New Fiction
May 2026
General Fiction
2084 by Elliot Ackerman
2084
by Elliot Ackerman

A gripping drama and chilling prophecy about the possible path to war for a planet devastated by climate change.
Abundance by Hafeez Lakhani
Abundance
by Hafeez Lakhani

Two generations of a Muslim Indian family grapple with what parts of life we control and what we must humbly accept in pursuit of the American dream--for readers of Min Jin Lee, Mohsin Hamid, and Ayad Akhtar
The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff
The Burning Side
by Sarah Damoff

From the author of The Bright Years, the story of April and Leo, a couple on the brink of collapse. When their house goes up in flames, family secrets and thorny histories emerge as they are forced to decide what is worth salvaging.
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
The Calamity Club
by Kathryn Stockett

The multimillion-copy-selling author of The Help returns with a bold, big-hearted novel about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what's rightfully theirs--and the power of friendship to change everything.
Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel
Enormous Wings
by Laurie Frankel

At seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is too old to be a stranger in a strange land. She didn't choose the Vista View Retirement Community of Austin, Texas--that would be her three grown children--but when she grudgingly moves in, she not only makes new friends, she falls in love. Then the exhaustion, vomiting, and confusion start. She fears it's cancer, dementia, a stroke. But a raft of tests later, the news is even more shocking: She's pregnant.
Five Weeks in the Country by Francine Prose
Five Weeks in the Country
by Francine Prose

From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Reading Like a Writer and Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris, 1932 comes an utterly original novel inspired by the strange friendship between Charles Dickens and Hans Christian Andersen and set during the summer when Dickens's family life exploded.
The Forgotten Midwife by Laura Anthony
The Forgotten Midwife
by Laura Anthony

Set in the dual timelines of present-day New Jersey and 1950s Ireland, and based on real historical events, comes a powerful, poignant novel of sisterhood, family secrets, and resilience from the author of the The Women on Platform Two.
A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys
A Fortune of Sand
by Ruta Sepetys

Set in the fading splendor of 1920s Detroit and inspired by real, long-buried events, A Fortune of Sand is a glittering, gothic page-turner about power, control, and the price women pay when they demand to be seen.
The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline
The Foursome
by Christina Baker Kline

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline comes a boldly original reimagining of the astonishing true story of two sisters in nineteenth-century North Carolina -- Kline's own distant relatives -- who married world-famous conjoined twins from Siam.
Ghalen: A Romance in Black by Walter Mosley
Ghalen
by Walter Mosley

A stellar addition to the Amistad list: a beautiful coming-of-age novel from MWA Grand Master and PEN and Edgar Award-winner Walter Mosley that explores love in all forms--romantic, familial, and platonic, centered on one Black family, including a neurodivergent man, and the found bonds that helps ground them.
Glyph by Ali Smith
Glyph
by Ali Smith

From a literary master, a novel of ghosts and history and family legacy, of the unexpected acts of care that shine light into our dark.
The Gulf of Lions by Caitlin Shetterly
The Gulf of Lions
by Caitlin Shetterly

From the acclaimed author of Pete and Alice in Maine comes a standalone and evocative sequel about a mother who, recovering from the trauma of breast cancer and a mastectomy, takes a once-in-a-lifetime trip across France with her two daughters. In France, she finds out what it means to fully live.
The Hill by Harriet Clark
The Hill
by Harriet Clark

After her mother is sentenced to life in a hilltop prison, Suzanna vows to return to the hill forever. An unexpectedly funny and deeply moving novel about the many ways we punish and return to each other.
Honey by Imani Thompson
Honey
by Imani Thompson

A dark, provocative, adrenaline-rush of a novel about a graduate student who murders bad men and justifies it in the name of feminism, by a bold new voice in fiction
John of John by Douglas Stuart
John of John
by Douglas Stuart

In Douglas Stuart's superb third novel, John of John, a young man seeks to reconcile his sexuality and artistic goals with his family's expectations and his devout upbringing. Intriguing in its particularities but timeless in wisdom, John of John offers hope that relinquishing shame creates freedom to be true to oneself. It's irresistible and an instant classic.
June Baby by Shannon Garvey
June Baby
by Shannon Garvey

In this moving debut novel, set over the course of one transformative summer in the lush, beachy enclave of Block Island, a young woman reckons with love, loss, and the choices she must make to move forward.
A Little Bit Bad by Cassandra Neyenesch
A Little Bit Bad
by Cassandra Neyenesch

A "compulsively readable" (Sophie Stava, author of Count My Lies) novel about a San Diego housewife whose love affair with her neighbor's roofer is interrupted by a murder.
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig
The Midnight Train
by Matt Haig

