Release Week: 17 February 2026

Posted on 2026-02-17 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICK:

* The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel, read by Elena Rey for Audible -- "Burned out and looking to put her past behind her, a former addict and recovering influencer interviews her fellow travelers en route to witness the first rain on Mars."

FICTION WATCH:

* The Women of Wild Hill: A Novel by Kirsten Miller, read by January LaVoy -- "A witty, spectacular, and timely tale of modern-day witches waging war on the patriarchy."

* Ballad of the Bone Road by A. C. Wise, read by Nicole Poole for HighBridge -- "Port Astor is a city of ghosts. Once home to the beautiful, brutal courts of the fae, forty years ago they vanished without explanation—and Port Astor decided to forget. Brix and Bellefeather are paranormal investigators, working to keep Port Astor's wraiths and specters from consuming the city. Both have hauntings of their own: Belle shares her body with a demon, Belizial; Brix has trapped the soul of his dead fiancée in the world of the living, unwilling to let her go. While investigating the glamorous and notoriously haunted Peony Hotel, Brix and Belle come across a young couple tangled up in one of the city's most infamous tales."

* Three Days in April by Edward Ashton, read by John Pirhalla, Barrie Kreinik, Katharine Chin, and Daniel Henning -- "Anders Jensen is having a bad month. His roommate is a data thief, his girlfriend picks fights in bars, and his best friend is a cyborg…and a lousy tipper. When everything is spiraling out of control, though, maybe those are exactly the kind of friends you need."

* Intercepts by T. J. Payne, read by Joe Hempel -- "A supervisor at a top-secret government facility running experiments on human beings has always been able to tell himself it's for the greater good. Until the day his works follows him home."

* The Astral Library: A Novel by Kate Quinn, read by the author -- "Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures."

* Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett, read by Genevieve Cocke -- "A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montréal turns to a grouchy but charming magician to help save her shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy."

* Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris, read by Tracie Thoms -- "A poignant story of survival and redemption that questions what it means to stop existing and start living."

* I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home by Fergus Craig, read by Joan Walker -- "After a decades-long stint in prison, former serial killer Carol is looking to kick back and relax in her new retirement home...until a fellow resident drops dead and Carol has to prove she actually didn't do it this time."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

* Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself by David Archuleta, read by the author -- "A raw and powerful coming-out story from the beloved American Idol finalist traces David Archuleta’s journey from closeted Mormon teen to global pop star to openly queer man, revealing the hidden pressures of fame, the weight of religious expectations, and the courage it takes to live authentically."

* Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth by Daisy Hernández, read by the author -- "A provocative, personal, blazingly intelligent examination of one of the most vexing questions facing the United States today: Who is, and should be, a citizen?"

* The Blood Countess: A Tale of Deception, Disinformation, and History's Deadliest Woman by Shelley Puhak, read by Vivienne Leheny -- "An ambitious, sweeping investigation into the singularly fascinating case of Elizabeth Báthory."

* How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America by by Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow, read by Eric Yang

BACKLIST WATCH:

* Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks (1994), read by Peter Kenny -- "Count Sessine is about to die for the very last time. Chief Scientist Gad­fium is about to receive the mysterious message she has been awaiting from the Plain of Sliding Stones. Bascule the Teller, in search of an ant, is about to enter the chaos of the crypt. This is the time of the encroachment and everything is about to change. Although the dimming sun still shines on the vast, towering walls of Serehfa Fastness, the end is close at hand. The King knows it, his closest advisers know it, and the crypt knows it too; so an emissary has been sent—an emissary who holds the key to all their futures."

* House of Meetings by Martin Amis, read by Sean Barrett -- "A haunting, gothic love triangle set in postwar Moscow and an Arctic gulag, where forbidden passion and betrayal shape destinies and echo across decades."

* Clans of the Alphane Moon by Philip K. Dick (1964), read by David Aaron Baker -- "Explores the meaning of mental illness through the actions of people with clinical disorders and those of the doctors tasked with curing them."

* Vulcan's Hammer by Philip K. Dick (1960), read by John Skelley -- "After the 20th century’s devastating series of wars, the world’s governments banded together into one globe-spanning entity, committed to peace at all costs. Ensuring that peace is the Vulcan supercomputer, responsible for all major decisions. But some people don’t like being taken out of the equation."

SERIES WATCH:

* The Daughter Who Remains: She Who Knows, Book 3 by Nnedi Okorafor, read by Yetide Badaki

MOST MISSING:

* The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films by Ashley Clark (Lawrence King Publishing) -- "An entertaining, informed, and thought-provoking survey of important and influential Black films from around the globe"

OTHER TITLES:

* Runescape: Shadows of Amascut Erin M. Evans

* Hopscotch Julio Cortázar

* Mundane Magic Molly Donlan

* Nothing Grows by Moonlight Torborg Nedreaas

* Traversal Maria Popova

* The Fox Hunt Caitlin Breeze

* Adrift Will Dean

* Bloodfire, Baby Eirinie Carson

* Children of the Savage City Elizabeth Heider

* Half City Kate Golden

* Last Seen Christopher Castellani

* Bloody Black by Rhiannon Hargadon, read by Nell Stevenson for Dreamscape

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 10 February 2026

Posted on 2026-02-10 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman, read by Travis Baldree and Jeff Hays for Penguin -- "A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it."

• A Forest, Darkly by A.G. Slatter, read by Zigi Ellison for WF Howes -- "A thrilling dark fantasy of persecuted witches, snatched children, twisted magic, changelings, and the sins that bind, set in the multi-award-winning author's acclaimed Sourdough universe."

