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Week of June 15, 2026

New in Paperback

Week of June 15, 2026

Paperback releases for the week of June 15th include David Baldacci's STRANGERS IN TIMEa heart-wrenching, suspense-filled novel set in 1940s London about a bereaved bookshop owner and two teenagers scarred by the Second World War, and the healing and hope they find in one another; THE GRIFFIN SISTERS’ GREATEST HITS by Jennifer Weiner,   a captivating family saga about two sisters’ incredible journey and a daughter’s quest to reunite her family; SHE DIDN’T SEE IT COMING, a gripping domestic thriller from Shari Lapena in which a luxurious condo building transforms into a potential crime scene when a beloved wife and mother disappears; and Ian McEwan's genre-bending novel, WHAT WE CAN KNOW, an immersive exploration across time and history of what can ever be truly known.  

Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes Jr. - Fiction

June 16, 2026

Cambridge, 2018. Ana and Luis’ relationship is on the rocks, despite their many similarities, including their mothers who both fled El Salvador during the war. In her search for answers, and against her best judgment, Ana uses The Defractor, an experimental device that allows users to peek into alternate versions of their lives. What she sees leads her and Luis on a quest through Havana and San Salvador to uncover the family histories they are desperate to know. Havana, 1978. The Salvadoran war is brewing, and Neto, a young revolutionary with a knack for forging government papers, meets Rafael at a meeting for the People's Revolutionary Army. The two form an intense and forbidden love. When their work separates them, they begin to exchange weekly letters, but forces beyond their control soon threaten to pull them apart forever.

Ashes to Ashes by Thomas Maltman - Fiction

June 16, 2026

When the ashes from an Ash Wednesday service in the prairie town of Andwhen, Minnesota, refuse to wash off, members of a small congregation are left wondering if they’ve been blessed or cursed. For Basil --- a “gentle giant” of a teen reeling from a farming accident that shattered his family and haunted by his mother’s decade-long confinement in a state mental hospital --- the ashes become a sign. He embarks on a secret ritual of fasting and prayer, seeking meaning in his unraveling world. Meanwhile, Basil and his friends, Lukas and Morgan (who self-identify as “a gay, a goth and a giant”), stumble upon what may be the centuries-old remains of a Viking explorer in a local meadow, a find that brings its own complications. As Basil’s relentless fasting warps his grip on reality, the danger he poses to himself and his family escalates.

Dark Humor: A Nils Shapiro Novel by Matt Goldman - Mystery

June 16, 2026

Sammy Sykes is evading the law --- and justice. Nils Shapiro is on a mission to hunt down Sammy Sykes, the drug kingpin responsible for the ambush that led to his wife’s death two years ago. Despite the efforts of local law enforcement and the FBI, Sammy is still on the loose. It’s time for Nils to take the law into his own hands. A trip to see Sammy's daughter in prison gifts him a lead that’s impossible to ignore. Resuming his life as a private investigator, Nils goes deep undercover. Fueled by revenge and a deep sense of justice, Nils’ pursuit of Sammy takes him all the way from Minnesota to Europe, where his survival skills --- and resolve --- are put to the ultimate test.

Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell - Psychological Thriller

June 16, 2026

Faith finds the extravagant ring on the first day of what is to be a summer of luxury. David Clarke, scion of a billionaire family and her boyfriend, has brought her to his “cottage” for the season on picturesque Hadley Island. Marriage admittedly wasn’t Faith’s plan, but the luxury is hard to resist. But beneath Hadley Island’s sun-soaked glamour lie old betrayals and buried secrets: a man cast out and living alone at sea’s edge, and David’s childhood friends --- two girls, one who died at his family’s Fourth of July party, and another who fled to New York, never to be seen again. When another young woman goes missing, it becomes clear that while the wealthy love Hadley Island for its seclusion, small communities never forget, and bodies long thought gone have a nasty habit of returning with the tide.

