The Summer I Ate the Rich is a smart, biting novel explores what happens when a Haitian American girl uses her previously hidden zombie abilities to exact revenge on the wealthy elites who’ve caused her family pain. Out April 22nd in the US and April 24th in the UK.

The Summer I Ate the Rich tells the story of Brielle Petitfour, a Haitian American zombie who decides to seek revenge on the wealthy elites she blames for her family’s pain. Zombies actually come from Haitian lore and are rooted in the very real fears that enslaved Haitians had of being forced to continue working in death—an eternal nightmare.

Of course, Brielle also has to deal with challenges that many children of immigrants may recognize: making your parents’ sacrifices worth it, trying to be true to yourself even when it goes against family expectations, and retaining a connection to the homeland you might not know as well as you’d like. Ultimately, Brielle decides to lean into her urges and uses her previously hidden abilities to take matters into her own hands and serve some just desserts.

Here are a few books that tap into some of the more horrific themes in The Summer I Ate the Rich.

(S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi

Marisol is a soucouyant who must regularly shed her skin to feed on others but wishes to be free from the island traditions that her mother has forced her to follow her entire life. Genevieve struggles with a chronic skin condition that constantly leaves her skin feeling as if it is on fire, and is also the new older half sister of twins born of her college professor father and slightly uptight step mother. The two protagonists’ lives begin to unravel when a nanny who comes to care for Genevieve’s new siblings reveals that they are all mysteriously linked.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation features an alternate America where the North and South join forces during the Civil War after the dead rise again on the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Like many of the Native and Negro children born after the passing of the Native and Negro Reeducation Act, Jane McKeene is tasked with becoming an Attendant, equally skilled in etiquette and weaponry, to protect the well-to-do from the undead. Jane is on the cusp of graduating from Miss Preston’s School of Combat when she finds herself in the center of a conspiracy that will have readers grappling with what is scarier—Reconstruction-era zombies or the racism Jane is forced to navigate.

It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass

Maya wanted just one more hoorah with her (former) best friends Pearl, Erica, and Lystra to celebrate the end of high school and moving on to the rest of their lives. Then, something terrible happens and Erica does not make it back from the trip. Everyone is shocked out of their grieving when Erica returns one day… different. What happened to her?

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Korede tries her best to be a good sibling to her youngest sister Ayoola, but Ayoola makes it really, really hard. You see, Ayoola has killed her last three boyfriends and Korede has cleaned up her mess each time. When Ayoola sets her sights on the doctor Korede works with at a hospital and happens to be in love with, Korede has to be honest about just how monstrous her sister truly is.

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

Madison Washington has long been bullied for being an outcast but things take an even more troubling turn when her fellow high school classmates learn that she has been passing for white her entire life. After a racist incident goes viral online, the small-town Georgia high school finally decides to integrate its annual prom. When Maddie is asked to attend the celebration with the Black superstar quarterback boyfriend of the very popular white class president, Maddie almost feels like she can live a regular life, one that isn’t influenced by her ultra-religious father who has long controlled every aspect of Maddie’s existence. Things come to a head when the students decide to play one more prank on Maddie, but Maddie has her own hidden secrets. Who will have the last laugh?

The post Five Book Recommendations From Co-Authors Maika and Maritza Moulite appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hi, Tessa and Justina! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?

TESSA: I live at the edge of the Kansas prairie with my wife and very needy cats, and am currently deep into Chinese palace dramas.

JUSTINA: I write books. Some people like them, and other people don’t.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

TESSA: When I was in grade school my mom told me I needed to stop lying about things that happened to me on my way home from school, but if I wrote the stories down they wouldn’t be lies anymore! Once I started writing about dragons in the playground and ghosts in the creek, I never stopped.

JUSTINA: No clue. But I started writing seriously sometime around 2008. No rush to get there when the journey is the point.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading:
  TESSA: Beauty by Robin Mckinley
  JUSTINA: Hop on Pop
• The one that made you want to become an author:
  TESSA: Quitting graduate school made me want to become an author, LOL.
  JUSTINA: Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about:
  TESSA: The Scum-Villain Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. It’s the wildest, sweetest, strangest, most messed-up book I’ve read in long time, and it’s so mean to authors. Very inspiring.
  JUSTINA: The Dwindling Party by Edward Gorey. It’s worth the Google. Forty years later that book still lives rent free in my head.

Blood & Fury is the conclusion to your Chaos & Flame duology! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

TESSA: BLOOD ANGST KISSING TRANSFORMATION MONSTERS

JUSTINA: BLOOD FURY MAGIC KISSING RESOLUTION

What can readers expect?

TESSA: More surprises and a lot more angst! More dragons!

JUSTINA: BLOOD FURY MAGIC KISSING RESOLUTION\

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?

TESSA: I find Caspian weirdly relaxing to write, even though he’s the opposite of sweet and easy. He expected to die at the end of book one, and exploring his (bad) reactions to remaining alive was fun.

JUSTINA: It was a lot of fun writing the empyreals. How often do you get to write about krakens throwing a tantrum?

What’s the process like when co-authoring a book?

TESSA: Half the work, double the fun.

JUSTINA: LOLOLOLOL. Like writing by yourself but with more opinions.

What’s next for you both?

TESSA: My next Star Wars book, Temptation of the Force, comes out June 11, and after that next year the first book in an adult epic fantasy will come out. It’s called The Mercy Makers and is about a prodigy at dangerous magic who’s drawn into the politics of the imperial palace and it explores connections between power, sex, and empire. I also have a short story in the upcoming anthology Faeries Never Lie edited by Zoriada Córdova and Natalie C. Parker.

JUSTINA: I have a few Marvel Comics coming up, most notably Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt. It has vampires. I also have a middle grade book out now, TALES FROM CABIN 23: THE BOO HAG FLEX. Tales from Cabin 23 is a Goosebumps like series featuring monsters from historically marginalized cultures. I’m kicking it off and the next book by Hanna Alkaf comes out in August.

Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?

TESSA: Come Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker.

JUSTINA: So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison.

Will you be picking up Blood & Fury? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland, Co-Authors of ‘Blood & Fury’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Justina Ireland’s The Boo Hag Flex, which is out May 14th 2024.

The last thing Tasha Washington wants is to move from her home in Savannah to a trailer park in Middle-of-Nowhere, Georgia. But when her mother dies and Tasha is taken in by her father—a man she’s never met, who abandoned her mom when Tasha was just a baby—she doesn’t have much of a choice. At least, she thinks, she won’t have to spend much time with him—something that becomes clear when he dumps Tasha with her grandmother and disappears to be with his new girlfriend.

The Shady Pines trailer park seems like a miserable place to spend a summer, even before an elderly neighbor suddenly passes away. But then Tasha meets a girl named Ellie who says she knows what really killed old Mr. Harold: a terrifying creature that stalks the trailer park at night, sucking the life from its victims. Tasha doesn’t believe it, but when she discovers a book of hoodoo legends in her grandmother’s trailer, and more people around Shady Pines start to appear unwell, she begins to fear the stories are true—and that danger is much closer than she thinks.

Chapter 11

After a dinner of the best pork chops Tasha had ever tasted, Ms. Washington wrapped up a few sugar cookies and handed them to Tasha.

