LibGuides: Booklists for Adults & Teens: Linkable Fiction Lists

historical mystery

Historical Mysteries

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara Inspired by historical events, Clark and Division infuses an atmospheric and heartbreakingly real crime fiction plot with rich period details and delicately wrought personal stories Naomi Hirahara has gleaned from thirty years of research and archival work in Japanese American history.
The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes Inspired by true events, a thrilling Depression-era novel from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books about a woman's quest to uncover a mystery surrounding a local librarian and the Boxcar Library--a converted mining train that brought books to isolated rural towns in Montana. When Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she's shipped off to Montana to work on the state's American Guide Series--travel books intended to put the nation's destitute writers to work. Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state's powerful Copper Kings who don't want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired for the rest of the country to read. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town's mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe. More than a decade earlier, Alice Monroe created the Boxcar Library in order to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men longed for entertainment and connection. Alice thought she found the perfect librarian to staff the train car in Colette Durand, a miner's daughter with a shotgun and too many secrets behind her eyes.  Now, no one in Missoula will tell Millie why both Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned. The three women's stories dramatically converge in the search to uncover what someone is so desperately trying to hide: what happened to Colette Durand. Inspired by the fascinating, true history of Missoula's Boxcar Library, the novel blends the story of the strong, courageous women who survived and thrived in the rough and rowdy West with that of the power of standing together to fight for workers' lives. And through it all shines the capacity of books to provide connection and light to those who need it most.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco An international sensation and winner of the Premio Strega and the Prix Médicis Etranger awards, this enthralling medieval murder mystery "explodes with pyrotechnic inventions, literally as well as figuratively" (The New York Times) The year is 1327. Benedictines in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon -- all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey, where "the most interesting things happen at night." "Like the labyrinthine library at its heart, this brilliant novel has many cunning passages and secret chambers . . . Fascinating . . . ingenious . . . dazzling." --Newsweek
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King The Twentieth-Anniversary Edition of the First Novel of the Acclaimed Mary Russell Series by Edgar Award-Winning Author Laurie R. King. An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee * Named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees in Sussex when a young woman literally stumbles onto him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern, twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. They are soon called to Wales to help Scotland Yard find the kidnapped daughter of an American senator, a case of international significance with clues that dip deep into Holmes's past. Full of brilliant deduction, disguises, and danger, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, the first book of the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes mysteries, is "remarkably beguiling" (The Boston Globe).
The Silence of Bones by June Hur I have a mouth, but I mustn't speak;Ears, but I mustn't hear;Eyes, but I mustn't see.1800, Joseon (Korea). Homesick and orphaned sixteen-year-old Seol is living out the ancient curse: "May you live in interesting times." Indentured to the police bureau, she's been tasked with assisting a well-respected young inspector with the investigation into the politically-charged murder of a noblewoman. As they delve deeper into the dead woman's secrets, Seol forms an unlikely bond of friendship with the inspector. But her loyalty is tested when he becomes the prime suspect, and Seol may be the only one capable of discovering what truly happened on the night of the murder. But in a land where silence and obedience are valued above all else, curiosity can be deadly.
Call Number: Young Adult
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear After the Armistice in the spring of 1929, Maisie hangs out her shingle: M. Dobbs, Trade and Personal Investigations. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but turns up something else, a tombstone with only a first name. The deceased had lived on a cooperative farm called The Retreat, a well-regarded convalescent refuge for those grievously wounded in the war - ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. When Lady Rowan's son makes plans to join the reclusive community, Maisie investigates and finds a disturbing mystery at its core.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Hello! magazine, Oprah.com, Bustle, Popsugar, Betches, Sweet July, and GoodReads! March 2021 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick "A bold, edgy, accomplished debut!" --Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary... Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries. Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary's in a stunning twist of fate--and not everyone will survive. With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton During a party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is dreaming of the future when she sees her mother speak to a stranger. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy. Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to the family farm for Dorothy's ninetieth birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by questions she has not thought about for decades. From pre-WWII England through the Blitz, to the fifties and beyond, she begins to unearth the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined.
Call Number: Large Print
Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie In this exclusive authorized edition, the Queen of Mystery transports us back to ancient Egypt 2000 B.C. where a priest's daughter, investigating a suspicious death, uncovers an asp's nest of jealousy, betrayal, and serial murder. It is Egypt in 2000 BC, where death gives meaning to life. At the foot of a cliff lies the broken, twisted body of Nofret, concubine to a ka-priest. Young, beautiful, and venomous, most agree that it was fate--she deserved to die like a snake! But at her father's house on the banks of the Nile, the priest's daughter Renisenb believes that the woman's death is suspicious. Increasingly, she becomes convinced that the source of evil lurks within their household--and watches helplessly as the family's passions explode in murder. . . .
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen The Agatha Award winner debuts a 1930s London mystery series, featuring a penniless twenty-something member of the extended royal family. Her ridiculously long name is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch. And she is flat broke. As the thirty-fourth in line for the throne, she has been taught only a few things, among them, the perfect curtsey. But when her brother cuts off her allowance, she leaves Scotland, and her fiancZ Fish-Face, for London, where she has: a) worked behind a cosmetics counter-and gotten sacked after five hoursb) started to fall for a quite unsuitable minor royalc) made some money housekeeping (incognita, of course), andd) been summoned by the Queen to spy on her playboy son. Then an arrogant Frenchman, who wants her family's 800-year-old estate for himself, winds up dead in her bathtub. Now her most important job is to clear her very long family name.
Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams "A captivating Cold War page-turner." -- Real Simple The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives returns with a gripping and profoundly human story of Cold War espionage and family devotion. In the autumn of 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. The world is shocked by the family's sensational disappearance. Were they eliminated by the Soviet intelligence service? Or have the Digbys defected to Moscow with a trove of the West's most vital secrets? Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from the twin sister she hasn't seen since their catastrophic parting in Rome in the summer of 1940, as war engulfed the continent and Iris fell desperately in love with an enigmatic United States Embassy official named Sasha Digby. Within days, Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of counterintelligence agent Sumner Fox in a precarious plot to extract the Digbys from behind the Iron Curtain. But the complex truth behind Iris's marriage defies Ruth's understanding, and as the sisters race toward safety, a dogged Soviet KGB officer forces them to make a heartbreaking choice between two irreconcilable loyalties.
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell Edgar Award Finalist A struggling silhouette artist in Victorian Bath seeks out a renowned child spirit medium in order to speak to the dead - and to try and identify their killers - in this beguiling new tale from the queen of Gothic fiction, Laura Purcell As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another... Why is the killer seemingly targeting her business? Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them. But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something that they can never put back.
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey Bombay, 1921: Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. Inspired in part by a real woman who made history by becoming India's first female lawyer, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay as well as the debut of a sharp and promising new sleuth, Perveen Mistry.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; Lucia Graves (Translator) The New York Times bestseller "The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero." --Entertainment Weekly (Editor's Choice) "One gorgeous read." --Stephen King Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn The New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries returns once more to Victorian England and introduces intrepid adventuress Veronica Speedwell....  London, 1887. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry--and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime. But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered--leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches... During the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz's father was executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife's sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security that his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.   But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined. When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz's sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo's sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz's fears--but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark the doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano? Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will save her. Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness. Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz's doom.
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins This breathtaking debut, winner of the Costa First Novel Award, is a murder mystery that travels across the Atlantic and through the darkest channels of history. A brilliant, searing depiction of race, class, and oppression that penetrates the skin and sears the soul, it is the story of a woman of her own making in a world that would see her unmade.  All of London is abuzz with the scandalous case of Frannie Langton, accused of the brutal double murder of her employers, renowned scientist George Benham and his eccentric French wife, Marguerite. Crowds pack the courtroom, eagerly following every twist, while the newspapers print lurid theories about the killings and the mysterious woman being tried at the Old Bailey. The testimonies against Frannie are damning. She is a seductress, a witch, a master manipulator, a whore. But Frannie claims she cannot recall what happened that fateful evening, even if remembering could save her life. She doesn't know how she came to be covered in the victims' blood. But she does have a tale to tell: a story of her childhood on a Jamaican plantation, her apprenticeship under a debauched scientist who stretched all bounds of ethics, and the events that brought her into the Benhams' London home--and into a passionate and forbidden relationship. Though her testimony may seal her conviction, the truth will unmask the perpetrators of crimes far beyond murder and indict the whole of English society itself.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova The record-breaking phenomenon from Elizabeth Kostova is a celebrated masterpiece that "refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle).  Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe--in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world. "Part thriller, part history, part romance...Kostova has a keen sense of storytelling and she has a marvelous tale to tell." --Baltimore Sun
Fried Chicken Castañeda by Suzanne Stauffer At the Castañeda Hotel you'll find romance, gourmet dining, bootleggers, and murder! Bored with her conventional middle-class life, Prudence Bates escapes Cleveland by heading west to qualify as a Courier for the Southwestern Indian Detours. On the California Limited she meets Jerry Begay, a charming Navajo school teacher. They feel an instant rapport, but he's headed for Gallup, so it's but a brief encounter. In Las Vegas, New Mexico Prudence is befriended by Castañeda Hotel Harvey Girls Martha and Anne and desk clerk Clara. They take Prudence under their wing and invite her along to dances and the local hot springs. Four days later, Martha's brother, Tom, is found murdered. Was it because of his bootlegging activities? Or his amorous relationship with Liz Kearney, daughter of the richest man in the area and rumored mob boss? And was that really Jerry Begay whom Prudence saw meeting with Tom in secret the day before he was killed? Following in the footsteps of her favorite fictional detectives, Tommy and Tuppence, Prudence is determined to solve the murder. But one wrong step and she may end up in the sights of the bootleggers.
Call Number: Set in New Mexico
Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March In 1892, Bombay is the center of British India. Nearby, Captain Jim Agnihotri lies in Poona military hospital recovering from a skirmish on the wild northern frontier, with little to read but newspapers. The case that catches Jim's attention is being called the crime of the century: Two women fell from the busy university's clock tower in broad daylight. Moved by the widower of one of the victims -- his certainty that his wife and sister did not commit suicide -- Jim approaches the Framjis and is hired by the Parsee family to investigate what happened that terrible afternoon.But in a land of divided loyalties, asking questions is dangerous. Jim's investigation disturbs the shadows that seem to follow the Framji family and triggers an ominous chain of events.Based on real events, and set against the vibrant backdrop of colonial India, Nev March's lyrical debut brings this tumultuous historical age to life.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley WINNER OF THE AGATHA * ARTHUR ELLIS * DILYS * DEBUT DAGGER AWARDS  "Wonderfully entertaining . . . sure to be one of the most loved mysteries of the year . . . [Flavia is] a delightful, intrepid, acid-tongued new heroine."--Chicago Sun-Times It is the summer of 1950-and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life." BONUS: This edition contains a The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie discussion guide and an excerpt from Alan Bradley's The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag.
The Frangipani Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu First in a delightfully charming crime series set in 1930s Singapore, introducing amateur sleuth Su Lin, a local girl stepping in as governess for the Acting Governor of Singapore. 1936 in the Crown Colony of Singapore, and the British abdication crisis and rising Japanese threat seem very far away. When the Irish nanny looking after Acting Governor Palin's daughter dies suddenly - and in mysterious circumstances - mission school-educated local girl Su Lin - an aspiring journalist trying to escape an arranged marriage - is invited to take her place. But then another murder at the residence occurs and it seems very likely that a killer is stalking the corridors of Government House. It now takes all Su Lin's traditional skills and intelligence to help British-born Chief Inspector Thomas LeFroy solve the murders - and escape with her own life. 'Simply glorious. Every nook and cranny of 1930s Singapore is brought richly to life, without ever getting in the way of a classic puzzle plot. But what's a setting without a jewel? Chen Su Lin is a true gem. Her slyly witty voice and her admirable, sometimes heartbreaking, practicality make her the most beguiling narrator heroine I've met in a long while.'Catriona McPherson 'Charming and fascinating with great authentic feel. Ovidia Yu's teenage Chinese sleuth gives us an insight into a very different culture and time. This book is exactly why I love historical novels.'Rhys Bowen
Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht New York City, 1962. Vera Kelly is struggling to make rent and blend into the underground gay scene in Greenwich Village. She's working night shifts at a radio station when her quick wits, sharp tongue, and technical skills get her noticed by a recruiter for the CIA. Next thing she knows she's in Argentina, tasked with wiretapping a congressman and infiltrating a group of student activists in Buenos Aires. As Vera becomes more and more enmeshed with the young radicals, the fragile local government begins to split at the seams. When a betrayal leaves her stranded in the wake of a coup, Vera learns the Cold War makes for strange and unexpected bedfellows, and she's forced to take extreme measures to save herself. An exhilarating page-turner and perceptive coming-of-age story, Who Is Vera Kelly? introduces an original, wry, and whip-smart female spy for the twenty-first century.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield Instant #1 New York Times bestseller "Readers will feel the magnetic pull of this paean to words, books and the magical power of story."--People "Eerie and fascinating."--USA TODAY Sometimes, when you open the door to the past, what you confront is your destiny. Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness--featuring the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.
An Extraordinary Union by A. Cole As the Civil War rages between the states, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past . . . Elle Burns is a former slave with a passion for justice and an eidetic memory. Trading in her life of freedom in Massachusetts, she returns to the indignity of slavery in the South-to spy for the Union Army. Malcolm McCall is a detectiveforPinkerton's Secret Service. Subterfuge is his calling, but he's facing his deadliest mission yet-risking his life to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia. Two undercover agents who share a common cause-and an undeniable attraction-Malcolm and Elle join forces when they discover a plot that could turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy's favor. Caught in a tightening web of wartime intrigue, and fighting a fiery and forbidden love, Malcolm and Elle must make their boldest move to preserve the Union at any cost-even if it means losing each other . . . Praise for the novels of Alyssa Cole- "Rich in atmospheric details and rife with unexpected dangers."-RT Book Reviews "Sweet, sensual, and suspenseful . . . rousing and entertaining."-Publishers Weekly
The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair "A delightful immersion in the period and personalities, with that touch of depth that transforms a good series to a great one." --Laurie R. King First comes love, then comes murder. In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair--The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world. But the promising start to their marriage bureau is threatened when their newest client, Tillie La Salle, is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name--and to rescue their fledging operation's reputation--Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own, using the skills and contacts they've each acquired through life and their individual adventures during the recent war. Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk.
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee In the days of the Raj, a newly arrived Scotland Yard detective is confronted with the murder of a British official--in his mouth a note warning the British to leave India, or else . . .  Calcutta, 1919. Captain Sam Wyndham, former Scotland Yard detective, is a new arrival to Calcutta. Desperately seeking a fresh start after his experiences during the Great War, Wyndham has been recruited to head up a new post in the police force. He is immediately overwhelmed by the heady vibrancy of the tropical city, but with barely a moment to acclimatize or to deal with the ghosts that still haunt him, Wyndham is caught up in a murder investigation that threatens to destabilize a city already teetering on the brink of political insurgency. The body of a senior official has been found in a filthy sewer, and a note left in his mouth warns the British to quit India, or else. Under tremendous pressure to solve the case before it erupts into increased violence on the streets, Wyndham and his two new colleagues--arrogant Inspector Digby and Sergeant Banerjee, one of the few Indians to be recruited into the new CID--embark on an investigation that will take them from the opulent mansions of wealthy British traders to the seedy opium dens of the city. Masterfully evincing the sights, sounds, and smells of colonial Calcutta, A Rising Man is the start of an enticing new historical crime series.
