Greetings, librarians. Savor this lovely fall season with some delectable suggestions for the December/January LibraryReads list, including the latest hair-raising thriller by Peter Swanson, a magical coming-of-age story by Janie Chang, and a spicy historical adventure by Beatriz Williams. The deadline to vote is November 20th, so grab your favorite blanket, cuddle up, and get reading. Enjoy!
Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson
For fans of: Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, Patricia Highsmith, James M. Cain
The author of the wildly popular The Kind Worth Killing returns with an electrifying and downright Hitchcockian psychological thriller—as tantalizing as the cinema classics Rear Window and Wait Until Dark—involving a young woman caught in a vise of voyeurism, betrayal, manipulation, and murder.
"Psychological thriller devotees should block time to read Swanson’s novel in one sitting, preferably in the daylight." —Library Journal starred review
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Seventh Plague by James Rollins
For fans of: Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler
New York Times bestselling author James Rollins combines historical mystery and scientific exploration in this thrilling adventure tale in which Sigma Force must stop an ancient plague from decimating the modern world.
"One of the world’s best storytellers." —Huffington Post
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang
For fans of: Lisa See, The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
From the author of Three Souls comes a vividly imagined and haunting new novel set in early 20th century Shanghai—a story of friendship, heartbreak, and history that follows a young Eurasian orphan’s search for her long-lost mother.
"Dragon Springs Road is simply one of the best novels I have read in a long time. With her lyrical, heartfelt portrait of a vanished world, and her creation of a heroine whose struggles and victories tore at my heart, Janie Chang has created an enchanting and unforgettable book. I recommend
it unreservedly." —Jennifer Robson, bestselling author of
Moonlight Over Paris
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?
by Kathleen Collins
For fans of: The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans
A never-before-published collection of stories from a brilliant yet little-known African-American artist and filmmaker—a contemporary of revered writers including Laurie Colwin, Ann Beattie, Amy Hempel, Lucia Berlin, and Grace Paley—whose prescient work has recently resurfaced to wide acclaim.
"Though most of the pieces span only a few pages, they are frequently overwhelmingly rich—not just in their sharp takes on sex, race, and relationships, but in the power and
music of their sentences. Collins' prose is so precise and
hypnotic that no amount of rereading it feels like enough.
Astonishing and essential. A gem." —Kirkus starred review
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams
For fans of: Dorothea Benton Frank, Kathleen Tessaro, Karen White, Elin Hilderbrand, Liane Moriarty
Bestselling author Beatriz Williams recreates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a debonair Princetonian from a wealthy family.
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Spider and the Fly by Claudia Rowe
For fans of: Truman Capote’s true-crime classic In Cold Blood, Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn
In this superb work of literary true crime—a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense—a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us.
"Part psychological thriller and part gut-wrenching memoir, The Spider and the Fly…crosses boundaries on nearly every page. It is chilling, self-revelatory, and unforgettable." —Robert Kolker, author of
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Fire by Night by Teresa Messineo
For fans of: Geraldine Brooks, Tracy Chevalier, Paula McLain
A powerful and evocative debut novel about two American military nurses during World War II that illuminates the unsung heroism of women who risked their lives in the fight—a riveting saga of friendship, valor, sacrifice, and survival combining the grit and selflessness of Band of Brothers with the emotional resonance of The Nightingale.
"Meticulously researched…Messineo has an eye for accurate historical detail and skillfully portrays her characters’ inner emotions; this story will stay with readers long after they
have finished the book." —Library Journal
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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This Is Not Over by Holly Brown
For fans of: Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica, Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Two women are caught in an escalating game of cat-and-mouse that leads to an explosive ending in this breathtaking psychological thriller from the author of A Necessary End and Don’t Try To Find Me.
"This Is Not Over is an absolutely riveting novel that starts with a situation that could happen to any of us, and slowly and masterfully escalates it into a crisis of character for two women that is both nail-bitingly suspenseful and full of insight into our collective humanity." —Alice LaPlante,
New York Times bestselling author of Turn of Mind
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Believer by Joakim Zander
For fans of: The Travelers by Chris Pavone, Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo
An intricately plotted and brilliantly conceived stand-alone sequel to the international bestseller The Swimmer that turns the hottest political topics of our times into a complex, resonant thriller in the vein of John le Carré.
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Midnight Cool by Lydia Peelle
For fans of: Mary Gaitskill, Annie Proulx, Alice Munro
The Whiting Award-winning author of the story collection Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing delivers her enchanting debut novel set in 1916 Tennessee: a rich and rewarding tale of two flawed yet endearing grifters who pursue women, wealth, and a surprisingly valuable commodity for the troops in Europe: mules.
"The Midnight Cool is the miraculous, rare novel that is as compulsively readable as it is beautifully written. Peelle’s prose is elegant yet muscled, resonant yet swift, which is to
say it’s wholly satisfying in a way that few contemporary
novels are."
—Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind Than Home
and This Dark Road to Mercy
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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Heartstone by Elle Katharine White
For fans of: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
A debut historical fantasy that recasts Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms.
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty
For fans of: Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
A sensational fresh voice in women's fiction makes her U.S. debut with this intriguing novel of four women whose lifelong friendship is fractured when a fun vacation game turns destructive, exposing dark secrets, deeply buried grudges, and a shocking betrayal.
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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The Runaway Midwife by Patricia Harman
For fans of: The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth, The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Hope River series comes a new contemporary midwife novel that asks the question, "Have you ever wanted to leave your life behind?"
"From the mountains of West Virginia to a remote island in Lake Erie, The Runaway Midwife takes us on a journey from loss, grief and guilt to one of love, forgiveness and redemption." —Mary McNear, New York Times bestselling
author of the Butternut Lake series
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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Night of Fire by Colin Thubron
For fans of: In Paradise by Peter Matthiessen, Andrew's Brain by E.L. Doctorow, The Lower River by Paul Theroux
Award-winning, bestselling novelist and travel writer Colin Thubron returns to fiction with his first novel in more than a decade, a searing, poetic masterwork of memory.
"An engrossing novel by the celebrated travel writer…Thubron intrigues with his many resonances and takes the reader on a journey through life’s essential questions." —Kirkus starred review
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
For fans of: The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai, Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Family Fang—a warm-hearted and moving story about a young woman making a family on her own terms.
“Stellar…. Compelling…. Realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels.” —Booklist starred review
Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads deadline: November 20th
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Click here for more suggestions for the December/January LibraryReads list!
We hope you enjoy one or two or ALL of these titles. If you find yourself smitten, be sure to leave reviews on Edelweiss and nominate your favorite titles for LibraryReads. For more information, visit LibraryReads.org. Remember: the deadline to vote for the December/January list is November 20th. Let us know what you think at librarylovefest@harpercollins.com!
-The LLF Team