Our 15 Most Anticipated New Reads of October 2020

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September 30 2020
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The October chill is in the air, so we’re running for the covers—both the bedcovers and the book covers, that is! Fall brings with it the best new books and we’ve rounded up our most anticipated of the month from top authors and celebrities, including Rebecca Roanhorse, Lisa Jewell, Jerry Seinfeld, and more. Here’s what’s keeping us buried in books this spooky season!

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

Billions of Besties
by Peggy Panosh and Susie Arons

Courtney’s Pick

Billions of Besties is one of the books I’m most excited for this October. An illustrated tribute to best friends and the power of friendship? Sign me up! Featuring friendships from celebrity pairs Amy Poehler and Tina Fey; Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak; Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland—as well as iconic pairings including Queen Elizabeth and corgis, Lizzo and the Truth (lol), and tomato and mozzarella, this book covers them all. Read snippets about these besties and more in this celebration of fascinating and exceptional friends.

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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Billions of Besties
Peggy Panosh and Susie Arons

This beautifully illustrated and joyful tribute celebrates famous friendships (both real and fictional) and proves that there is no relationship more important than friendship.

Our best friends are our soulmates. They understand us when no one else does, lift us up, and bring out the best in us. It’s a relationship based on a bond that can’t always be described, but is always magical.

Billions of Besties shines a light on some of the most engaging, funny, inspiring, and sometimes unexpected sets of friends. In this gorgeous and playfully illustrated volume, creators and besties Peggy and Susie highlight more than 100 besties, both real and fictional, from all walks of life. From the comedic powerhouse of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, to the unexpected camaraderie between RGB and Antonin Scalia, the glamourous friendship between Anna Wintour and Roger Federer, or the fictional ride-or-die bond between Thelma and Louise, this book is a timeless salute to friendship in all its forms.

Uplifting and charming, Billions of Besties celebrates the power and vitality of friendship—from bromances to work wives—reminding us that when we have each other’s backs, we have the power to change the world.

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Our 15 Most Anticipated New Reads of October 2020

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Group
by Christie Tate

Justin’s Pick

If your time indoors during quarantine has caused you to get overly introspective, find escape in someone else’s problems for a little bit! Christie Tate’s debut, the memoir Group, chronicles her unconventional experience attending group therapy to work through issues related to her childhood, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Tate doesn’t mince words—she writes about the most vulnerable period in her life with such refreshing vulnerability, heart, and humor that it’s impossible not to empathize with her story. She lays it all bare to her therapist and the other members of her therapy group, and, now, to readers as well—and it’s a privilege to listen in and be moved by her account.

Publication Date: October 27, 2020

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Group
Christie Tate

“Hilarious and engrossing.” People * “Fearless candor and vulnerability.” —Time * “Funny, emotional, and insightful.” —Good Morning America * “Honest, addictive” —HelloGiggles * “Wonderful...sparkle and intelligence.” —Booklist * “Dazzling.” —Publishers Weekly

The refreshingly original debut memoir of a guarded, over-achieving, self-lacerating young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to get psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers—her psychotherapy group—and in turn finds human connection, and herself.

Christie Tate had just been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control. Why then was she driving through Chicago fantasizing about her own death? Why was she envisioning putting an end to the isolation and sadness that still plagued her in spite of her achievements?

Enter Dr. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. All she has to do is show up and be honest. About everything—her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. Christie is skeptical, insisting that that she is defective, beyond cure. But Dr. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: “You don’t need a cure, you need a witness.”

So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Christie is initially put off by Dr. Rosen’s outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. Rosen and to depend on the sessions and the prescribed nightly phone calls with various group members, she begins to understand what it means to connect.

Group is a deliciously addictive read, and with Christie as our guide—skeptical of her own capacity for connection and intimacy, but hopeful in spite of herself—we are given a front row seat to the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy—an under-explored process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.

