Contemporary & Literary Fiction
Entitlement - Taut, unsettling, and alive to the seductive distortions of money, Entitlement is a riveting tale for our new gilded age, a story that confidently considers questions about need and worth, race and privilege, philanthropy and generosity, passion and obsession. It is a provocative, propulsive novel about the American imagination.
Why I want to read it: Having grown up in an environment where there was a lot of obsession with money (particularly the lack thereof), I find people’s relationship with wealth fascinating. Entitlement not only sounds amazing, but it has a five-star cover too. It’s giving Mad Men!
Intermezzo - An exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family centered around two brothers and the people they love.
Why I want to read it: It’s not that I detest Sally Rooney’s work by any means, I just didn’t love Normal People (and if I’m being honest, I am always a little put off by the insane levels of hype her books reach. I mean, nothing in this world is that universally good). However, maybe it’s time I give her work another chance. Intermezzo’s yellow cover caught my attention and I do tend to enjoy stories about grief, if you can say such a thing. I won’t be running to the bookstores to grab it, though; this is one of those books I’m gonna have to let marinate for at least a year.
Colored Television - After a long, precarious stretch bouncing among sketchy rentals and sublets, Jane and her family are living in luxury for a year, house-sitting in the hills above Los Angeles. The gig magically coincides with Jane’s sabbatical, giving her the time and space she needs to finish her second novel.
But things don’t work out quite as hoped. (…) When she finagles a meeting with Hampton Ford, a hot producer with a major development deal at a streaming network, he seems excited to work with a “real writer,” and together they begin to develop “the Jackie Robinson of biracial comedies.” Things finally seem to be going right for Jane—until they go terribly wrong.
Why I want to read it: All you need to do to get me excited about a book is tell me things will go “terribly wrong” at some point. Add nasty Hollywood shenanigans and a writer protagonist to the equation, and we’re golden.
Romance
I’m not a romance gal, but every once in a while comes a new release that catches my eye.
Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour - A rollicking, unforgettable romance about two strangers finding love despite their best efforts as they embark on a sweeping matchmaking tour through Việt Nam.
Why I want to read it: The fact that this is a romance story is almost irrelevant to me; just take me on the Vietnam tour! Show me the sights! But, I must admit, it also sounds wholesome in a non-superficial way. There’s the forced proximity trope, a grumpy-sunshine relationship, and the book also grapples with themes of cultural identity and family dynamics/expectations.
Fall for Him - In Fall for Him, seven-hundred-fifty square feet isn’t enough for the home-renovation-fueled hatred and the building sexual tension.
Why I want to read it: It’s giving Fall! It’s giving When Harry Met Barry! Imagine having a hot neighbor that lowkey infuriates you but not in a homicidal way. What a blessing.
Thriller & Mystery
Madwoman - A gripping story of motherhood and motherloss and the brutal, mighty things women do to keep themselves and each other alive.
Why I want to read it: Please, a moment for this cover! And title! This is one of those stories where a woman with a dark past lies her way to a perfect (if somewhat fake) present. But as always, her past catches up to her.
The Lightning Bottles - A love letter to rock ‘n’ roll and star-crossed love, following Jane Pyre’s road trip around Europe as she attempts to find out what really happened to her partner in love and music, who disappeared without a trace years earlier, leaving Jane to pick up the pieces.
Why I want to read it: It’s yet another celebrity novel. And as far as celebrity fiction goes, this book sounds pretty good; I can get behind a rock ‘n’ roll mystery.
Snake Oil - A sharp and twisty novel of literary suspense that interrogates the dark side of wellness, startup culture, and female ambition.
Why I want to read it: I do love wellness culture as a subject, and the concept of creepy, culty wellness girlbosses scratches a special itch in my brain. I’m hoping Snake Oil delivers what similar books before it haven’t.
Fantasy
Lucy Undying - In this epic and seductive gothic fantasy, a vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love.
Why I want to read it: There’s no point in me lying to you and saying that my interest in this book isn’t 90% cover-fuelled. However, while I’m not usually big on vampire books (not since the Twilight saga, anyway), it might be time to give them another chance.
An Academy for Liars - Lennon Carter gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because—like everyone else at the school—she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.
As Lennon continues in her studies her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton college, and the way her mentor’s tragic and violent past intertwines with it. She is increasingly disturbed by what she learns. For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption . . . and it's a test she's terrified she is going to fail.
Why I want to read it: I’m really interested in seeing what happens when a bunch of people with the ability to persuade get together. It can’t be pretty.
Immortal Dark - A dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.
Why I want to read it: Another vampire book! There might be a vampire revival upon us. Next micro-genre prediction: celebrity vampires. I would love to read a book about an aspiring actor who happens to be so bad, not even eternity can help him make it in Hollywood. Just an idea.
Horror
Necrology - In a fantastical aftermath of the Salem witch trials, magical women known as the Dirty have signed a contract swearing off their innate magic in exchange for freedom from violence by non-magical Freemen. Two hundred years later, in a Catskills orphanage, headmistress Whitetail has sprouted antlers—proof of a violated contract. When her wealthy benefactor visits, proposing marriage, her appearance sparks abuse. Rushing to her teacher’s defense, eight-year-old Rabbit curses the Beard dead, and Whitetail’s arrested on trumped-up charges.
