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Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone wrong

Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter.

But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

Horton Hears a Who is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954Elephant Horton finds a speck of dust floating in the Jungle of Nool. Upon investigation of the speck, Horton discovers the tiny city of Who-ville and its residents, the Whos, which he can hear but cannot see. Horton forms a friendship with the mayor of Who-ville, Ned McDodd, and promises to transport Who-ville to safety. However, Horton encounters opposition from his jungle neighbors, who don't want to believe in the existence of Who-ville. 

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred (1979) is a novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler that incorporates time travel and is modeled on slave narratives. 

The book is the first-person account of a young African-American writer, Dana, who is repeatedly transported in time between her Los Angeles, California home in 1976 with her white husband and an early 19th-century Maryland plantation just outside Easton. There, she meets some of her ancestors: a proud, free Black woman and a white planter who forces her into slavery and concubinage. As Dana stays for more extended periods in the past, she becomes intimately entangled with the plantation community. Dana makes hard choices to survive slavery and to ensure her return to her own time.

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

On her 30th birthday, Andrea Oliver celebrates the occasion at a local diner with her mother, Laura. Moments later, she witnesses the unthinkable on a day that would forever change her life. After her mother attempts to stop a shooter from killing more victims, Andrea notices that Laura has flipped the script and watches her violently dispose of the threat. Visibly shaken, Andrea is left with wavering thoughts and conflicted feelings about her mother's actions. Soon after, video footage of the incident at the diner becomes a viral hit, exposing Laura's identity to her past enemies. As Andrea begins to gather the pieces of Laura's past on her journey to uncover the real identity that her mother has forsaken long ago, what other truths will she find?

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Always and Forever, Lara Jean is a 2017 novel by American author Jenny Han. It is the third and final installment of the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series. Now in her final year of high school, Lara Jean Song Covey is excitedly looking forward to attending school with her boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky, at the University of Virginia (UVA). Peter has been accepted early on a sports scholarship for lacrosse. When acceptance letters come in, Lara Jean learns she has been rejected. After being wait-listed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Lara Jean decided to go with William and Mary with the plan of transferring to UVA after freshman year. However, Lara Jean is eventually accepted to UNC at Chapel Hill in her last week of school and decides to attend school there.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

"P.S. I Still Love You" is a heartwarming continuation of the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series, which delves deeper into the life of Lara Jean Covey as she navigates the complexities of her first real relationship with Peter Kavinsky. The book excels in portraying the emotional turmoil and growth of the characters, giving readers an intimate glimpse into Lara Jean's thoughts and feelings.

A Man called Ove (Otto version) by Fredrik Backman

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t always walk around with a smile plastered to his face?

Behind the cranky exterior, there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning, a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul. 

The Little Mermaid lives in an underwater kingdom with her widowed father (The Sea King), her dowager grandmother, and her five older sisters, born one year apart.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land

At 28, Stephanie Land's dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer quickly dissolved when a summer fling turned into an unplanned pregnancy. Before long, she found herself a single mother before long, scraping by as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Maid is an emotionally raw, masterful account of Stephanie's years spent serving upper-middle-class America as a "nameless ghost" who quietly shared in her clients' triumphs, tragedies, and deepest secrets. Driven to carve out a better life for her family, she cleaned by day and took online classes by night, writing relentlessly as she worked toward earning a college degree. She wrote of the true stories that weren't being told: of living on food stamps and WIC coupons, of government programs that barely provided housing, of aloof government employees who shamed her for receiving what little assistance she did. Above all else, she wrote about pursuing the myth of the American dream from the poverty line while slashing through deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor. 

Bridgertons #2 - The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

In 1814, after years as one of the most notorious rakes of the Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton decides to settle down and carry on the family line. Haunted by his father's death at a young age from a bee sting, Anthony now believes, albeit irrationally, that he will die young, too and does not want the complication of falling in love.