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Invisible Girl
by Lisa Jewell

Ariele’s Pick 

Invisible Girl follows an involuntary celibate or “incel” whose life is falling apart; a 17-year-old girl who becomes infatuated with her therapist; and a family whose secrets get them mixed up in both of these questionable characters’ lives. As one early reviewer put it, “The cliche ‘could not put this book down’ gets thrown around a lot in reviews, but I...literally could not put this book down and finished it in less than 24 hours. I devoured this book with the same breakneck pace in which the plot unfurled.” Creepy surprises and twists abound in this new winner from the queen of domestic suspense, which JoJo Moyes has praised as Lisa Jewell’s “best yet.”

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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Invisible Girl
Lisa Jewell

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

I absolutely loved Invisible Girl—Lisa Jewell has a way of combining furiously twisty, utterly gripping plots with wonderfully rich characterization—she has such compassion for her characters, and we feel we know them utterly… A triumph!” —Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone returns with an intricate thriller about a young woman’s disappearance and a group of strangers whose lives intersect in its wake.

Young Saffyre Maddox spent three years under the care of renowned child psychologist Roan Fours. When Dr. Fours decides their sessions should end, Saffyre feels abandoned. She begins looking for ways to connect with him, from waiting outside his office to walking through his neighborhood late at night. She soon learns more than she ever wanted to about Roan and his deceptively perfect family life. On a chilly Valentine’s night, Saffyre will disappear, taking any secrets she has learned with her.

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his thirties and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct—accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure.

Owen lives across the street from the Fours family. The Fours have a bad feeling about their neighbor; Owen is a bit creepy and suspect and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night. Could Owen be responsible? What happened to the beautiful missing Saffyre, and does her disappearance truly connect them all?

Evocative, vivid, and unputdownable, Lisa Jewell’s latest thriller is another “haunting, atmospheric, stay-up-way-too-late read” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author).

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They Never Learn
by Layne Fargo

Anne’s Pick

If you devoured Killing Eve, it's time to read They Never Learn. It’s back-to-school season at Gorman University and in between preparing lesson plans and applying for a prestigious research grant, English professor Scarlett Clark is plotting her next murder. But don't worry... she'll only kill evil men who really deserve it. But as Scarlett begins to fall for her newest mark's ex-wife, she risks exposing her secret life. I read this book through, enthralled, in one sitting. It will make you furious as you consider the sexism and rage that drives this serial killer. And as an added bonus there is a seriously steamy bisexual romance at the center of the book. Read it, and then immediately go pick up the author’s first book, Temper.

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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They Never Learn
Layne Fargo

From the author of the “raw, ingenious, and utterly fearless” (Wendy Walker, USA TODAY bestselling author) Temper comes a dynamic psychological thriller about two women who give bad men exactly what they deserve.

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

Featuring Layne Fargo’s trademark “propulsive writing style” (Kirkus Reviews) and “sinister, of the moment” (Chicago Review of Books) suspense, They Never Learn is a feminist serial killer story perfect for fans of Killing Eve and Chelsea Cain.

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Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick
by David Wong

Sara’s Pick #1

Confession time: David Wong is one of my favorite authors ever. His stories are full of weird creatures, quirky characters, and high-impact action and comedy that makes every book go by way too quickly, especially when you stay up all night to read it. Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick is the sequel to Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, so get ready for the same level of high-octane entertainment. Zoey Ashe never expected to inherit a criminal empire, but she's managed to get some handle on it, even if every superpower rogue in Tabula Ra$a is out for her. On the eve of Halloween, she receives a trunk with a dead body inside, which then rises up and accuses her of its murder. Can she be sure she wasn't responsible for its death, when she doesn't know all of those in her employ? And who sent the trunk to her in the first place? Be prepared to take a few punches and watch the witty banter fly in this latest installment of the Zoey Ashe series.

