Can't-Wait Wednesday: We are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis & Apartment Women by Gu Byeong-Mo, transl. Chi-Young Kim

       

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! 

We are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis
Publication: December 24th, 2024
Kensington
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Step into this chilling, historical horror inspired by the unsolved mystery of the Beast of Gévaudan.

When a series of brutal, mysterious deaths start plaguing the countryside and whispers of a beast in the mountains reach the quiet French hamlet of Mende, most people believe it’s a curse—God’s punishment for their sins.

But to sixteen-year-old Joséphine and her best friend, Clara, the beast isn’t a curse. It’s an opportunity.

For years, the girls of Mende have been living in a nightmare—fathers who drink, brothers who punch, homes that feel like prisons—and this is a chance to get them out.

Using the creature’s attacks as cover, Joséphine and Clara set out to fake their friends’ deaths and hide them away until it’s safe to run. But escape is harder than they thought. If they can’t brave a harsh winter with little food… If the villagers discover what they’re doing… If the beast finds them first...

Those fake deaths might just become real ones."

I love that this is based on a real legend and that the author seems to be taking it into a new direction. I'm always curious to see how things like this turn out!

Apartment Women by Gu Byeong-mo, transl. Chi-Young Kim
Publication: December 3rd, 2024
Hanover Square Press
Paperback. 224 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"From the New York Times Notable author of The Old Woman with the Knifecomes a bracingly original story of family, marriage and the cultural expectations of motherhood, about four women whose lives intersect in dramatic and unexpected ways at a government-run apartment complex outside Seoul

When Yojin moves with her husband and daughter into the Dream Future Pilot Communal Apartments, she’s ready for a fresh start. Located on the outskirts of Seoul, the experimental community is a government initiative designed to boost the national birth rate. Like her neighbors, Yojin has agreed to have at least two more children over the next ten years.

Yet, from the day she arrives, Yojin feels uneasy about the community spirit thrust upon her. Her concerns grow as communal child care begins and the other parents show their true colors. Apartment Women traces the lives of four women in the apartments, all with different aspirations and beliefs. Will they find a way to live peacefully? Or are the cultural expectations around parenthood stacked against them from the start?

A trenchant social novel from an award-winning author, Apartment Women incisively illuminates the unspoken imbalance of women’s parenting labor, challenging the age-old assumption that “it takes a village” to raise a child."

This is such a compelling topic and I'm really looking forward to how the author tackles this entire premise--I'm curious to learn more about each of these characters.

Can't-Wait Wednesday: North is the Night by Emily Rath & The Way by Cary Kroner

       

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! 

North is the Night by Emily Rath
Publication: December 17th, 2024
Erewhon
Hardcover. 592 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"In the Finnish wilderness, more than wolves roam the dark forests. For Siiri and Aina, summer’s fading light is a harbinger of unwelcome change. Land-hungry Swedes venture north, threatening the peace; a zealous Christian priest denounces the old ways; and young women have begun to disappear.

Siiri vows to protect Aina from danger. But even Siiri cannot stop a death goddess from dragging her friend to Tuonela, the mythical underworld. Determined to save Aina, Siiri braves a dangerous journey north to seek the greatest shaman of legend, the only person to venture to the realm of death and return alive.

In Tuonela, the cruel Witch Queen turns Aina’s every waking moment into a living nightmare. But armed with compassion and cleverness, Aina learns the truth of her capture: the king of the underworld himself has plans for her. To return home, Aina must bargain her heart—as Siiri plots a daring rescue of the woman she loves the most.

In this sweeping fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Naomi Novik, and H.M. Long, hope and love can conquer even death itself."

Comparisons to Katherine Arden and Naomi Novik are very bold, but I'm excited to check this one out!

The Way by Cary Croner
Publication: December 3rd, 2024
Spiegel & Grau
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"A postapocalyptic road trip and a quest for redemption.

The world has been ravaged by a lethal virus and, with few exceptions, only the young have survived. Cities and infrastructures have been destroyed, and the natural world has reclaimed the landscape in surprising ways, with herds of wild camels roaming the American West and crocodiles that glow neon green lurking in the rivers.

