Never too late to be excited about fall reading!
We are partially halfway through the fall season but we can still be excited about recent and upcoming fall releases gracing our shelves this autumn! Need more reasons why we love the fall air? Well, having your favorite fall drink, along with an exciting book will make you fall in love with the autumn season all over again. Make sure to keep your eyes on these top fall reads that caught my eye:
September Releases
Love, Mom by Iliana Xander
Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student. But she is best known for her mother, a best-selling author whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fanbase. When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking: Was that really an accident?
The day of the memorial service, Mackenzie gets the first mysterious envelope, signed,
From #1 fan. XOXO.
Inside are the pages of her mother’s diary that start with the lines:
Want to know a secret?
Love, Mom.
What Mackenzie reads leaves her in shock.
Then comes the second letter.
And the third…
Mackenzie starts her own investigation and stumbles upon secrets that her family has lived with for years.
Quickly, she realizes that her mother’s path to stardom was etched with sinister lies that might have caught up with her.
Sometimes fame is worth a murder. Or worse.
Soon, Mackenzie will come to find out that there are worse things than murder…(Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald
To hell with love, this goddess has other plans…
Thousands of years ago, the gods spun a myth based on a lie. They claimed that though Persephone was to be a prize-bride for the most deserving god, Hades kidnapped her for himself. That she was just a pawn in the complicated politics of Olympus. That 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 . . . (Credit: Sourcebooks Fire)
The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
Sue and Mal Eastwood run an isolated rural pub called The Case is Altered where a weekly trivia game has revived its flagging fortunes—that is, until a body is found in the nearby river. Soon after, a mysterious new team arrives and shakes up the diverse field of regulars by scoring top marks in every round…every week.
Meanwhile, Sue and Mal have a secret of their own. Before arriving here, they were caught up in a secret police operation which meant they had to leave town—and whatever happened back then seems to have finally caught up with them.
Five years later, the pub lies derelict, and their nephew Dominic is determined to make a documentary about their story. What happened at this unassuming pub? And can a single question really kill? (Credit: Atria Books)
Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron
When Devi, Lizzie, and Jayne get snowed in and stranded at the grand Bramble Estate, home of the wealthy Vanforte family, they find themselves accidentally right in the middle of a murder plot. The matriarch, Emily Vanforte, has been poisoned at her own dinner party, and whoever did it is still on the loose.
The killer could only be one of four people: Charles, Emily’s notorious politician husband; Lottie their seemingly perfect teenage daughter; Douglas, Lottie’s good-for-nothing boyfriend; and Tate, Charle’s nephew who is more than meets the eye.
Cut off from help, confined in an isolated house with a killer, and surrounded by suspects, the girls decide to solve the mystery before one of them becomes the next victim. But no one is safe with knives hidden under the floorboards, vanishing guns, and secret passages in the walls. And in a house full of liars, how will they ever discover the truth in time? (Credit: Sourcebooks Fire)
Other People’s Houses by Clare Mackintosh
The Hill is the kind of place everyone wants to live: luxurious, exclusive and safe. But now someone is breaking and entering these Cheshire homes one by one, and DS Leo Brady suspects the burglar is looking for something, or someone, in particular.
Over the border in Wales, DC Ffion Morgan recovers the body of an estate agent from the lake. There’s no love lost between Ffion and estate agents, but who hated this one enough to want her dead – and why?
As their cases collide, Ffion and Leo discover people will pay a high price to keep their secrets behind closed doors . . . (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
The New Age of Sexism: How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates
Misogyny is being hardwired into our future. Can we stop it?
We like to believe we’re moving closer to equality, riding the wave of technological progress into a brighter, fairer future. But beneath the glossy surface of innovation lies a chilling truth: new technologies are not just failing to solve age-old inequalities–they’re deepening them.
In The New Age of Sexism, acclaimed author and activist Laura Bates exposes how misogyny is being coded into the very fabric of our future. From the biases embedded in artificial intelligence to the alarming rise of sex robots and the toxic dynamics of the metaverse, Bates takes readers on a shocking journey into a world where technology is weaponized against women.
