Yikes, 2024. Insert long, existential rant about how it can’t possibly be 2024 and how we are both rapidly approaching “middle age.” But, as we were saying to one another via text late at night a few weeks ago (the only time to talk when you both have small children), middle age is also an excellent excuse to wash your hands of things like “expanding your book review presence into Tik Tok” and what not. All of that nonsense aside, here are so books we’re looking forward to this month!
Serena’s Picks
Book: “Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherland” by Heather Fawcett
Publication Date: Jan. 16, 2024
Why I’m Interested: If we did “Highlights” posts for the entire year (note: we should maybe do that!), this would have easily made the list! I absolutely loved the first book in this series, so much so that it was practically tied for first place in my Top 10 list for 2023. The first book read as a great stand-alone story, but I’m also really excited to see where the romance goes, as it was very much a slow burn that was resolved by the end of that book. But the character of Emily is also so great that I would be happy with any excuse to spend more time listening to her narrate her exploits in this world. I’m sure this is already on the radar of many readers, but if you haven’t read the first book, get on it!
Book: “Unbound” by Christy Healy
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Why I’m Interested: This book has both been compared to a gender-swapped “Beauty and the Beast” story and also hyped as an Irish folklore story. Soooo, yeah, right up my alley! Of course, my bar is set at Juliet Mariller’s books, so I also have pretty high expectations for this sort of story. The book follows a young woman who has been struggling with a curse since she was a young girl. Of course, she then meets a mysterious man who may hold all of the answers. And, yeah, “Beauty and the Beast” re-telling. I also really love the cover art on this book. It’s so unique and quite quickly clues the reader in to the sort of book they will be picking up.
Book: “A Fragile Enchantment” by Allison Saft
Publication Date: January 2, 2024
Why I’m Interested: Another one that I would have probably picked up based on the cover alone! So beautiful! so romantic! It doesn’t hurt that I also very much enjoyed Allison Saft’s “A Far Wilder Magic,” so I know that enjoy the author’s style of writing. But this one also sounds right up my alley! It’s a fantasy of manners story that follows a young woman with the ability to sew magic into the garments she creates. And when she’s commissioned to construct the wedding clothes for the prince’s upcoming nuptials, she finds herself caught up in the complicated whirl of court politics. Super excited to check this one out!
Kate’s Picks
Book: “The House of Last Resort” by Christopher Golden
Publication Date: January 30, 2024
Why I’m Interested: Christopher Golden is an author that is a pretty much guaranteed must read for me, and the description of his new book “The House of Last Resort” really snagged my attention. A young couple jump on a bargain real estate deal that brings them to small town Sicily, where the local government was offering real estate deals to people to buy a house for cheap and to fix it up as part of the deal. Kate and Tommy find themselves in a gorgeous house near his paternal grandparents, with many rooms, a good location… and a built in chapel with access to the local catacombs. For you see, the Church used to own this house, and they kept many people with certain ailments inside. And now something is awakening. A haunted house AND a potential scathing representation of organized religion? Yes please!
Book: “The Night of the Storm” by Nishita Parekh
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Why I’m Interested: Locked room mysteries are already fun for me, and if you create a unique or inventive locked room scenario I’m even more game. Using a hurricane as a locked room while a killer stalks a family? I’m interested! Jia is a recently divorced single mom who is nervous about custody issues. When Hurricane Harvey hits, she and her son seek refuge at her sister’s large house, with other family members already there (and familial tensions at a high). As if a storm wasn’t enough, a murderer in their midst starts killing people, with no escape in sight. Bring on the suspense!
Book: “The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years” by Shubnum Khan
Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Why I’m Interested: This is one that probably won’t make the blog reviews on my end due to the fact it’s solidly fantasy, but I had to put it on my list because it definitely caught my eye. The cover! The title! The description! Everything sounds eerie and potentially heartbreaking and perhaps a little scary? A girl and her father move into an apartment complex in South Africa that used to be a sweeping estate, with eccentric neighbors and strange bones in the garden. As the girl peels back the history of the house and the tragedies that happened, a heartbroken djinn watches, mourning the loss of someone important. It sounds a bit Gothic, it sounds like a family saga, it’s definitely on my list.
What books are you all looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!
The Library Ladies 