• World's Edge: A Mosaic Novel by James Sallis, read by Dan John Miller for Recorded Books -- "In a not-so-distant future the United States has fragmented, balkanizing into unstable provinces often at war with one another, and Americans, their great promise not so much lost as forfeited, are encountering the terrors and devastation so much of the world daily lives with. Throughout a land littered with refugees, ruins, orphaned children, soldiers, militia, and fugitives, people go on about their daily lives as best they can."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• Virtual Light: Bridge Trilogy, Book 1 by William Gibson (1993), read by Jason Keller for Random House -- Finally a new unabridged edition: "The millennium has come and gone, leaving in its wake only stunned survivors. In Los Angeles, Berry Rydell is a former armed-response rentacop now working for a bounty hunter. Chevette Washington is a bicycle messenger turned pickpocket who impulsively snatches a pair of innocent-looking sunglasses. But these are no ordinary shades. What you can see through these high-tech specs can make you rich—or get you killed. Now Berry and Chevette are on the run, zeroing in on the digitalized heart of DatAmerica, where pure information is the greatest high. And a mind can be a terrible thing to crash."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• The Birthgrave: Birthgrave Trilogy, Book 1 by Tanith Lee (1975, 2015), read by Charlie Albers for Tantor -- "A mysterious woman awakens in the heart of a dormant volcano. She comes forth into a brutal ancient world transformed by genocidal pestilence, fierce beauty, and cultural devastation. She has no memory of herself, and she could be anyone—mortal woman, demoness lover, last living heir to a long-gone race, or a goddess of destruction. Compelled by the terrifying Karrakaz to search for the mysterious Jade that is the answer to her secret self, she embarks on a journey of timeless wonder."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963 by David Levering Lewis, read by Courtney B. Vance for Simon & Schuster -- "In this final magisterial volume, fifteen years in the research and writing, David Levering Lewis stunningly recreates the second half of W.E.B. Du Bois’s charged and brilliant career. Beginning with the return of World War I African American veterans to the riots and lynchings of the “Red Summer” of 1919 and ending with Du Bois’s self-imposed exile and death in Ghana forty-four years later, Lewis charts the dramatic evolution of the premiere architect of the civil rights movement and of the movement itself."

• The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home by Wil Haygood, read by Cary Hite for Random House -- "Explores how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans—fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home—and a powerful lens through which to understand the racial and political divides that continue to shape American life."

SERIES WATCH:

• Secondhand Luck: The Shadow Age, Book 2 by Kim Harrison, read by Marguerite Gavin -- "Against an ancient shadow with a deadly agenda, Petra Grady’s luck may be about to run out."

INDIE WATCH:

• The Regressor King by A J Sherwood, read by Zachary Zaba for Podium -- "Death, paradise, and the gods themselves—all rejected for the sake of love."

• A Raven in the Storm: Gods of Tellus, Book 1 by Alida Miranda-Wolff, read by Esther Wane -- "How far will one woman go to save a dying goddess?"

MOST MISSING:

• Usurper: Essays on the Death of Reality by D Harlan Wilson (Guide Dog Books) -- "Set in an irreal dystopia, Usurper focuses on Donovan's prodigal son, Caliban Ogg, who cannot crawl out from under the shadow of his father's massive legacy as he struggles to adapt the so-called "Doomsday Edition" of Ulysses for the big screen."

ALSO ON MY WATCH LIST:

* Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson, read by Jay Myers for Random House -- "An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of supernatural creatures—and an unexpected home—in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut."

* Dead First by Johnny Compton, read by Selena Mikes for Penguin -- "A bone-chilling new novel about a private investigator hired by a mysterious billionaire to discover why he can’t die."

* The Thirteenth Floor edited by Guy Adams for Tantor

* The Wandering Queen: A Novel of Dido by Claire Heywood, read by Meg Hateley for Penguin

* The Boundless Deep Richard Holmes Random House

* The Catacombs William Demby Random House Audio

* Eradication Jonathan Miles Random House Audio

* Motor City Love Song Lisa Peers Random House Audio

* Beetlecreek William Demby Random House Audio

* The Bronze Arms Richie Hofmann Random House Audio

* Yestermorrow Ray Bradbury Simon & Schuster Audio

* Keeper of Lost Children Sadeqa Johnson Simon & Schuster Audio

* Hannibal Lecter Brian Raftery Simon & Schuster Audio

* Slow and Secret Poison Carmella Lowkis Simon & Schuster Audio

* Murder Bimbo Rebecca Novack Simon & Schuster Audio

* Warning Signs Tracy Sierra Penguin Audio

* Fireflies in Winter Eleanor Shearer Penguin Audio

* The Real Ones Maya Rupert Penguin Audio

* The Writings of Thomas Smallwood Thomas Smallwood Penguin Audio

* Politics Without Politicians Hélène Landemore Penguin Audio

* The Midnight Taxi Yosha Gunasekera Penguin Audio

* Everyday Movement Gigi L. Leung Penguin Audio

* The Obake Code: A Sci-Fi Heist by Makana Yamamoto, read by Jolene Kim for Harper Voyager

* Hard Reset by Jonathan Yanez, read by Neil Hellegers for Blackstone

* Heir of Illusion: The Verran Isles Series, Book 1 by Madeline Taylor, read by Zara Hampton-Brown and Will Watt for Zando Penguin -- "An alliance between enemies. A weapon of untold power. And a bond that could rewrite fate."

* The Found Object Society: A Novel by Michelle Maryk, read by Saskia Maarleveld and Michelle Maryk for Audible -- "An atmospheric speculative suspense novel following a mysterious society offering its members the chance to relive the death of another person—and the self-destructive woman determined to uncover its secrets."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 3 February 2026

Posted on 2026-02-03 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

Too many to include in much detail I'm afraid :( but...

My PREORDERS this week are:

* The People's Library by Veronica G. Henry, read by Robin Miles for Brilliance -- "A thought-provoking science fiction fantasy set in near-future Cleveland that follows a reluctant curator of digital human consciousness who must uncover twisted secrets and navigate ethical quandaries and dangers when anti-technology rebels attack the futuristic library."

* The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison (2025), read by Zehra Jane Naqvi for Tantor -- A tie-in short novel (long novella?) in Addison's "Goblin Emperor" / "Cemeteries of Amalo" universe that I was so happy to see come to audio: "Five years ago, historian Ulcetha Zhorvena was studying at the University of Cairado, working his way toward becoming a scholar first-class in the Department of History. Then a prize artifact disappeared and Ulcetha, deftly framed, was kicked out. Now he works for a crooked importer, using his knowledge of elven history to write provenances for the fake artifacts Salathgarad sells. When the airship Wisdom of Choharo explodes, killing the emperor and three of his four sons, it takes with it Ulcetha's best friend, Mara Lilana. But Mara leaves behind a puzzle—the one thing Ulcetha can't resist. And the puzzle leads Ulcetha back to the Department of History...and maybe the chance to clear his name."

