Winter has arrived. The days are shorter, the temperatures are low, and the wind bites. I cannot think of a better way to spend a cold weather day than staying inside, turning off my devices, and getting lost in a good book. The Mullen Library has curated a list of fiction books about reading and books, librarians, book enthusiasts, and booksellers for your reading enjoyment. This collection features stories that will transport you to tropical paradises, alternate worlds, and haunted bookstores; stories that celebrate librarians, booksellers, and all book lovers; mysteries involving librarians and long lost manuscripts; and stories about the power of reading. Whatever type of reader you are, these books are guaranteed to entertain. Browse and check out one of these books from the Mullen collection, find your favorite reading spot, and happy reading!
Highlighted Reviews
The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa, translated by Sawad Hussain and Ranya Abdelrahman (Restless Books, 2024, Dystopian Fiction)
In this thought-provoking Orwellian novel, a totalitarian government has come to power and controls nearly every aspect of society. The male protagonist begins a new job as a “Book Censor” where he is tasked with reading literature for inappropriate content and determining whether a book must be banned. When the Book Censor reads Zorba the Greek, he is captivated by the story and falls in love with reading. The protagonist begins to understand the power of stories and the value of imagination and freedom of ideas – all of which are on the verge of destruction. He transforms from censor to activist, joining a group fighting to save literature, even if it risks his life. Al-Essa tackles the heavy topic of censorship – a prevalent and disturbing trend in today’s political climate – with satire, absurdity, and playfulness. Classic fairy tales, Kafkaesque scenes, and homage to fantastical stories like Alice in Wonderland are woven into the narrative. The result is an engaging story that “brims with intelligence.” (Publishers Weekly).
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (Berkley, 2021, Historical Fiction)
This “blockbuster historical novel” (Booklist) tells the compelling story of Belle de Costa Greene who served as the personal librarian to J.P Morgan and curated a collection of books, artwork, and manuscripts for Morgan’s library. Intelligent, outspoken, and fierce, Belle de Costa Greene secured numerous highly-sought masterpieces through skilled negotiations and tactical deal making, and was well-known in the international art and literary world. De Costa Greene had a complex relationship with J.P Morgan who confided in her about business matters, but also hinted at an underlying affection. The most compelling storyline involves de Costa Greene’s hidden secret, that she is a Black woman passing for White. Belle must learn to navigate a racist society and interact with others in a manner to protect her true identity from exposure, which would have severe consequences for her and her family. Belle also struggles with societal restrictions on a woman’s ability to live independently and explore their own interests and matters of the heart. Readers who want a captivating and true story of an intelligent woman who pushed the boundaries of society to build a life she wanted will enjoy this book. The Personal Librarian is an “excellent piece of historical fiction that many readers will find hard to put down.” (Library Journal).
Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan (Mira, 2025, Mystery/Romance)
Mia Crawford – a bookworm who never leaves home without a book – is headed to St. Claire, a private island in the Caribbean for a mandatory vacation as her five-year work bonus. A big promotion at her accounting firm awaits her return, although Mia is uncertain if more money – and more work – is what she truly wants. Right now, Mia just wants to lounge by the pool, get lost in a good book, and have a romantic fling with a resort guest. Upon arrival in paradise, Mia learns that a woman has recently gone missing from the resort and is immediately intrigued to learn more. When the woman’s body washes up on the beach and Mia discovers notes written in a used book that could be clues to the woman’s death, Mia turns into an amateur sleuth to solve this mystery. As her investigation progresses, Mia strikes up a steamy romance with a handsome resort bartender and discovers that the resort (and the guests) hold many secrets. This is a fun read that combines a cozy mystery, thrills, and romance on an island paradise. Any reader wanting to escape the winter chill will love this “tropical romp that folds a frothy romance into a whodunit.” (Kirkus Reviews).
