Staff Picks Spring 2025

By M.L. Wang

"On a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful fighters in the world, warriors capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For centuries, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire's enemies at bay, earning their treacherous spit of land the name "The sword of Kaigen.' Born into Kusanagi's legendary Matsuda family, fourteen-year-old Mamoru has always know his purpose: to master his family's fighting techniques and defend his homeland. But when an outsider arrives and pulls back the curtain on Kaigen's alleged age of peace, Mamoru ralizes that he might not have much time before he has to become the fighter he was bred to be."

By Isabel Ibañez

"Set in 1884, nineteen-year-old Inez travels to Egypt after the sudden death of her parents to uncover the truth about their deaths, and as she attempts to unravel the mysteries her parents sought, she becomes a pawn in a larger game that threatens to kill her."

By Joseph Knox

"Sometimes bad people must decide to do good... On the run from his shady past, Lynch has just arrived in London, still looking over his shoulder. His phone is dead, he has no money, no contacts, no one at all. Until he runs into a young woman named Bobbie who mistakes him for her brother, Heydon Pierce, who disappeared 5 years ago without a trace. At Bobbie's suggestion, Lynch goes to the Pierce family home, posing as Heydon to try and con some money out of them. Unfortunately for Lynch, his subterfuge is instantly discovered. He instead strikes the devil's bargain with the family: their silence for his cooperation in finding out what really happened to Heydon. But Lynch's investigation goes too deep."

By Orlando Murrin

"The Chester Square Cookery School in the heart of London offers students a refined setting in which to master the fine art of choux pastry and hone their hollandaise. True, the ornate mansion doesn't quite sparkle the way it used to--a feeling chef Paul Delamare is familiar with these days. Worn out and newly broke, he'd be tempted to turn down the request to fill in as teacher for a week-long residential course, if anyone other than Christian Wagner were asking. ... The students are a motley crew, most of whom seem more interested in ogling the surroundings (including handsome Christian) than learning the best ways to temper chocolate. Yet despite his misgivings, Paul starts to enjoy imparting his extensive knowledge to the recruits--until someone turns up dead"

By Matthew Gabriele & David Perry

"The story of the Carolingian Civil War, a bloody, protracted battle pitting brother against brother, father against son, that would end an empire, upend a continent, and lay down the modern borders of Europe"

By Eowyn Ivey

"Birdie splits her days between caring for her six-year-old daughter, Emaleen, and working as a waitress at a roadside lodge in Alaska. But this is not the life she'd dreamed of as a child. Back then, she had fantasized about being free in the world of nature. Arthur is a soft-spoken recluse--adopted as a boy under mysterious circumstances by a local couple who raised him as their own but understood that he could never fully fit into their world. He calls the mountains on the far side of the Wolverine River his home and lives completely off the grid, appearing in the town at random intervals. But when he shows up at Birdie's lodge one day and she serves him honey and tea, the two form a friendship, and as they eventually fall in love Birdie begins to imagine a different life for herself and her daughter."

By Han Kang

"One morning in December, Kyungha receives a message from her friend Inseon saying she has been hospitalized in Seoul and asking that Kyungha join her urgently. The two women have last seen each other over a year before, on Jeju Island, where Inseon lives and where, two days before this reunion, she has injured herself chopping wood. Airlifted to Seoul for an operation, Inseon has had to leave behind her pet bird. Bedridden, she begs Kyungha to take the first plane to Jeju to save the animal. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon's house at all costs, but the icy wind and snow squalls slow her down as night begins to fall."

By Erik Larson

A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history

By Allison Brennan

"Two people were murdered--at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, bodies covered in the same red poppies...but on opposite sides of the country. With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted? Yet their search unearths more questions than answers--until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers."

By T. Kingfisher

"Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms-there are no secrets in this house-and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end."

By Robert Jackson Bennett

"Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne's docks, is nothing her unique abilities can't handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia's been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine."

By Robert Jackson Bennett

"An eccentric detective and her long-suffering assistant untangle a web of magic, deceit, and murder in fantasy reimagining of the classic crime novel"

By Mike Birchall

"Sam and Maggie are a normal couple, in a normal house, in a normal neighborhood. There is nothing strange about their heads, their neighbors, or their sweet little dog. Everything is fine. This is the story of a couple doing their best to get by in a world where things are absolutely, totally, and unquestionably fine"

By Michael Connelly

"The vision has haunted him for four years -- a young woman lying crumpled in death, her hand outstretched in silent supplication. Harry Bosch was taken off the Angella Benton murder case when the production assistant's death was linked with the violent theft of two million dollars from a movie set. Both files were never closed. Now retired from the L.A.P.D., Bosch is determined to find justice for Angella."

