Tuesday Tomorrow
A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A delightfully funny, fantastically inventive collection of twenty newly unearthed short stories by Sir Terry Pratchett, the award-winning and bestselling author and creator of the phenomenally successful Discworld fantasy series. This special trove - featuring charming woodcut illustrations - is a must-have for Pratchett fans of all ages and includes a foreword by Neil Gaiman.
These rediscovered tales were written by Terry Pratchett under a pseudonym for a British newspaper during the 1970s and 1980s. The stories have never been attributed to him until now, and might never have been found - were it not for the efforts of a few dedicated fans.
As Neil Gaiman writes in his introduction, "through all of these stories we watch Terry Pratchett becoming Terry Pratchett." Though none of the short works are set in the Discworld, all are infused with Pratchett's trademark wit, satirical wisdom, and brilliant imagination, hinting at the magical universe he would go on to create.
Meet Og the inventor, the first caveman to cultivate fire, as he discovers the highs and lows of progress; haunt the Ministry of Nuisances with the defiant evicted ghosts of Pilgarlic Towers; visit Blackbury, a small market town with weird weather and an otherworldly visitor; and embark on a dangerous quest through time and space with hero Kron, which begins in the ancient city of Morpork...
Irresistibly entertaining, A Stroke of the Pen is an essential collection from the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett, a "master storyteller" (A. S. Byatt) who "defies categorization" (The Times); a writer whose "novels have always been among the most serious of comedies, the most relevant and real of fantasies" (Independent UK)."
I literally can not believe we're getting a new Terry Pratchett book. I literally might cry.
Nature Tales for Winter Nights edited by Nancy Campbell
Published by: Elliott and Thompson
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the author of Fifty Words for Snow comes a treasure trove of nature tales from storytellers across the globe, bringing a little magic and wonder to every winter night.
As the evenings draw in - a time of reckoning, rest and restoration - immerse yourself in this new seasonal anthology. Nature Tales for Winter Nights puts winter - rural, wild and urban - under the microscope and reveals its wonder.
From the late days of autumn, through deepest cold, and towards the bright hope of spring, here is a collection of familiar names and dazzling new discoveries.
Join the naturalist Linnæus travelling on horseback in Lapland, witness frost fairs on the Thames and witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut, experience Alpine adventure, polar bird myths and courtship in the snow in classical Japan and ancient Rome. Observations from Beth Chatto's garden and Tove Jansson's childhood join company with artists' private letters, lines from Anne Frank's diary and fireside stories told by indigenous voices.
A hibernation companion, this book will transport you across time and country this winter."
I want to hibernate with this book but also visit a frost fair!
An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka
Published by: Ace Books
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The super-rich control everything - including magic - in this thrilling and brilliant, contemporary fantasy from the author of the Alex Verus novels.
The wealthy seem to exist in a different, glittering world from the rest of us. Almost as if by...magic.
Stephen Oakwood is a young man on the edge of this hidden world. He has talent and potential, but turning that potential into magical power takes money, opportunity, and training. All Stephen has is a minimum wage job and a cat.
But when a chance encounter with a member of House Ashford gets him noticed by the wrong people, Stephen is thrown in the deep end. For centuries, the vast corporations and aristocratic Houses of the magical world have grown impossibly rich and influential by hoarding their knowledge. To survive, Stephen will have to take his talent and build it up into something greater - for only then can he beat them at their own game."
All you need to start out in life is a minimum wage job and a cat.
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 624 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Two outcasts find themselves caught in a web of forbidden love, dangerous magic, and dark secrets that could change the world forever in the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.
In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill.
Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher - the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but Kel knows that his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible.
Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls within the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge.
After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane's underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces. As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war - and the world into chaos?"
I notice they're no longer touting this as her "adult" debut. They probably realized all her readers were adults all along.
Long Past Dues by James J. Butcher
Published by: Ace Books
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Grimsby, the newest Auditor in the magical Department of Unorthodox Affairs, finds himself in hot water when he intercepts a friend's case in this fast-paced and thrilling urban fantasy.
Against all odds, Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby has become an Auditor, enforcing laws about magic for Boston's Department of Unorthodox Affairs. But Grimsby soon realizes the daily grind of his job is far removed from the glamour he imagined. Overlooked for every exciting case, Grimsby tires of being told to handle mundane magical troubles, and appropriates a case file intended for a friend.
