Albert Lea Public Library: Must-Read Books: January 2026

Adult Fiction

The Devil's Daughter
by Danielle Steel

Two diametrically different sisters--one calculating and egotistical, the other honorable, kind, and compassionate--clash in this compelling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel. Graduating magna cum laude from MIT is the happiest day of Billie Banks's life, although her family is not part of it. Her mother, who always supported her, died when Billie was seventeen. Since then, her father has been slowly drinking himself to death on the family farm in Iowa, and she and her younger sister, Mickie, have grown even more estranged. Growing up, the siblings could not have been more different. Billie was shy, small, bookish, more like their mother; tall, blond Mickie was boldly sexual, craving attention, and lacking empathy for anyone, like their father. Despite Billie's attempts to look after Mickie following their mother's death, her sister consistently treated her with cruelty. So when Mickie invites Billie to move in with her in Los Angeles, Billie is both wary and hopeful. Taking a leap of faith, she joins her sister on the West Coast. While Mickie lands a questionable modeling job and falls in with a fast crowd, Billie begins working at a pathology lab and starts dating a warm, supportive reporter at the Los Angeles Times. But then the siblings' difficult history once again rises to the surface. This gripping story of a sisterly bond strained to the breaking point by narcissism and temptation is an unforgettable tale of good and evil from Danielle Steel.

Sunward
by William Alexander

In this cozy science fiction, space courier Tova Lir decides to start training "baby bots," young emergent AI machines who behave more like teenagers than computers. When Tova and her latest charge, Agatha Panza von Sparkles, accidentally catch the attention of an assassin, the two must race across the solar system to evade death and save the rest of her foster bots. For fans of: LGBTQIA+ space opera with memorable characters such as Riley August's The Last Gifts of the Universe.

Future Saints
by Ashley Winstead

Perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six and In Five Years--a beautiful, powerful, and transportive new novel about a music executive desperately trying to bring a rock band back from the brink, from bestselling author Ashley Winstead.This is a love story, but not the one you're expecting. When record executive Theo meets the Future Saints, they're bombing at a dive bar in their hometown. Since the tragic death of their manager, the band has been in a downward spiral and Theo has been dispatched to coax a new--and successful--album out of them, or else let them go. Immediately, Theo is struck by Hannah, the group's impetuous lead singer, who's gone off script by debuting a whole new sound, replacing their California pop with gut-wrenching rock. When this new music goes viral, striking an unexpected chord with fans, Theo puts his career on the line to give the Saints one last shot at success with a new tour, new record, and new start. But Hannah's grief has larger consequences for the group, and her increasingly destructive antics become a distraction as she and her sister Ginny--her lifelong partner in crime--undermine Theo at every turn. Hannah isn't ready to move on or prepared for the fame she's been chasing, and the weight of her problems jeopardize the band, her growing closeness with Theo, and, worst of all, her relationship with her sister--all while the world watches closely. The Future Saints's big break is here--if only they can survive it. A novel about sisterhood, friendship, and the ghosts that haunt us, The Future Saints is a mesmerizing look at grief, love, and the music industry that's so raw and emotional, you'll want to play it on repeat.

And Then There Was You
by Sophie Cousens

Hoping 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.

Meet the Newmans
by Jennifer Niven

For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons Guy and Shep have ruled television as America's favorite family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now it's 1964, and the Newmans' perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves. Del is keeping an explosive secret from his wife, and Dinah is slowly going numb--literally. Steady, stable Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and rock 'n roll idol Shep may finally be in real trouble. When Del--the creative motor behind the show--is in a mysterious car accident, Dinah decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires Juliet Dunne, an outspoken young reporter, to help her write the final episode. But Dinah and Juliet have wildly different perspectives about what it means to be a woman, and a family, in 1964.

The Seven Daughters of Dupree
by Nikesha Elise Williams

From the two-time Emmy Award-winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast comes a sweeping multi-generational epic following seven generations of Dupree women as they navigate love, loss, and the unyielding ties of family in the tradition of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois. It's 1995, and fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, keeps her secrets close, while her grandmother Gladys remains silent about the family's past, including why she left Land's End, Alabama, in 1953. As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers a legacy of family secrets, where every generation of Dupree women has posed more questions than answers. From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass for white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby's fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia's future forever, the Dupree women carry the weight of their heritage. Bound by a mysterious malediction that means they will only give birth to daughters, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience, and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom. The Seven Daughters of Dupree masterfully weaves together themes of generational trauma, Black women's resilience, and unbreakable familial bonds. Echoing the literary power of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, Nikesha Elise Williams delivers a feminist literary fiction that explores the ripple effects of actions, secrets, and love through seven generations of Black women. E-book available on Libby.