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia "In this terrific series opener, Afia evokes the women's lives in all their wayward and beautiful glory, especially the abruptness with which their dreams, hopes and fears cease to exist."--The New York Times The start of an exciting new historical mystery series set during the Harlem Renaissance from debut author Nekesa Afia Harlem, 1926. Young Black women like Louise Lloyd are ending up dead. Following a harrowing kidnapping ordeal when she was in her teens, Louise is doing everything she can to maintain a normal life. She's succeeding, too. She spends her days working at Maggie's Café and her nights at the Zodiac, Harlem's hottest speakeasy. Louise's friends, especially her girlfriend, Rosa Maria Moreno, might say she's running from her past and the notoriety that still stalks her, but don't tell her that. When a girl turns up dead in front of the café, Louise is forced to confront something she's been trying to ignore--two other local Black girls have been murdered in the past few weeks. After an altercation with a police officer gets her arrested, Louise is given an ultimatum: She can either help solve the case or wind up in a jail cell. Louise has no choice but to investigate and soon finds herself toe-to-toe with a murderous mastermind hell-bent on taking more lives, maybe even her own....
The Alienist by Caleb Carr NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW A TNT ORIGINAL SERIES * "A first-rate tale of crime and punishment that will keep readers guessing until the final pages."--Entertainment Weekly "Caleb Carr's rich period thriller takes us back to the moment in history when the modern idea of the serial killer became available to us."--The Detroit News When The Alienist was first published in 1994, it was a major phenomenon, spending six months on the New York Times bestseller list, receiving critical acclaim, and selling millions of copies. This modern classic continues to be a touchstone of historical suspense fiction for readers everywhere. The year is 1896. The city is New York. Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler--a psychologist, or "alienist"--to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over. Fast-paced and riveting, infused with historical detail, The Alienist conjures up Gilded Age New York, with its tenements and mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. It is an age in which questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and fatal consequences. Praise for The Alienist "[A] delicious premise . . . Its settings and characterizations are much more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill thrillers that line the shelves in bookstores."--The Washington Post Book World "Mesmerizing."--Detroit Free Press "The method of the hunt and the disparate team of hunters lift the tale beyond the level of a good thriller--way beyond. . . . A remarkable combination of historical novel and psychological thriller."--The Buffalo News "Engrossing."--Newsweek "Gripping, atmospheric . . . intelligent and entertaining."--USA Today "A high-spirited, charged-up and unfailingly smart thriller."--Los Angeles Times "Keeps readers turning pages well past their bedtime."--San Francisco Chronicle
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler Best Book of the Year Real Simple * AARP * USA Today Longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize From the Man Booker finalist and bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic and intimate novel about the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth. In 1822, a secret family moves into a secret cabin some thirty miles northeast of Baltimore, to farm, to hide, and to bear ten children over the course of the next sixteen years. Junius Booth--breadwinner, celebrated Shakespearean actor, and master of the house in more ways than one--is at once a mesmerizing talent and a man of terrifying instability. One by one the children arrive, as year by year, the country draws frighteningly closer to the boiling point of secession and civil war. As the tenor of the world shifts, the Booths emerge from their hidden lives to cement their place as one of the country's leading theatrical families. But behind the curtains of the many stages they have graced, multiple scandals, family triumphs, and criminal disasters begin to take their toll, and the solemn siblings of John Wilkes Booth are left to reckon with the truth behind the destructively specious promise of an early prophecy. Booth is a startling portrait of a country in the throes of change and a vivid exploration of the ties that make, and break, a family.
Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "Charles Dickens meets Joss Whedon in Miro's otherworldly Netflix-binge-like novel." --The Washington Post MOST ANTICIPATED SFF BOOK of 2022 by Tor, The Nerd Daily, BookBub, Philadelphia Inquirer, Goodreads, CrimeReads, Buzzfeed, Professional Book Nerds, and more! BEST BOOK OF SUMMER 2022 by SheReads, Book Riot, Goodreads, Gizmodo, Daily Beast, Paste Magazine, and more! IN THIS STUNNING HISTORICAL FANTASY, journey to the Victorian era, as children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness in a battle of good vs. evil... "Ordinary Monsters is a towering achievement: a dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors, and gripping suspense. Be warned... once you step into this penny dreadful to end all penny dreadfuls, you'll never want to leave." --Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box Charlie Ovid, despite surviving a brutal childhood in Mississippi, doesn't have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When Alice Quicke, a jaded detective with her own troubled past, is recruited to escort them to safety, all three begin a journey into the nature of difference and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous. What follows is a story of wonder and betrayal, from the gaslit streets of London, and the wooden theaters of Meiji-era Tokyo, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh where other children with gifts--like Komako, a witch-child and twister of dust, and Ribs, a girl who cloaks herself in invisibility--are forced to combat the forces that threaten their safety. There, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. With this new found family, Komako, Marlowe, Charlie, Ribs, and the rest of the Talents discover the truth about their abilities. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, a new question arises: What truly defines a monster? Riveting in its scope, exquisitely written, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world--and of the gifted, broken children who must save it.
Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan A bold, haunting, and startlingly unique novel about the secrets we leave behind and the places that hold them long after we are gone, a "quintessential novel of Edinburgh at its darkest." (Irvine Welsh) There are stories tucked away on every floor of 10 Luckenbooth Close. 1910, Edinburgh. Jessie MacRae has been sent to a tenement building by her recently deceased father to bear a child for a wealthy man and his fiancée. The harrowing events that follow lead to a curse on the building and its residents--a curse that will last for the rest of the century. Over nine decades, 10 Luckenbooth Close bears witness to emblems of a changing world outside its walls. An infamous madam, a spy, a famous Beat poet, a coal miner who fears daylight, a psychic: these are some of the residents whose lives are plagued by the building's troubled history in disparate, sometimes chilling ways. The curse creeps up the nine floors as an enraged spirit world swells to the surface, desperate for the true horror of the building's longest kept secret to be heard. Luckenbooth is a bold, haunting, and dazzlingly unique novel about the stories and secrets we leave behind--and the places that hold them long after we are gone.
A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari The Lost Apothecary meets Dead Dead Girls in this fast-paced, STEMinist adventure. Debut author Kate Khavari deftly entwines a pulse-pounding mystery with the struggles of a woman in a male-dominated field in 1923 London. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to blaze a new trail at the University College London, but with her colleagues' beliefs about women's academic inabilities and not so subtle hints that her deceased father's reputation paved her way into the botany department, she feels stymied at every turn.   When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn't expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors' wives, to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin.  Dr. Maxwell, Saffron's mentor, is the main suspect and evidence quickly mounts. Joined by fellow researcher--and potential romantic interest--Alexander Ashton, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons to clear Maxwell's name.   Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer's list, in this entertaining examination of society's expectations.
Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, and Anne Perry, Mr. Churchill's Secretary captures the drama of an era of unprecedented challenge--and the greatness that rose to meet it. London, 1940. Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for codebreaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined--and opportunities she will not let pass. In troubled, deadly times, with air-raid sirens sending multitudes underground, access to the War Rooms also exposes Maggie to the machinations of a menacing faction determined to do whatever it takes to change the course of history. Ensnared in a web of spies, murder, and intrigue, Maggie must work quickly to balance her duty to King and Country with her chances for survival. And when she unravels a mystery that points toward her own family's hidden secrets, she'll discover that her quick wits are all that stand between an assassin's murderous plan and Churchill himself. In this daring debut, Susan Elia MacNeal blends meticulous research on the era, psychological insight into Winston Churchill, and the creation of a riveting main character, Maggie Hope, into a spectacularly crafted novel.
Call Number: eBook
What Angels Fear by C. S. Harris THE FIRST SEBASTIAN ST. CYR MYSTERY! "The combined elements of historical fiction, romance, and mystery in this fog-enshrouded London puzzler will appeal to fans of Anne Perry."--Booklist It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then the body of a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol discovered at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man: Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experiences in the Napoleonic Wars.   Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian calls upon his skill as an officer during the war to catch the killer and prove his own innocence. In the process, he accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including the enigmatic beauty Kat Boleyn, who broke Sebastian's heart years ago. In Sebastian's world of intrigue and espionage, nothing is as it seems, yet the truth may hold the key to the future of the British monarchy, as well as to Sebastian's own salvation....
Call Number: eBook
Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett A high-society murder. A spirited lady detective. Can she out-class the killer before an innocent person takes the fall? London, 1923. Olive Belgrave needs a job. Despite her aristocratic upbringing, she's penniless. Determined to support herself, she jumps at an unconventional job--looking into the background of her cousin's fianc , Alfred. Alfred burst into the upper crust world of London's high society, but his answers to questions about his past are decidedly vague. Before Olive can gather more than the basics, a murder occurs at a posh party. Suddenly, every Bright Young Person in attendance is a suspect, and Olive must race to find the culprit because a sly murderer is determined to make sure Olive's first case is her last. Murder at Archly Manor is the first in the High Society Lady Detective series of charming historical cozy mysteries. If you like witty banter, glamorous settings, and delightful plot twists, you'll love USA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett's series for Anglophiles and mystery lovers alike. Travel back to the Golden Age of detective fiction with Murder at Archly Manor.
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Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson "A great read, through and through. Westerson's finely wrought portrait of gritty Medieval London is embued with great wit and poignancy. Crispin Guest is a knight to remember." -- Cornelia Read, author of A Field of Darkness, on Veil of Lies. Crispin Guest is a disgraced knight, stripped of his rank and his honor - but left with his life - for plotting against Richard II. Having lost his bethrothed, his friends, his patrons and his position in society. With no trade to support him and no family willing to acknowledge him, Crispin has turned to the one thing he still has - his wits - to scrape a living together on the mean streets of London. In 1383, Guest is called to the compound of a merchant - a reclusive mercer who suspects that his wife is being unfaithful and wants Guest to look into the matter. Not wishing to sully himself in such disgraceful, dishonorable business but in dire need of money, Guest agrees and discovers that the wife is indeed up to something, presumably nothing good. But when he comes to inform his client, he is found dead - murdered in a sealed room, locked from the inside. Now Guest has come to the unwanted attention of the Lord Sheriff of London and most recent client was murdered while he was working for him. And everything seems to turn on a religious relic - a veil reported to have wiped the brow of Christ - that is now missing.
Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal Recently appointed prioress Eleanor of Wynethorpe gets more than she had bargained for when she takes over the Order of Fontevraud, a small priory on the remote East Anglian coast, after a monk is found brutally murdered in the cloister gardens and Brother Thomas arrives to investigate the Order's shaky finances, in a mystery set in thirteenth-cent
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch Equal parts Sherlock Holmes and P.G. Wodehouse, Charles Finch's debut mystery A Beautiful Blue Death introduces a wonderfully appealing gentleman detective in Victorian London who investigates crime as a diversion from his life of leisure. Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery. Prudence Smith, one of Jane's former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison. The grand house where the girl worked is full of suspects, and though Prue had dabbled with the hearts of more than a few men, Lenox is baffled by the motive for the girl's death. When another body turns up during the London season's most fashionable ball, Lenox must untangle a web of loyalties and animosities. Was it jealousy that killed Prudence Smith? Or was it something else entirely? And can Lenox find the answer before the killer strikes again--this time, disturbingly close to home?
Death below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley Highly sought-after young cook Kat Holloway takes a position in a Mayfair mansion and soon finds herself immersed in the odd household of Lord Rankin. Kat is fine with the family's eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her assistant is murdered. Afraid for her life, Kat turns to the mysterious Daniel McAdam for help. Daniel takes a position in the house as a footman and stand-in valet so he can investigate covertly, but Kat cooks up a suspect list of her own.
Murder at the Breakers by A. Maxwell As the nineteenth century comes to a close, the illustrious Vanderbilt family dominates Newport, Rhode Island, high society. But when murder darkens a glittering affair at their summer home, reporter Emma Cross learns that sometimes the cream of the crop can curdle one's blood . . . Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895- She may be a less well-heeled relation, but as second cousin to millionaire patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, twenty-one-year-old Emma Cross is on the guest list for a grand ball at the Breakers, the Vanderbilts' summer home. She also has a job to do-report on the event for the society page of the Newport Observer. But Emma observes much more than glitz and gaiety when she witnesses a murder. The victim is Cornelius Vanderbilt's financial secretary, who plunges off a balcony faster than falling stock prices. Emma's black sheep brother Brady is found in Cornelius's bedroom passed out next to a bottle of bourbon and stolen plans for a new railroad line. Brady has barely come to before the police have arrested him for the murder. But Emma is sure someone is trying to railroad her brother and resolves to find the real killer at any cost . . . "Sorry to see the conclusion of Downton Abbey? Well, here is a morsel to get you through a long afternoon. Brew some Earl Grey and settle down with a scone with this one." -Washington Independent Review of Books
Murder in Greenwich Village by Liz Freeland For fans of HBO's The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America's 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries... A year before World War I breaks out, the sidewalks of Manhattan are crowded with restless newcomers chasing the fabled American Dream, including a sharp-witted young woman who discovers a talent for investigating murder . . .   New York City, 1913. Twenty-year-old Louise Faulk has fled Altoona, Pennsylvania, to start a life under dizzying lights. In a city of endless possibilities, it's not long before the young ingénue befriends a witty aspiring model and makes a splash at the liveliest parties on the Upper East Side. But glitter fades to grit when Louise's Greenwich Village apartment becomes the scene of a violent murder and a former suitor hustling for Tin Pan Alley fame hits front-page headlines as the prime suspect . . .   Driven to investigate the crime, Louise finds herself stepping into the seediest corners of the burgeoning metropolis--where she soon discovers that failed dreams can turn dark and deadly . . .
Call Number: eBook
Fall of Angels by Barbara Cleverly At the annual St. Barnabas College Christmas concert Detective Inspector Redfyre witnesses a minor scandal: the trumpeter of the headlining musical duo, is a woman, and a young one at that - practically unheard of in conservative circles. When she suffers a near-fatal fall after the close of the show, Redfyre must consider whether someone was trying to kill her. Has her musical talent, her beauty, or perhaps most importantly, her gender, provoked a dangerous criminal to act? Redfyre must both seek advice from and keep an eye on old friends to catch his man before more innocents fall victim.
Beneath the Darkest Sky by Jason Overstreet International consultant Prescott Sweet's mission is to bring justice to countries suffering from America's imperialistic interventions. With his outspoken artist wife, Loretta, and their two children, he lives a life of equality and continental elegance amid Europe's glittering capitals - beyond anything he ever dared hope for. But he is still a man in hiding, from his past with the Bureau, from British Intelligence - and from his own tempting, dangerous skill at high-level espionage. So when he has the opportunity to live in Moscow and work at the American Embassy, Prescott and his family seize the chance to take refuge and at last put down roots in what they believe is a fair society. Life in Russia, however, proves to be a beautiful lie. Reduced to bare survival, with his son gravely ill, Prescott calls on all his skills in a last-ditch effort to free his family from the grips of Stalin. But between honour and expediency, salvation and atrocity, he'll be forced to play an ever mor
Tale of Two Murders by H. Redmond In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper's co-editor, Charles is smitten with his boss's daughter, vivacious nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the pleasant evening. Charles, Kate, and her father rush to the neighbors' home, where Miss Christiana Lugoson lies unconscious on the floor. By morning, the poor young woman will be dead. When Charles hears from a colleague of a very similar mysterious death a year ago to the date, also a young woman, he begins to suspect poisoning and feels compelled to investigate. The lovely Kate offers to help-using her social position to gain access to the members of the upper crust, now suspects in a murder. If Charles can find justice for the victims, it will be a far, far better thing than he has ever done. But with a twist or two in this most peculiar case, he and Kate may be in for the worst of times . . .
