The Darkness Greeted Her by Christina Ferko

Penny's abusive father is dead…but she still hears his voice in her head, encouraging her to hurt those around her. She can't go to school or be around her friends or even draw with a sharp pencil without her intrusive thoughts urging her toward violence. Desperate to get a handle on her OCD, she agrees to spend the summer at Camp Whitewood—an exclusive therapy retreat in the woods.

She feels optimistic when she arrives. The other girls all have their reasons for being there, which makes Penny feel a little less alone. But then she starts seeing things that can't possibly be there: the gold watch her father was buried with, his favorite whiskey spilled on her cabin floor...a terrifying figure she calls the Shadow Man looming at the foot of her bed. Penny thinks she is losing her mind, but when a girl goes missing, and is later found dead, it's clear that whatever is happening at Camp Whitewood isn't all in her head.

As the hallucinations become increasingly intense and more girls wind up dead, Penny must work with whoever is left standing to figure out what is real before the Shadow Man uses their traumas against them and claims their lives.

The Original Petit Etteilla by Caitlín Matthews and Rebecca Birrell

Learn foundational methods of divination from the Father of Cartomancy

• Provides the first English edition of Etteilla’s seminal text, an Etteilla deck, and a tutorial on how to make your own deck

• Offers eight main spreads along with variations, devised by Etteilla, and accompanying commentary and case studies

• Shares how Etteilla’s 1770 method set the standard for most European cartomantic divination, influencing the development of both cartomancy and tarot

Etteilla is the pseudonym of Jean Baptiste Alliette, known to divination devotees as the Father of Cartomancy. His 1770 manual, revised in 1773 under the title La Seule Manière de Tirer Les Cartes, was the first book on how to divine from playing cards, and it remains the basis for many cartomantic decks and tarots today. Now, for the first time, Etteilla’s manual is available in English.

This deck and guidebook gives readers a set of Petit Etteilla cards and a fully annotated translation of his text. The book explores how Etteilla’s deck and interpretive methods serve as the foundation for decks to follow, including the Lenormand and Rider-Waite-Smith decks. Readers will learn each card’s meaning (both upright and reversed) and the significance of each card’s placement in a spread. In Etteilla's system, each card’s meaning and associated words are printed on the card, allowing readers the freedom to use intuition instead of memorizing the meaning of each card. The result is an innovative system that offers a highly personalized method for readings. Readers will also learn how to make their own decks to further personalize their connection with Etteilla's method. This book offers eight spreads devised by Etteilla, with variations of each, along with commentary, case studies, and practices to enrich your understanding.

Sanctuary by James Cleary

---

✦ BLURB ✦

The near future…

Climate disasters have crippled the United States. With half the country under water and the other half a dust bowl, civil unrest would soon escalate into something darker, something unstoppable. Billionaire John Brandt anticipated this and channeled his money, power, and influence into being prepared for the great unraveling.

Now Brandt, his family, and his security team must retreat to Sanctuary, their underground bunker—a vast luxury mansion beneath the parched earth of the Nebraskan Great Plains. But they are not alone. Above ground a group of raiders are desperate to survive and will use any means possible to accomplish that goal.

As tensions mount both inside and out, battle lines are drawn— between the haves and the have-nots, between decency and expediency, between life and death. In this game, everyone’s a loser.

Lies we Tell About the Stars by Susie Nadler

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Celeste Muldoon is alone when the Big One finally hits San Francisco, because, for the first time ever, her best friend, Nicky, stood her up after school. The two of them share a birthday, matching tattoos, an obsession with the upcoming Mars mission, dreams of MIT, and pretty much everything else. So why didn’t he meet her the way they’d planned?

The earthquake has a huge death toll, and Nicky and Celeste's parents fear the worst, but Celeste doesn’t buy it. Nicky spent their senior year selling essays to rich kids and was about to be exposed. Celeste knows he had a plan to vanish, reinvent himself and escape the disaster he’d created, but can’t convince anyone else that he could still be alive. Only Meo, a mysterious boy Nicky was somehow mixed up with, seems to believe, but she has every reason to distrust him – even if her heart races every time he shows up.

When Celeste finds Nicky’s notebook, it sends her and Meo on a quest across her broken city, up the coast through towns sheltering quake refugees, and eventually all the way to Florida, where the mission to Mars is about to lift off.

Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Sixth grade wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.

Iraqi American Mariam Hassan transfers to a local Catholic school and before her first day her parents remind her that she might be the first Muslim her classmates have ever met. No big deal, right? Just represent an entire religion while making new friends, keeping up with schoolwork, and figuring out who she is.

