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Staff Picks September 2026 Reviews and Recommendations from Our Adult and Teen Services Staff |
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Abby recommends: Tropesick by Lauren OkieIn this lush, slow-burning romance, two childhood neighbors, connected by a shared tragedy, unexpectedly reunite to ghostwrite a love story for a reclusive author. Spending the summer at her secluded Hamptons estate, they soon discover that dozens of classic romance tropes, including the ones they're crafting on page, are mysteriously playing out in real life. "There are multiple layers of metafictionality to this clever romance about romance from Okie (The Best Worst Thing)" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Astrid recommends: The Fox Wife by Yangsze ChooIn 1908 Manchuria, Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the identity of a dead courtesan, while a secretive woman named Snow, seeking vengeance for her lost child, navigates the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits to find a murderer. "Choo’s writing is lush and the slow revelation of complicated relationships and reunions hum with tension. This is a treat" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Meghan recommends: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ KluneGiven a curious classified assignment to evaluate the potential risks posed by six supernatural orphans, a case worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth bonds with an enigmatic caregiver who hides dangerous secrets. "By turns zany and heartfelt, this tale of found family is hopeful to its core. Readers will revel in Klune’s wit and ingenuity" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Karen recommends: Set My Heart to Five by Simon StephensonJared works as a dentist in Michigan as well as being a bot engineered with human DNA to look and act like a real person. One day he discovers that he has real emotions while watching a movie. As a result, Jared heads west, hoping to develop real connections and find his mother, the scientist who created him. He also wants to write a screenplay that will change the world. And perhaps he might fall in love. But a bot with feelings is a dangerous proposition, and Jared's new life could come to an end before it really begins. |
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Mary recommends: All Fours by Miranda JulyA semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey-- "Beyond-dazzling, eyes-wide-open fiction" (Booklist). |
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Carly recommends: Anathema by Keri Lake There are whispers about Witch Knell—the forest where sinners go to die. The villagers call it The Eating Woods, for what's taken is never returned. Only the mad or the banished dare enter. Maevyth Bronwick is forced beyond its archway of bones into a dark, alluring world ruled by Zevander Rydainn, the cursed assassin known as The Scorpion. Her blood may break his curse and vanquish the evil within—but fate has other plans. His obsession with her could destroy everything. Including himself. |
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Kristin recommends: Probable Caws: A Meg Langslow Mystery by Donna AndrewsMeg has finally found time to get some blacksmithing done when a call from her dad interrupts her--can she come out to Ragnar's right away? Their friend Ragnar has agreed to shelter nearly fifty horses for Hoof and Hearth, an equine rescue organization that has lost access to the farm where the horses have been living. The owner of the farm recently died, and while his older son Abel would be happy to let the horses stay, younger brother George wants to sell to a developer and is suspected of sending a thug to harm the horses. That night, they discover that the thug has been murdered. Unfortunately George is alibied . . . but Abel is not. |
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Roseanne recommends: Whistler by Ann Patchett When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than a year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn't seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again. "Like many of Patchett’s works, this beautiful and generous novel feels effortless, never straining for effect. It’s one of her best" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Mallory recommends: Yours truly by Abby JimenezWhen Dr. Jacob Maddox, whom she is prepared to hate, sends her a letter, which leads to sharing lunch dates in her“sob closet,” Dr. Briana Ortiz tries not to fall hard for this sexy new doctor, especially when he gives her the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother. "A solid contemporary with a balance of humor and lasting emotional beats" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Batavia Public Library
10 S. Batavia Ave., Batavia, Illinois 60510
630-879-1393bataviapl.org |
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