Title: Exit PartyAuthor: Emily St. John MandelPublisher: PicadorPublication date: September 15, 2026Length: 320 pagesGenre: Science fictionSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★★ From the bestselling author of Station Eleven, Exit Party is Emily St. John Mandel’s epic new story of crimes committed and loves lost across worlds and decades. 2031. America is at war with itself, but for the first time in weeks there is some hope: the Republic of California has been declared, the curfew in Los Angeles is lifted, and everyone in the city is going to a party.

Spell the Month in Books is a monthly meme hosted by Jana at Reviews from the Stacks. To participate, find a book title that starts with each letter in the month’s name, make a list, share your link, and that’s it! You can share anytime by the end of the month. Some months have additional themes, but feel free to participate however you'd like!

Title: An Infinite Love StoryAuthor: Chanel CleetonPublisher: BerkleyPublication date: July 7, 2026Length: 352 pagesGenre: Historical fictionSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★ When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the…

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Fall-Themed Freebie... so we all come up with whatever take on the theme we choose. I'm keeping it simple and very literal... so here are ten books I've read with some variation of the word "fall" in the title.

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. I'm just catching up after a week away! I spent a wonderful week in Hawaii with my husband -- we celebrated my birthday, enjoyed the gorgeous weather and beautiful views, read a lot on the beach, and ate delicious food.

Title: Newbourne ParkAuthor: Jennifer ThornePublisher: G.P. Putnam's SonsPublication date: September 29, 2026Length: 368 pagesGenre: HorrorSource: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalletyRating: ★★★★★ From the USA Today bestselling author of Diavola comes a darkly funny, blood-soaked horror novel about the terrifying seduction of unlimited power. After years of caring for her dying mother, Martha Shaw feels empty, exhausted, and far older than her twenty-six years.

Title: A Divided DutySeries: October Daye, #20Author: Seanan McGuirePublisher: Tor BooksPublication date: September 29, 2026Print length: 400 pagesGenre: Urban fantasySource: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalleyRating: ★★★★ Seanan McGuire’s New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated October Daye series finds Toby Daye torn between caring for her newborn daughter and keeping the world of Faerie―and her found family―safe.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books on My Fall 2026 to-Read List. Where did all that leisurely summer reading time go? It's hard to believe autumn is here already. From my 2026 summer TBR list, I read 8 out of the 11 books I'd hoped to read (yes, eleven -- ten new books, plus one holdover from my spring list, which I did finally read!).

Title: The Unmagical Life of Briar JonesAuthor: Lex CroucherPublisher: Harper VoyagerPublication date: June 9, 2026Length: 447 pagesGenre: Fantasy / dark academiaSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★★ Casey McQuiston meets The Secret History in this unmissable dark academia fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lex Croucher following former childhood best friends who reunite at magical boarding school after years, only to find themselves enemies on opposite sides of the ugly secrets hidden within the gilded walls.

I starting participating in Birthstone Books Covers in August 2025, and I've stuck with it ever since. I'm now in my 2nd time through, so the challenge is to find new books to spotlight! Leslie at Books Are the New Black hosts this fun monthly meme -- why not give it a try? The rules are simple: Mention the creator (Leslie @

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week's topic is Authors I’ve Met. I love getting the opportunity to go to book signings and other bookish events, and over the years have had the opportunity to meet some of my favorites. 1. Diana Gabaldon…

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. Happy New Year - Shana Tovah to all who celebrated over the weekend! We had a lovely dinner with friends, who did an amazing job hosting a very large crowd and making it all feel special.

Title: DaggerboundSeries: Swordheart, #2Author: T. KingfisherPublisher: BramblePublication date: August 25, 2026Length: 436 pagesGenre: FantasySource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★★ Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages… But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword.

Title: Just One Damned Thing After AnotherSeries: The Chronicles of St. Mary's, #1Author: Jodi TaylorPublisher: HeadlinePublication date: June 1, 2013Length: 282 pagesGenre: Time travelSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★ They say that History is just one damned thing after another. Welcome to St Mary's Institute of Historical Research - where damned things happen every day.

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here's how to join in: Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.

Thrilled to see the cover reveal a few days ago for the next book in Patricia Briggs's terrific Alpha & Omega series: Blurb from the publisher's page: Mated werewolves Charles and Anna Cornick must withstand the deadly magic of the Wild Hunt in this haunting entry in #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs’s Alpha and Omega series. Something dangerous has been stirring in the Olympic Peninsula, but that’s not unusual.