Alongside Leslie Mayflower, the temporarily unretired Huntsman, Grimsby aims to crack the case and discover the origin of a strange, unfinished ritual - one that seems to imitate the handiwork of a foe Mayflower put down twenty years ago.
Together, they'll have to deal with escaped werewolves, a cursed artifact, and a perilous journey to the mysterious subterranean city below Boston, all to uncover the shocking truth. At any cost, Grimsby must stop this ritual from finally being completed. Yet the cost may be paid not by himself but by his friends...."
An Urban Fantasy to fill my Peter Grant void.
The Witch of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The multimillion-copy bestselling story of Wicked comes full circle in The Witch of Maracoor, the final installment of Gregory Maguire's Another Day series.
Following a confrontation with her reclusive great-grandfather, the one-time Wizard of Oz, Rainary Ko - the granddaughter of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West - has re-upped in a mission to settle a few scores and right a wrong or two. Her memory and her passions reviving, Rain turns her gaze back to her native Oz. Though the Grimmerie, which she had cast into the sea, retains its arcane power over her, the lover she left behind in Oz proves no less haunting. Traveling companions and arrivistes can befuddle a young witch coming into her own, but Rain marshals a steely determination to stare her troubles in the eye and see who blinks first.
In the Another Day cycle, a lost young woman grows through a cautious adolescence into an adult state of fervor and daring. Enchantment imprisons and it also liberates. Pay heed, pay respect, but above all, pay attention."
I love that Wicked has "continued" in this new trilogy.
The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill a Kingdom, comes The Night Hunt, a dark fantasy romance about a monstrous girl who feeds on fear and the Gods-cursed boy who falls in love with her.
Atia is a monster who feeds on fear. As the last of her kind, she hides in the shadows of the world to escape the wrath of the unpredictable Gods. Silas is a Herald, carrying messages and ferrying the dead as punishment for a past he can't remember. Stripped of his true name, he yearns to recover his identity.
Atia would never dream of allying with someone like him, but when she breaks a sacred law and the Gods send monsters to hunt her, Silas offers an irresistible deal: he'll help avenge her family and take on the Gods who now hunt her, if she helps him break his curse and restore his humanity. All they need to do is kill three powerful creatures: a vampire, a banshee, and one of the very Gods who destroyed both their lives. Only together can they finally rewrite their destinies."
Because why not kill a God?
The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen
Published by: AThomas and Mercer
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 332 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this ingenious and subversive twist on the classic Gothic novel, the mysterious past of an island mansion lures two sisters into a spiderweb of scandal, secrets, and murder.
Two sisters, strangers since birth yet bound by family secrets, are caught up in a century-old mystery on an isolated island.
After arriving on Block Island to find her birth mother, Blake Bronson becomes convinced she's the heroine of a Gothic novel - the kind that allowed her intermittent escape from a traumatic childhood. How else to explain the torrential rain, the salt-worn mansion known as White Hall, and the restless ghost purported to haunt its halls? But before Blake can discern the novel's ending, she's found dead, murdered in a claw-foot tub. The proprietress of White Hall stands accused.
Summoned by a letter sent from Blake before she died, Thalia Mills returns to the island she swore she'd left for good. She finds that Blake wasn't the first to die at White Hall under suspicious circumstances. Thalia must uncover the real reason for Blake's demise before the forces conspiring to keep Block Island's secrets dead and buried rise up to consume her too."
Who hasn't convinced themselves that they are the star of their own Gothic novel? Hopefully it ended better though...
Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller
Published by: Verso
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Charles Perrault's Bluebeard gets a feminist Gothic makeover in this subversive take on the famous French fairy tale - from the filmmaker behind the cult film, The Love Witch, and for fans of Jane Eyre.
Judith is a successful novelist, but she's a little sensitive. She's from a good family, even if that family favors her more beautiful sister. She loves a drink (or 3) but isn't sure if she loves the handsome doctor who is courting her. She yearns for a romance to yield to but remains a virgin. Judith receives visions from the saints.
Then Judith meets Gavin, a handsome and charming baron, at a wedding on the Cornish coast. His love transforms her from a plain, lonely girl into a beautiful, glamorous woman overnight.
