Lots of pretty amid not so many covers this week. It’s November, and publishing looks like its already headed into the holiday doldrums. Not that the holidays themselves are doldrum-y, but rather that not much comes out or gets promoted over the holidays because no one is paying attention to anything EXCEPT the holidays!

I almost said that there isn’t an ugly cover in the bunch, but I  have to admit that the beady eye of whatever that insect is pictured on the cover of Esperance is definitely giving me the creeps. I’m curious as hell because I loved the author’s Braking Day. But still, that cover is really kind of creepy – and potentially crawly as well.

The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin, however, gets my nod for both prettiest cover and most eye-catching title, but your reading mileage may vary. We’ll have to see in the months ahead.

For Review:
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
Esperance by Adam Oyebanji
The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin (Ill-Mannered Ladies #2) by Alison Goodman
Murder at Gulls Nest (Nora Breen Investigates #1) by Jess Kidd
A Shipwreck in Fiji (Sergeant Akal Singh #2) by Nilima Rao

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
All by My Elf (Under the Mistletoe #3) by Olivia Dade (ebook + audio)
Bayou Book Thief (Vintage Cookbook Mystery #1) by Ellen Byron

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This has been a difficult week for many, and I’m certainly among them. This is going to be a bit of a self-care weekend, and I know I’m far from alone in that feeling.

My search for comfort reads led me to Bonnie MacBird’s Sherlock Holmes Adventure series. After finishing the first book in the series, Art in the Blood, I grabbed the whole set so the later books in the series will be reviewed in the months ahead. I’ll probably include What Child is This? in my Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon posts.

Out of this week’s stack, IMHO Behooved has the prettiest cover – and the story sounds pretty as well. Admittedly, this stack is chock full of pretty covers, but Behooved just stands out from the rest. The books I’m most looking forward to are Anji Kills a King as it’s being billed as a readalike for The Blacktongue Thief and The Orb of Cairado as its a short story set in the universe of The Goblin Emperor.

The one I’m most curious about is Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff. I loved her Blood series as well as her Smoke series (back in the day), AND her Valor series is one of my fave SF series. But it’s been awhile, and this one is billed as horror, so my curiosity bump itches all the way around.

For Review:
Anji Kills a King (Rising Tide #1) by Evan Leikam
Behooved by M. Stevenson
The Book That Held Her Heart (Library Trilogy #3) by Mark Lawrence
Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang
Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff
A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison
The Serpent Under (Sherlock Holmes Adventure #6) by Bonnie MacBird

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Devil’s Due (Sherlock Holmes Adventure #3) by Bonnie MacBird
The Three Locks (Sherlock Holmes Adventure #4) by Bonnie MacBird
Unquiet Spirits (Sherlock Holmes Adventure #2) by Bonnie MacBird
What Child is This? (Sherlock Holmes Adventure #5) by Bonnie MacBird

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The U.S. presidential election is this Tuesday, November 5. It will be a day to remember, no matter what the outcome, and no matter how anyone in particular feels about the outcome. I wanted to post something this week that’s a little more serious than most of the books reviewed here. And lit upon The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon, a book that collects a fraction of the stories of the unsung heroes of American history. I hope it hits the right note for the occasion – it’s certainly been an educational AND enjoyable read and listen this week.

For Review:
The Desert Talon (Crowns of Ishia #2) by Karin Lowachee
Grave Empire (Great Silence #1) by Richard Swan
A Lesson in Dying (Inspector Ramsay #1) by Ann Cleeves
The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve
Miss Amelia’s List (Elemental Masters #17) by Mercedes Lackey
Only in America by Richard Bernstein
Third Ear by Elizabeth Rosner

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
Other People’s Playgrounds by Harry Turtledove
The President’s Brain is Missing by John Scalzi (ebook + audio)
The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon (ebook + audio)

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This is, pretty much in its entirety, a shelf of curiosity. Both Ann Cleeves’ mysteries and Joe Abercrombie’s dark fantasies have been recommended to me – and frequently at that – but I’ve never managed to shoehorn either into the towering TBR pile until now. While The Adventures of Mary Darling just sounds fascinating with its combination of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes. Because REALLY? We’ll certainly find out what THAT’S all about in the months ahead!

For Review:
The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy
Awakened by A.E. Osworth
A Bird in the Hand (George & Molly Palmer-Jones #1) by Ann Cleeves
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
On Being Jewish Now edited by Zibby Owens
Replay by Jordan Mechner

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Saying that I didn’t get much this week is like saying water is wet. And it’s really weirding me out. To be honest, originally there was only one book on this list. Well, there was only one book after I moved the four books that don’t have covers yet to next week’s stack. Again. I know I shouldn’t just add stuff because the pile looks empty, but I did it anyway. Also again.

