Books Publishing This Week
Books Publishing This Week: December 8 - 14
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It's a mid-December day, and the air outside is crisp and cold, filled with the promise of winter. You’ve been waiting for a quiet moment like this to indulge in the simple pleasure of a new book, and today feels just right. The sky outside is a pale gray, and though the days are short now, there’s still a gentle light filtering through the window. It bathes the room in a soft, wintry glow, setting the perfect atmosphere for an afternoon spent indoors.
You find your favorite corner of the couch and settle in, pulling a soft ivory blanket around you. The fabric is plush and comforting, with just the right amount of weight to keep out the chill that seems to seep in, no matter how warm the house is. As you tuck the blanket around your legs and shoulders, you feel instantly cocooned, shielded from the cold world outside. It’s just you, the book in your hands, and the comfort of being wrapped in ivory softness.
The book has been waiting patiently on your shelf, and now, as you turn to the first page, you feel a little spark of excitement, that familiar thrill of stepping into a new story. The world outside seems to fade as you begin to read, each word drawing you further in. There’s a certain magic to starting a new book in winter. The season’s quiet, its slower pace, makes each line feel richer, more vivid, as if the characters and settings are even closer, hovering just at the edge of reality.
Occasionally, you pause to shift beneath your blanket, making sure every part of you is wrapped snugly in its warmth. The ivory color seems to catch the light, making it glow softly against the dimness of the room. It feels like the essence of winter comfort, a soothing reminder of home and coziness. With the blanket tucked around you, the cold feels distant, just a memory you can easily ignore while you’re nestled in this little haven.
The story begins to take shape, pulling you deeper with each turn of the page. You sip a warm drink you’ve placed beside you—a mug of tea or maybe hot chocolate, rich and soothing, adding a gentle warmth that balances perfectly with the chill outside. Each sip fills you with a quiet comfort, and combined with the soft light, the ivory blanket, and the hush of the winter day, you feel as if you’ve slipped into a world entirely of your own making.
As the hours pass, the light begins to shift, growing softer and dimmer as the afternoon fades into early evening. Outside, the trees are bare, their branches etched darkly against the sky. The wind rustles lightly, just enough to remind you that winter’s stillness is here. But you’re warm, tucked away, letting the story unfold in its own time.
The blanket feels like a shield against the darkening cold, each part of you wrapped in its soft layers. The ivory color reflects the last traces of daylight, adding a soft glow to the room, and you find yourself glancing up now and then, noticing how peaceful everything feels. It’s the kind of day that invites quiet reflection, that makes you want to linger in the warmth of your reading nook, taking in the season’s calm in this small, perfect way.
With each page you turn, the story deepens, transporting you somewhere entirely new, yet somehow perfectly fitting for this winter day. Occasionally, you pause, letting the words sink in, savoring the richness of the narrative. The outside world, in all its frosty stillness, is just a faint outline beyond the window, as if the world itself has slowed to make room for this moment.
By the time you look up, evening has fully set in, casting a dim glow over the room. The light is low now, the day almost over, but you’re not quite ready to leave this little haven of warmth and words. The blanket keeps you cocooned, its ivory softness a reassuring presence, and you know that even though it’s grown dark, you could easily stay here for hours more, letting the story carry you deeper into the cozy quiet of this December day.
The Birdcage Library by Freya Berry (Paperback)
Also listed in Books Set in the 1930s
Spanning Gilded Age New York society to the 1930s Scottish Highlands, this gothic novel is a mystery within a mystery, featuring a compelling heroine, an engrossing puzzle with fiendish clues, and not one but three big twists.
It’s 1932: Scottish adventuress and plant-hunter (and surviving twin) Emily Blackwood, now living in Australia, accepts a commission from Heinrich Vogel, a former dealer of exotic animals in Manhattan. Vogel now lives with his macabre collection of taxidermy in a remote Scottish castle. Emily is tasked with finding a long-lost treasure that Heinrich believes has been hidden within the castle walls. But instead, she discovers the pages of a diary written by Hester Vogel, who died after falling from the Brooklyn Bridge on the eve of its opening in 1883. Hester's diary leads Emily to an old book, The Birdcage Library, and into a treasure hunt of another kind—one that will take her down a dangerous path for clues, and force her to confront her own darkest secret . . .
The Good Bride by Jen Marie Wiggins
The Wedding of the Year turns disastrous in this twisty family drama full of lies and betrayals, perfect for fans of Laura Dave, Lucy Foley, and Ruth Ware.
One year after a devastating hurricane, bride-to-be Ruth Bancroft is marrying her perfect groom in a quaint fishing village on the Gulf Coast. The weekend is carefully curated, with the displays of pomp and social media magic meant to promote an area still struggling to rebuild as well as bring Ruth’s estranged family back together.
Yet as good intentions often go, this road to wed is hell and paved in complications. With tensions rising between the family and the bridal party, long-buried secrets come to light, and accusations start flying. Things officially spiral out of control when the oceanfront rehearsal dinner is rocked by a series of gunshots, and a high-profile guest goes missing. As the investigation gets underway, it turns out that everyone has something to hide.
Big Little Lies meets The Guest List in this gripping page turner that asks the big questions about messy family liaisons, modern media, and the lies we tell the world.
What the Wife Knew by Darby Kane
Darby Kane, author of the #1 international bestseller Pretty Little Wife, returns with another twisty domestic thriller about a wife wondering who tried to kill her husband twice before finally succeeding… because that was supposed to be her job.
Dr. Richmond Dougherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. He’s also very dead—thanks to a fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Ms. Dougherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted ninety-seven days, and he’d had two suspicious “accidents” during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow.