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (William Morrow, 2016, Contemporary Fiction/Romance)
A beloved little library is closed and sold off to become high-end apartments, leaving Nina, a shy librarian, unemployed and heartbroken. Unwilling to throw away volumes of literary treasure, Nina packs her car with books as she leaves the library for the last time. But can this awful event be a catalyst for something truly wonderful? Nina takes a chance and moves to a rural Scottish town to run a mobile bookstore out of a converted van. Understanding the joy of a good book, Nina gets to know the members of this small-town community as she plays matchmaker connecting the perfect book with the perfect reader. A romantic match might be in store for Nina as two men vie for her attention and she is caught up in a love triangle. This “gem of a book” (LibraryReads) is a feel good story about the love of reading and books and starting over. It is sure to warm up any reader this winter season.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Harper, 2021, Literary Fiction/Magical Realism)
Hailed by Publishers Weekly as “one of Erdrich’s most sprawling and illuminating works to date” this story takes place in Birchbark Books, the author’s independent bookstore in Minneapolis. Tookie is an Ojibwe woman who works at the bookstore after serving a significant prison sentence for transporting a corpse over state lines. During her incarceration, Tookie was given a dictionary and turned to reading to escape the hardships of confinement. On All Souls Day 2019, Flora – one of the bookstore’s frequent and “most annoying customers” – dies and returns to Birchbark Books as a ghost to haunt the store, with a strong attachment to Tookie. As Tookie tries to provide Flora with what she needs to be at peace, she digs into her past and the troubled history of Indigenous Peoples of North America. The ghosts of America’s history are explored and reflected in current times as the characters deal with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter protests, and systemic racism. While grappling with these heavy matters, Erdrich injects humor and warmth into the story. Quotes from books and literary references are incorporated throughout the novel as a love letter to books, authors, independent bookstores, and their staff.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024, Fantasy)
Publishers Weekly calls Murakami’s The City and Its Uncertain Walls an “astonishing achievement” and Kirkus Reviews contends it is “one of [Murakami’s] most satisfying tales.” The novel begins with a love story between two teenagers. One day, the girl tells the boy about a town surrounded by a high wall where her “real” self lives. In this parallel world, she works at the library, which was once full of books but now collects egg-shaped old dreams. She invites the boy to come to the walled town for there is a place for him as a “Dream Reader” to read old dreams stored in the library. She warns him that if he comes, she will have no memory of him or their time together outside of this world. The boy enters the walled city and assumes the position of Dream Reader, exploring different worlds while reading people’s dreams. Yet, in this world he is a middle-aged man who his young love no longer recognizes. In the second part of the novel, the man loses contact with the parallel world and carries on with his regular life as the head librarian of a small library in a rural town. There he develops a significant relationship with a neurodivergent teen who devours books and becomes obsessed with the man’s stories of the walled city. The man continues to think about the alternate world and ask where does the real world exist – here or within the high walls? Book lovers and “Murakami fans . . . will appreciate his iconic tropes – lost love, loneliness, missing women, and other realities—along with his comforting leitmotifs, namely cats, whiskey, jazz and classical music, and beloved books.” (Booklist).
Contemporary Fiction
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (Putnam, 2004, Contemporary Fiction) Once a month members of a book club meet to discuss a different Jane Austen novel. “Bright, engaging, dexterous literary entertainment for everyone, though with many special treats and pleasures for Janeites.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Dial Press, 2007, Contemporary Fiction) “Bringing Great Expectations to desperate children ravaged by revolution, an eccentric teacher becomes a martyr to literature and transforms the prospects of a strong-willed girl.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Dystopian Fiction
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (Random House, 2010, Dystopian Fiction) In the not too distant future, a near illiterate America is on the brink of disaster. The protagonist, Lenny Abramov, is a bibliophile who is trying to survive this changing world and have a romantic relationship based on human connection. “A rich commentary on the obsessions and catastrophes of the information age and a heartbreaker worthy of its title, this is Shteyngart’s best yet.” (Publishers Weekly)
Mystery
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983, Mystery/Historical Fiction) Taking place in 1327, a series of murders occur at an Italian abbey and a Franciscan scholar is sent to investigate. He soon discovers that the mystery is connected to the last remaining copy of Aristotle’s second book of the Poetics. “Fueled by bookish ingenuity instead of flesh-and-blood vitality, this brilliant Borgesian-Nabokovian historical–part pageant, part whodunit–shines with a distinctly dry light.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart (Minotaur Books, 2015, Mystery/Historical Fiction) “Political and religious intrigue drives Hart’s compelling debut set in 18th-century China. Disgraced Beijing librarian Li Du arrives in Dayan near the border with Burma to find his ambitious magistrate cousin preparing for the visit of the emperor and a major festival that will feature an eclipse. . . . The sudden death of Pieter van Dalen, an elderly Jesuit astronomer, is attributed to natural causes until Li Du discovers the man’s tea was poisoned.” (Publishers Weekly)
Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James (Berkley Prime Crime, 2017, Cozy Mystery) The eighth installment in the Cat in the Stacks series. “Charlie and [and his cat] Diesel must find a killer in a room full of librarians.” (From the Publisher)
The Lost Book of the Grail by Charles Lovett (Viking, 2017, Mystery) This “thoroughly enjoyable novel” (Publishers Weekly) follows “an obsessive bibliophile’s quest through time to discover a missing manuscript, the unknown history of an English Cathedral, and the secret of the Holy Grail.” (From the Publisher)
Literary Fiction
Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett (Riverhead Books, 2022, Literary Fiction) “Bennett’s . . . kaleidoscopically imaginative, word-enthralled, working-class English narrator reenters the consciousness of her younger selves and tracks how books, reading, and writing shaped each phase of her life, her syntax, vocabulary, and tone evolving as she matures.” (Booklist)
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (Scribner, 2021, Literary Fiction) “Several main storylines, all connected to a ‘lost’ ancient Greek manuscript, are set in 15th century Constantinople, present day Idaho, and a spaceship in the future. Much of the beauty of this novel is in watching the pieces slowly come together to tell an eternal story that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.” (LibraryReads)
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Penguin Press, 2022, Literary Fiction) “Can a book shout quietly? This one does. In a dystopian society desperately seeking scapegoats, young Bird’s missing mother is deemed ‘un-American.’ He traverses a perilous landscape in search of her: What’s left when a country sells its soul for a semblance of security? Unforgettable and heartbreakingly beautiful.” (LibraryReads)
Weather by Jenny Offill (Alfred A. Knopf, 2022, Literary Fiction) “Offill introduces us to Lizzie Benson, a librarian . . . who’s barely able to spend time with her husband and son as she fusses over her devout mother and addict brother. An old mentor wants Lizzie to help her answer mail she’s been receiving in response to her podcast Hell and High Water, and eventually Lizzie must look to the larger world and recognize that she can’t save everyone—though she keeps trying.” (Library Journal)
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (Viking, 2021, Literary Fiction) “A boy who hears objects talking and his mother, who can’t stop hoarding things, work out their destinies in a meditative tribute to books, libraries, and Zen wisdom.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Thrillers and Suspense
The Revealing Pattern by Alvin Heiner (Project Gutenberg, 2019, Thriller/Short Story) “This tale unfolds in a library, where we meet Professor Jonathan Waits, a researcher dedicated to debunking the myths surrounding the notorious Reamer mansion, a house with a violent past that has left it vacant for years due to local superstitions. . . . The narrative centers around Professor Waits as he engages with the librarian, Miss Hopstead, and attempts to uncover the truth behind the mansion’s history.” (Project Gutenberg)
The Bookworm by Mitch Silver (Pegasus Books, 2018, Thriller/Suspense) “A Russian professor of geopolitical history, Lara Klimt, known to friends as ‘the bookworm’ for her obsession with research, becomes the focus of deadly attention after acquiring six Dictaphone cylinders containing WWII secrets recorded by Noel Coward, who did espionage work for Winston Churchill during the war.” (Booklist)
Fantasy
The strange library by Haruki Maurakami, translated by Ted Goossen (Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, Fantasy/Horror) “A boy’s routine day at the public library becomes a trip down the rabbit hole in Murakami’s . . . short novel.” (Publisher’s Weekly)
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2012, Fantasy) “Protagonist Clay Jannon is a dotcom-bust survivor who finds a job in a mysterious San Francisco bookstore run by Ajax Penumbra. The bookstore is the haunt of a secret society that exists to decode an ancient codex by the famous Venetian printer Aldus Manutius.” (Library Journal)
Papyrus Trilogy by Zoran Živković, translated by Alice Copple-Tošić and Vuk Tošić (Cadmus Press, 2016, Fantasy/Mystery) “A series of mysterious deaths in the Papyrus Bookstore brings literature-loving police inspector Dejan Lukic to investigate. Together with the attractive owner, Vera Gavrilovic, they discover the elusive Last Book is responsible. Seemingly causeless deaths multiply, the National Security Agency, a secret apocalyptic sect, and others are drawn in, and the secrets of immortality, death, and reality itself are revealed in a masterful trilogy that demonstrates the magical and ultimately benevolent power of literature.” (From the Publisher)
Erica Hewett is a former graduate student in the Department of Information Sciences at The Catholic University of America and earned her Master’s of Science in Library and Information Science (M.S.L.I.S.) degree in December 2025. Erica earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 2007 from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.
