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Must-Read Books January 2025 |
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| The Queen's Cook by Tessa AfsharRoxannah, the 23-year-old daughter of a noble who lost everything, works in Queen Esther's kitchen, where despite the danger she partners with the Jewish royal physician to foil a deadly plot. This "captivating" (Booklist) tale featuring faith and palace intrigue starts the Queen Esther's Court series. For fans of: Jill Eileen Smith's Star of Persia.
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| I Might Be in Trouble by Daniel AlemanAfter a great Grindr date, struggling novelist David Alvarez awakens to a corpse in his bed. Afraid he somehow killed the older man, David calls his literary agent for help. Wild events ensue as they try to get the man back to the Plaza Hotel. In his adult fiction debut, YA author Daniel Aleman delivers a novel that's "both riotously funny and deeply touching" (Booklist). |
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| The Secret of the Three Fates by Jess ArmstrongIn 1922, elderly bookstore owner Mr. Owen cons his mentee Ruby Vaughn into visiting Scotland with him, where he's hoping a séance will connect him with his dead son. But delving into the past brings danger into the present in this atmospheric 2nd mystery starring Ruby, an heiress whose family died on the Lusitania. Read-alike: The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner. |
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| Sister Snake by Amanda Lee KoeDuring the Tang dynasty, two sister snakes, one green and one white, use a special lotus seed to turn into immortal humans. In contemporary New York City, struggling Emerald has a violent encounter with a sugar daddy she met on an app, leading Su, the wealthy wife of a government minister in Singapore, to fly to her sister's aid and bring her home. If you enjoy this fantastical, darkly funny look at identity and women's lives, try Kelly Barnhill's When Women Were Dragons. |
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| Pickleballers by Ilana LongAfter her husband leaves her for another woman, Meg Bloomberg takes up pickleball, where she crosses paths (and paddles) with Ethan Fine, a handsome environmentalist who's determined to turn her neighborhood pickleball court into a nature preserve. This feel-good enemies-to-lovers debut will appeal to fans of Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker. |
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| The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi MatthewsIn Mimi Matthews' 4th and final Belles of London Victorian romance, silver-haired spinster Stella Hobhouse, fresh from her second unsuccessful season in London high society, and artist Teddy Hayes, deemed an outcast because of his wheelchair, agree to a high-stakes marriage of convenience, sparking a slow-burn attraction thanks to their shared outsider status. Try this next: A Gamble at Sunset by Vanessa Riley. |
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| Sweet Vidalia by Lisa SandlinWhen her husband of three decades suddenly dies, 57-year-old housewife Eliza Kratke is stunned to discover their finances are a mess and he has another wife. Moving into an apartment at the Sweet Vidalia Residence Inn, she finds new friends, a career, and herself in this heartwarming character-driven tale set in 1964 Texas. Read-alikes: Anne Tyler's Clock Dance; Ruth Hogan's The Phoenix Ballroom. |
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| Alter Ego by Alex SeguraFilm director Annie Bustamante's first love was creating and reading comic books. So she signs on when she's offered the chance to work on a variety of projects starring the Legendary Lynx, a superhero she loved as a child in the 1970s. But then there are creative issues, warning notes, and a murder in this richly drawn standalone sequel to Secret Identity. Read-alike: Lisa Jewell's Breaking the Dark. |
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| The Rest Is Memory by Lily TuckInspired by haunting images of Czeslawa Kwoka, the young Polish Catholic farm girl on the book's cover, this moving short novel introduces her as she dreams of a future with a local boy. Then Nazi Germany invades and she's sent to Auschwitz in this unforgettable blending of fact and imagination. |
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| This Girl's A Killer by Emma C. WellsCordelia Black, a Baton Rouge pharma rep by day and serial killer by night, targets dangerous men to protect the vulnerable. When her best friend starts dating a questionable man, Cordelia’s carefully controlled life unravels, leading to a rash murder and a series of escalating threats in this darkly comedic debut thriller. |
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| Didion & Babitz by Lili AnolikIn her well-researched follow-up to Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A., Vanity Fair contributing editor Lili Anolik explores the fraught, decades-spanning friendship between Babitz and her mentor and fellow author Joan Didion. Try this next: Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal by Yuval Taylor. |
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| Power Metal by Vince BeiserIn this disturbing and incisive study, award-winning journalist Vince Beiser (The World in a Grain) examines the human and environmental toll of mining metals used for digital technology. Further reading: Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara; The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives by Ernest Scheyder. |
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| The Icon & the Idealist by Stephanie GortonJournalist Stephanie Gorton's (Citizen Reporters) well-researched history chronicles the feud between feminists Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett, whose conflicting views of birth control access spurred heated debates in early 20th-century America. Further reading: The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age by Amy Sohn. |
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| I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying by Youngmi MayerStandup comedian Youngmi Mayer's witty and incisive debut examines Korean history and culture in the context of her own life as the child of a Korean mother and a white American father, exploring issues of race, gender, sexuality, and colonialism. For fans of: Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong. |
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| The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron MukwaWith a powwow coming up, two-spirit Anishinaabe 10-year-old Anang begins a real-life quest to make their own ribbon skirt, connecting with spirits (including some snarky turtles) along the way. Created by a two-spirit author/illustrator, this colorful graphic novel is perfect for readers who prefer authentic, character-focused stories. |
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| Darkly by Marisha PesslWhen seven teens accept internships at a foundation dedicated to legendary board games, they unknowingly enter a potentially deadly competition. Dia, an intern from Missouri, will eagerly solve diabolical puzzles for the £1,000,000 prize. Fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Inheritance Games will enjoy this creepy thriller. |
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| Lefty: A Story That Is Not All Right by Mo Willems; illustrated by Dan SantatPopular kidlit creators Mo Willems and Dan Santat bring their idiosyncratic charms to this historical overview of left-handedness. Willems infuses the text with equal parts silliness and affirmation, while Santat blends photography with an array of drawing styles in the offbeat illustrations. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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