By Rob Delaney

"In 2016, Rob Delaney's one-year-old son, Henry, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family had moved from Los Angeles to London with their two young boys when Rob's wife was pregnant with Henry, their third. The move was an adventure that would bind them even more tightly together as they navigated the novelty of London, the culture clashes, and the funhouse experience of Rob's fame--thanks to his role as co-creator and co-star of the hit series Catastrophe. Henry's illness was a cataclysm that changed everything about their lives."

By Jack Carr

"Take my word for it, James Reece is one rowdy motherf***er. Get ready!" --Chris Pratt, star of the #1 Amazon Prime series The Terminal List This fourth thriller in the Terminal List series "should go down as one of the best books in the genre, period" (The Real Book Spy) as it follows former Navy SEAL James Reece embarking on a top-secret CIA mission of retribution twenty years."

By Blake Crouch

" A mind-bending, relentlessly paced science-fiction thriller, in which an ordinary man is kidnapped, knocked unconscious--and awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew."

By Jack Carr

"Deep in the wilds of Siberia, a woman is on the run, pursued by a man harboring secrets--a man intent on killing her."

By Stephen King

"... twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life -- both metaphorical and literal."

By Richard Osman

"Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him at home. His days of adventure are over. Adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy's job now."

By Kate Quinn

"powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era"

By Marie Benedict

"London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment. May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods."

By Emily Henry

"Daphne always loved the way Peter told their story. How they met, fell in love, and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. Too bad it turned out to be more of a prequel, a complication to Peter's actual love story, the one that ends with him dumping Daphne before their wedding to begin a relationship with his lifelong best friend, Petra. And so that's how Daphne's story really begins: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children's librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only other non-Peter-related person she knows: Petra's heartbroken ex, Miles Nowak. Just until she can get a new dream job literally anywhere else."

By Lucy Score

"Knox Morgan doesn't tolerate drama, especially in the form of a stranded runaway bride. Naomi Witt is on the run. Not just from her fiancé and a church full of well-wishers, but from her entire life. Although if you ask her, Naomi's riding to the rescue of her estranged hot mess of a twin, Tina, to Knockemout, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way...with fists and beer. "

By Peter Brown

"Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants."

By Kate Allen

"Following a tragedy that further alters the course of her life, twelve-year-old Lucy Everhart decides to continue the shark research her marine biologist mother left unfinished when she died years earlier"

By Laura Tucker

"SoHo, 1981. Twelve-year-old Olympia is an artist -- and in her neighborhood, that's normal. Her dad and his business partner Apollo bring antique paintings back to life, while her mother makes intricate sculptures in a corner of their loft, leaving Ollie to roam the streets of New York with her best friends Richard and Alex, drawing everything that catches her eye. Then everything falls apart. "

By J.T. Ellison

"Columbia's death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on--at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author's illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won't stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?"

By Lucinda Riley

"The Hidden Girl is a lost treasure from global number one bestseller Lucinda Riley, reworked and given new life by Harry Whittaker, Lucinda's son and co-author of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt"

By Tea Cooper

"What connects a botanical illustration of a butterfly with a missing baby and an enigma fifty years in the making? A twisty historical mystery from a bestselling Australian author"

By Edward Ashton

"The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7."

By Laura Lam

"Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire's continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can't, millions may die."

By Chris Sanders

" The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot, Rozzum unit 7134, 'Roz' for short, that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling."

By Asia Mackay

"Meanwhile, Fox has really taken to being a father. Always the planner, he loves being five steps ahead of everyone and knowing exactly what's coming around the bend. Plus, if anyone can understand Hazel needing one more kill, it's Fox. But then Hazel kills someone without telling Fox. And when police show up at their door, Hazel realizes it will take everything she has to keep her family together"

By Allison Brennan

"Two people were murdered--at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, bodies covered in the same red poppies...but on opposite sides of the country. With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted? Yet their search unearths more questions than answers--until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers."

By Sarah Adams

"Two feuding second-grade teachers (and neighbors) find themselves teaming up in this new rivals-to-lovers romance set in Rome, Kentucky-from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rule Book and Practice Makes Perfect."

By Lauire Gilmore

"Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes..."