320: Incarnate by Alma Katsu – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

July 30, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Alma Katsu, author of the new book Incarnate, about her CIA background into early social media research, AI’s threat to creativity and authenticity, the story’s parallels with Picture of Dorian Gray, and the diversity of voices in the current golden age of the horror genre. Then over on the Circ Desk, NoveList librarians Yaika and Kaitlin suggest readlikes for Incarnate!

Read the transcript!

From beloved horror maven Alma Katsu comes a terrifying reimagining of The Picture of Dorian Gray for the internet age.

Beauty doesn’t fade. It feeds.

Dorothy Wagner has spent her whole life wanting nothing more than to be seen. But after failing to make her mark (any mark, really) as an influencer, she takes a job at a company focused on cutting-edge deepfake technology. And there, in secret, is where she creates her salvation.

Isabella. An impossibly gorgeous girl who takes social media by storm. Dorothy’s code is brilliant, and Isabella seems real. So real that she garners millions of followers. Brands beg to partner with her. Everyone wants to meet her IRL. The adoration—and the cash—flows in. Dorothy is finally happy. She’s getting all the attention she ever wanted—isn’t she?

Then the cracks begin to show. Dorothy can barely stay ahead of the partnership requests, and love letters and the rabid fans filling her DMs trying to track Isabella down. All this time working in secret with all this pressure is getting to Dorothy—she can’t tell where she ends, and her creation begins. And when someone gets a little too close to her secret, a violent confrontation sends Dorothy on the run, forcing her to confront what she’s willing to sacrifice to keep her secrets.

A modern reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Alma Katsu’s Incarnate is an illuminating, haunting tale of algorithmic worship and beauty that can kill.

SHOW NOTES:

Incarnate by Alma Katsu
Circulating Ideas 291: Fiend by Alma Katsu (2025)

If you’re looking for your next great read, check your library’s website for NoveList Plus or go to https://about.ebsco.com/novelist/find-my-organization. With NoveList Plus, you’ll find human-curated reading recommendations based on your preferences and mood. And we’ll tell you why a book is being recommended, so you can quickly discover the perfect match.

Libraries have trusted NoveList for more than 30 years. Our book experts evaluate and write recommendations for titles, authors, and series, as well as audiobooks. Interested in seeing if NoveList Plus is right for your library? Go to https://about.ebsco.com/novelist/demos.

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle

319: Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

July 22, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Araminta Hall, author of Unreliable Narrator, about the literary concept of an “unreliable narrator,” what it means for writers to be “burglars of life,” how teaching writing changes her own writing, what it was like to have a previous novel adapted by Apple TV, and who gets to tell your story. Then over at the Circ Desk, NoveList librarians Savannah and Clay suggest readalikes for Unreliable Narrator!

Read the transcript!

It’s his story. But it’s her life.

When twenty-three-year-old Hope Jenkins arrives at the isolated, otherworldly Shadowlands estate, she’s certain her life is finally about to begin.

Hope is eager to spend her summer assisting the up-and-coming literary star Ambrose “Rosie” Glencourt, but at Shadowlands, art and danger blur into one. Rosie and his enigmatic wife, Delia, preside over a circle of glittering guests with morals as questionable as their wealth. Hope is transfixed—by their beauty, their brilliance, and by Tom, the elusive young man who resides on the sprawling property and has captured Hope’s heart for the very first time. Hope quickly realizes she’s willing to do anything to secure her place among them—even if it ends in fatal disaster.

Ten years later, Hope lives in self-imposed exile. She has no family, no friends, and no future . . .until she opens Rosie’s runaway bestseller and discovers it’s an almost exact retelling of her story: the work, the sex, and the gunshot that ended it all. It is everything Hope swore to keep hidden, dragged out onto center stage. But this time, Hope isn’t going to stay quiet.

Riveting, compulsively readable, and surprisingly tender, Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall explores revenge, obsession, and the dangerous stories we tell to survive.

SHOW NOTES:

Unreliable Narrator by Araminta Hall

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Finders Keepers by Natalie Berelli
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch

318: Summer of Love by Kerri Maher – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

July 14, 2026July 13, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Kerri Maher, author of Summer of Love, about why this novel is her most personal, intergenerational trauma, researching California’s wine history, her writing process, and her friendship / collaboration with her audiobook narrator. Then NoveList librarians Monica and Dawn suggest readalikes for Summer of Love from The Circ Desk!

Read the transcript!

