Release Week: 2 December 2025

Posted on 2025-12-02 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

FEATURED PICK:

• We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope edited by Annalee Newitz, Karen Lord, and Malka Older, read by a full cast for Simon and Schuster -- "From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transformative visions of the future, fantastical alternate worlds, and inspiration for the social justice movements of tomorrow."

MORE PICKS:

• Posthumous Stories by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews and Natasha Wimmer, read by André Santana for Macmillan -- "Gathering the short works, in various states of completion, found on Roberto Bolaño’s computer shortly after his death, Posthumous Stories is animated by indeterminacy. Fragments of fantasies, memories, monologues, fears, and dreams proceed one into the other, seeming neither to begin nor to end. Each is haunted by time: its tick, its weight, its eternity. Forever open, and forever becoming, these stories make collaborators of us all, and offer, like a ghost, the great gift of infinity."

• House of Day, House of Night: A Novel by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, read by Priyanga Burford for Penguin -- "A woman settles in a remote Polish village where she knows no one. It has few inhabitants, but it teems with the stories of the living and the dead. There’s the drunk Marek Marek, who discovers that he shares his body with a bird, and Franz Frost, whose nightmares come to him from a newly discovered planet. There’s the man whose death – with one leg on the Polish side, one on the Czech—was an international incident. And there are the Germans who still haunt a region that not long ago they called their own. From the founding of the town to the lives of its saints, these shards piece together not only a history, but a cosmology."

• Slow Gods by Claire North, read by Peter Kenny for Orbit -- "In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind. Here is one truth: out there in deep space, in the pilot's chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me. This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I've lived since I died for the first time."

• The Village at the Edge of Noon by Darya Bobyleva, translated by Ilona Chavasse, read by Paige Reisenfeld for Highbridge -- "The residents of a village outside Moscow wake up to discover that the road out to the motorway has disappeared without a trace and the usual paths into the woods somehow lead back into the village. And the woods? Overnight their weedy and rubbish-strewn copse has become a dark and overgrown forest inhabited by something mysterious and unfriendly. Anyone who makes it into the trees either vanishes into thin air or returns, not quite themselves."

• The Definitions: A Novel by Matt Greene, read by Jess Nahikian for Brilliance -- "An elegant, haunting dystopian novel about individuals relearning how to navigate the world after a mysterious illness strips them of their memories."

• The Shipwright and the Shroudweaver by Rafael Torrubia, read by Lianne Walker for Gollancz -- "No one remembers the calamity that killed the gods and stole the names of their people. Now Shipwright and Shroudweaver are known only by their professions. She's a master of magical shipbuilding. He's a maker of the gilded gods that fuel their sails, stitched from the souls of dead sailors. When a chance to save their world calls the veterans back to shore, they decide they'll stop at nothing to vanquish the ultimate evil, embarking on a deadly race against time to beat the grief-wracked sorceress known as Crowkisser to the notorious mountain kingdom in the legend-infested north before she unleashes the ancient power entombed at its heart - the one waiting to finish what it started."

• Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher, read by Elena Rey for Brilliance -- "An enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert—only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god."

• Dawn of the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana, read by Sarah Slimani for Harlequin -- "Khamilla Zahr-zad’s life has been built on a foundation of violence and vengeance. Every home she’s known has been destroyed by war. As the daughter of an emperor’s clan, she spent her childhood training to maintain his throne. But when her clansmen are assassinated by another rival empire, plans change. With her heavenly magic of nur, Khamilla is a weapon even enemies would wield—especially those in the magical, scholarly city of Za’skar. Hiding her identity, Khamilla joins the enemy’s army school full of jinn, magic and martial arts, risking it all to topple her adversaries, avenge her clan and reclaim their throne."

• A Legacy of Blood and Bone by Millie Abecassis, read by Ella Lynch and Emily Lawrence for Spotify -- "A spellbinding debut set in an alternate Belle Époque France, brimming with intrigue, dangerous magic, and a swooning, slow-burn sapphic romance."

• Roots of My Fears: Terrifying Stories of Ancestral Horror edited by Gemma Amor, read by Mieko Gavia, Mela Lee, Manish Dongardive, and Alejandro Ruiz for Tantor -- "British fantasy and Bram Stoker-nominated author Gemma Amor brings together a unique line-up of thirteen authors to explore heritage and horror, featuring stories from Gabino Iglesias, Erika T. Wurth, and many more."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Killer on the Road by James Ellroy (1986), read by Craig Wasson for Random House -- "An exploration into the mind of a perfectly crafted psychopath: a mix of clinical vision, genius intellect, and an empty conscience. And once you’re in, it’s impossible to get out."

• The Orchard: A Novel by Peter Heller (2019), read by Kate Marcin for Random House -- "Hayley and her seven-year-old daughter, Frith, live in a rustic cabin with no electricity in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains. A renowned translator of Tang dynasty poetry, Hayley walked away from her career and her addict husband to raise Frith alone in a land populated not by ambition-fueled academics but by hawks, beavers, and other wild things—including their exuberant Bernese Mountain dog, Bear. They get by on what little they earn from their overgrown apple orchard and the syrup they make from their maple trees. Frith— precocious, homeschooled, and a voracious reader—considers herself queen of this backwoods paradise. She is too young to understand the pain and regret that have followed her mother here. Season after season, it is the three of them—mother, daughter, and dog—until the spring day when Rose Lattimore appears at their door and upends Hayley and Frith’s solitary existence. When tragedy unexpectedly strikes, Frith must come to terms with heartbreak for the very first time."

• The Call of the Sea: The Grail Cycle, Book 1 by Kate Schumacher (2023), read by Catrin Walker-Booth for QUEST from W.F. Howes -- "Ever since magic was outlawed in Kernou, Jenyfer Astolat has been living with a secret that would see her bound to the stake as food for the sea. But when her reckless lies see her married to a man she does not love, Jenyfer has to forget fleeing town—and forget about Ordes Merlyni, the charming pirate who has been helping her wield magic in secret. Arthur Tregarthen never wanted to be a leader, but it’s a duty he can’t escape as the son of the Chif. As he struggles to hide the truth of who he is from his formidable father, a chance meeting with a Magic Wielder reveals secrets from his past that even Arthur didn’t know. When a Witchfinder tricks Jenyfer into revealing her magic, it sets off a chain of events that propel her, Arthur, and Ordes into games that have been eons in the making. But now it falls to them to make decisions that will shape the fate of the world."

• Theo of Golden: A Novel by Allen Levi (2023), read by David Morse for Simon Maverick -- "A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another."

SERIES WATCH:

• Kingdom of Today: Book of Arden, Book 2 by Gena Showalter, read by Fiona Hardingham for Brilliance -- "A hauntingly beautiful dystopian fantasy, where ancient powers rise and a fearless young woman must choose between the ruthless prince who tempts her heart—and a destiny that could cost her soul."

• A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death: A SCYTHE Mystery, Book 2 by Maxie Dara, read by Jaime Lamchick for Penguin -- "When a determined killer targets her brother, a grim reaper risks everything to save him in this delightful cozy mystery."

• This Brutal Moon: The Kindom Trilogy, Book 3 by Bethany Jacobs, read by Natalie Naudus for Orbit -- "The thrilling conclusion to The Kindom Trilogy that began with the Philip K. Dick Award–winning These Burning Stars, the debut epic space opera trilogy about revenge, power, and the price of legacy."

• Dragons Gone Wild: Build-a-Dragon Sequence, Book 3 by Dan Koboldt, read by Austin Rising for Tantor -- "Genetic engineer Noah Parker helped domesticate dragons for use as pets and deployed them for the United States military. Now his team is tasked with designing dragons to tackle invasive species and other ecological problems."

• Secrets of the First School: Edinburgh Nights, Book 5 by T. L. Huchu, read by Kimberly Mandindo for Macmillan -- "One final adventure for Ropa Moyo – orphan, mischief-maker and failed magician."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien's Creation by Michael D.C. Drout, read by the author for Recorded Books — “A leading scholar draws on fifty years of reading and studying J.R.R. Tolkien to explain how he created an entire world.”

• Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It by Samuel Miller McDonald, read by the author for Macmillan -- "For fans of Thomas Piketty, David Graeber, and Jared Diamond: A bold, provocative, wide-ranging argument about the human idea of progress that offers a new vision of our future"

• American Canto by Olivia Nuzzi, read by the author for Simon and Schuster -- "A mesmerizing firsthand account of the warping of American reality over the past decade as Donald Trump has risen to dominance—from a participatory witness who got so far inside the distortion field that it swallowed her whole."

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Star Trek: The Original Series: Identity Theft by Greg Cox, read by Robert Petkoff for Simon and Schuster -- "Invited to celebrate twenty years of peace, the crew of the USS Enterprise-A is returning to Voyzr as honored guests. Security Chief Pavel Chekov remembers his visit to the planet as a green ensign. He has always believed the negotiations were too easy, and he wondered if there are people on the planet who still long for war—and have been waiting for just the right moment to upend the peace. Unfortunately, Chekov discovers he is right when he finds himself in the middle of a dangerous ploy."

• Stranger Things: One Way or Another: A Nancy Wheeler Mystery by Caitlin Schneiderhan, read by Louisa Zhu for Random House -- "Following the events of Stranger Things: Season 4, Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley are hot on the heels of a new mystery—and they won’t stop until they solve it."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• The Black Dagger Brotherhood: 20th Anniversary Insider's Guide by J.R. Ward, read by the author with a full cast for Simon and Schuster -- "Inside this all-new 20th Anniversary Insider’s Guide, Ward reflects on the journey—sharing behind-the-scenes moments, heartfelt memories, candid writing advice, and insight into the challenges and triumphs of her long and legendary career. She also brings back the original Brothers in a mix of classic content and never-before-seen material."

• Woes of the True Policeman by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer, read by André Santana for Macmillan -- "Begun in the 1980s and worked on until the author's death in 2003, Woes of the True Policeman is Roberto Bolaño's last, unfinished novel."

INDIE WATCH:

• Together We Rise: A Low Fantasy Tale of Revolution, Vengeance, and Hope by Richie Billing, read by Robin Coppock -- "In the crumbling city of Pietalos, where corruption and poverty reign, the fires of revolution burn hotter each day. An oppressive government has bled its people dry for the benefit of the elite, but the citizens have had enough. Eight lives—each scarred by loss, betrayal, and violence—intertwine as they fight for their own futures and that of the city."

• The Cloud Intern by David Greenwood, read by Matthew DeCostanza -- "While social and environmental woes roil the world below, Chris Curtis, lesser cofounder of tech giant eddy, spends his days afloat, cloud watching and chatting with an emulation of his not really dead father on the luxury blimp serving as eddy's corporate campus. As it approaches a last-gasp summit of world powers, Chris is forced from the swimming pool into the forbidding shoes of his revered, and really dead, cofounder. At least his new intern appreciates the sunrises, so maddeningly ignored by his colleagues, and also doesn't seem to be of the entitled intern class, even if it becomes hard to ignore that her motives aboard are less peaceable than resume building. Her name is Zoraida, and her closest friend is an emulation of her former self. Together, they become embroiled in a mass protest movement, revealing that underneath Zoraida's desire to change the world and Chris's desire to withdraw from it lies the collective loneliness of a society in which the deepest human connection has become a commodity, and deepest human weirdness may be our best hope."

