My Writing

Stoked for This: August 2023

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

August has SO MANY BOOKS coming out that I’m Stoked for! SEVENTEEN!!

No crazy “theme” this month, though a few of them are being published this month, I know I probably won’t be in the right mood for them until later in the year. But, we shall see! I’ve got quite a list, so here we go 🙂

RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2023

Family Lore

by: Elizabeth Acevedo

Why am I stoked for this release?

Elizabeth Acevedo is one of my all time favorite YA, Novel in Verse authors. She’s also written a few prose pieces, but her Novel in Verse are my favs. She’s one of the few authors I know I will enjoy her books as soon as I find out there’s a new release. This will be her first Adult fiction about a Dominican-American family told through the voices of its women (which, we all know is going to be good).

The Connellys of County Down

by: Tracey Lange

Why am I stoked for this release?

As I love me a family dynamics novel.

Tara is coming out of prison after serving a 18-month drug charge and trying to restart her life at 30 is hard, so she moves in with her siblings. Her brother, a single dad, is struggling with a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister is cracking under the weight of huge secrets.

Again, family dynamic novels just hit different for me and the drama that’s probably in this will keep me turning the pages.

Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls

by: Kai Cheng Thom

Why am I stoked for this release?

Sometimes I just want a book with letters/poems/ and essays.

This is written by an Asian Canadian trans femme author during the pandemic when the world was blasting hate and violence full force. This is written during a painful time of the author’s life, so it’s bound to be filled with raw emotions.

The Museum of Human History

by: Rebekah Bergman

Why am I stoked for this release?

I like time morphing novels – rather that’s time travel, alternate histories, future fantasy – I think it’s fun.

This one is about a little girl who, while in a coma after nearly drowning, has stopped aging. While Maeve is in her coma, the adults around her struggle to figure out how and why she’s no longer aging, and their experiments never turn out correctly.

RELEASE DATE: August 8, 2023

A Council of Dolls

by: Mona Susan Power

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m always interested in Indigenous Voices and this one is spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day. This is also to shine a light on the generational trauma brought on by Indian boarding schools and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. There’s also rumored to have stunning prose, and I’m always down for that!

Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

by: James McBride

Why am I stoked for this release?

This historical novel set in the 1930’s is about the community of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, filled mostly with African Americans and Jews.

At one point, the community conspire together to keep a young deaf black boy out of the state’s notorious mental hospital.

This book is supposed to be about the relationships that molded this community together and I always love those stories.

Tomb Sweeping

by: Alexandra Chang

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a short story collection about histories, technologies, and generational divides that shape our relationships.

Again, sometimes I like having a short story collection for a quick(er) read here and there.

RELEASE DATE: August 15, 2023

The Invisible Hour

by: Alice Hoffman

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a novel about the power of books. So yea, I’m stoked for this.

This is also about Mia and her life inside the Community – an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts. Contact with the outside world is forbidden and book are evil, but when Mia gets her hands on a copy of The Scarlet Letter, it perfectly captures the pain and loss she’s feeling inside her.

Books allow others to feel seen; and this one is going to be one of them.

Fever House

by: Keith Rosson

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is marketed as being “horror, crime, and raw” – mixed with gangsters, black ops government agencies, a punk band, a severed hand, a detached eyeball?

This novel is bound to have it all.

I may not get around to this until it is a lot closer to Halloween, but who knows, there’s a lot happening in this book that seems like it will be a trip.

The Witch is Back

by: Sophie H. Morgan

Why am I stoked for this release?

Rarely.

Very rarely – do I get excited for romance books. But this is a witchy, childhood romance/second chance novel that I can see myself enjoy once I can get around to it.

LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO

by: Cleo Qian

Why am I stoked for this release?

A collection of stories centered around the experience of Asian and Asian American women.

Based of those who have read and reviewed it already, the stories seem to be page turners!

Bride of the Tornado

by: James Kennedy

Why am I stoked for this release?

Okay, listen; I know this one is way out in left field for what I usually read – a secretive midwestern town engulfed by a mysterious plague of tornadoes every generation where the teen girl must now find a way to escape from.