Against this perilous backdrop, Will Collins, the de facto caretaker of a Buddhist monastery in Colorado, receives an urgent and mysterious request: to deliver a potential cure to a scientist in what was once California. So Will sets out, haunted by dreams of the woman he once loved, in a rusted-out pickup pulled by two mules. A menacing thug is on his tail. Armed militias patrol the roads. And the only way he’ll make it is with the help of a clever raven, an opinionated cat, and a tough teenage girl who has learned to survive on her own.

A highly original contribution to the canon of dystopian literature, The Way is a thrilling and imaginative novel, full of warmth, wisdom, and surprises that reflect our world in unsettling, uncanny, and even hopeful ways."

I am so intrigued by this premise and think it sounds so promising!

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Into Siberia by Gregory J. Wallance & The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong

       

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are:

Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia by Gregory J. Wallance
Publication: December 5th, 2023
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"In the late nineteenth century, close diplomatic relations existed between the United States and Russia. All that changed when George Kennan went to Siberia in 1885 to investigate the exile system and his eyes were opened to the brutality Russia was wielding to suppress dissent.

Over ten months Kennan traveled eight thousand miles, mostly in horse-drawn carriages, sleighs or on horseback. He endured suffocating sandstorms in the summer and blizzards in the winter. His interviews with convicts and political exiles revealed how Russia ran on the fuel of inflicted pain and fear. Prisoners in the mines were chained day and night to their wheelbarrows as punishment. Babies in exile parties froze to death in their mothers’ arms. Kennan came to call the exiles’ experience in Siberia a “perfect hell of misery.”

After returning to the United States, Kennan set out to generate public outrage over the plight of the exiles, writing the renowned Siberia and the Exile System . He then went on a nine-year lecture tour to describe the suffering of the Siberian exiles, intensifying the newly emerging diplomatic conflicts between the two countries which last to this day. In a book that ranks with the greatest adventure stories, Gregory Wallance’s Into Siberia is a thrilling work of history about one man’s harrowing journey and the light it shone on some of history’s most heinous human rights abuses."

As we know, I love any type of survival/adventure nonfiction story, and I think the fact that this touches on some bigger historical impacts as well should make for a potentially difficult but fascinating read. 

The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong
Publication: December 5th, 2023
Minotaur Books
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"An atmospheric gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life, Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Minotaur Books & Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall.

After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby’s once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It’s an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth’s bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn’t believe in curses―or Pellars―but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night."

I'm a sucker for anything gothic, historical, and that takes place in a creepy location. I think this sounds like the perfect gothic read for the current season.

Can't-Wait Wednesday: A History of Fear by Luke Dumas & The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are:

A History of Fear by Luke Dumas
Publication: December 6th, 2022
Atria Books
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Grayson Hale, the most infamous murderer in Scotland, is better known by a different name: the Devil’s Advocate. The twenty-five-year-old American grad student rose to instant notoriety when he confessed to the slaughter of his classmate Liam Stewart, claiming the Devil made him do it. 

When Hale is found hanged in his prison cell, officers uncover a handwritten manuscript that promises to answer the question that’s haunted the nation for years: was Hale a lunatic, or had he been telling the truth all along? 

Unnervingly, Hale doesn’t fit the bill of a killer. The first-person narrative that centers this novel reveals an acerbic young atheist, newly enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to carry on the legacy of his recently deceased father. In need of cash, he takes a job ghostwriting a mysterious book for a dark stranger, but has misgivings when the project begins to reawaken his satanophobia, a rare condition that causes him to live in terror that the Devil is after him. As he struggles to disentangle fact from fear, Grayson’s world is turned upside-down after events force him to confront his growing suspicion that he’s working for the one he has feared all this time—and that the book is only the beginning of their partnership.​​ 

A History of Fear is a propulsive foray into the darkness of the human psyche, marrying dread-inducing atmosphere and heart-palpitating storytelling."

I feel like I've been seeing this book for as an anticipated release for months and months by now, and it's only made me want to read it more each time I see it! 

and...

The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi, trans Emily Balistrieri
Publication: December 6th, 2022
Harpervia
Hardcover. 352 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"An unfulfilled college student hurtles through four parallel realities to explore the what-might've-been and the what-should-never-be in this Groundhog Day meets The Midnight Library-esque novel from one of Japan's most popular authors. 

