Can't-Wait Wednesday: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, My Name is Iris by Brando Skyhorse, & The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are:

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
Publication: August 8th, 2023
MTV Books
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Whalefall is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale."

How incredibly weird and awesome and kinda creepy does this sound? I definitely need to read this.

My Name is Iris by Brando Skyhorse
Publication: August 1st, 2023
Avid Reader Press
Hardcover. 272 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Iris Prince is starting over. After years of drifting apart, she and her husband are going through a surprisingly drama-free divorce. She's moved to a new house in a new neighborhood, and has plans for gardening, coffee clubs, and spending more time with her nine-year-old daughter Melanie. It feels like her life is finally exactly what she wants it to be.

Then, one beautiful morning, she looks outside her kitchen window—and sees that a wall has appeared in her front yard overnight. Where did it come from? What does it mean? And why does it seem to keep growing?

Meanwhile, a Silicon Valley startup has launched a high-tech wrist wearable called "the Band." Pitched as a convenient, eco-friendly tool to help track local utilities and replace driver's licenses and IDs, the Band is available only to those who can prove parental citizenship. Suddenly, Iris, a proud second-generation Mexican-American, is now of "unverifiable origin," unable to prove who she is, or where she, and her undocumented loved ones, belong. Amid a climate of fear and hate-fueled violence, Iris must confront how far she'll go to protect what matters to her most."

I just started an ARC of this and I can't wait to get deeper into it and see how it all goes. This sounds right up my alley!

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
Publication: August 22nd, 2023
Tor Books
Hardcover. 496 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.

Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.

Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.

Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire."

I love the sound of this fantasy, and how incredible is that cover!?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: These Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones, The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel, & Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

   

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Publication: August 16th, 2022
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Hardcover. 352 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid “Mer” is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince’s orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer’s old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both. 

The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing… but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms. 

The Drowned Woods—set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters—is part heist novel, part dark fairy tale."

I still haven't gotten around to Lloyd-Jones' The Bone Houses, but I've heard great things about it and I'm really curious about the premise for this book. I also am really in love with that cover!

and...

The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel
Publication: August 2nd, 2022
Tin House Books
Paperback. 360 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"The islanders have only three rules: don’t stick your nose where it’s not wanted, don’t mention the war, and never let your guard down during October. 

Leigh Welles has not set foot in on the island in years, but when she finds herself called home from a disappointing life on the Scottish mainland by her father’s unexpected death, she is determined to forget the sorrows of the past—her mother’s abandonment, her brother’s icy distance, the unspeakable tragedy of World War II—and start fresh. Fellow islander Iain MacTavish, a RAF veteran with his eyes on the sky and his head in the past is also in desperate need of a new beginning. A young widower, Iain struggles to return to the normal life he knew before the war. 

But this October is anything but normal. This October, the sluagh are restless. The ominous, bird-like creatures of Celtic legend—whispered to carry the souls of the dead—have haunted the islanders for decades, but in the war’s wake, there are more wandering souls and more slaugh. When a local boy disappears, Leigh and Iain are thrown together to investigate the truth at the island’s dark heart and reveal hidden secrets of their own."

I tend to avoid any stories that have "World War II" in the premise, haha, but since this is a post-war story I'm ready to go for it. I think this premise and setting sound so good and I love that it seems like it'll have a touch of creepiness to it. I'm really curious about this one because I haven't heard much about it!

and...

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi, trans. David Boyd, Lucy North
Publication: August 9th, 2022
Vikings
Hardcover. 224 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"When thirty-four-year-old Ms. Shibata gets a new job in Tokyo to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that, as the only woman at her new workplace--a company that manufactures cardboard tubes--she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can't clear away her colleagues' dirty cups--because she's pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms. Shibata is not pregnant. 

Pregnant Ms. Shibata doesn't have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms. Shibata isn't forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms. Shibata rests, watches TV, takes long baths, and even joins an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But pregnant Ms. Shibata also has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Helped along by towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app on which she can log every stage of her "pregnancy," she feels prepared to play the game for the long haul. Before long, though, the hoax becomes all-absorbing, and the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve. 

A surreal and wryly humorous cultural critique, Diary of a Void is bound to become a landmark in feminist world literature."

I'm so very into the synopsis for this book and can't wait to see what Emi Yago does with this premise! I've really enjoyed the translated Japanese fiction that I've read, so I am really excited for this one. 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Wayward (Wanderers #2) by Chuck Wendig, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, & These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

   

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

Wayward (Wanderers #2) by Chuck Wendig
Publication: November 15th, 2022
Del Rey Books
Hardcover. 816 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
**Synopsis contains spoilers for Wanderers, book #1!***
"Five years ago, ordinary Americans fell under the grip of a strange new malady that caused them to sleepwalk across the country to a destination only they knew. They were followed on their quest by the shepherds: friends and family who gave up everything to protect them. 

Their secret destination: Ouray, a small town in Colorado that would become one of the last outposts of civilization. Because the sleepwalking epidemic was only the first in a chain of events that led to the end of the world--and the birth of a new one. 

The survivors, sleepwalkers and shepherds alike, have a dream of rebuilding human society. Among them are Benji, the scientist struggling through grief to lead the town; Marcy, the former police officer who wants only to look after the people she loves; and Shana, the teenage girl who became the first shepherd--and an unlikely hero whose courage will be needed again. 