When Mariam’s younger sister, Salma, is diagnosed with a serious lung condition, her family faces endless doctor visits and sleepless nights. Mariam tries to lighten their burden and keep her own problems to herself—including the fact that she’s just been cast as Mary in the school’s Christmas nativity play.

Mariam wants to honor her faith and her new community, but she’s terrified of crossing a religious line. Can a Muslim girl be the lead in a Christian story? What will her family think? And why does she feel like every decision she makes represents all Muslims?

Mariam discovers that faith, much like friendships, isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. As she leans on her family, friends, and school community, she begins to see the power of interfaith cooperation and learns she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Hail Mariam is a celebration of the beauty of finding common ground.

Brigid by Kim Curran

---

✦ BLURB ✦

In a wild, ancient grove at the edge of winter, a desperate girl prays to the gods for her freedom.

None have ever listened to Brigid’s prayers.

But this time, a goddess answers . . . with a vision that will transform Brigid’s path forever.

The new Christian god is coming, a faith that Brigid can bend to her will, building a sanctuary for other powerless women.

But power, like a flame, consumes as it grows. As Brigid rises, challenging kings, defying bishops, her enemies draw closer.

What – or who – will she sacrifice to hold on to her legacy?

A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon by Hannah Reynolds

---

✦ BLURB ✦

As a scholarship student at the magical Lyceum, Naomi would rather focus on deciphering ancient scrolls than dating. Especially since the only boys asking her out are less interested in a night in Naomi’s company than an introduction to her influential aunt.

So Naomi devises an excuse to turn down her persistent suitors: She claims to be betrothed to a demon.

Her story works perfectly. Until she arrives home one night and finds the demon Daziel lounging in her rooms, insisting he’s her betrothed. Naomi knows he’s lying—after all, the betrothal was never real—but the gorgeous and infuriating demon is surprisingly resistant to her banishing spells. And with his penchant for baking and home décor, it’s not so bad having him around.

Besides, she has other worries—like the ancient scroll she’s trying to translate, and the way the city’s magic has become suddenly unstable. But the more Naomi learns about the scroll, and the more she gets to know Daziel, the more it seems like she might be at the center of something bigger than she could have imagined.

We Call them Witches by India-Rose Bower

Britian, two years after they came . . .

Most people have been devoured by the eldritch creatures.

Sara and her family have been fighting for survival.

And the only thing that works against these monsters - these Witches - is their knowledge of folklore and pagan rituals.

When a girl named Parsley suddenly appears in the garden of their current camp, she cannot remember where she came from or why she's there.

As Sara and Parsley begin to develop feelings for each other, disaster strikes, and Sara's younger brother Noah is snatched by the Witches.

They must find him and set out across desolate moors full of merciless terror, to hunt the very creatures they've been hiding from.

Can they succeed in saving Noah? Will Parsley and Sara's burgeoning love survive these bloodthirsty Witches? and, who can Sara trust in a world void of humanity?

Happy #BookBirthday! Jan 15 2026

Happy Thursday! This week there are SEVEN books on our lists publishing!

Nadia Islam on the Record by Adiba Jaigirdar

New You Forever by Steve Cole

The year is 2070, and the New You Foundation claim to have found the ultimate answer to the climate crisis. They want human beings to transform themselves into Pleekas - perfect artificial replicas. Pleekas can go on for ever but won't create waste or use the Earth's resources.

Too good to be true?

When a chance meeting leads young journalist Anders Jones to the sinister truth, he must risk everything to expose New You - if it's not already too late ...

Dead Fake by Vincent Ralph

Welcome to Bleak Haven: The town you won't (or can't!) leave... Deep fake murders have taken over the high school, but what happens when they start to become real?

Would you Swipe to Die?

When the new craze takes over Bleak Haven High, Ava Wilson refuses to join in. As the niece of an infamous murderer, it’s the last thing she needs.

The mysterious website allows people to view their own ‘death’ – an AI generated version of their final slasher-movie-moments. But, when some of her classmates’ deepfakes are replicated in real life, Ava can either catch the killer…or be the next victim.

The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller

At the beginning of seventh grade, Luna knows who she is: an observant, quiet girl who loves writing and making zines with her best friend, Scott. But when one of their zines takes off, somehow Luna is swept up into the popular group and learns just how much of herself she’s going to have to compromise to stay there. Will she give up her writing? Her best friend? What about her own beliefs about who she is and what she stands for?

