Release Week: 5 May 2026

Posted on 2026-05-05 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

* The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean, read by Natalie Naudus -- "A stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive."

* The Republic of Memory: A Novel by Mahmud El Sayed, read by Lara Sawalha and George Greenland -- "A Memory Called Empire meets Children of Time in this Arabfuturist debut set on a generation ship on the brink of revolution as its crew begin to ask why they should toil for a people, and an empire, none of them remember."

* Homebound: A Novel by Portia Elan, read by Lisa Flanagan, Helen Laser, Yu-Li Alice Shen, and Nancy Wu -- "In this novel of friendship and hard-won hope, four lives are entangled across time by one story, saved to a floppy disk in the 1980s and destined to ripple across the centuries."

* Immersions: A Novel by Kyle McCarthy, read by Phoebe Strole -- "Black Swan meets Bluebeard in this novel of sisterly rivalry and obsessive love set in the New York City dance scene."

* Absence by Andrew Dana Hudson, read by Dan John Miller -- "In this moving, richly detailed speculative crime debut, the world is unraveling from an epidemic of human vanishing. Two novice investigators are dispatched to small-town Kansas to interview a woman who claims to have returned from Absence, offering answers to everything."

* The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee, read by Mary Robinette Kowal and Dillon Sickels -- "A battle-worn corporate samurai undertakes one last mission on a merciless planet where death is always a mere breath away, in this standalone dystopian epic."

SERIES PICKS:

* Platform Decay: Murderbot Diaries, Book 8 by Martha Wells, read by Kevin R. Free

* A Long and Speaking Silence: The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 7 by Nghi Vo, read by Cindy Kay

* Out Law: A Dresden Files Novella by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 28 April 2026

Posted on 2026-04-28 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

FICTION WATCH:

• Certainty: A Novel by John Twelve Hawks, read by Scott Brick -- "A masterful journey through the near future of Artificial Intelligence, in which a wise, orphaned ten-year-old girl goes on the run with only her trusty "Interactive Toy" to guide her toward New York City, where a dark landscape, and perhaps a hidden hero, await her."

• If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Choyeop, read by Rosa Escoda -- "A stunning and poignant collection of literary speculative fiction stories that explore the complexities of identity, love, death, and the search for life’s meaning."

• Ghost Town: A Novel by Tom Perrotta, read by Robert Petkoff -- "A gripping and darkly nostalgic tale about a tumultuous summer in 1970s suburban New Jersey, from the perspective of a middle-aged writer looking back on a series of events that changed his life—and the story he finally has the courage to tell."

• The Café of Infinite Doors by Zara Marielle, read by Barrie Kreinik -- "In a mythical Scotland of long ago, a goddess’s mortal surrogate dies in childbirth and leaves behind a vindictive firstborn daughter who seethes in the shadow of her new divine sister, leading to a violent clash that leaves both sisters imprisoned in separate worlds."

• Dreamt I Found You: A Novel by Jimin Han, read by Kathleen Kim -- "A contemporary retelling of Korea’s Romeo & Juliet, as the cousin of the star-crossed lovers helps them avoid a tragic fate."

• We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune, read by Kirt Graves -- "A standalone novel following an elder gay couple on an end-of-the-world road-trip."

• Sanctuary by James Cleary, read by Xavier Casals -- "Climate disasters have crippled the United States. With half the country under water and the other half a dust bowl, civil unrest would soon escalate into something darker, something unstoppable. Billionaire John Brandt anticipated this and channeled his money, power, and influence into being prepared for the great unraveling. Now Brandt, his family, and his security team must retreat to Sanctuary, their underground bunker—a vast luxury mansion beneath the parched earth of the Nebraskan Great Plains. But they are not alone. Above ground a group of raiders are desperate to survive and will use any means possible to accomplish that goal. As tensions mount both inside and out, battle lines are drawn— between the haves and the have-nots, between decency and expediency, between life and death. In this game, everyone's a loser."

• The Violently Departed by Sarah J. Daley, read by Tegan Ashton Cohan -- "A missing nun found murdered, a school built on secrets, a haunted town. A new case for Hero Viridian: half-demon, disgraced ex-nun-turned-investigator. With the stink of demonic involvement surrounding the murder, who better to deal with it than a woman with something to prove, eyes of literal flame and a direct connection to hell? However, when those who sought her help turn against her, a vulnerable Hero must rely on an unlikely partner, Oleander Keen—a Demonhunter who has already tried to kill her."

• Dark Is When the Devil Comes: A Novel by Daisy Pearce, read by Catrin Walker-Booth -- "Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet. Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either. But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying: If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it."

• An Accident of Dragons by Cheri Radke, read by Damian Lynch -- "An unlikely lord finally meets a problem he can’t flirt his way out of in this adventurous and light-hearted queer cozy fantasy featuring pirates, dragons, kidnapping, tea, and other high-fantasy delights."

