Jessica T.

Attention library staff everywhere! We’re nearing the end of the year, so you know what time it is: Library faves kicks off in ONE WEEK, December 8th!! Count down your 📚 10 favorite books 📚 published in 2025, 1 per day, through 12/17. TITLE in caps, tag #LibFaves25. Can’t wait to see your picks!

I can’t stay today, but I’m already seeing a few of my highly anticipated popping up. High on my TBR: MISSING SAM by Thrity Umrigar (1/2026), AGNES AUBERT'S MYSTICAL CAT SHELTER by Heather Fawcett (2/2026), HOW TO BE OKAY WHEN NOTHING IS OKAY by Jenny Lawson (3/2026). #ewgc #booksky

LibraryReads Hall of Fame November 2025 book covers photo collage

And if you need more titles to suggest in November, here are our LibraryReads Hall of Fame picks--these are by favorite authors whose books library staff vote for time and again!

photo collage of LibraryReads Top 10 picks for November 2025

Good morning! Here are the November 2025 LibraryReads Top 10 picks as voted on by public library staff across the USA. If your patrons are looking for scrumptious reads, look no further! A printable list is ready for you at libraryreads.org.

The image is an X post by Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis ) from 19 hours ago, stating: "So let me get this straight: a Blackhawk helicopter and dozens of masked, armed federal agents roll up on a Chicago apartment building, cuff everyone—including kids—and then run checks for warrants and immigration status? What the hell is going on in this country? How is that not fascism?" The post includes a verified badge.

Narrator: This is fascism.

The image is an X post by user Joshua Reed Eakle from 20 hours ago, stating: "The end of due process for immigrants is the end of due process for citizens. Few understand this." The post includes a profile picture and a verified badge.

I understand this. Please tell me you do, too.

So many great titles! Glad to chat with you all! Have a wonderful month! #ewgc

Book cover: Green foliage including fruit, leaves, and flowers, frame the title on a black background.

In non-fiction I'm interested in WHEN TREES TESTIFY: SCIENCE, WISDOM, HISTORY, AND AMERICA’S BLACK BOTANICAL LEGACY by Beronda L. Montgomery. She was recently a Michigan State prof, so I'm partial. #ewgc #booksky

Book cover: A photograph of a 3d installation featuring a recreational vehicle on a road at night with it's lights on under a cracked moon that covers more than half the scene.The ground looks almost like a quilt. There are flowers in the foreground and and old looking billboard in the back.

And of course, also due to a very appreciated tip, I immediately grabbed WE BURNED SO BRIGHT by TJ Klune (4/2026). #ewgc #booksky

Book cover featuring a bookshelf in darkness framed by circles of enlarged sections of the shelves in different colors. All with a star sky showing through in the background.

I haven't ready any Kate Quinn but this looked right up my alley. THE ASTRAL LIBRARY by Kate Quinn (2/2026). #ewgc #booksky

The book cover: A stylized picture of a black woman in profile with a tropical flower over her ear. The are four stars under her chin. The background is colorful with a hint of a Tiffany glass feel with a bright rainbow color pallette.

Because I have been a student of dance/dance history WHERE THE FALSE GODS DWELL by Denny S. Bryce (2/2026) looks really interesting. It's a historical novel based on the expeditions of the real dancer/anthropologist Katherine Dunham to Jamaica to study Caribbean dance forms. #ewgc #booksky

Absolutely agree!!! #ewgc

No cover yet, but I am intrigued by Tom Lin's BABYLON, SOUTH DAKOTA (5/2026). I was impressed by and enjoyed "The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu" and I'm very interested in seeing this which is billed as SF but also as an American West saga. #ewgc #booksky

Book cover for"The Subtle Art of Folding Space" by John Chu which shows a futuristic scene with various levels of stackable bamboo steamer bowl used in dim sum restaurants. The top own has dumplings, the second as a mix of dumplings and something else, and the third has objects that look more like planets. Hands with chopsticks reach in from each side.

I just noticed (and downloaded) THE SUBTLE ART OF FOLDING SPACE by John Chu (4/2026), which apparently combines physics, generational trauma and dim sum. #ewgc #booksky

The book cover for "Platform Decay" by Martha Wells featuring a humanoid figure in a space suit hanging onto a ladder in what appears to be a low gravity situation. It appears to be inside a structure with a window behind the figure showing points of light like a scene in space.

First pick of the day is Murderbot!!!.... Thanks to a very kind heads up, I dove on PLATFORM DECAY by Martha Wells (5/2026) on Edelweiss, but had to wait until today to start it. #ewgc #booksky

Hi all! Two months in a row! I have some posts scheduled in case I get called away. #ewgc

EarlyWord GalleyChat is TODAY at 4 p.m. EST. Librarians will talk about galleys (ARCs, DRCs) of interesting upcoming books! #ewgc #booksky

Ok... that one went fast on my end. I have got to take more time to prep what I want to share... but at least I got here this time! Thanks for a fun chat! #ewgc

That one is definitely going to be big here in the Mitten! #ewgc

The cover for "We Will Rise Again" edited by Karen Lord Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older. Abstract blobs of color from purple to blue to green and lighter top to bottom. There are also wavy lines and dots in green.

WE WILL RISE AGAIN: SPECULATIVE STORIES AND ESSAYS ON PROTEST, RESISTANCE, AND HOPE by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older is also on my radar as I love each of those authors individually and am interested in their message. #ewgc #booksky

The cover of "Every Day I Read" by Hwang Bo-reum. It's a cartoon still illustration of a cluttered, cozy home library with a cat stretching in the seat of an armchair, walls of books, a cluttered desk in front of a large picture window looking out on a fall scene, and books strewn everywhere.

Just saw this one this week and was intrigued: EVERY DAY I READ by Hwang Bo-Reum (Dec)--non-fiction on reading from the author of "Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop". #ewgc #booksky

It's on my list too #ewgc.

I am very interested in THE BOOKSHOP BELOW but I want say again--THE FERRYMAN AND HIS WIFE by Frode Grytten was beautiful! #libraryreads #ewgc #booksky

The cover for If the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust. A Tree and floral design on a black background in intricate indigenous beading and embroidery.

I'm also still finishing the Native American Southern Gothic, IF THE DEAD BELONG HERE by Carson Faust (Oct) but would recommend. #ewgc #booksky

Cover of All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles. A Gothic scene. An old manor or castle with two Regency era gentleman in a field front of it.

I'm enjoying ALL OF US MURDERERS by KJ Charles (Oct). #ewgc #booksky

This one comes out next week & I love it! HEARTLAND MASALA: AN INDIAN COOKBOOK FROM AN AMERICAN KITCHEN by Jyoti & Auyon Mukharji. A Mother/Son duo--mother cooks, son has a social history take & a fun dry sense of humor (Plus he's in one of my favorite bands). #ewgc #booksky

Ok... I finally made it! Hi all! It's been longer than I wanted. Hope everyone is doing well? #ewgc

I didn't forget but my schedule changed rather dramatically at the last minute. So, same outcome. #ewgc

Announcing the Finalists for the 37th Annual Lambda Literary Awards This year marks 37 years

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the 2025 Lambda Literary Awards! lambdaliterary.org/2025/07/anno...

book cover image and annotation

Dear readers, please give it up for the LibraryReads Top Pick for August: AUTOMATIC NOODLE by @annaleen.bsky.social! @torbooks.bsky.social