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News from The Book Stall
July 30, 2025
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Monday - Thursday: 9:30 am - 6:30 pm
Friday: 9:30 am - 5 pm
Saturday 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday: 11 am - 5 pm
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The Book Stall is proud to present our updated and refreshed website. Visit our shopping pages for new books, our events calendar for store happenings, and our newsletter links for the latest Book Stall buzz.
Returning users must change their passwords; follow the prompts at the top of our homepage.
For a limited time shop and save! Type in New Site! in the coupon code when checking out, to redeem a 15% discount on your website purchase. This code can only be used once per user, does not combine with membership discounts, and expires on August 6, 2025.
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Staffer Jon Grand gives our readers a "change" from his usual preference of reviewing nonfiction books!
An Inside Job by Daniel Silva ($32). I never tire of reading nonfiction but once in a while I like to take a break. What better way to do that on a hot summer day, than to lose oneself in a good thriller. Silva's newest once again showcases former spy and art restorer, Gabriel Allon. Officially retired from the Israeli secret service, he lives with his family in Venice and focuses on restoring art masterpieces. When the body of a young woman is found floating in the Venetian lagoon, Allon is pulled into a rapidly growing mystery centered around the discovery and theft of a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci, corruption and fiscal mismanagement within the Vatican, and the power and influence of the mafia that threatens the Catholic Church and the Pope himself. Sprinkled in with the fictitious story are true to life details on money laundering, corruption, and, of course, art history. It all adds up to good way to escape the doldrums of summer.
Next Sunday, August 3, this book will be the No. 1 fiction title on the NYT book section.
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Staffer Elizabeth Hubbard loves this book, which will be on our shelves next Tuesday, August 5.
A Dog in Georgia by Lauren Grodstein ($29). Here is a dog book that won’t make you cry. This thoughtful novel takes us around the world from NYC to the republic of Georgia and gives us a peek into main character, Amy’s, complicated marriage, her love of saving animals, and geo-political conflict! Pack your bags, this is some journey to Tblisi!
| | Linda Diekman says she has immersed herself this summer in new mystery releases! | | |
Being a fan of Agatha Christie in general, and Murder on the Orient Express in particular, I couldn't wait to read Riley Sager's With a Vengeance ($30). Set in 1954, on a luxury train going from Philadelphia to Chicago, Anna Matheseon sets out to right the wrongs that led to her family's downfall. Before she can act on her plan, a murder occurs. Someone other than Anna is exacting revenge! An atmospheric page-turner!
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Back to the present day in El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott ($30). The Bishop sisters have gone from riches to rags and find sympathy and camaraderie in The Wheel, a "social" club with other women in the same financial straits. What could possibly go wrong, horribly wrong, with a pyramid scheme? Full of twists to keep you guessing "who dun it!"
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I expected cozy from the premise of Laura Lippman's latest. After all, Mrs. Blossom, a widowed, ex-private investigator, takes off for a trip to France after cashing in a winning lottery ticket. Dashing those expectations, what I got was a thriller fraught with international intrigue (and Parisian fashion!) in Murder Takes a Vacation ($30). Edge of your seat fun! Stephanie agrees--she praised the book in our summer print newsletter!
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The August 2025 Indie Next List is out. Its main title is When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén, translated by Alice Menzies ($18 in paperback, out August 18), the winner of the Swedish Book of the Year. Writes Fredrik Bachman: "One of those ‘you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to buy twenty copies and give them to everyone you love’ books.”
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Booker Prize 2025 Longlist Announced
This year’s selection, which was chosen from 153 submissions, celebrates the best works of long-form fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025.
See the 2025 longlisted books here. One of them is featured in the Book Stall's new releases this week: Love Forms by Claire Adam. See below.
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EMMA NOYES
Soul of Shadow
Thursday, July 31, 6 pm
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Former Wilmette resident Emma Noyes joins us to discuss and sign copies of her new YA novel, Soul of Shadow, a contemporary romantasy inspired by Norse mythology. In the book, Charlie Hudson is just trying to survive junior year, navigating the halls of school and the chaos of parties like a ghost. But her world is about to become seriously transformed―like world-shifting altered―when a classmate mysteriously disappears into the forest, leaving only a pair of shoes and strange symbols carved into a tree.
This program is free, but registration is requested. Please note the 6 pm starting time.
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Bookstore Romance Day
ADRIENNE GUNN
Fan Favorite
Saturday, August 9, 2 - 3:30 pm
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Join us at The Book Stall to celebrate the seventh annual Bookstore Romance Day! Stop by from 2-3:30 pm for a meet and greet with author Adrienne Gunn! She'll be signing her new book, Fan Favorite.
All day long we will be showcasing romance novels and hosting giveaways. Designed to bring together romance readers and writers in celebration of romance fiction books, we look to strengthen the relationship between independent bookstores and the Romance community. Whether you love a steamy romance or a slow-burn relationship, we’ll help you find the right book for you!
More title ideas to come in next week's e-news.
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Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams ($30)
Staffer Christine Ferdinand loved this book: This perfect summer escape takes place on a fictional island off the coast of Connecticut where a luxury steamship wrecked in 1846. It follows Audrey Fischer as she spends the summer on Winthrop Island getting to know the locals at the Mohegan Inn and keeping an eye on her mother Meredith, a famous actress hiding out in her family’s crumbing estate, preparing for her comeback role. Alternating chapters tell the story of that ill-fated voyage in 1846 and its passenger Providence Dare, servant and muse to famous painter Henry Irving, desperately trying to escape capture after Irving's suspicious death. Romance, salty island characters, and family secrets will keep you reading until the connections between them all are revealed.
