Every Tuesday we celebrate #pubday, aka the day new books officially hit bookshelves! It’s another great week of new releases, with one of my favorite thrillers of the year publishing today: KILL FOR ME, KILL FOR YOU by Steve Cavanagh. If you haven’t read Cavanagh (THIRTEEN, also good), then I highly recommend starting here. Not that anyone was begging for a new take on STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, but this definitely knocked me off my axis in a good way; a twisty edge-of-your-seat thriller that zigged when i expected it to zag, and ultimately one of the better thrillers I’ve read this year. Don’t be surprised if this one ends up on some “favorite” lists at the end of the year.
As for some of the other titles publishing today…I liked, but didn’t love the new Chris Bohjalian. He generally can do no wrong in my book (I still recommend THE LIONESS consistently), but THE PRINCESS OF LAS VEGAS (RATING: 3/5) was a bit down the middle for me and never really went dark or weird enough for me. Still solid if you’re leaning into the synopsis, but not quite a MUST read from me. Likewise for Rebecca Serle’s EXPIRATION DATES (RATING: 3.5/5), a book I found to be perfectly fine, but not nearly the level of her ONE ITALIAN SUMMER or THE DINNER LIST (definite recommendations if you just binged Netflix’s ONE DAY and are looking for something similar). I also thought THE LOCKBOX was a solid action heist story, though not quite a big positive recommendation from me, as I found the book lagging in the middle. Cool concept, execution could have used some work
Personally, I’m going to try and make a point of prioritizing ANNIE BOT and JAMES. Both have been receiving pretty ecstatic reviews, and are probably two of the big titles this week worth prioritizing. Big shout out to Percival, whose last book, TREES, i could barely find in a bookstore, and is now getting a big shiny hardcover push with the success of his adaptation of ERASURE (aka AMERICAN FICTION). If anyone deserves a bigger platform, it’s that guy.
Everything else publishing today can be found below. If you get a second, comment below with the books you’ve read and loved (or hated) and what you’re excited to prioritize!
A MIDNIGHT PUZZLE by Gigi Pandian: In heroine Tempest Raj, modern-day queen of the locked room mystery Gigi Pandian has created a brilliant homage to the greats of classic detective fiction
ANNIE BOT by Sierra Greer: For fans of Never Let Me Go and My Dark Vanessa, a powerful, provocative novel about the relationship between a female robot and her human owner, exploring questions of intimacy, power, autonomy, and control.
CANDY DARLING by Cynthia Carr: Brimming with all the fizz and wildness of New York in the 1960s and ’70s, this is the first biography of this extraordinary figure―an unintentional pioneer who became an icon. Cynthia Carr’s Candy Darling is packed with tales of luminaries, gossip, and meticulous research, laced with Candy’s words and her friends’ recollections, and signals Candy’s long-overdue return to the spotlight.
THE DIVORCEES by Rowan Beaird: A "delicious" (Rebecca Makkai) and "deeply compelling" (Lauren Groff) debut novel set at a 1950s Reno "divorce ranch," about the complex friendship between two women who dare to imagine a different future.
EXPIRATION DATES by Rebecca Serle: Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.