Books Publishing This Week
The day is caught somewhere between winter and spring, the air still carrying a hint of cold, but the promise of warmth lingers just beneath it. Outside, the sky is a shifting canvas of gray and gold, clouds drifting lazily as the sun makes brief appearances, casting soft, golden light over the world. The trees, mostly bare but dotted with the earliest buds, stand against the cool breeze, their branches swaying as if whispering secrets of the changing season.
Inside, the air is warmer, cozier, wrapped in the scent of something familiar—maybe a candle burning softly on the table, filling the room with notes of vanilla and cedar, or the lingering aroma of afternoon tea. You move through the house with quiet intention, settling into your favorite reading spot, a place that has carried you through the long winter and is now ready to transition into spring alongside you. A soft knit blanket, golden orange from autumn but still beloved in these in-between days, is draped over the back of the chair. You pull it over you, layering it atop the ivory throw that’s been your companion through the coldest months.
A new book waits for you on the side table, its cover crisp and inviting. You reach for it, running your fingers along the smooth surface, feeling the weight of it in your hands. There’s always something special about starting a book at just the right time—not just a time of day, but a time in your life when the story feels like it might slip into place perfectly, as if it were waiting for you just as much as you were waiting for it.
The first page greets you with the promise of something new, and as you begin to read, the world around you softens. The sounds of the day—the ticking clock, the faint rustling of the wind outside, the distant hum of life beyond the window—fade into the background. The characters begin to take shape in your mind, their voices distinct, their world unfolding one sentence at a time.
Every so often, you pause, shifting slightly beneath the warmth of the blankets, lifting your cup of tea to your lips. The steam curls into the air, carrying a scent both calming and invigorating, a perfect match for the quiet energy of the afternoon. You take a slow sip, letting the warmth spread through you, then return your focus to the pages, eager to see where the story will take you.
Outside, the day lingers in that golden hour glow, the last stretch of sunlight stretching across the room, painting everything in soft amber light. There’s a peacefulness to this moment, a quiet kind of joy in the simplicity of it—just you, a book, the slow turn of pages, and the gentle transition from one season to the next. You don’t rush. You savor each word, each scene, knowing that soon, winter will be only a memory, and spring will arrive in full bloom. But for now, in this late March day, you are exactly where you need to be—tucked into the warmth of a story, on the edge of something new.
I want to note that I do not get paid to do these posts, I just love authors and the book industry. However, they do take time and energy to create. If you want to donate a few dollars to my coffee fund, which keeps this blog going, you can do so here: https://venmo.com/AshleyHasty or here: http://paypal.me/hastybooklist.
Books Publishing This Week: March 23 - 29
The Storyteller from Balincia by S.W. Kent
An epic fantasy series crafted for all those who, as children, never found reflections of themselves in the pages of a Fairy Tale. World-building for a new generation — where anyone can be the hero, love knows no limits, and magic thrives unrestricted by prejudice.
What if there was more to the world than you knew? What if magic truly existed? How far would you go to uncover the truth?
In Balincia, no one ever questioned what was-when what is- is all one would ever need to know. Every citizen was granted provision and purpose by the twin witches who ruled from the floating isles of Chaos and Order. Surrounded by majestic mountains and cascading waterfalls, every aspect of a Balincian’s life was idyllic, nurtured with intention and measured. What more did one need?
Enter Birk, the witches’ nephew and a young Storyteller, whose life is turned upside down when a mysterious stranger presents him with a magical book in dire need of an author. As Birk uncovers the shocking truth that the world he knows is merely a fraction of a far grander reality, he sets out on an epic quest to delve into his aunt’s hidden past.
Joined by a fierce new generation of witches, he teams up with Zara, a fearless warrior princess; Grey, a gentle soul with a secret; his spirited little sister Brynn; and Thalon, the arrogant heir of the Elven Witch from the Living Forest. Carrying the weight of their ancestors' choices, they race against time to unravel a daunting prophecy. The group must prevent the evil Bog Witch and her terrifying horde of Arcanivores from breaking free from the Under and obliterating the balanced scales of magic.
Will Birk and his newfound allies succeed in this high-stakes battle for the future of their world? Or will the high cost of truth lead to a darker fate? Questions might lead to discomfort. Discomfort might lead to confrontation. Confrontation might upset balance...and balance is everything.
Adventure awaits in a page-turning thriller and a stunning debut by S.W. Kent.
S.W. Kent builds a fantasy world where diversity is intentional, not forced. Queer, Black, and Female narratives take the lead, defying the stereotypes often assigned to them in the Fantasy genre. This series will undoubtedly hold a special place on your shelf and in your hearts.
“Everyone has a story to share; maybe yours is waiting to reveal itself.”
The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen
From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen comes a chilling follow-up to The Spy Coast, plunging the Martini Club into the search for a missing teen—with a startling connection to their own pasts.
When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything.
Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance.
After a teenager vanishes—and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect—she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend’s innocence. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.
