Before we get to my favorite weekly meme, I want to share some great news!  For the second year in a row, I have been selected to be a judge for round one of the Cybils Awards.  This go round, I'll be on the panel for middle grade fiction, which is absolutely thrilling for me.  Haven't heard of the Cybils?  It's an annual literary awards program created by bloggers that recognizes children's literature based on both literary merit and popular appeal.  Public nominations will run from October 1-15, so if you've read an awesome book for young readers this year that was published in the U.S. or Canada between October 16, 2019 and October 15, 2020, you can nominate it for a Cybils Award!  Authors, illustrators, publishers, etc. can even nominate their own books, although they have their own nomination period.  Check out the Cybils Awards website for more info.

I don't know about you, but my favorite Top Ten Tuesday prompts are those to do with seasonal reading lists.  It's always fun to see what other bloggers are planning to read, which titles they're excited about, and what's up-and-coming in their review queues.  I'm going to twist the topic a little bit today (shocker!) to continue chatting about 2020 book releases that are still to come.  If you missed Part One, shame on you!  Just kidding—you can check out last week's list here.  Part Two is another mix of forthcoming novels from various genres that I'm looking forward to reading soon-ish.

As always, if you want to join in the TTT fun (and you do), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, where our host, Jana, can give you all the deets on this weekly meme.  Lots of bloggers join in, so it's a great way to spread the love across the book blogosphere by finding new blogs, visiting old faves, and, of course, grabbing some great reading recommendations for your TBR pile mountain mountain chain.

Top Ten Novels Coming Out in Fall 2020, Part Two  

1.  Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell (available October 13, 2020)—I generally enjoy Jewell's books and her newest domestic thriller, about a neighborhood in crisis after the mysterious disappearance of a young woman, sounds intriguing.

2.  You Know I'm No Good by Jessie Ann Foley (available October 13, 2020)—Foley's Sorry For Your Loss was one of my favorite reads of 2019.  Her newest sounds equally as compelling.  It concerns a 17-year-old girl who starts acting out in response to a scarring trauma.  When she's whisked away in the middle of the night to a boarding school that's supposed to straighten her out, she'll have to confront her demons in order to change her life for the better.  Although the plot sounds a little generic, I'm excited to see what Foley makes of it.

3.  Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron (available October 13, 2020)—I'm not always a fan of books about magic and special powers, but this one, set in the Jim Crow South, appeals.  It's about a Black teen with a boatload of real-life troubles who's also grappling with the maturation of her magic abilities, which have been passed down through generations of Black women since the days of slavery.  Sounds compelling.

4.  The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn (available December 8, 2020)—I first heard about the deep sea divers of Jeju, South Korea, from Lisa See's sweeping novel, The Island of Sea Women.  I'm definitely up for reading more and this debut sounds like one I'll like.  

5.  The Key to Fear by Kristin Cast (available October 13, 2020)—The Key Corporation protects everyone from a rampant virus that spreads through touch.  When an infected patient escapes during the watch of a young nurse, she breaks the corporation's strict rules to go after him.  The patient, of course, knows secrets about the Key Corporation that could shatter its control over the population; naturally, he—and now his nurse—find themselves in the crosshairs of the most powerful organization in the world.  Can they save themselves from a ruthless enemy?  How about the world?  Yeah, yeah, I know this is the plot of like every YA dystopian novel ever, but still ... 

6.  The Green Lace Corset by Jill G. Hall (available October 13, 2020)—This dual-timeline novel concerns two women living in San Francisco 135 years apart, connected by the titular garment.

7.  Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan (available October 6, 2020)—When it comes to historical novels, I usually don't read anything set before the American Revolution, so this one, set in "a time long forgotten" may be a little outside my reading comfort zone.  Still, the story, which concerns a tight-knit community and the way it changes irrevocably after it's invaded by outsiders, sounds interesting.  I'm not sure why this one appeals to me, but it does.

8.  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (available September 29, 2020)—Between life and death, there lies a great library filled with numberless books, all containing a story you can potentially live.  Given the opportunity to jump into another life (or two or three), would you?  This premise fascinates me!

9.  Elsewhere by Dean Koontz (available October 6, 2020)—A father and daughter are unexpectedly handed a strange object by an eccentric acquaintance.  Shockingly, it allows them to access parallel universes.  A powerful stranger wants the object for nefarious purposes—our dynamic duo just wants to find their dead wife and mother.

10.  Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins (available October 6, 2020)—Hopkins' first MG novel is a contemporary story in verse about a girl whose life is upended when her strange cousin moves in with her family.  Hopkins' YA novels are raw and hard-hitting; I'm interested to see how this one compares.

There you go, ten more novels to look forward to in this latter part of 2020.  Which 2020 releases are you looking forward to?  Which have you already enjoyed?  What titles are on your Fall TBR list?  I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I'll return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!     

The Chiron Club is not the kind of place where just anyone can waltz in.  Especially not a woman.  It's a palace of luxury, indulgence, and secrets to which only its male members are privy.  So, when Paige Hargreaves—a freelance journalist who was investigating the exclusive gentlemen's club—turns up dead, the police naturally turn their focus on the club.  Did one of its members kill Paige to keep her quiet?  That's what DS Maeve Kerrigan and her partner, DI Josh Derwent, are determined to find out.

