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
A Box Full of Darkness
by Simone St. James
December 08, 2025
Reserve

“From the book’s chillingly creepy setting, which previously appeared in The Sun Down Motel (2020), to a nerve-jangling plot that effectively borrows from a mix of genres to the writing itself, which shimmers with a dazzlingly sharp sense of wit, everything about St. James’ latest is done to perfection.”-Booklist (starred review)

Simone St. James, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel, returns with her scariest, most shocking novel yet in this pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his...

Haven't Killed in Years
by Amy K. Green
August 19, 2025
Reserve

No one is supposed to know harmless office worker Gwen Tanner is the vanished daughter of serial killer Abel Haggerty. But a low profile and a new name aren’t going to cut it when an obsessive new killer starts targeting her, in this lively and propulsive thriller with a standout voice.

Marin Haggerty, the daughter of a notorious serial killer, was only a child when they arrested her father. Ripped from her home and given a new identity, Marin disappeared.

Twenty years later, Gwen Tanner keeps everyone at a distance, preferring to satirize the world around her than participate in it. It’s...

The Gallery Assistant
A Novel
by Kate Belli
September 08, 2025
Reserve

This twisty and sinister thriller follows a New York art gallery assistant reckoning with her past and now trapped in a web of deceit after an up-and-coming painter is murdered—perfect for fans of Katy Hays and Julia Bartz.

November 2001: Chloe Harlow wakes up late, with hazy memories of the party the night before but no recollection of how she got back to her Brooklyn apartment. Ever since the terrifying and catastrophic terrorist attack, it seems she has been on a collision course with destruction.

When she finally arrives at the exclusive Upper East Side art gallery where she works,...

I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home
by Fergus Craig
January 07, 2026
Reserve

After a decades-long stint in prison, former serial killer Carol is looking to kick back and relax in her new retirement home...until a fellow resident drops dead and Carol has to prove she actually didn't do it this time....

Carol is delighted to be leaving her tiny prison cell behind to take her place in a luxury retirement home. She's hoping her past as a serial killer won't come to light so she can make a few friends and find some murder-free hobbies. But it's not long before a fellow resident—who happens to be a former police commissioner—drops dead, and Carol's...

Served Him Right
A Novel
by Lisa Unger
December 08, 2025
Reserve

"A twisty and pacy thriller." --Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid series



A woman's brunch with friends quickly turns dark in this gripping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger



Ana Blacksmith has gathered her closest friends and sister Vera for a brunch to celebrate her recent breakup from her boyfriend Paul. But when shocking news about Paul arrives, all eyes are on Ana, the angry ex with a bad reputation. Suspicions only intensify when Ana's best friend falls deathly ill after the brunch.



...

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
Daisy Jones and the Six
A Novel
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
June 25, 2020
Reserve

Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX. Nobody knows the reason behind the band's split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

A Gentleman in Moscow
A Novel
by Amor Towles
June 25, 2020
Reserve

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

Remarkably Bright Creatures
A Novel
by Shelby Van Pelt
January 11, 2023
Reserve

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night...

The Queen of the Tearling
Tearling #1
by Erika Jones
June 25, 2020
Reserve

A young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.

The Graveyard Book (Children)
by Neil Gaiman
June 25, 2020
Reserve

It takes a graveyard to raise a child.

Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and...

Previous Next
  • Home
  • New Fiction
  • Best Fiction
active
The Survivor Wants to Die at the End
by Adam Silvera
May 07, 2025
Reserve

In this third book of the USA Today and #1 New York Times mega-bestselling They Both Die at the End series, two strangers--each with their own complicated relationship to Death-Cast--help each other learn to live.

Paz Dario stays up every night, waiting for the Death-Cast call that would mean he doesn't have to keep faking his way through this lonely life. After a devastating day, Paz decides he's done waiting around for Death-Cast. If they say he's not dying, he'll just have to prove them wrong. But right before Paz can die, a boy saves his life.

Alano Rosa is...

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe
by C. B. Lee
May 07, 2025
Reserve

A geeky overachiever determined to save the world through science and a troublemaking chosen one lashing out against her destiny meet and fall in love in a magical coffeeshop as their two very different universes begin to collide in Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, C.B. Lee's fun, sapphic, cozy fantasy YA romance.