Another massive FICTION release this week is:

* Tom's Crossing by Mark Z. Danielewski (2025), read by Susan Dalian for Random House -- Weighing in at just over 58 hours: "From the bestselling author of House of Leaves comes a magisterial novel about two friends determined to rescue a pair of horses set for slaughter."

I'm looking forward to digging into this SCIENCE FICTION MASTER'S NEW COLLECTION:

* The Universe Box by Michael Swanwick, read by Luis Moreno for Recorded Books -- "Discover the vast worlds and pocket universes of the only author to win science fiction’s most prestigious award five times in six years. In his dazzling new collection, the master of speculative short stories returns with tales in which magic and science improbably coexist with myth and legend. With two stories original to this collection, Swanwick aptly demonstrates with poignant humor why he is widely respected as a master of imaginative storytelling."

And speaking of masters, one of my favorite NARRATORS is back with a familiar author in his wheelhouse:

* While the City Never Sleeps by Alex Bledsoe, read by Stefan Rudnicki for Blackstone -- "When a notorious crime lord’s lawyer is beheaded by hired killers, it’s clear someone’s sending a message. But Stavros Kefali didn’t get to be top dog by scaring easily, so he sends his go-to guy, Darren Flaxstone, to learn who’s behind it. A pair of gritty detectives, Slade and Slaughter, are also on the case, and one of them has a secret source for street info: the Lightning Girl, a vigilante fighting crime her way in the city’s poorest neighborhood. Meanwhile, reporter Rebecca Hutchcraft is determined to unmask the Lightning Girl, while rival gangster Harrison Marley thinks this might be the time to take on Kefali’s organization. Hovering over all this is the upcoming Festival, Kefali’s super-secret once-in-a-lifetime event for the city’s elite, where all questions may be answered…if anyone survives to ask them."

Finally a DEBUT I have been looking forward to:

* The Hospital at the End of the World: A Novel by Justin C. Key, read by James Fouhey for Harper -- "From the author of the acclaimed The World Wasn’t Ready for You comes a thrilling first novel, set in a near future where artificial intelligence runs the world, involving a young medical student who must unravel family secrets to uncover the truth of his father’s mysterious death."

Other titles on my too-long watch list for this week:

* Land of Dreams Gian Sardar Brilliance Audio

* Deus Irae Philip K. Dick Recorded Books

* Seven Heavens Away Ashraf Zaghal Tantor Media

* Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon Mike Chen Random House Audio

* Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks? Andrew Yang Random House Audio

* Good People Patmeena Sabit Random House Audio

* Super Nintendo Keza MacDonald Random House Audio

* Push Jordan D. Metzl MD Random House Audio

* Empire of Madness Khameer Kidia Random House Audio

* Mating Norman Rush Random House Audio

* Songbird of the Sorrows Braidee Otto Random House Audio

* The Lies that Summon the Night Tessonja Odette Random House Audio

* The Wall Dancers Yi-Ling Liu Random House Audio

* Salvation C. William Langsfeld Random House Audio

* Greedy Callie Kazumi Random House Audio

* The Johnson Four Christina Hammonds Reed Random House Audio

* Subtle Bodies Norman Rush Random House Audio

* Nightshade and Oak Molly O'Neill Orbit

* The Bone Queen Will Shindler Macmillan Audio

* Superfan Jenny Tinghui Zhang Macmillan Audio

* The Forest on the Edge of Time Jasmin Kirkbride Macmillan Audio

* Dirty Metal Allison LaMothe Macmillan Audio

* Little One Olivia Muenter Little, Brown & Company

* The People Can Fly Joshua Bennett Little, Brown & Company

* Superhero Tim Blake Nelson Brilliance Audio

* Meat Bruce Friedrich Brilliance Audio

* Chronicles Bob Dylan Simon & Schuster Audio

* Rage and the Republic Jonathan Turley Simon & Schuster Audio

* The Aftermyth Tracy Wolff Simon & Schuster Audio

* To Catch a Fascist Christopher Mathias Simon & Schuster Audio

* The Great Resistance Carrie Gibson Simon & Schuster Audio

* The Copywriter Daniel Poppick Simon & Schuster Audio

* Living Buddha, Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh Penguin Audio

* Liturgies of the Wild Martin Shaw Penguin Audio

* The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram Ethelene Whitmire Penguin Audio

A couple to at least single out a little:

* Wolf Hour: A Novel by Jo Nesbo, read by Robert Ferguson -- "An immersive, propulsive novel in which a detective and a crime writer conduct parallel investigations, six years apart, into a series of puzzling murders."

* Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean, read by Sarah Skaer -- "An endearing, lightly magical romantic comedy about a girl who starts receiving letters from the love of her life—writing to her from years in the future."

A few I didn't have on my watch list:

* Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya, read by Elena Rey -- "An unputdownable romantasy following a young woman posing as fortune-teller at a magical traveling carnival, where the handsome boy who once broke her heart resurfaces and warns her that the carnival is more sinister than it appears."

* Queen of Faces by Petra Lord, read by a full cast -- "A desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang."

* Good People: A Novel by Patmeena Sabit, read by a full cast -- "The Sharaf family is the picture of success. Prosperous, rich, happy. They came to this country as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighborhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father’s eye. When an unthinkable tragedy strikes, everyone is left reeling and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs’ happy household was anything but. Did the Sharaf family achieve the American dream? Or was the image of the model immigrant family just a façade?"

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 27 January 2026

Posted on 2026-01-27 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

No pre-orders for me this week again (though Feb 3 we finally get The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison and *that* is on my pre-order list!).

FICTION PICKS:

* Vigil: A Novel by George Saunders, read by a full cast for Random House -- "An electric novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo, taking place at the bedside of an oil company CEO in the twilight hours of his life as he is ferried from this world into the next."

* The Final Score by Don Winslow, read by Peter Giles for Harper -- "The multi-million-dollar casino heist is impossible—it can't be done. That's what makes it irresistible to a legendary robber facing the rest of his life in prison."