Title: Into the BlueAuthor: Emma BrodiePublisher: Ballantine BooksPublication date: April 7, 2026Length: 448 pagesGenre: Contemporary fictionSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★★ From the award-winning author of Songs in Ursa Major comes an epic, decade-spanning love story that blazes through the worlds of acting and comedy, and charts a connection so powerful it might just break space and time itself.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week's topic is Indie Freebie with the prompt: This topic encompasses a lot: your favorite indie bookstores, indie books, indie authors, indie publishers/presses, indie books on your to-read list, indie authors I read before they became traditionally published, etc.

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. The super annoying late summer cold that's been going around finally caught up to me. (Cue the sneezing and coughing...) I ended up staying home for most of the week, still able to work but trying not to share my germs with all my nice coworkers.

Title: We Chase ShadowsSeries: We Solve Murders, #2Author: Richard OsmanPublisher: Pamela Dorman BooksPublication date: September 15, 2026Length: 345 pagesGenre: MysterySource: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalleyRating: ★★★★ Back together.Back on the case.And back to solving murders . . . At sunrise, high in the Italian hills, a body is found on the steps of a beautiful private villa.

Spell the Month in Books is a monthly meme hosted by Jana at Reviews from the Stacks. To participate, find a book title that starts with each letter in the month’s name, make a list, share your link, and that’s it! You can share anytime by the end of the month. Some months have additional themes, but feel free to participate however you'd like!

Title: Jamaica InnAuthor: Daphne du MaurierPublication date: 1936Length: 307 pages Rating: ★★★★★ The coachman tried to warn her away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rainswept Cornish coast. But young Mary Yellan chose instead to honor her mother's dying request that she join her frightened Aunt Patience and huge, hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn.

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here's how to join in: Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.

Title: Kiss Slay ReplayAuthor: Rachel HarrisonPublisher: BerkleyPublication date: September 1, 2026Length: 336 pagesGenre: HorrorSource: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalleyRating: ★★★★★ Every wedding guest’s worst nightmare is on repeat in this wild and twisty new horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of So Thirsty and Play Nice.

Title: My Imaginary MarySeries: Mary, #2Authors: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi MeadowsNarrator: Morag SimsPublisher: HarperTeenPublication date: August 2, 2022Print length: 496 pagesAudiobook length: 13 hours 15 minutesGenre: Young adultSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★ It’s aliiiiiiiive! The bestselling authors of My Lady Jane are back with the electric, poetic, and (almost) historical tale of the one and only Mary Shelley.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week's topic is Books With Nationalities In The Title with the prompt providing example such as The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Mexican Gothic, An American Marriage, etc. Well, clearly I can't use those! But I did manage to come up with ten others...

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. Everyone in my household was busy elsewhere this weekend, so I had a lot of time to myself... and naturally, spent a big chunk of it reading!

Last week, I arrived super late to the party, and finally binge-watched Heated Rivalry. And what's a reader to do after watching a compelling TV series and knowing there's a long wait for season 2? Obviously, it was time to try the book series! I read books 1 and 2 this week (and technically, the series name is Game Changers…

Back to the beginning... for me! A year ago, I participated in the Birthstone Book Covers meme -- hosted by Leslie at Books Are the New Black -- for the first time, and liked it so much that I've kept it going every month since. And now, I'm back to where I started, ready for even more birthstone book covers! The challenge going forward will be to see if I can come up with NEW books to feature...

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here's how to join in: Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.

Title: Theo of GoldenAuthor: Allen LeviPublisher: Atria BooksPublication date: October 3, 2026Length: 399 pagesGenre: Contemporary fictionSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★★ One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why… His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week's topic is Bookish Places I’ve Visited with the prompt: Share all the cool places you’ve been that are bookish or tied to books! This includes neat libraries, book stores, places featured in books, places inspired by books, author homes/places they’ve stayed, etc.

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. Not much new to report! It was a hectic workweek, but a lovely weekend. Books, walks, and family time... all good!

