New Books

One Good Thing / Georgia Hunter

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One Good Thing
By: Georgia Hunter
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 432
Published: March 4, 2025
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Dates Read: March 27, 2025 - April 8, 2025
Format: ARC / Paperback

In 1941 Italy, best friends Lili and Esti are as close as sisters, especially after Esti’s son Theo is born. But then the war knocks on Italy’s doors and Mussolini’s Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an “inferior” Jewish race.

The two women and Theo first flee to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Italian Underground. When the convent is raided, Esti ends up wounded and asks Lili to take Theo and run; to protect him.

Even though she’s terrified of traveling on her own, Lili heads south towards the Allied territory, travelling through Nazi-occupied villages, bombed out cities, and wide open fields, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe while they wait for both the war to end and to be reunited with Esti.

So, I feel like quite a few people who read We Were the Lucky Ones and immediately wanted this new novel from Georgia Hunter, so of course I asked for an ARC of it as soon as I saw it. As with the previous novel, Hunter did a fantastic job at crafting characters who were relatable and endearing. I felt like I was reading a letter from a friend as I followed Lili’s journey.

As I’ve come to slowly learn over the years, no matter how many WWII historical fiction novels I read, I’m constantly learning more and more about different parts of Europe and different experiences through every book. I’ve known Italy started off on the Axis side and then effectively switched sides after the Allied invasion, but I didn’t realize the treatment of Jews during this time.

Overall, an amazing character enriched historical fiction about one woman’s endurance during the WWII in Italy as she does everything to protect her best friend’s son.

*Thank you Pamela Dorman Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Stoked for This: April 2025

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Y’all, it’s my birthday month so you can bet we’ve got some good stuff coming out! If you’ve been around for a bit, you’ll see some familiar authors I’ve enjoyed in the past and, as always, a few debut authors I can’t wait to see their talent.

April 1, 2025

From author Laurie Halse Anderson comes a historical middle grade fiction about thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper during the spring of 1776 struggling to survive not only the Revolutionary War but the smallpox epidemic as she searches for her missing father.

Rebellion 1776

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

Back with her third graphic novel, Huda Fahmy is ready for junior year – she’s going to join all the clubs, volunteer everywhere, and ace her ACTs but then she gets the news of her parents divorce and everything goes downhill from there.

Huda F Wants to Know?

By: Huda Fahmy

A Chinese-Filipino teenager whose world of daydreams is destroyed by a family secret that portrays the pains of growing up in this lyrical, mythology-tinged debut novel.

Sunlight Playing over a Mountain

By: Selina Li Bi

Video games, queer friends, and set in both 1998 and 2013 need any more information?

A/S/L

By: Jeanne Thornton

What else would you do after hearing about your terminal illness other than road trip to kill your estranged father?

Bad Nature

By: Ariel Courage

After the street cat, Cat, get sick in a Brooklyn, five strangers from around the neighborhood come together to help him.

Cat’s People

By: Tanya Guerrero

If you could completely erase your memories of a person, would you do it? What if a chance encounter later on makes you want your memories back?

Meet Me at Blue Hour

By: Sarah Suk

Three girls just found out they were dating the same guy, basketball star, Nate. After Nate is found bloodied and unconscious in the locker room after the big game, the girls are prime suspects. Now, they much form an alliance together to clear their name.

The Payback Girls

By: Alex Travis

April 8, 2025

Ollie is stuck between everything. They’re too girlie for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girlie enough for their boy crazy BFF, and when they have to write about “What it means to be a woman” they’re caught between fleeing and confronting their own fight for their own path.

Ollie In Between

By: Jess Callans

It’s 1954 and a former nun arrives at Gulls Next in search of answers after her pen pal’s letter mysteriously stops.

Murder at Gulls Nest

By: Jess Kidd

April 15, 2025

After a school shooting, Bea, a girl with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair must navigate the trauma in a world that wasn’t built for her.