* We Who Have No Gods by Liza Anderson, read by Ellie Gossage, Vas Eli, Marwan Salama, and Barton Caplan for Random House -- "In a world of witches, a human woman must hunt or be hunted in this explosive debut novel filled with dangerous rivals, guarded secrets, and simmering chemistry."

* The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman, read by Mark Meadows for Recorded Books -- "Madeline Miller meets Angela Carter in this spellbinding queer retelling of the 12th-century tale of Bisclavret the werewolf—unmissable for fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden."

NON-FICTION PICK:

* Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul by Matthew F. Delmont, read by Leon Nixon for Penguin -- "The untold story of the Black patriots—from soldiers in combat to peace protesters—who ended the Vietnam War and defended the soul of American democracy, from a pre-eminent civil rights historian and the award-winning author of Half American."

OTHER titles on my watch list for this week:

* One Sun Only by Camille Bordas - Random House Audio

* Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds - Orbit

* The Wolf and the Crown of Blood: The Broken Accords, Book 1 by Elizabeth May, read by Victoria Aston and John Hartley for Recorded Books

* Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead by K. J. Parker - Orbit

* The Unwritten Rules of Magic by Harper Ross - Macmillan Audio

* The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams - Simon & Schuster Audio

* The Winter Warriors by Olivier Norek - Simon & Schuster Audio

* Artifact Space Volume 1 by Miles Cameron - Simon & Schuster Audio

* Escape from Capitalism by Clara E. Mattei - Simon & Schuster Audio

* The Hour of the Wolf by Fatima Bhutto - Simon & Schuster Audio

* In Bloom by Liz Allan - Simon & Schuster Audio

* Escape! by Stephen Fishbach - Penguin Audio

* Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh - Penguin Audio

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 20 January 2026

Posted on 2026-01-20 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

Another week without pre-orders for me, but here's my PICKS for the week:

* To Leave a Warrior Behind: The Life and Stories of Charles R. Saunders, the Man Who Rewrote Fantasy by Jon Tattrie, read by the author for McClelland and Stewart -- "Discover the untold story of the little known figure who wrote groundbreaking fantasy worlds and redefined an entire genre. Blending biography with a tribute to Saunders’ forgotten literary legacy, To Leave a Warrior Behind uncovers the life of an enigmatic recluse, and the worlds he left behind."

* Lost Girl by Adam Nevill (2015), read by James Parsons for Tor Nightfire -- "It's 2053 and climate change has left billions homeless and starving - easy prey for the pandemics that sweep across the globe, scything through the refugee populations. Easy prey, too, for the violent gangs and people-smugglers who thrive in the crumbling world where 'King Death' reigns supreme. The father's world went to hell two years ago. His four-year-old daughter was snatched from his garden when he should have been watching. The moments before her disappearance play in a perpetual loop in his mind. But the police aren't interested; amidst floods, hurricanes and global chaos, who cares about one more missing child? Now it's all down to him to find her."

* Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement, read by Peter Schmidt, Alyssa Loh, and D. Graham Burnett for Random House -- "A rallying cry to fight the commodification of human attention, with the tools we need to reclaim our humanity, by a group of writers, artists, and activists in the vanguard of the movement."

* Cowboys and East Indians: Stories by Nina McConigley, read by Soneela Nankani for Random House -- "Richly textured, compassionate, and at times hilarious, Cowboys and East Indians traces a journey from India to Wyoming and back again, introducing us along the way to characters who seem not quite to fit the circumstances in which they find themselves, but who nevertheless search for belonging—through unexpected common ground with their human neighbors or the abiding, if isolating, openness of the vast landscape of the West."

* New Cemetery: Poems by Simon Armitage, read by the author for Random House -- "From the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, a poem sequence that considers our use of the land that surrounds him, and recounts the personal tales of beauty and loss that play out on it."

And here's some more FICTION titles on my watchlist or that caught my eye:

* Departure(s): A Novel by Julian Barnes, read by the author for Random House -- "On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, one of our great novelists delivers a playful and profound work about memory, love, and the writer's endgame."

* The Lodge by Paul Finch, read by Maxim Reston for Brilliance -- "You have been dreaming of an unforgettable weekend escape, and Black Tarn Lodge seems to offer everything—a magnificent Gothic mansion with towering turrets nestled in the misty Lancashire hills. Expecting elegant dinners, vintage wines and a screening of a legendary lost film in the private cinema, all seems perfect. Until night falls and a thick fog isolates you from the world. Your phones go missing. Guests start vanishing. And then you find the body."

* Hemlock: A Novel by Melissa Faliveno, read by Kira Fixx for Little, Brown and Company -- "A woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer Gothic novel."

* How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva, read by Maggie Bain for Orbit -- "The cozy tale of a halfling and a goblin who must learn to love each other despite their differences."

* I Call Upon Thee: A Novella by Ania Ahlborn, read by Madeleine Lambert for Simon and Schuster -- "Maggie Olsen had a pretty ordinary childhood—swimming and sleepovers, movie nights and dad jokes. And then there were the other things…the darker things…the shadow that followed her home from the cemetery and settled into the corners of her home, refusing to let her grow up in peace. Now, after three years away from the place she's convinced she inadvertently haunted, and after yet another family tragedy strikes, Maggie is forced to return to the sweltering heat of a Savannah summer to come to terms with her past."

* Better the Devil by Erik J. Brown, read by Daniel Henning -- "A harrowing, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller about a queer homeless teen who, in a bid for safety, assumes the identity of a boy who went missing ten years ago...only to find that his new home is anything but a safe haven."

And some more NON-FICTION titles:

* Native America: The Story of the First Peoples by Kenneth L. Feder, read by Adam Barr for Highbridge -- "An infinitely surprising and fascinating deep history of the continent's Indigenous peoples. Kenneth Feder, a leading expert on Native American history and archaeology, draws on archaeological, historical, and cultural evidence to tell the ongoing story, more than 20,000 years in the making, of an incredibly resilient and diverse mixture of peoples, revealing how they have ingeniously adapted to the many changing environments of the continent, from the Arctic to the desert Southwest."

* When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery, read by Melinda Sewak for Macmillan -- "This stunning cultural and personal reclamation of Black history and Black botanical mastery offers up lessons from the natural world shared through the stories of long-lived trees."

