Monday, January 1, 2024

Tuesday Tomorrow

Oh Miriam! by Miriam Margolyes
Published by: John Murray Publishers
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From declaring my love to Vanessa Redgrave to being fed cockroaches by Steve Buscemi, from turnip-based comedy with Blackadder to being farted on by Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Graham Norton's sofa to Alan Cumming's camper van, my life has been (and continues to be) an uproarious adventure.

Oh Miriam! has been such a constant refrain in my life, said in all kinds of tones - laughs, surprised gasps and orgasmic sighs (I'm hoping for all of those from you as you read on!) - that it had to be the title of this book. And with a cast list that stretches from Churchill to DiCaprio, Dahl to Dietrich, Princess Margaret to Maggie Smith, I've so much more to tell you and so much more to say.

My chapters range from 'How to Stay Married' to 'Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down'. Discover how to break the thickest conversational ice; why swearing is actually good for you (though not on the Today programme); the unexpected things I learned at school and what my Spice Girl name would be. Not to mention my Tale of the Unexpected and my very own Vagina Monologue.

Buckle up and join me on another unforgettable adventure, but this time through my heart and head..."

Damn I love Miriam Margolyes. And yes, I organized this post based on how amused I would be if the titles of the books were chapter titles in her book.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Spice trader Cinnamon's quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon, in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell.

All she wanted to do was live her life in peace - maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn't involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.

After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he's dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she like it or not. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt...."

I mean, who wouldn't want to read this book? A hot demon that can burn off his shirt?

Barbarian's Touch by Ruby Dixon
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next novel in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, an international publishing phenomenon - now in a special print edition with a bonus new epilogue!

Lila has never been more frightened in her life, but when Rokan appears, everything changes.

When I wake up on the ice planet, I'm scared of everything: This place is cold, silent, and the locals look more like blue devils than aliens. To make matters worse, one of the strangers decides I'm going to be his girlfriend and kidnaps me away from my sister. I'm completely and utterly alone. What's a girl to do?

Well, this girl escapes.

Of course, that means I go from the frying pan into the fire, and my situation gets even more dangerous. Just when I have no hope left, a new hero shows up. Sure, he's blue, horned, and has a tail. He's also fierce, protective, makes me purr...and thinks I'm perfect.

But is what we have real or just a mating instinct?"

Anyone else think the art of Lila on the cover looks like the British actress Lucy Griffiths?

Heartless by H.G. Parry
Published by: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"At the age of seven, in a London workhouse, newly-orphaned James meets ten-year-old Peter. Mysterious, mercurial, thoughtless to the point of cruelty, Peter nonetheless takes a liking to James. The two forge a strange friendship, bound together by their shared love of stories - stories of a magical island called Neverland, where they adventure as the pirate James Hook and the child-king Peter Pan. But one fateful night, Peter vanishes from his bed, and in the morning James is found lying alone and broken in the courtyard outside. Only James saw Peter fly from the workhouse roof in pursuit of a star, and nobody but James believes that the star was a fairy. Over twenty years later, on the deck of a whaling ship in the frozen wastes of the Arctic, First Mate James Hook sees the same star again. James's obsession with finding his childhood friend will lead him to mutiny and murder, beyond the edges of the world, and finally to an island that shouldn't exist. But neither Neverland nor Peter are what they appear. A new story is about to begin, and not all stories have happy endings."

I will literally read anything put out by Subterranean Press, but the fact that it's written by H.G. Parry and is a retelling of Peter Pan, I have to read it now.

Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome by Garth Marenghi
Published by: Coronet Books (GB)
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2024
Format: Paperbacks, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dare you crack open the TerrorTome? (Mind the spine.)

When horror writer Nick Steen gets sucked into a cursed typewriter by the terrifying Type-Face, Dark Lord of the Prolix, the hellish visions inside his head are unleashed for real. Forced to fight his escaping imagination - now leaking out of his own brain - Nick must defend the town of Stalkford from his own fictional horrors, including avascular-necrosis-obsessed serial killer Nelson Strain and Nick's dreaded throppleganger, the Dark Third. Can he and Roz, his frequently incorrect female editor, hunt down these incarnate denizens of Nick's rampaging imaginata before they destroy Stalkford, outer Stalkford and possibly slightly further?

From the twisted genius of horror master Garth Marenghi - Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage (plus Man-Shee) - come three dark tales from his long-lost multi-volume epic: TerrorTome.

Can a brain leak?

(Yes, it can)"

If you know, you know. Also, if you know you are totally confused.

Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody
Published by: Soho Crime
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A twisty, sexy debut exploring the dark side of true crime fandom and the blurry lines of female friendship, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, My Favorite Murder, and Fleabag.

Conspiracy theories from Reddit seduce a disaster-prone woman into an obsession with solving her older sister's cold-case disappearance.

Ten years ago, Theodora "Teddy" Angstrom's older sister, Angie, went missing. Her case remains unsolved. Now Teddy's father, Mark, has killed himself. Unbeknownst to Mark's family, he had been active in a Reddit community fixated on Angie, and Teddy can't help but fall down the same rabbit hole.

Teddy's investigation quickly gets her in hot water with her gun-nut boyfriend, her long-lost half brother, and her colleagues at the prestigious high school where she teaches English. Further complicating matters is Teddy's growing obsession with Mickey, a charming amateur sleuth who is eerily keen on helping her solve the case.

Bewitched by Mickey, Teddy begins to lose her moral compass. As she struggles to reconcile new information with old memories, her erratic behavior reaches a fever pitch, but she won't stop until she finds Angie - or destroys herself in the process.

A biting critique of the internet's voyeurism, Rabbit Hole is an outrageous and heart-wrenching character study of a mind twisted by grief - and a page-turning mystery that's as addictive as a late-night Reddit binge."

I was sold at Fleabag and Reddit binge.

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