strange and random happenstance

An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong returns to Victorian Scotland in the latest in the genre-blending Rip Through Time series.

Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Mitchell has grown accustomed to life in Victorian Scotland after travelling 150 years into the past into the body of a housemaid. She's built a new life for herself. Even though she works as an assistant to forensic-science pioneer Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie, she considers them true friends. And with Gray in particular, perhaps, someday, something more.

Late one night, Gray and Mallory are summoned urgently to the home of Lady Adler, a patron of Gray's undertaking business, and they assume there's been a death in the household. But instead, they arrive in the midst of a seance with a ghost demanding Gray's presence. The ghost is Lady Adler's former maid, who had gone missing but now requests that Gray investigate her murder. Although Gray and Mallory are skeptical, they agree to look into the matter, whether she's dead or alive. But unsure if there's been a murder or not, unable to call out the medium as a fraud, and concerned for the fate of the young maid, Gray and Mallory are once again drawn into a mystery much more puzzling - and more dangerous - than it first seems."

A seance!?! Oh, be still my heart! 

Piccadilly Reckoning by Tracy Grant
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An explosion that rips through the elegant bustle of Mayfair. Three victims who seemingly have no connection to each other. A dangerous weapon. The glamour of Regency London explodes when a carriage carrying a former diplomat is attacked in front of a Piccadilly pub, exposing a deadly web of murder and international intrigue.

Summoned by Bow Street, former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch rush to the scene to find the wreckage still smoldering. Sir Stephen Strangeways, who is in line for a strategic cabinet post, died in the explosion. Baron Hauke, an Austrian diplomat, and Julien Mallinson, a fellow former agent - and one of Mélanie and Malcolm's closest friends - are seriously wounded. Their lives hang in the balance while questions hang in the air.

No one knows how the three men might be connected or who wants them dead. The search for answers sends the Rannochs deep into their past, from the scandalous history of exiled Queen Hortense Bonaparte to the dangerous intrigues of foreign revolutionaries. Julien's secrets are deeper and more deadly than even his friends know. Mélanie shares some of those secrets. Now she must reveal long buried truths that she's concealed from even her own husband. As the Rannochs race to solve the mystery and prevent a dangerous weapon from falling into the wrong hands, the safety of their country, the lives of their friends, and the future of their marriage hang in the balance..."

Tracy Grant and Regency London are my jam.

A Wasp in the Beehive by Mary Logue
Published by: University of Minnesota Press
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 200 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Salt Lake City, 1881: Brigid Reardon is again on the case when her new employer - a leader in the Church of Latter-day Saints - is murdered in his home.

Still reeling from the violence she encountered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Brigid Reardon presses on alone to Salt Lake City, where she decides to settle down in what she hopes is a safe community. Things look promising when she's hired to work at the Deseret Bookstore and offered a room in the home of her employer, Mr. Cutter, a high-ranking member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, and his five wives.

Despite Brigid's conflicting feelings about polygamy, she finds the Cutter wives warm and welcoming, and she thinks she may finally be happy here. As she settles in, Brigid learns that Mr. Cutter wants yet another wife, and he is set on Amelia, the daughter of one of his wives from a previous marriage. When Mr. Cutter is found apparently murdered in the women's sewing room, each of the wives (plus Amelia and Mr. Cutter's son) is a suspect, and Brigid knows it's up to her to figure out just who did it. As she continues to work in the bookstore and live with the grieving family, Brigid teams up with the local coroner to investigate - and with her undeniable knack for detection, it's not long before she discovers a telltale clue.

A Wasp in the Beehive continues Brigid's trek west in the United States after immigrating from Ireland with her brother, following her time in Deadwood, South Dakota, in The Streel and in Cheyenne in The Big Sugar. But with everything that has happened, will she stay in Salt Lake City, or will she move on again?"

I think she's moving on after she figures out all the wives were in on it Agatha Christie style.

The Book Club Murders by Maggie Allswell
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 319 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What Judy's book club doesn't know about murder mysteries isn't worth writing about. Nothing beats cracking a fictional case over some wine and salt and vinegar crisps. But can they put their puzzle-solving skills to the test when the local librarian dies in a real-life murder?

For widower Judy, her murder book club is the highlight of the month: she gets to hear all the local gossip and even discuss a good fictitious poisoning or two. But when local librarian Wendy disappears, Judy follows in the footsteps of her fictional detective heroes only to find her dead in her home, clasping a copy of Romeo and Juliet...

The police rule it a tragic accident, but Judy knows that her friend hated Shakespeare, and suspects foul play. Gathering her fellow book lovers together, soon they discover that several townspeople had motive to want Wendy dead. Was it Nigel from the tavern, who may have been Wendy's secret boyfriend? Or could it be Bryan, the local bookshop owner, tangled in a bitter rivalry with the library?

The plot thickens at a charity murder mystery night held at Nigel's tavern. Suddenly more murders come to light, both real and very badly staged. And when Nigel makes an astonishing revelation, the book club agree it's a plot twist no-one saw coming. Can Judy and her book club solve the mystery before they too fall victim to a killer plot?

An utterly addictive and hilarious new cozy mystery series, perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Robert Thorogood and Faith Martin."

I've been trying to convince my book club for years that we could branch out and solve crimes, but they just want to do a podcast or supernatural investigations. 

Safari Murder Party by Rachel Moore
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this darkly funny, slightly unhinged, heart-pounding thriller, two office rivals must team up to escape wild animals and even wilder coworkers on a corporate retreat gone wrong.

Fletcher Spence is dying for a promotion. And her colleagues are more than happy to oblige.

After three years working seventy-hour weeks as assistant to the most terrifying CEO in the magazine world, Fletcher finally finagled a spot on Cartwright Media's annual corporate retreat - a famously luxurious week on the Cartwrights' private island, where promotions are handed out like party favors. And her plan to snag her dream job as a travel magazine photographer was going great...until her boss's dramatic death reveals his last will and testament: Whoever survives the week will inherit the company.

So now she's stuck on her billionaire boss's safari park island, surrounded by wild animals and on the run from coworkers who've swapped coffee cups for machetes and briefcases for hunting rifles.

To Fletcher's dismay, her only ally might be her boss's insufferably gorgeous son, Waylon Cartwright. Despite their hostile history, Fletcher is at least 80 percent sure he won't try to kill her this week. Plus, his experience on the island might come in handy while they fend off lions and tigers and...marketing executives? Oh my.

While Fletcher battles her own ambitions and her unexpected attraction to Waylon, her power-hungry, bloodthirsty colleagues will do anything to stop them from escaping with their lives. Everyone knows the media industry is cutthroat, but in this safari party, it's never been more true."

Send Help meets Westworld. 

The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times-bestselling author of Ghosted and The Love of My Life comes an unmissable emotional thriller: an up-all-night, page-turning love story with a very dark secret at its heart.