As Whitetail awaits her trial and execution, Rabbit is groomed as the Freemen’s star witness and learns of the terrifying reality to which they aspire. With her magic at stake and a loose tooth in her mouth, Rabbit has little left to lose. And a revolution to gain.
Why I want to read it: If you’re a close friend of mine (hi close friends! Thanks for reading!), maybe you saw this and thought “I bet she lost her sh*t over this cover” and you’d be correct! I will 1000% get my hands on this book for the cover alone, it just so happens that it also sounds like something that I would love to read (because witches).
The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's - An all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria in this chilling dark academia thriller haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light.
Why I want to read it: The girls at St. Bernadette’s begin screaming in the middle of class and a mysterious chain reaction begins. I just love this concept. I’m so intrigued by this one, and it sounds like a great fall read too.
Such Lovely Skin - After spending the summer wracked with guilt about causing the accident that killed her little sister, ambitious gamer and chronic liar Viv returns to Twitch streaming. (…) The weekend before school starts, Viv finds the perfect horror game to make her Twitch comeback, and during an offline practice run, an NPC asks Viv for a secret. She decides to tell them the truth about her sister’s death since a game could never share her secret―in doing so, she accidentally welcomes a demonic mimic into her life.
No one believes Viv when she tells them about her evil doppelganger. Viv has lied to get her best friend’s sympathy and has spread rumors for attention, so why should anyone trust her now?
Why I want to read it: This premise is speaking to me! An evil demonic doppelganger? A cry wolfer trying to convince those around her that this time is for real? Sign me up.
Ruin Road - Cade Webster lives between worlds. He's a standout football star at the right school but lives in the wrong neighborhood--if you let his classmates tell it. Everywhere but home, people are afraid of him for one reason or another. Afraid he's too big, too fast, too ambitious, too Black.
Then one fateful night, to avoid a dangerous encounter with the police, he ducks into a pawn shop. An impulse purchase and misspoken desire change everything when Cade tells the shopkeeper he wishes people would stop acting so scared around him, and the wish is granted...
At first, it feels like things have taken a turn for the better. But it's not just Cade that people no longer fear--it's everything. With Cade spreading this newfound "courage" wherever he goes, anything can happen. Fearless acts of violence begin to escalate in both his neighborhood and at school. Something monstrous is clearly at work and it's up to Cade to stop it.
Why I want to read it: I love books and movies where things just get wildly out of control, especially if it’s a careful-what-you-wish-for scenario. Ruin Road sounds thrilling and page-turning and fuuun.
Where I End - At night, my mother creaks. The house creaks along with her.
Through our thin shared wall, I can hear the makings of my mother gurgle through her body just like the water in the walls of the house...
Teenage Aoileann has never left the island. Her silent, bed-bound mother is a wreckage, the survivor of a private disaster no one will speak about.
Aoileann desperately wants a family, and when Sarah and her three young children move to the island, Aoileann finds a focus for her relentless love.
Why I want to read it: A creepy, bed-ridden mother and a dangerously obsessive daughter - there is no possible way this could be more right up my alley.
Non-Fiction
Want - In this generation-defining book, Gillian Anderson collects and introduces the anonymous letters of hundreds of women from around the world (along with her own anonymous letter). Want reveals how women feel about sex when they have the freedom to be totally anonymous.
Why I want to read it: I will read anything Gillian Anderson writes/collects/puts together, but Hollywood crushes aside, Want sounds absolutely fabulous concept-wise.
The Third Gilmore Girl - A candid and captivating memoir from award-winning and beloved actress Kelly Bishop, spanning her six decades in show business from Broadway to Hollywood with A Chorus Line, Dirty Dancing, Gilmore Girls, and much more.
Why I want to read it: I have a soft spot for Kelly Bishop’s Emily Gilmore, the FIRST and superior Gilmore Girl as far as I’m concerned. As with any celeb memoir, I’m hoping hers is full of (good, hopefully wholesome?) Hollywood gossip.
How to Tell When We Will Die - Hedva’s debut collection upends our collective understanding of disability. In their radical reimagining of a world where care and pain are symbiotic, and our bodies are allowed to live free and well, Hedva implores us to remember that illness is neither an inconvenience or inevitability, but an enlivening and elemental part of being alive.
Why I want to read it: It was actually as I was reading Mona Awad’s All’s Well that I realized my reading has been very limited when it comes to disability and chronic illness representation. In an effort to change that, I’m looking forward to giving this essay collection a shot.
Acts of Creation - Exploring motherhood through the work of artists from prehistory to the present day, Acts of Creation addresses the abiding mother-shaped hole in art history. It delves into the joys and heartaches, mess, myths and mishaps of motherhood through over 150 artworks, from ancient goddess artifacts to contemporary interpretations of pregnancy in the present.
Why I want to read it: I’m very excited about this one - motherhood and art have always gone hand in hand. Born out of an art exhibit currently on display at MAC (Birmingham), Acts of Creation is both a “must-read on the evolving discourse on motherhood” and a beautiful addition to any (or at least my) art book collection.
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I’m so excited for Want and The Third Gilmore Girl too!
Thanks for helping me adding books to my wishlist 🤭 I’m intrigued by Snake Oil, Necrology and The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s !