Hachette Library – Starred Reviews
★KISS ME, MAYBE
By: Gabriella Gamez
Library Journal – Starred Review
After Texas librarian Angela Gutierrez inadvertently goes viral with an unintended thirst trap video, she decides to take her newfound fame and come out to the internet. Angela is in her late 20s, is on the asexual spectrum, and has never been kissed—and maybe she finally wants to be. Going from certified late bloomer to ticking off some milestones won’t be easy, so Angela concocts a social media scavenger hunt in the hopes of finding her perfect first kiss. What better way to start than to ask the gorgeous bartender at her favorite hangout spot and also her long-term unrequited crush, Krystal Ramirez, to help. Krystal has pined for the tall and oblivious Angela for years, and as she helps plan the quest, Krystal may be too determined to win the kiss for herself, even if she’s not sure she’d be able to fully give Angela the romantic love she craves.
VERDICT A fizzy and fun follow-up to Gamez’s debut, The Next Best Fling. Press into the hands of readers who are looking for more asexual rep in their romance reads and those who enjoyed Alison Cochrun’s Kiss Her Once for Me or Anita Kelly’s How You Get the Girl.
Forever: May 6 , 2025; ISBN: 9781538726655, Paperback
★ CAN’T GET ENOUGH
By: Kennedy Ryan
Library Journal – Starred Review
This third outing in Ryan’s bestselling “Skyland” series (after This Could Be Us) focuses on Hendrix Barry, the hardworking and glamorous friend of the women protagonists from the first two books. Hendrix finds herself falling for Maverick Bell, a billionaire businessman who has recently broken off his relationship with one of Hendrix’s colleagues. Neither of these 40-somethings is looking for a serious romantic relationship, but Hendrix and Maverick’s undeniable chemistry and the intense emotional connection they quickly forge are stronger than their will to remain apart. While navigating the thorny professional and personal ramifications of Maverick’s recent breakup, Hendrix is dealing with the realities of her mother’s worsening Alzheimer’s disease. Meanwhile, Maverick has to contend with a grieving father and a daughter who just graduated from high school. In addition to the strong attraction they share, these two driven, talented professionals bring to each other a peace and restfulness that doesn’t exist in any other part of their lives. Amid personal and professional upheaval, they nurture each other and their nascent relationship in ways they would previously have found unimaginable.
VERDICT Sure to be popular and recommended for all fiction collections.
Forever: May 13 , 2025; ISBN: 9781538706855, Paperback
★ SO MANY STARS
By: Caro De Robertis
Kirkus – Starred Review
A chorus of queer voices elaborate on the “gender revolution” that changed their lives, past and present. Novelist De Robertis assembles insightful and educative life experiences from interviews in 2022-23 with 20 multicultural transgender, genderqueer, nonbinary, genderfluid, butch, Two-Spirit, transfeminine, and transmasculine people. Each personal history is notable in its own scope and perspective, but collectively these voices representing elder queer generations of color become extraordinary. Generous anecdotes about what coming out queer or questioning gender was like three, four, or five decades ago form the crux of several stories. Reflections on early gender dysphoria appear in the opening section, where trailblazing activists Adela Vázquez recalls being a “fat, loud, queeny little kid” who identified as a girl and Brooklyn-born transmasculine punk musician KB Boyce relates seeing himself as a little boy and “didn’t feel gender, I just felt like I was me.” Elsewhere, participants share coming-of-adolescence stories and unflinching anecdotes touching on familial transphobia, “chosen family,” identity, and survival; they oscillate between bittersweet pain and defiant audacity, as in Black trans woman Ms Billie Cooper’s U.S. Navy enlistment, where astounded fellow servicemen “could see that I came from a different realm.” Iconic San Francisco drag artists Landa Lakes and septuagenarian Donna Personna share vivid anecdotes from childhoods revealing misunderstanding from family and peers and memorializing the resilience that made them whole. Each story—from trailblazing trans activists and advocates to pioneering community leaders to a trans Latine immigrant business owner to cultivators of queer culture—reflects on how the joys and pains of living authentic queer lives formed the people they have become. The lasting impressions each of them has made on society beautifully amplify the heartbeat of queer trans life. A colorful tapestry of potent, radiant, and relevant testimonials from uniquely queer people of color.
