Month: January 2020

Happy 2020! Here are some of the books releasing during this first week of the new year.

Books for Kids – Board Books and Picture Books

Hello, World! Construction Site (Board Book) – Board book about a construction site.
Black Widow – A Little Golden Book about Black Widow and her friends and foes.
Cuddle Monkey – A monkey goes looking for the perfect cuddle when his parents are busy with his new baby brother. This looks DARLING!
Emergency Kittens – Kittens to the rescue in this adorable-looking picture book.
Snakes on the Job – A group of construction snakes are building a sss-surprise.
Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights – The story of a school teacher who started the fight for equal rights on streetcars in New York in 1854.
Martin Luther King Jr (Little People Big Dreams) – Biography of MLK, Jr.
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read – Born into slavery in 1848, Mary Walker learned to read when she was 116 years old. I can’t wait to read this one!
Overground Railroad – Illustrated poetry about a train journey from North Carolina to New York City during the Great Migration.
Patricia’s Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight – The story of the African American ophthalmologist who pioneered laser eye surgery.
A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story – The story of the desegregation of a Maryland amusement park in the 1960s. One of the authors was the first African American child to ride the carousel at that amusement park.
A Voice Named Aretha – Picture book biography of Aretha Franklin.

Books for Kids – Early Readers and Early Chapter Books

Crane Song (Molly of Denali) – New leveled reader starring Molly of Denali, this one focused on baby cranes.
John Cena’s Elbow Grease: Get Out and Play AND My Monster Truck Family – Leveled readers starring the monster truck Elbow Grease and his friends.
Pinkalicious and the Merminnies – A leveled reader about friendship.
Vote for Minnie – Leveled Reader. Minnie is running for president of the Adventure Club.
Bad Kitty Joins the Team – When Kitty’s owner hears her wheezing after the slightest activity, it’s time for Kitty to get some exercise.
Mulan’s Secret Plan – Part of the Disney Before the Story series. In this book, before Mulan saves China, she’s a girl who longs to learn.
Narwhal on a Sunny Night – Book 33 (in the revised numbering system) in the Magic Tree House series. Jack and Annie meet Leif Erikson and save a narwhal.
Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars (Graphic Novel) – An original Snoopy graphic novel.
We’re Red, Weird, and Blue! What Can We Do? – The My Weird School kids star in this special edition all about the U. S. Presidents.
Narwhals and Other Whales – The nonfiction companion book to Narwhal on a Sunny Night.

Books for Older Kids/Teens

Agatha Oddly: Murder at the Museum (Older Middle Grade) – For readers 11 and up. Book 2 in the Agatha Oddly series. This time Agatha is solving a murder at the British Museum. This series looks great! I have book one on my Kindle to read soon.
Clean Getaway – From the author of Dear Martin (♥♥♥♥) comes this middle grade road trip story about a kid who goes on an unexpected adventure with his grandmother.
Diana: Princess of the Amazons (Graphic Novel) – From Shannon Hale, the author of the Princess in Black series as well as the Squirrel Girl books and other terrific stories comes this graphic novel about a young Wonder Woman. I’ll be reviewing this one tomorrow!
Drew and Jot: Dueling Doodles (Graphic Novel) – Middle school friends are writing a comic book together, but a younger sibling gets a hold of their sketch book and changes their creation. I LOVE this idea of kids who trade a sketchbook back and forth while they work on an original story. I can’t wait to read this one!
Escape This Book!: Tombs of Egypt – Choose Your Own Adventure meets I Survived in this series where readers try to escape from danger with doodles and the choices presented in the book. This sounds brilliant!
Josie Bloom and the Emergency of Life – Josie discovers wads of money in strange places – like in a package of bologna – which comes in handy when she sees some overdue bills. But when one comes in that is too big for her to handle alone, she’ll have to figure out what to do to get more money while keeping her grandfather’s odd behavior a secret. I’ll be reviewing this one tomorrow, too.
Notorious – The latest from Gordon Korman. Two kids team up to investigate the possible murder of one of their pets, but they stumble onto a much bigger mystery than they planned. Friendship story + mystery + dogs. Sign me up.
Real Pigeons Fight Crime (Graphic Novel) – First in a new series about a secret squad of crime-fighting pigeons. This looks hilarious!
Rescue Dogs: Ember – First in a new series about rescue dogs. In this one, Ember, can’t find a forever home because she is “untrainable.” So the Sterling family takes her in to see if they can train her to be a rescue dog. Sounds fantastic.
50 Fearless Women Who Made History: An American History Book for Kids – Women who impacted American History. At the time of this writing, this is available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers to read for free.
Brave, Black, First: 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World – Published in cooperation with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Cub (Graphic Novel/Memoir) – A middle schooler secures an internship with her local newspaper in the early 1970s, learning a lot from a female reporter at the paper who mentors her.
Spies, Code Breakers, and Secret Agents: A World War II Book for Kids – A WWII history book on spies.

