla’s eyes are opened to the harsh realities of 1963 southern segregation.

Nothing spices up a book club meeting like great eats. Featuring recipes and discussion ideas from bestselling authors and book clubs across the country, this fully revised and updated edition of the classic book guides readers in selecting and preparing culinary masterpieces that blend perfectly with the literary masterpieces their club is reading.