September 2025 list by Donalee Jacobs |
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Automatic Noodle
by Annalee Newitz
From an acclaimed science fiction author comes a cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own restaurant.
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The Bartered Bride
by Erica Vetsch
Jonathan Kennebrae thrives in his role running his grandfather's shipping enterprise. That is until his grandfather delivers an ultimatum—Jonathan will marry Melissa Brooke or lose his inheritance. Melissa Brooke has always been the perfect daughter, doing what she's told for the good of the family. Except Melissa secretly teaches literacy to immigrant women and fights for the suffragette movement. If she goes through with the wedding, she'll be forced to abandon her life's work. Yet refusing the union could cost her any chance at an inheritance to fund her cause. Can Jonathan and Melissa find a way that gives them both what they love.
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The Bitter End Birding Society
by Amanda Cox
Hometown hero Ana Leigh Watkins ventures to Bitter End, Tennessee, to help her great-aunt get her house ready to sell. But when a ragtag group of amateur bird watchers take her under their wing, she discovers long-buried family history that puts her hope for new beginnings to the test
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The Book of Lost Hours
by Hayley Gelfuso
In 1938, 11-year-old Lisavet Levy becomes trapped in a mysterious library of memory called the time space, where her path intertwines with American timekeeper Ernest Duquesne, whose 1965 death compels his niece Amelia to uncover buried truths amid shifting histories and shadowy CIA intrigue.
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The Break-In
by Katherine Faulkner
After killing an intruder in self-defense while hosting a playdate at her London home, Alice becomes obsessed with uncovering his identity, unraveling unsettling clues that suggest her seemingly perfect life may be built on hidden betrayals.
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Five Found Dead
by Sulari Gentill
After surviving terminal cancer, Joe boards the Orient Express for a fresh start, but when a passenger disappears and the train is quarantined, he and his sister race to catch a killer before they become the next victims.
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For the Record
by Emma Lord
Pop princess Mackenzie Waters and punk rockstar Sam Blaze electrified audiences as their bands clashed on stage, but behind the scenes, their simmering tension grew into something more—until suddenly both bands fell apart; but will the two of them get a second chance at love?
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Forget Me Not
by Stacy Willingham
Returning to coastal South Carolina for the summer, journalist Claire Campbell takes a job at a vineyard near where her sister vanished decades earlier—and when she uncovers a disturbing old diary, she begins to suspect the past holds deadly secrets, from the best-selling author of A Flicker in the Dark.
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The Grand Paloma Resort
by Cleyvis Natera
As ambitious resort manager Laura nears a career-defining promotion, her troubled sister Elena becomes entangled in a harrowing scandal involving missing children, forcing both women to confront the brutal realities of privilege, exploitation, and sacrifice within a luxury Dominican resort.
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The Harvey Girls
by Juliette Fay
In 1926, runaway socialite Charlotte Crowninshield and resourceful Nebraska teen Billie MacTavish join the Harvey Girls on the Santa Fe railroad, navigating secrets, prejudice, and punishing training as they forge uneasy ties while working at the Grand Canyon's El Tovar hotel.
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Hemlock & Silver
by T. Kingfisher
Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on. But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja's unorthodox methods can save her.
Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all.
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The Hounding
by Xenobe Purvis
The inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls, but they've always had plenty to say about them. As the rotating perspectives of five villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Even if local belief in witchcraft is waning, an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate conclusion: Something isn't right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it. The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth-century England whose neighbors are convinced they're turning into dogs.
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House of the Beast
by Michelle Wong
After sacrificing her arm to a terrifying god in exchange for her mother's survival, Alma is trapped in her estranged father's cruel noble House and begins plotting revenge, aided by the monstrous Beast bound to her.
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The Incredible Kindness of Paper
by Evelyn Skye
Decades after a mysterious childhood bond is severed, Chloe and Oliver navigate adult loneliness and lingering trauma in New York City, until a trail of yellow origami roses rekindles memories, hope, and the possibility of reconnection.
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Katabasis
by R. F. Kuang
Alice has sacrificed everything to work with Professor Grimes at Cambridge, the world's greatest magician, but when he dies in a magical accident and is sent to Hell, she and rival Peter follow him, using only tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them.
