Books from United States

Outlander follows Claire Randall, a former Second World War nurse who, while visiting the Scottish Highlands in 1945, mysteriously travels back in time to 1743. Stranded in a world of political unrest and clan rivalries, Claire must navigate unfamiliar customs and dangerous circumstances while searching for a way to return to her own time. She becomes entangled with Jamie Fraser, a young Scottish warrior whose courage and compassion challenge her loyalties and transform her life. As their relationship deepens, Claire faces an impossible choice between the husband she left behind in the twentieth century and the love she discovers in the past. Blending historical fiction, romance, adventure, and time travel, Gabaldon explores love, loyalty, survival, and the ways personal choices become intertwined with the course of history.

A brilliant Iranian-Indian American scholar has a PhD from UCLA, an underwhelming academic career, and a growing fear that she has failed to achieve the comfortable life her immigrant parents worked so hard to build. When her best friend jokingly suggests she marry rich, she takes the idea seriously, embarking on a summer of one hundred dates with wealthy Angelenos. Armed with spreadsheets and intellectual confidence, she approaches romance as another problem to solve. But when a family emergency takes her to Tehran, an unexpected queer attraction challenges her carefully constructed plans and forces her to reconsider what she wants from love, family, and her future. Witty, provocative, and deeply perceptive, Liquid explores the contradictions of ambition, the pressures of cultural expectations, and the search for belonging between different worlds. With sharp humour and emotional honesty, it turns the familiar romantic comedy into a thoughtful examination of identity, desire, and the lives we imagine for ourselves.

Homeseeking follows Suchi and Haiwen, childhood sweethearts whose lives are transformed by the political upheavals of twentieth-century China. They first meet in Shanghai, where Haiwen’s violin draws Suchi into his world. Their young love is interrupted when Haiwen joins the Nationalist army in 1947, leaving Suchi behind with little explanation. Over the following decades, war, migration, and changing political circumstances carry them through Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States, shaping their lives in different ways. Sixty years later, they unexpectedly encounter one another again in Los Angeles. Chen moves between their perspectives to explore memory, sacrifice, and the meaning of home. The novel examines how historical forces can separate people while emotional attachments continue to endure across distance and time.

When sharp-tongued literary critic Selina Chan delivers a devastating review of novelist Parker Navarro’s work for the second time, their private animosity erupts into a viral public feud. But behind the headlines and cutting remarks, an unexpected connection begins to grow. A witty, slow-burn romance set in the world of books and publishing, Bad Words explores ambition, vulnerability, and the complicated relationship between art, criticism, and the people who create it.

Olive Smith finally has her PhD and the happy ending she once dreamed of: a promising scientific career, wonderful friends, and Adam Carlsen by her side. But life after the happily-ever-after proves more complicated than expected. As Olive navigates the uncertainty of postdoctoral research, an increasingly competitive academic world, and the challenge of establishing herself as a scientist in her own right, she and Adam must learn how to balance their ambitions with their relationship. A witty, heartfelt sequel to The Love Hypothesis, this romance explores what happens when love is certain but the future is not.