Happy Halloween, shipmates! Oh, and I guess it’s Tuesday as well, technically speaking. It’s Alex, and I have turned the Halloween vibes up to eleven over here — so be aware that today’s book recommendations are definitely on the dark-to-horror side of SFF. Colorado’s annual Halloween snowstorm managed to miss the mark by a few days, so we might get to see some trick-or-treaters who aren’t wearing their costumes under little snowsuits…here’s hoping! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I hope you have enough candy on hand! I’ll see you on Friday.
Autumn is here, which means it’s time to curl up with a great read and get cozy — whatever your version of cozy looks like. Whether it’s romance, creepy reads, modern classics, or escapist reads you crave, TBR can help you find the perfect books for your fall reading, with options curated to your specific reading tastes.
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.
Bookish Goods
Black Cat Suncatcher by Artixcraft
You can’t expect me to let the official birthday of all black cats go by without one more neat black cat thing! This wooden suncatcher is absolutely gorgeous (and can be personalized). $18
New Releases
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
In June of 1950, 12-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sent to an infamous reformatory school for the crime of kicking the son of the largest landowner in town for harassing his older sister. But with him, Robbie brings an unusual skill; he can see haints (ghosts). It’s something that once brought him comfort after the death of his mother, but now it reveals the horrifying truth of the Gracetown School for Boys.
A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather
Sarah Davis is a midwife’s apprentice with uncanny secrets that sent her fleeing to London. When unnatural babies begin to be born across the city, ones with webbed fingers and toes and the dark eyes of fish, she well knows what is going on. But she keeps her head down still…until she is hired by the wealthy Lady Wren and discovers that her husband, a famous architect, has his own obsession with the uncanny that might well unmake the earth…
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
This…is…Halloween! And to celebrate, we’re doing a second helping of spooky recent releases, these ones from small and indie publishers!
An Ordinary Violence by Adriana Chartrand
Dawn is forced back to her old home in a tiny prairie city haunted by the pain of her fractured family when her big city life implodes. Worse, her brother Cody, to whom she has not spoken since he was sent to prison seven years ago, is out…and he has a mysterious new friend. Soon, Dawn discovers increasingly sinister evidence that Cody and his friend are reaching into the supernatural world.
Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca
Henley’s Edge is a quiet, peaceful small town in Connecticut…one where there’s been a string of mysterious disappearances. For a grieving widower sheltering a dark secret, these draw him into the orbit of Heart Crowley, who wants followers for a dark magic ritual. For local law enforcement, these are ordinary crimes to be solved, and the investigator soon finds a deep well of unbridled hatred and bigotry at the heart of it all.
See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.