But like, I grew up apart of Tornado Alley. My family was the only family within our immediate group of family and friends who had a basement. Everyone would come over when the tornado sirens went off. I always kind of looked forward to storms because of this. Even now, I love storm watching.

This just changes it up for me and I even went so far as requesting an ARC of it to read.

RELEASE DATE: August 29, 2023

Vampires of El Norte

by: Isabel Cañas

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a historical horror about vampires and vaqueros (cowboys) facing off on the Texas/Mexico border. What is there NOT to like about this?

I’m not a crazy reader of horror, but I’ve always found myself in the mood when it gets cooler outside. So, though I may not get to reading this quite this month, I’m definitely reading it come spooky season!

A Multitude of Dreams

by: Mara Rutherford

Why am I stoked for this release?

Two reasons.

One: I read The Poison Season last year and absolutely LOVED it – so I’ve been pretty stoked about her next title.

Two. This is a gothic fantasy YA (with vampires?).

Yes please!!

Everything/Nothing/Someone: A Memoir

by: Alice Carrière

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a coming-of-age memoir of Alice Carrière in the 90’s as her adolescence gives way to a struggle with dissociative disorder.

I’m a ’92 baby, so some of my childhood was the 90’s (though most of my memories were early 2000s) and revisiting that era would be fun.

But, I also love the way mental health is talked about more and more nowadays. It was still kind of taboo while I was growing up. Anytime I can read about others’ stories with their mental health journey, I do try to read it.

My Father, the Panda Killer

by: Jamie Jo Hoang

Why am I stoked for this release?

I saw this on NetGalley and immediately asked to read it. This is a YA, told in alternating voices of Jane in 1999 San Jose, and her father as an eleven-year-old in 1975 Đà Nẵng.

The Vietnam War is another part of history I’m taking time to read about. I have an uncle who fought over, and I know I can’t even imagine the horrors that war caused.

This book is unflinching in its tale about war and the generational impact it has.

After You Vanished

by: E.A. Neeves

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is said to be Sadie meets We Were Liars. Both are amazing books, but Sadie is a title I’m constantly giving recommendations out for while doing Shelf Helps at work.

This title is told through Teddy’s POV to her missing twin sister, Izzy as she tries to piece together what could have happened to Izzy after she vanished from a midnight swim last year.

Stoked for This: July 2023

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Okay, so I’m not the greatest at getting this out on the first, that’s absolutely for sure – but at least it’s still at the beginning of the month, right?? My family had their annual summer garage sale this past weekend and it’s a big deal (we made over $1,200 this year!). That mixed with July 4th, my days are all over the place. But, I wanted to make sure I got this out at a reasonable time so here we go!

RELEASE DATE: July 4, 2023

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

by: Satoshi Yagisawa, Eric Ozawa (Translator)

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m kind of a sucker for Japanese literature – especially fiction. It always makes me feel peaceful and they don’t shy away from what it’s like being human. It just feels real. So, I’m pretty stoked for this read that has a setting with a bookshop!

The Librarianist

by: Patrick deWitt

Why am I stoked for this release?

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and am actually currently reading it. It’s about Bob, a retired librarian who begins helping out at a senior center. There’s more involvement, but the seniors at this center are a hoot and I love them.

Wolfsong (Green Creak #1)

by: T.J. Klune

Why am I stoked for this release?

Firstly, it’s T.J. Klune, anything this author releases will automatically get put on my TBR shelf, which as soon as I read it, it becomes my newest favorite book. Any year he releases a book, it’s always in my Top 5 easily. I know, this is technically a reprint of the entire series through TOR, but I haven’t read it yet and I’m counting it. Plus, it’s shapeshifting wolves; leave me to run down memory lane with my teenage Teen Wolf obsession. Thanks.

RELEASE DATE: JULY 11, 2023

Alchemy of a Blackbird

by: Claire McMillan

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a historical novel based on the true story of painters and occultists Remedios Varo and Leonor Carrington, who both had to break away from their famous partners in order to become icons on their own.

I’ve been interested in Tarot Card reading so I’m excited to see how this goes because apparently that’s what connects to two women.

Ebony Gate (Phoenix Hoard #1)

by: Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

Why am I stoked for this release?

