My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Korede is the responsible sister, everything her sister Ayoola is not. Korede is practical, methodical, sensible, practical, and plain, while Ayoola is flighty and charming to everyone she meets. She also has the unfortunate habit of killing off her boyfriends, leaving Korede to help conceal her crimes and literally clean up the mess.

When Ayoola sets her sights on a handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works (perhaps it's also not a coincidence that Korede has had a secret crush on him for years) Korede must reckon with what her sister has become, and just how far she is willing to go to protect her.

This book is full of dark humor and packs a punch, despite only having 220 pages in it. You'll want to keep turning the pages of this addictively unique thriller, and it will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Freelance writer Nikole Paterson is at a Dodgers game with her boyfriend, when he proposes to her on the Jumbotron, but everything about this moment is horrible. They've only been dating for five months, and they've never even talked about getting married. Worst of all, he couldn't even spell her name right. Nik obviously turns him down, only to be met by a camera crew intent on further capturing her humiliation.

Carlos Ibarra and his sister Angela swoop in to save the say, hustling Nik out of the stadium and into a bar where her friends are waiting to help her lick her wounds.

This is such a warm, engaging romance novel, where we see Nik and Carlos evolve from friends to more than friends, all the while trying to carefully navigate the threads of their casual relationship as it develops into something more. While this is technically a sequel to The Wedding Date, you do not have to read it to enjoy this one.

Full of fun and with a sharp feminist edge, The Proposal is a romance novel you definitely don't want to miss.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Thirteen-year-old Lenora (Leni) Allbright has never really had a place she can call home. Her father, Ernt Allbright, a Vietnam POW, is always convinced that the next place they move to will return him to the man he was before the war changed him. After losing yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision to move his family to Alaska, despite Leni and her mother's reluctance to leave behind everything they know to venture into America's last true frontier.

The Allbrights meet a group of friendly people who are more than willing to help them prepare for the harsh winter ahead and lend some much needed heart to a lackluster existence. But it's not long before everyone learns that no matter how far you go, you can't outrun your demons, and with the devastating snow storms, and near constant darkness that winter brings, Leni and her mother must work together to survive against all odds.

Kristin Hannah brings the wild beauty of the Alaskan landscape to life, painting it as the stunning and dangerous place it is. Full of dark places and broken dreams, The Great Alone also shows just how strong the bond between mother and daughter can become. Highly recommended.

The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History by Chris Smith

For almost seventeen years, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart brilliantly redefined the borders between television comedy, political satire, and opinionated news coverage. It launched the careers of some of today's most significant comedians, highlighted the hypocrisies of the powerful, and along the way managed to earn 23 Emmys. Now you can see behind the scenes on one of the most influential television shows of the modern era. Correspondents, guests, and staff all tell the story of The Daily Show from its humble beginnings, through incisive election coverage, Jon Stewart's emotional monologue in the wake of 9/11, his infamous confrontation on Crossfire, passionate debates with President Obama, feuds with Bill O'Reilly, Indecisions and more. Highly recommended for fans of the show.

From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon

Aspiring filmmaker Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. When fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, it's a dream come true for Twinkle. Then a mysterious "N" starts to email her, and Twinkle is sure it's her longtime crush, Neil Roy (a.k.a. Sahil's twin brother). The only problem is, that in the course of movie making, she's falling for Sahil.

Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, With Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you. A must-read for fans of When Dimple Met Rishi.

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

Sophie thinks James is innocent. Kate will do everything she can to prove that he is guilty. All of them hold secrets, and all have told lies, but the truth must be in there somewhere. But is the truth an actual, concrete thing, or is it what the rich and powerful say is most convenient for them? James, Sophie, and Kate have plenty of dark secrets that have long been buried, and now that they are threatening to come to light, they might just bring down the carefully constructed house of cards.

