Literary fiction readers are in for a treat. This week’s latest releases list is full of intriguing reads you won’t want to miss! The new releases list includes so many bestselling authors like Paul C.R. Monk, Michelle G. Stradford, Lauren Weisberger, and many more. Enjoy your new literary fiction books. Happy reading!
Set off on an adventure to new worlds this week! This selection of new science fiction and fantasy books will surely please! Science Fiction fans should be excited about the latest from bestselling authors Una McCormack, Felix R. Savage, Kelsey Josund, and more. If Fantasy is what your library needs, you’ll be able to pick up the latest from J.E. Mueller, Susan Stradiotto, Jess Mountfield, and more. Enjoy your new science fiction and fantasy books. Happy reading!
Are you an avid reader of Young Adult books? This week you are in luck! With all of these new novels, you’re bound to find a new favorite book to add to your reading list. This week includes new novels from bestselling authors Maggie Stiefvater, Emiko Jean, Jennifer Dugan, and many more. Enjoy your new young adult books. Happy reading!
Looking for some new biography and memoir books for your library? There are so many new releases this week that you’re bound to find a new favorite. You can pick up new books from Todd Morrison, John Green, Sarah Schulman, and many more. Enjoy your new biography and memoir books. Happy reading!
Need some literary fiction book recommendations for your spring reading list? You've come to the right place, as we've created a new list of some of our favorite new releases by Ruth Torjussen, Jennifer Weiner, Maggie Shipstead, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Gian Sardar, and Erika Montgomery. Enjoy your new books!
Release Date: January 30, 2021
Life as a Marie Osmond impersonator living in Stoke can be challenging enough. But when your best friend has died and your other friends have moved away it can suddenly get a whole lot tougher. Now heartbroken Jenny has a female-shaped hole in her life which - despite the presence of many women - won’t go away. Grief has turned her into a first-class snob. Husband Lonny preps the house for climate change and is unable to halt Jenny’s unraveling. Then gorgeous Trudi wafts into the creative writing class and brings some much-needed hope.
Release Date: May 11, 2021
Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?
Release Date: May 4, 2021
After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914, Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in Missoula, Montana. There--after encountering a pair of barnstorming pilots passing through town in beat-up biplanes--Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight. At fourteen she drops out of school and finds an unexpected and dangerous patron in a wealthy bootlegger who provides a plane and subsidizes her lessons, an arrangement that will haunt her for the rest of her life, even as it allows her to fulfill her destiny: circumnavigating the globe by flying over the North and South Poles.
Release Date: May 4, 2021
Thirteen-year-old Abby Hubble lives in an unhappy home in the Sierra Nevada foothills where her father makes life miserable for her and her mother, Mary. One day Abby witnesses a man dump a litter of puppies into the nearby river. Diving in to rescue all seven, she knows she won’t be able to bring them home. Afraid for their fate at the pound, she takes them to an abandoned cabin, where all she can offer is a promise that she’ll be back the next day.
Release Date: May 1, 2021
It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work. When opportunity arrives, she seizes it, accompanying her Kurdish boyfriend, Delan, to northern Iraq for a family wedding, hoping to capture an image that lands her a job in the photo department.
Release Date: May 11, 2021
For thirty-year-old Frankie Simon, selling movie memorabilia in the shop she opened with her late mother on Hollywood Boulevard is more than just her livelihood—it’s an enduring connection to the only family she has ever known. But when a mysterious package arrives containing a photograph of her mother and famous movie stars Glory Cartwright and her husband at a coastal film festival the year before Frankie’s birth, her life begins to unravel in ways unimaginable.
By A.L. Hawke
So why am I debuting a mythical fantasy and what’s this all about? I’ve published a paranormal romance trilogy, a science fiction series, and an urban fantasy. Why mythical fantasy?
The launch of this novel meant a lot to me personally. It’s the culmination of years of dreaming, and the subject of two creations I love: Azure Blue and Cora.
Many years ago, I wrote five unpublished books in a setting called Azure Blue. Originally inspired by Enya, my muse thought up an ancient blue world with a green sun in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Music, even lyric-less, is always ripe for adding imagery and weaving a story. This was particularly true with the ethereal music of Enya. Enya inspired me to create a dreamscape full of amazon nymphs, Greek gods & goddesses, and flying unicorns—a land literally blue, like the backdrop in the cover. And I enjoyed escaping into Azure Blue and the labyrinths below. Describing what lies above and beneath my fantasy world was a blast to visit and a challenge to write. So when I recently embarked on Cora: Rise of the Fallen Goddess, I dusted off all of this worldbuilding.
