Staff Picks
LibraryReads for September 2023
- Sarah C.
- Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Collection
Each month, LibraryReads lists the top upcoming titles recommended by librarians across the country. All these books will be published in September 2023, so stay ahead of the curve and get on the holds list now!
Perfectly Nice Neighbors
Published in 2023
"Salma Khatun is hopeful about Blenheim, the suburban development into which she, her husband, and their son have just moved. The Bangladeshi family needs a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like just the place. Soon after they move in, Salma spots her white neighbor, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in the front garden. Avoiding confrontation, Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window. But the next morning, she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint. When she does speak to Tom, battle lines are drawn between the two families. As racial and social tensions escalate and the stakes rise, it's clear that a reckoning is coming... And someone is going to get hurt"-- Provided by publisher.
Bright Lights, Big Christmas
A Novel
Published in 2023
"Newly single and unemployed Kerry Tolliver needs a second chance. When she moves back home to her family's Christmas tree farm in North Carolina, she is guilt tripped into helping her brother, Murphy, sell trees in New York City. She begrudgingly agrees, but she isn't happy about sharing a trailer with her brother in the East Village for two months. Plus, it's been years, since before her parents' divorce, that she's been to the city to sell Christmas trees. Then, Kerry meets Patrick, the annoying Mercedes owner who parked in her spot for the first two days. Patrick is recently divorced, a father to a six year old son, and lives in the neighborhood. Can Kerry's first impressions about the recently divorced, single father, and--dare she say, handsome--neighbor be wrong? Surrounded by warm childhood memories, sparkling possibility, and the magic of Christmas in the City, will Kerry finally get the second chance she needs to find herself... and maybe even find love?"-- Provided by publisher.
The Long Game
A Novel
Published in 2023
"A disgraced soccer executive reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children's team"-- Provided by publisher.
Enchanted to Meet You
Published in 2023
"In her teenage years, lovelorn Jessica Gold cast a spell that went disastrously wrong, and brought her all the wrong kind of attention--as well as a lifetime ban from the World Council of Witches. So no one is more surprised than Jess when, fifteen years later, tall, handsome WCW member Derrick Winters shows up in her quaint little village of West Harbor and claims that Jess is the Chosen One. Not chosen by West Harbor's snobby elite to style them for the town's tricentennial ball--though Jess owns the chicest clothing boutique in town. And not chosen finally to be on the WCW, either--not that Jess would have said yes, anyway, since she's done with any organization that tries to dictate what makes a "true" witch. No, Jess has been chosen to help save West Harbor itself... But just when Jess is beginning to think that she and Derrick might have a certain magic of their own--and not of the supernatural variety--Jess learns he may not be who she thought he was. And suddenly Jess finds herself having to make another kind of choice: trust Derrick and work with him to combat the sinister force battling to bring down West Harbor, or use her gift as she always has: to keep herself, and her heart, safe"-- Provided by publisher.
A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel
Published in 2023
"Major Rufus d'Aumesty has unexpectedly become the Earl of Oxney, master of a remote Norman manor on the edge of the infamous Romney Marsh. There he's beset on all sides, his position contested both by his greedy uncle and by Luke Doomsday, son of a notorious smuggling clan. The earl and the smuggler should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a trained secretary and expert schemer--exactly the sort of man Rufus needs by his side. Before long, Luke becomes an unexpected ally...and the lover Rufus had never hoped to find. But Luke came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he's desperate to keep hidden even from the lord he can't resist. As the lies accumulate and family secrets threaten to destroy everything they hold dear, master and man find themselves forced to decide whose side they're really on...and what they're willing to do for love"-- Provided by publisher.
The Vaster Wilds
Published in 2023
Escaping from a colonial settlement in the wilderness, a servant girl, with nothing but her wits, a few possessions and some faith, is tested beyond the limits of her imagination, forcing her to question her belief of everything her own civilization taught her.
Black Sheep
Published in 2023
"A cynical twentysomething must confront her cultish family in this fiery, irreverent novel from the national bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle. Vesper Wright is in hell. The night she gets fired from her unglamorous restaurant job, she comes home to find an envelope waiting on her doorstep. There's no return address, but she knows exactly who it's from --her estranged family. Inside the envelope is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper's cousin and childhood best friend, Rosemary, the one person she regrets losing touch with. She's getting married at the family home. A home that, according to the rules of her strictly religious family, Vesper shouldn't be allowed to return to. But Vesper has always been an exception to the rule, and something inside her is telling her she has to attend the wedding, even if it means suffering through a weekend in the staunchly religious community she defected from. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen. When Vesper's homecoming exhumes a horrifying family secret, she's forced to reckon with her family's fanatical beliefs and her own unexpected identity. This haunting novel explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to define our own separate identities"-- Provided by publisher.
Of Time and Turtles
Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell
Published in 2023
"When acclaimed naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles--with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal--are given a second chance at life. The League's founders, Natasha and Alexxia, live by one motto: Never give up on a turtle. But why turtles? What is it about them that inspires such devotion?"-- Provided by publisher.
