Tag: sci-fi books

What’s On My TBR? January 2022

Lauren2 Comments

Hello beautiful people! It’s time for me to tell you my lofty goals for my TBR. I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail again, but I really don’t care! My new philosophy for this year is “as long as I’m reading”!

So what, then, is the point of doing a TBR? Well, it’s fun for starters. It’s also nice to see where the reading gods take me, however far or close to my TBR that may be.

That being said, let us get the book club picks out of the way first!

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world but the entire multiverse.

Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan

An American woman is summoned by a remote tribe of nomadic Aboriginals who call themselves the “Real People” to accompany them on a four-month-long walkabout through the Outback. While traveling barefoot with them through 1,400 miles of rugged desert terrain, she learns a new way of life, including their methods of healing, based on the wisdom of their 50,000-year-old culture. Ultimately, she experiences a dramatic personal transformation.

Mutant Message Down Under recounts a unique, timely, and powerful life-enhancing message for all humankind: It is not too late to save our world from destruction if we realize that all living things–be they plants, animals, or human beings–are part of the same universal oneness. If we heed the message, our lives, like the lives of the Real People, can be filled with this great sense of purpose.

And on to the non-book club books!

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history–performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society’s watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can’t have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

This one is a library loan, so I have to read it quick!

Servant Mage by Kate Elliot

Fellian is a Lamplighter, able to provide illumination through magic. A group of rebel Monarchists free her from indentured servitude and take her on a journey to rescue trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines.

Along the way they get caught up in a conspiracy to kill the latest royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.

But Fellian has more than just her Lamplighting skills up her sleeve…

I am reading this one because one, Kate Elliot, and two, I was approved for the ARC through NetGalley. A review is forthcoming. I just have to read the novella first.

A Letter to Three Witches by Elizabeth Bass

Nearly a century ago, Gwen Engel’s great-great-grandfather cast a spell with catastrophic side-effects. As a result, the Grand Council of Witches forbade his descendants from practicing witchcraft. The Council even planted anonymous snitches called Watchers in the community to report any errant spellcasting…
 
Yet magic may still be alive and not so well in Zenobia. Gwen and her cousins, Trudy and Milo, receive a letter from Gwen’s adopted sister, Tannith, informing them that she’s bewitched one of their partners and will run away with him at the end of the week. While Gwen frets about whether to trust her scientist boyfriend, currently out of town on a beetle-studying trip, she’s worried that local grad student Jeremy is secretly a Watcher doing his own research.
 
Cousin Trudy is so stressed that she accidentally enchants her cupcakes, creating havoc among her bakery customers—and in her marriage. Perhaps it’s time the family took back control and figured out how to harness their powers. How else can Gwen decide whether her growing feelings for Jeremy are real—or the result of too many of Trudy’s cupcakes?

Okay, this was totally a NetGalley cover pick. Also, I want to read more romantic comedies! But yes, there will be a review soon.

Fan Fiction: A Memnoir by Brent Spiner

Set in 1991, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation has rocketed the cast to global fame, the young and impressionable actor Brent Spiner receives a mysterious package and a series of disturbing letters, that take him on a terrifying and bizarre journey that enlists Paramount Security, the LAPD, and even the FBI in putting a stop to the danger that has his life and career hanging in the balance.

Featuring a cast of characters from Patrick Stewart to Levar Burton to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, to some completely imagined, this is the fictional autobiography that takes readers into the life of Brent Spiner, and tells an amazing tale about the trappings of celebrity and the fear he has carried with him his entire life.

I’ve been meaning to pick this book up since I bought it in October. It just sounds fun.

And there it is. My completely do-able, probably not going to happen, TBR!

JK, some of these books are rather short, so I should be able to do all of these no problem. Wish me luck!

All the Books I Read-December 2021

Lauren3 Comments

Hello beautiful people! I hope you are having a wonderful day so far. I’m doing pretty well, except for the weather. It either wants to be 19 degrees or 55 degrees outside. It’s great. Really great. Love it. So much.

Speaking of cold, I read 4 books, for a total of 1,206 pages, in December. It’s a small amount compared to months past, but I read, and that’s all that matters.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

A scientist and gentleman inventor in industrialized Victorian England claims to have irrefutable proof that time is not simply a concept—it’s a whole other dimension. When he reveals the prototype of a time-traveling machine to his peers, he’s met with skepticism at first . . . until he returns one week later, disheveled, bloody, and with a fantastic story to tell.

It’s classic sci-fi and I can see it absolutely entrancing people at the time it was written. That being said, the only female character was of a simple-minded race of people and that didn’t really sit well with me, alas the book is a product of its time. For that, I had to give the book 3 stars.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.

Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.

Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop—and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?

I wrote a whole review of this book. I really liked it. It was a nice cozy read that really warmed my heart. Although I did call who she was going to end up with when we first met him, I really do read too many books. I gave it 4 stars.

Absynthe by Brenden P. Bellacourt

Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who’s able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere–Liam’s former commander and the current President of the United States.
 
