The Way Back Machine – Best Sellers December 2003

The end of the decade is almost upon us, so we’ve decided that the Way Back Machine can now visit the 2000s. After all, it’s been almost 20 years since 2000 – can you believe it?

So, let’s take a short trip back to December 2003 – here’s what we were reading the week of December 21, according to the New York Times Best Sellers list.

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FICTION

1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

2. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

3. The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson

4. Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler

5.The Dark Tower: Volumes 1-5 by Stephen King

6. The Hornet’s Nest by Jimmy Carter

7. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

8. Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon

9. Bleachers by John Grisham

10. Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell

11. The Conspiracy Club by Jonathan Kellerman

12. Safe Harbour by Danielle Steel

13. The Murder Room by P. D. James

14. The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

15. Pompeii by Robert Harris

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NONFICTION

1. Who’s Looking Out for You? by Bill O’Reilly

2. Flyboys by James Bradley

3. Dude, Where’s My Country? by Michael Moore

4. Lies (And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them) by Al Franken

5. A National Party No More by Zell Miller

6. America 24/7 Created by Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen

7. Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham

8. LT: Over the Edge by Lawrence Taylor with Steve Serby

9. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson

10. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

11. Bushwhacked by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose

12. The Stone Cold Truth by Stone Cold Steve Austin with Jim (J. R.) Ross

13. I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story by Rick Bragg

14. Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

15. Reflections by Barbara Bush

Readers Dozen: December

Hey RD readers – congratulations! This is the last Readers Dozen challenge of 2019 (and we’ll be posting the 2020 challenges soon!). If you’ve stuck with it all year, you’re guaranteed our 2019 prize, which is still to be determined. If you’ve been up/down with Readers Dozen, you can still get entered for our final monthly prize. Either way, you should be happy – and proud – that you’ve gotten this far!

In December, your challenge is to read a travelogue. It’s a good time to “get away” for a little while, whether the craziness of the season or the weather has gotten you down. Bonus: being an armchair traveler comes without the stress of packing.

For ideas, check out our in-house display or check out one of these sites. Bon Voyage!

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Armchair Travel Books (Goodreads)

Must-Read Travel Books (Bookriot)

The 86 Greatest Travel Books (Conde Nast Traveler)

50 Essential Travel Books (AbeBooks)

48 Best Travel Books for 2019 (Wanderlust UK)

Take Ten: Christmas Romance

If you are running out of Christmas movies to watch on Hallmark or Lifetime, we’ve got a few books for you to pick up and peruse. Love is in the air, along with the sound of jingle bells, which is sure to get you into the holiday spirit!

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25 Days ‘Til Christmas – Poppy Alexander

• Dreading the holiday season, lonely widow Kate Potter, determined to give her son, Jack, a Christmas to remember, finally finds the courage and strength to move on with her life when the unexpected happens.

Candlelight Christmas – Susan Wiggs

• As single father Logan O’Donnell prepares to give his son, Charlie, the best Christmas ever on the shores of Willow Lake, he just may be in for a Christmas surprise himself, in the form of sharp-witted and independent Darcy Fitzgerald.

Christmas Bliss – Mary Kay Andrews

• As the holidays approach, Savannah antique dealer Weezie Foley is distracted by her upcoming wedding and her best friend, maid-of-honor BeBe Loudermilk, who, due to give birth any day, is still adamantly refusing to marry her live-in-love Harry.

Christmas Bride – Hope Ramsay

• Willow Peterson returns to her home town, but gets tangled up in a planning a wedding at her late best friend’s house, and the widower, an aspiring congressman who proves to be a stumbling block to the restoration.

Comfort and Joy – Kristin Hannah

• Recently divorced and having no family of her own, Joy Candellaro is beginning to dream of a new life with widower Daniel O’Shea and his son, Bobby, until a fateful Christmas Eve forces her to make a painful choice.

Finding Christmas – Karen Schaler

• With her boyfriend working too many hours during her favorite time of year, Emmie creates a scavenger hunt to help lift his Christmas spirit, only to discover another man has been following her clues.

One Day in December – Josie Silver

• The story of Laurie and Jack is one of two people, ten chances, and an unforgettable love story covering years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered.

The Perfect Christmas – Debbie Macomber

• 33-year-old Cassie wants a husband and kids, and she turns to Simon Dodson, a professional matchmaker for help. Dodson assigns her three tasks to complete, and despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie completes them all. Her Christmas match turns out to be a wonderful surprise.

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe – Melissa De la Cruz

• A sweet, sexy and hilarious gender-swapping, genre-satisfying re-telling, set in contemporary America and featuring one snooty Miss Darcy.

Royal Holiday – Jasmine Guillory

• A spontaneous holiday vacation turns into an unforgettable romance.

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