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Must-Read Books October 2025 |
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| One of Us by Dan ChaonIn 1915, 13-year-old orphaned twins Bolt and Eleanor, who share a psychic connection, run away from a murderous man claiming to be their uncle. They end up with Mr. Jengling’s Emporium of Wonders, which includes a death-foretelling woman and a dog-faced boy. While Bolt settles in, Eleanor doesn’t, and they still have their “uncle” on their trail in this “mesmerizing and macabre historical adventure” (Booklist). For fans of: Amiee Gibbs’ The Carnivale of Curiosities. |
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The society of unknowable objects : a novel
by Gareth Brown
A trio of seemingly everyday people are members of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects—ordinary items with extraordinary properties. Maps.
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| Guilty by Definition by Susie DentA cryptic letter with references to Shakespeare arrives at the Clarendon English Dictionary offices in Oxford, England. Editor Martha Thornhill thinks the odd missive might be related to her sister’s disappearance a decade earlier, so when more notes appear, Martha and her team work to solve the clues and possibly a crime. This clever debut by English lexicographer and TV presenter Susie Dent will please both mystery fans and language lovers. Try this next: Murder by the Book by Amie Schaumberg. |
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This here is love : a novel
by Princess Joy L. Perry
In 17th-century Virginia, enslaved girl Bless, freeborn Black child David, and indentured servant Jack Dane each grapple with survival, identity, and belonging as their lives converge on contested land, forcing them to redefine freedom, family and love in a brutal new world.
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| The Wasp Trap by Mark EdwardsAt a glamorous London dinner party, six old friends are forced into a deadly game: confess their darkest secrets or face elimination. Tied to a long-buried psychological experiment from 1999, their past resurfaces with chilling consequences. The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller about truth, betrayal, and hidden psychopaths. |
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Departure 37 : a novel
by Scott Carson
After pilots across America refuse to fly following mysterious calls from their mothers, some long dead, a teenager in Maine becomes entangled in a decades-old secret tied to a 1962 naval experiment, a deadly discovery and rising global tensions.
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| What We Can Know by Ian McEwanRising seas have changed the landscape of the United Kingdom, where in 2119 Professor Thomas Metcalfe studies every detail he can find about “A Corona for Vivien,” a lost masterpiece read by an esteemed poet at his wife’s 2014 birthday party. In the second half of this eloquent novel, Vivien herself narrates. Try these next: C. Pam Zhang’s Land of Milk and Honey; Eiren Caffall’s All the Water in the World. |
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Sweet heat : a novel
by Bolu Babalola
Twenty-eight-year-old Kiki dishes out life advice on her podcast, but as she prepares to be Maid of Honor in her best friend's wedding, everything starts to unravel; finding herself face-to-face with Best Man and ex Malakai, they are hell-bent on ignoring their smoldering chemistry. Simultaneous.
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Sheepdogs
by Elliot Ackerman
After being cast aside by their countries, former CIA operative Skwerl and Afghan pilot Cheese join a covert network to repossess a jet in Africa, launching them into a chaotic mission spanning Kampala, Marseille Kyiv, and beyond, with unexpected allies and escalating personal entanglements.
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| Buckeye by Patrick RyanOn Victory in Europe Day, 1945, while her husband is away in the Pacific, beautiful Margaret shares a celebratory kiss with married hardware store clerk Cal Jenkins, whose physical disability kept him from enlisting. This leads to a connection between their small-town Ohio families for decades, where their sons grow up together but take different paths in the Vietnam era. For fans of: Read with Jenna books; vivid, heartfelt novels about families and war. |
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The cardinal : a novel of love and power
by Alison Weir
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey rises from humble origins to become Henry VIII's closest advisor, but his loyalty and efforts to maintain peace unravel when the king's desire to divorce Katherine of Aragon for Anne Boleyn pits Wolsey against powerful enemies and personal tragedy.
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The Griffin Sisters' greatest hits : a novel
by Jennifer Weiner
"Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were thrust into the spotlight as The Griffin Sisters, a pop duo that defined the aughts. Together, they skyrocketed to the top, gracing MTV, SNL, and the cover of Rolling Stone. Cassie, a musical genius who never felt at ease in her own skin, preferred to stay in the shadows. Zoe, full of confidence and craving fame, lived for the stage. But fame has a price, and after one turbulent year, the band abruptly broke up. Now, two decades later, the sisters couldn't be further apart.Zoe is a suburban mom warning her daughter Cherry to avoid the spotlight, while Cassie has disappeared from public life entirely. But when Cherry begins unearthing the truth behind their breathtaking rise and infamous breakup, long-buried secrets surface, forcing all three women to confront their choices, their desires, and their complicated bonds. With richly developed characters, a nostalgic nod to the pop culture of the 2000s, and a resonant tale of ambition, forgiveness, and family, The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits will captivate readers from the first note to the final encore"
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| The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn SkyeAs a lonely child, Chloe makes a yellow origami rose for her new pen pal, whispering details about herself to the paper. When Oliver receives it, he somehow understands. The correspondents grow close as they grow up, until they lose touch. Years later, Chloe leaves paper flowers across Manhattan, where Oliver finds one in this heartwarming, magical tale exploring love and belonging. For fans of: Lynda Cohen Loigman’s The Matchmaker’s Gift. |
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The girl with ice in her veins
by Karin Smirnoff
As unrest simmers in the snowbound town of Gasskas, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are drawn into a web of violence and buried histories involving a murdered journalist, a missing hacker, and Lisbeth's vanished niece, forcing them to confront dangers both personal and political.
