“She’s like a thousand different people right now, all waiting to be, and every time she makes a choice, one of those people goes away forever. Until finally you run out of choices and you are whoever you are.” – Nathan Ballingrud, North American Lake Monsters
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
fiction / horror / science fiction.
Years ago, in a cave beneath the dense forests and streams on the surface of the moon, a gargantuan spider once lived. Its silk granted its first worshippers immense faculties of power and awe.
It’s now 1923 and Veronica Brinkley is touching down on the moon for her intake at the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. A renowned facility, Dr. Barrington Cull’s invasive and highly successful treatments have been lauded by many. And they’re so simple! All it takes is a little spider silk in the amygdala, maybe a strand or two in the prefrontal cortex, and perhaps an inch in the hippocampus for near evisceration of those troublesome thoughts and ideas.
But patients aren’t the only ones with trouble on their minds, and although the spider’s been dead for years, its denizens are not. Someone or something is up to no good, and Veronica just might be the cause.
“[A] truly creepy, utterly riveting story… tells a chilling story that clearly has more frights to come.” – Marlene Harris, Library Journal
“…reads like Ken Kesey by way of Edgar Rice Burroughs… Ballingrud’s fever dream of a novel will reward daring readers with something they haven’t seen before.” – Publishers Weekly
“If writers fashioned buildings from words, Nathan Ballingrud would erect cathedrals… positively exquisite… The limitless possibilities offered by this trilogy signal Ballingrud’s moment to transcend his already formidable talent beyond our wildest fevered dreams.” – Chris Hallock, Rue Morgue
The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves
fiction / mystery / suspense.
The man’s body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.
DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death, with her only clue being the disappearance of one of the home’s residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.
Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, are soon embroiled in the case, and when a second connected body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the wilds of the Northumberland countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact. Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, and the dark secrets in their community that may be far more dangerous than she could have ever believed possible.
“A taut police procedural enhanced by relevant social consciousness…” – Carol Haggas, Booklist
“An excellent character-driven entry that highlights major problems in Britain’s child welfare system.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Cleeves portrays Rosebank’s kids and its staffers with compassion and respect, even as she spotlights the pitfalls of a for-profit approach to child welfare. Multiple narrators and a core cast of keenly rendered characters lend the tale dimension while furthering the series arc. Cleeves’s fans will be well satisfied.” – Publishers Weekly
Daydream by Hannah Grace
fiction / romance.
When his procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new title of captain for the hockey team—which he didn’t even want—Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club.
Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and as soon as she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. Too bad being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job, book club, and the novel she’s trying to write. But new experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her.
They just need to stick to their rule book.
Oh, and not fall in love.
“I love Hannah Grace’s writing style… truly liv(es) up to everything I wanted it to.” – bookclubwannabe on TikTok
“No, this is not a dream. We’re finally getting Henry’s book in Hannah Grace’s Maple Hills series and trust us when we say, it has been so worth the wait.” – Tamara Fuentes, Cosmpolitan
The Eastern Front: A History of the Great War 1914-1918 by Nick Lloyd
nonfiction / history.
Writing in the 1920s, Winston Churchill argued that the First World War on the Eastern Front was “incomparably the greatest war in history. In its scale, in its slaughter, in the exertions of the combatants, in its military kaleidoscope, it far surpasses by magnitude and intensity all similar human episodes.” It was, he concluded, “the most frightful misfortune” to fall upon mankind “since the collapse of the Roman Empire before the Barbarians.” Yet Churchill was an exception, and the war in the east has long been seen as a sideshow to the brutal combat on the Western Front. Finally, with The Eastern Front—the first major history of that arena in fifty years—the acclaimed historian Nick Lloyd corrects the record.
