Happy Tuesday, star bits! I hope your December has been going well. I have been eyeballs deep in reading. There are so many amazing books coming next year, you are going to flip your lid! And because the new releases are sparse today (although there is Heartbreaker, Vol. 5!), for this week’s newsletter, I have three books coming out next year that I have read and heartily (Hardy-ly?) endorse: a cat-and-mouse thriller, a horror novel set in the woods of Kentucky, and a dark fantasy about assassins!
So I made that big list in last week’s newsletter of 2023 books I wanted to squeeze in before January…and then I read seven different books this week. I am easily distracted, lol. But I still want to read those! Another 2023 release I want to add is After World by Debbie Urbanski, on the recommendation of Michael Chabon. SO MANY BOOKS. You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about several of our favorite novels that we loved this year, including All the Sinners Bleed, Tom Lake, and Happiness Falls.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
This is a really fun cat-and-mouse thriller! But I can’t tell you very much about it because it would spoil it. So, I will tell you that Evie Porter is a twenty-something woman who is moving in with her new boyfriend, Ryan, at the start of the novel. Except Evie Porter isn’t her real name: it is the alias of an operative who works for Mr. Smith, doing whatever is asked of her. And this time, Ryan is the mark. But Evie gets the sense that this job isn’t like others. And before she can figure out why, a woman shows up in town pretending to be her. The real her. Evie must figure out why Mr. Smith sent her to watch Ryan and what the fake her is doing in town before someone finds out she’s not who she claims to be, and everything falls apart. It’s nonstop twists and turns in this clever thriller, and it’s also low on the violence, which is refreshing sometimes. (Content warnings for loss of a loved one, cancer, alcohol and drug use and abuse, injury, murder off-page.)
Backlist bump: The Lies I Tell by Juli Clark
This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
This book is exactly the opposite — it has a TON of violence. This terrifying debut horror novel is about four people who go into the Kentucky wilderness to map and climb what appears to be an untouched rock formation. One hopes to publish a paper about his findings for school; one is a professional climber with her first endorsement; one is an expert in plants and trees; and one is the supportive boyfriend, along for the adventure. But from the very first few steps they take into the forest, things start to go wrong. And we know they won’t go right again — because the book description and the first page of the book have told us that three of the four are dead. Then we go back to find out just what happened. Yikes, the things that occur while they’re down in the valley will give you nightmares! It’s a bloody disgusting good time. (Content warnings for tons of gore, injury, violence, child and adult murder and death on the page, alcohol use, suicide, and animal harm and death.)
Backlist bump: The Hunger by Alma Katsu
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
By now, you have probably heard me talk about this book somewhere because I won’t shut up about it. But that’s because it’s so much fun! It’s a dark fantasy about Eveen the Eviscerator. She’s part of a guild of assassins called…well, you know. But when she is assigned a job that defies explanation and causes her to break an unbreakable vow, she quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the people she works with. Can she figure out just what the heckin’ heck is going on before she gets herself killed? This is a whiplash fast, wicked smart joyride! (Content warnings for animal death, gore, violence, torture, injury, and murder of children and adults. But no dead cats!)
Backlist bump: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
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This week, I am reading How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin and Shanghailanders by Juli Min. I have two weeks before I have to record another episode of All the Books! and I am pretty excited about all the reading I hope to fit in. In non-book things, I watched the Monk movie, and I really, really, really didn’t like it, lol. I should have stuck with my plans to watch the Barbie movie. The song stuck in my head this week is “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh knows what he’s going to ask Santa to bring him for Christmas.
Thank you, as always, for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty