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December is typically a slow season for book releases, with publishers aiming to get new books out long before the busy holiday season. Still, there are a few gems to look forward to this month, including a deep dive into futurism and a couple of romantasy options for your TBR.
'A Century of Tomorrows' by Glenn Adamson
Cultural historian Glenn Adamson's "A Century of Tomorrows" offers a "hurtling history of futurology packed tighter than a Westinghouse time capsule with names, places, dates, objects and scenarios of conflict and hope," said The New York Times. His book considers the work of many "futurologists" who have painted a picture of the future through various mediums. Adamson broadly defines futurism as the practice of predicting what will happen to society over an extended period.
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"By his lights Ridley Scott, Octavia Butler, Frank Lloyd Wright, Shulamith Firestone and Sun Ra all qualify as futurologists," the Times said. The book is a "big, billowing tent with a lot of interesting ideas crowded inside, and you wouldn't mind a few pneumatic tubes to sort and suck them out." (Amazon)
'The Cure for Women' by Lydia Reeder
Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi was shattering glass ceilings in the medical field when women were discouraged from studying medicine. Her story is brought to life, with a "somewhat novelistic flair," in this biography of the "gifted, impetuous social reformer and trailblazer for women's medical education," said Kirkus Reviews.
In the late 1800s, Jacobi used a combination of sheer determination and her family's influence to obtain a medical degree before entering the medical field in New York. She won many prestigious medical awards, researched female reproductive biology and worked with suffragists. Her presence revolutionized women's health care as she pushed for other women to join the profession. "A much-needed biography of an extraordinary woman," Kirkus Review added. (Amazon)
'The Last One' by Rachel Howzell Hall
The romantasy genre has become quite popular, and Rachel Howzell Hall's "The Last One" is a worthy entry to the pantheon of fantasy romances. At the novel's core is a mystery led by Kai, a strong female lead, who wakes up after being robbed. After leaving a path of destruction in her search for the thief, Kai finds herself on the bad side of the townspeople. The thief, Olivia, and her attractive brother unexpectedly take Kai in, leading to a tense alliance that comes in handy when soldiers and other fantastical creatures overrun the town.
Unlike other romantasies that "wait until the climax to deliver on big battles and fight sequences," Hall's book sets itself apart by delivering "the action early on, then hardly comes up for air as it plows forward," said Screen Rant. The book "gives new meaning to the phrase 'non-stop action.'" (Amazon)
'Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter' by Clare Mulley
Another biography of a groundbreaking woman, Clare Mulley's "Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter" tells the story of Elzbieta Zawacka and "shines a spotlight on a courageous hero little known outside her native Poland," said The Washington Post. She was the only woman who served in Poland's elite special forces paratrooper unit. Known as Agent ZO, Zawacka "parachuted into Nazi-occupied territory to help organize resistance fighters." (Amazon)
'A Monsoon Rising (The Hurricane Wars)' by Thea Guanzon
Another highly anticipated romantic is Thea Guazon's latest entry in her "The Hurricane Wars" series. Set in a Southeast Asian-inspired world with the ever-popular enemies-to-lovers romance at the center. "A Monsoon Rising," the sequel to her debut novel, continues the story of Talasyn and Alaric, "a Lightweaver and a Shadow magic user whose forced marriage is meant to bring peace to their warring lands and offer protection from an even greater supernatural threat," said Paste Magazine. (Amazon)
