Talking Cats, Magical Villainy, and More Dynamite Recommendations

Label the most epic section of your home library with this cute sign! This shop also has lots of other genre signs for readers. Myself, I want this one and I am also coveting the shelf corner sign with the F-word (surprise, surprise) and the cute TBR ones. $15.

From the award-winning author of The Salt Roads, Skin Folk, and more comes a new fantasy set on a magical island. Student Veycosi hopes that a trip to the island of Chynchin to read a rare book will help secure him a spot among the scholars. But he quickly finds himself in the middle of trouble when forced trade agreements go awry and ancient evil forces begin to come to life as the Blackheart Man.

In keeping with the latest trend of gentle fantasy set in retail spots (Legends & Lattes, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, etc.) comes a new cozy novel about a mysterious coffee shop that only appears during a full moon. Customers who find themselves inside the shop are given life advice. But here’s what you really need to know about this novel: IT HAS TALKING CAT BARISTAS.

For more talking cats, see Dungeon Crawler Carl below and The Scarlet Throne by Amy Leow, out next month.

This is the first book in a self-published series that is so popular that it is now being redistributed by a larger publisher. That’s for good reason: it is one of the most bananapants, funny, inventive books I have read in a while. There is so much going on, but the basic idea is that in a matter of seconds, Carl goes from a guy in Seattle outside in his underwear in the middle of the night (it’s not as weird as it sounds) to a contestant on an alien game show during the apocalypse. He and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, must fight all manner of creatures and chaos in a D&D-style reality show tournament. It’s like Douglas Adams and Walter Moers had a baby and raised it Red Bull, cans of frosting, and Rick and Morty. It will make you laugh and cry and also gross you the hell out. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but also, no need to thank me. (And when you finish this one, there are still five more books to go!)

Sarah Rees Brennan’s epic adult debut is for everyone who has ever wondered, “Wait—what if I’m the villain of my story?” Rae is a young woman who is dying, which, you know, sucks. To keep it from happening, she makes a magical bargain that transports her into her favorite fantasy series. Like many fantasy novels, there’s a kingdom, and monsters, and a shining knight, and a villain. Spoiler: It’s Rae, hi, she’s the villain, it’s Rae. Then she’s like, “Welp, not what I expected, but okay, we’re doing this,” and gathers together all the baddies of the land to figure out a way to keep from meeting a terrible end. But with self-awareness of the story on her side, can Rae change the outcome of the story? And does she have what it takes to be evil?