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam’s former squad, the Devil’s Henchmen, was given a serum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace’s help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
 
But Liam’s abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere’s plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam’s abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President’s nefarious plans before they’re unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President’s.

I wrote a review for this book as well. I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about it, and it was so very, very good. It kept me guessing right up until the very end. This is no small feat, as I thought I had the twist figured out a few chapters in. I was wrong. I ended up giving this book 5 stars.

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell—both critical to her success as a show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family’s bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won’t get the memo that they’re over.

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a fun read, a little predictable, but still fun. If you are looking for a good holiday book for next year, this one will do. 4 stars!

And hey, look at that! Not a DNF in sight! It’s a rare month when that doesn’t happen. I’m pretty pleased with myself.

And now for my favorite part! The stats!

Mysterious, lighthearted, and adventurous all tied for first place with 2 books each!

It was a medium-paced month with one book being faster-paced.

When you read four books the pie charts come out so neat and orderly. Only one book is under 300 pages.

In an unusual twist, I read no fantasy this month! None, nada, zip zilch! It feels weird. But I’ll take it.

Does it seem odd to anyone else that I have no 1 star ratings this month? No? Just me? Okay then.

December was hectic. You can see when I had the most time to devote to reading, and it wasn’t as much as I would have hoped. It happens. We read when we can.

What did you read last month? Anything fabulous?

All The Books I Read-November 2021

Lauren1 Comment

Well, wasn’t November special! I only read 5 books! 5! 5 is better than zero when you have a book blog though, so I’m not going to be too hard on myself.

I am, however, going to blame the new Animal Crossing DLC for taking up a good chunk of my time, as well as other general life things. I’d say Thanksgiving didn’t help, but I read 3 books while I was gone for the week, so yeah. That’s what happens when you leave your Switch at home I guess.

So here’s what I read in November.

You Feel It Just Below The Ribs By Jeffrey Cranor and Janinia Matthewson

So I reviewed this book, you can find that here, spoiler alert, I didn’t love it. In fact, I DNF’d it. This book helped me realize that I just don’t like dystopian stories set in the “real” world. That’s just another genre I’ll have to cross off my list, along with westerns.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The story of Piranesi, who lives in a fantastical house that contains an ocean within its walls. He, along with the Other, is trying to unlock the mysteries of the house. I also reviewed this book. You can find that review here. When I initially reviewed this book I gave it 3 stars, but the more I sat with it, I feel it may be a 3.5 or 4 star read. It happens.

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Book six of the Mercy Thompson series. Mercy, while on a much-needed vacation, encounters monsters and finds out the truth about her father. I loved this book, as I love all the books in the Mercy Thompson world. It was such a good entry into the series, and I really loved how it brought in small amounts of Indigenous lore. 5 stars!

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

The story of Ransom, who is abducted from Earth and taken to another planet to be offered as a sacrifice by the people there. I liked this one but couldn’t get past the bad science. yes, I know, C.S. Lewis was not a science guy, and yes, there is a lot we have learned since the 1930s, but it still bothered me. 3 stars. Good plot. But still, 3 stars.

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

The seventh entry in the Mercy Thompson series. In this one, the pack mysteriously disappears and it’s up to Mercy to find them. This book has an interesting twist in it, one that I already knew because I had read it before. Did it knowing the twist change my enjoyment? No. 5 stars!

And there you go. That’s the massive list of books I read last month. On to the stats!

Stats

I read 3 challenging books? I’d ask how that happened, but I read them, so I know how it happened.

This seems a little skewed, like maybe one of the medium books should be a fast-paced book, but that’s okay.

I didn’t realize how short Piranesi was. It comes in at just 250 pages.

I’m not really sure why I bothered to include this one when I knew that I had read nothing but fiction anyway.

It’s always fun for me to look at the genre breakdown. Classics is not something you see on here very often.

This one looks about right. Still not sure If I should go back and change Piranesi’s rating though. I’ll think about that one.

This newest of stats is a favorite of mine. You can really tell where someone reads. For example, I was useless at the beginning of the month. For at least the first 11 days. Then it picked up…ish.

And there you have my stats. If you want to see your own stats, why not get started on The Storygraph? It’s free and easy to start even if all your book reading data is on Goodreads. And no, this isn’t a sponsored post. I just like them that much.

How was your month of reading?

First Lines Friday- December 3 2021

Lauren1 Comment

Well hello beautiful peoples! And how are we this fine Friday? Ready to get our TGIF on? I’ve been running around all week doing not fun, and some fun, stuff. It takes a toll and I’m ready for a weekend off. Which is weird because I just got back from a week off! Alas, that’s life.

And because it’s Friday it’s First Lines Friday!

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author, or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

The Lines:

“The Time Traveler (for thought it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale flesh was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses.”

Intrigued?

