Monday, October 24, 2022

Quarantine Releases (115)


It's almost Halloween! We don't have as many new books this week, but that will give you more time to put the finishing touches on your costume. I had a plan (Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn) but it ended up being too complicated and I'm not sure what to do now. I could break out a costume from a previous year or see if I could make something simple. How will you be dressing up?

Young Adult

The Scratch Daughters by H.A. Clarke

It's been a wild year for Sideways Pike. After forming a coven with the three most popular girls in school and developing a huge crush on a mysterious stranger named Madeline, Sideways' Halloween was ruined by finding out that Madeline wasn't trying to make out with her, but to steal Sideways' specter, the force that gives witches the ability to cast magic spells. From Madeline's perspective, it's not her fault: after a doomed relationship with one of the creepy near-identical Chantry Boys turned into a witch hunt, they took her specter, so, really, she's only borrowing Sideways' until she can recover her own and punish the Chantrys.

The specter-less Sideways is in a horrid, distracted mood, unable to do magic and with part of her consciousness tied to Madeline's, on the lam as she uses Sideways' specter to hunt Chantrys. The other Scapegracers are much jollier, heading into the winter holidays having set up shop as curse crafters for girls in their school who've been done wrong by guys. When Sideways—through Madeline—gets a flash of how to track down both her foes at once, she asks the Scapegracers to help entrap them, only to be told her plan is unsafe and unwise. So if she's going to find Madeline, her only ally is Mr. Scratch, the inky book demon currently inhabiting her as life support until she gets her spectre back.

Sideways is used to being an outcast loner, and is desperate to do magic again, so she's not going to let little barriers like facing an betraying crush and a family of six demented witch hunters practically alone stop her. But she and her trusty stolen bike are in for a bumpy ride... 

Places to Purchase:

Berliners by Vesper Stamper

A riveting story about the rivalry between two brothers living on opposite sides of the Berlin wall during its construction in the 1960s, and how their complicated legacy and dreams of greatness will determine their ultimate fate.

A city divided. A family fractured. Two brothers caught between past and present.

Berlin, 1961. Rudi Möser-Fleischmann is an aspiring photographer with dreams of greatness, but he can't hold a candle to his talented, charismatic twin brother Peter, an ambitious actor. With the sudden divorce of their parents, the brothers find themselves living in different sectors of a divided Berlin; the postwar partition strangely mirroring their broken family. But one night, as the city sleeps, the Berlin Wall is hurriedly built, dividing society further, and Rudi and Peter are forced to choose between playing by the rules and taking their dreams underground. That is, until the truth about their family history and the growing cracks in their relationship threaten to split them apart for good.
 
From National Book Award-nominated, critically acclaimed author-illustrator Vesper Stamper comes a stark look at how resentment and denial can strain the bonds of brotherhood to the breaking point.

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Strike the Zither by Joan He

A dazzling new fantasy from New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, Strike the Zither is a powerful, inventive, and sweeping fantasy that reimagines the Chinese classic tale of the Three Kingdoms.

The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.

But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.

Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged—while Ren’s honor draws Zephyr to her cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.

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Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds

A sixteen-year-old girl is on a mission to find the perfect boyfriend this Hanukkah, but love might not go according to plan, in this charming winter romcom from the author of The Summer of Lost Letters.

Shira Barbanel has a plan: this Hanukkah, she’s going to get a boyfriend. And she has the perfect candidate in mind—her great-uncle’s assistant, Isaac. He’s reliable, brilliant, and of course, super hot. The only problem? Shira’s an absolute disaster when it comes to flirting.

Enter Tyler Nelson, Shira’s nemesis-slash-former-crush. As much as she hates to admit it, Tyler is the most charming and popular guy she knows. Which means he’s the perfect person to teach her how to win Isaac over.

When Shira and Tyler get snowed in together at Golden Doors, they strike a deal—flirting lessons for Shira in exchange for career connections for Tyler. But as Shira starts to see the sweet, funny boy beneath Tyler’s playboy exterior, she realizes she actually likes hanging out with him. And that wasn’t part of the plan.

Amidst a whirl of snowy adventures, hot chocolate, and candlelight, Shira must learn to trust her heart to discover if the romance she planned is really the one that will make her happiest.

Places to Purchase:

We Are All We Have by Marina Budhos

When a teenage girl's single mom is taken by ICE, everything changes--all of her hopes and dreams for the future have turned into survival.

Seventeen-year-old Rania is shaken awake in her family's apartment in Brooklyn. ICE is at the door, taking her mother away. But Ammi has done everything right, hasn't she? Their asylum case is fine.

This was supposed to be Rania's greatest summer: hanging out with her best friend, Fatima, and getting ready for college in the fall.

