It’s the last week of February. 2020 is zooming by! Here are some of the books releasing this week:
Books for Kids
Count With Olaf (Board Book) – Book comes with plush, movable hands.
Balletball – A girl who loves ballet is “stuck” playing baseball in the spring, but discovers she might actually like it.
Don’t Feed the Coos! – She was warned what will happen, but the girl still feeds a pigeon. Then all of its little pigeon friends start following her every where she goes. I can not WAIT to see this in person!
Feast of Peas (March 1) – Jiva works so hard in his garden to care for his peas. And he can hardly wait to enjoy them. But every time he goes to take the ripe ones from his garden, they are already gone.
Mr Pig’s Big Wall – Hog is annoyed that after a hard day’s work he can’t just relax in his garden because his neighbor always wants to play. So he builds a wall to keep her out, not realizing that his wall will deprive him of what he values most.
Piper & Mabel – An adorable story of two dogs sent to “Happy Trails Ranch” instead of going on vacation with their people. I can’t wait to see this in person.
Supertato: Books Are Rubbish (February 27) – The evil Pea thinks books are rubbish, and the other vegetables are determined to prove him wrong.
Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote – The story of Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson’s battle over votes for women.
Free for You and Me: What Our First Amendment Means – Picture book exploring the first amendment to the Constitution.
Cats in the Crater – Book 3 in the early chapter book My FANGtastically Evil Vampire Pet series. The Great and Powerful Mark, and his vampire cat, are spending the summer at Evil Scientist Summer Camp. This sounds hilarious!
InvestiGators – First in a new graphic novel early chapter book series about super spy alligators. This. Looks. Amazing. I have this one on my list for this week, too.
Trouble at Table 5: The Candy Caper AND Busted By Breakfast – The first two books in a new early chapter book series from the author of the Stick Cat and Stick Dog books, Tom Watson. The stories focus on a set of three friends and the antics they get into as they help one another.
Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults
Finding Home – Book 2 in the Baxter Family Children series, a spin off from the adult Baxter family novels.
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! – Novel in letters. A girl on the autism spectrum writes letters to a baseball star sharing her own dreams of playing on the team. This one is on my list for this week!
A Home for Goddesses and Dogs (Older Middle Grade) – When a girl loses her mother and goes to live with an aunt and her wife, she struggles to find a place of belonging. Then the adults also take in a rotten, misbehaving dog. Wasn’t taking her in enough “rescuing” for them for awhile? This one is on my list for this week, too.
Village of Scoundrels (Older Middle Grade) – For older middle grade readers and teens based on a true story about teens in the French resistance in WWII.
We Could Be Heroes – A boy on the autism spectrum is suspended for a week because of his choices when his teacher makes the class read a really sad book. A girl has been looking for a kid just like him – someone with the gumption to help her save a dog with seizures. This is also on my list.
The Wonder of Wildflowers – A girl looks forward to when her family completes the path to citizenship so she can finally access Amber and the magic it provides and be an insider instead of an outsider.
The Opposite of Falling Apart – A YA story of two teens preparing to leave for college, one battling extreme anxiety and the other dealing with the fallout of “The Accident.” As they find each other, they also find a means of overcoming some of the obstacles in their paths.
Rebelwing – That cover is screaming my name! It’s amazing!! This book has it all – it’s dystopian, there are cybernetic dragons and smugglers, and it takes place in a near-future Washington DC. This one is already in my Amazon cart.
The Shadows Between Us – A girl with a murderous plan for the king needs to keep him alive long enough to make her queen before she takes him out. And plenty of others are trying to hunt him down.
The Sound of Stars – In a world where a misunderstanding led to the death of 1/3 of the population and takeover by an alien race, music, books and art are illegal and emotional expression can be grounds for death. But Ellie is keeping a secret library anyway. When one of the aliens discovers her secret, he knows he should turn her in, but his love of music compels him to keep her secret. This sounds fascinating.
Books for Adults
Al Dente’s Inferno (Mass Market Paperback) – First in the new Tuscan Cooking School Mystery series. An American chef trying to launch a farm-to-table culinary school in Tuscany stumbles across a murder. Looking forward to this one!
The Body in the Bookmobile (e-book) – First in the new Millie Monroe Mysteries series. A law school drop out who takes on the job of driving the local bookmobile discovers a dead body in the van.
