In the 1990s, Gaia’s family moves from the neglected peripheries of Rome to an idyllic lakeside town in search of a new life that will lift them out of poverty. When Gaia meets two local girls, Agata and Carlotta, the trio builds a fragile friendship throughout their adolescence based as much on their insecurities and jealousies as it is on their mutual affection. Gaia’s encounters with callous boys and contemptuous teachers convince her that she might always be an outsider. Faced with bullying and betrayals among her peers and immense pressure from her mother to excel, Gaia turns inward and her world becomes increasingly insular. Then tragedy strikes her friend group. As more friends slip away and her family fractures, Gaia vows to make the world pay for all the things it has denied her.
When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order. Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money --- so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept. As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the tension between them.
When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon --- some known, some soon to be discovered --- and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the author's shoes for some time. Instead, they arrive at his grand manor and are invited to play a game. The rules are simple: solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If they don't, the manor will take one of them for itself. You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of Mortimer's family, and like any true horror story, the house is still very, very hungry.
London, 189–: The great city is brought to a standstill by a series of blizzards and Sherlock Holmes is bored to distraction. It would take a miracle to bring a case to the detective’s door...What arrives is not promising: a landlady who complains her artist tenant is behind on rent. Not exactly the miracle for which Holmes was hoping. But, next thing you know, there are several corpses and Sherlock Holmes and his biographer, John H. Watson, MD, find themselves drawn into one of the most bizarre cases of the great detective’s career. And into the cutthroat big business of Art, where chicanery and mendacity (and cut throats) proliferate. Oh, and there’s one other problem: Is this a genuine Holmes case or a clever forgery? Is this the real thing? If you can’t tell the difference, what is the difference?
On a spring evening in Montana, Brian Buckbee encounters an injured baby pigeon. Heartbroken after the loss of the love of his life and increasingly isolated by a mysterious illness that overtook him while trekking through Asia, Brian is unaware that this bird --- who he names Two-Step --- will change his life. Brian takes in Two-Step and more injured birds, eventually transforming his home into a madcap bird rehabilitation and rescue center. As Brian and Two-Step grow closer, an unexpected kinship forms. But their paths won’t converge forever. As Two-Step heals and finds love, Brian’s condition worsens, and with his friend’s release back into the world looming closer, Brian must decide where this story leaves him.
As the 17th century burns to a close in Tidewater, Virginia, America’s character is wrought in the fires of wealth, race and freedom. Young Bless, the only child left to her enslaved mother, stubbornly crafts the terms of her vital existence. She stands as the lone bulwark between her mother and irreparable despair, her mother’s only possibility of hope, as Bless reshapes the boundaries of love. David is a helping child and a solace to his parents, and he gave a purpose to their trials. His survival hinges on his mother’s shrewd intellect and ferocious fight, but his sustenance is his freed Black father’s dream of emancipation for the entire family. Jack Dane, a Scots-Irish boy, sails to Britain’s colonies when his father sells him into indentured servitude as an escape from poverty. There Jack learns from the rich the value of each person’s life.
London, 1895: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club --- a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories. As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent, but when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything.
The death of immigrant Juaquin Escobar has been ruled an accidental drowning in Lake Michigan. The only problem is he never drinks and never swims. When the CPD informs his nephew Ivan Ramirez and closes the case he refuses to believe it’s true. Convinced of foul play Ivan is referred to Ashe Cayne by his friend and socialite Penny Packer. After agreeing to take the case on pro bono he quickly discovers that things are not always what they seem. As Ashe investigates, he learns that Juaquin was last seen getting into a white van belonging to a heating and cooling company before he disappeared. Retracing Juaquin’s steps leads Ashe straight into a web of secrets and lies that anyone would do anything to escape --- even murder.
Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams...Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion. With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like. But Hell is not like the storybooks say, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could lead to their doom.
In the wake of a killer hurricane, Doc Ford’s best friend, Tomlinson, insists that he died when his beloved sailboat hit a reef. He now lives to tell the tale, but only because he was brought back to life --- temporarily --- by a runaway orphan who is the direct descendent of the last king of the ancient Mayan people. Corrupt politicians want the child out of the picture before he catalyzes a revolution among the Indigenous population. But the boy has gone underground with the help of Tomlinson and a network of street urchins. They're all on the run and in the crosshairs when Ford arrives and picks up his friend’s trail. This is not his first trip to the most dangerous country in Mesoamerica, and no one is better equipped to deal with flesh traffickers, paramilitary killers, an archaeologist addicted to sex and a homicidal giant known locally as Iron Baby.
We have listed 12 of Carol’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks that are now or soon to be in paperback. Which of these books have you read or do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
August's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Thursday Murder Club, My Oxford Year and Night Always Comes on Netflix, the Providence Falls trilogy on Hallmark, The Map That Leads to You on Prime Video, and She Rides Shotgun in theaters; the conclusion of "And Just Like That..." on HBO Max and "The Institute" on MGM+; the series premieres of "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" on STARZ and "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf" on Prime Video; the season premieres of "The Marlow Murder Club" on PBS "Masterpiece" and "My Life with the Walter Boys" on Netflix; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of The King of Kings and How to Train Your Dragon.