A scientist and gentleman inventor in industrialized Victorian England claims to have irrefutable proof that time is not simply a concept—it’s a whole other dimension. When he reveals the prototype of a time-traveling machine to his peers, he’s met with skepticism at first . . . until he returns one week later, disheveled, bloody, and with a fantastic story to tell.

Is it embarrassing to admit that I have never read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells? I’ve seen quite a few movie adaptations but have never taken the time to just sit down and read this novella. And it’s less than 100 pages! Well, at least the edition I have is.

Have you read The Time Machine? What did you think of it?

First Lines Friday-November 12th

Lauren1 Comment

Hello beautiful humans! How are y’all doing today? Me, I’m doing great. A little behind on my reading, unfortunately. My currently reading stack sits at four and my completed reads stack sits at zero. This is bad because it’s the 12th and I feel like I’ve barely gotten started on the month.

I blame Animal Crossing and TikTok.

I’ll do better, I think.

On to First Lines Friday!

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author, or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

The Lines:

“Sarah Huff needed a gun. A gun of her own. She wouldn’t tell her mom about it. She wouldn’t tell Anna about it. If they knew she had a gun, they would just freak out and make the whole situation worse. She went to a strung-out 22-year-old named Bryce, who loitered around the same abandoned corner in the free zones of Rockville every day, selling black market shit to anyone who needed it.”

Intruiged?

Point B by Drew Magary

When the corporate monolith PortSys brought porting to the masses, CEO Emilia Kirsch and her son Jason accomplished what every other startup company had failed to deliver. They really did change the world. They reversed climate change. They created a multitrillion-dollar industry out of thin air, curing economic woes across the globe. They made it so that anyone could be anywhere simply by touching a screen…

…including the man who murdered Sarah Huff.

Now Sarah’s 17–year-old sister, Anna, is determined to hunt the bastard down. But there are a few problems. She doesn’t know who the killer is, or where in the world he may be at any given moment. Also, she’s stuck at prestigious Druskin Academy, where PortPhones are banned and any student who attempts to port off-campus is immediately expelled.

It gets stickier. Anna’s also fallen in love with her dazzling new roommate, who just so happens to be Emilia Kirsch’s daughter, Lara. The dean of students wants Anna dead, perhaps literally. And she has only two friends to confide in: one a reckless alcoholic and the other a bizarre fussbudget. Oh, and now she also needs to find Lara, who has mysteriously disappeared from campus.

I read The Postmortal by this author and gave it 4 stars. But I also read The Hike and DNF’d it. So this book sits kinda middle ground on my TBR pile, which is terrible, because it means I don’t want to get to it anytime soon, but I still want to read it. The burdens we bear as book readers. Do you have a book you’re worried that will disappoint you?

More New Releases-November 2021

Lauren1 Comment

Why is it, that when I think I have all the new releases for the month figured out, it turns out that I don’t? This is my life I guess. But the good news for you is that I have found more books for you to pre-order.

If you want to see other new releases for the month, you can go here. There are some good ones!

Unfortunately, due to supply line issues, the dates listed below are subject to change, but these are the publication dates as of November 2nd.

The Making of Incarnation by Tom McCarthy-Nov 2nd

Bodies in motion. Birds, bees and bobsleighs. What is the force that moves the sun and other stars? Where’s our fucking airplane? What’s inside Box 808, and why does everybody want it?
Deep within the archives of time-and-motion pioneer Lillian Gilbreth lies a secret. Famous for producing solid light-tracks that captured the path of workers’ movements, Gilbreth helped birth the era of mass observation and big data. But did she also, as her broken correspondence with a young Soviet physicist suggests, discover in her final days a “perfect” movement, one that would “change everything”?
 
An international hunt begins for the one box missing from her records, and we follow contemporary motion-capture consultant Mark Phocan, as well as his collaborators and shadowy antagonists, across geopolitical fault lines and through strata of personal and collective history. Meanwhile, work is underway on the blockbuster movie Incarnation, an epic space tragedy.

This book sounds weird, but in a good way.

Cosmogramma by Courttia Newland-Nov 2nd

Kill parties roam the streets of a post-apocalyptic world; a matriarchal race of mer creatures depends on interbreeding with mortals to survive; mysterious seeds appear in cities across the world, growing into the likeness of people in their vicinity.

Through transfigured bodies and impossible encounters, Newland brings a sharp, fresh eye to age-old themes of the human capacity for greed, ambition, and self-destruction, but ultimately of our strength and resilience.

This afro-futurist short story collection sounds really great. I’m going to add it to my Christmas list.

Gilded by Marissa Meyer-Nov 2nd

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller’s daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda’s outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn’t meant to be part of the bargain.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

I have yet to read a Marissa Meyer book, but I’ve heard good things.

Comfort Me With Apples by Cathrynne M Valente-Nov 9th

Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.

It’s just that he’s away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.

But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband’s face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can’t quite meet her gaze…

But everything is perfect. Isn’t it?

This one was originally supposed to come out in October, and it slipped under my radar then. I’m not missing it now!

