​Staff Picks:
Summer Releases 2025

There are a ton of exciting new releases available this summer!
Here are the ones our staff members are looking forward to the most.

Biography & Non-Fiction

  • Lisa's Pick- JFK: Public, Private, Secret by J. Randy ​Taraborrelli (Pub. July 15)
    In this deeply researched presidential biography, J. Randy Taraborrelli tells John F. Kennedy's story in a provocative new way by revealing how public moments in his life were so influenced by private relationships with not only his family, but also Jackie's. But it's the secret life that also surprises. As Congressman, Senator and finally President, JFK was a magnet for women. With exclusive interviews and meticulous research, Taraborrelli reveals not only the man's many affairs but also the strength and resolve his wife showed in coping with them.
  • Morgan's Pick- Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser (Pub. May 20)
    Explores the Pacific Northwest's "golden age" of serial killers in the 1970s and 80s, linking it to industrial pollution and the rise of a new strain of psychopaths. The book interweaves the lives of prominent serial killers like Ted Bundy & the Green River Killer with the author's personal experiences.
  • Morgan's Pick- Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Recreating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean (Pub. July 8)
    Whether it’s the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other senses? Sam Kean joins these experimental archaeologists on their adventures across the globe and spins gripping tales about the lives of our ancestors.
  • Kevin's Pick- Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner (Pub. July 15)
    Tells the gripping, high-stakes story of the CIA through the first quarter of the twenty-first century, revealing how the agency fought to rebuild the espionage powers it lost during the war on terror—and finally succeeded in penetrating the Kremlin. ​
  • Vanessa's Pick- Is a River Alive? by Robert MacFarlane (Pub. May 20)
    A joyous exploration into an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law. Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people and places.

Historical Fiction

  • Barbara's Pick-  Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton (Pub. July 1)​
    In 1957 Isabella, a young actress hoping to be Hitchcock's star, is sequestered by the studio in Carmel where she meets Leon, a blacklisted screenwriter and the two forge a friendship. In 2018, Gemma, an aspiring screenwriter, arrives in Carmel to prepare her grandfather's cottage for sale. She discovers a hidden safe there, revealing scripts and other documents that shed light on her grandfather's past.
  • Barbara, Morgan, and Wendy's Pick- The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel (Pub. June 17)
    An electrifying story about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder.
  • Lisa's Pick- How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle (Pub. June 17)
    A razor-sharp satire that dives into the heart of the Civil War, hilariously questioning the essence of the fight, not just for territory, but for the soul of America

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror

  •  Dan's Pick- The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown (Pub. August 12)
    A trio of seemingly everyday people are members of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects.
  • Lizzie's Pick- Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher (Pub. August 19)
    A dark reimagining of “Snow White” steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason. Healer Anja is summoned to help the          King's dying daughter Snow. With the help of a taciturn guard and a talking cat, Anja investigates a hidden world within a mirror to save Snow, potentially uncovering a secret that threatens them all. 
  • Kevin's Pick- Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab (Pub. June 10)
    Set over 500 years, this tale of three sapphic vampires is a story about hunger, rage and the ways in which women are  told to be satiated even when they aren’t.
  • Dan's Pick- Anima Rising by Christopher Moore (Pub. May 13)
    Judith is found floating in the Danube canal in Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt saves her, and with the help of Sigmund            Freud and Carl Jung, Judith slowly begins to recall her history. The novel follows her journey of self-discovery as she tries to understand her past and why she is being pursued by a giant croissant-eating devil dog.
  • Vanessa's Pick- The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Pub. June 10)
    Minerva, a graduate student in 1998, researches Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure horror author from 1934, and uncovers connections to her great-grandmother Alba's stories of witchcraft in 1908. As Minerva delves deeper, she discovers a force that may still haunt the campus.
  • Sue's Pick- A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (Pub. July 15)
    Sera Swan is a former powerful witch who now runs a magical inn after losing most of her magic. She seeks to restore  her power with the help of Luke Larsen, a magical historian, and must navigate the inn's quirky guests, a semi-villainous talking fox, and the watchful magical Guild.
  • Kevin's Pick- Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (Pub. August 12)
    Four years ago, an unthinkable disaster occurred. In what was later known as the Low-Probability Event, 8 million          people were killed in a single day, each of them dying in improbable, bizarre ways. A day of freak accidents that proved anything is possible, no matter the odds. Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lost everything that day, and she still struggles to make sense of the unbelievable catastrophe. When Special Agent Layne shows up  on Vera's doorstep, she learns he's investigating a suspiciously-and statistically impossible-lucky casino. He needs her help to prove the casino's success is connected to the deaths of millions, and it's Vera's last chance to make sense of a world that doesn't. ​
  • Lisa's Pick- The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve (Pub. May 20)
    Four strangers time travel to the past and find themselves stuck on the day all their lives were changed. They find themselves stranded in the past and as their paths intertwine, they unearth shocking secrets hidden in the shadows of their shared history.
  • Kevin's Pick- Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner (Pub. July 15)
    Buried secrets only spread. Erin's brother Bryan has been missing for five years. It was as if he simply walked into the forests of the Pacific Northwest and vanished. Determined to uncover the truth, Erin heads to the foothills of Mt. Hood where Bryan was last seen alive. He isn't the first hiker to go missing in this area, and their cases go unsolved. When she discovers the corpse of a local woman in a creek, Erin unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of very powerful forces—from this world and beyond—hell-bent on keeping their secrets buried. 