• An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields, read by Jane Fox -- "A historical dark academia fantasy filled with ancient secret societies, a swoon-worthy rivals-to-lovers romance, and dangerous deals made after dark."

• Blood Bound: A Novel by Ellis Hunter, read by Nina Yndis and Victoria Nassif -- "A debut high-stakes fantasy romance trilogy set against a once-in-a-generation duel to the death between rival witches and dragon riders as they battle to control the source of all magic in their kingdoms."

SERIES WATCH:

• Mr. Styke: A Powder Mage Novella by Brian McClellan, read by Travis Baldree -- "One of the cruelest jokes the world played on itself was turning a monster into a civilized man. That’s how Ben Styke sees it, anyway. Fifteen years have passed since the Dynize War and people no longer remember Styke as a convict or a soldier or a killer. He’s just another businessman. Hurting. Tired. Old. Playing a role that does not suit him. Styke’s world is upended on the day he refuses to sell horses to the wrong man. He is soon targeted by dangerous people with deep pockets, to whom one soft old rancher means nothing. But civilization can only impress itself on a man so much, and Ben Styke has some madness in him yet."

• Cast in Blood: The Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara, read by Khristine Hvam -- "Kaylin has been warned to steer clear of the lords of the Barrani High Court. She’d be more than happy to oblige, but it’s a bit difficult considering she lives with ten of them, all sent to the green to gain power or die. With Kaylin’s help, they finally escaped their imprisonment. But their attempts at freedom had devastating consequences—and a price that has yet to be paid."

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Star Trek: Picard: To Defy Fate by Dayton Ward, read by Robert Petkoff -- "Just weeks after defeating a devastating joint attack by rogue Changelings and remnants of the Borg Collective, Starfleet and the Federation face a long period of recovery that requires replacing lost personnel and ships. While touring the U.S.S. Titan-A, which is just beginning an extensive repair-and-refit process that will take nearly a year to complete, newly promoted Captain Seven of Nine and her first officer, Commander Raffi Musiker, experience a bizarre temporal event which renders them both unconscious and sends Seven into a deep coma. In the aftermath of this inexplicable attack, Admirals Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher are surprised by the appearance of Crusher’s son, Wesley. Now a Traveler capable of traversing through all of space and time, he warns them that forces he cannot identify are working to disrupt time for unknown and potentially catastrophic reasons."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 21 April 2026

Posted on 2026-04-21 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

I agree it's a neat premise -- my wife's reading it now! -- but that audiobook did come out two weeks ago, not this week.

so far so good!

PICKS:

• The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang, read by Emily Woo Zeller -- "In his training as a spy, Ro was warned: you will always be living a lie. Jumping into a Star Eater's mind in the first place requires a moment of perfect psychic connection, and he has studied all his life to comprehend their species. He admires them, respects them, and is reverent at the idea of being one of them—the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. The species all others crave to know more of, but who have notoriously shared so very little. The species Ro's own small civilization, with its dwindling resources and withering reach, needs to know more about. It will feel real, his elders impressed upon him. It will never be real. But Ro's certainty runs deep: he will be different. Ro will not be an imposter hiding the truth of his past, because his heart will be one of them. He will be one of them. To understand is to become. It never occurs to him that the mere act of understanding can destroy."

• The Many by Sylvain Neuvel, read by Eliza Summers and Paul Boehmer -- "The minds of five normal people merge in a beautiful, unnerving first contact story where the strangest thing humanity has to face is each other."

• Aphrodite in Pieces by Lauren J. A. Bear, read by Zura Johnson -- "Experience the myth and magic of antiquity's most alluring—and provocative—goddess as never witnessed before, in this gorgeously rendered, unflinching, and deeply vulnerable retelling."

• The Witch and the Huntress: A Novel by Luna McNamara, read by Harrie Dobby, Ashley Tucker, and Oscar Brudenall-Jones -- "Two of Greek mythology’s most complex and powerful women—Medea and Atalanta—join forces on Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece in this suspenseful, sapphic reimagining."

• Underlake: A Novel by Erin L. McCoy, read by Emma Ladji, Leeanna Albanese, Charles Linshaw, and Gail Shalan -- "When a mother claims her missing daughter is alive beneath a lake in a flooded valley, a marine biologist descends into a hidden underwater settlement where those who refused to leave have built a sealed-off world—and where the consequences of that choice are beginning to surface."

• Odessa: A Novel by Gabrielle Sher, read by Gilli Messer -- "In a powerfully imagined Russia at the height of the pogroms, a grief-stricken family turn to ancient magic to bring their daughter back from the grave."

• The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen, read by Emily Woo Zeller -- "The starship Horizon’s crew spent ten years trapped across the expanse of space. Now they’re finally home—only it’s not the home they knew. The Cluster, once a peaceful coalition of planets, has fractured in the wake of civil war. Captain Demora Kim wants nothing more than to protect her surviving crew. It’s what she owes them after years of instability and terror. But in times of war, no one is allowed neutrality."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks, read by the author -- "A fascinating, first-of-its-kind exploration of Stephen King and his most iconic early books, based on groundbreaking research and interviews with King—all conducted by the first scholar to be given extended access to his private archives."