The Perishing by Natasha Deon-Nov 9th

Lou, a young Black woman, wakes up in an alley in 1930s Los Angeles with no memory of how she got there or where she’s from. Taken in by a caring foster family, Lou dedicates herself to her education while trying to put her mysterious origins behind her. She’ll go on to become the first Black female journalist at the Los Angeles Times, but Lou’s extraordinary life is about to take an even more remarkable turn. When she befriends a firefighter at a downtown boxing gym, Lou is shocked to realize that though she has no memory of meeting him, she’s been drawing his face for years.
 
Increasingly certain that their paths previously crossed—and beset by unexplainable flashes from different eras haunting her dreams—Lou begins to believe she may be an immortal sent here for a very important reason, one that only others like her can explain. Setting out to investigate the mystery of her existence, Lou must make sense of the jumble of lifetimes calling to her, just as new forces threaten the existence of those around her.

The idea of immortals walking among us has always intrigued me. Plus, I got this book with Book of the Month last month so, yeah.

The Every by Dave Eggers-Nov16th

Delaney Wells is an unlikely new hire at the Every. A former forest ranger and unwavering tech skeptic, she charms her way into an entry-level job with one goal in mind: to take down the company from within. With her compatriot, the not-at-all-ambitious Wes Makazian, they look for the Every’s weaknesses, hoping to free humanity from all-encompassing surveillance and the emoji-driven infantilization of the species. But does anyone want what Delaney is fighting to save? Does humanity truly want to be free?

This sounds like something that would happen now, and not something that would happen in the not-so-distant future. Creepy.

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo-Nov 16th

TwiceFar station is at the edge of the known universe, and that’s just how Niko Larson, former Admiral in the Grand Military of the Hive Mind, likes it.

Retired and finally free of the continual war of conquest, Niko and the remnants of her former unit are content to spend the rest of their days working at the restaurant they built together, The Last Chance.

But, some wars can’t ever be escaped, and unlike the Hive Mind, some enemies aren’t content to let old soldiers go. Niko and her crew are forced onto a sentient ship convinced that it is being stolen and must survive the machinations of a sadistic pirate king if they even hope to keep the dream of The Last Chance alive.

Honestly, I made this list just for the title of this book alone. I mean, can you blame me.

Mind Bullet by Jeremy Robinson-Nov 23rd

Jonas kills people…with his mind. He reaches out, focuses for a moment, and feels a snap of pain between his eyes. Then his target falls over dead, a hole in the center of their brains. The cause of death is unknown to all aside from Jonas, and his lone companion: Bubbles, a sarcastic AI with aspirations to be more human, or a serial killer. One of the two. Maybe both. Jonas calls his ability…

MIND BULLET

Sensing Jonas is lonely and depressed, Bubbles arranges for Madee, a Thai delivery woman by day, and a thief by night, to enter his life. For a moment: sparks. But chaos follows as the people Madee last robbed catch up to her. They also happen to be the Shrieking Ninjas. After surviving the assault, Jonas and Madee find themselves on the run, and a 10 million dollar hit called on Jonas.

Killers from all over the globe pursue the pair as they run for their lives and headlong into Jonas’s mysterious past, uncovering the surreal origins and extent of his abilities. They discover a dark and twisted history that threatens to unravel his mind and leave him susceptible to control. Working with Bubbles, Madee, and a growing list of new allies, Jonas battles his way through waves of assassins, some with abilities like his, all to protect the world from a recently discovered, untraceable weapon of mass destruction—himself.

This one sounds like a rip-roaring good time! Also, where did rip-roaring come from? That’s not usually part of my repertoire.

King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Claire-Nov 30th

Their union is his revenge.

Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day to be her death day. To end a years-long war, she is to marry vampire king Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, and kill him.

But her assassination attempt is thwarted, and Adrian threatens that if Isolde tries to kill him again, he will raise her as the undead. Faced with the possibility of becoming the thing she hates most, Isolde seeks other ways to defy him and survive the brutal vampire court.

Except it isn’t the court she fears most—it’s Adrian. Despite their undeniable chemistry, she wonders why the king—fierce, savage, merciless—chose her as consort.

The answer will shatter her world.

Vampires seem to be making a comeback. But spooky vampires. Wait, is this spooky vampires?

Ledge by Stacey McEwan-Nov 30th

If she has to cut her own fouled toes from her feet, she will. She will crawl to the bottom if she must. But even so, as the frost steals through her clothes and claims her by inches, she wonders if it wouldn’t be wiser not to follow him any longer. She wonders if it would hurt less to lie here and let the cold take her.
Dawsyn does not know what it is to live below. She was born on the Ledge – a natural prison enclosed by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face. When an opportunity to escape the Ledge presents itself for the first time in half a century, Dawsyn must take it. All she has to do is trust the very creature who kept her captive in the first place.

Ooh, creatures. But what kind of creature? Inquiring minds want to know.

And there you go. Some more fun new releases for November! Remember, some of these dates will change, so keep an eye out if you are waiting to pre-order something. Also, If you don’t pre-order and a book sells out, be prepared for the second printing to take a while. A book I am planning on getting is going for its second printing and that won’t be available until March of next year! March! Ugh.

