Randolph's Top 100 of 2022

"An irresistible comedy of manners about three generations of a Chicago restaurant family and the private jokes, ancient grudges, broken hearts, and deep, abiding love that feeds them all. Here are the three things the Sullivan family knows to be true: the Chicago Cubs will always be the underdogs; historical progress is inevitable; and their grandfather, Bud, founder of JP Sullivan's, will always make the best burgers in Oak Park. But when, over...

"Rosalind Franklin knows if she just takes one more X-ray picture--one more after thousands--she can unlock the building blocks of life. Never again will she have to listen to her colleagues complain about her, especially Maurice Wilkins who'd rather conspire about genetics with James Watson and Francis Crick than work alongside her. Then it finally happens--the double helix structure of DNA reveals itself to her with perfect clarity. But what happens...

Sergeant Jim Chee, after visiting the sacred Rainbow bridge, investigates the death of a Navajo artist, putting his own life at risk, while Officer Bernadette Manuelito searches for the killer of a hitchhiker connected to a Navajo Nation cannabis enterprise.

"Where do you see yourself in five years? When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this interview question, she has a meticulously crafted answer for it. Later, a newly engaged Dannie goes to sleep confident in her five-year plan. But then she wakes up in a different apartment, with a different ring, and beside a very different man. She discovers that it's 2025, five years in the future. After an intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again,...

"A story of summer, secrets, love and lies: in the course of a singular day on Cape Cod, one woman must make a life-changing decision that has been brewing for decades. Set against the summer backwoods and beaches of Cape Cod, The Paper Palace unfolds over 24 hours and across 50 years, as decades of family legacy, love, lies, secrets, and one unspeakable childhood tragedy lead wife and mother Elle Bishop to the precipice of a life-changing decision....

"An unprecedented, potentially nation-ending threat has materialized on the world stage. Though the United States has long been aware of the growing risk, the clock has now run out. With the stakes higher than they have ever been, it is time to unleash Scot Harvath. As America's top spy, Harvath has the skills and experience necessary to handle any situation, but this assignment feels different and appears doomed from the start. With democracy itself...

"Ridge and Sydney are thrilled to finally be together guilt-free. But Warren and Bridgette's relationship is as tumultuous as ever, and Maggie grapples with her illness. When she comes across an old list of things she wanted to do, Maggie decides to live life to the fullest and accomplish these dreams. Maggie keeps Ridge updated on her adventures, but he can't help but worry, even as Sydney grows suspicious about their friendship. But if she's going...

Four women. One family heirloom. A secret connection that will change their lives-and history as they know it. Present Day: Julia Baxter's wedding veil, bequeathed to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s, has passed through generations of her family as a symbol of a happy marriage. But on the morning of her wedding day, something tells her that even the veil's good luck isn't enough to make her marriage last forever....

"A small community is tested when their children go missing while exploring a dangerous local peak, forcing them to band together during the crisis"-- Fishtail, Montana, is home to Anne and Pitt Pollock, local royalty, high school sweethearts, and owners of the successful Pollock ranch. The sprawling foothills of the Beartooth Mountains surround the town, overlooking the Pollocks' property and the nearby ranch belonging to Bill and Pattie Brown....

"Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning...