Saturday Spotlight: New Book Releases July 2024
By Claire Buss, Deputy Editor, Write On!
At Write On! and Pen to Print, we want to help connect authors and readers, playwrights and audiences, so we’ve created a Spotlight page on the last Saturday of the month, showcasing some of the exciting new reads and plays available. The curated list is based on books and plays that you send us, so if you’re an author or a playwright and you’d like your book or play in the spotlight, reach out to us at pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk. Whether you’re an indie author, with a small press or mainstream publisher, established or brand new playwright, we’d love to hear from you and shine a light on your new work.
Write On! offers other opportunities for writers as well. If you’d like us to feature an extract from your book or a short story, please send the extract, book cover and blurb to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject: Write On! Showcase (ensuring you have your publisher’s permission, of course).
Pen to Print are also looking for short videos from people reading a passage from their favourite book, or authors reading extracts from their own books. These videos will be featured on the Pen to Print YouTube channel and across our social media. Please send in your videos or links to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject: Video Stories.
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The Passion Of The Rabbit God by Hongwei Bao
The Rabbit God: protector of queer hearts across East Asia. Can this ancient myth help rewrite our tomorrows?
Hongwei Bao’s debut collection charts an emotional journey through centuries and between nations, with the poet’s own migration from Inner Mongolia to Nottingham offering a unique, fascinating perspective through which to examine Asian and queer identity.
These are poems which hop energetically over any and all borders. Scenes of everyday heartache give way to fireworks of rage and joy, while intimate examinations of relationships and desire sit alongside politically charged pieces – as the poet contrasts injustices from ancient China with those from present-day England.
In verses alive with longing and resistance, Bao’s poems ask: What does it mean to love, defy, and bloom as a queer Asian soul in our ever-changing world?
Available to buy here
Connect with Hongwei Bao
Murder On The Camino by Will Bidder
James Pollock, 27, unemployed and lacking direction, accepts £1000 bet to walk the Camino de Santiago across Spain without his phone or any contact with the outside world.
With any luck, the trek will help James forget the woman he’s fallen in love with, who also happens to be his brother’s girlfriend.
Just days into his 500-mile journey, he encounters Massimo, an aggressive wild pilgrim, who challenges him to a staff-throwing dare on the edge of a cliff. Forced against his will, James throws the staff and tragedy ensues.
James doesn’t report the death, but continues on the trail. However, as rumours of a Camino murder become front page news, he must change his identity to escape the police investigation and other suspicious pilgrims he meets along the way.
Determined to finish the month-long trek, James has to confront his own demons on his pilgrimage for redemption, while someone — or something — seems determined to throw danger in his path.
Chaos At The Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan
Bailey Briggs adores her year-round Halloween-themed town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon. But when she takes over her grandfather’s beloved bookshop, Lazy Bones Books, she accidentally discovers the town’s secret dark side…
Normally, spooky season is Bailey Briggs’ favorite time of year, and her Halloween-themed small town’s time to shine. But between managing Lazy Bones Books, working on her graphic novel-in-progress, and running the Spooky Season Literary Festival, Bailey hardly has a moment to enjoy Elyan Hollow’s spot-on seasonal vibes. Not to mention, at every turn she seems to be tripping over the contentious crew of Gone Ghouls, a ghost-hunting reality TV show currently filming around town. Bailey tries to stay focused on the Lit Festival, which is supposed to kick off Elyan Hollow’s annual Halloween Fair; instead, this year’s festival begins with a murder.
It’s bad enough Bailey discovered the victim, but now, as a lead suspect with some (admittedly) damning evidence pointing her way, she’s got to clear her name. With the help of her librarian friend, Colby, and Jack Skeleton, her world-class bookshop dog (and the absolute bestest boy ever), Bailey sets out to solve a murder.
As her investigation weaves through family secrets, professional rivalries and town feuds, the list of suspects is growing fast and, unfortunately, so is the list of victims. If Bailey doesn’t find the killer soon, Elyan Hollow’s haunted reputation will get a little too real.
The Best Lies by David Ellis
Felicity’s War by Jean Fullerton
1941. While London is battered by air raids, Felicity ‘Fliss’ Carmichael has troubles of her own.
Still reeling from catching her fiancé cheating, she flees to her childhood home at St Winifred’s Rectory, reuniting with her sister Prue and Hester Katz, a Jewish doctor sheltering there.
Though heartbroken, Fliss finds purpose again as a journalist. On assignment, she crosses paths with Detective Inspector Timothy Wallace, who shares her passion for truth and justice, though not her political beliefs. Despite their differences, an instant spark ignites between them.
But their love faces twists and turns ahead. While Fliss stumbles upon a crime and bravely intervenes, Tim’s investigation into black market racketeering puts him in mortal danger.
In a city under siege, Fliss and Tim forge an unlikely bond. But can their blossoming romance endure the perils ahead?