But a book is more than a setting. Two hundred pages into “pantsing” one of my original Azure Blue manuscripts, Cora was born. By the way, I don’t outline, which I’d never recommend to budding writers out there unless you’re like me, willing to exchange fun and the unexpected for heavy editing and re-writes. Anyway, I “pantse” and my characters appear. Many come and go, but the goddess Persephone, my Cora, was unforgettable. She’s a sneaky goddess; hard, arrogant, and, yet, vulnerable. She made for a super fun heroine in my contemporary urban fantasy, CORA (yes, she’s the same character in both books), but in this novel, taking place four thousand years before, I got to delve into a young Cora and look into the origin of how a dark goddess developed any heart at all.
In Cora: Rise of the Fallen Goddess, Cora is sent away to Azure Blue by her mother, Demeter, to live with the Amazon nymphs under Queen Nephrea (better known as Nefertiti in Ancient Egyptian). There she’s taught the Amazon code of honor, bravery, and righteousness. But Cora is not an Amazon nymph. And prophecy holds quite a different fate for the goddess as she grows into adulthood—Hades, Lord of the Underworld.
Upon Cora’s fall, Demeter rages and threatens to freeze the entire world under ice and snow forever. Her foster mother, Nephrea, must offer a sacrifice to quell Demeter’s rage.
This is classic epic fantasy with maps, swords, battle scenes and the whole lot, but it’s also a strongly character-driven coming of age story. It’s about Cora growing up. It’s a book about the shackles of life and the hope we hold in freeing them through love. And released just in time for mother’s day, it’s a story about a mother and daughter’s love. I invite you to take a journey with Cora and her mother.
A.L. Hawke is the author of the new book Cora: Rise of the Fallen Goddess.
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What can you tell us about your new release, The Shade of Highfall?
I started thinking about the Shade of Highfall in 2009, although I didn’t call it that back then. The tale of a struggling young woman named Shrew, from the slums of the ancient city of Highfall, who discovered help from a spirit trapped in a dagger, had been bouncing around in my head for some time before I started writing it down.
As I started writing, other characters became woven into her story. It started with Cyrus Col, a high priest with ambitions to bring ruin to the world by releasing an ancient evil known as the Master of Shades. Then two others followed. Vaskah Shen, a high-ranking nobleman from a distant country that had designs on conquering Highfall and a holy knight called Aelmar, who commanded the King of Highfall’s armies.
As the Shade of Highfall reaches its climax, all four characters collide in an emotional rollercoaster of betrayal, horror and revenge. Yet above all this, the story becomes a race against time, to prevent the return of the Master of Shades and the global destruction that would surely follow.
My aim was to create an entirely new world and make it highly immersive. So I also created maps and a glossary to help drag my readers into the middle of the action. I can promise that the sequel will be out of this world.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
I was inspired by the works of other authors of fantasy and science fiction. For a long time I read their stories and then one day, decided to write a story of my own.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Time Patrol by Poul Anderson
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Lyonesse by Jack Vance
The Technicolor Time Machine by Harry Harrison
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
This is a difficult question, because my preferred guest has been deceased for a while. But, if I could go back in time, my first guest would be Edgar Rice Burroughs. He started writing to feed his family and the many worlds and characters he created are absolutely amazing. I would ask him - where did you get the idea of Tarzan from?
What's your favorite thing about writing?
It puts me in a different place, away from the daily humdrum of life. I have a vivid imagination and I often play out scenes from my books in my head.
What is a typical day like for you?
I get up and usually go swimming. Then I’m off to work. I work for a science and engineering company in the UK and one of my jobs is writing about emerging technologies. They’re going to find themselves in one of my books one day!
What scene from The Shade of Highfall was your favorite to write?
The scene where she confronted two rogues waiting in ambush on a forest road and finally admitted she was the notorious ‘Shade of Highfall’. You’ll have to read the book to find out what happened next!
A ‘Shade’, by the way, is a wraith or disembodied soul that haunts the shadows.
