Most Anticipated part 3

Okay, we are not going to talk about how I missed the month of August because I cannot do maths of any kind. Even basic math that splits the year into three parts. Anyway! So I realized there was no part three to my Most Anticipated posts. Posting on here and on Instagram has been a struggle the last month-ish. I've been in a bit of a funk that I'm slowly pulling myself out of. I just haven't had the energy, or will, or something for either. Through that, I forgot to post, but I remembered, and here we are.

So I scoured through the last of my 2026 TBR to see what I was really excited about. There are so many good books coming out in October. I probably could do a whole post about what I'm excited to get my hands on (food for thought later). But I narrowed it down to six books that I'm excited to get read between September and December.

Before I read Something is Killing the Children, I need to go back through the graphic novel. I don't know where the book will fall in that universe, but I want to be ready for anything. Also! I got super lucky, and I got my hands on How to Survive Camping, volume 4, like two weeks early. So I already have that one in my hands! And I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am that Jessic Feltcher is back, even in book form! This is definitely a curl-up-in-front-of-the-fire kind of book! Ugh, and Rupert Holmes wrote another book; the last one was so much fun. I can only imagine how wild this one is going to get.

Yeah, so that's my list! Maybe in January I'll go through and figure out which ones I bought, which ones I read, and which ones just stayed on the list. I feel like I did pretty well. 

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we haven't yet 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 folks at Breaking the Spine.

A young woman wakes up to find the black hound of Death at her front door in this hauntingly beautiful tale from USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw.

Antigone is no stranger to death.

For the women of her family, death always comes in the form of a black dog.

When Antigone’s own black dog arrives, she isn’t afraid. She invites it inside, where it soon becomes a daily source of companionship and comfort. It also forces her to reflect on the life she’s led—the parts of herself she’s hollowed out for the sake of others, and the bone-deep exhaustion that’s hounded her every step.

Her Death’s arrival must be a sign, permission to finally let go. To rest. Because while mortality is inevitable, living is a choice.

But a good death comes at a price.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

 

A twisty, off-the-rails mystery about seven teens, forced to spend a stormy—and deadly—night together. Perfect for fans of There’s Someone Inside Your House and No Place Left to Hide.

The members of the Coastal Canyon debate team have their reasons to hate each complicated pasts, thornier presents, a huge competition loss . . . Now they’re stuck at an Airbnb together for a night during what feels like the storm of the century. Can it get any worse?

Yes. Yes, it can.

A flat tire, a severed landline, someone’s unconscious, and there’s a body outside. The night is unraveling, and it’s becoming no one is safe. But safe from who? A teammate? A teacher? Or is a stranger lurking nearby in the woods?

Seven students.
Three teachers.
One body.
Lock all the doors and trust no one.

After all, death isn’t up for debate.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

   

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

Set in the same universe as the Hugo Award finalist Upright Women Wanted, Gailey's latest novella follows a ragtag crew of horse thieves as they attempt an ambitious and dangerous train heist. Along the way, gunslinger Fletch and her team must decide if they want to be part of the greater resistance working covertly against the regime, or if this is just one big payday.

The Anarchist Cookbook meets Unforgiven in a story that is unapologetically about the means and methods one should use to interfere with the logistics and supply lines of those in power.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we haven't yet 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 folks at Breaking the Spine.

The Greers built their fortune on alligator bones.

Dartrine Beaumont believes her mother’s sudden death has left her alone in the world—until she learns of long-lost wealthy relatives living in Florida. Confused but delighted by the possibility of extended family, Dart travels to her grandmother’s stately Gilded Age mansion on Amelia Island for answers, just in time to stake a claim on an unusual inheritance: an alligator farming empire.

Her arrival at Greer House isn’t everything she hoped. Without warning, Dart finds herself in fierce competition with her grandmother’s arrogant heir-apparent, and tensions rise as threatening acts of vandalism escalate on one of the farms. More unsettling is her hostile grandmother’s fanatical belief that the danger stems from a curse; according to legend, a larger-than-life alligator hunted down by a bloodthirsty ancestor still haunts the family. Yet Dart can’t deny that the farm’s placid alligators hiss only at Greers, or that a shadowy figure creeps through the mansion’s halls, plaguing her with suspicions that the mythical alligator and monstrous, long-dead matriarch may have unfinished business.

As Dart uncovers the truth about her violent birthright, she faces a terrible accept her place in her family’s grim legacy or forge a new path by slaying a different beast entirely.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks. 

But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.  

Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.  

As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he's forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

  

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

Laurel Meng calls herself an exorcist, but she’s never performed a real exorcism. All she needs to secure her paychecks—spread ever thinner in the face of her mother’s mounting medical bills—is her white clients’ overactive imaginations and boundless ignorance.

So when Annie Shaye-Matsuda calls, convinced her late son Taika’s restless spirit is haunting her quaint bed and breakfast, Laurel is relieved to have found a new mark. But when voices in the walls warn her to leave, she begins to suspect something far worse than Taika lingers in the bones of Poppy Creek Bed and Breakfast. And that something is intent on trapping her there.