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner - Fiction

June 16, 2026

Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were once inseparable sisters and pop sensations, but they haven't spoken in two decades. After experiencing the dizzying highs of celebrity, they were driven apart one terrible night. Now in their 40s, Zoe is a suburban New Jersey mom, while Cassie lives off-grid in Alaska. But Zoe’s teenage daughter, Cherry, is desperate to reunite them and uncover the truth behind their estrangement. As long-buried secrets surface, the sisters must confront past choices and decide if they are open to forgiveness.

Hemlock Bay: A Rachel Savernake Golden Age Mystery by Martin Edwards - Historical Mystery

June 16, 2026

When crime-beat journalist Jacob Flint receives a visit from a fortune teller who insists he's had a vision of a murder soon to occur in Hemlock Bay, Jacob consults with enigmatic heiress and brilliant amateur sleuth Rachel Savernake to get her take on the man's outlandish claim. Meanwhile, mild-mannered accountant Basil Palmer is en route to Hemlock Bay, determined to murder a man he's never met --- a man he holds responsible for his beloved wife's death six months prior. Could this be the murder foretold by the fortune teller? Whether pre-destined or plotted, a murder does occur. But as Rachel plunges deeper and deeper into the morass of mysterious events and suspects, she begins to wonder if she is equal to the case.

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher - Dark Fantasy/Adventure

June 16, 2026

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save --- seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on. But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her. Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all.

How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle - Historical Fiction/Satire

June 16, 2026

Anders is a teenage idealist who enlists and reenlists in the Civil War to shape the American Future --- as soon as he figures out what that is, who it includes, and why everyone wants him to die for it. Escaping his violently insane mother is a bonus. Anders finds honor as a proud Union flag twirler --- until he’s captured. Then he tries life as a diehard Confederate --- until fate asks him to die hard for the Confederacy at Gettysburg. Barely alive, Anders limps into a Black Union regiment in a stolen uniform. His new brothers include a science-fiction playwright, a Haitian double agent, and a former slave feuding with God. Despite his best efforts, Anders starts seeing the war through their eyes, sparking ill-timed questions about who gets to be American or exploit the theater of war. 

Intemperance by Sonora Jha - Fiction

June 16, 2026

A woman who has left two husbands announces she will celebrate her 55th birthday by holding a swayamvar. Drawn from an ancient custom in her Indian culture, this is an event in which suitors line up to compete in a feat of wills and strength to win a beautiful princess’s hand in marriage. The woman, a renowned and respected intellectual in an American town who had once declared she was “past such petty matters as love,” knows she is now setting herself up for widespread societal ridicule. But her self-esteem and sexual libido are off the charts even as her body withers from disability, fading beauty, and her appetite for cake. To her surprise, a cast of characters shows up to support her call. As her whole plan spirals into a spectacle, she embarks on a journey to decide what feat her suitor must perform to be worthy of her wrinkling hand.

It's Only Drowning: A Memoir by David Litt - Memoir/Humor

June 16, 2026

David, the Yale-educated writer with a fear of sharks, and Matt, the daredevil electrician with a shed full of surfboards, had never been close. But as America’s crises piled up and David spiraled into existential dread, he noticed that his brother-in-law was thriving. He began to suspect Matt’s favorite hobby had something to do with it. David started taking surf lessons. For months, he wiped out on waves the height of daffodils. Yet, after realizing that surfing could change him both in and out of the water, he set an audacious goal: riding a big wave in Hawaii. He searched for an expert he could trust to guide and protect him --- and when he couldn’t find one, he asked Matt. Together, they set out on a journey that spanned coasts, and even continents, before taking them to Oahu’s famously dangerous North Shore.

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz - Psychological Thriller

June 16, 2026

When Abby steps foot on Isla Colel, she isn’t sure what she’ll find. She only knows that she needs to see the place where her fiancée, Eszter, died to try and make sense of the tragic accident. Though the island was once a bustling tourist hub, a hurricane has left it a shell of its former self, with only a handful of residents remaining. Even the once-daily ferry to the mainland now runs every week or so. There, Abby befriends an alluring group of expats, but her sense of unease surges when one of them says he knows the truth about Eszter’s final days. Before he can tell her more, though, he vanishes from the island. As her quest for the truth unearths dark secrets, shady pasts and a web of lies, Abby grows more determined than ever to find out what happened to the love of her life.

