A Raven of the Rainforest by Rosanne Parry

On Westerly the raven’s otherwise ink-black tail, one bright white feather stands out. Westerly stands out, too. She isn’t like her brother and sister—she’s different. Everyone knows it, including the roost’s storykeeper, who proclaims that Westerly alone is destined to save her fellow ravens from a terrible fate. Questioning her destiny, isolated from her family, and full of doubt, Westerly takes to the sky, vowing never to return. But when a once-in-a-lifetime volcanic eruption finds her, she has no choice but to flee in the direction of home.

Until the Last Light goes Out by Courtney Gould

You may not escape, but the truth will.

Twenty-five years ago, the Ripley Memorial High School senior class entered the luxurious Kaleidoscope Key resort deep in the remote Florida Keys. Despite international intrigue and years of investigation, no one truly knows how the 183 students died. And they never will, since the five survivors of the massacre have never spoken a word about what happened to them that night.

Paige Keller, daughter of one of the Kaleidoscope Key Massacre’s infamous survivors, has grown up determined to steer her life away from the resort and the unsolved mysteries her ex-best friend, KJ, can’t leave alone. Paige has moved to a fancy new college and it seems that, finally, she’s banished the shadows of Kaleidoscope Key completely. But when she’s called home on the 25th anniversary of the massacre, she finds that KJ has gone missing.

Paige knows there’s only one place KJ could be: her obsession, the now-abandoned resort. When Paige and the remaining Survivors’ Kids go in after her, they’re forced to confront their―and their parents―pasts once and for all.

Kaleidoscope Key is waiting, and it's starving. Once they find their way inside, there may not be a way out. And one way or another, the truth of the massacre will come to light.

Captivating and chilling, Courtney Gould’s Until The Last Light Goes Out is a horror story, a love story, and an ode to the pain passed between generations that you won’t soon forget.

Night of Madness by Ryan Douglass

Mara is a horror buff whose only fond memories of her dad are bonding over movies by Jack Stanley—the producer of the eighties. Stanley’s campy slasher movies may have kept Mara’s fraught parental relationship on life support and gained a cult following, but the man himself has faded from the public eye…until he announces a contest centered around Asylum, his most terrifying film. Five teen influencers will be invited to spend the night on the fully constructed set; whoever sticks it out until morning wins a hundred thousand dollars.

Stuck in a dead-end job, Mara seriously needs that cash. She may not be a famous influencer, but there has to be a way to manufacture an online presence that will capture Stanley’s attention. With the help of her brother and best friend, Mara finds some creative solutions to her dilemma and lands herself onto the roster of the lucky chosen few by way of her engaging authenticity.

When Mara and the other contestants arrive on set, it’s a horror fan’s dream being immersed in the asylum setting, but as the night wears on, they realize the danger is more than movie magic… They’re not there to win or lose but to live or die. As Mara fights to survive, she discovers an inner ruthlessness she didn’t know she had. Just how far will she go to see the sunrise—and will she still recognize herself by the end?

When Life gives you Corpses by Lene D Buttner

Theory has a monstrous secret. He isn’t an ordinary search-and-recovery guide at Fiendworld, the world’s premier magical-sinkhole-turned-amusement-park; he’s a cursed, human-eating mantis. But not to worry—he has an excellent solution for his particular diet. Whenever he’s asked to retrieve the corpse of a lost adventurer, he simply snacks on a finger or two. No harm done.

That is, until he’s given his latest assignment: recover the body of park management’s missing son. Great. Yet another foolish wizard who got lost adventuring, and this time the direct descendant of the very person who cursed Theory in the first place. Worse, when Theory reluctantly sets off on the search, he’s shocked to find the wizard somehow still alive.

Nim—the wizard in question—has no desire to be rescued. He’s on a mission to the bottom of the sinkhole, and refuses to return to the surface before he gets there. He may be a subpar wizard, as his parents constantly remind him, but he’s got a positive attitude, an enchanted backpack, and now a mysterious rescue worker to recruit to his cause! Even though said worker is quite rude and seems to be getting Nim into more danger rather than out of it.

To survive, Theory and Nim must brave man-eating fish, walls of tentacles, and devastating both their own, and ones the park desperately tries to keep hidden. Along the way, they may just discover that they’re stronger together than apart.

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong

A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something—or someone—mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem avoid.

Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and the storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside—whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help—is a very bad idea.

There’s something in the woods, something that isn't natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they'll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving through the night.