Algonquin Books: May 13 , 2025; ISBN: 9781643756875, Hardcover
★ EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD EXCEPT ME
By: Django Wexler
Library Journal – Starred Review
Dark Lord Davi takes things a bit more seriously in this follow-up to How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying because the rules have changed, or she has—or both. Suddenly, dying only resets Davi by one day, and everything and everyone around her becomes consequential. Now she’s trying to get both sides to a bargaining table, hoping to manipulate them so everybody lives. She learns that it’s never really been Dark Horde versus Kingdom, but Davi versus whoever is pulling all the strings. If there’s a chosen one, there must be a chooser, and he’s chosen war and annihilation. Davi doesn’t need to conquer the Kingdom after all. She just needs to kill the one who thinks he’s a god (and has the power to back it up). For the moment. Davi’s saga is still a wildly snark-filled romp of an adventure, but there are more consequences and a whole lot more heart in this conclusion.
VERDICT Readers who loved the first book, and anyone who adores an antihero with a heart of gold and a brain filled with terrible one-liners is going to swoon over Dark Lord Davi’s surprising but well-earned happy ending.
Orbit: May 27 , 2025; ISBN: 9780316392402, Paperback
★ THE LOST PEACE
By: Jay Winik
Library Journal – Starred Review
Historian Winik (1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History) presents a view of the coming U.S. Civil War from the view of elected officials and their efforts to avert the fracture of the country. Among the efforts to avoid the secession of the eight slave states, and inevitable bloodshed, was the Peace Conference held at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. Seven states that had already seceded from the Union did not attend the conference. Several proposals were put forth, two from Unionist John J. Crittenden, a constitutional amendment protecting slavery, and a motion from Virginia to hold a peace conference with all parties. Although the Corwin Amendment (which sought to prevent successions by protecting the practice of enslavement in states where it existed) was passed, it was never ratified. Ultimately, no one was pleased with the results of the conference. Whatever attempts at avoiding war were muted as shortly afterward the events of Fort Sumter changed the direction of the republic.
VERDICT A relatively little-known account of prewar efforts to reach a consensus. This engaging volume has impeccable research and is recommended for anyone who enjoys U.S. history, notably the Civil War, and American politics.
Grand Central Publishing May 27, 2025; ISBN: 9781538735121, Hardcover
★ SHROUD
By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Library Journal – Starred Review
Bizarre ecologies, nonhuman intelligences, and the genius of everyday people—this is the quintessential Tchaikovsky (Service Model) novel. Aspects of his prior work reverberate through the prose, adding a welcome sense of familiarity to a narrative that skitters at the edges of horror. It is a survival story about two researchers lost on an alien moon in an untested exploratory vehicle. The air is toxic, gravity is grueling, and the atmosphere is so murky there is no light. Worse, it’s a world of constant screaming and chainsaw-like creatures. Armed only with their feeble lamps and a wealth of cleverness, Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne must trek across treacherous landscapes while learning how ill-suited their vessel is to the moon. They’re followed or stalked or aided by an ever-renewing pack of alien creatures whose intentions are constantly in flux. If they survive, they may be hailed as heroes by their employers—or branded as resource wasters only fit for shelving away in hibernation.
VERDICT This utterly engrossing novel melds the fascinatingly unexpected alien environments of Sue Burke’s Semiosis or Wendy Wagner’s An Oath of Dogs seamlessly with the joy for science embedded in Andy Weir’s The Martian.
