Tell Me Something Tuesday: Which Books Are You Looking Forward to Reading This Winter? (December-February)

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 WINTER? (DECEMBER-FEBRUARY)

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...(I got a few of these in eARC form though! See below). Anyhow, I wanted to give a bit of exposure to all the winter books that caught my eye, so here's my list (complete with pub dates)...

DECEMBER

I don't have any December releases on my wishlist! (Just like I didn't have any November ones. Maybe because this is the time frame when all the cozy Christmas books come out and I don't do cozy? 😂). 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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JANUARY

16th. Aliya Whiteley: Three Eight One (Adult)

In January 2314, Rowena Savalas – a curator of the vast archive of the twenty-first century’s primitive internet – stumbles upon a story posted in the summer of 2024. She’s quickly drawn into the mystery of the Is it autobiography, fantasy or fraud? What’s the significance of the recurring number 381?

In the story, the protagonist Fairly walks the Horned Road – a quest undertaken by youngsters in her village when they come of age. She is followed by the 'Breathing Man', a looming presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. Everything she was taught about her world is overturned.

Following Fairly’s quest, Rowena comes to question her own choices, and a predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. As both women’s stories draw to a close, she realises it doesn’t matter whether the story is true or as with the quest itself, it’s the journey that matters.

Note: Alas, I got an ARC of this one, but it didn't work for me (I even DNF it). I decided to include it in this list because I "was" looking forward to reading it originally, and because I want to give it a bit of exposure, in case it sounds like someone else's cup of tea...

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23rd. Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich: You're Breaking My Heart (YA)

Harriet Adu knows that her brother's death is her fault. I mean, it's not actually her fault, but it still kinda is, isn't it?

She would do anything to live in a world where she could take back what she said that morning. 

Then a strange girl shows up at Harriet's high school – a girl who loves the same weird books Harriet does, who doesn't vibe with anyone at school the same way Harriet does – and that different world suddenly seems possible. The girl speaks of a place underneath the subways of New York, where people like them can go and find a home. A place away from the world of high school, grief, cool people, and depression. A place where one may be able to bend the lines of reality and get a second chance at being a better person.

Will Harriet open the door?

Note: I read an ARC of this one and I liked it! It's an unusual coming-of-age novel centering on grief and family and reading like a fever dream. Review to come closer to pub date.

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30th. Krystal Sutherland: The Invocations (YA)

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear—that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it's feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes—even if that means partaking in the occult—to bring her sister back from the dead.

Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.

Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara and Jude's predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own—and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.

As Zara and Jude enter Emer's orbit, they'll have to team up to stop the killer—before they each end up next on his list.

Note: This book was supposed to come out in June, so you might remember that I already showcased it in my most anticipated summer releases list. I read an ARC of this one as well - I didn't love it as much as Sutherland's previous novel House of Hollow, but I did enjoy it! Review to come closer to pub date.

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FEBRUARY

1st. Mallory Pearson: We Ate the Dark (Adult)

Five years after Sofia Lyon disappeared, her remains are found stuffed into the hollow of a tree bursting through the floorboards of an abandoned house in the woods. The women who loved her flock home to the North Carolina hills to face their grief.

Frankie, Sofia’s twin, is in furious mourning. Poppy is heartbroken. Cass has never felt more homesick. And Marya knows something the rest of them don’t. Determined to find Sofia’s murderer, they share more than a need to see justice done for their friend. Each woman is haunted, bound to the next by something both cruel and kind, and now stalked by a shadowy presence they’ve yet to understand. Only to question, and to fear.

As Sofia’s secrets unravel, so do those of the woods, and the women soon realize that Sofia might not be who they thought she was at all. And that whoever—or whatever—killed her is coming after them.

Note: I'm trash for this kind of premise (read: childhood/teenage friends who meet again after years when one of them dies mysteriously and for supernatural reasons - which, I gathered, is what happens here), plus that title...(The book isn't on NG or EW yet, why why WHY 😭).

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20th. Melissa Albert: The Bad Ones (YA)

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town’s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local folklore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games...

Note: A variation of the above premise...Alas, I was denied an ARC, but I still want to read this one! though one review on GR mentioned a "mysterious new transfer student/charismatic photographer boy", which made me a bit wary because, you know...the possibility of (insta-)romance...🤨 We'll see!

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20th. Paul Di Filippo: Vangie's Ghosts (Adult)

Three-year-old Vangie is mute and unresponsive. She shows no interest in the people or world around her, much to the frustration of her callous foster parents. Little do they know, Vangie is otherwise occupied observing “ghosts”—an infinite number of versions of herself, in an infinite number of parallel universes. When a tornado hits their trailer and Vangie is severely injured, she makes a desperate leap into another timeline where she survives the tornado, but her foster parents do not. So begins a life of shuttling through various foster homes, cultivating her abilities to seek out alternate timelines, and making jumps calculated to better her circumstances in order to avoid the exploitation of adults who seek to harness her powers for their own means. Vangie never communicates with her avatars, until one day the “Council”—a group of Vangies—appear to her and warn her of an ominous, growing threat in the a man they call the Massive. And thus begins an epic conflict, spanning millennia and worlds, in a brutal effort to control the fate of the multiverse.

Note: I have an ARC of this one, but I haven't started it yet. I need to put my butt in gear LOL

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20th. Vera Kurian: A Step Past Darkness (YA/Adult)

There’s more to Wesley Falls than meets the eye, but for six high school students, it’s home.

Kelly, the new girl and rule-follower.

Maddy, the beauty and church favorite.

Padma, the brains and top of the class.

Casey, the jock and star football player.

James, the burnout and just trying to make it to graduation.

And Jia, the psychic, who can see the future.

When these six are assigned to work on a summer group project, their lives are forever changed. At an end-of-the-year party in the abandoned mine, they witness a preventable tragedy, but no one will take them seriously. As things escalate, they realize the church, the police and the town’s founders are all conspiring to cover up what happened. When James is targeted as the scapegoat to avoid suspicion, they vow their silence and to never contact each other again. Their plan works—almost.

Twenty years later, Maddy is found murdered is Wesley Falls, and the remaining five are forced to confront their past and work together to finally put right what happened all those years ago. If they can survive…

Note: That premise again...🤩 OK, I'll never get it from NG, because you can only "wish for it" on there...and EW rejected my request...but I want to read it nevertheless.

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27th. Scott Alexander Howard: The Other Valley (YA)

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town. Except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.

When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present.

Edme––who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile––is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate. Yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.

Note: Another ARC I was approved for a while ago but haven't opened yet 😬 (in my defense, I got a few of them, and writing reviews is a painful affair for me sometimes...erm, more like, often?).

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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 month of December:

• December 5th: If you were stranded on a desert island which book would you want with you?
• December 12th: What were your favourite games/toys when you were a kid? (a question I submitted)
• December 19th: Which phone apps can't you live without?
• December 26th: What are your favorite books/audiobooks that you read in 2023? 

OK, I was planning to join the meme again for real in December, but...I decided to go on a semi-hiatus instead. This month kicked my ass, y'all. I'll post my next Offbeat Offline installment on Friday (with the reasons for said hiatus), after which I'll only resurface at the end of December for my yearly recap...

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