If you need some reading suggestions or gift ideas for yourself or someone else this winter, check out our list of new favorite titles. With everything from holiday romance to cozy mysteries to celebrity biographies, there’s something for everyone. All titles are linked to our catalog, but feel free to stop by the Adult Reference Desk for help finding a book on this list.
Fiction
The Greatest Lie of All by Jillian Cantor
Still grieving the recent loss of her mother, actor Amelia Grant is offered the role of a lifetime, starring in a biopic as the famous romance author Gloria Diamond. While spending time with the author preparing for the role, though, she uncovers a shocking secret about Gloria’s past in this book perfect for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens
Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. But when rival coworker Will Havers starts angling to take over her column, Anna finds herself pitching a unique story: she will go on a series of seven dates, chosen by her preteen children. When a romantic connection appears where she least expects it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
Amid environmental upheaval and the 2008 financial crisis, two men are vying to marry Kismet Poe, while her mother, Crystal, hauls sugar beets, sees visions of guardian angels, and worries about the future in this captivating tale of love and everyday life.
Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb
Olive Carter, a BBC trainee, is sent to report on the Royal family’s Christmas traditions at Sandringham House in 1952 when she accidentally meets the young Queen Elizabeth II, who asks Olive to help her with her first Christmas Day radio message. Olive also discovers that her old friend, Jack Devereux, is now working for the Queen, and the two reignite an old friendship that may lead to something more.
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai
Chef Nagare and his daughter Koishi are back in the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. Nagare and Koishi are “food detectives” who, through their investigations, manage to recreate meals from their customers’ favorite memories; people leave their diner in Kyoto forever changed.
City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim
After a career-halting accident, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg to confront her past and to decide whether to rejoin the stage amidst the cutthroat world of Russian ballet.
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
As fortune teller Tao travels from village to village, one of her fortunes sets her on a new adventure when a former thief and an ex-mercenary ask her to help find a lost child. They’re soon joined on their quest by a baker and a slightly magical cat in this debut cozy fantasy.
The Champagne Letters by Kate Macintosh
In 1805 France, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot has lost her husband but continues to pursue their dream of creating a premier champagne house. In the present, recently divorced Natalie Taylor leaves Chicago for Paris and finds inspiration for a new life after reading the widow Clicquot’s published letters.
A Christmas Duet by Debbie Macomber
Hailey Morgan, a high school band teacher with dreams of songwriting, escapes to a cabin for a solo holiday retreat only to find herself entangled in small-town drama and a blossoming romance that reignites her passion for music.
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery
Julie Parker’s adult children have their own plans for the holidays, and she’s looking forward to spending time with her much younger boyfriend whom her children don’t know about. But when her children decide they want to spend Christmas at the family cabin, the guest list quickly snowballs out of control.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
Murakami’s latest novel explores a small town where a Dream Reader interprets dreams, residents have lost their own shadows, clocks have no hands, and the high wall surrounding the community can change its boundaries. A teenage boy infatuated with a teenage girl narrates this tale, which weaves a love story, a quest, and an ode to books into a parable about the complexities of post-pandemic life.
Lazarus Man by Richard Price
When a tenement building collapses in East Harlem in 2008, residents of the community are dead, injured, and missing. This novel unfolds through a range of characters, including a survivor, a witness, a funeral home owner, and a detective.
Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer
In this prequel to VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, he describes the first well-funded but ultimately doomed scientific expedition into the Forgotten Coast and reveals those who were complicit in creating the abandoned coastal area that would come to be known as Area X.
Rental House by Weike Wang
Keru is the daughter of strict, well-educated Chinese immigrant parents, while Nate comes from a white, working-class family. Keru and Nate marry, but when their families join them on vacation, the couple’s strained relationships with their in-laws force them to confront their own hidden truths in this novel examining the challenges of family and marriage.
Time of the Child by Niall Williams
In December of 1962, Dr. Jack Troy and his daughter Ronnie, long isolated from their small Irish town of Faha, find their lives and their understanding of family and community transformed when a baby is unexpectedly left in their care.
Mystery & Thriller
Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown
A decade after graduating, Maya returns to Princeton University for her sister Naomi’s graduation. Then the police call to say that Naomi has died in an accident. But Maya knows that her sister had joined the same secret society Maya belonged to as a student, and she is sure her sister’s death wasn’t accidental.
Time Will Tell by Rita Mae Brown
Amidst managing her busy fox hunting season and caring for her hounds, Jane “Sister” Arnold stumbles upon an expensive watch while helping to corral a neighbor’s escaped cows. She quickly becomes involved in a murder investigation where she must connect the clues and confront a clever adversary before more blood is shed.
