"The LibraryReads monthly Top Ten list is created by library staff across the country, who read advance copies of pre-pub adult books generously supplied by publishers. Rather than picking "the best" of anything, LibraryReads represents collective favorites - the books library staff loved reading and cannot wait to share. There is no selection committee or jury; the list is completely compiled via votes from the U.S. public library community." LibraryReads.org
Archive: https://libraryreads.org/archive
Wildfire
By Grace, Hannah
The latest in the TikTok sensation and deliciously "swoonworthy" (Elena Armas, New York Times bestselling author) Maple Hills series follows two summer camp counselors who reconnect after a sizzling one-night stand. . Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man) , Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name. Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781668026274
|
Paperback
Let Him In
By Friend, William
"Daddy, there's a man in our room..."Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there's a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare.He isn't surprised that they're troubled. Grief has made its home at Hart House: nine months ago, the twins' mother Pippa died unexpectedly, leaving Alfie to raise them alone. And now, when the girls mention a new imaginary friend, it seems like a harmless coping mechanism. But the situation quickly develops into something more insidious. The girls set an extra place for him at the table. They whisper to him. They say he's going to take them away ... Alfie calls upon Julia - Pippa's sister and a psychiatrist - to oust the malignant tenant from their lives.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781728275185
|
Hardcover
The Hurricane Wars
By Guanzon, Thea
"An incredible debut full of rich atmosphere, clever world building, opposing magic, and sizzling romance, The Hurricane Wars is my newest obsession." - KERRI MANISCALCO, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Throne of the Fallen"I physically could not stop reading! Thea Guanzon's talent is limitless, and she is the kind of writer that comes around once in a generation. Mark my words: lives will be changed by The Hurricane Wars." - ALI HAZELWOOD, New York Times bestselling author of The Love HypothesisThe fates of two bitter enemies with opposing magical abilities are swept together in The Hurricane Wars, the spellbinding debut in a fantasy romance trilogy set in a Southeast Asia-inspired world ravaged by storms, perfect for fans of Sarah J.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780063277274
|
Hardcover
The Leftover Woman
By Kwok, Jean
Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village without money or family support, fleeing a controlling husband, on a desperate search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth - another female casualty of China's controversial One Child Policy. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her daughter.
Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a prestigious family name and the wealth that comes with it, a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. She’s even hired a nanny to help her balance the demands of being a working wife and mother. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardize not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble and her role in her own family is called into question.
The Leftover Woman finds these two unforgettable women on a shocking collision course. Twisting and suspenseful and surprisingly poignant, it's a profound exploration of identity and belonging, motherhood and family. It is a story of two women in a divided city—separated by severe economic and cultural differences yet bound by a deep emotional connection to a child.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780063031463
|
Book
Better Hate than Never
By Liese, Chloe
Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.. Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won't even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.. Despite their friends' and families' pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she's only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn't sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780593441527
|
Paperback
West Heart Kill
By Mcdorman, Dann
An irresistible literary murder mystery set at a remote hunting lodge where everyone is a suspect, including the erratic detective on the scene - a remarkable debut that gleefully upends the rules of the genre and marks the arrival of a major new talent. "A thoroughly original suspense novel that hops across elements of the genre - a diabolical locked-room mystery interspersed with a fascinating primer on the form - while always being tremendous fun to read." - Chris Pavone, best-selling author of Two Nights in Lisbon. An isolated hunt club. A raging storm. Three corpses, discovered within four days. A cast of monied, scheming, unfaithful characters.. When private detective Adam McAnnis joins an old college friend for the Bicentennial weekend at the exclusive West Heart club in upstate New York, he finds himself among a set of not-entirely-friendly strangers.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780593537572
|
Hardcover
A Holly Jolly Ever After
By Murphy, Julie
An actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member are reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film in this all new spicy rom-com by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, bestselling coauthors of A Merry Little Meet Cute.Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He's living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends' weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he's ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel. Winnie Baker did everything right.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780063222649
|
Hardcover
Let Us Descend
By Ward, Jesmyn
"'Let us descend,' the poet now began, 'and enter this blind world.'" - Inferno, Dante Alighieri
Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader's guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.
