Aardvark Book Club is a monthly book subscription box in which members choose up to 3 hardcover books each month from a selection of new releases or previous selections. Aardvark Book Club ships to both the U.S. and Canada and provides a platform to discuss books. To get your first book for $4, use the promo code READBETWEENTHESPINES.
Hints #1 & 2
Hints #3 & 4
Book #1
Hint 1.1: Agricultural Methods in the Time of Apocalypse, Introduction to Family Systems (AKA Why You Fight at Family Reunions), and Sailing on a Budget
Hint 2.6: Ignoring stranger danger, spending as little time as possible on solid land, keeping busy because regret can’t hit a moving target
Hint 3.5: Touch – cold seaspray of the Atlantic. Taste – expired tinned food. Sight – a strange mass on the horizon. Smell – sour mildew of a life jacket. Hearing – a man who loves to hear himself talk.
Saltcrop
Yume Kitasei
From the acclaimed author of The Stardust Grail comes the epic tale of two sisters who sail across oceans to find their missing third sister―and Earth’s environmental salvation.
In Earth’s not too distant future, seas consume coastal cities, highways disintegrate underwater, and mutant fish lurk in pirate-controlled depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother.
But then her eldest sister, Nora, goes missing. Nora left home a decade ago in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to find―and save―her. As they voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange, encountering other travelers along the way, they learn more about their sister’s work and the corporations that want what she discovered.
But the farther they go, the more uncertain their mission becomes: What dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister―or each other? Thus begins an epic journey spanning oceans and continents and a wistful rumination on sisterhood, friendship, and ecological disaster.
Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: September 30, 2025
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Book #2
Hint 1.2: International Relations Across Species, Hostage Negotiation with Werewolves, and From Dracula to Edward: A History of Vampires in Media
Hint 2.7: Eating peanut butter out of the jar with my fingers, living up to my namesake, sparkles
Hint 3.7: Touch – itchy lace of a bridal jumpsuit. Taste – metallic tang of AB. Sight – never daylight. Smell – a rainsoaked dog. Hearing – howl of an alpha.
Bride
Ali Hazelwood
A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.
Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again…
Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….
Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publication Date: February 6, 2024 (Aardvark Re-release)
Publisher: Berkley
Book #3
Hint 1.3: Effects of Moon Phases on Libido, Dog Grooming for Dummies, Enemies to Lovers: Why Opposites Attract
Hint 2.1: Building a nest out of other people’s clothing, shaping my waffles into unicorns, exclusively second-hand flannel.
Hint 3.3: Touch – the forest floor beneath your paws. Taste – Goldfish crackers shaped like phases of the moon. Sight – a man chopping wood. Smell – a flannel that smells like him. Hearing – tinkling of piano keys.
Mate
Ali Hazelwood
A Human hybrid and an Alpha Were claw against the bonds of fate in the highly anticipated companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Bride.
Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her.
As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe.
But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publication Date: October 7, 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Book #4
Hint 1.4: Cooking Under Pressure: Advanced Microwave Oven Cooking, 101 Jell-o Salad Recipes to Impress Your Neighbors, The Yellow Wallpaper Effect: Why So Many Perfect Housewives Turn Hysterical
Hint 2.5: Inciting jealousy with my gelatin salads, stealing my neighbour’s cat, enacting “Rear Window” in my neighbourhood
Hint 3.6: Touch – soft fur of a cat. Taste – licking SGH green stamps. Sight – an unspeakably ugly davenport couch. Smell – clouds of cigar smoke. Hearing – screaming into a pillow.
The Mad Wife
Meagan Church
From bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build―and the lies we live.
They called it hysteria. She called it survival.
Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her and the weight of exhausting expectations, she keeps her husband happy, her household running, and her gelatin salads the talk of the neighborhood. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu’s carefully crafted life begins to unravel.
When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman’s constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew―and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?
In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won’t want to put it down.