The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw - Dark Fantasy/Horror

June 16, 2026

The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers. Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance and a normal life after graduation. At least that’s what Alessa Li is told after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled. But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school’s cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together. If they don't, this school will eat them alive.

Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum - Domestic Thriller

June 16, 2026

Meet Frost, Morgan and Belle --- a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties. On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia, shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?

Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages by Jenny Colgan - Fiction

June 16, 2026

Janey Carter has a lot to be grateful for, including a home by the sea in the Scottish isles. But since her husband left, her confidence has taken a nosedive. And then, out of the blue, her 30-year-old daughter, Essie, announces she’s moving back home. Essie has just lost her job, she can’t afford her rent in Edinburgh, and her boyfriend isn’t ready to commit. No sooner is Essie back under her mother’s roof than an unusual opportunity pops up: the shabby and unloved Seaside Cottages next door come up for sale. Janey has some experience renovating the island’s famous stone fisherman’s cottages, and Essie needs something to do. Mother and daughter slowly bond over the shared challenge, which delivers some much-needed revelations for Essie and offers Janey a surprise second chance at love as well.

Midnight Patriots: An Einstein-Chaplin Thriller by Paul Levine - Historical Thriller

June 16, 2026

Blending fact and fiction, MIDNIGHT PATRIOTS follows real-life friends Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin as they confront powerful enemies threatening America. It's 1940. Europe is in flames. Germany occupies much of the continent, and the Blitz rains terror on London. Fritz Duquesne, a German spy straight from the history books, plots to kidnap Einstein and steal America's nuclear secrets. Enraged by Chaplin's mockery in The Great Dictator, Adolf Hitler dispatches an SS assassin to silence the man who ridiculed him. As Nazi agents and FBI operatives close in, all roads lead Einstein and Chaplin to a deadly showdown aboard the Santa Fe Super Chief as it races from Chicago to Los Angeles.

The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey - Memoir & Fiction

June 16, 2026

Adrift after a sudden breakup and its ensuing depression, the novelist Catherine Lacey began cataloguing the wreckage of her life and the beauty of her friendships, a practice that eventually propagated fiction both entirely imagined and painfully true. Betrayed by the mercurial partner she had trusted with a shared mortgage and suddenly catapulted into the unknown, Lacey’s appetite vanished, a visceral reminder of the teenage emaciation that came when she stopped believing in God. But through relationships, travel, reading and memories of her religious fanaticism, she charts the contours of faith’s absence and reemergence. She and her characters recall gnostic experiences with animals, close encounters with male anger, grief-driven lust, and the redemptive power of platonic love and of narrative itself.

The Original by Nell Stevens - Historical Fiction

June 16, 2026

Grace has developed unusual predilections: for painting, particularly forgery; for deception; for other girls. As Grace cultivates her talent as a copyist, she realizes that her uncanny ability to recreate paintings might offer her a means of escape. Secretly, she puts this skill to use as an art forger, creating fake masterpieces in candlelit corners of her uncle’s decaying Oxfordshire estate. Saving the money she makes from her sales, she plans a new life far from the family that has never seemed to want her. Then a letter arrives from the South Atlantic. The writer claims to be her cousin Charles, long presumed dead at sea, who wishes to reconnect with his family. When Charles returns, Grace’s aunt welcomes him with open arms, yet fractures appear in the household. Some believe he is who he says he is. Others are convinced he’s an impostor.

Play It Again by Georgia Clark - Romantic Comedy

June 16, 2026

As teens, Annie, Lola, Vicky and Dylan stole the show in a legendary gender-swapped version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Two couples, one unforgettable summer --- until the closing-night party tore them apart, and not all of them knew why. Now, with lives that look nothing like they imagined, the foursome is called home by their beloved director for a one-night-only revival to save the theater and the town. Returning to Rhodes means facing everything they left behind: long-buried secrets, undeniable chemistry, and the chance to write a brand-new ending --- together.