As Jo grapples with two unexplained mysteries, the Martini Club races to uncover the truth behind shadowy secrets…before more lives are lost.
Protecting Jess by Karna Small Bodman
In the Shadows of Brazil, Where Wealth and Crime Collide, Unfolds a Gripping Tale of Intrigue and Survival
White House economist Jessica Tanner is a rising star in her department—young, bright, and beautiful. When her boss gets sick, she is sent to Brazil on his behalf to speak at an international conference. She pictures spending her days on a glamorous work trip on the beaches of Brazil, and the last thing on her mind is danger and crime.
An undercover CIA agent, Bill Black, is also sent to Brazil. Told to look after Jess and to keep her out of trouble. However, his real mission is much larger—he must prevent the assassination of the Brazilian President. Black had been in Brazil a year earlier as part of a team intercepting a major drug shipment. During the action, the drug kingpin’s brother is killed, and Bill gets the blame. The kingpin vows that if that agent ever shows up in Brazil again, he will seek revenge. Protecting Jess is a gripping thriller of political intrigue and bureaucratic wrangling that only a national security insider could have written.
Nowhere by Allison Gunn
Mare of Easttown meets The Outsider in this spine-tingling and twisty debut about a series of disappearances in a small, fundamentalist town and what one broken family must do to remain together as dark forces close in.
After losing her young son in an accident, Rachel Kennan throws herself into her career as police chief of a small Virginia town to avoid focusing on her grief. Meanwhile, her husband, Finn, a washed-up writer whose alcoholism led to the devastating tragedy that changed everything, struggles to redeem himself before his family completely falls apart. Their two daughters are the only things keeping Rachel and Finn together, but the girls have demons of their own.
At the same time, a disturbing crime rocks their tightknit, religious community, sending Rachel chasing leads in a place that does not take kindly to outsiders. When an ominous force in the forest starts calling to the children, fear spawns hate among the townspeople, placing the Kennan family directly in the line of fire. Left with no choice but to rely on each other, Rachel and Finn must come together to face threats inside and out.
A haunting family saga and a disquieting horror debut, Nowhere draws from Appalachian folklore to caution us that true terror is what we bury in our own hearts.
Original Sinner by Kait Ballenger
Seven deadly—and ultrarich—sins rule NYC, and though she came here to escape her past, one woman’s true path to freedom might be the devil’s bonds in this scorching hot romantasy from Kait Ballenger.
The seven deadly sins keep high profiles in the Big Apple: Lust runs brothels, Sloth’s a media streamer…you get the picture. Pride, though, he’s more mysterious. You might know him as Lucifer—temptation irresistibly embodied. The paparazzi are dying for some burning-hot gossip. So when someone publishes my scathing but private rant about him, they eat it up. And now my job is on the line. After all, he is my boss.
With his vicious siblings vying for his power, Lucifer needs to distract the press, so he reframes my tirade as a lovers’ spat, demanding I play the devil’s fiancée. I need to be a good girl, smile for the cameras, nothing more.
But cocky and cruel as he is, his darkness awakens something wicked in me. Sexy and in control, he might just be the cure—an extra dose of sin to heal me from a lifetime of shame and subservience.
And I like it.
Behind the Waterline by Kionna Walker LeMalle
Author Interview with Kionna Walker LeMalle
When Hurricane Katrina approaches New Orleans, teenaged Eric and his grandmother and many of their neighbors decide to ride out the storm. Kionna Walker LeMalle’s masterful debut novel brings her readers, like the rising water, onto Eric’s street in the Third Ward, where stranded dogs bark for a time, where neighbors are floating on doors, and where Eric and his grandmother must take refuge in his second floor bedroom. After days of heat, dwindling supplies, and relentless rising water, neighbors begin to disappear and Eric’s grandmother, already known as an eccentric, begins to falter. It is then that Eric—in a dream, a hallucination, or something else—discovers a room beyond his closet wall, a place he has never seen. What he discovers inside will send him on a path to discover secrets to survival, bitter progress, and, ultimately, the history of his own people—those he sorely misses and those he never even knew.
The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett
Lady Phoebe Hunt never anticipated returning from exile. A fatal choice drove her from England, but the death of her father—and the revelation of his debts—has brought her home. Once she settles her father’s estate, she will return to America, where she has reinvented herself. There’s no reason to remain, not even for one gravitationally challenged but deliciously tempting entrepreneur: Sam Fenley.
Samuel Fenley is all ambition. Rising from shop boy to wealthy investor, he’s left knocking on doors that open only for those with a title. Unless he buys the damned door itself—and the estate that goes with it. Sam offers to relieve Phoebe of her burdens, but is her crumbling mansion all Sam wants? Or is it the lady herself?
When threats from Phoebe’s past spark new dangers, Sam and Phoebe discover that neither is what the other expected. Standing on the edge of disaster, the disgraced Ice Queen will have to decide if she wants to forge through life alone, or let an unlikely hero melt her heart.