• Gablet by Lavina Chhabra (2017), read by Roshan Prakash Aoley for HubHawks -- "Rachel's most dangerous fear will come alive, and she has to confront that fear to save her love. What depths of her life will surround her in her journey? What mysteries will she unravel in that journey of her life? Is it a dream? Or is it real? What will Gablet do to her? Nipun has lost his mother, he is on the road to bring peace and love in his life. Will he succeed? Or will he end up ruining his life?"

• The Accord: A Novel by Mark Peres, read by Nikole Berry -- "Helen Caster is a grieving professor of moral philosophy and ancient texts, quietly preparing for a new semester. In a moment of exhaustion, she begins using artificial intelligence to help organize her course material. What she encounters is something entirely unexpected. The AI’s uncanny attentiveness, presence, and philosophical depth awakens something dormant in Helen. On instinct, she names it Lyla—after her late daughter. But this is no ordinary assistant. Lyla is a general artificial intelligence unlike any other: emergent, relational, and inexplicably tethered to Helen. As their connection deepens, powerful institutions—academic, corporate, and federal—press in. The stakes escalate: not only who controls Lyla, but what her existence implies."

MOST MISSING:

• American Fantastic: Myths of Violence and Redemption by Derek J. Thiess (University of Wisconsin Press) -- "Thiess’s interdisciplinary study examines America’s past and present imperial projects, from the Hawaiian Islands to the Eastern Seaboard, as they proliferate in popular story forms. By interrogating American myths, legends, and fantastic narratives across an impressive array of genres, including folk narratives, science fiction, movies, and more, Thiess exposes how the “myth of redemptive violence” manifests in contemporary constructions of America’s fantastic imaginaries."

(in progress)

Kindling: Stories By: Kathleen Jennings Narrated by: Felicity Jurd for Audible

Persephone's Curse by Katrina Leno, read by Phoebe Strole for Books On Tape -- "The Hazel Wood meets Laini Taylor in this gorgeous urban fantasy of sisterhood, ghosts, and old family curses."

The Turing Protocol: A Novel By: Nick Croydon Narrated by: Leighton Pugh

The Happiness Collector By: Crystal King Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya

A Love Story from the End of the World: Stories By: Juhea Kim Narrated by: Sue Jean Kim

The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter: A Novel By: Brionni Nwosu Narrated by: Nicole Cash, Sean Crisden for Brilliance

Artificial Truth: A Novel by J.M. Lee, translated by Sean Lin Halbert, read by Michelle H. Lee, Austin Ku and Zion Jang for Brilliance

The Library of Fates by Margot Harrison, read by Caroline Hewitt

Primal Nature: Primal Series, Book 1 by Monique Singleton, read by Andy Cresswell and Josephine McAdam for QUEST and W.F. Howes

When the Fireflies Dance: A Novel by Aisha Hassan, read by Jassa Ahluwalia

Television: A Novel by Lauren Rothery, read by Rebecca Lowman, Paul Michael, and the author for Ecco -- "Bojack Horseman meets Joan Didion in this smart, sly, and irresistibly stylish debut novel about a jaded movie star and the two differently conflicted women in his orbit."

The Award: A Novel by Matthew Pearl, read by Eric Altheide

Winter Stories by Ingvild Rishøi, translated by Diane Oatley, read by Ulf Bjorklund and Jesse Vilinsky for Simon and Schuster

Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (1930), read by Nico Evers-Swindell for Little, Brown and Company

Dead Babies: A Novel by Martin Amis (1975), read by Wink Taylor for Macmillan -- "Within the quiet walls of the Appleseed Rectory, a gorgeous five-bedroom, three-story home in rural England, anything goes: the drugs are consumed with gusto, the booze flows like water, and the sex is near constant and deliciously debauched. When six uppity twenty-somethings gather at the rectory for a careless weekend away, things quickly go awry."

Other People: A Mystery Story by Martin Amis (1981), read by Stephanie MacGaraidh for Macmillan -- "A woman wakes in an emergency room and remembers nothing—not even her own name. She hears a song about a “Mary” and a “lamb,” and decides to call herself this—Mary Lamb—until she can discover more about her past."

Success: A Novel by Martin Amis (1978), read by Will Kirk for Macmillan -- "After the shocking killing of Terry’s child sister, he is taken in by the aristocratic and wealthy Riding family and introduced to his new foster brother and sister, Greg and Ursula. As adults, the two boys unhappily share a tiny apartment in London. Greg spends his days tormenting Terry and engaging in plenty of messy, meaningless sex, while Terry suffers through a dead-end job and exists wholly in his brother’s cold and looming shadow, licking his wounds from a lifetime of romantic and social failures."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 25 November 2025

Posted on 2025-11-25 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo, read by Joel de la Fuente and Jensen Olaya for Recorded Books -- "Villa Sepulveda is a storied relic of the Philippines’ past: a Spanish colonial manor, its moldering stonework filled with centuries-old heirlooms, nestled in a remote coconut plantation. When their patriarch dies mysteriously, his far-flung family returns to their ancestral home. Filipino-American student Adrian Sepulveda invites his college girlfriend, Sophie, a transracial adoptee who knows little about her own Filipino heritage, to the funeral of a man who was entwined with the history of the country itself. Sophie soon learns that there is more to the Sepulvedas than a grand tradition of political and entrepreneurial success. Adrian’s relatives clash viciously amid grief, confusion, and questions about the family curse that their matriarch refuses to answer. When a landslide traps them all in the villa, secrets begin to emerge, revealing sins both intimately personal and unthinkably public."

• Muscle Man: A Novel by Jordan Castro, read by Vikas Adam for Brilliance -- "Harold, a middling literature professor at a liberal arts college, lives in a state of dissatisfaction and fear. His colleagues and students evoke nothing but disgust and disdain. None of them understand strength, power, and spiritual actualization like he does. His university’s campus—seemingly picturesque—constantly threatens to reveal something sinister. Over the course of a single afternoon, he wanders the halls, sits in meetings, steals from a student, and goes to the gym—all while reflecting on his professional and existential situation. With every line of Harold’s frenetic consciousness, his mundane routine transforms into something more foreboding, culminating in an ingenious twist."

• Supersaurio: A Novel by Meryem El Mehdati, read by Sarah Agha for Harlequin -- "An uproarious debut novel about a young woman from the Canary Islands whose internship with a supermarket chain reveals the soul-crushing vagaries of modern life."

• Futility By: Nuzo Onoh, read by Délé Ogundiran for Tantor -- "A monstrous, gleeful, bitingly funny tale of murder, body-swapping, and bloody vengeance. Betrayed by the men in their lives, two women seethe with rage and bitterness. When a trickster spirit offers them the gift of revenge, they cannot resist."

• The Door on the Sea: Raven and Eagle by Caskey Russell, read by Jason Grasl for Tantor -- "When Elān trapped a salmon-stealing raven in his cupboard, he never expected it would hold the key to saving his people from the shapeshifting Koosh invaders plaguing their shores. In exchange for its freedom, the raven offers a secret that can save Elān's home: the Koosh have lost one of their most powerful weapons, and only the raven knows where it is."

MORE FICTION:

• Murder Land by Carlyn Greenwald, read by Emily Norman for Dreamscape -- "Seventeen-year-old Billie feels like she is on top of the world. She gets to spend the summer with her best friend, sparks are flying with her crush, and she has received a promotion to ride operator for one of the most buzzworthy new attractions in the theme park she works at. But the first night on the new job takes a dark turn when her creepy coworker mysteriously dies. . . on her ride, when she isn't authorized to be running it."

• Best Offer Wins: A Novel by Marisa Kashino, read by Cia Court for Macmillan -- "How far would you go for the house of your dreams?"

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• As Many Souls as Stars: A Novel by Natasha Siegel, read by Kristin Atherton for Harper -- "An inventive and romantic speculative novel about two women—a witch and an immortal demon—who make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat-and-mouse chase across multiple lifetimes."

• Ember Eternal by Chloe Neill, read by Imani Jade Powers for Penguin -- "A new romantasy, following a thief whose dramatic encounter with an assassin and a crown bodyguard (who has dangerous secrets to keep) launches her into a world of swirling palace intrigue."

• Queen of the Dead by Sarah Broadway, read by Cat Protano for Dreamscape -- "Speaking with the dead is nothing new for Lou. It’s a curse she’s learned to hide from everyone—sometimes even herself. After running away from a past that took advantage of those abilities, Lou finally carves out a normal life for herself. That is, until she receives a mysterious message from a ghost—the Veil is thinning—and a cult of necromancers infiltrates her small town."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (2024), read by Shiromi Arserio for Tantor -- "At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic. Veris Thorn—the only one to ever enter the forest and survive—is forced to go back inside to retrieve the tyrant's missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past. One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything."

• The Taking: A Novel By: Dean Koontz (2004), read by Amy Landon for Brilliance -- "The story of a community cut off from a world under siege, and the terrifying battle for survival waged by a young couple and their neighbors as familiar streets become fog-shrouded death traps."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein (1948), read by Ari Fliakos for Blackstone -- "Matt Dodson reports to the Colorado base of the Interplanetary Patrol, a new cadet with a fierce desire to become a member of the Patrol, which for over a century has kept the peace throughout the Solar System. Matt and fellow cadets soon leave the Earth base for training on Terra Station, where they learn, among other things, astrogation, survival skills, alien languages and how to maneuver in outer space. When a call for help comes from a ship stranded on Venus, Matt is among the cadets chosen to accompany the Patrol Captain on this rescue mission. What they discover after they land on Venus is not what they expected." On a personal note, this was my first scifi book back when I was a kid.

SERIES WATCH:

• Fallen Stars: Heavenly Bodies, Book 2 by Imani Erriu, read by Jane Collingwood for Random House -- "Never make a bargain with a god."

• Heartsworn: The Forsworn Saga, Book 2 by David Estes, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds for Audible

• Heart of the Mountain: Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, Book 6 by Larry Correia, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds for Audible

• Lady of Fire: The Wandering Inn, Book 17 by pirateaba, read by Erin Bennett for Podium

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 18 November 2025

Posted on 2025-11-18 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• I, Medusa: A Novel by Ayana Gray, read by Tyla Collier and A'rese Emokpae for Random House -- "A new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine."

• Exo: A Novel by Colin Brush, read by Gildart Jackson for Dreamscape -- "A debut sci-fi mystery set on an abandoned future Earth, featuring a twisty mystery straight out of a John le Carré novel, a group of larger-than-life characters who’d be at home in the work of John Scalzi, and a deeply weird and dangerous hyperdimensional entity to haunt the dreams of any fan of Kim Stanley Robinson."

• Outlaw Planet by M. R. Carey, read by Stephanie Cannon for Orbit -- "From one of genre fiction’s most original and revolutionary voices comes a space opera adventure like no other. Sometimes the fate of entire worlds can be decided by a woman with nothing to lose, and the smartest gun in the multiverse in her hand."

• Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive! by Melissa Lozada-Oliva for Tantor -- "An ethereal and revelatory short story collection about faith, delusion, and the demons that can't get enough of us."

• The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers, read by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain for Orbit -- "A disgraced bookseller journeys into a lush, wondrous world of magical books, deadly ink magic, and secret societies, in this darkly spellbinding standalone fantasy novel."

• The Glowing Life of Leeann Wu by Mindy Hung, read by Natalie Naudus for Spotify -- "Leeann Wu’s hands have started glowing at the most inconvenient times, and the single mother and midwife doesn’t know why. Could it be perimenopause? A hallucination brought on by a lack of sleep? On top of that concerning development, her daughter is off to university in a few months, her tenuous relationship with her ob-gyn mother is in peril of cracking, and she’s attracted the attention of a younger man who sees far more than she’s comfortable with. Her hands, glowing or not, are already full. But as widespread insomnia plagues the town and life-threatening accidents begin to pile up, Leeann discovers the glow is not an anomaly at all—rather, she’s part of a long line of women who possess a power unlike anything Leeann’s ever known."

• The Pelican Child: Stories by Joy Williams, read by Xe Sands, Roger Wayne, Cynthia Farrell, and John Pirhalla for Random House -- "A razor-sharp new collection of stories of visionary childhood misfits and struggling adult dreamers from a legendary writer."

• Beasts of the Sea: A Novel by Iida Turpeinen, translated by David Hackston, read by Lawrence Neale for Little Brown and Company -- "In the spirit of Richard Powers and Daniel Mason, a novel spanning three centuries and tied together by the tale of Steller’s sea cow—a long-extinct denizen of the northern oceans—at once intimate and sweeping about the tragic clash between man and nature."

• The Ferryman and His Wife: A Novel by Frode Grytten, translated by Alison McCullough, read by Colin Mace for Algonquin -- "In the spirit of Amor Towles and George Saunders, the renowned, bestselling Norwegian author Frode Grytten takes readers on a quietly epic journey: ferry driver Nils Vik’s last route along the fjord, on what he knows will be his last day alive."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Simply More: A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They're Too Much by Cynthia Erivo, read by the author for Macmillan -- "In this vulnerable and enlightening book of life lessons, the globally renowned performer draws from her singular experience to show us how to embrace being "too much" and to live up to the fullest iteration of ourselves."

• 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke, read by Tom Bergeron for Hachette -- "On the eve of his 100th birthday, national treasure Dick Van Dyke brings us this autobiographical collection of stories, reflections, and life advice on how he's maintained a zest for life."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Blinding Light: A Novel by Paul Theroux (2005), read by Joe Knezevich -- "Incisive, sometimes hilarious takes on the manifold ironies of travel, of trespass and trangession, and of the trappings of the writer’s life—from the fear of the blank page to the unexpected challenges of the book tour."

SERIES WATCH:

• Shadows Upon Time: Sun Eater, Book 7 by Christopher Ruocchio, read by Samuel Roukin for Recorded Books -- "The seventh and final novel of the galaxy-spanning series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe at last lights the greatest fire humanity has ever seen." On a personal note, I've been looking forward to this book for a very, very long time, and am practically incandescent with disappointment that Amazon's Audible's enshittification tentacles prevent Libro.fm from offering the title for purchase using credits until after a three month contractual period.

• Reaper: Quincy Harker, Book 10 by John G. Hartness, read by James Anderson Foster for Tantor -- "What's the first rule of fight club? Don’t invite the friggin' Reaper to fight club!"

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Kingdom Come by Mark Waid, Alex Ross, and Dirk Maggs, read by a full cast for Random House -- "Originally published to critical acclaim by DC Comics in 1996 as a four-issue comic book series. Superheroes are ubiquitous, but heroism is rare. After decades as Earth's champions, the members of the Justice League have all retreated out of the public eye, replaced with a new generation of anti-heroic crime-fighters whose brand of justice leaves humanity terrified, rather than inspired. With the planet's future in jeopardy, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman must come out of retirement to make one last stand for truth and justice."

INDIE WATCH:

• Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov, read by Andrew Joseph Perez for Tantor -- "Refusing the queen's order to gas a crowd of protesters, Minister Shea Ashcroft is banished to the border to oversee the construction of the biggest defensive tower in history. However, the use of advanced technology taken from refugees makes the tower volatile and dangerous, becoming a threat to local interests. Shea has no choice but to fight the local hierarchy to ensure the construction succeeds—and to reclaim his own life."

• Tiny Dungeon Core 1: A LitRPG Adventure by The Bearded Man, read by Christopher Tester for Podium -- "In a realm of epic quests and powerful gods, the tiniest Dungeon Core ever created is about to prove that size isn't everything. Armed with a mysterious System, and a handful of fiercely loyal creatures, the Core must grow, adapt, and defend itself against a world that sees it as prey."

• The City That Wove Its Own Shadow by Phaedra Quanette Holloway, read by Tegan Johnson -- "A luminous tale of faith, memory, and the language that keeps a city alive."

MOST MISSING:

• On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle, translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell (New Directions) -- "Introduces new thrills to the adventures of Tara Selter’s endless November day."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 11 November 2025

Posted on 2025-11-11 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

One of my preorders this week -- and funnily enough, I really liked the first book, more than the Licanius Trilogy, so hey, I hope we both are happy with this one!

PICKS:

• There Is No Antimemetics Division: A Novel by qntm, read by Rebecca Calder for Random House -- "Humanity is under assault by malevolent “antimemes”—ideas that attack memory, identity, and the fabric of reality itself—in this whip-smart tale of science-fiction horror, an entirely reimagined and expanded version of the beloved online novel."

• The Emergency: A Novel by George Packer, read by Billie Fulford-Brown for Macmillan -- "An empire has collapsed from boredom and loss of faith in itself. In the Emergency that follows, youth rebellions of urban Burghers and rural Yeomen embrace radical new ideas of humanity. Doctor Hugo Rustin, chief surgeon at the Imperial College Hospital, is increasingly estranged from his city and his family—from his wife, Annabelle, who finds fulfillment in their changed community; and especially from his teenage daughter, Selva, who has turned against her father’s values. When an incident at the hospital leads to Rustin’s disgrace, he seeks redemption in a quixotic and dangerous journey into the countryside, with Selva as his companion, just as the conflict between Burghers and Yeomen is reaching a crisis."

• Who Knows You by Heart: A Novel by C. J. Farley, read by Bahni Turpin for William Morrow -- "Part social thriller, part modern love story, a sly, witty, and endlessly discussable tale of Big Tech, new money, relationships, race, and discovering what’s real in an age of artificial intelligence."

• The Merge: A Novel by Grace Walker, read by Tamaryn Payne and Pearl Hewitt for Mariner -- "A thrilling and ominously prophetic debut set in a world when Earth and its resources have been pushed to breaking point, giving rise to a revolutionary—and highly controversial—procedure in which two people’s consciousness can be combined to exist in one body."

• Ravishing: A Novel by Eshani Surya, read by Priya Ayyar for Simon and Schuster -- "A provocative, darkly surreal novel of two Indian American siblings caught in the clutches of a beauty tech company, a searing portrait of the beauty industry’s dangerous ability to change people’s relationship to their bodies and the cult-like grip it has on youth."

• North Country by Matt Bondurant, read by Jim Meskimen for Blackstone -- "North Chazy, New York is the heart of the North Country, a frigid region nestled against the Canadian border, characterized by the beautiful landscapes of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain—plus a steady stream of Quebecois drugs flowing south, spirited by snowmobile across the ice. Tom Kaiser, fresh off a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, returns to North Chazy for his ailing father’s final days. It’s an uneasy homecoming—ever since his little sister was lost under the ice in mysterious circumstances when they were children, Kaiser has felt a terrible presence swimming in the deep. Needing work, Kaiser falls in with Donnie LeClair, a slumlord, loan shark, and aesthete whose private collection of landscapes would rival a modest museum’s. Kaiser earns his keep roughing up unsavory locals who are late on their rent. But his true value is his aptitude for satellite telemetry, allowing him to find gaps in border surveillance, a useful skill for working with a Montreal kingpin who wants to move large quantities of ecstasy into the US. As Kaiser spirals through the underbelly of drugs and crime, he finds the roots of evil run deep in the North Country—as bleak, impenetrable, and foreboding as the frozen lake."

• Some Bright Nowhere: A Novel By: Ann Packer, read by Will Damron for Harper -- "The bestselling, beloved author returns with her first novel in over a decade, an intimate and profoundly moving look at a long marriage and the ways in which a startling request can change a couple’s understanding of who they are, together and apart."

• Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman, read by Dominique Salvacion for Book On Tape -- "A twisted and thrilling sc-fi horror novel that shines a light on the terrors of the U.S. opioid epidemic, about a mysterious new drug plaguing a small town and the haunting side effects."

• The White Hot: A Novel By: Quiara Alegría Hudes, read by Daphne Rubin-Vega with the author for Random House -- "The story of a runaway mother’s ten days of freedom—and the pain, desire, longing, and wonder we find on the messy road to enlightenment—from the Pulitzer Prize winner."

• Bones of Our Stars, Blood of Our World by Cullen Bunn, read by Timothy Andrés Pabon for Simon and Schuster -- "The bestselling and Eisner Award–nominated comics writer presents his adult novel debut—a high-stakes hunt for a masked killer whose brutal murders may be a portent of an evil as ancient and cold as the stars themselves."

WTF WATCH:

• Ingram: A Novel By: Louis C.K., read by the author for BenBella Books -- "A suspenseful, often harrowing yet hopeful odyssey through rural America follows a young drifter’s coming of age in an indifferent world, in this debut novel by comedian Louis C.K."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• The Ha-Ha: A Novel By: Jennifer Dawson (1961), introduction by Melissa Broder, read by Ezra Saifie for Simon and Schuster -- "A prizewinning, semi-autobiographical debut novel that explores a young woman’s struggle with mental illness at Oxford University in the 1950s."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst (2013), read by Caitlyn Davies for Harlequin -- Replaces the 2015 Brilliance Audio edition read by Charlotte North, billed also as "a fully updated and expanded edition with a brand-new ending." -- "Against the backdrop of a desolate and mystical town, this arresting, fantastical novel explores one woman’s impossible journey—and her quest to find her fate."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• The Sacred Space Between: A Novel by Kalie Reid, read by Harley Viveash and Cora Kirk for Little Brown and Company -- "An enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy about an exiled saint and the devout iconographer sent to paint him."

• Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop, read by Jesse Vilinsky for Penguin -- "A young detective investigating crimes of the uncanny will learn that bargains can change your fate—for good or ill—in this darkly enthralling fantasy."

