Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For September, we’re looking at a new-ish contemporary espionage thriller series, this year’s If All Arkansas Read the Same Book pick, romances and mysteries–both historical and contemporary, audiobooks in a range of genres, and nonfiction on healthy living.
If you enjoy thrillers:
Ava Glass’s Emma Makepeace series (2022-2024)
If you like well-written thrillers, try this series! These tense, fast-paced, action-packed books follow a new British spy who goes by the alias Emma. In the first book, Alias Emma, she is tasked with safely delivering a Russian asset from one location in London to another. It sounds simple enough but the journey is anything but.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Robert Ludlum and Mick Herron, including the latter’s Slow Horses series.
If you like historical fantasy
Sarah Penner’s The Amalfi Curse (2025)*
The Arkansas State Library has an annual If All Arkansas Read the Same Book program, and this year the pick is this book. In this genre-bending read, an archaeologist uncovers more than she bargained for while excavating shipwrecks off the Italian coast.
Recommended for those who enjoyed Elizabeth Macneal’s Circus of Wonders.
*Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby and audiobook also available on Hoopla.
If you love romance:
Joy Callaway’s The Star of Camp Greene (2025)**
This historical romance follows Calla, a stage actress who finds herself stranded at an Army camp during WWI. Though she wants to tour the front, an illness and then a secret she stumbles upon keeps her confined at Camp Greene. Despite this, she falls in love with the man who ordered she not leave the camp. Complications ensue.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Mary Alice Monroe and Sarah Miller.
**Ebook and audiobook also available on Hoopla.
M.C. Taylor’s An Instinctive Desire (2025)
The first in a planned series, this novel is from a local author! Terra finds herself in rural Montana under strange circumstances. She is being pursued by the same people who killed her family years earlier, and though she falls in love with the town’s handsome former sheriff, his family is a bit out there. . . .
Recommended for fans of shapeshifter paranormal romance.
If you prefer mysteries:
Andrey Kurkov’s The Stolen Heart (2025)
I reviewed the first book in this delightfully odd series last year. The second book in this projected trilogy was released this year, and in my opinion, it’s even better than the first one! This time around, hapless Soviet Ukrainian policeman Samson finds himself investigating a bizarre and frustrating black market case. The laws keep shifting on what is and isn’t allowed–a convenient loophole for the people he questions–and nothing is as it seems.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Mikhail Bulgakov and Martin Cruz Smith.
Pamela Terry’s The Sweet Taste of Muscadines (2025)***
If you prefer your mysteries to be contemporary rather than historical, try this one, which also has a vivid Southern setting. Lila returns home when her difficult mother dies mysteriously in the back yard. While learning about her mother’s death, she uncovers some shocking family secrets.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Viola Shipman.
***Audiobook also available on Libby.
If you need audiobooks:
Jamie Harrison’s Jules Clement mystery series (2024-2025)
This is an older series, first published in the 90s, but newly released on audiobook! We have the first 4 in the series about small-town lawman Jules Clement and the bizarre crimes that unfold in fictional Blue Deer, Montana.
Recommended for those who enjoy Craig Johnson’s Longmire series.
Dane Huckelbridge’s Queen of all Mayhem: the Blood-Soaked Life & Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West (2025)
Belle Starr is an infamous footnote in Old West bandit history, and this new biography covers her life and times. Whether she was leading horse thieves or romancing Cole Younger (of the James-Younger Gang fame), Belle’s life was an unusual journey for a woman of her time, particularly one who came from a respectable family.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of John Boessenecker and Old West outlaw history.
If you want nonfiction on health:
Dr. Peter Kendall’s Mayo Clinic Guide to Better Sleep: Find Relief from Insomnia, Sleep Apnea and Other Sleep Disorders (2025)****
Did you know that poor sleep has been deemed a public health epidemic in America by the CDC? Millions of Americans suffer from sleep disorders or simply just don’t get enough sleep. This book, from medical professionals at the Mayo Clinic, breaks down the science about sleep and its importance for good health while also covering the most common sleep disorders (like insomnia and sleep apnea) and how they’re treated.
Recommended for those looking for information on sleep disorders.
****Audiobook also available on Hoopla.
Dr. Alexandra Sowa’s The Ozempic Revolution: A Doctor’s Proven Plan for Success to Help You Reverse Obesity, End Yo-Yo Dieting, and Protect Yourself from Disease (2025)*****
Obesity is another significant public health issue in the United States, and this book is the first comprehensive look at popular GLP-1 medications (Ozempic, Wegovy, etc.) now prescribed to treat it. The author, a doctor who specializes in obesity medicine, discusses how the medications work, their potential side effects, the ins and outs of insurance coverage for these drugs, and healthy habits to incorporate alongside the medication, including meal plans and recipes.
Recommended for those looking for information on GLP-1 medication.
*****Ebook and audiobook also available on Hoopla.
What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about for 2025? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.
Berryville Book Buzz 