Release Week: 15 July 2025

Release Week: 15 July 2025

Posted on 2025-07-15 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, read by Gisela Chipe for Random House -- "Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic."

• Killer on the Road By: Stephen Graham Jones, read by Isabella Star LaBlanc, Richard Brake, and the author for Simon and Schuster -- "A gripping high-speed chase novel pitting a runaway teen and her unsuspecting friends against a relentless serial killer on a dangerous road trip where survival is anything but guaranteed."

• Royal Gambit: A Novel By: Daniel O'Malley, read by Moira Quirk for Little, Brown and Company -- "From the brilliant and hilarious author of The Rook, a delightful new supernatural adventure: When the heir to the British throne suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances, Checquy operative and reluctant aristocrat Alix is assigned to be lady-in-waiting/personal bodyguard to the new Crown Princess, and must navigate the halls of power and privilege while investigating the supernatural murder of the Prince of Wales."

• A Resistance of Witches: A Novel By: Morgan Ryan, read by Grace Gray for Penguin -- "A historical fantasy debut set against the backdrop of World War II, where a witch journeys to find a book of unspeakable power before it lands in Nazi hands."

• American Mythology: A Novel By: Giano Cromley, read by Lee Osorio for Random House -- "A charming and comic debut novel about a quirky ensemble embarking on an epic quest to find Bigfoot."

• Chilco: A Novel By: Daniela Catrileo, translated by Jacob Edelstein, read by Victoria Villarreal for Recorded Books -- "A near-future fable about love, life, and friendship in a world that’s coming apart."

• Spent: A Comic Novel By: Alison Bechdel, read by the author with a full cast for Harper -- "The celebrated and beloved New York Times bestselling author of the modern classic Fun Home presents a laugh-out-loud, brilliant, and passionately political work of autofiction, adapted for audio by the author herself and brought to life with a star-studded cast."

• The Girl in the Creek by Wendy Wagner, read by Jennifer Pickens for Macmillan -- "Buried secrets only spread. Erin's brother Bryan has been missing for five years. It was as if he simply walked into the forests of the Pacific Northwest and vanished. Determined to uncover the truth, Erin heads to the foothills of Mt. Hood where Bryan was last seen alive. He isn’t the first hiker to go missing in this area, and their cases go unsolved. When she discovers the corpse of a local woman in a creek, Erin unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of very powerful forces—from this world and beyond—hell-bent on keeping their secrets buried."

• Ashes to Ashes By: Thomas Maltman, read by Michael Crouch for Recorded Books -- "Small-town Minnesota teenager Basil “The Brute” Thorson—a shy, reluctant wrestling star and “special” tracked into special education classes—vows to make his family whole again in the wake of multiple tragedies, during a year in which his community is roiled by strange religious and mythological events."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Walk Me to the Distance By: Percival Everett (1985), read by Jared Zeus for Tantor -- "Haunting, provocative and bleakly funny, Walk Me to the Distance is Everett's brilliant reexamination of the Western, and a laconic tragicomedy about what it takes to survive in the last days of a bygone big-sky country."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Enchanted Greenhouse: A Spellshop Novel By: Sarah Beth Durst, read by Caitlin Davies for Macmillan -- "A new standalone novel set in the world of The Spellshop, a cozy fantasy nestled on a faraway island brimming with singing flowers, honey cakes, and honeyed love."

• The Jasad Crown: The Scorched Throne, Book 2 By: Sara Hashem, read by Rasha Zamamiri, Lukas Arnold, Ali Nasser, and Victoria Nassif for Orbit -- "In the thrilling conclusion to the Egyptian-inspired Scorched Throne duology, a fugitive queen must risk everything and everyone she loves for the chance to restore her lost kingdom of Jasad."

• Three Shattered Souls: Five Broken Blades, Book 3 By: Mai Corland, read by Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Sophie Oda, Jaine Ye, and Roger Yeh for Recorded Books -- "The Blades were never supposed to survive this long. But after the battle in Quu Harbor, escaping is no longer enough. The most dangerous liars in the four realms have one last mission—return to Yusan and finish what they started. But now a usurper sits on the serpent throne. And he may be more dangerous than the god-king."

