Happy December! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We are in the countdown to Christmas, and I always think books make the best gifts! You can check out my Holiday Hint Lists here for some book recommendations. Or you can take a look at some of the new books out this week!
Books for Kids
Little Eva Loves (Board Book) – Board book starring Eva from the Owl Diaries series.
The Cool Bean – A picture book about the importance of kindness.
A Home for a Princess – An inside look at 9 Disney princess castles including ones for Cinderella, Aurora, Merida and Mulan.
The Serious Goose – This picture book by late night host Jimmy Kimmel stars a very serious goose and challenges readers to make the goose laugh.
The Cloud Kingdom – Book 7 in the Last Firehawk series where the characters are trying to find a hidden magical kingdom.
Griffith’s Guide for Dragon Masters – A special edition book from Scholastic Branches for fans of the Dragon Masters series. Full color book with maps and sections on the various Dragon Masters and their dragons.
Hercules and the Nine-Headed Hydra – Book 16 in the Heroes in Training series about Greek mythology.
Off I Go! – Book 2 in the Princess Truly series.
The Stolen Slipper – Once Upon a Fairy Tale, book 2. Kara and Zed try to help Prince Charming find a girl who lost a slipper – and find her slipper which has gone missing.
Thea Stilton and the Black Forest Burglary – Book 30 in the Thea Stilton series. The Thea Sisters travel to Germany for a Festival of Time.
Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults
All the Colors of Magic – An unusual girl discovers her absent father is a wizard, and she heads out on a quest to find him.
Clotho the Fate – Book 25 in the Goddess Girls series based on Greek mythology. One of the three Fates tries to undo some mistakes she has made.
DC Brave and Bold!: Female DC Super Heroes Take on the Universe – Beautiful art and descriptions of 50+ DC characters.
Major Impossible – Book 9 in the fantastic Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales nonfiction graphic novel series. This is the story of John Wesley Powell, a one-armed man who explored the Grand Canyon in the 1800s.
Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg? – Biography of Justice Ginsburg.
Adorkable (previously available as an e-book, new this week in print) – To keep her best friend from trying any more awful matchmaking attempts, Sally convinces her best guy friend – and crush – to pose as her boyfriend. I adore fake relationship stories, so I have already bought this one.
Amazon Princess (December 6 – e-book) – First book in a new series that picks up after the events of the Mount Olympus Academy series. When a Greek god is destroyed, 10 different teens end up with one of his powers. They are all attending Amazon Academy to compete in contests where the winner will get to keep all 10 of the powers. I have the first book in the Mount Olympus series – Fire & Flood – on my Kindle so I can try out the whole series. (Fire & Flood is free for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers at the time of this writing.)
Children of Virtue and Vengeance – Sequel to the best-selling Children of Blood and Bone about a young woman working to bring magic back to her home land. I have the first book on my library list.
Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance – A young woman enters society in search of a husband in order to save her family – with only her favorite Jane Austen books to guide her. I already have this on hold at the library. The author had me at “Austentacious.”
Diamond & Dawn – Sequel to Amber & Dusk. A young woman expecting to take her place as empress discovers her rival isn’t dead, but in a coma. And that is not the only threat to her rule. This sounds awesome! I need to check out the first book.
The Piper’s Pursuit (Hardcover) – Part of a collection of fairy tale retellings from Melanie Dickerson and Thomas Nelson. A young woman determined to protect her community from a plague of rats and a mysterious beast teams up with an arrogant duke’s son who happens to be a talented musician. A take on the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Reverie – A young man found half-dead in the river has no memory of his life before the accident. When 3 teens say they were his friends, he’s not sure if he should trust them, but that’s the least of their problems as reality itself seems to be unraveling. (LGBTQ+)
Scared Little Rabbits – A girl in a summer coding program is suspected of foul play when another student goes missing and all the clues point back to her.
Just Mercy (YA adaptation and movie tie in) – Lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson shares his story of working with the wrongfully imprisoned.
Books for Adults
Assault and Batting (e-book) – First in the new Taylor Quinn Quilt Shop Mystery series. A young woman returns home after the death of her mother to take care of her little sister and aging grandfather. Her little sister is afraid her birth mom caused their mother’s death, so the sisters start investigating.
Blitzed (Trade Paperback) – Book 3 in the Playbook series. Brynn is grateful that her bar has become a home to many of the Denver Mustangs and their significant others, but there’s no way she would ever date one of them. I have enjoyed the first two books in this series, and I am eager to check out this next installment.