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Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum ($28.99)
Spanning the course of one eventful school year in New York, this is part satire of upper-crust mom-ing and part mystery, interrogating the line between friendship and jealousy, and getting at the question: What would happen if the woman standing next to you at school pickup was actually a sociopath?
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Angel Down by Daniel Kraus ($28.99)
Five World War I soldiers stumble upon a fallen angel that could hold the key to ending the war. What they find amid the ruined battlefield is not a man in need of mercy but a fallen angel, seemingly struck down by artillery fire. This celestial being may hold the key to ending the brutal conflict, but only if the soldiers can suppress their individual desires and work together.
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Love Forms by Claire Adam ($28)
A woman searches for the daughter she gave up for adoption. She keeps returning to the past and to the secret she’s kept all these years. At just 16, Dawn found herself pregnant, and—as was common in Trinidad back then—her parents sent her away to have the baby and give her up for adoption. More than 40 years later, she yearns to reconnect with her lost daughter. But tracking down her child is not as easy as she had thought.
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The Game Is Murder by Hazell Ward ($30)
The reader is put in the role of the Great Detective, reinvestigating an infamous never-before-solved case from 1970s England. You are invited to a very special murder mystery party. The game is simple: Listen to the witnesses. Examine the evidence. Solve the case. Be careful. Trust no one. All might not be as it seems.
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Victory '45: The End of the War in Eight Surrenders by James Holland and Al Murray ($28)
In May 1945 and then again in August and early September, the seemingly endless World War II finally came to a close in six dramatic surrender ceremonies, four in Europe and the last two in Japan. On the 80th anniversary of those historic events, historians Holland and Murray chronicle them in turn, focusing especially on the human dramas behind each surrender and relating stories and perspectives on the end of the war that have not previously been told.
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Gwyneth: The Biography by Amy Odell ($30.99)
Odell takes readers inside the world of one of the most influential and polarizing celebrities of the modern era—complete with exclusive new stories about her childhood, acting career, romances, and her lifestyle brand Goop.
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The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case by Chuck Hogan ($32)
The true story of a group of moms who, united by a search for new purpose, attempt to solve a 15-year-old double murder. The determined group dig for evidence in prohibited ravines, scour potential crime scenes for blood splatter, and sift through pages and pages of dense police files. As they get more and more entangled in this complex investigation, they also find themselves in real danger—and with information that could blow the case wide open.
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The Trembling Hand: Reflections of a Black Woman in the Romantic Archive by Mathelinda Nabugodi ($32)
A provocative, revelatory history of British Romanticism that examines the impact of the transatlantic slave economy on the lives and times of some of our most beloved poets—with urgent lessons for today. It is a reckoning with art, archives, and academia bound to echo through the conversation for a long time to come.
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The World According to Joan Didion by Evelyn McDonnell ($18.99 in paperback)
Didion was a writer’s writer; not only a groundbreaking journalist, essayist, novelist and screenwriter, but a keen observer who honed her sights on life’s telling details. Her insights continue to influence creatives and admirers, encouraging them to become close observers of the world, unsentimental critics, and meticulous stylists.
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Soul of Shadow by Emma Noyes ($22)
Come meet Emma Noyes at the store on Thursday, July 31, at 6 pm!
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The Mixed-Up Owl by Marzena Sowa, illustrated by Joanna Lorho ($18.99)
Owl wants to answer a question that’s making him feel mixed up: Why can’t he fall asleep at night when all of the other animals in the forest are sleeping? Setting out on a quest to learn, Owl asks the squirrels, the rabbits, and even a bear! Alas, all the animals are asleep at night and too busy in the daytime to help Owl solve his problem. But Owl is determined to find out what’s up, and the answer might just surprise him . Ages 4 - 8
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The Marvelous Now by Angela DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gómez ($18.99)
"Kids will be reassured to know that they can employ simple, practical tools whenever they need to feel less worried. Alvarez Gómez’s cheerful, colorful digital illustrations burst with energy, setting an appropriately empowering tone.... Now’s the time to pick up this primer on mindfulness."—Kirkus Reviews Ages 4 - 8
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The House of Found Objects by Jo Beckett-King ($17.99)
Twelve-year-old Bea from Passaic, New Jersey, is visiting her family in Paris for the summer when her grandmother’s most precious heirloom—a drawing by Henri Matisse—goes missing. After a cryptic clue arrives on Bea’s doorstep suggesting its whereabouts, Bea is determined to pursue the lead. Ages 8 - 12
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Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes ($20.99)
Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts—and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals. Ages 12 and up
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The Book Stall's Bestsellers
for the week ending July 26
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On Her Game by Christine Brennan
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Deep Dish by Marc Malnati
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The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
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Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
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Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
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Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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The Wedding People by Alison Espach
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One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
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The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
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Indie Bestsellers Across the Country
Every week, independent booksellers across America report their bestsellers, providing the most current snapshot of what's selling in indie bookstores nationwide. Click here to reach the American Booksellers Association (ABA) website, where the latest lists are posted every Wednesday afternoon.
New York Times Bestsellers, August 3
Click here for an advance look at the hardcover fiction and here for the hardcover nonfiction bestsellers that will appear in the New York Times book section on August 3. You can see these NYT fiction bestsellers and nonfiction bestsellers on our website, where you can order them directly from The Book Stall.
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Our Literary Community Bulletin Board
The Book Stall is pleased to host this Literary Community Bulletin Board. Any news of interest to readers and writers? Send your information to events@thebookstall.com with "Literary Community Bulletin Board" in the subject line. Note: The Book Stall reserves editorial privilege.
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Be sure to check our website for the latest Book Stall information.
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