The Witching Hours
by Heather Graham

A haunting murder and kidnapping on the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts, sends two people with unique talents hunting for answers from both the past and present in internationally bestselling author Heather Graham's electrifying new Krewe of Hunters spin off for fans of Stephen King, Jayne Ann Krentz, Riley Sager, and Simone St. James. Skye McMahon sees things. Good and bad, the past unreels in her mind's eye like a movie. Such is Skye's uncanny life. That's why she's been summoned by Special Supervisory paranormal investigators Jackson and Angela Crowe, to help solve a mystifying murder and kidnapping on the outskirts of historic Salem. Alicia Bolton discovered her grandfather-in-law murdered, her nanny and her young son have both vanished without a trace, and her infant daughter was found terrified and crying in her playpen. Skye, partnered with the intriguing Zachary Erickson, a charmer with a psychic touch, is at first beset only by visions of Salem's witch trials and the tragic, paranoia-fueled executions. Then she sets foot in the Boltons' house. What Skye sees is not another innocent from the 17th century swinging from a noose. What she sees is a bona fide crone, pointed hat and all, preying on the family like something from a children's nightmarish fairy tale. And when another local woman and her daughter inexplicably vanish, Skye has a second vision--that same wicked witch creeping up on her new victims on a lonely Salem road. It's impossible to believe. Yet Skye's visions never lie. As Skye and Zachary put their otherworldly abilities to use, and grow closer with each revelation, they're lured into an ominous mystery enveloping Salem like a fog. Navigating suspects, whispers of a cult, and a sinister history that threatens to reignite in the present, with Zachary's help, only Skye can see the way to find the missing--but first, she may have to dance with the devil himself.

Best Offer Wins
by Marisa Kashino

Former 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.

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold
by Seanan McGuire

A fan-favorite character returns in this action-packed installment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series. After Nancy was cast out of the Halls of the Dead and forced to enroll at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children, she never believed she'd find her door again, and when she did, she didn't look back. She disappeared from the school to resume her place in the Halls, never intending to return. Years have passed. A darkness has descended on the Halls, and the living statues who populate them are dying at the hands of the already dead. The Lord and Lady who rule the land are helpless to stop the slaughter, forcing Nancy to leave the Halls again, this time on purpose, as she attempts to seek much-needed help from her former schoolmates. But who would volunteer to quest in a world where the dead roam freely? And why are the dead so intent on adding to their number?

Wreck Your Heart: A Mystery
by Lori Rader-Day

From award-winning author Lori Rader-Day, Wreck Your Heart is an engaging, wisecracking and wonderful crime novel with a big heart, about a country and midwestern singer out to catch her big break before family--or murder--wrecks everything. Dahlia Doll Devine had the kind of hardscrabble beginning that could launch a thousand broken-hearted country songs, but now she's the star of her own stage at McPhee's Tavern. As part of Chicago's--yes, Chicago's--country music scene, Dahlia is an up-and-coming singer in spangles and boots of classic country tunes. Up and coming, that is, until her boyfriend Joey up and went, taking the rent money with him. So Dahlia is back to square one, relying on Alex McPhee--again. Alex helped her out of a bad situation when she was a kid living rough with her mother. Now he's part landlord, part band booster, all-around rescuer. It's just that Dahlia wishes she didn't keep giving him reasons to have to do it. Just as Dahlia suspects she's scraped rock bottom, the mother she hasn't spoken to in twenty years shows up with something to say. The next morning, a distraught young woman arrives at the bar, asking after her missing mother--Dahlia's mother, too, even if the missing suburban PTA mom the girl describes sounds pretty different from the one who let Dahlia down all those years ago. Though no one is using the word sister any time soon, Dahlia lets herself be drawn into reuniting the family that might have been hers. But when a body is discovered outside McPhee's Tavern, the crime threatens not just the place Dahlia has made into a home, but everything she's believed about her past, her dreams for the future, and the people she was just, maybe, beginning to let into her heart.

