waiting on wednesday

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Upcoming Science Fiction Releases

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring upcoming science fiction titles I’m excited to read! I feel like I haven’t read enough scifi lately, and I definitely want to change that. As usual, pub dates change without warning, so keep that in mind! You can also click on the cover photos for more detail/bigger file size.

  • Battle of the Linguist Mages, by Scotto Moore – This is enough to make me want to read this immediately: Isobel is the Queen of the medieval rave-themed VR game Sparkle Dungeon. Her prowess in the game makes her an ideal candidate to learn the secrets of “power morphemes”—unnaturally dense units of meaning that warp perception when skillfully pronounced. (expected pub: January 11, 2022)
  • The Best of World SF: Volume 1, edited by Lavie Tidhar – I love reading science fiction from other places, especially non-Western ones, and I think this might be out already?? I see two different dates. Either way, definitely an anticipated read for me. (expected pub: April 14, 2022)
  • The Blood Trials, by N.E. Davenport – This one blends magic and science and is the first half a duology that focuses on a young Black woman who must survive deadly trials in order to become an elite warrior. I see comps to The Hunger Games and Stars Wars, and so far everything I’ve seen interests me! (expected pub: April 5, 2022)
  • The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi – an alternate Earth, Kaiju, John Scalzi? A winning combo to me! (expected pub: March 15, 2022)
  • The Misfit Soldier, by Michael Mammay – Something about this cover drew me in, and then it being a ragtag bunch of soldiers in a military war drew me in, with comps to Martha Wells and John Scalzi. (expected pub: February 22, 2022)

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Upcoming YA Fantasy Releases

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring upcoming YA fantasy titles I’m excited to read! As usual, pub dates change without warning, so keep that in mind! You can also click on the cover photos for more detail/bigger file size.

  • Together We Burn, by Isabel Ibañez – flamenco dancers, dragons, medieval Spain??? sign me UP (expected pub: May 31, 2022)
  • The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, by Axie Oh – a Korean myth retelling, with Sea Gods, the most beautiful girl in the village attempting to wake him, and all the spirits in between. This cover is absolutely stunning, but I’m also here for myth retellings in any form (expected pub: February 22, 2022)
  • Extasia, by Claire Legrand – witches and covens, villages at the edge of the woods, mysterious things living in those woods, and truths buried in lies gives me a lot of M. Night Shyamalan vibes and I’m here for it. (expected pub: February 22, 2022)
  • Echoes and Empires, by Morgan Rhodes – forbidden magic, looks a little steampunky, possibly an enemies to lovers trope?? (expected pub: January 4, 2022)
  • Castles in Their Bones, by Laura Sebastian – this bit from the blurb – “there is one common truth: everyone underestimates a girl. Which is a grave mistake. Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz are no innocents. They have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal—to bring down monarchies— and their marriages are merely the first stage of their mother’s grand vision: to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria” – is all I need to know (expected pub: February 1, 2022)

Which of these are on your TBR?

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Summer Movies

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring three movies coming out in the next month!

  • Zola – dir. Janicza Bravo – based on a Twitter thread from 2015, this looks like it’s every bit as wild and hilarious as the story told in that thread! Releases June 30, 2021.
  • Marvel’s Black Widow – dir. Cate Shortland – I feel like some of us (me) have been waiting for like ten years for a Black Widow movie, and I’m excited to see where this one goes. Releases July 9, 2021.
  • Space Jam: A New Legacy – dir. Malcolm D. Lee and Terence Nance :: This looks FUN and I hope it has a lot of little throwbacks to the original. Releases July 16, 2021.

What are you looking forward to seeing this summer?

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Spring & Summer Review Titles

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring March-June 2021 review copies that I have either in physical form or digital form that I can’t wait to dive into! The release dates are listed but are always subject to change.

