Robin's Picks

Robin Allen is the owner of Forever Books.  A former history teacher turned entrepreneur, she opened Forever Books on April Fools Day in 1999 after the closing of a local children's bookstore.  When not at the store or working for the store (rare), she enjoys reading non-fiction history, memoirs, fiction, and children's books.  Robin received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Cornerstone Alliance and served on the board and as Board President of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association.   

 

 

 

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The Husbands: A Novel By Holly Gramazio Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780385550611
Availability: Coming Soon - Available for Pre-Order Now
Published: Doubleday - April 2nd, 2024

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The Great Divide: A Novel By Cristina Henriquez Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780063291324
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Ecco - March 5th, 2024

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After Annie: A Novel By Anna Quindlen Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780593229804
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House - February 27th, 2024

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The Bullet Swallower: A Novel By Elizabeth Gonzalez James Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9781668009321
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Simon & Schuster - January 23rd, 2024

in 1895, Antonio Sonoro leaves his drought-stricken Mexican village, crossing the Rio Grande to rob a train, with younger brother Hugo in tow. In the act, Hugo is killed by Texas Rangers, and Antonio is gravely injured. But he arises as El Tragablalas, the Bullet Swallower, on a quest for revenge that ranges across Texas and home again. A page-turner.


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Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond By Henry Winkler Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9781250888099
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Celadon Books - October 31st, 2023

From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole. Charming and thoughtful. Recommended by Robin


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The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul By Scott W. Berg Cover Image
$32.00
ISBN: 9780804197847
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Pantheon - September 26th, 2023

The enthralling story of the Great Chicago Fire and the power struggle over the city's reconstruction in the wake of the tragedy. Recommended by Robin


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The Caretaker: A Novel By Ron Rash Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780385544276
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Doubleday - September 26th, 2023

The caretaker of the cemetery in small-town Appalachia is entrusted to watch over the pregnant wife of a childhood friend serving a stint in the Korean War. Bestselling author Rash tells a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love. A masterful storyteller! Recommended by Robin

 


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North Woods: A Novel By Daniel Mason Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780593597033
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House - September 19th, 2023

A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries--a daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier. Riveting! Recommended by Robin


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Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune By Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe Cover Image
$32.99
ISBN: 9780062964700
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Harper - September 19th, 2023

The bestselling author of Vanderbilt returns with another riveting history of a legendary American family, the Astors, and how they built and lavished their fortune. Recommended by Robin


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Son of the Old West By Nathan Ward Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780802162083
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press - September 5th, 2023

An epic account of the Old West and the life of Charlie Siringo, who drove longhorn, crossed paths with Billy the Kid and Bat Masterson, and in his early thirties joined the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate outlaw gangs such as Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. His 1885 autobiography, A Texas Cowboy, was the first of its kind and a bestseller. Recommended by Robin


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Chenneville: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance By Paulette Jiles Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780063252684
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: William Morrow - September 12th, 2023

Consumed with grief, driven by vengeance, a man undertakes an unrelenting odyssey across the lawless post-Civil War frontier seeking redemption in this fearless novel from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of News of the World. Brilliant!

 


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The Vaster Wilds: A Novel By Lauren Groff Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780593418390
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Riverhead Books - September 12th, 2023

A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits and a few possessions. What she finds is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her. Both a thrilling adventure story and a penetrating fable. Recommended by Robin

 


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The Continental Affair: A Novel By Christine Mangan Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250788481
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Flatiron Books - August 22nd, 2023

Henri and Louise, two strangers, traveling alone, on the train from Belgrade to Istanbul. Except this isn't the first time they have met. It's the 1960s and Louise is running from her past in England, from the owners of the money she has stolen--and from Henri, the person who has been sent to collect it. Recommended by Robin


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The Romantic: A novel By William Boyd Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780593536797
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Knopf - August 15th, 2023

Born in 1799, Cashel seeks his fortune across multiple continents, from County Cork to London, from Waterloo to Zanzibar, embedded with the East Indian Army in Sri Lanka, sunning himself alongside the Romantic poets in Pisa. He travels the world as a soldier, a farmer, a felon, a writer, even a father, including a once-in-a-lifetime love that will haunt the rest of his days. Sweeping adventure.

