This is the final release week for September. And there are a TON of cozy mysteries and Christmas books to add to your list. Take a look at some of the new books out this week!
Books for Kids
The Alphabet’s Alphabet – A twisted take on the traditional alphabet book. Illustrated by Dan Santat.
Hello, Arnie! – A new book starring Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller.
Ming’s Christmas Wishes – In 1930s California, Ming is not included in things like some of her classmates. So her father takes her on an adventure to get in touch with her heritage.
Mistletoe – A new Christmas book from the author of the fabulous Duck & Goose and How Rocket Learned to Read. Mistletoe wants her friend Norwell to enjoy the snowy beauty of winter, but Norwell doesn’t like the cold. This looks sweet!
The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary – A kid-friendly version of The Office where Michael wants to be the best line leader.
Oscar the Hungry Unicorn Eats Christmas – In his hunger, Oscar manages to eat the Christmas tree, the stockings, and then the magic reindeer food that makes Santa’s reindeer fly.
Unicorns Are the Worst – A little goblin grumbles that everyone loves unicorns, but all they ever do is frolic, while goblins do good, orderly, important things. This looks adorable!
Pete the Cat: Super Pete – When trouble appears, Super Pete is ready.
InvestiGators Take the Plunge (Graphic Novel) – Book 2 in the InvestiGators series. Mango and Brash go undercover as sewer workers to solve a new mystery.
Jr. Monster Scouts: Monster of Disguise – Book 4 in the Junior Monster Scouts series. Baron Von Grump is causing trouble at the carnival.
Lily to the Rescue: The Not-So Stinky Skunk AND Dog Dog Goose – Books 3 and 4 in the Lily to the Rescue series. First, Lily gets sprayed by a skunk with no stink, which means the skunk can’t defend itself. Then some orphaned geese think Lily is their mother. But how can a dog teach geese how to fly?
Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults
The Campaign – An art-loving girl convinces her babysitter to run for mayor when the election’s front runner plans to cut art funding for schools. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
The Endangereds – First in a new series about some superpowered animals working to fight extinction around the world.
The Explorers Code – The latest mystery from Allison K. Hymas. Three kids will try to solve the mysteries of an old manor tied to a famous female explorer. This sounds amazing!
Pepper’s Rules for Secret Sleuthing (LGBTQ+) – When her last case costs her the chance at a relationship with a girl she likes, Pepper decides to stop sleuthing. But when her great-aunt dies under mysterious circumstances, Pepper can’t help investigating.
Saucy – The only girl in a set of quadruplets feels like, unlike her brothers, there’s nothing special about her. But when she finds a sick piglet, she knows rescuing it can be her special thing. But when Saucy gets well and starts to outgrow the family’s home, some decisions will have to be made.
The Willoughbys Return – The next generation of Willoughbys star in this sequel. Just as Richie, a lonely only child, has a chance to make friends, it becomes illegal to sell sweets, putting his family’s candy business in jeopardy. But that’s nothing compared to what will happen when Richie’s awful grandparents, presumed frozen to death 30 years ago, thaw out and plot their grand return.
Leaders & Dreamers prints – Art collection tied to the books by Vashti Harrison.
Crownchasers – When Alyssa’s dying uncle – the emperor – announces a Crownchase to determine the next ruler of her people, she must consider the life she has been trying to flee for years. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
Dear Justyce – A follow up to Dear Martin (♥♥♥♥) from the author of Shuri. Quan sits in a juvenile detention facility and writes letters to Justyce who is away at Yale. Through his letters readers will discover his story.
Disclose – Book 2 in the Verify series by Joelle Charbonneau. A dystopian series about a young woman whose search for answers after her mother’s death lead her to secrets some would kill to keep quiet. I have this series on my wish list.
The Glass Queen – Book 2 in the Forest of Good and Evil series. A fragile princess stars in this Cinderella retelling that sees her fighting for her destiny and her crown.I have this series on my wish list, too.
A Neon Darkness – Book 2 in the Bright Sessions series about a group of powered people and the therapist, Dr. Bright, who works with them. The premise of this – What if the X Men decided to go to therapy instead of become superheroes? – is fascinating to me. This is also on my (neverending) list.
Shine – Get a glimpse inside the world of KPop with this novel about a girl who has sold out to her producers for her chance at stardom yet starts to question what she has given up when she begins to fall in love.