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publication Date: September 30, 2025
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Book #5
Hint 1.5: Film 101: The Seventh Seal & Death in Cinema, Agatha Christie & Knives Out: Murder Mysteries in Media; Aging Well: Tips & Tricks for Living Life to the Fullest
Hint 2.2: Pretending I’m Agatha Christie’s prodigy; conspiracy theories about the government & secret aliens; refusing to accept help from anyone, thank you very much.
Hint 3.2: Touch – moving chess pieces across the board. Taste – chamomile in your favorite mug. Sight – a strange light in the woods. Smell – something fishy going on. Hearing – a Criterion Collection film playing next door.
The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre
Philip Fracassi
Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers guessing until the very last page.
Rose DuBois is not your average final girl.
Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home.
When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn’t too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age!
Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can’t help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister?
Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there’s a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn’t careful, Rose may be their next victim.
Genre: Literary Fiction; Horror
Publication Date: September 30, 2025
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Book #6:
Hint 1.6: Medical Mysteries & Anomalies, Anthropology Seminar: Cultures of the North Atlantic, How to Find Your Dream Home, Aquarium Studies: The Art of Letting Go, Advanced Lecture Series on Simulation Theory, Man’s Best Friend: A History of Dog Domestication, and Interrogating the Factory: A Study of Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times
Hint 2.3: Overstaying my welcome, taking my twin everywhere I go, swallowing unorthodox objects, locking lips with ghosts, packing up & leaving town every 3 months, coveting thy neighbour’s home, plotting revenge on hospital parrots, frustrating authority figures
Hint 3.1: Touch – Starfish crawling over each other. Taste – fizz of Mountain Dew. Sight – phosphorescent rat tracks. Smell – omnipresent smell of antiseptic. Hearing – nothing (space is a vacuum).
One Bad Night & Other Stories
Isabel Armiento
Horror lovers everywhere, get ready for… ONE BAD NIGHT.
In “Two Observers of the Slaughter Rites on Gannet Island,” an anthropologist and his wife travel to the remote Gannet Island to observe a mysterious yearly ritual.
In “My Lithopedia,” a woman learns that she had an unborn twin sister, extracted as a stone baby during her late mother’s autopsy and decides to keep it.
In “Lady Jawbone,” Lilou is trapped inside a nightmarish phosphorous match factory, when a strange new arrival offers her a way out.
In “A Necromancer’s Guide to Reconnecting with Your Ex,” the ghost of Roxanne’s rock-and-roll ex asks her to resurrect him, forcing her to confront what it means to truly let go.
In “Red Tide,” a woman running from her past finds work at a small-town aquarium, where she encounters the “spectre fish,” a carnivorous mer-creature of local lore.
In “47 Pineview Way,” an anxious mother drops off her son at his first sleepover—but the next morning, the house where she left him has disappeared.
In “A Meditation on the Existence of Certain Cutlery (There is No Spoon),” Commander Janna Field is on a covert mission to the lunar south pole—or is she?
In “One Bad Night,” Steck, an aging, lonely man becomes fixated on a sinister green parrot after it seems to predicts the death of his beloved dog.
Genre: Short Stories
Publication Date: October 1, 2025
Publisher: Aardvark Exclusive
Book #7
Hint 1.7: Making the Most of Your Marriage: A Guide to Inheritance Law & Keeping It In the Family, Gothic Satire: Northanger Abbey & The Castle of Otranto, and Oscar Wilde & The Art of Being a Dandy
Hint 2.4: Accepting invitations I have no business accepting, fighting with my family at every opportunity, messy situationships with no closure.
Hint 3.4: Touch – the walls slowly closing in. Taste – underseasoned mulligatawny soup. Sight – an evil Stonehenge site. Smell – dirty blood money. Hearing – a guttering candle.
All of Us Murderers
K.J. Charles
The lush Gothic drama of Crimson Peak meets the murderous intrigue of Knives Out with an LGBTQIA+ love story to die for from award-winning author KJ Charles.
Who will survive Lackaday House?
When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative’s remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn’t possibly get worse.
Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family―but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there’s no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house’s shadowy depths…
Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House―and live to tell the tale?
Genre: Historical Mystery
Publication Date: October 7, 2025
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