Full of empowering female characters and timely resonance with the #MeToo movement, Anatomy of a Scandal will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

When Poornima first meets Savitha, she feels something she thought she lost for good when her mother died: hope. Suddenly their Indian village doesn't feel quite so claustrophobic, as the two form a once-in-a-lifetime friendship. But when a devastating act of cruelty drives Savitha away, Poornima leaves behind everything she has ever known to find her friend again. Her journey takes her into the darkest corners of India's underworld, on a harrowing cross continental journey, and eventually to an apartment complex in Seattle. Alternating between the girls' perspectives as they face relentless obstacles, Girls Burn Brighter introduces two heroines who never lose the hope that burns within them. A page turner and a heart wrenching mediation on friendship, Rao's debut novel tackles the most urgent issues facing women today: domestic abuse, human trafficking, immigration, and feminism. Highly recommended.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

In 1969, the four Gold siblings boldly knock on the door of a fortune teller who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. Despite all efforts to dismiss the predictions, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon are all deeply affected by it, and it deeply affects the rest of their lives. Told from each of the four sibling's perspectives, The Immortalists takes us through decades of hardship and love.

This is a novel crafted around a question we all ask ourselves more often than we'd care to admit: Is it more important to truly live or to survive? To dare to dream at our grandest or to play it safe? And, if you knew the exact day on which you would die, would you live your life differently than you would without that knowledge?

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Bestselling author Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she casts an insightful and critical eye on her childhood, teens, and twenties—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life. 

With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and authority that have made her one of the most admired voices of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen. Hunger is a deeply personal memoir from one of our finest writers, and tells a story that hasn’t yet been told but needs to be.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti is the first of the isolated Himba people ever to be accepted into Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

The world she seeks to enter has been at war with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares, and Binti's stellar travel will being her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University itself, but first she has to make it there alive.

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, Binti is full of imagination and fantastic worldbuilding that leaves you wanting more. Luckily it is the first in a trilogy that was completed this year.

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

For the past ten months, Dr. Anna Fox has been trapped inside her New York City home, completely isolated from the outside world. Her crippling agoraphobia leaves her unable to even step out onto her front stoop without fear and anxiety overwhelming her mind. So she spends her days drinking, watching old movies, and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move in. From Anna's view across the street, they seem like a perfect family. Until Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn't have.

Woman in the Window is a twisty page-turner that leaves you constantly guessing about what's real. With frequent golden-age Hollywood references, this is a perfect book for fans of classic films like Rear Window and Gaslight.

I Hate Fairyland, Vol 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young

Every child dreams of going off to Fairyland to have magical adventures, but Gert is one of the lucky ones who was actually able to go. She wouldn't call it a dream, though-- more like a nightmare. She's been trapped in Fairyland (and her six year old body) for nearly thirty years trying to find the magical key that will let  her leave. Along the way she's made more enemies than friends, and the people of Fairyland are willing to go to extreme lengths to get rid of Gert, one way or the other.

Funny and gory aren't often found together in the same story, but Skottie Young easily pulled it off with I Hate Fairyland. Full of over-the-top violence, chaos, bright colors, and energetic character design, I Hate Fairyland is delightfully quirky and entertaining. Definitely not for the kids though!

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

Kelley Quinn, father of four and owner of Nantucket's Winter Street Inn, expected this Christmas season to be perfectly merry and bright... right up until he walks in on his second wife Mitzi literally kissing Santa Claus. And just like that, his holiday went from holly jolly to bah humbug. With his three eldest children each reeling in their own dramas, and the youngest unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley's ex-wife to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn.

The Quinn family is delightfully dysfunctional in this first book of the Winter series. Each book takes place during the few days before Christmas, and ends on Christmas Day, so don't be surprised by the abrupt endings. All the story lines are picked up again next year in the next book.There are currently four books about the Quinns and their inn: Winter Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, and Winter Solstice, with a new one published around Fall each year.

A heartwarming read for the holiday season.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

As a young girl, Rose Franklin stumbled upon the remnants of a gigantic metal hand. It was the first of many scattered pieces of a colossal robot, all thousands of years old, to be discovered across the globe. Seventeen years later, the mystery remains unsolved, yet Rose, now a highly trained physicist, is leading the top secret team to find the missing pieces and crack the code. The story unfolds as she and her colleagues are interviewed by a nameless interrogator, who is just as mysterious as the robot.

Told in a series of interviews, journal entries, and reports, Sleeping Giants is impossible to put down once you begin. Luckily, there's a sequel, Waking Gods, out now, and a third book is expected to come out in the spring. Fans of realistic near-future sci-fi like The Martian or World War Z will love this. Highly recommended on audio, which is a full-cast production.