Literary Fiction

  • Vanessa's Pick- Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan (Pub. May 13)
    Imagines a San Francisco submerged under water due to incessant rain and an artist who struggles to find her purpose amid disaster and loss. 
  • Wendy's Pick- The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick (Pub. June 17)
    Four strangers travel to a remote treatment center offering a controversial therapy for those suffering from loss. At the center, patients can sleep through their pain and potentially be healed, but only at the risk of shadowy side effects.
  • Dan's Pick- The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien (Pub. May 20)
    Lina, a young girl, and her father arrive at an enclave called "The Sea," a place where past and future collide. Here, Lina befriends neighbors who embody historical figures like Baruch Spinoza, Hannah Arendt, and Du Fu, and learns about exile, memory, and the ethical implications of historical events. 
  • Barbara's Pick- Flashlight by Susan Choi (Pub. June 3)
    Follows the intertwined lives of Louisa, her father Serk, and her mother Anne, exploring themes of family, loss, memory, and the ways we are shaped by what we cannot see.
  • Morgan's Pick- I Know How This Ends by Holly Smale (Pub. August 12)
    After a ten-year relationship ends, Margot Wayward spirals into joyful chaos—torpedoing her career, wreaking havoc on dating apps, and embracing self-destruction. Then she has a vision of a man she’s never met—and when she meets Henry, a single dad, it comes true exactly as she saw it. So Margot has to decide how to live, how to love again,  and how to be herself... Because if you can't change your destiny, how on earth do you live your present?​
  • Sue's Pick- The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Pub. May 13)
    Hai, a young man struggling with addiction and loss, becomes the caregiver for an elderly woman, Grazina, in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut. Over a year, their unlikely bond develops, offering Hai a second chance.

Relationship Fiction

  • Wendy's Pick- Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson (Pub. May 13)
    ​Madeline "Mad" Hill's life is disrupted by the arrival of Reuben, her half-brother. Reuben, whom their father abandoned 30 years prior, has tracked down their father and other half-siblings, and he invites Mad to join him on a road trip to find them all.
  • Morgan's Pick- The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (Pub. May 27)
    A mismatched group of book club members in a small Cornish village reluctantly band together to solve a mystery after a theft and a murder. With inspiration from their favorite fictional sleuths, they won’t rest until they’ve cracked the case and everyone is safe at home where they belong.
  • Beena's Pick- My Name Is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende (Pub. May 6)
    Emilia is a young woman who becomes a journalist and travels to Chile to cover its civil war. She seeks to uncover the truth about her father and her own identity. 
  • Beena's Pick- Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin (Pub. May 6)
    Freya Arnalds returns to her hometown of Somers, New York to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents. A medical emergency has led to her eviction, and she's looking to sell the property. She discovers that her niece, Aubrey, is living in the derelict house, and the two begin to rebuild their lives. 
  • Sue's Pick- That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Pub. July 22)
    Phoebe Manigault returns to her South Carolina home to help care for her ailing mother and her sister, Addie, who is struggling with self-destructive behaviors. Phoebe was struck by lightning as a child and developed premonitions. She finds herself drawn into a new set of secrets and mysteries as she reconnects with home.