Carrie and Johan marry on a beach in Thailand only months into their whirlwind romance. Carrie, a British surgical intern, is too happy to care that she's being impulsive. But as the wedding festivities stretch into the night, a group of armed men suddenly swarm the beach, taking Johan away. She never sees him again.

Twelve years later, Carrie is living in the English countryside with her husband, Robin, and their six-year-old twins, running a holiday cottage rental business on the side. One night, she stumbles across an online post in which she discovers that Johan escaped from Thailand years ago, and has been living in Stockholm ever since. As the memories of their passionate relationship flood her, she becomes obsessed with discovering what happened on their wedding day all those years ago.

But just when Carrie thinks she knows what she must do, a shocking twist tears apart everything Carrie thought she knew. The One Day You Were My Husband asks readers what - and whom - they would give up to return to a first love and to the people they once were."

If he wanted her to know she was alive, he would have reached out.

Startup Hell by Caitlin Rozakis
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hilarious contemporary fantasy about a junior sales witch stuck in corporate hell, who has to evade devilish pacts and her kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying mum to save a (surprisingly hot) demon, and work out how to hit her quarterly target.

Morgan Blackwater's mother is a kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying Shadow Council wizard. As for Morgan? Morgan's a junior salesperson at a tech startup that can't even decide what its product is. But with magic dyslexia and a disinclination to kick ass, Morgan is doing her best carving out a niche for herself in the mundane world.

Leaving work late one night, she discovers her boss dead from the effort of summoning a demon to trade his soul in order to make his quarterly target. The disturbingly-attractive demon, Lucareoth (Luke for short), is trapped here until he finds someone to sell their soul. While trying to sneak Luke out of the building, Morgan runs into her infamous mother. Apparently, someone has been summoning demons and she's here to get to the bottom of it.

Trying to protect Luke from her mother, Morgan gets sucked into the Infernal Plane and discovers hell really is a corporate nightmare. She only gets back home with a promise to deliver a human soul of her own. While her coworkers are really annoying, she's not willing to sacrifice their souls. The company's tech bro CEO, though, is another story.

With Caitlin Rozakis's signature wit, Startup Hell is a contemporary fantasy that exposes the demonic nature of the corporate world."

But does a tech bro even have a soul?

The Arcane Arts by S.D. Coverly
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this thrilling and sensuous dark academia fantasy, an ambitious graduate student and her advisor dive into studying a taboo branch of magic, igniting a dangerous passion between them.

Tucked within an idyllic corner of New England, Newlyn University stands as a bastion for the academic elites. Inside its hallowed halls, students can pursue degrees in medicine, history, technology...or the Arcane Arts - the esoteric study of powerful magical forces. Enter Ellsbeth Storer: long determined to pursue a graduate degree in arcane mechanicals at Newlyn. Headstrong and driven, she convinces Thaddeus Rawlins, one of the field's most celebrated professors, to take her on as a student. Against his better judgment, Rawlins allows her to pursue a thesis on writ magic, the long-forbidden power to control and compel others.

While student and teacher both profess academic interest in the topic, each wants it for their own secret purpose. But they soon discover that Newlyn itself may be hiding the darkest secret of all....

As Rawlins and Ellsbeth undertake their clandestine research, their flirtation crosses into uncontrollable desire, which threatens to bloom into something even more troubling: love. But when their project begins to spin out of control, entangling them in a destructive web of lust and power, the question remains: can two people who are masters of manipulation ever trust each other?"

No, master manipulators can never trust each other. Especially once magic enters the picture.

Calling Me Home by Laurin Becker Macios
Published by: Holiday House
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A beautifully crafted YA novel in verse that follows a 17-year-old girl's backpacking trip across Europe - filled with awe, danger, friendships, and something like love.

Jenny Campbell, recent high school graduate, has spent her unrooted childhood planning for a future she can control: NYU, marketing major, big-city life. But first, a carefully mapped solo backpacking trip through Europe.

Only, the trip doesn't stay on the map. As she travels between countries and memories, Jenny begins to loosen her grip on the life she's scripted. She works at a bookshop in Greece, treks through the Balkans on overnight trains, falls in something-like-love in Rome.

At summer's end, Jenny returns to the States ready to launch her New York City future. And then, she learns she's pregnant. Choosing to end her pregnancy, Jenny tries to keep her plans - but finds she may no longer be the person meant to live them.

Calling Me Home is part classic travel bildungsroman (you can almost taste the ouzo in Greece and feel the wind of Ireland) and part meditation on how abortion is just one piece of a person's story."

The point of backpacking through Europe before college is to make sure you're on the right track.

Glyph by Ali Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From a literary master, a novel of ghosts and history and family legacy, of the unexpected acts of care that shine light into our dark.

Ghosts don't exist.
They don't. End of.
Story, however.
It is haunting.
Everything tells it.

It all starts when Petra and her little sister Patch hear a horrifying story from the past and find themselves making up a ghost.

Is it imaginary? Is it real?

Then it all starts again thirty years later when Petra, now estranged from Patch, finds a phantom horse kicking the furniture to pieces in her bedroom.

What to do? She phones her sister.

In a chiarascuro dance through our increasingly antagonistic era, Glyph asks if we're attending to the history that's made us and to the history we're making.

A funny, warm and clear-eyed take on where we are now, Glyph is about what our imaginations are for and how, in a broken, brutal and divided time, we rekindle care, solidarity, resistance and openness. This anti-war novel, Ali Smith's most soulful, playful and vital yet, is a work of lightness that goes deep to counter the forces currently flattening the modern world."

Ali Smith is a writer who once you read you will never forget.

A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a lady's maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England.

Miss Alice Lockey, daughter of a tenant farmer, has by dint of hard work, innate intelligence, and a cunning ability to predict the moods of her betters, raised herself to the lofty status of lady's maid at Alderwick Park. Though her mother has advised Alice to work only until marriage, Alice has thus far resisted the temptations of matrimony among the neighboring widowers and pig farmers, more content to enjoy the fruits of her labor - or at least the portion of it her father will share after it is paid to him. Alice spends her days arranging Lady Jemima Alderwick's blond hair into the latest French styles, chignons and plaits, laundering her lady's surprisingly malodorous petticoats and drawers, and carefully sewing all manner of fripperies, ribbons, lace, and silk flowers, to her lady's bonnets and gowns.

But when a visiting servant, a valet named Charlie Wells, catches her eye, Alice begins to understand the constraints of her position. In a ploy to spend time with the object of her affection, Alice attempts to arrange a romance between Lady Jemima Alderwick and Charlie's employer, one Baronet Sir Nigel Wynstowe. If only they would fall in love - then Alice and Charlie might live together as man and wife! Challenged by Lady Jemima's love for another and Sir Wynstowe's eccentric personality, Alice must use all of her cunning to bring about this unlikely romantic union. Will this low-born servant successfully manipulate the hearts of these lords and ladies? Will Charlie and Alice ever improve their stations? Or, as the beginning of women's suffrage begins to percolate in the drawing rooms and salons of London, will Alice discover a different sort of path for herself?

