Three Pre-Orders I Want to Tell You About

I think I’ve done one or two of these posts before, but it’s been quite a while since the last one, and I’ve recently pre-ordered some books I NEED to tell you about! These all come from a couple of specialty publishers I love to support, and although the editions I’m buying are on the pricey side, there are other editions available, and no doubt you’ll be able to find these in your library at some point as well. One of them is not even genre fiction! (gasp) Here we go:

Small Kingdoms and Other Stories by Charlaine Harris

I pre-ordered this from my favorite small press Subterranean, and if you’re so inclined, click here to check it out on their website. I believe these linked stories have been previously published, but this is the first time they’ve been collected together. Here is the description from Goodreads:

A new collection of linked short stories from Charlaine Harris, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse books, the basis for HBO’s True Blood, and the Midnight Crossroad series, the inspiration for Midnight, Texason NBC.

Principal Anne DeWitt knew her past could catch up with her, but she didn’t expect it would make her late for school. Killing a man does take time though; so does disposing the body . . . if you do it right.

After three relatively quiet years at Travis High School, it seems Anne is in danger of being exposed—even the baseball coach knows more about her former life than she ever imagined. Now, she must find out who else holds her secrets and who wants her to pay for them. . .without letting it make her tardy again. Anne still has a school to run, parents to manage, and a few students who might benefit from her unique—and deadly—experience.

Collected together for the first time in Small Kingdoms and Other Stories, “Small Kingdoms,” “Sarah Smiles,” “Small Chances,” and “Small Signs” are sure to delight fans of Charlaine Harris.


Golden State by Ben H. Winters

This edition comes from my favorite UK small press, Goldsboro Books. It’s a limited edition of only 200 copies, signed by the author with sprayed edges. (Sprayed edges gets me every time!) I’ve read some amazing early reviews of this book and I must have my own copy! Click here to learn more about the Goldsboro edition.

A shocking vision of our future that is one part Minority Reportand one part Chinatown.

Lazlo Ratesic is 54, a 19-year veteran of the Speculative Service, from a family of law enforcement and in a strange alternate society that values law and truth above all else. This is how Laz must, by law, introduce himself, lest he fail to disclose his true purpose or nature, and by doing so, be guilty of a lie.

Laz is a resident of The Golden State, a nation resembling California, where like-minded Americans retreated after the erosion of truth and the spread of lies made public life, and governance, increasingly impossible. There, surrounded by the high walls of compulsory truth-telling, knowingly contradicting the truth–the Objectively So–is the greatest possible crime. Stopping those crimes, punishing them, is Laz’s job. In its service, he is one of the few individuals permitted to harbor untruths–to “speculate” on what might have happened in the commission of a crime.

But the Golden State is far less a paradise than its name might suggest. To monitor, verify, and enforce the Objectively So requires a veritable panopticon of surveillance, recording, and record-keeping. And when those in control of the truth twist it for nefarious means, the Speculators may be the only ones with the power to fight back.


Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

When I saw this on the Goldsboro Books website, I knew I had to buy it, genre be damned! To be honest, I’ve already had my eye on this book, since it takes place in the music industry and sounds really good, but check out this gorgeous cover! The dust jacket looks like a vinyl record, and when you take it off, the image on the right is printed right on the board. I’ve never seen anything quite like this, and my collector’s heart  insisted I push the “add to cart” button, lol. Here’s the link if you’re interested.

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.


Are you planning to read any of these books? Or have you read any of them? Let me know in the comments!

Posted January 29, 2019 by Tammy in Book Pre-Orders / 29 Comments

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29 responses to “Three Pre-Orders I Want to Tell You About

  1. I have an arc of Daisy Jones and the Six. I do love some music mixed in with my books from time to time. I was unaware of the Harris book but I can see why you had to preorder it. I need to get my hands on those stories.

    • Tammy

      I’ll probably regret the splurging later, lol. Wait, I got some money for Christmas, so it’s OK, right?

    • Tammy

      It’s from a specialty publisher so the US edition (that I know of) has a different cover. But I hear it’s really good!

    • Tammy

      Oh cool, I love that you’ve already read it! It’s definitely not my usual genre but I can’t wait:-)

    • Tammy

      I’m more interested in the Charlaine Harris book as a collector’s item. I just love this cover, as opposed to the trade cover that’s out there. But I’m curious about the stories, they actually sound interesting:-)

    • Tammy

      I can’t wait to read your review (so I hope you review Daisy Jones!!). I’ve been reading lots of rave reviews:-)

  2. Such lovely books – no wonder you splurged. The Charlaine Harris book sounds good but I would probably resist as short stories don’t really work for me. Not really my type of book either but the Daisy Jones book does appeal. I hope you love it.
    Lynn 😀

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