Skyhunter – The latest from Marie Lu. The Federation’s mutant beasts have overcome every nation in the world except for Mara. Talin is one of the warriors who fights to maintain Mara’s freedom. But when a boy is brought into the capital, she’s not sure if he is there to help them, or to destroy them.
Thoughts & Prayers: A Novel in Three Parts – Three students connected by the minutes they hid together under a staircase while fellow students and a teacher were killed are now, a year later, living very different lives from what they had before and from one another in the aftermath of tragedy.
Books for Adults – Christmas
Amish Christmas Twins (Trade Paperback) – Three Amish Christmas tales, one about kids in foster care, one about a grieving widow, and another about two sets of twins. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
Candy Slain Murder (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 8 in the Country Store Mystery series. Robbie is dealing with a decades-old mystery and a stranger in town.
Christmas Carol Murder (Hardcover) – Book 3 in the A Dickens of a Crime series where Charles Dickens is a journalist and a sleuth. While out caroling, Dickens and his fiancée see a man thrown from a window to his death. Readers familiar with the Dickens novel A Christmas Carol will see connections to this case. I haven’t read any of these, but this is a fun premise!
Christmas Cupcake Murder (Hardcover) – Book 26 in the Hannah Swensen Mystery series. In the midst of her holiday preparations, Hannah is helping out with the mystery of a man found near death and with no memory of his identity.
Christmas Ever After (Trade Paperback) – A romance writer is asked how she can write about love if she hasn’t yet found “the one.” When she mentions past love that helps her write, three of her exs hear the interview and think he is the one she must be talking about. All three show up at an event to convince her to give their love another chance. This sounds like the best sort of Hallmark Christmas movie, and I am here for it!
Dying in a Winter Wonderland (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series. When a bride Merry agreed to help with wedding decorations moves up her wedding date, everyone is bending to her demands. But there’s not going to be a wedding after all when the groom is found murdered.
Gingerdead Man (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 7 in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. This year’s grumpy Santa is poisoned by a gingerbread cookie.
Holding Out for Christmas (Mass Market Paperback) – A kindergarten teacher with big Nashville dreams resists the charms of the rugged rancher back home who wants her to stick around. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
Hollyberry Homicide (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Berry Basket Mystery series. Marlee agrees to help out in the town production of A Christmas Carol when an elderly participant dies. But the production is full of dangers and accidents, as well as a dead body.
Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Kebab Kitchen Mystery series. When a reception hall owner is murdered at a local winter event, Lucy has no shortage of suspects.
Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings (Trade Paperback) – As the new Mrs. Claus, April is trying to adjust to her new home at the North Pole with her grieving in-laws as her husband adjusts to being the new Santa after his older brother died. But when an angry elf hisses accusations of murder at Santa, and then is later killed, April is on the hunt for the truth. I’ll be reviewing this one soon!
Mrs. Morris and the Ghost of Christmas Past (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 3 in the Salem B&B Mystery series. When a friend and recent lottery winner is killed while Charlene and her parents are in his restaurant for a fundraiser, she teams up with the ghost at her B&B to puzzle out the case. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
Snowball’s Christmas (Trade Paperback) – Lukas is certain that selling the B&B is the right thing to do so his aunt can retire. Emily, the B&B’s cook, is devastated by Lukas’ plans. But Snowball the kitten is sure that Lukas and Emily belong together, right there at Weber Haus, forever. This looks darling.
Varnished Without a Trace (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Tallie Graver Mystery series. Instead of a quiet Christmas alone with her boyfriend, Max, Tallie finds herself playing referee between her mother and grandmother at Christmas bingo. Even worse, her hateful Aunt Ronda is there, too. When Tallie finds Ronda’s body, her beloved – and now missing – Uncle Hoagie is the prime suspect. Tallie is certain her uncle did not do this, so she is tracking down a killer again.
Books for Adults – The Rest
The Constant Rabbit (Hardcover) – The latest from Jasper Fforde, author of the Thursday Next series. In England, in 2022, there are 1.2 million human-sized, walking, talking rabbits. When a rabbit family moves into a human neighborhood and most of the humans leave, one father and daughter decide to stay. They quickly discover that you can be friends to rabbits or to humans, but not likely to both.
The Corpse Who Knew Too Much (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 4 in the Food Blogger Mystery series. Hope is teaching her first blogging class at the local library and getting into podcasts like the true crime one her friend Devon is doing. Devon is back in town looking into the unsolved disappearance of her own mother, and she asks Hope to help.