Firstly, this is being marked as “…female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown.” Like, what part of that description does not intrigue me? I’ve also been interested in dragons recently so there’s that too…

Give Me a Sign

by: Anna Sortino

Why am I stoked for this release?

I admit, I’m not one for YA romance, but this one has a main character who has hearing loss who’s a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind where she meet a Deaf counselor who volunteers to help her with her signing. I love ASL, I’ve got a Minor in the language and I sign with quite a few patrons at work. I’m always curious to see how Deaf and Hard of Hearing characters are written so I’m always up to reading books with those characters, especially with the author is Deaf themselves.

RELEASE DATE: JULY 18, 2023

A Guide to the Dark

by: Meriam Metoui

Why am I stoked for this release?

This book is marked as Young Adult, but since the two girls are college age, this could be marked as New Adult, which is one of the reasons I was interested in it. New Adult is generally marketed as 18-28 while Young Adult is more 13-18 – it’s a *newer* genre that’s still getting on it’s feet, so I’m always on the look out for that.

This is also a horror YA and I don’t know what it is about it, but I greatly enjoy YA horror (I’m going to thank Rory Power’s Wilder Girls for that one). This novel is saying it’s The Haunting of Hill House meets Nina LaCour so uh, sign me up!

Women of the Post

by: Joshunda Sanders

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a novel based on true events of the all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps sorting over one million pieces of mail for the US Army during WWII.

I’ve read a lot of historical fiction set in WWII, but this is a story I haven’t heard yet, so I’m stoked to be able to read about a different point of view. I also don’t read a lot of fiction that would be categorized as “military fiction” so that’s another check off my list for excitement.

RELEASE DATE: JULY 25, 2023

The Weaver and the Witch Queen

by: Genevieve Gornichec

Why am I stoked for this release?

Anyone who knows me knows I wouldn’t shut up about The Witch’s Heart by this author after I read it. I’m constantly recommending that book to anyone and everyone. Gornichec writes historical fiction with mythology and Vikings Age history. Those are two things I absolutely love and this one is about the becoming Queen of Norway. Sign me up to enjoy this already.

Stoked for This: June 2023

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

I got this set up and going on the right day haven’t I?? How exciting! I’ve starting to try and keep everything written down BEFORE the day of – that seems to be helpful.

RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2023

Pageboy

by: Elliot Page

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m not really one for celebrity memoirs – I mean, I’m also not one for memoirs in general (nonfiction is still harder for me to get into). But, I love Elliot Page and from the reviews I’ve seen around, I’m hoping this will be a good one to read.

The Wind Knows My Name

by: Isabel Allende

Why am I stoked for this release?

This novel follows two different timelines of children fleeing war/danger and immigrating to unknown lands. One set in Vienna, 1939, the other in Arizona, 2019.

Stories of immigration have been interesting to me, especially with the news at the US/Mexico border. How children get separated from their parents all while on the search for a better, safer life is crazy to me and I can only imagine what both a child and parents go through. I want to read these stories to know and understand.

The Endless Vessel

by: Charles Soule

Why am I stoked for this release?

In a few years from now, in a world similar to ours, there exists a “Depression plague” that people simply refer to as, “The Grey”. One young scientist from Hong Kong must travel through past and present and all over on her journey through the Endless Vessel.

This is a promise of The Midnight Library and Ready Player One, which are both books I very well enjoyed when I read them! Plus, as someone who battles with depression herself, I’d kind of like to see someone who is fighting in a world that has seemed to have given up.

My Murder

by: Katie Williams

Why am I stoked for this release?

This one is about a woman who is brought back by a government project after being a victim of a local serial killer.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love my ID network and can happily watch murder show after murder show. Some times, those stories have unanswered questions. I’m curious to see to how the writer tells this story about someone who comes back.

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 13, 2023

The Love Report

by: BéKa, Maya (Illustrator)

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a cute, middle grade graphic novel about two preteens trying to figure out what couples last, while others fizzle.

There wasn’t a lot of graphic novels aimed at middle grade readers while I was growing up so I do enjoy seeing the market for nowadays.

Plus, the illustrations on this look adorable.

