Staff Picks

Staff-recommended reading and viewing for AUGUST 2025.

Check back each month for a new list. Also check out our Goodreads Group for reviews, online bookclubs, and more!

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PREVIOUS STAFF PICKS

June 2025
- Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
- Grown Women
- And Tango Makes Three
- The Dawn of Everything
- Himself
- The Z Word
- Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect
- The Influencers
- The Secret Garden
- Exit West
May 2025
- But Not Too Bold
- Work Won't Love You Back
- The Fetishist
- Magic Knight Rayearth
- Secret Wars
- Of Love and Other Demons
- The Taming of the Shrew
- Pony Confidential
- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
- The Serviceberry
April 2025
- Self-Made Boys
- The Pairing
- Freshwater
- Your Brain's Not Broken
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club
- Witch Hat Atelier
- The Serpent and the Wolf
- Unrig
- Moon Tiger
- I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com
March 2025
- Spotlights
- Doppelganger
- The Sociopath Next Door
- Briefly, a Delicious Life
- Eurotrash
- The Book of Hope
- The Wicked + the Divine
- Frankenstein
- Bride
- Light From Uncommon Stars
- The Jakarta Method
February 2025
- Toto
- Shigidi
- Delilah Green Doesn't Care
- Small Pleasures
- Palestine
- The Necessity of Exile
- Rebecca
- One Day I'll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman
- The Art Thief
- Cobalt Red
January 2025
- Crush
- Kaiju
- The Bear and the Nightingale
- Dune
- An Inconvenient Cop
- When Crack Was King
- These Burning Stars
- Tai Chi
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- The Count of Monte Cristo
December 2024
- When the Clock Broke
- Make the Season Bright
- Loud
- Deadly Nightshade
- All Is Found
- The Future is Disabled
- Shady Hollow
- Indigenous DC
- The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
- Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands
November 2024
- Human Acts
- Things Don't Break on Their Own
- The Mayflower
- The Dispossessed
- Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me
- The Vegetarian
- Polar Vortex
- Wonderbook
- Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear
- Probably Ruby
October 2024
- Gideon the Ninth
- We Do This ‘Til We Free Us
- The Night Guest
- The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes
- This Close to Okay
- The Sunset Years of Agnes
- Listen for the Lie
- If We Burn
- Mister Magic
- Wyrd Sisters
September 2024
- Lessons for Survival
- Leviathan Wakes
- My Lady Jane
- Motherless Daughters
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
- A Sorceress Comes to Call
- The Tainted Cup
- Fervor
- Fusion Strategy
August 2024
- Today Will Be Different
- Against the Loveless World
- Octavia's Brood
- Orientalism
- Garden Spells
- Pure America
- The Perks of Loving a Wallflower
- Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies
- The Golden Spoon
July 2024
- Icarus
- We Were the Lucky Ones
- Agatha Christie
- A Stranger in the House
- Wonder
- Cut Loose!
- Filterworld
- Mercury
- Slow Down
- Old Crimes
June 2024
- Gender Queer
- The Villa
- Text Me When You Get Home
- Hero of Two Worlds
- Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
- Is This Normal?
- Wild Things
- The Reign of Wolf 21
- Daisy Darker
- I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together
May 2024
- The Little Red Chairs
- The Sympathizer
- The Postman Always Rings Twice
- A Most Agreeable Murder
- Ace
- Thelma the Unicorn
- Your House Will Pay
- We All Want Impossible Things
- The Fetishist
- Swiss Vendetta
April 2024
- The Silent Patient
- A Friend for Henry
- Solitaire
- Riding Freedom
- The Hanged Man of Conakry
- Paris
- What Red Was
- Come As You Are
- A Kind of Spark
- A Kind of Spark
- Murder is A Piece of Cake
March 2024
- Night Side of the River
- She-Hulk
- The Final Girl Support Group
- Bath Haus
- Brooklyn
- The Bee Sting
- Women Talking
- Brave the Wild River
- Dark Earth
- A Court of Mist and Fury
February 2024
- It Happened on Saturday
- The Consequences
- Hyberbole and a Half
- My Brother's Husband
- The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Waiting to Be Arrested at Night
- White Bird
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- Wild and Distant Seas
- The Revolutionary Temper
January 2024
- A Rip Through Time
- Rebecca
- Better Late Than Never
- A Woman Is No Man
- This Is Major
- Foster
- Village of Secrets
- Extremely Online
- Lady Tan's Circle of Women
- Bookshops & Bonedust
December 2023
- Dog On It
- The Roaring Days of Zora Lily
- We Spread
- The Woman In Me
- Eight Dates and Nights
- Emily of New Moon
- Atomic Habits
- Blackmail and Bibingka
- Unbroken
- Death Valley
November 2023
