Hi, hey friends! I’m baacckkkkk with what’s on my NetGalley shelf- highlighting 5 books in 5 days.
Today I want to talk about The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang. If you know me you know I’m a HUGE sucker for a strong female protagonist, and this book is IT! I love when I meet a cast of characters that I know I will never forget, and I have a feeling I’m going to find that in this book. Adventure, mystery, and magical realism with some sci-fi peppered in. LETS GO!
DAY 3
The Wilderwomen
Description
Ohioana Book Award finalist Ruth Emmie Lang returns with a new cast of ordinary characters with extraordinary abilities in The Wilderwomen.
Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared. The older of her two daughters, Zadie, should have seen it coming, because she can literally see things coming. But not even her psychic abilities were able to prevent their mother from vanishing one morning.
Zadie’s estranged younger sister, Finn, can’t see into the future, but she has an uncannily good memory, so good that she remembers not only her own memories, but the echoes of memories other people have left behind. On the afternoon of her graduation party, Finn is seized by an “echo” more powerful than anything she’s experienced before: a woman singing a song she recognizes, a song about a bird…
When Finn wakes up alone in an aviary with no idea of how she got there, she realizes who the memory belongs to: Nora.
Now, it’s up to Finn to convince her sister that not only is their mom still out there, but that she wants to be found. Against Zadie’s better judgement, she and Finn hit the highway, using Finn’s echoes to retrace Nora’s footsteps and uncover the answer to the question that has been haunting them for years: Why did she leave?
But the more time Finn spends in their mother’s past, the harder it is for her to return to the present, to return to herself. As Zadie feels her sister start to slip away, she will have to decide what lengths she is willing to go to find their mother, knowing that if she chooses wrong, she could lose them both for good.
First of all, I want to take a second to just appreciate that gorgeous COVER ART! I’ve loved the cover of every book I’ve shared so far- My toxic trait is that I choose my books by the cover, and my wine by the label!
The Wilderwomen is Ruth Emmie Lang’s second book, her first being “Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance” which was published in 2017 and was Target Book Club’s pick of December 2018!
I have 5 books on my NetGalley shelf, and I want to talk about ALL of them so I’m sharing one book from my shelf every day for 5 days. I can’t squeeze them all into one post, so here I am, making a NetGalley series!
I’ve been reviewing on NetGalley for a few years now, and I’ve met a lot of really great books there! They make it easy for us reviewers to support the authors we love- and share the books we love!
If you’re new to book reviewing, you should stop reading this and go get a NetGalley account- It’s easy, and free! Right now, I have 5 books on my shelf, and I’m excited about ALL OF THEM!
I only request books I REALLY feel like I would be interested in, so when I get approved, I’m always SO stoked, and when I get declined it’s a huge bummer. My toxic trait is buying all the books I get declined for….so that’s been working out for me!
DAY ONE
All Good People Here
Description
In the propulsive debut novel from the host of the #1 true crime podcast Crime Junkie, a journalist uncovers her hometown’s dark secrets when she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor—and the disappearance of another girl twenty years later.
You can’t ever know for sure what happens behind closed doors.
Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the infamous case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist. But she’s always been haunted by the feeling that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.
When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembers—genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and to solve January’s murder once and for all.
But the police, Natalie’s family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could January’s killer still be out there? Is it the same person who took Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night twenty years ago?
Twisty, chilling, and intense, All Good People Here is a searing tale that asks: What are your neighbors capable of when they think no one is watching?
I am a HUGE Crime Junkie fan, so when I heard that Ashley Flowers herself was writing a book, YOU GUYS, I HOPPED ON IT SO FAST! I’m starting this book today, and I can’t wait to share my review with you all when I’m finished!
All Good People Here comes out on August 16th so mark your calendars and set your alarms! If you’re into murder-mystery, small town-who done it, coming home stories, you won’t want to miss this book.
Stacey is the coolest aunt EVER hands-down! When she organizes a trip for her two sisters and their kids to the happiest place on earth, none of them could have ever prepared for the nightmare that awaited them!
