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Must-Read Books January 2026 |
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| When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha HassanOn the edge of Lahore, Pakistan, seven-year-old Lalloo's family lives in modern indentured servitude, making bricks by hand. When his brother is murdered, Lalloo is spirited away by his father to be a mechanic's apprentice. As Lalloo grows, he makes friends and saves money, wanting to free his parents and sisters in this slow-burn, haunting debut that examines grief, hope, and family love. For fans of: Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. |
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| Huguette by Cara BlackA teenage Huguette, ill-treated by her father and others, survives the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. During the lawless aftermath, she assists a famous film director and deals in black market material. Fans of the author's acclaimed Aimée Leduc mysteries set in contemporary Paris will appreciate meeting her grandfather, a kind cop who helps Huguette, in this compelling standalone tale. Read-alike: Pam Jenoff's Last Twilight in Paris. |
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Cursed Daughters
by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer.
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| Best Offer Wins by Marisa KashinoFormer journalist Marisa Kashino’s debut is a darkly comic thriller about the ruthless Washington, D.C. housing market. Desperate to secure her dream home and start a family, Margo Miyake’s obsessive pursuit escalates from awkward charm offensives to manipulative, violent schemes. Sharp, satirical, and chaotic, the novel explores millennial anxieties, material obsession, and the extremes of ambition. |
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| House of Day, House of Night by Olga TokarczukThis reissuing of a book first published in Polish in 1998 by a Nobel and Booker Prize winner explores life in a small village along the Polish-Czech border. Stylistically complex and using a variety of elements (stories, gossip, recipes, etc.), Olga Tokarczuk's "scattered fragments are beautifully tied together to form a unified whole" (Library Journal). Try this next: Vaim by Jon Fosse. |
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| And Then There Was You by Sophie CousensHoping to impress her more accomplished classmates (including her former best friend, film director Sean Adler) at her ten-year college reunion, stuck-in-a-rut Chloe Fairway joins an exclusive dating service to secure her perfect plus-one. Rob is everything she could have dreamed of...but he’s a robot. Will her fake romance lead to real love? For another witty and heartfelt romance with speculative elements, try Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer. |
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Lucky Girl
by Allie Tagle-Dokus
Lucy Gardiner felt like she was put on earth to dance. Amid the chaos of her Massachusetts upbringing—her loving, erratic brothers; her overburdened mother—twelve-year-old Lucy is discovered and cast on a new dance reality show. When its popstar judge, Bruise, takes an obsessive interest in Lucy's raw talent, Lucy's life suddenly becomes what she's always wanted-or has it? In the whirlwind of talk shows, movie sets, and extravagant Hollywood parties of her teenage years, Lucy slowly grows more alienated from her family. And when a series of youthful mistakes comes back to haunt her, she finds she must free herself from Bruise's world of fame and all its trappings and decide where her home truly is.
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Where He Left Me
by Nicole Baart
Sadie Sheridan's new husband Felix, a professor of planetary sciences, has vowed to never leave her. But when Felix doesn't return from a work trip, Sadie is stranded at Hemlock House, the remote mountain homestead where her husband grew up. Doubt creeps into Sadie's heart. Then panic. Where is he? Scared and alone in a place that feels haunted, Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing husband left behind. But when she catches strangers lurking around the property, Hemlock House instantly becomes both a sanctuary and a prison. Navigating threats from outside and in, Sadie is forced to confront shocking secrets that leave her questioning whether she really knows Felix at all. As a powerful storm bears down, she must decide: is she fighting only for her own survival now--or for the man who promised her the stars?
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The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
by Isaacson, Walter
To celebrate America's 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson takes readers on a ... deep dive into the creation of one of history's most powerful sentences: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation. Isaacson unpacks its genius, word by word, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it.
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Captain's Dinner: A Shipwreck, an Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial That Changed Legal History
by Adam Cohen
On May 19, 1884, the yacht Mignonette set sail from England on what should have been an uneventful voyage. When their vessel sank in the Atlantic, Captain Thomas Dudley and his crew found themselves adrift in a tiny lifeboat. As days turned to weeks, they faced an unthinkable choice: starve to death or resort to cannibalism. Their decision to sacrifice the youngest--17-year-old cabin boy Richard Parker--ignited a firestorm of controversy upon their rescue. Instead of being hailed as heroes and survivors, Dudley and his crew found themselves at the center of Regina v. Dudley and Stephens, a landmark murder trial that would establish the legal precedent that necessity cannot justify murder--a principle that continues to shape Anglo-American law today.
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Rosemary Long Ears
by Susie Ghahremani
A spirited dog with extraordinary ears creates mayhem and memories with her young human friend.
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Dream by the Shadows
by Logan Karlie
The Kingdom of Noctis is plagued by Corruption: a curse that spreads through dreaming. The Shadow Bringer rules from his castle in the Dream Realm, stealing souls one dreamer at a time. Only an elixir, taken every night before sleeping, can ward off the dreams and halt Corruption. But for some, the allure of the Dream Realm proves too strong. Esmer Havenfall desperately wants to escape her dreadful village. When her sister, Eden, succumbs to Corruption and their elixir-dealing parents are accused of a horrific crime, Esmer's life unravels into a nightmare. Then she dreams of the Shadow Bringer and learns that his sinister magic might be a part of her, too. Enticed by the prospect of ending her kingdom's curse and avenging her family, Esmer follows him deeper within the Dream Realm. But the prince of darkness has a haunted past, one that might change the fate of Esmer's kingdom-and her heart-forever. Lush and vividly imagined, this seductive gothic fantasy is filled with magic, secrets, and dreamy shadow-haunted romance.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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