Murder at Morrington Hall by C. McKenna Stella Kendrick is an all-American heiress who can't be tamed. But when the lively aspiring equine trainer tangles with British aristocracy, she meets her match-and a murderer . . . Spring, 1905- Free-spirited like the Thoroughbreds she rides across the Kentucky countryside, Stella takes adventure by the reins when she's asked to attend a mysterious wedding in rural England. But once she arrives at the lush Morrington Hall estate, her cold and ambitious father confesses that he won't only give away his best racehorses as gifts-he has also arranged to give away his daughter as bride to the Earl of Atherly's financially strapped son . . . Stella refuses to be sold off like a prized pony. Yet despite a rough start, there's something intriguing about her groom-to-be, the roguish Viscount "Lyndy" Lyndhurst. The unlikely pair could actually be on the right track with each other . . . until they find the vicar who was to marry them dead in the library. With culture clashes mounting between families, a scandalous murder case hangs over Morrington Hall. Now, Stella and Lyndy must go from future spouses to amateur sleuths as they team up to search for the truth-and prevent an unbridled criminal from destroying their new life together right out of the gate . . .
Murder in Mayfair by D. M. Quincy A Library Journal "Best Book of the Year"   The first "delicious tale of scandal and villainy" in a romantic Regency-era mystery series starring two crime-solving aristocrats (Rhys Bowen, New York Times-bestselling author)   In 1814, Atlas Catesby, a brilliant adventurer and youngest son of a baron, is anxious to resume his world travels after being injured in a carriage accident in London. But his plans are derailed when, passing through a country village, he discovers a helpless woman being auctioned off to the highest bidder--by her husband. In order to save her from being violated by another potential buyer, Atlas purchases the lady, Lilliana, on the spot to set her free. But Lilliana, desperate to be with her young sons and knowing the laws of England give a father all parental rights, refuses to be rescued--until weeks later when her husband is murdered and Atlas is the only one who can help clear her name of the crime. Fortunately, Atlas is a master at solving complicated puzzles--with games as well as the intricacies of human motivation--and finds himself uniquely suited to the task, despite the personal peril it may put him in. But soon Altas learns the dead man had many secrets--and more than a few enemies willing to kill to keep them quiet--in Murder in Mayfair, the first in a new historical mystery series by D. M. Quincy.
A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde After her baronet father abandoned the family, Rosalind Thorne was nearly ruined. To keep up appearances, she began to manage the affairs of some of London society's most influential women, who have come to rely on her wit and discretion. When artistocratic wastrel Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in London's most exclusive ballroom, Almack's, Rosalind must use her skills and connections to uncover the killer from a list of suspects that includes Almack's powerful patronesses. Will Rosalind unravel the mysteries surrounding Jasper's death?
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beach 2025

Beach Reads

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge. In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Twelve years later, she's ready for retribution. Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family's downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who've wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served. But Anna's plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge--and that they won't stop until everyone else is dead. With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them--even though it means putting her own life at risk.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits. The stunning hardcover of Atmosphere features beautiful endpapers and a premium dust jacket! "Thrilling . . . heartbreaking . . . uplifting . . . the fast-paced, emotionally charged story of one ambitious young woman, finding both her voice and her passion."--Kristin Hannah, author of The Women "NASA? Space missions? The '80s? This is a collection of all the things I love."--Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary and The Martian Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA's space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space. Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston's Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane. As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe. Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant. Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love--this time among the stars.
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen One of the Best Books of 2022 NPR * Them * Lit Hub * CrimeReads * Book Riot * Chicago Review of Books "A one-of-a-kind queer horror comedy for people who watch The Bachelor and The X-Files back-to-back." --Kirkus Reviews On this season of The Catch, contestants must compete for love. And their lives. When the final four women in competition for an aloof, somewhat sleazy bachelor's heart arrive on a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest, they prepare themselves for another week of extreme sleep deprivation, invasive interviews, and, of course, the salacious drama eager viewers nationwide tune in to devour. Each woman came on The Catch for her own reasons--brand sponsorships, followers, and, yes, even love--and they've all got their eyes steadfastly trained on their respective prizes. Enter Patricia, a temperamental and woefully misunderstood local living alone in the dark, verdant woods, and desperate for connection. Through twists as unexpected as they are wildly entertaining, the self-absorbed cast and jaded crew each make her acquaintance atop the island's tallest and most desolate peak, finding themselves at the center of an action-packed thriller that is far from scripted--and only a few will make the final cut. A whirlwind romp careening toward a last-girl-standing conclusion, and a scathing indictment of contemporary American media culture, Patricia Wants to Cuddle is also a love story: between star-crossed lesbians who rise above their intolerant town, a deeply ambivalent woman and her budding self-actualization, and a group of misfit islanders forging community against all odds.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Most Anticipated Book of 2025: Goodreads * USA TODAY * Marie Claire * BookPage * Literary Lifestyle * Book Riot * Sunset Magazine * Totally Booked with Zibby Owens #1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger's life twenty-five years later. Most people don't even notice them--three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it's just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa's care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting's birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she'll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don't always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ∙ A radiant escape to the lake from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and This Summer Will Be Different As featured in People ∙ Good Morning America ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ TODAY ∙ E! News ∙ Buzzfeed ∙ ELLE ∙ Us Weekly ∙ The New York Post ∙ Woman's World ∙ Katie Couric Media ∙ SheReads ∙ and more! I never anticipated Charlie Florek. Good things happen at the lake. That's what Alice's grandmother says, and it's true. Alice spent just one summer there at a cottage with Nan when she was seventeen--it's where she took that photo, the one of three grinning teenagers in a yellow speedboat, the image that changed her life. Now Alice lives behind a lens. As a photographer, she's most comfortable on the sidelines, letting other people shine. Lately though, she's been itching for something more, and when Nan falls and breaks her hip, Alice comes up with a plan for them both: another summer in that magical place, Barry's Bay. But as soon as they settle in, their peace is disrupted by the roar of a familiar yellow boat, and the man driving it. Charlie Florek was nineteen when Alice took his photo from afar. Now he's all grown up--a shameless flirt, who manages to make Nan laugh and Alice long to be seventeen again, when life was simpler, when taking pictures was just for fun. Sun-slanted days and warm nights out on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice's soul, but when she looks up and sees his piercing green gaze directly on her, she begins to worry for her heart. Because Alice sees people--that's why she is so good at what she does--but she's never met someone who looks and sees her right back.
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby returns with King of Ashes, a Godfather-inspired Southern crime epic and dazzling family drama. When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father's car accident, he finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous criminals and his sister, Neveah, exhausted from holding the family--and the family business--together. Neveah and their father, who run the Carruthers Crematorium in the run-down central Virginia town of Jefferson Run, see death up close every day. But mortality draws even closer when it becomes clear that the crash that landed their father in a coma was no accident and Dante's recklessness has placed them all in real danger. Roman, a financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, has some money to help buy his brother out of trouble. But in his work with wannabe tough guys, he's forgotten that there are real gangsters out there. As his bargaining chips go up in smoke, Roman realizes that he has only one thing left to offer to save his brother: himself, and his own particular set of skills. Roman begins his work for the criminals while Neveah tries to uncover the long-ago mystery of what happened to their mother, who disappeared when they were teenagers. But Roman is far less of a pushover than the gangsters realize. He is willing to do anything to save his family. Anything. Because everything burns.
I'll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom An epic, intimate novel about an unconventional and irresistible family--from the New York Times bestselling author of In Love, White Houses, and Away Immigrating alone from Paris to New York after the crucible of World War II, young Gazala becomes friends with two spirited sisters, Anne and Alma. When Gazala's lost, beloved brother, Samir, joins her in Manhattan, this contentious, inseparable foursome makes their way into the twenty-first century, becoming the beating heart of a multigenerational found family. The passing years are marked by the business of everyday existence and the inevitable surprises of erupting passions, of great and small waves of joy and despair, from the beginning of life to its end. Gazala and Samir make a home together, Anne leaves her husband for his sister, and Anne's restless daughter grows up to raise a child on her own and to join a throuple, becoming who she wants to be. Through it all, amid the tumult of these decades, the four friends and their best beloveds stand by one another, protecting, annoying, and celebrating themselves, steadfastly unapologetic about their desires and the unorthodox family they have created. As the next generation falls in and out of love, experiencing triumphs, mistakes and disappointments, the central pillars of their lives are the four indomitable elders they call the "Greats." In I'll Be Right Here, Amy Bloom embraces the complexity and richness of humanity and the lawlessness of love, bringing her trademark voice, wry humor, and compassionate eye to the many, often mysterious ways we live as we love, and hope to be loved in return.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping novel from Emily Henry. As featured in The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ Good Morning America ∙ NPR ∙ Vogue ∙ The Cut ∙ USA Today ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Glamour ∙ ELLE ∙ E! Online ∙ The New York Post ∙ Bustle ∙ Reader's Digest ∙ BBC ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Paste ∙ and more! Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they're both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she'll choose the person who'll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice's head in the game. One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice--and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over. Two: She's ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication. Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition. But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can't swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they're in the same room. And it's becoming abundantly clear that their story--just like the tale Margaret's spinning--could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who's telling it.
The Love Haters by Katherine Center Featuring beautiful spray-painted edges with vibrant designed endpapers. It's a thin line between love and love-hating in the newest laugh out loud, all the feels rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Katherine Center. Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past--now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole's request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom "Hutch" Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie's not exactly qualified. She can't swim--but pretends that she can. Plus, Cole and Hutch are brothers. And they don't get along. Next stop: paradise! But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good-looking man she has ever seen . . . but maybe a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two. Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue--along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last. Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue--along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley From the author of Oprah's Book Club pick and New York Times bestseller Nightcrawling, here is an astonishing new novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a small town on the Florida panhandle. Adela Woods is sixteen years old and pregnant. Her parents banish her from her comfortable upbringing in Indiana to her grandmother's home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, determined to graduate despite the odds; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, who weighs her options when she finds herself pregnant again; and the rest of the Girls, a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of Simone's red truck. The town thinks the Girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood. Full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of these friends' secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big confirms Leila Mottley's promise and offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman.
The Tenant by Freida McFadden A new, jaw-dropping thriller from the instant #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boyfriend and The Housemaid! There's no place like home... Blake Porter is riding high, until he's not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone he shares with his fiancée, he's desperate to make ends meet. Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she? Because something isn't quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets... Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it'll be far too late. The trap is already set. #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden knocks at your door with a gripping story of revenge, privilege, and secrets turned sour...
Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell From #1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Jewell, an author "at the very top of her game" (Lucy Foley)--three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller. "Who are you? Who are you really?" Nick Radcliffe is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. He's just what Nina Swann needed in her life after her husband's unexpected death. But to Nina's adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick's past. What she finds is more than unsettling... "Because there are things that don't make sense, and I've been so patient, so very patient..." Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can't share the feeling that something isn't right. "You know that's mad, don't you? I'm your husband. We know everything there is to know about each other." Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don't let him in. But the past won't stay buried forever.
My Name Is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende; Frances Riddle (Translator) NATIONAL BESTSELLER * In this spellbinding historical novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea and The Wind Knows My Name, a young writer journeys to South America to uncover the truth about her father--and herself. In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man's pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as does Eric, and while there, she meets her estranged father and delves into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie. As she and Eric discover love, the war escalates and Emilia finds herself in extreme danger, fearing for her life and questioning her identity and her destiny. A riveting tale of self-discovery and love from one of the most masterful storytellers of our time, My Name Is Emilia del Valle introduces a character who will never let hold of your heart.
You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego NATIONAL BESTSELLER * An exclusive thriller writer's retreat hosted on a private island turns lethal when one of the authors is found murdered. "Twisty and fabulously fun . . . This debut is not to be missed!"--Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie "Deliciously twisted . . . perfect for thriller fans hungry for a fresh spin on a locked-room murder mystery."--Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Child When renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor hires former aspiring writer Mila del Angél to host a writing retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance--particularly since she has an axe to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem. Confess the crimes, survive the tropes. Alastor and Mila have masterminded a week of games, trope-fueled riddles, and maybe a jump scare or two--the perfect cover for Mila to plot a murder of her own. But when a guest turns up dead--and it's not the murder she planned--Mila finds herself trapped in a different narrative altogether. One by one, you'll lose your turn. With a storm isolating the island, and the body count rising, Mila must outwit a killer who knows literally every trick in the book. Until only one of us remains . . .
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the New York Times bestselling author of Deep End. Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It's such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother's best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life. But not everything is as it seems--and clichés sometimes become plot twists. When Maya's brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs--even if it's a problematic one.
Colored Television by Danzy Senna A NATIONAL BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2024 "A laugh-out-loud cultural comedy... This is the New Great American Novel, and Danzy Senna has set the standard." -LA Times "Funny, foxy and fleet...The jokes are good, the punches land, the dialogue is tart." -Dwight Garner, The New York Times A brilliant take on love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial-identity-industrial complex from the bestselling author of Caucasia Jane has high hopes that her life is about to turn around. After a long, precarious stretch bouncing among sketchy rentals and sublets, she and her family are living in luxury for a year, house-sitting in the hills above Los Angeles. The gig magically coincides with Jane's sabbatical, giving her the time and space she needs to finish her second novel--a centuries-spanning epic her artist husband, Lenny, dubs her "mulatto War and Peace." Finally, some semblance of stability and success seems to be within her grasp. But things don't work out quite as hoped. Desperate for a plan B, like countless writers before her Jane turns her gaze to Hollywood. When she finagles a meeting with Hampton Ford, a hot producer with a major development deal at a streaming network, he seems excited to work with a "real writer," and together they begin to develop "the Jackie Robinson of biracial comedies." Things finally seem to be going right for Jane--until they go terribly wrong. Funny, piercing, and page turning, Colored Television is Senna's most on-the-pulse, ambitious, and rewarding novel yet.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger. This is a story about hunger. 1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily--her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets. This is a story about love. 1827. London. A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family's estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte's tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow--but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined. This is a story about rage. 2019. Boston. College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That's why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge. This is a story about life-- how it ends, and how it starts. USA Today, 15 Most Anticipated of 2025 BookBub, Most Anticipated of 2025 (and Reader's Pick) Readers Digest, 20 Most Anticipated Books This Year Paste Magazine, Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025 BookRiot, Most Anticipated Books of 2025 Men's Health, 25 Best & Most Anticipated Books of 2025 The Nerd Daily, SFF to Devour in 2025 Goodreads, Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2025
The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey "A singular, bewitching work about cycles of life and loss, the patterns of behavior that seem to lock us into who we are, and the quest for a faith that might break us free." --Hua Hsu, author of Stay True Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by Vulture and LitHub A genre-bending story about breaking―both of the heart and form itself―from the author of Biography of X. Adrift in the winter of 2021 after a sudden breakup and the ensuing depression, the novelist Catherine Lacey began cataloguing the wreckage of her life and the beauty of her friendships, a practice that eventually propagated fiction both entirely imagined and strangely true. Betrayed by the mercurial partner she had trusted with a shared mortgage and suddenly catapulted into the unknown, Lacey's appetite vanished completely, a visceral reminder of the teenage emaciation that came when she stopped believing in God. Through relationships, travel, reading, and memories of her religious fanaticism, Lacey charts the contours of faith's absence and reemergence. Bending form, she and her characters recall gnostic experiences with animals, close encounters with male anger, griefdriven lust, and the redemptive power of platonic love and narrative itself. A hybrid work across fiction and nonfiction with no beginning or ending, The Möbius Book troubles the line between memory and fiction with an openhearted defense of faith's inherent danger.
Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive "A riotous novel about a farewell party that celebrates all of life's emotions--big and small--while marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction." --Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants A rollicking, big-hearted story of long-lost love, friendship, and a life well-lived, set at a Florida retirement resort for queer women, on the last day of resident Hannah Cardin's life--perfect for readers of Less and The Wedding People. It's 2067 and Florida is partially underwater, but even that can't bring down the residents of Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, a utopian home for queer women who want to revel in their twilight years. Inside, Hula-Hoopers shimmy across the grass, fiercely competitive book clubs nearly come to blows, and the roller-ski team races up and down the winding paths. Everywhere you look, these women are living large. Hannah Cardin has spent ten happy years under these tropical, technicolor skies, but after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, she has decided that tomorrow morning she will close her eyes for the very last time. Tonight, however, Hannah and her raucous band of friends are throwing one hell of an end-of-life party. And with less than twenty-four hours left, Hannah is holding out for one final, impossible thing... Amongst the guest list is Sophie, the love of Hannah's life. They haven't spoken since their devastating breakup over forty years ago, but today, Hannah is hoping for the chance to give her greatest love one last try. As Hannah anxiously awaits Sophie's arrival, her mind casts back over the highs and lows of her kaleidoscopic life. But when a shocking secret from the past is revealed, Hannah must reconsider if she can say goodbye after all. Spanning the course of a single day and seventy-odd years, and bursting with irresistible hope, humor, and wisdom, this one-of-a-kind novel celebrates the unexpected moments that make us feel the most alive.
So Far Gone by Jess Walter "As talented a natural storyteller as is working in American fiction."--Washington Post From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins--and in the wild, propulsive spirit of Charles Portis' True Grit--comes a hilarious and brilliantly provocative adventure through life in modern America, about a reclusive journalist forced back into the world to rescue his kidnapped grandchildren. A few weeks after the 2016 election, at Thanksgiving with his daughter's family, Rhys Kinnick snapped. After an escalating fight about politics, he hauled off and punched his conspiracy theorist son-in-law. Horrified by what he'd done, by the state of the country and by his own spiraling mental health, Rhys chucked his smartphone out a car window and fled for a cabin in the woods, off the grid and with no one around--except a pack of hungry raccoons.  Now, seven years later, Kinnick's old life is about to land right back on his crumbling doorstep. Can this failed husband and father, a man with no phone, no computer, and a car that barely runs, reemerge into a broken world to track down his missing daughter and save his sweet, precocious grandchildren from the members of a dangerous militia With the help of his caustic ex-girlfriend, a bipolar retired detective, and his only friend (who happens to be furious with him), Kinnick heads off on a madcap journey through cultural lunacy and the rubble of a life he thought he'd left behind. So Far Gone is a rollicking, razor-sharp, and ultimately moving road trip through a fractured nation, from a writer who has been called "a genius of the modern American moment" (Philadelphia Inquirer).
The Compound by Aisling Rawle Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. Winner takes all. "I dare you not to tear through The Compound at lightning speed."--Zakiya Dalila Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Black Girl "The Compound is a debut so gripping and propulsive that it beats reality TV at its own game."--Torrey Peters, bestselling author of Detransition, Baby "Impossible to put down."--Leila Mottley, New York Times bestselling author of Nightcrawling Lily--a bored, beautiful twenty-something--wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door. Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the unseen producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she'll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams--but what will she have to do to win? Addictive and prescient, The Compound is an explosive debut from a major new voice in fiction and will linger in your mind long after the game ends.
Flashlight by Susan Choi A Most Anticipated Book of the Year: Time, The Washington Post, and Literary Hub A novel tracing a father's disappearance across time, nations, and memory, from the author of Trust Exercise. One night, Louisa and her father take a walk on the beach. He's carrying a flashlight. He cannot swim. Later Louisa is found washed up by the tide, barely alive. Her father is gone. She is ten years old. In chapters that shift from one member to the next, turning back again and again to that night by the sea, Susan Choi's Flashlight chases the shockwaves of one family's catastrophe. Louisa is an only child of parents who have severed themselves from the past. Her father, Serk, an ethnic Korean born and raised in Japan, lost touch with his family when they bought into the promises of postwar Pyongyang and relocated to the DPRK. Her American mother, Anne, is estranged from her family after a reckless adventure in her youth. And then there is Tobias, Anne's illegitimate son, whose reappearance in their lives will have astonishing consequences. What really happened to Louisa's father? Why did he take Louisa and her mother to Japan just before he disappeared? And how can we love, or make sense of our lives, when there's so much we can't see?
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis A wickedly funny and audacious debut novel following an academic who flees from heartbreak and lands in Iraq with a one-of-a-kind job offer--only to be forced to do the work of confronting herself. *AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025* When Nadia Amin, a witty and bighearted PhD, publishes an article on deradicalization, everything changes. The United Nations comes calling with an opportunity to put her theory into practice and lead a rehabilitation program for women caught in the crosshairs of harmful ideology. And why not? Abandoned by her mother and devastated by unrequited love, she leaps at the chance. In Iraq, Nadia quickly realizes she's in over her head. The UN is a mess of competing interests, and her team consists of Goody Two-shoes Sherri who never passes up an opportunity to remind Nadia of her objections; and Pierre, a snippy Frenchman who has no qualms about perpetually scrolling through Grindr. But then Nadia meets Sara, a hilarious, foul-mouthed East Londoner who was pulled into radicalism at just fifteen. The two are kindred spirits, and Nadia vows to get Sara home. As the rehabilitation program picks up traction, Sara reveals a secret that upends everything, forcing Nadia to make a drastic choice. In the fallout, Nadia's brown-savior fantasies crumble, leaving her to wonder if she can save someone who doesn't want to be saved. A fierce, wildly funny, and razor-sharp exploration of radicalism, family, and the quest for belonging, Fundamentally boldly inspects one of the defining controversies of our age and introduces a fearless new voice in contemporary fiction.
Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess In this delightfully funny and heartfelt new novel from the author of the "bittersweet page-turner" (The New York Times) The Last Book Party, an American woman travels to the English countryside when she discovers tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town. When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she's forced to go through her mother's things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming "murder week" in England's Peak District: a whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother's secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself--and begins a journey she never could have anticipated. Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers--Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband's birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels--Cath sets about solving the "crime" and begins to unravel shocking truths about her mother along the way. Amidst a fling--or something more--with the handsome local maker of artisanal gin, Cath and her irresistibly charming fellow sleuths will find this week of fake murder may help them face up to a very real crossroads in their own lives. Witty, wise, and deliciously escapist, Welcome to Murder Week is a fresh, inventive twist on the murder mystery and a touching portrayal of one daughter's reckoning with her grief, her past--and her own budding sense of adventure.
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling "As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. . . . This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams--and my nightmares." --Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors. Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration. Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar's walls. As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness--forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy--these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle's new masters... or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.

Non-Fiction

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins; Sawyer Robbins Over 4 Million Copies Sold! #1 New York Times Bestseller #1 Sunday Times Bestseller #1 Amazon Bestseller #1 Audible Bestseller A Life-Changing Tool Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About What if the key to happiness, success, and love was as simple as two words? If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words--Let Them--will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands--and this book will show you exactly how to do it. In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins--New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset--teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly matters: YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life. Using the same no-nonsense, science-backed approach that's made The Mel Robbins Podcast a global sensation, Robbins explains why The Let Them Theory is already loved by millions and how you can apply it in eight key areas of your life to make the biggest impact. Within a few pages, you'll realize how much energy and time you've been wasting trying to control the wrong things--at work, in relationships, and in pursuing your goals--and how this is keeping you from the happiness and success you deserve. Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way. Learn how to: Stop wasting energy on things you can't control Stop comparing yourself to other people Break free from fear and self-doubt Release the grip of people's expectations Build the best friendships of your life Create the love you deserve Pursue what truly matters to you with confidence Build resilience against everyday stressors and distractions Define your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment . . . and so much more. The Let Them Theory will forever change the way you think about relationships, control, and personal power. Whether you want to advance your career, motivate others to change, take creative risks, find deeper connections, build better habits, start a new chapter, or simply create more happiness in your life and relationships, this book gives you the mindset and tools to unlock your full potential. Order your copy of The Let Them Theory now and discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words. The cover has been updated to include the name of co-author Sawyer Robbins. Customers may receive either version of the cover at random.
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE * A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman's unlikely friendship with a wild hare. One of The New York Times' Best Books of the Year (So Far) * One of Elle's Best Books of the Spring "Moving. . . . Impart[s] valuable lessons about slowing down and the beauty in the unexpected."--USA Today "A philosophical masterpiece ruminating on our place as human beings in nature."--Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library "A perfect testimony to the transformative power of love. In learning to love an orphaned hare, Chloe Dalton learned to love the whole wild world. The great gift of this remarkable book is the way it teaches us to do the same."--Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and bounded around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, more than two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality. In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare--a leveret--that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how difficult it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton's house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, weasels, feral cats, raptors, or even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death. Raising Hare chronicles their journey together while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness firsthand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.
Setting a Place for Us by Hawa Hassan An enthralling, intimate collection of essays and over 75 recipes exploring the history of eight countries to understand the impact of geopolitical conflict and its outcomes on cuisine and food system, from Somali refugee and James Beard Award-winning author of In Bibi's Kitchen. Countries dealing with major conflict are rarely portrayed in a well-rounded light by the media. Images of disarray and decline saturate their narratives, ignoring the strength, resourcefulness, and ingenuity that arise from having to navigate conflict. With empathy, curiosity, and an insistence on sharing different aspects of human survival, Hawa Hassan gathers singular, multifaceted narratives for eight countries from around the world. Each chapter is devoted to a different country and opens with an informative essay on the culture and its history. Recipes follow highlighting indigenous ingredients and share intimate portraits of the people preserving food culture, including food from: * Afghanistan, such as Bolani (Stuffed Flatbread) and Borani Banjan (Stewed Eggplant with Garlic Yogurt) * Democratic Republic of Congo, such as Chikwanga (Cassava Flour Cake) and Pondu (Cassava Leaf Stew) * Egypt, such as Ta'ameya (Fava Bean Fritters) and Ghorayeba (Shortbread Cookies) * El Salvador, such as Sopa de Res (Beef Shank Soup) and Pupusas con Curtido (Filled Masa Flatbreads with Cabbage Slaw) * Iraq, such as Shorbat Adas (Lentil Soup) and Bamia (Lamb and Okra Stew) * Lebanon, such as Malfouf (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls) and Mouhamara (Spicy Walnut and Red Pepper dip) * Liberia, such as Ground Peanut Soup and Kala (Sweet Fried Dough) * Yemen, such as Saltah (Lamb Stew with Fenugreek Fruth) and Sahawiq An original and groundbreaking work, Setting a Place for Us returns agency to the people whose stories, up until now, have been ignored in the media. It sheds light on the important work of preserving recipes and food traditions in places of conflict and migration.
Paradise Bronx by Ian Frazier Ian Frazier's magnum opus: a love song to New York City's most heterogeneous and alive borough. For the past fifteen years, Ian Frazier has been walking the Bronx. Paradise Bronx reveals the amazingly rich and tumultuous history of this amazingly various piece of our greatest city. From Jonas Bronck, who bought land from the local Native Americans, to the formerly gang-wracked South Bronx that gave birth to hip-hop, Frazier's loving exploration is a moving tour de force about the polyglot culture that is America today. During the Revolution, when the Bronx was unclaimed territory known as the Neutral Ground, some of the war's decisive battles were fought here by George Washington's troops. Gouverneur Morris, one of the most colorful Founding Fathers, owned a huge swath of the Bronx, where he lived when he was not in Paris during the French Revolution or helping write the US Constitution. Frazier shows us how the coming of the railroads and the subways drove the settling of the Bronx by various waves of immigration-- Irish, Italian, Jewish (think the Grand Concourse), African American, Caribbean, Puerto Rican (J.Lo is one of the borough's most famous citizens). The romance of the Yankees, the disaster of the Cross Bronx Expressway, the invention of rap and hip-hop, the resurgence of community as the borough's communities learn mutual aid--all are investigated, recounted, and celebrated in Frazier's inimitable voice. This is a book like no other about a quintessential American city and the resilience and beauty of its citizens.
The Known Citizen by Sarah E. Igo Every day, Americans make decisions about their privacy: what to share and when, how much to expose and to whom. Securing the boundary between one's private affairs and public identity has become a central task of citizenship. How did privacy come to loom so large in American life? Sarah Igo tracks this elusive social value across the twentieth century, as individuals questioned how they would, and should, be known by their own society. Privacy was not always a matter of public import. But beginning in the late nineteenth century, as corporate industry, social institutions, and the federal government swelled, increasing numbers of citizens believed their privacy to be endangered. Popular journalism and communication technologies, welfare bureaucracies and police tactics, market research and workplace testing, scientific inquiry and computer data banks, tell-all memoirs and social media all propelled privacy to the foreground of U.S. culture. Jurists and philosophers but also ordinary people weighed the perils, the possibilities, and the promise of being known. In the process, they redrew the borders of contemporary selfhood and citizenship. The Known Citizen reveals how privacy became the indispensable language for monitoring the ever-shifting line between our personal and social selves. Igo's sweeping history, from the era of "instantaneous photography" to the age of big data, uncovers the surprising ways that debates over what should be kept out of the public eye have shaped U.S. politics and society. It offers the first wide-angle view of privacy as it has been lived and imagined by modern Americans.
Heartbreaker by Mike Campbell; Ari Surdoval (As told to) INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER "An exhilarating account. . . . an exemplary music memoir."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) A fast-paced, tender-hearted rock 'n' roll memoir for the ages, Mike Campbell's Heartbreaker is part rags-to-riches story and part raucous, seat-of-the-pants adventure, recounting Campbell's life and times as lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.   Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the band's inception in 1976 to Petty's tragic death in 2017. His iconic, melodic playing helped form the foundation of the band's sound, as heard on definitive classics like "American Girl," "Breakdown," "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open."    Together, Petty and Campbell wrote countless songs, including some of the band's biggest hits: "Refugee," "Here Comes My Girl," "You Got Lucky" and "Runnin' Down a Dream" among them.     From their early days in Florida to their dizzying rise to superstardom to Petty's acclaimed, platinum-selling solo albums Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, Petty never made a record without him. Their work together is timeless, as are the career-defining hits Campbell co-wrote with Don Henley ("The Boys of Summer") and with Petty for Stevie Nicks ("Stop Draggin' My Heart Around").   But few know of the less-than-glamorous background from which Campbell emerged--a hardscrabble childhood on the north side of Jacksonville, often just days ahead of homelessness, raised by a single mother struggling on minimum wage. After months of saving, his mother bought him a $15 pawnshop acoustic guitar for his sixteenth birthday. With a chord book and a transistor radio, Campbell painstakingly taught himself to play.    When a chance encounter with a guidance counselor inspired him to enroll in the University of Florida, Campbell--broke, with nowhere else to go and the Vietnam draft looming--moved into a rundown farmhouse in Gainesville, where he met a 20-year-old Tom Petty. They were soon inseparable. Together they chased their shared dream all the way to Los Angeles, where Campbell would meet his destiny, and the love of his life, Marcie.   It was an at-times grueling dream come true that took Campbell from the very bottom to the absolute top, where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would remain for decades, creating an astonishing body of work.   Brilliant, soft-spoken and intensely private, Campbell opens up within these pages for the first time, revealing himself to be an astute observer of triumphs, tragedies and absurdities alike, with a songwriter's eye for the telling detail and a voice as direct and unpretentious as his music.    An instant classic, Heartbreaker is Mike Campbell's heartfelt portrait of one throwaway kid's lifesaving love of music and the creative heights he achieved through luck, collaboration, humility and extraordinary talent. 
