Tell Me Something Tuesday: Which Books Are You Looking Forward to Reading This Fall? (September-November)

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

WHICH BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THIS FALL? (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER)

I don't know if I'll ever get around to buying all these books or when, since 1) early reviews and excerpts might cause me to change my mind in the future, and 2) given my current situation (see: unemployment status), book money is scarce...Anyhow, I wanted to give a bit of exposure to all the fall books that caught my eye (a really small number, especially compared to the summer ones), so here's my list (complete with pub dates)...

SEPTEMBER

12th. Sarah Hollowell: What Stalks Among Us (YA)

Best friends and high school seniors Sadie and Logan make their first mistake when they ditch their end-of-year field trip to the amusement park in favor of exploring some old, forgotten backroads. The last thing they expect to come across is a giant, abandoned corn maze. But with a whole day of playing hooking unspooling before them, they make their second mistake. Or perhaps their third? Maybe even their fourth. Because Sadie and Logan have definitely entered this maze before. And again before that. When they stumble on the corpses in the maze, identical to them in every way (if you can ignore the stab and gunshot wounds)—from their clothes to their hidden scars to their dyed hair, to that one missing tooth—they quickly realize they’ve not only entered this maze before, they’ve died in it too. A lot. And no matter what they try, they can’t figure out what—or who—is hunting them. Deeply unnerving, clever, and atmospheric, this time-bending, mind-bending speculative horror is a poignant meditation on the lasting effects of trauma and the healing powers of connection and forgiveness—all while delivering more surprise twists and turns than a haunted corn maze. 

Note: Alas, I didn't get approved for an eARC of this one...but I'll keep it on my radar, because the concept sounds FABULOUS. It has definite Christopher Pike vibes, and it promises the kind of thrills I got from What We Buried by Kate A. Boorman (a criminally underrated mindf*ckery of a book that you MUST read, BTW).

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28th. Deirdre Sullivan: Wise Creatures (YA)

Former child psychic Daisy hasn't thought about her past for a long time. She was only six, after all. The 'wise creatures' in the walls of the house, whispering secrets to her, are long gone. Her parents, dead in a mysterious accident, are forgotten. Some surfaces are better left unscratched. Daisy has left those things behind.

And now, ten years on, she has a happy, normal life. But she does wonder, sometimes, about the blank spaces in her memories. The fear when she encounters certain textures, scents. It can be hard to feel safe in a world that's full of fears you can't explain. Thank God for Nina, her trusting, sweet foster sister and best friend. So when something seems to upturn in Nina's life Daisy is shaken. Nina has some secret she is guarding, that she won't share with Daisy. And then Nina begins to speak of murmurs in the walls, of cold spots. She claims it isn't her. It's something else. A malevolent force.

And Daisy knows that something's up. And that the wise creatures, locked away for so long, are back. And this time they want both Nina, and Daisy ...

Note: Secrets, a tragic past, a sisterly female friendship and the supernatural? Yes please! (Will I get an eARC? The book is not on EW, and you can only "wish for it" on NG, so I guess not?).

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OCTOBER

3rd. Ryan La Sala: Beholder (YA)

Athanasios “Athan” Bakirtzis hasn’t had an easy life. Orphaned by a fire at a young age, he’s had to rely on his charm, his under-the-table job as an art handler, and the generosity of family friends to care for his ailing Yiayia, his grandmother.

But Athan also has a secret: a hereditary power that allows him to rewind the reflection in any mirror, peering into its recent past. Superstitious Yiayia calls the family ability a curse, and has long warned him never to use it. For Athan, who’s survived this long by keeping to the realm of the real, this is a perfectly agreeable arrangement.

Until the night of the party. After being invited to a penthouse soiree for New York’s art elite, Athan breaks his grandmother’s rule during a trip to the bathroom, turning back his reflection for just a moment. Then he hears a slam against the bathroom door, followed by a scream. Athan peers outside, only to be pushed back in by a boy his age. The boy gravely tells him not to open the door, then closes Athan in.

Before Athan can process what’s happening, more screams follow, and the party descends into chaos. When he finally emerges, he discovers a massacre where the victims appear to have arranged themselves into a disturbingly elegant sculpture—and Athan's mysterious savior is nowhere to be found.

Something evil is compelling people to destructive acts, a presence that’s been hiding behind Athan’s reflection his whole life, watching and biding its time. Soon, he’s swept up in a supernatural conspiracy that spans New York, of occult high societies and deadly eldritch designs. If beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, what can it do to us once it’s inside?

Note: I love La Sala, and I trust him to deliver. Also, the premise is crazy and original. (Oh - another eARC that I probably won't get. You can only "wish for it" on NG, and EW is keeping me in limbo...).

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17th. A. Deborah Baker: Under the Smokestrewn Sky (MG)

Since stumbling from their world into the Up-and-Under, Avery and Zib have walked the improbable road across forests, seas, and skies, finding friends in the unlikeliest of places and enemies great in number, as they make their way toward the Impossible City in the hope of finding their way home.

But the final part of their journey is filled with danger and demise. Not everyone will make it through unscathed. Not everyone will make it through alive.

The final part of the enchanting Up and Under quartet reminds us of the value of friendship and the price one sometimes pays for straying from the path. No one’s safety can be guaranteed under the smokestrewn sky.

Note: I got an eARC at last, after having my requests rejected for the previous 3 installments in the series! I guess with the final book Tor/Forge became more lenient (same for the 9th installment in the Wayward Children saga, which I also got...😮). A nice series finale, though I've never managed to rate one of these books more than 3.5 stars. But hey, it's Seanan McGuire in disguise, so I gotta read the thing 😉 (also, I've purchased the previous books in the series, and I'll most certainly buy this one as well when it comes out). Mini review to come in October.

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17th. Clara Kumagai: Catfish Rolling (YA)

There's a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls.

Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones – the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces.

But it's dangerous there – and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. After Sora's father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself...

Note: Magical realism. I got an eARC, I read it and I loved it! Review to come in October.

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NOVEMBER

I don't have any November releases on my wishlist! Odd, I know. There's always the chance that I get wind of one or more that may interest me in the upcoming weeks, but so far...🤷‍♀️

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Well, that's it for now. Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to participate in the meme on a regular or semi-regular basis, and get emailed the prompt list? Just head over here and fill in Jen's form! (Of course, you can jump in anytime you like - you are under no obligation to actually do all the posts, or even most of them, just because you signed up, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time). And if you're interested in participating in a more casual manner, or only in commenting, here is the TMST prompt list for the months of September and October (since I'll be on hiatus next month):

• September 5th: Overnights, long weekends, a week away: what's your preference for a trip?
• September 12th: Libraries: do you prefer to visit in-person or check out on-line?
• September 19th: New to me authors: who have you discovered this year?
• September 26th: Do you download freebies? Read free preview chapters?
• October 3rd: Do you enjoy multi-author anthologies?
• October 10th: Zombie apocalypse:what would you do?
• October 17th: What is your favourite season? Why?
• October 24th: What's your favourite supernatural creature? (a question I submitted)
• October 31st: What's your favourite thing about Halloween?

As usual, I have my hands full and I need a break at the same time (that's why I'm on hiatus until the end of September, though I'll probably end up using it to draft future reviews 😬), so I'll be back for the meme only on October 24th (so sorry!), while I'll reprise my commenting (and blogging!) activity at the beginning of October.

Now tell me something...which fall books are on your TBR list?