Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine. In this weekly post people share a book that they’re excited about being released.
I won’t lie, I’ve been browsing around to find books that I don’t know are coming out and this one came up, I think it sounds fantastic!
Discover a magical world where lost things are found.
Whenever cousins Jake and Marisol get together, adventure follows. They have their late Nana to thank for that. Her epic trips and treasure hunts were the stuff of family legend.
This summer, with the whole family reuniting for one last vacation at Nana’s home, the cousins are in for a legendary trip of their own.
Following a map Nana left behind, Jake and Marisol sneak out to a nearby lighthouse—then accidentally slip into another world! The World Between Blinks is a magical place where all kinds of lost things (and people!) end up. Everywhere they turn, the cousins find real mysteries from history—plus a few they thought were only myths.
But the man who holds the key to Jake and Marisol’s return journey doesn’t want to be found . . . and if the cousins don’t catch him fast, they could end up lost in this world for good.
I have really been enjoying the Tor.com original short stories that are available and was super happy to see a couple by Stephen Graham Jones out there. Make sure you check out some of the short stories available as so far they are wonderful!
“The Night Cyclist” by Stephen Graham Jones is a horror novelette about a middle-aged chef whose nightly bicycle ride home is interrupted by an unexpected encounter.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
After loving previous works by Stephen Graham Jones, I was thrilled to find some of his short stories available. I picked up a couple of them but The Night Cyclist was the first one I decided to read. Since the synopsis was very brief I didn’t know just what to expect, but as always I really enjoyed his writing style. It was really atmospheric especially when he was describing the scenes while the main character was cycling. There was just enough darkness to keep me in suspense until the climax of the story.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon meets Pax in this fantastical tale of a wolf who forms an unlikely alliance with Baba Yaga to save the forest from a wicked tsar.
Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans—especially witches—but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf’s keen nose for a secret plan she’s brewing… Before Zima knows what’s happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga’s hut—and Baba Yaga’s body!
Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch’s help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga’s form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.
While I knew a little about Baba Yaga and some of her attributes, I have never really read a story involving her and I’m so glad this was my first. We follow a few different perspectives in this story with Baba Yaga being one of them, the others being Zima (a wolf) and Nadya (a young girl). At the surface this could certainly be framed as a fairy tale, but I felt it went much deeper than that. The three characters we follow as well as other characters go through transformations. There’s a lot of narrative about not taking things at face value and forming their own opinions/decisions. There’s also a lot about learning to face your fears or rise above fear when you feel it.
I absolutely flew through this story and was engrossed the entire time I was reading it. I did not want to put it down since I was so absorbed. The style of writing was easy to read and just kept me hooked the whole time.
Karah Sutton has loved Baba Yaga, ballet, and blini ever since she had to do a research project on her Russian heritage in the third grade. Her hunger for adventure inspired her to move from Kentucky to New Zealand, where it was rumored she would find talking trees and the occasional wood elf. Karah spent four years as a bookseller before she turned to writing her own fiction. A Wolf For a A Spell is her first novel.
Are you drawing a blank when trying to think of gifts or stocking stuffers for your favorite book lover? I decided I was going to dedicate some time today to some gifts that I think would be great this holiday season.
I’m not one who does a ton of annotating, but I do occasionally tab quotes or sections, so I like to have an array of flags and post its on hand. There are tons of possibilities that are great out there – here’s just a few of them.
If the book lover in your life enjoys bullet journaling, then getting them a new dot grid notebook might be a nice present. They can range from simple to decorated covers, so there’s really something out there for everyone.
Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire.
Ollie, Coco, and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. Ollie, Coco, and Brian want to trust him, but Ollie’s watch, which once saved them from the smiling man, has a new cautionary message: BEWARE.
With Mr. Voland’s help, Ollie, Coco, and Brian reach out to the dead voices at Mount Hemlock. Maybe the ghosts need their help–or maybe not all ghosts can or should be trusted.
Dead Voices is a terrifying follow-up to Small Spaces with thrills and chills galore and the captive foreboding of a classic ghost story.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I have been looking forward to reading this book ever since it came out, but then was kicking myself because I hadn’t managed to get to it yet – so I’m super excited I was able to add it to this month’s reading. Returning to the adventures of Ollie, Coco and Brian makes me even more excited for the third book when it comes out.
I really enjoyed this one and loved the wintery setting. Right away there are clues and some predictable elements, but the mystery was set up really well. I also really loved that we got so much of Coco in this book, I feel like she really came into her own and was able to grow throughout the book. I look forward to seeing more growth in all the kids as additional books come out and seeing who is able to take charge next time!
This book had the perfect amount of creep elements and the writing flowed super well. I loved just losing myself in it and could have easily read it in one sitting if I had been able to (oh adulting) but I loved the experience.
