Hello friends, and welcome to another week where the weather has failed to break us. Yes, indeed, we are all rested and ready to swoop in and gooble up another week’s worth of exciting new releases. Let’s get to it.
[ Ed. note: "gooble" ? ]
[ Mark: Some typos are better after you've tried to correct an auto-correct and gotten something else entirely. Don't worry; we'll gooble it a few more times and then everyone will know what it means. ]
[ Ed. note: That first one hardly counts. ]
First up, we have a fancy collectors edition of Julia Quinn’s first two Bridgerton books, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone, really. We’ve been getting fancy editions of historical romance classics for some time now, along with a springtime explosion of dragon-deckling. If your paperback copies of The Duke and I and The Viscount Who Loved Me are getting all worn and torn, we’ve got something for you.
For everyone else, we have The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville. We’ll let that sink in for a minute . . .
Right. So, a few years ago, Keanu took a break from knowing kung-fu and practicing cinematic stoicism to write a graphic novel about an unstoppable killing machine that longed to find an end to its immortality. Naturally, the graphic novel sold a bazillion copies, and now there’s a novel loosely based on this material. The marketing commentary for The Book of Elsewhere has pull quotes like “violent, propulsive, and introspective” (Booklist) and “a pulpy, adrenaline fueled thriller, but it’s also a moody, experimental novel about mortality . . .” (The New York Times). Which is to say: exactly what China Miéville brings to a project. We’re goobling a bit in our excitement.
And speaking of moody introspection, here is The Book of Bill, a delightfully madcap return to the world of Gravity Falls, told from the perspective of Bill Cipher, the enigma who bedeviled the Pines family during the course of the animated TV show. This one may not provide any answers, but it will definitely suck you back into the weird world of Gravity Falls. Highly recommended.
And speaking of wonderous worlds that suck you in, here is India Holton’s The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love, which is, well, think Indiana Jones but with tea, crumpets, and helicopter parasols. Rival ornithologists Beth Pickering and Devon Lockley are thrust together in an effort to capture the legendary Caladrius bird, and being consummate professionals, they realize the other is totally a distraction from the true prize, which is to be named Birder of the Year. Naturally, rakish charm and sparkly wit upset the best of plans. This is truly a delightful historica-fantastica rom-com.
And here is Nicked by M. T. Anderson, which is a heist novel about a monk who is struck by a vision of St. Nicholas who claims to have a solution to the pox that is besieging the Italian port city of Bari. All Brother Nicephorus has to do is steal a six-hundred year old skull, which is a bit beyond his current skill set. Fortunately, Tyun, a charismatic treasure hunter, is on hand to provide the necessary larceny. Naturally, things go awry almost immediately. Recommended.
And speaking of things going awry, local favorite Cheri Priest is back this week with The Drowning House, a suitably gothic ghost story about a house that washes ashore, the woman who knows its secrets, and the pair of childhood pals who must put aside old rivalries to figure out the mystery of the house that has come back from the sea. Delightfully spooky, as always from Priest.
And speaking of hauntings, here is Paula Brackstone’s The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish, which is the story of a young librarian who guards a collection of chained books in a grand cathedral. One of these books is not like the others—okay, none of these books are like any others, but you know what we mean, right? This special book has a medieval world map, which has many, many secrets encoded in its latitudes and longitudes.
And speaking of historical mysteries with more than a little tinge of magic, here is Juno Dawson’s Queen B: The Story of Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen. Now, history tells us that Henry VIII, in a fit of boredom and religious insouciance, had his current wife, Anne, beheaded for being a bother. Dawson, however, sees Anne as the head of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, a secret club of witches. Lady Grace Fairfax, who knows more than she should about all things, believes someone has betrayed Anne, and she sets out to uncover the traitor. Meanwhile, Henry’s new advisor, Sir Ambrose Fulke, is keen to gooble out all witchy mischief from the kingdom. Thus begins a deadly game of witch-and-witchhunter. Queen B is the origin story of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, and if you like what you read here, well, we have news for you . . .
And here is Heather Webber’s A Certain Kind of Starlight, which is a delightful small-town magical bakery novel that follows Addie Fullbright, a young woman who has been carrying a heavy secret for many years, and Tessa Jane Wingrove-Fullbright, who has secrets of her own. They are both summoned back to Starlight to help their aunt run the family bakery, and all sorts of magic happens. Recommended for fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen.
And speaking of quirky shops and their quirky owners, here is Emmeline Duncan’s Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop, a murder mystery about seasonal vibes, literary festivals, and ghost-hunting reality TV crews who are way too nosy for their own good. Naturally, our delightful protagonist must—with the help of her trusty librarian friend and her even trustier bookstore dog, Jack Skeleton—clear her name before more bodies pile up. A truly cozy read.
And speaking of cozy reads, it’s been awhile since we checked in with our dear old deceased pal, William W. Johnstone. What’s going on this week in Johnstone Country? Well, Luke Jensen—star of a half-dozen distinct series within the Johnstone ouevre—is hauling a prisoner over to the county seat, and he wanders into a charmingly named town of Hannigan’s Hill (named after the local corrupt cattle baron, naturally). The locals, though, call the place Hangman’s Hill, because that’s what happens to folks who cross old Ezra Hannigan.
Naturally, Luke Jensen gets a bit twitchy when he’s confronted by someone who thinks they can run things any way they want, but he’s not a complete idiot. He can’t go dispensing righteous justice without a sidekick. But when he steps into the local saloon for a bite of beans and a snort of bourbon, he runs into Dewey “Mac” McKensie, a former chuckwagon cook who has probably spent more time shooting folks than baking biscuits, which is fine with “Smoke” Jensen because he needs someone who can dish out lead more readily than fried taters.
And that’s Beans, Bourbon, and Blood, the latest cross-over adventure in Johnstone Country where (and this is totally their flap copy) homestyle justice is served with a side of slaughter.
And that’s the list this week, dear friends. We’re not in a rush for 2025 to get here, so we won’t mention that 2025 calendars are showing up, but, you know . . . (waves at the front table). Plan accordingly.