Our protagonist, an unnamed junior at a prestigious university in Kyoto, is on the verge of dropping out. After rebelling against the dictatorial jock president of the film club, he and his worst and only friend, the diabolical creep Ozu, are personas non grata on campus. For two years, our protagonist has made all the wrong decisions, and now he's about to make another mistake. He and Ozu are preparing for revenge--a fireworks attack at the film club's welcoming party for new members. Then, a chance encounter with a self-proclaimed god sets the confused and distraught young man on a new course. Destiny will bring him together with Akashi, the blunt but charming sophomore he has a crush on--if he's brave enough to make a move. Yet our protagonist cannot get beyond his profound disillusionment and the moment is lost. But what if there's a universe where he did join the club of his dreams, ditched Ozu for good, and was confident enough to get the girl? A realm of possibility opens up for our protagonist as time rewinds, and from the four-and-a-half-mat tatami floor of his dorm room, he is plunged into a series of adventures that will take him to four parallel universes. In each universe, he is given the opportunity to start over as a freshman, in search of a rose-colored campus life."

How fun does this premise sound? I think this would make for a perfect lighter speculative fiction read!

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Anticipated Releases: December 2019!

We're finally at the last month of the year and I am, as always, truly shocked at how we're already here. I hope everyone who celebrates had a great Thanksgiving holiday--and I hope you're ready for December releases! December is usually the slower time of year for publishing when you can actually relax a little and maybe catch up on previous releases from the year (yeah, right), though there are still some great releases this month! I am most excited for The Light of All That Falls, the conclusion to James Islington's absolutely incredible Licanius trilogy (seriously, read this trilogy!). What books are you looking forward to reading in December (new or backlist!)?

The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy #3) by James Islington || December 10th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Crownbreaker (Spellsligner #6) by Sebastien de Castell || December 10th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Anyone by Charles Soule || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Blood of Empire (Gods of Blood and Power #3) by Brian McClellan || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

In the Dark by Loreth Anne White || December 1st -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Treachery by S.J. Parris || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Reverie by Ryan La Sala || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Penmaker's Wife by Steve Robinson || December 1st -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The German House by Annette Hess || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Kill Club by Wendy Heard || December 17th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters || December 10th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Scared Little Rabbits by A.V. Geiger || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

What are your anticipated December releases?

Anticipated December 2018 Releases!

Ready or not, it's time to talk about December releases! December is usually a pretty slow month in publishing as far as new releases go, but there are still some fantastic books to look forward to before the year is over. I've already read Once Upon a River and it was stunning! My review for that should be up this coming Monday, but I'll go ahead and say its one that you should definitely consider picking it up. As always, here is a sample of what's coming up. Let me know what books--on or off this list--you're looking forward to!

    
   
   
  

 

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield || December 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository (review coming soon!)

Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard || December 1st -- Amazon | Book Depository

The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau || December 3rd -- Amazon | Book Depository

Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant || December 31st -- Amazon | Book Depository

Black City Dragon by Richard A. Knaak || December 18th -- Amazon | Book Depository

Soulbinder by Sebastien de Castell || December 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository (review coming soon!)

Verity by Colleen Hoover || December 18th -- Amazon

Crow Flight by Susan Cunningham || December 11th -- Amazon | Book Depository

A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy by Alex White || December 11th -- Amazon | Book Depository

Descent by Gabrielle Estres || December 15th

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton || December 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository

Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar by Olga Wojtas | December 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository

All the Wandering Light by Heather Fawcett || December 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository

Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst || December 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm by Christopher Paolini || Decembter 31st -- Amazon | Book Depository

What are your anticipated December releases?

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Anticipated December 2017 Releases!

Upcoming Releases: 

December 2017

The fact that it is already time for December is simply astounding. Where has the year gone?

As expected, there aren't really a lot of December releases, or at least not all that many I could recall. Regardless, I did still manage to find a fair few that I (and many other) are looking forward to releasing this next month, so check them out and let me know your thoughts! Let me know if I've completely overlooked any great releases, also. :)

Not Safe After Dark: And Other Stories by Peter Robinson || December 5th

The Two of Swords: Volume Three by K.J. Parker || December 12th (review coming soon!)

Caesar's Footprints: A Cultural Excursion to Ancient France: Journeys Through Roman Gaul by Bijan Omrani || December 5th

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis || December 12th

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden || December 5th

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini || December 5th (review coming soon!)
The Crims by Kate Davies || December 5th

Ravenspur: Rise of the Tudors by Conn Iggulden || December 5th

The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright || December 5th

What are your anticipated December releases?

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