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Hints #1
Hint #2, 3, & 4
Book #1
Hint 2.6: Taught herself Latin (and didn’t even get an AP credit). Occasionally has visions like out of an illuminated manuscript. (Lie: Their go-to karaoke song would be “Where is my husband!” by Raye.)
Hint 3.6: Sort skeins of wool to earn your pottage. Learn a dead language without the help of Duolingo. Evening prayers at your prie-dieu. Continue attempting to socialize the stray cat. Sleep like a rock in the peace and quiet provided by your solitary living arrangement.
Canticle
Janet Rich Edwards
A masterful debut novel following a spirited young woman’s explorations of faith, agency, and love in thirteenth-century Bruges.
Aleys is sixteen years old and unusual: stubborn, bright, and prone to religious visions. She and her only friend, Finn, a young scholar, have been learning Latin together in secret—but just as she thinks their connection might become something more, everything unravels. When her father promises her in marriage to a merchant she doesn’t love, she runs away from home, finding shelter among the beguines, a fiercely independent community of religious women who refuse to answer to the Church.
Among these hardworking and strong-willed women, Aleys glimpses for the first time the joys of belonging: a life of song, meaning, and friendship in the markets and along the canals of Bruges. But forces both mystical and political are at work. Illegal translations of scripture, the women’s independence, and a sudden rash of miracles all draw the attention of an ambitious bishop—and bring Aleys and those around her into ever-increasing danger, a danger that will push Aleys to a new understanding of love and sacrifice.
Grounded in the little-told stories of medieval women—mystics, saints, anchoresses, and beguines—and introducing a major new talent, Canticle is a luminous work of historical fiction, vividly evoking a world on the verge of transformation.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: December 2, 2025
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Book #2
Hint 2.2: Is actively trying to potty-train Harry Styles. Runs an Edgar Allan Poe-themed bar. (Lie: Believes Love, Actually is the best holiday film ever made and is immune to all criticism.)
Hint 3.4: Take Harry Styles out for his night-time walk so he doesn’t pee inside. Log the latest holiday film on Letterboxd with a snarky review. Trip over some watercolor paints by the coffee table. Give Harry Styles a cookie because he’s whining. Fall asleep to the Hallmark Channel in the background.
Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon
Matthew Norman
A sentimental advertising creative and a blunt, no-nonsense bar owner find a second chance at love while binge-watching iconic holiday movies in this poignant and heartwarming romance, from the author of Charm City Rocks and All Together Now.
The new year had barely begun when Grace White and Henry Adler both lost their spouses. Now, nearly a year later, the first holiday season since their “Great and Terrible Sadnesses” approaches. Although their mothers scheme to matchmake the two surviving spouses, it’s clear that neither is ready to date again. Yet no one understands what they are going through better than each other, and a delicate friendship is born.
When Henry sees an ad for a Christmas movie marathon—once an annual tradition for him and his wife—Grace offers to watch some films with him, despite her aversion to a few of his picks. Her two young kids, Ian and Bella, also join in whenever possible—bedtimes permitting, of course.
With each movie, Grace and Henry’s shared grief eases as they start to see a life beyond the sadness. But as they draw closer, other romantic possibilities leave them uncertain about their future together. Is their bond merely the result of loneliness and shared circumstances, or have they found something that’s worth taking a shot at . . . again?
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: October 14, 2025
Publisher: Random House
Book #3
Hint 2.1: Can usually be found donning a Katniss-style braid for convenience. Prefers to be out of town around the autumnal equinox. (Lie: Aspired to be an entomologist when asked, “What would you like to be when you grow up?”)
Hint 3.5: Pat the Irish Wolfhound lounging by the fire. Ride your bike home after a pint at the local pub. Arts and crafts time! Tonight we’re decorating masks. Drink a glass of warm milk (be careful not to burn it!) Apply Angie’s Magic Balm as directed.
Itch!
Gemma Amor
Something moves on the forest floor . . .
Josie is at rock bottom. Burned out, heartbroken and recovering from an abusive relationship, she lives a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean.
But the tall, dense pine trees are not the only things casting shadows across her skin.
Josie’s hopes of a fresh start are horribly derailed when she stumbles across a dead woman’s decaying, ant-infested body in the woods. The grim discovery sends her into a downward spiral, forcing her to face uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past – all whilst battling the swarming black ants that seem to have burrowed into her mind . . . and her flesh.