Available to buy here
Connect with Jean Fullerton
The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness
The first shadows fall on a Friday afternoon when a single, dying raven lands on the pavement in front of Diana Bishop, harbinger of an invitation that reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.
Diana is a witch and scholar; her husband Matthew Clairmont, a vampire. Their intense love for one another awoke the dark powers within her and dissolved the Covenant between the three species – Witch, Daemon and Vampire – that live alongside humans. Now, the governing Congregation has decided it must test the magical powers of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Becca. Concerned with their safety, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and travels to Ravenswood, the Proctor family home.
There, Diana begins a new era, becoming her great-aunt Gwyneth’s pupil in higher magic. It’s time to confront her family’s past and her own, inescapable desire for greater power.
Available to buy here
Connect with Deborah Harkness
The Woman In The Garden by Jill Johnson
Eustacia has always been better with plants than people…
Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. Her life is quiet, her schedule is unchanging and her closest friends are the specimens she tends to. But she does have one other hobby: watching her neighbors through her telescope, taking extensive notes on their lives for ‘research.’
When Eustacia hears a scream one evening, the temptation to investigate proves irresistible. Through her telescope she catches a glimpse of her extraordinarily beautiful new neighbour, Simone, and soon becomes obsessed with her and her life. But who are these four men that orbit Simone? And why does Eustacia get the feeling she needs to protect her from them?
One day, Eustacia comes home to find her precious garden destroyed, and learns that someone close to Simone has been murdered with a rare poisonous plant. As she is drawn deep into the crime, Eustacia’s closed-off life begins to crumble, forcing her to break free from the walls of her secret garden and take matters into her own hands. Soon, she’s forced to realise that the world is filled with people who are just as toxic as her plants…
Available to buy here
Connect with Jill Johnson
Bog Witch by Mab Jones
Encompassing nature writing, life writing, poetry and magical memoir from a working-class woman’s perspective while drawing from history, science, mythology and folklore, Bog Witch is a lyrical, semi-mystical immersion into wild wetland areas.
From fens to peatlands, mires to marshes, swamps to lagoons, these diverse habitats are more than just mud, offering a richesse of flora and fauna, herbs and healing plants, as well as an unusual opportunity for our own inner healing and spiritual growth. With a structure inspired by the chant of the three witches in Macbeth, which features a host of native wetland flora and fauna, Bog Witch will lead its readers into the gloam of these seemingly gloomy spots, enlightening them, endeavouring to entertain, explore, explain and enrich.
Join poet Mab Jones on her journey into the wilds and learn how brightness and beauty, birdsong and brilliance, exist even in the darkest, most misunderstood places.
Available to buy here
Connect with Mab Jones
Sold! The Autobiography Of Charlie Ross by Stewart & Charlie Ross
The extraordinary and highly amusing life story of one of our best-loved television personalities.
Told with wit, honesty and refreshing modesty, Charlie Ross’ remarkable ‘bantams to Bugattis’ autobiography is packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes insights and delightful stories from the schoolroom via the saleroom to the TV screen.
Available to buy here
Connect with Stewart Ross
The Body In The Backyard by Lucy Score
Everything seems straightforward enough when an agreement is reached for the tennis club to hold social events at the nearby Dream Café while the clubhouse is being rebuilt.
When the current chairman is forced to resign, Laurie, his young and inexperienced deputy, is left in charge, accepting the role on condition that the attractive Helen is prepared to support him as the new deputy.
The pair face an unprecedented run of challenges. The builder is failing to deliver on time. A player’s dubious line calls are infuriating opponents. The WhatsApp group has become a hotbed of salacious gossip. A middle-aged flirt is offending the young female members. And poor behaviour at the Dream Café is threatening the agreement.
Helen and Laurie are struggling to cope, though tennis club problems are a distant second for Helen as she attempts to start a relationship with Laurie. She’s sure he also wants that but something major is going on in his life to prevent progress. What is that something and can it be overcome?
Available to buy here
Connect with Lucy Score
Remember, if you’re an author and you’d like to see your book in our Saturday Spotlight, email: pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk and send us the details of your new novel.
For details of Penguin RandomHouse new releases, visit their website here.
For details of Hachette new releases, visit their website here.
For details of HarperCollins new releases, visit their website here.
For details of PanMacmillan new releases, visit their website here.
For details of Simon & Schuster new releases, visit their website here.
Disclaimer: Amazon links are given for ease but please remember there are a number of other online retailers operating, including hive (which helps to support independent book shops), Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play and Nook as well as online stores for bookstores such as Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and WHSmiths.
Issue 21 of Write On! is out now and you can read it online here. Find it in libraries and other outlets. You can find previous editions of our magazines here.
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We want to help connect authors and readers, so our Saturday Spotlight page showcases some of the exciting new reads available each month.
