Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Not my dog or my spouse…but look at that adorable little expression on the pup’s face!
If you’re a new reader of this blog, let me explain something quickly before diving into my list.
Over the past few years, I’ve made a serious effort to put indie and small press authors at the top of my priority list for reviewing. I love well-known authors, too, but they have so many more opportunities to be introduced to new readers than someone who self publishes their work or who has secured a book deal with a tiny publishing company.
I believe in supporting other writers and giving them some free exposure on my friendly little corner of the Internet when I can.
So don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of any of these folks.
Honestly, I’ll be shocked if you do know about them, but please tell me what you think of their work if that’s the case. I haven’t read these titles and therefore can’t endorse them…yet?
All I know is that I was intrigued enough by them to download them when they were free. If you follow me on Mastodon, you’ll see a list of free books every Thursday and occasional retweets of other free books on other days.
When the Last Story Gets Told by C.S. Anderson
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Why I’m Intrigued: I love campfire stories, and this sounds like it could be a good one.
Genre: Fantasy, Holiday, Speculative Fiction
Why I’m Intrigued: The premise sounds creative and whimsical.
Genre: Fantasy
Why I’m Intrigued: I always look up authors before writing reviews about their books. Mr. Peacock’s blog was such a warm and friendly place that I want to see if his stories have that same vibe. Here’s hoping that they do!
Genre: Fantasy (Probably?)
Why I’m Intrigued: Based on the sneak peek of the first page or two, the genre seemed more complicated than the blurb or cover covered. It’s always interesting to have the possibility of being surprised by what you read and where the plot goes. Also, look that that gorgeous cover! Don’t you want to gently step into it and quietly observe the interactions between the fawn and the young woman in the white dress?
Genre: Christmas Horror (which I only learned was a micro-genre this year!)
Why I’m Intrigued: Driving on winter roads is frightening. I can think of so many different perils on the road for this character, half of which could and often do happen in real life.
Genre: Fantasy, Humour
Why I’m Intrigued: Getting hangry is one of my character defects. Ha! It’s also cool to see vampires mentioned who aren’t young, healthy, and lusting after teenage girls.
Genre: Horror, Thanksgiving
Why I’m Intrigued: It’s really hard to find non-sappy books about Thanksgiving. This might just be reviewed here for next Thanksgiving if it’s not too gory and the storyline is good.
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Horror
Why I’m Intrigued: Most characters who sell their souls actually believe in the concept of a soul. I can see how it would be a lot easier to buy souls from people who think they aren’t actually giving anything away.
Genre: Horror or Inspirational….or maybe a quirky combination of both?
Why I’m Intrigued: Will this be closer to the horror or inspirational genres? Maybe it will be one of those rare books that’s both? The blurb is so vague I can’t tell, but that’s what makes trying new authors so worthwhile.
Genre: Paranormal Science Fiction
Why I’m Intrigued: I’ve read a ton of ghost stories and robot stories, but it’s pretty rare for the two to be mixed together in my experience. Can you tell I’m drawn to authors who push the boundaries of their genres and play around with what readers expect to happen next?
I haven’t heard of any of these! Cool to spotlight them! I hope you enjoy them when you get to them!
Thank you very much!
This looks like a great, diverse list. Hope you’ll enjoy all of these! I do love the cover for A Short Story of Life and Death.
Thank you.
Yeah, that cover is amazing.
I totally agree with you about spotlighting indie authors. I think the most I read from indie authors is in romance and I love supporting them! I definitely want to read more fantasy indies too cos I used to read them a lot more before. I haven’t read any of these but I do hope you enjoy them if you pick them up 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad you also spotlight Indie authors. That’s awesome.
I like good writing, no matter who publishes it, but I’ve been disappointed so many times by indie publishers that I tend to avoid them.
I’m sorry to hear that. Good for you for knowing what your limits are!
I don’t usually pay attention to who the publisher of a book is. What is your criteria for an indie press? Is it anyone not an imprint from one of the big 5-6 publishers? A local publisher? I’m curious because maybe I read more indie books than I realize….. Thanks for sharing the love.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
That is a good question. It’s kind of a fuzzy boundary for me, but I’ll take a second look at just about any publisher that isn’t one of the big ones. But there are a lot of publishers that exist in the grey area, so it’s hard to know where to draw the line.
What’s your definition?
A ghost / robot story? That does sound interesting! Thanks for sharing these books!
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/12/27/top-ten-tuesday-most-recent-additions-to-the-hoard-2/
Thanks! I’m glad you were intrigued by that one.
Looks like a bunch of thrilling reads! I hope you enjoy (or have enjoyed) them all!
Thank you. I haven’t had a chance to read them yet. 🙂
I hope you enjoy them! I’m always looking for good horror stories.
Thank you. I hope you find a lot of great horror in 2023.
These all sound fun! Hope you enjoy all of them and wish you a very happy new year! 🙂
Thank you. Happy New Year to you as well.
I haven’t heard of any of these! I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you. 🙂
I love that you chose to highlight indie authors, who so often get overlooked! Great list, and I might just be borrowing this idea from you in the near future!
Aww, thanks. Yes, please do borrow this idea! I’d love your read your take on it. 🙂
I haven’t heard of any of these, but I hope you enjoy them. 😊
https://christianbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/2022/12/december-27-most-recent-additions-to-my.html
Thank you!
So cool that you decided to focus on indie authors for this list! As an indie author myself, I very much appreciate that 🙂
You’re welcome. Yeah, indie authors need to stick together!
Hellf On the Shelf sums up my thoughts on that insane Elf thing!! Good list this week–as always.
Heh, same! And thanks. 🙂
I hope you enjoy all of these when you get a chance to read them!
Thank you!
Driving in the Dark looks interesting and spooky.
Agreed!
I am also intrigued by A Short Story of Life and Death by Thibault Cottet.
Great list!
Thanks. Enjoy if you read it!
You are right. Now I’ve heard of. 🙂 It’s fun to find a lesser known author to support though. Thanks so much for visiting my website!!
You’re welcome!
I like how you focus on indie and small press authors. They need our love and attention. While I haven’t heard of these, Hellf on the Shelf sounds like fun and Deal or No Deal? caught my eye. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog today.
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
I haven’t heard of any of these, nor are the majority books I would read (not into sci-fi or horror). That said, I hope you enjoy them all!
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/holiday-2022-book-haul/
Thank you. 🙂
I hope you enjoy all of these and how great that you chose to spotlight indie authors for this list!
Thank you! 🙂
I think it’s cool that you choose to spotlight less known authors and books. 😀 I hope you enjoy reading all of these! Thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday. Sorry it took me a day to return the favor!
Thank you! And no worries. The holiday season is so busy. 🙂
Rattlebones sure looks interesting!
For sure! 🙂
Hangry As Hell sounds like good fun!
It’s such a fun title. I hope the story is great, too. 🙂
These look like thrilling books. I hope you enjoy them.
Thank you!
I’ve never seen holiday specific horror books, that’s so interesting!
I know, right? It’s almost never done.
Hangry as hell sounds interesting. I hope its enjoable.
Thanks. 🙂
Sorry to say I hadn’t heard of them, but yes, I also should do a bit more for indie/self published authors: there are a lot of wonderful gems I discovered that aren’t published by Big Five.
I’m glad you agree!
Love that you spotlighted indie and self-published authors! I hope you enjoy these.
Thank you very much!