Braille Books Acquired: Summer 2025

Welcome

Welcome to Braille Books Acquired. This quarterly newsletter contains a list of Braille books recently acquired by the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA). Previous issues are available at celalibrary.ca/braille-books-acquired.

In this issue:

Announcements

CD transition update

If you are looking for new ways to read audiobooks, we have lots of resources to help. Our CD Transition Resource page was developed to help users as CELA phased out the production and delivery of audiobooks on CDs at the end of July. This webpage lists training videos, tutorials and resources available.

Over the coming weeks, CELA will convert previous CD users to our Direct to Player service. If you are ready to use Direct to Player now you can request access now by calling the Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273 or use the option on the My Account page.

When you go to My Account page, you’ll find a new link called “Service switch to Direct to Player for CD users”. There are three options on this page. Choose the first option:  Switch my CD service to DAISY Direct to Player now which will switch your holds and magazine subscriptions to Direct to Player within 24 hours.

Direct to Player service allows you to place CELA books and magazines you would like to read on a virtual bookshelf, called the Direct to Player bookshelf. It is a quick and convenient way to receive DAISY audiobooks and magazines without using a computer to download and transfer files. If you or someone in your residence has an internet connection, we can send the books and magazines directly to your DAISY player or mobile device. 

These titles can be seamlessly accessed directly from your compatible reading device. This can be a specialized player, an app on your smartphone, tablet or computer or a smart speaker.

Awards Updates

Congratulations to the following authors!

The Booker Prize long list has been announced. Canadian authors on the list include David Szalay for Flesh: A Novel and Maria Reva for Endling.

The 2025 Lambda Literary Awards nominees were also recently announced. Twelve Canadian and Canada-based writers who have been named finalists include Sarah Leavitt, and Zoe Whittall.

The First Nations Community Reads program has released its list of selected titles. You can find the full list on the awards page on the CELA website.

Congratulations to Xiran Jay Zhao who won best young adult novel in the annual Aurora Awards for their novel Heavenly Tyrant. The Aurora Awards recognize the best in Canadian science fiction, and fantasy writing.

Upcoming Holiday closures for the CELA Contact Centre.

Our Contact Centre will be closed on the following dates:

Monday, September 1, 2025 for Labour Day

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Monday, October 13, 2025 for Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 11, 2025 for Remembrance Day

Our normal business hours will resume the day following the closure.

A note about dates

Although the majority of these books have been published within the last 5 years, there may be some books listed here which are older, but which were only recently added to our collection. To make this clearer for you, we include the date of the print version of each book at the end of its annotation.

Uncontracted braille

Canadian fiction

6452820 Bernice and the Georgian Bay gold by Jessica Outram.

It's the summer of 1914. Eight-year-old Bernice lives with her family in a lighthouse on Georgian Bay. Bernice doesn't get to explore much farther than their island, but she has her books to fuel her imagination, including her favorite, Treasure Island. One day Bernice wakes up to find a stranger named Tom Thomson sleeping in their living room. When she overhears him talk about gold on a nearby island, Bernice is determined to find it. Inspired by her beloved Mémèr's stories of their Métis family's adventures and hardships, Bernice takes the treasure map the stranger left behind and sets out in a rowboat with nothing more than her two dogs for company and the dream of changing her family's fortunes forever. For grades 4-7. 2024.

Animal stories

6537623 Birds on the brain (The Book Uncle trilogy #2) by Uma Krishnaswami.

The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city's bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down. Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one -- not one single person! -- has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn't this city part of the world? How come people don't seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city's bird count event? Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni's family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count, get them to ask the city government to support the event. After all, what's good for the birds is good for all of us ... right? A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community. For grades 3-8. 2025.

Ghost and horror stories

6538230 The Bellwoods game by Celia Krampien.

A group of sixth graders participating in an annual Halloween tradition to pacify the ghost of Abigail Snook quickly realize that the Bellwoods contains an even bigger threat to their town. For grades 4-8. 2025.

