4 Books I’m Excited For (Dec 2024)

December is a slow publishing month but a big READING month for me…especially if I take the train home for the holidays. Not a ton of books on my radar releasing this month, but maybe that’ll give me a chance to catch up?
HA–as if

Here are four books that grabbed my eye in the catalogs, publishing this December!

How Could You By Ren Strapp

I don’t read as many adult graphic novels as I should, but I’m trying to be better! This is a debut which is so exciting–and ptiched for fans of Heartstopper and Laura Dean, so I’m intrigued!

“Falling in love? Scary. Falling for your best friend? Terrifying. Naming all the ways your heart hurts? Impossible. College upperclassman Molly Song is set on getting over her ex this semester, but it’s hard when she dumps you via email and posts all over social media about cozying up with her study-abroad roommate. After convincing her friend, Lou Kingston, that they should go to parties and find rebound girlfriends, Molly learns she should be careful what she wishes for when she starts to develop real feelings for someone she’s not sure feels the same way.”

The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale

What a cover! I love a good author protagonist–don’t we all? Throw in a little Hollywood intrigue, some murder…it’s screaming Book of the Month club, and that’s my type of adult fiction these days.

“A struggling author discovers the dark side of fame when a stalker begins reenacting violent events from her thriller in this electrifying and twisty new novel.”

The Rivals by Jane Pek

Something about this cover jumped out at me.and I love a paperback original. It’s billed as higher-brow than usual literary murder mystery with a spy twist and I’m intrigued. I’ll probably place a library hold!

“Claudia Lin—mystery novel superfan and, until recently, clichéd underemployed English major—has scored her dream job: co-running Veracity, a dating detective agency for chronically online New Yorkers who want to know if their prospective partners are telling the truth. Unfortunately, along the way, she and her colleagues—tech savant Squirrel, and the elegant and intimidating Becks—have uncovered a far-reaching AI conspiracy. And the corporate matchmakers may be resorting to murder to protect their secrets. In the wake of a client’s sudden death, Claudia convinces his ex, an industry insider, to turn on his employer and feed the verifiers information about what the powerful dating platforms are really up to. But even as Claudia starts to get a feel for this new genre—just call her Lin, Claudia Lin—she’s distracted by the possibility of romance with both Becks and a very charming target. She also fears that her beloved older brother is unwittingly being drawn into the matchmakers’ deadly web. And as Becks reminds Claudia: spy tropes dictate that someone you trust will betray you.”

The Cold Case Foundation by Gregory M. Cooper, et al

I’m way less into true crime podcasts than I used to be, but I’m still intrigued by the subject so I think I’ll try to get this nonfiction book on audio!

“What started with just a half-dozen or so retired FBI and homicide detectives has now ballooned to over 150 women and men who volunteer their time in an effort to help families of deceased or missing loved ones bring closure to cases that have gone “cold.” The Cold Case Foundation shares the most riveting and rewarding cases that the Foundation has helped to solve, from high-profile missing persons cases to decades-old murders.”