British Murder (Trade Paperback) – Combines previously published books 17 (English Tea Murder) and 23 (British Manor Murder) into one volume.
Coconut Layer Cake Murder (Hardcover) – Book 25 in the Hannah Swenson Mystery series. Hannah’s sister’s boyfriend is the prime suspect in a murder investigation.
A Cowboy to Remember (Mass Market Paperback) – First in the new Cowboys of California series. A chef who loses her memory in an accident heads to California and family friends who might be able to help her put her life back together again. There she sees the face that has been haunting her dreams even though she doesn’t remember the history between them. I already have this one on hold at the library.
Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnut (Hardcover) – Book 3 in the Death by Chocolate Mystery series. When a Pirate Festival comes to town, bakeshop owners Jake and Ellie find a dead body instead of a boost in their bottom line. And then Jake becomes the prime suspect.
Death with a Dark Red Rose (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Writer’s Apprentice Mystery series. While Lena should be working on her next book with friend and author Camilla Graham as well as enjoying her engagement, she’s instead looking for one of her friends who has gone missing. I am two books behind on this fantastic series, but I’ll be catching up soon!
Dressed Up 4 Murder (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 6 in the Sophie Kimball Mystery series. Phee’s mom is consumed with showing her dog Streetman in the Precious Pooches Holiday Extravaganza costume contest. But a couple dead bodies could be a sign that someone is after the dog owners in the contest, including Phee’s mom.
Egg Drop Dead (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Noodle Shop Mystery series. Lana’s first ever catering event is a flop when a dead body is found at the event.
Finna (Trade Paperback) – A Swedish big box store is home to multiverse-spanning portals. And when an elderly customer slips through one, two minimum wage employees (who recently broke up) must go after her to save the company (and the woman). (LGBTQ+)
Here Comes the Body (Mass Market Paperback) – First in the new Catering Hall Mystery series. A dead body at the family catering hall is not what Mia needed at the bachelor party she planned as her first event back in town. Now she is sleuthing to be sure her father doesn’t end up in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.
The King’s Justice (Hardcover) – Book 9 in the Maggie Hope Mystery series. Secret Agent Maggie Hope is looking for connections between a missing violin and a series of murders.
Lupine Lies (e-book, February 27) – A Gray Whale Inn short story.
Murder Makes Scents (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 2 in the Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery series. Coming home from a Paris perfume conference, Stella and her mom, Millie, have brought trouble home with them. Millie is attacked and a stranger accuses her of stealing a formula and smuggling it home.
On the Lamb (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 4 in the Kebab Kitchen Mystery series. While preparing for Easter and enjoying the annual Bikers on the Beach celebration a man is killed and Lucy’s friend is the prime suspect.
Pies Before Guys (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 4 in the Pie Town Mystery series. A poet accused of plagiarism is found dead at the pie shop, and the Baker Street Bakers are asked to look into it.
A Silent Stabbing (Hardcover) – Book 5 in the A Lady and a Lady’s Maid Mystery series. Lady Phoebe and her lady’s maid, Eva, are in a puzzling mess when their new head gardener is murdered. His brother is the most likely suspect, but Eva’s sister – her MARRIED sister – has been spending time with him while she’s on holiday. If she is his alibi, her reputation will be ruined. Phoebe and Eva know they have to investigate so the killer can be brought to justice.
Stayin’ Alive (e-book) – Book 10 in the Country Club Murders series. After all this time, Ellison has sort of come to expect that she’ll find a body any time there’s a big event – like the exhibit of Chinese funerary at the museum. She’s happy, though, to stay far from the investigation this time, until someone tries to kill her.
Who’s Dead, Doc? (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 2 in the Jules and Bun Mystery series. Jules and her telepathic rabbit Bun are sleuthing again when someone is killed at a birthday party.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot (Hardcover) – The author asserts that the feminist movement is too often focused on “increasing privilege for the few” instead of the basic needs – food, quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage – for the many. This is on my list of nonfiction books to add to my TBR.
The Illustrated Feminist: 100 Years of Suffrage, Strength, and Sisterhood in America (Hardcover) – Highlights 10 landmark moments for women from each decade from 1920 to 2020.
On the Bright Side: Stories about Friendship, Love and Being True to Yourself (Hardcover) – The latest from Melanie Shankle. How to anchor yourself to unchanging principles in a world gone mad.
Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote (Hardcover) – History of Suffrage from pre-Civil War to now.