The official signal of summer winding down has happened hear in Minnesota. No, not Labor Day, the end of the Minnesota State Fair. When the ridiculous amounts of fried food, farm animals, and quirky crafts wrap up, you can officially feel Fall in the air. For Kate that means the start of the beloved spooky season. For Serena that means bracing herself for the not so far away winter. And for both of them it means school starting for some of their kids! Regardless, it also means a new list of books we’re looking forward to!
Serena’s Picks
Book: “Godkiller” by Hannah Kaner
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
Why I’m Interested: Um, the cover is awesome? Also, I just love fantasy stories that deal with gods and wars and fantasy religions. There just such a depth of potential in plots like these. Add a tough-as-nails godkiller, a young girl who just happens to be tethered to a small god, and disillusioned knight and I’m all in! This one has been out in the UK since January, so there is already a decent amount of positive buzz around it, which just makes me all the more excited!
Book: “A Study in Drowning” by Ava Reid
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Why I’m Interested: While I struggled with some of the darkness of Reid’s most recent fantasy novel, I still very much enjoy her writing style in general. Add to that a few tags like “gothic fantasy” and “academic rivals” and this was a no brainer for me! The story follows a young woman who is commissioned to come to a mysterious manor to work on architectural designs. While there, however, dark and confusing things begin happening and the only one available to help is her academic rival. Expect a review of this one soon!
Book: “The Fragile Threads of Magic” by V. E. Schwab
Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Why I’m Interested: I feel like I’ve been going on and on about beautiful covers a lot recently. Well, here I am to balance that out. Man, do I not like this cover. Not only do I not like it in its own right, but its one of those covers that makes me mad because the entire first trilogy was done in a style that I really loved! So not only are they going a lesser route here, but now my books won’t match! And no, absolutely NOT will I be persuaded to “upgrade” my entire series to this style. All of that of course has nothing to do with the fact that this is probably my most anticipated book of the year. I absolutely adored “The Shades of Magic” trilogy, and it ended in such a satisfying way that I was frankly shocked to discover that Schwab was not only returning to this world but to the same characters, several years later! Can’t wait for this one!
Kate’s Picks
Book: “Your Lonely Nights Are Over” by Adam Sass
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
Why I’m Interested: I really enjoyed Adam Sass’s thriller “Surrender Your Sons”, and when I saw that he was writing a queer teen slasher novel I, of course, had to get my hands on it! Along with that, anything described as “Scream” meets “Clueless” is going to be on my radar. Enter “Your Lonely Nights Are Over”! Dearie and Cole are queer best friends who feel two against the world in their high school, their friendship notorious, especially after ruffling feathers in the school’s Queer Club. But when a long dormant serial killer known as Mr. Sandman starts killing again, and is targeting the other members of the Queer Club, Dearie and Cole have to use their wits to try and find out who is behind the murders. Not only as potential victims, but as people that others think aren’t so innocent. It sounds promising!
Book: “Earthdivers (Vol. 1): Kill Columbus” by Stephen Graham Jones and Davide Gianfelice (Ill.)
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Why I’m Interested: Obviously one big factor is that Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favorite horror authors. But another is that this is his foray into graphic novels! I also got to not only get this book at ALAAC23, but I got to meet Jones and he was a delight. So yes, “Earthdivers (Vol. 1): Kill Columbus” is definitely a book I’ve been looking forward to. In a not super distant future on a dying Earth, a group of Indigenous people find a strange cave that can transport people back in time. They research and realize that the moment things went wrong is when America was founded, and one of them is chosen to sent back in time to stop it from happening. Which means he has to kill Christopher Columbus. Jones sure isn’t holding back, and I know that it’s going to be amazing.
Book: “What Kind of Mother” by Clay McLeod Chapman
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
Why I’m Interested: “Ghost Eaters” was a favorite read of mine last year, and I knew that I was going to jump all over whatever Clay McLeod Chapman followed it up with. So I was amped when I saw “What Kind of Mother” hitting the book spheres. And also terrified. Because I know that Chapman goes hard. And I knew that it had themes that can get under my skin. Madi returns to her hometown after leaving during her teenage pregnancy years before, making ends meet by palm reading. When she reconnects with old boyfriend Henry, she learns that his own son Skyler disappeared a few years before when he was just a baby. Then she starts having visions of Skyler, and wonders if she can actually find him. But this is Clay McLeod Chapman, and you just know it’s going to be far more than that.
What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!
The Library Ladies 