This isn’t a dystopian warning about what might happen. It’s a harrowing account of what’s happening now and the dangers we face if we don’t act. With clarity and urgency, Bates reveals how these advancements are dragging society backward, reinforcing harmful stereotypes, and jeopardizing decades of progress in the fight for gender equality.
Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier. (Credit: Sourcebooks)
Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis
Mirabella Owens grew up with legends of wolves that traveled to her midwestern town to protect humans from vampires. Of a werewolf that fell in love with one of the undead, unraveling a blood-soaked history. But Mira stopped believing in those fairy tales years ago. She stopped believing in a lot of things after her mom left without a trace when she was only thirteen.
As Mira begins her freshman year at Lakeland University, she’s ready to leave the past behind her. Only the past isn’t finished with her yet. Strange animal attacks are occurring around campus, reopening cold cases tied to her mother’s disappearance. And the only person who seems to know anything is Julian Santos, the boy who is hell-bent on getting Mira to leave campus for reasons she can’t begin to understand. But Mira refuses to let him keep his secrets, not when the truth is the difference between life and death.
Mira will have to accept that there is much more to the old town myths, and her growing feelings for Julian, than she ever could have anticipated. And as the Blood Moon rises, she will come to know a world that will shatter her past and change her future. (Credit: Page Street YA)
Lauryn Harper Falls Apart by Shauna Robinson
Lauryn Harper had a plan. A high achieving, perfectly constructed, five-year plan. But after a (totally blown out of proportion) mishap at work that plan is put to the test.
As punishment for her mistake she is transferred to the Ryser Charity Department, a branch of her corporation that just so happens to be located in the hometown she abandoned long ago – the same hometown that her powerful corporation is responsible for running into the ground. Horrified at the thought of returning and facing those she left behind (one in particular keeps coming to mind), Lauryn quickly comes up with a new plan: impress her boss enough that she’s briskly whisked back to her big city life.
However, it soon becomes clear that sticking to plans isn’t that simple, especially when her ex-best friend enters the charity department demanding they help revitalize the town by throwing the famous Greenstead Fall Festival. Confronted by her past wrongs, Lauryn immediately agrees to host the festival on Ryser’s dime, but soon enough Lauryn is swept away in town hijinks, chaotic planning committees, and a second chance at a childhood friend that shows her why home isn’t necessarily a place she has to run from. (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
The Cut by Richard Armitage
You can’t escape your past. The cut always reopens.
In the sleepy village of Barton Mallet, the old ruins of Blackstone Mill watch over the residents and their quiet lives. Ben Knot and his friends are looking forward to a summer of fun and freedom once their last year of high school is over. The class of 1994 have been through a lot together, but teasing turns to bullying when the Knot gang targets young Mark Cherry. As violence escalates, the group fractures and tragedy strikes. Before the summer is over, one of them will be killed. Murdered by someone they called a friend.
Thirty years later, Ben is an award-winning architect who has moved his family back to Barton Mallet. His girlfriend, Dani, is a lovely stepmother to his children—budding actor Nate and star athlete Lily—but even though the family is happy, Ben has never been able to forget the tragedy of the past. And it’s a past that is quickly coming back to haunt him, with the murderer’s imminent release from prison. Ben’s glittering career is also starting to tarnish as some shady business deals have put him on the path to bankruptcy. With the killer’s parole date approaching—and the banks calling in their loans—Ben struggles to keep a grip on his perfect life.
When Nate lands the leading role in a new horror film, Dani jumps at the chance to propel him towards stardom. But when the film crew descends on the village, the dream starts to turn into a nightmare. The film is not quite what it seems. Ben’s children are being pushed to the limit, and his paranoia makes him question the film makers’ motives. Ben is desperate for answers and will stop at nothing to keep his family safe.
If the first cut is the deepest, then the last cut is going to end it all. (Credit: Pegasus Books)
Make Me A Monster by Kalynn Bayron
Meka is used to death. After all, it’s the family business.
As a newly certified mortician’s assistant at her parents’ funeral home, her days are not for the faint of heart. Luckily her boyfriend Noah isn’t squeamish, and Meka is finally feeling ready to say the three little words that will change everything.