  • To Love and To Loathe – Martha Waters :: The first in this series was one of my favorite historical romance reads of 2020, and I love this new style of cover! Releases April 6, 2021.
  • Astrid Sees All – Natalie Standiford :: It’s about young women in New York in the 80s, and that cover is amazing. Releases April 6, 2021.
  • The Other Black Girl – Zakiya Dalila Harris :: Everything about this book sounds amazing and it’s already getting a lot of hype! Releases June 1, 2021.
  • I’m Waiting for You and Other Stories – Kim Bo-Young :: Sci-fi short stories by a South Korean author?? YES. I saw this on the ARC shelf at work and immediately grabbed it. Releases April 6, 2021.
  • Lilyville – Tovah Feldshuh :: I love memoirs, especially ones about women growing up several decades before I was born. Releases April 13, 2021.
  • Composite Creatures – Caroline Hardaker :: Everything about this sounds amazing, and I’m so excited to be on the blog tour for this!! I’ll be posting officially about it on April 28! Releases April 13, 2021.
  • The Ladies of the Secret Circus – Constance Sayers :: I really enjoy historical takes on circuses, especially after reading The Night Circus forever ago, and I’m looking forward to reading this one! Released March 23, 2021.
  • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev – Dawnie Walton :: This is recommended to people who like Daisy Jones and the Six because it’s a fictional music history, and I’m here for it. Released March 30, 2021.
  • Cool for the Summer – Dahlia Adler :: I keep hearing about this because of the bi rep it has, and honestly it just sounds really cute. Releases May 11, 2021.
  • The Tangleroot Palace – Marjorie Liu :: I have only read the first volume of her Monstress graphic novel and I really should get around to finishing it, but this is a collection of short stories by her and LOOK at that COVER. Releases June 15, 2021.

Are any of these on your to-read list? What one would you read first?

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: October-December 2020 Reads

- Meg

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring October-December 2020 review copies or purchased books that I have either in physical form or digital form that I can’t wait to dive into! But now that it’s the middle of November, I really need to get in gear and get these read! The release dates are listed but are always subject to change.

  • A Golden Fury – Samathan Cohoe :: It’s about a fantasy Oxford with alchemists and curses and the looming French Revolution. I’ve been in the MOOD for historical fantasies of all flavors, and I’m really thinking I’ll enjoy this one. Releases October 13, 2020.
  • Ruinsong – Julia Ember :: Sapphic YA fantasy with kingdoms and queens and underground rebellions?? YES. And that cover?? I love it already. Releases November 24, 2020.
  • The Hollow Places – T. Kingfisher :: Up until this year, I have not been one for much horror, but after reading a few stories and Mexican Gothic, I think I can handle a little bit more. 2020 was originally going to be about broadening my own horizons, especially with different genres, so when I saw this available for download, I thought I’d give it a go. Releases October 6, 2020.
  • The Thirty Names of Night – Zeyn Joukhadar :: I loved their debut title The Map of Salt and Stars and Atria was kind enough to send me a finished copy of the novel! I’m excited to see where this goes, and I have a feeling I’ll be so moved by it. Releases November 24, 2020.
  • White Ivy – Susie Yang :: I’m kind of loving that dark academia is becoming a thing in recent releases, and this one caught my attention when I saw it on the ARC shelf at work. Releases November 3, 2020.
  • Any Rogue Will Do – Bethany Bennett :: To be honest, this is a total cover buy, but LOOK AT IT. It’s so gaussian blurry and beautiful. I don’t think it’s Christmasy, but it looks very Christmasy, so I had to have it. This also looks like it’s the first title by this author? I’m definitely into this era of regency romance, and I like that the names of these characters are pretty traditional sounding for the era in which this book is set. And it’s definitely not a list like this without some romance added to it anymore. Releases October 13, 2020.
  • How to Catch a Queen – Alyssa Cole :: I’m at risk of becoming an Alyssa Cole fanblog but THAT’S OKAY. And you should read her stuff, it’s great. I’m looking forward to this new contemporary series! Releases December 1, 2020.
  • One Writer’s Beginnings – Eudora Welty :: I don’t remember requesting this from Scribner so it came as a complete surprise in my mailbox! But I do enjoy reading about writing because I feel like it helps with so much of my own writing and enjoyment of reading. Releases November 3, 2020.
  • Plain Bad Heroines – Emily M. Danforth :: Gilded Age gothic fiction set in a SCHOOL and it’s got LESBIANS? It sounds like everything I love in a book, and it’s a chonker so I’ve been waiting for a good few days off to start reading this because I have a feeling I won’t want to put it down. Releases October 20, 2020.
  • The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 – ed. John Joseph Adams and Diana Gabaldon :: I love love love anthologies because I get a flavor of a lot of different writers’ abilities and stories and I get to add more books to my TBR after making discoveries of writers I might not have heard of before! I don’t remember if I bought 2019’s (and I need to check because I have the others), but this series (and any anthologies put out by John Joseph Adams) has consistently been great. I also love 2020’s covers across all the Best American series; they’re incredibly striking! Releases November 3, 2020.

Are any of these on your to-read list? What one would you read first?