• This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark by Craig Fehrman, read by Jason Culp

• The Rolling Stones: The Biography by Bob Spitz, read by MacLeod Andrews

BACKLIST WATCH:

• The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction by Gene Wolfe (2009), read by a full cast for Blackstone -- "Incredible tales from a writer who challenged and amazed. Who revolutionized the genre."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell, read by Andy Serkis -- "George Orwell’s classic satire of the Russian Revolution has become an intimate part of our contemporary culture, with its treatment of democratic, fascist, and socialist ideals through an animal fable."

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Diablo IV: The Lost Horadrim by Matthew J. Kirby, read by Ralph Ineson -- I normally would be long past caring about a Diablo tie-in novel but Ralph Ineson has an amazing voice: "Journey to the Skovos Isles and uncover their mysteries: a lost expedition of mages, a dangerous monster, and a boiling political conflict—the official prequel to Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 14 April 2026

Posted on 2026-04-14 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Wife Shaped Bodies: A Novel by Laura Cranehill, read by Cindy Kay -- "Sorrowland meets Manhunt in this literary horror debut in which an isolated newlywed, covered in fungal fruiting bodies, strikes a precarious balance between following her husband's strict rules and pursuing an intense connection with a woman who makes her question everything."

• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker, read by Natalie Naudus -- "In this lyrical, wildly inventive horror novel interwoven with Japanese mythology, two people living centuries apart discover a door between their worlds."

• Go Gentle by Maria Semple, read by Saskia Maarleveld -- "The bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette returns to form in her most exuberant and life-affirming novel yet with the story of one woman’s cheerful determination to live a life of the mind only to have the heart force its way in.

• American Spirits: A Novel by Anna Dorn, read by Natalie Naudus, Jennifer Pickens, and Stephanie Willing -- "A love letter to pop music, charting an icon’s fall—and an obsessive fangirl’s rise."

• The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe, read by Barrie Kealoha -- "In this spellbinding fantasy debut set in a future where language magic reigns, a young Hawaiian woman must solve a murder to clear her name."

• West of Wicked by Nikki St. Crowe, read by a full cast -- "Dorothy Gale doesn’t know where she came from. At the age of five, she was dropped on Em and Henry’s doorstep while a terrible storm rolled across the Kansas prairie. Now as an adult, Dorothy has made the most of her life on the farm. But when a cyclone tears through the night, ripping her, her dog, and the farmhouse away, Dorothy wakes to find herself far from home in the strange, cursed land of Oz."

• Invasive Species by Ellery Adams, read by Courtney Patterson -- "Something’s not right in Cold Harbor—more so than usual. While this sleepy small town has seen its fair share of monsters in cheating husbands and leering bosses, none are as hungry as Mrs. Smith. The mysterious resident has finally emerged from her crumbling mansion on the hill, mesmerizing the townspeople with her beauty. Her secret? Nine human sacrifices to feed her immortality."

• Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe, read by Lottie Bourne -- "A cursed princess must discover what her heart truly longs for in this charmingly cozy romantic fantasy for everyone who’s ever lost – or found – themselves in a bookshop."

• Paranormal Payback edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes, read by a full cast -- "In this short story collection, our heroes get what’s due to them—with a supernatural flair."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• The Lost Cities of El Norte: Coronado's Quest, the Unconquered West, and the Birth of American Indian Resistance by Peter Stark, read by Thom Rivera

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Death Is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury, read by Chris Henry Coffey -- "A stylish and slightly fantastical tale of mayhem and murder set among the shadows and the murky canals of Venice, California, in the early 1950s."

• Peace by Gene Wolfe (1975), read by David Pittu -- "The melancholy memoir of Alden Dennis Weer, an embittered old man living in a small midwestern town, reveals a miraculous dimension. For Weer’s imagination has the power to obliterate time and reshape reality, transcending even death itself."

• A Palace Near the Wind by Ai Jiang (2025), read by Katharine Chin -- "A richly inventive, brutal and beautiful science-fantasy novella of family, loss, oppression and rebellion."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Faith of Beasts: Captive's War, Book 2 by James S. A. Corey, read by Jefferson Mays -- "The monstrous Carryx empire was built by subjugation and war. Thousands of species are bound to their Sovran’s command in an endless, blood-soaked test: be useful in the eternal conflict or be slaughtered."

• Chrysalis: Men of the Wilds, Book 2 by B.B. Reid, read by Nicole Small, Lawrence Baldwin, Logan Anare, and Tor Thom -- "Aurelia George was prepared to let the world believe she was dead. Tangled in the arms of her mountain men and bound only by the rules they make, the twice disgraced pop star had found her happily ever after. Or so she thought."