Have fun shopping!

Noor-A Book Review

Lauren2 Comments

My copy of Noor by Nnedi Okorafor was kindly provided by NetGalley and DAW publishing for a thoroughly honest review. Thanks!

Noor is, as of writing this, scheduled for release on November 16, 2021.

Noor is the story of AO, a young woman who, through circumstances of her birth and a car accident, is heavily augmented. One day, while shopping in the market, everything goes horribly wrong. Now she is on the run. Along the way she meet a Fulani tribesman named DNA, who also finds himself on the run.

Since everything is streamed, the whole world has seen their crimes and is glued to their screens watch the chase play out. Now AO and DNA must flee from their pursuers across the unforgiving desert, with very little hope of survival.

I guess I should start off by saying that I really enjoyed Binti by the author. I thought that book was really well done, so I hoped this book would be just as thought provoking and entertaining as that one was. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Noor was a fast paced adventure story that also encourages you to stick it to the man. Or, at the very least, the very large corporation. It uses Africanfuturism (the author’s preferred way of calling it) to tout the dangers of letting a corporation become to big.

The characters are wonderfully written. You really feel for AO and DNA’s plight as they race through the unforgiving desert wasteland that makes up their only refuge. AO and DNA could not be more different and yet their dynamic is brilliantly done.

Speaking of the desert. Nope. Do not want to go there. Not even for a short visit. The desert in Nigeria has undergone a massive cataclysm that makes it inhospitable to human life, and it’s there that our main characters must flee.

This book did not end the way I thought it would, which is a good thing. But I also think it was the only way it could have ended. I dislike predictable endings. Because when I say I really thought it was going to end a different way, I mean it.

But what do I rate it? I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

November (and December) 2021 New Releases

Lauren2 Comments

Have you gotten your pre-orders in for October?

Yes?

Good.

Now it’s Novembers turn. With a little bit of December thrown in.

BTW, if your wondering why I’m stressing pre-orders now, instead of towards the beginning of this particular month like I usually do, go read this post.

On to the books!

A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske- November 2nd

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

Well this sounds fun. I mean really, magical societies? I’ll read that.

Lore Olympus Vol 1 by Rachel Smythe- November 2nd

Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she’s allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place—and her own power.

If you at any time read Lore Olympus online, you know how good it is. And here is your chance to finally own it! This collects episodes 1-25 of the web comic. I highly recommend picking this up.

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen- November 2nd

A way to survive.
A way to serve.
A way to save.

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable—she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it.

To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. . . .

Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she doesn’t, then she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

This YA tale sounds like a good time. And that cover art is stunning.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor- November 16th

Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO. To her, these initials have always stood for Artificial Organism. AO has never really felt…natural, and that’s putting it lightly. Her parents spent most of the days before she was born praying for her peaceful passing because even in-utero she was “wrong”. But she lived. Then came the car accident years later that disabled her even further. Yet instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: A woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong.

Once on the run, she meets a Fulani herdsman named DNA and the race against time across the deserts of Northern Nigeria begins. In a world where all things are streamed, everyone is watching the “reckoning of the murderess and the terrorist” and the “saga of the wicked woman and mad man” unfold. This fast-paced, relentless journey of tribe, destiny, body, and the wonderland of technology revels in the fact that the future sometimes isn’t so predictable. Expect the unaccepted.

I have high hopes for this next book by the author of Binti.

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger- November 9th

Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.

Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.

Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.

And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.

This sounds so good. Like, really good.

Roxy by Neal and Jarrod Schusterman- November 9th

The freeway is coming.

It will cut the neighborhood in two. Construction has already started, pushing toward this corridor of condemned houses and cracked concrete with the momentum of the inevitable. Yet there you are, in the fifth house on the left, fighting for your life.

Ramey, I.

The victim of the bet between two manufactured gods: the seductive and lethal Roxy (Oxycontin), who is at the top of her game, and the smart, high-achieving Addison (Adderall), who is tired of being the helpful one, and longs for a more dangerous, less wholesome image. The wager—a contest to see who can bring their mark to “the Party” first—is a race to the bottom of a rave that has raged since the beginning of time. And you are only human, dazzled by the lights and music. Drawn by what the drugs offer—tempted to take that step past helpful to harmful…and the troubled places that lie beyond.

But there are two I. Rameys—Isaac, a soccer player thrown into Roxy’s orbit by a bad fall and a bad doctor and Ivy, his older sister, whose increasing frustration with her untreated ADHD leads her to renew her acquaintance with Addy.

Which one are you?

This take on the modern drug crises sounds so good. And harrowing.

Year of the Reaper by Makaii Lucier- November 9th

The past never forgets . . .

Before an ambush by enemy soldiers, Lord Cassia was an engineer’s apprentice on a mission entrusted by the king. But when plague sweeps over the land,leaving countless dead and devastating the kingdom, even Cas’ title cannot save him from a rotting prison cell and a merciless sickness.