But then tragedy strikes, and Meka’s world is torn apart. Nothing makes sense, especially the strange things start happening. Ravens are circling her home. Strangers are following her. Someone is leaving mysterious items at her door. And worst of all . . .
The dead don’t seem to be staying dead.
Meka thought she understood death better than anyone. Turns out, the family business is a bit more complicated than it seems. And Meka isn’t the only one desperate to unearth their secrets . . . because the truth may be worth dying for. (Credit: Bloomsbury YA)
Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
Hekate sings the story of its eponymous heroine. Born into a world on fire and at war, she and her mother are left behind by the menfolk of their Titan family as the battle against the new Gods-the Olympians-begins. Soon, Hekate and her mother are forced to flee their home as the Olympians overpower and enslave the Titans, including Hekate’s father, Perses, and gain dominion over the universe. In a bid to protect Hekate from the clutches of Zeus and Poseidon, her mother leaves her in the underworld with the goddess Styx and king of the underworld, Hades, where she must make a life for herself and discover her divine purpose.
Here begins Nikita Gill’s beautiful and propulsive reimagining of Hekate’s myth which unfolds into a coming-of-age adventure story and quest in which our young protagonist – not yet a goddess – sets out to discover what has happened to her parents, heal from the trauma of her separation from them, make a new home for herself in the underworld, and, eventually, step into her true power as a woman and goddess, before it’s too late. (Credit: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Keep Your Friends Close by Cynthia Murphy
Chloe Roberts is on top of the world. After a stellar first year at the prestigious Morton Academy, she’s a shoo-in for Head Girl and a coveted position in the school’s secret society, Jewel and Bone. But her dreams are shattered when her best friend, Nikhita Patel, unfairly snatches the top spot—and steals Chloe’s boyfriend at the same time.
Heartbroken and humiliated, Chloe discovers a shocking truth: Jewel and Bone isn’t as secret as she thought. The rest of the school despises the Jewels, and there’s even a “Book of Crime and Punishment” cataloging their misdeeds. Things take a very dark turn when the names in the book start to correlate with murders of Jewel and Bone members on campus. Suddenly, anyone could be a suspect.
And now, Chloe must navigate a web of lies and deceit to get to the bottom of this twisted game before she’s next on the kill list. (Credit: Delacorte Press)
Jane Austen: The Original Romance Novelist by Janet Lewis Saidi
Pocket Portraits: Jane Austen takes you through the moments of Jane Austen’s life—some well-known and some which may be unexpected. These are the moments that shaped her six published novels, which draw deeply on themes of family, agency, philosophy, and love. From excerpts of her swoon-worthy tales like Pride and Prejudice and Emma to insight into Austen’s social commentary and why her works still leave their mark on contemporary pop culture, this book paints a vivid portrait of the complicated woman behind the quill.
This beautifully curated book is both an inspiring biography and a celebration of literary brilliance. Whether you’re a longtime admirer of Austen or just beginning your literary adventure, Pocket Portraits: Jane Austen will leave you fascinated, inspired, and longing for more. (Credit: Adams Media)
Exquisite Corpses Volume 1 by James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh and Pornsak Pichetshote
Every five years on Halloween, the wealthiest families in America play a game. Twelve of the deadliest people in the world are dropped into a small town with just one goal: last killer standing wins. For the citizens of Oak Valley, Maine – this year’s unlucky arena – the goal is much simpler. They must survive the night. (Credit: Image Comics)
Livewire by Sarah Raughley
Amanda McKee is a psiot, an evolved subspecies of humanity with mysterious psychic powers. According to billionaire Toyo Harada and his secret research organization, the Harbinger Foundation, she has the ability to talk to machines, control technology, and even see into a secret parallel world that exists inside computers: the Digital World. But Harada wants Amanda to keep that last bit under wraps–along with the fact that she’s his adopted daughter.