On Earth as It Is on Television

by: Emily Jane

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’ve got two alien novel coming out this month I’m stoked for. This is first one where one day, out of nowhere, spaceships appear over various US cities – they block out cell phone towers and Wifi – but almost as quickly at they appear, they leave. This novel tells stories of their visit and it’s aftermath with various characters.

I’m not sure why I’m suddenly attracted to first encounter novels, but hey – it’s a fun thing to think about!!

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 20, 2023

Old Enough

by: Haley Jakobson

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is about a bisexual woman in college finding her adult group of friends and what it means for her friends back from high school.

I absolutely loved my college experience and the friendships I made while going. Being away from where you grew up really allows you to find more out about who you are on your own.

I miss my college friends so much and I feel like this book will be a fun read.

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 27, 2023

The Road to Roswell

by: Connie Willis

Why am I stoked for this release?

My second first encounter novel of June here. This time with someone abducted by aliens who then wants to help their new out-of-this-world friend out.

I’m going to be honest; I had no idea who Connie Willis was before I saw this book in a pile of ARCs at work. I feel like she’s someone I should know about, because some of her stuff sounds like a fun read – but I think I’m going to start with this one and go from there 🙂

Dead Eleven

by: Jimmy Juliano

Why am I stoked for this release?

On a creepy island town obsessed with the year 1994, a mother arrives, hoping to learn the truth about her son’s death but there’s more to this town than anyone knows.

I haven’t read a lot of horror, but I like 90s horror films, so I want to give this one a go. Plus, I was born in 1992, my sister in 1994 – so I’m curious to read about that timeframe.

Lay Your Body Down

by: Amy Suiter Clarke

Why am I stoked for this release?

This one is about a woman who returns to her rural Minnesota hometown and comes to find a radical evangelical pastor has poisoned everyone’s minds… and possibly a murder…

This is kind of another of my “guilty” pleasures – weird religious cults… mysterious behind them, how they members joined, what happened while in the cult, how they got out… it’s interesting to me.

This is also the author of Girl, 11, which is a book I know has received good praise, so I’m stoked for this one too.

Stoked for This: May 2023

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

I was already pretty bad at keeping up with this, wasn’t I? April kind of got out from under me, but I am trying to get my feet back on the ground for these next few weeks. I was lucky enough to have two extra days off last week and that allowed me to get caught up in some things. Of those things included my Stoked for This: May 2023 edition!

RELEASE DATE: MAY 2, 2023

Warrior Girl Unearthed

by: Angeline Boulley

Why am I stoked for this release?

Angeline Boulley wrote Firekeeper’s Daughter, which is one of my all time favorite Young Adult books – I’m constantly recommending it at work. In this book, Perry Firekeeper-Birch and a group of Misfits work together to give Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestor’s remains back to their tribes. Boulley brought up Indigenous issues in her last book that I honestly wasn’t aware of and I’m anticipating I will learn a lot in this book as well.

Where You See Yourself

By: Claire Forrest

Why am I stoked for this release?

Always a goal of mine is to read more books with different representation. This one is about Effie, a senior in high school with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair, and her journey in finding the right college to attend the following year. I’m actually in the process of finishing this book right now and, while there is some romance to this, it’s not really the main focus (I’m not the biggest fan of YA romance anywho…). But the complexity of the disability representation is amazing and I’m exciting for this to hit the shelves.

Hula

by: Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes

Why am I stoked for this release?

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month so it’s a perfect time for this release and read. I’m going to be honest and admit that I haven’t read a lot of novels set in Hawi’i culture so I’m excited to read this one that dives into mother-daughter relationships, dysfunctional families, and the history and culture of Hawi’i.

RELEASE DATE: MAY 9, 2023

A Shadow Crown (The Halfling Saga #2)

by: Melissa Blair

Why am I stoked for this release?

Technically I’m excited for both books of this Saga. I already knew I was going to love the first book and shortly after I had picked that one up, did I realize there will be another. I’m kind of weird when it comes to series – and weird in the way that I hate waiting to have to read one and will just wait for the next one to come out (but what if it’s a longer series – then I usually cave) Anywho… assassin female spies in a Fantasy land? Count me in.

Daughters of Snow and Cinders

by: Núria Tamarit, Jenna Allen (Translator)

Why am I stoked for this release?

