Baytown Library
  • New Books
  • Staff Picks
  • Teen
  • Kids
  • Home
  • African American
  • General Fiction
  • Inspirational
  • Romance
  • SciFi & Fantasy
  • Mysteries
    Cozy & Historical Thrillers
  • Large Print
    Fiction Inspirational Mystery Romance
  • Non-Fiction
    Biography & History Health & Beauty Hobbies & Home Self Help & Parenting
active
No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done
A Novel
by Sophie Hannah
December 08, 2025
Reserve

The twistiest murder mystery you are ever likely to read? A story about a family that does the unthinkable?

Both? Or something else altogether?

You think it will never happen to you.

The doorbell. The policeman. The words that turn your world inside out: I'm afraid there's been an incident...

For Sally Lambert, those words mean only one thing--danger. Not just for her family, but for Champ, their loyal and beloved dog. A single accusation, a neighbor's grudge, and suddenly the Lamberts are trapped in a nightmare with no escape.

Unless they make one.

Most people would never run. Most...

Hope Rises
by David Baldacci
January 07, 2026
Reserve

Walter Nash began a journey down a dark path of seemingly no return, and now he finds himself questioning everything that got him there in this thrilling sequel to Nash Falls from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.



Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him. He has nothing left to lose and with long, rigorous training under his belt the...

The Hallmarked Man
A Novel
by Robert Galbraith
April 29, 2025
Reserve

The gripping eighth installment in the internationally bestselling series, available to pre-order now.



"A superlative piece of crime fiction." --Sunday Times (UK)

"The work of a master storyteller." --Daily Telegraph (UK)

"A scrupulous plotter and master of misdirection, Galbraith keeps the pages turning . . . Strike and Ellacott remain one of crime's most engaging duos." --Guardian (UK)

"No one can deny [Robert Galbraith, pseudonym of ] J. K. Rowling's formidable talents as a crime writer." --Daily Mail (UK)

"Strike is a compelling creation . . . This is terrifically entertaining stuff." --Irish...

Last One Out
A Novel
by Jane Harper
January 07, 2026
Reserve

From the New York Times bestselling author of Exiles and The Dry comes a captivating new novel set in a modern ghost town.

Carralon Ridge, a once vibrant village in rural New South Wales, has become a shell of itself, its houses and buildings bought up and left to rot by the mining company operating at its borders. A decade into its slow death, surrounded by industrial noise and swathed in thick layers of dust, the skeletal town is all but abandoned, with just a handful of residents clinging onto what remains.

After years of scorning those who left the Ridge behind...

W. E. B. Griffin Direct Action
by Jack Stewart
October 20, 2025
Reserve

When the original Presidential Agent is gunned down during a mass shooting, Pick McCoy swears a brutal revenge in this revival of W. E. B. Griffin's New York Times bestselling series.

Charley Castillo, the original Presidential Agent is in Virginia Beach to visit his son when two gunmen appear. Charley is able to thwart a deadly mass shooting, but he is hit and badly injured.

Meanwhile Pick McCoy is at the Naval Academy catching up with some old friends. When the news of the attack reaches him, he senses that this is no random event. While Charley clings to life, Pick...

Previous Next
  • Home
  • African American Experience
  • Best. Books. Ever.
  • Classics
  • Fantasy
  • Feel Good Stories
  • Great Graphic Novels
  • Horror Novels
  • Long But Worth It
  • Mysteries
    Action Series Books With a Twist Cozy Series Detective Series Historical Series Psychological Thrillers
  • Nonfiction
    Books for a Better You Memoirs Narrative Nonfiction Spectacular Science
  • Romance
    Contemporary Historical Paranormal Suspense
  • Weird Fiction
active
Book of the Unnamed Midwife
by
July 23, 2020
Reserve

In the aftermath of a plague that has decimated the world population, the unnamed midwife confronts a new reality in which there may be no place for her. Indeed, there may be no place for any woman except at the end of a chain

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
June 25, 2020
Reserve

Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure.

Together,...

The Blade Itself
by Joe Abercrombie
March 02, 2021
Reserve

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

The Way of Kings
by
July 23, 2020
Reserve

Introduces the world of Roshar through the experiences of a war-weary royal compelled by visions, a highborn youth condemned to military slavery, and a woman who is desperate to save her impoverished house.

The Black Prism
Lightbringer #1
by Brent Weeks
June 25, 2020
Reserve

In a world where magic is tightly controlled, the most powerful man in history must choose between his kingdom and his son.
Guile is the Prism. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. Yet Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live.

When Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world...

Previous Next
  • Home
  • New Fiction
  • Best Fiction
active
Falling Like Leaves
by Misty Wilson
October 21, 2025
Reserve

Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this “delightfully autumnal small-town romance” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.

Ellis has a plan: spend her senior fall prepping her application for Columbia, get into their journalism program, and set the foundation for a respectable career. So when her parents announce that not only are they separating, but Ellis has to move with her mom from New York City to Bramble Falls, Connecticut, to live with...

Eliza, from Scratch
by Sophia Lee
May 07, 2025
Reserve

Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Rachel Lynn Solomon, this charming, poignant rom-com follows an academics-obsessed teen who learns big truths about love, family, and herself when a scheduling snafu lands her in a culinary arts class.