In a contemporary novel that feels like today’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Newbery Honor winner and bestselling author Chanel Miller explores what it means to lose and then find yourself again in the middle of middle school.

Happy #BookBirthday! Jan 8 2026

Happy Thursday! This week there are  books on our lists publishing!

Arborescence by Rhett Davis

What makes a person want to be a tree?

Bren and his partner Caelyn are feeling at a standstill in their lives. One day they come across a video of people in the forest who believe that if they stand still for long enough they will transform into trees. The idea is absurd. But it's spreading. Soon, people start to go missing and trees appear in unlikely places.

As cities decay and the world becomes greener, Caelyn becomes more and more convinced that arborescence is exactly what will save the planet from human destruction. Bren isn't so sure. Drifting apart, Bren and Caelyn are forced to question what it really means to be human - and if they are ready to stand still.

The Alpine Retreat by Sarah Goodwin

Relax. Recharge. Run for your life.

High in the secluded Swiss Alps, Élan Peak Wellness Retreat promises luxury, rejuvenation, and exclusivity — an influencer’s paradise. A select group of celebrities, corporate bosses and social media stars arrive, eager to detox, meditate, and document their curated journey to enlightenment.

But when they arrive and have their technology confiscated, they're horrified. To make matters worse, an avalanche traps them in the remote lodge overnight. When they awake in the morning, one of their own has vanished, and the idyllic retreat turns into a nightmare. With the dangers of mother nature to contend with, wolves waiting outside and the only ski lift down the mountain broken, tensions are high. As paranoia sets in and dark secrets unravel, they realize the retreat isn’t what it seems.

Someone is watching. Someone is hunting. And not everyone will make it out alive.

This is not a Test by Courtney Summers

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self.

To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live.

But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Postscript by Cori McCarthy

“I’m not sure the how-pocalypse changes anything. I don’t think about it; this is hard enough.”

This is a depopulated archipelago off the coast of Massachusetts, home to a tiny handful of sapiens sifting the remnants of civilization for scraps of comfort and joy.

There’s no sense in trying to figure out exactly how humans got to this place of endless gray skies and so many mass graves—that’s a very long letter no one has the heart to read again. What matters is this fleeting postscript, a strangely joyous house of bones built by an unlikely quintet of survivors.

Godfall by Van Jensen

A massive asteroid hurtles toward Earth and humanity is braced for annihilation – but the end doesn’t come . . .

Because it's not an asteroid . . . it’s a three-mile-tall alien figure that comes to earth outside Little Springs, Nebraska. Dubbed ‘the giant’, its body apparently pierced by a blade, its arrival transforms this quiet red-state farm town into a top-secret government research site and major metropolitan area, flooded with soldiers, scientists, government agents, bureaucrats, spies, criminals, conspiracy theorists . . . and a killer.

As the sheriff of Little Springs, David Blunt thought he’d be keeping the peace among the same people he’d known all his life, not breaking up chanting crowds of conspiracy theorists, busting drugs gangs, dealing with doomsday cults, struggling to control town hall meetings about immigrants, and invaders and the construction of a mosque. Or trying to catch a cunning and seemingly untraceable killer.

As the brutal, bizarre murders strike ever closer to home, Blunt – increasingly troubled by strange, unsettling dreams of a cosmos in chaos – throws himself into the hunt for a killer who seems somehow connected to the Giant.

With bodies piling up and tensions in Little Springs mounting, he realizes that in order to find the answers he needs, he must first reconcile his traditional sense of things with the town, and the world, he now lives in – before it’s too late.

Beth is Dead by Kate Berner

---

✦ BLURB ✦

When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.

Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.

Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.

Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.

Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.

The 10.12 by Anna Maloney

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Claire Fitzroy was just trying to get home when her train from Manchester to London was hijacked by a group of armed men. In one terrifying moment she faced the starkest of to stand back. To fight back. And maybe to die either way.

Claire chose to fight back, and in doing so saved hundreds of lives. But what looks like heroism in the heat of the moment can play out very differently in the courts and the eyes of the public. Especially when you have the blood of two men on your hands.

Selfless and quick-thinking. Attention-seeking vigilante. Unrepentant murderer. Whichever she is, this is Claire's story of what happened that day.

But is it the whole story?

We Burned so Bright by TJ Klune

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.

Now, the world is ending for real. A wandering blackhole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.

Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.

On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how–impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, new friends.

And as the blackhole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.

Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?

Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Princess Tanadelle of the Widdenmar is disillusioned with life as a princess. She longs for real conversation, the chance to build a life of her own making, and uninterrupted reading time.

During a routine royal visit to the town of Little Pepperidge, Tandy’s dream comes true when she finds herself cursed to remain in a run-down bookshop until she unlocks her heart’s desire. Certain that someone will figure out how to break the curse eventually, and delighted by the prospect of an entire bookstore of her own, Tandy settles into life among the stacks. She finds it easy to exchange balls and endless state dinners for teetering piles of books and an irritatingly handsome pirate who seems bent on stealing her stock.

She even starts to believe she's stumbled into her very own happily ever after.

There's just one, minor problem: as Tandy's royal duties go unfulfilled, her frantic parents start sending princes to woo her, each one of them certain their kiss will break the curse. After all, what more could a princess want but a prince?

Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu

---

✦ BLURB ✦

On an otherwise unremarkable morning, the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Beckitt are stripped to their basest instincts and revealed as their truest selves. Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question; Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter; Milly confesses her unrequited love; and David hits the gas, speeding away from his wife and child.

Then the second message comes in: FALSE ALARM. PLEASE DISREGARD. ALL CLEAR. First comes relief, then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they thought might be their last.

Vincent Yu’s searing debut follows this eclectic cast of characters over a period of many years, suggesting that the conflicts the missile exacerbated were simmering under the surface long before, and proving the ripple effects of the false alarm will be felt for years to come.

An urgent, fiercely heartfelt exploration of relationships in all forms, Seek Immediate Shelter explores the balance between love and loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness. What choices would you make if you thought your life were on the line? And if you survive, can you ever redeem yourself?

Dino Mode Activated by Jen Wallace

After the success of Dinosaur Pie, award-winning author Jen Wallace returns with another hilarious and moving dinosaur adventure!

Oleg’s new camera is definitely not ordinary. It has no instructions and no buttons, but it seems to know exactly what Oleg wants it to do. When Oleg goes on a camping trip with his friends, Rory and Daria, they soon discover the camera’s most special function – Dino Mode.

Now, with dinosaurs of all sizes running about the campsite and a nosey professor poking around, Oleg and his friends commence Operation Hide the Dinos.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

---

✦ BLURB ✦

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

Under the Hammer by Samantha Dooey-Miles

Jemma would kill to end the housing crisis - one landlord at a time...

Jemma has lost everything... Well, the very little she had. Her toxic boyfriend has run off with her best friend, leaving Jemma alone in their flat, and she can't afford the extortionate rent on her own. She's aimless, depressed and, above all, furious. Slowly but surely, her fury finds its focus: landlords. If only something could be done about them...

When Jemma's landlord has a fatal accident while carrying out a property repair, she stumbles across her life's mission: to punish as many landlords as possible. She begins targeting landlords who have appeared on her favourite binge-watch, a home-improvement TV show where their greed is laid bare. It's a messy job, but someone's got to do it.

Governed by her own rules, Jemma is convinced her actions are just - but how long before this vigilante turns villain?

Hilarious, timely and all too relatable, Under the Hammer is every renter's fantasy. Perfect for fans of Bella Mackie and CJ Skuse.

Better the Devil by Erik J Brown

When a runaway teen is arrested for shoplifting, he's desperate not to be sent back to the hyper-religious parents he knows will never accept him. While at the police station, he notices a resemblance to the aged-up photos of Nate Beaumont, a child who went missing ten years ago—and, in a moment of desperation, he takes Nate’s identity in hopes that it will help him make a quick getaway.

Before he can run again, Nate’s family arrives and welcomes him home to a life he never had. As "Nate" watches and waits for his chance to run, he finds that the Beaumonts are nurturing and loving, very different from his own parents.

But soon unsettling things start to happen—vandalism, alarms going off in the middle of the night—and it becomes clear that someone knows "Nate" isn't who he says he is...and that the real Nate wasn't kidnapped, but murdered.

As he starts to unravel the mystery, he gets ever closer to the devil he may know—and learns he might be their next victim.

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke

Six authors.

One private island.

Seventy-two hours to write the ending that will change their lives.

Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead . . . and his last book is unfinished.

Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter––for a mind-boggling sum––they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus.

Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.

Magpie Girl by Rowan Foxwood

Beware the firebird who grants wishes...they come at a terrible price.

Lavender Wild is a magpie girl - she grows feathers, talks to birds and has a talent for finding lost things. But stuck in her tiny village, she wishes for freedom.