A deliciously funny, gorgeously detailed, utter enthralling novel, A Perfect Hand is a glorious novel of class, gender, and England on the cusp of enormous change."

With that cover they missed out calling this book A Perfect Hat.

The Hope Keeper by Heather Webb
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"1919, Washington D.C. Elisabeth Beaumont comes from a renowned jeweler family, but after the untimely death of her twin brother, she's left on her own to run the failing family business. Desperate for work, she approaches the affluent crowd her brother Julien once courted to expand Beaumont Jewelers. Their ringleader is wealthy socialite Evalyn McLean, owner of the world's most infamous gemstone, rumored to curse all who travel within its orbit.

The Hope Diamond.

As Elisabeth is swept into Evalyn's toxic world of dark opulence, the lines defining who she is and where she belongs begin to blur, leading Elisabeth to question all she once believed. She's no longer certain she wants to take over the family business and be beholden to the wealthy elite of D.C. But she can't fathom leaving her father in the lurch. There's also Evalyn to consider, and the Hope Diamond, which beckons Elisabeth to admire it, touch it, care for it, despite every warning she's been told.

When tragedy strikes one night, not only is Elisabeth's fragile friendship with Evalyn put to the test, but her carefully constructed glamorous new life comes crashing down. Now Elisabeth must face the truth about her brother's death and decide what matters most."

On the whole, jewels don't interest me. Cursed jewels on the other hand? Oh yeah.

Salomé by Leslie Baird
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gothic-tinged fever dream that reimagines the young American in France, Salomé follows an adrift journalist who accepts an alluring stranger's invitation to stay at her home in a small French town, only to uncover a dangerous family history that could bend the course of humanity.

Don't open your eyes...

Courtney notices Salomé the moment she steps onto the plane. She's magnetic, quicksilver, and, best of all for incurable Francophile Courtney, French. So when Salomé invites Courtney to her mother's town in northwestern France, Courtney doesn't even have to think about it.

But things are, almost immediately, surreal. Despite feeling right at home with Salomé, Courtney is confronted by a house outfitted with cameras and the dark, watchful presence of Salomé's mother. Courtney senses she should leave, but with Salomé she feels as if she's rediscovered the "French Courtney," an alternate version of herself who made a life in France.

That is, until she starts to experience paralyzing nightmares in which strange voices intone Don't open your eyes...and encounters Salomé's charismatic stepfather, Marco, whose pyramid-scheme vitamin company offers a tempting segue into an even more insidious group obsessed with eternal life. Or is it an actual cult? And how much does Salomé really know? As a conspiracy unfurls, Courtney is torn between her loyalty to Salomé and what might be the story of a lifetime, the kind that could make a journalist's career - if it doesn't kill her first.

A modern reclamation of the original femme fatale whose story, until now, has been almost exclusively told by men, Salomé is a tantalizing, feminist tale exploring power, loyalty, connection, and the measures we'll take to harness our deepest desires."

I like the hints of Bluebeard as well.

The Temptation of Charlotte North by Camilla Bruce
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a sinister spirit invades an isolated community, three lives will be forever altered, in this dark gothic fantasy from the acclaimed author of At the Bottom of the Garden.

A rebellious young woman desperate to escape her predetermined life.

The handsome but married priest who has caught her eye.

And the resolute schoolteacher who values science above all.

In 1910, on a small, remote island that boasts more sheep than people, the fates of Charlotte North, Jasper Hill, and Ruth Russel are perched on the edge of a cliff, and a strange wind is blowing....

When an ancient tower - rumored to have once imprisoned a witch - crumbles, it releases something powerful: a restless spirit that knocks inside the walls and sends household objects flying. A spirit that seems to be drawn to Charlotte, who sees in it a potential for power and change.

But first she must overcome Jasper's piety and Ruth's fierce determination to banish the terrifying entity. Only then will she gain the power to claim the life that she desires."

Windswept and Gothic, two things I crave.

The Lustrous Dark by Loretta Chefchaouni
Published by: Peachtree Teen
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Sabaa Tahir and Guillermo del Toro comes The Lustrous Dark, a sweeping YA fantasy, in which a young midwife's apprentice rises up to take back the power that's been stolen from women.

Orphaned as a baby, Shay has spent her life training as the midwife's apprentice. Her role grants her stability, yet Shay has always yearned for more. Namely, motherly affection and answers regarding her mysterious birth - neither of which the midwife deems practical to provide.

After Shay discovers her birth mother, Hind, is still alive and addicted to a magical drug called Snow, she determines to get the woman clean. But when Hind betrays Shay to get her hands on more Snow, Shay's abandoned within a deadly forest and forced to rely on a band of monstrous ghouls for safety.

Shay's realm has long stood on the brink of war between the men who control magic and the revolutionaries who want to eliminate it. But in the forest, Shay hears the pleading call of ancient spirits who claim that not only has magic been stolen, but Shay has the power to return it. With the help of a spitfire revolutionary and the boy who's winning over her heart, Shay discovers the horrific truth of who produces Snow and will have to decide for herself whether to heed the spirits' charge or fade into obscurity.

This emotionally raw and gorgeously rendered fairy tale combines the lush worldbuilding of This Woven Kingdom with the mother trauma of Snow White and a dash of Tim Burton. Steeped in mysticism and mythology, The Lustrous Dark confronts injustices against women with a righteous scream that'll inspire readers to rally against the patriarchy and oppressive regimes worldwide.

Perfect for readers who love Political Revolutions, Fighting the Patriarchy, Toxic Mothers, Reawakening the Gods, Ancient Magic, Bone-Chilling Monsters, Haunted Forests, Female Friendships, Fairy Tale Retellings, and Cinnamon Roll Love Interests."

Yes, I love all that. Now can we start a revolution with some ancient Gods?

A Star Cursed Heart by Annie Mare
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two women are cursed to be mortal enemies, despite their love for each other, in this queer, fantastical novel by Annie Mare.

In the lead-up to the Salem witch trials, a desperate man made a deal with the devil - a deal that would drag two families down with him. Now, over 400 years later, the Steadfasts and the Prynnes remain caught in a curse that sentences both families to an existence of rigid rules, torturous consequences, and half-lives.

Lucy Prynne and Ashes Steadfast are the latest to take on the mantle of this centuries-old deal: Lucy, born to try to reap the souls of the hopeful; and Ashes, born to stop Lucy, no matter the cost. But before they inherited their respective curses, it sure felt like Ash's purpose was Lucy. Her best friend, her closest confidant, her true love.