A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara
A pregnant, divorced, middle-aged grim reaper must unravel the mystery of a missing soul and a potential murder within 45 days, or a recently deceased teen will be doomed to roam the earth as a ghost forever in this paranormal cozy mystery series starter.
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
On an isolated Scottish island, the discovery that a revered artist’s sculpture contains a human bone sets off scandal and violence, unveiling a web of secrets and lies.
What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane
When renowned pediatric surgeon Richmond Dougherty dies after falling down the stairs, his new wife Addison is the prime suspect. As law enforcement focuses on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, an anonymous note left in Addison’s home makes her fear that whoever killed Richmond might come after her next.
An Insignificant Case by Phillip Margolin
Charlie Webb is a mediocre lawyer who specializes in mediocre cases, mostly involving people from his unsavory past. When Charlie, acting as a court-appointed attorney, takes on the case of an artist who’s been arrested for stealing a painting, he doesn’t anticipate the dark dealings he will uncover, and he certainly doesn’t expect that this will be the case that will change his life.
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York City, has terrible luck with dating until she meets charming, handsome doctor Tom. But when a woman is brutally murdered and the suspect is a mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them, Sydney can’t shake her own horrifying suspicions.
Flint Kill Creek: Stories of Mystery and Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates
Average people face the macabre in this unsettling collection of twelve short stories, showcasing a wide range of crime fiction and psychological suspense.
The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak
Frank Szatowski is shocked but excited when his daughter Maggie calls him for the first time in three years to invite him to her upcoming wedding. However, Maggie is marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire, and when Frank tries to learn more about the family, what he finds may put both him and Maggie in danger.
Trouble Island by Sharon Short
This closed-circle mystery is set during the 1930s on a remote island in Lake Erie. The island serves as both a gangster hideaway and home to Rosita, wife of gangster Eddie, and Rosita’s maid, Aurelia. As Eddie and his associates descend on the island, Aurelia finds Rosita dead, with an ice storm cutting them off from the mainland.
The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams
At Castle Kinloch in the Scottish Highlands, literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley is found dead under strange circumstances, leading Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh to investigate three American novelists staying at the castle on a writing retreat, each with their own motives and secrets.
Nonfiction & Biography
Bandit Heaven: The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West by Tom Clavin
An exploration of the bandit hideouts in Wyoming and Utah in the 1880s and 1890s that provided shelter to robbers, thieves, and others with a bounty on their heads, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, among others.
Citizen: My Life After the White House by Bill Clinton
The former president chronicles his post-presidential journey with personal insights, details his humanitarian work, reflects on major twenty-first-century events, and highlights his enduring commitment to public service, family, and democracy.
Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham
Exposes ten tales of innocent Americans unjustly found guilty and convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, shedding light on the flaws within the legal system that led to their imprisonment and the relentless battles for exoneration that ensued.
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Kimmerer, author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass, offers lessons and inspiration from
Indigenous wisdom and the plant world as she considers the serviceberry, which embodies
reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude.
What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird by Sy Montgomery
The author of the bestselling The Soul of an Octopus and Of Time and Turtles has kept a flock of chickens in her backyard for years, and in her latest book, she shares what makes these birds so remarkable.
Sonny Boy: A Memoir by Al Pacino
Oscar-, Tony-, and Golden Globe-winning Pacino writes a memoir about acting and how it has been the love and light of his life. He details his youth in the South Bronx, his family life, his education in the arts, his life in avant-garde theater, and all the films that made him famous.
Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield
A Rolling Stone columnist provides an intimate look at Taylor Swift’s evolution into a global pop phenomenon, detailing her musical impact, storytelling prowess, cultural significance, and unique connection with fans and the broader music industry.
Martha the Cookbook: 100 Favorite Recipes with Lessons and Stories from My Kitchen by Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart celebrates her landmark 100th book with an intimate collection of 100 treasured recipes, along with stunning photos from her personal archives and the stories behind them.
What I Ate in One Year: And Related Thoughts by Stanley Tucci
In this irresistible celebration of the profound role that food plays in all our lives, Tucci records twelve months of eating—in restaurants, kitchens, film sets, press junkets, at home and abroad, with friends, with family, with strangers, and occasionally just by himself.
Very Good Bread: The Science of Dough and the Art of Making Bread at Home by Melissa Weller
This introduction to bread from James Beard Award–nominated baker Weller guides home bakers of all skill levels through recommended ingredients, tools, and bread-making techniques. This well-organized collection contains step-by-step photo instructions and recipes for everything from bagels to bialys.
Carson the Magnificent by Bill Zehme & Mike Thomas
Notable celebrity profiler Zehme offers a meticulous biography of Johnny Carson, host of The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. Compiled before Zehme’s death in 2023 and completed by his longtime research assistant, Mike Thomas, this is an entertaining look at the undisputed “King of Late Night.”