Here are some of the books releasing this week!
Books for Kids – Board Books and Picture Books
And the People Stayed Home – A poem about the pandemic and quarantine, set in a picture book.
The Grinny Granny Donkey – Another sequel to The Wonky Donkey, this time starring Dinky Donkey’s grandmother.
Pig the Slob – Book 7 in the Pig the Pug series. What will it take to get Pig the couch potato off the couch?
The Efficient, Inventive (Often Annoying) Melvil Dewey – A picture book biography of the man who created a universal organization system for libraries.
Swish: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters – A picture book biography.
Books for Kids – Early Readers and Chapter Books
Clark the Shark Gets a Pet – Clark learns there’s more to keeping a pet than he thought in this new leveled reader.
Kit and Kaboodle Blast off to Space AND Explore the City – Two early readers from the folks at Highlights magazine starring Kit and Kaboodle, cat and mouse friends, who go to space camp and explore the city. Includes hidden picture puzzles in each book. These are books 3 and 4 in this series.
Nick and Nack Put on a Puppet Show AND See the Stars – Two early readers from the folks at Highlights magazine starring Nick and Nack, a boy and his robot friend, who build a puppet show and stage and build a telescope. Includes hidden picture puzzles in each book. These are books 3 and 4 in this series.
Rocket Loves Hide-and-Seek! – When Rocket keeps getting found first in his hide-and-seek games with his friends, Bella and Owl come up with a way to make the game fun again. Rocket is one of my favorite book characters!
The Bad Guys in The One?! – Book 12 in the terrific Bad Guys series about a group of “bad guys” determined to be heroes.
Fox Tails The Biggest Roller Coaster – Book 2 in the Fox Tails series from Scholastic ACORN. Fritz, Franny, and their dog, Fred, spend the day at the amusement park.
Miki – Book 59 in the Puppy Place series. When Charles finds out their new foster, Miki, has been taught to “dance,” the kids put on a performance guaranteed to get Miki adopted.
Ra the Mighty: The Crocodile Caper – Book 3 in the fun Ra the Mighty, Cat Detective mystery series. This time, Ra, the Pharaoh’s cat, and his friend Khepri the dung beetle are on the case of a missing child when Pharaoh’s son goes missing. I get such a kick out of this series!
Books for Older Kids/Teens
7 Good Reason Not to Grow Up (Graphic Novel) – Kirby is the star of the snarky “7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up” videos, but he’s not who his friends think he is. When his secrets are exposed, he and his friends may have to grow up faster than they wanted.
Don’t Judge Me – The latest from Lisa Schroeder (My Secret Guide to Paris-♥♥♥♥♥ , Frosting and Friendship-♥♥♥♥). When Hazel discovers her best friend’s brother has made a list rating the girls in their middle school on their looks, she knows she needs to take a stand.
Friend Me – When Roisin is overwhelmed by bullying at school, she makes an online friend named Haley who makes life bearable. But when Roisin’s bully suffers an accident and Roisin gets nervous her messages with Haley could be misunderstood, she reaches out to Haley, but she has disappeared. The stakes in this thriller seem a little higher than usual for a middle grade story, so I’m curious to check this one out.
Teen Titans Go! Roll With It – A new graphic novel starring the Teen Titans. When the Titans play their favorite roll playing game, Basements and Basilisks, Robin gets competitive and things quickly get out of hand. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
2021 Game On! – Scholastic’s annual video game guide.
Show Me History: Muhammad Ali AND Jesus (Graphic Novels) – Graphic novel biographies of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, and Jesus.
This Is Your Time – An autobiographical story by Ruby Bridges, written as a letter to the reader about civil rights activism.
Books for Teens/Young Adults
The Camelot Betrayal – Book 2 in the Camelot Rising trilogy, following The Guinevere Deception. Guinevere is still questioning and searching for self and her role in the future of Camelot when the sister of the real Guinevere arrives.
Chasing Lucky – The latest romance from Jenn Bennett. When Josie returns to her home town after years away, she reconnects with her childhood best friend who is now the resident bad boy, Lucky. When Josie makes some epically bad decisions, Lucky takes the blame for her, but she has no idea why he would do that when he said he wanted nothing to do with her. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow – Lila’s parents send her to spend the summer with family friends in England to help her mental health, and a local tea shop clerk with troubles of his own agrees to be her personal tour guide.
How to Pack for the End of the World – When Amina connects with a group of preppers at her new school, she starts to wonder if it makes sense to work so hard to prepare for a hypothetical future of disaster when it could cost her everything she wants in the present.
Lies Like Poison – Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna discover their friend, Raven, is being abused by his stepmother, and they concoct a plan to poison the woman with leaves of their namesake flowers in her tea. But someone backs out, and the three drift apart, their plan forgotten. When Raven’s stepmother is found dead three years later, by belladonna, Belladonna is arrested. She reaches out to her old friends to help her clear her name. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
Love & Olives – Book 3 in the Love & series. When Liv’s estranged father invites her to Greece where he’ll be filming a documentary on his theories about Atlantis, she jumps at the chance to travel as well as to reconcile with her father.
Rebel Rose – Book 1 in the Queen’s Council series. Belle has broken the Enchantress’s curse, turning the Beast back into Prince Adam. Belle is torn between her humble beginnings and her future royalty while the rebellions in Paris creep ever closer. When she discovers a dark magic, she has to question if she is truly prepared for the life ahead of her.