All the Hidden Places by Cadwell Turnbull

Eighteen stories. Unseen places that lie just within, beneath, beyond our reality.

A father and daughter traverse postapocalyptic America seeking safe haven and the truth about why the world ended. Three siblings write intimate letters as their society slips ever deeper into dystopia. On an island where locals use cooperative AI to survive hurricanes, a journalist returns home to cover their story and reconnect with her past. A wayward god sets out to find the source of all gods. But can they survive to tell the tale? After a whimsical attempt to teleport proves successful, a couple finds that their conflicting feelings about the event are threatening their marriage. In a world where multiple souls can inhabit the same body, a recovering addict confronts his family about a terrible secret. A monster who lives on human blood finds her undoing in the loneliness she carries within her heart.

In his debut collection, acclaimed novelist Cadwell Turnbull takes readers across an omniverse of monsters, gods, and people, all trying to make peace with the parts of themselves they don't want others to see. Until they are forced to face all their hidden places.

The Book was Better by Louise Wilder

Yes, book lovers cry! Hollywood never gets it right – they gloss over crucial moments, the dialogue sounds bizarre and the characters never look like they’re supposed to.

But what about Jaws or The Godfather? These films are so much better than the potboiler novels they came from. And then there are some perfect adaptations. Doesn’t every reader’s heart sing when they watch Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility?

In this rollicking adventure through the towering heights and unplumbed depths of book to screen adaptations, Louise Willder, the critically acclaimed author of Blurb Your Enthusiasm, uncovers what makes a good adaption, how some can be so bad, and why we insist on telling the same stories over and over and over.*

*See: Pride and Prejudice 1940, 1980, 1995, 2005, 2027, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Austenland, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Fire Island, Lost in Austen, Bride and Prejudice…

The Pumpkin Bride by Fiona Buttercup

Some curses just need a cozy fire, a little magic, and a second chance to break them.

A cursed knight.

Sir Bram Duncan was once a knight of legend in Harvest Hollow—until the whim of a jealous prince and the trickery of an autumn sprite turned him into the hulking orc Jask Bone-Cracker, and tethered him to Grimroot Farm. For three long, lonely years, he’s hidden his monstrous form and the truth of what happened the night he lost everything, including his true love, Princess Marigold.

A runaway princess.

Fleeing an arranged marriage to the vain and intolerable Prince Crispin, Marigold finds a safe haven when she stumbles across Jask’s charmed pumpkin farm deep in the forest. Sensing glimmers of gentleness—and a surprising talent for baking—beneath the grumpy orc’s imposing exterior, she begins to feel a familiar longing she believed dead when her Bram disappeared.

One true love.

As magic stirs and pies are baked, truths about Jask’s curse begin to surface. But curses don’t break easily, and wronged princes don’t capitulate. As their peace is threatened, Jask and Marigold must decide: cling to the lies that protect them, or risk everything for a love that could set them free.

Rise by Ron Wolff

The ship that brought them hope… now wants them dead.

Adam is the first—and only—human born on Mars. He survived the massacre that killed most of his colony. Now he just wants to keep the others alive.

But Earth has sent new a documentary crew, five genius teens, and a mission wrapped in lies. They don’t believe what happened here. They were told there’d been an incident. They think the survivors are just traumatized kids.

Until it starts again.

Forced to abandon the Martian surface, the survivors take refuge aboard the orbiting starship Horizon. But the nightmare came with them. Something that doesn’t just kill.

It learns. It evolves.

As the infection spreads and the ship turns against them, Adam must lead a fractured crew through a living maze of metal and memory—before there’s no one left to save.

A Fellowship of Academics and Arts by J Penner

What if sharing a cookie with your enemy made your dreams come true?

Verdreth and Ervash, both orcs, are about to embark on the most “terrifying” adventure in their lives together… becoming grandpas.

Their adopted human daughter, Arleta, is ready to give birth in mere hours. Of course Verdreth is thrilled to take on this new role with his long-time partner since he never imagined they’d experience such an honor… particularly with the rocky start to their relationship.

To pass the time, one of their friends asks Verdreth to tell the tale of how he and Ervash met. He’s reluctant, since they were very different orcs when they met over thirty years prior. But with Ervash’s permission, (and to help him calm his nerves) he starts at the beginning…

Since, in fact, it’s always a good place to start.

A Fellowship of Curses and Cats by J Penner

When life gives you cats, open a café.

