Staff Picks
 
October 2025

FICTION we've enjoyed
Inheritance by Nora Roberts
Inheritance
by Nora Roberts

Sonya MacTavish inherits a seaside mansion in Maine from a long-lost relative and discovers the house is haunted by ghosts known as the lost brides. In 1806, a woman was murdered inside the house on her wedding day by a jealous witch, creating a curse so powerful it has lasted generations. The witch’s angry, vengeful ghost also inhabits the place and tries to scare Sonya away. While sleeping, Sonya experiences the memories of the murdered brides and realizes that the ghosts are providing her with clues she can use to finally break the curse.  
Mother daughter traitor spy : a novel by Susan Elia MacNeal
Mother Daughter Traitor Spy
by Susan Elia MacNeal

A mother and daughter find the courage to go undercover after stumbling upon a Nazi cell in Los Angeles during the early days of World War II in a tantalizing novel from the bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series. This is a powerful portrait of family, duty, and deception that raises timeless questions about America and what it means to have courage in the face of terror.  
Coexistence : stories by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Coexistence
by Billy-Ray Belcourt

A collection of intersecting stories about Indigenous love and loneliness. Across the prairies and Canada's west coast, on reservations and university campuses, at literary festivals and existential crossroads, the characters in Coexistence are searching for connection. Belcourt pirouettes through the short story form in his signature staccato voice, imagining a range of characters from all walks of native life. He is an expert in celebrating the ways Indigenous peoples make total conquest impossible.
Our wives under the sea by Julia Armfield
Our Wives Under the Sea
by Julia Armfield

Leah is changed. Months earlier, she left for a routine expedition, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.
Starter villain by John Scalzi
Starter Villain
by John Scalzi

Charlie's long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. These villains are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains, but with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good. 
Black wolf by Juan Gâomez-Jurado
Black Wolf
by Juan Gâomez-Jurado

Antonia Scott, along with Jon Gutierrez, return in the much-anticipated sequel to Red Queen. The unusually gifted mind of Antonia is the lynchpin of the Red Queen project, created to work behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes; but she is unwilling to move past the last case, convinced it's related to a personal tragedy, until a series of deadly events pulls her back in. Still plagued by her personal demons, she must outwit, out-maneuver, and, ultimately, face a terrible, mysterious rival known as the Black Wolf.
The other valley : a novel by Scott Alexander Howard
The Other Valley
by Scott Alexander Howard

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she'll decide who may cross her town's heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it's the same valley town, except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it's twenty years behind. When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn't supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future to view their son while he's still alive in Odile's present.  
Lirael, daughter of the Clayr :  Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix
Lirael
by Garth Nix

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil. In this sequel to the critically acclaimed Sabriel, Nix weaves a spellbinding tale of discovery, destiny, and danger. A teen fantasy series for fans of Game of Thrones. 
Killers of a certain age by Deanna Raybourn
Killers of a Certain Age
by Deanna Raybourn

They've spent their lives as assassins in a clandestine international organization, but at 60 years old, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie find they can't just retire. It's kill or be killed in this stand-alone novel by popular author Deanna Raybourn. After being targeted on their all-expenses paid retirement cruise they must turn against their own agency in order to survive. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman – and a killer – of a certain age.
Alias Emma : a novel by Ava Glass
Alias Emma
by Ava Glass

Nothing about Emma Makepeace is real. Not even her name. A newly minted British secret agent, Emma's barely graduated from basic training when she gets the call for her first major assignment. In this breakneck, race-against-the-clock thriller, Emma has twelve hours to deliver her asset across London after Russia hacks the city's security cameras. Can she make it without being spotted . . . or killed? 
 
NONFICTION we've enjoyed
The three mothers : how the mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin shaped a nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs
The Three Mothers
by Anna Malaika Tubbs

Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised some of America's most pivotal heroes: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. Much has been written about their sons, but virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them. Berdis, Alberta, and Louise taught a fundamental belief in the worth of Black people to their sons, even when these beliefs flew in the face of America's racist practices and led to ramifications for all three families' safety. 
Heavy burdens : seven ways LGBTQ Christians experience harm in the church by Bridget Eileen Rivera
Heavy Burdens
by Bridget Eileen Rivera

Religious faith reduces the risk of suicide for virtually every American demographic except one: LGBTQ people. Generations of LGBTQ people have been alienated or condemned by Christian communities. This book helps Christians confront the ongoing effects of this legacy and empowers churches across the theological spectrum to navigate better paths forward. 
Queer as all get out : 10 people who've inspired me by Shelby Criswell
Queer As All Get Out
by Shelby Criswell

The author shares their life as a genderqueer person living in the American South, revealing their own personal struggle for acceptance and how they were inspired by these ten historical LGBTQIA+ people to live their own truth. Follow the daily life of one queer artist from Texas as they introduce us to the lives of ten extraordinary people in this graphic nonfiction book. 
The Essential Emily Dickinson : Poems by Joyce Carol Oates
The Essential Emily Dickinson
by Emily Dickinson, edited by Joyce Carol Oates

Dickinson's poetry engages the reader and requires their participation. Full of highly charged metaphors, her free verse and choice of words are best understood when read aloud. Dickinson's punctuation and capitalization, not orthodox by Victorian standards and called "spasmodic" by her critics, give greater emphasis to her meanings.  
Astor : the rise and fall of an American fortune by Anderson Cooper
Astor
by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

The number one New York Times bestselling authors of Vanderbilt return with another riveting history of a legendary American family, the Astors. Cooper and Howe chronicle the lives of the Astors and explore what the Astor name has come to mean in America, offering a window onto the making of America itself. What began as a trapping business for this family of fortune, turns into greed, family infighting, loss of family member John Jacob Astor on the Titanic, and finally the demise of the family fortune. It's a real page turner.