Holiday fiction

6538236 Grounded: a novel by Aisha Saeed.

When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim convention, four unlikely kids are thrown together. Feek is stuck babysitting his younger sister, but he'd rather be writing a poem that's good enough for his dad, a famous poet and rapper. Hanna is intent on finding a lost cat in the airport--and also on avoiding a conversation with her dad about him possibly remarrying. Sami is struggling with his anxiety and worried that he'll miss the karate tournament that he's trained so hard for. And Nora has to deal with the pressure of being the daughter of a prominent congresswoman, when all she really wants to do is make fun NokNok videos. These kids don't see to have much in common--yet. 'Told in alternating points of view, at Hurston Airport, four unlikely kids' lives are changed forever when their flight is grounded by weather following a Muslim convention. For grades 4-8. 2025.

Sports fiction

6428613 Swimming into trouble (Julia on the Go!) by Angela Ahn.

Temporarily sidelined from her swim team by an earache, Julia won't be kept down in this buoyant novel for ages 7 to 10 by acclaimed writer Angela Ahn.As a member of the Vipers Swim Team, Julia Nam's always in the pool. Mountainview Community Center is like her second home, not only because swimming at the aquatic center is her favorite thing in the world, but also because her parents run the center's sushi café. Julia would much rather be in the pool than sitting behind the counter of Sushi on the Go! watching other people swim. She's the youngest swimmer on the team, but definitely not the slowest. Julia can't wait for Personal Best Day -- the most important day for all of the swimmers. If their times are good enough, they can enter a big regional swim meet. But then the worst thing happens. A sharp pain in Julia's ear reveals an infection and she's forbidden to swim for ten days. How can she get timed during Personal Best Day when she's not allowed in the water? Julia is desperate to get back in the pool, even if it means having to go behind her parents' backs in order to do so. But Julia's solution lands her in a sticky situation, and it's going to require the entire community center to come together to help her out of it! For grades 2-5. 2024.

Fiction printbraille

Adventure stories

6564756 Travel guide for monsters part deux: a Canadian adventure by Lori Degman.

Illustrations and easy-to-read text provide guidance for the tourist who wishes to bring a monster along to see the sights in Canada. For grades 1-3. 2023.

Friendship stories

6564757 How to staycation like a snail by Naseem Hrab.

Snail is an epic explorer. Well ... kind of. He especially loves the quiet things about adventures, like reading maps, collecting souvenirs, and finding wonder around every corner. And Snail knows that not all adventures need to be far-away -- they can also be near-away! -- which is why he and Stump choose a vacation destination a mere stone's throw from home. Snail and Stump smell the smells, listen for the sounds, and take in the sights of their home. And then something astonishing happens when a group of parachute seeds blows into their neighbourhood. Snail and Stump offer to show the seeds the sights, and as the seeds ooh and ahh over their favourite haunts, the two friends find an even deeper appreciation for their home and are able to see it in a whole new light. For grades 1-3. 2024.

Family stories

6564755 The boldest white: a story of hijab and community by Ibtihaj Muhammad.

Faizah finds comfort in being part of the crowd, but with help from her mother and sister, as well as some practice and patience, she learns to stand out and lead. For grades 1-3. 2024.

6564762 I'm from by Gary R. Gray Jr.

Early morning wakeups and homemade pancakes, Raucous bus rides and schoolyard games, Family games and bedtime rituals… These are the small moments that shape a child’s day. I’m From is an invitation into the vivid world of one small boy, a poetic account of all the people and places and things that shape who he is and define where he is from. For grades 1-3. 2024.

6564761 Meena can't wait by Farida Zaman.

Today Meena and her nanu (grandmother) are having a tea party with a special Bengali tea called doodh cha, and even though Meena is impatient, she learns that it's worth the wait to make the special tea together. For grades 1-3. 2024.

6602022 Molly misses Nainai by Emma Chen.

Molly and Nainai have never been apart but now Molly's grandmother must return to China. After trying to walk to the airport herself, and sending hearts through the mail, Molly video chats with Nainai. It feels strange to see her on the phone - she looks small and sounds far away - but a familiar lullaby brings them together again. For grades P-K. 2023.