Ash knows the rules. She keeps her head down, her emotions in check, and she fights Lucy, no matter the personal cost. They are doomed to an incessant battle between good and bad, self-righteous and carnal.

Or so Ash thinks. But when she resists her instincts to fight Lucy and finally starts to fight the curse instead, she realizes there might just be a way to end this once and for all. If not in this timeline, then the next. As generational secrets begin to unravel, Ashes and Lucy join forces against the true threat that has haunted their families for centuries, even if it costs them their lives - and their love."

You need to read the fine print when making a deal with the devil and think about your family. Unless you're too self-centered to think of them then you're already damned. 

And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An intergalactic art heist by a ragtag group of underqualified misfits. What could go wrong?

For three hundred years, humanity's greatest works of art have been on loan at the Greenwood Museum. It was finally time for them to come home...but the alien curators were disinclined to return them.

Force was out of the question. Earth's government was clear: They were not going to press the issue. So, all we had was guile and hubris to fuel our little intergalactic art heist.

My old friend Tarquin was our leader, but not the captain. That was Tchik-tchik, though whether Tchik-tchik was our insectoid pilot's name or species is still unclear to me. Misora, with her extremely illegal biotech mods, was our muscle.

Jack was there to hack the security systems of the biggest museum in the galaxy. He was a sensynth, a sentient synthetic being, and the most powerful machine intelligence on Earth uncorrupted by alien technology.

My name is Fennel Tycho. I'd like to tell you I was there because of my expertise in Art History. Truth is, I was there because without me, Jack would not have agreed to go. He was notorious for being difficult to work with - but it was a mistake to think I could make things any easier.

A meditation on the nature of love, life, and the "culture of the copy," And Side by Side They Wander asks the question: In a future where there are clones, androids, and a sentient mycelium that creates fungal simulacra, who is real and what is fake?"

I love art and art history and taking the discussion of the genuine to outer space and the future is just fascinating. 

Pollock's Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in New York City in alternating time periods - the 1950s and the early 2000s - Pollock's Last Lover is the engrossing tale of two women whose lives collide as they contend with the art and legacy of the brilliant, tragic painter Jackson Pollock.

In 2006, Sotheby's sells a painting by Jackson Pollock for $140 million - the highest sum ever paid for a work of art. Two weeks later, an older woman named Ruth Kligman, in high heels and a dusty fascinator, contacts a smaller, less prominent auction house to announce that she was Pollock's lover, and that he gave her his last painting. She declares that it was selfish to keep it in her apartment for fifty years, and that people should see this masterpiece in galleries and museums the world over. The bidding will start at $50 million.

Gwen, an up-and-coming associate at the firm, is assigned the task of verifying the painting's authenticity. For Gwen, an ambitious woman in a field often dominated by men, it is her biggest project yet. And the company must have absolute certainty. Yet each step of the investigation raises larger questions - about Ruth's cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock's sudden and violent death.

What follows, in alternating chapters and time periods, is a multigenerational portrait of women's ambition set against the life and work of Jackson Pollock. From smoky Greenwich Village dive bars to glitzy art auctions, from the empty studio of a man once known for his artistic stamina to the fine museums where his works hang, Ruth's controversial painting provides a window into two eras - and the ongoing struggle of women to develop power and freedom on their own terms."

Please don't be like one of my art history professors who was convinced Pollock's death in a car crash was a suicide. In other news, I hated that art history professor with a passion. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ali Smith, Annie Mare, Ayelet Waldman, Caitlin Rozakis, Camilla Bruce, Heather Webb, Jackson Pollock, Kelley Armstrong, Laurin Becker Macios, Leslie Baird, Loretta Chefchaouni, Mary Logue, Molly Tanzer, S.D. Coverly, Tracy Grant

Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A most-anticipated title from USA Today, Goodreads, BookPage, BookRiot, Seattle Times, and The Nerd Daily!

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment of Martha Wells' bestselling and award-winning Murderbot Diaries series.

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know.

Including human children. Ugh.

This may well call for... eye contact!

(Emotion check: Oh, for f—)"

I love Murderbot. Murderbot is me.

A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author Nghi Vo comes a beautiful new tale in the Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle, drawn from the earliest days of Chih's career as a wandering cleric.

Every story begins somewhere.

On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea. Everyone has a story about the foreigners newly in their midst - lazy, violent, unwanted - while the refugees themselves grieve the loss of the home they loved.

Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is also a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric's job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.

In the seventh entry of the award-winning Singing Hills series, we meet Chih and Almost Brilliant just beginning their journey together as Chih assumes their place on the road and in the world.

The novellas of the Singing Hills series are standalone stories linked by the Cleric Chih, and may be read in any order."

As I'll say time and again, fantasy is gives us the truest stories of humanity. 

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.

When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home.

But the past Mercy can't remember isn't done with her. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon's waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy - and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten.

As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making."

Always here for the ghosts.

Clara and the Devil, Volume 1 by Olivie Blake and Little Chmura
Published by: 23rd St.
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The devil has come to town. And he wants a library card. Star author Olivie Blake and artist Little Chmura kick off a deliciously dark graphic novel romance series with Clara and the Devil, Volume 1.

Clara has the rest of her life figured out. She'll graduate college with the support of her best friend, Jonah; marry her adoring boyfriend; take a full-time job at her local library; and settle down in her small seaside hometown. But when an unusual tourist - tall, dark, and infernal - comes to town, Clara's careful plans quickly start to unravel.

And even while the stranger, who openly calls himself the devil, strikes up a situationship with Jonah, he continues to tempt Clara with reckless talk of power, ambition, and lust. Over the course of one sultry summer, tensions between Clara, Jonah, and the devil mount to an intolerable degree, and Clara is forced to confront the desires she's kept secret her whole life, even from herself.

This deliciously dark tale of Faustian bargains and seduction from New York Times-bestselling author Olivie Blake and fan-favorite artist Little Chmura kicks off a series that explores artistry and power through the temptation of the seven deadly sins."

I twist on the old saying of God laughing when you make plans.

Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven by Sara Shepard
Published by: Random House/Marvel
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Agatha Harkness finds herself yanked out of her mysterious past and plopped in a modern-day high school, the race is on to find the key to saving her coven while discovering first love and battling an ancient foe.

Agatha Harkness is a powerful witch stuck living amongst an untalented group of witches in 1690s Salem, Massachusetts. That's all right - the dreary coven meetings and fake herbal potions will all be worth it once she finally gets her hands on one of the most magical artifacts in existence: the Darkhold, a book of extraordinary power. But just as it's within her grasp, disaster strikes the coven!

Agatha is about to reluctantly save the day when she is rebuffed by the nosy, stuck-up Martha. Now, thanks to the interference, Martha, Agatha, and the Darkhold have been unceremoniously dropped in one of the most terrifying locations a witch has ever encountered - modern-day high school.