But when a man from the twenty-seventh century named Matsuoka Sho appears, intent on killing her to save his future, she realizes her days of hiding who she really is are over. Especially after Matsuoka gives her an ominous warning: “One day, you and Toyo will destroy humankind.” At first, Amanda doesn’t want to believe it. But when techno-soldiers from the future kidnap her father and drag him into the Digital World, she has no choice but to follow. Going into the Digital World with her hot, time-traveling frenemy and fighting off mecha soldiers with her psiot powers? That’s one thing. But can she handle learning the truth about who Toyo Harada really is? (Credit: Blackstone Publishing)
Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood
When the town’s “it-couple,” Brad and Shelley, are found brutally murdered in a secluded manor, a brave group of teen friends takes on the mystery.
Set in 2001 Sanera, California —a small, quiet community where nothing ever happens — the shocking murders shake everyone, leaving them to believe the ghost of a murdered landowner has finally taken his revenge. Join Cam, Jonesy, Amber, and the new girl Buffy as they dig deeper into the sinister secrets of the mansion. With every clue they uncover, the eerie rumors seem frighteningly real. As they decide whether to stick together or split up to find evidence, they must face the ultimate question: will this decision be their salvation or their doom? (Credit: Scholastic Press)
October Releases
Run Away With Me by J. L. Simmonds
Jessie ‘Mouse’ Swift needs to get out of Seattle and fast. A few days ago she admitted to wanting her abusive stepfather dead, only to come home and find his murdered body. So when a girl from school offers Jessie a ride in her vintage red Mustang, they embark on an unexpected road trip across America.
Brooke Summer is everything Jessie isn’t: popular, confident, wealthy and heart-stoppingly beautiful, and Jessie has been in love with her from afar for years. But Brooke is hiding her own secrets . . .
With the cops and other sinister figures on their tail, how long can Jessie and Brooke stay on the run before they’re caught? And as their friendship blossoms into something more, can they find a future worth running to together? (Credit: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR))
Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife by Martin Edwards
Six down-on-their-luck people with links to the world of crime writing have been invited to play a game this Christmas by the mysterious Midwinter Trust. The challenge seems simple but exciting: Solve the murder of a fictional crime writer in a remote but wonderfully atmospheric village in north Yorkshire to win a prize that will change your fortunes for good.
Six members of staff from the shadowy Trust are there to make sure everyone plays fair. The contestants have been meticulously vetted but you can never be too careful. And with the village about to be cut off by a snow storm, everyone needs to be extra vigilant. Midwinter can play tricks on people’s minds.
The game is set – but playing fair isn’t on everyone’s Christmas list. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
Our Vicious Descent by Hayley Dennings
In 1927, shocking upheavals have rocked Harlem’s most powerful factions and left Elise Saint estranged from the reaper she loves, Layla Quinn. The Saint family empire is in decline, gangster-run blood houses peddle debauchery, and a dangerous reaper-venom drug has become all the rage with wealthy thrill-seekers. Elise is desperate to find her beloved little sister, Josi, who has gone missing in the chaos. Meanwhile, Layla contends with shifting alliances in the New York underworld, including Karine, an ancient reaper, and the gangster Nicoletta–both with scores to settle.
And then a terrifying new threat emerges: a beast making swift, murderous rampages through the city, keeping to darkness while hunting reapers and humans alike. Layla and Elise are joined in purpose when they suspect the monster’s origins are related to a far deeper mystery that involves Josi, Karine, and a disquieting new future for reapers. Soon, they will risk everything to unearth these secrets, where the shadowy boundaries between the dead and the living are even more treacherous than they imagined. (Credit: Sourcebooks Fire)
Physics For Cats by Tom Gauld
What happens to a cat who goes through a wormhole?
Tom Gauld returns with Physics for Cats, his second collection of science-based cartoons for the New Scientist. Find out why every scientist worth their sodium chloride has a Tom Gauld cartoon taped to their electron microscope. This new batch of hilarious gags will be as important to every self-respecting scientist as a lab coat and goggles and oversize rubber gloves.
Find out what the hadron’s news alert about CERN says! Everyone asks, “What is dark matter?” and “Where is dark matter?” but do they ever take the time to ask, “How is dark matter?” Based all on previous data, we can predict with a 99.99% certainty that you will either laugh, guffaw, chortle or snort (we don’t have a large enough sample set to be able to say which particular type of mirth you will experience.) (Credit: Drawn and Quarterly)
The Devouring Light by Kat Ellis
When Haden Romero and her rival, Deacon Rex—alongside their bands, including Haden’s ex, Cairo—are stranded on their way to a rock festival, she thinks missing the gig is the worst thing that could happen.