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick
David Wong

Sara’s Pick #1 Confession time: David Wong is one of my favorite authors ever. His stories are full of weird creatures, quirky characters, and high-impact action and comedy that makes every book go by way too quickly, especially when you stay up all night to read it. Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick is the sequel to Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, so get ready for the same level of high-octane entertainment. Zoey Ashe never expected to inherit a criminal empire, but she's managed to get some handle on it, even if every superpower rogue in Tabula Ra$a is out for her. On the eve of Halloween, she receives a trunk with a dead body inside, which then rises up and accuses her of its murder. Can she be sure she wasn't responsible for its death, when she doesn't know all of those in her employ? And who sent the trunk to her in the first place? Be prepared to take a few punches and watch the witty banter fly in this latest installment of the Zoey Ashe series. Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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Magic Lessons
by Alice Hoffman

Sara’s Pick #2

As much as I love horror, October and Halloween always makes me want to return to the world of Practical Magic, both the book and the movie. Luckily for us all, Alice Hoffman is back with another addition to the story of the Owens women, this time taking readers to its source, the progenitor of the curse, Maria Owens. Abandoned as a baby in 1600s England, young Maria is taken in by Hannah Owens, who teaches her to harness her powers. The real trouble starts when Maria follows—all the way to Salem, Massachusetts—the man who loved and left her. Magic Lessons is captivating and all-consuming, and Hoffman somehow manages to create a work so different from the other books in the series, yet still imbued with the same magical touch. A dark, emotional tale of what we will do for love, and a caution to be careful what you wish for, either for yourself or others.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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Magic Lessons
Alice Hoffman

In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic.

Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back.

When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it’s here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.

Magic Lessons is a celebration of life and love and a showcase of Alice Hoffman’s masterful storytelling.

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The Times I Knew I Was Gay
by Eleanor Crewes

Sharon’s Pick

To be honest, I don’t usually read graphic novel memoirs, but when I saw this book’s highly relatable title and the cover art, it shot to the top of my TBR list. Ellie always knew she was different when she was younger: she wore all black, obsessed over Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and found dating boys confusing. The Times I Knew I Was Gay charts Ellie’s journey toward self-discovery and self-acceptance. Crewes also provides essential reminders that coming out is not a one-time thing and that identity is more determined by coming to terms with yourself than with who you fall in love with, which particularly hit home for me as a bisexual woman.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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The Times I Knew I Was Gay
Eleanor Crewes

A charming, highly relatable graphic memoir that follows one young woman’s adventures in coming out and coming of age.

Ellie always had questions about who she was and how she fit in. As a girl, she wore black, obsessed over Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and found dating boys much more confusing than many of her friends did. As she grew older, so did her fears and a deep sense of unbelonging. From her first communion to her first girlfriend via a swathe of self-denial, awkward encounters, and everyday courage, Ellie tells her story through gorgeous illustrations—a fresh and funny self-portrait of a young woman becoming herself.

The Times I Knew I Was Gay reminds us that people sometimes come out not just once but again and again; that identity is not necessarily about falling in love with others, but about coming to terms with oneself. Full of vitality and humor, it will ring true for anyone who has taken the time to discover who they truly are.

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Is This Anything?
by Jerry Seinfeld

Jessica’s Pick

Last year I developed a huge love for stand-up comedy. Thanks to Netflix, I could have a comedy club in my living room every night of the week! And, of course, there is no way to talk about stand-up comedy without talking about Jerry Seinfeld. He created a whole specific style of comedy delivery, starred in one of the most successful sitcoms of all times (Seinfeld), and continues to produce stand-up shows 40 years after he started. Which is why I am wildly excited about Is This Anything? It is absolutely a sneak peek into the mind of a comedy genius. Basically, you are invited into his joke-writing process since the book includes over 30 years of notes—arranged by decade—bits, sets, and some sketches that he hasn’t ever performed. I couldn’t help but read it with his voice in my head, and I was laughing out loud the whole way through.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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Is This Anything?
Jerry Seinfeld

The first book in twenty-five years from Jerry Seinfeld features his best work across five decades in comedy.

Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub “Catch a Rising Star” as a twenty-one-year-old college student in fall of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything. “Whenever I came up with a funny bit, whether it happened on a stage, in a conversation, or working it out on my preferred canvas, the big yellow legal pad, I kept it in one of those old school accordion folders,” Seinfeld writes. “So I have everything I thought was worth saving from forty-five years of hacking away at this for all I was worth.”

For this book, Jerry Seinfeld has selected his favorite material, organized decade by decade. In page after hilarious page, one brilliantly crafted observation after another, readers will witness the evolution of one of the great comedians of our time and gain new insights into the thrilling but unforgiving art of writing stand-up comedy.

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Black Sun
by Rebecca Roanhorse

Emily’s Pick #1

Fall always puts me in the mood for epic fantasies and one of the best (and most impressive) ones I’ve read recently is Black Sun, the first book in Rebecca Roanhorse’s new series, inspired by Pre-Columbian histories and myths. In this well-developed world, Convergence approaches—the rare celestial event when the solar eclipse and winter solstice occur simultaneously—which prophesies the arrival of the Crow God to avenge past injustices wrecked upon the Carrion Crow clan. Through multiple perspectives, the story follows a priesthood’s traditions under a cultist threat; a down-on-her-luck Teek captain, whose magical sea-calling abilities mark her as a pariah, and the so-called prophesied avatar on his way to fulfill his destiny. Kirkus Reviews calls this book “perfection” and you can’t get higher praise than that!

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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Black Sun
Rebecca Roanhorse

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.

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Cuyahoga
by Pete Beatty

Emily’s Pick #2

You know when you’re reading a book and have a feeling that it will stand the test of time to become a classic? That’s what this book feels like. This tall tale is narrated from the perspective of Medium Son—Meed—who describes the adventures of his Paul Bunyan–like brother Big Son. Back when Ohio was still the frontier, Cleveland and Ohio City were rivals, competing to become the next great hotspot of the Midwest. Big Son is running around in the middle of it all—building bridges, falling in love, finding work, and making a name for himself as a living legend, which Meed documents with fondness and humor. Meed’s voice is unique and his fun twist of words, and delightfully fresh descriptions, will definitely lift your mood, while immersing you in some frontier history.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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Cuyahoga
Pete Beatty

One of The Millions and BuzzFeed’s Most Anticipated Books

A spectacularly inventive debut novel that reinvents the tall tale for our times—“Cuyahoga defies all modest description…[it] is ten feet tall if it’s an inch, and it’s a ramshackle joy from start to finish” (Brian Phillips, author of Impossible Owls).

Big Son is a spirit of the times—the times being 1837. Behind his broad shoulders, shiny hair, and church-organ laugh, Big Son practically made Ohio City all by himself. The feats of this proto-superhero have earned him wonder and whiskey toasts but very little in the way of fortune. And without money, Big cannot become an honest husband to his beloved Cloe (who may or may not want to be his wife, honestly).

In pursuit of a steady wage, our hero hits the (dirt) streets of Ohio City and Cleveland, the twin towns racing to become the first great metropolis of the West. Their rivalry reaches a boil over the building of a bridge across the Cuyahoga River—and Big stumbles right into the kettle. The resulting misadventures involve elderly terrorists, infrastructure collapse, steamboat races, wild pigs, and multiple ruined weddings.

Narrating this “deliriously fun” (Brian Phillips) tale is Medium Son—known as Meed—apprentice coffin maker, almanac author, orphan, and the younger brother of Big. Meed finds himself swept up in the action, and he is forced to choose between brotherly love and his own ambitions. His uncanny voice—plain but profound, colloquial but surprisingly poetic—elevates a slapstick frontier tale into a screwball origin myth for the Rust Belt.

In Cuyahoga, tragedy and farce jumble together in a riotously original voice. Evoking the Greek classics and the Bible alongside nods to Looney Tunes, Charles Portis, and Flannery O’Connor, Pete Beatty has written a rollicking revisionist (mid)Western with universal themes of family and fate—an old, weird America that feels brand new.