After a whirlwind honeymoon in Paris, he whisks her away to a Gothic castle in the countryside. But soon her perfect marriage begins to fall apart and she finds herself trapped in a nightmare, as her husband's mysterious nature, and his alternation of charm and violence, become more and more confusing and frightening. And then there are those whispers amongst the staff, unsettling rumors from London, and strange rattlings from the crypt...
From the visionary filmmaker of The Love Witch, this is a modern Gothic feminist take on the classic folktale Bluebeard."
This cover wins this Halloween season. There really is no other competition, I mean, look at it?
Final Acts edited by Martin Edwards
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
""... and what a motive! Murder to save one's artistic soul... who'd believe that?"
Behind the stage lights and word-perfect soliloquies, sinister secrets are lurking in the wings. The mysteries in this collection reveal the dark side to theatre and performing arts: a world of backstage dealings, where unscrupulous actors risk everything to land a starring role, costumed figures lead to mistaken identities, and on-stage deaths begin to look a little too convincing...
This expertly curated thespian anthology features fourteen stories from giants of the classic crime genre such as Dorothy L. Sayers, Julian Symons and Ngaio Marsh, as well as firm favourites from the British Library Crime Classics series: Anthony Wynne, Christianna Brand, Bernard J. Farmer and many more.
Mysteries abound when a player's fate hangs on a single performance, and opening night may very well be their last."
Big props for using the arrival of the Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute for the cover.
The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen
Published by: Forge
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The Bell in the Fog, a dazzling historical mystery by Lev A.C. Rosen, asks - once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them?
San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander "Andy" Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective - but his business hasn't exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.
When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy's debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.
The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good."
San Francisco fog and a PI, my perfect night in.
The Socialite's Guide to Death and Dating by S.K. Golden
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver, the second Pinnacle Hotel mystery finds another murder that strikes too close to home, and hotel heiress Evelyn Murphy knows she's the only one who can save the hotel before it's lights out.
New York, 1958. Even though Evelyn Murphy has made progress conquering her agoraphobia by leaving the Pinnacle, she still feels most comfortable in her father's hotel. With Malcolm Cooper, her new boyfriend and fellow employee at the hotel, Evelyn feels prepared for whatever happens next. In this case, it's throwing a big fundraiser with the who's who of New York City.
The night is a success, and Evelyn finally takes up Malcolm's offer to finally visit his apartment in Yonkers. As the party ends, they sneak away to the garage to get Evelyn's car. But Evelyn's always been good at finding things, and she discovers the dead body of a guest, Judge Baker, in a car - with a needle in his arm.
Detective Hodgson and his new partner, Detective McJimsey, arrive on the scene, but before they can begin to question Evelyn, they are startled by another mysterious discovery: there's a woman in the trunk of the car, and she screams as soon as she sees Evelyn's face. Tangled up in the police investigation, Evelyn's got another problem, too - her father insists she break off her relationship with Mac. The next day, her father is found attacked just like the judge, only this time the detectives find a dead woman nearby.
With Mac accused of the attacks and in police custody, Evelyn will have to find the killer on her own before she's checked out of the hotel - this time, for good."
I think there's a slight difference between being good at finding things a stumbling upon corpses...
Hitchcock's Blondes by Laurence Leamer
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Bestselling author of Capote's Women Laurence Leamer shares an engrossing account of the enigmatic director Alfred Hitchcock that finally puts the dazzling actresses he cast in his legendary movies at the center of the story.
Alfred Hitchcock was fixated - not just on the dark, twisty stories that became his hallmark, but also by the blond actresses who starred in many of his iconic movies. The director of North by Northwest, Rear Window, and other classic films didn't much care if they wore wigs, got their hair coloring out of a bottle, or were the rarest human specimen - a natural blonde - as long as they shone with a golden veneer on camera. The lengths he went to in order to showcase (and often manipulate) these women would become the stuff of movie legend. But the women themselves have rarely been at the center of the story, until now.
In Hitchcock's Blondes, bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer offers an intimate journey into the lives of eight legendary actresses whose stories helped chart the course of the troubled, talented director's career - from his early days in the British film industry, to his triumphant American debut, to his Hollywood heyday and beyond. Through the stories of June Howard-Tripp, Madeleine Carroll, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Janet Leigh, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint, and Tippi Hedren - who starred in fourteen of Hitchcock's most notable films and who bore the brunt of his fondness and sometimes fixation - we can finally start to see the enigmatic man himself. After all, "his" blondes (as he thought of them) knew the truths of his art, his obsessions and desires, as well as anyone.