“The office said that they checked on Ms. Greta and she was doing fine, but I tried calling her and she’s not answering. Perhaps you could run these over to her and see how she’s feeling?”

Tasha took the cookies with a nod and ran out of the front door into the summer evening.

The sun had already dipped beyond the horizon, and the streetlights on the main road cast a feeble glow. Some of the lights were burned out, and the deep shadows between the trailers made Tasha uneasy. Wandering around all by herself, Tasha could understand how Ellie could come to think she’d seen something frightening slinking in the darkness. She said the ghost had long stringy hair and smelled bad; the Spanish moss hanging from a nearby tree looked just like that, and Tasha could smell the stinky stagnant water from the marsh on the evening air.

The scent reminded Tasha of the time the kitchen sink in an apartment where she and her mom were living got clogged, and they had to wait for the land- lord to clear the drain. It had taken two whole days for him to show up, and the water in the pipes had taken on a sour, noxious smell. It was so bad that Tasha’s mom had called the man and yelled, threatening not to pay rent if it wasn’t fixed. Tasha couldn’t remember much else about the incident, but she remembered the plumber taking the sink apart and a stench like moldy death filling the apartment.

The closer Tasha got to Ms. Greta’s trailer, the more it began to smell like something spoiled, and the damp, fetid smell had Tasha holding her arm to her nose as she walked. But it wasn’t enough, and by the time she began to climb the steps to Ms. Greta’s porch, Tasha was gagging, afraid she was going to be sick.

There was something very wrong at Ms. Greta’s house. Maybe her sink had gotten clogged. Tasha knocked once and then again, and when no one answered the door, she just set the cookies down. The smell was too bad to wait for the old woman to answer. Tasha had no sooner stepped off the porch than she saw a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye. She froze, terror sending a chill over her skin. Because even though she wasn’t looking right at the shape that was looming in the shadow beside Ms. Greta’s trailer, she could feel the wrongness of it. Her arm was still held across her face, and she lowered it slowly. The smell was overpowering, dead fish and rotting vegetation, and a deep rot that belonged not to a marsh but to a grave.

Tasha didn’t want to look. But she couldn’t help herself. It was as though she was compelled to turn her head, to spare a glance at that dark space between the trailers where the streetlights didn’t quite reach.

So Tasha didn’t fight the unbearable urge. She looked.

For a couple of heartbeats, she felt embarrassed relief. There was nothing there; she’d just let Ellie’s panic and silliness infect her.

But then the shadow lurched.

Tasha was unable to move, to speak, to flee. All she could do was watch.

The thing—it looked almost too solid to be a ghost—was tall and skinny, taller and skinnier than any person should be. It was all jutting angles and grasping hands. Long stringy hair hung down to its knees, and its arms were freakishly long. It looked naked, but there was nothing human about the body, which glistened wetly in the scant streetlight. Tasha couldn’t quite make out what kind of liquid was on the thing, but it was dark in color. But the worst part was the sound it made as it contemplated Tasha: a gasping croak that was not quite animal, but far from human. And the smell. It seemed to grow stronger the longer Tasha looked at the thing.

It was Tasha’s gagging that finally broke the spell. She was going to be sick. But she couldn’t be—not where that thing could get her.

The nausea cut through her fear, and she was able to start moving, her flip-flops making a slapping sound as she ran, breathless, back in the direction she’d come from. A sob hitched in her throat, and she pumped her arms harder, ignoring the painful stitch that bloomed in her side.

When she arrived at Ms. Washington’s trailer, Tasha slammed inside and ran right to her room. She closed the door behind her and dove under the covers, trying to get warm. She began to shake, her breaths ragged gasps. She tried to come up with some explanation for what she’d seen, but it was impossible. The thing had been as tall and narrow as a small tree, but no tree could have tricked Tasha into seeing what she saw; there wasn’t even a tree near Ms. Greta’s trailer. And the smell—

Tasha would never forget that smell.

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘Tales From Cabin 23: The Boo Hag Flex’ by Justina Ireland appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

2023 is here, so get ready to be amazed by the incredible books heading your way! In this round up, we take a look at an array of highly anticipated books releasing between the months of January and June from authors such as Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Harlan Coben, Emily Henry, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Kalynn Bayron, and many more plus some dazzling debuts.

You’ll be sure to find quite a few exciting new reads within this list and be sure to check out our other January to June 2023 lists, including 2023 Romance, 2023 Young Adult, 2023 Middle Grade, and 2023 Queer Books!

Looking for our July to December picks? Check them out here!

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below what books you are looking forward to!

JANUARY

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
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Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is a thrilling novel about friendship, secrets, betrayal, and lies – and having the courage to face the past.

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
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This sweet, enemies-to-lovers debut rom-com filled with Chinese astrology will undoubtedly prove to be a perfect match with readers of Helen Hoang, Jasmine Guillory, and Helena Hunting.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
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New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
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From the New York Times bestselling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors—and each other.

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
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Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. The Ivy League is going straight to hell in the sequel to the smash New York Times bestseller Ninth House from #1 bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Begin Again by Emma Lord
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Filled with a friend group that feels like family, an empowering journey of finding your own way, and a Just Kiss Already! romance, Emma Lord’s Begin Again is an unforgettable YA novel of love and starting again.

Exes and O’s by Amy Lea
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A romance novel–obsessed social media influencer revisits her exes on her hunt for true love in this romantic comedy from the author of Set On You.

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
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Return to the opulent world of Elfhame, filled with intrigue, betrayal, and dangerous desires, with this first book of a captivating new duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black. 

Behind the Scenes by Karelia Stetz-Waters
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Fans of Abby Jimenez and Meryl Wilsner will fall in love with this hilarious and refreshingly authentic novel about second chances, pugs, and finding the perfect muse . . .

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
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From the macabre mind of a Bram Stoker Award-nominated author, this heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined.

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
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The Hate U Give meets One of Us Is Lying in Nick Brooks’s Promise Boys, a trailblazing, blockbuster YA mystery about three teen boys of color who must investigate their principal’s murder to clear their own names―for fans of Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, and Karen McManus.

Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen
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About a Boy meets What We Do In The Shadows in the next fun genre-mashup from Mike Chen, featuring a punk-rock vampire learning to connect to the world again when her surly teenaged grand-nephew needs her, and her music, to get him through a tough time.

FEBRUARY

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
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Intricate and epic, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the world of A Priory of the Orange Tree, showing us a course of events that shaped it for generations to come.

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author and TikTok favorite Tessa Bailey comes a steamy new rom-com about a starchy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn…

The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood
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Nationally bestselling author of Daughters of Sparta Claire Heywood returns with an imaginative and female-centered reinterpretation of the myth of the great hero Perseus, told through the voices of three women who are sidelined in the traditional version—his mother, Danae; his trophy, Medusa; and his wife, Andromeda—but whose viewpoints reveal a man who is not, in fact, a hero at all.

The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan
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The House Guest is another diabolical cat-and-mouse thriller from USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan―but which character is the cat, and which character is the mouse?

The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry
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In the early 1900s, a young woman is caught between two worlds in H. G. Parry’s spellbinding tale of miracles, magic, and the adventure of a lifetime.

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong
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In a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but four girls with unusual powers have the chance to change it all.

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
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The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
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In the riveting new novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers, a woman must reckon with her past when new details surface about a tragedy at her elite New England boarding school.

