 Random House/The Dial Press - set for release February 10, 2026
By Robin Munson Families are complicated. Tiny spats, on the surface, that appear to be ridiculous can cause a rift that seemingly can’t be repaired. This is what happens in Allegra Goodman’s newest novel, This Is Not About Us. While Jeanne is in hospice dying of cancer, her two older sisters, Helen and Sylvia, are fighting over apple cake. This novel reads like a series of vignettes where each chapter tells the story and point of view of the three sisters' extended family members. Although the stories can be messy, they are also very relatable. I really enjoyed reading this character driven book. Allegra Goodman is a master writer and able to hit all the regular trials and tribulations that we, as readers, have experienced ourselves. Goodman expertly weaves the stories and points of view of the different generations of the Rubenstein family. From parents ignoring harsh coaching in hopes of their child’s future greatness to a divorced father feeling guilty about dating again. Still, during all these difficult life crises and the angst surrounding it, there is a lifting and an ease when those difficult moments finally pass. I recommend this book to anyone who loves character driven novels (there are a lot of characters in this book).This book is short on plot, so if you need a book with a plot that carries you through, then this may not be the book for you. That being said, it is well written and the characters are so well formed that they themselves carried me to the end - not the plot. This Is Not About Us comes out on February 10, 2026 for all to enjoy. Thank you Random House/Dial Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Get the audiobook with your SPL card.
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 Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom was a holiday delight I wasn't expecting. The story follows Jesse, a man whose life is one giant bummer. Into this shuffles Krampus himself: the Yule Lord, that ancient, antler-crowned creature who has been done dirty for centuries by Big Claus. And suddenly you're watching a custody battle for Christmas between Santa and a wrathful nature spirit who wants his holiday back.
This book is a feast of violence and folklore. Brom's illustrations alone practically climb off the page and say “You belong to the old gods now.” Krampus is rendered as equal parts terrifying, tragic, and charismatic. There’s satire here too, with a heavy-handed but satisfying condemnation of consumerism, religion, power, and the way humans insist on joyfully participating in their own exploitation. Nothing like a horned demon to tell you your Amazon cart is killing the planet. And beneath this wild ride is this tender message that belief costs something. That gods starve without devotion. That even monsters mourn the world humans paved over. This is a story for people who know the holiday isn’t all cinnamon and Starbucks cups. it's also loss, longing, and hope for something better. If you want a warm, cozy holiday read, look elsewhere. If you want to feel like a primordial spirit just dragged you into the woods to lecture you about capitalism, this is your book. Get it at the library. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  Karin Slaughter doesn’t do light reads, and Pretty Girls is no exception. This book is dark, disturbing, and extremely unsettling. The most frightening horror isn't ghost or vampires. It's what can happen in the real world.
The story follows two sisters, Claire and Lydia, who haven’t spoken in years. They’re brought back together after a tragedy, and soon find themselves unraveling a horrifying mystery that ties back to the disappearance of their older sister, Julia, two decades earlier. It’s got all the classic Slaughter trademarks, that tight pacing, layered characters, and brutal honesty about violence, grief, and survival. Slaughter doesn’t just write about crime. She drags you into the emotional wreckage it leaves behind. The scenes are graphic and the subject matter is rough, sexual violence, exploitation, manipulation, but none of it feels gratuitous. It’s all part of showing just how far evil can go and how strong people can be when faced with it. Claire’s transformation from sheltered wife to a woman who refuses to be a victim is satisfying. Lydia’s grit and sarcasm balance it out beautifully, giving the book a messy, real emotional core amid all the horror. It’s not for everyone. If you’re sensitive to violence or want something cozy, run the other way. But if you can stomach the darkness, Pretty Girls is one of those thrillers that stays with you long after you close the book. Get the book at the library, or download the eBook or audiobook with your SPL card. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  I’m a huge fan of S.A. Cosby’s work. His books always hit that perfect balance of grit, heartbreak, and grey morality, and King of Ashes might just be his most powerful one yet. This time, Cosby trades the getaway cars and backroads for something even darker, family legacy and the ways it can drag you down no matter how far you’ve run.