Please Pay Attention

By: Jamie Sumner

I got an ARC of this one and you can read my review here 🙂

April 22, 2025

Lucretia and her mom have come to the tiny Candle Island, Maine to escape the memories of the car accident that killed her father. But the island has its own secrets, one that capture Lucretia in their wake.

Candle Island

By: Lauren Wolk

April 29, 2025

Imagine Pokémon, but with dragons and phoenixes in the skies of Seoul, meals magically appear based on your moon, and dream literally come to life.

Dreamslinger

By: Graci Kim

What would you do if you moved into a rental house with thirty feral cats? And, how would caring for them open the door for saving your home?

Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

By: Courtney Gustafson

The sequel to Abeni’s Song where Abeni faces new challenges as she seeks to bring back the Golden Throne, evade the Witch Preist’s hunters, and find the disappeared people of her village.

Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold

By: P. Djèlí Clark

Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5) / Suzanne Collins

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Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5)
By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA, Dystopia
Number of Pages: 400
Published: March 18, 2025
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Dates Read: March 18, 2025 - March 23, 2025
Format: Hardcover

Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think about his chances at the fiftieth Hunger Games. This year, it’s the Quarter Quell and twice as many tributes will be taken to the arena to fight to the death. All Haymitch wants to do is get through the day, celebrate his birthday with cake and spending time with the girl that he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, his life is shattered and he’s pulled away from his family and his love, shuttled off to the Capital with three other District 12 tributes: a young girl who’s nearly a sister to him, an oddsmakers, and the most stuck-up girl in town. Haymitch quickly discovers he’s being set up to fail, but there’s something in him that wants to fight… not only for his life in the arena, but far beyond its walls.

It’s been three days since I finished this novel and I’m still not over it. This book is everything I wanted for Haymitch’s Hunger Games and so much more. It’s gut wrenching. It’s thrilling. It’s heart shattering – which, yes, is so much more than breaking, let me tell you!

The connections that Suzanne Collins makes in this that then interweaves into the original trilogy is phenomenal – there were pieces I didn’t even know were missing from the puzzle that she reveals. I don’t think I’ve ever had the strong desire that I’ve had after reading a book to reread an entire trilogy as I’ve had with this. Again, if that doesn’t showcase the talent of Collins’ writing, I don’t know what else you need. (Though the urge is still there to just sit and read the original trilogy, I did purchase the four movie set on DVD and have binging those).

Even though we all know what the outcome of Haymitch’s story is, it still didn’t stop this from being agonizing. You meet both new and old characters and no matter how much you try to shield your heart, that wall gets detonated.

Overall, Haymitch’s journey shows that not everybody gets to be the hero, especially at the start, and that change doesn’t happen overnight – it sometimes can be twenty-five plus years in the making.

Stoked For This: March 2025

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So this month is really gearing up for Poetry Month (April). Why? Because there are quite a few novel-in-verse books I’m stoked to be coming out! For a girlie who doesn’t really care too much for poetry itself, I will devour novel-in-verse books one after another. What are y’alls feelings towards Novel-in-Verses? Have you read them yet? What’s been your favorite??

Oh! – There’s also a new release from Georgia Hunter, an author I really enjoyed reading last year – I actually started it yesterday and so far so good!

March 4, 2025

A middle grade novel about 13-year-old Mo and his father’s fits of rage. This novel explores the impact of mental health on families.

The Strongest Heart

By: Saadia Faruqi

Author of “We Were the Lucky Ones” returns with the story of two friends during war torn Italy in the 1940’s and what they will do to not only survive, but to protect those they love.

One Good Thing

By: Georgia Hunter

This witchy romantasy where Charmed meets Gilmore Girls.

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things

By: Breanne Randall

The newest graphic novel from K. O’Neill – that’s all I should really have to say! But, for just a tiny bit more: A ranger always protects, but what if they fail and get someone hurt?

A Song for You & I

By: K. O’Neill

March 11, 2025

A middle grade novel-in-verse that follows J, a young transgender from fifth grade to seventh grade as they use the video game, Coaster Boss, to help with their ADHD, isolation, and their relationship with their gender.

Glitch Girl!