Armed with just her smarts and her spells, Agatha embarks on a quest to recover the Darkhold and an incognito Martha. Along the way, she encounters a meddlesome crow, a potential first crush, and a new coven. She almost starts to feel like she's found her home, until Martha returns from the shadows - this time with dire consequences."

Agatha with a big dollop of Sabrina.

Out Law by Jim Butcher
Published by: Podium Publishing
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The past comes back in a big way for Chicago's only professional wizard in this action-packed novella from the #1 New York Times-bestselling Dresden Files.

In a city that's just beginning to recover from the devastation caused by the Battle of Chicago, Harry Dresden is finally pulling himself together as well. He's ensconced in his own personal castle, healing his various wounds, and training an eager new apprentice. The last thing he wants is any trouble. But, as history has consistently - and quite annoyingly - shown, what Harry wants is rarely what Harry gets.

It starts with a visit from Harry's most powerful frenemy, Gentleman John Marcone, Baron of Chicago. He needs Harry to assist in the redemption of an underling who's looking to go straight. And since Harry does kinda sorta owe Marcone for saving his life once (stupid honorable debt!), it's not a request he can refuse. He'll just wish he had.

Because this little favor is going to drag Harry into a fight he doesn't want on behalf of a lowlife he doesn't trust against an enemy more powerful and pestilent than he ever could've expected: an insatiable, demonic foe whom Harry himself may have created when he wiped out the vampires of the Red Court so long ago.

Before, all it wanted was blood. Now it wants the entire world..."

Damn honorable Dresden!

For Better or Murder by Simon R. Green
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's wedding season with a spooky twist! The Holy Terrors are trying to tie the knot while solving a ghostly murder in the latest witty, creeptastic paranormal mystery from New York Times bestselling British fantasy author Simon R. Green.

There are those who say seagulls cry over the sins of mankind. And that if we could only get our act together, they could stop crying...

Holy Terrors dream team - actress Diana Hunt and her partner in crime (solving) young bishop Alistair Kincaid - are getting married! The plan is to hold a small ceremony with just some family and friends at a charming and secluded hotel in Cornwall. But in true Holy Terrors fashion, the Pale Rider hotel carries the legend of a killer ghost rider and his skeleton horse, which sets the perfect tone for a cheerful occasion!

Trying to make the best out of the stormy weekend and seemingly haunted place, spirits fall even lower when one of the guests is found murdered in the hallway. Did the legendary pale rider strike again or is there something more sinister going on - and will Diana and Alistair finally have the chance to say yes?

The 'hugely entertaining' (Booklist) Holy Terrors Mysteries are perfect for fans of Simon R. Green's urban fantasy novels, authors Jim Butcher, Terry Pratchett and Ben Aaronovitch, as well as those who enjoy American Horror Story, The X-Files and murder mysteries with a supernatural twist."

I mean, there are some people who should just elope. 

Body Count by Codie Crowley
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Three wishes. One prom queen celebrating at the Jersey Shore. And one monster who will keep killing until her wishes are paid for.

From the virally popular author of Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, a queer feminist YA horror/slasher novel perfect for fans of You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight.

Seven years ago, Sundae Valentine made a deal with a monster she met at the bottom of a motel pool. She didn't know the wishes he offered had a price - or that the third wish, the one she still hasn't made, will cost her life.

Back then, she barely escaped Wildwood alive. Now, the cheerleaders and football players are headed to the Jersey Shore for prom weekend - leaving Sundae no choice but to return to the scene of her sun-bleached nightmares.

Sundae tries to forget, throwing herself into the rides on the pier, the tequila-fueled dance parties, and the guitar-strumming girl she can't quite look away from. She hopes the beast has forgotten, too.

But there are eyes like silver coins watching from the shadows, and teeth like a rusty saw glinting in the light of the boardwalk. Because Sundae still owes a debt. And whatever it takes, whoever he has to kill, this time the monster's determined to collect."

It's always dangerous to make a deal with a monster. It's more dangerous when he decides your time is up.

I Know a Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy
Published by: Shortwave
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 504 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first collection from USA Today bestselling author Nat Cassidy, featuring his unique blend of gleefully terrifying short fiction.

There are locations in this world where the light doesn't seem to reach. Where, no matter how illuminated the place might be, shadows creep in too strongly to fight back.

A suspiciously empty gas station rest stop in the middle of the night, littered with googley eyes... A doctor's office, where a bottle of booze and a tear-stained folder wait on the desk... A tech millionaire's haunted kitchen... A Bible-quoting ventriloquist's dingy apartment... A yoga retreat in the middle of the desert, silent except for the screaming...

These locations and more are your destination and bestselling author Nat Cassidy will be your guide. Featuring the Bram Stoker Award-nominated, critically acclaimed novella Rest Stop (one of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2024), along with a number of other original short stories, some which have never been published before, I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours is a travelogue down twisting side streets and through alleyways where the darkness has eyes... and teeth.

Let's hope you make it home in one piece."

My book club recently read Cassidy's When the Wolf Comes Home and I couldn't help but love its vibe, akin to The Twilight Zone. In fact I thought if it was shorter it would have been fantastic. Which is why I'm so looking forward to reading Nat Cassidy's shorter work. Which is something I rarely say.

She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Parents should pass down stories, not spirits...

Avery and Carlos Tam have built their lives on logic, not legends. Carlos, the host of a hit reality show that exposes paranormal hoaxes, has made a name disproving the supernatural.

But when they travel to his ancestral home in the Philippines, darkness clings to every corner. The mirrors are shrouded. The housekeeper won't stay in the house alone. And no one will speak of the tragedies the family has seen.

Then a brutal car crash leaves Carlos trapped in his own body - silent, helpless, and utterly vulnerable. As Avery tends to him, the house begins to stir. It watches. It listens. And it speaks - in a voice only Carlos can hear - offering a twisted kind of comfort.

And as the lies buried by Carlos and his family begin to surface, Avery must confront the truth: if the past won't rest, their future may never begin.

Some inherit memories. Others inherit monsters."

Monsters are the worst inheritance.

That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall
Published by: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A native Hawaiian teen travels to a luxury island resort in search of her missing twin and uncovers the dark side of paradise, in this YA supernatural thriller that's Mexican Gothic meets She is a Haunting.

For the world's wealthiest, Kōpa'a Island Resort is more than a destination. It's the ultimate escape. With no cell service or Wi-Fi, the Hawaiian island is a coveted wellness retreat renowned for its persimmon orchard and promises of rejuvenation.

But their dream vacation is Lehua's nightmare. When her twin sister, Ohia, goes missing, Lehua follows her trail to Kōpa'a to find her. Instead, Lehua is cut off from civilization - and help - after the island's boat leaves without her, stranding her with the resort's lavish guests and enigmatic staff.

