Barnes & Noble Presents Mercury by Amy Jo Burns as Their January 2024 National Book Club Selection

Barnes & Noble announces Mercury as their January National Book Club pick and welcomes readers to join author Amy Jo Burns at a free live virtual event. The author will be in conversation with Lexie Smyth, Category Manager for Fiction at Barnes & Noble, and Miwa Messer, Executive Producer of Poured Over, the B&N Podcast, to discuss the title as well as answer questions from audience members. Attendees must register via Eventbrite to access the livestream on Zoom. 

“Mercury is a rich portrait of a deeply flawed family. A layered, multigenerational story, this is a book about the roles we play in our families, how those roles shape us as well as those around us, and what it actually takes to do right by the people you love,” said Lexie Smyth, Category Manager for Fiction, Barnes & Noble. “I can’t wait for our book club readers to become fully immersed in the world of the Joseph family, and I know they will be as fascinated as I was by Marley and Elise, the women at the core of this story. Amy Jo Burns has written an absolute triumph of a novel – this is the kind of book you just have to talk about as soon as you finish it. I am thrilled to put this forward as our January Book Club pick.”

Mercury is the story of seventeen-year-old Marley West who finds herself suddenly taking up residency in a small river valley town in Pennsylvania and consequently, in the lives of the Joseph brothers. A woman who wears many hats in the eyes of the three men — mother figure, wife, lost love — Marley quickly becomes a guiding force amidst the dysfunction surrounding the siblings. But when an eerie secret comes to light years later, it threatens to break the family they’d built. From the beloved author of Shiner comes this enigmatic story of heartache, humor and hidden skeletons with a habit of escaping the closet, or in this case, the attic.

The Barnes & Noble Book Club selects a newly published work of fiction each month, chosen by their booksellers to provoke, engage and enthrall book lovers. The Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition of Mercury features an alternate cover design, interview with the author and discussion questions. Leading up to the event, readers can share their thoughts and engage in conversation on social media using the hashtag #BNBookClub. During the livestream, readers are encouraged to participate in the discussion and submit questions to be answered throughout.  
 
"There is no better place to experience the miracle of a story — the warmth of a favorite character, the wonder of a new world — than in a book club,” said author Amy Jo Burns. “Book clubs are where hearts and minds meet to become braver, stronger, wiser. I couldn’t be more overjoyed that Barnes & Noble has selected Mercury to be part of such a life-affirming tradition"

The enthusiasm and word-of-mouth recommendations of Barnes & Noble booksellers across the country have sparked ardent praise from readers nationwide, turning great novels into bestsellers. Previous Barnes & Noble Book Club selections have included: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, The Night Ship by Jess Kidd, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and The Cloisters by Katy Hays. 

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