* Your Anxiety is Giving Me Anxiety: A Survival Guide for Thriving in a High-Stress World by Elizabeth April, read by the author for Brilliance -- "Ready to stop being at war with your own mind? Get the guidance you need to break free from stress and start thriving, from a spiritual thought leader who can help you see beyond the chaos."

(in progress)

George Falls Through Time Ryan Collett HarperAudio

The Elsewhere Express Samantha Sotto Yambao Random House Audio

The Sea Child Linda Wilgus Random House Audio

Excession Iain M. Banks Orbit

A Heart So Green Lyra Selene Orbit

The Poet Empress Shen Tao Macmillan Audio

The Friend of the Family Dean Koontz Brilliance Audio

Future Saints Ashley Winstead Simon & Schuster Audio

Everybody Loses Danny Funt Simon & Schuster Audio

One Aladdin Two Lamps Jeanette Winterson Simon & Schuster Audio

The Book of Alice Diamond Forde Simon & Schuster Audio

Anne of a Different Island Virginia Kantra Penguin Audio

The Society Karen Winn Penguin Audio

The Elements of Power Nicolas Niarchos Penguin Audio

The Warhead Jeffrey E. Stern Penguin Audio

Football Chuck Klosterman Penguin Audio

Crux Gabriel Tallent Penguin Audio

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 13 January 2026

Posted on 2026-01-13 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

Hey, out on Friday is absolutely included in what's come out this past week! Congrats!

Thanks for the reminder, I'll take a look this time.

Fixed for next week: https://www.downpour.com/collections/new-releases

No pre-orders for me this week, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of titles to check out.

PICKS:

* Scavengers: A Novel by Kathleen Boland, read by Helen Laser for Penguin -- "After being fired for taking an uncharacteristic risk at her commodities trading job, Bea Macon sublets her New York apartment and books a one-way ticket to stay with her mother, Christy, a free spirit who has been living in Salt Lake City on Bea's dime. Usually the responsible one, Bea isn't about to admit exactly why she's suddenly decided to visit, but she isn’t the only one keeping secrets: Christy has a man. She has a map. She has . . . a username on a forum devoted to unearthing $1 million in buried treasure that an antiquities dealer claims to have hidden somewhere in the western U.S.?"

* The Briars by Sarah Crouch, read by Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Helen Laser, and Jonathan Todd Ross for Simon & Schuster -- "A lush and atmospheric novel of suspense following a young woman whose job as a game warden puts her in the path of a murderer in a small town eager to protect its own."

* The Truth of Carcosa by Jacob Rollinson, read by James Goode, Nneka Okoye, Christopher Tester, and Marc Vietor for Union Square -- "Evil books, shadowy corporations, and interdimensional monster collide in this dark, masterful tribute to Robert Chamber's cult classic, The King in Yellow."

* Pedro the Vast by Simón López Trujillo, read by Lee Osorio for Algonquin -- "In a dry and degraded, fire-prone landscape where humanity has encroached a step too far into the natural world, a deadly fungus mounts its own resistance."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

* The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s by Jason Burke, read by Kristin Atherton for Random House -- "An epic, authoritative, gripping account of the years when a new wave of revolutionaries seized the skies and the streets to hold the world for ransom."

* The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game by C. Thi Nguyen, read by the author for Penguin -- "One of the leading experts on the philosophy of games and the philosophy of data takes us deep into the heart of games, and into the depths of bureaucracy, to see how scoring systems shape our desires."

* Sacred by Vasudha Rai, read by Swasti Sharma for Random House -- "Reminds us of the symbiotic relationship we have with plants, the need for forests and greenery, their medicinal benefits, and environmental advantages that improve soil and air quality."

* The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans by Maya Shankar, read by the author -- "A revelatory exploration of how we can find meaning in the tumult of change, from a renowned cognitive scientist and host of the critically acclaimed podcast A Slight Change of Plans."

* Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China by Jung Chang, read by Adjoa Andoh -- "Chang's epic generation-defining family memoir, Wild Swans, ends in 1978, when Deng Xiaoping opened the door of Communist China, and Jung—twenty-six years old and unstoppably curious, despite years of brainwashing— seized the propitious moment and became one of the first Chinese to leave the tightly sealed country and come to the West. Fly, Wild Swans chronicles her journey and that of her family, along with that of China, as it rose from a decrepit and isolated state to a world power challenging American dominance."

* Winter: The Story of a Season by Val McDermid, read by the author -- "In this radiant work of creative nonfiction, the internationally beloved novelist delivers a dazzling ode to a lost world, ruminating on a single winter in her life as she journeys into the heart of the season's ever-evolving community-based traditions."

BACKLIST WATCH:

* Green Shadows, White Whale: A Novel of Ray Bradbury's Adventures Making Moby Dick with John Huston in Ireland by Ray Bradbury (1992), read by MacLeod Andrews for Simon & Schuster -- A semi-autobiographical "fix-up" novel that tells of this actually wild tale, involving fantastical Irish characters from myth and legend and folklore, the IRA, and "the boyos at Heeber Finn's pub."

* Under Fishbone Clouds by Sam Meekings (2009), read by Austin Ku for Tantor -- "A universal romance, a family saga, and a journey through Chinese history, myth, and culture, following a young couple as their love grows and is tested during Mao's Cultural Revolution."

* Coup De Grâce by Sofia Ajram (2024), read by Graham Halstead for Tantor -- "A mindbending and visceral experimental horror about a young man trapped in an infinite Montreal subway station."

SERIES WATCH:

* The School of Night: The Morning Star, Book 4 by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated by Martin Aitken, read by Rory Alexander for Penguin

And here's what ELSE was on my watch list or caught my eye when scanning through today:

* Weird Tales Magazine No. 372: Cryptids & Urban Legends, read by a full cast for Blackstone Audio -- includes stories by Jonathan Maberry, Keith DiCandido, Scott Sigler, Preston Grassmann, Samantha Underhill, and many others

* Sheer: A Novel by Vanessa Lawrence, read by Brittany Pressley for Penguin -- "Told over nine charged days, the gripping tale of a controversial beauty mogul’s insatiable ambition and the slippery ground between empowerment and abuse of power."