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L.A. Women
by Ella Berman
In 1960s L.A., writer and Hollywood outsider Lane becomes envious when socialite and fellow writer Gala gains fame; 10 years later she betrays Gala by writing a successful book based on her life—her only problem is Gala's now been missing for months.
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Love Forms
by Claire Adam
Now 58 and divorced with her sons busy with their own lives, Dawn yearns to reconnect with the baby she gave up for adoption in Trinidad when she was sixteen, and she retraces her steps in an emotional journey to find her child.
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Love's a Witch
by Tricia O'Malley
With her twenty-fifth birthday looming—the day witches come into their magic—Sloane MacGregor reluctantly returns to Briarhaven in Scotland to break the centuries-old curse haunting their bloodline. Knox Douglas, Briarhaven's mayor, has no time for a cursed MacGregor, even if he once crushed on her.
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Loved One
by Aisha Muharrar
Julia's first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly at twenty-nine, and after beginning an intercontinental quest to recover his possessions, she collides with Elizabeth, the last woman he loved, who insists on withholding Gabe's beloved guitar—both women, it turns out, have something to hide.
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The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective
by Jo Nichols
Mrs. B, the landlady of The Marigold Cottages is a stubborn idealist who only rents to people she cares about: Sophie, an anxious young playwright with a dark past; Hamilton, an agoraphobe who likes to overshare; Ocean, a queer sculptor raising two kids alone; and more.
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Moderation
by Elaine Castillo
When Girlie Delmundo's parent company purchases Fairground—the preeminent VR content provider—she becomes an elite VR moderator, which solves her family's money and mobility problems, despite the isolation that VR requires; but when she meets Playground's cofounder William Cheung, she finds herself falling in love.
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Noble
by Mesu Andrews
The only child of a king, Princess Maakah is sent by her father to marry the rebel, David ben Jesse, whom she considers a lowly shepherd from an unremarkable family. Disappointed by those she trusts, she must learn to place her faith in Yahweh, the God who protects David, and allow Him to make this rebel shepherd the king of her heart.
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People Like Us
by Jason Mott
In People Like Us, two Black writers are trying to find peace and belonging in a world that is riven with gun violence. One is on a global book tour after a big prize win; the other is set to give a speech at a school that has suffered a shooting. And as their two storylines merge, truths and antics abound in equal measure: menaces lurk in the shadows; tiny French cars putter around the countryside; handguns seem to hover in the air; and dreams endure against all odds. Jason Mott's electric new novel is not a memoir, yet it has deeply personal connections to his life.
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The Re-Write
by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
After their breakup, aspiring novelist Temi takes a ghostwriting job to make ends meet—only to find the subject is her ex, Wale, now a dating show star—forcing them both to confront unfinished business and the possibility of starting over.
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The Society of Unknowable Objects
by Gareth Brown
A trio of seemingly everyday people are members of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects—ordinary items with extraordinary properties.
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Songs For Other People's Weddings
by David Levithan
J is a wedding singer. Unlike most wedding singers, he writes an original song for every couple—his way of finding out about the things that brought them together and the feelings they're experiencing. However, J's own love life is in a state of flux. His girlfriend is off to New York for work, and as her life grows bigger and busier without him in it, he finds it harder to stick to a happy tune. He doesn't know whether to encourage the soon-to-be-wed couples or warn them. When complications hit and love is tested, is there any way to sing through all the noise? This audiobook includes original music written and performed by Jens Lekman.
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Too Old For This
by Samantha Downing
Retired and hidden under a new identity, Lottie Jones faces exposure when a persistent journalist starts digging into her murderous past, forcing her to confront old crimes and attempt one more cover-up before age—and curiosity—catch up with her.
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The Unseen
by Ania Ahlborn
After a devastating loss, Isla Hansen takes in a mysterious orphan on her remote Colorado property, but as unsettling phenomena disrupt the household, her family begins to suspect the child's presence may be tied to a reality-warping force beyond their comprehension.
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The Violet Hour
by Victoria Benton Frank
After breakup and personal tragedy, Violet Adams questions her identity while navigating life among her vibrant family on Sullivan's Island, aided by her influencer best friend Aly Knox as they seek reinvention, healing, and purpose in South Carolina's Lowcountry.
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When the Cranes Fly South
by Lisa Ridzén
Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he's got left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten to keep him company. Now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he's expressed his love over the years. Now available in the U.S., the international bestseller won the Swedish Book of the Year Award.
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