Books for Teens/Young Adults

All the Days Past, All the Days to Come – Wraps up the story of the Logan family started in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The whole series explores the Civil Rights movement in America.
Every Other Weekend – Two teens with difficult family situations get to know one another as they spend every other weekend at the same apartment complex. As their friendship develops and grows into something more, the differences between their situations becomes complicated. I’ll be reviewing this one later this week.
A Heart So Fierce and Broken – Sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely from the spectacular Brigid Kemmerer. This picks up after the events of Curse, and focuses more on Grey’s story. I’m planning a re-read of book one so I am ready to dive into book to the minute I have it in hand!
How to Speak Boy – Bitter debate rivals start exchanging anonymous notes and begin to fall for one another without knowing who the other person is. This sounds great!
A Love Hate Thing – A troubled teen recovering from a gunshot wound moves into a ritzy neighborhood with a polished family. Their daughter, who works so hard to cultivate the right image to get along in their community, is concerned his presence will ruin everything. But neither teen can deny the chemistry between them.
The Map from Here to There – The sequel to The Start of Me and You (♥♥♥♥). This book focuses on Paige and Max as they launch their relationship in the same city after a summer apart and focus on their futures with senior year speeding along. You can read my review here.
Nameless Queen – A peasant unexpectedly inherits the throne, and therefore inherits all of the trouble that goes with it – including those who want to take the throne from her by any means. Ill be reviewing this one soon.
One of Us Is Next – Sequel to the twisty One of Us Is Lying (♥♥♥♥) by the masterful Karen McManus. This time, instead of a gossip app, it’s a truth or dare game with high stakes. I’ll be re-reading book one asap so I am ready for this one!
Only Love Can Break Your Heart – This is the US debut of a UK hit about two teens who find each other while wishing their lives were less conflicted and complicated.
Plain Janes (Graphic Novel) – A graphic novel about art activists from Cecil Castellucci. When Jane moves to a new community, she finds a home at the outcast table with other girls who happen to be named Jane and who also are frustrated by the adults in their lives. Includes three stories – The Plain Janes, Janes in Love and Janes Attack Back. I’m eager to check this one out in person.
Scavenge the Stars – An act of mercy changes Amaya’s life, taking her from the debtor’s ship where she has lived for years to a new life with a new identity and new, dangerous opportunities.
Shadowshaper Legacy – The third and final book in the Shadowshaper Cipher series about a magic that can inhabit art, music and stories, and a girl who must decipher her family’s true history and stop those who would kill the magical shadowshapers. What a fascinating premise!
Three Things I Know Are True – An accidental shooting changes the lives of three teens and two families when Liv’s brother accidentally shoots himself with Clay’s father’s gun and needs round-the-clock care while Liv’s mom sues Clay’s family for the accident.
Throw Like a Girl – A moment of temper costs a softball player her scholarship, her boyfriend and her fancy private school. When she transfers to public school, she has to face the player she hit and her ex every single day. She struggles to convince the coaches to give her a chance to play softball for the school. The injured star quarterback offers her a deal – fill in for him while he is injured, and he will get her a spot on the softball team. I am intrigued by this one!
We Used to Be Friends – Half of this story of a fractured best-friendship moves forward while the other half works backward as readers get to dig into what happened between the two friends – including new romantic interests, college preparation, and an unexpected divorce. LGBTQ+ elements.
Wonder Woman: Warbringer (Graphic Novel) – A graphic novel adaptation of the DC book Wonder Woman: Warbringer . (♥♥♥♥) I’ll be reviewing this later this week.
The First Conspiracy – The Young Reader’s Edition of a book by Brad Meltzer about a conspiracy to  kill George Washington.
Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers Who Resisted the Nazis – Teens who grew up in Hitler’s Germany stand against the Nazi party at great risk.