As Lehua investigates Ohia's disappearance, she discovers her missing sister isn't the island's only mystery. Kōpa'a's rich exterior and sweet persimmons hide its dark plantation past. And Lehua can't ignore the dreams haunting her each night - nor the warning telling her to leave the island at once. To uncover what happened to Ohia, Lehua will have to unearth the island's bloody history and face the horrors that lurk within its sugarcane fields - or risk being consumed by them.

Sharply observed and gorgeously written, That Which Feeds Us explores the true cost of paradise as Lehua must fight to reclaim the land, the stories, and the very souls of her people."

Hokuloa Road meets The White Lotus.

Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A twisty, searing, conversation-starting novel about a filmmaker-turned-housewife who moves into her dream house and is forced to consider whether it's the house or herself that is haunted.

When documentary filmmaker turned stay-at-home mom Tennessee Cherish moves into the the dream house her husband bought for her, a brighter future seems to be on the horizon. Even if her husband is frustratingly absent due to his new high-paying job. Even if their two young children begin acting out in strange ways. Even if she feels lonelier than ever.

Distracted by the endless details that come with moving into a new town, a new house, and new schools, Tenn doesn't notice when odd things begin happening at home. The faucet that runs at all hours. The creepy doll that seems to show up in every room. The human tooth they found in the floorboards.

As the kids' outbursts and the strange events start to escalate, the family finds themselves increasingly caught in loops, repeating everyday actions with dangerous - and then devastating - effects. Tenn realizes she must find the source of what is haunting her family, before it kills them all.

Taut and twisty, scary and searing, Aimee Pokwatka's Accumulation lays bare the high price women pay for the promises of domesticity and motherhood, and the many ways in which families can be haunted."

Hauntings take many forms. Sometimes you become your own ghost.

Spider, Spider by L.C. Winter
Published by: September Publishing
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Vengeance is theirs and theirs alone. But who will deal the fatal blow?

Young Nancy Ratcliffe is on the run. Her father had sought refuge for his family with the Brethren, led by the charismatic but dangerous Prophet. But now her father is gravely ill, and even the sooty streets of Victorian London hold less terror for Nancy than the brutality of Brethren Hall.

Meanwhile, Spider is biding her time. Wrapped in dreams and visions, she paces the dark corridors and hidden staircases of the crumbling house she grew up in. The man who murdered a part of her disappeared many years ago, but still she hopes for revenge.

Jet-black and thrilling, Spider, Spider is an unforgettable tale of a woman who has lost herself in the poison of vengeance, and the knife-sharp girl who might just bring her back."

Victorian and creepy, AKA just my vibe.

Ghoul by Kasey Iris
Published by: Top Shelf Productions
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Be careful what you wish for! This graphic novel about a lonely Filipino American teen and her ghoulish companion puts a spooky twist on the imaginary friend.

When they were little, Lyn and Meg promised to be friends forever. but now Meg is dead, and Lyn is 15 and miserable. Moving into a new condo with her family doesn't help, especially given the gossipy neighbors. But just when Lyn needs a friend the most, a monstrous cartoon ghoul climbs out of the pages of a comic book and into her life! The bizarre duo will soon discover just how many secrets lie within the walls of Forest Court Apartments."

I pretty certain my childhood invisible friend was actually a ghost.

As I Dream of You by Jennifer Lee and LeUyen Pham
Published by: First Second
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Franny and Sam are each other's entire world. So what do you do when your world ends? Frozen's Jennifer Lee and Lunar New Year Love Story's LeUyen Pham deliver a tour de force young adult romance with a supernatural twist.

Falling in love is supposed to hurt. That's what Franny and Sam, two cynical teenagers raised on tales of heartbreak and loss, have come to understand. Yet when they fall for each other, they find the reality of love is something else entirely: it's electrifying, all-encompassing, and easy. Theirs is a love that can conquer anything... perhaps even death.

But Franny and Sam's quest to stay together - no matter the cost - soon blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and their shared dream threatens to turn into a nightmare."

Dreams can turn nasty so quickly.

Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From acclaimed and #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a "sweet, nuanced, and reflective coming-of-age love story" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about an unassuming girl who learns to stand on her own while falling in love during a life-changing summer.

Finley has always felt most comfortable in someone else's shadow. Fortunately, she's got Colin, her magnetic boyfriend, who sweeps her along for activities, friendships, and future plans. Then she goes on a last-minute trip with her distant mom to a family vacation house that Finley didn't know existed and is now about to be sold.

Her mom was estranged from her own parents and siblings since leaving home for college, and it's a novelty for Finley to see her aunts and cousins. There's also the handful of teens who work at the Egg, her aunt's diner, and make up a found family of their own - including undeniably handsome guitarist Ben.

Then her relationship with Colin goes into freefall, and Finley's roadmap for life after high school is gone. She has no choice but to live, for the first time, without plans. The longer Finley stays, the closer she gets to the truth about why her mother stayed away - and why she's brought Finley here now.

And the closer she grows to new friends at the Egg, the more she starts to fall for charmingly awkward, soulful Ben and to realize how much of herself she's been missing. By the end of the summer, nothing will be the same - for this community or for Finley herself."

When you are that young sometimes it's best to live without a roadmap. 

The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley by Lindz McLeod
Published by: Carina Adores
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Pride, prejudice, and... lessons in love?

Jane Austen meets My Fair Lady in this joyful, clever opposites-attract Sapphic romance featuring Caroline Bingley and Darcy's younger sister, Georgiana.

Being snubbed by Mr Darcy - passed over for Elizabeth Bennet, no less - is humiliating.

Being told she's arrogant and unkind, and that if she doesn't mend her ways, she might never find love... that's simply preposterous. Isn't it?

Feeling the sting of Darcy's rejection, Caroline Bingley does what any self-respecting woman of means would do: she hatches a plan. Get Georgiana Darcy, the epitome of grace and sweetness, to teach Caroline how to be perfect like her.

But Caroline's transformation from status-hungry socialite to proper marriage material won't be easy. She must be charming, and even worse... she must be kind. And Georgiana herself isn't so sure about playing fairy godmother. Beneath Miss Darcy's polished facade lies an entirely different set of struggles.

As the two grow closer, Caroline discovers she's less interested in securing a man, and more intrigued by the woman helping her to reform her character. Before long, their lessons in finding love and acceptance blossom into something completely unexpected..."

I mean, it's always nice to assume that Caroline Bingley wasn't totally destroyed by rejection because she's a lover of women...

Austenland by Shannon Hale
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale invites readers to Austenland, an utterly delightful, romantic escape.

Newly updated edition with brand new content, including a "behind the scenes" look at the making of Austenland the movie!

Preorder the third book in the series, Christmas in Austenland, coming in September 2026!

Jane Hayes is what some might call a hopeless romantic. Normal life (and men) continuously disappoint her. Why can't she find anyone remotely like literary heartthrob, Mr. Darcy? Why can't real life feel like a novel?

