Most Anticipated Releases for the End of 2019

Hey everyone!

As we’re about to enter the last quarter of this year, I thought I would share with you some of the releases that I am most anticipating for the remainder of the year!

There are so many great books releasing at the end of this year, so this is just a portion of them. They are only in date order, not in order of anticipation!

 1. Five Dark Fates (3 Dark Crowns, Book 4)- Kendare Blake- Releasing September 3

I absolutely love this series and can’t wait for the continuation of the series! I’m looking forward to finding out what happens following the events of book 3!

 2. The Institute- Stephen King- Releasing September 10

In this new installment from Mr. King, children with special gifts are stolen away from their homes in the middle of the night after their parents are murdered. They are then taken to The Institute and placed in rooms that look just like theirs, except there are no windows, and no way to escape. The Institute’s aim: to steal the essence of their gifts. Luke is one of these kids, and he is desperate to escape the place that no one has ever escaped.

I love everything King (with the exception of IT– not a clown fan) so I am very pumped for this one!

 3. The Testaments- Margaret Atwood- Releasing September 10

Taking place fifteen years after the van doors slammed on Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testamentstells the story that we’ve been waiting for: what happened to Offred and Gilead after those doors shut.

The Handmaid’s Tale is me second favorite Atwood (behind Alias Grace). I have loved the TV show, as well, and the take that it has taken on the events after the book, but I am looking forward to seeing Atwood’s vision for this second book.

 4. The Tyrant’s Tomb (The Trials of Apollo, Book 4)- Rick Riordan- Releasing September 24

Taking place after the events of The Burning Maze, book four of The Trials of Apollowill take Apollo to Camp Jupiter, where the Roman demigods are making a last stand, and need his help. The problem lies in the answer to their needs- it’s in the tomb of a long dead Roman ruler.

I am always excited to see the next installment in one of Uncle Rick’s series’ coming out, and this is no exception! This book will take us back to Camp Jupiter, so we will get to catch up with Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Tyson, and Ella, so this should be a great story!

 5. Full Throttle: Stories- Joe Hill- Releasing October 1

I know that I have said this so many times, but I am going to say it again (and again, and again…) I love short stories!! I also love Joe Hill, so this is a perfect combination and I am here for it!! This is one of my most anticipated reads of the Fall. They chose the perfect month for this release.

 6. A Kingdom for a Stage (For a Muse of Fire, Book 2)- Heidi Heilig- Releasing October 8

At the end of For a Muse of Fire Jetta was on the run, wanted for treason, murder, sabotage, and for her unique power: she can use her blood to capture spirits and bring life to inanimate objects. Jetta is also afraid that using this power will cause her to go mad and tyrannical like her biological father. She may have the power to change the tide of the raging war, but she must decide if saving her country is worth the possibility of losing her soul.

If you were reading this blog at the end of 2018 you know that For a Muse of Firewas my best fiction read of last year, and I wholeheartedly stand by that! That being said, I have been anticipating this sequel since I finished reading the first! It feels like I have been holding my breath and waiting forever for this, and it is almost time!!!

 7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- Illustrated Edition- Releasing October 8

This really doesn’t need much in the way of explanation. The last illustrated edition, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, released in October 2017 so it has been a two year wait for this edition. I’m looking forward to seeing Jim Kay’s illustrations in this new edition.

 8. Gravemaidens- Kelly Coon- Releasing October 29

Kammani and her family live in the walled city-state of Alu. She wants to be a healer, as her father was before her family was cast in to shame. When Abu’s ruler falls ill, her younger sister is chosen to join him in the afterlife. Her sister feels it’s an honor, but Kammani sees it as a death sentence. She sneaks in to the palace in order to heal the ruler, but finds much more than she bargained for. She is determined to find out the secrets of the palace, even if she must sacrifice her own life to do it.

This is the debut novel by this author, and it sounds like it is going to be a hit! This is going to be the first book in a duology, and is already getting some great reviews. I’m looking forward to reading it myself and reviewing it for you guys!

 9. Rage (Rogue Team International, Book 1)- Jonathan Maberry- Releases November 5

An Island off of the coast of Korea is attacked by a bioweapon that drives everyone insane with murderous rage. The people behind the weapon want to either unify or destroy Korea, nothing in between. This is driving the United States, Japan, and China to the brink of war as terrorists are threatening to release the rage bioweapon in a way of destruction and slaughter. This is a job for Joe Ledger and his newly formed team of international troubleshooters. This is their first mission, as they work with agents from North and South Korea to stop this terror cell and prevent a war.

Joe Ledger goes International?! A bioweapon causing rage?! Yes, please!!! Thanks for the early Christmas gift Mr. Maberry!!!