It’s the summer of 1967 and the counterculture revolution is in full swing in San Francisco. Every street is alive with the music of Jim Morrison and Dionne Warwick, and in view of the Golden Gate bridge young people come together, waving anti-war signs and shouting for equal rights. No one is more into the messages of love and peace than Winnie Hartley who has just graduated from UC Berkeley determined to use poetry to capture the ever-shifting world around her. When she reconnects with her high school boyfriend, an aspiring musician, their creative bond further fuels her work, and it feels like her life is finally taking off.

Meanwhile, miles up the winding coast, her sister Miranda stays close to home, throwing herself into running the family business, Hartley Vineyard. She’s determined to make California wine that rivals French. But change is in the air this wild and heady summer, and each sister will make choices that set their lives hurdling down paths neither would have imagined.

Fifty years later, Dawn Hartley stays as far as possible from her family’s famous vineyard, until a work assignment requires her to research the bestselling Vineland novels penned by a famously anonymous author. Determined to discover the identity of this mysterious writer—who seems to know things no one should about her family—Dawn embarks on a soul-searching journey along the windswept coast of California to uncover her family’s secrets even as she’s keeping a big one of her own.

SHOW NOTES:

Summer of Love by Kerri Maher
Circulating Ideas 249: All You Have to Do Is Call by Kerri Maher (2023)

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz
Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson
California Golden by Melanie Benjamin
Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LeCour

317: The Man by Laura Sims – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

July 8, 2026July 8, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Laura Sims, author of The Man, about her path from poet to librarian to novelist, using the real-life photographer Vivian Maier as inspiration, themes of fear and artistic rebellion, and a teaser about her next interstellar book! Then NoveList librarians Jamie and Suzanne suggest readalikes for The Man at The Circ Desk!

Read the transcript!

From the highly acclaimed author of How Can I Help You, a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year: a singular take on the psychological suspense novel that follows a 1960s housewife turned amateur photographer who begins to fear for her life when she notices the dark silhouette of a man in the background of her self-portraits.

The photos Judith Stanley takes are just for her, a private passion to fill her suburban days. But when she shares them with Paul Sorenson, her new photography instructor, she’s unprepared to hear his astonished praise. “Stunning,” he calls her photos. “Extraordinary.” She has an uncanny eye, he says, and should consider publication. He could help. Except Judith has no interest in sharing her work; in fact, the mere idea of it frightens her.

Still, emboldened by Paul’s encouragement, Judith ventures out beyond her quiet neighborhood to the city in search of increasingly striking images. When she starts to notice the dark shape of a man in the corner of her self-portraits, Judith is certain he’s an attacker from her past. She doesn’t know why he has returned, but she’s sure of his presence: the hoarse sound of his breathing, his hard grip on her elbow. Perhaps it would appease the man if she were to put her camera down and give up her private passion. But she can’t; she refuses. Until one night when the man finally emerges from the shadows, and Judith’s story suddenly and irrevocably becomes his own.

Chilling and heart-poundingly propulsive, The Man is a phenomenal and timely novel exploring the inescapable fear of living as a woman, the tantalizing seduction of artistic freedom, and the very real dangers that lurk both inside and outside the confines of the mind. The Man marks Laura Sims as an extraordinary talent at the top of her game; and this, her third novel, is her greatest achievement yet.

SHOW NOTES:

The Man by Laura Sims
How Can I Help You? by Laura Sims

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

I Make My Own Fun by Hannah Beer
Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg
Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman
One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

316: Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home by Zach Weinersmith – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

June 30, 2026June 29, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Zach Weinersmith, creator of the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and author of the new book, Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home, about how his background shapes his work, the difficulties of crafting an Edwardian farce for eight year olds, how his daughter’s input affected the book, and how to motivate a character whose main trait is that he has no motivation. Then over at the Circ Desk, NoveList librarians Brierley and Suzanne provide some great readalikes for Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home!

Read the transcript!

From New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author Zach Weinersmith comes a cartoon-illustrated middle grade novel starring a ferociously inactive kid who is dragged against his will into the madcap adventures of his friends and family.

Eleven-year-old Sawyer Lee descends from an endless lineage of absolute go-getters: astronauts, scientists, champion athletes, spies, and other assorted people of action. To this heritage, he says “thanks, but no.” His life’s goal, if we must use that word, is to spend his days on his best friend Gary’s couch, with roughly the ambition of a barnacle with the flu.

The problem is that Sawyer lives in the town of Ovelaville, where everybody (including his aunt Celia and other best friend Angela) is obsessed with doing whatever it takes to win the grand prize at the annual gourd festival, celebrating nature’s dullest vegetable. As their schemes for total gourd domination grow, Sawyer is, to his horror, caught up in both an adventure and a mystery. And he knows it will take a regrettable amount of energy either to get to the bottom of things or convince everyone to give up on it, and find the way back to his happy place on Gary’s couch, with a cozy throw blanket, a steaming mug of chamomile tea, and an empty schedule.

