|
|
This & That: If You Like Anime, Try These Books September 2026 |
|
|
|
|
|
Shadow of the Fox
by Julie Kagawa
In this first book of her Japanese mythology-inspired Shadow of the Fox trilogy, bestselling author Julie Kagawa weaves a stunning, high-stakes tale of alliances and deceptions, characters who aren't what they seem, and secrets that could change the fate of the world.
|
|
|
|
Warcross
by Marie Lu
For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn't just a game--it's a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty-hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. To make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships--only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.
|
|
|
|
Instant Karma
by Marissa Meyer
In Marissa Meyer's young adult contemporary romance, a girl is suddenly gifted with the ability to cast instant karma on those around her - both good and bad.
|
|
|
|
See You Yesterday
by Rachel Lynn Solomon
After reliving the same day for months, eighteen-year-old Barrett reluctantly teams up with her nemesis Miles to escape the time loop, and soon finds herself falling for him, but what she does not know is what they will mean to each other if they finally make it to tomorrow.
|
|
|
|
Heir: (A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick)
by Sabaa Tahir
An orphan. An outcast. A prince. And a killer who will bring an empire to its knees.Growing up in the Kegari slums, AIZ has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. SIRSHA is a down-on-her-luck tracker who uses magic to trace her marks. QUIL is the crown prince of the Empire and nephew of a venerated empress, but he's loath to take the throne when his aunt steps down. As the son of a reviled emperor, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need.
|
|
|
|
Darker by Four
by June CL Tan
Rui has one goal in mind--honing her magic to avenge her mother's death. Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet--had he been born with magic. Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble--and the human world will be next if the King is not found. When an accident causes Rui's power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King.
|
|
|
|
You've Reached Sam
by Dustin Thao
If I Stay meets Your Name in Dustin Thao's You've Reached Sam, a heartfelt novel about love and loss and what it means to say goodbye. Julie Clarke, 17, 's life was turned upside down when Sam - her beloved boyfriend - had an accident and died. Heartbroken, Julie did everything she could to erase Sam from her life: threw away all her belongings, deleted all her messages and voicemails... Suddenly one day, Julie accidentally called Sam's phone number, and he picked up... Young love, the pain of loss, and healing. The call from heaven touched the hearts of anyone who believes in love and miracles.
|
|
|
|
Chain Gang All Stars: A Read with Jenna Pick
by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It s the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom. In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer.--
|
|
|
|
Legends & Lattes
by Travis Baldree
Travis Baldree's novel of high fantasy and low stakes.
|
|
|
|
Himawari House
by Harmony Becker
When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths. The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends. But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heart breaks, and the everyday challenges of being fish out of water?--Provided by publisher.
|
|
|
|
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi: A New Fantasy Series Set a Thousand Years Before the City of Brass
by Shannon Chakraborty
Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean's most notorious pirates, she's survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.But when she's tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she's offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade's kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family's future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God's will.Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there's more to this job, and the girl's disappearance, than she was led to believe.
|
|
|
|
The Poppy War
by R. F. Kuang
When war orphan Rin aced the Keju-the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the academies-she surprised everyone: test officials, the guardians who wanted to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise, and even herself. But being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not easy at Sinegard, the most elite military school in Nikan. Targeted by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers that gods long thought dead are very much alive, and that she possesses a lethal, unearthly power-an aptitude for the nearly mythical art of shamanism that could be the weapon the empire desperately needs. While Nikara is at peace, its enemy and former occupiers, the Federation of Mugen, bides its time...and a Third Poppy War is just a spark away. Rin's shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. Yet as she discovers more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity. And it may already be too late.--Provided by publisher.
|
|
|
|
Jade City
by Fonda Lee
The first in the Green Bone Saga trilogy. A gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.
|
|
|
|
The Teller of Small Fortunes
by Julie Leong
Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells 'small' fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences. Even if it's a lonely life, it's better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they're joined by a baker with a 'knead' for adventure, and--of course--a slightly magical cat--
|
|
|
|
A Deadly Education
by Naomi Novik
From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic. The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Last Graduate and The Golden Enclaves.
|
|
|
|
Mistborn: The Final Empire
by Brandon Sanderson
The Mistborn Series has the thrills of a heist story, the twistiness of political intrigue, and the epic scale of a landmark fantasy saga. Once, a hero arose to save the world. He failed. Ever since, the world has been a wasteland of ash and mist controlled by the immortal emperor known as the Lord Ruler. But hope survives. A new uprising is forming, one built around the ultimate caper, the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind, and the determination of an unlikely heroine: a street urchin who must learn to master the power of a Mistborn.
|
|
|
|
Tress of the Emerald Sea: A Cosmere Novel
by Brandon Sanderson
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
|
|
|
|
A Darker Shade of Magic
by V. E. Schwab
Enter #1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab's beloved Shades of Magic trilogy--a dazzling world of parallel Londons where magic thrives, starves, or lies forgotten, and where power can destroy just as quickly as it can create.
|
|
|
|
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
by V. E. Schwab
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever--and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
|
|
|
|
|
|