When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop? No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away. He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything... A magical, time-travelling love story, from the world of The Midnight Library.
Nerve Damage by Annakeara Stinson
Nerve Damage
by Annakeara Stinson

A riotous revenge novel about a woman's quest to escape her stalker ex-boyfriend--by stalking him herself.
New Skin by Sarah Wang
New Skin
by Sarah Wang

A scalding, darkly humorous debut following an enmeshed mother-daughter duo, both best friends and enemies, and the plastic surgery addiction that warps their lives into a perilous spiral.
A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman
A Perfect Hand
by Ayelet Waldman

A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a lady's maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England.
Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker
Returns and Exchanges
by Kayla Rae Whitaker

A sweeping novel of one Kentucky family's rise and fall throughout the 1980s--a tragicomic tour de force about love and marriage, parents and children, and the perils of mixing family with business, from the acclaimed author of The Animators.
Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu
Seek Immediate Shelter
by Vincent Yu

A breathtaking debut novel about survival, hope, and second chances in an Asian American community in Massachusetts, when a false missile throws the residents' lives into chaos.
Summer State of Mind by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Summer State of Mind
by Kristy Woodson Harvey

"Queen of the beach read," (Cosmopolitan) New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a heartfelt escape to coastal Carolina.
Take Me with You by Steven Rowley
Take Me with You
by Steven Rowley

College professor Jesse del Ruth has been abandoned. Thirty years into their relationship, Jesse witnesses his husband, Norman, get out of bed late one night, walk into their Joshua Tree backyard, step into a strange beam of light and . . . disappear. In Take Me With You, Steven Rowley brings his resonant wit and emotional insight to an epic love story--an exploration of the forces that draw two people into the same orbit and the gravity that threatens to pull them apart.
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
The Things We Never Say
by Elizabeth Strout

Pulitzer Prize-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout's new novel tells the story of a chance incident that sparks a powerful realization in a beloved teacher's life--a poignant meditation on loneliness, friendship, parenthood, and the importance of truth in a capsizing world.
Vilhelm's Room by Tove Ditlevsen
Vilhelm's Room
by Tove Ditlevsen

A searing final novel about the collapse of a marriage and its aftermath, by the author of the modern classic Copenhagen Trilogy.
Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler
Waiting on a Friend
by Natalie Adler

New York City, East Village, 1984. A young woman with the power to see the ghosts of her friends is haunted by the one who refuses to return--a dazzling, big-hearted debut of friendship and community during a time of devastation and defiance.
The Yankee Sphinx: An FDR Novel by Mark Frost
The Yankee Sphinx
by Mark Frost

An extraordinary work of historical fiction by the co-creator of Twin Peaks--a novel about one of FDR's closest wartime advisers and the president's final days, inspired by the author's own family.
The Young Will Remember by Eve J. Chung
The Young Will Remember
by Eve J. Chung

A sweeping novel about a correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War, and the women who help her find her way home, from the national bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong.
Mystery / Suspense
26 Beauties: A Women's Murder Club Thriller by James Patterson
26 Beauties
by James Patterson

From the world's #1 bestselling author, the Women's Murder Club goes searching for 26 Beauties--young women missing in San Francisco.
The Anniversary: A Thriller by Alex Finlay
The Anniversary
by Alex Finlay

From the national bestselling author of Parents Weekend, comes a twisty, high-concept, and emotionally charged murder mystery-- but it's also a tender, heartrending story about fate, innocence lost, and two people bound by a single day. With its masterful structure and propulsive tension, The Anniversary reaffirms Alex Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.
Robert B. Parker's Booked by Alison Gaylin
Robert B. Parker's Booked
by Alison Gaylin

Boston PI Sunny Randall investigates a popular book critic on a mean streak . . . only for her to wind up dead, in the latest thriller in Robert B. Parker's bestselling series.
The Brothers McKay: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson
The Brothers McKay
by Craig Johnson

A masterful new novel in the beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister
Caller Unknown
by Gillian McAllister

How far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock--and finds herself on the wrong side of the law--in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Reese's Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time.
The Divorce by Freida McFadden
The Divorce
by Freida McFadden

Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family...Then--he kicks her out, hires the city's best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something. It's a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life. Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband's new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession--and then into something far darker. 
Five by Ilona Bannister
Five
by Ilona Bannister

Five lives. Five stories. Four will live--one will die. Who it will be? In this slow-burn masterpiece of psychological fiction, the choice is all yours.
The Final Target by Nora Roberts
The Final Target
by Nora Roberts

