Must-Read Books
June 2025
Fiction
My Name Is Emilia del Valle
by Isabel Allende

In 1800s San Francisco, Emilia del Valle is raised by her former Irish nun mother and a loving stepdad, never knowing her Chilean aristocrat father. As a young journalist covering the Chilean Civil War, Emilia begins a romance and finally meets the man who abandoned her. Isabel Allende fans will relish reading about the del Valles, whose various members have often appeared in her work. Try this next: Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie.
Where the axe is buried : a novel
by Ray Nayler

A geopolitical thriller about a disintegrating Western world and the race to take control of the mysterious technology that could hold the key to the brewing revolution against tyranny.
The Art Thieves
by Andrea L. Rogers

In 2052, Stevie, a Cherokee girl working at a museum in Texas, with the world in a constant cycle of drought and superstorm, ice and fire, discovers it's about to get a whole lot worse when a mysterious boy from the future arrives and tells her what's to come. 
Old School Indian
by Aaron John Curtis

Dealing with a mysterious illness, middle-aged Miami bookseller Abe Jacobs returns home to New York's Mohawk reservation. Looking for relief, he sees family, a native healer, and doctors, while pondering his past mental health issues and troubled marriage. Meanwhile, his poet alter ego serves up poems and witty thoughts. Fans of Morgan Talty's Fire Exit should try this "electrifying debut" (Publishers Weekly).
The Other Side of Now
by Paige Harbison

With a leading role on a hit TV show and a relationship with Hollywood's latest heartthrob, Meg Bryan appears to have everything she ever wanted, but underneath the layers of makeup and hairspray, her happiness is as fake as her stage name, Lana Lord.
Hardly A Gentleman
by Eloisa James

In the 2nd witty Accidental Brides Regency romance, Clara Vetry, recently disgraced by the ton, disguises herself as a housekeeper and accepts a position at Castle CaerLaven in the Scottish Highlands, where she develops an instant attraction to the widowed Laird Caelan MacCrae. Try this next: A Duke Never Tells by Suzanne Enoch.
Wendy's ever after
by Julie Wright

Wendy Darling embarks on a new journey where her past in Neverland collides with her future hopes for love, only to rediscover the adventure never truly ended.
Totally and completely fine : a novel
by Elissa Sussman

From the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask comes an inspiring romance novel about honoring the past, living in the present, and loving for the future.
The Names
by Florence Knapp

Cora Atkin is off to register her baby's name when nine-year-old Maia suggests they call the baby Bear instead of Gordon, which her father has insisted upon. Cora's pick? Julian. Tracing the results of each choice over 35 years, this thought-provoking novel and Read with Jenna selection presents a complex story about abuse, fate, and family. Read-alike: The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas.
Death of an ex / : A Vandy Myrick Mystery
by Delia Pitts

Delia Pitts expertly writes about family, race, class, and grief in her mysteries. Vandy Myrick captured readers' and critics' hearts in Trouble in Queenstown. She returns in Death of an Ex, where Vandy tries to piece together what brought her ex-husband's life to an end. Queenstown, New Jersey, feels big when you need help and tiny when you want privacy. For Vandy Myrick, that's both a blessing and a curse. Now that Vandy's back in "Q-Town," her services as her hometown's only Black woman private investigator have earned her more celebrity-or notoriety-than she figured. Keeping busy with work helps Vandy deal with the grief of losing her daughter, stitching the seams, cementing the gaps. The memories will always remain, and they come crashing back to the surface when her ex-husband, Phil Bolden, walks back into her life. Promising everything, returning home, restoring family. Until she answers her door to the news that Phil has been murdered. And Vandy decides Phil is now her client. It's hard to separate the Phil that Vandy knew from the one Queenstown did. She sees him-and their daughter-in Phil's son, who attends a prestigious local high school. She sees the layers of a complicated marriage with his wife. She sees all of Phil's various roles: parent, husband, businessman, philanthropist. But which role got him killed?
The bewitching
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multi-generational gothic horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.
The Peculiar Gift of July
by Ashley Ream