When a wealthy relative bequeaths Jane a trip to an English resort for Austen superfans, Jane's fantasies become realer than she ever could have dreamed. Dressed in empire waist gowns and torn between a charming gardener and an actor playing the brooding Mr. Darcy role, Jane attempts to master the Regency-era etiquette and the flirtatious games. But when it's time to bid Austenland farewell, will she be able to leave her sincerest fantasies - and the men who helped bring them to life - behind for good?

The first book in this utterly delightful series gives readers the chance to relish all the fun of Regency romance, from the comfort of their modern lives."

I'm all here for this series by the talented Shannon Hale to continue and grow. But I'm always here for the movie. It's one of my favorite movies. Ever.

Rolls and Rivalry by Kristy Boyce
Published by: Delacorte Romance
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Roll the dice, strike up the band, and get ready for a swoon-worthy summer! A charming gaming romance that blends the magic of D and D with the camaraderie of band camp - from the bestselling author of Dating and Dragons!

Questing for love...

Hazel Buchanan has her senior year mapped out: Win respect as color guard captain, kick off her first D and D campaign, and steer clear of distractions. But her plan takes a critical hit when Max - her former best friend and longtime crush - returns to town with drumsticks in hand and an unexplained chip on his shoulder.

Hazel and Max can't help bickering every time they're together, and thanks to meddling parents, he's invading her D and D game too. As Dungeon Master, she's ready to shut him down, but D and D has a way of bringing people together like nothing else. Is this rivalry masking something more? With dice rolling and emotions spinning, Hazel might be in for more than she planned..."

I feel like this series going to band camp is a natural progression. 

Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!! by Asia Miller
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The rock-steady bond of college bandmates is tested by a new boyfriend in this hotly anticipated graphic rom-com by cartoonist and viral animator Asia Miller, perfect for fans of Bryan Lee O'Malley and Mariko Tamaki!

Lindsey Cheng is a college freshman figuring herself out. She's got a band with her best friends, an overprotective Chinese mom, and a date with a super cool indie rocker boy named Jason. Good luck, Lindsey!

It's the anticipated graphic debut by CalArts Alum and viral YouTube animator Asia Miller, expanded and in full color! An indie rock rom-com of liberating self-discovery, Lindsey practices juggling love, friendship, and family - ultimately learning to choose herself."

I have so been waiting for this!

Saturn Returning by Kim Narby
Published by: Bindery Books
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A smoldering, soul-splitting debut that tracks three friends through the celestial chaos of adulthood, love, and queer identity.

Jordan Caleb is a freshman at McCallen College when she meets Trace. From the moment the confident, tattooed Trace compliments Jordan's Alanis Morissette T-shirt, their friendship feels fated and electrically charged. When the two friends meet mercurial transfer student Silvia, she catches Trace's eye. Their instant attraction eclipses the nascent pull between Jordan and Trace, forming a messy constellation among the three women.

Over the course of a decade, their orbits send them to opposite coasts: Jordan builds a life in New York City, while Trace and Silvia get engaged in Seattle, yet the three remain linked by the gravitational pull of the past. As they approach thirty and the apogee of their Saturn return, their bond splinters when Trace calls Jordan with a shocking revelation, exposing a web of heartache, secrets, and unspoken desires.

Saturn Returning charts the complex paths of human connection and queer friendship, questioning how we define ourselves against the relationships that have shaped our lives."

Oh yes, here for the mess.

Hollow Inside by Asako Otani
Published by: Pushkin Press
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A witty, deadpan novel about modern relationships, pets, and living as a single woman; for fans of Sayaka Murata, offbeat humor, and sharp social observation.

In this skewed, mordantly funny Japanese novel, two women navigate aging and relationships in divergent ways.

Hirai, 38, has recently started living with her colleague Suganuma, 42. Both women are single and feel ambivalent at best about the prospect of marriage. Stuck in bland jobs that don't pay enough for them to afford one-bedroom apartments in the city, they defy social expectation and create their own domestic routines, allowing space for Suganuma's side-hustle - 3D-printing figurines of beloved dead pets for their grieving owners.

Though initially united by their resistance to romantic love, the pair begin tentative forays toward partnership. Suganuma strikes up a secret affair, which shocks Hirai into action and back into the world of dating apps. As she drifts through painfully adequate dates and endures intrusive questions at office socials, Hirai frets over whether she really needs to freeze her eggs again. In a dating world sapped of genuine connection, where can she turn to feel less hollow?

The debut novel by a bright new voice in Japanese fiction, Hollow Inside won the prestigious Subaru Prize. With a dark, deadpan tone and sharply witty observation, Asako Otani satirizes the myths and pressures of contemporary romantic love, as Hirai and Suganuma try to chart their own paths in a precarious world."

Here for the snark, but I also kind of want a 3-D printed figurine of my beloved Spotty.

A Zoom with a View by Jess Cannon
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A cozy murder mystery filled with hometown drama, social media influencers, an over-the-top mother, and two very attractive local men, A Zoom with a View will make you want to move to Blue Oak - if only the Fourth of July festivities didn't end with a dead body.

Leo can't believe she's back in Blue Oak. Her small, quirky Texas hometown feels suffocating after trying to make it big as an English professor in New York - especially due to her strained relationship with her overly hair-sprayed mother, Karina. But with Leo's career in academia in shambles, at least she's able to work as a photographer for her godmother's real estate business. And her best friend, Emily, is around to help her navigate through the mess - and maybe force her to reconnect with her old high school boyfriend, Mack.

But while at work, Leo makes a grisly discovery at one of her godmother's properties: the dead body of rival real estate agent and social media influencer Chaz. Even worse, Leo and Emily have been secretly running a snarky Reddit page making fun of Chaz's cringe-inducing advice and duck-faced selfies. When someone she loves is accused of the murder, Leo finds herself flung headfirst into a dangerous investigation, teaming up with a local detective who is a lot more attractive than she remembered when they were both teenagers. Meanwhile, Karina has been acting stranger and stranger, as if all her hair hides a big secret....

A bold and hilarious introduction to a new sleuth who is looking to get her life back on track, but finds a man with his skull bashed in instead."

I really wonder if people associate "zoom" with photography anymore...

False Relation by Veronica Heley
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Secrets are never safe in a small village.

Julian Marston-Lang calls Bea Abbot in a panic - his glamorous step-cousin Mona has been murdered!

Mona's body was discovered in the garden of the house where she was living with her husband, Marcus. Once a billionaire businessman, Marcus's reversal of fortunes and inability to maintain his wife's lavish lifestyle was the source of heated rows. Did they reach breaking point?

While it seems an open-and-shut case, Marcus has mysteriously vanished. And Bea is sure there's something Julian isn't telling her.... As she travels down to Marston Hall, Bea is determined to solve the mystery. But she's about to discover that there's more to Mona's death than meets the eye...