A young author becomes the object of a fan's desire--and rage--in the gripping thriller by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Hidden Nature.
The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews
The Fine Art of Lying
by Alexandra Andrews

From the critically acclaimed author of Who is Maud Dixon? comes a riveting new novel about a young wife and mother thrust into a world of wealth and privilege, whose rash mistake sets off a domino effect of murder and betrayal.
The Fourth Option by Jack Carr
The Fourth Option
by Jack Carr

When law enforcement, the courts, and the prison system fail, there is a fourth and final option. #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr launches a new thriller series cowritten with New York Times bestselling author M.P. Woodward.
The Kindness of Strangers by Emma Garman
The Kindness of Strangers
by Emma Garman

A wildly entertaining debut and homage to the classic murder mystery set in a boarding house in post-WWII London-perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson, Agatha Christie, and Richard Osman.
The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny
The Last Mandarin
by Louise Penny

A standalone thriller co-written by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gamache series and an award-winning journalist.
The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
The Library After Dark
by Ande Pliego

A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not as simple as it seems, in this twisty locked-room thriller from bestselling author of You Are Fatally Invited.
Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli
Murder at the Hotel Orient
by Alessandra Ranelli

For fans of The Maid and The Grand Budapest Hotel comes this thrilling (and sexy) debut mystery inspired by a real love hotel, which legend claims has existed forever, luring lovers inside for a night of debauchery.
A Murder in Hollywood by Michael Crichton
A Murder in Hollywood
by Michael Crichton

Originally written in 1973 as "John Lange," comes a new Hollywood mystery thriller by Michael Crichton never before published, that will keep you guessing until the very end.
Night Objects by Eli Raphael
Night Objects
by Eli Raphael

This suspenseful novel transports readers to the windswept coast of Washington State and a boarding school steeped in privilege and deadly secrets--a remarkable story of grief, power, and the dangerous price of belonging.
The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
The One Day You Were My Husband
by Rosie Walsh

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Ghosted and The Love of My Life comes an unmissable emotional thriller: an up-all-night, page-turning love story with a very dark secret at its heart.
Tom Clancy Rules of Engagement by Ward Larsen
Tom Clancy Rules of Engagement
by Ward Larsen

When a member of his Cabinet is killed in a plane President Jack Ryan suspects that the "accident" is anything but in this latest shocking entry in this #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Romance
Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan
Dolly All the Time
by Annabel Monaghan

A hardworking single mom returns to her seaside hometown and stumbles into a fake dating situationship with a wealthy, workaholic scion, from the New York Times bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script.
Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune
Our Perfect Storm
by Carley Fortune

Best friends have one week in paradise to fix their friendship or fall apart in this heart-stopping, utterly romantic new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and One Golden Summer.
Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick
Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It
by Brooke Averick

Meet Phoebe Berman: despite being a hopeless romantic, she's about to be a thirty-year-old virgin. With one month before her milestone birthday, she's determined to finally lose it . . . if her own anxiety doesn't slow her down. The can't-miss debut novel from podcaster and comedian Brooke Averick.
The Shippers by Katherine Center
The Shippers
by Katherine Center

Shipboard antics abound in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, as childhood besties JoJo and Cooper team up, fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, get jealous, answer long-held questions, and finally, at last, discover truths about each other that will change everything.
Speculative
Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka
Accumulation
by Aimee Pokwatka

A twisty, searing, conversation-starting novel about a filmmaker-turned-housewife who moves into her dream house and is forced to consider whether it's the house or herself that is haunted.
The Arcane Arts by S. D. Coverly
The Arcane Arts
by S. D. Coverly

In this thrilling and sexy dark romance, a graduate student and her adviser dive into a taboo branch of magic, igniting a dangerous passion.
Babylon, South Dakota by Tom Lin
Babylon, South Dakota
by Tom Lin

From the author of the Carnegie Medal in Fiction winner The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu comes a tantalizing, American West saga about a Chinese American family trying to survive on their Dakota farm as a powerful, mysterious, and morally dubious military secret shapes their lives.
The Ballad of Falling Dragons (Deluxe Limited Edition) by Sarah A. Parker
The Ballad of Falling Dragons
by Sarah A. Parker

The Ballad of Falling Dragons is the much-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon When the Moon Hatched, featuring an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages.
Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Before I Knew I Loved You
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The sixth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series about a cozy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.
Broken Dove by Dani Francis
Broken Dove
by Dani Francis

