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Week of January 5, 2026

New in Paperback

Week of January 5, 2026

Paperback releases for the week of January 5th include THE LIST by Steve Berry, a gripping novel of suspense about a lawyer in a small Georgia town who finds himself at odds with his new employer; KISS HER GOODBYEthe fourth installment in Lisa Gardner's addictive Frankie Elkin series, in which Frankie is called to Tucson, Arizona, to find a missing Afghan refugee, whose friend suspects she is in grave danger --- before it is too late; Lisa Genova's MORE OR LESS MADDY, a riveting page-turner about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy; SAVE OUR SOULS by Matthew Pearl, the unbelievable true story of a real-life Swiss Family Robinson (and their dog) who faced sharks, shipwreck and betrayal; and FIRST IN THE FAMILY, a deeply moving and lyrical memoir from Jessica Hoppe, who shares an intimate, courageous account of what it means to truly interrupt cycles of harm.    

Blood Ties written by Jo Nesbø, translated by Robert Ferguson - Noir Thriller

January 6, 2026

By all accounts, Carl and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they’re doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky and successful spa and hotel, while Roy runs a nearby gas station and harbors grand plans to build it out into an entire amusement park, complete with a rollercoaster. But when news breaks about a new highway to be built nearby, bypassing Os and leaving the town cut off and isolated, it’s clear that something has to be done…even if the methods are bound to be dirty. Fortunately, Carl and Roy have experience with just that kind of work. Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a slate of unsolved murders from years past --- including that of his own father.

The Castaways by Lucy Clarke - Psychological Thriller

January 6, 2026

Two years ago, a small plane disappeared over Fiji. For Erin, it’s been two years of obsessing over every detail, refusing to move forward even as life does. Her sister, Lori, was on that plane, and Erin was meant to be, too. But after a bitter argument, she failed to show. Everyone thinks Lori is dead, but Erin can’t let go. Just when Erin is on the verge of losing hope, the pilot of the missing plane turns up still in Fiji, seemingly with no memory of the crash. In a final bid to find her sister, Erin travels there herself. But what she discovers is beyond anything she could have predicted.

First in the Family: A Story of Revival, Recovery, and the American Dream by Jessica Hoppe - Memoir

January 6, 2026

During the first year of the pandemic and the ensuing isolation, fatal drug overdoses spiked to numbers previously unseen. Jessica Hoppe’s cousin was one of them. “I never learned the true history of substance use disorder in my family,” Hoppe writes. “People just disappeared.” At the time of her cousin’s death, Hoppe had been in recovery for nearly four years, but she hadn’t told anyone. In FIRST IN THE FAMILY, Hoppe shares her journey as the first in her family to recover from addiction and takes the reader on a remarkable investigation of her family’s history, the American Dream, and the erasure of BIPOC from recovery institutions and narratives.

Framed in Death by J. D. Robb - Mystery/Thriller

January 6, 2026

Manhattan is filled with galleries and deep-pocketed collectors who can make an artist's career with a wave of a hand. But one man toils in obscurity, his brilliance unrecognized while lesser talents bask in the glory he believes should be his. Come tomorrow, he vows, the city will be buzzing about his work. Indeed, before dawn, Lt. Eve Dallas is speeding toward the home of the two gallery owners whose doorway has been turned into a horrifying crime scene overnight. A lifeless young woman has been elaborately costumed and precisely posed to resemble the model of a long-ago Dutch master, and Dallas plunges into her investigation.

The Granddaughter written by Bernhard Schlink, translated by Charlotte Collins - Fiction

January 6, 2026

It is only after the sudden death of his wife, Birgit, that Kaspar discovers the price she paid years earlier when she fled East Germany to join him: she had to abandon her baby. Shattered by grief yet animated by a new hope, Kaspar closes up his bookshop in present-day Berlin and sets off to find her lost child in the east. His search leads him to a rural community of neo-Nazis, intent on reclaiming and settling ancestral lands to the East. Among them, Kaspar encounters Svenja, a woman whose eyes, hair and even voice remind him of Birgit. Beside her is a red-haired, slouching 15-year-old girl. His granddaughter? Their worlds could not be more different --- an ideological gulf of mistrust yawns between them --- but he is determined to accept her as his own.