Best Served Hot by Amanda Elliot
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Two restaurant critics learn their opposing tastes might make for a five-star relationship in the next foodie romantic comedy from the author of Sadie on a Plate.

Seven Faceless Saints by M. K. Lobb
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Discover what’s lurking in the shadows in this dark fantasy debut with a murder-mystery twist, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Kerri Maniscalco.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
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A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.

Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher
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In April Asher’s next Supernatural Singles novel, Not Your Ex’s Hexes, a one-night-stand between a willful witch and a broody half-demon conjures an adventure that wouldn’t be complete without several magical mishaps.

MARCH

The Foxglove King by Hannah F. Whitten
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In this lush, romantic epic fantasy series from a New York Times bestselling author, a young woman’s secret power to raise the dead plunges her into the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court.

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories by Hanna Alkaf
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For fans of Ikegna and A Tale Dark and Grimm comes a story of a brave heroine, a beguiling villain, fantastical worlds, magical adventures, and a journey that will remind you that hope, friendship, and love endures all.

The Love Wager by Lynn Painter
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Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Wrong Number.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
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For fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.

Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland
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From New York Times bestselling author Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton comes the first book in a ferocious YA fantasy duology featuring ancient magic, warring factions, and a romance between the two people in the world with the most cause to hate one another.

Jane & Edward: A Modern Reimagining of Jane Eyre by Melodie Edwards
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This powerful reimagining of Jane Eyre, set in a modern-day law firm, is full of romance and hope as it follows the echoing heartbeats of the classic story.

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
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A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
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Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, spins a new trilogy of magic and mayhem on the high seas in this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artifacts and ancient mysteries, in one woman’s determined quest to seize a final chance at glory—and write her own legend.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
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A “wildly surprising, entertaining” (Jodi Picoult) novel featuring a college dropout and an eighty-four-year-old woman on the run from the law, full of tremendous heart, wit, and wisdom from the USA Today bestselling author of The Invisible Husband of Frick Island.

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron
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A teen boy tries to discover the reason behind his best friend’s disappearance―and the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic stranger―in misty Victorian London, in Kalynn Bayron’s My Dear Henry, a gothic YA remix of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, sixth in the Remixed Classics series.

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben
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An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive, and must break out of prison to find out the truth in #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben’s latest breathtaking thriller.

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
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A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

APRIL

Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker
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Terry J. Benton-Walker’s contemporary fantasy debut, Blood Debts, is “an extravaganza from start to finish” (Chloe Gong) with powerful magical families, intergenerational curses, and deadly drama in New Orleans.

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
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New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

Happy Place by Emily Henry
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A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda
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From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and “master of suspense, Megan Miranda”, a thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.

Silver In The Bone by Alexandra Bracken
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Bracken cements her status as one of the top fantasy authors writing today in this stunning series opener inspired by Arthurian legend and fueled by love, revenge, and pure adrenaline!

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly
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Two former female spies, bound together by their past, risk everything to hunt down an infamous Nazi doctor in the aftermath of World War II—an extraordinary novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa
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A forbidden love between a Mexican heiress and a shrewd British politician makes for a tantalizing Victorian season.

The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter
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In Lambda Award finalist Chana Porter’s highly anticipated new novel, an aspiring chef, a cyberthief, and a kitchen maid each break free of a society that wants to constrain them.

Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat by Sonya Lalli
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An impulsive decision to join an Alaskan cruise getaway brings the chance for an onboard romance in this new enemies-to-lovers romance from the author of A Holly Jolly Diwali.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
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A thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you, Some Desperate Glory is Astounding Award Winner and Crawford Award Finalist Emily Tesh’s highly anticipated debut novel.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
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A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match from “a true talent” (Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
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A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamy pop star flips the script on all her assumptions—a hilarious, observant, and deeply tender novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Eligible, Rodham, and Prep.

MAY

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
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Inspired by a classic of martial arts literature, S. L. Huang’s The Water Outlaws are bandits of devastating ruthlessness, unseemly femininity, dangerous philosophies, and ungovernable gender who are ready to make history―or tear it apart.

The Daydreams by Laura Hankin
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A deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s—and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout, that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good.

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia—where the truth isn’t what it seems.

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
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A small-town sweetheart and an emotionally unavailable bad boy try to find some common ground in this chemistry-filled romance from the author of The Cheat Sheet and When in Rome.

The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman
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Magic, romance, and slumbering gods clash in the start of a riveting fantasy series that spans gangsters’ dens, forgotten temples, and the high seas from the New York Times bestselling author of the Aurora Cycle and the Illuminae Files.

Killing Me by Michelle Gagnon
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Utterly original and wildly entertaining, with a protagonist whose life is a total mess, Killing Me is the laugh-out-loud funny thriller that we never knew we needed.

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
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A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises—especially to ourselves—by the bestselling and celebrated author of The Guncle.

Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena
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Of Light and Shadow is a novel about magic, mayhem, love, and betrayal―the story of a bandit and a prince who change each other in unexpected ways.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
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Joining a post #MeToo discourse, The Girls of Summer grapples with themes of power, sex, and consent, as it explores the complicated nature of memory and trauma––and what it takes to reframe, and reclaim, your own story.

Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore and Elliott McLemore
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Two enemy kingdoms are forced to work together to break a curse in this lush YA fantasy, featuring a transgender prince and a bigender dama/assassin in the lead roles.

Dragonfall by Laura Lam
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Long-banished dragons, revered as gods, return to the mortal realm in the first in this magical new epic fantasy trilogy from a bestselling author

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
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Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script—from the New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners.

JUNE

Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool
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In this romantic, edge-of-your-seat YA fantasy/mystery, cursebreaker Marlow Briggs reluctantly pretends to be in love with a powerful noble to gain entry into an illustrious―and deadly―society that holds clues to her mother’s disappearance. Perfect for fans of Veronica Mars, These Violent Delights, and Chain of Iron.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.

Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier
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Set in the glamorous, competitive world of showjumping, a novel about the girls who ride, their cutthroat mothers, and a suspicious death at a horse show…from the author of Good Rich People

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with the hilarious follow-up to Secretly Yours, in which a down-on-her-luck Napa heiress suggests a mutually beneficial marriage of convenience to a man she can’t stand… only to discover there’s a fine line between love and hate.

Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine
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For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Mexican Gothic, a novel set in 18th-century Venice at a prestigious music school, about two girls drawn together by a dangerous wager

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
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A ghostwriter and a struggling actor help each other on the page and in the bedroom in this steamy romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Talk.

What Remains by Wendy Walker
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Detective Elise Sutton is drawn to cold cases. Each crime is a puzzle to solve, pulled from the past. Steeped in guilt, and on a leave of absence from work, she’s numb, even to her husband and daughters, until she connects with Wade Austin, the tall man whose life she saved. But Elise soon realizes that he isn’t who he says he is. 

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould
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Two sisters travel to an isolated Arizona town to investigate its connection to their mother’s death, but uncover more than they bargained for in this supernatural thriller from the author of The Dead and the Dark.

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding
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The bestselling author of The Party returns with a deliciously twisted story of friendship, retribution, and betrayal about a homeless woman fleeing a dangerous past—and the wealthy society wife she saves from drowning, who pulls her into a dark web of secrets and lies.