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten--aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon--shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Town & Country Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina's gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.   From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you'll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NON-FICTION Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Economist, Time, The New Republic, and the Financial Times. Immersive and gripping, an intimate story of a deadly accident outside Jerusalem that unravels a tangle of lives, loves, enmities, and histories over the course of one revealing, heartbreaking day. Five-year-old Milad Salama is excited for a school trip to a theme park on the outskirts of Jerusalem. On the way, his bus collides with a semitrailer. His father, Abed, gets word of the crash and rushes to the site. The scene is chaos--the children have been taken to different hospitals in Jerusalem and the West Bank; some are missing, others cannot be identified. Abed sets off on an odyssey to learn Milad's fate. It is every parent's worst nightmare, but for Abed it is compounded by the maze of physical, emotional, and bureaucratic obstacles he must navigate because he is Palestinian. He is on the wrong side of the separation wall, holds the wrong ID to pass the military checkpoints, and has the wrong papers to enter the city of Jerusalem. Abed's quest to find Milad is interwoven with the stories of a cast of Jewish and Palestinian characters whose lives and histories unexpectedly converge. In A Day in the Life of Abed Salama, Nathan Thrall--hailed for his "severe allergy to conventional wisdom" (Time)--offers an indelibly human portrait of the struggle over Israel/Palestine and a new understanding of the tragic history and reality of one of the most contested places on earth.
The Gunfighters by Bryan Burrough "One of the most important books written on the American West in many years." - True West Magazine From the New York Times bestselling author of The Big Rich and Forget the Alamo comes an epic reconsideration of the time and place that spawned America's most legendary gunfighters, from Jesse James and Billy the Kid to Butch and Sundance The "Wild West" gunfighter is such a stock figure in our popular culture that some dismiss it all as a corny myth, more a product of dime novels and B movies than a genuinely important American history. In fact, as Bryan Burrough shows us in his dazzling and fast-paced new book, there's much more below the surface. For three decades at the end of the 1800s, a big swath of the American West was a crucible of change, with the highest murder rate per capita in American history. The reasons behind this boil down to one word: Texas. Texas was born in violence, on two fronts, with Mexico to the south and the Comanche to the north. The Colt revolver first caught on with the Texas Rangers. Southern dueling culture transformed into something wilder and less organized in the Lone Star State. The collapse of the Confederacy and the presence of a thin veneer of Northern occupiers turned the heat up further. And the explosion in the cattle business after the war took that violence and pumped it out from Texas across the whole of the West. The stampede of longhorn cattle brought with it an assortment of rustlers, hustlers, gamblers, and freelance lawmen who carried a trigger-happy honor culture into a widening gyre, a veritable blood meridian. When the first newspapermen and audiences discovered what good copy this all was, the flywheel of mythmaking started spinning. It's never stopped. The Gunfighters brilliantly sifts the lies from the truth, giving both elements their due. And the truth is sufficiently wild for any but the most unhinged tastes. All the legendary figures are here, and their escapades are told with great flair--good, bad, and ugly. Like all great stories, this one has a rousing end--as the railroads and the settlers close off the open spaces for good, the last of the breed, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, really do get on a boat for South America, ending their era in a blaze of glory. Burrough knits these histories together into something much deeper and more provocative than simply the sum of its parts. To understand the truth of the Wild West is to understand a crucial dimension of the American story.
The Disney Revolt by Jake S. Friedman An essential piece of Disney history has been largely unreported for eighty years. Soon after the birth of Mickey Mouse, one animator raised the Disney Studio far beyond Walt's expectations. That animator also led a union war that almost destroyed it. Art Babbitt animated for the Disney studio throughout the 1930s and through 1941, years in which he and Walt were jointly driven to elevate animation as an art form, up through Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. But as America prepared for World War II, labor unions spread across Hollywood. Disney fought the unions while Babbitt embraced them. Soon, angry Disney cartoon characters graced picket signs as hundreds of animation artists went out on strike. Adding fuel to the fire was Willie Bioff, one of Al Capone's wiseguys who was seizing control of Hollywood workers and vied for the animators' union. Using never-before-seen research from previously lost records, including conversation transcriptions from within the studio walls, author and historian Jake S. Friedman reveals the details behind the labor dispute that changed animation and Hollywood forever.   The Disney Revolt is an American story of industry and of the underdog, the golden age of animated cartoons at the world's most famous studio.
Murderland by Caroline Fraser "A provocative and page-turning work of true crime." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A provocative, eerily lyrical study of the heyday of American serial killers . . . A true-crime story written with compassion, fury, and scientific sense." --Kirkus (starred review) Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by LitHub From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Prairie Fires comes a terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond--a gripping investigation of how a new strain of psychopath emerged out of a toxic landscape of deadly industrial violence Caroline Fraser grew up in the shadow of Ted Bundy, the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, surrounded by his hunting grounds and mountain body dumps, in the brooding landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and '80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid an uncanny explosion of serial rape and murder across the region. Why so many? Why so weirdly and nightmarishly gruesome? Why the senseless rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing? As Murderland indelibly maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers in mayhem--the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, even Charles Manson--Fraser's Northwestern death trip begins to uncover a deeper mystery and an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. At ground zero in Ted Bundy's Tacoma stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world, but it was hardly unique in the West. As Fraser's investigation inexorably proceeds, evidence mounts that the plumes of these smelters not only sickened and blighted millions of lives but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers. A propulsive nonfiction thriller, Murderland transcends true-crime voyeurism and noir mythology, taking readers on a profound quest into the dark heart of the real American berserk.
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You by Neko Case A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AN APPLE BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH Singer-songwriter Neko Case paints a vivid portrait of an extraordinary life--one forged through a poverty-stricken childhood, obsessive desire, bursts of comedy, and indispensable friendships--reflecting on the way art, music, and a deep connection to nature helped her  become a beloved, Grammy-nominated artist. Neko Case has long been revered as one of music's most influential artists, whose authenticity, lyrical storytelling, and sly wit have endeared her to a legion of critics, musicians, and lifelong fans. In THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU, Case brings her trademark candor and precision to a memoir that traces her evolution from an invisible girl "raised by two dogs and a space heater" in rural Washington state to her improbable emergence as an internationally-acclaimed talent. In luminous, sharp-edged prose, Case shows readers what it's like to be left alone for hours and hours as a child, to take refuge in the woods around her home, and to channel the monotony and loneliness and joy that comes from music, camaraderie, and shared experience into art. THE HARDER I FIGHT THE MORE I LOVE YOU is a rebellious meditation on identity and corruption, and a manifesto on how to make space for ourselves in this world, despite the obstacles we face.
The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück by Lynne Olson The extraordinary true story of a small group of Frenchwomen, all Resistance members, who banded together in a notorious concentration camp to defy the Nazis--from the New York Times bestselling author of Madame Fourcade's Secret War "At once heartbreaking and beautifully told, this is a masterwork of nonfiction, a must-read for anyone who wants more of the incredible true story behind Lilac Girls."--Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls Decades after the end of World War II, the name Ravensbrück still evokes horror for those with knowledge of this infamous all-women's concentration camp, better known since it became the setting of Martha Hall Kelly's bestselling novel, Lilac Girls. Particularly shocking were the medical experiments performed on some of the inmates. Ravensbrück was atypical in other ways as well, not just as the only all-female German concentration camp, but because 80 percent of its inmates were political prisoners, among them a tight-knit group of women who had been active in the French Resistance. Already well-practiced in sabotaging the Nazis in occupied France, these women joined forces to defy their German captors and keep one another alive. The sisterhood's members, amid unimaginable terror and brutality, subverted Germany's war effort by refusing to do assigned work. They risked death for any infraction, but that did not stop them from defying their SS tormentors at every turn--even staging a satirical musical revue about the horrors of the camp. After the war, when many in France wanted to focus only on the future, the women from Ravensbrück refused to allow their achievements, needs, and sacrifices to be erased. They banded together once more, first to support one another in healing their bodies and minds and then to continue their crusade for freedom and justice--an effort that would have repercussions for their country and the world into the twenty-first century.
Save Our Souls by Matthew Pearl From the bestselling author of The Taking of Jemima Boone, the unbelievable true story of a real-life Swiss Family Robinson (and their dog) who faced sharks, shipwreck, and betrayal. On December 10, 1887, a shark fishing boat disappeared. On board the doomed vessel were the Walkers--the ship's captain Frederick, his wife Elizabeth, their three teenage sons, and their dog--along with the ship's crew. The family had spotted a promising fishing location when a terrible storm arose, splitting their vessel in two and leaving those onboard adrift on the perilous sea. When the castaways awoke the next morning, they discovered they had been washed ashore--on an island inhabited by a large but ragged and emaciated man who introduced himself as Hans. Hans appeared to have been there for a while and could quickly educate the Walkers and their crew on the island's resources. But Hans had a secret . . . and as the Walker family gradually came to learn more, what seemed like a stroke of luck to have the mysterious man's assistance became something ominous, something darker. Like David Grann and Stacy Schiff, Matthew Pearl unveils one of the most incredible yet little-known historical true stories, and the only known instance in history of an actual family of castaways. Save Our Souls asks us to consider who we might become if we found ourselves trapped on a deserted island.
An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi Already a major international bestseller, Zeinab Badawi's sweeping and much-needed survey of African history traces the continent's extraordinary legacy from prehistory to the present from the African perspective. "Equal parts gripping and galvanizing. . . . Researched across more than 30 countries, it brings the dazzling civilizations of pre-colonial Africa vividly to life. A book that feels both long-overdue--and wholly worth the wait." --British Vogue Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone. For too long, Africa's history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, or simply ignored. Now, Zeinab Badawi sets the record straight. In this fascinating book, Badawi guides us through Africa's spectacular history--from the very origins of our species, through ancient civilizations and medieval empires with remarkable queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, she unearths buried histories from across the continent and gives Africa its rightful place in our global story. The result is a gripping new account of Africa: an epic, sweeping history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves.
Pretend We're Dead by Tanya Pearson "A refreshing and much-needed contribution to the male-dominated history of rock 'n' roll."--Kirkus Reviews From the founder of the Women of Rock Oral History Project, an exploration of women in the '90s rock scene, featuring original interviews with Liz Phair, Shirley Manson, Kristin Hersh, Donita Sparks, Tanya Donelly, members of Hole, Luscious Jackson, Veruca Salt, Babes in Toyland, and more In 2018, during an interview with journalist Tanya Pearson, Shirley Manson lamented: "It's a blanket fact that after September 11th, nonconformist women were taken off the radio." This comment echoed a reality Pearson had personally witnessed as a musician and a fan, and launched her into a quest to figure out just what happened to these extraordinary female figures. PRETEND WE'RE DEAD seeks to answer two big questions: First, where did all these wildly different, politically conscious, and supremely talented women in rock come from in the 1990s? And second, after their unprecedented breakout, why did they vanish from the mainstream by the early aughts? Along with analysis and narrative, PRETEND WE'RE DEAD is built on exclusive interviews with the unfiltered voices of legends including: Shirley Manson, Melissa Auf der Maur, Patty Schemel, Kate Schellenbach, Nina Gordon, Louise Post, Josephine Wiggs, Tanya Donelly, Kristin Hersh, Tracy Bonham, Donita Sparks, Liz Phair, Zia McCabe, Tracy Bonham, Lori Barbero, Josephine Wiggs, and Jill Emery. Through thought-provoking conversations, these women explore how they fell in love with music and started bands; fought labels, their coverage in the media, and sexism; and wrote deeply political and feminist music. Readers also learn about the effects of Woodstock '99, the corporatization of the music industry, the rise of Clear Channel and its ties to the Bush administration, and finally the nationalist sentiment after 9/11.    While sonically diverse, these musicians all wrote fierce, socially conscious, feminist lyrics, and PRETEND WE'RE DEAD commemorates and celebrates the overlooked contributions of true trailblazers.

NM fic

New & Novel New Mexico Fiction

Books set in New Mexico or by New Mexico authors for National New Mexico Day on June 14.

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati A young midwife travels west to the New Mexico Territory to care for women in need and faces dangers more harrowing than the ones she's fleeing in this epic tale of survival, redemption, and love from Sara Donati, the international bestselling author of the Wilderness series. 1857: In a bid to outrun her past, Carrie Ballentyne accepts a nursing position with a doctor in the New Mexico Territory. She knows the journey from New York to Santa Fe will not be easy, but she relishes the adventure. However, nothing could have prepared her for the wilderness she encounters. Its vastness and power are awe-inspiring, stunning in both beauty and brutality. To endure, she must learn to rely on her fellow travelers--and one enigmatic man in particular. As the small, tight-knit group tackles challenge after challenge, she feels her heart opening to this rugged land--and the people willing to risk so much for one another.   The trip west is only the beginning of Carrie's challenges, though. In Santa Fe, she compassionately helps women bring new life into the world, making her beloved among new mothers. Soon, however, she realizes that her employer and his wife are keeping secrets from her, and she must ferret out the truth to protect their young daughter. But to save the little girl she's come to cherish, Carrie will have to confront the demons in her own past--a feat that will take all of her bravery with the help of the man she's grown to love and depend on above all others.   With its vivid descriptions of the breathtaking western landscape and its irresistible characters, The Sweet Blue Distance is the unforgettable story of one woman's courage to heal herself, her family, and the women entrusted to her care.
Street of Too Many Stories by Denise Chávez "In Street of Too Many Stories, Denise Chávez has created a magical place populated by four families. From the street itself, filled with spirits who dance and visit homes, to the mothers, fathers, and children who stay there their entire lives or leave and return, to those who hold on to hope or whose dreams are crushed, Encantada Street is a microcosm of the pain, love, dysfunction, and hope that is humanity. This is a border story that reveals the nuances of living in 'that liminal space of challenge and hope.' You will not want to stop reading."Dr. Yolanda Chávez LeyvaDirector, Institute of Oral History & Associate Professor, The University of Texas at El Paso "A street seems like a simple thing. But this novel shows it is so much more. It's the lives that fill its nooks and crannies and open vistas. The spaces echoing with words said and unsaid, of dreams won and lost. Of the worlds that circulate between walls and across doorsteps. The joys and sorrows that whistle through the four directions, and the quirks and refinements that smooth the edges of what is left behind. Chávez has written a beautiful work of fiction, and a must read." Dr. Roberta Hurtado Associate Professor of Latina/e/o/x Literature and Culture, State University of New York Oswego "Denise Chávez's new novel, Street of Too Many Stories, is an expansive yet richly intimate tale about the inhabitants of a New Mexican calle. In doing so, Chávez embraces the losses, dreams, and secrets of the border and its peoples, of the complex destinies set in motion by place.A sensory feast!"Cristina GarcíaAuthor of Vanishing Maps
Hollow Beasts by Alisa Lynn Valdés From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dirty Girls Social Club comes a wilderness thriller featuring Jodi Luna, a rookie game warden who takes on a terrorist group in rugged New Mexico. After a long stint in academia, Jodi Luna leaves Boston for the wilds of New Mexico to start a new life as a game warden. Jodi is no stranger to the wilderness; her family has lived here for generations. Determined to protect her homeland, she nabs a poacher in her first week on the job. But when he retaliates by stalking Jodi and her teenage daughter, a cat and mouse game leads Jodi to a white supremacist group deep in the mountains. She learns that new recruits are kidnapping women of color to prove their mettle to the organization's leader. When the local sheriff refuses to assist, Jodi joins up with young deputy Ashley Romero. Together, they set out to take down a terrorist network that will test not just their skills as investigators but also their knowledge of the land and commitment to its people. But will Jodi's fierce resolve to protect the voiceless put her loved ones in harm's way?