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She Come By It Natural
by Sarah Smarsh

Heather’s Pick #1

Sure, I grew up listening to Dolly Parton, but who in the South did not? I don’t think I truly understood how ingrained she is in general popular culture, though, or how much I’d taken her presence for granted, until I listened to the podcast Dolly Parton’s America earlier this year. (If you haven’t binged that yet, do it. It’s excellent.) Now that I’m fully up to speed on Dolly’s enduring legacy, and in the wake of her recent comments supporting Black Lives Matter, I’m fired up to read Heartland author Sarah Smarsh’s take on the iconic singer and “women who have lived her songs.” An essay collection first published as a four-part series by the music journal No DepressionShe Come By It Natural is an essential read for all of us who have been inspired by Dolly and her trailblazing career.

Publication Date: October 13, 2020

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She Come By It Natural
Sarah Smarsh

The National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Heartland focuses her laser-sharp insights on a working-class icon and one of the most unifying figures in American culture: Dolly Parton.

Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities—and strengths—of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, “country music was foremost a language among women. It’s how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren’t discussed.” And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton.

Smarsh challenged a typically male vision of the rural working class with her first book, Heartland, starring the bold, hard-luck women who raised her. Now, in She Come By It Natural, originally published in a four-part series for The Journal of Roots Music, No Depression, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such women—including those averse to the term “feminism”—as exemplified by Dolly Parton’s life and art.

Far beyond the recently resurrected “Jolene” or quintessential “9 to 5,” Parton’s songs for decades have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as “trailer trash.” Parton’s broader career—from singing on the front porch of her family’s cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from “girl singer” managed by powerful men to leader of a self-made business and philanthropy empire—offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture.

Infused with Smarsh’s trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, She Come By It Natural is a sympathetic tribute to the icon Dolly Parton and—call it whatever you like—the organic feminism she embodies.

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In a Holidaze
by Christina Lauren

Saimah’s Pick 

I’m thinking I’m not alone in wishing I could hit fast-forward to the holiday season and see the end of 2020. This charming novel by Christina Lauren is the perfect balm to the anxiety that this year has brought. Every holiday season, Maelyn Jones and her family go to a cabin in snowy Utah with close family friends and reminisce about years past. But this year, Mae feels lost—she’s living with her parents again at the age of 26, hates her dead-end job, just made a huge mistake in her love life, and discovers that this will be their last year at their beloved holiday retreat. Dismayed as she drives away from the cabin after Christmas, Mae makes a plea to the universe “Show me what will make me happy.” What comes next, Mae does not expect: the car crashes and when she wakes, she realizes she’s trapped in a cycle just like the movie Groundhog Day. Stuck reliving December 20, she must figure out how to break free of this crazy time loop and put her life back on track. This read had me laughing, swooning, and letting out a few expletives in frustration alongside Mae as she had to start over again so many times in a time loop when she got so close to confessing her feelings to her crush! I can’t wait for you all to escape with this enchanting story.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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In a Holidaze
Christina Lauren

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark “downright hilarious” (Helen Hoang, author of The Bride Test) hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

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Fortune Favors the Dead
by Stephen Spotswood

Sara’s Pick #3

Who doesn't love an LGBTQ historical murder mystery thriller with a punny title? Lillian Pentecost is a strange kind of gumshoe who works cases in 1940s New York and gets saved by Willowjean "Will" Parker, a knife-wielding runaway. There begins a partnership that will see them rise to an unstoppable crime-solving duo. Years later, Will ends up on the case of a widow beaten to death with a crystal ball while sitting in her late husband's chair. It's a case that only gets stranger and more dangerous as Will starts to fall for the deceased's lovely daughter, Becca. If you've been dying for a fresh take on the sleuth genre, this book delivers that and more. A mix of classic noir aesthetics and tropes with an inclusive twist, Fortune Favors the Dead is the kind of mystery series that will capture your imagination in new and fun ways, and have you desperate to get your hands on more.

