The Beautiful Ordinary: Literary Fiction Picks For You

11 Oct 2025

The Beautiful Ordinary: Literary Fiction Picks For You

Pain, nostalgia, and longing intertwine in these unforgettable reads. They don’t shy from the ache, they use it to create something breathtaking. You’ll finish them changed.

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Where Birds Land

by Mary Ruth Barnes

Release Date: October 4, 2025

Ella McSwain is a Chickasaw woman raising her family amidst evolving turmoil within the budding state of Oklahoma. After Ella is left with an unusable plot of land, she finds herself fighting for her family’s rightful allotment. Faced with crooked businessmen, land grifters, and grueling court battles, can she summon the strength to persevere against all odds?

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The Birthday Girl

by Mesha Mesh

Release Date: September 24, 2025

September 14th. Tahlia Banks’ birthday. No one ever remembered it… until the year she made sure they never forgot. She clawed her way out of the ghetto, built an empire from nothing, and rose to billionaire status, but the view at the top turned out lonelier than the bottom. Her family only called when they needed money. Her so-called friends only showed up when there was something in it for them. And her boyfriend, the man who owed her loyalty, was loving on everything with two legs.

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A Killer Wedding

by Joan O’Leary

Release Date: September 23, 2025

Christine can’t believe her luck. The iconic Gloria Beaufort, founder of the billion-dollar beauty empire Glo, has personally chosen her to cover her grandson’s wedding for Bespoke, the cult fashion magazine that every A-list bride dreams of being featured in. A career-making scoop and a free trip to a castle turned five-star hotel on the Emerald Isle? It feels too good to be true…

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Picket Line

by Elmore Leonard

Release Date: September 30, 2025

Chino and Paco Rojas seem well-mannered, at least for Chicanos, to the white cops that pull them over for littering on the long drive from California to Trinity, Texas. So well-mannered, in fact, that Captain Frank McKellan lets them off with a warning and recommends them a job at Stanzik Farms, the largest independent melon grower in the area.

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The Quiet One

by Cameron Lane

Release Date: September 22, 2025

In the coastal town of Wintermere—where the wind whispers through abandoned storefronts and the chapel stands half-restored—a quiet man works with his hands and avoids being seen. Julian Vero isn’t running. He’s rebuilding. Piece by piece, stone by stone, he’s giving new life to a place that once gave him sanctuary. He speaks little, but his presence echoes louder than words.

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When the Storm Breaks

by Kayla Lowe

Release Date: October 8, 2025

Bethany Crane’s marriage to Gerry once seemed like a dream. But as the years passed, what once felt like love slowly turned into a quiet, suffocating storm. Gerry’s emotional neglect cuts deep as he withholds affection, dismisses her needs, and makes her feel like a burden. Despite never raising a hand in anger, the silence between them is deafening.

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