LibraryAware Fiction June 2025

There there
by Tommy Orange

A novel—which grapples with the complex history of Native Americans; with an inheritance of profound spirituality; and with a plague of addiction, abuse and suicide—follows 12 characters, each of whom has private reasons for traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow. A first novel.

Funny story
by Emily Henry

After being dumped for her boyfriend's lifelong best friend, Petra, Daphne agrees to room with Petra's freshly heartbroken ex until she can figure things out, in the new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Happy Place.

The women
by Kristin Hannah

In 1965, nursing student Frankie McGrath, after hearing the words“Women can be heroes, too,” impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam where she is overwhelmed by the destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

The fury
by Alex Michaelides

Spending Easter with Lana Farrar, a reclusive ex-movie star and one of the most famous women in the world, on her idyllic private Greek island, her guests, concealing hatred and desire for revenge, become trapped when the night ends in violence and murder.

By any other name : a novel
by Jodi Picoult

Across centuries two women, Melina Green and Emilia Bassano, one a modern playwright and the other her Elizabethan ancestor, each fight societal expectations to have their voices heard on the stage in a world that silences female playwrights.

Yellowface : a novel
by R. F. Kuang

After the death of her literary rival in a freak accident, author June Hayward steals her just-finished masterpiece, sending it to her agent as her own work, but as emerging evidence threatens her success, she discovers just how far she'll go to keep what she thinks she deserves. 150,000 first printing.

None of this is true : a novel
by Lisa Jewell

Popular podcaster Alix Summer becomes the subject of her own podcast after a woman named Josie Fair comes into her life and then disappears, leaving behind a terrible and terrifying legacy that puts her life and her family's lives in mortal danger.

Demon Copperhead : a novel
by Barbara Kingsolver

The son of an Appalachian teenager uses his good looks, wit and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves and crushing losses, in the new novel from the best-selling author of Unsheltered. Simultaneous.

All the colors of the dark : a novel
by Chris Whitaker

After a string of disappearances in 1975 Missouri, a one-eyed boy heroically thwarts a kidnapping, igniting a chain of events that blur the lines between triumph and tragedy as the townspeople of Monta Clare confront hidden truths.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
by James McBride

When a skeleton is unearthed in the small, close-knit community of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1972, an unforgettable cast of characters—living on the margins of white, Christian America—closely guard a secret, especially when the truth is revealed about what happened and the part the town's white establishment played in it.

One perfect couple
by Ruth Ware

Landing on a tropical paradise where they'll compete against four other couples to win a cash prize, Lyla and Nico, starring on the new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, find themselves trapped on a storm-swept island where they all must band together for survival as a killer walks among them.

The personal librarian
by Marie Benedict

Hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library, Belle de Costa Greene becomes one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she keeps.

Someone else's shoes
by Jojo Moyes

When she accidentally takes the wrong gym bag, Sam Kemp tries on a pair of six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes that give her the confidence to change her life, while the shoes' owner tries to cling to her glamorous life after her husband cuts her off. 400,000 first printing.

Killers of a certain age
by Deanna Raybourn

"Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills. When the foursome is sent on an all--expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death. Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman--and a killer--of a certain age''

Lessons in chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

In the early 1960s, chemist and single mother Elizabeth Zott, the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show due to her revolutionary skills in the kitchen, uses this opportunity to dare women to change the status quo.

Tom Lake : a novel
by Ann Patchett

Recalling the past at her daughters' request, Lara tells the story of a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance with, which causes her daughters to examine their own lives and reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

All the sinners bleed
by S. A. Cosby

Former FBI agent Titus Crown returns to his hometown and decides to run for sheriff to fight a bigoted police force and must trust his instincts when a serial killer appears to be hiding in plain sight. 250,000 first printing.

Slow dance : a novel
by Rainbow Rowell

Fourteen years after they went their separate ways, 33-year-old Shiloh, a divorced, single mom living back in the same house she grew up in, attends a high school friend's wedding in hopes of seeing Cary, the boy she never realized she loved until he was lost.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
by Gabrielle Zevin

Embarking on a legendary collaboration launching them to stardom, two friends, intimates since childhood, have the world at their feet until they discover that their success, brilliance and money won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of the heart.

The nickel boys : a novel
by Colson Whitehead

A follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning, The Underground Railroad, follows the harrowing experiences of two African-American teens at an abusive reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.

Here one moment : a novel
by Liane Moriarty

An ordinary flight becomes extraordinary when passengers learn of their predicted deaths from a mysterious woman known as“The Death Lady,” leading to a race against time for some and a chance to redefine their time left for others.

Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi

Two half sisters, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in 18th-century Ghana and experience profoundly different lives and legacies throughout subsequent generations marked by wealth, slavery, war, coal mining, the Great Migration and the realities of 20th-century Harlem. Reprint.

The ministry of time
by Kaliane Bradley

To establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time, a“bridge” who lives with, assists and monitors the expat known as“1847” or Commander Graham Gore, falls fervently in love, with consequences she never could've imagined—ones that could change the future.

The hunter
by Tana French

Moving to rural Ireland, Cal Hooper, who took early retirement from Chicago PD, has built a relationship with Lena and is gradually turning teenager Trey Reddy into a good kid, but when Trey's long-absent father reappears with an English millionaire and a get-rich-quick scheme, Trey wants revenge.

Intermezzo : a novel
by Sally Rooney

In the wake of their father's death, two brothers—successful Dublin lawyer Peter and his younger brother Ivan, a competitive chess player—find different ways to deal with their grief, which affects not only their lives, but the lives of those they hold dear. 500,000 first printing.