 10. Winterwood- Shea Earnshaw- Releases November 5

It is said that the woods surrounding Fir Haven are magical. Only Nora Walker knows for sure. She is rumored to be a witch and she and the women in her family have always had a connection to these woods. This connection leads her Oliver, the boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys in to the woods in the middle of a snowstorm. He shouldn’t have survived, but he did. She feels a shift in the woods at his presence and feels that she needs to find out more. Oliver has secrets that he’d prefer to keep hidden. Should we fear what’s hidden in the dark, dark, woods?

Earnshaw’a sophomore novel promises to be just as much magical fun as her debut novel, The Wicked Deep. Who doesn’t love a good haunting, witchy tale when the weather gets colder and the nights get longer? I sure do!

 11. From Flame and Ash (The Elements of Five, Book 2)- Carrie Ann Ryan- Releasing November 19

Lyric lost everything when she found out what her calling is. Now she must put aside her pain to train to be the Spirit Priestess that she is prophesied to be. Just as she is starting to learn more about what her journey will entail, a Seer’s wish and the calling of the Lumiere kingdom calls her forth, and thrusts her in to another journey that will test her trust in order to survive and keep those that she loves alive.

Ryan’s debut YA Fantasy novel, From Breath and Ruin, was a wonderful feat of world building and character development with a unique story, and I am thrilled to see where this second book in the series goes.

 

 

Those are the books that I have for you right now! Are there any that you are particularly excited about? Any that I need to be on the look out for?

 

Let me know!!

 

20th Century Ghosts

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Author: Joe Hill

Genre: Horror/Speculative Fiction

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 316

 

This collection of short stories, from the wonderful yet creepy mind of Joe Hill, includes stories with everything from a ghost that won’t leave a theater to an inflatable boy to a human turned locust. It really does include something for every horror/creepy read fan. As I always mention, short stories are my thing! I absolutely love them, and Hill did an amazing job at reminding me exactly why I do. These stories were packed with great characters and easily visualized places (thanks to his descriptive writing). The book read very quickly, but was intensely satisfying. It’s hard to say which of these tales was my favorite, but I’m leaning toward “Best New Horror”, which was a very interesting tale of an editor looking for something fresh…oh, he finds it! It could very well be “Voluntary Committal”, though, as I do love anything having to do with psych wards! The stories in this collection will not only leave you a little disturbed after read them, but they may just provide some unexpected self-reflection, as well. They will make you think about who you are, where you came from, and what “ghosts” you may have buried within yourself. I have been a huge fan of Joe Hill since I read NOS4A2, and he hasn’t disappointed me yet! I 100% recommend this, if you are looking for an amazing book of spec fiction short stories… or to just be disturbed a bit!

Horns

Horns cover

Author: Joe Hill

Genre: Horror/Psychological Thriller

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 370

After a night of hard partying and doing a bunch of terrible things, Ig Perrish wakes up to a rather unpleasant discovery: he has grown horns…like devil horns. As odd as this revelation is, it gets worse. The more people that Ig runs in to the more that he realizes that he has taken on characteristics of the Devil. People are not actually taking notice of the horns, but are spilling their darkest truths instead. At first it is very disconcerting, but Ig realizes that he can use this new “gift” to his advantage- he can find out what really happened to his girlfriend, who he is believed to have murdered.

This is the second Hill novel that I have read, and I enjoyed it more than the first! He is amazing! Not only is this a twisted psychological thriller/horror, but the way that he writes the scenes and dialogue makes it border on a dark comedy, as well. You wouldn’t think those would really work together, but he makes it work flawlessly. I was captured and entertained from the beginning to the end of this novel, and I can’t wait to read another one.

NOS4A2

NOS4A2 cover

Author: Joe Hill

Genre: Horror/Psych Thriller/Suspense

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 720

Ever since she was a young child, Vic McQueen has been able to find things- either material possessions, people, or answers. She could get on her bike and ride across an old covered bridge that would take her to what she was looking for.

Charles Manx also had a vehicle that would magically take him to places that he wanted to go: a vintage Rolls with the plates NOS4A2. Unfortunately, where he wanted to go was to “save” children from their bad futures, and take them to a terrifying one with in in a place called Christmasland.

One day, after a fight with her mother, Vic went looking for trouble and found Manx. She became the only child to ever escape from him, and he was arrested. Once she grows up and tries to forget about him, though, he and his Rolls are rolling again and the game begins…this time, with her own son as the pawn.

Wow…just wow! This was creepy with a capital C! Hill’s mind works in a very different and twisted way, and I like it. The story was told from several different vantage points and the story told in several different time periods, so it can be a bit difficult to follow at times, if you aren’t really paying attention to what you are reading. It is a very captivating story, though. It holds our attention to the end, and you really don’t know until the end what is going to happen. For a rather long book, it didn’t take as long to get through as I thought it would, so that was a very nice surprise. I highly recommend it, if you are a fa of good horror/psych thrillers! You will never hear Christmas carols in the same way again!