As the duo digs into the secrets of both Paige and the Chiron Club, they make some dangerous discoveries.  Unearthing these truths is getting Maeve and Josh closer to a killer, but Maeve is keeping her own secret and it's this that could really put her life in danger.  Can she solve the mystery of how Paige died?  Can she save herself from suffering a similar fate?

I'm trying to wean myself off dark, disturbing thrillers, but when it comes to Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan series, I just can't resist.  I love this brave, tenacious, self-deprecating heroine!  Maeve is a likable blend of vulnerable and tough and that's perhaps never more apparent than in The Cutting Place, the ninth installment in the series.  Although these novels feature taut, compelling mysteries, it's Maeve's evolving relationship with the mercurial Derwent that has become my favorite aspect of the series.  That features prominently in The Cutting Place, which makes me happy.  As always, Casey isn't afraid of taking on disturbing subject matter, so be forewarned that this isn't an easy read.  Still, it's one that kept me totally riveted.  Weaning be darned, I'll follow Maeve Kerrigan anywhere!

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Maeve Kerrigan series, including Left for Dead [novella], The Burning, The Reckoning, The Last Girl, The Stranger You Know, The Kill, After the Fire, Let the Dead Speak, One In Custody [novella], Love Lies Bleeding [novella], and Cruel Acts)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of The Cutting Place from the generous folks at HarperCollins via those at Edelweiss Plus in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

After a terrible mistake which left her traumatized and with a young, equally scarred son to care for, 33-year-old Tess Henshaw is back in little Rock Harbor, Maine.  Now teaching English at the same prep school she attended as a young woman, Tess is married to a respected man who's also an instructor at the school.  Always a moody, complicated kid, Tess's son Rudy, now 17, is living on-campus and seems to be happier than he has been in a very long time.  With her comfortable, stable life, Tess' tumultuous past feels like ancient history—just the way she likes it.

Then, an early morning text from Rudy shatters Tess' perfect life.  Without waking her husband, she races to the rescue of her trembling son, who's soaking wet, practically mute, and has a stain on his hoodie that looks an awful lot like blood.  A few hours later, she gets an even more shocking message—the body of Rudy's girlfriend, Lila Zeller, has just been found near the place where Tess had gone to pick up Rudy.  As the police investigate the suspicious death, Rudy becomes a suspect as does Tess' husband, Harmon.  Frantic to clear both of their names without implicating either, Tess finds herself lying to authorities and spilling secrets from her own past in a desperate effort to keep her entire world from falling completely apart.  Although Tess can't believe her son capable of such a heinous crime, she's plagued by the question everyone is asking:  What really happened the night Lila died?

I'm always up for a compelling psychological thriller, especially a moody, broody one with deliciously Gothic undertones.  These are Carol Goodman's bread and butter and I, for one, am always eager to sup at her table!  While her newest, The Sea of Lost Girls, isn't my favorite Goodman novel (that would be The Widow's House), it's still a tense, twisty tale that kept me glued to the page.  True, I saw the killer coming, but that didn't keep me from reading this one fast and furious.  Even though it's depressing, the characters aren't super likable, and their actions don't always make sense, I still enjoyed The Sea of Lost Girls overall.   

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other novels by Carol Goodman)

As a first-year English teacher, 27-year-old Benedetta "Bennie" Silva knows she pretty much has to take what she can get in terms of job placement.  Still, she doesn't quite know how she's going to manage her first assignment at an all-black junior/senior high school in little Augustine, Louisiana.  The kids, most of whom are impoverished and jaded, are just as skeptical of her as she is of them.  In a desperate effort to engage them, she begins researching the history of a nearby plantation called Goswood Grove.  When she discovers an incredible story about three young women who set out on a remarkable journey, Benny becomes obsessed with the tale, especially when she finds a connection between it and one of her students.   

Over one hundred years earlier, in the days of Reconstruction, a trio of teens from Augustine hie off for Texas.  Hannah is a freed slave searching for her mother and siblings, all of whom were sold off when she was only six.  Lavinia is the spoiled daughter of Goswood Grove's master, who disappeared without a trace, leaving his plantation and family destitute.  A mulatto, Juneau is Lavinia's Creole half-sister, who goes along reluctantly to keep Lavinia from getting into too much trouble.  Along the way, the unlikely road trip companions will deal with perils of every kind.  Can they learn to rely on each other?  Will each of them find what they're looking for?  Will any of them?

The Book of Lost Friends, Lisa Wingate's newest, has been criticized for being slow and lacking depth.  While I can understand these complaints, I actually really liked the novel.  It introduced me to a piece of Reconstruction era history that I'd never heard of—"Lost Friends" advertisements that helped families torn apart by slavery find each other again.  Not only did I find this aspect of the novel fascinating, but I also enjoyed getting to know Hannah, Lavinia, and Juneau.  Their journey to Texas and into their own pasts had enough drama and intrigue to keep me reading.  All in all, I found The Book of Lost Friends to be engaging, interesting, moving, and thought-provoking.  I loved it.

(Readalikes:  Hm, nothing is coming to mind.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of The Book of Lost Friends from the generous folks at Ballantine Books (a division of Penguin Random House) via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!