Orbit: June 3 , 2025; ISBN: 9780316579025, Paperback
★ LAVENDER FOR ALL SEASONS
By: Paola Legarre
Library Journal – Starred Review
Sage Creations, Legarre’s Colorado farm, is the origin of her lavender story; as her yields and production grew, so did her knowledge and love for the plant. Her book covers the history, botany, chemistry, selection, and types of lavender plants available to gardeners. There is a helpful hardiness map, charts for use and bloom times, and instructions on how to strip and clean a yield. Legarre’s visual explanation of the varieties of lavender is captured with two beautifully photographed dried lavender color wheels, and designations throughout the book help to identify each plant’s hue. Since color, fragrance, and use are the primary factors in deciding what to plant, these details are included in the precise descriptions of each cultivar. Thorough instructions on planting, including tips on how to scale up, will be helpful to those seeking a larger yield. Recipes and crafts round out this holistic, year-round approach of growing and appreciating lavender.
VERDICT An invaluable tool for intermediate and advanced gardeners.
Timber Press: June 3 , 2025; ISBN: 9781643261867, Paperback
★ BADLANDS
By: Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Library Journal – Starred Review
Preston and Child’s fifth adventure featuring Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson (following Dead Mountain) tackles a terrific story while highlighting the continued growth of two stellar characters. Though she has not become a full FBI agent yet, Corrie Swanson lands a baffling case. In the New Mexico badlands, a film crew’s drone spots the remains of a woman. Swanson recruits her friend, archaeologist Nora Kelly, to inspect the bones. Found clutched in the skeleton’s hands are some extremely rare stones. When a second body is found with the same stones, the women learn that both victims were students of a professor known for his aggressive manner with women and his fascination with the ancient Chaco people of the region. Will their investigation lead them to a terrifying truth, and is there an entity that lives in the canyon that demands human sacrifice?
VERDICT Preston and Child were brilliant to team up Kelly and Swanson in their own series, bringing the legends and geography of the New Mexico badlands to life. This installment would be a great launching point for readers who haven’t read one of their books.
Grand Central: June 3 , 2025; ISBN: 9781538765821, Hardcover
★ GAYSIANS
By: Mike Curato
Kirkus – Starred Review
The award-winning author of Flamer (2020) offers his first book for adults. Curato begins his latest graphic novel by following a young man as he walks into a gay bar for the first time. AJ is naïve, close to broke, and just beginning to explore the possibilities of Seattle in the early aughts. Curato uses images to give readers a glimpse of the familial conflict that drove his protagonist from upstate New York to the Pacific Northwest. AJ catches a break when a drag queen named K takes him under her wing and introduces him to her closest friends. The Boy Luck Club includes John, who is more comfortable connecting with people through a screen than in person, and his roommate, Steven, who uses his reputation for promiscuity to hide his inner struggles. As AJ experiences the frustrations of looking for love on a dating site and the inevitable disappointments of dating in real life, his friends and mentors are always there to catch him. (Their interventions include a terrific scene in which they rescue AJ when a white date takes him to Chinatown—a sure sign of a white guy who has a fetish for Asian men—and a screening of The Joy Luck Club). This is—more than anything, perhaps—a story about how the family we’re born into may compel us to create a chosen family, and how our own experiences might inspire us to expand our circle of care. Because he’s a neophyte himself, AJ is an excellent guide to his new world. More worldly-wise characters explain the nuances of being gay and Asian in a way that feels organic while offering an invitation to readers who aren’t familiar with this world themselves. Curato’s drawing style is economical. He’s able to convey a lot of meaning with a minimum of lines, and the page layouts are varied enough to hold our interest. He also makes good use of his medium, often letting pictures tell the story. A tender and compelling coming-of-age story.
