Michele's Monday Picks #94

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my little series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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Agatha Harness: Fall of the Coven

By Sara Shepard

Expected Publication: May 5, 2026

From Goodreads:

When Agatha Harkness finds herself yanked out of her mysterious past and plopped in a modern-day high school, the race is on to find the key to saving her coven while discovering first love and battling an ancient foe.

Agatha Harkness is a powerful witch stuck living amongst an untalented group of witches in 1690s Salem, Massachusetts. That’s all right—the dreary coven meetings and fake herbal potions will all be worth it once she finally gets her hands on one of the most magical artifacts in the Darkhold, a book of extraordinary power. But just as it’s within her grasp, disaster strikes the coven! 

Agatha is about to reluctantly save the day when she is rebuffed by the nosy, stuck-up Martha. Now, thanks to the interference, Martha, Agatha, and the Darkhold have been unceremoniously dropped in one of the most terrifying locations a witch has ever encountered—modern-day high school.

Armed with just her smarts and her spells, Agatha embarks on a quest to recover the Darkhold and an incognito Martha. Along the way, she encounters a meddlesome crow, a potential first crush, and a new coven. She almost starts to feel like she’s found her home, until Martha returns from the shadows—this time with dire consequences.

I love anything Marvel related! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

Recent Reads

 The Weekend Crashers by Jamie Brenner (2025)

Maggie and her daughter Piper travel to charming New Hope, PA for a knitting retreat but their weekend is interrupted by a bachelor party at the same inn.  Relationships are tested as the weekend continues.  Ugh, I wanted to love this one!  It sounded so cute - I love New Hope, PA, and I really felt like the book transported me there, but the characters were a bit of a downer for me.  Maggie is a single mom who had her daughter young - while on the surface their relationship seems good, Maggie desperately wants more for Piper than the life she had, and Piper is always doing things that will make her mother happy instead of herself.  Maggie just felt a bit overbearing.  There were too many extraneous side characters to keep track of, and a whole lot of unnecessary drama.  I did enjoy the character of Belinda, the inn keeper, though.  She and her husband have contrasting ideas on their next steps in life - keep the inn or retire?  The ending was underwhelming, unrealistic, and rushed, unfortunately.  3 stars

59 Minutes by Holly Seddon (2025)

When southern England receives a nuclear bomb alert, giving people just 59 minutes before the attack, three women find themselves willing to do anything to get to their loved ones.  Carrie is a young mother trying to get across London to her daughter and girlfriend.  Frankie, who just found out she's pregnant, is on vacation when she's separated from her boyfriend.  Mrs. Dabb is an older woman who realizes her daughter is missing during the alert.  This premise is absolutely terrifying to me - knowing you only potentially have minutes to live and desperately wanting to be with your family or other loved ones.  What would you do to get to them?  This was a quick, absorbing read - short chapters kept the rapid pace, and I couldn't read fast enough to see how each woman would fare as the minutes counted down.  I was heartbroken for them as they faced insurmountable odds and had to make unimaginable choices.  But, I was shocked further when I realized there was a twist, and the story definitely ends in an unexpected way!  4.5 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you,

Michele's Monday Picks #93

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my little series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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The Radiant Dark

By Alexandra Oliva

Expected Publication: April 28, 2026

From Goodreads:

Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore in this captivating novel that follows a family for over fifty years—a bold and compassionate exploration of the universe around us and what it truly means to be human.

It’s March 1980, and Carol Girard and her husband are living an ordinary life in a small town in the Adirondacks. They have just had their first child, and though Carol is struggling with the challenges of new motherhood, her future seems clear. Until something extraordinary happens: an inexplicable flickering of light in the sky, which is ultimately determined to be communication from intelligent life on another planet. But these beings are eleven light-years away, and nothing is known about them other than the fact that they seem to know we exist too. And so begins a decades-long exchange of messages with this mysterious, faraway civilization.

As humanity reels from a shifting understanding of its place in the universe, we follow the stories of the Girard family: Carol, whose fascination with this other life sparks a desperate search for spiritual meaning; Michael, her loyal son, who finds solace not in the stars above his head but in the ground beneath his feet; and Ro, Carol’s bright and ambitious daughter, whose childhood goal to work in interstellar communication will evolve into something far grander.

Tracing five decades of love, loss, ambition, and self-discovery, The Radiant Dark is a stunning examination of a family navigating their lives with the knowledge that we are not alone.

I thought this sounded so unique! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

Recent Reads

Royal Heirs Academy (Royal Heirs Academy #1) by Lindsey Duga (2025)

After fifty years on the throne, King Leander is finally ready to name an heir - but first, he's going to make his three grandchildren and one stranger duke it out for the ultimate role by making them all attend an elite school and tracking their progress.  Titus, Alaric, Emmeline, and Sadie must face challenging classes, interpersonal feuds, and fierce competitions for the chance to take the throne.  This book was full of teen angst as the 4 young adults get to know each other and their new situation.  I appreciated how each character's backstory was very different, yet they all ended up in the same place.  I did think the level of scheming and just overall intelligence/skills attributed to both the throne contenders and their schoolmates was a bit unbelievable, and there was some odd tension between the story wanting to be gritty but still somewhat innocent that was a bit jarring, but I cannot resist a royal story, so overall I did enjoy this one!  4 stars

An American Beauty by Shana Abe (2023)

A fictionalized account of the life of Arabella Huntington, a Southern woman who came from nothing to become one of the richest women in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Arabella worked at a gambling parlor until she began an affair with Collis Huntington, a railroad baron.  He brought her to New York and gave her a life she only dreamed of, but she was also shrewd and intelligent, amassing her own wealth through land and property deals.  Eventually, she and Collis married, but her story didn't end with Collis.  I really enjoyed this book - although the Huntington name is well-known, I didn't know really anything about Arabella and this book piqued my curiosity.  This depiction certainly painted her as smart (but not cunning), loyal, and with impeccable taste.  I really felt the partnership between her and Collis - a love affair, yes, but also respect and admiration (not to say that affairs are acceptable!).  The Gilded Age setting also came through really well.  4 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Monty and Milo

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't know there was a small indie bookstore just in the next town over from me!  Monty and Milo opened in Somerville, NJ, in February 2025, and recently I saw a short news article about their re-opening in a new, bigger location around the corner.  So of course, Henry and I made a visit this past weekend!

Monty and Milo (named after the owners' cats!) is a small store dedicated to books, stationary, puzzles, and other gifts.  The front of the store is mainly devoted to things other than books - puzzles, art prints, pens, and other stationary supplies.

As you walk toward the back of the warm and inviting space, you reach a small section of new books, and then the whole back of the store appears to be shelves of used books, organized by genre.

There is a small children's section with used books and some cute new toys and stuffies.  

You can tell they are new to the space, and I'm excited to see how they fill and decorate the space further!  Henry and I each nabbed a used book, and we look forward to coming back!

Recent Reads: The Time Travel Edition

The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick (2020)

Amy (Robsart) Dudley is married to Robert Dudley, favorite courtier of Queen Elizabeth I.  Amy wants to escape her loveless marriage, but her actions have repercussions that apparently trickle down through the centuries.  In the present day, pop star Lizzie finds herself in a scandal with her best friend and his wife's family, with links to the past.  I wanted to love this book - I love the Tudor era, I love dual-timeline stories - but it was such a mess.  The "past" timeline was really good - I enjoyed learning about Amy and more about a side of the Tudor era I don't normally come across.  However, the "present" timeline was a total dud.  Silly names, convoluted characters and backstories, extraneous details, magical realism that felt gimmicky.  Unfortunately, it brought the whole reading experience down for me.  3 stars

The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve (2025)

Sometime in the near future, the ability to time travel has been achieved by a large company, allowing people to visit one hour in their past without repercussions for their future.  Unfortunately, while in the past, four "travelers" are stranded for more than their allotted hour.  As they cross paths with one another, they are all forced to take a closer look at this pivotal time in their lives.  I really enjoyed this book!  I loved the fairly new take on the time travel genre.  Seeing how all these seemingly unrelated people and stories were actually quite intertwined was beautiful storytelling - I loved seeing all the connections and how the travelers used their future knowledge to maybe, perhaps change their circumstances from what happened previously.  I have to admit, this book was a lot more introspective than I anticipated - I was expecting a thriller, but it delved more into themes about being present in a moment and how we can create our own second chances.  4 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. 

Michele's Monday Picks #92

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my little series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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The Antiquarian’s Object of Desire

By India Holton

Expected Publication: April 21, 2026

From Goodreads:

When two history professors and best friends are forced to fake hate to protect their reputations, chaos ensues, in the next rollicking historical-fantasy rom-com from beloved author India Holton.

Magical-antique experts Amelia Tarrant and Caleb Sterling have been best friends forever, although lately each has begun secretly wishing for more than friendship. But when rumors about their relationship spread, they're forced to fake being enemies to protect their reputations and keep their jobs.

The resulting arguments spark havoc across Oxford University, and when they cause an explosion while fighting over a magical antique, it’s the final straw for their exasperated faculty head. He dispatches them to a job in Cumbria where even they can’t get into trouble.…

Which proves just how wrong one man can be. In a stormbound old manor house, Amelia and Caleb face magical mayhem and rampaging ghosts that make the previous havoc look mild in comparison. Most troublesome of all, though, is the secret of how they feel about each other. When it comes to tackling deadly antiques, hiding the truth in their hearts could destroy them for real.

It wouldn’t be spring if I wasn’t recommending the newest India Holton book! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?