historical fiction

New ARCs!!

by Stefani

It’s been a minute since I updated the advanced copies I have received through various sources. Time for an update on what I will be reading in the future.

Witches: A Compendium by Judika Illes

Expected publication: October 7, 2024 by Weiser Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A compendium of witches through the ages, from earliest prehistory to some of the most significant modern practitioners, Witches explores who and what is a witch. Ranging from such famed historical figures as Marie Laveau, Tituba, Sybil Leek, Isobel Gowdie, and Countess Erzsebet Báthory (popularly known as the Blood Countess) to popular literary and cinematic figures such as Endora, the Scarlet Witch, Storm, and the Wicked Witch of the West, Illes offers a complete range of the history of witches.   Also included are the sacred (Baba Yaga, Lilith, Isis, Hekate, Diana, Aradia, Circe) and the profane (the Salem Witch trials and the Burning Times), plus travel tips for witches and a guide to the tools of the trade. Witches is appropriate for readers of all ages and serves as an excellent and entertaining introduction for those fascinated by the topic.   Previously published in 2010 by Weiser Books as A Weiser Field Guide to Witches, this book has been updated for new witches as well as a new era.

Tilt by Emma Pattee

Expected publication: March 4, 2025 by Simon & Schuster

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Set over the course of one day, a heart-racing debut about a woman facing the unimaginable, determined to find safety.

Last night, you and I were safe. Last night, in another universe, your father and I stood fighting in the kitchen.

Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.

Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life.

A propulsive debut, Tilt is a primal scream of a novel about the disappointments and desires we all carry, and what each of us will do for the people we love.

The University of Arizona: A History in 100 Stories by Gregory McNamee

Expected publication: October 15, 2024 by Sentinel Peak Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The University of Arizona: A History in 100 Stories is a celebration of the people, ideas, inventions, teaching, and structures that have been part of the school’s evolution from a small land-grant institution to an internationally renowned research institution. Drawing on half a century of connection with the University of Arizona as a student, staff member, and faculty member, Gregory McNamee presents a history through the lens of a hundred subjects.

That story begins in 1885, with the establishment of the school, which quickly proved itself to be a powerhouse in its foundational “four pillars”: agriculture and earth sciences, followed by astronomy and anthropology. In the years following World War II, those four pillars became ever more important to the University, even as countless other fields of study gained prominence: optical sciences, women’s studies, the humanities, mathematics, and more. This phenomenal institution has as its setting the Sonoran Desert, and, closer to home, to a built environment that is widely considered among the most scenic in the country, from the Historic District with its buildings that are more than a century old to the latest steel-and-glass constructions on the edges of the ever-expanding campus.

McNamee relates this history in an entertaining manner, peppering discussion of serious intellectual and institutional themes with lighter moments—the origins of the university’s rivalry with Arizona State, the ghosts that are said to lurk about campus, and more. Wildcats everywhere will delight in McNamee’s celebration of the people, places, learning, books, and pastimes that have distinguished our school.

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Expected publication: October 8, 2024 by Atria Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn.

In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.

Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.

With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind.

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

Expected publication: October 8, 2024 by Orbit

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore.

He must write his last testament before it is too late.

It is a story steeped in history and myth – a journey from stone circles in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Ukraine where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs . .

Progress Update Fridays – July 26, 2024

by Stefani

Our Vengeful Souls by Kristi McManus

Progress: Page 92 of 290

Check this book out at: Goodreads

How it’s going:

This book is really cooking now! Sereia was cursed by her brother in epic fashion and left to drown in the ocean with human legs. She struggles to the surface and finds some floating debris and eventually arrives on land. The writing is beautiful, the world McManus is creating is rich, and the characters are wonderful. I am savoring every word of this so far.

The Delicate Beast by Roger Celestin

Progress: Page 185 of 414

Check this book out at: Goodreads

How it’s going:

I’m so bored!!! This book has nothing going on. Literally nothing. If I have to hear one more story about “the boy” doing something naughty like looking at a naked maid and getting scolded for it, I might actually scream. If something hasn’t actually happened by the time I hit 250 pages then I am giving up.

New Releases Wednesday – July 24, 2024

by Stefani

There was no upcoming releases post on Sunday because it was my littlest’s birthday! He’s officially a threenager now, and we spent the day playing with his new toys, going out for a Happy Meal and generally having an amazing day. So, let’s pick up with this week’s new releases. I think I found something to appeal to everyone. Tell me what you have your eye on.