So when her ex-friend Kit realizes his dad has gone missing on the deadly firebird's mountain, Lavender seizes the chance to set out with him on a rescue mission.

Faced with earthquakes, daemons and witches, Lavender and Kit must rebuild their friendship to survive. Because the firebird is rising, and only they can save everyone from its flames.

The Not-So-Great Escape by Emma Green

A hilarious and heartbreaking road trip adventure about friendship, grief and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

Hedley has always played it safe, especially since the night that changed his life for ever. But when his friend Aiden steals an alpaca, Hedley is dragged on a runaway road trip that he did NOT sign up for:

An accidental robbery.

A night in a haunted wood.

And becoming internet famous #AlpacaBandit.

As the chaos builds, Hedley finds he isn't just running from the police, he's also running from the truth. And as his world comes crashing down, will Hedley play it safe, or take his biggest risk yet?

#WoollyHeist #FurryFelon #Alpacalypse

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson

When mother of two Kate goes to meet her lover James in a hotel room, she watches in horror when she switches on the TV and realises their hotel has been taken under terrorist siege. Told to stay silent and hidden, Kate is trapped in a room with a man she’s been having an affair with for years – her escape hatch, her release valve – but who she doesn’t really know at all.

In one room, with the possibility of death looming, Kate is left to contemplate what has led her here. She reflects on the grief and heartbreak of her young life, the complexities of her relationship with her husband, Vic, and the pure, unadulterated love she feels for her children. Intricately weaving Kate’s past in with her present, Room 706 follows one woman taking stock of her life, and considering what life might hold in store – if she makes it home.

📚 Clearing the Queue

A mini reading event for the pre-New-Year limbo

Every year around this time, I start noticing the stack of downloaded-but-not-yet-reviewed books quietly judging me from my Kindle. They’ve been patient. I, less so. So before the next wave of new releases hits in January, I’m taking a deep breath, a big mug of tea, and a small resolution: it’s time to clear the queue.

Clearing the Queue is exactly what it sounds like - a chance to catch up on my downloaded titles, finish a few long-promised reviews, and go into the New Year with a cleaner slate (or at least a tidier e-reader).

Think of it as a gentle accountability week: I’ll be reading through the backlog, posting reviews as I go, and maybe even unearthing a few hidden gems I forgot I’d requested. No deadlines, no pressure - just the joy of finishing what I started.

So if your own digital shelves are groaning under the weight of good intentions, feel free to read along. Let’s make a little space for whatever magic 2026 brings next.

To make things fun (for me) I've created a bingo card that matches my titles. Obviously I know what's on my list, but you don't! Follow along to see what I mark off with each review - and feel free to adapt it to your own titles!

💻 Catching up on the downloaded, so January starts fresh (or as fresh as my TBR ever gets).

Theme Week: Burn the Kingdom Down by Addie Thorley

---

✦ BLURB ✦

One year ago, Rowenna Harrack, the crown princess of Tashir, left her homeland in a wedding dress of chains—sent away to the enemy nation of Vanzador as a captive bride.

Now, Rowenna is dead. Brought home in a coffin after an alleged fall from a cliff.

Second-born princess, Indira, knows her sister's death was no accident. Desperate for truth and vengeance, Indira agrees to wed the prince so she can infiltrate Vanzador, find Rowenna's murderer, and burn their kingdom to the ground.

Indira's plan is simple, she will make nice until she can find out how to avenge her sister and free her country from the rival nation's stranglehold. But when Indira arrives, nothing is as terrible as Rowenna described. As Indira grows closer to her new husband, Prince Alaric, and uncovers more about Vanzador, the source of its powers, and what happened during Rowenna's final days, she's no longer sure what—and who—to believe. Because everyone, even her sister, has secrets. Deadly ones.

Theme Week: Sever by Lauren DeStephano

Rhine is caught between her unquiet past and her uncertain future in this third book in the riveting, New York Times bestselling dystopian young adult trilogy reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale. This special 15th anniversary edition features a brand-new look!

Time is ticking down until the virus takes its toll, and Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed, and she takes refuge in his dilapidated house. But the people she left refuse to stay in the past—while Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, her twin brother Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. And what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future and for the past her parents never had the chance to explain—forcing Rhine to reconsider everything she thought to be true.

Happy #BookBirthday! 4th Dec 25

Happy Thursday! This week there are FIVE books on our lists publishing!

Theme Week: Fever by Lauren DeStephano

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Rhine and Gabriel navigate the treacherous outside world in this second book in the riveting, New York Times bestselling dystopian young adult trilogy reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale. This special 15th anniversary edition features a brand-new look!

Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped the mansion, but they’re far from safe—outside, they find a world even more disquieting than the one they left. Determined to get to Manhattan and find Rhine’s twin brother Rowan, the two press forward amidst threats of being captured again…or worse.

The road they are on is long and treacherous, and in a world where everyone dies young, time is precious. Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price, especially now that she has more to lose than ever.

Theme Week: Wither by Lauren DeStephano

A teen fights to escape the wealthy family who kidnapped her to produce their heirs in this first book in the riveting, New York Times bestselling dystopian young adult trilogy reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale. This special 15th anniversary edition features a brand-new look!

Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect humanity has left all males with a lifespan of twenty-five years, and all females with one of twenty—and the world has fallen into a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and girls are kidnapped off the streets and forced to serve as wives and bear children for the scions of the rich and powerful.

Despite her every precaution, Rhine is kidnapped and forced to become a bride. Kept under tight guard, and tossed into a glittering world of illusion, Rhine is given wealth and luxury beyond anything she’s ever dreamed. Her every need is met…every need except freedom. With the help of sweet, caring Gabriel—a servant in the manor—Rhine will do anything it takes to escape, go home, and reunite with her twin brother.

But Florida is a long way from Manhattan; her father-in-law, a scientist from the perfect, healthy “first generation” who is obsessed with finding a cure for this early death, is watching her every move and hoarding corpses in the basement; and her husband, Linden, is a far cry from the monster she imagined him to be. But in a world that continues to decay, and with only four years left to fight for, is there any room for someone like Rhine to choose her own path?

✦ THEME WEEK: Girls Who Refuse the Cage ✦

This week’s reads are all about rebellion - the quiet kind, the furious kind, and the kind that burns entire kingdoms to the ground.

From the poisoned perfection of The Chemical Garden trilogy (Wither, Fever, Sever) to Addie Thorley’s Burn the Kingdom Down, these stories take the “fragile girl” archetype and twist it into something unbreakable.

They ask the same question in different ways:
What happens when the world underestimates you - and you finally stop letting it?

Over the next few days, I’ll be reviewing each of these books, tracing their shared threads of control, freedom, and defiance. There’ll be love and loss, rusted cages and blooming rage — and, of course, a few tarot pulls to match the fire.

My Chemical Garden series

Wither

Fever

Sever

Burn the Kingdom Down

Theme Week: Songs of the Stones by Katie-Jane Wright

Discover the healing properties and inner energies of these stones through ancient legends. Connect to the stones and our shared ancestors with your heart centre for healing and spiritual growth. After travelling to many sacred sites, exploring her own heritage and gathering legends of venerable stones, Katie-Jane Wright has curated a selection of grounding mineral stones with healing properties we can all access. Discover not just local, familiar gemstones such as Apaches tears obsidian, sea coal and carnelian, but standing stones such as Sedona red rock from the US and structures of flint and limestone in Mexico. The book features: photographs of the stones both individually and in their landscapes details of the stones' qualities and healing effects stories and legends from our global ancestors grids to channel the energy of the stones unique light activation code artworks rituals and meditations to connect with the stones. Each stone includes Katie-Jane's unique innovative light activation codes. Gazing upon these beautiful, golden illustrations during meditation will deepen readers' connections with the their heart centre, amplifying the healing effects of the stones. Whether you are looking to connect with our human ancestors by reading their stories, or to enhance your own spiritual growth through healing rituals, this book provides a blend of practical techniques and advanced gemstone knowledge, wrapped up in a beautiful package.

Theme Week - The Big Book of Tarot Symbols by Liz Dean

Discover the magic of tarot symbols with bestselling author Liz Dean.

Ever noticed a symbol on your tarot card—like the cat with the Queen of Wands, the moon with the High Priestess, or even the number X on the Wheel of Fortune? You’re not alone! These symbols speak directly to our intuition, making them key to unlocking deeper meanings in your readings. Symbols are the “language” of tarot, and each one—whether it’s a pattern, a plant, an animal, or a color—holds its own unique significance.

In The Big Book of Tarot Symbols, bestselling author Liz Dean guides you through over 200 tarot symbols, showing you how to interpret them for powerful insights and personal guidance. By understanding these symbols, you’ll not only strengthen your connection to the cards but also enhance your ability to give more intuitive, meaningful readings.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

• A beginner-friendly introduction to tarot symbols, plus easy-to-follow instructions on how to use the book.
• A comprehensive explanation of the symbols and their meanings for all 78 cards in both the Major and Minor Arcana.
• Practical tools to help you master tarot’s symbolic “operating system” and provide more accurate, insightful readings.