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
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At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night? This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.

The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson
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If you knew how dark tomorrow would be, what would you do with today? The First Bright Thing is a spellbinding debut for fans of The Night Circus and The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.

What 2023 book releases are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Most Anticipated 2023 Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Justina Ireland’s Rust In The Root, which releases on September 20th 2022.

It is 1937, and Laura Ann Langston lives in an America divided—between those who work the mystical arts and those who do not. Ever since the Great Rust, a catastrophic event that blighted the arcane force called the Dynamism and threw America into disarray, the country has been rebuilding for a better future. And everyone knows the future is industry and technology—otherwise known as Mechomancy—not the traditional mystical arts.

Laura disagrees. A talented young mage from Pennsylvania, Laura hopped a portal to New York City on her seventeenth birthday with hopes of earning her mage’s license and becoming something more than a rootworker

But six months later, she’s got little to show for it other than an empty pocket and broken dreams. With nowhere else to turn, Laura applies for a job with the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps, a branch of the US government dedicated to repairing the Dynamism so that Mechomancy can thrive. There she meets the Skylark, a powerful mage with a mysterious past, who reluctantly takes Laura on as an apprentice.

As they’re sent off on their first mission together into the heart of the country’s oldest and most mysterious Blight, they discover the work of mages not encountered since the darkest period in America’s past, when Black mages were killed for their power—work that could threaten Laura’s and the Skylark’s lives, and everything they’ve worked for.

I’m not looking for any trouble. I never am. But, somehow, I keep finding it anyway. Or maybe it finds me.

I’d thought New York, full of opportunity and chaos and possibility as it is, might be a place where a colored girl with, if I may be so bold, more than a little talent in the mystical arts could finally catch a break. But even here, talents like mine don’t seem to be worth a cup of joe these days—in fact, more often than not, they’ll put a target on your back.

As evidenced by the spectacle I’m currently witnessing.

I’m sitting in the corner booth of a no-name diner in Manhattan, trying to ignore the skin-crawl feeling of the white waitress staring at me while I watch the scene unfurl outside. Cops pour out of a nearby building, hauling out mages, using their silver billy clubs liberally whenever someone looks like they might want to put up a fight. The sidewalk is spattered red with the mages’ blood, but no one seems to care, pedestrians avoiding the flailing men and women, most of them colored like me.

“Finally rounding up those filthy ’mancers,” the waitress says, coming over and leaning to peer out the window as well. There’s a slight smile twisting her thin lips. “That speakeasy’s been there for over a year now. I’d been starting to think the coppers would never break it up, you know?”

“I . . . yes. Can I get a refill?” I say, pointing to my empty cup. The carafe is in her hand, but she still sighs as she pours half a mug’s worth of the oily brew they’re calling coffee. It’s not good, but at least it’s real, not some raveling done by an Illusionist. She waits for a moment at the table’s edge, probably expecting me to order food, but when I just give her a tight smile, she moves away, grumbling under her breath about moolies taking up space. The parade of jobless men and opportunity-seeking hucksters that were here when I arrived filed out as soon as the job agencies opened their doors, leaving me alone in the diner, a colored girl at a dirty table nursing a mug of lukewarm coffee.

I lift my one worthwhile possession, a Brownie camera that Pigeon gave me a couple of years ago for my birthday, and snap a picture of the cops manhandling the mages just beyond the window. This is a thing I’ve done since I got to New York, taking these slice-of-life pictures, as though by documenting my days I can somehow make them worth more. Can’t tell you why, exactly. Maybe I imagined that at some point I would develop the photos and flip through them, a picture show of how far I’d come. But I’m right in the same place as when I arrived, more or less. The picture taking is more a silly habit than anything else.

I watch through the window until the last mage is pushed into the back of the police wagon, the portal inside zapping the mages to the local precinct. That could’ve been me, if I hadn’t overslept, if I hadn’t had to argue with my landlady about unpaid rent and the rat nesting in the wall of my room, the gnawing keeping me up all night. I could’ve been right there with the rest of them, spinning charms and raveling hexes, hoping the backlash wouldn’t hurt too much, when the police burst through the door. It was only a small disturbance in the Possibilities—a feeling of being watched, you might say—that slowed my footsteps and turned me away from the door of the speakeasy and its illegal charms, sending me into the diner across the street.

Lucky me.

I may have avoided the eager batons of the coppers, but I’m still in a pickle when it comes to my financial situation. I pull out my change purse and count my coins one more time. Two dollars and thirty-six cents. That is all the money I have left, and a dime of it has to cover the coffee.

I came, I saw, I failed spectacularly.

New York was a pipe dream, and now that I’m knee-deep in the muck, I can’t help but regret ever leaving Pennsylvania. My sister, Pigeon, always ready to be the voice of reason for her flighty younger sister, warned me that the city was no place for nice girls, but I only smiled and said that was perfect before promising that I’d write every week and send money when I could.

I’ve sent few letters, and even less cash.

Boy, she’s going to get a chuckle out of the mess I made of this one, I think, trying to cheer myself up with memories of Pigeon’s characteristic scowl. Once she’s through being vexed with me, that is.

Country living was easy. Nothing for Floramancers like us to do other than ravel charms for dairy cows and scry the future of a newborn every now and then. Sometimes we’d go out foraging for bits to change into other useful things—acorns and walnuts and the like, which we could ravel into milk buckets or flower- pots or the occasional potpie, nothing fancy. No one wanted Big Ravels in the sticks, and they definitely didn’t want the kind of gourmet creations I spent my free time thinking up: magnificent raveled desserts that few chefs, even those trained in the mystical arts, could imagine. It was one thing to turn a walnut into a construct to help around a farm; it was quite another to use that same walnut to create a three-tiered cake that tasted of dreams and happiness. My mother and aunts were good with the Possibilities, and I’d learned a lot from them. But the kind of food I wanted to ravel wasn’t the kind you found in Pennsylvania.

And that’s why I came to New York. I’d hoped to get an apprenticeship at a bakery, the kind I saw in the food magazines that were sometimes on the rack in the general store. With a bit of training, I knew I could use the finest ingredients and my considerable talents in the mystical arts to create amazing treats, even something otherworldly. Tiny, light tarts raveled from pecans, cakes raveled from a handful of the best almonds, confection spun out of peaches that melted on the tongue and reminded people of their happiest childhood memory.

My plan was to work in such a place just long enough to get a sponsorship and get my license, as everyone knew it was impossible to get a mage’s license without a proper sponsor. Prohibition had made anything more complex than household charms illegal, and without a licensed mage to vouch for both my skill and character, I’d never be able to get my certification. Applying for a license from the government without a sponsor was pricey, and they didn’t take too kindly to colored folks, so impressing one of New York’s mage bakers was my best chance at opening my own treat shop.

That is my best, shiniest dream, the fantasy I spin when I have trouble sleeping. In it, my shop is fancy and cosmopolitan, and so popular that people like J. Paul Getty and Howard Hughes demand my creations for their events. “Get me a Laura Ann Langston confection!” they’d yell into the phone, slamming their hands down on gleaming wooden desks. People from all over would line up each day for a chance to buy a pastry, twisting twice around the block. I’d be in one of those food magazines, and they’d say my treats were “life changing” and “to die for.” I’d wear the best fashions from Paris and carry around an ostrich-plume fan just because. Reporters would ask me what Shirley Temple’s favorite cake was, and I’d laugh and swat at them with my fan. “I never bake and tell,” I’d say with a gleam in my eye, and then lean in and whisper, “but it’s raveled from rose petals.”

