Can't-Wait Wednesday: Wayward (Wanderers #2) by Chuck Wendig, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, & These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

   

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

Wayward (Wanderers #2) by Chuck Wendig
Publication: November 15th, 2022
Del Rey Books
Hardcover. 816 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
**Synopsis contains spoilers for Wanderers, book #1!***
"Five years ago, ordinary Americans fell under the grip of a strange new malady that caused them to sleepwalk across the country to a destination only they knew. They were followed on their quest by the shepherds: friends and family who gave up everything to protect them. 

Their secret destination: Ouray, a small town in Colorado that would become one of the last outposts of civilization. Because the sleepwalking epidemic was only the first in a chain of events that led to the end of the world--and the birth of a new one. 

The survivors, sleepwalkers and shepherds alike, have a dream of rebuilding human society. Among them are Benji, the scientist struggling through grief to lead the town; Marcy, the former police officer who wants only to look after the people she loves; and Shana, the teenage girl who became the first shepherd--and an unlikely hero whose courage will be needed again. 

Because the people of Ouray are not the only survivors, and the world they are building is fragile. The forces of cruelty and brutality are amassing under the leadership of self-proclaimed president Ed Creel. And in the very heart of Ouray, the most powerful survivor of all is plotting its own vision for the new world: Black Swan, the A.I. who imagined the apocalypse. 

Against these threats, Benji, Marcy, Shana, and the rest have only one hope: one another. Because the only way to survive the end of the world is together."

I absolutely loved Wanderers and can barely describe how excited I was when I saw that there would be a sequel after all! I can't wait to see what the follow up is going to be to all of the crazy events of the previous book. 

and...

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Publication: August 2nd, 2022
Tor Books
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries. 

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories. 

But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds."

This premise is so ridiculously intriguing to me and I am so curious about how Sunyi Dean executes it! I'm actually just starting the audiobook, and so far so good–can't wait to get into it more.

and...

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall
Publication: August 9th, 2022
Vikings Books
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Helen Vaughan doesn't know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven't spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she's shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she'll be left with nothing. 

There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen's dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night?And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick? 

With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can."

I didn't expect to love Kate Alice Marshall's Rules for Vanishing when I read it last year, but I ended up really, really enjoying it and I'm so glad to see she has another creepy-sounding story coming out! 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?