Ne’er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

Published: July 23, 2024 by Griffin

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

In this steamy Regency romp, Lady Selina is determined to find the Duke of Stanhope the perfect wife―the only problem is she’s starting to think that might be her.

Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.

Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)

But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.

In the Lonely Hours by Shannon Morgan

Published: July 23, 2024 by Kensington

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

In a bewitchingly melancholy, thrillingly modern ghost story for readers of Eve Chase, Megan Shepherd, and Lisa Jewell, the new inhabitants of a centuries-old castle perched on a remote island in northwest Scotland must confront its tragic and terrifying history…

On a small island in a remote corner of northwest Scotland lies Maundrell castle, owned by its wealthy namesake family for centuries—until now. Edwina Nunn is shocked to learn a relative she never heard of has bequeathed the castle and its land to her. What awaits Edie and her teenage daughter, Neve, is even more startling, for the castle is home to a multitude of ghosts.

Yet there’s a strange beauty in the austere architecture and the eerie, bloody waters of Loch na Scáthanna, the Lake of Shadows. Beguiled by a frightened ghost who gazes longingly out of the castle’s windows, Edie and Neve are drawn to the legends shrouding the island and the mystery of the Maundrell Red—a priceless diamond that disappeared decades before.

Is the gem really cursed, and the cause of the family tragedies that have all occurred on Samhain—Scottish Halloween? As Samhain approaches once more, Edie and Neve race to peel back the dark secrets entwining the living and the dead—a twisted story of bitter cruelty and hidden love—or they will become another Maundrell tragedy trapped in the lonely hours .

Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

Published: July 20, 2024 by Penguin

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

To hell with love, this goddess has other plans…

Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.

The real story is much more interesting.

Persephone wasn’t taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.

Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld’s annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.

But consequences can be deadly, especially when you’re already in hell . . .

New Releases Wednesday – July 17, 2024

by Stefani

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

Published: July 16, 2024 by Ballantine Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

Published: July 16, 2024 by Viking

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find he’s too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive.

They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides; the Saracen Knight; and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.

The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner

Published: July 16, 2024 by Page & Vine

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Who says you can’t rewrite the stars?

1962—Twelve years removed from the summer when she first gave her heart away, Dr. Elizabeth (Ellie) Spencer, Professor of Astronomy at Indiana University, receives a mysterious package that has her asking that very question.

Inside the unmarked box is a novel written by Ellie’s first love, Jack Bennett. It tells the story of a young man and woman who meet at the water’s edge and fall madly in love, only to have their romance cut short by forces beyond their control. Ellie quickly realizes this is no ordinary story; it’s their story. Captivated by Jack’s words, she immerses herself in the pages, reliving the adventures they shared that magical summer. To her astonishment, hidden among the tales of star-gazing and stolen kisses is a detail that has her questioning everything.

Seeking answers, Ellie turns to her sister for help, but before they can get to the bottom of the mystery, news reaches them of their aunt’s death, sending Ellie back to the water’s edge with the hopes of finding the truth and rewriting the stars.

Upcoming Releases Sunday – July 7, 2024

by Stefani

In all the hubbub of the 4th of July, preparing for the start of a new school year (I’m going to have a 4th grader! WHAT?!!), my little guy’s upcoming birthday, and it being 115 degrees outside I totally missed Friday Progress Updates too. Oopsie! (As my 3 year old would say). So, here is the upcoming releases that have caught my eye. What do you think of these?

The Estate by Sarah Jost

Expected publication: November 19, 2024 by Sourcebooks Landmark

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Not all art is safe.

Camille Lerray has spent her career as an art historian surrounding herself with fineries, learning how to appeal to the rich, and selling art for millions. But she harbors a secret that could ruin the life she has so meticulously she has the magic ability to enter the world of the art she surrounds herself with, and she can take others with her. But tapping into history comes at a great risk. 

And someone has been watching, someone who knows about her magic, and her mistakes…

After Camille ruins her career and reputation after misusing her powers, she vows to do anything to get her old life back, even if that means tamping down her magic. So when Maxime Foucault, an enigmatic aristocrat who owns a sprawling French estate, enlists her help in authenticating the statues of a mysterious artist who was deemed a madwoman, she knows this could be her chance to turn her career around and get the man of her dreams. But something isn’t quite right about the Foucault family and the grand chateau they inhabit, and as Camille gets sucked into its walls, she finds a world of luxury and greed, and risks losing herself, and everything she has ever known, forever.