The story follows Roman Carruthers, a man who’s built a successful life in Atlanta after escaping his small Virginia hometown. When his father ends up in a coma after a car crash, Roman goes back home to Jefferson Run to help his siblings keep the family crematorium running. But the homecoming doesn’t go smoothly. His brother Dante is in deep with the local gang, and his sister Neveah is trying to keep the family business running. What starts as a reluctant return turns into a reckoning with everything Roman thought he’d escaped. Cosby writes about family like no one else, love and resentment tangled so tight you can’t tell one from the other. His writing is sharp as ever, filled with moments of shocking violence and deep tenderness. Roman isn’t a traditional hero. He’s flawed, conflicted, and at times infuriating. But he's not giving up on his family. Cosby leveled up again with this one. It’s a crime novel, sure, but also a tragedy about inheritance, shame, and the futility of trying to bury the past when the past already knows you are. Get the book at the library, or download the eBook or audiobook with your SPL card. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  About a Boy by Nick Hornby is one of those novels that strolls up to you with a smirk, hands jammed in its pockets, pretending it’s just here to make a few jokes about single men and awkward kids, and then suddenly it hits you right in the feels.
Will Freeman, human equivalent of an unassembled IKEA bookshelf, floats through life collecting shallow pleasures and acting like emotional detachment is a lifestyle brand. He’s the guy who would absolutely call himself “laid-back” when what he really means is “no one has ever held me accountable for anything.” And then, because life is a chaotic raccoon rifling through the dumpster of human fate, along comes twelve-year-old Marcus. This kid has the spiritual vibe of someone who has already lived three lifetimes and all of them were somewhat disappointing. Marcus looks at adults the way you look at a bad Tinder date, confused, betrayed, and reconsidering every decision that led you here. Hornby throws these two misfits together, one who’s allergic to feelings and one who’s drowning in them, and the whole thing becomes this weird, wobbling orbit of reluctant healing. The book is funny, painfully so, but with that undercurrent of “Wow, humans are awful and beautiful and exhausting.” Get the eBook with your SPL card. If you are interested in a print copy, contact us about interlibrary loan. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  King Sorrow by Joe Hill is what happens when a group of college friends take a step too far into the occult.
The story begins with their tight-knit little circle living it up as college kids do, but then one of them is in real danger. And that’s when the legend comes up. King Sorrow. They don’t even know if summoning him is real. They’re not sure if they believe it. They just know they’re terrified and running out of options. So they do it. They summon him. The ritual feels half like a séance, half like a drunken improv game. And the worst part? He saves their friend. Because there is always a price. From that moment, he becomes woven into them, latching onto the fear already living in their hearts. And this group, already carrying the kind of emotional baggage you can see from space, becomes the perfect feast. The book spirals into this suffocating psychological horror where each chapter feels like watching the group lose another fingerhold on who they once were. By the end, they’re faced with the truth. You don’t summon a creature like King Sorrow to fix something. You summon him to watch everything you care about unravel. Check out the book at the library! Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  As a longtime fan of Jefferson Fisher’s social media content, I went into The Next Conversation already primed to like it, and it did not disappoint. Fisher’s calm, grounded approach to communication has always been what draws me in online, and this book captures that same measured, empathetic tone in written form.
What I appreciated most was that it isn’t just another “self-help through slogans” type of book. Fisher gives practical, concrete tools for handling difficult conversations—at work, in relationships, or even those internal ones we have with ourselves. He frames communication not as a performance or a debate to win, but as a skill built on emotional regulation and respect. His anecdotes feel genuine and relatable, not preachy, and his phrasing often lands with that signature social-media brevity that makes his videos so effective. If you’ve ever watched one of his clips and thought, I wish I could bottle that energy when I’m arguing with someone, this book is that bottle. It’s a guide to responding with intention instead of reaction, and it’s written with enough warmth and humility to feel like a conversation itself. In short, Jefferson Fisher delivers exactly what fans hoped for, a thoughtful, actionable, and human guide to talking (and listening) better. Now I just need to hold myself to it. Download the audiobook with your SPL card. If you are a fan of his already, you are in luck. He is the reader! Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy is one of those stories that sneaks up behind you, taps you on the shoulder, and then proceeds to tear open your ribcage, not just for the horror, but for the feelings hiding underneath it.