Drawing on the latest scholarship as well as eyewitness reports, diary entries, and memoirs, Lloyd moves from the great battles of 1914 to the final collapse of the Central Powers in 1918, showing how a local struggle between Austria-Hungary and Serbia spiraled into a massive conflagration that pulled in Germany, Russia, Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Eastern Front was a vast theater of war that brought about the collapse of three empires and produced almost endless suffering. As many as sixteen million soldiers and two million civilians were killed or wounded in enormous battles that took place across as much as one hundred kilometers. Unlike in the west, where stalemate ruled the day, the war in the east was fluid, with armies embarking on penetrating advances. Lloyd narrates the repeated invasions of Serbia as well as the great battles between Russian, German, and Austrian forces at Tannenberg, Komarów, Gorlice–Tarnów, and the Masurian Lakes. All along, he takes us into the strategy of the generals who decided the war’s course, from the Germans Ludendorff and Hindenburg to the Austro-Hungarian chief, Conrad von Hötzendorf, to the brilliant Russian Brusilov.
Perhaps the most radical aspect of the struggle in the east was that the violence was not confined to combatants. The Eastern Front witnessed calculated attacks against civilians that ripped the ethnic and religious fabric of numerous societies, paving the way for the horrors of the Holocaust. Lloyd’s magisterial, definitive account of the war in the east will fundamentally alter our understanding of the cataclysmic events that reshaped Europe and the world.
“[A] superb history… so much has been forgotten, including the course of the war in the east across multiple theaters of operation and the strategies pursued by both sides. It is all this and more that Mr. Lloyd has resurrected in compelling detail.” – The Economist
“…harrowing… excellent… As Mr. Lloyd emphasizes at the close of his masterly study, the disastrous events on the Eastern Front left a vacuum in Central and Eastern Europe that contributed to the next world war and to the Cold War that followed.” – William Anthony Hay, Wall Street Journal
“The Eastern Front is an extraordinary achievement in illuminating a poorly understood theatre of the conflict. Despite the complexity of the topic, Lloyd’s narrative provides a comprehensive overview of the dynamic nature of the Eastern Front from the perspectives of all key protagonists. It provides deep insights into the personalities of individual commanders and political leaders, and the political tides which ultimately engulfed those nations fighting on the Eastern Front.” – Jonathan Eaton, The Past
Et Cetera: An Illustrated Guide to Latin Phrases by Maia Lee-Chin; illustrated by Marta Bertello
nonfiction / language / history.
A gorgeously illustrated guide to memorable Latin phrases, including famous quotations on love, death, nature, politics, and more.
Latin may be a “dead” language, but it’s all around us—in science, philosophy, religion, and literature. From “carpe diem” to the more obscure “alea iacta est,” classicist Maia Lee-Chin examines the deeper meanings of many Latin phrases still in use—as well as those lost to the ages.
Illustrated in artist Marta Bertello’s haunting style, this unique compendium illuminates ancient Roman history and culture like never before.
“…presents the reader with an understanding of why they ought to value classical studies, and inevitably will encourage more young minds to learn Latin… left me feeling fulfilled and content, but still desiring for more. Whatever the author plans to put out in the future, I plan to buy.” – Alex Nusky, Nusky’s Classics Corner
“To those claiming Latin is dead, I say res ipsa loquitur — the thing speaks for itself — in children’s cartoons, Hollywood cartoons and enduring epics… combining Maia Lee-Chin’s thoughtful scholarship and Marta Bertello’s dynamic artistry is captivating.” – Marcela Davison Avilés, NPR
Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World by Casey Michel
nonfiction / investigative journalism / politics / history.
For years, one group of Americans has worked as foot-soldiers for the most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the process, they’ve not only entrenched dictatorships and spread kleptocratic networks, but they’ve secretly guided U.S. policy without the rest of America even being aware. And now, some of them have begun turning their sights on American democracy itself.
These Americans are known as foreign lobbyists, and many of them spent years ushering dictatorships directly into the halls of Washington, all while laundering the reputations of the most heinous, repressive regimes in the process. These foreign lobbyists include figures like Ivy Lee, the inventor of the public relations industry—a man who whitewashed Mussolini, opened doors to the Soviets, and advised the Nazis on how to sway American audiences. They include people like Paul Manafort, who invented lobbying as we know it—and who then took his talents to autocrats from Ukraine to the Philippines, and then back to the White House. And they now include an increasing number of Americans elsewhere: in law firms and consultancies, among PR specialists and former lawmakers, and even within think tanks and universities.
