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Our Favorite Reads of 2025 |
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When the World Tips Over by Jandy NelsonThe Fall siblings live in Northern California wine country. Years ago, their father mysteriously disappeared, cracking the family into pieces. Now Dizzy Fall, age twelve, bakes cakes, sees spirits, and wishes she were a heroine of a romance novel. Miles Fall, seventeen, brainiac, athlete, and dog-whisperer, is a raving beauty, but desperate to meet the kind of guy he dreams of. Wynton Fall, nineteen, is a virtuoso violinist set on a crash course for fame--or self-destruction. Then an enigmatic rainbow-haired girl shows up, tipping the Falls' world over. She might be an angel, or a saint, or an ordinary girl... Available on Libby |
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Beasts of the Sea by Iida TurpeinenA sweeping tale about a fateful encounter between man and nature spanning three centuries. In 1741, a naturalist joins Bering's expedition to scout out a sea route from Asia to America. Captain and crew never reach their goal, but they do make a unique discovery, a gentle giant that will be named for the explorer who described it: Steller's sea cow. In 1859, the governor of Alaska sends his men to recover the skeleton of the massive marine mammal rumored to have vanished a hundred years before. Finally, in 1952, the Museum of Zoology assigns its most talented restorer the task of refurbishing the antique skeleton. A breathtaking literary achievement and an adventure that crosses continents and centuries, a tale of grand ambition, the quest for knowledge, and the urge to resurrect what humankind has destroyed.
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We Are All Guilty Here by Karin SlaughterWelcome to North Falls, a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think--until the night of the fireworks, when two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it's personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help--and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?
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Shadow Ticket by Thomas PynchonMilwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he's found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who's taken a mind to go wandering. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them.
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Impossible Creatures by Katherine RundellChristopher discovers the Archipelago, a world where mythological creatures were secreted away by magic long ago, but those creatures are now dying, and it is up to Christopher and Mal, a girl from the Archipelago, to save both of their worlds.
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The Place of Tides by James RebanksA work of nonfiction in which James Rebanks reflects on a life-changing summer spent on a remote island off the coast of Norway, where his only companions were two women who practiced the ancient tradition of collecting eiderdown from birds that nest on this remarkable landscape each year. What began as a journey of escape become an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.
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Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda RhimesWith three hit shows on television and three children at home, Shonda Rhimes had lots of good reasons to say NO when an unexpected invitation arrived. Hollywood party? No. Speaking engagement? No. Media appearances? No. And there was the side-benefit of saying No for an introvert like Shonda: nothing new to fear. Then Shonda's sister laid down a challenge: just for one year, try to say YES to the unexpected invitations that come your way. Shonda reluctantly agreed, and the result was nothing short of transformative. Rhimes chronicles the powerful impact saying yes had on every aspect of her life, and how we can all change our lives with one little word: Yes.
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The Wedding People by Alison EspachWhen Phoebe arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn't here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she's dreamed of coming for years with her husband, only now she's here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for Phoebe's plan--which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can't stop confiding in each other. In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender. The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.
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Tilt by Emma PatteeAnnie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there's nothing to do but walk. Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she's determined to change her life.
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The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick by Ariel LawhonA gripping historical mystery based on the real-life diary entries of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who found herself at the center of a murder trial.
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Funny Story by Emily HenryDaphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met, fell in love, and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it...right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend. Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded, without friends or family but with a dream job, and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament. Petra's ex, Miles, is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan that involves posting misleading photos of their summer adventures together. But it's all just for show because there's no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé's new fiancée's ex, right?
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Still Lifeby Sarah WinmanTuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, Ulysses, an English soldier finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, they find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades.
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Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha TretheweyA chillingly personal and exquisitely wrought memoir of a daughter reckoning with the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather, and the moving, intimate story of a poet coming into her own in the wake of a tragedy.
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King Sorrow by Joe HillArthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student, but his idyll is shattered when a local drug dealer corners him into stealing rare books from the college library. Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin suggests using the unnerving Crane journal to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others -- brave, beautiful Alison; the battling twins Donna and Donovan; and brainy, bold Gwen -- don't hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring the dragon into our world. But there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year or become his next meal.
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Minerva is a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales. In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals Tremblay's famous novel was inspired by a true story. As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay's manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch. Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own. |
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The Maidens by Alex MichaelidesEdward Fosca is a murderer--of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike, particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana's niece Zoe, is found murdered. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister.
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Yellowface by R. F. KuangAuthors June and Athena were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a literary darling; June is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls?, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I. So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller?
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Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum by Elaine SciolinoThe Louvre is the most famous museum in the world, attracting millions of visitors every year with its masterpieces. Elaine Sciolino immerses herself in this magical space and helps us fall in love with what was once a forbidding fortress. Exploring galleries, basements, rooftops, and gardens, she demystifies the Louvre, introducing us to her favorite artworks, both legendary and overlooked, and to the people who are the museum's lifeblood. Blending investigative journalism, travelogue, history, and memoir, Sciolino walks readers through the museum's front gates and immerses them in its irresistible, engrossing world of beauty and culture.
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Deep End by Ali HazelwoodScarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships--at least, that's what she tells herself. Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
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Quicksilver by Callie HartSaeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember. When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares...but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed. The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him...or her.
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