“When someone stabs you it’s not your fault that you feel pain.” – Louise Penny, A Fatal Grace
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
fiction / fantasy.
For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.
When Sciona finally passes the qualifying exam and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome—and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.
What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.
At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first.
“…gripping and intense…” – Sarah Walker, Library Reads
“With exquisite worldbuilding and characters, Wang delivers a tour de force of unflinching social criticism wrapped in a classic fantasy setting. Vibrant, raw, and deeply emotional, this novel is a manifesto about justice as much as it is a thrilling work of fiction.” – Lydia Fletcher, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Dark academia meets magical realism in this gripping tale of ambition and resistance… a powerful, thought-provoking read that challenges readers to consider the true cost of ambition and the strength required to stand up for change.” – Brittney Cray, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins ★
fiction / mystery / suspense.
Welcome to Eris: an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day.
Once home to Vanessa: A famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.
Now home to Grace: A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.
But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.
And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge…
A masterful novel that is as page-turning as it is unsettling, The Blue Hour recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Hawkins’s place among the very best of our most nuanced and stylish storytellers.
“[A] highly engaging and satisfying story. Once The Blue Hour gets its hooks in you it’s hard to put down, so make sure to clear some time on your calendar!” – Sean Farrell, AFPL Journal
“…Hawkins has created a perfectly formed gothic tale that admirers of Daphne du Maurier will adore.” – Jane Murphy, Booklist
“[A] tight story with interesting characters that keeps you engaged until the end… Learning [its] secrets is the fun of the novel, and there are few authors writing today who drip them out, page by excruciating page, like Hawkins.” – Rob Merrill, AP
“The Blue Hour is phenomenal. There’s an underlying atmosphere of menace and toxicity that runs throughout the book creating tangible tension… With its almost melancholic, intense malevolence, The Blue Hour is an intelligent and finely wrought exploration of creativity, obsession and greed in many forms – emotional, physical, financial, intellectual – so that it wraps itself around the reader’s psyche and ensnares their attention completely. I loved it.” – Linda Hill, My Weekly
Don’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
fiction / young adult / horror / fantasy / mystery.
Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.
Kill for him.
High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.
But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork—whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories.
Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…
“Sure to please those interested in modern horror mixed with a touch of fairy tale.” – Kelly Ferreira, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“With a lingering terror that will lurk well after you finish, this psychological horror is packed with monsters of fairytale, folklore and so much more. Good luck not getting hooked (and haunted).” – Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads
“…written in rich, extravagant prose… the story has ample genuinely creepy moments with the monsters… Lush, angsty, queer horror.” – Kirkus Reviews
Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me by Glory Edim
nonfiction / memoir / books.
“She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved
For Glory Edim, that “friend of my mind” is books. Edim, who grew up in Virginia to Nigerian immigrant parents, started the popular Well-Read Black Girl book club at age thirty, eventually reaching a community of half a million readers. But her own love of books stretches far back.
Edim’s father moved back to Nigeria while she was still a child, marking the beginning of a series of traumatic changes and losses for her family. What became an escape, a safe space, and a second home for her and her brother was their local library. Books were where Edim found community, and as she grew older she discovered authors and ideas that she wasn’t being taught about in class. Reading wherever and whenever she could, be it in her dorm room or when traveling by subway or plane, she found the Black writers whose words would forever change her life: Nikki Giovanni, through children’s poetry cassettes; Maya Angelou, through a critical high school English teacher; Toni Morrison, while attending Morrison’s alma mater, Howard University; Audre Lorde, on a flight to Nigeria. In prose full of both joy and heartbreak, Edim recounts how these writers and so many others taught her how to value herself by helping her to find her own voice when her mother lost hers, to trust her feelings when her father remarried, and to create bonds with other Black women and uplift their stories.
Gather Me is a glowing testament to how the power of representation in literature can gather the disparate parts that make us who we are and assemble them into a portrait of discovery.
“A love story that attests to the power of literature.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…heartfelt and absorbing… The openness in Edim’s prose invites the reader into a true understanding of what these books mean to her and how they helped her through both dark and happy times. Readers who enjoy coming-of-age memoirs will find much to love.” – Allison Escoto, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…Edim beautifully illuminates how discovering or revisiting formative texts can confer all the warmth and wisdom of chatting with a clutch of aunties. This moving autobiography—complete with a reading list—will make a deep impression on book lovers.” – Publishers Weekly
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
fiction / mystery / suspense.
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.
That’s only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin The Grey Wolf, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny’s #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading “this might interest you”, a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.
Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they’re chasing becomes clear. If they fail, the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.
“[A] frightening novel of duality, of good versus evil, with an allegorical tale for today’s world, as only Penny can write.” – Lesa Holstine, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“…one of the series’ best… Penny pulls off the narrative’s uncharacteristically epic scope without a hitch, swapping fair-play puzzles for pulse-pounding cliffhangers without sacrificing intimate character moments. Gamache’s fans will be eager for his next adventure.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“…spins ever more intricate connections among leading players that become deeply unsettling. One of those rare triple-deckers that’s actually worth every page, every complication, every bead of sweat.” – Kirkus Reviews
The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party by Michael Tackett
nonfiction / biography / politics / history.
In the long history of American government, few senators have wielded as much power as Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell. That’s no accident; he worked his entire life to cultivate his dominance.
