Staff Picks Hall of Fame

We've been doing staff picks lists for our customers for years.  Rather than including all of them here, we've created a "hall of fame" instead.  These are the books that we have most loved recommending over the years, the books that our customers let us know they love, too ("what else is like Shantaram?"), and the books we keep coming back to and are so excited to tell you about when we learn you haven't yet read them.
Shantaram: A Novel By Gregory David Roberts Cover Image
$21.99
ISBN: 9780312330538
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - October 1st, 2005

The Shadow of the Wind By Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Lucia Graves (Translated by) Cover Image
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Lucia Graves (Translated by)
$18.00
ISBN: 9780143034902
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - January 25th, 2005

Gods in Alabama By Joshilyn Jackson Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780446694537
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grand Central Publishing - June 13th, 2006

Peace Like a River By Leif Enger Cover Image
$14.00
ISBN: 9780802139252
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press - August 7th, 2002

Pope Joan: A Novel By Donna Woolfolk Cross Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780307452368
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - June 9th, 2009

Year of Wonders: A Novel By Geraldine Brooks Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780142001431
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - April 30th, 2002

Water for Elephants: A Novel By Sara Gruen Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781565125605
Availability: We can order this for you!
Published: Algonquin Books - May 1st, 2007

Astrid and Veronika By Linda Olsson Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780143038078
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - February 6th, 2007

We also love Sonata for Miriam by the same author.


Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-gazer: A Novel By Sena Jeter Naslund Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780060838744
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - August 2nd, 2005

The Power of One: A Novel By Bryce Courtenay Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780345410054
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ballantine Books - September 29th, 1996

Population: 485 By Michael Perry Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780061363504
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial - August 25th, 2015

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen By Christopher McDougall Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780307279187
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - March 29th, 2011

The Book Thief By Markus Zusak Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9780375842207
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - September 11th, 2007

The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel By Yoko Ogawa Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780312427801
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - February 3rd, 2009

The Sparrow: A Novel (The Sparrow Series #1) By Mary Doria Russell Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780449912553
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ballantine Books - September 8th, 1997

Amagansett By Mark Mills Cover Image
$16.00
Not available
ISBN: 9780425205808
Published: Berkley - May 3rd, 2005

Mudbound By Hillary Jordan Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781565126770
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Algonquin Books - March 17th, 2009

Bel Canto: A Novel By Ann Patchett Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780060838720
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial - February 7th, 2023

And I just finished her newest, The State of Wonder, and loved it.


The Memory Keeper's Daughter: A Novel By Kim Edwards Cover Image
$17.00
Not available
ISBN: 9780143037149
Published: Penguin Books - May 30th, 2006

The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel By Barbara Kingsolver Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780060786502
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial Modern Classics - July 5th, 2005

Forever: A Novel By Pete Hamill Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316735698
Availability: We can order this for you!
Published: Back Bay Books - November 3rd, 2003

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel By Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780385341004
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback - May 5th, 2009

Crossing to Safety (Modern Library Classics) By Wallace Stegner, Terry Tempest Williams (Introduction by), T.H. Watkins (Afterword by) Cover Image
By Wallace Stegner, Terry Tempest Williams (Introduction by), T.H. Watkins (Afterword by)
$17.00
ISBN: 9780375759314
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Modern Library - April 9th, 2002

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China By Jung Chang Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9780743246989
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster - August 12th, 2003