Summer isn’t over, but this week’s new book releases are definitely bringing fall, spooky vibes. Witches, mystery and death are prominent in the book releases for this week. There are also a few memoirs, one by fashion icon Iris Apfel and another by Moon Unit Zappa, the daughter of musical visionary Frank Zappa. We’ve also got some romance books and historical fiction releases for you.
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Bad Witches
by H. B. Akumiah
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Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, Inc.
In H. B. Akumiah’s lively and charming debut, three young women discover the unbelievable: they’re witches, and their new-found magic may be the key to saving the world …
The Witch Sphere is in turmoil. In the years since a stunning betrayal sent shockwaves through society, the Sphere was hit with a crisis: witches are giving birth to more typics (non-witches) and their numbers are diminishing. Nadia is determined to help but finds her efforts at the Witch Health Organization entangled with the political machinations of her powerful mother.
A public relations assistant, a teacher, and a former child star walk into a bar bathroom … On what happens to be all of their twenty-second birthday and, like many twentysomethings, become fast tipsy friends. But unlike most twentysomethings, their night of partying ends with an accidental act of magic. Suddenly, Maya, Gabbie, and Delali find themselves thrust into a world of spells and potions with only a mysterious mentor as a guide.
As the girls learn to harness their new power, Nadia starts to notice spikes in the magic baseline and suspects an unknown cadre of witches may be the key to solving the Typic Crisis. Can this unlikely coven come together and save the Sphere or are there darker forces at play? Either way these Bad Witches are going to find a way to have some fun.
By Any Other Name
by Jodi Picoult
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Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books
From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes an “inspiring” (Elle) novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.
“You’ll fall in love with Emilia Bassano, the unforgettable heroine based on a real woman that Picoult brings vividly to life in her brilliantly researched new novel.”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.
In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.
Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.
Iris Apfel: Colorful: A Treasure Trove of Inspiration, Influences, and Ideas
by Iris Apfel
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Genre: Memoir, Fashion and Design
Publisher: Abrams Books
Fashion icon Iris Apfel shares her philosophy for living, unique perspective on design, and the key moments that shaped her life, along with 300 photographs from her personal collection.
In the summer of 2023, as Iris Apfel welcomed her 102nd birthday, she put pen to paper to write this very special project, which Iris called her legacy book.
“This is not a book of secrets—I have no secrets. Sorry to disappoint if that’s what you’re looking for. I have some good stories, though. And a few ideas. This book is about living, creating, and color. Because creativity and color matter. I don’t want you to dress like me or think like me—that’s not the idea of this book. I want you to find the colors, confidence, and creative inspiration that reflect you. My life has been filled with love, wonder, and a very deep, incurable curiosity. This book is my treasure trove of inspiration, influences, and ideas: My source. Be brave. Find your source. What makes you happy? —Much love, Iris x”
With more than 300 personal photos and adorned with beautiful, unseen fabric patterns from Iris’s Old World Weaver’s collection, Iris Apfel: Colorful has her incredible energy radiating from every page. Here she shares her creative work, life stories, adventures, and unwavering belief in the essential power of color and creativity on a life well lived.
Earth to Moon
by Moon Unit Zappa
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Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Dey Street Books
From Moon Unit Zappa, the daughter of musical visionary Frank Zappa, comes a memoir of growing up in her unconventional household in 1970s Los Angeles, coming of age in the Hollywood Hills in the 1980s as the “Valley Girl,” gaining momentum as an accidental VJ on a new network called MTV, and finding herself after losing her father, then her mother, and the testing of her most important relationships.
How can you navigate life as the “normal” child of an extraordinary creative? What is it like to live in a hothouse of individuality that on one hand fosters freedom of expression, and on the other tamps down the basic desires of a child for boundaries and affection? Should you call your parents Frank and Gail from birth?
For Moon Unit Zappa, processing a life so punctuated by the whims of genius, the tastes of popular culture, the calculus of celebrity, and the nature of love, was at times eviscerating, at times illuminating—but mostly deeply confusing. Yes, this is a book about growing up in the shadow of Frank Zappa. Moon and her family were a source of constant curiosity, for their unique names and for their father’s reputation as a musical savant and fierce protector of the First Amendment, even though he was never a commercial success.
Searching for her own path, first as her father’s inadvertent musical collaborator and public sidekick with their surprise mega radio hit, then as an actress, an artist, a spiritual person, a wife and mother, Moon Unit calculates ever-changing equations of fame, family, death and ultimately legacy when dealt the shocking news that Gail’s will established an unequal distribution among the remaining, tight-knit Zappas, catalyzing a quest for meaning and redemption.
With love, humor, and humility, Earth to Moon reminds us that every family is faced with problems that are unique to their particular makeup, but the journey to growing into yourself with grace is as universal as it gets.
The Four
by Ellie Keel
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Genre: Dark Academia
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
An international bestseller!
One secret could destroy them all. The brand new dark academia debut for 2024 and a gripping tale of revenge, guilt, privilege, and loyalty, perfect for fans of The Secret History and If We Were Villains
“An intensely gripping, thrilling and darkly beautiful debut. I was hooked.” —Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author
We were always The Four. From our very first day at High Realms.
The four scholarship pupils. Outsiders in a world of power and privilege. And, according to everyone else, we were dangerous.
It would have made our lives a lot easier if Marta had simply pushed our prefect Genevieve out of our bedroom window that day. Certainly, it would have been tragic. She would have died instantly.
But Marta didn’t push her then, or – if you choose to believe me – at any other time. If she had, all of what we went through would not have happened.
I’ve told this story as clearly as I could – as rationally as I’ve been able, in the circumstances, to achieve. I don’t regret what we did. And I would do it all again.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop
by Mai Mochizuki, Jesse Kirkwood
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Genre:Literary Fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Translated from the Japanese bestseller, a charming and magical novel that reminds us it’s never too late to follow our stars.
“Mochizuki dazzles in her beautifully crafted contemporary fantasy debut. . . . This gentle fantasy is not to be missed.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon.
This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and it seemingly appears at random.
It’s also run by talking cats.
While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes and coffees and teas, the cats also consult their star charts, offering cryptic wisdom, and letting them know where their lives veered off course.
Every person who visits the shop has been feeling more than a little lost. For a down-on-her-luck screenwriter, a romantically stuck movie director, a hopeful hairstylist, and a technologically challenged website designer, the coffee shop’s feline guides will set them back on their fated paths. For there is a very special reason the shop appeared to each of them . . .
The Last Witch in Edinburgh
by Marielle Thompson
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Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publisher: Kensington
For fans of Sarah Penner’s The Lost Apothecary and Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches, this lush, atmospheric novel from the author of Where Ivy Dares to Grow blends witchcraft, queer love, a vibrant Edinburgh setting, and Scottish folklore for a propulsive and emotional story exploring what it means to resist the patriarchy and find your voice.
“A lyrical and hauntingly beautiful new voice.” —Hester Fox, Author of A Lullaby for Witches
In an alternate Edinburgh of 1824, every woman lives in fear that she will be the next one hanged for witchcraft. All it takes is invoking the anger, or the desire, of the wrong person. Nellie Duncan, beautiful and unwed, keeps to herself until she encounters the Rae Women’s Apothecary. There, fiery Jean Rae and the other women provide cures and teach others that they too can aid the winter deity, the Cailleach, embracing her characteristic independence, agency, and craft, in turn becoming witches themselves.
Nellie finds a place and a purpose at the shop, and a blossoming romance with Jean, as she learns about nature-based craft and a witch’s ability to return to life after death. But the Cailleach has an ancient enemy intent on stripping the power of the deity and all her witches, leaving a wake of patriarchal violence and destruction. When heart-breaking disaster strikes, Nellie flees and spends the next two centuries hiding from the world—until love gives her the courage and the motivation to come back.