Algonquin Books: June 3 , 2025; ISBN: 9781643755120, Hardcover
★SIX WILD CROWNS
By: Holly Race
Library Journal – Starred Review
In the fantastic, magical alternate Tudor England that is Elben, King Henry VIII is required, as his predecessors were, to have six wives strategically placed at the borders of his island kingdom to maintain the magical barrier that protects the realm. However, the barrier is failing, Henry’s wives are dying, and something must be done. His newest queen, Boleyn, hopes to cement her place at Henry’s side by finding a way to strengthen the barrier. Instead, she discovers a truth that no one was ever meant to learn, which soon requires that she and her enemy sister queens overthrow their husband and take back the power that should have been theirs all along. YA author Race’s (“Midnight’s Twins” series) adult debut combines the romantasy of Sarah J. Maas, the cutthroat political corruption of Game of Thrones, and the feminist/sapphic history and mythology revisionism of Madeline Miller’s Circe, set in a fantastically researched Tudor Court with all its machinations, à la Alison Weir.
VERDICT An absorbing tale of magic and sisterhood that will be irresistible to a wide swath of readers.
Orbit: June 10 , 2025; ISBN: 9780316572927 Hardcover
★ WRITING MR. WRONG
By: Kelley Armstrong
Library Journal – Starred Review
Gemma Stanton worked out some lingering high school trauma in her debut romance novel. She may have partially based her unpleasant, gruff main character on former jock classmate turned professional hockey player Mason Moretti, who humiliated her in high school, and the cover of her book might bear a slight resemblance to Mason—if he wore a kilt. Waiting to make an appearance on her local morning show to publicize her book, Gemma plays nice with the host, a former mean girl classmate in high school. But the slight discomfort turns into horror when Gemma realizes the host has also invited Mason on the show. He rises to the challenge by diffusing the situation on live television; later, he suggests a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship to help his image and her book sales. Gemma cannot turn down the offer, even when the relationship begins to feel real.
VERDICT Armstrong (Finding Mr. Write) delivers a hit for fans of second-chance romance, a perfect summer beach read.
Forever: June 24 , 2025; ISBN: 9781538742761 Paperback
★ SALT BONES
By: Jennifer Givhan
Library Journal – Starred Review
Set on the edge of California’s Salton Sea, the latest novel from poet and novelist Givhan (River Woman, River Demon) is hard-to-put-down literary suspense about families living through the unexplained generational disappearances of their daughters. The sister of Malamar “Mal” Veracruz was one such disappearance, and it tore their family apart. Now, 20 years later, Mal begins to have dreams of a horse-headed woman, blurring the lines between reality and the supernatural. Shortly after, Mal’s own teenage daughter goes missing. Mal is determined to find her daughter before it’s too late, but to do so requires digging up the secrets in her close community, her family, and even her own past. Steeped in the Mexican and Indigenous folklore of the shapeshifter La Siguanaba, the novel deftly creates an atmosphere creeping with dread, plus unexpected twists and family drama. Givhan perfectly balances the supernatural with human themes of grief and love.
VERDICT A timely novel that deals with the treatment of Latina women. For fans of character-driven suspense and the magical realism of Isabel Allende, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Victor LaValle.
Mulholland Books: July 22 , 2025; ISBN: 9780316581523, Hardcover
★ COLD CANNING: THE EASY WAY TO PRESERVE THE SEASONS WITHOUT HOT WATER PROCESSING
By: Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough
Library Journal – Starred Review
For readers who have held back from home canning because of fears of exploding pressure cookers and giving their nearest and dearest botulism, Weinstein and Scarbrough, culinary social media stars and coauthors of more than 35 cookbooks (including the “Instant Pot Bible” series), are coming to the rescue. The culinary duo’s latest effort contains 425 recipes for cold canning everything from jams and jellies to kimchi and ketchups. In a thorough, don’t-skip introduction, the authors detail the advantages of cold canning—it’s easier, preserves fresh flavors better, and saves time—while also covering the basic tools and ingredients it requires. The recipes themselves are laid out in a clean, concise, and easily understandable format that practically guarantees success. They run the sweet-to-savory gamut, from classic strawberry jam, salted caramel sauce, and apricot gochujang jam to jalapeño sauerkraut and maple mustard. The authors’ lively writing style adds a layer of fun and humor to the canning process.
