I just realized it's been a whole month since I published a post here at BBB. Such a slacker! I've been reading (that never stops), but I haven't been reviewing books except on Goodreads. (Are you following me there? You should be.) I've even been skipping out on my favorite meme, Top Ten Tuesday. Yikes! Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things soon.

At any rate, how are you doing with the Bookish Books Reading Challenge? (I would know if I had been visiting your review posts, which I haven't been doing either.) I'm doing fairly well with it, actually. So far this year, I've read ten bookish books. That's not so bad, right? 

In April, I read and enjoyed both of these: 

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes—This new historical novel is all about the power of stories to uplift and inspire. It features two women who brave all the challenges of the Montana wilderness to bring books to people in isolated mining camps. A third comes to Big Sky country in order to help with a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program aimed at employing jobless writers and editors to write travel guides for the American states. In doing so, she uncovers a mystery involving the two boxcar librarians.

The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian—The second installment in a cozy mystery series starring an out-of-work magician who reluctantly returns home to work for her family's unique construction business, The Raven Thief is a murder mystery centered around an Edgar Allen Poe-themed party that goes horribly awry.

I'm not sure what I'm going to be reading in May since I really don't plan out my reading, but these two look good:

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (available July 15, 2025)—Goodman's one of my go-to mystery/thriller authors, so I'm excited for her newest. Hopefully, I can get an e-ARC sometime soon. The story is about a group of authors who were invited to an exclusive writing retreat on a Greek Island fifteen years ago. Something sinister happened then. Now, that same group of writers is being invited back for a cutthroat writing competition that, once again, turns bloody. Whodunit?

Just Another Dead Author by Katarina Bivald (available August 12, 2025)—This mystery has a very similar plot to the above book. It's about Berit Gardner, a mystery author who travels to the French countryside to attend a writer's conference. When the keynote speaker, a despised literary critic, dies suddenly after delivering his lecture, it throws the gathering into chaos. While the police launch an investigation, Berit decides to do her own digging. Plenty of people wanted revenge on the harsh critic, but who actually did the deed?

The Lady and Her Quill by Ruth A. Casie—I'm not much of a romance reader, but this one sounds fun. It's about two rival authors who design a competition to see who is the better writer. Both of them are to craft a story based on a newspaper headline about a stolen treasure. As they delve into the task, the contest gets more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. When Lady Alicia Hartley is captured by the thieves, it's up to her rival to rescue her. Can he save the woman he loves to hate? What if her adventure gives her the better story? Can he win at both writing and love?

If you are participating in the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your May reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party. 

Today's TTT prompt—Top Ten Dynamic Duos—should be a simple one. Pairings like Frodo and Samwise Gamgee or Sherlock and Holmes come immediately to mind. I figured such well-known duos would be on everyone's lists, though. I didn't want to do the same ole, same ole, but I honestly couldn't think of a creative spin for this one. I got up way too early after this morning after having a nightmare about rushing to board an international flight only to realize I didn't have my passport, so yeah, I think my brain is just mush right now! In an effort to give my poor, tired mind a rest, I'm going to go with an easy TTT topic of my own devising: Top Ten Upcoming New Releases I Want to Read. Although I've already read a number of 2022 up-and-comers, there are a bunch more I'm excited about, so here goes.

Before we get to that, though, be sure to hop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our hostess some love. If you're feeling listy today, join in the TTT fun. It's always a good time.

Top Ten Upcoming New Releases I Want to Read  

in order of publication date  

1. This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel (out today)—Although Darling Rose Gold was a very meh read for me, I'm still interested in reading this one, Wrobel's sophomore effort. Here's the story: Natalie's worried about her sister, Kit, who hied off to a remote island to join a 6-month program designed to help her become her "Maximized Self." Natalie hasn't heard from Kit since. When Natalie receives a sinister email from the program's leader threatening to reveal a secret Natalie has been keeping from her sister, Natalie heads to the island to rescue her sibling. Turns out, that's a whole lot easier said than done. 

2. Under Lock and Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (coming March 15, 2022)—A family-run business, Secret Staircase Construction specializes in building hidden rooms and secret passageways for private clients. Tempest Raj never intended to be part of the business, but when her life implodes, she has little choice. While on a job, Tempest discovers the dead body of her former stage double inside a wall that was supposedly sealed 100 years ago. Frightened that she was the actual intended victim, she sets out to find a killer. The first installment in a new mystery series, this one sounds like a lot of fun!

3. The Tsarina's Daughter by Ellen Alpsten (coming March 15, 2022)—The daughter of Peter the Great and his wife, Catherine, Tsarevna Elizabeth is beautiful and privileged. When her fortunes turn, however, she finds herself in a desperate fight for survival. Will she live to take the throne? Or will she suffer the same fate as her murdered brother?

4. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (coming April 12, 2022)—In 1973 Alabama, a young Black nurse sets out to change the world, or at least to make a difference in her local African-American community. Tasked with distributing birth control to impoverished women, Civil's shocked to discover that her first clients are only 11 and 13. Desperate to give the children choice and freedom, she takes the girls under her wing. Then, the unthinkable happens, changing all of their lives forever...

5. Queen of the Tiles by Hannah Alkaf (coming April 19, 2022)—Set in Malaysia, this YA mystery revolves around a cutthroat Scrabble competition. Najwa Bakri has entered the competition for the first time since her best friend, Trina Low, died. Now that Trina's dead, the top spot is open and everyone wants it. Things get complicated when Trina's inactive Instagram is suddenly resurrected, spewing cryptic posts and messages. What is going on? What really happened to Trina? I love Scrabble almost as much as I love mysteries, so I'm all in for this novel. Sounds exciting.

6. Hide by Kiersten White (coming May 24, 2022)—YA novelist White makes her adult debut with this tantalizing thriller. It centers around a competition that places 14 contestants in an abandoned amusement park for a week. If you can hide well enough not to get caught, you win a huge sum of money. Mack is a hiding expert, but when her opponents start disappearing one-by-one, she realizes there's a lot more to this competition than meets the eye.

7. The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan (coming May 31, 2022)—I adore Ryan's World War II novels, so I'm excited for her newest. Like her other books, this one is about women on the homefront coming together to support and strengthen each other in tough times.

8. The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager (coming June 21, 2022)—I'm a fan of Sager's creepy stories, so I always look forward to a new book from him. This one is a Rear Window-ish tale about Casey Fletcher, a woman whose guilty pleasure is spying on the glamorous couple who live across the lake. When one of the perfect pair mysteriously disappears, Casey's determined to find out what happened to her.

9. The It Girl by Ruth Ware (coming July 12, 2022)—Ware is another thriller writer whose books I'm always excited to read. Her newest concerns a tight group of friends whose lives were upended when one of their number was killed. When new evidence about the murder comes to light years later, it throws their lives and friendships into a tailspin once again. 

10. These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall (coming August 9, 2022)—This spooky YA novel is being billed as The Haunting of Hill House meets Knives Out. Um...yes, please! The story is about a Helen, a teen girl who is shocked to inherit her family's hulking ancestral home, even though she and her mother have been estranged from their kin for as long Helen can remember. Her grandfather's will stipulates that Helen will only receive the inheritance if she lives in the home for a year. Harrowstone Hall has haunted Helen's nightmares all her life. Can she really live there for a full year?

There you go, ten upcoming releases I'm looking forward to reading. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which 2022 books are you most excited about? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!