Kaite got this in as an ARC from the publishers at work and I immediately asked for it because I loved the artwork. This will be the English debut of Spanish cartoonist and illustrator Núria Tamarit. But again, I’m so excited to see the storyline that goes with the art that I saw when I did a flip through.

RELEASE DATE: MAY 16, 2023

The Guest

by: Emma Cline

Why am I stoked for this release?

Did anyone else read Emma Cline’s book The Girls? I did quite a few years ago and I don’t remember a lot of it (it was before I would review all my reads) but I do remember that it was a crazy book. This one a young girl pretends to be someone she isn’t as a homeless “grifter” in Long Island.

The God of Good Looks

by: Breanne Mc Ivor

Why am I stoked for this release?

First off, please look at the cover of this book and tell me you aren’t intrigued! This one is about a young Trinidadian woman finding her voice and new kind of happy ending. I have a patron I adore who is from Trinidad & Tobago and this is novel will hopefully give me a bit more to insight to her island so the next time she tells me about her home, I may have more connection.

Paper Planes

By: Jennie Wood, Dozerdraws (Illustrator)

Why am I stoked for this release?

A summer camp for troubled youth after “an incident” where now to ex best friends have to rekindle their relationship? Give me.

RELEASE DATE: MAY 30, 2023

Witch King

by: Martha Wells

Why am I stoked for this release?

The description of this says, “A story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose”. That pretty much checks off a lot of my favorite tropes, so that’s pretty self explanatory as to why I’m stoked for this…

Girls Like Girls

by: Hayley Kiyoko

Why am I stoked for this release?

A YA novel based on hit song, Girls Like Girls from Hayley Kiyoko. I was the type of girl who grew up reading fan fiction of stories based on songs. I’m curious to read the actual story of a song from the singer.

Ever Flowing Judging List

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to give a quick update so you all don’t think I’m M.I.A.

I’m judging two categories in a book award that are due here in May. Between the two categories, there are 22 books.

Here’s a photo reference (minus 3 that are digital copies):

And here’s a photo for reference against my 12-year-old cat, Mushi 🙂

But, I’ve also got a few books that aren’t under book awards with publication dates coming up that I’m hoping to have read before then.

Here’s a peak at how I even manage to keep all this in order:

The green & orange are the books in my two categories that I need to read. The yellow tabs are books that have been released or are going to be released soon.

The two tabs on the right are the ones I’ve finished for this month.

So, as you can see – I’ve got a bit of a pile I’m reading through, but because I am judging, I won’t be posting those books on my website.

At least not yet!

So, be patient with me – I’m always reading and I’ll have stuff to post, but there may be a bit between postings!

🙂 Alisha

Days of Reading…

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

I feel like I should be giving anyone who is actually following this a heads up on just about how many posts you’re going to see from me in the next day or two (I’m going to space them out a bit). I read 5 books over the weekend; I finished a novel, read a collection of short stories, read another novel, and then two graphic novels.

There were a few things that allowed for this to happen though.

Wednesday the library was closed in celebration of the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl and the fact that most of downtown was going to be closed for the parade. This allowed for me to read my currently novel at the timee after I watched said parade on my TV.

Thursday I slipped on black ice and fell down the set of cement stairs at my house, horribly bruising my entire left side and my car wouldn’t start – so I stayed home from work. I actually didn’t end up reading too much this day as I was laying on a heating pad 90% of the time, but I did read a few chapters in the evening.

Friday I worked but then had no plans over the weekend besides watching ID Network and reading.

Saturday and Sunday were split between house chores and reading.

Oh, and watching The Last of Us latest episode on Sunday night obviously…

I also had a day off on Monday for Presidents’ Day. I ended up getting a lot of random chores done, including calling the Personal Property Tax Office and sitting on hold for 20 minutes, in which time, I read my book.

I guess what I’m getting at with this post is that I don’t really go out much. I’m 30 years old and in all honesty the actual thought of going out and being around people gives me anxiety most of the time anyway. Reading has always been my escape and my next few reviews’ dates read will show that – and of course anyone who signed up for my email notifications will be receiving all of them.

Be kind. Be gentle. Escape with a book if you need to.