6564759 The pie reports by Hayley Lowe.

Despite living an ocean apart, a child connects with her grandfather over a shared love of pie and learns to hold space for him through his progressive illness. For grades P-K. 2024.

Folklore, fables and fairy tales

6564760 Chang'e on the moon (Everlasting tales) by Katrina Moore.

Before she was the goddess of the moon, she was simply Chang'e. Once upon a time, there lived a kind, beautiful woman named Chang'e. She and her husband, Hou Yi, were deeply in love and existed in peaceful harmony . . . Until, one day, ten blazing suns rose into the sky and threatened everything they knew. But while the two worked together to save the lands from burning up -- someone else they trusted was plotting against them. This epic romance follows how Chang'e's bravery and selflessness saved her people, and why, centuries later, they celebrate her and retell her story all over the world. For grades 1-3. 2024.

6602023 Princess Pru and the switcheroo by Maureen Fergus.

Princess Pru has two loving dads, an ostrich named Orville, and an ogre-tastic best friend named Oggy. Oggy and Pru spend their days playing games, having adventures, and getting spoiled by shopkeepers. Then, every evening, Oggy goes home and does whatever he wants. Pru returns to the palace where she has to finish her vegetables, tidy her playroom, and go to bed on time. When her royal dads tell her she can't take Orville for a gallop until she finds all three royal tarantulas, Pru decides she's had enough. So Oggy and Pru hatch a plan for Pru to experience the easy existence of an independent ogre: they'll disguise themselves as each other and switch lives. For grades 1-3. 2024.

Humourous fiction

6564763 Julie and the mango tree by Sadé Smith.

Julie loves all kinds of fruit, but mangoes are her absolute favorite. One sticky summer afternoon, Julie goes to the big mango tree in her yard to ask for a snack. But no matter how nicely she asks or how patient she tries to be, the tree just won't drop a single sweet, juicy mango! Will Julie ever be able to convince the tree to let her have just a taste of her favorite treat? For grades 1-3. 2023.

Indigenous peoples in Canada fiction

6564758 Bannock in a hammock by Masiana Kelly.

Big or small, sweet or savoury, with stew or with sprinkles, there are tons of ways to enjoy bannock! This rhyming book explores a favourite Inuit food, and has some fun along the way. What’s your favourite way to eat bannock? Try it at home with the included bannock recipe! Written by Inuk/Dene writer Masiana Kelly, this sweet and simple narrative celebrates this delicious food. For grades P-K. 2024.

Fiction for children and young adults

Adventure stories

6548747 The last mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat.

A high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world. This is the story of a young woman's struggle to unburden herself of the past and chart her own destiny in a world of secrets. As assistant to Mangkon's most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman, and in a kingdom where the status of one's ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn't the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands--a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining--she must weigh the cost of her dreams. Vivid, suspenseful, and thought-provoking, this tale of identity and integrity is as intricate as the maps of old. For grades P-8. 2022.

Family stories

6079543 Different: a story of the Spanish Civil War (Stories From Latin America Ser.) by Mónica Montañés.

During the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, siblings Soccoro and Paco must live with constant secrets while they wait to reunite with their father, who fled Spain due to political persecution. For grades P-8. 2022.

6548711 Dragonfly eyes by Wenxuan Cao.

Ah Mei has always been close to her French grandmother, Nainai, and is proud to look like her. But in their home city of Shanghai, many people are suspicious of their European heritage and looks. Politics and war make 1960s Shanghai a difficult place to grow up, especially when the family silk business is given over to the government and they are left with their beloved home and little else. Ah Mei and her grandmother suffer, but they are resourceful and have each other, and the tenderness they share brings them great strength. For grades P-8. 2022.

Fantasy

6548937 The little mermaid by Faith Noelle.

Ariel is a curious mermaid who has always wanted to explore the human world! After saving a prince named Eric from a dangerous shipwreck, Ariel makes a deal with the Sea Witch, Ursula, so she can meet him and learn more about what life is like beyond her ocean home. But Ursula is full of tricks, and it will take all of Ariel's courage to save the human world and the ocean from the Sea Witch's devious plans. This fresh take on a classic story will enchant a new generation of Disney fans, immersing them in Ariel's undersea world. This is the official novelization of Walt Disney Studios' live action reimagining of The Little Mermaid. For grades P-8. 2023.