The mighty red : a novel
by Louise Erdrich

A Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award—winning author tells a story of love, natural forces, spiritual yearnings and the tragic impact of uncontrollable circumstances on ordinary people's lives.

The vaster wilds
by Lauren Groff

Escaping from a colonial settlement in the wilderness, a servant girl, with nothing but her wits, a few possessions and some faith, is tested beyond the limits of her imagination, forcing her to question her belief of everything her own civilization taught her.

Small mercies : a novel
by Dennis Lehane

In 1974 Boston, as a heatwave blankets the city, Mary Pat Fennessey, in a desperate search for her missing daughter, asks questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, who doesn't take kindly to anyone who threatens his business. 150,000 first printing.

Romantic comedy : a novel
by Curtis Sittenfeld

A sketch writer for a late-night comedy show, Sally Milz pokes fun at the phenomenon of talented but average men who've gotten romantically involved with beautiful women and how the reverse never happens until she meets a pop music sensation who flips the script on all her assumptions. Original.

James : a novel
by Percival Everett

Describes the events of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through the eyes of the enslaved Jim, who decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island after learning he is to be sold to a man in New Orleans.

We solve murders
by Richard Osman

Investigator Steve Wheeler comes out of retirement when his daughter-in-law, Amy, needs help finding out who left a dead body on a remote island with a huge bag of money.

The Paris apartment : a novel
by Lucy Foley

Arriving in Paris to stay with her brother Ben, Jess learns that he has gone missing, and to find him, starts digging into his life, realizing even though she has come to the City of Lights to escape her past, it's his future hanging in the balance. 300,000 first printing

This summer will be different
by Carley Fortune

When her best friend flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy follows her Prince Edward Island to help her through her crisis and resist the one man she's never been able to, but his flirty quips have been replaced with something new, making her wonder if her heart is still safe. Original.

Lucy by the sea : a novel
by Elizabeth Strout

Former married couple now lifelong friends, New Yorkers Lucy Barton and William, as a panicked world goes into lockdown, hunker down in a little house in Maine on the edge of the sea where they are faced with fear, struggles and isolation as well as hope, peace and possibilities.

The paradise problem
by Christina Lauren

"Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam "West" Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up.He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There's just one catch. Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather's will, Liam won't see a penny until he's been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he's in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he's afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents - his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife. But in the presence of his family, Liam's fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himselfif the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie"

The blue hour : a novel
by Paula Hawkins

On an isolated Scottish island, a present-day discovery intimately connects three people and unveils a web of secrets and lies. By the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train. 250,000 first printing. Tour.

All fours : a novel
by Miranda July

Ditching her California life for the open road, a restless, semi-famous artist leaves her husband, child and career and reinvents herself in a motel room, embarking on a journey of self-discovery and what it means to be alive and free.

The god of the woods
by Liz Moore

In 1975, when a camp counselor discovers the 13-year-old daughter of the summer camp's owners has disappeared just like her brother 14 years earlier, a panicked search begins as the secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow are revealed.

The Summer pact : a novel
by Emily Giffin

Ten years after they made a pact, promising to always be there for each other in their times of need, Hannah, when one of the happiest moments of her life is suddenly turned upside down, calls on her closest friends, and together, they embark on a shared journey of self-discovery, forgiveness and acceptance.

The covenant of water : a novel
by Abraham Verghese

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, and set in Kerala, on South India's Malabar Coast, an epic of love, faith and medicine follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning.

Onyx storm
by Rebecca Yarros

After nearly 18 months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail must seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre, and she will do anything to save what she loves?—?her dragons, her family, her home and him, in a deluxe, limited edition.

Say you'll remember me
by Abby Jimenez

"There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes-all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there's nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong... . . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date-possibly the best in living history-Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be. Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life-and even a love-worth remembering"

The emperor of gladness : a novel
by Ocean Vuong

In the struggling town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai is saved from despair by Grazina, an elderly widow with dementia, forging an unexpected bond that reshapes their lives and reveals dynamics of love, memory, and resilience on the margins of society.

Beautiful ugly
by Alice Feeney

A year after his wife Abby mysteriously disappeared, author Grady Green, still consumed by grief, retreats to a remote Scottish island only to encounter a woman who looks exactly like the wife he lost. 150,000 first printing.

Broken country : a novel
by Clare Leslie Hall

When her brother-in-law's actions reconnect her with a former love, Gabriel, whose son eerily resembles her deceased child, Beth's carefully constructed life unravels as past secrets and jealousies resurface, leading to deadly consequences and a difficult choice.

The Jackal's mistress : a novel
by Chris Bohjalian

Managing her gristmill amid the turmoil of war in 1864 Virginia, Libby Steadman must choose whether to risk treason and aid a gravely injured Union officer left to die, while her desperate hope for news of her imprisoned husband collides with the harsh realities of war.

Heartwood : a novel
by Amity Gaige

"In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie's disappearance may not be accidental."--Provided by publisher

The night we lost him : a novel
by Laura Dave

As Nora and her estranged brother Sam form an uneasy alliance to unravel the mystery of their father's death, they start putting together the pieces of their father's past and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

Let us descend : a novel
by Jesmyn Ward

In the years before the Civil War, Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, struggles through the miles-long march, seeks comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother, opening herself to a world beyond this world.

Lady Tan's circle of women : a novel
by Lisa See

Sent into an arranged marriage, Tan Yunxian, forbidden to continue her work as a midwife-in-training as well as see her forever friend Meiling, is ordered to act like proper wife and seeks a way to continue treating women and girls from every level of society in 15th-century China.

For additional reading ideas, talk with your library staff