Eliza Park's senior year will be perfect: She's going to be salutatorian, give a tear-jerking graduation speech in front of her parents, and enjoy her last year with her equally ambitious best friends. But when a scheduling mishap enrolls her in Culinary Arts, Eliza is suddenly the most clueless person in the class. Her typical title of star student belongs to the...

Keep Your Friends Close
by Cynthia Murphy
October 21, 2025
Reserve

An explosive dark academia thriller set in the world of the BookTok sensation Win Lose Kill Die, where secret societies and lethal ambition run the show.

"A thriller author to watch!"—Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying


Chloe Roberts is on top of the world. After a stellar first year at the prestigious Morton Academy, she’s a shoo-in for Head Girl and a coveted position in the school’s secret society, Jewel and Bone. But her dreams are shattered when her best friend, Nikhita Patel, unfairly snatches the top spot—and...

Children of Useyi
by Moses Ose Utomi
February 21, 2025
Reserve

An elite female fighter and her found family of sisters battle gods and monsters for their existence in this captivating West African–inspired young adult fantasy sequel to Daughters of Oduma, perfect for fans of The Gilded Ones and Legendborn.

Eat. Dance. Fight for your life.

The girls in the Mud Fam are used to fighting hard—it’s the only way to win in their elite, all-female sport of Bowing. Thanks to her legendary performance at the last tournament, Dirt has helped their ranks swell with a bevy of new recruits. She has finally achieved her lifelong dream of restoring glory to the...

Beast
by Richard Van Camp
May 23, 2025
Reserve

Lauded as the Indigenous Stranger Things, this evocative, spine-tingling thriller from Dogrib Dene author Richard Van Camp blends supernatural horror with 1980s nostalgia.

Lawson Sauren's life has always been entwined with the lives of the Cranes brothers. Cody Cranes became an unexpected friend when they shared a tent at summer camp--but now he's disappeared. Star athlete Stanley Cranes survived the canoe accident that killed Lawson's mother but has been a shell of himself ever since. Silver Cranes--jeez, the guy was downright scary even before he made some kind of occult pact resurrecting the Dead One, a ghoulish, cruel, powerful spirit...

Previous Next
  • Home
  • New Picture Books
  • New Chapter Books
  • African American Picture Books
  • Best Chapter Books
  • Best Mysteries
  • Best Picture Books
  • Novels in Verse
active
The Octopus
by Guojing
December 31, 2025
Reserve

Join a little girl as she discovers the hidden world of her new octopus friend in this stunning wordless picture book by critically acclaimed author-illustrator Guojing.

A little girl goes to the beach with her mother, never expecting the day full of magic and wonder that is ahead of her. When she scoops up a tiny octopus in her small, clear container, and they see each other eye to eye, there's a spark between them! But a little octopus cannot be happy for long in a container. So the girl sets out to discover what the octopus needs. And that's...

Unsettling Salad!
by Aaron Reynolds
December 31, 2025
Reserve

From the team behind the New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Medal–winning Creepy Carrots! and its sequels comes the second entry in a spin-off chapter book series in which Jasper Rabbit tells the story of a badger who discovers broccoli can bite back!

Jasper the Rabbit is back! A little older and wiser, he collects creepy stories to share as cautionary tales. If you’re ready for some chills and chuckles alike, tune in as Jasper weaves the yarn of Thadeus Badger and the sticky situation he found himself in.

Now, Thadeus is a typical badger. He and his best friend, Oliver...

Bored
by Felicita Sala
December 18, 2025
Reserve

Utter boredom leads one imaginative girl to inspiration in this clever story from much-loved creator Felicita Sala.

Rita is bored. So, so, so bored.

She's tried stretching her body across her bedroom, side-eyeing herself in the mirror, stomping her feet and swinging her arms. Time drags on, and there she remains: catatonic with boredom.

In her tragic and weakened state, her mind drifts to the beginning of a daydream. What if all the bored people in the world gathered together and got onto a bus? What if the boredom filled them up like balloons, with tiny heads...

Penny Pangolin and the Baboon Bully
by Wayne D. Kramer
December 31, 2025
Reserve

When Penny steps in to defend her friend Edith against a school bully, she quickly finds herself his new target! Penny must navigate the rocky path of dealing with a bully without becoming one herself. Themes of friendship, forgiveness, anger management, and seeing other points of view.

Every Monday Mabel
by Jashar Awan
December 31, 2025
Reserve

Five starred reviews!
“An arm-pumping, truck-horn toot to each person reveling in their own ‘garbage.’” —BCCB (starred review)

From the creator of I’m Going to Build a Snowman comes a “enthusiastic, delightful” (BookPage, starred review) celebration of community helpers that captures the joy and wonder of being a kid, centering around a precocious girl whose favorite day of the week is Monday.

Every Monday, Mabel wakes up early and peeks out her window to make sure she didn’t miss the one thing she’s been looking forward to the whole week. She drags her chair down the hallway, past...

Previous Next
Copyright © Sterling Municipal Library
(281) 427-7331
asklibrary@baytown.org

Mary Wilbanks Avenue
Baytown, Texas 77520
Map