Librarians across the nation pick top titles for the autumn season.

Beth Atwater, Johnson County Library, KS

Starter Villain (Tor) by John Scalzi: “I’m always drawn to something designed to make me smile, and the more original the plot the better.” This sci-fi novel introduces Charlie, whose life takes a turn when he inherits his uncle’s supervillain business.

Robin Beerbower, Salem Public Library, OR

My Name Is Barbra (Viking) by Barbra Streisand: “Who isn’t looking forward to hearing more from Babs? Hopefully, this will be very candid.”

Amy Dittmeier, Des Plaines Public Library, IL

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel (Sourcebooks Casablanca), the second installment in the “Doomsday Books” series by KJ Charles, “has everything you come to expect from Charles—a beautiful queer love story in a fantastically researched historical setting. But in this case, we also get a sizzling caper-filled plot! I’m usually not a fan of historical romances, but Charles always delivers.”

Janet Lockhart, retired from Wake County Public Libraries, NC

The Golden Gate (Minotaur) is one of the most eagerly awaited mystery debuts of the season, by law professor and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother author Amy Chua. Starring a multiracial U.S. Army veteran–turned–homicide detective, it’s “a great mystery as well as an astute examination of how race and class affected lives in 1940s San Francisco.”

Kimberley McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, TX

The Phoenix Crown (Morrow) by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang: “Because anything those two write has got to be golden.” Here the lives of two women intertwine in a narrative that wends from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to Paris during World War I.

Jill Minor, Washington County Public Library System, VA

Starling House (Tor) by Alix E. Harrow, a fantasy about an uncanny house at the center of the many secrets in the town of Eden, KY: “Because it’s Harrow and…it’s gothic!”

Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, NJ

Jean Kwok’s The Leftover Woman (Morrow), a story about two very different mothers: “I am looking forward to the exploration of motherhood, the public images we create, the lives we have created, and the lives others have created for us.”