From fantasy, to epics, to romance, these diverse reads will have you hooked from the start!
WHEN THEY BURNED THE BUTTERFLY by Wen-yi Lee
9781250369451 | 10/21/25
Loner schoolgirl Adeline Siow has never needed more company than the flame she can summon at her fingertips. But when her mother dies in a house fire with a butterfly seared onto her skin and Adeline hunts down a girl she saw in a back-alley barfight—a girl with a butterfly tattoo—she discovers she’s far from alone.
Ang Tian is a Red Butterfly: one of a gang of girls who came from nothing, sworn to a fire goddess and empowered to wreak vengeance on the men that abuse and underestimate them. Adeline’s mother led a double life as their elusive patron, Madam Butterfly. Now that she’s dead, Adeline’s bloodline is the sole thing sustaining the goddess. Between her search for her mother’s killer and the gang’s succession crisis, Adeline becomes quickly entangled with the girls’ dangerous world, and even more so with the charismatic Tian.
But no home lasts long around here. Ambitious and paranoid neighbor gangs hunt at the edges of Butterfly territory, and bodies are turning up in the red light district suffused with a strange new magic. Adeline may have found her place for once, but with the streets changing by the day, it may take everything she is to keep it.
THE WAYFINDER by Adam Johnson
9780374619572 | 10/14/25
THE WAYFINDER is an epic, sweeping novel set in the Polynesian islands of the South Pacific during the height of the Tu’i Tonga Empire. At its heart is Korero, a young girl chosen to save her people from the brink of starvation. Her quest takes her from her remote island home on a daring seafaring journey across a vast ocean empire built on power, consumption, and bloodshed.
With the grandeur of WOLF HALL, SHOGUN, and WAR AND PEACE, THE WAYFINDER immerses readers in a world untouched by Western influence, evoking the lost art of oral storytelling. Far from a conventional swashbuckling adventure, it conjures a world of outrigger canoes and celestial navigation, weaving a narrative that is as much about survival and self-discovery as it is about the sweeping history of the Tongan people.
In this monumental literary work, Adam Johnson explores themes of indigeneity, ecological balance, and the resilience of humanity in the face of scarcity, marking the novel as a profound meditation on both individual and cultural legacy.
THE ENTANGLEMENT OF RIVAL WIZARDS by Sara Raasch
9781250333230 | 8/26/25
Sebastian Walsh: Evocation Department. Human. The first of his family to pick college over the military.
Elethior Tourael: Conjuration Department. Half-elf. Pretentious asshole. The latest legacy Tourael at Lesiara U.
Both: Mageus Research Grant finalists.
Sebastian refuses to let anyone snatch this away, least of all a snob riding on old money. But what’s worse than a nemesis stealing your grant? You could both get it. Under the condition you work together. Sebastian is in hell. Thio’s broody. Takes up their shared lab space with his projects . . . and biceps. Brings treats for Sebastian’s familiar . . . and is nothing like Sebastian thought.
When Sebastian’s past with the Touraels forces him to choose his research or Thio, the decision should be simple. But while working with his rival is volatile . . . falling for his rival might blow up Sebastian’s future.
IF I RULED THE WORLD by Amy DuBois Barnett
9781250378125 | 1/27/26
A fast-paced, juicy debut novel that peeks behind the curtain at the cutthroat world of hip-hop music and the glamorous magazine scene in the late 1990s, written by the ultimate insider.
It’s 1999, and Nikki Rose is the only Black editor on the staff of a prestigious fashion magazine she once thought would be her ticket to becoming a respected editor-in-chief. But after being told one too many times by her boss that “Black girls don’t sell magazines,” she walks away to take over Sugar, a struggling hip-hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential.
Thrown into an entirely new world of wealth, decadence, and debauchery, Nikki has just six months to save Sugar—and her own dreams. As she pulls all-nighters at the office and parties with the era’s most influential bad boys, Nikki must prove she has what it takes to lead. But her most dangerous challenge is evading Alonzo Griffin, her very married, very powerful ex-boyfriend and former boss, who’s determined to destroy both her and Sugar. Along the way, Nikki leans on a circle of loyal friends, and navigates unexpected romances that force her to reckon with what—and who—she truly wants.
IF I RULED THE WORLD is a smart, utterly immersive romp through one of the most dynamic eras in pop culture history—a story of ambition, friendship, love, and the journey to finding your own voice.
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