Wicked by Maggie Giles (Twisted Truth series, book 2)

Expected publication: October 22, 2024 by Rising Action

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Detective Ryan Boone just can’t let this case go. While the mystery behind the robbery and murders in Twisted was uncovered a few months back, there is still a very large loose thread that Boone desperately wishes to tie up. He convinces his superiors to allow him to travel to Ottawa, where he’s uncovered a lead into a conspiracy that hints what happened in Toronto has nation-wide, and horrific, implications.

Former detective Cora Porter has moved to forensics, but when a strange case involving a murder, a runaway, and a case of mistaken identity hits close to home, she squeezes her way into the investigation. It also doesn’t help that a certain visiting detective has caught her eye, and is also willing to work with her on the case.

Their suspect, Blaine Roche, always seems to be one step ahead of Ryan and Cora. What they don’t know is that he’s not just trying to evade arrest, but take down the conspiracy for his own purposes. Given he’s already a wanted man, Blaine is willing to do whatever it takes to get revenge. He has nothing else to lose … or so he thinks. Wicked picks up where Twisted left off, but in a new location and with several new twists.

Trail to Treason by Patricia Clough

Expected publication: November 12, 2024 by Rising Action

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

In a world where love and duty collide, Florence finds herself wedded young to a stern man, her life a silent testament to obedience and sacrifice. Cast out into the cold from seeking solace in forbidden arms, she faces her exile with the weight of a shattered family – one son by her side, the other left behind in the grip of her unforgiving husband. With doors shut firmly by those she once called family and the church that promised sanctuary, Florence embarks on a humble journey as a nurse.

Just as hope begins to glimmer on the horizon, love blossoms anew with a wealthy widower. Yet fate deals a cruel hand, snatching her newfound happiness away. As the shadows of the First World War stretch across Europe, a desperate Florence is ensnared in a deadly game of espionage, coerced into spying for the Germans.

Bound by love, torn by duty, and haunted by the ghosts of choices past, Florence must navigate the treacherous waters of a world at war, where trust is a luxury and survival is a constant battle.

Will she emerge unscathed, or will the sacrifices demanded by her clandestine role shatter the fragile hope she’s clung to? Dive into the heart of an era where war rages not just across battlefields but within the very souls of those caught in its grasp.

New Releases – July 4, 2024

by Stefani

Happy Independence Day to my American readers! Welcome to this week’s New Releases….Not Wednesday! Oopsie. My week got away from me and all of a sudden it was Thursday, where did the time go? I found a really good bunch of new releases this week. All of them are on my TBR list. Any that I missed?

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Published: July 2, 2024 by Riverhead Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Published: July 2, 2024 by Gallery Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

From the nationally bestselling author of the “powerful, heartbreaking” (Shelf Awareness) The Stationery Shop, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.”

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

The Haters by Robyn Harding

Published: July 2, 2024 by Grand Central Publishing

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The bestselling author of The Party and The Drowning Woman returns with a twisted tale of fame, obsession, and the dark recesses of social media.

Camryn Lane is living her dream. After years of struggle and rejection, her first novel has finally been published. Her editor is happy; her teenage daughter is proud; and her boyfriend and friends are all excited for her. She’s on top of the world—until she receives a disturbing message from an unknown sender.

Rattled by the accusations she finds there, Camryn swallows the sick feeling in her stomach and resolves to put the missive out of her mind. But when she checks her ratings on a popular book site, she finds a scathing one-star review. The reviewer is so articulate and convincing that soon, Camryn’s book is flooded with bad reviews. Could the reviewer be the same person who sent the ugly email? And why do they want to ruin her?

As the online harassment creeps into Camryn’s personal life, she vows to find out who’s behind it. Is it really a disgruntled reader? Or could it be someone she knows? The troll’s actions are escalating, and when the abuse turns deadly, it will take everything Camryn has to unmask the enemy so intent on destroying her—and finally learn why she’s being targeted

New Releases Wednesday – June 26, 2024

by Stefani

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

Published: June 25, 2024 by Del Ray

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,” from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box
 
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”  
 
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay. 
 
Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling.  
 
But Other Mommy needs an answer. 
 
Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.

Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong

Published: June 25, 2024 by Forever

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A  fun romantic comedy about a woman writing under a male pseudonym and the man she hires to play the role in public.

Daphne McFadden is tired of rejection. After submitting her manuscript to dozens of agents, she’s gotten rejection after rejection, and now it’s time for something drastic. And so, Daphne submits her manuscript again… under a man’s name.

Imagine her surprise when it sells for big money at an auction and soon becomes a publicity darling. Only she needs a man to play her super macho alter ego Zane Remington. Enter Chris Stanton, who absolutely looks the part of a survivalist and has a talent for pressing her piss‑me‑off‑I‑dare‑you buttons while somehow being endearing at the same time. But Chris has a few secrets of his own, including the fact that he’s really an accountant who has no idea how to chop wood or paddle a canoe. When Daphne’s book becomes a bestselling sensation and they’re forced to go on tour together, Daphne finds herself wondering if this city‑boy geek is exactly what she needs to push her to claim her dreams.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Published: June 25, 2024 by Crown

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.

Library Haul – June 20, 2024

by Stefani

Our Vengeful Souls by Kristi McManus

Published: June 6, 2023 by CamCat Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

When magical mermaid Sereia saves her little sister and overshadows brother and rightful heir, Triton, the position of next ruler of the sea is in question. Determined to keep his throne, Triton curses Sereia, transforming her into a human and stripping her of magic. Banishing her from their underwater kingdom, he gives her a final warning: if you should ever return, you will become a monster.

Left for dead, Sereia washes up on the shores of Atlantis, discovered by a kind merchant with a tragic past. Patient and charming, he helps her build a life on land, leaving her realizing that everything she was taught about humans may have been wrong. But legends are powerful forces, and mermaids are burned for their magic by humans who fear their power. Sereia is forced to keep her true identity a secret, even as her feelings for her savior deepen.

Channeling her skill with a blade, she finds a place within the ranks of the Atlantean army, finally giving her the chance to become the respected warrior she always desired. During her training, however, she discovers the legend of a trident of equal power to her father’s exists, and is within her grasp in Atlantis. With a way back to the sea in her grasp, she wavers between the pull of revenge and the possibility of love on land, all under the hateful eye of a vengeful enemy within her ranks. But when the fate of a friend is in the balance, she must make the hardest decision of all: be burned at the stake as a witch, or turn into a monster should she return to the sea.

In line with the classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson) and the mythological adventure Lore (Alexandra Bracken), Our Vengeful Souls takes you on a journey of loss, love and vengeance, into the life of one of fairy tales most famous villains.

What caught my eye:

I first heard of this book when I was given access to the audiobook as an ARC by the publisher. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the audiobook to work. (Side note: NetGalley’s app really stinks and is barely functional. For audiobooks it is often not functional at all.) I was very disappointed because the cover is lovely. And the idea of an Ursula origin story? Love it! So I recommended that my local library purchase the title, and put it on hold once they did. And it’s finally here!

The Familiar by Leah Bardugo

Published: April 9, 2024 by Flatiron Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishaverse series comes a highly anticipated historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

What caught my eye:

I’ve already mentioned this book once recently, but I’ll mention it again. Leah Bardugo is an automatic read for me. If she publishes it then I’m going to read it. This one sounds so fascinating. And I love the fact that it is based on a story from the author’s family history, that makes me want to read it even more.

When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips

Published: May 21, 2024 by Flatiron Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

An outsider threatens to expose the secrets at an elite private school in this suspenseful debut novel

Louise Manson is the newest student at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Behind its granite walls are high-arched alcoves, an oak-lined library…and the dark secret Lou has come to expose.

Lou’s working-class status makes her the consummate outsider, until she is befriended by some of her beautiful and wealthy classmates. But after Lou attempts to bring the school’s secret to light, her time at Highfield ends with a lifeless body sprawled at her feet.

Thirty years later, Lou gets a shocking phone call. A high-profile lawyer is bringing a lawsuit against the school—and he needs Lou to testify. Lou will have to confront her past and discover, once and for all, what really happened at Highfield. Powerful and compelling, When We Were Silent is a thrilling story of exploitation, privilege, and retribution.