By: Rainie Oet

March 18, 2025

After getting a tarot card reading from her best friend for her birthday, Camila struggles with the fear of the future.

Camila Núñez’s Year of Disasters

By: Miriam Zoila Perez

March 25, 2025

Told through the narration of the last residential building on its street – yes, the building known as the Odenburgh – works together with 12-year-old tenant, Prue to save the building from being demolished.

Once for Yes

By: Allie Millington

A novel-in-verse novel about Pearl as she struggles with depression as she tries to adjust to the fifth grade.

Octopus Moon

By: Bobbie Pyron

A Young Adult novel-in-verse about Diego and his best friend Lawson as the lines of loyalty are tested between them.

When We Ride

By: Rex Ogle

Everything is Poison / Joy McCullough

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Everything Is Poison
By: Joy McCullough
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 304
Published: January 14, 2025
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: February 9, 2025 - February 12, 2025
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Death, abortion, blood and gore, physical and sexual assault, domestic violence

As soon as Carmela turned sixteen, she was finally allowed into the workroom of her mother’s apothecary in the 17th-century Campo Marzio neighborhood of Rome, where her mother and two women make some of the most effective remedies for the community. But the workroom of La Tofana is no simple place and for every flowery suave and tonic, there’s another potion where the main ingredient is dried blood or something else unpleasant. And then there’s Aqua Tofana – the apothecary’s remedy of last resort and a secret Carmela never bargained for.

So, I knew of Joy McCullough from a middle grade book of hers I read years ago, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, so this was my first Young Adult book of hers. I picked it up both because of her and as well as a women run 17-century apothecary sounded amazing!

Carmela, though she was sixteen, still had a lot of growing up to do within these pages. I know sixteen was a decent age during the 17-century, but sometimes Carmela’s attitude towards patrons of the apothecary kind of annoyed me. She was there to help people, regardless of their life standing. I was glad to see her growth with her empathy by the end of the book, especially when it came to Violetta because I felt she was holding a childhood grudge that needed to be let go.

Overall, I loved learning about a time period in history where women were undermined badasses who helped each other right under men’s noses.

Stoked For This: February 2025

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Alright, alright, I know I’m late again! This time, it really was NOT my fault, I tried to get this done last night and my oldest cat, Mushi, was not having it. She was smacking at my iPad’s screen, which kept reacting to her little kitty paws – and every time I tried to type anything, she’d start smacking my hands! I don’t know what she had against me finishing it this, but she was on one!

This month there’s seventeen titles I’m stoked to be released, two of which I’ve already read and reviewed 🙂 There’s quite a few novel in verse titles as well as some silly ones (three novels deal with aliens in someway form or another).

Are you excited for any of these titles??

February 4, 2025

A sci-fi where two men protect a special little girl at all cost – written by one of my favorite authors of all time.

The Bones Beneath My Skin

By: TJ Klune

*This was my first book of 2025 and I absolutely loved it!! Read my review here 🙂

An anthology about the “The Event” – the night the runaway alien posing as Hollywood star, Max Spencer’s rescue turns into an unintentional invasion. 

Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology

Edited By: Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova

A historical fiction meets mystery in both multi-POV and multi-timeline (1940s & 1980s Germany and 2020 New York) YA filled with rebellion and sacrifices.

Under the Same Stars

By: Libba Bray

In this newly Japanese translated novel, a restaurant’s resident cat will transport you back in time to reunite with a departed loved one. Cue the tears and the tissues.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen

By: Yuta Takahashi

An action-packed, unflinching examination of the impacts of transphobia adventure intertwined with elements of Jewish mythology. 

A World Worth Saving

By: Kyle Lukoff

A memoir about the love of reading and writing and the relationship between the books that shaped us – aka a book I’m probably going to see myself in within so many pages.

Bibliophobia

By: Sarah Chihaya

February 11, 2025

A novel in verse about a young girl finding her way back after a life changing accident.

It’s All or Nothing, Vale

By: Andrea Beatriz Arango

A novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore with inherited magic and the price we pay for the life we desire.