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
Not really, but if I was forced to pick one, it would be two words I picked them up when I was a navigator flying in military aircraft. It is: “Never assume”.
Mark O'Dell is the author of the new book The Shade of Highfall.
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What can you tell us about your new release, Friends and Neighbours?
‘Friends and Neighbours’ is my first novel although I came up with the idea and wrote it as a film script in 2007. It’s been a long road! I had to totally fail at film-making first before I would consider the possibility of being able to write a novel. The story is a humorous one about a middle-aged woman who after the death of her best friend, is left bereft of female companionship. However, her grief is making her more like her mother, a first-class snob. There are plenty of women around her but all she can see are their faults. This is the main storyline however there are many subplots and lots of local characters including the main character Jenny’s husband Lonny, who seems to be everyone’s favourite judging by the reviews. Although there is a lot of comedy in this book there is also a lot of grit and many serious issues, which weren’t really planned, I suppose they are part of my life and just came out in the writing. Certainly Lonny’s passion for the environment is mine and my work as a carer obviously informed all the scenes with Jenny in that role.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
My sister Mary is a published author who writes in the thriller genre, so I had an insider’s view of what it takes to write a novel. I had always considered myself a writer though because of my work writing film scripts, I think my first rejection letter (from the BBC) was in 1995! But writing scripts is frustrating because they are only the blueprint for the film, I guessed that writing novels would be more satisfying - especially now that we can self-publish - and that is absolutely the case, it’s fantastic! I suppose the real inspiration came from doing a ‘How to’ course online (sorry I’ve forgotten which one) and realising that in writing a novel, great use can be made of writing the thoughts inside a character’s head, their POV. I took to this like a duck to water, I really love it.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
This is tricky because if you asked me next week it might be a different answer! And in general I read a lot more non-fiction than fiction. I’ve just read Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell which I adored, otherwise maybe, ‘The Crow Road’ by Iain Banks, ‘The Book of Night Women’ by Marlon James, ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte and ‘To kill a mockingbird’ by Harper Lee.
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
I would invite Maggie O’Farrell and ask her about Agnes, what research she did and how she decided that she should have this witchy, herbalist side of her. I am extremely interested in women as healers, a role that was taken away from us when the witchhunts began. This theme overlaps with another book I have just completed ‘Return to Harlech’.
What's your favorite thing about writing?
I find the first draft pretty agonising, the closest thing to being in labour that I’ve ever experienced! However, every draft after that gets increasingly more enjoyable. I would say it is being able to write someone’s POV, I love it.
What is a typical day like for you?
I try to write each morning and focus on my care work in the afternoon but it doesn’t always turn out like that. I care for and live with three people with learning disabilities and/or mental health challenges so there is always something going on. I also have gardening and cooking as big interests plus books and webinars about Climate Change and what we can do. I love to learn about how we can make a difference.
What scene from Friends and Neighbours was your favorite to write?
The dinner party with Jackie and Miranda, even though it’s excruciating sometimes, it made me laugh and laugh. I’m not sure readers feel the same though as it’s not normally mentioned in reviews. The characters are only in that one scene but I loved them so much that they are coming back for bigger roles in book 2.
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
‘Walk a mile in my shoes
Just walk a mile in my shoes
Before you abuse, criticize, and accuse
Then walk a mile in my shoes’
(as sung by Elvis 🙂 )
Ruth Torjussen is the author of the new book Friends and Neighbours
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What can you tell us about your new release, To Save a King?
This is the second in the True Blue Royal series but also works as a stand alone. Crown Prince John's happily ever after ended in grief. Gemma Stone's ended in shame. But a new happily ever after is just beginning.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
The Queen's Secret by Karen Harper and Let It Be Me by Becky Wade.
What advice would you give your teenage self?
Save more money!
If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?
Wow, that's a tough one. I'd spend it reading or sleeping. Or, learning to cook.
What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?
It takes several things to make my world go round. My life with my husband, family and friends, and with my church family. Relationships bring me joy because of the people. I love sharing the journey with them.
What scene from To Save a King was your favorite to write?
There's a scene where Gemma, the heroine, learns the investment she's made in her home was a scam. The news is traumatic for her. I loved all the nuances of that scene: how she got the news, how she reacted. I also loved the sequel scene.
Rachel Hauck is the author of the new book To Save a King.
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