INDIE WATCH:

• First Mage on the Moon by Cameron Johnston, read by Tess Irondale for Podium -- "An innovative space fantasy, where wizards race to be the first on the moon, also known as the land of the gods."

• Darkness Births the Stars: Darkness Births the Stars, Book 1 by Sarah Lee Wohn, read by James Cavenaugh and Jacci Prior for Podium -- "He is the Fallen One, ruled by his dark ambitions. She is his greatest enemy, fated to destroy him."

The rest of my WATCHLIST for the week:

• Morsel Carter Keane

• Dear Monica Lewinsky Julia Langbein

• Things My Grandmother Said Amit Majmudar

• Life in Progress Hans Ulrich Obrist

• The Time of Cherries Montserrat Roig

• The Witch Marie NDiaye

• Where the Music Had to Go Jim Windolf

• Leave Your Mess at Home Tolani Akinola

• The Long Run Martin Dugard

• Rasputin Antony Beevor

• Harmless Miranda Shulman

• The Insomniacs Allison Winn Scotch

• The Take Kelly Yang

• Daughter of the Wind Nora Carmody

• The Monuments of Paris Violaine Huisman

• Your Soulmail is Attached by Joan F. Smith

• Snowblooded by Emma Sterner-Radley

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 7 April 2026

Posted on 2026-04-07 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

I had not one but TWO pre-orders come in this week:

* The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu, read by Katharine Chin -- "Ellie’s universe—and this one—is falling apart. Her ailing mother is in a coma; her sister, Chris, accuses her of being insufficiently Chinese between assassination attempts; and a shadowy cabal of engineers is trying to hijack the skunkworks, the machinery that keeps the physics of each universe working the way it’s supposed to. Daniel, Ellie's cousin, has found an illicit device in the skunkworks—one that keeps Ellie's comatose mother alive while also creating destabilizing bugs in the physics of this universe. It's not a good day. If she can confront her mother’s legacy and overcome her family’s generational trauma, she just might find a way to preserve the skunkworks and reconcile with her sister…but digging into her family’s past is thornier than it seems, and the secrets she uncovers will force Ellie to choose between her family and the universe itself."

* Transcription: A Novel by Ben Lerner, read by Seth Numrich -- "A lightning flash of a novel that is at once a gripping emotional drama and a brilliant examination of the devices, digital and literary, we use to store—or to erase—our memories."

Another PICK for the week:

* American Fantasy: A Novel by Emma Straub, read by Marin Ireland -- "When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous, nineties-era boy band and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them since childhood. Feeling slightly out of place amid this crowd is Annie, here on a lark to appease her sister. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked. Call it memory. Call it nostalgia. Call it the chemical reaction of hormones, hope, and sexual reawakening. Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the familiar music, and the throngs of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she meets one of the band members—not just a celebrity but someone in need of a friend—she has accessed a new sense of possibility."

MORE FICTION:

* The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances: A Novel by Glenn Dixon, read by Jennifer Jill Araya -- "In a near future, where even the smallest of appliances are sentient, a young Roomba vacuum sets out to save the humans of her house from a rising technological power in this compelling, original novel."

* Your Behavior Will Be Monitored: A Novel by Justin Feinstein, read by a full cast -- "This compulsive novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death, and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat transcripts, TED Talks, training sessions, and more, this all-too-probable future pits emotionally intelligent AI against emotionally stunted humans."

* The Book Witch: A Novel by Meg Shaffer, read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw -- "Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew."

* What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed, read by Emily Lawrence -- "On the planet Scythia, plants give birth to insects and trees can drag you to your death. Artificial monsters stalk the desert, and alien basket-men have wandered into town. John Maraintha has been abandoned here, light-years from the peaceful forests that he loves. The desert is harsh and the people in thrall to a barbaric custom called marriage. He must find some way to make a life here."

* Honey in Her Veins: A Novel by Ruth McKell, read by Michael Gallagher and Susannah Jones -- "This cottagecore fantasy follows a man with a monster in his head as he reunites with his first love in order to find mythical honey in the woods of Appalachia."

* Year of the Mer by L. D. Lewis, read by Janina Edwards -- "A dark, bloody epic fantasy reimagining of The Little Mermaid that goes far beyond the fairy tale to explore family legacy, war, and what we will sacrifice for vengeance."

* My Dear You: Stories by Rachel Khong, read by Jialing Pan, Rachel Khong, Jen Zhao, and Annie Q. Riegel -- "A brilliant short story collection about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it’s so easy to be someone else."

* The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty, read by Barrie Kreinik -- "A former changeling must return to the land of the Fae to right a bargain that's gone terribly wrong in this delightful cozy fantasy debut packed full of charm, adventure, romance and heart."

* Kiss, Marry, Kill by Lori Gold, read by Victoria Villarreal -- "When three best friends and founders of a health and wellness app on the verge of hitting the big time play a spin on the game of “kiss, marry, kill” at their company’s summer outing, they wake up the next morning in an alternate universe to discover they’ve each done just that."