From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781982104498
|
Book
Midnight Is the Darkest Hour
By Winstead, Ashley
Midnight is the Darkest Hour is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love, and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all...even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar—and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.
A dark and powerful novel like fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways we've come to expect love, religion, and stories to save us, the lengths we have to go to in order to take back power, and the monstrous work of being a girl in this world.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781728269962
|
Book
The Unmaking of June Farrow
By Young, Adrienne
A woman risks everything to end her family's centuries-old curse, solve her mother's disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.. In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm - and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow's disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.. It's been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren't there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere - the signs of what June always knew was coming.
Publisher: n/a
|
9780593598672
|
Hardcover
The Comfort of Crows
By Renkl, Margaret
From New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Margaret Renkl comes a "howling love letter to the world" (Ann Patchett) : a luminous book tracing the passing of seasons, personal and natural.In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a devotional of sorts: fifty-two essays that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons - from a crow spied on New Year's Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year - what develops is a portrait of joy and grief. Joy at the ongoing pleasures of the natural world: "Until the very last cricket falls silent, the beauty-besotted will always find a reason to love the world." And grief at a shifting climate, at winters that end too soon, at songbirds growing fewer and fewer.
Publisher: n/a
|
9781954118461
|
Hardcover
Straw Dogs of the Universe
By Chun, Ye
A harrowing and redemptive immigrant story for readers of Pachinko. A Chinese railroad worker and his young daughter - sold into servitude - in 19th century California search for family, fulfillment, and belonging in a violent new land. "Heaven and earth aren't humane.To them the ten thousand thingsAre straw dogs.". A sweeping historical novel of the American West from the little-seen perspective of those who helped to build it, Straw Dogs of the Universe traces the story of one Chinese father and his young daughter, desperate to find him against all odds.. After her village is devastated by famine, 10-year-old Sixiang is sold to a human trafficker for a bag of rice and six silver coins. Her mother is reluctant to let her go, but the promise of a better life for her beloved daughter ultimately sways her.
"The LibraryReads monthly Top Ten list is created by library staff across the country, who read advance copies of pre-pub adult books generously supplied by publishers. Rather than picking "the best" of anything, LibraryReads represents collective favorites - the books library staff loved reading and cannot wait to share. There is no selection committee or jury; the list is completely compiled via votes from the U.S. public library community." LibraryReads.org
Archive: https://libraryreads.org/archive
Wildfire
By Grace, Hannah
The latest in the TikTok sensation and deliciously "swoonworthy" (Elena Armas, New York Times bestselling author) Maple Hills series follows two summer camp counselors who reconnect after a sizzling one-night stand. . Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man) , Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name. Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working.
Let Him In
By Friend, William
"Daddy, there's a man in our room..."Alfie wakes one night to find his twin daughters at the foot of his bed, claiming there's a shadowy figure in their bedroom. When no such thing can be found, he assumes the girls had a nightmare.He isn't surprised that they're troubled. Grief has made its home at Hart House: nine months ago, the twins' mother Pippa died unexpectedly, leaving Alfie to raise them alone. And now, when the girls mention a new imaginary friend, it seems like a harmless coping mechanism. But the situation quickly develops into something more insidious. The girls set an extra place for him at the table. They whisper to him. They say he's going to take them away ... Alfie calls upon Julia - Pippa's sister and a psychiatrist - to oust the malignant tenant from their lives.
The Hurricane Wars
By Guanzon, Thea
"An incredible debut full of rich atmosphere, clever world building, opposing magic, and sizzling romance, The Hurricane Wars is my newest obsession." - KERRI MANISCALCO, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Throne of the Fallen"I physically could not stop reading! Thea Guanzon's talent is limitless, and she is the kind of writer that comes around once in a generation. Mark my words: lives will be changed by The Hurricane Wars." - ALI HAZELWOOD, New York Times bestselling author of The Love HypothesisThe fates of two bitter enemies with opposing magical abilities are swept together in The Hurricane Wars, the spellbinding debut in a fantasy romance trilogy set in a Southeast Asia-inspired world ravaged by storms, perfect for fans of Sarah J.