The Wake-up Call
Published in 2023
"Two hotel receptionists--and archrivals--find a collection of old wedding rings and compete to return them to their owners, discovering their own love story along the way. It's the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel's front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through. The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost and found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel--and their jobs. As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?"-- Provided by publisher.
The September House
Published in 2023
"A thrilling psychological horror debut about a woman who is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes haunted, no matter the cost... You can survive anything. That's what Margaret tells herself when the walls of her house start to drip blood every September. She's learned how to live with it...and the other terrifying apparitions that have made the sprawling Victorian house she and her husband bought four years ago turn from a dream home into a living nightmare. But she can outlast all of it. Hal felt differently, though. Her husband couldn't take the hauntings anymore, and he left. But now he's not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine arrives, intent on looking for her missing father, convinced something grim has happened to him. With every desperate attempt Katherine makes at finding Hal, the hauntings at the September House grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep"-- Provided by publisher.
The Last Devil to Die
Published in 2023
When a dangerous package goes missing on Boxing Day, the Thursday Murder Club, when one of their own is murdered, take on their most deadly opponents yet.
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic
A Novel
Published in 2023
For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic. Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel. With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together. As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic? Readers who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.
Starter Villain
Published in 2023
"Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital. It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good. In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat"-- Dust jacket flap.
The Fragile Threads of Power
Published in 2023
As two royals fight to keep their crowns amidst old friends and new enemies in fantastical realms connected by a single city--London, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could bring them together--or unravel it all.
Things We Left Behind
Published in 2023
"Lucian Rollins is a lean, mean vengeance-seeking mogul. On a quest to erase his abusive father's mark on the family name, he spends every waking minute pulling strings and building his empire. The more money and power he gains, the safer he feels. Except when it comes to one feisty small-town librarian... Bonded by an old, dark secret from the past and their current mutual disdain, Sloane Walton trusts Lucian about as far as she can throw his designer-suited body. When bickering accidentally turns to foreplay, the flames are fanned, and it's impossible to put them out again. But with Sloane more than ready to start a family and Lucian refusing to even consider the idea of marriage and kids, these enemies-to-lovers are stuck at an impasse. Until Lucian learns the hard way that leaving Sloane is impossible--the very least he can do is to keep her safe"-- Provided by publisher.
The Museum of Failures
A Novel
Published in 2023
"Remy Wadia left India for the United States long ago, carrying his resentment of his mother with him. He has now returned to Bombay to adopt a baby--and to see his elderly mother for the first time in several years. Discovering that she is in the hospital, has stopped talking, and seems to have given up on life, he is struck with guilt for not realizing just how sick she has become. His unexpected appearance and assiduous attention revives her and enables her to return to her home. But when Remy finds an old photograph from his adoring late father, shocking long-held family secrets surface"-- Provided by publisher.
Hush Harbor
A Novel
Published in 2023
"A resistance group takes America's racial reckoning into its own hands in this powerful, stirringly original debut novel. After the murder of an unarmed Black teenager by the hands of the police, protests spread like wildfire in Bliss City, New Jersey. A full-scale resistance group takes control of an abandoned housing project and decide to call it Hush Harbor, in homage to the secret spaces their enslaved ancestors would gather to pray. Jeremiah Prince, alongside his sister Nova, are leaders of the revolution, but have ideological differences regarding how the movement should proceed. When a new mayor with ties to white supremacists threatens the group's pseudo-sanctuary and locks the city down, the collective must come to a decision for their very survival. Haunting, provocative, heart-pounding and tender, Hush Harbor presents a high-stakes world grounded on the thought-provoking premise: What would you sacrifice in the name of justice?"-- Provided by publisher.
Cleat Cute
A Novel
Published in 2023
"A sapphic rivals to lovers rom com for fans of Ted Lasso and A League of Their Own, where two soccer teammates are at odds before falling in love as their team gears up for the World Cup. Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women's National Team for ten years, even though she's only 26. But when she's sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. 22-year-old Phoebe is everything Grace isn't-a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become teammates with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival. Phoebe Matthews is too focused on her first season as a professional soccer player to think about seducing her longtime idol. But when Grace ends up making the first move, they can't keep their hands off of each other. As the World Cup approaches and Grace works her way back from injury, a miscommunication leaves the women with hilariously different perspectives on their relationship. But they're on the same page on the field, realizing they can play together instead of vying for the same position. With every tackle the tension between them grows, and both players soon have to decide what's more important-being together or making the roster. The perfect blend of funny and steamy, Meryl Wilsner's Cleat Cute is about being brave enough to win on and off the field"-- Provided by publisher.
Land of Milk and Honey
Published in 2023
"About a Chinese American chef who, lured to a decadent, enigmatic colony of the superrich in a near future in which food is disappearing, discovers the meaning of pleasure and the ethics of who gets to enjoy it, altering her life and, indirectly, the world"-- Provided by publisher.