I made the mistake of sharing this with my sister once and immediately regretted it. Pigeon thought it was a silly dream. Why would a colored girl work so hard to open something as useless as a bakeshop? Especially when I could have a comfortable life doing simple charms for the bumpkins in Shrinesville? The kind you didn’t need a license for, the kind that wouldn’t attract the attention of the Prohibition office’s enforcers? She couldn’t understand that I wanted Big Ravels, the kind that came with a license and an apprenticeship, the kind that would’ve been a given if I’d been born white. Pigeon thought I was a fool for leaving the safety of the family farm. She said as much the day of my seventeenth birthday, as I was packing up to head to the nearest Wayfaring station and get beamed to New York.

“Ain’t no one going to hire an unlicensed Negro mage, especially not one who happens to be a girl,” Pigeon said with a sniff. “All that struggle to make a bunch of fussy sweets? Ridiculous. You’ll see. You’ll be zapping back here inside of a month. And when you do, I’m going to say I told you so.”

Pigeon knew what she was talking about. She usually did. But I couldn’t face a long, endless future raveling charms for crops in Shrinesville, Pennsylvania. So I gave my sister a hug and marched out of the house for what I had hoped would be the last time.

It wasn’t only big dreams that had made me leave. Pennsylvania was smothering me, keeping me small, and who wanted to live a tiny life?

But now, penniless and out of luck, there’s a part of my brain that thinks maybe I’d been wrong to leave. Maybe I should just head home. A few months in the Big Apple had shown me the worst thing they could: that I was a silly colored girl with outlandish dreams. If I’d gotten nothing else out of this grand New York experiment, at least I’d gotten knocked upside the head with some common sense. Because here I am, less than four months later, broke as a joke and counting pennies like doing so could make them multiply.

At least I’d lasted longer than Pigeon had expected. That was something.

“Did you want to order food?” The waitress reappears like an apparition and eyes me in that half-defensive, half-angry way white folks always look at Negroes, like I might turn her into a frog and then swipe what’s in the till. I consider telling her that the black don’t rub off and my ravels aren’t the spiteful kind, but that wouldn’t assuage her fears. Most likely she’s heard the stories, the ones of powerful Negro mages, men and women both, charming white women so they could have their way with them, savage in their appetites. As if the Jim Crow laws in the South would exist if colored folks were that powerful.

The energy that powers Negro ravelings isn’t any different than the small bit at the heart of the machines made by the white Mechomancers who ply their trade throughout the city, but somehow folks are okay with the science of Mechomancy and leery of the exploitation of Possibilities. They had been so even before the Great Rust, but when that whole disaster went down, colored folks were an easy scapegoat. How else to explain the Blights that destroyed all Mechomancy but didn’t have any effect on the mystical arts? Never mind that there was no evidence that anything we mages did led to the Blights that now dot the country; it was somehow fact that the mystical arts must be to blame. And ever since Congress prohibited the use of anything beyond basic ravels without a license, the cops and G-men have been happy to break the skulls of mages, usually colored, all over the country.

Even here in New York.

Either way, I wouldn’t be casting charms on anyone anytime soon, even if I wanted to. Big Ravels don’t happen without a few essentials like joppa seeds and jacaranda vine. And I don’t have the coin for either.

Instead of giving the woman a piece of my mind, I just smile. “I’d like another warm-up, if ’n you don’t mind?” The rumble of my belly is mostly inaudible.

The waitress purses her lips, her pale brow furrowing as she moves off to grab the carafe again. At least her racism is familiar. It was much worse getting turned away by every colored baker I’d asked about a job. For some reason I’d thought Negroes up in the Big Apple would be friendlier, or at least more understanding of my abilities and aspirations than the folks back in Pennsylvania had been. New York’s skyline might be dominated by the impossibly tall buildings Mechomancy makes possible, but everyone knows the city is held together with ravels laid over a hundred years ago, ones that prevented the river from flooding and the rats from taking over. Heck, it was just a few years ago that they were having a mystical renaissance in Harlem, folks finding new ways of twisting up old ravels into even better things.

But unlike the Negroes back in Shrinesville, who still relied on the same ravels our families had practiced for hundreds of years, most of the colored folks in New York seemed just as hostile to new mages as white folks. It hadn’t been this way before the Great Rust, when the mystical arts and technology still existed in an uneasy harmony . . . but that didn’t help me now. People still remembered that day in 1927 when a strange wave of energy washed over the United States, destroying great mechanicals and leaving Mechomancers powerless, their constructs failing in the ebb and flow of the Possibilities, the energy field that powered all ravels. The economy is still recovering a decade later, and with another war brewing in Europe between Mechomancy and the mystical disciplines, well, everyone is a bit on edge. And even colored folks seemed to buy into the nonsense that, somehow, the mystical arts had caused the Great Rust.

Nothing vexed me more than discovering this as I tried to make my way in the city. It didn’t make a lick of sense for colored folks to fear the mystical arts, especially in the larger scheme of things. After all, the European Necromancers hadn’t been picky about which Afrikans they’d grabbed and thrown on a boat heading west back in the old days, but that didn’t change people’s silly prejudices. And it wasn’t like the Floramancy I did was anything close to the Necromancy that the Ku Klux Klan and their predecessors were known for. But it didn’t matter. The whole country was in a quiet war with itself. White folks versus Negroes, the blands who embraced the science of Mechomancy versus practitioners of the mystical arts. It was part of the reason my grand New York experiment had fallen flat. “Mages need not apply” was second only to “Negroes need not apply.”

I would’ve been better off as a leper. At least sick folks get a measure of pity.

I count my coins again, wishing there were some kind of ravel that could duplicate them. But the coins are made of iron and silver—Mechomancy material, impervious to any kind of tinkering within the Possibilities. The only thing I can do is stack them over and over as my mind runs through my limited options.

I have four days until my landlady kicks me out for missing this month’s rent. Four days isn’t a lot of time, and I’m not even all that sure I’m of a mind to keep paying for the tiny rat-infested bedroom I rent in Miss Viola Swan’s Boardinghouse. Not that my preferences make a bit of difference. I need twenty dollars to stay, and I don’t have it. Miss Viola had assured me that anything less than twenty-five dollars a month was a steal in Harlem, but that was before I’d seen the place. It is less a boardinghouse and more a kennel, complete with fleas. Walking in and seeing those faded curtains and crooked floors day after day felt like manifesting my failure. The only reason I even have curtains and a threadbare quilt is because of Simone. She used to live in the room next to mine, turned tricks for money—that is to say, she raveled without a license for questionable characters in shady places. I’d been a little sweet on her and thought maybe my feelings were reciprocated a bit. But the police came and snatched Simone up one day, so now it’s only me and the rats and a bunch of girls I don’t know, most of them hoodlums just crashing at Miss Viola’s until the heat dies down and they can get back into whatever skullduggery had landed them in the clink in the first place.

I sigh and stare at my tiny pile of coins. Maybe getting into illegal hexes is the way to go. I am fresh out of other options.

