Stacking the Shelves (#38)

I feel like I’ve said this many times already in 2020, but I was surprised to see how few books I had added to my TBR overall in December! In the entire month, I only added a total of 27 books to my list. To put that in context, I added about half that amount to my list just yesterday alone. I guess it is not such a surprise since I spent the majority of December trying to finish up my reading goals for the year and planning for my new reading challenges, but it is probably one of my lowest totals overall. On the other hand, it did make my job a little easier for this post, which comes at a time where this is also a lot of wrap-ups, goal-setting, etc. to be written up, both for this blog, on Goodreads, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if my additions to my TBR quickly climb back up to 50+ books per month, even though my list overall currently sits at a huge 3888 books! It will definitely take years to get through everything, even if I never added anything again, but it’s still fun to look at upcoming releases and keep track of the ones I’m excited to try.

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week. It is hosted by TyngaReviewsand ReadingReality.

1) The Husbands by Chandler Baker

I read Whisper Network last month, and immediately decided to check Goodreads to see what else the author had written. I’d naturally assumed that Whisper Network was her debut, so I was very surprised to see several other books, including several YA titles. Even more surprising was the fact that one of them had been on my TBR since 2016, and I had no idea that it was the same author (although that may be mostly because I’d entirely forgotten about the book). In December, I added The Husbands, her upcoming 2021 release which is about a successful attorney named Nora, who meets a group of high-powered women while house hunting with her husband. While there, Nora gets pulled into the lives of the women when she agrees to help one of them with a wrongful death case, and soon realizes that none of them seem to be struggling with the double workload that she faces between her own job and home. I’m especially interested in this one because it’s been compared to the Stepford Wives. I didn’t love that book when I read it, but I find the premise of it so creepy and I’d love to see another similar plotline. I really liked Whisper Network and I am definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

2) Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica was high on my list of authors to finally try last year, and I was a bit disappointed that I only got to one of the two books that I’d planned to read. I didn’t end up loving that one as much as I’d expected, but I enjoyed it enough to still want to read more by this author. I was very surprised to see this one come up on Goodreads since I hadn’t seen any hype around it, but maybe it’s a bit early since this won’t be out until mid-May. This book is about a woman named Delilah, who had vanished along with her mother 11 years ago, not long after another woman had gone missing. When Delilah shockingly returns, everyone is curious to know what happened to her and how she managed to come back. The synopsis for this one is very vague, but I’m hesitant to look at any early reviews for it in case of spoilers. I tend to enjoy thrillers that have this kind of storyline and I’m very interested in trying more of Mary Kubica’s books. I’m especially excited to read The Other Mrs., which I’d wanted to read last year but ran out of time for, but this one may end up on my list for the year as well.

3) Isn’t It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams

The Bromance Book Club was a surprise favourite of last year. I went into it with very low expectations and ended up absolutely loving it! I’m planning to read at least one, if not both, of the sequels this year and I was glad to see there was yet another book due out later on this year too. This one follows Vlad, known in the series as The Russian, who is involved in a marriage of convenience with Elena, his childhood friend who married him to escape the country after speaking out against the government. After four years of marriage, Vlad decides that he wants it to become a real relationship, and is also finally ready to write a romance novel of his own. His friends in the Bromance Book Club decide to join forces with Vlad’s neighbours, a group of senior citizens, to help him find real love with Elena, only to find their relationship threatened when dangers from her past come back. To be fair, I’m a little on the fence about the political subplot in this one, but it still sounds like it could be a lot of fun to read and I’m definitely willing to give it a chance. I’ve seen a ton of excitement so far about this one just because it follows Vlad, and I’m sure I’ll end up buying into the hype.