Books for Adults

Bound for Murder (Hardcover) – Book 4 in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series. When Amy’s friend, Sunny, runs for mayor, a skeleton is found on her grandparents’ organic farm which had been a commune in the 1960s.
Collateral Damage (Trade Paperback) – Book 1 in the new Danger Never Sleeps series from Christian publisher, Revell. Brooke, a  former military psychiatrist, is determined to leave the counseling of military folks to others so she can work on her own healing journey. She’s encouraged to make an exception for Asher James, but when he shows up for his first appointment, he finds a dead body in her office. Now they are working together to keep Brooke safe and find out who is trying to kill her. This sounds like a fascinating story.
End Game (Trade Paperback) – Book one in a new Capital Intrigue series from Christian publisher Bethany House. An FBI agent teams up with someone from NCIS to investigate a rash of military murders in Washington DC.
The Game Changer: A Parkwood Mystery from Hallmark Publishing (Trade Paperback) – Two podcasters who talk about murder try investigating a case of their own when there’s a hit and run in their small town. I’ll be reviewing this one next week.
Moral Compass (Hardcover) – The latest from Danielle Steele. An attack at a posh prep school ignites a firestorm when parents and administrators try to determine what happened and the student body closes ranks to protect their secrets.
A Mysterious Mix Up (Trade Paperback) – Book 3 in the Allie Cobb Mystery series. Literary agent Allie Cobb is investigating a mystery again when she finds her friend and mentor moments from death after being poisoned. I have the first book in this series on my wish list.
No, We Can’t Be Friends (e-book – January 10) – A woman thinks she has finally found “the One,” but he has a devastating secret. Crushed, she’s forced to do some self-examination and find out if there’s a way to love herself more than she loved “the One.” I have this one on my wish list, too.
On Wings of Devotion (Trade Paperback)  – Book 2 in the Codebreakers series. A disgraced military man and a nurse team up to clear his maligned name and protect her while foiling a plot that puts the codebreakers to the test. Historical fiction fans should check this series out. Sounds fascinating.
Secrets and Stilettos (Trade Paperback)  – Book 1 in the new Murder in Style series. A former stylist to the stars goes home to Minnesota to help her mom save her thrift shop. But while applying her stylist skills to a groomsman in a high profile wedding, she has to fend off his advances with her stiletto. When he’s later found dead, she’s the primary suspect. At the time of this writing, this is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers. This one is on my list, too.
Silenced in Sequins (Trade Paperback) – Sequel to last year’s Murder Wears a Little Black Dress. Kelly is counting on Black Friday sales to help her struggling consignment shop, but a public cat fight and later a murder connected to a dress sold at her shop pushes Kelly into sleuthing again instead of focusing on her business. I find the covers for this series to be absolutely stunning! Of course I would pick one of these up to take a look.
There’s Murder Afoot (Hardcover)  – Book 5 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series. Gemma and her friends go to London for a Sherlock convention, but get pulled into an old family conflict over art forgery.
Thistles and Thieves (Hardcover) – Book 3 in the Highland Bookshop Mystery series. The ladies at Yon Bonnie Books get pulled into investigating more than one murder that might have something to do with a mysterious box of first editions that were left for them on the doorstep of the store.
The Vanishing (Hardcover) – Book 1 in the new Fogg Lake series. Decades ago an explosion in the cave system left residents of Fogg Lake with unusual powers. Two young women who grew up there have become investigators in Seattle, but one is kidnapped because of something they witnessed years ago – a murder. I have requested this one from the library.
The Way of the Brave (Trade Paperback)  – Book 1 in the new Global Search and Rescue series from Christian publisher Revell. A former pararescue jumper living in Alaska and a former CIA profiler both have missions from their past that they would like to forget, and a connection neither expects. But when she is in need of rescue on a climb, and he’s part of the team that shows up, they’re going to have to deal with their pasts in order to survive.
Cauliflower Power: 75 Feel-Good, Gluten-Free Recipes Made with the World’s Most Versatile Vegetable (Hardcover) – 75 recipes built around the 5 ways to prepare cauliflower – whole, florets, steaks, riced, and meal.
Eat, Fast, Feast: Heal Your Body While Feeding Your Soul – A Christian Guide to Fasting (Trade Paperback) – Looks at intermittent fasting from a Christian perspective.
Keto Simple (Paperback Cookbook) -100 simple recipes for a Keto diet. I’ll be reviewing this one later this week.
Reckless Love: A 40-Day Journey into the Overwhelming, Never-ending, Reckless Love of God (Hardcover Devotional) – Songwriter Cory Asbury digs into the lyrics of his popular worship song and the principles explored there like God’s love, grace and kindness.