Romance

  • Vanessa's Pick- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Pub. June 3)
    Astrophysicist Joan Goodwin joins NASA’s 1980s Space Shuttle program As she trains in Houston, Joan forms a deep bond with fellow candidate Vanessa Ford. Their relationship grows amid the pressures of space exploration — until a tragic shuttle mission changes everything.
  • Morgan's Pick- The Love Haters by Katherine Center (Pub. May 20)
    Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, take a career-making gig profiling Tom, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.
  • Lizzie's Pick- One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune (Pub. May 6)
    Alice returns with her grandmother to Barry's Bay for the summer, hoping for a quiet escape. Her plans are disrupted by the reappearance of Charlie, a man who was a teenager in a photo she took that launched her career. 
  • Beena's Pick- Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (Pub. May 27)
    Maya, a 23-year-old grad student, falls for her older brother’s 38-year-old best friend, Conor. Despite the age gap and complicated dynamics, their chemistry ignites during a summer wedding in Sicily, leading to a passionate and challenging romance.
  • Lizzie's Pick- The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison (Pub. June 3)
    Meg Bryan books an impromptu trip to Ireland where she comes to accept that she somehow made a quantum slide into an alternate version of her life. Her life includes friendly neighbors, a grumpy bartender ex and surprisingly her best friend Aimee is alive…but wants nothing to do with Meg. 
  • Lizzie's Pick- These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean (Pub. July 8)
    Alice, the estranged daughter of the wealthy Storm family, is unexpectedly summoned back to their private island home after her father's death. She must navigate her dysfunctional family, including her mother, sisters, and brother, and a handsome, enigmatic man who is her father's second-in-command. 
  • Lizzie's Pick- Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston (Pub. June 17)
    Joni Lark, a burnt-out songwriter, returns to her hometown after a period of writer's block. She discovers an inexplicable telepathic connection with a musician, and together, they must navigate their feelings and the challenges of their lives while trying to complete the song haunting their minds.

Mystery, Suspense, & Thriller

  • Sue's Pick- Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie by James Lee Burke (Pub. June 3)
    Follows the young Bessie Holland as she navigates violence and change in early 20th century Texas and New York.
  • Sue's Pick- Nightshade by Michael Connelly (Pub. May 20)
    An exiled detective stumbles across a case that could change everything. His investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene Catalina Island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.
  • Dan's Pick- Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pub. June 3)
    FBI Agent Corrie & archaeologist Nora investigate weird deaths in the New Mexico Badlands. A woman is found dead, seemingly having disrobed and died of heatstroke, with two rare green stones by her in the desert. After a second similar death, they discover ancient rituals and a charismatic professor with a cult-like following.
  • Vanessa's Pick- The Midnight Estate by Kelly Rimmer (Pub. July 22)
    Fiona Winslow returns to her family's estate to restore it and uncovers hidden secrets and a book that mirrors her own experiences of love, loss, & betrayal. As she delves into the book & the mansion's history, she grapples with the question of whether the true mystery lies within the walls of her home or the pages of the book.
  • Dan's Pick- What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown (Pub. June 3)
    A teenage girl breaks free from her father's world of isolation in this exhilarating novel of family, identity, and the power we have to shape our own destinies.
  • Wendy's Pick- Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh (Pub. June 3)
    Two sisters on trial for murder. They accuse each other. Who do you believe?
  • Wendy's Pick- The Devil's Advocate by Steve Cavanagh (Pub. August 5)
    Follows Eddie Flynn as he travels to Alabama to defend a man facing the death penalty for a murder he didn't commit, uncovering a web of corruption. (book six in a series)
  • Kevin's Pick- Departure 37 by Scott Carson (Pub. August 5)
    While the nation's military chiefs and AI experts mobilize in search of answers, a sixteen-year-old girl watches a strange, silvery balloon drift toward her home—a place she loathes. This coming of age story takes place during the Cold War.