Book Descriptions for Nominated October Books

 




Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find....

- Genre: Mystery Thriller
- Triggers: Childbirth, on-page, Abusive relationship, Attempted murder, Car accident, Death, Dperession, Suicide (mentioned), Hallucinations, Kidnapping
- Author: Mary Kubica
- Pages: 378
- Average Rating: 4.15


Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results. 

- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Triggers: Misogyny, Attempted rape & sexual assault, workplace sexual harassment, child abuse mentioned, death of a parent, car accident
- Author: Bonnie Garmus
- Pages: 400
- Average Rating: 4.32


At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers - one they are determined to conceal.

- Genre: Romance
- Triggers: Sexual assault, Domestic violence, Depression, Suicide, Recreational drug use, Bullying
- Author: Sally Rooney
- Pages: 273
- Average Rating: 3.81


Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

- Genre: Romance, Mystery Thriller
- Triggers: Abortion, cheating, child abuse, child death, infanticide, violence
- Author: Colleen Hoover
- Pages: 273
- Average Rating: 4.34


Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

- Genre: Fantasy Romance
- Triggers: Violence, torture, flashback of sexual assault/rape
- Author: Carissa Broadbent
- Pages: 532
- Average Rating: 4.39


Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

- Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
- Triggers: Abortion (mentioned), alcohol, assault, cheating, death (of a parent), divorce, drugs, sexual harassment
- Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Pages: 369
- Average Rating: 4.06


Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So, when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So, what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So, what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- Triggers: Racism, bullying, cyber harassment, emotional abuse, suicidal ideation, grief, death of a daughter, death of a friend, graphic death by choking
- Author: R.F. Kuang
- Pages: 369
- Average Rating: 3.95


Georgia, 1995–A gentle push from her sister causes Francine Adams to agree to one date with the handsome, Jalal Dorsey. When his ex-girlfriend makes an appearance, a perfect evening takes a turn for the worse. Blinded by humiliation and desperate to put distance between herself and the drama, Francine flees the upscale eatery. Unfamiliar with Atlanta, she wanders down a dark side street and encounters a series of unfortunate events.

Troy Bryant has spent seven years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Upon his release, he realizes the man he was before prison is gone. Now, he’s everything he was wrongfully accused of. After witnessing a young woman running from a restaurant in the heart of Atlanta, Troy follows her hasty retreat down an unlit side street, forever changing the course of both their lives.

- Genre: Romance
- Triggers: -
- Author: Joan Vassar
- Pages: 374
- Average Rating: 4.63


Asha’s life is no fairytale, by any stretch of the imagination. There was no kind, generous father to care for and protect her from the Vegas that exists beyond the glitz and glamour of The Strip. No wise, doting mother to look over and guide her, passing down essential lessons and leading her to the right path. And certainly no Prince Charming just around the corner, ready to rescue her from working late nights to cover steadily mounting bills.

In Vegas, King is exactly what his name implies. Born into money and influence, but respected – and feared – in his own right. The privileges of wealth have afforded him many things: freedom, power, massive eligibility – while simultaneously leaving him exposed to others: betrayal, exploitation, and manipulation.
But he learned. The tolls of duplicity, wrath, and vengeance have taught him to be more mindful, more shrewd, to keep himself clear of the vulnerability of certain situations, certain business deals, certain places, and certain women.
Women like Asha.
Like attracts like…

- Genre: Romance
- Triggers: -
- Author: Christina C. Jones
- Pages: 335
- Average Rating: 4.54



A novel about a Black teen who has the power to see into the future, whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.

With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

- Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
- Triggers: Child death, drug use, Grief, Gun violence, murder, panic attacks
- Author: Brittney Morris
- Pages: 336
- Average Rating: 3.98












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