When Brenda’s internet goes out right before an important scholarship deadline, she stumbles right into Kat’s family’s coffeeshop. Brenda is swept away by cool, confident Kat, who actually cares about Brenda’s 19-step plan to save the world through science. Meanwhile, Kat can’t stop thinking about Brenda, who is smart,...

You Belong to Me
by Hayley Krischer
March 25, 2025
Reserve

The Substance meets Girl in Pieces, in this new YA psychological thriller exploring the dark secrets of the wellness and beauty world, brimming with sapphic romance, class exploration, and friendship clashes.

Frances Bean has always been content living life on the perimeter. Until she gets paired up for a class project with rich and popular Julia, daughter of famous wellness guru Deena Patterson. The "magic" skincare products, healing sound baths, and extravagant parties of Deena’s company DEEP never really interested Frances before, who wears the badge of goth outcast and bookworm proudly. But face time with the girl she...

Heartsick
by Kristina Forest
August 25, 2025
Reserve

A sweet and fast-paced contemporary teen romance from USA Today bestselling author Kristina Forest.

High school senior Margot Whitman is an intern at Healing Hearts Inc., the company that created the innovative pill that can erase a person’s heartbreak overnight. Every weekend, Margot witnesses patients get cured of their broken hearts. Meanwhile, she’s nursing a heartbreak of her own. With college on the horizon and their futures taking them in different directions, she and her ex Isaac recently called it quits. Margot has thought about taking a pill, but erasing her love for Isaac doesn’t feel right. However, her heart breaks...

Where Shadows Meet
A Novel
by Patrice Caldwell
May 07, 2025
Reserve

The bestselling dark and thrilling Black sapphic vampire romantasy that questions what it truly means to sacrifice for love.

"This is a lush, intoxicating read, packing tender romance alongside vicious twists. My new obsession!" - Mark Oshiro, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anger is a Gift and Into the Light

You have no idea what I’ve done for love. Just as you have no idea what you may one day do.

Once long ago, a girl named Favre sacrificed her wings for love. Thana, the young goddess she so willingly gave them up for, sacrificed...

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
A Book of Loves
by Cynthia Rylant
December 18, 2025
Reserve

Celebrate the small, often overlooked things that cats, dogs, and children love in this sweet and gentle picture book from Newbery Medal winner and author of the Henry and Mudge series, Cynthia Rylant.

Cats love boxes and windows and toys…and other things. Dogs love sticks and biscuits and puddles…and other things. Children love bubbles and cake and stories…and other things. But what do they all love? Love.

The Princess and the Grain of Rice
by Tina Cho
December 31, 2025
Reserve

A sweet, funny Korean Princess and the Pea retelling, written by critically acclaimed Korean American author Tina Cho. A new classic in the making!

In the mountains of Joseon, Jeongsoon has a heart as gentle as jade, but she might just be the clumsiest girl in the kingdom. She wants to be a princess, so she enters the grand princess challenge where she must complete the Manners Test, the Wisdom Test, and finally—the Sleep Test. Throughout each examination, Jeongsoon is far from flawless but in staying true to herself, wins the favor of the queen and the competition itself.

Includes backmatter...

Attack Bunnies
by Gehl, Laura
December 31, 2025
Reserve

Kitty Caterpillar
by Annabeth Bondor-Stone,Connor White
December 31, 2025
Reserve

Meet Kitty Caterpillar: She is a part kitty-cat, part caterpillar, 100% irresistible new picture book character, created by an Emmy-nominated writing duo and illustrated by the New York Times bestselling artist of Uni the Unicorn. Perfect for fans of Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn and The Bad Seed.

Kitty Caterpillar has the purr-fect life. She’s the queen of her kittydom, where she enjoys gourmet meals, catnaps, and the best hugs from her favorite human, Hazel.

Then one day Kitty Caterpillar discovers an exciting new world: the outdoors! But as thrilling as it is, there’s no place like home – and nothing better than a best...

How to Comfort a Monster
by Jesper Cederstrand
December 31, 2025
Reserve

A child wakes up ready to play, but this morning he hears a strange noise coming from outside his bedroom.

On the other side of the door is a giant crying monster. The child tries to offer comfort. The child's arms won't fit around the monster for a hug. The child's hand disappears in the monster's giant paw. The child's hanky is drenched by the monster's huge tears. But eventually the monster settles and tells the child that his company is enough. Then they play a game of hide and seek.

How to Comfort a Monster explores big emotions, the...

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

Mary Wilbanks Avenue
Baytown, Texas 77520
Map