Staff Picks
LibraryReads for March 2024
- Sarah C.
- Monday, February 26
Collection
Each month, LibraryReads lists the top upcoming titles recommended by librarians across the country. All these books will be published in March 2024, so stay ahead of the curve and get on the holds list now!
The Princess of Las Vegas
A Novel
Published in 2024
"The book revolves around Crissy, the star of a beloved Princess Diana tribute show in Las Vegas, and her estranged sister Betsy, a therapist who works with children and adolescents in Vermont. Betsy's boyfriend Frankie works in a mysterious branch of cryptocurrency and, seemingly out of nowhere, proposes that they move to Las Vegas together. Betsy and Crissy must navigate how to go about their newfound physical proximity to one another and their respective relationships with Betsy's foster child Marisa, who moves with Betsy and Frankie to Vegas. When Crissy meets a handsome, secretive Russian man named Yevgeny, Crissy and Betsy soon find themselves in a dangerous web of greed, crypto-mafia schemes, and murder"-- Provided by publisher.
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
Published in 2024
"Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls' weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are-seeing as it's actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero's childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car-it won't be all fun and games. When Finlay's ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride. Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi's kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi's life. But that's not all-he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back. But when they sneak into the loan shark's suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for-Marco's already dead. They don't have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike-and after Finlay's night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he's a little too eager to keep her close to his side. If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother's marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero's missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she's done, or be forced to double down?"-- Provided by publisher.
James
A Novel
Published in 2024
"From Percival Everett-a recipient of the NBCC Lifetime Achievement Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, and numerous PEN awards-comes James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, toldfrom the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points alongthe river's banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin...), Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a "cult literary icon" (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature"-- Provided by publisher.
The Hunter
Published in 2024
"It's a blazing summer when two men arrive in a small village in the West of Ireland. One of them is coming home. Both of them are coming to get rich. One of them is coming to die. Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He's found it, more or less: he's built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he's gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey's long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn't want protecting. What she wants is revenge. From the writer who is "in a class by herself," (The New York Times), a nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we'll do for our loved ones, what we'll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide"-- Provided by publisher.
The Mystery Writer
A Novel
Published in 2024
"Theo Benton decides to move to the United States to finally finish her novel, and she is soon drawn into a literary labyrinth where identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of sales and readership. When her mentor and lover is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. But when the prime suspect turns out to be her older brother, Gus, Theo does what is necessary to protect him-to save him. Then she disappears. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. When Gus finds that thread, he follows it, and in attempting to find his sister, inadvertently, or perhaps recklessly, threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. In order to protect the carefully constructed deceit, Theo Benton, and everyone who ever looked for her, will have to die."-- Provided by publisher.
The Great Divide
A Novel
Published in 2024
"A novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, following the intersecting lives of the local families fighting to protect their homeland, the West Indian laborers recruited to dig the waterway, and the white Americans who gained profit and glory for themselves"-- Provided by publisher.
Bye, Baby
A Novel
Published in 2024
"Best friends don't always have the best intentions. On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It's her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she's just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering - with a jolt of fear - that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie's world. Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood, no longer the inseparable pair they used to be in their small Hudson Valley hometown. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has recently become a mother, and is building a following as a lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind - including Billie, who is single and childless, and no longer fits into her world. But Billie knows the worst thing Cassie has ever done, and she will do anything to restore their friendship... Told in alternating perspectives in Lovering's signature suspenseful style, Bye, Baby confronts the myriad ways friendships change and evolve over time, the lingering echoes of childhood trauma, and the impact of women's choices on their lifelong relationships"-- Provided by publisher.
Happily Never After
Published in 2024
"Their name? The objectors. Their job? To break off weddings as hired. Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other. When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her wedding that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad's cutthroat boss, she doesn't want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their wedding: "I object!" During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector's job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He's a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in. Max and Sophie start working together, the two love cynics going from wedding to wedding, and she's having more fun than she's had in ages. Sophie looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony, where she gets to save the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As they spend more time together, however, they realize their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two-but it's totally fine because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn't exist, after all. And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max's heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to her getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime"-- Provided by publisher.
A Grave Robbery
Published in 2024
"Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud's. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why? Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain--a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors?"-- Provided by publisher.