In Foreign Agents, Casey Michel shines a light on these foreign lobbyists as some of them—after decades of installing dictators and corrupting American policy—embark on their next mission: to end America’s democratic experiment, once and for all.
“…shines a harsh light on Americans enriching themselves by representing foreign governments in Washington…
“Michel provides a stunning investigation into the threat posed by US lobbyists working on behalf of foreign dictatorships and how they’ve strengthened kleptocratic regimes around the world…” – Human Rights Foundation
“[A] masterful exposé… Michel’s portrait of endemic corruption is disturbing; lobbying firms, he finds, do little more than serve as conduits for channeling foreign bribes to American officials. The result is a hard-hitting takedown of a cynical industry” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“In the spirit of Progressive Era muckrakers, Michel, an investigative journalist and author of American Kleptocracy, reveals the shamelessness, venality, and moral turpitude of those who work to influence federal legislators and the public in order to advance antidemocratic foreign interests… This is an industry without a moral compass, and Michel’s outrage is palpable and justified… A provocative and alarming account of the political cesspool known as foreign lobbying.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Kayfabe by Chris Koslowski
fiction.
At 26, Dom Contreras has already spent a decade jobbing through the minor leagues of professional wrestling as Hack Barlow, a 300-pound axe-swinging lumberjack. As his body breaks down and his star power fades, he must invent a new gimmick before he loses the only job he’s ever known. Meanwhile, Dom’s 17-year-old sister Pilar is eager to make her own pro wrestling debut. Dom is determined to keep Pilar under his wing, away from the predators of a business infamous for eating its young. At the same time, he has a vision for her meteoric rise to the top—not just of his own outfit, the middling Mid-Coast Championship Wrestling promotion outside of Charlotte, but all the way to stardom (and a big payday) in the WWE. The siblings are close, spending much of their time packed into Dom’s ancient Honda Civic en route to shows across the south, but as Dom craves privacy and Pilar reckons with her brother’s conflicting roles of roommate, father figure, manager and coach, their relationship quickly begins to fray.
After Dom loses his temper in a match and Pilar injures herself preparing for her big tryout, Bonnie Blue, the eccentric owner of MCCW, spots an opportunity. She is poised, after years of scheming, to unveil her life’s handiwork: an underground, guerrilla-style pro wrestling network with bouts climaxing in real, premeditated injury. To save his career—and his sister’s hopes of breaking out—Dom must become Bonnie’s new star and take on the one persona he swore he’d never embrace.
“This book is a chokeslam. It will grab your attention, lift you above its head, and slam you down with emotion… It is honest on every page and moved me in ways I didn’t think a book about wrestling could.” – Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful
“[A] brisk and punchy debut… Koslowski maintains momentum with action-filled and well-observed descriptions of the matches. It’s a winner.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“An unexpectedly tender ode to passing one’s prime while also finding new joys in fostering next-generation talent.” – Kirkus Reviews
Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer
fiction / romance / comedy / fantasy.
Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy.
Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone.
That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right?
When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory…
But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.
“This romance is a unique mix of mystery, magic, and humor… Meltzer’s latest is a page-turner, and readers won’t be able to stop until they have all the answers.” – Heather Miller Cover, Library Journal
“Meltzer combines magic and Jewish mysticism with a searing indictment of antisemitism in this nuanced rom-com… This is Meltzer’s best yet.” – Publishers Weekly
“Readers will love the characters and enjoy learning about Jewish magic.” – Esther Petrushka, Library Reads
That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones
nonfiction / memoir / politics / current events.