The First Time I Saw Him
by Laura Dave

Laura Dave continues Hannah Hall's pulse-pounding journey in the riveting and deeply moving sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling blockbuster and Apple TV+ show, The Last Thing He Told Me. How far would you go for a second chance? Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California. Together, they've forged a relationship with Bailey's grandfather Nicholas and are putting the past behind them. But when Owen shows up at Hannah's new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again. Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them. As a thrilling drama unfolds, Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety--and finds there just might be a way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance. A gripping, rich, and deeply moving novel about the power of forgiveness, The First Time I Saw Him picks up right where the epilogue for the genuinely moving (The New York Times) The Last Thing He Told Me left off, giving readers the eagerly awaited and absolutely exhilarating sequel to Dave's global blockbuster.

The Stories We Carry
by Robin W. Pearson

Bookstore owner Glory Pryor isn't ready to let go of her North Carolina shop and retire, even if her kind husband of five years thinks she should. Then the arrival of a widow and her young child, who have connections to Glory's past, shake up everything in this warm-hearted Christian novel. Try this next: Lauraine Snelling's The Florence Legacy.

House of Day, House of Night
by Olga Tokarczuk

This 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.

Beasts of the Sea
by Iida Turpeinen

Part of Captain Bering's Great Northern Expedition in 1741, naturalist Georg Steller notices an animal that's never been documented. But the starving men hunt and kill the gentle sea cows for food, which leads to their extinction just 27 years later. As years pass, a sea cow skeleton is found, studied, and moved to a museum in the 1950s in this "masterful debut" (Booklist) that fuses science and literature. Read-alike: Ethan Rutherford's North Sun, or The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther.

Adult Nonfiction

Mexico: A 500-Year History
by Paul Gillingham

Historian Paul Gillingham's evocative and nuanced history of Mexico's global influence chronicles the country's evolution, from Spain's colonization of the Aztec empire in the early 16th century to Mexico's role today. Further reading: America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin.

Daring to Be Free: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World
by Sudhir Hazareesingh

Historian and Black Spartacus author Sudhir Hazareesingh's thought-provoking revisionist history eschews Eurocentric notions of abolition to reveal the forgotten ways in which enslaved Africans and African Americans actively resisted their captors in thought and deed. Further reading: Brooding Over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women's Lethal Resistance by Nikki M. Taylor.

Youth Fiction

Paper Chase
by Julia Donaldson; illustrated by Victoria Sandøy

When Ginger's paper airplane collides with James' book under the tallest tree in the forest, it kicks off a friendship full of joyful, imaginative play. This endearing story in verse also depicts how trees become paper, and how natural resources should be used respectfully.

Gumshoe: A Graphic Novel
by Brenna Thummler

From the visionary creator of the Sheets trilogy comes a never-before-seen contemporary middle grade graphic novel about a spunky group of girls, set against the backdrop of the Arizona desert. Perfect for fans of Paper Girls and This Was Our Pact. In the hot, gossipy town of Stony Lonesome, shy eleven-year old Willa interacts with others the only way that feels right to her--the mail. She loves the mail so much that she hopes to become a mail carrier herself one day. But her dreams of delivering birthday cards, thank-you notes, and love letters come crashing down when she's mistaken for the notorious Two Gum Tilly, a bandit rumored to be stealing mail for as long as folks can recall. Now an outlaw herself, Willa realizes the only way to clear her name is to bring the real crook to justice. But when a chance encounter introduces her to the Gumshoe Gang, a group of runaways looking to right the wrongs of the letter-looting thief, she finds that human connection might be her only path to freedom. Can Willa clear her name and revive her dreams of postal glory, or has she stamped her last letter . . . forever?

The Moon Without Stars
by Chanel Miller

The New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor-winning author of Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All explores the way growing up, finding friends, and discovering who you are can be both awkward and empowering in this heartfelt middle school novel.At the beginning of seventh grade, Luna knows who she is: an observant, quiet girl who loves writing and making zines with her best friend, Scott. But when one of their zines takes off, Luna is somehow swept up into the popular group and learns just how much of herself she's going to have to compromise to stay there. Will she give up her writing? Her best friend? What about her own beliefs about who she is and what she stands for? Featuring author-illustrator Chanel Miller's signature line drawings, The Moon Without Stars is a deeply personal and often funny novel about what it means to lose and then find yourself again during the vulnerable, life-changing years of middle school.

Mindworks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction
by Neal Shusterman

A hot tub monster, an all-consuming virtual reality game, and a sky full of bats are just some of the things menacing the characters in this short story collection showcasing science fiction, dystopian settings, and horror. Fans of Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series will also appreciate two new stories from that world.

Contact your librarian for more great books!

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