* The Midnight Carousel by Fiza Saeed McLynn, read by Aysha Kala for Harlequin -- "The Night Circus meets Water for Elephants in this enchanting, darkly glittering story of grief, obsession, revenge, and enduring love."

* The Naysayers: A Novel by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, read by Megan Tusing for Brilliance -- "A witty, sharp-edged tale of corporate greed, unexpected romance, and the quiet power of our shared humanity."

* Others by Jared Poon, read by David Lee Huynh for Orbit -- "Benjamin Toh is a middle manager in the Division for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders (DEUS), and his job is straightforward: keep the supernatural inhabitants of Singapore happy and keep them out of sight. That is, don’t bother the good, normal citizens, and certainly don’t bother the bosses. Sure, he's overworked and understaffed, but usually, people (and senior management) don’t see what they don’t want to see. But when an entire housing estate glitches out of existence on what was meant to be a routine check-in, Ben has to scramble to keep things under control and stop the rest of the city from disappearing."

* The Magic of Untamed Hearts by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, read by Elena Rey for Penguin -- "After several years stuck as a ghost, Sky Flores learns to reconnect with the living again with the help of her handsome neighbor."

* Detour: A Novel by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart, read by Max Meyers for Random House -- "A space shuttle flight crew discovers that the Earth they’ve returned to is not the home they left behind in the first book of this emotional, mind-bending thriller."

* The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee, read by Katie Leung for Random House -- "A vampire hunter goes undercover at a mysterious university—and finds herself falling in love with her roommate, an alluring vampire, in book one of a seductive sapphic paranormal fantasy."

* The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara, read by Rea Malhotra Mukhtyar for Random House -- "A stunning historical novel set in nineteenth-century Tibet that follows two outsiders—an Indian schoolteacher spying for the British Empire and an English “lady” explorer—as they venture into a forbidden kingdom."

* The Bookbinder's Secret by A. D. Bell, read by Olivia Vinall for Macmillan -- "A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder."

* Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibañez, read by Beatrice Granno for Macmillan -- "As a sculptress, Ravenna Maffei has always shaped beauty from stone but she has a terrible secret. Desperate to save her brother, she enters a competition hosted by Florence’s most feared immortal family, revealing a dark power in a city where magic is forbidden. Now a captive in the cutthroat city of Florence, Ravenna is forced into a dangerous task where failure meets certain death at the hands of Saturnino dei Luni, the immortal family's mesmerizing but merciless heir. But as he draws her closer, Ravenna realizes the true threat lies beyond Florence’s walls."

* Godfall: Flyover Fiction by Van Jensen, read by Scott Merriman for Brilliance -- "In this riveting small town thriller, Sheriff David Blunt is faced with a string of murders following the arrival of an alien life form."

* The Old Fire by Elisa Shua Dusapin, read by Elisabeth Lagalee for Simon & Schuster -- "A subtle yet powerful portrayal of family, secrets, and silence set against the backdrop of a crumbling house in the French countryside."

* Into the Midnight Wood by Alexandra McCollum, read by Will Watt for Penguin -- "A whimsical queer romance about two mismatched roommates whose fragile—and definitely not romantic at all—balance is upended by an impending family wedding and an otherworldly danger in the nearby enchanted wood."

* Gaslit by Megan Davidhizar, read by Karissa Vacker -- "A psychological thriller about a night of babysitting that turns fatal and a girl determined to figure out if the gas leak was an accident."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 6 January 2026

Posted on 2026-01-06 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

My pre-orders this week were:

* Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire, read by Cynthia Hopkins -- "A fan-favorite character returns in this action-packed installment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series."

* Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard (2024), read by Cindy Kay -- "Jockeying navigator clans guide spaceships through the Hollows: an area of space populated by the mysterious but deadly creatures known as Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes the Hollows for the first time in living memory, each clan must send a representative to help capture it—but the mission may be doomed and the hearts of two clan juniors may be in danger too."

Other FICTION titles on my watch list for this week:

* Conan: Songs of the Slain by Tim Lebbon

* Tempest Awakening by Emma Moon

* Pillar of Darkness by Dave Duncan

* The Devil's Dance by Brett McKay

* Advance Britannia by Alan Allport

* The Storm by Rachel Hawkins

* The Architect of New York by Javier Moro

* Skylark by Paula McLain

* Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea

* The Bloody Brick Road by Maude Royer

* The Castaways by Lucy Clarke

* Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

* The Swan's Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story by Roshani Chokshi, read by Ell Potter

*A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves (1990), read by Simon Mattacks -- "Before Shetland and Vera, Ann Cleeves wrote the Inspector Ramsay series featuring a talented, brilliant detective—now available for the first time in the US."

* The Starseekers by Nicole Glover, read by Bahni Turpin -- "Indiana Jones meets Hidden Figures in this brand-new stand-alone historical fantasy set in the world of The Conductors, in which the space race of the mid-20th century will be determined by magic...if not murder."

* The Storm: A Novel by Rachel Hawkins, read by Alex Knox -- "A thrilling new gothic suspense set in a Gulf Coast beach motel where hurricane season can be murder."

* 1635: The Weaver's Code by Eric Flint and Jody Lynn Nye, read by George Guidall

* Wolf and Iron by Gordon R. Dickson (1990), read by Rusty Mewha -- "After a worldwide financial collapse cripples America, Jeremy Bellamy Walther, one of the few who knows how to reverse the catastrophe, begins a cross-country trek in order to spread his knowledge."

* Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt, read by Chiara Goldsmith -- "A darkly comedic, genre-bending mystery following a female-personified Death who must investigate a string of unplanned murders before the whole world is thrown into chaos."

* House of Idyll by Delilah S. Dawson, read by Cassandra Campbell -- "A darkly seductive tale of beautiful rock stars, sinister cults, and a magical oasis where dreams come true...for a price."

* The Mills of the Gods by Tim Powers, read by Scott Aiello -- "Paris, 1925. Harry Nolan is an expatriate American, making a meager living as an illustrator for a low-paying magazine, but his life is upended when he is assigned to illustrate an anonymous article about the death of a god—because a centuries-old French brotherhood, the sauteurs, are determined to suppress the story the article tells."

