LibraryAware October 2025

Recent Releases

L.A. Women
by Ella Berman

New to Los Angeles’ party scene in 1965, ambitious writer Lane connects with socialite and fellow writer Gala. They eventually fall out and a decade later, Lane mines Gala’s life for a novel, only to learn she’s gone missing. This slow-burn latest from book club favorite Ella Berman serves up a sharp look at female friendship and rivalry. Try this next: The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe; Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik (nonfiction).

The boy from the sea
by Garrett Carr

In a 1973 Irish fishing village, the arrival of Brendan, a mysterious baby found on the shore, upends the Bonnar family's dynamics and intertwines their fates with the town's struggles against economic and cultural upheaval.

One of Us
by Dan Chaon

In 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.

The world's fair quilt : a novel
by Jennifer Chiaverini

"As fall paints the Pennsylvania countryside in flaming colors, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson is contemplating the future of her beloved Elm Creek Quilts. The Elm Creek Quilt Camp remains the most popular quilter's retreat in the country, but unexpected financial difficulties have beset them and the Bergstrom family's stately nineteenth-century manor. Now in her eighth decade, Sylvia is determined to maintain her family's legacy, but she needs new resources--financial and emotional. Summer Sullivan--a founding Elm Creek Quilter--arrives to discuss an antique quilt that she wants to display at the Waterford Historical Society's quilt exhibit. When Sylvia and her sister Claudia were teenagers, they had entered a quilt in the Sears National Quilt Contest for the1933 Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair. The Bergstrom sisters' quilt would be perfect for the Historical Society's exhibit, Summer explains. Sylvia is reluctant to lend out the quilt, which has been stored in the attic for decades, nearly forgotten. In keeping with the contest's 'Century of Progress' theme, the girls illustrated progress of values--scenes of the Emancipation Proclamation, woman's suffrage, and labor unions. But although it won ribbons, the quilt also drove a wedge between the sisters. As Sylvia reluctantly retraces her quilt's story for Summer, she makes an unexpected discovery--one that restores some of her faith in this unique work of art, and helps shine some light on a way forward for the Elm Creek Quilts community"

The Secret Book Society
by Madeline Martin

In 1895 London, wealthy widow Lady Duxbury handpicks three women to join a secret book club, where they not only discuss novels, but become friends who help each other in a world where a wife can be put in an asylum at the behest of her husband. Read-alikes: Joanna Miller’s The Eights; Helen Simonson’s The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.

This Here Is Love
by Princess Joy L. Perry

In the 1690s, three young people come of age in Virginia: enslaved Bless, who’s all her mother has left; enslaved David, whose father is a free Black man; and Scots Irish indentured servant Jack, who’s an orphan. As they grapple with survival, love, and tough decisions, their lives eventually converge. This evocative, accomplished debut uses multiple voices to tell a powerful story. For fans of: Red Clay by Charles B. Fancher; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

Typewriter Beach
by Meg Waite Clayton

Amid McCarthyism in 1957, Isabella Giori dreams of being Alfred Hitchcock's favorite blonde actress. But while temporarily staying at a Carmel-by-the-Sea cottage, she becomes friends with blacklisted writer Leo, changing both of their lives. In 2018, Leo's granddaughter clears out his cottage after his death, meeting his neighbor Isabella and finding secrets in his safe. Read-alikes: Susan Meissner's A Map to Paradise; Sarah Jane Stratford's Red Letter Days.

Buckeye
by Patrick Ryan

On 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.

Contact your librarian for more great books!