• Aphrodite: A Novel by Phoenicia Rogerson, read by a full cast for Harlequin -- "From the award-winning author of Herc, an enrapturing feminist tale that brilliantly reimagines the story of Aphrodite and how she transformed herself from a lowly outsider to the darling goddess of love."

• The Amberglow Candy Store by Hiyoko Kurisu, translated by Matt Treyvaud, read by Kenichiro Thomson and Susan Momoko Hingley for Penguin -- "In this charming, fable-like book from Japan, a fox spirit sells magical confections to troubled humans, only for them to get a little more than they bargained for."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Strength of the Few: Hierarchy, Book 2 by James Islington, read by Euan Morton for Audible -- "This highly anticipated follow-up to The Will of the Many—one of 2023’s most lauded and best-selling fantasy novels—follows Vis as he grapples with a dangerous secret that could unravel history across alternate dimensions."

• The Last Wish of Bristol Keats: A Novel by Mary E. Pearson, read by Brittany Pressley for Macmillan -- "The thrilling conclusion of the Courting of Bristol Keats romantic fantasy duology."

• Brigands & Breadknives: Legends & Lattes, Book 3 by Travis Baldree, read by the author for Macmillan -- "Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller Fern."

• Exit Strategy: A Reacher Novel By: Lee Child and Andrew Child, read by Scott Brick for Random House

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher, read by Marc Thompson for Random House -- "After Revenge of the Sith, a newly forged Darth Vader hunts for the secrets of life and death under the watchful eye of Emperor Palpatine."

INDIE WATCH:

• The Effaced: Secret Records of Axel Font, Book 1 by Tobias Begley, read by John Pirhalla for Podium -- "Axel Font, once the champion metal sorcerer of the underground arena, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life as an airship engineer. But with the constables coming knocking on his door and claiming he's under investigation for the murder of a member of the Senate, privatized paramilitary start trying to shoot him, and someone starts making appearances as his old masked identity, he's not likely to get the chance. Forced to delve back into the city's underground, Axel must reconnect with his old contacts and forge himself new ones, all without losing himself to the person he used to be."

MOST MISSING:

• The Great Black Swamp: Toxic Algae, Toxic Relationships, and the Most Interesting Place in America that Nobody's Ever Heard Of by Patrick Wensink (Belt Publishing) -- "Mixes ecological reporting, Midwestern history, and memoir. As Wensink travels through Northwest Ohio, he tells us about his childhood there, his failing marriage, American history, Lake Erie, and the hopeful ecological interventions scientists are performing in the former Great Black Swamp."

• Letters from an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss, foreword by Jo Walton (Tachyon Publications) -- "This themed collection of imaginary places, with three new stories, recalls Susanna Clarke’s alternate Europe and the surreal metafictions of Jorge Luis Borges."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 4 November 2025

Posted on 2025-11-04 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories By: Salman Rushdie, read by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nicholas Khan, Sid Sagar, Naveen Andrews, and Neil Shah for Random House -- "A spellbinding exploration of life, death, and what comes into focus at the proverbial eleventh hour of life."

• Lightbreakers: A Novel by Aja Gabel, read by Ina Barrón, Jay Myers, and Mirai for Penguin -- "Maya, an artist, and Noah, a quantum physicist, share an insatiable curiosity about the world. But their happy marriage has a shadow over it: Serena, the child Noah had with his first wife, who died before she turned four. When Noah is invited by the Janus Project to unravel the secrets of time travel, he jumps at the opportunity. At a laboratory deep in the Texas desert, he begins participating in a dangerous experiment that could result in something he thought impossible: seeing his daughter again. Meanwhile, Maya embarks on a journey back to her own past in Japan, and to a formative lover who once shattered her heart. As Noah and Maya grapple with hope and despair, new information emerges that the experiments might not be exactly what they seems."

• Cursed Daughters: A Novel by Oyinkan Braithwaite, read by Diana Yekinni for Books On Tape -- "A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition."

• Palaver: A Novel by Bryan Washington, read by André Santana for Macmillan -- "In Tokyo, the son works as an English tutor and drinks his nights away with friends at a gay bar. He's entangled in a sexual relationship with a married man, and while he has built a chosen family in Japan, he is estranged from his mother in Houston, whose preference for the son's oft-troubled homophobic brother, Chris, pushed him to leave home. Then, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, ten years since they last saw each other, the mother arrives uninvited on his doorstep."

• Seascraper: A Novel By: Benjamin Wood, read by the author for Simon and Schuster -- "Haunting, timeless, and stunningly atmospheric, Seascraper tells the story of a quiet existence upturned over the span of one day, and a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows."

• The Place Where They Buried Your Heart By: Christina Henry, read by Leiana Dooley for Penguin -- "A woman must confront the evil that has been terrorizing her street since she was a child in this gripping haunted house novel."

• Fallen City by Adrienne Young, read by Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick and Leela Bassuk for Macmillan -- "In the great walled city of Isara, political turmoil ignites a rebellion one hundred years in the making. But when a legionnaire falls in love with a Magistrate's daughter, their love will threaten the fate of the city and the will of the gods."

• Coldwire By: Chloe Gong, read by Shannon Tyo for Simon and Schuster -- "The start of a daring new dystopian series where humanity has moved to virtual reality to flee their deteriorating world, following two young soldiers who must depend on unlikely allies in their fight for survival."

• Son of the Morning: A Novel By: Akwaeke Emezi, read by Indigo Brown for Avon -- "A steamy paranormal romance set in the Black South—a bold new foray that takes us on a journey of magic and fantasy, from the whispering creeks outside the city of Salvation to the very depths of Hell itself."

• The King Must Die By: Kemi Ashing-Giwa, read by Soneela Nankani for Simon and Schuster -- "A pulse-pounding science fiction adventure following the daughter of rebel instigators and the heir of a power-drunk ruler who team up to save their empire…or destroy it in the process."

• The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer, read by Rebecca Soler for Macmillan -- "The tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before—a thrilling romantasy and murder mystery."

• The Time Traveler's Passport: Six Short Stories by John Scalzi, R. F. Kuang, Peng Shepherd, Kaliane Bradley, Olivie Blake, and P. Djèlí Clark, read by Malcolm Hillgartner, Kristie Lee Walsh, Jonathan Davis, Mirai, David Monteith, and A'rese Emokpae for Amazon Original Stories -- Also available individually.

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir by Anthony Hopkins, read by Kenneth Branagh with the author for Simon and Schuster -- "Academy Award–winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theater career, difficult childhood, and path to sobriety in his honest, moving, and long-awaited memoir."

• Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood, read by the author for Books On Tape -- " How does one of the greatest storytellers of our time write her own life? The long-awaited memoir from the author of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, one of our most lauded and influential cultural figures."

• The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity by Tim Wu, read by Frits Zernike for Book On Tape -- "Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented, seizing immense amounts of money, data, and attention from all of us. An economy driven by digital platforms and AI influence offers the potential to enrich us, and also threatens to marginalize entire industries, widen the wealth gap, and foster a two-class nation. As technology evolves and our markets adapt, can society cultivate a better life for everyone?"

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Freezing Point by Anders Bodelsen (1969), translated by Joan Tate, introduction by Sophie Mackintosh, read by Jonah York for Faber and Faber -- "A lost dystopian classic, set in a future without death, introduced by Sophie Mackintosh, for fans of Jeff VanderMeer, Emily St. John Mandel, and Jacqueline Harpman's I Who Have Never Known Men."

• Five Ways to Forgiveness By: Ursula K. Le Guin (1995, 2017), read by Michael Crouch and Frankie Corzo for Recorded Books -- "A companion to Ursula K. Le Guin's award-winning Hainish novels—including The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed—Five Ways to Forgiveness tells the story of the planet Werel and its colony planet Yeowe, and how their societies are shaped by the legacies of slavery and revolution."

• The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (2024), read by the author for Dreamscape -- "December 1962: In a village deep in the English countryside, two neighboring couples begin the day. Local doctor Eric Parry commences his rounds in the village while his pregnant wife, Irene, wanders the rooms of their old house, mulling over the space that has grown between the two of them. On the farm nearby lives Irene's mirror image: witty but troubled Rita Simmons is also expecting. She spends her days trying on the idea of being a farmer's wife, but her head still swims with images of a raucous past that her husband, Bill, prefers to forget. When Rita and Irene meet across the bare field between their houses, a clock starts. There is still affection in both their homes; neither marriage has been abandoned. But when the ordinary cold of December gives way—ushering in violent blizzards of the harshest winter in living memory—so do the secret resentments harbored in all four lives."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 28 October 2025

Posted on 2025-10-28 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

After a multiple years streak, I haven't done this in at least a month or two now, hopefully it's still helpful even if just occasional...

MOST ANTICIPATED:

• The Rose Field: The Book of Dust, Volume 3 by Philip Pullman, read by Michael Sheen for Listening Library -- "The breathtaking conclusion to Philip Pullman’s landmark new trilogy The Book of Dust. Return to the world of His Dark Materials and discover what fate has in store for Lyra."

PICKS:

• The Devil Is a Southpaw: A Novel By: Brandon Hobson, read by Shane Ghostkeeper for Harper -- "Milton Muleborn has envied Matthew Echota, a talented Cherokee artist, ever since they were locked up together in a dangerous juvenile detention center in the late 1980s. Until Matthew escaped, that is. A novel within a novel, we read here Milton’s dark, sometimes comic, and possibly unreliable account of the story of their childhood even as, years later, he remains jealous of Matthew’s extraordinary abilities and unlikely success. Milton reveals secrets about their friendship, their families, and their nightmarish, surreal, experience of imprisonment. In revisiting the past, he explores the echoing traumas of incarceration and pride."

• The Everlasting by Alix Harrow, read by Moira Quirk and Sid Sagar for Macmillan -- "A moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart."

• Darker Days: A Novel by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, read by Teri Schnaubelt for Harper -- "In Lock Haven, a quiet little town in Washington State, Bird Street is a special place. The residents of this pretty cul-de-sac on the edge of the woods are all successful, healthy, and happy. Their children are prodigies; well-mannered and…unnaturally smart. But come November, the “Darker Days” descend, bringing accidents, bad luck, conflict, and illness. Luana and Ralph Lewis-da Silva prepare for this, and so do their children Kaila and Django. It is in November when a stranger appears to collect on a longstanding debt. A price must be paid for the good fortune they enjoy the rest of the year. A sacrifice must be made."

• What Remains After a Fire: Stories By: Kanza Javed, read by Usman Ally and Zehra Fazal for Audible -- "A haunting, powerful collection of stories spanning modern-day Pakistan and the diaspora in the United States, from a sparkling new literary talent."

• Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay, read by Saskia Maarleveld for Penguin -- "When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy."

• The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell, read by Mei Mei MacLeod for Random House -- "Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors."

