Announcing the January 2026 LibraryReads List

“This is a tale of two women: Wealthy Camille is living the high life, while Aubrey works as a bartender. Who is telling the truth? An unhappy marriage, skeletons in the closet, and a murdered husband make this a story worth reading!”—Jo Hic, Phillips Public Library, WI
NoveList read-alike: The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

“When a woman accidentally sends a private message meant for her sisters to the entire neighborhood group chat, the ensuing chain of events exposes secrets and causes deadly anguish. This book was a wild ride that will captivate readers from the first page.”—Debbie Frizzell, Johnson County Library, KS
NoveList read-alike: You Deserve to Know by Aggie Bloom Thompson

“When their uncle arrives from India, two sisters’ adjustment to a dual culture life in smalltown Wyoming in the mid-1980s becomes complicated. This debut hits on touchy subjects with grace, as the sisters choose to fight instead of being silent victims. Those of us who spent many hours at teen sleepovers will delight in the nostalgia scattered amidst the actual crime and justice served.”—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX
NoveList read-alike: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithewaite

“Saunders knows how to capture the essence of life in a story all about death. This message is wrapped in a Christmas Carol package about a ghost ushering a greedy, selfish man into the afterlife. This climate story effectively hammers home that climate change affects everyone and everything irreparably, but we must also carry on.”—Sabrina Unrein, Mahwah Public Library, NJ
NoveList read-alike: The Apology by Jimin Han

“This enchanting, whimsical fantasy is a warm hug for the soul. A magical train that appears to those who are lost is absolutely charming, and creativity shines in the descriptions of the train’s wondrous cars, from lily-pad picnics to jellyfish swimming through clouds. A journey not just through a magical world, but also of self-discovery, hope, and finding one’s sense of purpose.”—Lee V., New York Public Library, NY
NoveList read-alike: The Rainfall Market by Yeong Gwang You

“In this stunning character-driven novel set in the 1940s, Everhart introduces the inmates and staff of the Industrial Farm Colony for Women. As readers are drawn into the life of the Colony, the lofty goals as well as the terrible cruelty and injustice of the place are slowly revealed. Highly recommended.”—Vicki Nesting, St. Charles Parish Library, LA
NoveList read-alike: The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, has always managed to save the day—but, in this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files, can he save himself?

“From the book’s chillingly creepy setting, which previously appeared in The Sun Down Motel (2020), to a nerve-jangling plot that effectively borrows from a mix of genres to the writing itself, which shimmers with a dazzlingly sharp sense of wit, everything about St. James’ latest is done to perfection.”-Booklist (starred review) Simone St. James, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel, returns with her scariest, most shocking novel yet in this pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.

A plucky librarian and an archaeologist on the run fake an engagement to save their lives, leading them into the labyrinth of their own desires.