I'll Come to You by Rebecca Kauffman - Fiction

January 6, 2026

In I'LL COME TO YOU, beloved author Rebecca Kauffman explores overlapping narratives involving a couple whose struggle to become pregnant has both softened and hardened them; a woman whose husband of 40 years has left her for reasons he's unwilling to share and the man who is now disastrously attempting to woo her; a couple in denial about a looming health crisis; and their son, who is fumbling toward middle age and can't stop lying. Ultimately, these storylines crescendo and converge into a dramatic and harrowing turn of events. With heart, wit and courage, and through pain, these characters traverse territory that both challenges and defines the bonds of family.

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill - Fiction/Magical Realism

January 6, 2026

When Darby finds himself unemployed and in need of a fresh start, he moves back to the small Illinois town he left behind. But Oak Falls has changed almost as much as he has since he left. One thing is familiar: In Between Books, Darby’s refuge growing up and eventual high school job. When he walks into the bookstore now, Darby feels an eerie sense of déjà vu --- everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the register is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at 16…who just might give Darby the opportunity to change his own present for the better --- if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.

Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner - Mystery/Thriller

January 6, 2026

Recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband, Isaad, seems unconcerned. Sabera's closest friend, however, is convinced Sabera would never willingly leave her three-year-old daughter, Zahra. At her insistence, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search. Just in time for a video of the young mother to surface --- showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder. Frankie quickly realizes there's much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra's life, Frankie realizes that she quickly must crack the code of this family's horrific past.

Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff - Historical Fiction

January 6, 2026

London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a store in Paris. She is certain that she has seen the necklace before --- when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe --- and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend, Franny, during the war. Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise discovers the dark history of Lévitan --- a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison --- and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there. Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the store and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever.

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight - Fiction

January 6, 2026

Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows that her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father’s --- now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox --- lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents’ secret, just as she’s falling in love for the first time. As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life.

The Life of Herod the Great written by Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Deborah G. Plant - Historical Fiction

January 6, 2026

In the 1950s, as a continuation of MOSES, MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the “slaughter of the innocents,” but a forerunner of Christ --- a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the first-century BCE, in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new. Portraying Herod within this vivid and dynamic world of antiquity, little known to modern readers, Hurston’s unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling and misunderstood leader fully into focus.

The List by Steve Berry - Legal Thriller

January 6, 2026

After a 10-year self-imposed exile, Brent Walker is returning home to Concord, a quaint town in central Georgia. His father died two years ago, and now Brent --- hired by Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company as its assistant general counsel --- is returning to care for his ailing mother. Southern Republic’s success is based largely on a highly unorthodox and deadly system to control costs, known only to the three owners of the company. Now, one of them, Christopher Bozin, has had a change of heart. Brent’s return to Concord, a move Bozin personally orchestrated, provides his conscience with a chance at redemption. So a plan is set into motion, one that not only will criminally implicate Bozin’s two partners but also will place Brent square in the crosshairs of men who want him dead --- with only one course left available.

A Monsoon Rising: A Hurricane Wars Novel by Thea Guanzon - Fantasy/Romance

January 6, 2026

After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting. However, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. As the master of the Shadowforged Legion, Alaric has trained for battle all his life, but marrying a Lightweaver might be his most dangerous challenge yet. With tensions between nations churning, he needs to focus on the greater threat --- the Moonless Dark, a cataclysmic magical event that could devour everything. Only he and Talasyn can stop it. But saving their world from this disaster is a mere preface to his father’s more sinister schemes.

More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova - Fiction

January 6, 2026

Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects that bipolar has on her identity, her relationships and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.

