I Just Happened To Be There

NICK PERITO has accompanied, arranged, composed and conducted for many of the world's most famous singers and entertainers. His career in television has earned him twelve Emmy nominations. This book offers an affectionate glimpse of his upbringing as the son of Italian immigrants and recounts his successful career in the colorful and unpredictable world of show business. "I NEVER THOUGHT I could get up in front of an audience and just sing my favorite songs and even make it into a one-woman show. It was Nick's idea and he was relentless in insisting that I do it. God will get him for that!" Bea Arthur "I ADORE THE work of Nick Perito because it is an extension of the warmth, humor and charm of the man. He has made a tremendous contribution to the preservation of great music and continues to create fresh and essential sounds for our time. Bravo, Nick!" Michael Feinstein "SOMETIMES WHEN I'm listening to a Perry Como recording and I hear Nick Perito playing so beautifully behind him, it brings me to a sweeter time in my life. All those great songs and arrangements. Recently I had the good fortune to have Nick as my conductor and what a treat. I almost stopped the show just to watch him play. What a life he has led! Sometimes it's just the quiet guy behind the piano who has the best stories to tell. Nick is one of them. You'll love his book." Regis Philbin "NICK PERITO NOT only just happened to be there,' he was a vibrant and active participant in the glory days of American popular music. For those interested in the music and personalities of this marvelous era, I cannot recommend this book more highly." Patrick Williams "NICK IS A great arranger, a wonderful musician, a dear friend and he can write, too." Linda Hope

A BOSTON GLOBE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • With unwavering humanity and light-footed humor, this intimate account of the interminable year of 2020 offers commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic, protests for racial justice, the U.S. presidential election, and more, all with a miraculous dose of groundedness in head-spinning times. "This book is so funny and so true. Charles Finch unpacks a year of plague, fear, shameless venality, and dizzying stupidity with an irrepressible wit and surgically precise cultural observations. I didn't know how badly I needed exactly this. Maybe you do too?" —Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box In March 2020, at the request of the Los Angeles Times, Charles Finch became a reluctant diarist: As California sheltered in place, he began to write daily notes about the odd ambient changes in his own life and in the lives around him. The result is What Just Happened. In a warm, candid, welcoming voice, and in the tradition of Woolf and Orwell, Finch brings us into his own world: taking long evening walks near his home in L.A., listening to music, and keeping virtual connections with friends across the country as they each experience the crisis. And drawing on his remarkable acuity as a cultural critic, he chronicles one endless year with delightful commentary on current events, and the things that distract him from current events: Murakami’s novels, reality television, the Beatles. What Just Happened is a work of empathy and insight, at once of-the-moment and timeless—a gift from one of our culture's most original thinkers.

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Too Late and It Ends With Us. #1 New York Times Bestseller · USA Today Bestseller · Globe and Mail Bestseller · Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night her family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.