One of the things small town librarian Amanda Jones values most about books is how they can affirm a young person’s sense of self. So in 2022, when she caught wind of a local public hearing that would discuss “book content,” she knew what was at stake. Schools and libraries nationwide have been bombarded by demands for books with LGTBQ+ references, discussions of racism, and more to be purged from the shelves. Amanda would be damned if her community were to ban stories representing minority groups. She spoke out that night at the meeting. Days later, she woke up to a nightmare that is still ongoing.
Amanda Jones has been called a groomer, a pedo, and a porn-pusher; she has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and friends alike. Her decision to support a collection of books with diverse perspectives made her a target for extremists using book banning campaigns-funded by dark money organizations and advanced by hard right politicians-in a crusade to make America more white, straight, and “Christian.” But Amanda Jones wouldn’t give up without a fight: she sued her harassers for defamation and urged others to join her in the resistance.
Mapping the book banning crisis occurring all across the nation, That Librarian draws the battle lines in the war against equity and inclusion, calling book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of our readers.
“As an author whose novels have been banned in hundreds of school districts after falsely being cited for explicit content, I have been waiting for a book like this one. We writers are well aware that the foot soldiers in this spreading civil war are librarians, who are threatened personally and profoundly by those who call for widespread book bans. Amanda Jones clearly outlines how we got here, who’s leading this false charge against qualified educators, media specialists, and authors-and most importantly, explores the steps we all must take to make the voice of truth and reason louder than their caterwauling.” – Jodi Picoult
“Jones’s deeply personal account of her battle to regain her reputation and combat intolerance in libraries is essential reading and ultimately a clarion call for others to help defend intellectual freedom and democracy.” – Donna Marie Smith, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“In detailing her harrowing experiences, Jones takes readers from that library board room to the confines of her own bedroom where she is beset with anxiety and grief to courtrooms in hopes of defending a claim of defamation against the main perpetrators of her attacks. She is frank, open, emotionally raw, and unwavering… A must-read in order to understand the deep and lasting impact of online smear campaigns and enduring need to stand up for books.” – Heather Booth, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
You’re the Problem, It’s You by Emma R. Alban
fiction / romance / historical fiction.
“That man is, without a doubt, the absolute most obnoxious…
Bobby Mason is sick of being second best: born the spare, never trusted with family responsibility, never expected to amount to much. He’s hungry to contribute something that matters, while all around him his peers are squandering their political and financial power, coasting through life. Which is exactly why he can’t stand the new Viscount Demeroven.
…insufferable…
James Demeroven, just come of age and into the Viscountcy, knows that he’s a disappointment. Keeping his head down and never raising anyone’s expectations is how he’s survived life with his stepfather. To quiet, careful James, Bobby Mason is a blazing comet in his endless night, even more alive than he was at Oxford when James crushed on him from afar. But Mason is also brash and recklessly unapologetic, destined to shatter the fragile safety of James’s world. Worst of all, he keeps rubbing James’s failures in his face.
…hottest man to ever walk the ton.”
They can barely get through a single conversation without tensions boiling over. Neither Bobby nor James has ever met a more intriguing, infuriating, infatuating man.
If only they could avoid each other entirely. Bad enough their (wonderful but determined) cousins Beth and Gwen keep conveniently setting up group outings. But when an extortionist starts targeting their families, threatening their reputations, Bobby and James must find a way to work together, without pushing each other’s buttons (or tearing them off) in the process…
“A heartwarming enemies-to-lovers romance.” – Sabrina White, Library Reads
“You’re The Problem, It’s You is a gorgeous romance, faultlessly written, with just the right amount of spice… [the] ending is particularly well crafted and surprising, as is the epilogue.” – Gosia Buzzanca, buzz
“With the latest deftly fashioned addition to her Victorian-set Mischief & Matchmaking series, Alban gives readers a fiercely romantic, splendidly sensual romance. This love story not only delivers memorable moments of wit and whimsy (a game of Spot the Scion, anyone?), but also, with great grace and incredible insight, perfectly captures the inexplicable joy that comes from finding a place where you belong and a group of people who love you just the way you are.” – John Charles, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
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