- The Luminaries
- The Werewolf of Paris
- Motherthing
- The Sentence
- Winter Counts
- The Last House on Needless Street
- Every Heart a Doorway
- Victory City
- Our Best Intentions
- Someone Else's Shoes
October 2023
- Solito
- Sabrina & Corina
- Masters of Death
- Godkiller
- Juniper & Thorn
- I'll Give You The Sun
- The Skin and Its Girl
- When Crack Was King
- The Monsters We Defy
- Why We Meditate
September 2023
- Olga Dies Dreaming
- Raw Dog
- We See Each Other
- Kaiju
- Thornhedge
- Bookworm
- Mr. Mercedes
- The Tiger Rising
- My Murder
- Winter Counts
August 2023
- The Librarianist
- The Appeal
- The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
- 56 Days
- The Splendid and the Vile
- Pretty Young Rebel
- Ride-Or-Die
- The Woman in the Library
- The Virgin Suicides
- Spinning
June 2023
- The Myth of Normal
- Spare
- This Other Eden
- Shrek!
- The Change
- This Delicious Death
- Station Eleven
- Heartbroke
- D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding
- Lore Olympus
May 2023
- Alias Anna
- The Measure
- We Were Witches
- The Waiting
- The Man Who Died Twice
- Dial A for Aunties
- Dear Child
- Call Down the Hawk
- Chrysanthemum
- Heart of the Sun Warrior
April 2023
- Paper Girls
- Girls Like Me
- Cursed Bunny
- A Thousand Times
- Black Cake
- American Royalty
- The God of Endings
- An American Sunrise
- How Moon Fuentez
March 2023
- mad honey
- fruiting bodies
- the feminine mystique
- my grandmother's hands
- the color of water
- american fire
- get it together
- thousand cranes
- just as i am
- forest walking
February 2023
- The Marrow Thieves
- The Snow Child
- This Is How It Always Is
- Writers & Lovers
- The Book Eaters
- The Cabinet
- Wish You Were Here
- Stony the Road
- The Never Tilting World
- Investing 101
January 2023
- sweetgrass
- years
- magic
- winter
- time
- text
- sokcho
- dancing
- nightcrawling
- daughter
December 2022
- snail
- starless
- defy
- south
- naked
- lore
- vegan
- afong
- indians
- bee
November 2022
- everything
- collector
- king
- first
- there
- crawdads
- caleb's
- heroines
- departures
- haunting
October 2022
- well
- witch
- inheritance
- highway
- mexican
- eyre
- house
- honey
- castle
- witch
September 2022
- dirt
- delphine
- heaven
- tea
- alice
- sit
- history
- yes
- apprentice
- korean
August 2022
- brooklyn
- artcurious
- nettle
- broken
- rare
- maud
- fascism
- girls
- psalm
- wahala
July 2022
- kaikeyi
- brass
- sleepless
- precious
- bomb
- bluest
- westaway
- damnation
- nimona
- fevered
June 2022
- immune
- lesser
- lemon
- braid
- cerulean
- legion
- fencing
- peace
May 2022
- talk
- famine
- well
- eragon
- breasts
- molly
- love
- gates
- amsterdam
- edge
April 2022
- true
- chouette
- seek
- heartstopper
- sophia
- chernobyl
- one-straw
- rage
- hatmakers
- edge
March 2022
- psalm
- jade
- code
- queen
- pachinko
- yolk
- angels
- papi
- theater
- period
February 2022
- woods
- place
- oliphant
- squad
- ringquist
- quanders
- almost
- covid
- systems
- jane
January 2022
- nothing
- girl
- pick
- skye
- creature
- hating
- coat
- war
December 2021
- Just Mercy
- Crying in H Mart
- Road Ends
- Whodunit crime puzzles
- Catwings
- Prianesi
- Interior Chinatown
- Smoke
- Broke in America
- Hunt, Gather, Parent
November 2021
- city baker's
- three women
- devi
- betty
- wounded knee
- unsettled ground
- migrations
- small pleasures
- circe
- trio
October 2021
- Thursday
- Guest
- Frangipani
- Broken
- Plot
- Luck
- Nowhere
- Huddle
- Being
- Said
September 2021
- Dolly
- tree
- epic
- tiger
- ban
- emotion
- forest
- mindful
- twelve
- shop
August 2021
- thick
- among
- vanessa
- coffee
- elephant
- space
- librarian
- summer
July 2021
- sigh
- maiden
- audre
- rosaline
- alligator
- dust
- aardvark
- distraction
- hex
June 2021
- dead
- Cerulean Sea
- Stamped
- One to watch
- Maud Dixon
- Goodbye
- lamplighters
- Hmart
- Maine
- Cemetery boys
May 2021
- darker
- feather
- death
- save
- stewards
- vegetarian
- face
- traitor
- six
- super
April 2021
- bird
- never
- evelyn
- door
- fox
- poem
- hill
- rosy
- mountain
- greenwood
March 2021
- lovecraft
- something
- agatha
- swim
- blackout
- plow
- rage
- talk
- ends
- men in kilts
January/February 2021
- spell bound
- Riviera gold
- That Time of Year
- Wind
- braiding
- curse
- lost queen
- Rambling
- maybe
- color law
December 2020
- women
- memory
- dickens
- world
- owl
- group
- witches
- mill
- foe
- freedom
November 2020
- Leonard and Hungry Paul : a novel
- Barnaby Mayne
- A song below water
- Seven lies
- The kitchen god's wife
- My name is Resolute
- Loving
- A children's bible : a novel
- Stand up straight and sing!
- slave's cause
September 2024
October 2020
- Lockwood
- Turn Key
- Knife
- Watch
- Pull Stars
- Lacks
- Weather
- Run Eat
- Starless

