Most Anticipated 2025 - Part Two

I feel like we've crawled our way into April. The last three months have felt like nearly a year long, but here we are finally in April. Spring is officially here, we're a quarter of the way through the year, and I'm so ready to be reading outside! I'm so sick of being stuck inside to do anything between the cold and the rain. Our weather has hinted at nicer days, and I cannot wait for picnic blanket season! There is a cute little park by work, and with my new hours, it means I get peak afternoon reading in after work!

However, I digress because April means it's time for part two of my most anticipated reads of this year. These are books that are going to be published between May and August! Well, these are the top eight of those books. There are so many good books about to come out that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just eight. You all know the saying: too many books, so little time.

Without a doubt, I'm most excited for Song of the Lioness. It was one of my favorite books growing up, and George was my first fictional boyfriend. Which means I'm beyond excited to see that it's getting a graphic novel adaptation. I was thinking it was time to re-read this series and the one with her daughter! So this was perfectly timed!

And, I love that Samanatha Downing has a new book coming out! I loved For Your Own Good, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a weird read. Because it was weird but so freaking good. So I'm excited to see what her next book will be like. And, who isn't excited that Hollis has another cookbook coming? His first one was so much fun! 

So many of my favorite authors are releasing books over the next six months. Maybe I need to take a little reading vacation this summer. Just a couple of days away from the house distractions, and just read by some pool somewhere. Now that's a dream!

HAPPY READING!!

April Spotlight

 

My favorite ladies in one of my favorite genres!? I was all in the second I saw this book, and I had to resist the need to get an early copy. Because I want a physical copy of this book! I will be running to the bookstore to get this. I will put all other books aside when it comes in, and it will become my whole personality. I do hope this doesn't disappoint! 

The first novel in the all-new Golden Girls Cozy Mystery Series!

When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting.

Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!

Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.

As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!

HAPPY READING!!

March Wrap Up

Real quick. Non-book related questions. Remember back when January felt like it was never going to end, and then February flew by? Cool, cool. Now, why did March feel even longer than January? I remember writing the date on things at work and have two thoughts: don't forget to send dad's birthday card. Then, followed by, are we really still in March? This is odd because it wasn't like I hadn't been busy between work and actually going out and doing stuff. Yet, this month dragged alone for 8 weeks instead of 4, maybe longer. I don't know. Time is irrelevant, and nothing is real.

Anyway, back to book stuff. I did actually manage to do some reading. As in, I started a book and finished a book. I'm still working on my 'large' physical read. I'm really enjoying it, but other books keep pulling me away.  Mostly because there are so many books and so very little time.

I am still on my shtick of how many books I can read at once. I've got two audiobooks going that I've been bouncing between at work on my prep shifts, my physical read, a book on my phone, and two going on my Kindle. See, it's not the buying of books that's the problem. It's the ability to start half a dozen books at once, only to get overwhelmed and then read a handful of graphic novels. 

For about four days, I managed to actually decrease my library stack. Then I was left alone at the library before work, and wouldn't you know, it tripled again. At least it's free. So there's that. 

Books Read: 6
BINGO Books: 2

Pages Read: 1616

A quarter of the year has passed, and I've managed to cross seven squares off my BINGO board. Every single one of them is in the square part of the board, the joy of being a mood reader. I did manage two of the squares this month: Novella and Train Heist. The latter I was a little worried about, there wasn't a good online list of books with a train heist. So, I was thankful when I stumbled into a book with one. Two of my current reads are also BINGO books. So I'll at least managed two squares in April!

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

In Song of the Lioness, Book 1: Alanna, the first of four volumes adapting #1 New York Times bestseller Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet, we meet Alanna of Trebond, a young noblewoman from the kingdom of Tortall. However, Alanna isn't like other girls from noble families—what she really wants is to become a knight and earn her shield, something women definitely aren't allowed to do.

But Alanna will not be deterred, and she arrives in the capital disguised as a boy to begin training as a page, the first step toward becoming a knight. Despite the tough conditions and grueling work, Alanna's skills and stubbornness win her friends amongst the nobility and the denizens of the lower city. But not everyone wishes her well . . .

Filled with magic and mayhem, adventure and action, swords and spells, book one in the Song of the Lioness quartet is the ultimate introduction to Alanna and Tamora Pierce's legendary Tortall universe.

Why I'm Waiting: I love this series and I'm so excited about the graphic novel adaptation!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it’s worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.

Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it’s a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute PI who she might just be falling for…and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.

Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun, this is a charming love story about a small-town baker, a quick-witted PI, and, yes, an ancient evil.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

    

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes, the cover initially catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday, I'll post some of my favorite book covers. Coming soon!

After an accident that nearly kills her, Emily and her husband, Freddie, move from London to a beautiful Dartmoor country house called Larkin Lodge. The house is gorgeous, striking—and to Emily, something about it feels deeply wrong. Old boards creak at night; fires extinguish; and books fall from the shelves—all of it stemming from the terrible presence she feels in the third-floor room.

But these things happen only when Emily is alone, so are they happening at all? She is still medically fragile. Her post-sepsis condition can cause hallucinatory side effects, which means she cannot fully trust her senses. Freddie does not notice anything odd and is happy with their chance at a fresh start. She, however, starts to believe the house is haunted by someone who had been murdered in it even though she can find no evidence of a wrongful death. As bizarre events pile up and her marriage starts to crumble, Emily becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about Larkin Lodge. But just as the house has secrets so do Emily and her husband.

HAPPY READING!!