Nellie’s past is waiting for her there, and hanging witches is no longer the only means of oppression. But this time, Nellie refuses to run—either from her foes, or from her resolve to awaken others to the unimaginable power that can come with fighting the patriarchy in its many forms—and finding one’s own magical inner-strength.
Love and Other Conspiracies
by Mallory Marlowe
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Genre: Romance
Publisher: Berkley
The hardest thing for a paranormal conspiracy theorist and a web series producer to believe in is finding love in this swoony debut romantic comedy.
Hallie Barrett’s life has imploded after she’s dumped by her hotshot ex, who also happens to be her coworker and the star of the online series she was producing. Without a new show to present for the company competition, she’ll be out of a job. But inspiration can come from the strangest places . . . like the most handsome guy she’s ever seen passionately discussing Bigfoot on a late-night docuseries.
Hayden Hargrove made a name for himself as a cryptid expert on his hit podcast, and is intrigued by the plucky, blue-haired producer who offers him the opportunity to lead his own web show. When the production team sees that Hayden’s solo on-screen presence is bad enough to make a ghost blanch, Hallie jumps on camera too, hitting him (and his cryptids) with a healthy dose of skepticism—and enough chemistry to electrify their show to the top of the competition.
As Hayden and Hallie investigate the unknown, they unearth feelings for each other that shake their beliefs to the core. In their search for Mothman, aliens, and the truth, the most elusive discovery might just be learning to love again.
The Naturalist’s Daughter
by Tea Cooper
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Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Harper Muse
Two fearless women–living a century apart–find themselves entangled in the mystery surrounding the biggest scientific controversy of the nineteenth century: the classification of the platypus.
1808 Agnes Banks, NSW
Rose Winton wants nothing more than to work with her father, eminent naturalist Charles Winton, on his groundbreaking study of the platypus. Not only does she love him with all her heart but the discoveries they have made could turn the scientific world on its head. When Charles is unable to make the long sea journey to present his findings to the prestigious Royal Society in England, Rose must venture forth in his stead. What she discovers will forever alter the course of scientific history.
1908 Sydney, NSW
Tamsin Alleyn has been given a mission: travel to the Hunter Valley and retrieve an old sketchbook of debatable value, gifted to the Public Library by a recluse. But when she gets there, she finds there is more to the book than meets the eye, and more than one interested party. Shaw Everdene, a young antiquarian bookseller and lawyer, seems to have his own agenda when it comes to the book. Determined to uncover the book’s true origin, Tamsin agrees to join forces with him.
The deeper they delve, the more intricate the mystery of the book’s authorship becomes. As the lives of two women a century apart converge, discoveries emerge from the past with far-reaching consequences in this riveting tale of courage and discovery.
Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book of Death
by Spencer Henry, Madison Reyes
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Genre: Nonfiction
Publisher: Plume
Based on the popular podcast, Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book of Death is a smart, funny look at the American culture of death and how we’re remembered.
It’s safe to say everyone thinks about death—whether they want to or not. But have you ever wondered about what sort of keepsakes you can make with your remains, or given any thought to the most scandalous deathbed confessions throughout history? Well Madison Reyes and Spencer Henry have, and they’ve spent countless hours scouring the darkest corners of the internet, digging through newspaper archives, devouring documents, and picking the brains of death industry experts to bring you Obitchuary, a darkly funny and deeply poignant exploration of all things death.
With chapters like “Coffin Confessions,” “Executions to Die For,” “The Last Word,” and “If These Dolls Could Speak,” Madison and Spencer guide us through surprisingly colorful history, traditions, and contemporary practices. They also demystify taboo topics with incredible and hilarious details, including FUNerals, as they call them, cremations and themed funerals, famous body snatchers, and so much more.
Shocking, macabre, hilarious, and moving, Obitchuary digs deep into the physical aspects of death while also carefully exploring what death says about our humanity and the ways we choose to remember those we’ve lost. So go ahead, crack open the book—we know you’re dying to read it.