Death on the Green (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 2 in the Dublin Driver Mystery series. Megan has moved to Ireland and become a limo driver. When she’s driving a golf champ around, she’s invited to play a round, but then they find a dead body floating in the water hazard. And Megan’s client has a motive for the murder.
For Letter or Worse (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 2 in the Stationery Shop Mystery series. Delta is hosting a card-making event at a friend’s event when someone is murdered.
Haunted Homicide (Mass Market Paperback) – First in a new Haunted Mansion Mystery series. In Avery’s first week as the manager of the Portage Path Women’s Club, she stumbles across the body of a difficult board member as well as the resident ghost who’s been in the building for 100 years.
The Midnight Library (Hardcover) – The Midnight Library holds all of the versions of your story. One is the life you are living right now, but others look at what would have happened if you had made different choices along the way. One woman visits the library as she considers changing her current life for a new one.
Misleading a Duke (Trade Paperback) – Book 2 in the Wallflowers of West Lane series. Lady Faith calls upon her friends to investigate her fiancé who happens to be a spy. When he discovers her investigation, and her mistrust, he wonders if he can actually marry her. I already have the first book in this series. I am eager to read it!
Murder at the PTA (Mass Market Paperback) – First in the new Maya and Sandra Mystery series. When someone starts a gossip site focused on the local high school and targets Sandra, the PTA president, she teams up with Maya, another parent who is also a PI. When they go to confront the person behind the site, they find a dead body and a confession. But Maya feels like it was all too easily wrapped up, so the two continue their investigation.
Once Dishonored (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 of the Rogues Redeemed series. A daring divorcee catches the eye of a naval officer who has lost his honor. When they team up to find evidence to restore her name and retrieve her son, they also find love. If only they can survive long enough to enjoy it.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Art and Imagery Volume 1 (Hardcover) – A collection of artwork from the early parts of season 1.
Sweet Revenge (September 30 e-book) – Book 7 of the Dewberry Farm Mystery series. A new honey-themed mystery.
Tail for Two (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 2 in the Fur Haven Dog Park series after Cold Nose, Warm Heart. Lance Donovan is ready to work with his brother Caleb on a new condo project. And he’s certain the right decorator for the job is his ex, Carrie. But before he really knows what happened, Lance is dog sitting for both Carrie and his brother – and watching the son he never knew he had while his ex gets back into the dating scene. I enjoyed the first book and am looking forward to the rest of this series!
Veiled in Death (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 6 in the Wedding Planner Mystery series. The story starts with an antique piece of lace with possible ties to a decades-old hit and run – and maybe to Betsy Ross. But it ends in murder by musket at the town’s Revolutionary War re-enactment.
Winner Cake All (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 3 in the Chef-to-Go Mystery series by Denise Swanson. Dani is hired to cater a swanky engagement party which could really help her add some wealthy clients to her business. But when the bride-to-be is killed and Dani’s maybe-boyfriend is the prime suspect, she’s digging into another murder.
A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal (Hardcover) – The latest from author Sarah Bessey is a collection of meditations from writers such as Nadia Bolz-Weber, Barbara Brown Taylor, and Amena Brown.
True Comfort: More Than 100 Cozy Recipes Free of Gluten and Refined Sugar (Hardcover) – Gluten-free recipes for cozy meals.
When Women Pray: 10 Women of the Bible Who Changed the World Through Prayer (Hardcover) – From Bishop T. D. Jakes.
eally, Really, Really Big Dinosaur – This is a fantastic story of a small dinosaur getting pushed around by a larger dinosaur for a jar of jelly beans. The small dinosaur isn’t too worried about the bully because he has a “friend” who is much bigger than the bully. The best part of the story is set up in the illustrations. It’s fun to see which students catch on from the pictures alone. Then others will go back later and see what they missed. Such a fun story!
Read to Tiger – While the boy is trying to read his book, Tiger does all sorts of things that disturb him – chomping gum, pretending to be a bear, playing with a loud train set, etc. Every time the boy gets upset, the Tiger apologizes. The kids got to the point where they would try to match my “Tiger voice” and do the lines with me. I discovered this book at the school when I took the library job. There are actually two books about this Tiger, but this is my favorite.