Publication Date: October 27, 2020

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Fortune Favors the Dead
Stephen Spotswood

Sara’s Pick #3 Who doesn't love an LGBTQ historical murder mystery thriller with a punny title? Lillian Pentecost is a strange kind of gumshoe who works cases in 1940s New York and gets saved by Willowjean "Will" Parker, a knife-wielding runaway. There begins a partnership that will see them rise to an unstoppable crime-solving duo. Years later, Will ends up on the case of a widow beaten to death with a crystal ball while sitting in her late husband's chair. It's a case that only gets stranger and more dangerous as Will starts to fall for the deceased's lovely daughter, Becca. If you've been dying for a fresh take on the sleuth genre, this book delivers that and more. A mix of classic noir aesthetics and tropes with an inclusive twist, Fortune Favors the Dead is the kind of mystery series that will capture your imagination in new and fun ways, and have you desperate to get your hands on more. Publication Date: October 27, 2020

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MENTIONED IN:

Our 15 Most Anticipated New Reads of October 2020

By Get Literary | September 30, 2020

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The Hollow Places
by T. Kingfisher

Sara’s Pick #4

Fall always triggers a part of my brain that craves all things creepy, and thankfully, T. Kingfisher is here to provide just that. Recovering from her recent divorce, Kara finds a strange bunker in her uncle’s museum that holds portals to a number of alternate realities. While fun at first, she and her travel companion, a barista named Simon, soon discover that their explorations have caught the attention of creatures that appear to hear thoughts. Oh, and they only get more powerful the more you fear them. It’s a battle of wits, speed, and luck to outsmart these deadly foes, who will show no mercy once they reach their prey. The Hollow Places is the kind of high-anxiety, minimal-description horror that keeps people up at night and will likely have a guest spot in your nightmares for at least a few autumnal evenings.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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The Hollow Places
T. Kingfisher

A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel from the author of the “innovative, unexpected, and absolutely chilling” (Mira Grant, Nebula Award–winning author) The Twisted Ones.

Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.

With her distinctive “delightfully fresh and subversive” (SF Bluestocking) prose and the strange, sinister wonder found in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, The Hollow Places is another compelling and white-knuckled horror novel that you won’t be able to put down.

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MENTIONED IN:

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Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes)
by Mindy Kaling

Heather's Pick #2

I was obsessed with Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project in 2013–2014. It’s pretty much all I wanted to talk about back then, most notably during the excruciating two-month hiatus between a certain impromptu Mindy/Danny kiss and the episode that dealt with the fallout. But I digress. For a while there, only more of Mindy Kaling’s work could soothe me, so of course I read her first memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? It was so good that I needed Why Not Me? as soon as it was released. What I’m saying here is that I’ve devoured both of her previous essay collections, and there is absolutely no question in my mind that I will be among the first to snag a copy of Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) too. Kaling’s a rom-com genius and an all-around marvelous writer, so I’m eager to see what she’s learned to laugh about in the years since her last book.

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes)
Mindy Kaling

Heather’s Pick #5 I was obsessed with Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project in 2013–2014. It’s pretty much all I wanted to talk about back then, most notably during the excruciating two-month hiatus between a certain impromptu Mindy/Danny kiss and the episode that dealt with the fallout. But I digress. For a while there, only more of Mindy Kaling’s work could soothe me, so of course I read her first memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? It was so good that I needed Why Not Me? as soon as it was released. What I’m saying here is that I’ve devoured both of her previous essay collections, and there is absolutely no question in my mind that I will be among the first to snag a copy of Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) too. Kaling’s a rom-com genius and an all-around marvelous writer, so I’m eager to see what she’s learned to laugh about in the years since her last book. Publication Date: October 6, 2020

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MENTIONED IN:

Our 15 Most Anticipated New Reads of October 2020

By Get Literary | September 30, 2020

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By Get Literary | September 4, 2020

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