Outside the diner window, the morning foot traffic has died to a trickle, and I briefly consider going back to Miss Viola’s, packing my stuff, and heading home. Buck fifty and I could be back in PA by dinnertime, knotting fertility charms out of trumpet vines and casting chicken bones for a look at the future with my rootworker aunts. I’d never be a great mage, never see my desserts in the pages of Harper’s or the New Yorker. At most I’d be a hedge witch. But I could live a nice, quiet life. Comfortable, even. Pigeon would leave off of her “told you so”s after a few weeks. A year at most.

Just the thought makes me want to bawl.

The waitress walks by, and I try to wave her down. “Hey, where’s my refill?” I call, pointing to my mostly empty cup.

Her lips tighten, and she shakes her head hard enough that her paper hat wobbles. “We’re all out of coffee, and we don’t serve troublemakers here. I suggest you finish up and clear on out,” she says, before stomping back toward the kitchen, her heels making an angry staccato sound on the cheap linoleum.

I stare after her, trying to figure what it was that turned her so salty, but then I notice the sesame seeds scattered across the tabletop. While I was fretting about my options, I must have let my abilities roam, because the seeds—the remnants from someone’s sandwich, most likely—have sent exploratory roots skittering across the table, writhing with the energy of the Possibilities. I sweep the seeds into my hand, because I know better than to waste their potential, and stand to leave.

“Yeah, well, maybe you should keep a cleaner establishment,” I mutter to no one in particular. I toss a nickel and a dime on the table because I’d never let it be said Laura Ann Langston is a cheapskate, grab the rest of my loot, and make my way out into the morning.

It is nearing lunchtime, and the mechanical district is abuzz.

Mechomancers in derbies and bespoke suits crowd the sidewalks. Their detestable machines glide through the streets, the air thick with the coppery scent of their power. One of Henry Ford’s new constructs rumbles past, and I have to keep myself from spitting for luck. Some might think Mechomancy is the other side of the coin to the mystical arts, but there is nothing natural about it. Especially since, for most of American history, it was powered on the backs of colored folks.

Now good old FDR is working to make Mechomancy the cat’s meow once more, urging the Bureau of the Arcane to team up with Mechomancers to finally get the Blights under control. I read in the newspaper that Henry Ford is opening a factory in Queens and hiring hundreds of mages to craft his next line of automobiles. And then there’s Prohibition, slowly strangling what’s left of independent mages. If I wanted an apprenticeship to a mage at a Mechomancer firm, I could’ve gotten one several times over. But even now, flat broke and juggling pennies, I refuse to apply to one of the Mechomantic employment agencies. Some folks might think Mechomancy is the future, but it seems to me that no matter what anyone says about it these days, it’s just an unwanted relic from the past. I prefer work that won’t smother my conscience.

I loiter in the doorway of the diner, biding my time and reading the display page on a nearby paper. Negro Mages Head to Ohio to Quell the Country’s Largest Blight, the headline reads. Under that, pictures of colored folks lining up in a Wayfarer’s queue. They’re headed west into the Big Deep, the first, and still the worst, of the country’s Blights. The higher arts, as folks annoyingly call things like Mechomancy, might not work in a Blight, but the lower arts—the powers that draw from the Possibilities—always have, which is why the Bureau of the Arcane has been recruiting colored folks to help set the Blight to rights.

Good luck to them.

I step out onto the sidewalk, debating whether to head down to Central Park to gawk at the wyverns or maybe head back uptown to Harlem and try to catch up on my sleep, when I realize the sesame seeds in my hand won’t hold for later. The burst of potential I woke is anxious for release, tickling my palm with the Possibilities. Without a direction, all that latent energy is a recipe for disaster. Or at least an inconvenience.

A block up the avenue, a grizzled old white man holds down the corner, his clothing threadbare and ragged. “Powerless and hungry,” his sign reads. “Just another bland down on his luck.” He is covered in grime and barefoot, his face painted with a white scrub of beard. Normally I try not to get mixed up in the affairs of white folks, especially those who openly decry the mystical arts. It has a way of shaking out for the worst. But the man is even lower on his luck than I am, and I feel a measure of pity for him.

“Hey,” I say, approaching. The man looks up, his eyes rheumy. “Are you hungry?”

“What do you think?” he grumbles. He smells like a brewery, and I get the feeling that food isn’t what sustains him.

I shake the sesame seeds in my hand, cupping them loosely, and call on the Possibilities. I can see where the old man touches the ambient energy that connects all living things, and from there I can see what he desires. I can feel it, sudsy and bitter, running down my throat, easing hurts and filling my belly.

A couple of rolls of my wrist and each seed hits the ground with a hollow sound, like popping corn, raveling into a bottle of beer. A moment later, the man is surrounded by several full brown glass bottles.

He jerks to his feet, kicking over a couple of the beers as the final sesame seed hits the ground. “Hey, hey! Girlie, you a mage?” There is fear and excitement in his voice, and I decide it isn’t worth sticking around to see which one wins out. The last thing I need is a copper collaring me for performing unlicensed ravels.

“Have a nice supper, mister!” I yell over my shoulder before beating feet out of there.

The post Read An Excerpt From ‘Rust in the Root’ by Justina Ireland appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Within these pages, you’ll find short stories and comic strips for every letter of the acronym that you might be proudly calling yourself a part of. While I’m not going to spoil any story for you, let me just give you a taste of what you’re in for: there’s a story in here in which a young witch turns herself into a puppy to win over her new neighbour and secret crush. Did someone mention perfect premise? Because that surely is one. There’s also a story about a boyband fandom being the reason for someone coming out and hoo boy, if that didn’t hit home, I don’t know what will. Another chronicles two online friends helping each other come out to their parents while another follows someone trying to find a new inclusive sport after quitting gymnastics because of the assumptions people make about their gender. Beyond stories set in the contemporary world—albeit with magical elements—there are also stories of pirates and other fantastical elements that will make young readers be drawn in from the very first paragraph. Beyond being obviously queer, these stories are also incredibly inclusive and feature topics such as body diversity, bullying, identity struggles, friends standing up for each other, encouraging and uplifting support groups, and a sense of camaraderie not only between the characters themselves but with society at large.

It seems like a truth universally acknowledged that there are no perfect anthologies out there—rarely does a human ever like every single story in an anthology and that’s okay. With that being said, though, I have to admit that I wholeheartedly loved every story in this. Whether you come to this anthology because of an author you already love or because you want to try out someone’s work for the first time, you won’t be disappointed. Even the ones that perhaps weren’t my cup of genre or trope, I was still filled with so much warmth and excitement whenever I thought of what that story might evoke in younger readers’ hands. It’s an anthology that is based on hope, inclusivity, and camaraderie—and it is a must-read, no matter how old you are. Here’s to the future and to many more LGBTQIAP+ based anthologies!

Sure to become a staple in children’s literature, This Is Our Rainbow offers an uplifting and gripping collection of short stories for young readers. Whether you’re part of the LGBTQIAP+ community or an ally, you will devour this must-read anthology that is filled with magic and above all, immense love.

This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of October 19th 2021.

Will you be picking up This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

The first LGBTQIA+ anthology for middle-graders featuring stories for every letter of the acronym, including realistic, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by authors like Justina Ireland, Marieke Nijkamp, Alex Gino, and more!