Some NON-FICTION releases that caught my eye:

* Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster by Jacob Soboroff, read by the author

* Homeschooled: A Memoir by Stefan Merrill Block, read by the author -- "A heartbreaking and empowering debut memoir about a mother's all-consuming love, a son's perilous quest to discover the world beyond the front door and the unregulated homeschool system that impacts millions like him."

Some INDIE releases that snuck onto my radar as they came in to end the year:

* Until I Die by Deidra Duncan, read by Ariel Barber -- "After the Fracture, nothing is safe—not love, not truth, and certainly not women. In the ashes of the fallen United States, the New American Order has seized power, silencing dissent and enslaving the vulnerable. To stop the spread of their evil, Sophia Reeves has given everything to the Defiance, a resistance force battling the NAO, but now, her general has another command: become a contact for an enemy officer-turned-spy."

* The Waking of Storm and Flame: The Fates of Aten, Book 1 by N.A. Betts, read by Nikki Lyons

* A Girl Made of Time: A Novelette by Tiffany Chu, read by Emily Lawrence

* Clan Novel Assamite: The Clan Novel Saga, Book 7 by Gherbod Fleming, read by Kelly Wilkinson

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 16 December 2025

Posted on 2025-12-16 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

Congrats!

PICKS:

* Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines, read by Nancy Wu, Paul Bellantoni, and Courtney Patterson for Brilliance Audio -- "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls in this humorous contemporary standalone fantasy about a group of former Chosen Ones coming out of retirement to save the world one last time."

* The Curse of the Cole Women by Marielle Thompson, read by Carrie Coello for Tantor -- "The Cole women are cursed. Each generation will birth a daughter, lose their love, and, as surely as the tide beats against the rocky shore, take her own life by giving herself to the sea. For generations, the Cole women have lived as outcasts, maintaining a lighthouse on a small island off the coast of New Hampshire. Ever since their ancestor was accused of witchcraft and cast into the sea hundreds of years prior, the islanders have ostracized the Coles, distrusting their rumored magic and their control of the lighthouse."

* The Northern: A Novel by Jacob McArthur Mooney, read by Peter Outerbridge for ECW Press -- "It is the summer of 1952 and three men—well, one man and two boys—are on a spiritual and commercial mission. Dispatched from Minnesota to Western Ontario, they have been hired by an upstart Mormon baseball card company to find licensees for their products among the young men filing out Korean War-era rosters in the Northern League, at the bottom-most rung of professional baseball. What the Northern has for them, and the secrets and deceptions they have for each other, will drive their two weeks in Canada into ever-growing chaos."

* Other Evolutions: A Novel by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia, read by Raffa Virago for ECW Press -- "Alma Alt, the sheltered youngest daughter of an interfaith, interracial Jewish-Mexican couple, rarely ventures far from her home on a wealthy tree-lined street in Ottawa, where nothing ever happens. The one time she did, striking out to visit her older sister, Marnie, in Montreal, things ended in disaster as she found out that beautiful, blonde Marnie had been lying about their family’s background, trying to pass herself off as white. The unintended fallout from that betrayal leads to a devastating accident, one that claims Alma’s arm and someone’s life. Alma is now stuck in a holding pattern, unable to move past the grief, trauma, and injury she suffered that night, all while the bonds that hold her family together crumble, the guilt and resentment between the sisters simmering beneath the surface. But Alma’s life is turned upside down by an encounter just steps from home with an impossible person, the boy she watched die."

BACKLIST WATCH:

* The Simulacra Philip K. Dick Recorded Books

* Now Wait For Last Year Philip K. Dick Recorded Books

TIE-IN WATCH:

* Halo: Edge Of Dawn Kelly Gay Simon & Schuster Audio / Halo Books

MOST MISSING:

* Skull X Bones edited by David B. Coe and Joshua Palmatier (Zombies Need Brains) -- "Authors Steven Harper, Alex Bledsoe, Alan Smale, E.J. Delaney, Violette Malan, Adam Stemple, Nemo Herndon, Alena Van Arendonk, Gloria Wickman, R.S. Belcher, Jennifer Brozek, R.M. Olson, Misty Massey, and C.C. Finlay immerse us in the worlds of privateers, buccaneers, corsairs, marauders, and pirates. So strap on a blade or flintlock or laser and keep a keen eye on the horizon. Because dead men DO tell tales, and here there be monsters of the deep."

* The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Seventeen edited by Ellen Datlow (Night Shade) -- "Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night."

(in progress)

Songs and Stories of Ulster Marty Cullen BBC Audio

The Amber Owl: Heartwood, Book 1 Juliet Mariller Bolinda

Testimony of Mute Things Lois McMaster Bujold Blackstone Publishing

The Web Beneath the Waves Samanth Subramanian Random House Audio

The Fall of Affirmative Action Justin Driver Random House Audio

Death's Acre Bill Bass Penguin Audio

The Global Forest Diana Beresford-Kroeger Penguin Audio

The End of Ordinary Edward Ashton Harper

No True Way: All-New Tales of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey. read by a full cast for Stonehenge

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 9 December 2025

Posted on 2025-12-09 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami (2016), translated by Asa Yoneda (2024), read by Arthur Keng and Sarah Skaer for Brilliance Audio -- "From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions an Earth where humans are nearing extinction, and rewrites our understanding of reproduction, ecology, evolution, artificial intelligence, communal life, creation, love, and the future of humanity."

• Sunset At Zero Point by Simon Stålenhag, read by Chris Andrew Ciulla for Simon & Schuster -- "From the renowned creator of The Electric State and Tales from the Loop, Stålenhag returns with his long-awaited new work of retro-futuristic dystopia within the mysterious zone of an abandoned Swedish military facility."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (2004), read by Nan McNamara for Penguin -- "In California’s central valley, five women and one man join to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Why Do I Keep Doing This? Unlearn the Habits Keeping You Stuck and Unhappy by Kati Morton, read by the author for Hachette -- " Leading mental health advocate and licensed marriage and family therapist, Kati Morton, explores our common struggle and contradiction with control in ourselves and relationships, giving readers the ability to not only ask themselves why do I keep doing this, but have the insight to find a real answer."

SERIES WATCH:

• Conan: Cult of the Obsidian Moon by James Lovegrove, read by Bradford Hastings for Blackstone -- "A thrilling story about Conan the Barbarian facing incomprehensible Lovecraftian horrors."