VERDICT There are a number of excellent guides to traditional canning available, including Ball Canning Back to Basics and Marisa McClellan’s Preserving by the Pint, but Weinstein and Scarbrough’s superb book opens the world of canning and preserving to a whole new crop of cooks
Mulholland Books: July 29 , 2025; ISBN: 9780316577977, Paperback
★ A DOG IN GEORGIA
By: Lauren Grodstein
Library Journal – Starred Review
With her marriage in crisis and her career on hold, Amy West turns to what gives her the most comfort—animal videos on YouTube. There she hears about Angel, a dog that has gone missing in the country of Georgia. Angel is technically a stray but has become beloved by her community for escorting young children as they cross a busy street on their way to school. Amy begins to make regular contributions to the search for Angel, and in so doing, she connects with Irine, who heads the “Justice for Angel” fund. When her husband’s latest indiscretion comes to light, Amy decides to fly off to Georgia to physically join in the search for the missing dog. She has been invited to stay with Irine, whose chaotic household includes Irine’s teenage daughter Maia, three grannies, 11 dogs, and one handsome Russian boarder. In between looking for Angel, Amy joins Maia’s friends for delicious meals and political discussions about Georgia’s authoritarian government. More politics arise in her talks with Andrei, the boarder, who has left Russia to avoid fighting in the war against Ukraine.
VERDICT In Grodstein’s (We Must Not Think of Ourselves) latest, Amy’s journey is less about finding a dog and more about finding herself, though dog lovers (and all others) will find much pleasure in this charming story.
Algonquil: August 5, 2025; ISBN: 9781643752358, Hardcover
★ READY FOR MY CLOSEUP: THE MAKING OF SUNSET BOULEVARD AND THE DARK SIDE OF THE HOLLYWOOD DREAM
By: David M Lubin
Library Journal – Starred Review
Lubin (Grand Illusions: American Art & the First World War) delves into the creation of the classic 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, exploring how director Billy Wilder and his screenwriting partner, Charles Brackett, took the theme of fleeting fame and wealth and produced a deeply critical masterpiece about the corrupting influence of Hollywood’s obsession with youth and stardom. Lubin introduces readers to the early careers of Wilder and Brackett, as well as the film’s stars, Gloria Swanson, William Holden, and Erich von Stroheim, showing the professional experiences of each enhanced their contributions to the film. Lubin posits that Swanson’s bravura performance as Norma Desmond was grounded in her ability to recognize Desmond’s thirst for renewed fame, even though Swanson was, unlike her character, a pragmatist resigned to having aged out of starlet status. Despite Sunset Boulevard’s grim outlook on the movie industry, Lubin demonstrates how the score, set design, and cinematography drew upon well-established Hollywood motifs to create an ingenious combo of noir thriller, gothic horror, and sardonic comedy.
VERDICT Insightful and thoroughly entertaining, this is a must-read for all fans of classic Hollywood.—Sara Shreve
Grand Central: August 12, 2025; ISBN: 9781538739297 Hardcover
★ KISS HER GOODBYE
By: Lisa Gardner
Library Journal – Starred Review
Frankie Elkin’s “hobby” is finding missing persons when everyone else has stopped looking. She is in Tucson at the request of refugee resettlement volunteer Aliah, to search for her Afghan refugee friend Sabera, who has been missing for three weeks, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter, Zahra, and her husband, Isaad. Aliah knows Sabera would never willingly leave Zahra. Shortly after Frankie’s investigation begins, Isaad receives a package, the contents of which prompt him to immediately leave Zahra with a neighbor and drive away. He too is now missing. When two Afghan men are found dead near Sabera’s apartment and someone resembling her is seen nearby, Frankie and Aliah wonder what Sabera is up to and whether she is in danger. Their concern increases when they learn that various intelligence agencies are also looking for her.