(S)Kin

By: Ibi Zoboi

Gothic horror novella with sapphic monster romance – only 160 pages!!

But Not Too Bold

By: Hache Pueyo

A companion novel to the ah-mazing novel in verse, Alone, where we’re following kids from their homes into the evacuation camp.

Away

By: Megan E. Freeman

*This was my second book of 2025, you can read my steller review here.

A novel with neurodivergent characters, quirky friendships that explores identity, belonging, and the wonder of being different.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien

By: Alice Franklin

February 18, 2025

A book for nature lovers to meditate on the impact trees have on our lives.

Treenotes: A Year in the Company of Trees

By: Nalini Nadkarni

This book needs no other introduction other than it’s title: I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com

By: Kimberly Lemming

A historical novel that follows a homeless teenage girl as she struggles to survive during the Great Depression.

A Tiny Piece of Blue

By: Charlotte Whitney

A young adult debut novel about a young woman’s journey to heal from the trauma of trying “to be fixed”.

I Am the Cage

By: Allison Sweet Grant

With elements from The Little Mermaid and Cinderella, this historical fantasy is about one young woman’s love for the sea.

Upon a Starlit Tide

By: Kell Woods

February 25, 2025

A lake monster bands together with a human after the witch is thrown into her lake by her village.

Greenteeth

By: Molly O’Neill

Away / Megan E. Freeman

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Away
By: Megan E. Freeman
Genre: Middle Grade, Novel in Verse
Number of Pages: 480
Published: February 11, 2025
Publisher: Aladdin
Dates Read: January 19, 2025 - January 20, 2025
Format: ARC / Paperback

Told in multiple POVS with a mixture of novel in verse, movie script, production diary, letters, and newspaper articles, this companion novel to Alone, Away follows a group of kids who were placed in the same evacuation camp after the imminent yet unnamed danger that forced them out of their home. When the group of kids has an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist, they begin to dig into the reasoning as to why their world was turned upside down.

As they begin to investigate, they start to discover there’s more of a cover-up operation going on than there is an actual immediate threat. Can the group get to the root of the conspiracy and tell the adults in a way they’ll be believed before it’s too late?

I absolutely adored Alone when I read it back in 2023, so I immediately tried to get my hands on Away as soon as I could. This novel is not a full novel in verse but jumps around between different styles depending on which character it’s focusing on at the moment – though Grandin and Ashantae’s are in verse, Teddy’s is written in movie script or production diary, and Harmony writes letters to her Aunt and essays in new reports.

I think this fast paced story would be fun for middle school readers, especially those who like to prove kids can be just as absorbent, if not more, than adults. The charge to question what is really going on begins with the kids and they’re the ones who shine the light on it in order for the adults to finally see what’s happening.

Are some of the scenarios in this unrealistic? Yes, but it didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying it as I’m sure many others will.

You don’t have to have read Alone in order to understand what is happening in this novel as it is a companion novel and not a sequel.

*Thank you Aladdin and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Bones Beneath My Skin / TJ Klune

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The Bone Beneath My Skin
By: TJ Klune
Genre: Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 416
Published: February 4, 2025 (1st Published October 26, 2018)
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: January 4, 2025 - January 16, 2025
Format: Paperback / ARC

In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he lost his journalist job in Washington DC. The only thing he has left is his dad’s old truck, and the family’s empty summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon. So he decides to go there to be alone – except, the cabin isn’t empty. A big gruff of a man named Alex is there. And with him is a young girl, who’s not really young, but oh is she extraordinary. She calls herself Artemis Darth Vader.

It becomes clear to Nate that he has two choices. One is to wallow in the memories of his past and drown. Two is the fight for a future he never thought possible. Because it wasn’t by chance Nate met this duo in his cabin, he doesn’t really believe is fate or destiny either – but they’re special, and Nate will do what it takes to keep them free.

Oh I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book! As always, I was not disappointed by anything TJ Klune writes; there’s found family, gayness, witty humor, and this time, bacon (all the bacon), conspiracy theories, and running from bad men!