Princeless Vol 1: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley

Adrienne Ashe never wanted to be a princess. Fancy dinners and lavish dresses were bad enough, but on the night of her 16th birthday her parents lock her away in a tower guarded by a dragon to await the rescue of some handsome prince. But Adrienne decides to take matters into her own hands!

Funny and full of action, and adventure, Princeless is perfect for readers of all ages who are tired of waiting to be rescued and ready to save themselves! Want to read more? Save Yourself is the first in the "Princeless" series.

The Undateable by Sarah Title

Melissa "Bernie" Bernard can't help but feel that love has passed her by, and she'll happily complain about it to any who will listen. Though she enjoys her work as a college librarian in San Francisco, deep down she wonders if there could be more. So when a video of a marriage proposal at the library catches Bernie rolling her eyes, Bernie is shocked to find that she's become a viral sensation. Just as she's ready to go into hiding and permanently bury her nose in a book, a handsome reporter appears with a proposal of his own - he will find dates for the undateable. Bernie must go on 30 different dates in 30 days. With one disastrous date after another, she's ready to give up, until the reporter proves he'll do anything to find her the perfect match, even if it means putting himself up for the role.

Funny, and adorable, The Undateable is perfect for readers who like their romance light and fluffy. The characters have a nice chemistry, especially if you enjoy clever banter, and the friends-to-lovers trope. This is the first in the "Librarians in Love" series, and is even written by an actual librarian.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Lina is just like any other 15 year old Lithuanian girl in 1941, until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home and tear her family apart. Lina, her mother, and her young brother are taken north, across the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Under Stalin's orders, they must dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions. Hoping she can send a message to her father, Lina uses her art as a way to let him know they are still alive.

Between Shades of Gray is a difficult read due to the subject matter, but ultimately it is necessary. Though it is technically a book for young adults, it is easily a cross over book for adults interested in a different World War II story.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend Nick, she imagines this will just be a fun summer and a great chance to meet his family and see Singapore before returning to the simple life they live in New York. But Rachel has no idea that Nick is Nicholas Young (of the Youngs, one of Singapore's most established and wealthiest families). Rachel is thrown into a storm of gossip, money, interfering relatives, family secrets, and some seriously mean girls. The bonds of love are tested, and Rachel must decide whether she can handle being with Nick and therefore being tangled up in his family.

This book is so, so much fun. Kwan's writing style is snappy and electric, fizzing across the page and leading you ever further into this vivid world of designer clothes, exquisite architecture, amazing houses, and old family drama. The characters in this book are definitely the kind that you love to hate.

There is a sequel out (China Rich Girlfriend), and a third book (Rich People Problems) is expected to come out May 2017.

Travelers Rest by Keith Lee Morris

The Addisons-Julia and Tonio, ten-year-old Dewey, and recovering alcoholic Uncle Robbie-are traveling east from Washington back to South Carolina over winter break. When a terrifying blizzard strikes outside the town of Good Night, Idaho, they seek refuge in the town at the Travelers Rest, a formerly opulent but now crumbling and eerie hotel where the physical laws of the universe are bent. Soon, the family is separated and they must fight to escape the building's alluring yet frightening pull.

With its slow burn pacing, readers are swept up into a time bending, haunted house story that is terrifying without any blood, but features a menace that is definitely not of this world. It is a story about familial love, memory, and identity that will make you think, but it is the creepy tone that will continue to haunt you after the final page. Travelers Rest is both a mind-altering meditation on the nature of consciousness and a heartbreaking story of a family on the brink of survival.

The Fireman by Joe Hill

A horrifying plague is spreading like wildfire all across the country. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it's Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with black and gold marks across their bodies-before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

Infected nurse, Harper Grayson, must fight for her life and the life of her unborn child as the country begins to round up those with the 'scale. Helping her hide away from the self-appointed extermination gangs is a mysterious stranger called The Fireman, an infected man dressed in fire gear, who seems to have the ability to control the disease, and even use it to cause fires at will. As the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman's secrets before her life - and that of her unborn child - goes up in smoke.

The Fireman is one of the most thrilling, imaginative takes on an apocalyptic future, and will leave readers infected for more.