She’s wrong.
Marooned in treacherous swamplands with no way out, the group stumbles upon an eerie, decaying house. It seems like a safe haven, a place to wait out the storm.
The house, however, isn’t just abandoned—it’s been waiting for them.
Bodies begin to pile up. The walls start to close in. Twisted secrets come to light. And unless Haden and the others can survive long enough to escape, the house will claim them—forever. (Credit: HarperCollins)
Roar by Manjeet Mann
Rizu lives a comfortable life in the gated middle class suburbs of Delhi; her biggest worries are getting her homework done and keeping up with the mean girls at school. That is, until she’s accused of being a witch and the hysteria that follows triggers a chain reaction that ends in tragedy and life as she knew it changes forever.
Alone and fearing for her life, Rizu runs away and joins a group of pink sari wearing, stick wielding women, known for their revenge vigilantism. Together they can help Rizu take back her life and seek justice against those who wronged her.
Because sometimes you have to run through the streets and ROAR. (Credit: Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Movie Monster by Marcus Rashford, written with Abiola Bello and illustrated by Marta Kissi
Join Marcus and friends as they solve another mystery in The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Movie Monster. This spooky adventure is the seventh exciting book in the series by England International footballer, child food-poverty campaigner and bestselling author Marcus Rashford MBE. Inspired by Marcus’s own experiences growing up!
Marcus is excited to show off his football skills in a video for new students. But whenever he gets in front of the camera, a creepy creature ruins the shot! With the deadline fast approaching the Breakfast Club Investigators are in a race against the clock to catch the monster and save the film!
Written with Abiola Bello and packed with tons of illustrations by Marta Kissi, The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Movie Monster is the perfect book for children aged 8+. (Credit: Pan Macmillan)
Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai
This is not the story you think you know. It’s the one I’ve been waiting to tell.
Thrust onto the public stage at fifteen years old after the Taliban’s brutal attack on her life, Malala Yousafzai quickly became an international icon known for bravery and resilience. But away from the cameras and crowds, she spent years struggling to find her place in an unfamiliar world. Now, for the first time ever, Malala takes us beyond the headlines in Finding My Way—a vulnerable, surprising memoir that buzzes with authenticity, sharp humor, and tenderness.
Finding My Way is a story of friendship and first love, of anxiety and self-discovery, of trying to stay true to yourself when everyone wants to tell you who you are. In it, Malala traces her path from high school loner to reckless college student to a young woman at peace with her past. Through candid, often messy moments like nearly failing exams, getting ghosted, and meeting the love of her life, Malala reminds us that real role models aren’t perfect—they’re human.
In this astonishing memoir, Malala reintroduces herself to the world, sharing how she navigated life as someone whose darkest moments threatened to define her narrative—while seeking the freedom to find out who she truly is. Finding My Way is an intimate look at the life of a young woman taking charge of her destiny—and a deeply personal testament to the strength it takes to be unapologetically yourself. (Credit: Atria Books)
The Merry Christmas Murders by Alexandra Benedict
Every year, six local schools compete to win the Christmas Cup. Last year, the rival school to Brooke Parkin’s school won for the most crackers pulled in a minute! This year, the cup will be judged and awarded to the school with the perfect mince pie. But when a series of murders seemed to be linked to the very mince pies (each with a clue from a letter from the alphabet imprinted in the pastry) the five neuro-divergent children must turn detective and combine their skill sets to find the killer. Can they prevent another death and save their out-of-school club from being shut down forever . . .? (Credit: Simon & Schuster)
The Elopement by Gill Hornby
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
1820. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, Sir Edward – a man of strict principles and high Christian values.
But when her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary’s life is suddenly changed.
Her new stepmother comes from a large, happy and sociable family and Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends. Her aunt, Miss Cassandra Austen of Chawton, is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming.