In this tale of friendship, love, betrayal, madness, and gardening enthusiasm, acclaimed cartoonist Zach Weinersmith introduces a hero who, as a general matter, would rather not. In that spirit, he has reduced the total number of words by providing over a hundred hilarious cartoons.

SHOW NOTES:

Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home by Zach Weinersmith

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
The Tyrell Show by Miles Groes
Ralph Azham, Vol. 1: Black are the Stars by Lewis Trondheim
The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang by Stan Yan

315: Three Hitmen and a Baby by Rob Hart – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

June 24, 2026June 29, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Rob Hart, author of the new book, Three Hitmen and a Baby, the third book in the Assassins Anonymous series, about how the skills of an assassin do not translate to the skills of a parent, the emotional depth the book explores, fight choreography, found family, and how Rob upended his plans for the fourth book while on his honeymoon. Plus, over at the Circ Desk, NoveList librarians April and Lindsey provide some great readalikes for Three Hitmen and a Baby!

Read the transcript!

Welcome back to Assassins Anonymous, where family is everything and danger lurks around every corner.

Assassins Anonymous isn’t just a weekly recovery meeting for reformed killers—it’s also a family.

When Valencia receives troubling news that her brother has gone missing, she wants rush off to LA to find him. But she can’t bring her baby girl, Lucia. Enter the other members of Assassins Anonymous—Mark, Astrid, and Booker, who offer to watch the toddler while she’s gone. After all, they’re three of the deadliest, most highly skilled people on the planet; what could go wrong?

Turns out, a lot. Shortly after Valencia leaves, Mark is summoned to the lair of Zmeya, a Russian mob boss calling in a deadly favor—she wants him to kill Astrid, his protege and friend. Mark refuses, but Zmeya reveals that she knows the identity of Mark’s ex-girlfriend . . . and his son. Either Astrid goes, or they do.

Meanwhile, Lucia spikes a dangerously high fever, and when Booker and Astrid take her to urgent care, they realize too late, that their fabricated identities are a real liability. Also, they don’t know Valencia’s last name, let alone Lucia’s. They can hardly blame the staff for calling the NYPD.

Suddenly the splintered group is on the run from both the Russian mob and the police, dodging bad guys and do-gooders while trying to find refuge in a city full of surveillance cameras—all without killing anyone. That is, until Zmeya captures Sara and Bennett, and Mark is ready to throw his sobriety out the window.

SHOW NOTES:

Three Hitmen and a Baby by Rob Hart
Circulating Ideas 289: The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart (2025)

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon
Mrs. Shim is a Killer by Kang Jiyoung
Rules for Aging and Larceny by Julia London
Somebody Worth Killing by Jessica Payne

314: Social Animals by Camille Perri – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

June 18, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Camille Perri, author of the new book, Social Animals, about reluctant dog parents, why librarians should star in a reality show, the loneliness epidemic, and how she balances humor, relationship-building, and mystery to craft her new novel. Plus, over at the Circ Desk, NoveList librarians Sydney and Caleigh provide some great readalikes for Social Animals!

Read the transcript!

Three women. One dog park. Things are about to get messy.

Val Caruso, Alex Reed, and June Kennerson come from completely different worlds—Val is a tough-talking private investigator; Alex is reticent, nervous and on the run from her past; and June is an athlete turned housewife whose true love is her pup.

When Val is hired by June’s husband to find out if June is cheating on him, it sets these three women on a collision course. Amid a colorful cast of characters who spend time at the shabby but beloved Hamilton Dog Park, they find they have more in common than they thought. Soon June is brave enough to aim for what she wants, Alex finds excitement she never expected, and Val is reluctantly opening her heart to the most high-maintenance dog she’s ever met. But when their secrets catch up with them, will their newfound friendships be able to withstand the pressure? Or will they find themselves in the doghouse?

Social Animals is a funny and sharp social commentary on community, privilege, dog ownership, and the ultimate power of finding your people (and your pets).

SHOW NOTES:

Social Animals by Camille Perri

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
The Dogsitter Detective by Antony Johnson
This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagán
Someone’s Gotta Give by Alicia Fernandez Miranda

313: Feast by Catherine Kurtz – Summer Reading Spectacular 2026

June 10, 2026June 13, 2026 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Steve chats with Catherine Kurtz, author of the new book Feast, about how her painting and food writing skills contributed to her first novel, why food is the perfect vehicle to connect readers, the feeling of hope at the heart of the book, and a few anachronisms she could not help but include in the book. And stick around to hear reading recommendations from the Circ Desk, staffed this episode by Kendal and Lauren from NoveList!

Read the transcript!