Arnie the Doughnut – This is probably one of the silliest books I read to my students consistently. It’s long for a read aloud, but good for many laughs, as Laurie Keller’s books often are. In the story, a donut is surprised to find out that the man who bought him plans to EAT him! Arnie does not want to be eaten, but the man paid for him, fair and square. Can they figure out a way for both of them to win? Keller’s books are even better for lap reading than read-alouds because of the side conversations characters have in the illustrations.
Library Lion – This book is so outstanding, it will captivate a room of kindergarteners even though there isn’t a lot of “action” in the story. In it, a lion comes to the library for story time. The head librarian says he can stay as long has he follows the rules like staying quiet in the library. One of the other librarians is certain that there is no place for a lion in the library. One day, the lion breaks the rules for a good reason, but he knows he will have to leave anyway. But no one is happy when the library lion is gone. This is delightful. If you haven’t read this one, check it out!
Duck and Goose – A young duck and goose find an “egg” and squabble over the proper way to care for the egg and the occupant inside. We read this book to our son when he was little – along with the sequel, 
The Totally Secret Secret – Ballet Cat doesn’t want to do anything her friend Sparkles wants to do. She only wants to do Ballet! What happens when she discovers that Sparkles… doesn’t like ballet?! I can’t get enough of this book. Even though I have no picture book readers in my house, and I am not teaching, I still bought myself a copy of this book! It cracks me up every single time I read it! To me, this is an example of the perfect kids book because it entertains on a kid level and on an adult level for the person reading the book (over and over). I think the third book in the series, 
Silly Doggy! – A girl finds a “silly doggy” in her back yard. The doggy doesn’t want to do any of the doggy things the girl thinks he should, perhaps because it is a bear. No one in the story seems to recognize Doggy for what he really is until the zoo comes to collect him at the end. My students always found it hilarious that this girl thought this huge bear was a dog. This is a sweet and silly story. The very funny ending was later turned into a new picture book – 
The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, The Wolf and Grandma – I asked my family for this Little Red Riding Hood-ish book for Christmas this year because I adored it when I was reading it to students. It is sarcastic and funny and points out some of the inconsistencies in fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood. I am a huge fan of any sort of “fractured fair tale” and this one of my all time favorites!
This Orq. (He Cave Boy.) – I saw this book on display at a conference and I kept walking past the booth over and over and over again because I was completely captivated by the illustration on the cover. At the end of the conference, I stood in line for over 30 minutes to be sure I could take this book home to my students! The book is told in choppy “cave man” talk which is fun to read. At its core this is a pet story, well told with very few words and a lot of heart.
Mustache Baby Meets His Match – Sequel to the awesome 
The Three Ninja Pigs – My favorite part of the school year when I was teaching (after Book Fair) was the end of the year when I would do a fractured fairy tale unit with my students. The stories are great fun, and we could practice our comparing and contrasting skills when we looked at the original and our fractured versions together. One of the highlights for the age group that did The Three Pigs was when we would read this book. The language is precise and perfect. And when one pig promises the wolf, “I’ll kick your big butt,” my students would roar with laughter! This is outstanding!
I Will Surprise My Friend! – When I introduced my kindergarten students to Piggie and Gerald, I couldn’t keep the books on the shelves for the rest of the year. I often had spare copies tucked in the library office so I could replace the library copy when it finally crumbled from extreme use. If I could only pick one Elephant and Piggie book to read, this would be the one. Piggie and Gerald decide to scare/surprise each other by the big rock. But it doesn’t go as planned and the results are hilarious! In my opinion, this is the best of the best.
This Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown – I’m not sure my students loved this one as much as I did, but I adore this book. Emily Brown is a bright, creative and imaginative girl who plays all sorts of cool things with her bunny, Stanley. A princess sees Stanley and decides she wants him! She sends all of her servants to convince Emily to give him to her, but Emily kindly but firmly says no each time. Until the Princess steals Stanley. It’s fun to read with different voices for the servants and a long-suffering voice for Emily Brown.
It’s the Bear! – There are three Bear books by Jez Alborough. In the first, 
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs – Another favorite from my fairy tale unit is this twisted tale by Mo Willems (author of the Piggie and Gerald books as well as the Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny books)! In this version, Goldilocks stumbles into a house of dinosaurs instead of bears. And those dinosaurs seem to be up to some mischief! My students loved slowly looking at every picture for hints of what the dinosaurs were up to. My older students picked up more of the subtle humor and sarcasm of this story than the younger ones did.