Between the ephemeral sense of dread that vanishes as quickly as it appears and the all too well-known terror of family vacation, Diavola kept me both frightened and intrigued! It’s a great read for anyone who loves haunted houses, with a dash of family drama!
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne, (List Price: $27.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250826121, March 2024)
Reviewed by Courtney Ulrich Smith, Underbrush Books in Rogers, Arkansas
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Goodness, was this good! Where to start? The power politics and marriage of convenience love story put me in mind (in a good way) of Winter’s Orbit, but there’s also talking mammoths, climate crisis commentary, twists, tidbits for language nerds, and delightfully fleshed-out characters! Highly recommend!
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley, (List Price: $32.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639732333, March 2024)
Reviewed by Angela Trigg, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
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Is it nature? Nurture? Unacknowledged familial trauma? Kabbalah? God? Does it matter? Toby Lloyd’s stunning novel debut feels like a long-lost dream, rippling with uncertainty for the best kind of unsettled reading experience — just after finishing, I wanted to read it all again.In a London, modern Ashkenazi Jewish home, our intersecting narrators offer multiple realities, inviting us to hold them amidst reflections on tradition, power, and existence with heart-wrenching beauty. Impressively succinct writing that unfolds in the mind like a flower in bloom with heart-wrenching beauty and depth – the rest of 2024’s reads are up against a powerhouse.
FervorFervor by Toby Lloyd, (List Price: $28, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, 9781668033333, March 2024)
Reviewed by RC Collman, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Can I just live in this book please? A perfect book boyfriend, lovely world-building, just the right amount of spice….what more can we ask for? There is a reason it’s the most beloved book in the fantasy realm.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, (List Price: $19, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781635575583, June 2020)
Reviewed by Kelley Dykes, Main Street Reads in , South Carolina
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With Dead Silence (a haunted Titantic in space!) and now Ghost Station, Barnes is set to become the queen of intense, claustrophobic space horror! Again with a small crew of deeply disturbed and damaged people, Barnes sets them loose on an icy, abandoned planet to do some dangerous work for an uncaring corporation. Everyone is hiding something. There is a jump-startle behind every closed door and every corner. If it was just these things, that would be great, but under the chills and thrills there are thoughtful explorations of class, the definition of family, the nature of trauma, and opening oneself up to trust and love.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes, (List Price: $27.99, Tor Nightfire, 9781250884923, April 2024)
Reviewed by Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
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A wonderful romp of a debut novel. Lauren’s search for “the right man” becomes hilarious drama when she discovers her attic has the magical ability to spit out one “husband” after another for her to “try on.” She sends one man after another back up the attic stairs, hoping the next one will be that “perfect man.” Every page is both fun and funny and the suspense for how she’ll finalize things will keep you reading.
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, (List Price: $29, Doubleday, 9780385550611, April 2024)
Reviewed by Patience Allan-Glick, Underground Books and Hills & Hamlets Bookshop in Carrollton, Georgia
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It’s actually unfair how good this book is. Kuang seamlessly weaves together grief, trauma, and hope in a way that cracked me open. Grant and Helen are linked by a horrific tragedy, and eventually wind up in the same television writers’ room, both trying their hardest to escape from themselves. A love letter to competency porn, vulnerability, and tripping headfirst into something great with the last person you should be falling in love with. An incredibly moving, honest debut.
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang, (List Price: $18.99, Avon, 9780063310681, April 2024)
Reviewed by Gaby Iori, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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I’m happy to report that Women! In! Peril! lives up to its obsession-worthy title and cover. This short story debut is full of smart, fresh fiction that I wanted to savor. Marshall brings a hilarious voice to inventive literary stories about women whose struggles range from divorce to the destruction of the human race. Singular characters like a former ballerina with memory loss and a lesbian whose girlfriend thinks she’s carrying the baby Jesus make up this exciting and unabashedly queer collection!
Women! In! Peril! by Jessie Ren Marshall, (List Price: $17.99, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781639732272, April 2024)
Reviewed by Julia Lewis, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
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I loved this story about second (and third) chances and rekindled young love in a small southern town. Themes of alcohol addiction and commentary on American gun violence give Colton Gentry’s Third Act depth that would make this romance a fabulous book club selection. And I loved the restaurant setting!
Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner, (List Price: $30, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538756652, April 2024)
Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
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This book is beautiful. An epic tale of everything good in fantasy. Magic, pirates , bombs and demons. This book has it all. But the best part of this book is the way the main character handles her own identity as a woman , mother and badass.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, (List Price: $19.99, Harper Voyager, 9780062963512, March 2024)
Reviewed by Mekhala Villegas-Rogers, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida
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Colleen Hoover writes another fantastic story. I read this book in two days. I could not put it down. I couldn’t wait until the end to know what was going to happen. I highly recommend this book.
November 9 by Colleen Hoover, (List Price: $16.99, Atria Books, 9781501110344, 2015-11-10)
Reviewed by Amy McNabb, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee
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Laugh out-loud funny book just in time for wedding season. This book engages family, friends, the wedding industry, and a fast-paced plot perfect for the beach. I gave this to my future daughter-in-law, hoping she can find the fun in the planning. A must-read for any bride.
Wedding Issues by Elle Evans, (List Price: $17.99, Zibby Books, 9781958506745, April 2024)
Reviewed by Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
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These beautiful stories fill my heart with hope and longing. Annell Lopez weaves powerful portraits of women just trying to be. Be happy, be important, be heard.
I’ll Give You a Reason by Annell López, (List Price: $16.95, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 9781558613126, April 2024)
Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
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A mind-bending, adventure-filled debut novel with an unusual premise: Nine-year-old Aubry contracts a strange illness that threatens to bleed her to death unless she keeps moving. So she spends her life on the run – constantly running – from one end of the earth to the other, below the earth and above, forever finding new places to go, for she cannot return to places she has been. It’s a fantastical journey that made me ask so many questions: Will she be cured? How does she endure? Why not give up? What a wild ride of a novel!
A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke, (List Price: $28.99, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, 9781668026069, April 2024)
Reviewed by Cathy Graham, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
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Clear is a quiet, short novel, with bite-sized chapters that lend themselves to quick reading, but the writing! Oh, the writing. Caryn Davies has written a beautiful story of survival and loneliness and resilience; set in the 1800s on a remote island between Scotland and Norway, John Ferguson — a Presbyterian minister — has been sent on a mission to clear the island of its last inhabitant. Davies took her sparse cast of characters in directions I wasn’t expecting, and I feel I’ll be thinking of them for years to come. (For fans of The Vaster Wilds.)
Clear by Carys Davies, (List Price: $24, Scribner, 9781668030660, April 2024)
Reviewed by Annie Jones, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia
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