I don’t know how Klune is able to write such realistic, multilayered characters that always end up stealing pieces of my heart and never letting it go, but he does so every single time. The little found family of Nate, Alex, and Art will live on forever in my head by the phrase, “How would Art experience this?” when going through life.

This book is more science fiction over Klune’s usual (recent) releases of fantasy, and there is a small spice scene, but I wouldn’t classify this as a sole romance. There’s more focus on the found family portion as well as Nate coming to terms with his past.

Overall, this is a wonderful, thrilling, fast pace, page turner filled with a blend of the supernatural and of the human experience that is a must-read for all.

*Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Week Late, Stoked For This: January 2025

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I know I’m a week (and a day) late in this, and there will be loads of books already out – but that means there’s loads more books already out (Trying to be a bit more positive this year)! I tried to get this done yesterday, but stuff happened and I couldn’t get back to this.

I’m also going to try something new with my formatting of this series. Let me know what you think! Do you like the new way? Prefer the old way? Have no comments or concerns?

January 7, 2025

Amber arrives home one spring afternoon on her bike. As soon as her mother sees her, she screams. Why? Because Amber’s been dead seven years – hit by a car on the very bike she pulled up to the house in.

After Life

By: Gayle Forman

Bletchley Park. London. 1923. Dragons soar through the skies, but Vivian Featherswallow isn’t worried, she’s going to study the dragon language and make sure her little sister doesn’t have to grow up in Third Class. But by midnight, civil war has started. Viv is recruited for a codebreaker job to save her family – but the more she learns, the harder it is for her to distinguish what what war she’s actually fighting.

A Language of Dragons

By: S.F. Williamson

A dystopian, water covered world where a family tries to save the history of humans while creating a settlement on top of New York City’s National History Museum.

All the Water in the World

By: Eiren Caffall

A sapphic YA debut novel that follows two girls has they fall in love, fighting for survival in an abandoned bookstore.

The Last Bookstore on Earth

By: Lily Braun-Arnold

January 14, 2025

Written in prose and verse, this YA novel following sixteen-year-old Carmela as she’s finally able to help in her mother’s apothecary in the Campo Marzio neighborhood of Rome. But the workroom is no simple place, for every simple ingredient, there is else even less pleasant, and Carmela begins to find out the secrets she never bargained for.

Everything Is Poison

By: Joy McCullough

What would you do if you found a magical bookstore that transports you back through time to be face-to-face with your teenage self?

The In-Between Bookstore

By: Edward Underhill

A multi-level, page turning murder novel about pyramid schemes.

Death in the Downline

By: Maria Abrams

January 21, 2025

Ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr is now at the reservation where her father grew up: they need a new tribal marshal to help with the women who have disappeared from the rez. Now, local college student is missing and Starr begins drown in memories of her own daughter’s murder. As she works on the cases, Starr can’t shake the feeling of a fearsome spirit watching her, one of a woman with antlers of a deer.

Mask of the Deer Woman

By: Laurie L. Dove

Stoked for This: October 2024

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This month we have a whopping EIGHTEEN titles I’m stoked for being released! October is starting off strong with seven of the eighteen. Surprisingly (or not so surprising tbh), there aren’t any horror on this list – a mystery/thriller at the very end of the month, but that’s as close as it gets. Horror’s just not my type – cozy and tearjerkers are more it haha.

Hopefully this lists helps someone find their next read – if it does, let me know! I won’t get to all of these any time soon and I’d love to hear what you think of them :).

Release Date: October 1, 2024

The Magic You Make

By: Jason June

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is the sequel to The Spells We Cast that’s a queer magical romance with a grumpy/sunshine soulmate trope.

I listened to the first one as an audiobook and was absolutely hooked with every minute.

Give me all the magical academic settings with evil forces the teenagers have to tackle.

The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

By: Nicki Pau Preto

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m not kidding when I say to give me all the magical school…

This one’s a middle grade read with Vin, who is sent to her last magical school before it’s the end of the line.

So, a school, filled with magical delinquents?! Tell me you’re not interested!