It starts with Jess, a down-on-her-luck actress working nights at a diner, who finds a terrified little boy outside her apartment. Then his father shows up. Then a monstrous, snarling something follows them, then before you can even take a breath, you’re neck-deep in blood, grief, and metaphor. Cassidy writes like he’s exorcising trauma of his own. The book has that raw, desperate energy where you can tell the author is saying something real under all the gore. I mean, yeah. It's a horror novel. There are claws, there’s a wolf-thing, there are moments you’ll physically cringe, but it’s also about broken people trying to do the right thing when they don’t even know what that is anymore. Jess isn’t a perfect protagonist by a long shot. She makes choices that make you want to scream at the page. But she feels real. Exhausted. Angry. Trying to hold it together while the universe kicks her. And that’s what makes the whole thing even better. The monsters are terrifying, sure, but the human parts hurt more. There’s a stretch in the middle that feels like running downhill too fast, you’re not sure if you’re still in control, but you can’t stop. By the end, I was overcome with with dread and weird compassion for everyone involved. It’s bloody, it’s tender, it’s messed up. And I loved it. If you like horror that feels personal and uncomfortably human, if you want to be wrecked a little, When the Wolf Comes Home delivers. Maybe don’t read it right before bed unless you want to dream in teeth and regret. 5 out of 5 existential howls. Check out the book at the library or download the eBook with your SPL card. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  Author Paula McLain is a master at writing historical fiction. In her new novel, Skylark, McLain takes us back to Paris (The Paris Wife, 2011) where she weaves two different time periods (300 years apart) into stories of resistance and survival. The tunnels under Paris become a major force in both timelines in Skylark.
In 1664, Alouette Voland and her father worked as dyers at the Gobelin Tapestry Works. Alouette longs to not only create new colors, but to become recognized for these creations. In the eyes of Parisian men, women, and their feeble minds, could never be artistic creators and to formulate new colors without the approval of the "Administration" is criminal. Alouette’s father is jailed and Alouette is sent to Salpetriere Asylum where thousands of women are sent unjustly just for speaking their mind. The second story begins in 1939 and into 1940s German occupied Paris. A young psychiatrist, Dr. Kristof Larsen, befriends his Jewish neighbors and helps a handful of Jewish teens escape through the tunnels. The two time periods are intertwined throughout the novel and McLain does a great job at building suspense and peril. Although both characters have the same resolve to not only survive, but to help others along the way, I did not feel a clear connective thread between the two stories. I waited for a message in the tunnels or something else that ties them together, but I got nothing. The two stories, though at times slow, were both enjoyable. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I recommend this book to any fans of Paula McLain or historical fiction. Skylark comes out in January 2026 for all to enjoy. Thank you Atria for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Robin Munson, Adult Programming & Grant Specialist Librarian  Grady Hendrix is one of those writers who can have you laughing out loud one minute and then staring at the ceiling wondering why your eyes are leaking the next. How to Sell a Haunted House nails that weird, wonderful balance. On the surface, it’s a story about a brother and sister stuck cleaning up their parents’ house after a loss, except the house is crammed with creepy puppets and dolls that may or may not be alive. Sounds ridiculous, right? And it is. Hendrix leans all the way into the absurd, and you’ll find yourself laughing at how over-the-top some of it gets.
But then, right when you’re laughing, he sucker-punches you with something hard: grief, regret, the way siblings wound each other and carry those scars into adulthood. The haunted house is really just a stand-in for all the baggage that gets passed down in families, the secrets, the grudges, the unspoken hurt. It’s generational trauma wrapped up in a horror-comedy package, which makes it hit that much harder. I think that’s what makes Hendrix so good. You go in for the campy horror, some killer puppets, spooky house vibes, but you leave with your heart a little bruised. This book is hilarious, creepy, and surprisingly moving all at once. Check out the book at the library or download the eBook or audiobook with your SPL card. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer completely caught me off guard. On the surface, it starts with a young couple showing their house to potential buyers, but then a family shows up at the door claiming they used to live there. From that simple setup, things spiral into something much stranger, darker, and more unsettling than I ever expected. I had no idea which direction it was going to go, and that unpredictability made it a delight to read.
I’m nearly impossible to scare, but this one actually managed it. I read parts late at night, in the dark, after everyone had gone to bed. Normally that doesn’t faze me at all, but here I found myself pausing, uneasy, and hyper-aware of the pitch-black silence around me. It truly got under my skin and that’s rare. If you want something twisty, eerie, and impossible to pin down, We Used to Live Here is well worth the read. Get the book at the library or download the eBook or audiobook with your SPL card. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  If you’ve seen The Revenant movie, the one where Leonardo DiCaprio finally grabbed his Oscar, you probably think you know the story of Hugh Glass. Bear attack, crawling across the wilderness, icy revenge quest. And yeah, the movie was brutal and gorgeous, but the book? The book is better.
