‘Tom Lake’ remains in No. 1, ‘Killers of a Certain Age’ brings up the rear

The top selling titles at Copperfield’s Books, in Petaluma, for the week of Aug. 21-27, 2023

Petaluma book-buyers are staying faithful, with the top three bestselling books in town staying the same for the third week in a row.

Ann Patchett’s new “Tom Lake,” a breathtaking love song to the powers of storytelling, memory and summer stock theater, remains in the No. 1 spot. The nonfiction Oppenheimer biography “American Prometheus,” by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, holds steady at No. 2, followed by James McBride’s “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” taking the No. 3 spot yet again.

A sure sign that school has started is the presence of J.D. Sallinger’s 1951 classic “Catcher in the Rye” on the Top 10 list. It appears in the No. 6 slot, a clear indication that local high school students are once again reading the novel that made growing up in America at the start of the 1950s seem like the worst kind of existential purgatory.

Keep an eye on this week’s No. 10 title, because it might not stay there for long. Deanna Raybourn’s “Killers of a Certain Age” is an entertaining page-turner about four trained killers, all women, all in their mid-60s, all recently retired. They’ve been gifted a luxury cruise trip by their employers, a secret guild of assassins known as The Museum. To say that our fiery foursome’s bon voyage begins with a bang is a bit of an understatement, as the surprise-packed plot takes them around the world in search of answers, and a way to stay alive.

Here are descriptions of the full Top 10 Books on Copperfield’s Fiction and Nonfiction list, along with the full Kids and Young Adults list.

FICTION & NON-FICTION

1. ‘Tom Lake,’ by Ann Patchett – In the midst of the pandemic, Lara Nelson, isolating with her family on a Michigan orchard, is persuaded to share the story of her long-ago romance with Peter Duke, a world-famous, recently-deceased actor she once had a fling with while a member of a summer stock theater company known as Tom Lake.

2. ‘American Prometheus,’ by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin – ‘American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,’ by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin – Acclaimed as one of the best scientific biographies to be published in the last decade, this riveting 2005 examination of the life of atomic bomb creator Oppenheimer is clearly seeing renewed interest due to the upcoming film release “Oppenheimer,” from filmmaker Christopher Nolan.

3. ‘The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,’ by James McBride – From the author of 2020’s “Deacon King Kong” comes the story Chicken Hill, once a functioning Pennsylvania community of Black and Jewish Americans, and the small Jewish grocery store at its literal and cultural center.

4. ‘Fourth Wing,’ by Rebecca Yarros – A fantasy adventure about 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail, recruited for training at a war college for dragon-riders.

5. ‘How We Live is How We Die,’ by Pema Chödrön – The acclaimed Buddhist teacher’s 2022 bestseller examines the beginnings and ending of life, from small to large, and offers wisdom on how to respond with grace, open-heartedness and joy.

6. ‘Catcher in the Rye,’ by J.D. Sallinger – This controversial but indelibly popular 1951 classic follows teenage Holden Caulfield on a dark journey of the soul as he is kicked out of prep school, thinks and says a lot of mean things to pretty much everyone, and puts off going home to tell his parents for as long as possible.

7. ‘Demon Copperhead,’ by Barbara Kingsolver – The Pulitzer-winning author returns with a novel inspired by Dickens’ “David Copperfield,” only set in the present day rural American south.

8. ‘Lessons in Chemistry,’ by Bonnie Garmus – A delightful novel about a brilliant chemist-turned-star of a 1960s television cooking show, and her efforts to outwit the sexist entertainment machine within which she has found herself.

9. ‘Braiding Sweetgrass,’ by Robin Kimmerer – Subtitled “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants,” this bestseller is a rich and lyrical nonfiction exploration of indigenous wisdom and the scientific look at what plants are able to teach us.

10. ‘Killers of a Certain Age,’ by Deanna Raybourn – This brand new page-turner follows a foursome of recently retired 60-something assassins, part of an elite female death squad known as the Museum, as they learn they have been marked for elimination themselves, and must go on an international chase to find out why and save their own lives.

KIDS & YOUNG ADULTS

1. ‘The Sun and The Star,’ by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro – In a stand-alone adventure from the Percy Jackson universe, Nico Di Angelo the son of Hades goes on a quest to rescue the Titan known as Bob.

2. ‘All My Rage: A Novel,’ by Sabaa Tahir – This stunning YA novel alternates the narratives of two estranged Pakistani friends each dealing differently with hardships of high school and life in a small California town.

3. ‘Narwhal and Jelly: Super Scary Narwhaloween,’ by Ben Clanton – The underwater buddies get spooky for Trick or Treat.

4. ‘My Dad is Awesome by Bluey and Bingo,’ from Penguin Young Readers – The popular isney series characters share their enthusiasm for their dad.

5. ‘It’s Not Summer Without You,’ by Jenny Han – In the sequel to the bestselling “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” author Han uses her signature flashes of humor to tell a story of friends and loved ones over coming grief, heartbreak and fear of the future.

6. ‘American Royals,’ by Katharine McGee – If George Washington had become King of America, and his modern day descendants were now teenagers coming of age as American Royals, this is the YA novel that would tell their story.

7. ‘The Night in Question,’ by Kathleen Lawson Glasgow – This entertaining sequel to the bestselling “The Agathas” brings another murder to Castle Cove.

8. ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,’ by Bill Martin and John Archambault – The classic alphabet board book is a bright funny way to learn the ABCs.

9. ‘Good Night Gorilla,’ by Peggy Rathmaan – The classic 1994 picture book about a parade of zoo animals who launch a plan to sleep in the zookeeper’s house.

10. ‘Mrs. Mustard’s Baby Faces,’ by Jane Wattenberg – Babies love baby faces, and this has plenty of them.

Data compiled by staff of Copperfield’s Books.