And as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an especial bond with one Mr Knight in particular.
Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. They expect no opposition. After all, each is from a good family and has known the other for some years.
It promises to be the most perfect match. Who would want to stand in their way? (Credit: Pegasus Books)
House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
Not every house is a home…
Belinda Bainbridge has spent her life in the shadow of her anxious mother, so when her father-in-law dies at The Bridge, his remote ancestral seat, she is secretly thrilled. His death means she, her husband Wilfred and their children can relocate and finally begin to create their own happy home together: born a merchant’s daughter, she will now be lady of the manor.
But their new home quickly proves far from ideal. The garden is a wilderness, the estate is struggling financially, there are whispers about the mysterious death of a servant many years before while their young son, Freddie, seems unusually fixated on the strange wooden figures – so-called ‘silent companions’ – that were once owned by his ancestors.
When Wilfred’s charismatic brother, Nathan, arrives unexpectedly from abroad, bringing a very different account of the family’s past, Belinda begins to question what her husband has told her. What really lies behind the sad history of the house?
And are Belinda’s children truly safe here? (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing)
November Releases
The Christmas Cracker Killer by Alexandra Benedict
It’s the most murderous time of the year . . .
Puzzle compiler and former Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan returns in the newest seasonal mystery from bestselling author and ‘Queen of the Christmas Mystery’ Alexandra Benedict.
When Edie O’Sullivan wins a two-day Christmas break in a hotel on a remote Scottish island, she’s looking forward to a picture-perfect Christmas full of winter walks, roaring fires, good books and even better whisky.
But when a guest dies in mysterious circumstances, Edie realises that they have a killer amongst them. As more guests begin to die, it is up to Edie to solve the strange riddles found in the victims’ Christmas crackers if she is to stop the murderer’s killing spree. But as she gets closer to the truth, she puts herself in the way of a devious and clever killer.
Can Edie solve these Christmas killings before she becomes the next victim? (Credit: Simon & Schuster UK)
The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee
In The Burning Ghats of Calcutta, where the dead are laid to rest, a man is found murdered, his throat cut from ear to ear.
The body is that of a popular philanthropist and patron of the arts. A man, who was, by all accounts, beloved by all. So what could possibly be the motive for murder? Though out of favour with the Imperial Police Force, Detective Sam Wyndham is assigned to the case, and finds himself thrust into the glamorous world of cinema when his investigation leads him to a film the victim was funding.
Meanwhile Sam’s former colleague, Surendranath Banerjee, recently returned from Europe after three years running from the fallout of his last case, is searching for a vanished photographer, one of the first women in the profession. When he discovers the missing woman is somehow linked to Sam’s murder investigation, the two men are forced to work together once again—but will Wyndham and Banerjee be able to put their differences aside to solve the case? (Credit: Pegasus Crime)
Golden Rage Volume 2: Mother Knows Best by Chrissy Williams and illustrated by Lauren Knight
In a world where old and infertile women are deemed useless to society and abandoned on an island, GOLDEN RAGE documents their golden years of making friends, baking dessert, and fighting to the death.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST builds on the first GOLDEN RAGE volume for a glorious new adventure. (Credit: Image Comics)
The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt by John Allison and illustrated by Max Sarin
When wildcat arson hits her new employer right where she lives, Shauna Wickle is drawn into the brutal and vindictive world of quilting, as sisterhood and community needlecraft deteriorate into internecine strife. With the promise of an end to all her financial worries, Shauna must cross enemy lines and infiltrate a cadre of “monsters in human skin”. But they seem…so nice?
Collects The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #1–#4. (Credit: Dark Horse Comics)
The Forest of Missing Girls by Nichelle Giraldes
The forest is hungry, and her family’s secrets are tangled in the trees…
Lia Gregg always hoped to outgrow her fear of the woods surrounding her childhood home. The dark, menacing trees have long been the site of whispered legends and disappearances of girls like her. But after a breakup sends her back to live with her family, the woods feel more sinister than ever.
When a teenage girl disappears from their backyard, Lia’s childhood fear becomes terrifyingly real. The missing girls are no longer just faces on the news. Now, the danger is closer than she imagined, and her younger sister could be next.
