Books That are Compared to our Favorites (10/26/2023)

Today we will be recommending new books that compare to some fan favorites. We’ve taken inspiration from cult classics that offer a taste of summer, romance, mystery, and more! From the sun-drenched shores of Long Beach, California, to the foggy valleys of Mercury, Pennsylvania, you will be captivated by stories of enemies, lovers, fear, and redemption. Enjoy!

FOR FANS OF LUSTER: SUGAR, BABY BY CELINE SAINTCLARE
9781639732463 | 1/9/24

“This is a propulsive read that tackles myriad attitudes toward sex work, from condemnation to celebration, through a distinctly feminist lens. Accompanying the partying with perceptive social commentary, Saintclare refuses to romanticize the gritty details of sugaring—inviting the reader into a whirlwind of champagne, sex, and money that is at times claustrophobic, scary, and toxic. Saintclare modernizes outdated sex-work narratives, honoring the bonds formed between women instead.”—Kirkus Reviews

Available for download on Edelweiss. LibraryReads votes due by December 1.

FOR FANS OF SCHITTS CREEK: LOVE NATURALLY BY SOPHIE SULLIVAN
9781250875839 | 1/16/24

“An enemies-to-lovers trajectory with just the right amount of novelty and sweetness.”—Kirkus Reviews

Available for download on Edelweiss.

FOR FANS OF MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER: DEAD IN LONG BEACH BY VENITA BLACKBURN
9780374602826 | 1/23/24

Coral is the first person to discover her brother Jay’s dead body in the wake of his suicide. There’s no note, only a drably furnished bachelor pad in Long Beach, California, and a cell phone with a handful of numbers in it. Coral pockets the phone. And then she starts responding to texts as her dead brother.

Over the course of one week, Coral, the successful yet lonely author of a hit dystopian novel, Wildfire, becomes increasingly untethered from reality. Blindsided by grief and operating with reckless determination, she doubles —and triples—down on posing as her brother, risking not only her own sanity but her relationship with her precocious niece, Khadijah. As Coral’s swirl of lies slowly closes in on her, the quirky and mysterious alien world of Wildfire becomes enmeshed in her own reality, in the process pushing long-buried memories, traumas, and secrets dangerously into the present.

A form-shifting and soul-crunching chronicle of grief and crisis, Venita Blackburn’s debut novel, DEAD IN LONG BEACH, is a fleet-footed marvel of self-discovery and storytelling that explores the depths of humankind’s capacity for harm and healing. With the daring, often hilarious imagination that made her an acclaimed short-fiction innovator, Blackburn crafts a layered, page-turning reckoning with what it means to be alive, dead, and somewhere in between.

Available for download on Edelweiss. LibraryReads votes due by December 1.

FOR FANS OF FLICKER IN THE DARK: WHERE YOU END BY ABBOTT KAHLER
9781250873248 | 1/16/24

She wakes up from a coma, confused, terrified, with no memory of who she is, not even her own name. The first thing she sees is her mirror image—her sister, her mirror twin, the only certainty she still has, the one person she trusts as implicitly as she trusts herself, and she says her sister’s name: “hello, Jude.”

In the months that follow, Jude slowly gives her back her life, returning her name to her—Kat Bird—and telling her their shared life story, rebuilding her memory block by block by block, remaking Kat into the person she was before.

Until Kat discovers that everything Jude has told her is a lie.

Available for download on Edelweiss. LibraryReads votes due by December 1.

FOR FANS OF FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: MERCURY BY AMY JO BURNES
9781250908568 | 1/2/24

It’s 1990 and Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A gorgeous teenager and perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town are three men standing on a rooftop. Their silhouettes blot out the sun.

The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley is the one who steps in to shepherd these unruly men towards the unreachable future they were promised.

When an emergency roofing job turns up a dead body in their local church’s attic, old wounds resurface and, suddenly, the Joseph family hangs in the balance. Fair or not, it’s up to Marley to decide what comes next—whether she should give up and leave these maddening men fixed in time and incapable of escaping their father’s shadow, or help them reorient their world towards a future on solid ground.

Available for download on Edelweiss. LibraryReads votes due by December 1.

FOR FANS OF THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY: THE GETAWAY LIST BY EMMA LORD
9781250903990 | 1/23/24

The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List—a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away—will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.

Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young? Except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

Inescapably romantic and brimming with Emma Lord’s signature cheer, THE GETAWAY LIST is an uplifting and romantic read that will settle into your heart and never leave.

Available for download on Edelweiss. LibraryReads votes due by December 1.