Michael Punke’s The Revenant doesn’t need to make up a tragic backstory with a wife and child (that part was pure Hollywood). What Glass actually went through was already unbelievable. Punke lays out the sheer insanity of his survival, crawling for weeks with shattered bones, fighting infection, dealing with betrayal, and still somehow dragging himself forward. And that’s not even the half of it. The novel includes details and feats the movie just skipped over, probably because audiences would’ve thought they were too over the top to be real. Before this all happened, he was even a pirate on a ship!! The film gave us a spectacle. The book gives us the full man versus nature, man versus man, and man versus his own breaking point story. If you liked the movie, read the book. If you didn’t like the movie, still read the book. It’s that good. Get the book at the library or the eBook and audiobook are available for download with your library card. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  Jonathan Katz’s Cleave the Sparrow is one of those books where you set it down and immediately think, what the hell did I just read, and why do I kind of love it? It’s satire cranked to eleven, absurdist comedy welded to existential dread, and politics skewered with the subtlety of a chainsaw. Imagine Vonnegut, Catch-22, and Dr. Strangelove all locked in a room together, fed nothing but espresso, bad cable news, and episodes of Rick and Morty, then told to write a novel before sunrise. That’s the vibe.
The story itself? I read the book and still don't know, and I'm pretty sure that was the point. Katz doesn’t give you a neat arc to follow, he throws you into a warped dystopia where media, politics, and human nature all get flayed open and roasted over the fire. It’s messy, chaotic, and deliberately overstuffed with ideas, but buried in all that noise are razor-sharp one-liners and these moments of clarity where you feel like the book just sucker-punched you with some hard truth about the absurdity of being alive. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. If you need your fiction tidy, logical, and polite, this book will drive you up the wall. But if you’re willing to lean into the chaos, there’s something strangely exhilarating here. You’ll laugh, you’ll grimace, you’ll occasionally wonder if you’re losing your grip on reality. I know it's had mixed reviews. Certain portrayals feel insensitive, some sections read like a rant that went on too long. But honestly, even the flaws add to the manic energy of it all. It’s not neat. It’s not safe. It’s not “literary fiction” in the respectable sense. It’s more like being trapped in a late-night conversation with someone brilliant, unhinged, and just drunk enough to let something slip. Bottom line? Cleave the Sparrow isn’t a book you read for comfort. It’s a book you read to get shaken up, to laugh at the absurdity of the world, and maybe to feel a little less alone in the chaos. You’ll either bail after twelve pages or carry it with you like a strange fever dream you can’t stop thinking about. Check out the book at the library. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian  This was an excellent introduction to Spooky Season! I read Strange Practice in 2 days, and could NOT stop thinking about it.
What happens when the Van Helsings' ancestors decide to doctor the undead instead of destroy them? Greta Helsing is what! She's such a wonderful POV character, and very relatable. Vivian Shaw does an excellent job of starting off making Greta seem harsh and unyielding, like the Van Helsing we all know, but as the story progresses you can REALLY tell how much she cares about her vocation. The side characters are poignant and interesting, and the magic/science of it all is fascinating. I enjoyed this magic system, and I loved having a heroine who, quite literally, fixes things with her intellect instead of a special power. Mariah Wills, Library Clerk Get Strange Practice at the library or download the audiobook with your SPL card.  We Need to Talk About Kevin is one of those books that sticks to your ribs in the worst possible way. It’s not just a story about a kid who grows up to do something horrific, it’s about parenting, blame, and that uncomfortable question: what if you just don’t like your own child?
The whole thing is told through letters from Eva, Kevin’s mom, to her estranged husband. She’s brutally honest about how motherhood never felt natural to her. She didn’t want to give up her career, she didn’t feel that rush of unconditional love everyone talks about, and from the very beginning Kevin seemed… off. Cold, manipulative, like he was always two steps ahead of everyone else. And that’s where the book gets under your skin. Did Kevin turn out the way he did because Eva never bonded with him? Or was he born this way and nothing could have changed it? Shriver never gives you an easy answer, and that’s what makes the story so unsettling. The writing is sharp and unsparing. You go into the book already knowing Kevin is going to commit a massacre, so the whole time you’re reading with this sense of dread. But the scariest parts aren’t the violence. They’re the little family moments where Kevin seems to know exactly how to twist the knife in his mom, and she can’t get anyone else to see it. It’s not a light read, and honestly it’s not one I’d hand to just anyone. But if you want a book that will mess with you and leave you thinking long after you finish, this one delivers. The movie with Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly is good, but the book? Way darker, way smarter, and way harder to shake off. Download the eBook or audiobook with your SPL card. If you prefer a physical copy, ask about interlibrary loan. Aimee Clark, IT Librarian |
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