As Lia digs into the disappearances, she begins to suspect her mother knows more about the forest–and the horrors within–than she’s letting on. To save her sister and uncover the truth, Lia must confront the secrets lurking in the trees and the darkness they conceal…before it’s too late. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
When Ebun gives birth to her daughter, Eniiyi, on the day they bury her cousin Monife, there is no denying the startling resemblance between the child and the dead woman. So begins the belief, fostered and fanned by the entire family, that Eniiyi is the actual reincarnation of Monife, fated to follow in her footsteps in all ways, including that tragic end.
There is also the matter of the family curse: “No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace…” which has been handed down from generation to generation, breaking hearts and causing three generations of abandoned Falodun women to live under the same roof.
When Eniiyi falls in love with the handsome boy she saves from drowning, she can no longer run from her family’s history. As several women in her family have done before, she ill-advisedly seeks answers in older, darker spiritual corners of Lagos, demanding solutions. Is she destined to live out the habitual story of love and heartbreak? Or can she break the pattern once and for all, not only avoiding the spiral that led Monife to her lonely death, but liberating herself from all the family secrets and unspoken traumas that have dogged her steps since before she could remember? (Credit: Doubleday)
The Bridesmaid by Cate Quinn
The Kensingtons invite you to the society wedding of the decade. There’s just one hitch. You might not make it out alive.
When a celebrity bridesmaid is murdered weeks before an exclusive society wedding, forensic attorney Holly Stone is drafted as an unlikely undercover replacement. As she works to unpick the lives of the notoriously private Kensington family, glamour-averse Holly discovers a new worst enemy in bridezilla Adrianna. Heir to a multimillion dollar fortune, Adrianna is set on throwing the event of the decade, and she won’t let anything get in her way.
But beneath the veneer of poise and sophistication, Adrianna and her bridesmaids have secrets worth killing for.
As the wedding day gets closer, it’s clear that one of the five hand-picked bridesmaids has committed murder – and a destination wedding is a perfect place to strike again. Soon, Holly finds herself on the playground of the rich and famous, but if she wants to find answers, she’ll have to make it out alive. (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by Char Adams
In Black-Owned, Char Adams celebrates the living history of Black bookstores. Packed with stories of activism, espionage, violence, community, and perseverance, Black-Owned starts with the first Black-owned bookstore, which an abolitionist opened in New York in 1834, and after the bookshop’s violent demise, Black book-lovers carried on its cause. In the twentieth century, civil rights and Black Power activists started a Black bookstore boom nationwide. Malcolm X gave speeches in front of the National Memorial African Book Store in Harlem—a place dubbed “Speakers’ Corner”—and later, Black bookstores became targets of FBI agents, police, and racist vigilantes. Still, stores continued to fuel Black political movements.
Amid these struggles, bookshops were also places of celebration: Eartha Kitt and Langston Hughes held autograph parties at their local Black-owned bookstores. Maya Angelou became the face of National Black Bookstore Week. And today a new generation of Black activists is joining the radical bookstore tradition, with rapper Noname opening her Radical Hood Library in Los Angeles and several stores making national headlines when they were overwhelmed with demand in the Black Lives Matter era. As Adams makes clear, in an time of increasing repression, Black bookstores are needed now more than ever.
Full of vibrant characters and written with cinematic flair, Black-Owned is an enlightening story of community, resistance, and joy. (Credit: Tiny Reparations Books)
Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters
Celebrate Jane Austen’s classic novels with this short story anthology starring forgotten characters as they experience their own happy endings.
In honor of her 250th birthday, eight authors have come together with wildly imaginative reboots of the lives of several of Jane Austen’s minor characters. Written with plenty of love and wit, these clever stories star everyone from Pride and Prejudice’s snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of Sense and Sensibility’s Eliza Williams and much more. Blurring genres and taking us across the oceans, Ladies in Waiting is a heartfelt celebration of Jane Austen and her timeless masterpieces. (Credit: Gallery Books)
The Hero Complex by Helen Comerford
In the second book of this swoony, striking YA duology, a teen girl finds herself reluctantly stepping into the role of superhero.