Three years later, Cas wants only to return to his home in the mountains and forget past horrors. But home is not what he remembers. His castle has become a refuge for the royal court. And they have brought their enemies with them.

When an assassin targets those closest to the queen, Cas is drawn into a search for a killer…one that leads him to form an unexpected bond with a brilliant young historian named Lena. Cas and Lena soon realize that who is behind the attacks is far less important than why. They must look to the past, following the trail of a terrible secret–one that could threaten the kingdom’s newfound peace and plunge it back into war.

I can just see the main character showing up back home trying to get all the people the heck out of his house.

Eldar Race by Andrian Tchaikovsky- November 16th

Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.

But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) with responsibilities (she tells herself). Although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).

But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, and his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon…

I’m curious to see what a fantasy by Andrian Tchaikovsky looks like, because he is really know for his sci-fi offerings.

You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson- November 16th

Born at the end of the old world, Miriam grows up during The Great Reckoning, a sprawling, decades-long war that nearly decimates humanity and strips her of friends and family. Devastated by grief and loneliness, she emotionally exiles herself, avoiding relationships or allegiances, and throws herself into her work—disengagement that serves her when the war finally ends, and The New Society arises.

To ensure a lasting peace, The New Society forbids anything that may cause tribal loyalties, including traditional families. Suddenly, everyone must live as Miriam has chosen to—disconnected and unattached. A researcher at heart, Miriam becomes involved in implementing this detachment process. She does not know it is the beginning of a darkly sinister program that will transform this new world and the lives of everyone in it. Eventually, the harmful effects of her research become too much for Miriam, and she devises a secret plan to destroy the system from within, endangering her own life.

But is her “confession” honest—or is it a fabrication riddled with lies meant to conceal the truth?

I’m not gonna lie, I singled this one out because of Jeffrey Cranor. He’s the co-creator of Welcome to Nightvale. I’m assuming this will be a little out there as a result of that.

Absynthe by Brendan P Bellacourt- December 7th

Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who’s able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere–Liam’s former commander and the current President of the United States.
 
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam’s former squad, the Devil’s Henchmen, was given a serum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace’s help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
 
But Liam’s abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere’s plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam’s abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President’s nefarious plans before they’re unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President’s.

Alternate history mixed with magical realism. Sounds great!

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska- December 7th

Karnawał season is a time for mischief and revelry. For the next few weeks, all will be wintry balls, glittery disguises, and nightly torch-lit sleigh-parties.

Unbeknownst to the merrymakers, two uninvited girls join the fun. Zosia and Marynka are drawn to each other the moment they meet, until they discover they’re rivals, who both have their sights set on the prince’s heart. If one consumes a pure heart, she’ll gain immeasurable power. Marynka plans to bring the prince’s back to her patron in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.

Their ambition turns into a magical contest with both girls vying to keep the prince out of the other’s grasp, even as their attraction to one another grows. But their attempts on his life draws the attention of the city that would die for him, and suddenly their escalating rivalry might cost them not just their love for each other, but both their lives.

I’m sorry, but “let’s carve the heart out of the nice guy prince” sounds amazing.

Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes- December 7th

All Luis Gonzalez wants is to go to prom with his boyfriend, something his “progressive” school still doesn’t allow. Not after what happened with Chaz Wilson. But that was ages ago, when Luis’s parents were in high school; it would never happen today, right? He’s determined to find a way to give his LGBTQ friends the respect they deserve (while also not risking his chance to be prom king, just saying…).

When a hit on the head knocks him back in time to 1985 and he meets the doomed young Chaz himself, Luis concocts a new plan-he’s going to give this guy his first real kiss. Though it turns out a conservative school in the ’80s isn’t the safest place to be a gay kid. Especially with homophobes running the campus, including Gordo (aka Luis’s estranged father). Luis is in over his head, trying not to make things worse-and hoping he makes it back to present day at all.

One of the blurbs said it had Back to the Future vibes and I was like, yes please.

And there you have it. All the November and December new releases that sound interesting to me. There are several sequels that are also coming out, like the Bone Shard Emperor on Nov 9th, or Jade Legacy on Nov 30th, but I don’t usually include sequels. I did feel like you should know about them though.

And as of writing this, these are the current publication dates, though that could change.

Happy Pre-ordering!

New Releases for October 2021

Lauren3 Comments

If you saw my previous post about the predicted book shortage, you are like me and want to know all the new releases so you can start prepping now.

Ask for those gift cards early!

Let your family know it isn’t a ploy to get more books now, and have them pre-order for you so they can give the books as gifts! 

I’m doing a little of both.

I know I said I was going to create a master list, but with all the books coming out in October, I am having to split this into two blog posts. So here is the list of Octobers new releases so you can get started on those pre-orders!