A feel-good, upmarket novel with a dash of subtle magic and an ensemble cast of oddball, small town characters about forgiveness, family, and the sense of humor it takes to live with the ones we love the most.
All the tomorrows after
by Joanne Yi

When her mother spends her entire savings, seventeen-year-old Korean American Winter turns to her estranged father to earn money while navigating her first relationship and the sudden loss of her grandma
Mrs. Plansky goes rogue
by Spencer Quinn

This tale of the irresistible and unforgettable Mrs. Plansky, "a terrific character" (Stephen King), will lead her up and down coastal Florida and beyond in a brand-new, whirlwind adventure, Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue! Mrs. Plansky is fresh off of winning a thrilling senior tennis championship with her doubles partner, Kev Dinardo, and is gearing up to celebrate with him on his yacht. That is, until the yacht is destroyed in a fire. Kev claims the fire was caused by a lightning strike, pure bad luck, but there's one small problem-Mrs. Plansky didn't see any lightning. Already certain there's more going on than she's being told, Mrs. Plansky's curiosity turns to concern when Kev goes missing. Her suspicion gets the better of her and leads her to break into his house, only to find it ransacked. But Kev isn't the only person Mrs. Plansky has to worry about. A conversation with her dad reveals that not long ago, he'd introduced Kev to Jack, Mrs. Plansky's wayward tennis pro son. And now, her dad-distracted by arrangements for his upcoming wedding-either can't remember or has no interest in divulging any details. Worse? Now Jack has gone missing, too.
Adult Nonfiction
Mark Twain
by Ron Chernow

In his well-researched latest, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow (Alexander Hamilton) offers a nuanced and richly detailed portrait of writer Mark Twain that's been deemed a "monumental achievement" (Booklist) and "essential reading" (Kirkus Reviews).
America, América: A New History of the New World
by Greg Grandin

Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning historian Greg Gandin's sweeping history of North and South America examines five centuries of the continents' relationship to each other. "It's a monumental new view of the New World," raves Publishers Weekly. Try this next: El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America by Carrie Gibson.
Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America
by Michael Luo

New Yorker executive editor Michael Luo's intimate and richly detailed history chronicles Chinese immigration and exclusion in America from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. Further reading: Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad by Gordon H. Chang; America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee.
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
by Mary Annette Pember

Ojibwe journalist Mary Annette Pember's well-researched debut examines the origins and evolution of Native American boarding schools in the United States, revealing how the impacts of her own mother's experiences at a Catholic-run school contributed to her family's generational trauma. Further reading: The Knowing by Tanya Talaga.
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson
by Tourmaline

Award-winning filmmaker Tourmaline expands upon her 2017 documentary film Happy Birthday, Marsha! for this inspiring and incisive portrait of pioneering trans activist and drag queen Marsha P. Johnson, who played a key role during the Stonewall riots in 1969 and co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970. Further reading: Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City by Elyssa Maxx Goodman.
Youth Fiction
The dog who made it better
by Katherin Nolte

Dr. Blob, the family dog, must find a way to protect his family once tragedy strikes.
Millie Fleur's poison garden
by Christy Mandin

Arriving in Garden Glen, where every house and garden look the same, Millie Fleur La Fae plants her spectacularly strange garden, but when the townspeople call it poison, she sets out to find kindred spirits who'll appreciate all the garden has to offer.
Cranky, crabby crow (saves the world)
by Corey R. Tabor

All the animals think Crow is just cranky, but there's more to his actions than meets the eye.
Youth Nonfiction
Wonder Wings : Guess Who's Flying
by Rebecca E. Hirsch

Wings can soar and wings can skim. Wings can hover, hum, and swim. Small wings, big wings, near and far. Can you guess whose wings these are? Some wings make music, some wings move too fast to see, and some wings carry people all over the world. Can you guess who these wings belong to? Learn about the wonderous world of wings through rhyming riddles that will encourage little readers to guess along with every page turn. From hummingbirds to pterosaurs, honeybees to maple seeds-each pair of wings is unique, and each gets its due in this delightful nonfiction picture book.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Albert Lea Public Library
211 E Clark St.
Albert Lea, Minnesota 56007
(507) 377-4350

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