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The end of the world as we know it : new tales of Stephen King's the Stand
by Christopher Golden
Set during and after the events of The Stand, this authorized anthology gathers original stories from acclaimed writers who expand on the novel's apocalyptic world, exploring survival, morality, and human resilience amid civilization's collapse and the uncertain rebuilding that follows.
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The story of ABBA : melancholy undercover
by Jan Gradvall
Drawing on rare interviews, this book explores ABBA's enduring global impact, tracing their musical evolution, cultural significance, and the personal experiences of its members while situating their legacy within Sweden's influence on pop music and the globalization of popular culture. Illustrations.
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The conjuring of America : mojos, mermaids, medicine, and 400 years of Black women's magic
by Lindsey Stewart
"Emerging first on plantations in the American South, enslaved conjure women used their magic to treat illnesses. These women combined their ancestral spiritual beliefs from West Africa with local herbal rituals and therapeutic remedies to create conjure, forging a secret well of health and power hidden to their oppressors and many of the modern-day staples we still enjoy. In The Conjuring of America, Black feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart exposes this vital contour of American history. In the face of slavery, Negro Mammies fashioned a legacy of magic that begat herbal experts, fearsome water bearers, and powerful mojos--roles and traditions that for centuries have been passed down to respond to Black struggles in real time. And when Jim Crow was born, Granny Midwives and textile weavers leveled their techniques to protect our civil and reproductive rights, while Candy Ladies fed a generation of freedom crusaders. Sourcing firsthand accounts the of enslaved, dispatches from the lore of Oshun, and thewisdom of beloved Black women writers, Stewart proves indisputably that conjure informs our lives in ways remarkable and ordinary. Above all, The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the magic Black women used to sow messages of rebellion, freedom, and hope"
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Sweet magic
by Kara LaReau
"Blue helps their mother's magical bakery by delivering baked goods all over town while helping her neighbors solve different kinds of problems"
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Death by whoopee cushion
by Vicki Grant
"The best Halloween costumes. The funniest pranks. An endless supply of chocolate fudge that looks exactly like dog poo. Most kids would love it if their parents owned a joke store. But twelve-year-old Manya isn't like most kids. She's not interested in the cheap laughs at Pranks a Million. She loves science. She wants to save the world. The only thing she finds even vaguely interesting about her parents' shop is the science behind the pranks. After all, there's chemistry at work even in itching powder and stink bombs. Manya and her best friend Isaac are thrilled when their parents agree to sign them up for Serious Science, an after-school course. It's everything Manya has dreamed of: the class is fascinating, and their teacher, Dr. C. Michaels, is both smart and charming. She can just about forget that her parents drive a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle with a red clown nose on the hood and headlights that look like googly eyes. Maybe. But one day Manya comes back from their Serious Science class to seetwo police in the store. A trick cigar bought at Pranks a Million blew up in a customer's face and burnt off his eyebrows. Then there's a poisoning incident. And when a whoopee cushion explodes, actually killing an innocent bystander, things become very serious indeed: Manya's parents are arrested for murder. It's up to Manya to prove their innocence - and she may have to use some of the science behind the pranks to do so"
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The library of unruly treasures
by Jeanne Birdsall
"Gwen MacKinnon's parents are dreadful. Truly, deeply, almost impressively dreadful. So Gwen's not upset at all when she's foisted onto her never-before-seen Uncle Matthew for two weeks. Especially when it turns out he has a very opinionated dog named Pumpkin. Things take a turn for the weird when Gwen makes a discovery in the local library. A discovery that involves tiny creatures with wings. And no, they're not birds. They're called Lahdukan. But why can only Gwen and the youngest children, gathered for storytime, see them? The Lahdukan insist that Gwen is destined to help them find a new home. But how can a girl as unwanted, uncourageous, and generally unheroic as Gwen possibly come to the rescue? Pumpkin has a few ideas..."
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Dive
by John David Anderson
"Kassandra Conner joins the diving team at her new private school, but when she befriends a townie who dumpster dives, she starts to break out of her own box"-- Provided by publisher
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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