Thank you for browsing the City Books Fall 2025/Winter 2026 catalog. While these selections reflect my preference for literary fiction, I realized when compiling this catalog that this year, it is also lopsided toward plot-driven mysteries and books under 200 pages. I imagine this is because, like many of us, I was often looking to escape current events and in need of easy answers.
Availability
City Books will make every effort to keep these books available in-store at least through the end of 2025–longer if they sell well. However, if you are browsing this catalog from outside Pittsburgh, most (though not all) of the titles are listed in our online catalogs on Bookshop.org and on Libro.fm. I don’t rate books in these catalogs, but be assured that if you see a book here, I found something about it to like–and I would love to discuss it with you.
The Catalog
The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer
Belinda Bauer’s novel begins in 1926 when a little English girl steals eggs from sea birds and sells them to collectors. In a parallel timeline, two boys find themselves the victims of contemporary egg traffickers. This is more literary fiction than crime novel. City Books Best of 2025.
The Lilac People by Milo Todd
A debut novel about the lives of queer and transgender people in Berlin before & after Hitler’s rise to power. Extremely timely commentary on the power of love & community in the face of oppression. An important book for its relevance to the present day. City Books Best of 2025.
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion binds Cal Jenkins to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to run from her past. The novel spans from WW2 through Vietnam. It is similar in tone to Stoner by John Williams, but expertly incorporates fully round female characters, as well. Destined to become one of the great American novels. City Books Best of 2025.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
A quiet novel about woman who handwrites letters and learns, over time, how the written word can transform a life. It has a sensitive character arc that sneaks up on the narrator as well as the reader. This novel will be counted among the best epistolary novels of the last 30 years. City Books Best of 2025.
The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan
In the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, PI Annie Gore tracks down the truth about the disappearance of three little girls, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. These folks won’t seem like strangers to Western PA readers. City Books Best of 2025.
Dominion by Addie C. Citchens
A Black Southern family drama about a pastor’s family and the secrets they keep. The novel deals with systemic racism, toxic masculinity, evangelicalism, and the other traps that keep people in fear and oppression. Good balance of character and plot without becoming heavy handed. City Books Best of 2025.
That’s How They Get You edited by Damon Young
A multi-dimensional anthology of humor writing by some of the best Black writers and performers today. Edited by Damon Young, award-winning author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, these pieces will make you laugh and think. Covers a wide variety of Black experience. Pittsburgh writer.
The Height of Land by M. C. Benner Dixon
What happens after the dystopia? How do those left behind build a new civilization? This is a quest story about a young man who turns to ancient texts to find meaning in an unforgiving landscape. When he reads Lucille Clifton & Walt Whitman alongside the Bible and the Tao Te Ching, he learns to look inside himself for answers. Pittsburgh writer. Not available on audio.
Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Exstrom Courage
As Rose tries to plan a family wedding in Miami, Dorothy’s date is found dead–face down in a frozen cheesecake. Faithful to the original show, this charming comedy is Rachel Elstrom Courage’s first in a series of Golden Girl cozy mysteries. Readers don’t need to be show watchers to understand the characters or situations. Pittsburgh writer. Not available on audio.
When the Trees Finally Testify by Bonita Lee Penn
Lyric poems that combine the urgency of history with the necessity of the present. Bonita Lee Penn’s writing investigates the experience of Black women’s search for identity, protection, and love. This is a fearless collection of poetry that ranks alongside the work of Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, and Audre Lorde. Pittsburgh writer. Not available on audio.
Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord
Four wine experts–Avery, Cosmo, Sonny, and Maelys–converge on a French vineyard to taste the only remaining bottle of one of the rarest wines in the world. Set at the height of summer, this is a slightly claustrophobic, slightly intoxicating glimpse into an insular world that will have readers asking WTF did I just read? If you liked Piglet or Big Swiss, this is for you.
Twist by Colum McCann
An Irish reporter is sent to cover the rupture of a trans-Atlantic fiber-optic cable at the bottom of the ocean. A psychological study of the nature of communication & identity, and togetherness & distance. Lots of tension and suspense without actually being a labeled a “mystery.” Readers will either love it or hate it.
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Sam Selvon’s novel describes the experiences of a group of West Indian immigrants (known as the Windrush generation) living in London in the 1950s through a series of loosely connected vignettes about immigration, homesickness, assimilation, and the physical and mental impacts of expatriation. Atmospheric and melancholic. Available in store and on audio only.
How We Learn to Be Brave by Mariann Edgar Budde
Bishop Budde argues that courage is a journey built on consistent practice & that bravery often happens when least expected. The book is scriptural but not preachy. Budde talks intimately about what religion haeant to her, and the mistakes the Episcopal Church has made in the past. Written before she stood up to Trump, but her sermon is included.
Audition by Katie Kitamura
A middle-aged actress’s life is thrown into chaos when a young man claims to be her son. The novel explores the blurred lines between performance, reality, and identity, and is a fascinating look at the way people romanticize and “act” in their daily lives. Nominated for 2025 Booker Award.