The Queen of the Valley by Lorena Hughes "An engrossing, suspenseful family saga." -Chanel Cleeton, New York Timesbestselling author of Next Year in Havanaon The Spanish Daughter Against the backdrop of Colombia's lush, yet wounded beauty in the wake of the 1925 Cali earthquake, this riveting novel by the award-winning Ecuadorian American author of The Spanish Daughterplunges three strangers - a photographer, a young Spanish chocolatier in disguise, and a Palestinian-Colombian nun - into a perilous search for the missing owner of a coveted hacienda amidst an emerging cholera epidemic. "Engaging. For fans of historical fiction and works by Christina Baker Kline and Lisa Wingate." -Booklist Driven and recklessly daring, Martin Sabater follows his lifelong dream of owning a cacao plantation in Valle del Cauca. But on the night of a spectacular gala, he disappears-and is never seen again. Now his hacienda is a budding Catholic hospital saving lives during an emerging epidemic. And novice nun "Sor Puri" is there to uncover the truth behind Martin's disappearance. But her real identity-and her past with the heartbreakingly charismatic Martin-will put far more than her perilous search at risk. A professional photographer, Lucas Ferreira is Martin's best friend since boyhood. He has his own reasons for helping the determined, alluring nun. But what this reserved man won't reveal about his thwarted dreams and unrequited passion could prove key to the past-or a lethal trap. Martin was head nurse Sor Camila's only love-until an unfortunate mistake changed the course of her life forever. Now, Martin's home is an unexpected chance for her, Lucas, and Puri to set the past right. But with their secrets unearthing explosive memories and wrenching lies, can they survive the truth about Martin-and the consequences that will forever alter their destinies? "Vivid ...This book will appeal to readers who enjoy family conflict, historical details, and the exploration of lost love."- Library Journal "A tale as rich and complex as the finest chocolate." -Marisel Vera, author of The Taste of Sugar
No More Empty Spaces by D. J. Green It's 1973 and Will Ross, a divorced American geologist, has signed on to work on a troubled dam in a remote, rugged part of Turkey. He decides to take his children with him, but they think they're only going for their usual two-week stint of shared custody, not to live there. Once in Turkey, Will struggles for control--of his family, his work, the landscape the dam is to be built on, and, ultimately, himself. Alongside these emotional conflicts, he, his children, and everyone else involved in the dam face powerful external forces--of erosion, dissolution, landslides, and earthquakes. Whether they let themselves see it or not, natural hazards impact their lives every day. And so do their intractable human natures. Science can help them understand those forces and engineering can help control them, but each character gradually comes to realize that the landscape they stand upon, and the landscapes of their lives, will shift and shake regardless of the choices they make. The question, then, is: how will they respond? Timely and gripping, No More Empty Spaces will make you think about how you relate to yourself, your family, and the Earth and its ever-changing processes.
The Power of Rain by Rosalie Rayburn A tough young reporter in Las Vistas, New Mexico, Elizabeth "Digger" Doyle has a nose for uncovering political intrigue at City Hall. And there's plenty of that in a town where developers call the shots. When an environmental activist group contacts Digger about their campaign to stop a road that threatens a historic Spanish chapel, Digger is determined to expose how encroaching sprawl development is harming the fragile landscape. She hadn't counted on falling for protest leader Maria Ortiz, an Hispanic artist fighting to save the area's native heritage. They navigate a tricky relationship. As Digger follows confidential tips from a mysterious source, she faces a painful dilemma, follow her hear or maintain her objective integrity as a journalist.
The Peace Road by Dale A. Garratt North Korea launches a hypersonic ICBM that barely misses Los Angeles. U.S. President Sarah Jacobsen tasks physicist Ric O'Malley to quickly complete a quantum computer (QC) project. Running 150 million times faster than any existing computer, this QC will bring Artificial Intelligence (AI) to a level that can stop any ICBM in the world. Ric races to East Asia to obtain breakthrough research data from South Korean and Japanese allies.Before Ric can give the president a workable QC, she orders retaliation against North Korea, destroying the missile base that launched the attack on Los Angeles. Ultra-Marxists in China join with North Korea and strike U.S. warships. The escalating conflict in East Asia threatens to spiral into world war.Meanwhile, Ric is almost killed in separate attacks in South Korea and in Japan. He races back to his lab in New Mexico only to have his wife attacked by a shooter at her high school; dark players are threatening Ric both at home and abroad. But even in this maelstrom of violence a plan for peace is taking shape - an undersea "Peace Tunnel" between Japan and South Korea is almost completed. Visionary leaders are advocating, in conjunction with this tunnel, that a "peace road" be constructed from Seoul to Pyongyang. This peace road might help bring about the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, the only path to a permanent end of the nuclear threat from North Korea.Can Ric and his team succeed in completing the QC in time to stop a nuclear war? And is building a peace road even a viable option for a permanent end to war on the Korean Peninsula?Garratt's fast-paced geopolitical thriller grabs today's headlines and brings to life the threat of war between the U.S. and China. At the same time, the book suggests that there may be a non-military path to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Someone Always Nearby by Susan Wittig Albert In 1940, art-world icon Georgia O'Keeffe bought a house in a mountain-rimmed New Mexico desert, planning to live there for six months every year. To manage her remote household while she paints, O'Keeffe invited Maria Chabot-a young and naïve would-be writer-to join her. Their tempestuous relationship endured throughout the chaotic years of WW2; the death of Georgia's domineering, philandering husband (famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz); and Maria's design and building of a remarkable adobe house and studio for the artist in the native village of Abiquiu--a generous gift from an exceptional friend. An evocative story that explores the dimensions of friendship and the debts we incur to those who make our lives easier, Someone Always Nearby is based on research into a massive collection of over 700 letters, documents, media reports, and historical accounts.  Readers will be fascinated by this intimate, revealing portrait of the artist's daily life during her first decade at her New Mexico ranch-a mysterious, enigmatic O'Keeffe that only one woman, Maria Chabot, ever fully knew. Bonus Reader's Guide. The story behind the story: research, sources and hyperlinked resources, curated extras, author commentary, questions and discussion topics. Available as a free, printable pdf download at www. https://susanalbert.com/someone-always-nearby/
The Insatiable Volt Sisters by Rachel Eve Moulton Named one of the Best Horror Books of 2023 by The New York Times "Weird and exhilarating and funny and sad and disturbing and scary and poignant and righteous." --Paul Tremblay, author of The Pallbearers Club "Pure nightmare fuel." --Gus Moreno, author of This Thing Between Us It's the summer of 1989 and Beatrice and Henrietta Volt are coming of age on remote Fowler Island, their ancestral home and wild playground. Thicker than thieves, the sisters plot their futures, having no idea that their parents are separating. Or that the plan is to separate them. Ten years pass before Henrie gets a desperate call from her sister--their father has died suddenly and B.B. needs her to come back to the island for the funeral. But Henrie doesn't want to go back. She's barely put the island and all those rumors about missing women behind her. And isn't it odd that she remembers nothing at all about the night she left? And why is she suddenly filled with fear about the quarry pond behind the house? Told from the perspectives of four flawed, fascinating women, The Insatiable Volt Sisters is a lush, enthralling fable about monsters real and imagined. From the unbounded imagination of Rachel Eve Moulton, the critically acclaimed author of Tinfoil Butterfly, comes another eerie, terrifying exploration of family and legacy: Will the Volt sisters inherit the horrors of their past or surpass them?
Aclaracion by Michael Chavez
The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis A delightful novel about alien invasions, conspiracies, and the incredibly silly things people are willing to believe--some of which may actually be true--from the Nebula and Hugo award-winning author of Blackout and All Clear "An absolute blast with abundant humor, copious references to old westerns, and . . . a delightful, intergalactic twist on the romantic comedy."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * LOCUS AWARD FINALIST When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommate's UFO-themed wedding--complete with a true-believer bridegroom--she can't help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously don't exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one. Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles. Nor is Francie the only victim of the alien's abduction spree. Before long, he has acquired a charming con man named Wade, a sweet little old lady with a casino addiction, a retiree with a huge RV and a love for old Westerns, and a UFO-chasing nutjob who is thoroughly convinced the alien intends to probe them and/or take over the planet. But the more Francie gets to know the alien, the more convinced she becomes that he's not an invader. That he's in trouble and she has to help him. Only she doesn't know how--or even what the trouble is.  Part alien-abduction adventure, part road trip saga, part romantic comedy, The Road to Roswell is packed full of Men in Black, Elvis impersonators, tourist traps, rattlesnakes, chemtrails, and Close Encounters of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth kind. Can Francie, stuck in a neon green bridesmaid's dress, save the world--and still make it back for the wedding?
Murder at the Zoo by Marcia Rosen A clever, intriguing, and gripping new cozy mystery filled with exciting twists and turns, bizarre murders and fascinating characters, including several dead authors who seem to speak to Veterinarian, Miranda Scott. A fan since childhood of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and Sherlock Holmes their voices seem to live in her head frequently telling her what to do... and not do. Especially when it comes to solving mysteries. After a body is tossed into the lions' habitat at the zoo where she is the senior veterinarian, Miranda and Detective Bryan Anderson find themselves investigating several murders and dealing with a group of bad guys threatening Miranda, while gangster friends of her father try to protect her. Miranda and Bryan alternate between flirting and fighting off romantic feelings. Murder, deceit, revenge, her dramatic mother, gangster father and godfather all get in the way of a fine romance!
Grangers Return by Teresa Pijoan "The prodigal son returns to the family fold, but this is no joyous family reunion for he is a manipulative murderer out for revenge"--
Shutter by Ramona Emerson This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico's Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation. Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases--she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook.  As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won't let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.   And now it might be what gets her killed. When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim--who insists she was murdered--latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque's most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction's most powerful new voices. 
Come down Somewhere by Jennifer L. Wright For fans of WWII fiction comes a powerful novel by Jennifer L. Wright about two young women coming of age during the Trinity nuclear bomb test in 1945.Sixteen-year-old Olive Alexander has lived on a ranch in the Jornada del Muerto region of southern New Mexico her entire life. But when World War II begins, the government seizes her family's land for the construction of a new, top secret Army post.While her mother remains behind, Olive is forced to live in nearby Alamogordo with her grandmother and find a place in a new school. When Jo Hawthorne crosses her path, Olive sees a chance for friendship--until she learns that Jo's father is the Army sergeant who now occupies her beloved ranch. Already angry about her new reality, Olive pushes Jo away. But as she struggles to make sense of her grandmother's lapses into the past and increasingly unsettling hints about what's happening at the ranch, she slowly warms to Jo's winsome faith and steady attempts at friendship . . . until one devastating day when the sky explodes around them and their lives are torn apart.Seven years later, Jo returns to Alamogordo, still angry and wounded by the betrayals of that fateful day. Determined to put the past behind her once and for all, Jo hunts for answers and begins to realize the truth may be far more complicated than she believed, leading her on a desperate search to find her friend before it's too late.
River Woman, River Demon by Jennifer Givhan Award-winning Mexican-American and Indigenous author Jennifer Givhan brings us an exquisitely written, spell-binding psychological thriller--weaving together folk magick with personal and cultural empowerment--that is perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic. When Eva's husband is arrested for the murder of a friend, she must confront her murky past and embrace her magick to find out what really happened that night on the river. Eva Santos Moon is a burgeoning Chicana artist who practices the ancient, spiritual ways of brujería and curanderisma, but she's at one of her lowest points--suffering from disorienting blackouts, creative stagnation, and a feeling of disconnect from her magickal roots. When her husband, a beloved university professor and the glue that holds their family together, is taken into custody for the shocking murder of their friend, Eva doesn't know whom to trust--least of all, herself. She soon falls under suspicion as a potential suspect, and her past rises to the surface, dredging up the truth about an eerily similar death from her childhood. Struggling with fragmented memories and self-doubt, an increasingly terrified Eva fears that she might have been involved in both murders. But why doesn't she remember? Only the dead women know for sure, and they're coming for her with a haunting vengeance. As she fights to keep her family out of danger, Eva realizes she must use her magick as a bruja to protect herself and her loved ones, while confronting her own dark history. River Woman, River Demon is a mysterious incantation of reckoning with the past and claiming one's unique power and voice.
Library of the Sapphire Wind by Jane Lindskold; Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. (Other) Instead of mentors, they got monsters . . . That's what Xerak, Vereez, and Grunwold think when three strange creatures shimmer into being within the circle of Hettua Shrine. Their conclusion is reasonable enough. After all, they've never seen humans before. As for Margaret Blake, Peg Gallegos, and Tessa Brown--more usually known as Meg, Peg, and Teg--they're equally astonished but, oddly enough, better prepared. Age and experience have accustomed them to surprises. A widely varied course of reading material has intellectually prepared them for the idea that other worlds, even worlds where people with traits more commonly ascribed to "animals" may exist. Then there is the mysterious verse that Teg speaks as they arrive, words that seem to indicate that the Shrine must have been at least partially responding to the request made of it. Despite doubts on all sides, the three unlikely mentors join forces with the three young "inquisitors" and venture out into the world Peg dubs "Over Where." First they must find the Library of the Sapphire Wind, destroyed years before. Will they find answers there, or is this only the first stage in their search? About Jane Lindskold:"Intricately plotted. . . . a thought-provoking tale of magic and politics, enlivened by Firekeeper's wry and wolfish point-of-view." --Publishers Weekly on Wolf's Blood"Lindskold delivers an exotic historical fantasy that takes the reader from Victorian England to Egypt." --Publishers Weekly on The Buried Pyramid"I loved it. A thrilling, edge-of-the-seat read--I couldn't put it down!" --Tamora Pierce on Fire Season (cowritten with David Weber)
Blood West by Thomas D. Clagett "Summer, 1885. Something inexplicable has come to the railroad town of Las Vegas in the Territory of New Mexico. Asked to investigate, the Pinkerton Detective Agency sends their best detective. Her name is Hattie Lawton. But no one can know her true identity or why she has been sent, because, as Hattie knows well, no one can keep a secret. She poses as a nurse, hired to tend the consumptive patients staying at the Montezuma, the newest and grandest hotel in the famous Harvey House chain. Finding information proves difficult for Hattie. Deputy Sheriff Antonio Valdes resents her attempts. Father John Lanigan fears her, but something else frightens the priest even more: a creature that some people swear can change its shape-a creature that is afraid of nothing"--
Heartshot by Steven Havill First book in the Posadas County Mystery Series When a series of crimes disrupts the tranquil community in Posadas County, New Mexico, a group of small-town cops will have to fight for their lives to keep the county safe Posadas County, New Mexico, has very few mean streets and no city-slick cop shop. But it has an earnest, elected County Sheriff and his aging Undersheriff-William C. Gastner. Pushing sixty, widower Bill has no other life than in law enforcement-and doesn't want one, even if he's being nudged gently toward retirement. Then big time trouble strikes. A car full of teens, running from a stop by Deputy Torrez, goes air-borne into a rocky outcrop, killing all five kids and revealing a package of cocaine under the seat. Has someone brought big-time crime to the small town? Bill is now dealing with grieving parents-one of whom starts packing a gun. Then a second explosion of violence fells an undercover cop. Under pressure, local law enforcement pulls together to make a formidable team. Its weak spot may be Bill whose mind is too tough to crumble but whose body, long mistreated, gradually succumbs to stress. Ignoring all advice-and sense-he pilots the case to a final dramatic, midair confrontation where the fate of the killer-and the cop-will be decided.... The first book in Steven F. Havill's Posadas County Mysteries finds aging Undersheriff Bill Gastner struggling against a rising tide of violent crime. Will the burned-out cop be able to handle the heat?
