Lake Bluff Library Adult Reading Lists

It's been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and arcane rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father dies. An architect as cruel as he was revered, his death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father's most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.
(Description from catalog)

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. (Description from catalog)

Takes readers into the dark underbelly of New York City where a roiling, ancient evil stirs in the halls of power, threatening to destroy the city and her six newborn avatars. (Description from NoveList.)

Fates collide and passions ignite in New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s steamy adult fantasy debut about three characters torn between chasing, betraying, and craving each other: a princess caught between duty and desire, the fearsome warrior king she’s promised to, and the assassin tasked with hunting them down.
(Description from NoveList)

The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers. Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled. But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters.
(Description from NoveList)

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake.
(Description from catalog)

As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, Linus Baker spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they're likely to bring about the end of days. But the children aren't the only secret the island keeps. (Description from catalog.)

Patroclus, an awkward young prince, follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate. Set during the Trojan War. (Description from catalog)

Fleeing a stifling future, wealthy heir Yael Clauneck seeks adventure and finds unexpected refuge with childhood friend Margot Greenwillow, a struggling plant witch, as their rekindled bond blooms into love that is threatened by meddling families.
(Description from NoveList)

Living in a utopian world shaped by alien invaders who make any dream possible, a 50-year-old trans woman is devastated by the end of her marriage before an unexpected quest pits her against the aliens' most avid supporters. (Description from NoveList.)

In this feminist fantasy retelling of the six wives of Henry VIII, the king of Elben must marry six queens and bind each to one of the island's palaces or the kingdom will fall.
(Description from NoveList)

Three years ago, Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends, Ila and Hannah. Since then, Alice's life has spiraled. She lives a haunted existence, selling videos of herself for money, going to parties she hates, drinking herself to sleep. Memories of that night torment Alice, but when Ila asks her to return to the House, to go past the KEEP OUT sign and over the sick earth where teenagers dare each other to venture, Alice knows she must go. Together, Alice and Ila must face the horrors that happened there, must pull themselves apart from the inside out, put their differences aside, and try to rescue Hannah, whom the House has chosen to make its own.
(Description from catalog)

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue comes a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger. This is a story about hunger, love, rage, and life - how it ends and how it starts.
(Description from NoveList)

Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England, but soon she must work to protect her students from a grave threat.
(Description from NoveList)

Misha knows that chasing success in Hollywood can be hell. But finally, after years of trying to make it, his big moment is here: an Oscar nomination. And the executives at the studio for his long-running streaming series know just the thing to kick his career to the next level: kill off the gay characters, "for the algorithm," in the upcoming season finale. Misha refuses, but he soon realizes that he's just put a target on his back. And what's worse, monsters from his horror movie days are stalking him and his friends through the hills above Los Angeles.
(Description from NoveList)

From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes Don't Sleep with the Dead, a standalone companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her acclaimed reimagining of The Great Gatsby.
(Description from NoveList)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the greatest villain of them all? Snow White's dark queen tells her side of the story in this queer, witchy re-imagining of the classic fairy tale from the author of Malice.
(Description from catalog)

"Like most university students, Kim works a part-time job to make ends meet. Unlike most university students, Kim's job is pretty cool: she's a grim reaper, tasked with guiding souls into the afterlife. Like most university students, Becka has a super intense crush. Unlike most university students, Becka's crush is on a beautiful gothic angel that frequents the underworld." (description from publisher)

"An undead teen must find the boy he loves before he loses his mind and body"-- Provided by publisher.

"Perley and Amandine are both starting their Junior year late. Perley was diagnosed with diabetes over the summer and has to worry about what this means, both for him and for his family's finances. Amandine is part of a venerated family of vampires, but was turned much sooner than expected after a car accident nearly killed her. When their worlds collide as they make up the time they missed, their fast friendship quickly turns into something more. Amandine sipping Perley's blood holds benefits for the both of them, but it also sets them on a path that could spiral out of control. Will they be able to get their lives back to normal? Or will both have to figure out new ways for their "normal" to look?" (provided by publisher)