In nineteenth-century France, a young woman with a magical sense of taste saves a duc from poison, and her new role as poison taster thrusts her into the world of the nobility, where secrets and danger lurk around every corner.

Minha is born on the backstreets of late nineteenth-century London, the daughter of an Indian spice merchant and an English prostitute. She has a remarkable gift: an incredible sense of taste. She can taste the earth in which potatoes were grown or the tree on which fruits have ripened. She can smell each ingredient—and identify a single false note. But Minha’s gift and her mixed-race heritage provoke mistrust and rejection, even within her own family. Escaping alone to France, Minha chances upon work in the Château de Bellefalaise, where for the first time her strange abilities are lauded.

As official poison taster for Duc Nicolas, Minha must taste every morsel of food that will pass his lips. Others in the household are hostile to her, but when she discovers a man hiding in the stables, their unexpected meeting turns into the first true connection she’s felt since arriving in France.

But mystery and paranoia continue to swirl around the château, with the Duc’s poisoner unidentified and antagonism toward Minha growing. She knows it’s only a matter of time before fingers begin pointing her way. Will she run again, or is this the time to stand and fight?

A thoroughly addictive novel about food, possession, race, love, and a young woman fighting to build a fulfilling life against all odds, this is a gorgeously written debut by author Catherine Kurtz.

SHOW NOTES:

Feast by Catherine Kurtz

THE CIRC DESK RECOMMENDS:

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Every Rising Sun by Jamila Ahmed
Hild by Nicola Griffith
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

294: The House of Two Sisters by Rachel Louise Driscoll – Summer Reading Spectacular

July 30, 2025 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Continuing the 2025 Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with Rachel Louise Driscoll, author of The House of Two Sisters, about her background as a librarian, the blending of Victorian Gothic and Egyptian mythology in her book, sisterhood (real and mythic!), and why Victorian England was primed for Egyptomania! Following the interview, in The Circ Desk segment, Rebecca from Library Reads and April from NoveList offer reading recommendations related to Rachel’s book!

Read the transcript!

A young Victorian Egyptologist traverses the Nile River on a mission to undo a curse that may have befallen her family in this spellbinding novel.

Essex, 1887. Clementine’s ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at her father’s Egyptian relic parties, which have become the talk of the town. But at one such party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. As her childhood games about Isis and Nephthys—sister goddesses who protect the dead—take on a devastating resonance in her life, and tragedy slowly consumes her loved ones, she wonders what she and her father may have unleashed.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Cairo desperate to save what remains of her family back home. There, she meets a motley crew of unwitting English travelers about to set sail down the Nile—including an adventurer with secrets of his own—and joins them on a mission to reach Denderah, a revered religious site, where she hopes to return the amulet and atone for her sins.

With each passing day, she is further engulfed in a life she’s yearned for all along. But as long-buried secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, Clemmie must reconcile the impossibility of living in the light while her past keeps her anchored to the darkness.

SHOW NOTES:
The House of Two Sisters

Find out if your library has NoveList!
Learn more about Learn with NoveList Plus and get a free infographic!
Library Reads

The Circ Desk recommends:
London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef

293: A Universe Big & Small: a Story about Carl Sagan by James Yang – Summer Reading Spectacular

July 24, 2025 ~ circideas ~ Leave a comment

Continuing the 2025 Summer Reading Spectacular, Steve chats with James Yang, author and illustrator of The Universe, Big and Small: A Story About Carl Sagan, about his creative process, the influence of libraries and picture books on his career, working with creative people in his family and later at his publisher, and the picture book illustrators who inspired him. And in The Circ Desk segment, April Mazza and Zach Woods from NoveList offer reading recommendations related to James’s book.

Read the transcript!

Geisel Award–winning creator James Yang explores the mysteries of the universe, inspired by the work of lauded astronomer Carl Sagan.

When Carl stared out the window, he had many questions.

Astronomer and scientist Carl Sagan loved asking questions—he wanted to learn about everything from the smallest atoms to the vastness of the galaxy. And by using his imagination and allowing himself to dream up questions big and small, he inspired others to keep exploring the mysteries of the universe and our place in it.

Geisel Award-winning author and illustrator James Yang invites readers on a fantastic journey through the cosmos, inspired by the life and work of Carl Sagan.

SHOW NOTES:
A Universe Big & Small: a Story about Carl Sagan

Find out if your library has NoveList!
Learn more about Learn with NoveList Plus and get a free infographic!
Library Reads

The Circ Desk recommends:
Your Place In The Universe by Jason Chin
Another by Christian Robinson
Mae Among the Stars written by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington
What Miss Mitchell Saw written by Hayley Barrett, illustrated by Diana Sudyka