 


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Pet By Catherine Chidgey Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781609459307
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Europa Editions - August 8th, 2023

Like every other girl in her class, 12-year-old Justine is drawn to her glamorous, charismatic new teacher and longs to be her pet. However, when a thief begins to target the school, Justine's sense that something isn't quite right grows ever stronger. A suspenseful psychological thriller. Recommended by Robin


Tom Lake: A Reese's Book Club Pick By Ann Patchett Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780063327528
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Harper - August 1st, 2023

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The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession By Michael Finkel Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780525657323
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Knopf - June 27th, 2023

Unlike most thieves, Stéphane Breitwieser never stole for money, hoarding all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them, stealing in broad daylight with his only tool - - his pocket knife. -Robin

 


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Never Give Up: A Prairie Family's Story By Tom Brokaw Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780593596371
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Random House - June 13th, 2023

In this moving story, the New York Times bestselling author of The Greatest Generation chronicles the values and lessons he absorbed from his parents and other people who worked hard to build lives on the prairie during the first half of the twentieth century. -Robin


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George: A Magpie Memoir By Frieda Hughes Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781668016503
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster - June 6th, 2023

The daughter of poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes has lived a vagabond life since childhood and finally settles in Wales, gardening obsessively. Enter George, a fledgling magpie, fallen from his nest during a storm, and who takes over her household in a big way. Humorous, heartwarming, so charming, enlivened by Hughes' drawings.


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Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel By Lisa See Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781982117085
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Scribner - June 6th, 2023

In 15th century China, Tan is sent to live with her grandparents. Here she learns medicine from her grandmother at a time when there were only male doctors who could not treat women. Fascinating look at the hierarchy of women from wives to concubines, widows, daughters, and servants. Based on the writings of an historical Ming Dynasty female physician.

 


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Good Night, Irene: A Novel By Luis Alberto Urrea Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780316265850
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Little, Brown and Company - May 30th, 2023

Urrea discovered his mother was a member of the Red Cross Clubmobile organization, a group of women who traveled throughout Europe during WWII to give coffee and donuts to soldier, risking their lives to act like a sister, girl next door, mom or sweetheart to raise morale. This novel is a moving tribute to these women.


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The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) By Abraham Verghese Cover Image
$32.00
ISBN: 9780802162175
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grove Press - May 2nd, 2023

Three generations of a South Indian family spanning 70 years, opens in 1900 with a 12-yr-old married to a 40-yr-old widower with a toddler. (He waits for her to grow up until she is ready for a husband.) Meanwhile, in Scotland, an orphan boy grows up to become a doctor, and escapes his tragic past to become a privileged white man in British India. Don't let the 700+ pages discourage you from this unforgettable masterpiece. 


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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder By David Grann Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780385534260
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Doubleday - April 18th, 2023

From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events of The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire. Brilliant!


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Out of Esau: A Novel By Michelle Webster-Hein Cover Image
$17.95
ISBN: 9781640096134
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Counterpoint - October 17th, 2023

Paperback releases on October 17, 2023...Robert Glory is of Native American ancestry and pastor of the Baptist church in small town Esau, Michigan for 10 years, but never feels like he belongs. When a lovely mother of two approaches him, questioning her purpose and her faith, he is drawn to her and questions his own. Their growing attraction to causes each to face their past and present wounds. Unforgettable, with gorgeous writing.


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Ordinary Monsters: A Novel (The Talents #1) By J. M. Miro Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250833679
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Flatiron Books - July 11th, 2023

A historical fantasy set in 1880s London, where children are hunted by a man made of smoke to tap into their special talents/powers, while at the same time, others are trying to rescue them and bring them to a haven in Ednburgh. Monsters can hide in plain sight!


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Last Summer on State Street: A Novel By Toya Wolfe Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780063209732
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - May 2nd, 2023

In the voice of a 12-year-old girl, Wolfe shares her experiences growing up in the Robert Taylor Homes in 1999 Chicago as the high-rises around her are being razed.


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James Patterson by James Patterson: The Stories of My Life By James Patterson Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781538709702
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grand Central Publishing - May 16th, 2023

Full of anecdotes from working in a sanitarium (meeting James Taylor!), leading an ad agency (“I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys r Us kid!”), and of his journey to becoming the world's best selling living author.


Happy-Go-Lucky By David Sedaris Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316392433
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Back Bay Books - May 30th, 2023

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Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl By Renée Rosen Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780593335666
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Berkley - April 25th, 2023

When her wealthy family is caught up in her father's financial scandal, Gloria is forced to strike out on her own, when she meets and builds a friendship with Estee Lauder. While Gloria is fictional, the rise of the cosmetic mogul is not, and a great read. Rosen is a favorite author!


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Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller By Oliver Darkshire Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781324074786
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - February 27th, 2024

Ever wondered what it's like to work in a rare bookstore in London? Intriguing reading with humor!