What caught my eye:

For some reason I cannot say no to books like this. I read a synopsis and see the words “elite school” and “secrets” and I just have to read it. It’s my weakness.

New Releases Wednesday – June 12, 2024

by Stefani

Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart

Published: June 11, 2024 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

In this clever, surprising, page-turner, the world’s most lethal assassin gives up the violent life only to find himself under siege by mysterious assailants. It’s a kill-or-be-killed situation, but the first option is off the table. What’s a reformed hit man to do?

Mark was the most dangerous killer-for-hire in the world. But after learning the hard way that his life’s work made him more monster than man, he left all of that behind, and joined a twelve-step group for reformed killers.

When Mark is viciously attacked by an unknown assailant, he is forced on the run. From New York to Singapore to London, he chases after clues while dodging attacks and trying to solve the puzzle of who’s after him. All without killing anyone. Or getting killed himself. For an assassin, Mark learns, nonviolence is a real hassle.

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Published: June 11, 2024 by Berkley

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science.

Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.

Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through – and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.

Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business – one that plays for keeps.

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate

Published: June 4, 2024 by Ballantine Books

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.

Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.

Advanced Reader Copies Received – May 2024

by Stefani

This will be a somewhat recurrent post, detailing some of the Advanced Reader’s Copies of books I’ve received recently. The frequency of this post will depend on what ARCs I get sent or approved for. Sometimes it might be often, sometimes not as often. Enjoy! I am looking forward to read these books, let me know if any of them have caught your eye too.

The Delicate Beast by Roger Celestin

Expected publication: February 4, 2025 by Bellevue Literary Press

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A novel of a life built on the ashes of childhood

In the 1950s Tropical Republic, a boy lives amid opulence and privilege, spending days at the beach or in the cool hills above the sweltering capital, enjoying leisurely Sunday lunches around the family compound’s swimming pool. That is, until the reign of The Mortician begins, unleashing unimaginable horrors that bring his childhood idyll to an end. Narrowly escaping the violent fate visited on so many of his fellow citizens, he and his brother follow their parents into exile in the United States where they must start a new life. But as he grows, he never feels at home, and leaves his family to travel across Europe and outrun the ghosts of the past.

A searing novel of a life lived in the shadow of history, The Delicate Beast portrays the persistent, pernicious legacy of political violence.

Anticipation by Neil Taylor

Expected Publication: February 4, 2025 by Neem Tree Press

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

You are being played.

Your every move is being watched by businesses hoping to manipulate your behaviour. Every picture, every post, every like, every follow, every purchase, every search.

When 17-year-old Riya Sudame inherits her father’s secret AI algorithm, she and a handful of carefully selected Keyholders hold the power to predict people’s future using their online data. But with great power comes great responsibility, and they must safeguard it from falling into the wrong hands.

Enter Jim Booker, a powerful social media tycoon, who will stop at nothing to steal the technology for himself. Soon Riya faces a critical choice. Fighting ruthless tech giants seems like an impossible task—wouldn’t it be easier to relinquish her father’s creation in exchange for a normal teenage life?

But if she does, she will have to live with the knowledge that she is the reason that, like everyone, you are being played.

Neil Taylor marks his debut in this dark, twisty AI YA thriller.

Kree by Manuela Draeger

Expected Publication: October 22, 2024 by University of Minnesota Press

Check this book out at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A warrior struggles through an apocalyptic landscape and the world after death

Kree Toronto has been raised as a warrior in a ravaged postapocalyptic, posthuman, the population decimated by wars and civilization long since collapsed. After her attempt to avenge the death of her dog, Loka, goes horribly wrong, Kree finds herself lost in a world after death and wanders into the city of the terrible mendicants.

Under the Brothers’ totalitarian rule, Kree can lead a quiet life and forget her violent past, even if needles grow in her skull and hallucinatory blood rains pour down now and then to remind her. She can make a shamanic healer with a shaking tent, a mysterious stranger hatched from an egg, and a gruff Tibetan electrician in a world without electricity. And she can have her Loka as long as she toes the Party line and does as she’s told. When she can’t—when her friends start to disappear and the Brothers turn against her—Kree sets out on a quest, searching for a new way forward.

Multiply reincarnated and unstuck in time, Kree is the characteristically marvelous creation of Manuela Draeger, whose extraordinary stories, in the words of author China Miéville, “are as close to dreams as fiction can be.”