Angelina, a voluptuous angel, and Damiano, a mischievous devil, are madly in love. But, while she does not intend to give in to temptation, he would very much like to… This is the tale of their bizarre and spicy daily life!
A sex-positive–and incredibly funny–slice of life…full of angels, devils and gags!
The collected edition of Mirka Andolfo’s Un/Sacred Vol 1 will include a bonus section with cover gallery, sketches, and other behind-the-scenes material!
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
This is definitely for mature audiences only and honestly fell a bit flat for me. It’s basically the same general situation told over and over again with the same results. The colors are super saturated and I felt like it was just too much of the same, while also being pretty intent on really pushing the narrative of the stereotypical characters. This one just wasn’t for me, I’m sure that it has its own demographic and there were certainly some humorous moments, but just not my cup of tea.
Dogs are at once among the most ordinary of animals and the most beloved by mankind. But what we may not realize is that for as long as we have loved dogs, our poets have been seriously engaged with them as well.
In this collection, English professor Duncan Wu digs into the wealth of poetry about our furry friends to show how varied and intimate our relationships with them have been over the centuries. Homer recounts how Odysseus’s loyal dog recognizes his master even after his long absence. Thomas Hardy wrote poems from a pooch’s perspective, conveying a powerful sense of dogs’ innocent and trusting nature. And a multitude of writers, from Lord Byron to Emily Dickinson, have turned to poetry to mourn the loss of beloved dogs. Rich and inviting, Dog-eared is a spellbinding collection of poetic musings about humans and dogs and what they mean to each other.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I always enjoy poems about animals and had previously enjoyed other collections I found, so I was excited to see this one pop up. I really enjoyed the biographical information about each author and the animals that they had in their lives, but I was somewhat disappointed when a good number of the poems weren’t necessarily about dogs, and maybe had only a few lines or a mention of dogs. I was really hoping all of them would have dogs as the central subject, but I did enjoy the variance between styles and subjects overall.
Link by Link: An Anthology of Haunted Holidays
Publication date: December 2nd 2020
Genres: Holiday, Paranormal, Supernatural, Young Adult
“‘I wear the chain I forged in life,’ replied the Ghost. ‘I made it link by link…’”-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Link by Link is a collection of 9 stories of ghosts, spirits, and creatures unnamed, all come to teach lessons we won’t soon forget. From sweet Christmas tales to terrifying holiday hauntings, these stories take a dive into the past in the hopes of creating a better—or at least different—future.
In this hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel perfect for fans of Fleabag, a woman struggling to move on after a traumatic relationship pretends to be “the perfect girl” in an act of vengeance that goes awry when she finds herself emotionally compromised.
He said he was looking for a ‘partner in crime’ which everyone knows is shorthand for ‘a woman who isn’t real’.
April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal – yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that what men are really looking for is Gretel.
Gretel is perfect – beautiful but low maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not a slut. She’s a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems.
When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun – especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?
This is my first experience reading a book from Holly Bourne and overall I did find it to be an emotional and impactful read. The absolute win for this book was how April was written and the glimpses we got into her psyche and how she worked through things. Did she always take the right path or do the right thing? No, but who does. Since this is the first time I’ve read anything by Bourne I can’t speak to how alike it is to her other books, but the writing style was easy to get into and flowed really well in my opinion.
Be aware that there are definite trigger warnings for sexual assault, rape and doubting self worth. It is an emotional story and while there is definitely a lot of humor thrown in, I wouldn’t necessarily call it light hearted or a light read. It definitely is tackling a number of issues that can be triggering to people, or may be more on the emotional side for people, so know that going in.
Overall I did feel it was an important story to tell, if at times hard to confront, and did enjoy the reading experience. In the times we are in it is a good story for when you are wanting to examine things that are happening in current society, and how someone who is healing from assault (as well as other lifelong issues) can come back from that and continue to live their lives.
Holly Bourne is a bestselling UK-based YA and Adult Fiction author and is an Ambassador for Women’s Aid. In 2019, she was an Author of the Day at the London Book Fair, and was named by Elle Magazine’s weekly podcast as one of “Six Female Authors Changing the Conversation in 2019”. Pretending is her US debut.
Can you believe it is already November 30th? This month has flown by, which is both a good and bad thing when you think about it. With that said…I have something to share with you all.
That’s right, I did it. I feel like last year’s curse has ended, as have those I suffered through both sessions of Camp NaNoWriMo. I hit 50k way too late (too early?) but once I noticed I was within 1000 words of goal last night I couldn’t stop.
My story isn’t done, but it’s close – still I’m so happy that I managed to win this year. How’s everyone else doing? Where I am there are still a little over four hours left in the day – are you still heading towards goal?
The Wandering Wordsmith 