The Underground Library
A Novel
Published in 2024
"On the day Juliet Lansdown reports to work for the first time at Bethnal Green Library, it isn't the bustling hub she's been expecting. But in the face of German attacks, she's determined to make it a place where all of their neighbors feel safe and welcome. Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library too, though she's only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front lines and unexpected family strife, she's more in need of support than ever. Sofie Baumann, a Jewish refugee without any family to lean on, finds comfort and friendship in Bethnal Green's quickly growing literary community and escapes to the library every chance she gets. But her asylum in London is tied to a domestic work visa issued by an unscrupulous employer, leaving her vulnerable and uncertain where to turn when her work environment becomes unbearable. So when a slew of bombs damage the library, Juliet can't bear to give up on her safe haven of books and relocates the stacks into an Underground station where the city's residents shelter nightly, determined to keep lending out stories that will keep spirits up. But tragedy after tragedy strikes, threatening to unmoor the women and sever the ties of their community. Will Juliet, Kate, and Sofie be able to overcome their own troubles to save the library? Or will the beating heart of their neighborhood be lost forever?"-- Provided by publisher.
This Could Be Us
Published in 2024
"Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She's a domestic goddess who's never met a party she couldn't host or a charge she couldn't lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion. But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She's too busy keeping a roof over her daughters' heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise. But then an unlikely man enters the picture--the forbidden one, the one she shouldn't want but can't seem to resist. She's lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself? After all she's lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?"-- Provided by publisher.
Swift and Saddled
Published in 2024
"The last thing Ada Hart needs is a man to take care of her. Not anymore. After failing out of her interior design program and the disaster that was her short-lived marriage, Ada clawed her way up from her rock bottom. Now, the only person she trusts is herself, and that has gotten her further than ever before. She has her own business, and one of the largest ranches in Wyoming just hired her for the most important project of her career. When Ada arrives in Meadowlark, she finds herself in a dive bar where she can't seem to shake the eyes of a handsome cowboy. When she leads him to the back of the bar, he leaves her with a kiss that most people can only fantasize about. She almost regrets that she'll never see him again...except it turns out he's her new boss. Weston Ryder is a happy guy. Even happier now that the mystery woman from the bar is the interior designer for his dream project on his family's ranch. He feels like he hit the jackpot. Too bad she wants absolutely nothing to do with him outside of work. Ada is convinced the pull she feels toward Wes will go away, but Wes can't stop thinking about her. Even though walls are coming down around Rebel Blue, Ada's walls are firmly in place"-- Provided by publisher.
The Truth About the Devlins
Published in 2024
"TJ Devlin is the charming disappointment in the prominent Devlin family, all of whom are lawyers at their highly successful firm-except him. After a stint in prison and rehab for alcoholism, TJ can't get hired anywhere except at the firm, in a make-workjob with the title of investigator. But one night, TJ's world turns upside down after his older brother John confesses that he just murdered one of the clients, an accountant he'd confronted with proof of embezzlement. It seems impossible coming from John, the firstborn son and Most Valuable Devlin. TJ plunges into the investigation, seizing the chance to prove his worth and save his brother. But in no time, TJ and John find themselves entangled in a lethal web of deception and murder. TJ will fight to save his family, but what he learns might break them first"-- Provided by publisher.
Expiration Dates
A Novel
Published in 2024
"Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan in store for her. Ever since she was young, whenever she met a new guy, Daphne would find a slip of paper with exactly how long they'd spend together--4 months, two weeks, one night. That's how she met her ex-boyfriend and current best friend, Hugo, the only person in Daphne's life who knows of her secret. Followed by a string of men and countless dates, Daphne resigned herself to the fact that she was never meant to find the one, to be in love, until one night when she receives a paper on her way to a blind date, except this time, the paper is blank. Jake is everything you want in a guy--kind, hard-working, and perfectly handsome. But as they get to know each other and their relationship becomes increasingly more serious, Daphne wonders if this is the right path for her, and worries about the secrets she's hiding from Jake. When part of Daphne's past becomes a part of her present, she is forced to confront everything she's been hiding from the those she loves most and must make a pivotal decision to choose whether to live her life according to others, or herself. This story is about being single and searching for love, but it's also a story about destiny and what people mean to us."-- Provided by publisher.
Murder Road
Published in 2024
"A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases. July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They're looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them. When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all"-- Provided by publisher.
Listen for the Lie
A Novel
Published in 2024
"What would you do if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thinks so too? What if the truth doesn't matter? As Lucy Chase's Texas hometown begins to tell versions of what happened and who Lucy is to a nationwide, true crime obsessed audience, at the bequest of her grandmother, she returns to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend's murder, even if she is the one that did it"-- Provided by publisher.
The New Couple in 5b
Published in 2024
A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past, in a thriller by the New York Times best-selling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six.