But it's 2019, and nothing is certain.

Now, along with her younger brother, Kamal, and a new friend, Carlos, Rania must figure out how to survive. A road trip leads to searching for answers to questions she didn't even think to ask. 

In this vivid exploration of what happens when the country you have put your hopes into is fast shutting down, award-winning author Marina Budhos shows us how one girl bursting with dreams navigates secrets, love, and the lure of the open road.

Places to Purchase:

The Sevenfold Hunters by Rose Egal

There’s nothing hijabi alien hunter Abyan wants more than to graduate from Carlisle Academy and finally rid the Earth of aliens, the Nosaru. 

Everything is going to plan until the Nosaru kill one of Abyan’s squad mates. To make matters worse, the school admins replace her elite squad member with a sub-par new recruit, Artemis. Despite Artemis failing every test—and bringing the team down with her—their cutthroat instructors refuse to kick her out.

Together Abyan, Artemis and the rest of the team unravel the mystery of why Artemis is actually there, what the Nosaru really want, and what Carlisle Academy has been hiding from them all.

Places to Purchase:

Middle Grade

Into the Glades by Laura Sebastian

New York Times bestselling author Laura Sebastian makes her middle grade debut with an emotional fantasy adventure about four friends who journey through a magical, Everglades-inspired swampland to break a curse tied to the death of a loved one.

Best friends Cordelia and Larkin have always called the Glades—a peaceful swamp full of magical creatures—home. But when Oziris, Cordelia’s father and the leader of their village, dies unexpectedly, a dark curse sweeps over the land.
 
The girls know that the curse must be tied to Oziris’s death, and they’re determined to break its hold on their home and bring Oziris back to life. Together, Cordelia, Larkin, and their two little brothers set off into the wild Glades in search of an elusive and enigmatic witch who is rumored to have the power to reverse death.
 
The Glades are no longer a familiar and friendly place, though, and danger lurks around every corner. But on their journey, the children discover that the most difficult challenge isn’t wild marsh-maids or bogilisks or dragon-gators—it’s the grief threatening to consume them.

Places to Purchase:

Sparrows in the Wind by Gail Carson Levine

This latest novel from Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine about two princesses battling against their fates in the middle of the Trojan War is a must-read for anyone who loves Greek mythology or the Percy Jackson books!

Cassandra, a princess of Troy and follower of Apollo, is delighted when the god himself appears to her. Apollo asks to love her in exchange for giving her future sight, and she agrees--but recoils when he kisses her. Enraged, the god transforms his gift into a curse: Cassandra's visions will never be believed.

After horrifying images of coming war and death pour into her mind, and with no one to heed her warnings, Cassandra risks her safety again and again to avert the disaster awaiting Troy.

But it will take years--and the friendship of an Amazon warrior princess named Rin--for Cassandra to find hope of success in reversing the course of the war.

With heroines to cheer for and nail-biting adventures, Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine once again transports her readers, this time to ancient Troy, where princesses (even cursed ones) will stop at nothing to shape their fate.

Places to Purchase:

Romance

One Scandalous Night by Elizabeth Hoyt, Kelly Bowen, and Anna Campbell

From three bestselling authors come breathtaking, sensual novellas of first love and second chances for fans of Netflix's Bridgerton!

Days of Rakes & Roses

Lady Lydia Rothermere has spent the past decade trying to make up for a single, youthful moment of passion. Now the image of propriety, Lydia knows her future rests on never straying outside of society's rigid rules. Yet as she prepares for a marriage that will suit her family, but not her heart, rake and adventurer Simon Metcalf returns to reignite the flames of desire he started all those years ago . . . and Lydia must decide what's more important: propriety or passion?

Once Upon a Moonlit Night

After escaping a kidnapper only interested in her dowry, Hippolyta Royle is running for her life. So when she throws herself at the mercy of a passing coach, her only hope is that the handsome traveler inside will escort her to safety. But Matthew Mortimer doesn’t turn Hippolyta away, he doesn't believe her story. Only danger still stalks Hippolyta . . . and once they share a breathtaking kiss, Matthew realizes he may not ever be ready to let Hippolyta go.

Night of the Scoundrel

Ruthless. Dangerous. Known simply as King. No one knows his true name or where he came from. And when he learns that the man who betrayed him has returned to London, King has only one goal: vengeance. But he’ll need the aid of an unlikely ally: Adeline Archambault. She is as mysterious as she is beautiful. Exiled after the French Revolution, she's determined to reclaim her birthright and deliver the justice that is owed her. King's offer is a bargain she can't refuse. But will this deal with a devil lead to a future she never dared hope for?

Places to Purchase:

Will you be reading these new books or diving into some scary options for spooky season? Let me know in the comments!

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