* The Last Labyrinth by Gwendolyn Womack, read by Barrie Kreinik, Philip Battley, and Moira Quirk -- "A thrilling and romantic science fiction adventure about a musician who travels back to the 1800s on the currents of sound and falls for an earl as the two must decode the secrets of time and music to save both of their futures."

* Whispers of Ink and Starlight: A Novel by Garrett Curbow, read by Graham Halstead and Frankie Corzo -- "A spellbinding tale of forbidden love and the power of words, where a girl must choose between the life written for her and the future she dares to imagine."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

* This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History - Beverly Gage

* Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online - Fortesa Latifi

SERIES WATCH:

* The Demon King: The Nightfall Saga, Book 3 - Peter V. Brett

* The Great Big Bear and Other Stories of the Iron Druid Chronicles - Kevin Hearne

TIE-IN WATCH:

* Magic: The Gathering: Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos - Seanan McGuire

OTHER titles on my watch list this week:

My Dear You Rachel Khong

Yesteryear Caro Claire Burke

The Dark Frontier Jeffrey Marlow

Hexes of the Deadwood Forest Agnieszka Szpila

Visitations Julia Alvarez

Honey in Her Veins Ruth McKell

Arsenio Arsenio Hall

Planet Money Alex Mayyasi

Honey in the Wound Jiyoung Han

The Counting Game Sinéad Nolan

In Trees Robert Moor

Like This, But Funnier Hallie Cantor

Parks and Rec Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

The Penguin Book of the International Short Story Rabih Alameddine

The Last Woman of Warsaw Judy Batalion

The Ending Writes Itself - Evelyn Clark

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 31 March 2026

Posted on 2026-03-31 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

* How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson, read by the author

* The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula, read by Saskia Maarleveld -- "When a Victorian fossil hunter discovers a baby pterodactyl, she vows to protect him, with the help of a fellow scholar."

YOUNG ADULT WATCH:

* The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst, read by Soneela Nankani -- "A teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn—only to discover that the fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret—in this cozy and irresistible new young adult fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop."

SERIES WATCH:

* Steel Gods by Richard Swan, read by Zoe Mills and Nathaniel Priestley -- "The second novel in the Great Silence trilogy, which began with Grave Empire, a dark flintlock fantasy filled with epic adventure, arcane mysteries and creeping dread."

(The rest of my watchlist for this week:)

* Love Is an Algorithm by Laura Brooke Robson

* When the Forest Breathes by Suzanne Simard

* A Kingdom and a Village by Simon Morrison

* Upward Bound by Woody Brown

* The Quarter Queen by Kayla Hardy

* To Rule All Under Heaven by Andrew Seth Meyer

* The News from Dublin by Colm Toibin

* The Adjunct by Maria Adelmann

* Devious Prey by Scott Reintgen

* Only a Little While Here by María Ospina

* This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews, read by Kristen Sieh

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 24 March 2026

Posted on 2026-03-24 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

* Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar, read by Rachel Elizabeth Smith -- My preorder this week, absolutely stunning: "With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose."

* Python's Kiss: Stories by Louise Erdrich, read by Pallas Erdrich -- "From Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich, a captivating collection of short stories."

* Daughter of Crows by by Mark Lawrence, read by Olivia Dowd -- "The survivor of a brutal academy must exhume her own past in the first book in a new series."

* Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher, read by Mary Robinette Kowal -- "Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator—but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father's reputation as a renowned scientist. Such is the lot in life for a woman in science in 1899. And after his death, she is left without work, prospects, or hope. So when the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. Once there though, she encounters dark happenings in the Carolina woods, and even darker questions come to light."

MORE FICTION:

* Daughter of Egypt: A Novel by Marie Benedict, read by Bessie Carter -- "A sweeping tale of a young woman who unearths the truth about a forgotten Pharaoh—rewriting both of their legacies forever."

BACKLIST WATCH:

* A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities by Ray Bradbury (1990), read by Chris Henry Coffey -- "Halloween Night, 1954. A young, film-obsessed scriptwriter has just been hired at one of the great studios. An anonymous investigation leads from the giant Maximus Films backlot to an eerie graveyard separated from the studio by a single wall. There he makes a terrifying discovery that thrusts him into a maelstrom of intrigue and mystery—and into the dizzy exhilaration of the movie industry at the height of its glittering power."

(more titles on my watch list this week:)

* The Weathering by Artem Chapeye

* Beneath by Ariel Sullivan

* Light and Thread by Han Kang

* The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann

* No Man's Land by Richard K. Morgan

* Chasing Freedom by Simukai Chigudu

* Open Space by David Ariosto

* Ladies and Gentlemen by Adam Ross

* Colored People Time by Manny Fidel

* Aicha by Soraya Bouazzaoui

* Stand by Senator Corey Booker

* Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin

* Seasons in Hell by Mike Shropshire

* The Last Labyrinth by Gwendolyn Womack

* In the Great Quiet by Laura Vogt

* Wretch by Eric LaRocca

* A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith

* The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis

* How to Disagree Better by Julia Minson

* Seven Sisters by Veronica Buckley

* The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 17 March 2026

Posted on 2026-03-17 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK:

* Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age by Ibram X. Kendi, read by the author -- This is the most at-length piece the author has read (of which I'm aware) and it isn't a flawless performance. There are some pauses which almost stumble the listener out of the flow of the book. But it also outlines the vocabulary, data, and historical context around the rise of "The Great Replacement Theory" and its causal chain with the rise of authoritarianism around the world.

FICTION PICKS OF THE WEEK:

* Crawlspace by Adam Christopher, read by Jennifer Pickens -- "Mission Lead Olivia O’Connor and her team from the Artemis Corporation, along with their military liaison, are in the final preparations for an undertaking that will alter the course of human history: a test flight that promises to open up new frontiers in the expanse of the universe. But their journey between dimensions is one they never trained for. Strange voices in the corridors. Long lost faces not forgotten. Strange symbols carved into the hull. And gathering outside the ship, ancient forces beyond reckoning."

* The Book of Fallen Leaves by A. S. Tamaki, read by Kenichiro Thomson -- "Shogun meets Game of Thrones in the blockbuster epic fantasy event of the year, a powerful tale of ambition, vengeance and sacrifice in this masterful fantasy retelling of an ancient Samurai saga, packed with memorable characters, stunning worldbuilding and epic adventure."

* The Lost Daughter of Sparta by Felicia Day, read by the author -- "Audio adaptation of a feminist graphic novel about the lost mythical character of Philonoe—Helen of Troy’s sister."

FICTION:

* Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi, read by Noor Hamdi -- "The intimate, sweeping tale of one Palestinian man’s restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope."

* Mortals by Norman Rush, read by Will Damron -- "Set in the 1990s in Botswana, the misadventures of three ex-pat Americans: Ray Finch, a contract CIA agent, operating undercover as an English instructor in a private school, who is setting out on perhaps his most difficult assignment; his beautiful but slightly foolish and disaffected wife, Iris, with whom he is obsessively in love; and Davis Morel, an iconoclastic black holistic physician, who is on a personal mission to “lift the yoke of Christian belief from Africa.”"

* My Grandfather, the Master Detective by Masateru Konishi, read by Hanako Footman -- " A Japanese The Thursday Murder Club, taking healing fiction for a mystery-filled spin with this bestseller that has sold more than 200,000 copies in Japan."

* Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg, read by the author -- "As ninety-two-year-old Florence "Flo" Greene nears the end of her life, she writes a letter to Ruthie, the woman who grew up next door to her, describing the items Flo is leaving Ruthie in her will."

* Heiress of Nowhere by Stacey Lee, read by Katharine Chin -- "An orphan races to uncover a killer—who may have come from the sea—when she and her beloved orcas fall under suspicion in this "atmospheric...beguiling" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) historical gothic mystery."

MORE NON-FICTION:

* The Feather Wars And the Great Crusade to Save America's Birds by James H. McCommons, read by Colin White -- "From the time the country was founded, early Americans assumed that the land's natural resources were infinite, including its birds, which were zealously hunted for food, game, and fashion. With the rapid extinction of the passenger pigeon—a bird once so numerous that its flocks darkened the sky in flight—many realized actions needed to be taken if other birds were to be saved. What followed was both a spiritual awakening and a great crusade to save birds and their habitat."

* Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945 by Ian Buruma, read by the author -- "An astonishing account of life under a murderous regime amid a great city’s descent into utter annihilation."

SERIES WATCH:

* Children of Strife: Children of Time, Book 4 by Adrian Tchaikovsky, read by Mel Hudson -- "After Earth fell, ark ships hunted for a new home. They sought lost worlds terraformed in Earth’s forgotten past. A ship crewed by maverick humans, spiders and a spectacularly punchy mantis shrimp captain is about to rediscover one such world..."

(MORE TITLES ON MY WATCH LIST THIS WEEK)

The Hidden Icon Jillian Kuhlmann

Batman: The Court of Owls Greg Cox

Batman: The Killing Joke Christa Faust

Harley Quinn: Mad Love Paul Dini

Innamorata Ava Reid

The Hiding Season Ava Glass

Sisters in Yellow Mieko Kawakami

Hard Times Jeff Boyd

Hyde and Seek John A. Hoda

I Am Agatha Nancy Foley

The Plans I Have for You Lai Sanders

Stay Alive Ian Buruma

The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale C. M. Waggoner

We (the People of the United States) Joshua Bennett

Under Water Tara Menon

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 10 March 2026

Posted on 2026-03-10 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

* Nonesuch: A Novel by Francis Spufford, read by Lydia Wilson for Simon and Schuster -- "A spellbinding tale about an ambitious young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz."

