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Now for new books! For starters, there’s the story of queer icon Margaret C. Anderson in A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature by Adam Morgan. If you’re in more of a fantasy mood, there’s Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson.
And for the other books of December, there are, perhaps surprisingly, a good number of horror books. There’s also a precious queer baking romance, a very unique Victorian-era romance, and a reckoning with Portugal’s role in colonialism and slavery.
But first: a giveaway! Enter for a chance to snag a brand-new Kindle Paperwhite for carrying a pocketful of stories wherever your holidays may take you.
Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot (Winner Bakes All Book 3) by Alexis Hall
Alexis Hall is a wildly prolific author, and this latest book is the third installment in a series inspired by The Great British Bake Off. This story follows the titular Audrey, who exchanged a high-pressure life for a quieter one, and then applied to a baking reality show anyway. While there, her passions as a journalist are reignited. Her romantic passions ignite as well when a grumpy show producer has her contemplating a forbidden relationship. —Isabelle Popp
Midnight Somewhere: A Short-Story Collection by Johnny Compton
Johnny Compton has been on a hell of a spree of producing brilliant horror tales, with The Spite House and Devils Kill Devils both receiving high praise and accolades. Midnight Somewhere is an upcoming collection by Compton, which includes 21 stories ranging from mysterious to downright murderous. A man gets in a car that will take him anywhere in time, including to the moment he made the worst mistake of his life. A film that is seemingly harmless starts to cause self-harm in those who watch it. A woman tries to bring her dead lover back to life in a ritual that includes attacking his very corpse. Ever since Spite House, I’ve been eager for more work, and this collection seems like it will be perfect to weather the dead of winter. —Lyndsie Manusos
All access members continue below for more of the best books out this week.
Three Stories of Forgetting by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, translated by Alison Entrekin
Three men intricately wrapped up in the horrors of colonialism and slavery in the Portuguese empire reckon with their liminal place in the world, neither where they were nor where they hoped to be. An old trader of enslaved people searching for solitude, a man asking his daughter for forgiveness after fighting on the side of the colonizers in the Portuguese Colonial War, and an elderly enslaved person introducing a writer who will one day be famous to the world of French literature all face the torment of a past they can neither abide nor forget. —Rachel Brittain
Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen
This YA horror novel follows Aria Nguyen and Caliste Ha, identical twins who only find out about each other after their mother is found dead in Minnesota. There are so many mysterious things about their mother’s death that Aria and Caliste don’t understand. First of all, neither of them knew she had any connection to Minnesota. But even stranger, her body hasn’t aged at all and there’s a strange bruise on her neck. Now the twins will head to the city of Les Eaux to uncover the truths about their family and their mother’s murder. —Emily Martin
How to Grieve Like a Victorian by Amy Carol Reeves
If you’re looking for a romance unlike anything you’ve read before, this might be it. Lizzie Wells is an English professor grieving her husband in true Victorian fashion, widow’s weeds and all. She takes a trip to London in an effort to figure out what life holds in store for her. Meanwhile, she’s plagued by an almost-kiss with Henry, her late husband’s best friend. This book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster of both grief and romance. —Isabelle Popp
Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
Dark Sisters is a historical horror novel about a generational curse. It all starts with Anne Bolton: after she’s accused of witchcraft, she makes a deal with a dark entity for protection. But that deal will have lasting effects that Anne never could have predicted. In the 1950s, wife and mother Mary Shephard enters into a forbidden love affair with a woman. In the 2000s, preacher’s daughter Camilla Burson uncovers the secrets of the Dark Sisters, a folk story used to terrify young women and children. —Emily Martin
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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