Ghost and horror stories

6549417 Burn down, rise up by Vincent Tirado.

When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city--and confront a dark episode in its history in the process. For grades 9-12. 2022.

Historical fiction

6548840 Blessing's bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson.

When Aaluk marries a Siberian in 1917, she gives her sister Nutaaq two blue beads from her necklace for remembrance. Nutaaq survives an influenza epidemic, marries, and has children. Her great-granddaughter Blessing moves in with Nutaaq's daughter in 1989 and finds a bead, prompting family stories. For grades P-8. 2022.

Humourous fiction

6079636 Audrey Covington breaks the rules by Karina Evans.

Audrey Covington's parents are the textbook definition of strict-they don't let Audrey stay up late or watch scary movies, and they definitely don't let her go anywhere unsupervised. Audrey knows it's best to just accept the way it is. But her friends decide her parents' rules are getting in the way of all their fun and unceremoniously disinvite her from their annual start-of-summer slumber party so they aren't tied down by boring Audrey. Now Audrey is stuck helping her parents move her former-movie-star grandmother into a luxury retirement community. When she finally manages to sneak off to her parents' car to check her phone, her grandmother climbs into the driver's seat and speeds off-not realizing Audrey is still in the back seat! After startling each other, they come to a deal: Audrey promises not to tell her parents where her grandma is if Audrey can join in on one last grand adventure-no rules allowed. But as the two make their way across Hollywood, they realize that the life they think they want might not be what they need. For grades P-8. 2023.

6549585 The leaping laddoo by Harshita Jerath.

While Mrs. Kapoor is making a laddoo for her husband's birthday, she is shocked when the dough suddenly jumps up and runs away, causing her and passersby to chase it through the streets of India. For grades P-8. 2022.

Indigenous peoples fiction

6081682 Saints of the household by Ari Tison.

When brothers Max and Jay help a classmate in trouble, they struggle with the consequences of their violent actions and worry they may be more like their abusive father than they thought, so the brothers turn to their Bribri roots to find their way forward. For grades 9-12. 2023.

LGBTQ+ fiction

6549150 I kissed Shara Wheeler: a novel by Casey McQuiston.

After seventeen-year-olds Chloe and Shara, Chloe's rival for valedictorian, kiss, Shara vanishes leaving Chloe and two boys, who are also enamored with Shara, to follow the trail of clues she left behind, but during the search, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to Shara and her small Alabama town than she thought. For grades 9-12. 2022.

6548750 We deserve monuments by Jas Hammonds.

When seventeen-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decades-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town's racist past. For grades 9-12. 2022.

Multi-cultural fiction

6081670 The dark place by Britney S Lewis.

Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams didn't ask to disappear. But she did disappear, and not only that, but when she vanished from our world, she materialized in a dark, twisted version of the night that changed her life forever: the night her older brother went missing. Just as Hylee realizes this moment could be the key to unraveling the truth about her brother, she's yanked away from the dark place back to our world. Craving a sense of normalcy, she goes to a party with her best friend-- where she meets Eilam Roads. Tall, handsome, and undeniably, inexplicably familiar, Hylee can't help the pull she feels towards him. It's a classic teen girl-meets-boy situation, until it happens again. She disappears, right in front of him. Together, Hylee and Eilam investigate the truth about time, space, and reality, with Hylee increasingly convinced her time travel holds the key to saving her brother. But the more they learn, the more Hylee begins to see darkness lurking in her world--and in herself. For grades 9-12. 2023.

6548658 With lots of love by Jenny Torres Sanchez.

Rocio and her family move from Central America to the United States, leaving behind their extended family and many happy memories, but Rocio's Abuela finds a way to send her something special for her birthday. For grades P-8. 2022.