Brewed Awakening (Hardcover) – Book 18 in the Coffeehouse Mystery series. Clare wakes up on a park bench with no memory of the last 15 years, including her NYPD Detective fiancé. But security camera footage shows Clare there when a hotel heiress was kidnapped. The police are starting to wonder if Clare was an innocent bystander or if she’s guilty, so she’s got to get her memories back and help find the real culprit. This sounds fascinating!!
The Dating Charade (Trade Paperback) – Just as Cassie is ready to swear off blind dates and dating apps, she meets Jett, and they hit it off. But before the two can see what sort of future they have together, each of them becomes guardian to three children and is afraid to tell the other. I’ll be reviewing this one later this week.
Hanukkah at the Great Greenwich Ice Creamery (e-book) – A broken man discovers a woman who makes him want to find a fresh perspective on life. I love the idea of a Hanukkah romance!
Have a Deadly New Year (e-book) – Book 4 in the Farm-to-Fork Mystery series. A private catered dinner for a famous band turns deadly when someone is found with a drumstick in the chest.
Murder at the Arts and Crafts Festival (Trade Paperback) – Book 3 in the Cleo Mack Mystery series about a social work professor who takes an early retirement to join an Alabama community for active seniors. In this book, an artist is murdered at the local Arts and Crafts Festival.
Murder on Book Row (e-book) – A book shop owner turns sleuth when a neighboring bookseller is murdered.
Pizza Pie Puzzler (December 5 – e-book) – Book 3 in the Felicia’s Food Truck One Hour Mystery series. When a rival food truck starts poaching Felicia’s customers and then explodes, her cook is the prime suspect. All of the books in this series are currently available for free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Reputation (Trade Paperback) – When a hacker dumps a college town’s emails into a searchable database, everyone’s secrets are exposed. When an investigative reporter comes to town for her brother-in-law’s funeral, she decides to look into his murder. Finding a killer is easier said than done when so many people have something to hide. Sounds fantastic! I have this one on my library list.
A Spy to Die For (e-book) – A lonely accountant with a photographic memory teams up with an MI6 agent to track down a man who wants her dead. At the time of this writing, this is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Star Wars: Age of Resistance – Villains (Paperback Graphic Novel) – A collection of comics starring the villains of Star Wars.
Thin Ice (Hardcover) – First in a new series. When a thriller author becomes the focus of an obsessed fan who kidnaps her, she escapes and goes on the run to Alaska to hide out. While she tries to settle into her new community, a suspicious death makes her wonder if her captor has found her.
Would Like to Meet (Trade Paperback) – An assistant to an agent is charged with getting their one big client – an Oscar-winning screenwriter – to finish his contracted romcom (romantic comedy) screenplay. So she makes him a deal – she will try out all of the meet cutes from classic romcoms to prove someone could actually find love that way if he will start writing his screenplay. I’ll be reviewing this one later this month.
Disney’s Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park that Changed the World (Hardcover) – A history of Disneyland.
Fresh Start Bible (Hardcover/Paperback) – Includes over 500 discipleship entries to answer common faith questions and help users build a strong foundation for their Christian faith.
The Leaky Gut Meal Plan: 4 Weeks to Detox and Improve Digestive Health (Paperback Cookbook) – Includes a 4-week meal plan and 75 recipes as well as background information on “leaky gut” and how to correct it.
One Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the Globe (Hardcover) – 80 cast members share what a day at Disney looks like for them. This looks amazing!
The One Year Pray for America Bible NLT (Paperback) – Includes a 15-minutes-per-day reading plan for the Bible as well as non-partisan prayer prompts.
The Soul of Wine: Savoring the Goodness of God (Hardcover) – The author, daughter of a vintner and someone trained as a theologian, explores the use of wine in the Bible. Includes a wine tasting and book discussion guide.
Star Trek: Body by Starfleet (Hardcover) – A fitness guide that plays off Star Trek references and characters. I’m eager to check out this humorous book in person.
The Total Money Makeover Journal (Hardcover) – Bullet journal format with prompts to track your journey to financial freedom.
The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch: How the Canceled Sitcom Became the Beloved Pop Culture Icon We Are Still Talking About Today (Hardcover) – Part of the 50th anniversary celebration of The Brady Bunch.