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Bad Words by Rioghnach RobinsonParker Navarro's debut novel was meant to define his career - until critic Selina Chan's blistering review made it the flop of the decade. Four years later, his new book is his shot at redemption; for Selina, reviewing him again is a professional risk she can't refuse. When her second takedown ignites a viral feud, both their fortunes shift overnight. But as the literary world feeds on their public sparring, a quieter dialogue begins - one that challenges everything they thought they knew about success, sincerity, and each other. Both incisive and tender, Bad Words lays bare the costs of creation - the pull between ambition and integrity, the vulnerability of being seen, and the unexpected closeness that can grow in the space between critique and care. Also available on Libby |
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The End of Vandalism by Tom DruryWelcome to Grouse County, a fictional Midwest that is at once familiar and amusingly eccentric, where a thief vacuums the church before stealing the chalice, a lonely woman paints her toenails in a drafty farmhouse, and a sleepless man watches his restless bride scatter their bills beneath the stars. At the heart of The End of Vandalism is an unforgettable love triangle set off by a crime: Sheriff Dan Norman arrests Tiny Darling for vandalizing an anti-vandalism dance and then marries the culprit's ex-wife Louise. But while Tiny loses Louise, Louise loses her sense of self—and all three find themselves in a love triangle that sets them on an epic journey. Available on Hoopla |
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Airships by Barry HannahThe award-winning contemporary classic features twenty wildly original, exuberant, often hilarious stories that celebrate the universal peculiarities of the new American South--a land of high school band contests where good old boys from Vicksburg are reunited in Vietnam, and petty nostalgia and the incessant pain of disappointed love prevail in spite of our worst efforts. Airships is a striking demonstration of Barry Hannah's mature and original talent. Available on Hoopla |
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The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-GarciaHandsome con artist Ulises has long charmed lonely women via letters in order to steal their money, but money is hard to come by in 1940s Mexico. Ulises knows his looks won't last forever, and he's desperate to get his hands on a real fortune. He thinks he's found it when he captivates his newest correspondent, Perla, the owner of a small-town boardinghouse. But when he meets her, he finds something he didn't expect. The woman has a niece, who is desperate to escape her aunt's household. When she discovers Ulises's true intentions, she wants in on the scheme. They'll convince her aunt that Ulises is a great catch, Perla will marry him, and her money will vanish. Easy, fast, and clean. But Perla is not the desperate, silly spinster Ulises imagines. She harbors secrets. Suddenly, a simple plan may become perilously complicated. Also available on Libby
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Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel HarrisonIt's the picture-perfect wedding weekend: The venue is dreamy, the weather is beautiful, love is in the air--and Willa Sullivan is having a bad time. She's excited to celebrate her friends' having the big wedding they've always wanted, but this is the first time she's seen her ex-fiance in months, and he brought a date. Everything feels off, like she stumbled into an alternate universe. But things start to look up when Willa meets Danny, the groom's charming and single childhood best friend. When they sneak off together, their rendezvous is interrupted by a masked killer terrorizing the reception. Willa and Danny fight to save the ones they love and survive the night, but the killer is unrelenting. After a horrifying turn of events, Willa comes to understand that she's stuck in a loop of carnage and terror that she must learn how to escape or else suffer a fate worse than death--being an eternal wedding guest. Also available on Libby |
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The Great Wherever by Shannon SandersThe dead are relentless gossips, or at least these dead are. A heartbroken woman inherits her father's share of a Tennessee farm that is rich in family secrets and occupied with busybody ghosts in this sweeping family portrait. Aubrey Lamb is stumbling through adulthood. An underpaid gig worker, she's grieving the end of a relationship and the recent loss of her father. When Aubrey learns she has inherited his stake in a sizable Tennessee farm she sees an opportunity to get out of the city--and to erase a mounting pile of debt. Watching her arrival with great interest are four ghosts--Aubrey's ancestors, who've staked their own claims to the farm. An expansive family saga told with a wry and distinctly modern voice, The Great Wherever is at once grand and intimate; it explores the ways we learn to define ourselves through and against our families, how we carry on after loss, and how the past lives on in all of us. Also available on Libby
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Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac BarnettA book for adults about books for children, a rallying cry for art and imagination, and a celebration of the power of storytelling in all our lives. Make Believe is bestselling children's author Mac Barnett's incisive, intimate, and timely invitation to approach children's literature not only as an art form worthy of deep study and criticism, but as a portal into the lives of the children. Written with humor and academic rigor, Make Believe reads like a letter from your smartest and funniest friend.