* The Natural Way of Things: A Novel by Charlotte Wood (2016), read by Alisa Piper for Penguin -- "When the women awaken from a drugged sleep to find themselves imprisoned in a broken-down property in the middle of a desert, they have no idea where they are or how they came to be there. Doing hard labor under a sweltering sun, guarded by two inept yet vicious jailers, the prisoners soon learn what links them: in each woman's past is a sexual scandal with a powerful man. They pray for rescue but as the hours turn into days and the days into weeks and months, it becomes clear that the women must rescue themselves."

* Westward Women: A Novel by Alice Martin, read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, Mia Wurgaft, and Saskia Maarleveld for Macmillan -- "In homes across the country, women ages eighteen to thirty-five begin to slow down. Drawn to the Pacific Ocean like it’s calling them home. They abandon their lives—jobs, families, their very selves. And once they reach the West, they vanish forever. At the center of the story are three young women caught in the pull of something unstoppable."

* Hell's Heart by Alexis Hall, read by Charli Anne Delores for Macmillan -- "Earth is dead. Which leaves us stuck living in atmospheric domes on planets that will kill us if we blink wrong, or run out of fuel. And by “fuel” I mean “the cerebrospinal fluid of gargantuan, quasi-psychic space monsters”. I joined the hunt hoping to get paid and maybe laid, but mostly paid. Instead, I followed a captain chasing abominations in the skies of Jupiter. We battled the Möbius Beast itself, there in the red eye of the world. Spoiler: we lost."

* Voidverse by Damien Ober, read by Lisa Flanagan for Simon and Schuster -- "Dune meets Wool in this high-octane quest through the void, where two eternal forces are about to collide in an epic showdown."

* Haven: A Novel by Ani Katz, read by Emily Rankin -- "A summer retreat to an elite island enclave tied to a Big Tech company becomes a mother’s worst nightmare in this gripping thriller."

* Whidbey: A Novel by T Kira Madden, read by Eunice Wong, Christina Moore, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, and Rebecca Lowman -- "A portrait of three women connected through one man in the aftermath of his murder—a stunning literary achievement and the explosive and highly anticipated debut novel from the beloved award-winning memoirist."

* Judge Stone: A Novel by Viola Davis and James Patterson, read by Davis -- "The most respected citizen in Union Springs, Alabama (population 3,314), is Judge Mary Stone. She holds two responsibilities sacred: running her family farm and presiding over her courtroom. It's there she draws the most controversial case in the history of the South. Criminally, it's open-and-shut. Ethically, there is no middle ground. Essentially, it's a choice between life and death. No judge can satisfy everyone. It would be dangerous to try. But Judge Stone is willing to fight to bring justice to the people and place she loves."

* Cabaret in Flames by Hache Pueyo, read by Dominique Franceschi -- "Interview with the Vampire meets Certain Dark Things in an alternate-Brazil where brutal flesh-hungering Guls stalk the night streets and manipulate the government from their glittering cabaret."

YOUNG ADULT WATCH:

* Six Must Die by Victoria Wlosok, read by Caitlin Kelly -- "Perfect for fans of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Karen M. McManus, this propulsive thriller follows a fractured group of friends as they fight to survive a killer escape room in rural Tennessee."

* A Stage Set for Villains by Shannon J. Spann, read by Suzy Jackson -- "The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her. When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime—a chance for one mortal to steal a Player's immortality—Riven sees her last chance to live."

BACKLIST WATCH:

* Merlin's Mirror: Witch World by Andre Norton (1975), read by Sharon Freedman -- "Norton brings to new life the legendary King Arthur and the wizard Merlin in the light of modern knowledge of a lost period of history and today's understanding of science and interplanetary communication."

* Worlds Apart: The Worlds Trilogy, Book 2 by Joe Haldeman (1983), read by Victor Warren -- "A survivor of a destructive conflict must work to prevent humanity's extinction."

INDIE WATCH:

* The Legend of William Oh by Macronomicon, read by Ryan H. Reid, Annie Ellicott, Aaron J. Morton, Justin Thomas James, and Jeff Hays for Soundbooth -- "William Oh is not a legend. Yet. He’s an orphan whose biggest dream is serving his absentee parents a knuckle-sandwich, but the only way to do that is to climb The Tower, the center of the world through which all magic flows. A betrayal, a bit of generosity, and a knack for surviving impossible odds sow the seeds of a legend. The only problem is… As the stories about him grow and take on a life of their own, can the boy outrun the legend he is becoming?"

YOUNG ADULT:

* Three Sisters by David Macinnis Gill, read by Alexandra Hunter -- "Harper and her two sisters face extreme danger and unexpected natural disasters while hiking in the Cascades of Oregon. Nonstop action, survival, high school science, and sibling rivalry are the hallmarks of this contemporary realistic survival story by the acclaimed author of Black Hole Sun."