VERDICT This fourth action-packed Frankie Elkin installment (after Still See You Everywhere) will excite fans and newbies alike. It is filled with an odd assortment of wonderful characters, including a boa constrictor and an iguana. Alongside the mystery, Gardner ably describes the horrors of refugee camps and the trauma facing immigrants fleeing oppression.
Mulholland Books: August 12 , 2025; ISBN: 9781538765104, Hardcover
★ THE HOSPITAL
By: Leslie Wolfe
Library Journal – Starred Review
Heavily sedated, barely able to speak, and feeling helpless, Emma Duncan wakes up to find that her eyes are covered in bandages and her only sense of the world around her is the sounds of a hospital: a beeping heart monitor, the shuffling of rubber-soled shoes, PA announcements summoning a Dr. Jones to ICU. A traumatic brain injury plagues Emma with screaming pain and prevents her from remembering what happened, other than a vague idea that she has been attacked. She must lie still if she is to recover. In time, her vulnerability makes her increasingly fearful, afraid of the people caring for her, convinced she will be attacked again and this time won’t survive. Immobilized, Emma is completely at the mercy of her fears, much like the heroine of Lucille Fletcher’s radio play Sorry, Wrong Number, the intended victim of a murder plot she discovers by accident only too late. Then, inch by inch, Emma begins to fight back. Wolfe (If I Go Missing) will have readers on edge as they ache for Emma to remember and to escape.
VERDICT With her 31st novel, the prolific Wolfe has made a spectacular contribution not just to her own body of work but to the universe of suspense fiction.
Grand Central: August 12 , 2025; ISBN: 9781538772447, Paperback
★WOMEN OF THE FAIRY TALE RESISTANCE: THE FORGOTTEN FOUNDING MOTHERS OF THE FAIRY TALE AND THE STORIES THAT THEY SPUN
By: Jane Harrington
Library Journal – Starred Review
Fabulous French fairy tales and the equally dramatic life stories of their authors shine in this fascinating book by novelist Harrington (In Circling Flight). The seven women featured all lived and wrote in 1690s France during the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV. These highly educated women were members of salons, discussion groups that were their only venue for sharing social commentary on the status of women—but only in ways that would not explicitly run afoul of the laws prohibiting criticism of the crown or the patriarchy. Telling and writing fairy tales became a coded way to offer such commentaries surreptitiously, Harrington says. Each chapter of the book showcases one salon member, via an informative biography and several of her fairy tales translated into English. Many of the fairy tales are precursors to works that would later appear in collections by Perrault and the Brothers Grimm without attribution to the women who thought them up.
VERDICT Written in a creative nonfiction style, this book fills an enormous gap in the history of fairy tales. It belongs on every shelf of literature relating to this art form.
Black Dog & Leventhal: August 19 , 2025; ISBN: 9780762488704, Hardcover
★ THE ILLUMINATED BOOK OF BIRDS
By: Robin Crofut-Brittingham
Library Journal – Starred Review
Birds have been connected to humans through nature for millennia and play roles in mythology, literature, and religions worldwide. This book explores species, both familiar and less so, to ignite a love of birds in budding naturalists and reignite the wonder of birds in seasoned birdwatchers. Each continent gets its chapter, which is then divided into geographical regions. Readers are introduced to the area with an overview of the habitat and its significance to some of the featured birds, as well as to the local people who inhabit it. On the facing page, all the birds are depicted together, reminiscent of a museum habitat diorama. The following page depicts two to three birds each, including a close-up illustration of the bird and a short caption that shares details about them. The watercolor illustrations are beautiful and add a sense of wonder to the book, evoking the beauty of illuminated medieval manuscripts. Crofut-Brittingham acknowledges that she is an artist, not a scientist, and the book is not meant for use as a guide.
VERDICT This will appeal to bird lovers and nature enthusiasts; as an art book, it makes an excellent addition to general-interest collections.
Timber: October 21, 2025; ISBN: 9781643265049 Hardcover