This debut thriller by Bonne Bartron is everything I never knew I needed! It was a perfect spooky season read, and although I’m not a gal that is easily creeped out, as a mom, this one did me in. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE a strong female protagonist, and this book has three soooooo-I was sold on the first chapter. This book deals with subject matter that is SO RELEVANT RIGHT NOW and that is one of the things I absolutely loved about it. I like a good twisty mystery that feels relevant, fresh, and scary all the while delivering those twisty blows I live for! This book is a slow burn that I devoured happily-with the lights on, and definitely not before bed. Without giving too much away because I really want y’all to read this book, I will say this- step aside Slenderman & Momo, Mr. Tasty Treats is here, and he’s coming for your babies. 💀
Since we have been spending more (Ugh, all ) of our time at home, I have had plenty of time to look up all of the new and exciting goings-on in the literary universe…….And I am going to share a few of them with you!
There are a lot of books coming out that I am excited about, (By a LOT of great authors) and I hope, by the end of this list, you are excited about a few too!
The Silent Wife
“Atlanta, Georgia. Present day. A young woman is brutally attacked and left for dead. The police investigate but the trail goes cold. Until a chance assignment takes GBI investigator Will Trent to the state penitentiary, and to a prisoner who says he recognizes the MO. The attack looks identical to the one he was accused of eight years earlier. The prisoner’s always insisted that he was innocent, and now he’s sure he has proof. The killer is still out there.
As Will digs into both crimes it becomes clear that he must solve the original case in order to reach the truth. Yet nearly a decade has passed—time for memories to fade, witnesses to vanish, evidence to disappear. And now he needs medical examiner Sara Linton to help him hunt down a ruthless murderer. But when the past and present collide, everything Will values is at stake . . . “
The Silent Wife will be released on July 28, 2020
Home Before Dark
“What was it like? Living in that house.“
“Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.”
Home Before Dark will be released on June 20, 2020
The Waffle House On The Pier
Run away to Sea Salt Bay, where the sand is warm and soft, the sea is a perfect blue, and a candy-coloured waffle house is about to change Sadie’s life…
For as long as she can remember, Sadie’s grandparents have run the waffle house on the pier at Sea Salt Bay. With its pretty painted chairs, sweet smells, and the warm advice of her beloved grandparents, the waffle house is like a second home.
But when Sadie’s grandfather dies, leaving her grandmother without an anchor, Sadie must make a difficult decision. She quits her job and moves back home, determined to keep things going. The trouble is, she knows nothing about running a business, and learning at a million miles an hour with a shop full of hungry people isn’t easy. When she nearly burns the waffle house down, she has to admit she needs to get some help.
Her ex-boyfriend Declan promises to be there for her but Sadie worries that getting too close is a mistake – especially as he has a new girlfriend now. And anyway she’s just met newcomer Luke, with his gorgeous suntan and mellow voice…
Sadie’s family have always loved Declan and they’re not too sure about Luke, leaving Sadie unsure which way to turn. A terrible accident at sea forces her to look into her heart, but what if it’s already too late to tell the right man that she loves him?
If you love stolen kisses under the pier, walking along spray-capped shores eating ice cream, and books by Lucy Diamond, Jill Mansell and Jenny Colgan, you will fall in love with this romantic, heart-breaking read.
The Waffle House on the Pier will be released on June 25, 2020
The Guest List
A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party.
The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
The Guest List will be released on June 2nd, 2020
Invisible Girl
ONDON:On a fine avenue of grand houses, big cars and electronic gates, lies a neglected urban wasteland
It is nearly midnight, and very cold. Yet in this dark place of long grass and tall trees where cats hunt and foxes shriek, a girl is waiting…
When Saffyre Maddox was ten something terrible happened and she’s carried the pain of it around with her ever since. The man who she thought was going to heal her didn’t, and now she hides from him, invisible in the shadows, learning his secrets; secrets she could use to blow his safe, cosy world apart.
Owen Pick is invisible too. He’s thirty-three years old and he’s never had a girlfriend, he’s never even had a friend. Nobody sees him. Nobody cares about him.
But when Saffyre Maddox disappears from opposite his house on Valentine’s night, suddenly the whole world is looking at him. Accusing him. Holding him responsible.
Because he’s just the type, isn’t he? A bit creepy?
INVISIBLE GIRL: A story of secrets and injustices, and of how we look in the wrong places for the bad people while the real predators walk among us in plain sight.
Invisible girl will be released on August 6, 2020
One By One
Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them?
When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?
One By One will be released on September 8, 2020
Magic Lessons
Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back.
When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it’s is here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.
Magic Lessons is a celebration of life and love and a showcase of Alice Hoffman’s masterful storytelling.
Magic Lessons will be released on October 6, 2020
Mark your calendars and set your alarms so you don’t miss any of these awesome summer/fall releases. I hope you find a few that you are excited about, and if you do, let me know!
The Literary Wife 