SERIES WATCH:

* The Witch Without Memory: Book Two of the Obsidian Throne by Maithree Wijesekara, read by Aasiya Shah, Kishore Walker

* Intergalactic Feast: Flavour Hacker, Book 2 by Lavanya Lakshminarayan, read by Soneela Nankani

* Red Empire: Rogue Team International, Book 5 by Jonathan Maberry, read by Ray Porter

* Butterfly Effects: InCryptid, Book 15 by Seanan McGuire, read by Emily Bauer

MORE titles of interest on my watch list for this week:

* This Story Might Save Your Life: A Novel by Tiffany Crum, read by Julia Whelan

* Witch of the Shadow Wood by Tori Ann Martin

* Entwined by H. M. Long, read by Moira Quirk

* The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White

* Sing the Night by Megan Jauregui Eccles, read by Lauren Ezzo for Grand Central

* Whispers of Ink and Starlight by Garrett Curbow

* A Lady for All Seasons by TJ Alexander

* Black. Single. Mother. by Jamilah Lemieux

* Big Nobody by Alex Kadis

* Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran

* Promise/Threat by Jonah Mixon-Webster

* Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More by Alexei Yurchak

* Still Talking by Lore Segal

* The Two Deaths of Lillian Carmichael by Paulette Kennedy

* The Last Celebrity by Madeleine Henry

* The Dead Room by Catriona McPherson

* Alvesdon by James Holland

* The Power of Real Optimism: A Practical, Science-Based Guide to Staying Resilient, Curious, and Open Even When Life is Hard by Deepika Chopra

* All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun

* Ruinous Creatures by Jessi Cole Jackson

* A Scandal in Königsberg by Christopher Clark

* Judy Blume by Mark Oppenheimer

* A Lie for a Lie by Ren DeStefano

* The Pie & Mash Detective Agency by J. D. Brinkworth

* Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel by Elizabeth Everett

* Strange Girls by Sarvat Hasin

* The Complex by Karan Mahajan

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 24 February 2026

Posted on 2026-02-24 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

* Brawler: Stories by Lauren Groff, read by the author -- "A stunning, fierce collection from a master of the short story and one of the most important writers of our time."

* Kin: A Novel by Tayari Jones, read by Angel Pean -- "An unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy."

* Trust No One: A Thriller by James Rollins, read by Simon Vance -- "A shocking new stand-alone thriller that thrusts a group of university students, falsely accused of murder, into a treacherous hunt across Europe, all to unlock the secrets buried within a centuries-old book that could change humankind forever."

* The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan, read by Imogen Church -- "In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gevaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake. Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel – who takes payment in living hearts – it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down. Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d'Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian. Drawn by both the chance to finish the Beast for good and the promise of a reconciliation with Antoine, Sebastian cannot refuse."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

* A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness by Michael Pollan, read by the author -- "A panoptic exploration of consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why—and a meditation on the essence of our humanity."

* We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America by Norah O'Donnell with Kate Andersen Brower, read by O'Donnell -- " A vivid portrait of the unsung American women from 1776 to today who changed the course of history in their fight for freedom and helped shape a more perfect union."

MORE FICTION:

* More Than Enough: A Novel by Anna Quindlen, read by Kristen Sieh -- "A woman confronts the surprising results of an ancestry test and begins to question the meaning of family and friendship in this wise, tender novel teeming with life."

MOST MISSING:

* Ghosts of Smoke and Flame by Richard Dansky (Words From Many Worlds) -- "Charlie and Naomi Oates had the perfect life with their daughter Jessica - until their house burned down with them inside. Now Charlie and Jessica find themselves trapped in the family home as ghosts, while Naomi rejects Heaven because she doesn’t want to be there alone. But there are reasons Charlie and Jessica were left behind, and Hell has taken an active interest in bringing the family together - on its own terms."

(in progress)

Money Martin Amis

Experience Martin Amis

The Information Martin Amis

London Fields Martin Amis

The Rachel Papers Martin Amis

The Pregnant Widow Martin Amis

The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox Katrina Kwan

Solar Lottery Philip K. Dick

After The Fall Edward Ashton

I Am the Ghost Here Kim Samek

Cleopatra Saara El-Arifi

Weavingshaw Heba Al-Wasity

White River Crossing Ian McGuire

Encounters with Unexpected Animals Bret Anthony Johnston

The Distance of a Shout Michael Ondaatje

Blood Relay Devon Mihesuah

Dollface Lindy Ryan

Saoirse Charleen Hurtubise

The Optimists Brian Platzer

The Wolves at the Door Judith L. Pearson

The Other Moctezuma Girls Sofia Robleda

Bradbury Speaks Ray Bradbury

The Light That Blinds Us Volume 1 Andy Darcy Theo

Paradise Coast Suzanne Young

One of Us Elizabeth Day

The Ghost Women Jennifer Murphy

The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen Yuta Takahashi

The Death of Trotsky Josh Ireland

Congrats!

Posted in Release Week