4) If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

This book won’t be out until the beginning of August, but I still decided to add it to my list immediately when I saw it. I have only read Dumplin’ so far and I loved that book, and I also recently bought Puddin’ and Faith: Taking Flight. I’ve also had Ramona Blue and Side Effects May Vary on my TBR for a lot longer than I’d like to admit. This book is about a young woman named Cindy who is working for her stepmother, an executive producer for the reality show Before Midnight. When a spot on the show opens up, Cindy quickly volunteers and hopes that it might help to jump-start her career in fashion, and soon finds herself as a body positivity icon for women everywhere. I didn’t even know much about this book when I added it to my TBR, but now that I’ve read the synopsis properly, I’m excited for it. It does remind me quite a bit of other recent books like One to Watch or Spoiler Alert, but it is definitely great to see more plus-sized leads in romances. This book is also the first in a series of updated versions of Disney princesses, and I’m very excited to see what else Julie Murphy will do with this series. I think it is also her first time branching out of YA too.

5) This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

I can’t even remember exactly where I first saw this one, but I do remember it capturing my attention immediately. It was a combination of the amazing cover, and the name recognition for the author. Kalynn Bayron wrote Cinderella is Dead, which is very high on my list to read this year. This book is about a girl named Briseis, who has the ability to grow plants with a single touch. When her aunt dies and leaves her a dilapidated estate in New York, Bri decides to go there with her parents for the summer so she can learn to control her gift. Bri soon finds that her new home comes with specific instructions and a walled-off garden filled with deadly plants that can only be accessed by someone who shares her lineage. As strangers begin to arrive asking for various potions, Bri realizes she has a talent for creating them, and she soon befriends Marie, one of the visitors who is keeping secrets of her own about the history of Bri’s new home and the community. I don’t think I quite realized it at first, but this book seems like it could be a darker retelling of The Secret Garden, although I may be wrong. I hope it is, since that is one of my favourite classics and one that I don’t think I’ve ever seen retold. This book is not due out until mid-July, so it will be quite a while before I can get to it, but I’m so excited for it.

6) While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

This was another book that I wasn’t expecting, but added immediately when I saw it come up on my Goodreads feed. It is about a man named Ben who lands a huge ad campaign featuring Anna Gardiner, a movie star whom he soon finds he can’t help flirting with, despite his disinterest in relationships. Anna wants to become a household name and thinks this campaign will be just the distraction she needs while she waits to hear back about the next movie she’s auditioned for. Anna soon finds herself drawn to Ben and decides there wouldn’t be any harm in some casual flirtation, however their relationship soon takes a more serious turn when Ben helps her through a family emergency. When an opportunity comes up for their fling to become something more just for the cameras, Ben needs to decide whether he can be happy playing this role to help Anna get her limelight, or if he’s finally ready for something more serious. I’m a bit intrigued that this book is the first one not to be tagged on Goodreads as part of The Wedding Date series, although I assume that is just because it features brand new characters. I’m also a bit confused how this one already managed to receive two 1-star reviews on Goodreads given that it is not due out until mid-July. I’m curious what made people decide to rate it so low and so far in advance, but I wouldn’t put much stock in the reviews at this point either.

7) The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

I was actually going to mention The Final Girl Support Group, the upcoming release by this author, since that was the one of her three books that I was most excited to add, but it doesn’t have a cover or much of a synopsis available yet, so I decided to mention this one instead. I heard quite a bit about this book last year from Heather @Bookables, and it sounded really interesting. Like Heather, I’m a huge Buffy fan, so I tend to be intrigued by vampire stories even though I don’t pick them up too often. I was also surprised to realize that this book was by the same author as My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which I’ve had for a while but haven’t read yet. This book is about a woman named Patricia who has given up her career as a nurse to marry a doctor and become a mother, but she is starting to feel dissatisfied with her life. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, where she meets with other mothers who share her interest in true-crime and suspense novels. When a stranger moves into the neighbourhood, the book club’s meetings turn to speculation about him, especially after local children start to go missing, causing the club members to suspect this man might be involved somehow. Given the title, it doesn’t seem like much of a mystery about what this new neighbour’s secret would be, but I’ve heard great things about this book and I’m excited to give it a try.

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