Here are some of the books releasing this week!
Books for Kids
Escape Goat – When things go wrong around the farm, everyone assumes the goat is at fault. This looks adorable!
For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World – A boy asks his father questions about protests and shootings and vigils as he processes life as a Black boy.
Perfect Pigeons – While a group of pigeons celebrates their uniformity, one pigeon stands out from the crowd. The cover art on this is delightful! Makes me want to pick this one up.
She Persisted in Sports – Book 3 in the She Persisted series focuses on some of the women who excel in sports.
Biggie-Biggie-BIGGIE! – The third Elephant and Piggie collection. Includes the books There Is a Bird on Your Head! (one of my favorites), Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Elephants Cannot Dance!, Should I Share My Ice Cream?, and I Will Take a Nap!
Brina the Cat: City Cat (Graphic Novel) – Book 2 in the Brina the Cat series. After her freedom in the countryside, Brina has to adjust to being an indoor cat again.
Geeger the Robot Goes to School – Book 1 in a new series from Jarrett Lerner. Geeger is going to school for the first time – a human school. There are going to be lots of challenges for this very literally-minded robot. (Think Amelia Bedelia with a robot.)
Books for Older Kids/ Teens/Young Adults
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: Peril at Owl Park (Older Middle Grade) – Book 2 in the Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series. Aggie and Hector are spending Christmas with Aggie’s sister, the new Lady Greyson of Owl Park. But when there is a dead body under the tree instead of presents, Aggie and Hector will be sleuthing again.
Going Rogue at Hebrew School (Older Middle Grade) – A boy who is tired of going to Hebrew school thinks the new rabbi might just be a Jedi Master!
The Map of Stories – Book 3 in the Pages & Co series. Tilly is headed to the Library of Congress to find a mysterious group of bookwanderers.
Maya and the Rising Dark – Maya is a godling, and daughter of the guardian of the veil between our world and a dark world of monsters. But when Maya’s father goes missing, the veil becomes weak and monsters start invading as a dark force seeks to conquer the human world.
The Afterlife of the Party – When a teen is bitten by the lead singer of a band playing a party she was dragged to, she finds herself changing into something else as she chases after the singer who took her best friend. (TW: Sexual assault)
A Curse of Gold – Book 2 in the Touch of Gold series by Blink YA. (I have book one on my TBR shelves; I met the author at our local book store!) King Midas’ cursed daughter is a target when her people turn against her out of fear of her magic. Then the god Dionysus issues a challenge for someone to kill her and destroy her kingdom.
Early Departures – A new technology gives Jamal a second chance to work things out with his best friend, Q, who died. But he can’t tell Q that he has already died, or that in a few weeks he will die again, permanently. Wild!
Far from Normal – Maddie finally has a chance to stand out in the crowd of “normal” when she secures an internship with a sports marketing firm. But when she is tasked with helping a soccer player with a bad image, she is tempted to fall for him which she knows can only lead to disaster.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London – The latest YA book from Garth Nix focuses on a girl with a quest to find her missing father. This quest puts her in contact with Merlin, one of the Left-Handed Booksellers of London (they have magic), and his sister, Vivien, one of the Right-Handed Booksellers of London (they are the intellectuals), whose own quest crosses paths with hers. This sounds amazing!
Miss Meteor – Two girls try to pull off the biggest pageant upset their town has ever seen.
The Silvered Serpents – Book 2 in the Gilded Wolves series. A treasure-hunter and his friends, haunted by what their last mission cost them, journey to find an artifact that can give someone the powers of God.
Smash It! – A girl determined to make the most of her junior year of high school decides to take bold risks to pursue what – and whom – she wants.
Books for Adults
The Body From the Past (Trade Paperback) – Book 5 in the Jazzi Zanders mystery series. When Jazzi walks through what will be her next home renovation project, she discovers a shrine to the teen who lived there when she was killed at her own graduation party. A friend’s brother-in-law was suspected but never convicted. He asks Jazzi to investigate and clear his name once and for all.
The Coast to Coast Murders (Hardcover) – An LA Detective and an FBI agent team up to investigate a series of murders that may be tied to a family where the parents, both psychologists, raised their adopted children in an experimental environment. This sounds too weird not to read.
The Doors of Eden (Trade Paperback) – Cracks between our world and parallel Earths are appearing – and widening – revealing extraordinary creatures.
Hench (Hardcover) – A bright administrative assistant who is injured by a “hero” uses her research skills to discern – and reveal – that the difference between heroes and villains is sometimes nothing more than positive press. And she has the skills, and the drive, to help control those perceptions for whoever wants to hire her. This sounds fantastic! Definitely on my list for this week.
Home for the Holidays (Trade Paperback) – Aunt Sassy invites the three Buchanan sisters home to Juniper Inn for the holidays one last time just when each is dealing with major life change. This one is on my list, too.
Man’s Best Friend (September 25 e-book) – Book 6 in the Dogmother’s series. Twenty years after the tragedy that drove them apart, Evie returns to Bitter Bark and encounters Declan again. I have this series on my list.
Well Played (Trade Paperback) – Sequel to the delightful Well Met (♥♥♥♥♥). After watching her friends fall in love at the Faire, Stacey decides it’s time to find her own true love. I’ll be reviewing this one soon.
FRIENDS Official Cookbook (Hardcover) – 100 recipes inspired by the TV show.
Love Is the Way: Holding onto Hope in Troubling Times (Hardcover) – From the Bishop who performed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Discover ways to live out of love which in turn can address the troubling issues of our day – poverty, racism, etc.
The Peanuts Book (Hardcover) – A celebration of Peanuts.
Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers’ Dynasty (Hardcover) – Covers Lakers History from 1996 through 2004.
A Weary World: Reflections for a Blue Christmas (Trade Paperback) – Celebrating the Advent season while also acknowledging life’s struggles and losses. Practices and prayers for 28 days of observation.
We’re Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy (Hardcover) – A new book from the late-Congressman Elijah Cummings that is part memoir and part call-to-action.