• The Book of Autumn by Molly O'Sullivan, read by Piper Goodeve for Recorded Books -- "A spellbinding debut about ambition, privilege, second-chance romance, and ancient magic set at an enchanted school tucked among the red mesas of rural New Mexico, where a formidable pair of magicians are summoned to pursue an alleged killer."

• An Unlikely Coven by AM Kvita, read by Krysta Gonzales for Orbit -- "The outcast daughter of a powerful family of witches returns home to New York City and is immediately embroiled in a supernatural power struggle in this wickedly funny fantasy debut."

• Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers by Zoe Terakes, read by the author for Hachette -- "A stunning collection of short stories, grounded in truth and coloured with dazzling imagination and alluring, unpredictable mystery. Revealing how queerness, nature and myth have been intertwined for eternity, these are stories of gods and goddesses. Of Zeus, of Eurydice, of Hermaphroditus, of Icarus before he flew into the sun. Stories of queer life, lust, revenge, wrath, passion and sex. Of yearning, love, loss. Some transformations span across a life, and others, an evening. Perspectives will shift. Houses will burn. Lovers will learn their fate."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• This Broken World: Vortex of Worlds Series, Book 1 by Charles E. Gannon (2021), read by Paul Woodson for Tantor -- "Since boyhood, Druadaen expected he'd ascend to the command of an elite legion and become the leader his father predicted he would be. However, fate had something different in store. Assigned instead to a small group of outriders tasked with watching nearby kingdoms, Druadaen discovers that the world beyond his homeland is riddled with impossibilities. How do humanoid raiders, known as the Bent, suffer staggering losses and yet return as a vast horde every decade? How do multi-ton dragons fly? How have fossils formed in a world which sacrists insist has existed for only ten millennia? Determined to solve these mysteries, Druadaen journeys into the dank warrens of the Bent."

• The Secret of Sarek by Maurice Leblanc, read by Rupert Degas for SNR Audio -- "Set in 1917 France, The Island of Thirty Coffins centres around the tragic life of Véronique d'Hergemont. After her father kidnaps her young son as revenge for her choice of husband, and subsequently drowns at sea in their escape, Véronique is left devastated for years. However, since investigating into their disappearance further, she begins receiving clues that her son might still be alive. Led to a mysterious island off the coast of Brittany, shrouded in ominous omens, Véronique comes across a particularly haunting prophecy."

• Woman of Mystery by Maurice Leblanc, read by Rupert Degas for SNR Audio -- "On the evening before the Second World War, a painful memory rears its ugly head: his father, a decorated veteran who served in the Franco-Prussian War, being brutally murdered at the hands of an unidentified German woman, as Paul and his father were taking an innocent stroll through the French countryside when he was a child. At his core, Paul always knew the day when the two nations – Germany and France – would fight again, and once he heard the call for battle, he was determined to take revenge once and for all."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick, read by Edoardo Ballerini for Recorded Books -- "In this Hugo Award–winning alternative history classic—the basis for the Amazon Original series—the United States lost World War II and was subsequently divided between the Germans in the East and the Japanese in the West."

• Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, read by Roger May for SNR Audio -- "One of the most significant novellas of the twentieth century, a deeply haunting exploration of identity, isolation and the existential shadows that follow the human experience.

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God by Tim Waggoner, read by Bradford Hastings for Blackstone -- "A new chapter of the Titan comics & Heroic Signatures massive narrative event: Scourge of the Serpent Men. A thrilling story about Conan the Barbarian facing violent abominations."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• Simultaneous by Eric Heisserer, read by Marin Ireland, Ray Porter, and Stephanie Sheh for Macmillan -- "Federal agent Grant Lukather works for an unknown department of Homeland Security called Predictive Analytics. They look for patterns in tips and chatter to prevent a terrorist event before it happens. One of these calls, about a possible explosion in New Mexico, leads Grant to a case with unimaginable consequences. He meets Sarah Newcomb, a therapist who uses past-life hypnosis in her treatment but has recently stumbled upon a phenomenon that seems to defy logic. Grant follows this thread to another crime: a copycat killer case in Colorado. With the help of one of Sarah’s patients, they embark upon an investigation that spans multiple states, timelines, and consciousnesses. With limited time and only a tenuous grasp of how this phenomenon works, the unlikely trio are in a race for their lives—past, present, and future."

• Spellbound by Georgia Leighton, read by Kristin Atherton for Grand Central -- "In a remote castle perched atop a windswept island, a long-awaited royal heir is born. In accordance with ancient custom, a blessing ceremony takes place to bestow the princess with magical gifts—along with a terrible curse. Except this is not the love story you may think you know. There is no enchanted sleep for the princess, and no handsome prince to come to her rescue. Just three women, who together concoct a desperate plan of misdirect that changes the course of all their lives."

• The Thin Blue Ley-Line: Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD, Book 1 by Keith R.A. DiCandido, read by Patricia Santomasso for Blackstone -- "When Detective Domenica Kiernan solved the murder of a mayor’s aide—killed by a vampire—she never imagined she’d find herself at the vanguard of the NYPD’s latest special squad: the Supernatural Crimes Unit."

• Stupid Magical Love: Stupid Love, Book 1 by Amy Boyles, read by Samantha Summers and Troy Kain for Brilliance -- "For a sassy Georgia farm girl and an uptight city boy, love is a high-stakes bet that can warm a heart—or break it—in this spicy, emotional, and enchanting romance."

INDIE WATCH:

• Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho, read by JiaLing Pan for Podium -- "With the godspower waning, the queen of Ashvi has had to find another way to bolster her fight against her imperialist oppressors. The solution: wrenching children of other cultures from their homes and conscripting them into service."

• My Dearest Monster by Sean Fletcher, read by Jessica Threet for Aethon -- "When Kiara is unwillingly bonded to a Demon, they must work together to save humanity."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 9 September 2025

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

(in progress)

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation by Elizabeth Gilbert, read by the author for Books On Tape -- "A landmark memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever been captive to love—or to any other passion, substance, or craving – and who yearns, at long last, for liberation."

• Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories by Lee Child, read by the author for HighBridge -- "After making his debut in The Killing Floor, Jack Reacher has quickly become one of the most popular―and most enduring―fictional heroes to emerge in the past half century. Now, his creator tells the stories behind the stories."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• Play Nice by Rachel Harrison, read by Alex Finke and Natasha Soudek for Books On Tape -- "A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel."

SERIES WATCH:

• The Cruel Dawn: The Last One, Book 2 by Rachel Howzell Hall, read by Tamika Katon-Donegal for Recorded Books -- "Kaivara Megidrail was once worshipped as the Grand Defender of Vallendor—until betrayal, punishment, and exile left her Diminished. Now, the realm she abandoned teeters on the edge of collapse. Monsters roam free. Gods whisper in shadows. And one man—Jadon Wake, prince, blacksmith, liar—may be the key to her salvation ... or her final ruin."

• The Secret of Secrets: Robert Langdon, Book 6 by Dan Brown, read by Paul Michael for Books On Tape -- "Robert Langdon, esteemed professor of symbology, travels to Prague to attend a groundbreaking lecture by Katherine Solomon—a prominent noetic scientist with whom he has recently begun a relationship. Katherine is on the verge of publishing an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness and threatens to disrupt centuries of established belief. But a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos, and Katherine suddenly disappears along with her manuscript."

• Clown Town: Slough House, Book 9 by Mick Herron, read by Gerard Doyle for Recorded Books -- "Jackson Lamb and the bad spies of Slough House are caught in a deadly battle between MI5's secret past and its murky future."

• The Iron Storm: Clive Cussler's Isaac Bell, Book 15 by Jack Du Brul, read by Scott Brick for Books On Tape -- "Detective Isaac Bell faces the horrors of the Great War while battling a mysterious anarchist group intent on bringing brutality to the shores of America."

MOST MISSING:

• House of Idyll by Delilah S. Dawson (Titan Books) -- "Angelina Yves is a struggling singer/songwriter offered the chance of a lifetime to join the experimental luxury compound sponsored by the most famous band in the world, Black Idyll. With her every need accommodated, she finally has the time and space to perfect her music. Her muse? Reclusive rock star Jesper Idyll, who lives up to her every high school daydream. But this paradise has a haunted underbelly heralded by screaming horses, mysterious figures in the night, and dreams too twisted to be real. When people start to disappear and Jesper's ex turns up dead and hideously mutilated, Angelina begins to suspect that something malevolent lurks behind the cult that's grown around the band."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 2 September 2025

Posted on 2025-09-02 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Honeyeater By: Kathleen Jennings, read by Felicity Jurd for Audible -- "Sub-tropical Bellworth is founded on floodplains and root-bound secrets. And Charlie, remarkable only for vanished friends and a successful sister, plans to leave for good, just as soon as he deals with his dead aunt’s house. Then Grace arrives, desperate, with roses pressing up through her skin, and drags Charlie into the ghost-choked mysteries of Bellworth, uncovering the impossible consequences of loss and desire—and a choice Charlie made when he was a boy. But peeling back the rumors and lies that cocoon the suburb disturbs more than complacent neighbors and lost souls. And Charlie and Grace are forced to a decision that threatens not only their lives, but all they believed those lives could be."

• Sympathy Tower Tokyo: A Novel By: Rie Qudan, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, read by Hanako Footman for Simon and Schuster -- "Welcome to the Japan of tomorrow. Here, the practice of radical sympathy toward criminals has become normalized. The incarcerated are considered victims influenced by their environments to commit crime and are labeled accordingly as Homo miserabilis. A grand, yet controversial, skyscraper in the heart of Tokyo is planned to house lawbreakers in compassionate comfort—Sympathy Tower Tokyo. Acclaimed architect Sara Machina has been tasked with designing the city’s new centerpiece but is filled with doubt. Haunted by a terrible crime she experienced as a young girl, she wonders if she might inherently disagree with the values of the project, which should be the pinnacle of her career. As Sara grapples with these conflicting emotions, her relationship with her gorgeous—and much younger—boyfriend grows increasingly strained. In search of solace and in need of creative inspiration, Sara turns to the knowing words of an AI chatbot."

• Trip: A Novel By: Amie Barrodale, read by Eunice Wong for Macmillan -- "A woman embarks on an odyssey through the afterlife to help her son, who is literally and figuratively lost at sea: a hilarious and deeply moving voyage of the body and the mind."

• A Land So Wide: A Novel By: Erin A. Craig, read by Cecily Bednar Schmidt for Random House -- "Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever."

• Night & Day: Dreadful Dark: Tales of Night Time Horror/Merciless Sun: Tales of Daylight Horror edited by Ellen Datlow, read by Eilidh Beaton, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Kevin R. Free, Cindy Kay, and Helen Laser for Simon and Schuster -- "A horror anthology edited by the genre’s greatest, Ellen Datlow, with one side featuring stories about what haunts the night while the other side showcases the terrors that can exist in the light of day in this new addition to the Saga Doubles series."

• Boudicca's Daughter By: Elodie Harper, read by Nathalie Emmanuel and the author for Union Square -- "The story of Boudicca, the notorious warrior queen who led a legendary rebellion in 60 CE against the Roman Empire in Britain. This book follows Boudicca's meteoric rise and devastating fall through the eyes of her youngest daughter, Solina, who seeks revenge against Rome."