Confronted with the real deal—crawling specters made of dirt, doors that lead nowhere, blood running through the plumbing—Laurel can’t fake her way out of this one. She must ally with a ghost to perform a real exorcism if she hopes to uncover the truth and escape with her money in hand. But secrets are buried amidst the flowerbeds of Poppy Creek, and if Laurel’s not careful, she’ll end up just like them.

For fans of Yellowface, Pet Sematary, and The Eyes are the Best Part, This Is Not an Exorcism is a novel about love, loss, and the horror that grows from them.

HAPPY READING!!

September Spotlight

 

Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks. 

But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.  

Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.  

As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he's forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human.

HAPPY READING!!

August Wrap Up

The month of short reads. The month of not wanting to pick up anything long to commit to. If I wasn't personally buried at work, I feel like my nose was buried in the Lindsay Clancy trail.   Though I did stumble across a hilarious audiobook by Davis Mitchell that was so much fun. One of my favorite books of the year. He read the audiobook, made my co-workers listen to it because I didn't want to shut it off while they were working around me. 

Yeah, we'll see what September brings. I'm currently reading four books: two I'm thoroughly enjoying, one is fine; it's filling my quiet time at work, and the other is, I don't know. That it's a wait-and-see kind of book. Could be one that I thoroughly enjoy even though it's going to be horrible (the subject matter, that is), but have to DNF it because of said subject matter. Only time will tell.

Books Read: 7
BINGO Books: 1

Pages Read: 836

Hours Listened: 25 hours 27 minutes

I met my goal of three BINGOs! I finally snagged the Medieval square, which got me another BINGO and was a great read on top of that! I love when they make history funny because hundreds and thousands of years later...what the hell! I have some pretty easy squares up there that I should knock off by the end of the year. I might need to just pick a book from one of these areas this month and read it!

I don't know how I feel about this Eric LaRocca book. On the one hand, this narrator has my attention because he might be the root of all evil. Also, I can already tell there's something strange about this town. On the other hand, I saw the warning labels at the start of this book, and I don't know if I'll be able to finish it. Still, I'm giving it my full attention. So it didn't go on a trip with me because it kind of feels like it's gonna kill any good mood.

I am loving this Sherlock anthology I got from NetGalley! So far, there hasn't been a single story I haven't liked. This went on my trip with me because I've enjoyed these little pocket mysteries. 

I'm about two-thirds of the way finished with this one. It's been my work audiobook. It's been good; I've only had small issues with the book as a whole. And so far, I've only skipped one story inside of this. I remember the case; I was in college myself when it happened. So it's just sort of one of those things I don't want to listen to again. I feel like this case was ever for so long that I know it inside and out, so I just skipped and moved on to other things Preston had to talk about.

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we haven't yet 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 folks at Breaking the Spine.

In 1850, only one man stands between the living and the dead; only one man can uncover the secrets of the afterlife. His name? Ebenezer Scrooge.

An uncanny festive sequel to the classic novel, written in the tradition of Charles Dickens.

Perfect for fans of Laura Purcell and Kate Griffin.

Seven years have passed since the events of A Christmas Carol, seven years since the night Ebenezer Scrooge took to a life of philanthropy and kindness.

But there is another side to Scrooge. Those afflicted by spirits and hauntings know of him as a man who can help rid them of the unquiet dead. Alongside his trusted companion and old friend, Captain Ambrose, Scrooge faces off against malevolent poltergeists, and supernatural wickedness.

So when Louisa Fell invites him to investigate her family home on the coast of England, he is more than happy to oblige. But the mysteries at the Fell house are deep and terrifying, and the more Scrooge uncovers, the more he risks awakening the ghosts of his past, present, and of things yet to come.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

What starts as a missing person investigation morphs into something much darker when an FBI-agent-turned-Catholic-priest and a junior constable arrive on a remote Newfoundland island

This murder-mystery-turned-nail-biting-horror is perfect for fans of religious horror like The Possession of Alba Díaz and the cult-classic movie The Wicker Man.

An isolated town. A missing priest. An ancient, hungry darkness.

When Father Shane Ryan is summoned to a meeting with His Eminence Cardinal Jacobs, he’s confused. A recently ordained priest at a small Maryland parish, Father Ryan has no idea why His Eminence would want to meet him. When he arrives, the Cardinal opens by laying out Father Ryan’s past as an FBI analyst. It seems a priest has gone missing, and the case is…unusual.

Weeks ago, Constable Miriam Rideout from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary fielded a frantic call from a priest on a remote Newfoundland island. He begged for help, but then the line went dead, and no one has since been reported missing. When permission to perform a wellness check is denied by her superiors, Miriam takes some vacation time and books a ticket on the ferry.

Thrown together with friendly but cagey locals, Miriam and Father Ryan soon learn that something about the island isn’t right. There’s a fishing port without boats, a town with no stores and no cars, and strange, bulbous purple wildflowers are growing everywhere. The two don’t trust each other, but they begin to learn that an alliance, however uneasy, is a necessity. Because something evil lurks beneath the island—something ancient, eternal, hungry—and neither it nor the uncanny islanders have any intention of letting these newcomers leave.

A growing sense of dread intensifies until it explodes in this pulse-pounding supernatural horror.

HAPPY READING!!