Once More Upon A Time by Roshana Chokshi- October 5th

Once upon a dream, there was a prince named Ambrose
and a princess named Imelda who loved each other…
But alas, no more.
“What a witch takes, a witch does not give back!”
their friends and family warn.
They resign themselves to this loveless fate…
A year and a day pass.
And then their story truly begins…

Embark on a perilous journey with Imelda and Ambrose as they brave magical landscapes and enchanted creatures on their quest to reclaim their heart’s desire…But first they must remember what that is…

This sounds adorable and fun. We could all use a little fun in our lives right now.

Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events by Brent Spiner- October 5th

Set in 1991, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation has rocketed the cast to global fame, the young and impressionable actor Brent Spiner receives a mysterious package and a series of disturbing letters, that take him on a terrifying and bizarre journey that enlists Paramount Security, the LAPD, and even the FBI in putting a stop to the danger that has his life and career hanging in the balance.

Featuring a cast of characters from Patrick Stewart to Levar Burton to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, to some completely imagined, this is the fictional autobiography that takes readers into the life of Brent Spiner, and tells an amazing tale about the trappings of celebrity and the fear he has carried with him his entire life.

I had to pre-order this one, as I am a life long Trekkie. Also, it just sounds fun.

The City Beautiful By Aden Polydoros- Oct 5th

Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity, and he dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania.
 
But when Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, his dream begins to slip away. While the rest of the city is busy celebrating the World’s Fair, Alter is now living a nightmare: possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk, he is plunged into a world of corruption and deceit, and thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past. A boy who means more to Alter than anyone knows.
 
Now, with only days to spare until the dybbuk takes over Alter’s body completely, the two boys must race to track down the killer—before the killer claims them next.

This YA story sounds like an interesting fantasy murder mystery.

Briarheart by Mercedes Lackey- October 5th

Miriam may be the daughter of Queen Alethia of Tirendell, but she’s not a princess. She’s the child of Alethia and her previous husband, the King’s Champion, who died fighting for the king, and she has no ambitions to rule. When her new baby sister Aurora, heir to the throne, is born, she’s ecstatic. She adores the baby, who seems perfect in every way. But on the day of Aurora’s christening, an uninvited Dark Fae arrives, prepared to curse her, and Miriam discovers she possesses impossible power.

Soon, Miriam is charged with being trained in both magic and combat to act as chief protector to her sister. But shadowy threats are moving closer and closer to their kingdom, and Miriam’s dark power may not be enough to save everyone she loves, let alone herself.

It’s a YA Mercedes Lackey book. How could I not mention it?

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow-October 5th

It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

I’m not saying I pre-ordered it, but I pre-ordered it.

Child of Light by Terry Brook- October 12th

At nineteen, Auris Afton Grieg has led an . . . unusual life. Since the age of fifteen, she has been trapped in a sinister prison. Why? She does not know. She has no memories of her past beyond the vaguest of impressions. All she knows is that she is about to age out of the children’s prison, and rumors say that the adult version is far, far worse. So she and some friends stage a desperate escape into the surrounding wastelands. And it is here that Auris’s journey of discovery begins, for she is rescued by an unusual stranger who claims to be Fae—a member of a magical race that Auris had thought to be no more than legend. Odder still, he seems to think that she is one as well, although the two look nothing alike. But strangest of all, when he brings her to his wondrous homeland, she begins to suspect that he is right. Yet how could a woman who looks entirely human be a magical being herself?

I have an ARC for this, so a review is coming next month. But still, new Terry Brooks!

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield- Oct 12th

1973: a final, top-secret mission to the Moon. Three astronauts in a tiny spaceship, a quarter million miles from home. A quarter million miles from help.

NASA is about to launch Apollo 18. While the mission has been billed as a scientific one, flight controller Kazimieras “Kaz” Zemeckis knows there is a darker objective. Intelligence has discovered a secret Soviet space station spying on America, and Apollo 18 may be the only chance to stop it.

But even as Kaz races to keep the NASA crew one step ahead of their Russian rivals, a deadly accident reveals that not everyone involved is quite who they were thought to be. With political stakes stretched to the breaking point, the White House and the Kremlin can only watch as their astronauts collide on the lunar surface, far beyond the reach of law or rescue.

Full of the fascinating technical detail that fans of The Martian loved, and reminiscent of the thrilling claustrophobia, twists, and tension of The Hunt for Red October, The Apollo Murders is a high-stakes thriller unlike any other. Chris Hadfield captures the fierce G-forces of launch, the frozen loneliness of space, and the fear of holding on to the outside of a spacecraft orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour as only someone who has experienced all of these things in real life can.

Everyone’s favorite singing astronaut has written a sci-fi mystery book. No, I’m not excited for this at all.

The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta-October 12th

“What’s done is done.”
Unless, of course, it was done by my brownies. Then it’s getting undone.

Syd (no pronouns, please) has always dealt with big, hard-to-talk-about things by baking. Being dumped is no different, except now Syd is baking at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin. And everyone who eats Syd’s breakup brownies . . . breaks up. Even Vin and Alec, who own the Proud Muffin. And their breakup might take the bakery down with it. Being dumped is one thing; causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. But the cute bike delivery person, Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin, it’s probably on the messenger bag), believes Syd about the magic baking. And Harley believes Syd’s magical baking can fix things, too—one recipe at a time.