Mysteries and crime stories

6586688 The final gambit (Inheritance games novel #03) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Avery's fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about. To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know hers. But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help--and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player. Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake--and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning. For grades P-8. 2022.

Romance

6586728 Give me a sign by Anna Sortino.

Seventeen-year-old Lilah, who wears hearing aids, returns to a summer camp for the Deaf and Blind as a counselor, eager to improve her ASL and find her place in the community, but she did not expect to also find romance along the way. For grades 9-12. 2023.

6548811 In the key of us by Mariama Lockington.

While twelve-year-old Andi has suffered from anxiety attacks ever since her mother died ten months ago, Zora starting hurting herself whenever she feels out of control; they are both at Camp Harmony, an elite summer music camp, trying to deal with their problems and also the stress of competition--but as the summer passes they find themselves increasingly drawn to each other, and maybe not just as friends. For grades P-8. 2022.

Suspense and thrillers

6548607 All these sunken souls: a black horror anthology.

We are all familiar with tropes of the horror genre: slasher and victims, demon and the possessed. Bloody screams, haunted visions, and the peddler of wares we aren't sure we can trust. In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan Peele, Lovecraft Country, and Horror Noire will get a little bit of everything they love--and a lot of what they fear--through a twisted blend of horror lenses, from the thoughtful to the terrifying. From haunted, hungry Victorian mansions, temporal monster-infested asylums, and ravaging zombie apocalypses, to southern gothic hoodoo practitioners and cursed patriarchs in search of Black Excellence, All These Sunken Souls features the chilling creations of acclaimed bestsellers and hot new talents. For grades 9-12. 2023.

Fiction for adults

Family stories

6586692 From the heart by Barbara Hinske.

Settling into the rhythms of married life with her blended family, Emily finds herself at the epicenter of a storm--juggling the intricacies of managing a distant division following a promotion, navigating the unexpected challenges of a dear friend's pregnancy, and orchestrating the delicate balance of her children's burgeoning lives. As Zoe and Diedre navigate the tumultuous seas of a new school, Emily and Grant find themselves entangled in a web of commitments. From overseeing Zoe's ambitious science fair project to supporting Diedre's role in a youth theater musical, the family's fragile equilibrium is stretched to its limits. When Grant's professional pursuits lead to a lucrative out-of-town contract, demanding his presence on site, the elaborate framework they've carefully constructed begins to unravel. Now, with the plates of her life spinning precariously, Emily faces the ultimate test of strength and resilience. Can she maintain the intricate balance, or will the weight of her responsibilities send everything crashing down around her? With Garth at her side, will Emily find grace amidst the chaos? Follow along as they lead from the heart. 2024.

6586708 Hang the moon: a novel by Jeannette Walls.

Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father's daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother's son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out. Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That's a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger. 2023.

6548655 The Chinese groove: a novel by Kathryn Ma.

Eighteen-year-old Shelley, born into a much-despised branch of the Zheng family in Yunnan Province and living in the shadow of his widowed father's grief, dreams of bigger things. Buoyed by an exuberant heart and his cousin Deng's tall tales about the United States, Shelley heads to San Francisco to claim his destiny, confident that any hurdles will be easily overcome by the awesome powers of the Chinese groove, a belief in the unspoken bonds between countrymen that transcend time and borders. Upon arrival, Shelley is dismayed to find that his "rich uncle" is in fact his unemployed second cousin once removed and that the grand guest room he'd envisioned is but a scratchy sofa. The indefinite stay he'd planned for? That has a firm two-week expiration date. Even worse, the loving family he hoped would embrace him is in shambles, shattered by a senseless tragedy that has cleaved the family in two. They want nothing to do with this youthful bounder who's barged into their lives. Ever the optimist, Shelley concocts a plan to resuscitate his American dream by insinuating himself into the family. And, who knows, maybe he'll even manage to bring them back together in the process. 2023.

6548762 The secret book of Flora Lea: a novel by Patti Callahan Henry.

When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed. In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby's. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel's future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora's disappearance? 2023.