The book I’m most looking forward to is the one I started with, A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge. It’s the third book in her An American in Paris series, meaning it’s the third book in the historical mystery series that features Julia Child as the protagonist’s sidekick. The first two, Mastering the Art of French Murder and A Murder Most French, were both awesome and I can’t wait for this next one.

The book I’m most curious about – and I’m terribly curious – is The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig. It’s based on the true story of America’s first famous murder trial, with Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr attempting to work together to defend the accused murderer. The book is based on the actual trial transcript – and it sounds fascinating.

Both the Memory Bank series and The Naturalist Society are books that I’ve looked out multiple times over the past couple of weeks but just didn’t pick up. With this week’s utter dearth of titles, I decided to pick them up after all.

For Review:
Aurora Fragment (Memory Bank #3) by Brian Shea and Raquel Byrnes
A Fashionably French Murder (An American in Paris #3) by Colleen Cambridge
The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Memory Bank (Memory Bank #1) by Brian Shea and Raquel Byrnes
The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn (Amazon First Reads)
Retrograde Flaw (Memory Bank #2) by Brian Shea and Raquel Byrnes

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This stack has pretty covers and pretty cool covers as well!

I think the prettiest covers are The Geographer’s Map to Romance and Pets in Space 9, although they are clearly not pretty in the same way at all. Ill-Fated Fortune is also pretty, but mostly it makes me pretty hungry when I look at at. One Level Down is just a cool cover. I could see that background being used in some fascinating designs and Insta posts.

And then there’s Aunt Tigress, which I honestly got FOR the cover. It’s not exactly “pretty”, and if pretty is as pretty does, based on the blurb ‘pretty’ is going to end up being a really wrong word all the way around. Fascinating, yes. Compelling, I hope so. Possibly even a bit bloody – or at least bloody-minded. But pretty, well, not so much. And that’s a good thing for the kind of urban fantasy I really, really hope it is!

One more thing…the book in this stack I’m most looking forward to is, hands down, Who Will Remember by C.S. Harris, the OMG 20th book in the marvelous Sebastian St. Cyr series.

For Review:
Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin
Claim (Fury Brothers #5) by Anna Hackett
The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen (Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen #1) by Yuta Takahashi, translated by Cat Anderson
The Geographer’s Map to Romance (Love’s Academic #2) by India Holton
One Level Down by Mary G. Thompson
Our Nazi by Michael Soffer
Rebellious Grace (King’s Fool #3) by Jeri Westerson
Star-Crossed Egg Tarts (Magical Fortune Cookie #2) by Jennifer J. Chow
Stone Certainty (Holy Terrors #2) by Simon R. Green
Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20) by C.S. Harris

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
Ill-Fated Fortune (Magical Fortune Cookie #1) by Jennifer J. Chow
Pets in Space 9 edited by Carol Van Natta

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A slightly shorter stack this week. I do have a few more, but no covers to go with them – so they’ll be waiting a bit.

But the books with covers I do have are an interesting bunch. The pretty covers are The December Market and Greenteeth. The book I’m most looking forward to is The Sea Eternal by Emery Robin – because I loved the first book in the series, The Stars Undying.

The book I’m really, really curious about is The Vengeance by Emma Newman, because, well, vampires in the world of Alexandre Dumas and possibly his Three Musketeers. If that wasn’t a tease enough, I’m also wondering how it will compare to Genevieve Cogman’s Scarlet Revolution series (which begins with Scarlet), which mixes vampires with the French Revolution. Clearly there’s something in the literary air about vampires mixing with French history and I’m really curious what THAT’s all about.

What about you? What have you added to your stack this week?

For Review:
The December Market (Shelter Springs #2) by RaeAnne Thayne
Don’t Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo
Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
Israel Alone by Bernard-Henri Lévy
Lifeform by Jenny Slate
One Final Turn (Electra McDonnell #5) by Ashley Weaver
The Sea Eternal (Empire Without End #2) by Emery Robin
Two Times Murder (Quiet Teacher #2) by Adam Oyebanji
The Vengeance (Vampires of Dumas #1) by Emma Newman

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I’m doing this a couple of days early this week because Hurricane Helene – not that she’ll still be an actual hurricane by the time she reaches Atlanta. But we will get LOTS of wind and rain, which has the potential for falling trees and downed power lines, so I’m running ahead a bit just in case. I’m hoping it works as a countermeasure, that by planning for it we won’t actually lose power.

Luna is clearly wigged out by the storm – even just the heavy rain Wednesday night. She spent the evening huddled under the sink in the downstairs bathroom, as it’s the one room in the house that has no windows.

I do have a few – just a few (LOL) – books to read if we get stuck indoors for the weekend. The pretty covers this time around are Austen at Sea, The River has Roots and Still Life with Remorse. Although I think an ‘honorable mention’ could be awarded for Eat the Ones You Love. That cover is beautifully done – but seriously creepy!

The books I’m most curious about are the Yard Birds series that begins with Crazy as a Loon. I read a review of the final book in the series, Free as a Bird, at Caffeinated Reviewer, and I was intrigued. Also hoping the series will be a bit reminiscent of Never Too Old to Save the World and A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark as they all feature female protagonists that are not so much ‘of a certain age’ but looking at that ‘certain age’ through the rearview mirror but still kicking ass and taking names even if they have to use a cane to do it.

The one I’m most looking forward to, for the next time I really need a comfort read, to absolutely no one’s surprise, is The Blanket Cats.

For Review:
10/7: 100 Human Stories by Lee Yaron
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin
Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman #1) by Olivia Waite
The Prince Without Sorrow (Obsidian Throne #1) by Maithree Wijesekara
The River has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
Still Life with Remorse by Maira Kalman

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
Crazy as a Loon (Yard Birds #1) by Hailey Edwards (ebook + audio)
Dead as a Dodo (Yard Birds #2) by Hailey Edwards (ebook + audio)
Free as a Bird (Yard Birds #3) by Hailey Edwards (ebook + audio)

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This is a not too ridiculously tall stack where everything turned out to be in pairs – not that it started out that way!

The two prettiest book covers, IMHO, are Hammajang Luck and The Serpent Called Mercy. Tea You at the Altar should have been a contender, but that slightly turned view that seems to be all that’s available at the moment makes the image too small to get the full effect. OTOH, it’s one of the two books I’m most looking forward to out of this week’s batch, with The Railway Conspiracy as the second in that category.

The two titles that I’m most curious about – although in entirely different ways, are the audiobook of The Atrocity Archives and the Mark Twain biography.

I’ve always meant to read Charles Stross’s Laundry Files series, of which The Atrocity Archives is the first book. But I was looking for a not-too-long audiobook to start this morning and saw that the narrator for this first book, along with most of the rest of the series, is one of my favorite videogame voice actors – and that made my decision for me.

The other book I’m really curious about is Ron Chernow’s Mark Twain biography. I don’t read a lot of biographies, and this book is an absolute doorstop at 1,200 pages, but I listened to Chernow’s Ulysses S. Grant biography at the same length and was utterly riveted – so I have high hopes for this book. (If Chernow’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he was the author of the Alexander Hamilton biography that Lin-Manuel Miranda used as the basis for the play Hamilton.

For Review:
Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
Cold Iron Task (Unorthodox Chronicles #3) by James J. Butcher
A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (SCYTHE #1) by Maxie Dara
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
Mark Twain by Ron Chernow
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Overcaptain (Saga of Recluce #24) by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Railway Conspiracy (Dee & Lao #2) by SJ Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee
The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau
Tea You at the Altar (Tomes & Tea #3) by Rebecca Thorne

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files #1) by Charles Stross (audio)
Beginnings – The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club (Carolina Tales #1.5) by Susan M. Boyer

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Unlike last week’s stack, this time there are definitely some covers that are outright pretty, The Concealment of Endless Light, The Page Turner, and Rules for Ghosting. The books I’m really curious about are Kills Well With Others and Where the Axe is Buried. Kills Well With Others because it’s the follow-up to the marvelous Killers of a Certain Age, a book which, as much as I really wanted it to be the start of a series, showed no signs of actually being one. But now it is and YAY! I’m curious about Where the Axe is Buried because I’ve enjoyed the author’s first two books, The Mountain in the Sea and The Tusks of Extinction, very much, but neither is like the other so I’m extremely curious to read this one, which does not appear to be like either of his other books.

The book I most want to read in this stack is Murder of a Suffragette. The London Ladies’ Murder Club series, of which this is the fourth after A Body on the Doorstep, A Body at the Séance and A Body at the Dance Hall, has turned out to be quite charming – and I adore the main character. I’ve actually been jonesing for this next book in the series and now it’s HERE!

What about you? What books have you added to your stack this week?

For Review:
The Concealment of Endless Light by Yehoshua November
Kills Well With Others (Killers of a Certain Age #2) by Deanna Raybourn
The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper
Mechanize My Hands to War by Erin K. Wagner
Murder of a Suffragette (London Ladies’ Murder Club #4) by Marty Wingate
The Page Turner by Viola Shipman
Roman Year by André Aciman
Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore
The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks
We Are Free to Change the World by Lyndsey Stonebridge
When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

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