This sounds so cute! I had to include this adorable YA fantasy romance.

Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson- October 12th

Paige Miller is determined to take her basketball team to the state championship, maybe even beyond. But as March Madness heats up, Paige falls deathly ill. Days later, she wakes up attached to an IV and learns that the whole world has perished. Everyone she loves, and all of her dreams for the future—they’re gone.

But Paige is a warrior. She pushes through her fear and her grief and gets through each day scrounging for food, for shelter, for safety. As she struggles with her new reality, Paige learns that the apocalypse did not happen by accident. And that there are worse things than being alone.

This sounds really depressing. And slightly spooky.

Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds- October 12th

For thirty years a tiny band of humans has been sheltering in the caverns of an airless, crater-pocked world called Michaelmas. Beyond their solar system lie the ruins of human interstellar civilization, stalked by a ruthless, infinitely patient cybernetic entity determined to root out the last few bands of survivors. One man has guided the people of Michaelmas through the hardest of times, and given them hope against the wolves: Miguel de Ruyter.

When a lone human ship blunders into their system, and threatens to lead the wolves to Michaelmas, de Ruyter embarks on a desperate, near-suicide mission to prevent catastrophe. But an encounter with a refugee from the ship—the enigmatic woman who calls herself only Glass—leads to de Ruyter’s world being turned upside down.

Well that all sounds…terrible. Which of course makes me want it.

The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber- October 19th

The House of Rust is an enchanting novel about a Hadrami girl in Mombasa. When her fisherman father goes missing, Aisha takes to the sea on a magical boat made of a skeleton to rescue him. She is guided by a talking scholar’s cat (and soon crows, goats, and other animals all have their say, too). On this journey Aisha meets three terrifying sea monsters. After she survives a final confrontation with Baba wa Papa, the father of all sharks, she rescues her own father, and hopes that life will return to normal. But at home, things only grow stranger.

This one sounds so good. Consider me intrigued.

Hench by Natalie Zina Walchots- October 19th

Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?

As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured.  And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.

So, of course, then she gets laid off.

With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.

Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing.  And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.

It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.

I’m sorry, but I love the premise for this one so much it made my Christmas wish list this year.

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn- October 19th

We are a people who do not forget.

Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.

Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.

Ooh…an Ark. Consider me curious.

Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson- October 26th

The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having traveled light-years to bring one thousand sleeping souls to a new home among the stars. But when first mate Michelle Campion rouses, she discovers some of the sleepers will never wake.

Answering Campion’s distress call, investigator Rasheed Fin is tasked with finding out who is responsible for these deaths. Soon a sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel, one that will have repercussions for the entire system—from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet Bloodroot, to other far-flung systems, and indeed to Earth itself.

This one sounds pretty good too!

And as of writing this, these are all the current release dates, though that could change. Get those pre-orders in now!

It’s a month of great releases to be sure.

TTT-Books on My Fall 2021 To-Read List

Lauren3 Comments

It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday! TTT “was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.”

Wow. Is this a hard Top Ten Tuesday or what?

I’ll come up with ten books, but that doesn’t mean I’m actually going to read them. Because I don’t always read the books on my TBRs.

And, of course, I just have to remember to add them to my actual TBR’s over the next two months.

That’s not too much to ask, is it?

The Unbound Empire by Melissa Caruso

The final book in the Swords and Fire trilogy, I’ve been meaning to read this since last year! I just never got around to it. Shame on me. The first two books were great, so I have high hopes for this one.

We Could be Heroes by Mike Chen

Jamie and Zoe have no memories, but what they do have is superpowers. I picked this up through Book of the Month a while back and have been wanting to read it for a while now.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

A school that wants you dead. This one has been sitting on my TBR cart for a while, so it’s about time I pick it up, right?

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

The sequel to Mistborn is on my current TBR, and I am determined to read it this fall!

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

It seems like the fall is the perfect time for a horror book. Plus I really enjoyed the authors last book. So fingers crossed!

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

A horror book in which some of the KKK are actual demons? Yeah, perfect fall/spooky season read.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle

All Tom does is deliver a book. And it opens his world to the occult. This fantasy horror book sounded really interesting. And again, a good Halloween read…I hope.

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

I read The Hazel Wood last year and really enjoyed it, so I need to read the sequel. Here’s hoping I remember to pick it up!

A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill

A story about a boy who sees monsters and lets them into his life. Now why does a horror book sound heartwarming? This will be an October read, for sure.

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

Who knew C.S. Lewis wrote Sci-Fi? I sure didn’t until I picked this up. I’m looking forward to reading this.

Well, there it is. My fall TBR. Will I actually accomplish something and read all the books on this list? Who knows? I surely hope so. Now I just have to figure out which books I’m going to read in which months!

Oh the choices!