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood - Romantic Comedy

June 16, 2026

Gertie Bickerstaff writes happily-ever-afters for a living. Or she did, until her own love life fell apart. Now her ex is thriving, her deadline is looming, and she can’t write a single word. The last thing Gertie needs is more drama --- like waking up to find a confused and rugged cowboy on her sofa. And not just any cowboy, but River Oakley, the villain from her unfinished novel. Somehow very real…and very shirtless. River wants to go home. Gertie wants her life back. So they strike a deal. He’ll use his cunning ways to help her win back her ex, she’ll finish the novel, and he’ll return to whatever world he rode in from. But as River Oakley proves to be so much more than just the bad guy, Gertie has to choose: the ending she thought she wanted…or the plot twist she never saw coming.

She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena - Domestic Thriller

June 16, 2026

Bryden and Sam have it all: thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends and a cherished daughter. Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden, who is working from home that day, has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment, her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall. Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out. How can she have disappeared from her own home? And did she even leave the building at all?

The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston - Paranormal Romantic Comedy

June 16, 2026

When Sophie Drear plans her escape to coastal Maine for the summer --- for a temporary job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House --- she falls in love with the beguiling land, the fragrant flowers, and the towering hedge maze. And then the door appears. Never in the same place twice, it leads her to a secret, and unfinished, garden with a frustrated thundercloud of a man trapped inside. The manor’s owner has wild ideas about who will take over when she retires --- including her inconveniently attractive nephew, who is also there just for the summer. With the help of one man on the outside of the secret garden, and one man on the inside, Sophie might be the only person who can figure out exactly what Lilymoor needs to bloom once more.

Strangers in Time by David Baldacci - Historical Thriller

June 16, 2026

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he’s old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of children to have been evacuated to the countryside, Molly has been away from her home for nearly five years. But now she’s confronted by a devastating reality: neither of her parents are there. Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his book shop, The Book Keep. But Charlie’s escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone has been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is harboring his own secrets, which could have terrible consequences for all of them.

Tom Clancy Terminal Velocity: A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel by M. P. Woodward - Thriller/Adventure

June 16, 2026

A string of savage murders in the United States seems unrelated until the FBI makes a shocking discovery. A decade ago, all of the murder victims were involved in a raid to eliminate the Umayyad Revolutionary Council, a vicious terror group that --- were it not for John Clark and the Campus --- would have perpetrated the most devastating attack against critical American infrastructure in history. Now it appears they’re back, with a next-generation leader hell-bent on revenge. Clark taps ex-Delta commando Bartosz “Midas” Jankowski to lead a kill team deep into the mountains to snuff out the charismatic terror leader. But when the hunters become the hunted, it’s up to Jack Ryan Jr. to avert disaster amid a deadly power game of nations vying for control of the disputed region. 

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan - Dystopian Science Fiction/Romance

June 16, 2026

2014: Renowned poet Francis Blundy honors his wife’s birthday by reading aloud a new poem dedicated to her, “A Corona for Vivien.” Little does anyone gathered around the candlelit table know that for generations to come, people will speculate about the message of this poem, the only copy of which goes missing. 2119: Just over 100 years in the future, much of the planet has been submerged by rising seas following a catastrophic nuclear accident. Thomas Metcalfe, a lonely scholar and researcher, longs for the early 21st century as he chases the ghost of one poem, “A Corona for Vivien.” When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the elusive poem’s discovery, a story is revealed of a brutal crime that destroys his assumptions about people he thought he knew intimately well.

You Girls Play Nice by KD Aldyn - Psychological Thriller

June 16, 2026

When Helen Wyatt is brutally murdered, her four best friends anxiously wait in the courtroom to ensure justice is served. But when her attacker is acquitted of all charges, the women decide to get revenge. Hypothetically, of course. The friends host a girl's night, each presenting a different way they would kill the culprit to avenge Helen. It's a silly thing, a way to ease their grief. Until, a week later, a murder is discovered that mirrors one of their imagined killings. Then another. What started as a cathartic exercise soon ends in carnage, with suspicion quickly falling on the four friends. Someone has discovered their secrets. And now, the women will have to hunt down who is framing them for murder. Or, even more chillingly, question who among them may be capable of being a killer themselves.