Fantasy

6548691 Iron Flame (Empyrean #02) by Rebecca Yarros.

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College-Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet's already wondering how she'll get through. It's not just that it's grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it's designed to stretch the riders' capacity for pain beyond endurance. It's the new vice commandant, who's made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is-unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet's body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else's, she still has her wits-and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But a determination to survive won't be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College-and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end. 2023.

6586726 Mammoths at the gates by Nghi Vo.

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest. Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather's body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor's chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve. But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien's own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. 2023.

6548788 Thornhedge by T Kingfisher.

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story. Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? But nothing with fairies is ever simple. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold. 2023.

6080053 Tress of the emerald sea: a Cosmere novel (Secret project #01) by Brandon Sanderson.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death? 2023.

Ghost and horror stories

6549552 Don't fear the reaper by Stephen Graham Jones.

Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted serial killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho. 2023.

6549418 The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner.

From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead. 1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike. Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister's death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London's exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves. 2023.

6548917 The reformatory by Tananarive Due.

Gracetown, Florida. June 1950. Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie's journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it's too late. 2023.

6549613 The Z word by Lindsay King-Miller.

During a Pride celebration, Wendy notices the beginning of an infection that seems to be turning people into zombies. She and others from the local queer community must team up (despite interpersonal tension) to try and stop the outbreak, discover its source, and survive. 2024.

Historical fiction

6586720 A storm of infinite beauty: a novel by Julianne MacLean.

Gwen Hollingsworth is the curator at a museum in Nova Scotia dedicated to the Hollywood legend Scarlett Fontaine's life. Gwen is also the sole descendant and heir to Scarlett's fortune. Gwen is dealing with a messy marital separation and is struggling to move forward. So when Peter Miller, a biographer and photojournalist, comes to the museum with shocking claims about Scarlett, which include a life of exile in Alaska and a baby born in secret, Gwen's whole world is turned upside down. Gwen and Peter set out for Alaska together to uncover the truth, but they soon find themselves on a path toward something far deeper and meaningful than either of them ever expected. 2023.

6549317 Boys in the valley by Philip Fracassi.

St. Vincent's Orphanage for Boys. Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania. Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future.a family. Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides. Others turn up dead. Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives - and perhaps their eternal souls - are at risk. 2023.

6549545 North woods: a novel by Daniel Mason.

When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave--only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: as the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. 2023.

6548898 The ice harp by Norman Lock.

In 1879, toward the end of his life, the Sage of Concord has lost his words. Beset by aphasia and grief, Ralph Waldo Emerson is scarcely recognizable as America's foremost essayist and orator. To the dismay of his wife, he frequently entertains the specters of his fellow transcendentalists, including Whitman, Thoreau, John Muir, and Margaret Fuller, and frets about the future of humankind and the natural world. Does the present displace the past? Do ideas always precede actions? What responsibility does each of us bear for the downtrodden, the preservation of liberty, and the Earth itself? These metaphysical concerns become concrete when Emerson meets a Black soldier accused of killing a white man who abused him. The soldier's presence demands a response from Emerson, an action outside the parlors of philosophy and beyond the realm where language and logic hold sway. 2023.

6548800 The vaster wilds: a novel by Lauren Groff.

A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her. 2023.

Mysteries and crime stories

6548712 After that night by Karin Slaughter.

Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton's life changed forever when a celebratory night out ended in a violent attack that tore her world apart. Since then, Sara has remade her life. A successful doctor, engaged to a man she loves, she has finally managed to leave the past behind her. Until one evening, on call in the ER, everything changes. Sara battles to save a broken young woman who's been brutally attacked. But as the investigation progresses, led by GBI Special Agent Will Trent, it becomes clear that Dani Cooper's assault is uncannily linked to Sara's. 2023.

6548622 Hell bent (Alex Stern #02) by Leigh Bardugo.

Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy Alex Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory-even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale. Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can't call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies' most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren't just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she'll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university's very walls. Thick with history and packed with Bardugo's signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters. 2023.