Queer Mythology: Epic Legends from Around the World

By: Guido A. Sanchez

Why am I stoked for this release?

I know there’s always been LGBTQIA+ people throughout the world and throughout history, but as we know, history loves to be hetro-white-male-washed.

I know there are a lot of cultures out there that don’t shun the Queer community, so I’m excited to read about them. I’m also stoked to read about the myths where the queerness was erased overtime.

The Glass Girl

By: Kathleen Glasgow

Why am I stoked for this release?

I know most people probably know Kathleen Glasgow from Girl in Pieces, but I actually know her from How to Make Friends with the Dark – where I was left raw and open after relating to parental death in your teen years.

This one is about fifteen-year-old Bella who has a lot of stressors and turns to alcohol to help cope, which lands her in the hospital and rehab.

Though I don’t know if I’ll relate as personally to this novel (I barely drink), I’m sure I’ll be left with all kinds of feelings at the end of reading this.

Make My Wish Come True

By: Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick

Why am I stoked for this release?

A sapphic Netflix-esque cosy romance you say? Oh wait – it’s ex-best friends who are now fake dating for the press?!

I’m so ready.

I probably won’t read this one this month, but I have an ARC of it and I’m excited to curl up with it when it gets colder outside.

Jasmine Is Haunted

By: Mark Oshiro

Why am I stoked for this release?

Again, another author most people will know from another book over the one I associate them with, but still, I really enjoyed Each of Us a Desert when I read it back in 2020 and The Insiders, which I read in 2021 🙂

This is another middle grade read that is said to use spooky ghosts as a way to explore grief and processing trauma. Yea, I know, I really like the heavy stuff don’t I? I do though, cause it’s all stuff I wish I had as a kid growing up and I love reading it now to know what amazingness the younger generation has access to.

The Crescent Moon Tearoom

By: Stacy Sivinski

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is a cosy fantasy about witch sisters who live in a magical house. The Quigley triplets are close, until an event begins to pull them in different directions.

I like sister novels. I’m the middle of three sisters and we’re all pretty close (so close my younger sister and I would physically fight each other when we were younger and now I don’t go very long without some form of communication).

This is one of those novels I look at and think I would really enjoy during a crisp afternoon at a cafe with a pumpkin spice latte.

Release Date: October 8, 2024

Twenty-four Seconds from Now…

By: Jason Reynolds

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m stoked for this release so that others can read it as I received an ARC of it and read it a few weeks ago.

You can find the review here ◡̈

It’s a beautifully written novel about two black teenagers, in a healthy relationship, told through the boy’s POV as they get ready to have sex for the first time. There’s amazing, positive talks the boy has with both of his parents and his older sister, and even poor advice from his friends (as usual).

As we’ve just finished Banned Books Week, I’m a little concerned at how quickly this one will be challenged/banned (I joked it will probably take only Twenty-four seconds…)

The Nightmare Before Kissman

By: Sara Raasch

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’ve been highlighting this title since we got an ARC of it in the mail at work.

This is being marketed as Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas where the Prince of Christmas falls for the Prince of Halloween even though he’s set to marry his best friend, the Easter Princess.

Like, this is going to be CUTE! It’s super high up on my TBR list, and I’m hoping to actually get to it here before Halloween, but we’ll see. I’m not sure if it’s set in any particular season, but I’ll come back and update this so readers have the right vibes!

The Bletchley Riddle

By: Ruth Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin

Why am I stoked for this release?

There are a handful of authors I will read anything and everything they work on if I can get my hands on a copy. Ruta Sepetys is one of them. All of her Historical Fiction YA novels have always taught me something new about the time period their set in (and sometimes the time period themselves as I never knew the events surrounding that novel were even a thing!).

This novel is a collab is a middle grade historical fiction about two siblings at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers (also something I didn’t know!).

I just get excited for Sepetys’ reads because I’ll always end up down a rabbit hole of research afterwards.

Divine Mortals

By: Amanda M. Helander

Why am I stoked for this release?