Along the Rio Grande by Tracie Peterson Recently widowed Susanna Jenkins has decided to follow her family to the booming town of San Marcial, New Mexico, for a fresh start and to aid in her family's sudden change in fortune. They are tasked with managing her uncle's new Grand Hotel, and it takes all her patience to try to help her parents see the good of their circumstances and relinquish their sense of entitlement. Owen Turner works as a boilermaker for the Santa Fe's train shops in San Marcial. He's immediately attracted to Susanna upon meeting her, but he hesitates to risk opening his heart again. Especially as painful memories are stirred up of his own late sibling when Susanna's brother is assigned to work under him. When misguided choices put Susanna's family in an even more precarious situation, she needs someone to rely on. But if Owen can't face the past, he'll miss out on his greatest chance at love.
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones is back with the first novel in the brand-new snarky, sassy, wickedly fun Sunshine Vicram series--A Bad Day for Sunshine! "Laugh-out-loud funny, intensely suspenseful, page-turning fun."--New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan "A Bad Day For Sunshine is a great day for the rest of us."--New York Times bestselling author Lee Child Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o' joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose. Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, strong cups of coffee--and, now, a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff--thanks to her adorably meddlesome parents who nominated her--and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of this is reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that the trouble at her daughter's new school, plus and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and, well, the forecast looks anything but sunny. But even clouds have their silver linings. This one's got Levi, Sunshine's sexy, almost-old-flame, and a fiery-hot US Marshal. With temperatures rising everywhere she turns, Del Sol's normally cool-minded sheriff is finding herself knee-deep in drama and danger. Can Sunshine face the call of duty--and find the kidnapper who's terrorizing her beloved hometown--without falling head over high heels in love...or worse?
Hearts of the Missing by Carol Potenza Beautifully written with a riveting plot and a richly drawn, diverse cast of characters, Hearts of the Missing is the mesmerizing debut from 2017 Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Carol Potenza. When a young woman linked to a list of missing Fire-Sky tribal members commits suicide, Pueblo Police Sergeant Nicky Matthews is assigned to the case. As the investigation unfolds, she uncovers a threat that strikes at the very heart of what it means to be a Fire-Sky Native: victims chosen and murdered because of their genetic makeup. But these deaths are not just about a life taken. In a vengeful twist, the killer ensures the spirits of those targeted will wander forever, lost to their family, their People, and their ancestors. When those closest to Nicky are put in jeopardy, she must be willing to sacrifice everything--her career, her life, even her soul--to save the people she is sworn to protect.
Light on Bone by Kathryn Lasky "Step aside Miss Marple, Eugenia Potter, and Kinsey Millhone--Georgia O'Keeffe is the new sleuth in town! Kathryn Lasky brings the rich imagination of her YA and Juvenile books to Light On Bone, a stunning, suspenseful adult mystery. Vivid prose brushstrokes bring the legendary artist, the Southwest landscape she loved, and a complicated plot with historical and imagined characters to life."--Katherine Hall Page, author of the award-winning Faith Fairchild series Kathryn Lasky has written an exciting new adult amateur sleuth mystery set in New Mexico in the 1930s. The sleuth is Georgia O'Keefe, who actually did suffer a nervous breakdown in 1933 when her husband Alfred Stieglitz had a somewhat public affair, was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, and then traveled to the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico to paint. O'Keefe was approaching the peak of her fame and success, having just sold a painting for a record price. The narrative begins when she discovers the slain body of a priest in the desert. The plot includes several other murders, Georgia's burgeoning romance with the local sheriff, an international espionage plot involving Charles Lindbergh (who is staying at the ranch with his wife Anne), and lots of intricate twists and turns leading to a thoroughly unforeseen denouement. The strength of this story is how Lasky's elegant writing captures the emotional depth of this artist's turmoil and so stunningly reveals O'Keeffe's perception of the landscape that moves her to paint. It is not simply a who-dunnit mystery, but much more: It is a narrative of healing and resurrection of spirit.
Little Big Dreams by Jacob Janey Calle Roslyn, lucid dreamer. A place she can do anything she wants. After the horrendous death of her husband, she falls into a deep depression and her dreams become her sanctuary. That is, of course, until they move out of body and she falls for a sexy, new astral lover. Meanwhile, back on terra firma, her love life is starting to heat up too and she is torn between the two men in her life. The one in her head and the one in her bed. Facing personal insecurity and coping with a double life, she begins to question her sanity. Then a dead man turns up in the closet at work and the situation spins completely out of control. Finding herself at the center of a nasty murder investigation while coming to terms with her new astral identity forces her hand. Having tasted the sweetness of love again, she has to make a choice. The timing couldn't be worse, but she's tired of hiding and there's no looking back. Embracing the supernatural, she attempts to find herself and solve the crime. With the help of a few quirky friends, a strange blue jay, and her loyal cat, she dives in headfirst. With everything on the line, it's sink or swim for the determined lucid dreamer in this magic paranormal thriller.
Borderline by Joseph Badal "Badal delivers a nice tight mystery and two wonderful female detectives you'll be cheering for. Don't miss 'Borderline.'" -Catherine Coulter, New York Times bestselling author of "Nemesis" In "Borderline," Joseph Badal delivers his first mystery novel with the same punch and non-stop action found in his acclaimed eight previous thrillers, including the 5-book Danforth Saga. Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, two New Mexico homicide detectives, are assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy Albuquerque socialite. They soon discover that the victim, a narcissistic borderline personality, played a lifetime game of destroying people's lives. As a result, the list of suspects in her murder is extensive. The detectives find themselves enmeshed in a helix of possible perpetrators with opportunity, means, and motive-and soon question giving their best efforts to solve the case the more they learn about the victim's hideous past. Their job gets tougher when the victim's psychiatrist is murdered and DVDs turn up that show the doctor had serial sexual relationships with a large number of his female patients, including the murder victim. "Borderline" presents a fascinating cast of characters, including two heroic female detective-protagonists and a diabolical villain; a rollercoaster ride of suspense; and an ending that will surprise and shock the reader. "'Borderline' grabs the reader early and never lets up. Opening with the discovery of the murder victim, a wealthy horsewoman full of sexual energy, gorgeous-and universally hated-the mystery progresses to an amazing revelation. Author Joseph Badal fills the pages with solid police work, a handsome private eye, an out-of control teenager and secret X-rated videos. In the hands of this fine writer, the story carried me along every step of the way." -Anne Hillerman, Author of the New York Times bestsellers "Spider Woman's Daughter" and "Rock with Wings"
Deserts of the Heart by Sandy Sheehy Richly romantic, Sheehy's saga weaves a detailed tapestry of another time and place, a forgotten culture, and reminds us of what is profoundly universal: that love-whether for the good or bad-has the power to change lives forever.-Kathryn Casey, bestselling author of the Clara Jefferies and Sarah Armstrong mystery seriesA closely researched, compelling love story set in the Spanish Colonial Southwest in 1798. This is a touching, engaging romance, enhanced by the way the author brings old New Mexico alive on the page. -Rosina Lippi (aka Sara Donati), author of the Into the Wilderness Series and of Homestead, winner of the 1999 PEN/Hemingway AwardLife on the ranch is rich and complex, interwoven with beautiful scenes from the old culture, as well as ingrained prejudices, jealousies, and finally tragedy. A stunning read.-Ute Carson, author of Gypsy Spirit and Save the Last KissLosing her fiancé and soulmate, as well as her parents, in the 1797 Veracruz Yellow Fever Epidemic, 21-year-old Sofia vows privately that she will never open her heart again. With no prospects at home, she and her beautiful, impetuous sister Valeria, 14, accept positions as governesses to the children on a prosperous but rustic ranch 1600 miles north near the frontier outpost of Santa Fe. As Sofia struggles to adjust to the foreign and culturally complex environment, she uncovers layers of dark family secrets. She also finds herself drawn to the ranch's half Pueblo manager, who considers romantic love a singularly destructive form of madness.
Love and War in the Age of Aquarius by Amaia Joy; Geoffrey Carroll Set against the gorgeous high mountains of Taos New Mexico, and the vehemence of the Vietnam War is a rich literary vision found by authors Amaia Joy and Geoffrey Carroll. 1969--An up roaring delirious year. Three Lives whirl through an effusive multilayered plot combined with vibrant characters kaleidoscopically creating turning points through a historical narrative highlighting the upheavals of that era. It was a time of Rock music, the sexual revolution, drugs, new freedoms, spiritual exploration, and the turbulent and destructive conflict and protest of the war, social madness, confusing political upheaval, and ongoing acerbic racial hatred. Revive your knowledge with the truth of Vietnam. America's nightmare of profound racial unrest and a sick wicked war sadly being fought in the name of peace. Killing for Peace was like fucking for virginity. Brothers fought without America's support. Brothers returned without America's welcome home. Simultaneously you will discover the mystical forces and complex struggles and triumphs emerging two clashing souls between a cowboy and a hippy. An inexhaustible whirl of passion becomes a provocative love story that is filled with enticingly descriptive indecently hot fusion, uniquely awakened, unquenchable erotic sexual energy. Under the omnipotent Rio Grande sun, you can explore the unique, diverse, cultures and sacred roots of New Mexico through this historical narrative which highlights the New Buffalo Commune in Arroyo Hondo/Taos nestled among one of the richest mingling landscapes in the world. The communal life of hippies where true entertainment for the Angels. Prejudice times tried to bury their spirits, but they didn't know that it only awakened the new Aquarian seeds of life.
The Gospel According to Billy the Kid by Dennis McCarthy 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Winner for Fiction-New Mexico Historical Like many good stories of the old West, this one begins in a saloon. In 1914 in El Paso, Texas, two strangers strike up a conversation at the bar--Bill Roberts, a real-life figure who died in Hico, Texas, in 1950, and a former US Army scout whose brother knew Roberts by another name: Billy the Kid. So begins The Gospel According to Billy the Kid, a tale of the old New Mexico territory, corrupt lawmen, honest ranchers, murder, betrayal, and the explosive events of the Lincoln County War that sent young Billy off seeking justice--and headed toward a bloody rendezvous with a sheriff hired to track him down. In the saloon Roberts has us imagine another story, told thirty-three years later over shots of whiskey, about a young outlaw given a second chance to find himself, to find peace, and to finally grow up and out from under the shadow of his own infamy.
Murder at the Observatory by Christina Squire Caroline Steele is a hag without a future, tired of her housewife routine, bored with marriage, beaten down by teaching, and confused by her growing sons. But when she becomes a prime suspect in the murder of her arch nemesis, a prominent astronomy professor, she is shocked out of her mind-numbing routine. Caroline resolves to clear herself by finding the real killer. Her quest takes her back to work at the University of New Mexico Department of Physics and Astronomy. Once again she finds herself surrounded by neurotic staff and unique faculty. As evidence builds against Caroline, she is thrust into close contact with a charismatic detective and begins to feel alive. Caroline juggles several worlds: domestic life with her quirky family, office work, academic intrigue, people's crazy lives, a murder investigation, and the romance novel she critiques for a friend. She discovers the awful truth after a loved one nearly dies.

middle age

Middle Age in Fiction

While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize By an acclaimed writer at the height of his powers, The Sense of an Ending extends a streak of extraordinary books that began with the best-selling Arthur & George and continued with Nothing to Be Frightened Of and, most recently, Pulse. This intense new novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about--until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony Webster thought he'd left all this behind as he built a life for himself, and by now his marriage and family and career have fallen into an amicable divorce and retirement. But he is then presented with a mysterious legacy that obliges him to reconsider a variety of things he thought he'd understood all along, and to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single sitting, with stunning psychological and emotional depth and sophistication, The Sense of an Ending is a brilliant new chapter in Julian Barnes's oeuvre.
Wonderland by Stacey D'Erasmo Anna Brundage is a rock star. She is tall and sexy, with a powerhouse voice and an unforgettable mane of red hair. She came out of nowhere, an immediate indie sensation. And then, life happened. Anna went down as fast as she went up, and then walked off the scene for seven years. Without a record deal or clamoring fans, she sells a piece of her famous father's art to finance just one more album and a European comeback tour. Anna is forty-four. This may be her last chance to cement her place in the life she chose, the life she struggled for, the life she's not sure she can sustain. She falls back easily into the ways of the road--sex with strangers, the search for the perfect moment onstage. To see Anna perform is something--watch her find the note, the electric connection with the audience, the transcendence when it all comes together and the music seems to fill the world. A riveting look at the life of a musician,Wonderland is a moving inquiry into the life of a woman on an unconventional path, wondering what happens next and what her passions might have cost her, seeking a version of herself she might recognize. It takes us deep into a world many of us have spent hours imagining and wishing ourselves into--now we have a bit of that wish come true.
Nine Island by Jane Alison A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016 "Nine Island is a crackling incantation, brittle and brilliant and hot and sad and full of sideways humor that devastates and illuminates all at once." --Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies Nine Island is an intimate autobiographical novel, told by J, a woman who lives in a glass tower on one of Miami Beach's lush Venetian Islands. After decades of disaster with men, she is trying to decide whether to withdraw forever from romantic love. Having just returned to Miami from a monthlong reunion with an old flame, "Sir Gold," and a visit to her fragile mother, J begins translating Ovid's magical stories about the transformations caused by Eros. "A woman who wants, a man who wants nothing. These two have stalked the world for thousands of years," she thinks. When not ruminating over her sexual past and current fantasies, in the company of only her aging cat, J observes the comic, sometimes steamy goings-on among her faded-glamour condo neighbors. One of them, a caring nurse, befriends her, eventually offering the opinion that "if you retire from love . . . then you retire from life."
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; Nadia Fusini (Introduction by) Mrs. Dalloway chronicles a June day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway-a day that is taken up with running minor errands in preparation for a party and that is punctuated, toward the end, by the suicide of a young man she has never met. In giving an apparently ordinary day such immense resonance and significance-infusing it with the elemental conflict between death and life-Virginia Woolf triumphantly discovers her distinctive style as a novelist. Originally published in 1925, Mrs. Dalloway is Woolf's first complete rendering of what she described as the "luminous envelope" of consciousness: a dazzling display of the mind's inside as it plays over the brilliant surface and darker depths of reality. This edition uses the text of the original British publication of Mrs. Dalloway, which includes changes Woolf made that never appeared in the first or subsequent American editions.
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch; Mary Kinzie (Introduction by) Winner of the Booker Prize--a tale of the strange obsessions that haunt a playwright as he composes his memoirs  Charles Arrowby, leading light of England's theatrical set, retires from glittering London to an isolated home by the sea. He plans to write a memoir about his great love affair with Clement Makin, his mentor, both professionally and personally, and amuse himself with Lizzie, an actress he has strung along for many years. None of his plans work out, and his memoir evolves into a riveting chronicle of the strange events and unexpected visitors-some real, some spectral-that disrupt his world and shake his oversized ego to its very core. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A stunning "portrait of the enduring grace of friendship" (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST * WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates--broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition--as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara's stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood When Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man first appeared, it shocked many with its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in maturity. Isherwood's favorite of his own novels, it now stands as a classic lyric meditation on life as an outsider. Welcome to sunny suburban 1960s Southern California. George is a gay middle-aged English professor, adjusting to solitude after the tragic death of his young partner. He is determined to persist in the routines of his former life. A Single Man follows him over the course of an ordinary twenty-four hours. Behind his British reserve, tides of grief, rage, and loneliness surge--but what is revealed is a man who loves being alive despite all the everyday injustices.