6549553 Killing moon: a novel by Jo Nesbø.

Two young women are missing, their only connection a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again. And exposing him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone-fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry's life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice but to return to the city that haunts him and track down the murderer. He'll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to accomplish what he can't do alone: stop an unstoppable killer. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than meets the eye. 2023.

6586697 Obsessed: a Michael Bennett psychological thriller by James Patterson.

A killer is obsessed. with Detective Michael Bennett's oldest daughter. Michael Bennett is obsessed. with keeping his family safe. New York City is obsessed. with cracking the killer's code. You will be obsessed. with this startling psychological thriller. Obsessed. 2023.

6549238 Storm watch by C. J Box.

When a prominent University of Wyoming professor goes missing, authorities are stumped. That is, until Joe Pickett makes two surprising discoveries while hunting down a wounded elk on his district as an epic spring storm descends upon him. First, he finds the professor's vehicle parked on a remote mountainside. Then Joe finds the professor's frozen and mutilated body. When he attempts to learn more, his investigation is obstructed by federal agents, extremists, and Governor Colter Allen. Nate Romanowski is rebuilding his falconry company-and financing this through crypto mining with the assistance of Geronimo Jones. He's then approached by a shadowy group of local militant activists that is gaining in power and influence, and demanding that Wyoming join other western states and secede from the union-by force, if necessary. They ask Nate to throw in with them, but he's wary. Should he trust them, or is he being set up? As a storm of peril gathers around them, Joe and Nate confront it in different ways-and maybe, for the first time, on opposite sides. 2023.

6548651 The cabinet of Dr. Leng (Pendergast series #21) by Douglas J Preston.

Against all odds, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, and sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother, and stop Manhattan's most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng of the seminal Pendergast novel The Cabinet of Curiosities, before his nefarious experiments come to fruition. Meanwhile, in present-day New York, Pendergast is desperate to find a way to reunite with Constance-but will he find a way before it's too late? 2023.

6538235 The grey wolf (Chief Inspector Gamache #19) by Louise Penny.

The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series. Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading 'this might interest you', a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list--and then a murder. 2024.

6548792 The guest: a novel by Emma Cline.

Summer is coming to a close on the East End of Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome. A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she's been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city. With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways, and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to Labor Day moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake. 2023.

6586680 The white lady: a novel by Jacqueline Winspear.

A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. The private, quiet Miss White as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor's war work had been, or that their mysterious neighbor is haunted by her past. It will take Susie, the child of a young farmworker, Jim Mackie and his wife, Rose, to break through Miss White's icy demeanor-but Jim has something in common with Elinor. He, too, is desperate to escape his past. When the powerful Mackie crime family demands a return of their prodigal son for an important job, Elinor assumes the task of protecting her neighbors, especially the bright-eyed Susie. Yet in her quest to uncover the truth behind the family's pursuit of Jim, Elinor unwittingly sets out on a treacherous path-yet it is one that leads to her freedom. 2023.

6548874 Unnatural death by Patricia Daniels Cornwell.

In this thrilling new installment of Patricia Cornwell's #1 bestselling Scarpetta series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement. The victims have been savaged beyond recognition, and other evidence is terrifying and baffling, including a larger-than-life footprint. After one of the most frightening body retrievals of her career, Scarpetta must discover who would commit murders this savage, and why. 2023.

Romance

6548797 A quantum love story by Mike Chen.

Grieving her best friend's recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda's ready to give up everything to start anew. Even her career--after one last week consulting at a top secret particle accelerator. Except the strangest thing happens: a man stops her.and claims they've met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she's mourning, why she's there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he's saying. But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter's memories of the time loop are slowly disappearing. And their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop forever. 2024.

6548650 Hello stranger by Katherine Center.

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she's celebrating the biggest achievement of her life-placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition-the next she's lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a probably temporary condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie's new reality. But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls in love-not with one man but two. The timing couldn't be worse. Making judgment calls on anything right now is a nightmare. If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to have it all. 2023.

6548784 Love, theoretically by Ali Hazelwood.

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she's an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it's a pretty sweet gig-until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor's career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job. Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but.those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she's with him? Will falling into an experimentalist's orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice? 2023.

