THE INVISIBLE HOUR by Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman is a true magician of language and storytelling, and The Invisible Hour is a book that celebrates the power of that magic. It’s the tale of Mia Jacob, whose life is saved by The Scarlet Letter and its author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, even though they live hundreds of years apart. I have always said that when you sit down to read an Alice Hoffman novel, you fall into a trance-like state, mesmerized by the beautiful sentences and the world she’s crafting on the page. This one seems particularly resonant and important as we see an increase in book banning across the country. As Alice proves in this novel, books can save lives, they can build bridges to other worlds, and they should never be made invisible.

HOW TO SAY BABYLON: A MEMOIR by Safiya Sinclair

Introducing the first author on our roster for the 2024 Nantucket Book Festival! Safiya Sinclair has written a moving and engaging memoir that reads like an epic poem. Comparisons can be made to popular coming-of-age memoirs like Educated and Born a Crime, but this is a lyrical story all its own, tracing Safiya’s struggle to break free of her strict Rastafarian upbringing. Reading one paragraph of this autobiography leaves you breathless from the beauty of the language and the author’s ultimate reckoning over her repressive upbringing in Jamaica. I dare anyone to close the book and not be changed and moved by the story and the voice in its pages.

Save the date! Meet Safiya Sinclair at the Nantucket Book Festival, June 13–16, 2024.

UNNATURAL DEATH by Patricia Cornwell

I have been a fan of Patricia Cornwell—and her main character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta—ever since she first came on the crime scene in 1990 with the novel Postmortem. Here we are 33 years later with Cornwell’s 27th Scarpetta story, Unnatural Death, and it’s back to form with a baffling case. We find our favorite chief medical examiner in a northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement. The victims have been savaged beyond recognition and next to the bodies is a larger-than-life footprint. I have always enjoyed books that put me directly into the investigation along with the characters, and this one had me guessing until the end. On shelves November 28.

HIDDEN POTENTIAL: THE SCIENCE OF ACHIEVING GREATER THINGS by Adam Grant

Adam Grant just gets it—how we think, how we feel and, now with his latest book, how we succeed. In Hidden Potential, Grant illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights. Do you want to write the great American novel? Do you dream about moving to Nantucket to start a business? Grant flips everything you think you know about developing potential on its head and gives you the tools to inspire and educate yourself and others and to unlock your greatest resources. This isn’t your average self-help book. Grant delivers an entertaining read that also serves as a guidebook to achieve your absolute best. Start the new year off right with finding your own hidden potential!

A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL by Jacquelyn Mitchard

You might recognize the name Jacquelyn Mitchard. She is the author of The Deep End of the Ocean, the inaugural selection for Oprah’s Book Club in 1996. I still remember that reading experience and was overjoyed to see a new book out this year by such a gifted storyteller. Set on Cape Cod, this is a family drama you’ll want to wrap up under the tree this holiday for your own family members or fellow bookworms. Along with being a page-turner of the highest order, it explores deeper themes and the intricate layers of human nature, our relationships and our hearts.

You can meet Jacquelyn Mitchard at our Nantucket Christmas Stroll Book Signing Extravaganza on Saturday, December 2, at Mitchell’s Book Corner along with other authors like Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer and Nathaniel Philbrick. Check the full signing schedule at nantucketbookpartners.com.

AFTER YOU’D GONE by Maggie O'Farrell

I consider Maggie O’Farrell to be one of the greatest writers of our time. Huge praise indeed, but anyone who has experienced reading one of her books knows exactly what I mean. Hamnet is one of my favorite novels from the last few years, and I was so in awe of what she was able to do with the art of storytelling in that book. After You’d Gone is Maggie’s debut, which was recently re-released this year. All the trademarks that I have come to love about this author are present: a story that skips through time, multiple points of view and such psychological depth and poignancy. It’s overdone to say that I would read an author’s grocery list, but I guarantee Maggie’s would be an intricate and engaging collection of words on a piece of paper.

Listen to my and Elin Hilderbrand’s conversation with Maggie O’Farrell on the Books, Beach & Beyond Podcast this past fall. Visit booksbeachandbeyond.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.