Fans of Richard Osman, M.C. Beaton and Agatha Christie will love this page-turning mystery."

Marston Hall you say? I'm always done for a Hall with a capital "H!"

The Inklings by John R. Kelly
Published by: WaterBrook
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie, and other literary legends join forces to unravel a deadly conspiracy in this gripping mystery that sweeps from the halls of Oxford to the streets of London and the shores of Loch Ness.

In the shadowy streets of 1936 Oxford, England, members of a secret society keep turning up dead. When J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and their fellow literary masterminds, known as the Inklings, are called upon to catch a killer, they trade their pens for magnifying glasses. With time running out, they get a helping hand from mystery writers Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers to unravel a sinister web of secrets.

Packed with historical details, intrigue, and a thrilling whodunit, this novel is a masterful blend of high-stakes drama. Dive into a world where the creators of fantasy and mystery confront a real-life menace in a race against the clock. Will dark forces prevail, or will these literary giants crack the case before the murderer strikes again?"

Did they really need Dorothy Sayers if they have Agatha Christie?

The Great Houses of Pill Hill by Diane Josefowicz
Published by: Soho Crime
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A scintillating, wickedly intricate locked-room mystery following an unconventional woman who makes miniatures of murder scenes and finds herself entangled in a real one when the client of her dream job turns up dead.

Hannah "Cookie" Cooke, an interior decorator with a sideline making miniature reproductions of crime scenes for the local police department, lands her dream job when New Preston's wealthiest couple hires her to renovate their historic New England home. But things go spectacularly wrong when her client Chuck - with whom she is having an affair - is murdered at the housewarming party.

The detective on the case commissions one of Cookie's miniatures to help solve the baffling murder. While grappling with her own complicated role in Chuck's life - and the thorny layers of her own envies, resentments, and ambitions - Cookie delves into the strange details of his death, including his overly involved therapist, his wife's nebulous textile empire, and a room decorated in nineteenth-century Egyptian kitsch hidden on the premises. In untangling the mystery, Cookie reveals an ugly truth about New Preston's elite that might prove deadly.

At once an irreverent interpretation of the hard-boiled genre and a skewering of traditional domesticity, this show-stopping work of crime fiction is crackling with narrative voice, resulting in a read that is equally engrossing and electrifying."

Oh, this has to be inspired by Frances Glessner Lee!

The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not as simple as it seems, in this twisty locked-room thriller from bestselling author of You Are Fatally Invited.

Not all fairytales were meant for children.

Aria Stokes is finally feeling settled - she lives in a tiny New York apartment, works as a bookseller at a local shop, and has even taken a leap of faith in love by indulging her attraction to bookstore regular Jasper. And he seems to already know her so well.

As a Valentine's Day surprise, Jasper gets the two of them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library - the grandiose establishment famed for its immersive genre-based reading rooms and, more notoriously, its rumored hauntings. While Aria normally loves all things ghastly, this place holds more dark secrets than she'd prefer Jasper to know. Like that the last time she was here, she left a body behind.

But when the automatic-door entry malfunctions and Aria, Jasper, and the five other people in their tour group become trapped in the library, they are forced to venture through the storied rooms and hidden passageways of the Daedalus in search of escape... and Aria quite literally has nowhere to hide from the shadows of her past. Then the group learns there's a murderer in their midst.

Now, as she tries to break out of the library's intricate reading rooms, Aria has to decide who she can trust - and what secrets are best kept buried - if she wants to make it out alive."

They all aren't getting out of this maze alive.

26 Beauties by James Patterson
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the world's #1 bestselling author, the Women's Murder Club goes searching for 26 Beauties - young women missing in San Francisco.

SFPD's Sergeant Lindsay Boxer's best friend, Claire Washburn, is named medical examiner of the year. But an uninvited guest crashes the Women's Murder Club's party: a concerned father seeking investigative reporter Cindy Thomas's help in locating his missing daughter. And she's not the only one. Lindsay's been investigating the deaths of a Jane Doe washed up on a nearby beach, and a young woman found in Golden Gate Park.

What if all these cases are connected?

The answers lie with the 26 Beauties on the run and in the wind."

Always here for the Women's Murder Club!

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Tundra Books
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Now in paperback with a brand-new cover comes the heart-stopping suspense thriller for teens from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Filled with suspense and unexpected twists, The Masked Truth will have you on the edge of your seat.

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for. Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn't dare reveal. When they're forced by their families to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp for teens with "issues," neither of them think things can get any worse... until three masked men take them hostage.

Now, with no way to escape and their captors on a killing spree, Riley and Max must rely on their wits and courage to survive. As they navigate this dangerous situation, they uncover dark secrets that shake them to their core. Will they find a way out before it's too late? Kelley Armstrong delivers a gripping thriller that delves deep into themes of survival and trust... and that escape doesn't equal freedom."

What if the three masked men are like the platinum package at the camp? That would be wicked. And a wicked good read.

This Dark Night by Deborah Lutz
Published by: W. W. Norton and Company
Publication Date: May 5th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Emily Brontë (1818-1848) was only twenty-seven-years old when she began work on one of the most important novels in the English language. Two years later in 1847, she completed Wuthering Heights. It took the world almost a century to catch up to Brontë's masterpiece, and it has taken even longer to know Brontë - an elusive figure, with a ghostly legacy provoked by her early death and the loss (and likely destruction) of almost all her personal papers.

Drawing on formerly inaccessible notebooks and manuscripts, This Dark Night constructs a portrait of Brontë, her famous writing sisters Charlotte and Anne, and the effect of their sisters' and mother's tragic deaths. In the first full-length biography in over twenty years, renowned scholar Deborah Lutz sketches the days of a woman crafting otherworldly fiction while running her father's parsonage: writing interweaving with household work, daydreaming, and exploring the rough-hewn outdoors.

As she traces the influence of Brontë's life and work, Lutz follows how Brontë's fantastical early poems of the night sky, women rulers, and outsiders and rebels grew into the stormy, transcendent Wuthering Heights. Lutz also illuminates the overlooked ways that the legendary writer addressed debates of her time that still resonate today, including questions of gender and sexuality, race and class, and rapid industrialization set against the natural world.

From her menagerie of dogs and birds to the beloved moors that Brontë wandered and later emblazoned in her novel, Lutz depicts the passions of an author at odds with convention. Uniting the domestic and the cosmic, This Dark Night plumbs the life and writing of this idiosyncratic woman, dark soul, and monumental genius."

Might I suggest reading this book instead of watching a certain new film?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ande Pliego, Diane Josefowicz, Emily Brontë, James Patterson, Jess Cannon, Jim Butcher, John R. Kelly, Kelley Armstrong, LeUyen Pham, Martha Wells, Nat Cassidy, Nghi Vo, Olivie Blake, Shannon Hale.Kristy Boyce, Veronica Heley