Top five best-selling hardcover fiction books in June

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‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens

Looking for something to read this summer?  These were the top best-selling hardcover fiction books in June according to The New York Times. From coming of age novels to murder mysteries, there is something for everyone from favorites like John Grisham, James Patterson and Danielle Steel.

5.  “Daddy’s Girls” by Danielle Steel
After the death of his wife, Texas ranch hand JT Tucker took his three small daughters to California to start a new life. With almost no money, an iron will and hard work, he eventually built the biggest ranch in California. But when he suddenly dies at the age of sixty-four, his three daughters inherit the ranch and they each find it impossible to believe that this larger-than-life figure is gone from their lives.

4.  “The Summer House” by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
The Summer House was once a luxurious southern getaway on a rustic lake but now it is a dilapidated crash pad and the grisly scene of a nighttime mass murder. Eyewitnesses point to four Army Rangers known as the Night Ninjas who recently returned from Afghanistan. To ensure that justice is done, the Army sends Major Jeremiah Cook, a veteran and former NYPD cop, to investigate. But the major and his elite team arrive in sweltering Georgia with no idea their grim jobs will be made exponentially more challenging by local law enforcement, who resists the Army’s intrusion and stonewall them at every turn.

3.  “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett
The Vignes twin sisters are identical twins. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, as adults their lives turned out different: their families, their communities and their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white and her white husband knows nothing of her past. While separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?

2.  “Camino Winds” by John Grisham
Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida but he makes his real money as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in unsavory ventures. Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous monetary offer convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Cable’s circle of literary friends, to get close to the ringleader, to discover his secrets. But soon Mercer learns far too much and soon there is trouble in paradise.

1. “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. In late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand.

Movie adaptation: ‘A Man Called Ove’ by Fredrick Backman

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The movie adaptation of the Swedish bestseller ‘A Man Called Ove’ is now in theaters. Photo: amazon.com

Fredrick Backman is a Swedish columnist and blogger.  He is also The New York Times bestselling author of “A Man Called Ove,” “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” and “Britt-Marie Was Here.”  In his native Sweden they were all number one bestsellers and have been published around the world in more than twenty-five languages.  The movie adaptation of “A Man Called Ove” starring Rolf Lassgård is now in limited release.  It is in Swedish with English subtitles.

According to Amazon, “A Man Called Ove” is about a grumpy old man called Ove.  People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell” because he has strong principles, strict routines and a short fuse. Just like everyone else, behind that cranky exterior there is a deeper story filled with sadness.  He has always been this way but since his wife Sonia died it has gotten worse.  He has decided that life without her is not worth living and has planned to join her.  His life begins to change when a young couple with two young daughters moves in next door.  They accidentally flatten his mailbox and that sets in motion a funny and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul.  In the end Ove’s life, as well as those of his neighbors, will be forever changed.