In The Price of Power, award-winning journalist Michael Tackett pulls back the curtain on one of the most influential figures to ever set foot in the American Senate, offering you an intimate, personal view of his life and career. Drawing on thousands of pages of archival materials, letters, and more than 100 interviews with associates, colleagues, and McConnell himself, Tackett pieces together the story of McConnell’s early life, his formative battle with polio as a young child, and details his forty-plus-year career as one of the Senate’s most impactful leaders.
A lifelong Republican, McConnell was known as a pragmatic moderate legislator when he joined the Senate in 1985. Tackett traces his steady rightward drift, as McConnell’s politics evolved with his masterful ability to consolidate and wield power. But such success comes at a cost. The Trump years brought with them the rise of an almost unrecognizable Republican party, suffused with a reactive populism that even McConnell himself would struggle to control.
Featuring expert reporting, unprecedented access, and never-before-published revelations, The Price of Power is an inside portrait of exactly that—what it takes to achieve power, maintain it, deploy it, and, finally, watch it slip out of your hands.
“…revealing… McConnell is a national and international figure, and one who is not well understood. This book adds much to our knowledge.” – Al Cross, Northern Kentucky Tribune
“[Tackett] strives to be fair and give credit where due, and he chronicles his subject’s political career with admirable diligence and even a certain sympathy.” – Philip Terzian, Wall Street Journal
The Queen by Nick Cutter
fiction / horror / mystery.
On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town—even the police—think she’s dead.
Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything, know the most intimate details about one another… except for the destructive secret hidden from them both. A secret that will trigger a chain of events ending in tragedy, bloodshed, and death. And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story—the real story. In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly disquieting breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend—a person she never truly knew at all…
“[A] gripping page-turner…” – Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
“[A] terrifying journey… this book is a triumph.” – Gabino Iglesias, New York Times
“…fast-paced and suspenseful… one of the most entertaining novels readers will encounter this year… Readers will be engulfed by the story from the moment they open the book, while the echoing hum of what they just experienced will buzz around in their heads long after they finish. Cutter is at the top of his game here, providing an intensely visceral and gripping tale.” – Becky Spratford, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
This Girl’s a Killer by Emma C. Wells
fiction / suspense / mystery / horror.
Ask Cordelia Black why she did it. The answer will always be: He had it coming.
Cordelia Black loves exactly three things: Her chosen family, her hairdresser (worth every penny plus tip), and killing bad men.
By day she’s an ambitious pharma rep with a flawless reputation and designer wardrobe. By night, she culls South Louisiana of unscrupulous men—monsters who think they’ve evaded justice, until they meet her. Sure, the evening news may have started throwing around phrases like “serial killer,” but Cordelia knows that’s absurd. She’s not a killer, she is simply karma. And being karma requires complete and utter control.
But when Cordelia discovers a flaw in her perfectly designed system for eliminating monsters, pressure heightens. And it only intensifies when her best friend starts dating a man Cordelia isn’t sure is a good person. Someone who might just unravel everything she has worked for.
Soon enough Cordelia has to come face to face with the choices she’s made. The good, the bad, and the murderous. Both her family, and her freedom, depend on it.
“…Wells ratchets up the tension to a fever pitch… a gripping, thrilling read.” – Kristine Huntley, Booklist
“Wells mines plenty of laughs and thrills from Cordelia’s attempts to claw her way to safety, with the darkness of the premise nicely balanced by the novel’s fizzy first-person narration. Anyone who’s ever wondered what kind of trouble a female Dexter Morgan would get up to is in luck.” – Publishers Weekly
“Dark, funny, twisty, with a heroine so compelling you’ll be rooting for her even in the most extreme of times, This Girl’s a Killer is an exhilarating rollercoaster ride through good and evil, trauma and unbreakable bonds, a novel about digging deep and holding on, no matter what the world tells you.” – Neil Nyren, BookTrib.
Throne of Secrets by Keri Maniscalco
fiction / fantasy / romance.
A wicked prince determined to save his kingdom.
Gabriel Axton—infamous as the Prince of Gluttony, the self-proclaimed rake of rakes—has always lived for indulgence: in delicious food, in tantalizing women, and most of all, in the thrill of the hunt, where his love of danger can take over. But when his favorite adventure takes a deadly turn, he realizes something is very wrong in his demon court. With the clock ticking, he must turn to the only one who might uncover the truth: a journalist he has spent a decade avoiding…
A reporter hell-bent on finding the truth.
Adriana Saint Lucent has been on the hunt for years—if she could just report something damning enough about that no-good scoundrel Gabriel Axton, she knows others would finally see the demon as she does. But she never expected to turn up a rumor too terrifying to be believed: could the ice dragons to the north be growing restless? Drawn into the secrets of the Underworld, Adriana’s investigation leads her into the place she dreads most… Axton’s infamous court.
A dangerous rivalry—and deliciously twisted fairy tale.
To stop darkness from falling over their kingdom, Axton and Adriana will have to unite against an escalating danger. But with each holding tight to their own secrets, can they find the truth before it’s too late? And what will they do with an equally troubling rumor: that they might not actually hate one another, after all?
“…Adriana and Gluttony’s slow-burning romance and electric chemistry carries the story and the vivid world is fun to revisit. Readers will eagerly await the next installment.” – Publishers Weekly
“Kerri Maniscalco knows how to get us panting and wanting more and her latest book, Throne of Secrets, does just that every single second that it can… [an] exciting story that you’re not going to put down.” – Tamara Fuentes, Cosmopolitan
“…incredible… I’m telling you now, you’re going to want this book for your shelves if you’re a spicy romance lover.” – Nathalie DeFelice, The Nerd Daily
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