As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, sides are chosen with Kathryn, Richmond’s high school sweetheart, wife number one, and the mother of his children, leading the fray. Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the path she charted years ago…
Determined at all costs to unravel Richmond’s legacy, she soon becomes a target—with a shocking note left on her bedroom wall: You will pay. But it will take a lot more than faceless threats to stop Addison. Her plan to marry Richmond then ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she’s not done with him yet.
The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right by Suzanne Allain
Also listed in Books Set in London
When a young woman trades places with her noble cousin, their innocent ruse leads to true love in this new Regency-era romantic comedy of manners from the author of Mr. Malcolm’s List.
When Arabella Grant’s wicked aunt dies suddenly, both Arabella and her cousin Lady Isabelle cannot help but feel relieved. She’d made their lives miserable, and now Lady Issie is free to read to her heart’s content, and Bella is free from taunts about her ignoble birth.
Their newfound freedom is threatened, however, when Issie’s great-aunt commands her to travel to London for a come-out Issie has never wanted. Issie, who is in poor health, is convinced she’ll drop dead like her mother did if she drops into a curtsy before the queen. So when her great-aunt turns out to be nearsighted and can’t tell the noble Lady Isabelle from her commoner cousin Arabella, Issie convinces Bella to take her place. Bella can attend all the exclusive entertainments that her lower birth would typically exclude her from, and Issie can stay in bed, her nose in a book.
Bella agrees to the scheme for her dear cousin’s sake, but matters turn complicated when she meets the irresistible Lord Brooke. He begins courting her while under the impression she’s the rich and aristocratic Lady Isabelle, who, unlike Bella, is a suitable bride for an eligible young earl. And Bella, who is convinced that she has met “Lord Right,” worries what will happen when she reveals that he’s actually fallen for …the wrong lady
Not in My Book: A Novel by Katie Holt
Rosie writes romance novels and listens to Taylor Swift on loop. Aiden is a literary fiction writer who doesn’t believe in happy endings. They’re about to write a book together—what could go wrong?
The Hating Game meets Beach Read in this sexy and hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance from a debut Peruvian-Tennessean voice.
Rosie, an idealistic and passionate Peruvian American, leaves her Tennessee hometown to pursue her dream of making it in New York as a writer. But her plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington—an obnoxious, surly, and gorgeous literary fiction writer who doesn’t have much patience for the romance genre or for Rosie.
Rosie and Aiden regularly go to verbal battle in workshop until their professor reaches her breaking point. She allows them to stay in her class on one condition: they must cowrite a novel that blends their genres.
The reluctant writing duo can’t help but put pieces of themselves into their accidentally steamy novel, and their manuscript-in-progress provides an outlet for them to confess their feelings—and explore their attraction toward each other.
When Rosie and Aiden find themselves competing against each other for a potentially career-changing opportunity, the flames of old rivalry reignite, and their once-in-a-lifetime love story is once again at risk of being shelved—unless they can find a way to end the book on their own terms.
Life/Insurance by Tara Deal
The narrator of this spare novella is a collage artist trying to piece together a life. Her husband is a composer who is unable to talk. Even so, she keeps asking him questions, trying to figure out what he can remember, what he did, what he wants, what he means. But then she, in turn, is interrogated by the authorities, who want to know what happened here. Everyone waits for answers. How to compensate for this disaster? What are the chances of survival? Is there solace in converting life into language? What to believe? In prose that is sometimes suspenseful, sometimes meditative, sometimes provocative, LIFE / INSURANCE is a portrait of an artist confronting the problems of existence, knowledge, language, and New York City.
The Irish Girl by Ashley E. Sweeney
Author Interview with Ashley E. Sweeney
Thirteen-year-old Mary Agnes Coyne, forced from her home in rural Ireland in 1886 after being accused of incest, endures a treacherous voyage across the Atlantic alone to an unknown life in America. From the tenements of New York to the rough alleys of Chicago, Mary Agnes suffers the bitter taste of prejudice for the crime of being poor and Irish.
After moving west to Colorado, Mary Agnes again faces hardships and grapples with heritage, religion, and matters of the heart. Will she ever find a home to call her own? Where?
Fatally Inferior by Lyn Squire
Set against the backdrop of Victorian England, Dunston, a mild-mannered retired bookkeeper, must confront enemies with motives as complex as the theories of evolution themselves. The investigation takes him from the halls of Down House, Darwin’s home in Kent, to the shadowy streets of London, where every clue brings him closer to a chilling truth.
Beneath the Poet’s House by Christa Carmen
For a grieving writer, the secrets of the past and present converge in a novel of gripping psychological suspense from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Daughters of Block Island.
Unmoored by her husband’s death and suffering from writer’s block, novelist Saoirse White moves to Providence, and into the historic home of Sarah Helen Whitman, the nineteenth-century poet and spiritualist once courted by Edgar Allan Poe. Saoirse’s certain she’ll find inspiration in the quiet rooms, as well as in the tucked-away rose garden and forgotten cemetery at the back of the property.
Saoirse is immediately welcomed by an effusive trio of transcendentalists obsessed with Whitman, the house, and Whitman’s mystic beliefs. Saoirse, emerging from grief and loneliness, welcomes the idea of new friends taking her mind off the past―even as they hope to summon it. When she meets Emmit Powell, a charismatic and charming prize-winning author, Saoirse thinks she’s finally turned a corner.
Emboldened by new romance, Saoirse begins to write again and, through her writing, rediscover herself. But as old fears return, she finds that nothing about her new life is what it seems―and a secret she’s tried so hard to bury may not be the only thing that comes back to haunt her.