Call Number: eAudiobook
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Evoking Jane Austen, Emma Straub, and other masters of the literary marriage, Breathing Lessons celebrates the small miracles and magic of truly knowing someone. Unfolding over the course of a single emotionally fraught day, this stunning novel encompasses a lifetime of dreams, regrets and reckonings--and is oftern regarded as Tyler's seminal work. Maggie and Ira Moran are on a road trip from Baltimore, Maryland to Deer Lick, Pennsylvania to attend the funeral of a friend. Along the way, they reflect on the state of their marriage, its trials and its triumphs--through their quarrels, their routines, and their ability to tolerate each other's faults with patience and affection. Where Maggie is quirky, lovable and mischievous, Ira is practical, methodical and mired in reason. What begins as a day trip becomes a revelatory and unexpected journey, as Ira and Maggie rediscover the strength of their bond and the joy of having somebody with whom to share the ride, bumps and all. "More powerful and moving than anything [Tyler] has done." --Los Angeles Times
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford In this "powerful" blockbuster of a novel (The New York Times), the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Independence Day introduces his most beloved character, failed novelist turned sportswriter Frank Bascombe, during an Easter weekend, as he moves through the great losses of his life.  As a sportswriter, Frank Bascombe makes his living studying people--men, mostly--who live entirely within themselves. This is a condition that Frank himself aspires to. But at thirty-eight, he suffers from incurable dreaminess, occasional pounding of the heart, and the not-too-distant losses of a career, a son, and a marriage. In the course of the Easter week in which Ford's moving novel transpires, Bascombe will end up losing the remnants of his familiar life, though with his spirits soaring.
Call Number: eBook
Free Love by Tessa Hadley "Exquisite." --Minneapolis Star Tribune * "Brilliantly observed." -- People, Pick of the Week "A beguiling novel, deceptively easy to read; beneath the surface swim disturbing and age-old questions about freedom and fate." -- Hilary Mantel From the bestselling author of Late in the Day and The Past comes a compulsive new novel about one woman's sexual and intellectual awakening in 1960s London. 1967. While London comes alive with the new youth revolution, the suburban Fischer family seems to belong to an older world of conventional stability: pretty, dutiful homemaker Phyllis is married to Roger, a devoted father with a career in the Foreign Office. Their children are Colette, a bookish teenager, and Hugh, the golden boy. But when the twenty-something son of an old friend pays the Fischers a visit one hot summer evening, and kisses Phyllis in the dark garden after dinner, something in her catches fire. Newly awake to the world, Phyllis makes a choice that defies all expectations of her as a wife and a mother. Nothing in these ordinary lives is so ordinary after all, it turns out, as the family's upheaval mirrors the dramatic transformation of the society around them. With scalpel-sharp insight, Tessa Hadley explores her characters' inner worlds, laying bare their fears and longings. Daring and sensual, Free Love is an irresistible exploration of romantic love, sexual freedom and living out the truest and most meaningful version of our selves - a novel that showcases Hadley's unrivaled ability to "put on paper a consciousness so visceral, so fully realized, it heightens and expands your own" (Lily King, author of Euphoria).  
All Fours by Miranda July AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The New York Times bestselling author returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and surprising novel about a woman upending her life "A frank novel about a midlife awakening, which is funnier and more boldly human than you ever quite expect . . . nothing short of riveting." --Vogue "All Fours has spurred a whisper network of women fantasizing about desire and freedom. . . . It's the talk of every group text."--The New York Times "All Fours possessed me. I picked it up and neglected my life until the last page, and then I started begging every woman I know to read it as soon as possible." --The Cut "A novel that presses into that tender bruise about the anxiety of aging, of what it means to have a female body that is aging, and wanting the freedom to live a fuller life . . . Deeply funny and achingly true." --LA Times "July's novel is hot and weird and captivating and one of the most entertaining, deranged, and moving depictions of lust and romantic mania I've ever read." --New York Magazine A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey. Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER "The pages brim with tenderness and an appreciation for what we had and who we were. I could not have loved it more."--Ann Patchett "The kind of book that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you call the people you love. Exceptional."--Emily Henry "Delightful"--Boston Globe "Poignant"--New York Times What if you could take a vacation to your past? With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.             On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad:  the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?
Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane NATIONAL BESTSELLER! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: O Magazine * Good Housekeeping * Real Simple * Vulture * Chicago Tribune   NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE SUMMER BY: "The Today Show" * "Good Morning America" * Wall Street Journal * San Francisco Chronicle * Southern Living   An INDIE NEXT LIST Pick Shortlisted for the 2020 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize  Long-listed for the 2020 Tournament of Books "Fun, hilarious, and extremely touching."--NPR A beautifully observed and deeply funny novel of May Attaway, a university gardener who sets out on an odyssey to reconnect with four old friends over the course of a year. At forty, May Attaway is more at home with plants than people. Over the years, she's turned inward, finding pleasure in language, her work as a gardener, and keeping her neighbors at arm's length while keenly observing them. But when she is unexpectedly granted some leave from her job, May is inspired to reconnect with four once close friends. She knows they will never have a proper reunion, so she goes, one-by-one, to each of them. A student of the classics, May considers her journey a female Odyssey. What might the world have had if, instead of waiting, Penelope had set out on an adventure of her own? RULES FOR VISITING is a woman's exploration of friendship in the digital age. Deeply alert to the nobility and the ridiculousness of ordinary people, May savors the pleasures along the way--afternoon ice cream with a long-lost friend, surprise postcards from an unexpected crush, and a moving encounter with ancient beauty. Though she gets a taste of viral online fame, May chooses to bypass her friends' perfectly cultivated online lives to instead meet them in their messy analog ones. Ultimately, May learns that a best friend is someone who knows your story--and she inspires us all to master the art of visiting.
The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble 1979. Three old Cambridge friends are brought together at a party to celebrate New Year's Eve and the end of a decade. Esther, Liz and Alix first met in Cambridge in the early Fifties, a time when their futures held glittering promise. But with the dawn of the Thatcher era, everything changed. Now middle-aged, how will these confident women cope with their personal and professional challenges they will come to face?
Call Number: eBook
Monogamy by Sue Miller A New York Times Notable Book * NPR Best Book of the Year * People magazine Top Ten Books of the Year * BookPage Best Book of the Year * Good Housekeeping Best Book of the Year "A sensual and perceptive novel. . . . With humor and humanity, Miller resists the simple scorned-wife story and instead crafts a revelatory tale of the complexities--and the absurdities--of love, infidelity, and grief." --O, the Oprah Magazine A brilliantly insightful novel, engrossing and haunting, about marriage, love, family, happiness and sorrow, from New York Times bestselling author Sue Miller. Graham and Annie have been married for nearly thirty years. Their seemingly effortless devotion has long been the envy of their circle of friends and acquaintances. By all appearances, they are a golden couple. Graham is a bookseller, a big, gregarious man with large appetites--curious, eager to please, a lover of life, and the convivial host of frequent, lively parties at his and Annie's comfortable house in Cambridge. Annie, more reserved and introspective, is a photographer. She is about to have her first gallery show after a six-year lull and is worried that the best years of her career may be behind her. They have two adult children; Lucas, Graham's son with his first wife, Frieda, works in New York. Annie and Graham's daughter, Sarah, lives in San Francisco. Though Frieda is an integral part of this far-flung, loving family, Annie feels confident in the knowledge that she is Graham's last and greatest love. When Graham suddenly dies--this man whose enormous presence has seemed to dominate their lives together--Annie is lost. What is the point of going on, she wonders, without him?  Then, while she is still mourning Graham intensely, she discovers a ruinous secret, one that will spiral her into darkness and force her to question whether she ever truly knew the man who loved her.
Shoulder Season by Christina Clancy Named a Best Book of Summer by Good Morning America * CNN * Parade * EW * Travel & Leisure * PopSugar * New York Post * BuzzFeed * Brit & Co * SheReads * Women.com A dazzling portrait of a young woman coming into her own, the youthful allure of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and what we lose--and gain--when we leave home. ONCE IN A LIFETIME, YOU CAN HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE The small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is an unlikely location for a Playboy Resort, and nineteen-year old Sherri Taylor is an unlikely bunny. Growing up in neighboring East Troy, Sherri plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. But when her parents die in quick succession, she leaves the only home she's ever known for the chance to be part of a glamorous slice of history. In the winter of 1981, in a costume two sizes too small, her toes pinched by stilettos, Sherri joins the daughters of dairy farmers and factory workers for the defining experience of her life. Living in the "bunny hutch"--Playboy's version of a college dorm--Sherri gets her education in the joys of sisterhood, the thrill of financial independence, the magic of first love, and the heady effects of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But as spring gives way to summer, Sherri finds herself caught in a romantic triangle--and the tragedy that ensues will haunt her for the next forty years. From the Midwestern prairie to the California desert, from Wisconsin lakes to the Pacific Ocean, this is a story of what happens when small town life is sprinkled with stardust, and what we lose--and gain--when we leave home. With a heroine to root for and a narrative to get lost in, Christina Clancy's Shoulder Season is a sexy, evocative tale, drenched in longing and desire, that captures a fleeting moment in American history with nostalgia and heart.
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives. Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, The Nest, which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems. Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives. This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love."
Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta Now an HBO series starring Kathryn Hahn! "Light, zingy, and laugh-out-loud funny" (People), the New York Times bestselling novel about sex, love, and identity as seen through the eyes of a middle-aged woman and her college freshman son. A forty-six-year-old divorcee whose beloved only child has just left for college, Eve Fletcher is struggling to adjust to her empty nest. One night she receives a text from an anonymous number that says, "U R my MILF!" Over the months that follow, that message comes to obsess Eve. While leading her all-too-placid life--serving as Executive Director of the local senior center and taking a community college course on Gender and Society--Eve can't curtail her own interest in a porn website that features the erotic exploits of ordinary, middle-aged women like herself. Before long, Eve's online fixations begin to spill over into real life, revealing new romantic possibilities that threaten to upend her quiet suburban existence. Meanwhile, miles away at the state college, Eve's son Brendan--a jock and aspiring frat boy--discovers that his new campus isn't nearly as welcoming to his hard-partying lifestyle as he had imagined. Only a few weeks into his freshman year, Brendan is floundering in a college environment that challenges his white-dude privilege and shames him for his outmoded, chauvinistic ideas of sex. As the New England autumn turns cold, both mother and son find themselves enmeshed in morally fraught situations that come to a head on one fateful November night. "The sweetest and most charming novel about pornography addiction and the harrowing issues of sexual consent that you will probably ever read" (The New York Times Book Review), Mrs. Fletcher is a timeless examination of sexuality, identity, parenthood, and the big clarifying mistakes people can make when they're no longer sure of who they are or where they belong. "Tom Perrotta's latest might just be his best" (NPR).
Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman "Separation Anxiety is a hilarious, heart-breaking and thought-provoking portrait of a difficult marriage, as fierce as it is funny.... My advice: Start reading and don't stop until you get to the last page of this wise and wonderful novel."  --Alice Hoffman  AN ANTICIPATED BOOK FROM: Entertainment Weekly * Cosmopolitan * USA Today * Real Simple * Parade * Buzzfeed * Glamour * PopSugar  From bestselling author Laura Zigman, a hilarious novel about a wife and mother whose life is unraveling and the well-intentioned but increasingly disastrous steps she takes to course-correct her relationships, her career, and her belief in herself Judy never intended to start wearing the dog. But when she stumbled across her son Teddy's old baby sling during a halfhearted basement cleaning, something in her snapped. So: the dog went into the sling, Judy felt connected to another living being, and she's repeated the process every day since. Life hasn't gone according to Judy's plan. Her career as a children's book author offered a glimpse of success before taking an embarrassing nose dive. Teddy, now a teenager, treats her with some combination of mortification and indifference. Her best friend is dying. And her husband, Gary, has become a pot-addled professional "snackologist" who she can't afford to divorce. On top of it all, she has a painfully ironic job writing articles for a self-help website--a poor fit for someone seemingly incapable of helping herself. Wickedly funny and surprisingly tender, Separation Anxiety offers a frank portrait of middle-aged limbo, examining the ebb and flow of life's most important relationships. Tapping into the insecurities and anxieties that most of us keep under wraps, and with a voice that is at once gleefully irreverent and genuinely touching, Laura Zigman has crafted a new classic for anyone taking fumbling steps toward happiness.
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "marvelous romantic comedy" (The New York Times Book Review) from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen "[A] wise tale about second chances, starting over, and going after what is most important in life."--Minneapolis Star Tribune Still Life with Bread Crumbs begins with an imagined gunshot and ends with a new tin roof. Between the two is a wry and knowing portrait of Rebecca Winter, a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life.   Brilliantly written, powerfully observed, Still Life with Bread Crumbs is a deeply moving and often very funny story of unexpected love, and a stunningly crafted journey into the life of a woman, her heart, her mind, her days, as she discovers that life is a story with many levels, a story that is longer and more exciting than she ever imagined.
Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins On Bernadine Brown's fifty-second birthday she received an unexpected gift - she caught her husband, Leo, cheating on her. She was hurt and angry, but rather than cry and scream, she hired herself a top-notch lawyer and ended up with a cool $275 million. Now Bernadine needs a purpose, and that turns out to be the town of Henry Adams, Kansas, one of the last surviving townships founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. The town has put itself up for sale on the Internet, and Bernadine buys it. Watching the town he loves slide into foreclosure is painful for Mayor Trent July, but when he meets Bernadine, he's impressed. She not only offers the town vision, strength, and hope, she also extends her largesse to kids in desperate need of a second chance.
Call Number: Large Print
I Almost Forgot about You by Terry McMillan The #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting To Exhale is back with the inspiring story of a woman who shakes things up in her life to find greater meaning In I Almost Forgot About You, Dr. Georgia Young's wonderful life--great friends, family, and successful career--aren't enough to keep her from feeling stuck and restless. When she decides to make some major changes in her life, including quitting her job as an optometrist and moving house, she finds herself on a wild journey that may or may not include a second chance at love. Georgia's bravery reminds us that it's never too late to become the person you want to be, and that taking chances, with your life and your heart, are always worthwhile. Big-hearted, genuine, and universal, I Almost Forgot About You shows what can happen when you face your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to life, love, and the possibility of a new direction. It's everything you've always loved about Terry McMillan.
Sandwich by Catherine Newman "Sandwich is joy in book form. I laughed continuously, except for the parts that made me cry. Catherine Newman does a miraculous job reminding us of all the wonder there is to be found in life."--Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake "A total delight."--Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man and Welcome Home, Stranger From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go. For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family's yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and--thanks to the cottage's ancient plumbing--septic too. This year's vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past--except, perhaps, for Rocky's hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing--her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers. It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family's history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America's finest writers. "Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature." --The Guardian In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
The Change by Kirsten Miller GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK  "The Change is like a guttural rage scream (and somehow a soft, tearful hug) of a book, and I couldn't have loved it any more." --Emily Henry Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town.  "A roar of rage, a pacy page-turner, I loved it with all my broken heart. Read it. You'll love it."--New York Times bestselling author Marian Keyes "Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare treat: a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A pointed, punchy, and potent thriller...wry and clever, serious and exacting, and masterfully suspenseful."--Booklist (starred review) In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment... After Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she's left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn't take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead--a gift she's inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities. On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn't left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett's life is far from over--in fact, she's undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis. Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw--until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power. Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to the town's most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don't apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands...
Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley AS SEEN ON THE TODAY SHOW * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * A ZIBBY OWENS MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025! * A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BOOK CLUB PICK! "Hilarious."--People Date night goes off the rails in this hilariously insightful take on midlife and marriage when one unhappy couple find themselves at the heart of a crime in progress, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise. Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn't sure they're going to make it to twenty. The mother of two feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under five hundred copies. Worse? She's pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it's as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce. But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Jane is shocked--and not just because she's in a hostage situation the likes of which she's only seen in the movies. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book. Even Dan (who Jane wasn't sure even read her book) admits it's eerily familiar. Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what's going to happen next. And they're the only ones who can stop it. This wasn't what Jane was thinking of when she said "'til death do us part" all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything--even marriage.