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It’s that time of year where everything speeds up as we barrel towards holiday plans and the end of the year. The snow has fallen and the temperatures have dropped, and holiday lights have gone up around our neighborhoods and temptations of Christmas cookies and promises of Hanukkah latkes are ever present. And there are, of course, new books we are looking forward to!
Serena’s Picks
Book: “A Fire Endless” by Rebecca Ross
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Why I’m Interested: I really enjoyed “A River Enchanted” when I read it last December. And then, of course, it ended on a pretty big cliffhanger, with our recently married couple separated and each now dealing with huge revelations regarding their own parents and family history. The story also set up a looming conflict in the magical realm, where a powerful Fae lord has his eyes firmly on our young musician and his burgeoning abilities. I’m also excited to see how the book deals with these two divided and warring lands. There’s a lot to pack into this second book, but I have high hopes!
Book: “The Poison Season” by Mara Rutherford
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Why I’m Interested: I’m always thrilled to find original fairytale fantasies. And this one is checking a lot of boxes! Leelo lives on a island with her entire family and community, surrounded on one side by a poisonous lake and on the other by a bloodthirsty forest. But what seems like horrors to others are seen as protection by these people who fear the outsiders on the other side. But when Leelo meets one of these outsiders, a young man who accidentally made his way to this strange island, she begins to question all that she knows of her people’s history. Color me intrigued!
Book: “Anastasia”
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Why I’m Interested: I mean, I think the title says it all for this one! I have a special place in my heart for the animated “Antastasia” movie, it was definitely one of the most re-watched movies my sister and I agreed on. This story is blurbed as not only being the happily-ever-after story of this tragic character, but also a classic enemies-to-lovers romance. It’s also chocking in at a whopping 850 pages….what?? I honestly had to double check that number when I first saw it, but it seems right! So, this could either be one of those situations where you get more of a good thing or…filler city? I’m excited to find out!
Kate’s Picks
Book: “A History of Fear” by Luke Dumas
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Why I’m Interested: We all know that when it comes to horror sub-genres, demonic possession of religious horror aren’t super high on my ‘must read’ lists. But I was definitely intrigued by the description of “A History of Fear” by Luke Dumas, if only because I do love a moody unreliable story that has a lot of ambiguity attached to it. And this book is clearly going to fit all those bills, given that it’s a fictional ‘memoir’ of a man who murdered a classmate while he was studying in Edinburgh and insisted that the Devil made him do it. The premise alone is enough to catch my attention, but you throw in Scotland and a lot of potential personal angst and I am caught hook, line, and sinker.
Book: “Witcha Gonna Do?” by Avery Flynn
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Why I’m Interested: Yeah, okay, so romances aren’t usually the genre I cover here (though that hasn’t stopped me before and it won’t stop me going forward!), but this one just sounds cute as heck! I do love a fun witch story, and I do love a bantery and sexual tension filled enemies to lovers romance, and “Witcha Gonna Do?” sounds like it hits both of those themes, and how! A magic-powerless witch has to team up with a maddening but hot rival to try and save her family from a curse, and as they butt heads a certain attraction also starts to bloom. It just sounds like fun escapist romance, and I am hoping to check it out!
Book: “The Ingenue” by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Why I’m Interested: While I’m not totally sure that my heart can take it right now given the implied thematics at hand, this was a book that caught my eye through promotions at ALA back in June. After Saskia, a child piano prodigy, returns to her childhood home as an adult after her mother’s death, she finds out that her mother left the house to a man from her past that had a dark impact on her life. As she tries to parse through what happened to her and the path it set her on, she has to keep from falling apart or letting her long kept secrets out. Again, it sounds like one I may need to wait on until I’m in a certain headspace, but the comparisons to both “My Dark Vanessa” and “The Queen’s Gambit” are admittedly very fascinating.
What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!
The Library Ladies 