The Leftover Woman
By Kwok, Jean
Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village without money or family support, fleeing a controlling husband, on a desperate search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth - another female casualty of China's controversial One Child Policy. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her daughter.
Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a prestigious family name and the wealth that comes with it, a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. She’s even hired a nanny to help her balance the demands of being a working wife and mother. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardize not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble and her role in her own family is called into question.
The Leftover Woman finds these two unforgettable women on a shocking collision course. Twisting and suspenseful and surprisingly poignant, it's a profound exploration of identity and belonging, motherhood and family. It is a story of two women in a divided city—separated by severe economic and cultural differences yet bound by a deep emotional connection to a child.
Better Hate than Never
By Liese, Chloe
Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.. Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won't even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.. Despite their friends' and families' pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she's only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn't sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.
West Heart Kill
By Mcdorman, Dann
An irresistible literary murder mystery set at a remote hunting lodge where everyone is a suspect, including the erratic detective on the scene - a remarkable debut that gleefully upends the rules of the genre and marks the arrival of a major new talent. "A thoroughly original suspense novel that hops across elements of the genre - a diabolical locked-room mystery interspersed with a fascinating primer on the form - while always being tremendous fun to read." - Chris Pavone, best-selling author of Two Nights in Lisbon. An isolated hunt club. A raging storm. Three corpses, discovered within four days. A cast of monied, scheming, unfaithful characters.. When private detective Adam McAnnis joins an old college friend for the Bicentennial weekend at the exclusive West Heart club in upstate New York, he finds himself among a set of not-entirely-friendly strangers.
A Holly Jolly Ever After
By Murphy, Julie
An actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member are reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film in this all new spicy rom-com by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, bestselling coauthors of A Merry Little Meet Cute.Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He's living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends' weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he's ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel. Winnie Baker did everything right.
Let Us Descend
By Ward, Jesmyn
"'Let us descend,' the poet now began, 'and enter this blind world.'" - Inferno, Dante Alighieri
Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader's guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.
From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.
Midnight Is the Darkest Hour
By Winstead, Ashley
Midnight is the Darkest Hour is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love, and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all...even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar—and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.
A dark and powerful novel like fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways we've come to expect love, religion, and stories to save us, the lengths we have to go to in order to take back power, and the monstrous work of being a girl in this world.
The Unmaking of June Farrow
By Young, Adrienne
A woman risks everything to end her family's centuries-old curse, solve her mother's disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.. In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm - and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow's disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.. It's been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren't there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere - the signs of what June always knew was coming.
The Comfort of Crows
By Renkl, Margaret
From New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Margaret Renkl comes a "howling love letter to the world" (Ann Patchett) : a luminous book tracing the passing of seasons, personal and natural.In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a devotional of sorts: fifty-two essays that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons - from a crow spied on New Year's Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year - what develops is a portrait of joy and grief. Joy at the ongoing pleasures of the natural world: "Until the very last cricket falls silent, the beauty-besotted will always find a reason to love the world." And grief at a shifting climate, at winters that end too soon, at songbirds growing fewer and fewer.
Straw Dogs of the Universe
By Chun, Ye
A harrowing and redemptive immigrant story for readers of Pachinko. A Chinese railroad worker and his young daughter - sold into servitude - in 19th century California search for family, fulfillment, and belonging in a violent new land. "Heaven and earth aren't humane.To them the ten thousand thingsAre straw dogs.". A sweeping historical novel of the American West from the little-seen perspective of those who helped to build it, Straw Dogs of the Universe traces the story of one Chinese father and his young daughter, desperate to find him against all odds.. After her village is devastated by famine, 10-year-old Sixiang is sold to a human trafficker for a bag of rice and six silver coins. Her mother is reluctant to let her go, but the promise of a better life for her beloved daughter ultimately sways her.