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Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. JacksonSavannah, Georgia, with its mossy trees and ornate old homes, is a place rich in history...and ghosts. Ghosts are what pique Harmony Roundtree's interest. Still reeling from her losses back home, Harmony wants to believe in ghost stories...but isn't sure what's real. When she goes on one of the many ghost tours around town, she takes a photo of what might be a ghost. Or is it a hoax? With two new friends, Harmony sets out to investigate... and stumbles upon clues leading to an unsolved murder. The deeper she digs, the more Harmony realizes that what she saw on the ghost tour might be connected to a shocking crime. Also available on Libby and Hoopla (eAudiobook) |
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The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness by Hannah MurrayFrom her breakout role as a teen actor, to critically acclaimed movies, to Game of Thrones, Hannah Murray built a career in Hollywood cracking open her own psychological foundations and pushing her body to its limits. But one day, the line between make-believe and reality disappeared, and she found herself confined to a psych ward, in love with the leader of a shadowy wellness organization, and believing in magic. How she got there--and how she managed to rebuild her life--is the heart of this gripping, powerful memoir that asks: How far would you go to find enlightenment? Both a cautionary tale and a cry for radical empathy, Hannah's story of learning to trust herself will resonate with anyone who has struggled to find agency. The Make-Believe is a probing exploration of womanhood and mental health, and a search for the healing that comes when we reclaim our own narratives. Also available on Libby (eAudiobook) |
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Culpability by Bruce HolsingerWhen the Cassidy-Shaws' autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, Charlie is in the driver's seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Each family member harbors a secret, implicating them each in the accident. During a recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie's future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei's odd behavior tugs at Noah's suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident. A propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI. Also available on Libby and Hoopla |
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The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth StroutArtie Dam is a man with a secret. He goes about his days teaching American history to high schoolers, correcting their casual ignorance, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He spends his free time sailing Massachusetts Bay, or with his adult son and his wife - and as Artie does these things, he plans the event that will forever change the world he inhabits. But when a startling accident awakens a new perspective in Artie, and he realizes that life has its own secret it's been keeping from him - along with a lot more to say on the weighty matters of fate and freedom in his home and his country - he charts another course full of grief, hilarity, and heart, to a place where the end marks the beginning. Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a profound exploration of the human condition . Also available on Libby. |
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A Discovery of Witches by Deborah HarknessIn this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont. Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. Also available on Libby |
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The Essex Serpent by Sarah PerryA talented British author makes her American debut with this acclaimed historical novel, set in late nineteenth-century England, about an intellectually minded young widow, a pious vicar, and a rumored mythical serpent that explores questions about science and religion, skepticism, and faith, independence and love. Also available on Libby |
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Exit Party by Emily St John MandelLos Angeles, 2031: The first spring after the collapse of the United States, peacekeeping troops withdraw from the city and the curfew is finally lifted. Ari and her roommate attend a house party. The mood is ecstatic inside the apartment. And then: A shift. A bewildered twin, a doppelganger stumbles through the party and out into the night, and Kareem, the party's host, simultaneously vanishes. As Ari unravels the mystery of this inexplicable night, Emily St. John Mandel unfurls a story that takes us from a future America splintered by civil war to the seaside cliffs of Greece, and from the domed city of Paris to a colony on the moon. An unforgettable literary feat, Exit Party is a novel about the price of safety, the perils of the surveillance state, a requiem for a world not unlike our own, and a breathtaking story of resilience in the face of cataclysmic change. Also available on Libby |
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Shipping News by Annie ProulxQuoyle, a third-rate newspaper hack, is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife meets her just desserts. His aunt convinces Quoyle and his two emotionally disturbed daughters to return with her to the starkly beautiful coastal landscape of their ancestral home in Newfoundland. Also available on Hoopla as an eAudiobook |
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There's Only One Sin in Hollywood by Rasheed NewsonA cinematic, razor-sharp novel following a backlot fixer's daring investigation into the suspicious death of a closeted Black actor within the glamorous world of Hollywood. Xavier C. Barlow, one of Hollywood's young Black stars taking the industry by storm in the late 1950s, is Skyline Studios's ambitious attempt to rival Sidney Poitier's burgeoning success. His arrival into the industry is calculated, his charm is magnetic, and his seductive screen presence appeals to both audiences and celebrities across generations. But years later, after Xavier dies at the height of his fame, Skyline's designated backlot fixer is finally ready to expose the powerful culprits responsible for his untimely death. There's Only One Sin in Hollywood is a searing portrait of the movie industry as a manicured minefield and a compelling journey into the queer history of Los Angeles.
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Sex on Murder Island: A Luella Van Horn Mystery by Jo FirestoneMarie Jones has hit rock bottom. Just three months ago, she cracked the case of a murdered contestant on the hit reality show Sex Island, but now all her gigs have dried up. Marie finds herself on the verge of eviction, broke and alone. Then she gets a call that might change everything. Luella is asked to find evidence of a woman having an extra-marital affair. The case seems simple enough. The only hitch is that it's on Murder Island, a private island for the uber-rich. But a job's a job. Just as Luella begins her investigation, the suspected paramour is found murdered. Luella soon uncovers a den of iniquity and sexual secrets that will shock the world if the news ever gets out--and if Luella gets out alive.
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The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas by Sarah J. MaasCelaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin's Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam. When Celaena's scheming master dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes-and questioning her own allegiance. By defying her master's orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape his clutches-and if they fail, they'll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives. Also available on Libby.
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Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate RacculiaTuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston's most eccentric billionaire, dies--leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe--Tuesday's adventure finally begins. Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew. Pryce's clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts and discover their most guarded desires and dreams. Also available on Libby |
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