• Reckoner: Darkblade, Book 8 By: Andy Peloquin, read by John Lee for Tantor -- "The Hunter's enemies will soon learn a bloody truth: No foe is more dangerous than a cornered assassin."

• The Golden Goblin: A Spellmonger Novel By: Terry Mancour, read by John Lee for Podium -- "An epic road trip with two brilliant young wizards who find themselves on a trail that leads through the Goblin Kingdom and into the cold, forbidding Minden mountain range, the very edge of humanity's settlement."

MORE FICTION:

• Make Your Way Home: Stories By: Carrie R. Moore, read by Khaya Fraites and William DeMeritt for Recorded Books -- "A debut collection of stories set across the American South, featuring characters who struggle to find love and belonging in the wake of painful histories. How can you love where you come from, even when home doesn’t love you back?"

• Blowfish By: Kyung-Ran Jo, read by David Shih and Jennifer Kim for Blackstone -- "For fans of Han Kang and Sheila Heti, an atmospheric, melancholic novel about a successful sculptor who decides to commit suicide by artfully preparing and deliberately eating a lethal dish of blowfish."

• Fireweed: A Novel by Lauren Haddad, read by Therese Plummer for Audible -- "In the mowed-down industrial north of Prince George, Canada, “white trash” housewife Jenny Hayes shares a fence with the only First Nations woman in the neighborhood, Rachelle, and her two little girls. Jenny desperately wants a child and can’t understand why Rachelle, with her trash-pocked and overgrown yard, should have what Jenny wants most in the world."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• House of Frost and Feathers By: Lauren Wiesebron, read by Daphne Kouma for Harper -- "A touch of The Bear and the Nightingale, a bit of Juniper & Thorn, and a sense of wonder and adventure makes up this lyrical debut fantasy of a young woman in search of a home, and a home in search of people to make it feel lived in."

• The Girl I Was By: Jeneva Rose, read by Hillary Huber for Dreamscape -- "Alexis Spencer will use any inspirational quote to rationalize her failures and shortcomings. Her closest friends are a distant memory, and her college debt is still as high as the day she left. But that’s all fine and dandy, because “whatever will be, will be.” However, when Alexis loses her job and her relationship on the same day, there’s no quote strong enough to get her through that. In typical fashion, she blames the world for her problems, including her younger self, who should have tried harder. Feeling sorry for herself, Alexis finds a bottle of vodka from her college days and goes on a bender, blacking out in the process. Only this time, she doesn’t wake up at home, or in the right city. In fact, she isn’t even in the right year. Alexis is back in her college town in the year 2002."

• If Wishes Were Retail By: Auston Habershaw, read by Brittany Goodwin for Tantor -- " In this hilarious debut fantasy cozy, a rebellious—but enterprising—young woman and an ancient—but clueless—genie set up shop at the local mall."

• In the Veins of the Drowning: The Siren Mage, Book 1 By: Kalie Cassidy, read by Ell Potter for Little, Brown and Company -- "Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain concealed beneath her skin."

• The Immeasurable Heaven By: Caspar Geon, read by Dan Calley for Tantor -- "An entirely alien cast race across the multiverse in search of a priceless map of the realities in this thrilling cosmic space opera."

INDIE WATCH:

• Breaking the Lore: An Inspector Paris Mystery, Book 1 by Andy Redsmith, read by John Last for SAGA Egmont -- "Inspector Nick Paris believes in facts, not fairytales. But when a murdered fairy turns up in the middle of Manchester, he's dragged into a hidden world of magic, mayhem, and mythical creatures with attitude problems. Soon he's sheltering dwarves, dodging demons, and trying not to take career advice from a chain-smoking, talking crow. As the barriers between realms begin to crumble, Nick must face the unthinkable: magic is real – and it's seriously messing with his city."

• The Fork in the Road: Five Decades by Eric J. Drysdale, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Skyboat -- "We all come to the fork in the road many times every day, every week. What was your last fork and where did the road lead? Choice, Chance, and Repercussion face each of us when we decide to go left or right. Reflecting later was it a good or poor choice? Did it yield wealth or disaster? Should we have taken greater care? These 25 stories examine those possibilities."

Posted in Release Week