A boyband fandom becomes a conduit to coming out. A former bully becomes a first-kiss prospect. One nonbinary kid searches for an inclusive athletic community after quitting gymnastics. Another nonbinary kid, who happens to be a pirate, makes a wish that comes true–but not how they thought it would. A tween girl navigates a crush on her friend’s mom. A young witch turns herself into a puppy to win over a new neighbor. A trans girl empowers her online bestie to come out.

From wind-breathing dragons to first crushes, This Is Our Rainbow features story after story of joyful, proud LGBTQIA+ representation. You will fall in love with this insightful, poignant anthology of queer fantasy, historical, and contemporary stories from authors including: Eric Bell, Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Ashley Herring Blake, Lisa Bunker, Alex Gino, Justina Ireland, Shing Yin Khor, Katherine Locke, Mariama J. Lockington, Nicole Melleby, Marieke Nijkamp, Claribel A. Ortega, Mark Oshiro, Molly Knox Ostertag, Aisa Salazar, and AJ Sass.

The post #ReadWithPride: ‘This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

The Thaumas girls are cursed, or so everyone believes after four of the sisters die terrible, gruesome deaths. Annaleigh, plagued by tragedy and the loss of her sisters, begins to have visions of ghosts haunting Highmoor. At first, it feels like her grief is altering her view of reality. But what if the ghosts are real and the deaths weren’t accidental at all?

A retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses like you’ve never seen before filled with intrigue, horror, and more than enough spook to last you a lifetime.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-García

This book has been on everyone’s radar and within good reason. Noemí Taboada’s recently married cousin has sent some worrying letters, which means Noemí is tasked with visiting High Place and finding out exactly what is going on. The Doyles surely are an odd mix- mysterious, strict and highly secretive. Her cousin’s husband, even with all his good looks and charm, seems like the worst of them all. But Noemí doesn’t give up easily.

An unlikely heroine pushed forward by sheer stubbornness, will Noemí survive everything thrown her way? Grab a handful of mini candy bars, a cosy blanket, and pick this up to find out.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Motels tend to be excellent settings for creepy stories, just ask Norman Bates. The Sun Down Motel proves exactly how chilling this type of setting can be. In 1982, Viv Delaney disappears from Fell, New York without leaving a single trace. No one knows what happened to her, and those who might have a clue aren’t very willing to talk. Decades later, Carly, Viv’s niece, arrives in Fell and takes a job at The Sun Down Motel in hopes of finding both closure and clues about what happened to her aunt.

Both entertaining and completely chilling, this is the type of book that made me weary of closing my eyes at night out of fear that a ghost would try to pull my legs from under the covers.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

A school hidden deep in the woods, completely isolated from the outside world. What could go wrong? Well, everything of course! Those students lucky enough to be admitted to Catherine House will get an education like no other. They promise power and prestige while completely taking care of tuition and boarding. Their students will want for nothing. The catch?  Complete and utter isolation from the outside world for the next three years – no contacting family or friends, no television and no music. Ines finds herself becoming accustomed to these rules, yet she soon finds out that Catherine House is hiding some ominous secrets.

This book is perfect for fans of dark academia and contemporary gothic! 

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

Most know about Daphne Du Maurier thanks to her incredible novel, Rebecca, but what about the equally suspenseful My Cousin Rachel? Phillip Ashley, an orphan, lives an idyllic life in his cousin Ambrose’s estate. These men share a close bond, and Phillip is even named heir of his cousin’s fortune. But when Ambrose leaves on a trip to Florence, everything changes. He falls in love, he marries and, ultimately, he dies. Phillip is heartbroken, already starting to hate his cousin’s widow with every fibre of his being, and yet ends up being drawn to the mysterious Rachel.

With its eerie atmosphere, unreliable characters, and questionable morals, this book will surely entrance any lover of gothic fiction.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

After moving to a new house, Coraline decides to go exploring. There’s a certain door in the house, however, with only a brick wall behind it. It’s not long before that door shows an alternate version of Coraline’s life. The Other Mother is caring and attentive, the food is fantastic and there are enough toys to fill a store. But the Other Mother wants Coraline to stay forever, to sew buttons into her eyes to seal deal. Soon, Coraline discovers that this alternate reality isn’t as perfect as she initially thought, and the lost spirits of other children beg her to rescue them.

 A modern classic that will both spook and capture the hearts of children and adults.

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Sydney Green, a Brooklyn native, realises her neighbourhood is changing fast. Her neighbours are disappearing, their homes are going up for sale at an alarming rate and realtors constantly harass her to give up her home. In hopes of keeping the spirit of her community alive, Sydney embarks on creating a walking tour exposing the real history of each building and the streets surrounding them. The more she researches, however, the more she realises how deeply troubled things are becoming in Brooklyn.

A thriller centred around gentrification and the history of Black people, Alyssa Cole has crafted an absolute masterpiece that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  

Crimson Peak: The Official Novelisation by Nancy Holder

There’s a chance you’ve watched this movie already and dreamt about waltzing with Tom Hiddleston, or maybe exploring the rooms of Allerdale Hall with Edith Cushing. The book takes a deeper look into the lives of Edith, Alan, Thomas, and Lucille. Edith, an American heiress, becomes romantically interested in Thomas, although her father highly disapproves. After Edith’s father dies of unexpected circumstances, she decided to marry Thomas and move to his estate in England, locally known as Crimson Peak due to the fact that it’s currently sinking into red clay. Once there, Edith realises that married life isn’t as idyllic as she would have hoped. Both Thomas and Lucille are hiding terrible secrets, and there seems to be ghosts roaming around Allerdale Hall warning her of terrible dangers.

This novelisation is an excellent companion to the movie, and it’s also a perfect treat for those who haven’t watched Crimson Peak.

Category Five by Ann Dávila Cardinal

After the events of Hurricane María, Puerto Rico goes through a drastic change. The island of Vieques is trying to recover from the disaster while developers are taking advantage of the opportunity to buy their land for less than its worth. Just when it couldn’t get worse, a string of murders start to occur while the threats of supernatural attacks are hanging over everyone’s heads. Luper, Javier and Marisol, characters featured in Dávila’s previous novel Five Midnights, take matters into their own hands when it comes to investigating these strange happenings.

Not a lot of books take into the consideration the consequences of Hurricane María, so Category Five is both an educational read and an incredible take on the paranormal.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

It’s not spooky season without zombies, and Justina Ireland definitely delivers. Dread Nation follows the story of Jane McKeene. She’s sent to study in Miss Preston’s School of Combat, due to the fact that Black and Native people are tasked with bringing down the dead and protecting the wealthy. This isn’t the type of life Jane wants, but when people start to disappear in Baltimore she’s caught in a conspiracy like no other.

Set after the events of the Civil War, this book not only an action-packed zombie adventure, but also reveals the harsh truths about racism and white supremacists.

Do you have any other spooky recommendations? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 10 Books To Get You Through The Spooky Season appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Providence by Max Barry
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

From the ingenious author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon: a brilliant work of science fiction that tells the intimate tale of four people facing their most desperate hour–alone, together, at the edge of the universe.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Five New Yorkers must come together in order to defend their city in the first book of a stunning new series by Hugo award-winning and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.