In the heart-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestselling dystopian romance Silver Elite, lines will be crossed, loyalties will be tested, and the fight for the Continent is only just beginning as Wren Darlington finds herself caught in the middle of two wars: one for the fate of her home and another for the fate of her heart.
A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost
A Curse of Beasts and Magic
by Jeaniene Frost

New York Times bestselling author of The Night Huntress series Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It's Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he's the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.
A Dark and Wild Wood by Sarah Nicole Lemon
A Dark and Wild Wood
by Sarah Nicole Lemon

Inspired by the tale of Bluebeard, A Dark and Wild Wood is the lush and atmospheric story of a maiden with dark magic who becomes the apprentice to Lord Death--for a price.
Dead Weight by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Dead Weight
by Hildur Knútsdóttir

An Icelandic night may hide secrets and affairs - or even bodies - in this gruesomely cathartic horror thriller from the author of The Night Guest.
Deathbringer (Deluxe Edition) by Sonia Tagliareni
Deathbringer
by Sonia Tagliareni

For fans of Naomi Novik and Kerri Maniscalco, a slow-burn dark academia filled with delicious yearning, dripping with atmosphere, and a compelling mystery about a death mage who hates her magic and a poison mage who hates her that are forced to work together to stop a killer before one of them is next.
The Franchise by Thomas Elrod
The Franchise
by Thomas Elrod

Game of Thrones meets The Truman Show in this epic tale of a Hollywood-owned fantasy world where nothing is quite as it seems to the people who live and die at the studio's whim.
The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
The Girl with a Thousand Faces
by Sunyi Dean

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.
Magician by Tracy Lynne Oliver
Magician
by Tracy Lynne Oliver

A dark magic debut novel featuring the Boy who becomes the Magician and the villainous Mother whose sadism might end it all.
Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey
Make Me Better
by Sarah Gailey

Sarah Gailey's Make Me Better is an eerily seductive look at the desire for community connection and self-improvement---and the darkest places inside us all. Urgent and yet timeless, this read is perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, Ari Aster, and Patricia Highsmith.
A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman
A Parade of Horribles
by Matt Dinniman

It's off to the races in the explosive eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series-- The stakes are higher than they've ever been.
Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Platform Decay
by Martha Wells

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment of Martha Wells' bestselling and award-winning Murderbot Diaries series.
Radiant Star by Ann Leckie
Radiant Star
by Ann Leckie

The Temporal Location of the Radiant Star has always been a source of both conflict and hope for the people of Ooioiaa. However, the imperial Radch see it only as an inconvenience, an antiquated religious site soon to be absorbed into their own, superior culture. But local politics is complicated, and the Radch have made a final concession: One last man will be allowed to join the mummified bodies in the temporal location to become a living saint. But this decision will ripple out to affect every part of the city.
The Rainshadow Orphans: The Rainshadow Series, Book One by Naomi Ishiguro
The Rainshadow Orphans
by Naomi Ishiguro

The first novel in a dazzling fantasy trilogy inspired by Japanese folklore, set within a mythical archipelago brimming with dragons and Sun Spirits, high-tech hackers and bubble tea. Tightly set across two days and peopled with unforgettable characters, The Rainshadow Orphans blends the anime fantasy of works like Pok mon and Studio Ghibli and the anime science fiction of revolutionary cyberpunk like Akira to explore what it means to stand up to corruption and take charge of destiny.
Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth
Seek the Traitor's Son
by Veronica Roth

An epic, romantic dystopian fantasy begins in Seek the Traitor's Son, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth.
Verity Guild: An Enemies-To-Lovers Romantasy by Mai Corland
Verity Guild
by Mai Corland

High Priestess Kerasea Vestal has spent her life hiding the truth--that she's the last surviving heir of the magical bloodline the republic slaughtered. But when a senator is brutally killed and a temple blade is found at the scene, all eyes turn to her. Praetorian Torren Morvane has made a career of dragging liars into the light, and Kerasea is the one person he's vowed to ruin. But locked on a mountain with a murderer, scheming senators, and a prophecy of death, he's forced to work at her side. With traitors closing in and a nation on the verge of shattering, Kerasea and Torren must risk everything to uncover the real killer...even if it means trusting their sworn enemy.
Villain by Natalie Zina Walschots
Villain
by Natalie Zina Walschots

The Boys meets Assistant to the Villain in the electrifying, sharp, violent, and hilarious sequel to the highly acclaimed novel, Hench. Filled with a queer and neurodiverse cast, Villain asks the question: what happens when a diabolically brilliant henchperson looks back at their already storied career and thinks, I can be so much worse.
St Charles Public Library
One S. Sixth Ave.
St Charles, Illinois 60174
630-584-0076

http://www.scpld.org/