Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
I am combining CWW with Books From the Backlog hosted by Carole at Carole's Random Life in Books. This will allow me to feature some newly "rediscovered" books, which I plan on reading, alongside a new release.
This week I can't wait for
Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin
Published by Little, Brown and Company on February 11, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Goodreads
For readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures, this tender and funny debut novel about one little girl’s obsession with a mysterious manuscript is a love letter to language—how it shapes the world for each of us and connects us all in the end.
“Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes.”
Before she thinks of herself as Little Alien, our narrator is only a lonely little girl living in southeast England, who doesn’t understand the world the way other children seem to. So when a late-night TV special introduces her to the mysterious Voynich Manuscript—an ancient tome written in an indecipherable language—Little Alien experiences something she hasn’t hope. Could there be others like her, who also feel like they’re from another planet?
Convinced the Voynich Manuscript holds the answers she needs, Little Alien and her best (and only) friend Bobby decide they must find this strange book. Where that decision leads them will change everything.
Narrated by an unexpected guide who has arrived to offer Little Alien the advice she’ll need to find her way, Life Hacks for a Little Alien explores a less-usual experience of the world, inviting us into the head of a child who doesn’t read her surroundings the way we might assume. Ringing with voice, humor, and heart, Alice Franklin will have you swinging from stitches to tears on the uneven path to finding a life that fits, even when you yourself do not.
The title of this book pulled me in, the comps made me read more, and the synopsis convinced me that I would love this book. I love the idea of the power of words for this lonely little girl, and I am excited to root for her as she searches for the manuscript. I am anticipating a wonderful and heartwarming tale.
The Memo by Rachel Dodes, Lauren Mechling
Published by Harper Perennial on June 18, 2024
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction
Goodreads
If you could rewrite your life story, would you dare? That’s the question at the heart of this charming and propulsive debut novel about love, life, and a woman finding herself and what it means to be happy and successful.
Do you ever feel like your life doesn’t measure up to everyone else’s—and wonder if you just didn’t get the memo helping you make the right choices?
Jenny Green dreads her upcoming college reunion. Once top of her class, the thirty-five-year-old finds herself stuck in a life that isn’t the one she expected. Her promising career has flamed out (literally) and her deadbeat boyfriend is cheating on her (again). All her friends seem to have it all figured it out, enjoying glittering lives and careers that she can only envy from the sidelines. Did she just not get the memo they all did?
As it turns out, she didn’t!
When she arrives at her alma mater for the festivities, she receives a text from an unlisted number.
“Jenny please collect your memo.”
Somewhere on campus, a discreet female-led organization provides comprehensive memos to select students, a set of instructions that are a blueprint for success.
The first time around, Jenny didn’t receive hers. Now, she’s being given the second chance she wants—an opportunity to relive her life and make all the right decisions this time around. But at what price?
Smart, addictive, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant, The Memo will enchant readers of In Five Years and Cassandra in Reverse as well as fans of Emma Straub and Maria Semple.
I had featured this book last year and have finally gotten my hands on a copy. The comps are all books I loved, and I am always up for a good time travel story. I also love the idea of do-overs. This is Jenny chance to make different choices, and I am interested in seeing how it changes her life.
Let us know in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment