January & February

← Return to Archive Sign up for our mailing list
  1. Stormsong
    by C. L. Polk Canada
    Tor Books
    Feb 11, 2020
    FICTION / Fantasy / Gaslamp
    Paperback / softback
    Stormsong
    by C. L. Polk Canada
    Tor Books
    Feb 11, 2020
    FICTION / Fantasy / Gaslamp
    Paperback / softback

    “Fantastical, thoughtful, and un-put-downable, I flew through Stormsong and want the third in the series NOW.” —Elizabeth Hoyt

    A Reader's Digest Top 25 Best Fantasy Series Ever Written

    After spinning an enthralling world in Witchmark, the winner of the World Fantasy Award for best novel that was praised as a
    can't-miss debut by Booklist, and as thoroughly charming and deftly paced by the New York Times, C. L. Polk continues the Kingston Cycle in Stormsong. Magical cabals, otherworldly avengers, and impossible love affairs conspire to create a book that refuses to be put down.

    Dame Grace Hensley helped her brother Miles undo the atrocity that stained her nation, but now she has to deal with the consequences. With the power out in the dead of winter and an uncontrollable sequence of winter storms on the horizon, Aeland faces disaster. Grace has the vision to guide her parents to safety, but a hostile queen and a ring of rogue mages stand in the way of her plans. There's revolution in the air, and any spark could light the powder. What's worse, upstart photojournalist Avia Jessup draws ever closer to secrets that could topple the nation, and closer to Grace's heart.

    Can Aeland be saved without bloodshed? Or will Kingston die in flames, and Grace along with it?

    View this title on BNC CataList
  2. Alone in the Wild
    by Kelley Armstrong Canada
    Doubleday Canada
    Feb 11, 2020
    FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
    Paperback / softback
    Alone in the Wild
    by Kelley Armstrong Canada
    Doubleday Canada
    Feb 11, 2020
    FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
    Paperback / softback
    In #1 New York Times bestseller Kelley Armstrong's latest thriller, the hidden town of Rockton is about to face a challenge none of them saw coming: a baby.

    Every season in Rockton seems to bring a new challenge. At least that's what Detective Casey Duncan has felt since she decided to call this place home. Between all the secretive residents, the sometimes-hostile settlers outside, and the surrounding wilderness, there's always something to worry about.

    While on a much needed camping vacation with her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, Casey hears a baby crying in the woods. The sound leads them to a tragic scene: a woman buried under the snow, murdered, a baby still alive in her arms.

    A town that doesn't let anyone in under the age of eighteen, Rockton must take care of its youngest resident yet while solving another murder and finding out where the baby came from--and whether she's better off where she is.

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong again delivers an engaging, tense thriller set in perhaps the most interesting town in all of contemporary crime fiction.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  3. Pretty as a Picture
    by Elizabeth Little
    Viking
    Feb 25, 2020
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
    Hardback
    Pretty as a Picture
    by Elizabeth Little
    Viking
    Feb 25, 2020
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
    Hardback
    A Wall Street Journal, Seattle Times, and CrimeReads Best Mystery Book of 2020

    "Funny, fast-paced, and a pleasure to read." --The Wall Street Journal

    An egomaniacal movie director, an isolated island, and a decades-old murder--the addictive new novel from the bestselling author of Dear Daughter


    Marissa Dahl, a shy but successful film editor, travels to a small island off the coast of Delaware to work with the legendary--and legendarily demanding--director Tony Rees on a feature film with a familiar logline.

    Some girl dies.

    It's not much to go on, but the specifics don't concern Marissa. Whatever the script is, her job is the same. She'll spend her days in the editing room, doing what she does best: turning pictures into stories.

    But she soon discovers that on this set, nothing is as it's supposed to be--or as it seems. There are rumors of accidents and indiscretions, of burgeoning scandals and perilous schemes. Half the crew has been fired. The other half wants to quit. Even the actors have figured out something is wrong. And no one seems to know what happened to the editor she was hired to replace.

    Then she meets the intrepid and incorrigible teenage girls who are determined to solve the real-life murder that is the movie's central subject, and before long, Marissa is drawn into the investigation herself.

    The only problem is, the killer may still be on the loose. And he might not be finished.

    A wickedly funny exploration of our cultural addiction to tales of murder and mayhem and a thrilling, behind-the-scenes whodunit, Pretty as a Picture is a captivating page-turner from one of the most distinctive voices in crime fiction.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  4. False Value
    by Ben Aaronovitch
    DAW
    Feb 25, 2020
    FICTION / Fantasy / Urban
    Hardback
    False Value
    by Ben Aaronovitch
    DAW
    Feb 25, 2020
    FICTION / Fantasy / Urban
    Hardback
    Now in paperback, the eighth book of the bestselling Rivers of London series returns to the adventures of Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, as he solves magical crimes in the city of London.

    Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner's brand new London start up—the Serious Cybernetics Company.

    Drawn into the orbit of Old Street's famous 'silicon roundabout', Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant's favourite son.

    Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological—and just as dangerous.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  5. The Firmament of Flame
    by Drew Williams
    Tor Books
    Feb 04, 2020
    FICTION / Science Fiction / Space Opera
    Hardback
    The Firmament of Flame
    by Drew Williams
    Tor Books
    Feb 04, 2020
    FICTION / Science Fiction / Space Opera
    Hardback

    For fans of Firefly and James S. A. Corey's Expanse novels, The Firmament of Flame is the third installment in Drew Williams' Universe After series.

    For nearly a century, the Justified have been searching for gifted children to help prevent the return of the pulse. Until recently, they thought they were the only ones.

    Jane Kamali and her telekinetic protégé Esa, now seventeen, barely managed to claim victory against a Cyn—a being of pure energy—hell bent on hunting down the gifted. Now they face an army.

    The Cyn and their followers will stop at nothing to find Esa and the others. No one knows what they want, but Jane, Esa, and their allies in the Justified are determined to find out.

    Even if they have to go to the ends of the known universe to do it.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  6. Big
    by Christina Myers Canada
    Caitlin Press
    Feb 14, 2020
    LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Essays
    Paperback / softback
    Big
    by Christina Myers Canada
    Caitlin Press
    Feb 14, 2020
    LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Essays
    Paperback / softback

    Pop culture stereotypes, shopping frustrations, fat jokes and misconceptions about health are all ways society systemically rejects large bodies. BIG is a collection of personal and intimate experiences of plus-sized women, non-binary and trans people in a society obsessed with thinness. Revealing insights that are both funny and traumatic, surprising and challenging, familiar and unexpected, 26 writers explore themes as diverse as self perception, body image, fashion, fat activism, food, sexuality, diet culture, motherhood and more. These stories offer a closer look at what it means to navigate a world designed to fit bodies of a certain size (sometimes literally) and, in turn, invite readers to ask questions about--and ultimately reconsider--our collective and individual obsession with women's bodies. Contributors include Dr. Rohini Bannerjee, Amanda Scriver, Cassie Stocks, Jo Jefferson, Layla Cameron, Rabbit Richards, Sonja Boon, Simone Blais, Tracy Manrell and other writers from across Canada, the US, and the UK.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  7. When We Were Vikings
    by Andrew David MacDonald Canada
    Gallery/Scout Press
    Jan 28, 2020
    FICTION / Coming of Age
    Hardback
    When We Were Vikings
    by Andrew David MacDonald Canada
    Gallery/Scout Press
    Jan 28, 2020
    FICTION / Coming of Age
    Hardback
    Indie Next Pick for February 2020
    Book of the Month January 2020
    LibraryReads January 2020 Pick
    Bookreporter New Release Spotlight
    New York Post “Best Books of the Week”
    Goodreads “January’s Most Anticipated New Books”
    The Saturday Evening Post “10 Books for the New Year”
    PopSugar “The 18 Best New Books Coming Out in January 2020”
    Book Riot Best Winter New Releases

    A heart-swelling debut for fans of The Silver Linings Playbook and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

    Sometimes life isn’t as simple as heroes and villains.

    For Zelda, a twenty-one-year-old Viking enthusiast who lives with her older brother, Gert, life is best lived with some basic rules:

    1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.”
    2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect.
    3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home.
    4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet.
    5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.

    But when Zelda finds out that Gert has resorted to some questionable—and dangerous—methods to make enough money to keep them afloat, Zelda decides to launch her own quest. Her mission: to be legendary. It isn’t long before Zelda finds herself in a battle that tests the reach of her heroism, her love for her brother, and the depth of her Viking strength.

    When We Were Vikings is an uplifting debut about an unlikely heroine whose journey will leave you wanting to embark on a quest of your own, because after all...

    We are all legends of our own making.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  8. A Long Petal of the Sea
    by Isabel Allende
    Ballantine Books
    Jan 21, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    A Long Petal of the Sea
    by Isabel Allende
    Ballantine Books
    Jan 21, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home.

    “One of the most richly imagined portrayals of the Spanish Civil War to date, and one of the strongest and most affecting works in [Isabel Allende’s] long career.”—The New York Times Book Review

    NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Esquire Good Housekeeping Parade

    In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

    Together with two thousand other refugees, Roser and Victor embark on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda, to Chile: “the long petal of sea and wine and snow.” As unlikely partners, the couple embraces exile as the rest of Europe erupts in world war. Starting over on a new continent, they face trial after trial, but they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they might go home. Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going. Destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world, Roser and Victor will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.

    A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile, and belonging, A Long Petal of the Sea shows Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.

    Praise for A Long Petal of the Sea

    “Both an intimate look at the relationship between one man and one woman and an epic story of love, war, family, and the search for home, this gorgeous novel, like all the best novels, transports the reader to another time and place, and also sheds light on the way we live now.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Saints for All Occasions

    “This is a novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand-new to her work: What a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time. She knows that all stories are love stories, and the greatest love stories are told by time.”—Colum McCann, National Book Award–winning author of Let the Great World Spin
    View this title on BNC CataList
  9. The Other People
    by C. J. Tudor
    Doubleday Canada
    Jan 28, 2020
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Paperback / softback
    The Other People
    by C. J. Tudor
    Doubleday Canada
    Jan 28, 2020
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Paperback / softback
    "C.J. Tudor is terrific. I can't wait to see what she does next." —Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

    The gripping new thriller from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man and The Hiding Place, about a man desperately searching for his missing family who falls under the sway of a sinister support group with a murderous agenda.


    Three years ago, Gabe's family disappeared. Most people think they died. Some of them blame Gabe. Hardly anyone believes the truth--that Gabe saw his daughter the day she and his wife disappeared, smiling at him from the back of a rusty old car speeding down the highway. So even though it's been three years since that day, Gabe cannot give up hope. Even though he has given up everything else. His home, his job, his old life. He spends his days travelling up and down the highway and sleeping in service stations, searching for the car that took her.

    It's hard for most people to understand. But Gabe has found some who do in an online group set up by people who have also lost loved ones--who have suffered like him. They call themselves "The Other People." Because isn't that what everyone thinks: bad stuff only happens to "other people."

    When the car that Gabe saw driving away that night is found in a lake with a body inside, Gabe is suddenly under suspicion--and in danger. In desperation, he turns to The Other People for help. Because they are good people. They know what loss is like. They know what pain is like. They know what death is like. There's just one problem . . . they want other people to know it too.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  10. A Longer Fall
    by Charlaine Harris
    S&S/Saga Press
    Jan 14, 2020
    FICTION / Fantasy / Paranormal
    Hardback
    A Longer Fall
    by Charlaine Harris
    S&S/Saga Press
    Jan 14, 2020
    FICTION / Fantasy / Paranormal
    Hardback
    #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with the second of the Gunnie Rose series, in which Lizbeth is hired onto a new crew, transporting a crate into Dixie, the self-exiled southeast territory of the former United States. What the crate contains is something so powerful, that forces from across three territories want to possess it.

    In this second thrilling installment of the Gunnie Rose series, Lizbeth Rose is hired onto a new crew for a seemingly easy protection job, transporting a crate into Dixie, just about the last part of the former United States of America she wants to visit. But what seemed like a straight-forward job turns into a massacre as the crate is stolen. Up against a wall in Dixie, where social norms have stepped back into the last century, Lizbeth has to go undercover with an old friend to retrieve the crate as what’s inside can spark a rebellion, if she can get it back in time.

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse mysteries and Midnight, Texas trilogy) is at her best here, building the world of this alternate history of the United States, where magic is an acknowledged but despised power.
    View this title on BNC CataList

Sign up for our mailing list!

Sign up for the latest top 10 lists and other news about Loan Stars. You can unsubscribe at any time.


Sign up!