Dive into the world of tarot symbols and elevate your readings with this essential guide!

Theme Week: Hebrew Casting Lots by Daniel E Loeb

Unlock the ancient wisdom of the Hebrew Alefbet with 11 double-sided Casting Lot talismans and comprehensive guidebook detailing their rich kabbalistic and divinatory meaning. The use of casting lots for divination and decision-making is documented throughout the Old and New Testaments. Discover this classical divination tool and explore the meaning of the Alefbet with this stunning Casting Lot talisman set and hardcover guidebook set from Daniel E. Loeb. In this comprehensive guidebook, discover how to use the Casting Lots, their rich inner meanings, and a wealth of additional kabbalistic insights. 

Included are 11 double-sided 1.25" / 33 mm Casting Lot talismans to enable readers to experience this system for themselves. Each Casting Lot provides mystical insights related to its associated Hebrew letter, numerology associations, and connections to the Tree of Life both of the Lurianic and Hermetic traditions of Kabbalah, as well as the 12 Tribes of Israel, the 10 Sefirot of the Kabbalah, and the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The Casting Lots can be selected for insights on queries, used as talismans, as focal points, and more. 

Discover the rich meaning of the Alefbet and how to use Casting Lots for worldly and esoteric insight, mystical contemplation, magical rituals, and much more.

Theme Week: The Unicorn Path Oracle Deck

Like the four elements—water, earth, fire, air—there are four suits of unicorns: Art, Music, Science and Poetry. Together, the unicorns speaks to the souls’ journey and cycles of creative imagination. This gorgeous deck will introduce you to each unicorn, describe their qualities and associations, and will explain how to work with each, channeling their energy and wisdom into your everyday life.

The Unicorns of Art embody inner vision. They give form through exalting the spiritual light within you.

The Unicorns of Music summon the life force to celebrate your existence, complete with heart and soul. These unicorn invite you on a path to express beauty and love.

The Unicorns of Science beckon you to know the world, as well as supporting you to understand yourself. These unicorns inspire learning, innate intelligence and intuition.

The Unicorns of Poetry recognize the many-sided expressions of truth when we write or speak from inspiration and creative imagination. These unicorns help to express revelation.

These Oracle cards are a picture book for any age of reader, for self-development and the imagination, facilitating playfulness and discovery. For any artist or traveller on their road to self-discovery, they will empower imagination, clear vision and bring determination to all intentions.

Theme Week: 🌙 Between the Cards and the Covers

A week of curious dives into the mind–body–spirit shelf

Every so often, I get the urge to clear a little space - on the bookshelf, the tarot table, maybe even in my head - and explore the books and decks that sit somewhere between self-discovery and the supernatural. This week, I’m doing exactly that.

Between the Cards and the Covers is a week dedicated to the mind–body–spirit corner of the reading world - the nonfiction that teaches us how to read the cards, the oracles that whisper in stone and starlight, and the quiet intersection between study and intuition.

I’ll be looking at titles like Hebrew Casting Lots and The Big Book of Tarot Symbols - perfect for readers who love their archetypes neatly labelled - alongside a new oracle deck, The Unicorn Path and a guide to crystal geology, Songs of the Stones. Expect musings, experiments, and probably one or two “aha” moments that will send me rearranging my tarot shelf again.

So grab your journal, light a candle, and join me for a week of thoughtful page-turning and card-pulling - where the lessons of tarot meet the practice of reading, and maybe (just maybe) the mind, body, and spirit get a little more in sync.

✨ Books that teach, decks that speak - let’s see what the MBS shelf has to say.

Small Wonder by Ross Montgomery

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Family secrets, a kingdom in danger, the adventure of a lifetime for two brothers and their horse . . .

'Small Wonder': that was what Tick's grandfather always called him. He taught Tick a lot of things: how to take care of himself; how to take care of his little brother, Leaf; how to take care of their horse, Pebble. But Grandfather is no longer around . . .

So when the family home is under suddenly threat, it's on Tick to put everything he's learned into practice and protect his family, by taking them on a quest filled with danger. Because it's not just their home at risk; enemies are invading the whole land. He has only six moons to get to Kings' Keep and warn their ruler . . .

Travelling through forests and mountains, encountering bandits and rogue knights along the way, the journey is not an easy one. But Tick is determined to honour his grandfather's last advice - Make it count, Small Wonder. . .