Anthropocene Rag by Alex Irvine
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Anthropocene Rag is “a rare distillation of nanotech, apocalypse, and mythic Americana into a heady psychedelic brew.”—Nebula and World Fantasy award-winning author Jeffrey Ford

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Modern witchcraft blends with ancient Celtic mythology in an epic clash of witches and gods, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic trilogy and A Discovery of Witches.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

With the heart of an Atwood tale and the visuals of a classic Asian period drama The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a tightly and lushly written narrative about empire, storytelling, and the anger of women.

Cries from the Lost Island by Kathleen O’Neal Gear
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

This standalone fantasy brings an ancient Egyptian mystery to life against a modern background, in a tale expertly crafted by a seasoned anthropologist.

The Companions by Katie M. Flynn
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Station Eleven meets Never Let Me Go in this debut novel set in an unsettling near future where the dead can be uploaded to machines and kept in service by the living.

Bone ​Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Purdie comes a high-stakes fantasy duology flush with doomed romance and macabre magic, perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Roshani Chokshi.

The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

The Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Kingfountain series conjures an epic, adventurous world of ancient myth and magic as a young woman’s battle with infinite evil begins.

A Phoenix First Must Burn by Patrice Caldwell
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic. Authors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Dhonielle Clayton, Jalissa Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Davis, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Justina Ireland, Danny Lore, L.L. McKinney, Danielle Paige, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, and Ibi Zoboi.

The Last Human by Zack Jordan
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

The last human in the universe must battle unfathomable alien intelligences—and confront the truth about humanity—in this ambitious, galaxy-spanning debut

Hearts of Oak by Eddie Robson
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Hearts of Oak is a delightful science fiction adventure from Eddie Robson, the creator of the acclaimed Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully.

What fantasy and sci-fi release are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post March 2020 Book Releases: Fantasy + Sci-Fi appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

If you’re looking to be transported into a different era, Suitors and Sabotage will take you to 19th century London or Melissa De La Cruz’s new instalment focusing Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler is set in 1780 New York.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below if you will be checking any of them out!

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland | Goodreads

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. Almost finished with her education, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home, but when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier | Goodreads

Nineteen-year-old Elias is a royal explorer, a skilled mapmaker, and the new king of del Mar’s oldest friend. Embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, nothing stands in his way…until a long-ago tragedy creeps back into the light. Two boy princes were kidnapped eighteen years ago and presumed dead, but when two maps surface, troubling questions arise. What really happened to the young heirs? And why do the maps appear to be drawn by Lord Antoni, Elias’s father, who vanished on that same fateful day? With the king’s beautiful cousin by his side-whether he wants her there or not-Elias will race to solve the riddle of the princes. 

Suitors and Sabotage by Cindy Anstey | Goodreads

Shy aspiring artist Imogene Chively has just had a successful Season in London, complete with a suitor of her father’s approval. Imogene is ambivalent about the young gentleman until he comes to visit her at the Chively estate with his younger brother in tow. When her interest is piqued, however, it is for the wrong brother. Charming Ben Steeple has a secret: despite being an architectural apprentice, he has no drawing aptitude. When Imogene offers to teach him, Ben is soon smitten by the young lady he considers his brother’s intended. But hiding their true feelings becomes the least of their problems when, after a series of “accidents,” it becomes apparent that someone means Ben harm.

Black Chuck by Regan McDonell | Goodreads

Psycho. Sick. Dangerous. Real Dufresne’s reputation precedes him. When the mangled body of his best friend, Shaun, turns up in a field just east of town, tough-as-hell Real blames himself. But except for the nightmares, all Re remembers is beating the living crap out of Shaun the night of his death. Shaun’s girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Evie Hawley, keeps her feelings locked up tight. But now she’s pregnant, and the father of her baby is dead. And when Real looks to her to atone for his sins, everything goes sideways. Fast. The tighter Evie and Real get, the faster things seem to fall apart. And falling in love might just be the card that knocks the whole house down.

Leah On The Offbeat by Becky Albertalli | Goodreads

Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage. Only her mom knows Leah is bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody | Goodreads

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne follows her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted. Her only lead is Levi Glaisyer—a street lord and a con man. Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi’s enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city… And she’ll need to play.

Neverland by Margot McGovern | Goodreads

When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding school for mentally ill teenagers and sent Kit away to school on the mainland. But when Kit tries and fails to end her life, Doc brings her home to the island and places her in the care of his colleague, Dr Hannah Ward. Resisting her treatment, Kit instead pulls her friends deeper into her world of make-believe. It’s only when Kit and her new boyfriend, Rohan, take the fantasy too far and land themselves in very real danger that her faith in Neverland is shaken, and Kit must find a way back to reality.

Love & War by Melissa De La Cruz | Goodreads

1780. Albany, New York. As the war for American Independence carries on, two newlyweds are settling into their new adventure: marriage. But the honeymoon’s over, and Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler are learning firsthand just how tricky wedded life can be. Alex is still General George Washington’s right-hand man and his attention these days is nothing if not divided–much like the colonies’ interests as the end of the Revolution draws near. Alex & Eliza’s relationship is tested further by lingering jealousies and family drama.

Inferno by Julie Kagawa | Goodreads

What if dragons walked among us in human form? Enter a modern fantasy of heroes, sacrifice, forbidden love and enemies turned allies who have no choice but to fight side by side… Don’t miss the epic conclusion as Ember, Riley and Garrett face off against Dante and the Talon dragon clones. Join them…or burn.

The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix | Goodreads

Fourteen-year-old Avery Armisted is athletic, rich, and pretty. Sixteen-year-old Kayla Butts is known as “butt-girl” at school. The two girls were friends as little kids, but that’s ancient history now. So it’s a huge surprise when Avery’s father offers to bring Kayla along on a summer trip to Spain. Avery is horrified that her father thinks he can choose her friends—and make her miss soccer camp. Kayla struggles just to imagine leaving the confines of her small town. But in Spain, the two uncover a secret their families had hidden from both of them their entire lives. Maybe the girls can put aside their differences and work through it together. Or maybe the lies and betrayal will only push them—and their families—farther apart.

White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig | Goodreads

Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian—the guy who stomped his heart out like a spent cigarette. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to “talk.” But then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. And then he and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife, beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney. April swears she didn’t kill Fox—but Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth. April has something he needs, though, and her price is his help. Now, with no one to trust but the boy he wants to hate yet can’t stop loving, Rufus has one night to prove his sister’s innocence…or die trying.

Lifeline by Abbey Lee Nash | Goodreads

Popular high school senior Eli Ross has the perfect life. He’s captain of the lacrosse team at LionsHeart Academy, and he’s dating Savannah, the hottest, most popular girl at school. But that life comes crashing down when he overdoses at a party and is sent to LakeShore Recovery Center, an inpatient substance abuse treatment program where he’ll spend the next twenty-eight days. It’s there that Eli meets Libby, the sharp-edged artist, whose freshly tattooed scars mirror the emotional scars Eli tries his best to ignore. Eli soon learns that if he’s to have any chance at a future, he’ll first have to confront his past.

Discover more April releases on our Goodreads list!

Any other April YA books you’re excited for? Tell us in the comments below!

The post April Book Releases: Young Adult appeared first on The Nerd Daily.