No One Knew by Kendra Elliot - Mystery/Thriller

January 6, 2026

In the crisp mountain air of central Oregon, a teenage girl’s search for discarded cans leads to a horrifying discovery: a body, brutally murdered and abandoned in the woods. The case falls to Deschutes County Detective Noelle Marshall, who finds herself navigating a community steeped in secrets, suspicion and distrust of outsiders --- especially law enforcement. Miles away, FBI Special Agent Max Rhodes investigates a different kind of darkness --- chatter about a violent uprising from a shadowy militia group preparing for war. The two cases seem worlds apart. But as Noelle digs into the murdered man’s past and Max closes in on the source of the terror plot, their paths begin to converge in a terrifying way. This was no random killing. It was a message.

Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur - Romantic Comedy

January 6, 2026

Poppy Peterson is thriving as the publicist of the NFL’s most promising quarterback (and her childhood best friend), Cash Curran. So she doesn’t appreciate when he makes an impulsive and public pass at America’s popstar darling, Lyric Adair. When Lyric’s notorious publicist, Rosaline Sinclair, reaches out, Poppy is ready to face her wrath but instead learns that Lyric is equally interested. As Cash and Lyric embark on their il, l-advised whirlwind romance, Poppy and Rosaline are forced together, each determined to protect their own client from the other. Poppy is frustrated by Rosaline’s cool demeanor yet is determined to impress her. But no matter what she does, she can’t shake the feeling that Rosaline doesn’t like her.  That is until one steamy night, when the two women contend with their unexpected feelings and begin a messy romance of their own.

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle - Crime Fiction

January 6, 2026

Gravesend, Brooklyn, 1986: Risa Franzone lives in a ground-floor apartment on Saint of the Narrows Street with her bad-seed husband, Saverio, and their eight-month-old baby, Fabrizio. On the night Risa's younger sister, Giulia, moves in to recover from a bad breakup, a fateful accident occurs: Risa strikes a drunk, erratic Sav with a cast-iron pan, killing him on the spot. The sisters are left with a choice: notify the authorities and make a case for self-defense, or bury the man's body and go on with their lives as best they can. In a moment of panic, they call upon Sav's childhood friend, Christopher "Chooch" Gardini, to help them. Over the vast expanse of the next 18 years, life goes on in the working-class Italian neighborhood of Gravesend as Risa, Giulia, Chooch and eventually Fabrizio grapple with what happened that night.

Save Our Souls: The True Story of a Castaway Family, Treachery, and Murder by Matthew Pearl - True Crime/History

January 6, 2026

On December 10, 1887, a shark fishing boat disappeared. On board the doomed vessel were the Walkers --- the ship’s captain Frederick, his wife Elizabeth, their three teenage sons, and their dog --- along with the ship’s crew. The family had spotted a promising fishing location when a terrible storm arose, splitting their vessel in two and leaving those onboard adrift on the perilous sea. When the castaways awoke the next morning, they discovered they had been washed ashore --- on an island inhabited by a large but ragged and emaciated man who introduced himself as Hans. It turned out that Hans had a secret. And as the Walker family gradually came to learn more, what seemed like a stroke of luck to have the mysterious man’s assistance became something ominous, something darker.

Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan - Fiction

January 6, 2026

Bride-to-be Lulu is set to marry Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor, but her two best friends know the truth: she’s only marrying him to fix her family’s financial issues. The wedding will be the social event of the season, but the three women will be focused on one thing: the red envelopes filled with cash gifts, stored in an elaborate safe at the center of the ballroom. It's more than enough money to get Lulu out of the marriage and transform all their lives. With the help of a mysterious luxury goods counterfeiter and a snarky getaway driver, the women set in motion a brilliant scheme to lift all the red envelopes on the big day. But as their plot grows increasingly complicated and relationships are caught in the crossfire, they're forced to decide what they're willing to give up to get their way.

The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony - Historical Fiction

January 6, 2026

Dublin, 1969: Maura has just married Dr. Christy Davenport, and they look forward to growing their family. But as her husband’s vicious temper emerges, Maura worries that her home might never be safe for a child. Meanwhile, her close friend Bernie, a mother of three, learns the devastating news that if she conceives again, her health complications could prove fatal. Dublin, 2023: A close call makes Saoirse realize that she may never want to be a mother. Little does she know that only a few decades ago, a group of women made this option possible for her. And she’s about to meet one of them.