As Josie struggles with infestations of all kinds, she scratches the surface of an age-old mystery – a masked predator stalks the forest around Ellwood, a place deeply gripped by ancient folklore and strange customs. So when the village dresses up for its annual festival, Josie gets closer and closer to unveiling a monster, and begins to ask herself:
Are these dark crawling insects leading her to uncover the truth?
Or is she their next victim?
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: January 13, 2026
Publisher: Hachette Mobius
Book #4
Hint 2.5: Is our #hindsight2025 pick, aka a book we wished we carried earlier this year with signed copies available on a first-come, first-served basis. Can most certainly not be trusted to watch over and raise young children. (Lie: Had absolutely nothing to do with the vandalism of the family portraits in the Great Hall.)
Hint 3.1: Eavesdrop on the staff gossiping outside your window. Most certainly not work on a lesson plan for your charges. Go vandalize some family portraits in the Great Hall. Debate setting your lodgings on fire, again… Haunt the corridors to stave off boredom.
Victorian Psycho
Virginia Feito
From the acclaimed author of Mrs. March comes the riveting tale of a bloodthirsty governess who learns the true meaning of vengeance.
Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess―she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family―Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .
Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Satirical Comedy, Horror
Publication Date: February 4, 2025
Publisher: Liveright
Book #5
Hint 2.4: If forced to save one item in a fire, it would be running shoes. Should be credited with the rise in popularity of rock paper scissors. (Lie: Is always at the right place at the right time, existentially punctual you could say.)
Hint 3.3: Witness a performance of the North Wind Players. Ask your chambermaid to tighten the laces on your nightgown. Get clothes/sneakers laid out for an early morning run with L. Read an anachronistic piece of literature for comfort. Attempte to ignore the brooding man in the next room…
The Once and Future Queen
Paula Lafferty
Outlander-meets-The Princess Bride plus Camelot in a fresh, big-hearted, feminist, timeslip adventure reimagining the epic saga of King Arthur, as told from the perspective of his spunky and surprising queen, Vera – complete with time travel and good running shoes!
Vera always knew she didn’t fit in. When she learns that she is meant to be in another time, she leaps at the chance to embrace a new life in a world of valor, intrigue, and unexpected magic in this bold and romantic retelling of Arthurian legend . . .
22-year-old Vera is at a crossroads: waiting tables, grieving her previous relationship, and jogging aimlessly each morning as if toward an uncertain future. Then an odd man shows up at her workplace, insisting that she was once the legendary Queen Guinevere of Camelot, and that her lost memories hold the key to changing both the past and the present. Somehow, it all feels like the direction she’s been looking for. But when she asks the mysterious man to tell her more about Lancelot, Arthur, and a faithless queen, he can only say that much of what she’s heard about Camelot is wrong. The truth, he claims, is something she must see for herself.
After jumping through a portal in Glastonbury’s historic center, Vera is not prepared for what she finds. Magic is everywhere, but a curse on the kingdom means it dwindles every day. She has no idea how to perform a queen’s duties. Her fast friendship with Lancelot sets gossip flowing, and the stranger she must call “husband” often refuses to meet her eye. Arthur is a puzzle: cold, forbidding, and, while angry to her face, keeps leaving secret tokens of tenderness in her chambers. Worst of all, Vera’s memories—and the answers locked within them—show no signs of returning. If Vera is truly destined to save Camelot, she’ll have to trust her instincts. And her king will have to trust her . . .
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: December 16, 2025
Publisher: Erewhon Books
Book #6:
Hint 2.5: Has not (until now) had a print run in North America… Takes place across three different time zones! (Lie: Would do absolutely anything to avoid a needle.)
Hint 3.2: Procrastinate working on your EP again. Embark on an illicit internet deep dive on the new miracle drug (incognito mode). Design some posters for the protest tomorrow. Write out a grocery list for the Helper. Pass out beneath print of Izanami and Izanagi.
Who Wants to Live Forever
Hanna Thomas Uose
What happens to loving each other forever when your soulmate decides living forever is more important?
Yuki and Sam are soulmates.
They are destined to spend the rest of their lives together.
They are supposed to love one another, forever.
But when a miracle drug is created which can extend a human’s life, indefinitely, Sam decides to live forever, rather than love Yuki forever.
What comes next is a time-bending, decades-long, world-building epic set across the globe and narrated by an intersecting cast of characters. Who Wants to Live Forever is the greatest romance you will ever read without the happily ever after.
Genre: Romance, Magical Realism
Publication Date: N/A
Publisher: N/A