All the Colour in the World by C.S. Richardson
C.S. Richardson follows the life of Henry through a series of poetic vignettes. Inspired by his artistic passion, Henry experiences history, art, and life from boyhood to war to unexpected love. The novel has a “come full circle” arc to it during which Henry comes face to face with his younger self. As a result, the novel blends historical fiction with artistic imagery in what often feels like an extended elegy about life. Available in store only.
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
Perspective-based fiction based on the real-life Montparnasse train derailment of 1895, capturing the event through the stories of diverse passengers on the journey across France. Since the end of the book is foretold, the book is entirely character driven and reminiscent of Thorton Wilder’s Bridge over San Luis Rey.
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
A psychological thriller about best-selling author Grady Green, whose life unravels after his wife Abby disappears under mysterious circumstances, leaving him to seek answers on a remote Scottish island where he becomes convinced he sees her again. This novel is entirely plot driven and is a fast, easy read for readers who neither want to think too much nor stare at a screen.
Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer
Anton Treuer’s coming-of-age story about Ezra Cloud, an Ojibwe boy who, after an altercation with a bully, is sent to live with his grandfather in the Canadian wilderness to avoid the police investigation. The book is described by the publisher as a “young adult” novel, but it has wide appeal across age and gender. It is also quite informative about Ojibwe culture.
Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin
The story follows Smith, a wealthy, queer Black man as he navigates the complexities of race & class privilege while dealing with his best friend’s death and the systemic barriers he faces despite his privileged background. Think Less than Zero meets Six Degrees of Separation. The compelling side plot of Smith trying to find his friend’s drug dealer propels this book moving forward.
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
A dual-timeline novel about 16th-century playwright Emilia Bassano and her contemporary descendant, Melina Green, both struggling to gain recognition in male-dominated worlds. The Bassano half of the story will convince readers that William Shakespeare was an Alan Smithee-type pseudonym for a score of anonymous playwrights.
Sleeping Children by Anthony Passeron
A fictionalized memoir interwoven with the history of the AIDS epidemic, told from the perspective of the author’s family and the forgotten French doctors who first encountered the disease. The family story becomes heartbreakingly universal, while the race to isolate the virus reads like a suspense thriller. The dual storylines are expertly intertwined despite the inevitable conclusions of the novel.
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
A small town mystery thriller centered on Lucy Chase, who was found with no memory and covered in her best friend’s blood after Savvy‘s murder five years earlier. This twisty, fast read is for those who enjoy true crime podcasts as well as those who like good old “whodunits.” It kept me guessing until the very end.
The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves
Detective Jimmy Perez returns to solve a murder on Orkney when his childhood friend, Archie Stout, is found bludgeoned to death with an ancient Neolithic stone. If you know the Shetland series (book or TV), you’ll be delighted to catch up with old friends Jimmy and Willow five years into their life together.
Zeal by Morgan Jerkins
A multigenerational historical fiction novel spanning 150 years of Black American history–from the Civil War to present day Harlem. Inspired by an 1863 love letter discovered by the author. This sweeping novel pairs beautifully with Buckeye as two sides of the American experience. Heart-breaking & beautiful.
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler’s novel follows mother-of-the-bride, Gail Baines, during her daughter Debbie’s wedding weekend when Max, Gail’s ex-husband, unexpectedly appears at her door requiring a place to stay. What at first might seem like a simple story of marriage and divorce develops into a complex reflection on youth and midlife. Well written & believable.
The Island of Last Things by Emma Sloley
A dystopian novel about a time in the nearish future when a handful of zoos around the world attempt to preserve the remaining species. Set on the island of Alcatraz, the maximum security prison has been transformed into a destination themepark/zoo. I found myself asking what is the future of incarceration, and who are the animals and who are the keepers? As far as climate change dystopian novels go, this book is the descendant of Ice by Anna Kavan.
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
The orphaned Mansfield sisters are accused by a frustrated ferryman of transforming into a pack of marauding hounds and wreaking havoc on an early 18C English village. Purvis explores the history of embittered, weak men scapegoating women and marginalized groups in order to make themselves feel more powerful. If you like Hamnet or The Wedding Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell, this book is for you.
The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain
A bookseller discovers a woman’s purse in a Paris dumpster and uses the clues he finds in the handbag to track down the owner. When Laurent impersonates the missing woman’s boyfriend, the author explores how the detritus of our lives reflects and complicates who we are. Translated by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce, this is satisfying read for a quiet weekend at home.
Positive Obsession by Susana M. Morris
A cultural biography that charts the life of one of our greatest writers, situating her alongside key historical and social moments that shaped her work. Rather than elevating the science fiction writer to prophet, Morris illustrates how Butler was a keen historical analyst with a talent for using the past to identify future outcomes. A must-read for new and existing fans alike.