Title: The Mother-Daughter Book ClubAuthors: Susan Patterson & James PattersonNarrators: Many!Publisher: Little, Brown and CompanyPublication date: April 20, 2026Print length: 352 pagesAudiobook length: 7 hours 35 minutesGenre: Contemporary fictionSource: LibraryRating: ★★★ The Mother-Daughter Book Club is Susan and James Patterson's new novel, the follow-up to Things I Wish I Told My Mother…

Title: Enormous WingsAuthor: Laurie FrankelPublisher: Henry Holt and Co.Publication date: May 5, 2026Length: 304 pagesGenre: Contemporary fictionSource: LibraryRating: ★★★★★ From the beloved New York Times bestselling author Laurie Frankel, an exuberant and timely new novel At seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is too old to be a stranger in a strange land. She didn’t choose the Vista View Retirement Community of Austin, Texas—that would be her three grown children—but when she grudgingly moves in, she not only makes new friends, she falls in love.

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here's how to join in: Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.

Title: The PostcardAuthor: Anne BerestPublisher: Europa EditionsPublication date: May 16, 2023 (English translation; first published in France in 2021)Length: 489 pagesGenre: Autobiographical fictionSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★★ Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest's The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, an enthralling investigation into family secrets, and poignant tale of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week's topic is Book Series I Want to Catch Up On (or series you’d like to start) I generally start each year with a post about my series reading goals (here's the version I shared for 2026…

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. Yet another busy week, but the weekend was a little slower-paced, which I was grateful for. We had typical August weather for where I live...

Earlier in the week, I shared a post with my list of books for the newest Classics Club Spin challenge (see it here), and today, this spin's number was announced. (For those keeping track, it's CCSpin #45, and for me personally, #17!) Hosted by The Classics Club blog, the Classics Club Spin is a reading adventure where participants come up with a list of classics they'd like to read, number them 1 to 20, and then read the book that corresponds to the "spin" number that comes up.

Title: Kill the BeastAuthor: Serra SwiftNarrator: Moira QuirkPublisher: Tor BooksPublication date: October 14, 2025Print length: 309 pagesAudiobook length: 10 hours 40 minutesGenre: FantasySource: LibraryRating: ★★★★ The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this debut original faerie tale of revenge, redemption, and friendship―for fans of T. Kingfisher, Naomi Novik, and cozy fantasy with a dash of gritty adventure.

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here's how to join in: Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.

It's time for another Classics Club Spin! Hosted by The Classics Club blog, the Classics Club Spin is a reading adventure where participants come up with a list of classics they'd like to read, number them 1 to 20, and then read the book that corresponds to the "spin" number that comes up. This will be the Classics Club's spin #45, and my 17th time participating!

Title: The AmateurAuthor: Chris BohjalianPublisher: Doubleday BooksPublication date: August 4, 2026Length: 336 pagesGenre: Contemporary fictionSource: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalleyRating: ★★★★ From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant: When a young woman, a golf prodigy, kills a caddy with a stray ball at the country club, the investigation of this freak accident reveals a dark and shocking tale of secret affairs, predatory men, and a teenager on trial.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week's topic is Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years, with the prompt: ... the idea is to share what you were reading on August 11th of 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016.

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead -- what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too. Life. It's been another busy week -- lots going on at work, and even at home, I seem to have had my hands full with random errands, organizing, and puttering around.

After binging my way through five seasons of For All Mankind on AppleTV, I wasn't quite ready to leave that alternate history / science fiction world... and fortunately, I didn't have to. This year, AppleTV introduced a spin-off series, Star City, which covers roughly the time period of For All Mankind's first season -- but with a very different focus and tone.

Title: The Romance RevivalAuthor: Christina LaurenNarrators: Julia Whelan & Vas EliPublisher: Gallery BooksPublication date: July 14, 2026Print length: 352 pagesAudiobook length: 9 hours 54 minutesGenre: Contemporary fiction/romanceSource: ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley; audiobook purchased via AudibleRating: ★★★ New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren returns with an unforgettable romance in which a fateful accident erases a troubled marriage from memory—and a scientific breakthrough gives love one extraordinary do-over.

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here's how to join in: Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.

Title: BromantasyAuthor: Máire RochePublisher: G.P. Putnam's SonsPublication date: May 26, 2026Length: 352 pagesGenre: Fantasy romanceSource: PurchasedRating: ★★★★ Two heroes. One brain cell. BROMANTASY is a cozy, queer fantasy about the mortifying ordeal of being known by your totally platonic best friend and the epic quest that might force you to confront the truth.