From the acclaimed author of Capote's Women comes an intimate, revealing, and thoroughly modern look at both the enduring art created by a man obsessed...and the private toll that fixation took on the women in his orbit."
Yes, but still trying to understand him through them makes it about him not them...
Becoming the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The terrifying sequel to the acclaimed New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel Chasing the Boogeyman, which was hailed as "genuinely chilling and something brand-new and exciting" (Stephen King) and "unforgettable" (Harlan Coben).
A riveting, haunting sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller Chasing the Boogeyman - a tale of obsession and the adulation of evil, exploring modern society's true-crime obsession with unflinching honesty, sparing no one from the glare of the spotlight. Will those involved walk away from the story of a lifetime in order to keep their loved ones safe? Or will they once again be drawn into a killer's web? As the story draws to its shattering conclusion, only one person holds all the answers - and he just may be the most terrifying monster of them all."
Always here for a true-crime obsession.
Here, and Only Here by Christelle Dabos
Published by: Europa Editions
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 200 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of The Mirror Visitor Quartet.
Welcome to the School of Here, an unsettling and peculiar place that is nonetheless familiar to us all. A place full of codes and unspoken rules that are passed down from year to year.
At Here, society is highly stratified, the pairs, friend groups, and outcasts are all ruled by a godlike prince. This year - as all other years - things are not at all as they seem. A self-effacing first-year student vanishes into thin air. A persecuted outsider delivers himself into permanent exile. A tyrannical upperclassman meets his match. A newly-minted prophetess tests her powers. And, behind the scenes, a cabal of students conducts a top-secret investigation into the unexplained phenomenon at the heart of it all. Back to school season marks the start of a time-honored cycle of revolution and rebirth in which each must play their part.
With Here, and Only Here, Christelle Dabos - author of the international sensation The Mirror Visitor Quartet - gives readers an intriguing and penetrating novel that explores the difficulties of fitting in and the private, individual choices that make up the sometimes abhorrent, always unpredictable Collective."
You really need to read it to understand.
Alice Atherton's Grand Tour by Lesley M.M. Blume
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The heartwarming story of a young girl sent to live with the extraordinary Murphy Family in southern France.
Ten-year-old Alice Atherton is sent by her father to spend the summer with his dear friends the Murphys who live with their three children and pet monkey in the French Riveria. There, Alice will meet and learn from some of the most extraordinary luminaries of the time. She visits a junk yard with Pablo Picasso looking for objects to make into art, performs a dance inspired by celestial bodies with the renowned Ballet Russes, and imagines magical adventures with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
An uplifting story that will appeal to readers who love books by authors like Kate DiCamillo and Jeanne Birdsall"
And will really appeal to lovers of The Durrells!
The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella
Published by: Dial Press
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Sparks fly in this delightful novel about two burned out professionals who meet at a ramshackle resort on the British seaside - from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher.
She can do anything...just not everything.
Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, "urgent" (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn't seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.
Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it's the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other occupant: a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he's sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout (Sasha: manifesting, wild swimming; Finn: drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).
When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk - about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them - flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion - signify?"
Might I suggest taking a mental health day because you, yourself, are burned out and read this book...
A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member are reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film in this all new spicy rom-com by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, bestselling coauthors of A Merry Little Meet Cute.
Kallum Lieberman is the funny one(TM). As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He's living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends' weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he's ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.
Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself - and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?
With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars...especially Winnie who can't seem to fake on screen pleasure she's never experienced in real life. She's willing to do the pleasure research - for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there's no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum's teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.
They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?"
I mean would the "Hope" Channel really do basically Satan Porn? Oh who cares, just embrace the pleasure.
The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 72 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From Bill Watterson, bestselling creator of the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, and John Kascht, one of America's most renowned caricaturists, comes a mysterious and beautifully illustrated fable about what lies beyond human understanding.
In a fable for grown-ups by cartoonist Bill Watterson, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.
For the book's illustrations, Watterson and caricaturist John Kascht worked together for several years in unusually close collaboration. Both artists abandoned their past ways of working, inventing images together that neither could anticipate - a mysterious process in its own right."
Ever since it was announced that Bill Watterson was doing an adult book I have been impatiently awaiting it's arrival. Well it's here, today's the day!
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