Just Our Luck by Denise Williams
Author Interview with Denise Williams
Sybil Sweet has always been lucky, but lately she can’t catch a break. After years of bouncing from job to job in search of something that feels right and from man to man in search of something special, Sybil is worried that she’s the directionless, floundering daughter her family thinks she is. All she really wants now is a little financial stability and carb comfort. Lucky for her, she’s got just enough in the bank to buy a lottery ticket, and the late-night donut store is open.
Kieran Anderson put his dreams of becoming a doctor on hold to take over running his family’s bakery, and after fighting a losing battle to save the place, he’s exhausted, broke, and no closer to getting back to school. But when a whirlwind of a woman sweeps in late one night, flirty energy gives way to more…until she runs out the next morning, leaving behind her winning lottery ticket.
Lucky for Kieran, his attempt to return the ticket looks like a grand romantic gesture and goes viral, sending sales through the roof. In an effort to keep the store afloat and to convince Sybil’s family she can make good relationship choices, they agree to fake a relationship for three months. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, finding each other might end up being the sweetest bit of luck for both of them.
Gitel's Freedom by Iris Mitlin Lav
Author Interview with Iris Mitlin Lav
From an early age, Gitel questions the expected roles of women in society and in Judaism. Forbidden from going to college and pushed into finding a husband, she marries Shmuel, an Orthodox Jewish pharmacist whose left-wing politics she admires. They plan to work together in a neighborhood pharmacy in Chicago—but when the Great Depression hits and their bank closes, their hopes are shattered. In the years that follow, bad luck plagues their marriage, and Gitel’s dreams are put on hold as she’s forced to be a caretaker, breadwinner and mother. An illuminating look at Jewish immigrant life in early-1900s America, “Gitel’s Freedom” is a compelling tale of women’s resilience in the face of limiting and often oppressive expectations.
Dancing on Coals: A Memoir of an Overperformer by Cynthia Moore
Endorsed by Whoopi Goldberg, Dancing on Coals describes a performance artist's madcap race to enlightenment or fame, whichever comes first. After fleeing the Bahamas when the colonial government is overthrown, Cynthia Moore is locked away in a Swiss finishing school before emerging to become an avant-garde theatre artist dedicated to disrupting the standards of traditional theater. In a quirky, satirical voice, Moore describes the roller-coaster ride between her misbegotten spiritual aims and her vain artistic endeavors, which cross-pollinate into a jerry-rigged serenity riddled with dark humor. Ultimately, Dancing on Coals is a love story invoking the tenderness of the relationships that founder on our doorsteps as we shove past them toward unattainable glory.
Find Your Food Voice by Julie Duffy Dillon
Consider, what if diets are the problem, not me? By uncovering the real villain-the Seductive 'I-Should-Eat' Script-you will begin to remove years of shame and blame. You haven't been doing it wrong-systemic oppressions operating within the diet industry have scammed all of us into believing there is one way to eat to promote health.
Diets push aside the well-known fact that sexism, racism, anti-fat bias, homophobia, and other systems of oppression impact the body and the person navigating the world within it.
With this book, ditch common cookie cutter approaches rolled up with toxic positivity, expose the lies that society feeds us, and rewrite your rules around food, eating and your body. If you're at diet rock bottom, and want a way out, this book is for you.
Yankeeland by Lacy Fewer
Author Interview with Lacy Fewer
Fiercely independent and passionate, Brigid feels hindered by her family and the strict society of her small Irish town in the early 1900s. Brigid and her cousin Molly, who is more like a sister, dream of a new life in the seemingly unlimited land of opportunity they call Yankeeland—America. Brigid gets her chance when she emigrates with her husband Ben and her brother James, while Molly stays in Ireland. But when Brigid’s quest to have a child leads her to seek unconventional help, her mental stability is questioned. She is soon caught up in a patriarchal medical establishment she has little power to fight. The new life in America Brigid dreamed about takes a drastic turn. Decades later Brigid’s grandniece discovers a sack full of letters between the two cousins. She unravels the story and vows to tell the tale of what really happened to Brigid in Yankeeland
YUCK: The Birth & Death of the Weird & Wondrous Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia by Barret Baumgart
YUCK: The Birth and Death of the Weird and Wondrous Joshua Tree, Yucca Brevifolia by Barret Baumgart (Wandering Aengus; March 2025). From the award-winning author of China Lake, Yuck presents a strange new revisionist history of one of the most loathed and beloved objects on the planet, the Joshua Tree or Yucca brevifolia. It primarily focuses on the discovery, naming and attempted eradication of the Joshua Tree beginning in the late 1870’s. Once universally reviled, the Joshua Tree is now beloved with thousands of tourists visiting the national park named after this strange Yucca every year. This book excavates this unknown buried history against the ironic backdrop of the Joshua Tree today as some kind of ultra-hip signifier of authenticity. Baumgart is also the author of China Lake: A Journey into the Contradicted Heart of a Global Climate Catastrophe. His writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Vice, The Rumpus, and more. He lives in Los Angeles.