It turns out that having superpowers doesn’t always make saving the world any easier. Jenna Ray has to sign up with the Hero and Powers Association to become a registered superhero. This means going back into the belly of the power-stealing, potentially murderous beast, and hiding the fact that her mother is involved with the Villains. Worst of all, it means she can’t be with Blaze–workplace relationships are strictly forbidden.
As Jenna tries to fix the HPA from the inside, she’s forced to make a choice: save the world or follow her heart? (Credit: Bloomsbury YA)
Revenge, Served Royal by Celeste Connally
September, 1815. Autumn is in the air as Lady Petra Forsyth and some of the most illustrious members of the ton descend upon Windsor Castle for a week of royal celebrations, with the highlight being Queen Charlotte’s inaugural patisserie contest for the best bakers employed by England’s finest houses. Not only is Lady Petra’s own cook one of the contestants, but Her Majesty has requested that Petra herself serve as one of the judges.
Petra’s happiness at tasting delicious cakes and biscuits only increases at finding her beloved Aunt Ophelia in attendance at Windsor, as well as Sir Rufus Pomeroy. As England’s most famous former royal chef-turned-cookbook author, Sir Rufus is slated to present his best recipes to the Queen during the festivities, with Petra being granted an early viewing in the royal library.
Yet upon arrival, Petra instead encounters a frantic housemaid pointing to a body of one of Her Majesty’s guests—and to the valet still tugging at the silk ribbon used to strangle the victim. What’s more, the valet turns out to be Oliver Beecham, the ne’er-do-well brother of Petra’s own lady’s maid, Annie. But as Oliver is hauled away to the dungeons, he protests his innocence, claiming the late guest argued with several aristocrats, including the Prince Regent and Petra’s Aunt Ophelia, and boasted about hiding a potentially scandalous document within the vastness of Windsor Castle.
When some poisoned tea meant for Petra is consumed by one of her fellow judges, it’s clear the real killer is still walking the castle’s halls. Indeed, in order to prove the innocence of Annie’s brother and find the incriminating document, Petra will need to act like a lady, eat like a chef, and think like one of Her Majesty’s best spies before a murderer can turn the celebrations from sweet to royally deadly. (Credit: Minotaur Books)
All The Wicked by Catelyn Wilson
Lurking in dark corridors, hidden in tomes of old, spirits are growing restess, and hell is once again opened . . .
A year after the events at Ravenswood Academy, Andy Emmerson’s life is in turmoil.
Demons, the underworld, and secret societies all exist, and they still haunt her days and nights.
Eager to find the answers she can’t locate in the shelves of the library, Andy visits Jae in the underworld.
Only, it is empty of the Gods that once ruled it and inexplicable clues – sent by the mysterious Order – start to appear warning them of dark days ahead.
Together they must travel to the eery streets of Edinburgh and enrol in Eidolon University where they will investigate The Order and unlock its secrets.
Soon they are catapulted into a world of old magic, dangerous rituals, and demonic activity. A world they thought they’d left behind at Ravenswood.
If they fail to discover The Order, and the school’s secrets, humanity will fall to the fires of hell.
But if they succeed, Andy may have to make the biggest sacrifice yet.
As something wicked this ways comes . . . (Credit: Penguin Books)
Bitter Honey by Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström
1978: A scholarship draws Nancy from Gambia’s warmth into Stockholm’s frigid winter. When her friendship with charismatic scholar Lars blossoms into something more, she thinks she may have finally found her place. But there’s more to Lars than his charming persona, and Nancy is about to discover the danger of being drawn into his world…
2006: Tina has had her taste of fame as Sweden’s sweetheart pop princess, representing her country at Eurovision. But beneath her glittery façade, she’s uncertain who she really is. Her mother, Nancy, seems desperate to keep the past under wraps, but will the unexpected appearance of Tina’s father—a man she has long thought dead—help open the door to self-discovery?
Nancy just wants to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes she did, but Tina longs for the freedom to mess up, knowing her mother will always be there to support her. The two women love each other unconditionally, but can they learn to trust each other as well? (Credit: William Morrow)
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