Holds and Account Log In are unavailable until the launch of our new online catalog on August 19. Existing holds and places in line will be preserved except for Holds placed during the last week using the mobile app due to a technical issue. Click here for more information >>>>

Stay cool during the heat. All Library locations are open as cooling centers during our normal business hours.

STAFF PICKS

Staff-recommended reading and viewing for AUGUST 2025.

PREVIOUS STAFF PICKS

Last updated: July 2025

About US

Support Your LibrarY

CONTACT US

SEARCH WEBSITE

© 2018-2023. Alexandria Library | City of Alexandria, Virginia | Sitemap

Holds and Account Log In are unavailable until the launch of our new online catalog on August 19. Existing holds and places in line will be preserved except for Holds placed during the last week using the mobile app due to a technical issue. Click here for more information >>>>﻿

Stay cool during the heat. All Library locations are open as cooling centers during our normal business hours.

STAFF PICKS

Staff-recommended reading and viewing for AUGUST 2025.

PREVIOUS STAFF PICKS

Last updated: July 2025

About US

Support Your LibrarY

CONTACT US

SEARCH WEBSITE

© 2018-2023. Alexandria Library | City of Alexandria, Virginia | Sitemap

Holds and Account Log In are unavailable until the launch of our new online catalog on August 19. Existing holds and places in line will be preserved except for Holds placed during the last week using the mobile app due to a technical issue. Click here for more information >>>>