When a spell gone wrong brings more than just magic to Theo Brylar’s life, things in Adenashire get a little… purrplexing. Suddenly, cats of all shapes and sizes are drawn to him, much to the amusement of Faylin the forest lynx (and Theo’s “house cat”). But when Faylin suggests opening a cat café next to Arleta’s bakery, Theo finds himself juggling more than feline antics.

Between his long-lost father reappearing, his mother’s distaste for that fact, and the lingering grief of his brother’s death, Theo’s family drama surfaces at the most inconvenient time. With Arleta pregnant and facing her own fears, Theo must untangle his emotions and reconcile with his past...all while keeping his cat café (and family) from spiraling out of control.

Escape to Adenashire for a heartfelt, cozy fantasy filled with warm drinks, the healing power of love, friendship, and furry companions.

Daggerbound by T Kingfisher

Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages…

But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword. To his surprise, instead of unsheathing a rusty, ancient weapon, an alarmingly handsome man appears, wielding daggers of blue steel and cutting the thieves down.

This man is the Dervish, an immortal warrior who’s been trapped for centuries in a sword of enchanted steel, and is angry as hell about it. He hates the curse that put him there, and he wants to hate Edmund, just as he has hated every wielder before him.

But the damned scholar is just so sweet and clever and kind. And while the Dervish may be able to protect Edmund from bandits, cultists, dragons, and strange inhuman diplomats, he may find it much harder to protect his own heart.

I am the Night by Daniel Dockery

At a time when televised cartoons—especially within the superhero genre—were often over-looked, The Animated Series introduced an entire generation of soon-to-be Batman fanatics to the caped crusader. The series triumphed into what is largely considered one of the best superhero cartoons of all time, and the best depiction of Batman mythology in any format.

But the road to genre-defying and genre-defining success was hardly guaranteed. Along the way, co-creator Bruce Timm and his team of artists at Warner Bros Animation battled a landscape prejudiced against all things Batman. Internal struggles led the writing team and the network to debate everything (literally everything) about how best to depict Batman—from whether or not the eco-friendly hero would have a recycling bin in the Batcave to how many women he was allowed to kiss onscreen.

In I Am the Night, Daniel Dockery lovingly deep dives into The Animated Series and the cartoon renaissance it inspired, becoming the definitive primary source for new and old fans of the series alike. Including exclusive interviews with the team behind the cartoon and many never-before-shared insights about the series, I Am the Night will surprise even the staunchest of Batman enthusiasts and capture what made people first fall in love with the series. As many ups and downs as the DC Cinematic Universe may have, Batman is eternal–and so is The Animated Series.

There and Back Again by Sam Moore

The definitive, unofficial oral history of the making of the iconic and beloved Lord of the Rings film trilogy—featuring interviews with cast and crew, who give the inside story of the landmark series twenty-five years after its original release.

Celebrate the beloved, influential, and truly epic Lord of the Rings films with this essential read following the making of the trilogy, as told by cast and crew members. Journalist Sam Moore weaves together interviews with stars like Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, and Andy Serkis, to the writers and brilliant crew members who revolutionized filmmaking special effects and brought to vivid life what was thought of as a project as impossible to adapt as the hobbits scaling Mount Doom.

Twenty-five years after the first film’s premiere, There and Back Again takes readers behind the scenes into director Peter Jackson’s battles to get the trilogy made, the groundbreaking motion capture special effects that helped bring Gollum to life, and how the cast became a true fellowship that remains bonded to this day, complete with matching tattoos.

Through Sam Moore’s insightful and entertaining interviews with almost a hundred cast and crew members, There and Back Again is the definitive account of the making of these modern movie classics, which was almost as thrilling as the films themselves.

Sunny Days by David Kamp

In 1970, on a soundstage on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a group of men, women, and Muppets of various ages and colors worked doggedly to finish the first season of a children’s TV program that was not yet assured a second season: Sesame Street. They were conducting an experiment to see if television could be used to better prepare disadvantaged preschoolers for kindergarten. What they didn’t know then was that they were starting a cultural revolution that would affect all American kids. In Sunny Days, bestselling author David Kamp captures the unique political and social moment that gave us not only Sesame Street, but also Fred Rogers’s gentle yet brave Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood; Marlo Thomas’s unabashed gender-politics primer Free to Be...You and Me; Schoolhouse Rock!, an infectious series of educational shorts dreamed up by Madison Avenue admen; and more, including The Electric Company, ZOOM, and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. It was a unique time when an uncommon number of media professionals and thought leaders leveraged their influence to help children learn—and, just as notably, a time of unprecedented buy-in from American parents.