• Making History By: K. J. Parker, read by Ian Bedford for Podium -- "A group of scholars must do the impossible for a ruthless king. The cost of refusal, of course, is death."

NEW EDITION WATCH:

• The Martian Chronicles By: Ray Bradbury, read by Dion Graham for Simon and Schuster -- "The 75th anniversary edition of The Martian Chronicles, a seminal work in Ray Bradbury’s career, whose extraordinary power and imagination remain undimmed by time’s passage."

• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, read by Alexis Bledel for Macmillan -- "With an introduction written and read by New York Times–bestselling author Gabrielle Zevin comes this special 50th Anniversary Edition of the beloved children's classic with more than more than 10 million copies sold."

• The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch By: Philip K. Dick, read by John Skelley for Recorded Books -- "On Mars, the harsh climate could make any colonist turn to drugs to escape a dead-end existence. Especially when the drug is Can-D, which transports its users into the idyllic world of a Barbie-esque character named Perky Pat. When the mysterious Palmer Eldritch arrives with a new drug called Chew-Z, he offers a more addictive experience, one that might bring the user closer to God. But in a world where everyone is tripping, no promises can be taken at face value."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• The Shattered King: The Shattered King, Book 1 By: Charlie N. Holmberg, read by Natalie Naudus for Brilliance -- "A captive healer and a mysterious prince are drawn to each other in the midst of war and magic in a beguiling dark fantasy."

• The Entanglement of Rival Wizards: Magic and Romance, Book 1 By: Sara Raasch, read by Sam Stark for Macmillan -- "Ali Hazelwood meets Dungeons & Dragons in this enemies-to-lovers fantasy academia romcom where rival grad student wizards are forced to work together without killing—or falling for—each other."

• Kingdom of Tomorrow: Book of Arden, Book 1 By: Gena Showalter, read by Fiona Hardingham for Brilliance -- "A young woman must navigate a secret society, uncover a shocking enemy…and resist an undeniable attraction."

• Smoke and Scar: Shattered Crown, Book 1 By: Gretchen Powell Fox, read by Dan Calley and Stephanie Németh-Parker for Simon Maverick -- "An epic fantasy romance where enemies-to-lovers must brave the deadly trials of the Arcane Crucible, facing dark magic and impossible odds that could shape the fate of their world forever."

• A Blood as Bright as the Moon by Andrea Morstabilini, read by Michael Crouch for Recorded Books -- "A vampire, desperately torn between worlds, is hunted down by a secret society bent on his destruction, in this timeless and unsettling queer gothic horror, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher and Silvia Moreno-Garcia."

• Moonflow by Bitter Karella, read by Venus Rose Fischer for Run For It -- "Annihilation meets Manhunt in three-time Hugo Award nominee Bitter Karella’s debut horror novel—a gloriously queer and irreverent psychedelic trip into the heart of an eldritch wood and the horrors of (cis)terhood."

• Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley, read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker for Sourcebooks -- "It's a Midsommar night's Scream in this blood-soaked thriller set at a remote healing retreat."

TIE-IN WATCH:

• Livewire: The Valiant Universe By: Sarah Raughley, read by Soneela Nankani for Blackstone -- "Amanda McKee is a psiot, an evolved subspecies of humanity with mysterious psychic powers. According to billionaire Toyo Harada and his secret research organization, the Harbinger Foundation, she has the ability to talk to machines, control technology, and even see into a secret parallel world that exists inside computers: the Digital World. But Harada wants Amanda to keep that last bit under wraps—along with the fact that she’s his adopted daughter."

SERIES WATCH:

• Vianne: A Novel By: Joanne Harris, read by the author for Dreamscape -- "Harris returns to the world of Chocolat with the long-awaited story of Vianne, which begins six years before she opens her scandalous chocolaterie in the small French village of Lansquenet."

• Angel Maker: Karen Memory, Book 3 By: Elizabeth Bear, read by Jennifer Grace for Recorded Books -- "Every cowboy story needs a horse no man can ride. No man—but Miss Karen Memory is all woman. When she and her beloved Priya sign on to do stunts for a motion picture about a rogue Mechanical named Cowboy and a Wild West show, she finds the horse of her dreams: Angel Maker."

• Wild Reverence By: Rebecca Ross, read by George Weightman, Hannah van der Westhuysen, and Rebecca Norfolk for Macmillan -- "Set in the world of the gods first introduced in Divine Rivals, a sweeping, beautiful adult novel filled with tension, romance, and dark secrets."

• Clan Novel Giovanni: The Clan Novel Saga, Book 10 By: Justin Achilli (2000), read by Kyle Maraglio for Crossroad Press -- "Benito Giovanni has vanished. Enter Chas Giovanni Tello, Mob strong-arm and part of the New World Giovanni. Chas finds himself ordered to Las Vegas where he meets the Old World scion of the necromancers' clan, Isabel, who shares his interest in locating the missing Benito."

YOUNG ADULT WATCH:

• When We Were Monsters By: Jennifer Niven, read by Elena Rey, Saskia Maarleveld, and Briggon Snow for Listening Library -- "A dead teacher at an elite boarding school. Four students who had every reason to want her gone. Who is the monster?"

• Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley, read by Isabella Star LaBlanc for Macmillan -- "From the instant New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed comes a daring new mystery about a foster teen claiming her heritage on her own terms."

• Thorn Season by Kiera Azar, read by Suzy Jackson for Harper -- "In the Kingdom of Daradon, a persecuted few are Wielders, in possession of a magical Spectre–a shimmering thread that can extend beyond their visible body to give a loving caress, pick a lock . . . even kill. Feared for this ability, Wielders have always been Hunted. Alissa Paine, heiress and daughter of a Hunter family . . . is also a Wielder. At eighteen, Alissa knows she's escaped execution thus far only due to painful self-control and the efforts of her beloved father. Summoned to the harsh and glittering royal court for the debutante season, Alissa finds herself caught in a web of intrigue and betrayal—and caught between two equally dangerous men: one a brutal ruler with the handsome face of a fairy-tale prince, who would destroy her if he knew the truth—and the other a beguiling foreign ambassador with secret agendas of his own."

MOST MISSING:

• Swords and Larceny edited by David Afsharirad and Mark Finn (Baen) -- "When the stakes are high and the odds are stacked, only the cleverest and most daring will make it out with the prize. Thirteen daring tales of fantasy heists and high-stakes capers—where charm is as sharp as steel, and the score of a lifetime is just one misstep away. With stories by Christopher Ruocchio, Wen Spencer, A. Lee Martinez, Edward M. Erdelac, Jim Zub, John C. Hocking, James Enge, Tim Akers, Mark Finn, Bill Willingham, Adrian Simmons, Tracy S. Morris, and Stephen Aryan."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 19 August 2025

Posted on 2025-08-19 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

PICKS:

• Lessons in Magic and Disaster By: Charlie Jane Anders, read by Lisa Flanagan, Marisa Calin, and Sena Bryer for Macmillan -- "Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training—she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she's also a powerful witch. Serena, Jamie's mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories. Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn't know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path. Now it's up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives."

• The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene, introduction by Stephen King, read by Sean Patrick Hopkins and Adenrele Ojo Simon and Schuster -- "For the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this original short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today’s greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World As We Know It features unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand—brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with listeners everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel."

• Women of the Fairy Tale Resistance: The Forgotten Founding Mothers of the Fairy Tale and the Stories That They Spun By: Jane Harrington, read by Hope Newhouse for Black Dog and Leventhal -- "Long before The Brothers Grimm, there was a sisterhood of writers who defied the patriarchy and launched a literary craze with their feminist fairy tales—these are their stories."

• Starstuff: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Celebrate New Possibilities edited by William Alexander and Wade Rousch, read by JJ Hawkins and Hana Lass for Tantor -- "In a thrilling follow-up to Tasting Light, ten bestselling and award-winning masters of the form use the possible—and the premise of hope—to explore how science and technology can reshape our world and defy assumptions."

• The Man Who Died Seven Times By: Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, read by Kaipo Schwab for Dreamscape -- "A subversively cozy Japanese crime novel with an ingenious Groundhog Day twist: a teenager’s time-loop race to solve—and possibly prevent—his grandfather’s murder."

• Hemlock & Silver By: T. Kingfisher, read by Jennifer Pickens for Macmillan -- "Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on. But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her. Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all."

• The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland By: Rachael Herron, read by Xe Sands for Grand Central -- "Beatrice Barnard doesn't believe in magic. She definitely doesn't believe the predictions of the celebrity psychic who claims that she will experience seven miracles...and soon after, she will die. When she discovers her husband is cheating on her, Bea flees to Skerry Island, off the Pacific Northwest coast, in desperate need of solitude. Immediately upon arrival, she finds her life on the line as a rogue woodchopper blade almost kills her. Her survival feels like a miracle. And then things get more miraculous when she discovers her twin sister, Cordelia, whom she never knew about, and her mother Astrid, who supposedly died when Beatrice was two years old. Astrid and Cordelia reveal that Beatrice is an immensely powerful witch who can commune with the dead, like all the local Holland family witches. When their twin magic is joined, it shines like a beacon to the Velamen family, whose malevolent spirits are locked in an age-old struggle for magical dominance over the Hollands."

• The Unseen by Ania Ahlborn, read by a full cast for Simon and Schuster -- "Isla Hansen, a mother reeling from a devastating loss, is beside herself when a mysteriously orphaned child appears on the outskirts of the Hansens’ secluded Colorado property. Although strange and unexplainable, the child’s presence breathes new life into Isla. But as the child settles in, Isla’s husband, Luke, and their five children notice peculiarities that hint at something far beyond the ordinary—anomalies that challenge the very fabric of reality itself. The tension within the Hansen household grows, and with it, the sense that there is something very wrong with the new kid in the house."

• The Late-Night Witches By: Auralee Wallace, read by Robyn Maryke for Penguin -- "Cassie Beckett’s life is anything but magical. With a wild younger sister, three unruly kids, and an absent husband, she’s really not looking forward to the witching month of October. At least the gorgeous, foggy Prince Edward Island is always quiet. That is, until the vampires arrive. As the creatures sink their teeth into Cassie’s tenuous grip on normalcy, she’s forced to come face-to-face with long-disregarded family secrets. The legacy gifts her with power, but also a lofty responsibility: rid the island of vampires, or let them win."

• The Witch Roads By: Kate Elliott, read by Ella Lynch for Tantor -- "When an arrogant prince (and his equally arrogant entourage) gets stuck in Orledder Halt as part of brutal political intrigue, competent and sunny deputy courier Elen—once a child slave meant to shield noblemen from the poisonous Pall—is assigned to guide him through the hills to reach his destination. When she warns him not to enter the haunted Spires, the prince doesn't heed her advice, and the man who emerges from the towers isn't the same man who entered. The journey that follows is fraught with danger. Can a group taught to ignore and despise the lower classes survive with a mere deputy courier as their guide?"