Rules for Ghosting
by Shelly Jay Shore
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Genre: Romantic Comedy
Publisher: Dell
To save his family’s failing funeral home—and his own chance at a queer love story—a reluctant clairvoyant must embrace the gift he long ignored in this poignant and tender debut.
“Part romance, part ghost story, part Jewish family epic, Rules for Ghosting is a meditation on life, death, and healing that is at turns bitingly funny and deeply moving. Shelly Jay Shore is an immense talent.”—Anita Kelly, author of Love & Other Disasters
Ezra Friedman sees ghosts, which made growing up in a funeral home complicated. It might have been easier if his grandfather’s ghost didn’t give him scathing looks of disapproval as he went through a second, HRT-induced puberty, or if he didn’t have the pressure of all those relatives—living and dead—judging every choice he makes. It’s no wonder that Ezra runs as far away from the family business as humanly possible.
But when the floor of his dream job drops out from under him and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell everyone she’s running off with the rabbi’s wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it. With his parents’ marriage imploding and the Friedman Family Memorial Chapel on the brink of financial ruin, Ezra agrees to step into his mother’s shoes and help out . . . which means long days surrounded by ghosts that no one else can see.
And then there’s his unfortunate crush on Jonathan, the handsome funeral home volunteer . . . who just happens to live downstairs from Ezra’s new apartment . . . and the appearance of the ghost of Jonathan’s gone-too-soon husband, Ben, who is breaking every spectral rule that Ezra knows.
Because Ben can speak. He can move. And as Ezra tries to keep his family together and his heart from getting broken, he realizes that there’s more than one way to be haunted—and more than one way to become a ghost.
Storybook Ending
by Poppy Alexander
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Genre: Romance
Publisher: Avon
From the author of The Littlest Library—a heartwarming novel about a widowed children’s book author who moves into a cottage in the English countryside and finds herself face-to-face with the handsome and brooding blacksmith who lives next door.
In her books she can write “happily ever after”— but real life? That’s another matter…
For children’s book author Imogen, an idyllic life in the English countryside seems like the perfect fit for her and her husband. But when tragedy strikes, Imogen is left widowed, and finds herself moving into Storybook Cottage alone with only her monstrously narcissistic cat for company.
After discovering she is pregnant, Imogen grows determined to embrace a new start in Middlemass, with its duckpond, cricket matches and village fêtes. The only thing Imogen can’t seem to shake is her neighbor—a brooding, artisan blacksmith named Gabriel—who she can’t quite decide is friend or foe. That is until she realizes, thanks to an arcane clause in her deeds, that Gabriel— not just an artist, but lord of the local manor house— has the power to take her home and leave her completely broke.
Devastatingly, he seems keen to do exactly that. Yet, Imogen finds herself drawn to him nonetheless. And in her darkest hour, Gabriel may just be the bright spot to save Imogen in more ways than one.
There Are Rivers in the Sky
by Elif Shafak
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Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Knopf
From the Booker Prize finalist, author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two great rivers, all connected by a single drop of water.
“Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won’t regret it.”—Arundhati Roy, winner of the Booker Prize
In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.
In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.
In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.
In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.
A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”
This Is Why We Lied: A Will Trent Thriller (Will Trent, 12)
by Karin Slaughter
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Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: William Morrow
“Expect from a Karin Slaughter crime thriller . . . just the right amount of twists, turns, shocks, surprises and domestic thrill and shrill.” — Parade
The next thrilling suspense featuring Will Trent and Sara Linton from Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and After That Night!
One toxic family.
Eight suspicious guests.
Everyone is guilty.
But who is a killer?
For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.
A murderer in their midst
Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying….Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.
Who killed Mercy McAlpine?
It soon becomes clear that normal rules don’t apply at McAlpine Lodge, and Will and Sara are going to have to watch their step at every turn. Trapped on the resort, they must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened to Mercy. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…
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