6548979 Someone else's shoes by Jojo Moyes.

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope-she doesn't even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That's because Sam Kemp-in the bleakest point of her life-has accidentally taken Nisha's gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag-she's struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha's six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence makes her realize something must change-and that thing is herself. 2023.

6549239 The Bluebird bakery: a small town romance by Lee Tobin McClain.

Bluebird Bakery owner Taylor Harp loves how small and close-knit Teaberry Island is.except when the only response to her help wanted ad is from someone she hoped to avoid. She and Cody Cunningham shared a long-ago romance until he started dating her prettier younger sister. But though the sting of rejection remains, so do the sparks. After PTSD ended his military career, Cody Cunningham came back to the one place that felt like home. A difficult childhood left him running from commitment, but when he's suddenly left in charge of his young half siblings, Cody doesn't hesitate. He's ready to build a future, and he hopes Taylor will want to have a place in it. Will she keep him around long enough to see that the boy she knew is now a man who'll love her forever? 2023.

Short stories

6549154 Out there screaming: an anthology of new Black horror.

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele's anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and-like his spine-chilling films-its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world and redefine what it means to be afraid. 2023.

6586724 The darkest night: 22 wintry horror stories.

From some of the biggest names in horror comes an Advent calendar of short holiday horror stories perfect for the darkest nights of the year. Edited by award-winning author and anthologist Lindy Ryan and with contributions from masters of horror like Josh Malerman, Eric LaRocca, and Clay McLeod Chapman, this horrific anthology will chill you to the bone. 2024.

6548735 The thinking machine: being a true and complete statement of several intricate mysteries which came under the observation of Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., etc by Jacques Futrelle.

Could you beat the world chess master in one try if you'd never played or studied the game? Or plot and execute a successful escape from an inescapable prison cell? And could you do it at the turn of the twentieth century, without benefit of modern technology? Sound impossible? Never use that word in the presence of The Thinking Machine-it angers him greatly and does not give him a favorable impression of the user. Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen knows that both feats are indeed possible, having accomplished them himself. But he also applies his superior intellect and deductive reasoning to more official ends-namely helping the police solve impossible" crimes. With assistance from reporter Hutchinson Hatch, who is only too happy to suggest potential cases and then write about the outcome, The Thinking Machine proves that no puzzle is unsolvable-not corporate espionage, nor a kidnapped baby, nor a pilfered necklace. And certainly not a "perfect murder." 2023.

6548875 We mostly come out at night: 15 queer tales of monsters, angels & other creatures.

A YA anthology of short stories ranging in genres from horror to romance; featuring classic and original monsters and creatures; and highlighting authors from the LGBTQIA+ community. 2024.

Suspense and thrillers

6045687 Homecoming: a novel by Kate Morton.

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia. Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for two decades, she now finds herself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in the hospital. At Nora's house, Jess discovers a true crime book chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. It is only when Jess skims through its pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this notorious event - a mystery that has never been satisfactorily resolved. 2023.

6077052 I will find you by Harlan Coben.

David Burroughs was once a devoted father to his three-year-old son Matthew, living a dream life just a short drive away from the working-class suburb where he and his wife, Cheryl, first fell in love-until one fateful night when David woke suddenly to discover Matthew had been murdered while David was asleep just down the hall. Half a decade later, David's been wrongly accused and convicted of the murder, left to serve out his time in a maximum-security prison-a fate which, grieving and wracked with guilt, David didn't have the will to fight. The world has moved on without him. Then Cheryl's younger sister, Rachel, makes a surprise appearance during visiting hours bearing a strange photograph. It's a vacation shot of a bustling amusement park a friend shared with her, and in the background, just barely in frame, is a boy bearing an eerie resemblance to David's son. Even though it can't be, David just knows: Matthew is still alive. David plans a harrowing escape, determined to achieve the impossible - save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened. But with his life on the line and the FBI following his every move, can David evade capture long enough to reveal the shocking truth? 2023.