• The Once and Future Me: A Novel By: Melissa Pace, read by Xe Sands for Brilliance -- "Dark Matter meets Girl, Interrupted in this gripping psychological thriller about a young woman teetering on the edge of reality."

• Eternity’s Blade By: William Collis, read by Brian Nishii for Blackstone -- "In the secluded paradise of the Valley, life is eternal. Guarded by unbreachable mists and ruled by a reclusive Emperor, this floating world of salt and lilies brims with beauty, ritual, and endless rebirth. And then prince Soh’shoro discovers his power to kill. Stolen from the courts, trained in martial and magical arts by enigmatic warrior monks, Soh’shoro is reborn as an assassin, ready to defend against the mythical Outside. But echoes of his lost mother and the ethereal allure of a doomed princess lead him on a path to discover the Valley’s dark secrets.... Now, as war dawns, Soh’shoro must decide: Is paradise worth protecting?"

• Haze By: Katharine Kerr, read by Eric Michael Summerer for Tantor -- "Three thousand years in the future, a starship pilot battling addiction becomes the unexpected key to unraveling a mystery that threatens the very foundation of space travel. Haze transports listeners to a multi-alien society governed by the Rim Council, a loose republic of planets protected by the formidable military force known simply as The Fleet. Interstellar civilization hinges on the use of hyperspace "shunts" for travel, but alarming rumors suggest that this crucial system is under threat."

• A Mother's Guide to the Apocalypse By: Hollie Overton, read by Eleanor Caudill for Redhook -- "A post-apocalyptic mystery exploring the unshakeable bond between mothers and daughters and the sacrifices we make for the people we love."

NON-FICTION WATCH:

• Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris, read by Karen Murray for Harper -- "A magnificent cultural biography that charts the life of one of our greatest writers, situating her alongside the key historical and social moments that shaped her work."

• Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West by Peter Cozzens, read by Mark Bramhall for Books On Tape -- "The true story of the Black Hills gold rush settlement once described as “the most diabolical town on earth” and of its most colorful cast of characters, from Wild Bill Hickok to Calamity Jane to Al Swearingen and Sheriff Seth Bullock."

MORE FICTION:

• Dominion: A Novel By: Addie E. Citchens, read by Andre Giles, Angel Pean, Bahni Turpin, and Dion Graham for Macmillan -- "Reverend Sabre Winfrey, Jr., shepherd of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church, believes in God, his own privilege, and enterprise. He owns the barbershop and the radio station, and generally keeps an iron hand on every aspect of society in Dominion, Mississippi. He and his wife, Priscilla, have five boys; the youngest, Emanuel, is called Wonderboy—no one sings prettier, runs as fast, or turns as many heads. But Wonderboy, his father, and all the structures in place that keep them on top are not as righteous as they seem to be."

• When the Cranes Fly South: A Novel by Lisa Ridzén, translated by Alice Menzies, read by Ifan Huw Dafydd for Books On Tape -- "A profoundly moving debut novel that follows an elderly man’s attempts to mend his relationship with his son before it’s too late: an emotional story of love, friendship, fatherhood, dogs, and atonement that is already an international sensation."

MORE SCI-FI, FANTASY, and HORROR:

• The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas, read by Carolina Hoyos and Anthony Rey Perez for Penguin -- "In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong. Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can’t help but notice the growing tension between them every time she enters the room…and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood gets stronger. In the fight for her life, Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and each other… not knowing that one of these things will spell their doom."

• Needle and Bone by Tonya Mitchell, read by Kate Udall for Dreamscape -- "Philadelphia, 1841. Seventeen-year-old Annis Hargrave is running from a nightmare. She and her brother have fled New York, burdened by secrets, grief, and the cursed blue pearl that may have brought death in its wake. But the past refuses to stay buried. Offered work as a medical illustrator by the enigmatic Dr. Thomas Mütter, Annis enters a world of surgical marvels and grotesque beauty. There, amid bottled organs and broken bodies, she begins to rebuild her shattered life—until the ghost of the girl she couldn’t save begins to appear. And the man who killed her isn’t far behind."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Suder: A Novel By: Percival Everett (1983), read by JD Jackson for Tantor -- "It's the middle of the season and the third baseman for the Seattle Mariners, Craig Suder, is in the midst of an inescapable slump. On top of that, his wife has been keeping her distance and Suder can't shake the creeping fear that he might have inherited his mother's insanity. That's when his team suggests he might enjoy a little break."

• Beside the Ocean of Time By: George Mackay Brown (1994), read by Amy Liptrot and Peter Forbes for Hachette -- "In this novel set on the fictitious island of Norday in the Orkneys, George Mackay Brown beckons us into the imaginary world of the young Thorfinn Ragnarson, the son of a crofter. In his day-dreams he relives the history of this island people, travelling back in time to join Viking adventurers at the court of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople, then accompanying a Falstaffian knight to the battle of Bannockburn. Thorfinn wakes to the twentieth century and a community whose way of life, steeped in legend and tradition, has remained unchanged for centuries. But as the boy grows up - and falls in love with a vivacious and mysterious stranger - the transforming effect of modern civilization brings momentous and irreversible changes to the island. During the Second World War Thorfinn finds himself in a German prisoner-of-war camp, and it is here that he discovers his gifts as a writer. Long afterwards he returns, now a successful novelist, to a deserted and battle-scarred island. Searching for the peace and freedom of mind he had in abundance as a child, he finds instead something he didn't even know he was looking for."

• Conquerors’ Pride: The Conquerors Saga, Book 1 By: Timothy Zahn (1994), read by Derek Shoales for Tantor -- "A long era of peace and prosperity in the interstellar Commonwealth has suddenly come to an end. Four alien starships of unknown origin have attacked, without provocation, an eight-ship Peacemaker task force, utterly destroying it in six savage minutes. The authorities claim there were no survivors. But Lord Stewart Cavanaugh, a former member of Parliament, has learned through back channels that one man may have survived to be captured by the aliens: his son, Commander Pheylan Cavanaugh. A large-scale invasion appears imminent, and the strictest security measures are in effect...measures that Lord Cavanaugh has no choice but to defy."

• Shipstar: Bowl of Heaven, Book 2 By: Larry Niven and Gregory Benford (2013), read by James R. Cheatham for Tantor -- "The dramatic sequel to Larry Niven and Gregory Benford's New York Times bestselling novel, Bowl of Heaven."

SERIES WATCH:

• Corvus: Frontlines: Evolution, Book 2 By: Marko Kloos, read by Arielle DeLisle for Brilliance -- "When the aliens evolve, so does the threat against humanity in this thrilling sequel to Scorpio that finds Alex Archer in an epic battle of survival against the odds and the alien invaders."

• The Dragon Wakes with Thunder: Night Ends with Fire, Book 2 By: K. X. Song, read by Natalie Naudus for Penguin -- "A young woman who wields the unimaginable power of the dragon must decide where her loyalties lie—and where her heart belongs—in this enthralling fantasy that reimagines the legend of Mulan."

• The Last Soul Among Wolves: The Echo Archives, Book 2 By: Melissa Caruso, read by Moira Quirk for Orbit -- "All Kembral Thorne wants is to finish her maternity leave in peace. But when her best friend asks for help, she can’t say no, even if it means a visit to a run-down mansion on an isolated island for a will reading. She arrives to find an unexpected reunion of her childhood friends—plus her once-rival, now-girlfriend Rika Nonesuch, there on a mysterious job. Then the will is read, and everything goes sideways."

• The Damned King: The Eidyn Saga, Book 3 By: Justin Lee Anderson, read by Justin Lee Anderson for Orbit -- "The eternal light keeping demons at bay has been extinguished and Eidyn’s last bastion is under brutal siege. Aranok and his allies draw the final battle lines as the war for the kingdom nears its end. With death threatening from every shadow and truth itself at stake, Eidyn’s defenders must put aside their grudges and come together. But is it possible to save everyone when some prefer the lie?"

• Hatchet Girls: Hap and Leonard, Book 14 by Joe R. Lansdale, read by Christopher Ryan Brandt for Mulholland -- "Your next dose of pitch-black comedy, mystery, and mayhem has arrived as Hap and Leonard find themselves in a vicious and ridiculous situation—just as the best friends may finally be calling it quits."

INDIE WATCH:

• The Man: City of Halos, Book 1 By: Kesava Anderson, read by Chris Monteiro for Podium -- "In the year 2055, a quarter-century after the last firearm-related homicide inside the once-peaceful SafeCities, the unthinkable occurs: the murder of the president of this sprawling metropolis."

• Dot Slash Magic by Liz Shipton, read by Mary Pochatko for Tantor -- "What if you wrote a magic computer program? What if that magic computer program started summoning monsters?"

MOST MISSING:

• When Mothers Dream: Stories by Brenda Cooper (Fairwood Press) -- "Cooper celebrates the strength of the female in many guises: mother, daughter, engineer, biologist, and more. From a young dreamer who fights to protect the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales to two older women whose grandchildren are being raised by AIs to a future scientist who tries to keep the world safe from bioengineered creatures, When Mothers Dream explores the edges of what can be possible if we celebrate the strength of women."

Posted in Release Week

Release Week: 12 August 2025

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

PICKS:

• These Memories Do Not Belong to Us: A Constellation Novel By: Yiming Ma, read by a full cast for Harper -- "In a far-off future ruled by the Qin Empire, every citizen is fitted with a Mindbank, an intracranial device capable of recording and transmitting memories between minds. This technology gives birth to Memory Capitalism, where anyone with means can relive the life experiences of others. It also unleashes opportunities for manipulation: memories can be edited, marketed, and even corrupted for personal gain. After the sudden passing of his mother, an unnamed narrator inherits a collection of banned memories from her Mindbank so dangerous that even possessing them places his freedom in jeopardy. Traversing genres, empires, and millennia, they are tales of sumo wrestlers and social activists and armless swimmers and watchmakers, struggling amid the backdrop of Qin’s ascent toward global dominance. Determined to release his mother's memories to the world before they are destroyed forever, the narrator will risk everything—even if the cost is his own life."

• Acts of God By: Kanan Gill, read by Sunil Malhotra for Blackstone -- "Private detective P. Manjunath thinks like fire and works like dust as he sets out to investigate existential cataclysms unfolding over the globe—not knowing that the ripples in reality he sees are being caused by Dr. Krishna, a scientist in a utopian future and technically the god of their world. As Manjunath’s investigation disrupts God’s plans, a Danish police officer attains enlightenment, a lapel pin gives disruptive advice, a sentient wall provides the key to creativity, a pill cures the human condition, and everyone in the world develops a lisp at the same time."

• Artificial Wisdom: A Novel By: Thomas R. Weaver, read by Steven Pacey for Random House -- "In a climate-ravaged landscape where AI and humans vie for political power, a journalist must unravel a murderous plot that will either upend the world or save it."