Mini Reviews

 

I didn't realize there was a short story attached to the Murder Squad series. I liked that this follows Constable Pringle. We don't get to see a lot of him in the Yard, and while he's not my favorite character. He's also not my least favorite. What I do like about Pringle he knows exactly what kind of man he is, and for better, or worse, doesn't try to be anything else. However, this book does give him more points in the plus column. Because he does the best he can for this girl, and while it wasn't much, he did right by her in the best he could. I honestly didn't clock how this story was going to end, I swear I thought it was the husband, up until I met the sister. It broke my heart when Pringle finally unraveled it all. It almost made me wish we'd gotten at least a couple more books with Pringle, even if his death was the first book was pretty cool.

This was my second time reading this book, I remembered a sum total of two things: Hammersmith's concussion and that some lady gets accidentally shot. That was it, I didn't even remember the context of those two things until they were about to happen. So it was kind of like reading, well listening to this for first the time. Personally, I liked this one, though the ending feels like a couple of chapters too long. The two storylines need to come to a head at some point, between the town sinking, the snowstorm, and Hammersmith needing to be wrapped in plastic wrap. I listened to this audio, and at one point I couldn't believe there were still like forty more minutes left in this story. Then something else happened. It does feel like one too many things right at the end, and instead of keeping me on the edge of my seat, it made me irritated. Because I do really like both of these stories and my heart bled a little for Cal. He just couldn't catch a break. Outside of the last hour (maybe the last hundred pages), it's really good, though I can always do without creepy kids in books. Every single time.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

One murder, four guilty convictions, and a community determined to find justice. October, 1997. Late one night in Fairbanks, Alaska, a passerby finds a teenager unconscious, collapsed on the edge of the road, beaten nearly beyond recognition. Two days later, he dies in the hospital. His name is John Gilbert Hartman and he's just turned 15 years old. The police quickly arrest four suspects, all under the age of 21 and of Alaska Native and American Indian descent. Police lineup witnesses, trials follow, and all four men receive lengthy prison terms. Case closed.  But journalist Brian Patrick O'Donoghue can't put the story out of his mind. When the opportunity arises to teach a class on investigative reporting, he finally digs into what happened to the "Fairbanks Four." A relentless search for the truth ensues as O'Donoghue and his students uncover the lies, deceit, and prejudice that put four innocent young men in jail. The Fairbanks Four is the gripping story of a brutal crime and its sprawling aftermath in the frigid Alaska landscape. It's a story of collective action as one journalist, his students, and the Fairbanks indigenous community challenge the verdicts. It's the story of a broken justice system, and the effort required to keep hope alive. This is the story of the Fairbanks Four.

Why I'm Waiting: Because up until I had first discovered this book I had no idea about this case at all. So, I'm gonna need this book and probably a snack, because this is going to be a lot and is probably going to make me angry. 

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

When Belle Elmore’s remains were discovered in the basement of London’s 39 Hilldrop Crescent in July 1910, the larger-than-life vaudevillian performer was launched into stardom she never achieved on the stage.

Story of a Murder provides an intricately plotted, intimate look into the lives of three multifaceted women living during a time of electric progress and stifling  Crippen’s first wife, Charlotte, who died under mysterious circumstances; his mistress, Ethel, who claimed ignorance of his crime even as she escaped with Crippen disguised as his son; and Belle, the woman whose life Crippen took.
 
Throughout the twentieth century, the infamous Crippen murder was told in such a way as to cast doubt on Crippen's guilt and to victim-blame his wife Cora for her own murder. It also astonishingly depicted Crippen's younger mistress, Ethel, as innocent of any involvement in the killing of her love rival.
 
But new evidence unearthed by Rubenhold completely subverts this famous history, unravelling assumptions about the crime and deconstructing Edwardian beliefs about women, class aspiration, and the transatlantic world, ultimately proving that Charlotte, Belle, and Ethel were so much more than the passive victims history has portrayed them as.

HAPPY READING!!

April Silent Book Club

First, thanks to everyone who came to ESBC this month to celebrate our first anniversary! I cannot believe this little idea has not only made it a full year but has also been an amazing experience. We've grown from one back table to reserving three large community tables. We see so many regular faces every month, and so many still stop in to see what Silent Book Club is all about. I'm so excited to see what the next year will bring.

If you couldn't come to celebrate with us this month, don't worry, Edmonds Silent Book Club meets every third Wednesday at Leftcraft at 7 p.m. in the Edmonds Downtown District! Our next meetup is on April 16th! If you still want physical copies of Book BINGO, I will have more paper copies! If you want a digital copy, you can find one on my Instagram (@bookish_whispers). 

Hope to see you next month!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

    

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes, the cover initially catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday, I'll post some of my favorite book covers. Coming soon!

When a rock musician learns her ex-boyfriend is the Biblical Antichrist, she must find a way to stop him before he grows powerful enough to end the world. DAISY JONES AND THE SIX meets THE OMEN in this novel about music, love, free will, and the apocalypse …

At the end of 1999, The Shivers fought Universal Priest in the Armageddon Battle of the Bands in Bethlehem, PA. What started the riot that claimed the lives of nine teens and left dozens more battered and bruised?

In 2010, The Shivers’ frontwoman Lily Lawless walked into a police station to confess to murder. Why did she do it, and why did she wait ten years to confess?

The punk band broke up after Lily’s arrest, its members refusing to talk to the press. What secrets were they protecting?

And who, really, was Drake Morgan, one-time frontman for The Shivers who went on to form the dystopian rock band Universal Priest?

In this oral history, the members of The Shivers finally tell all about how a rock band that inspired a generation might have saved the world.

HAPPY READING!!