Refuge (e-book) – Book 1 in the Tradepoint Saga. A translator and diplomat for an exchange group from the planet Venna carries a new weight of responsibility when she discovers their homeworld has been destroyed. Their exchange group are the only Vennans left in the universe. At the time of this writing, this is available to read for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Rent a Boyfriend – Rent for Your ‘Rents provides fake boyfriends to appease even the most conservative Asian parents. Exactly what Chloe needs to convince her parents to turn down a proposal they feel is “perfect” and she finds dreadful. This is at the top of my list this week – sounds delightful! I love a good fake-relationship story.
Teen Killers Club – Convicted of her best friend’s brutal murder, Signal opts to join a group of secret teen assassins training at an abandoned camp. Since she is completely innocent of the crime, she doesn’t exactly fit in with her new teammates. Signal joined up so she could find out who framed her. But she didn’t bargain on becoming friends with the ragtag group of future assassins. Or on the man in the woods determined to eliminate every last one of them. This is also on my list for this week!
Those Who Prey – A college student still looking for the belonging and community she’s supposed to find on campus gets drawn in by The Kingdom, an exclusive campus group that provides everything she’s been looking for. But when she heads to Italy on a group trip, Emily discovers the dark side of The Kingdom when she and her peers are stripped of their passports and denied contact with their families. And then one of the group members dies.
Whispering Hearts – Book 3 in the House of Secrets series by V. C. Andrews. A young woman, disowned and alone in New York hoping to make it big, struggles to find her way to stardom. When she is offered an opportunity to “help” an odd couple who are not able to have children, Emma will take the money. But what troubles will she encounter in exchange?
The Anne of Green Gables Devotional: A Chapter-by Chapter Companion for Kindred Spirits – 40-day devotional including art work, questions for discussion groups, passages from the novel, and life application.
Books for Adults – Fiction
Amish Christmas Miracles Collection (e-book) – A collection of 14 holiday stories.
Danger of Sleighed Plot (e-book, November 13) – Book 2 in the Plum Fields Mystery series described as Little Women meets Murder, She Wrote. At the time of this writing, this is available to read for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Dead Sea Conspiracy (Hardcover) – Book 2 in the Dead Sea Chronicles series by Jerry Jenkins. An archaeologist is searching for something to bring together the world’s three major religions while an enemy stalks closer.
Fowl Play (e-book) – First in the Friendsgiving Cozy Mystery series. When the restaurant they used to frequent on Thanksgiving (with something of a “found family”) closes, Lynn and Chad decide to host the group at their home. But this year the group is fracturing into cliques and some uninvited guests descend. This includes characters from the author’s various series, together for the first time in this stand alone mystery.
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem (Trade Paperback) – First in a new Lady’s Guide romance series, not to be confused with the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series. Detective Eversham is annoyed that Lady Katherine gets involved in not one, but TWO, of his murder cases. But he can’t deny her insight and wisdom when it comes to solving crimes. Working together seems the best course of action, but a killer will put their lives – and their potential romance – in danger.
Miles Morales: Wings of Fury (Trade Paperback) – The official prequel for the new Miles Morales Spider-Man game. Miles teams up with Peter Parker to deal with Vulture and his new sidekick, Starling, just as Miles is wondering what it means to be a hero when the world wants to assume the worst about you.
Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines (Trade Paperback) – Book 2 in the Sassy Cat Mystery series. Pet groomer Mimi Lee finds herself sleuthing when a local teacher is killed and Mimi’s sister was the last to see the woman alive. This series, which includes a talking cat, sounds like a lot of fun!
Star Trek The Original Series: Contest of Principles (Trade Paperback) – A new Star Trek TOS story set during the original five-year mission. While Kirk is required to oversee the first free elections on Vok after years of military rule, Bones goes missing during a mission on a nearby planet. Spock and Christine Chapel lead a team to investigate the doctor’s disappearance.
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back From a Certain Point of View (Hardcover) – A collection of Star Wars stories with ties to The Empire Strikes Back which celebrates it’s 40th Anniversary this year. All proceeds of this book will be donated to First Book which provides books to children in need.
A Sugar Plum Christmas (e-book, November 14) – A woman scouting out a mountain town for a potential reality TV show meets a local who doesn’t want the town exploited – and sparks fly between them.
The Truth About Dukes (Mass Market Paperback) – Book 5 in the Rogues to Riches series. If Robert’s enemies ever find out he spent time in an asylum, they will try to send him back there so they can take over his lands and fortune. He is in need of a wife of suitable reputation and breeding to protect his future. And while Lady Constance seems like the right choice – on the outside – he has no idea of her true thoughts and feelings which she keeps under wraps.
What the Lady’s Maid Knew (e-book) – First in a new series. A magical maid uses her magic in the expected ways, including keeping her employer’s rebellious daughter on the path toward arranged marriage. But a rebellion is rising and they desire Eliza’s magic above all else. This sounds fascinating!! At the time of this writing, this is available to read for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Without a Brew (Hardcover) – Book 4 in the Sloane Krause Mystery series by Ellie Alexander. Sloan and her boss are second guessing their plans to be innkeepers when a local who was spending the night to stay out of a storm turns up missing.
Books for Adults – Nonfiction
The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time: Decoding History’s Unsolved Mysteries (Trade Paperback) – A new nonfiction collection from Brad Meltzer.
The FRIENDS Official Cookbook Set – Cookbook and apron set.
One Life (Hardcover) – Memoir from US Soccer gold medalist and World Cup Champion Megan Rapinoe.
Star Trek The Wisdom of Picard (Hardcover) – A collection of wisdom from the seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Star Trek movies, and the new Star Trek Picard series. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
Talking Back to Purity Culture: Rediscovering Faithful Christian Sexuality (Trade Paperback) – Looks at the teachings and messages of purity culture through a lens of scripture, especially in light of the fall out for those raised to follow the purity culture rules.