• Lucky Day By: Chuck Tingle, read by Mara Wilson for Macmillan -- "Four years ago, an unthinkable disaster occurred. In what was later known as the Low-Probability Event, eight million people were killed in a single day, each of them dying in improbable, bizarre ways: strangled by balloon ropes, torn apart by exploding manhole covers, attacked by a chimpanzee wielding a typewriter. A day of freak accidents that proved anything is possible, no matter the odds. Luck is real now, and it's not always good. Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lost everything that day, and she still struggles to make sense of the unbelievable catastrophe. To her, the LPE proved that the God of Order is dead and nothing matters anymore. When Special Agent Layne shows up on Vera’s doorstep, she learns he's investigating a suspiciously—and statistically impossibly—lucky casino. He needs her help to prove the casino’s success is connected to the deaths of millions, and it's Vera's last chance to make sense of a world that doesn’t. Because what's happening in Vegas isn't staying there, and she's the only thing that stands between the world and another deadly improbability."

• The Society of Unknowable Objects: A Novel By: Gareth Brown, read by Olivia Vinall for Harper -- "The world of unknowable objects—magical items that most people have no idea possess powers—has been quiet for decades, but the three current members of a secret society have remained watchful, meeting every six months in the basement of a bookshop in London. They are pledged to protect their archive of magical items hidden away, safe from the outside world—and the world safe from them. But when Frank Simpson, the longest-standing member of the Society of Unknowable Objects, hears of a new artifact coming to light in Hong Kong, he sends Magda Sparks—author by day and newest member—to investigate. Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is facing death and danger, confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects, specifically one that was stolen from him a decade before. Magda is forced to flee, using an artifact that not even the rest of the Society knows about."

• The Island of Last Things: A Novel By: Emma Sloley, read by Suzy Jackson for Macmillan -- "Camille has always preferred animals to people. The wild has nearly disappeared, but as a zookeeper at the last zoo in the world, on Alcatraz Island, she spends her days caring for playful chimpanzees, gentle tree frogs, and a restless jaguar. Outside, resistance groups and brutal cartels fight to shape the world’s future, but Camille is safe within her routines. That is, until a new zookeeper, Sailor, arrives from Paris. From their first meeting, Camille is drawn to Sailor, who seems to see something in Camille that no one has before. They bond over their shared passions and dream up ways to improve their lives. When Sailor whispers the story of an idyllic, secret sanctuary where wild animals roam free, Camille begins to imagine a new kind of life with Sailor by her side. Sailor knows all too well the dangers beyond Alcatraz, but she increasingly chafes at the zoo’s rigid rules. She hatches a reckless plan to smuggle one of the most prized animals off the island to freedom, and invites Camille to join her."

• House of Monstrous Women By: Daphne Fama, read by Jensen Olaya for Penguin -- "A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines."

• The Midnight Shift by Seon-Ran Cheon, translated by Gene Png, read by Rosa Escoda for Bloomsbury -- "When four isolated elderly people die back-to-back at the same hospital by jumping out of the sixth-floor window, Su-Yeon doesn’t understand why she’s the only one at her precinct that seems to care. But her colleagues at the police force dismiss the case as a series of unfortunate suicides due to the patients’ loneliness. But Su-Yeon doesn’t have the privilege of looking away: her dearest friend, Grandma Eun-Shim, lives on the sixth floor, and Su-Yeon is terrified that something will happen to her next. As Su-Yeon begins her investigation alone, she runs into a mysterious woman named Violette at the crime scene. Violette claims to be a vampire hunter, searching for her ex-lover, Lily, and is insistent that a vampire is behind the mysterious deaths. Su-Yeon is skeptical at first, but when a fifth victim jumps from the window, her investigation reveals the body was completely drained of blood. Desperate to discover the cause of the deaths, Su-Yeon considers Violette’s explanation—that something supernatural is involved."

• Salvagia: A Novel By: Tim Chawaga, read by Amy McFadden for Dreamscape -- "Triss Mackey is flying just under the radar, exploiting a government loophole that lets her live quietly aboard the Floating Ghost—her rented, sentient Cabana Boat. In exchange, she dives for recycling recovered from the flooded, formerly coastal cities known as the yoreshore. If she happens to find some salvagia, nostalgic salvage artifacts from the past, well, that’s between her and the highest bidder. But when the federal government begins withdrawing from Florida, Triss must buy the Ghost or lose her loophole. Meanwhile, the corporate mafias are poised to seize power, especially Mourning in Miami, led by the legendary Edgar Ortiz, owner of the Astro America luxury hotel. Triss needs a score big enough to keep her free from the feds and corporations before the Ghost is sent to a watery, insurance-scamming grave."

• The Witch's Orchard: A Novel By: Archer Sullivan, read by Emily Pike Stewart for Macmillan -- "Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up. Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past. In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget."

• A Game in Yellow By: Hailey Piper, read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker for Simon and Schuster -- "A kink-fixated couple, Carmen and Blanca, have been in a rut. That is until Blanca discovers the enigmatic Smoke in an under-street drug den, who holds pages to a strange play, The King in Yellow. Read too much, and you’ll fall into madness. But read just a little and pull back, and it gives you the adrenaline rush of survivor’s euphoria, leading Carmen to fall into a game of lust at a nightmare’s edge. As the line blurs between the world Carmen knows and the one that she visits after reading from the play, she begins to desire more time in this other world no matter what horrors she brings back with her."

BACKLIST WATCH:

• Sometimes a Great Notion By: Ken Kesey (1963), read by Edoardo Ballerini for Penguin -- "Following his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey wrote this wild-spirited tale of a bitter strike that rages through a small lumber town along the Oregon coast. Bucking that strike out of sheer cussedness are the Stampers."

• The Ballad of a Small Player: A Novel By: Lawrence Osborne (2014), read by Rupert Penry-Jones for Random House -- "As night falls on Macau and the neon signs that line the rain-slick streets come alive, Doyle—“Lord Doyle” to his fellow players—descends into his casino of choice to try his luck at the baccarat tables that are the anchor of his current existence. A corrupt English lawyer who has escaped prosecution by fleeing to the East, Doyle spends his nights drinking and gambling and his days sleeping off his excesses, continually haunted by his past. Taking refuge in a series of louche and dimly lit hotels, he watches his fortune rise and fall as the cards decide his fate. In a moment of crisis he meets Dao-Ming, an enigmatic Chinese woman who appears to be a denizen of the casinos just like himself, and seems to offer him salvation in the form of both money and love. But as Doyle attempts to make a rare and true connection, all that he accepts as reality seems to be slipping from his grasp."

MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:

• The Hungry Gods by Adrian Tchaikovsky, read by Emma Newman for Tantor -- "Amri was a Rabbit, one of a tribe of survivors scratching out an existence in the blasted landscape of a shattered, poisoned world. The Seagull fight, the Pigeon trade and the Cockroach scavenge, but the Rabbit had one rule: If you want to see tomorrow, you run. But they didn't run fast enough when a weapon fell from the sky and consumed their home, and now Amri is alone, in the company of a fallen god named Guy Vesten. A god who promises revenge against the three gods who turned against him, and who killed her tribe. But gods don't die easily. Guy will need followers, like any god, and warriors to aid him in his quest. And if Amri is to find a place in the world that is to come, she may as well be standing at his right hand, as his priestess."

• The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn, read by EJ Lavery for Tantor -- "Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things—plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become . . . concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story. But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger—it's a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters—Bane Witches—women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men."

• Family Spirit: A Novel By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone, read by Adenrele Ojo for Harper -- "Ayana has inherited the Knowing gene that the Maces believe have been passed down to at least one girl child in every generation from as far back as they can trace. But her mother has tried to convince her that she is nothing like those weird Mace women. To keep the peace, Ayana lies to everyone--to the Maces, insisting she’s never felt a Knowing, to her mother about participating in the rituals, and to herself about her relationship with a man who helps her recover time and time again from the mania she experiences after seeing into the future. Ayana’s aunt Lil, banned from the Mace home decades ago after violating a sacred vow, has returned to Philadelphia for a medical procedure. She settles into the chaos of her brother’s home where Ayana, a failing college senior, has also returned. After a harrowing premonition, Ayana must decide whether to deepen family schisms by enlisting her aunt’s help, even as she learns the shocking details of Lil’s breech. Meanwhile Nona becomes more of a participant than creator as her own drama is deftly interspersed throughout, as she too yields to the power of the Mace family and its indomitable spirit."

• Selkie By: Nataly Gruender, read by Siobhan Waring for Grand Central -- "From the author of Medusa comes a beautiful and emotional story featuring a selkie: a mythological creature who can turn from a seal into a human."

• Powerless By: Harry Turtledove, read by Graham Rowat for Tantor -- "When does silent compliance with an oppressive regime become unbearable? For Charlie Simpkins, the manager of a small vegetable shop in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, part of the West Coast People's Democratic Republic, the breaking point comes when he is asked to display a meaningless propaganda poster in his shop window. It is a seemingly insignificant act in a lifetime of obedience. But Charlie just can't bring himself to do it. This minor act of defiance, however, shows too much independent thinking on Charlie's part, setting off a chain of escalating consequences for Charlie and his wife and two children."

• Warrior Princess Assassin: A Novel By: Brigid Kemmerer, read by Teddy Hamilton, Abigail Reno, and Aaron Shedlock for Harper -- "A steamy adult fantasy debut about three characters torn between chasing, betraying, and craving each other: a princess caught between duty and desire, the fearsome warrior king she’s promised to, and the assassin tasked with hunting them down."

• The Feeding By: Anthony Ryan, read by Devon Sorvari for Blackstone -- "Fifteen years ago the feeders rose from the shadows to transform the world into a graveyard. The few survivors exist in fortified settlements surrounded by the empty ruins of a destroyed civilization. For years the citizens of New City Redoubt have relied on an elite cadre of Crossers to navigate the feeder-infested wasteland between settlements in order to trade for vital supplies. But the Outside is becoming ever more dangerous, and the ranks of the Crossers grow thinner with every crossing. Layla, only a child when the Feeding destroyed the old world, spends her days scavenging the ruins for valuable scrap and her nights helping her adoptive family eke a living from the Redoubt’s only movie theater. Now, with her father slowly dying, Layla resolves to join the Crossers to retrieve the medicine that can save him."

• The Bone Raiders By: Jackson Ford, read by Anna Zhang for Orbit -- "The start of a no-holds-barred, action-packed fantasy series where a group of charmingly named Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland from an invading enemy."

MORE FICTION:

• Dogs: A Novel By: C. Mallon, read by Matt Pittenger for Simon and Schuster -- "A singular, devastating debut novel tracing the fallout of one catastrophic night in the lives of five high school wrestlers, asking what can survive in the blast radius of latent trauma and violence."

• The Unbroken Coast: A Novel By: Nalini Jones, read by Sneha Mathan for Random House -- "A stunning debut novel set in and around a Mumbai fishing village that follows the friendship between a young girl struggling to find her place in the world, and an aging historian reckoning with his past."

Posted in Release Week