Kamp conducted rigorous research and interviewed such Sesame Street figures as Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, Sonia Manzano, Emilio Delgado, Loretta Long, Bob McGrath, and Frank Oz, along with Free to Be’s Marlo Thomas and The Electric Company’s Rita Moreno—and in Sunny Days, he explains how these and other like-minded individuals found their way into children’s television not for fame or money, but to make a difference.

Fun, fascinating, and a masterful work of cultural history, Sunny Days captures a wondrous period in the US when a determined few proved that, with persistence and effort, they could change the lives of millions. It’s both a rollicking ride through a turbulent time and a joyful testament to what Americans are capable of at their best.

Tendrils by Carrie Harris

Sixteen-year-old Leigh Carrol has returned to Lovely Locks Kingdom and reclaimed her place as Lady Lovely Locks. A dark enchantment seeps through the forests, unraveling the magic that once protected the land. Leigh must confront whispers of an ancient evil once thought vanquished: Lady Knot.

With her loyal Pixietails, her fiercely brave companions Brandish, Maiden Curlycrown and Maiden Fairhair, and a heart full of courage, Leigh must journey beyond the borders of her world—into the Forgotten Wilds, where truth tangles with illusion, and every strand of trust can be broken. But as old rivalries spark into unexpected alliances, and destiny braids itself with danger, Leigh discovers that the hardest battles are not always fought with swords—but with forgiveness, sacrifice, and the strength to change.

How to Find a Nameless Fae by A J Lancaster

What happens when a first-born bargain goes wrong?

Princess Gisele was pledged in payment before she was even born, after her mother failed to guess a fae sorcerer’s true name. Gisele has spent her life dutifully preparing for the day that fearsome mage will return to claim her.

But it’s been decades, and he still hasn’t shown up.

Which would be great, if the unfulfilled fairytale-debt wasn’t wreaking increasing havoc on her life. When it reaches unbearable levels, Gisele takes matters into her own hands. Terrifying sorcerer or not, she’ll hunt him down and force him to relinquish the debt.

But instead of the evil mastermind she expects, she finds a nameless lord of a magical house. He wants nothing to do with the angry knife-wielding spinster on his doorstep, but the fairytale-debt has other ideas.

Now magically bound to her lifelong nemesis, the only way to break the magic between them is to work together to find the nameless lord’s lost name. Assuming they don’t strangle each other first.

The Killing of a Chestnut Tree by Oliver K Langmead

Everyone in England knows Havelock Harper, the celebrated consulting detective, from the cases published in the papers. If any of them read his secret files, they would discover a very different man. His most fantastical cases must never reach the public eye, and nor must the love he shares with his stalwart companion, the formidable Major Sebastian Wright.

The Duke of Farleigh has been killed, and Havelock Harper summoned to the secluded Farleigh Forest to solve his murder. When he and Sebastian arrive, they discover a greater mystery. The trees of Farleigh have begun to speak, writing words into their leaves and bark. The victim is one of those an ancient chestnut, cruelly chopped down.

Why has the forest begun to speak? Why would anyone cut down the Duke? And how can Farleigh’s gentle, quiet paradise survive this crime?

The Imagitorium by Sarah Beth Durst

It’s really very impolite to ask anyone to risk life, limb, and extra limbs without giving them a choice.

Shy daydreamer Amelia has been looking forward to this day for as long as she can the day she, as a ten-year-old, finally gets to enter the magical Imagitorium and create her very own imaginary friend.

But when she walks out of the Creation Room with Ruru, a fluffy, bearlike being with butterfly wings who gives excellent hugs, and into a scene of pure chaos, she quickly realizes that something’s gone very wrong. The Imagitorium is so much bigger than anyone outside knows, filled with dragons and sea monsters and candy cyclones, and now it’s starting to fall apart. The Caretaker is missing, and it’s up to Amelia to find her.

Amelia knows that she’s never been a hero, but… maybe she can still help?

Here's to you, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume

Trouble in Rachel's family is spelled with a capital C—for Charles.

From the outside, Rachel looks like the perfect daughter in the perfect family. She’s a straight-A student, a gifted musician, and a good friend. But her older brother, Charles, seems determined to ruin everything. Rachel feels as if it’s all falling apart. Her best friends, Stephanie and Alison, find Charles funny. They urge Rachel to lighten up and enjoy the end of seventh grade. Easy for them to say. Not so easy for Rachel. Not even when Jeremy Dragon, the coolest boy in ninth grade, notices her. Is it possible that perfection isn’t the key to an exciting life?