LibraryAware April 2025

New Books This Month

Definitely better now
by Ava Robinson

"The very last person anyone should worry about is Emma. Yes, hi, she's an alcoholic. But she's officially been sober for one entire year. That's twelve months of better health. Fifty-two whole weeks of focusing on nothing but her nine-to-five office job, group meetings, and avoiding the kind of bad decisions that previously left her awash in shame and regret. It's also been 365 days of not dating. And with her new dating profile, Emma, 26, of New York is ready to put herself back out there. Except--was dating always this complicated? And did Emma's mother really have to choose now to move in with her new boyfriend? Being assigned to plan her office's holiday party feels like icing on the suddenly very overwhelming cake until her estranged father reappears with devastating news. Icing, meet cherry on top. But then there's Ben, the charming IT guy who, despite Emma's awkwardness and shortcomings, seems to maybe actually get her? Sobriety is turning out to be far from the flawless future Emma had once envisioned for herself, but as she allows herself to open up to Ben and confront difficult past relationships, she's beginning to realize that taking things one day at a time might just be the perfectly imperfect path she's meant to be on"

April storm : a novel
by Leila Meacham

"A much-anticipated posthumous novel from the beloved author of Roses and Dragonfly, April Storm follows a suburban housewife who discovers she's being tracked by a private detective-and a murderer"

Murder island
by James Patterson

When professor turned crime-fighter Brandt“Doc” Savage and his girlfriend Kira Sunlight land on a desert island in the middle of the Atlantic, they think they've found a perfect utopia, but it turns out to be a living hell.

Lady Macbeth : a novel
by Ava Reid

Marrying a Scottish warrior, Lady Macbeth must use all her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive his hostile, suspicious court but unbeknownst to her, he has occult secrets of his own and a prophecy that girds him like armor, making her magic even more dangerous as it threatens the order of the world.

Boudicca : a novel
by P. C. Cast

Guided by the goddess Andraste, Queen Boudicca of the Iceni leads a rebellion against opposing forces in Roman-occupied Britain, gathering 250,000 warriors to reclaim her land, even as dark prophecies threaten to doom her fight for freedom.

Water moon : a novel
by Samantha Sotto

"A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets-and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop in this dream-like and enchanting fantasy novel"

Love you a latke
by Amanda Elliot

"Love comes home for the challah-days in this sparkling romance. Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her cafâe every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don't understandthat the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes. Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one other: Seth. As it turns out, Seth's parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he'll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart"

The dream hotel : a novel
by Laila Lalami

After a dream-analysis algorithm predicts that she will harm her husband, Sara is detained in a facility with similarly accused women, where she navigates shifting rules until a new arrival leads her to confront the forces controlling her fate.

Famous last words : a novel
by Gillian McAllister

Returning to work, new mom Camilla's life is upended when she learns her husband is the gunman in a London hostage crisis, leaving her to decipher his cryptic goodbye note and make a critical choice.

What time the Sexton's spade doth rust
by Alan Bradley

Amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce, along with her pestilent younger cousin, investigates the murder of a former public hangman and uncovers secrets that bring the greatest shock of her life.

Mrs. Plansky's revenge
by Spencer Quinn

When she is scammed out of her life savings, Mrs. Loretta Plansky, a recent widow in her 70s, refuses to be just another victim, and following her only clue, embarks on a whirlwind adventure to a small village in Romania to get both her money and dignity back.

The shutouts : a novel
by Gabrielle Korn

"A brilliant queer dystopian novel from the author of Yours for the Taking, following a cast of characters on the margins of a strange and exclusive new society. The year is 2041, and it's a dangerous time to be a woman driving across the United States alone. Deadly storms and uncontrollable wildfires are pummeling the country while political tensions are rising. But Kelly's on the road anyway; she desperately needs to get back to her daughter, who she left seven years ago for a cause that she's no longer sure she believes in. Almost 40 years later, another mother, Ava, and her daughter Brook are on the run as well, from the climate change relief program known as The Inside Project, where they've spent the past 22 years being treated as lab rats. When they encounter a woman from Ava's past on the side of the highway, the three continue on in a journey that will take them into the depths of what remains of humanity out in the wilderness. At the same time, way up North, weather conditions continue to worsen and a settlement departs in search of greener pastures, leaving behind only two members, drawn together by a circumstance and a mystery they are destined to unravel together. Set in the world of Gabrielle Korn's Yours for the Taking, The Shutouts tells the captivating story of those who have been shut out from Inside, their fight to survive, and an interconnectedness larger than all of them"