Because the people of Ouray are not the only survivors, and the world they are building is fragile. The forces of cruelty and brutality are amassing under the leadership of self-proclaimed president Ed Creel. And in the very heart of Ouray, the most powerful survivor of all is plotting its own vision for the new world: Black Swan, the A.I. who imagined the apocalypse. 

Against these threats, Benji, Marcy, Shana, and the rest have only one hope: one another. Because the only way to survive the end of the world is together."

I absolutely loved Wanderers and can barely describe how excited I was when I saw that there would be a sequel after all! I can't wait to see what the follow up is going to be to all of the crazy events of the previous book. 

and...

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Publication: August 2nd, 2022
Tor Books
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries. 

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories. 

But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds."

This premise is so ridiculously intriguing to me and I am so curious about how Sunyi Dean executes it! I'm actually just starting the audiobook, and so far so good–can't wait to get into it more.

and...

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall
Publication: August 9th, 2022
Vikings Books
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Helen Vaughan doesn't know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven't spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she's shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she'll be left with nothing. 

There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen's dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night?And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick? 

With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can."

I didn't expect to love Kate Alice Marshall's Rules for Vanishing when I read it last year, but I ended up really, really enjoying it and I'm so glad to see she has another creepy-sounding story coming out! 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Babel by R.F. Kuang, The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid, & Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana

  

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
Publication: August 23rd, 2022
Harper Voyager
Hardcover. 560 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel. 

Babel is the world's center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel's research in foreign languages serves the Empire's quest to colonize everything it encounters. 

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?"

I think it's safe to say that this is probably one of the most highly anticipated fantasy releases of the year, and I am just as excited for it as everyone else! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC a while back and have been saving it til closer to its release. I have such high hopes based on this premise and cannot wait to see how it all turns out. 

and...

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
Publication: August 2nd, 2022
Riverhead Books
Hardcover. 192 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"One morning, Anders wakes to find that his skin has turned dark, his reflection a stranger to him. At first he tells only Oona, an old friend, newly a lover. Soon, reports of similar occurrences surface across the land. Some see in the transformations the long-dreaded overturning of an established order, to be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders's father and Oona's mother, a sense of profound loss wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance to see one another, face to face, anew. 

Hamid's The Last White Man invites us to envision a future - our future - that dares to reimagine who we think we are, and how we might yet be together."

I've really enjoyed some of Mohsin Hamid's  other work and I'm excited to see another new novel from him. This premise sounds like it will be create some really interesting discussion and explorations, so I can't wait to dive in to an ARC that I've been holding onto.

and...

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana
Publication: August 16th, 2022
Scribner
Hardcover. 224 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Set in a Harlem high rise, a stunning debut about a tight-knit cast of characters grappling with their own personal challenges while the forces of gentrification threaten to upend life as they know it. 

Like Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place and Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, Sidik Fofana’s electrifying collection of eight interconnected stories showcases the strengths, struggles, and hopes of one residential community in a powerful storytelling experience. 

Each short story follows a tenant in the Banneker Homes, a low-income high rise in Harlem where gentrification weighs on everyone’s mind. There is Swan in apartment 6B, whose excitement about his friend’s release from prison jeopardizes the life he’s been trying to lead. Mimi, in apartment 14D, who hustles to raise the child she had with Swan, waitressing at Roscoe’s and doing hair on the side. And Quanneisha B. Miles, a former gymnast with a good education who wishes she could leave Banneker for good, but can’t seem to escape the building’s gravitational pull. We root for these characters and more as they weave in and out of each other’s lives, endeavoring to escape from their pasts and blaze new paths forward for themselves and the people they love. 

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs brilliantly captures the joy and pain of the human experience and heralds the arrival of a uniquely talented writer."

I've been getting into more short story collections lately (especially on audio!) and I think this one sounds like it'd be a really interesting read. I love the idea of meeting all of these characters who live in this same building and getting a glimpse of their lives. 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Anticipated August 2020 Releases!

Well, we're finally reaching the end of the month! it's been a hell of a month for me and I think I'm sort of glad it's over--and a big part of that is probably because of the huge amount of awesome books coming out, if we're being honest. :) I've already read a few of these (I highly recommend The Vanished Queen, The Exiles, Olive the Lionheart, and Universe of Two in particular!), but there are far more that I haven't and am so excited to read sometime. I've been holding onto an ARC of Where Dreams Descend for months, so I think it's finally time to get it read for a review! Anyway, I hope you've all had a great month and that you get a chance to dive into some of these new releases. :)

What books are you most looking forward to? Have you read any of these already!? Let me know!

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It by K.J. Parker || August 18th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh || August 18th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell || August 18th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline || August 25th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard || August18th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles || August 25th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Mother Code by Carole Stivers || August 25th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman's Journey to the Heart of Africa by Brad Ricca || August 11th -- Amazon |  IndieBound

The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton || August 18th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Driftwood by Marie Brennan || August 14th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Igniting Darkness  by Robin LaFevers || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Forest of Stars by Heather Kassner || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun, Lizzie Buehler (trans.) || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey || August 11th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, Sarah Moses (trans.) || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch, Kristen Simmons || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko || August 18th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Godman || August 4th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar || August 11th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Twin Daggers by MarcyKate Connolly || August 25th -- Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

What are your anticipated August releases?