The only thing I really know about this book is it’s for fans of Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas – two authors who I technically haven’t read, but know I will love their books when I do finally get around to them. So, this one is being added to this list!

It’s supposed to have “spellbinding prose”, which I kind of in a need for some good prose.

Also being marketed as both “Fantasy” and then “Young Adult”, which makes me think it’ll be a New Adult genre and I’m always gathering those in hoards.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes

By: Hisashi Kashiwai, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)

Why am I stoked for this release?

This is the second book to the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. I read the first book in the series and that review can be found here. Ah – it was so cute! Amazing for any foodies who are also book worms.

Premise: This father/daughter duo not only serve their customers amazing meals, they serve them memories. Customers come in and describe a favorite lost dish of theirs and then the duo goes about finding and recreating it!

It’s adorable and I’m extremely excited to continue on with the series and see more food and memory connection.

Solis

By: Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m not sure if this is the second of a series or a follow up to the authors’ other title, Sanctuary, but it does have the same character of Vali – so, maybe? I haven’t read the other one…

This one is a dystopian YA novel set in 2033 where undocumented people are forced into labor camps and subjected to deadly experiments. Four narrators tell their story about starting a revolution.

It’s all crazy to me and the fact that this could very well happen with how some politicians are going…

Release Date: October 15, 2024

Libby Lost and Found

By: Stephanie Booth

Why am I stoked for this release?

This one is going to rock my world and I will probably cry, cause at first, I only saw the little blurb for this that said, “a book for people who don’t know who they are without the books they love”, and like, hello?! That’s me!

BUT THEN I READ FURTHER!

And mega-best-selling fantasy series author, Libby Weeks, who writes unto the name F.T. Goldhero, is late on her last manuscript because she gets diagnoses with early-onset Alzheimer’s!! Desperate, she reaches out to eleven-year-old superfan Peanut Bixton, who knows the books better than she does but harbors her own dark secrets.

WHAT?!

This book will wreck me. I just know it.

I can’t wait.

The Judgment of Yoyo Gold

By: Isaac Blum

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m a little familiar with this author’s debut work, The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, but not a lot.

This YA novel set in the Orthodox Jewish community is about Yoyo, who has always played the role of perfect Jewish daughter and respects the decision of the community. But when her best friend is cast out of the community over a seemingly innocent transgression, Yoyo’s eyes are opened to the truth of her neighbors’ hypocrisies for the first time.

I don’t know a lot about the Orthodox Jewish community, some, but not a lot, and a bit of what I do know is from Orthodox Jewish Tiktokers (which is also a part of this novel!). So, I’m stoked to hopefully learn more about a community I’m not too familiar with.

Revisionaries: What We Can Learn from the Lost, Unfinished, and Just Plain Bad Work

By: Kristopher Jansma

Why am I stoked for this release?

I’m going to be honest and admit I probably won’t read the entirety of this novel. I’ve got a few of my favorite authors’ sections I will read and that’ll probably be the most of it.

Mostly Kafka – cause he’s just weird and I fell in love with his writing in college.

Release Date: October 22, 2024

The Healing Season of Pottery

By: Yeon Somin, Clare Richards (Translator)

Why am I stoked for this release?

First off – I’m openly admitting the fact that the cat is what suckered me in and made me pick up the book first.

Secondly, it’s a cozy Korean bestseller that’s being marketing for fans of What You Are Looking for Is in the Library, which is one of my top recommended books.

This book is a testament to the joy of slowing down in a fast-paced world, a homage to the art of ceramics, and the power of friendship 🙂

Release Date: October 29, 2024

This Girl’s a Killer

By: Emma C. Wells

Why am I stoked for this release?

And last but not least, a thriller mystery about a woman, Cordelia, who loves exactly three things: her chosen family, her hairdresser, and killing bad men.

By day she’s a successful pharmaceutical rep with a pristine reputation and by night she’s culling South Louisiana of monster men who seem to evade justice.

Y’all know I love me a book with found family! But now it’s a serial killer who is trying to do good.

I’m so for it. Let’s go!