TIE-IN WATCH:

• The Descent: The Official Movie Novelization by Christian Francis and Neil Marshall, read by Ella Lynch for Blackstone -- "After a tragic accident, six friends reunite for a caving expedition. Their adventure soon goes horribly wrong when a collapse traps them deep underground and they find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty creatures. As their friendships deteriorate, they find themselves in a desperate struggle to survive the creatures and each other."

MORE FICTION:

• The Birdwatcher by Jacquelyn Mitchard, read by Gail Shalan for Harlequin -- "When she is convicted of a double murder, Felicity Wild, a brilliant grad student turned high-priced escort, declares, 'I may not be innocent, but I'm innocent of this.' Reenie Bigelow never doubted it. A jury may have given Felicity a life sentence, but Reenie knows that her childhood best friend is not capable of murder. And so Reenie, a journalist, decides to use her deep connections to Felicity's past to unravel the truth."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• Fallen Gods by Rachel Can Dyken, read by Alexander Cendese and Taylor Meskimen for Recorded Books -- "The gods aren’t dead—they’re only sleeping, locked in mortal bodies, scattered across the world, waiting for the right spark to wake them. And Odin, the most ruthless of them all, is my father. He raised me to obey. To bleed. To be his blade when the time came. Now he’s sending me to Endir University, a place filled with ancient bloodlines and deadly secrets, to steal back Mjolnir, the hammer that once belonged to my dead brother. If I fail, everyone I love dies."

• Before Ever After: A Novel by Samantha Sotto, read by Lauren Fortgang for Random House -- "A young widow embarks on a globe-spanning quest to discover the truth about her late husband in the dazzling first novel, full of heart and magical realism, from the bestselling author of Water Moon."

• Sleeper Agent: Nemesis by John Birmingham, read by Rupert Degas for Audible -- "Genetically engineered to be the perfect weapon, Cooper Fox must now use those abilities to stop a shadowy cabal from rewriting the future of humanity."

• The Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick, read by Nicola Barber for Harlequin -- "Welcome to the Time Hop Coffee Shop, where wishes can come true…"

INDIE WATCH:

• Logic Gates: Magical Engineering, Book 1 by B.T. Topia, read by Jay Aaseng for Podium -- "Breakfast was supposed to be quiet, simple even. Dave just wanted eggs. Instead, he got a talking bird and a System that dragged Dave into another universe, and now he has a deadline. If he can't grow strong enough, fast enough, his home world won't survive. This new reality runs on rules Dave doesn't know, and the System keeps pushing him into dangerous experiments he's not sure he'll live through. But engineering is engineering, even when the math is magical. With new allies and a lot of iteration, Dave will map the mechanics, uncover the mysteries, and discover their answers."

• Machinist of Mana: A Progression Fantasy by Wandering Agent, read by Gary Furlong and Reba Buhr for Podium -- "A shortcut through the woods transports a machinist to a new world in the first installment of this steampunk portal fantasy by the author of Melody of Mana."

• Escape from North Loop Manor by Jared Jason Mendoza, read by Evangeline Lindes for Abdicatoos Media -- "When aliens descend on Earth, most people panic. Mariko Waterfield sees it as a sign: time to leave North Loop Manor and start a new chapter out west. The world is changing, the future uncertain—but before she can move on, she owes her best friends one final farewell. One last perfect goodbye in the shadow of an alien invasion. Over two strange, bittersweet nights in and around El Paso, Mariko and her tight-knit crew of misfits stumble through drunken mishaps, tutoring drama, disastrous bikini contests, makeshift healing rituals, and the quiet comfort of an all-night diner. As they wander through the city, they find solace in the small, stubbornly human moments: awkward crushes, inside jokes, late-night confessions, and the memories you hold onto when everything else is falling away."

(in progress)

The Garden of Shared Stories Clare Swatman Boldwood Books

Tailored Realities Brandon Sanderson Macmillan Audio

Berlin Shuffle Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz Macmillan Audio

The Continental Divide Bob Johnson Highbridge Audio

Reconstructing the Dreamland (Updated Edition) Alfred L. Brophy Highbridge Audio

The Denial of Death Ernest Becker Simon & Schuster Audio

Everyone in the Group Chat Dies L.M. Chilton Simon & Schuster Audio

The Moss Lisa Lueddecke Simon & Schuster Audio

The Kybalion: Centenary Edition Three Initiates Penguin Audio

Reclamation Kristen Zimmer Tantor Media

The Light a Candle Society by Ruth Hogan, read by Mark Elstob for Dreamscape

Posted in Release Week

Whispersync Deals for December 8, 2025

Posted on 2025-12-08 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

I know it has been a quiet year here on the blog itself, but I happened upon two old-school “Whispersync Deals” today while browsing around. (To refresh, a “Whispersync Deal” is a term I came up with some years ago for when a Kindle title goes on such a steep sale that the price for the Kindle title plus the “Whispersync” Audible add-on is well under the cost of a credit.)

First up, David Drake’s Lord of the Isles, book one of his “Lord of the Isles” epic fantasy series, with the audiobook read by the masterful Michael Page. “A towering and complex epic of heroic adventure in an extraordinary and colorful world where the elemental forces that empower magic are rising to a thousand-year peak. In the days following an unusually severe storm, the inhabitants of a tiny seaport town travel toward romance, danger, and astonishing magic that will transform them and their world.” This one’s available for $2.99 Kindle plus $5.60 Audible add-on.

And secondly, Cold Magic by Kate Elliott, book one of The Spiritwalker Trilogy, with the audiobook read by Charlotte Parry. “Epic fantasy in which science and magic are locked in a deadly struggle. It is the dawn of a new age… The Industrial Revolution has begun, factories are springing up across the country, and new technologies are transforming the cities. But the old ways do not die easy. Cat and Bee are part of this revolution. Young women at college, learning of the science that will shape their future and ignorant of the magics that rule their families. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for Cat. New dangers lurk around every corner and hidden threats menace her every move. If blood can’t be trusted, who can you trust?” This one’s available for $1.99 Kindle plus $4.60 Audible add-on.

OK, that’s it for me today, happy deal-hunting!

Posted in Whispersync Deals