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Lexi Villiers is a 29-year-old Englishwoman doing her medical residency in Hobart, working too hard, worried about her bank balance, and living with friends. It's a good life, and getting even better, because as the dawn is breaking on New Year's Day, Lexi is about to kiss the man she loves for the very first time.

But by midnight, everything will change. Because Lexi is in fact not an ordinary young woman. She is Princess Alexandrina, third in line to the British throne - albeit estranged from the rest of her family and living in voluntary exile on the other side of the world. But following a terrible accident, Lexi - the black sheep of her family and, until this moment, always destined to be the spare - is now the heir apparent, first in line to the throne once her grandmother, the elderly Queen, dies. Called back to do her duty, she arrives in London to a Palace riven with power plays and media leaks, all the while guarding painful secrets of her own. Palace waters are treacherous, rumours are rife, and selling each other's secrets is a family tradition. And with the Crown just within her grasp, Lexi must choose what bonds she will keep ... and what she is willing to leave behind.

Happy #BookBirthday! 20th Nov 25

Happy Thursday! This week there are FOUR books on our lists publishing!

Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Marin had always belonged on the great blue sea. When the man she thought was the love of her life schemed to ruin her parents’ business, she did what her heart knew best: she fled to the sea.

Now working as a supply runner on her own boat, Marin sails from island to island, delivering a varied array of goods: letters, flour, stories, and even the occasional enchanted statue. It’s a lonely life, but it’s hers. Besides, she’s got the company of Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub. They’re the best crew she could ask for.

On one of her routine trips to the capital of the Crescent Islands Empire, Alyssium, Marin finds the city on fire and a revolution underway—so she offers transportation to Dax, a composer friend who refuses to leave behind his instruments. What starts as a rescue evolves into a deal: Marin will keep Dax on as a (temporary) member of her crew if he becomes her pretend boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home.

Against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile—and realizes that perhaps she isn’t saving him. Maybe it’s the other way around.

Sea of Charms is a cozy fantasy romance about finding your crew, your family, and moreover, finding yourself.

Read in whatever order your heart desires, but don’t miss The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse.

The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst

---

✦ BLURB ✦

It was only meant to be a brief detour. But then Lauren finds herself trapped in a town called Lost on the edge of a desert, filled with things abandoned, broken and thrown away. And when she tries to escape, impassable dust storms and something unexplainable lead her back to Lost again and again. The residents she meets there tell her she's going to have to figure out just what she's missing--and what she's running from--before she can leave. So now Lauren's on a new search for a purpose and a destiny. And maybe, just maybe, she'll be found...

Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, Sarah Beth Durst writes an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman's impossible journey...and her quest to find her fate.

Seven All Alone by Kirsty McKay

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Maggie Atkins will never forget what happened in that cave ten years ago when she and six other elementary school kids were kidnapped by their bus driver and kept captive. She will never forget that her friends left her alone to escape, or the image of her kidnapper falling to his death, but she has done her best to put the ordeal behind her and move on.

Her past catches up with her when she's forced to go on a school trip to the mountains with the very same people who abandoned her, and only a stone's throw away from the scene of her kidnapping. She's determined to suck it up and get through it though since it's only one night of her life. But then a brutal storm changes everything and separates her group from their chaperone. With no phones and a limited food supply, the group strategizes how they can survive the elements and make it back to safety.

Then they realize there is someone else on the mountain. Someone who knows what really happened all those years ago. Someone who wants them dead and is willing to take them out one by one. Maggie thought she'd already survived the worst thing she would ever go through--she was wrong.

The Obsession by Natasha Preston

---

✦ BLURB ✦

Sixteen-year-old Connie has been dragged into the world of vlogging - her mum Lou's vlog is hugely popular, enough to bring in money for a new house, expensive lifestyle . . . and a lot of criticism.

While Lou and Connie's older sister Isla are touring colleges, Connie stays home alone, where she becomes increasingly paranoid about comments on the vlog. Plus someone is turning up at her school and following her on her way home.

Then Connie's best friend is attacked - the third teenage girl attacked in five weeks - and suspicion turns to Connie. Connie doesn't know who she can trust any more and goes on the run. But will the killer - whoever they are - catch up with her?

Happy #BookBirthday! 13th Nov 25

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book on our lists publishing!

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates

---

✦ BLURB ✦

When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she's hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they'll be safe as they wait out the storm.

She couldn't be more wrong.

Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.