Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (on sale 10/13): The Crone, the Maiden, and the Mother are just myths, fairy tales like the rumors and stories that fill children's rhymes and songs... or are they? Self-preservation drove the two eldest Eastwood sisters away from home and their younger sister years ago, but little Juniper is all grown up now, and her anger seeds a revolution of women tired of oppression. This is a story of painful choices, a story of what we are willing to pay for our freedom and the freedom of those we love; it is about guilt and forgiveness. But mostly it is about strength and the misty places from which it comes. This book, a pinch of cinnamon, and fresh twig of basil will make all the strong women on your holiday list quite content! - Linda

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (on sale 10/13): Roanhorse has gifted us with an epic fantasy inspired by the sometimes beautiful, sometimes terrifying pre-Colombian cultures of the Americas. Here there be islands ruled by women whose Mother is the sea and whose shapes and Song some call monstrous (until they need them). There is a god-man, scarred and blinded as a child, destined to loneliness and revenge by the generational trauma suffered by his people. There are priests, rulers, poverty, and class alongside Crows that carry riders they choose and Water Bugs large enough to pull barges. Some have said this belongs next to George R.R. Martin; I say Roanhorse, Marlon James, and N.K. Jemisin are the pages of his nightmares. - Linda

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Classic Gothic horror meets the vivid imagery of Moreno-Garcia's chilling writing in this twisted tale. Noemi Taboada is from a rich Mexico City family, used to forging her own path and getting her way, but when she rushes to remote High Place after an alarming letter from her cousin, Noemi finds the creepy old house is the complete opposite of what she's used to in the city -- mold grows on the walls and hides in the library's books, and there's oddly strict rules about her behavior. Moreno-Garcia excels at nightmarish language, descending slowly into the uncomfortable, before diving headfirst into grotesque horror. This is an original and arresting novel about identity and persisting even in the face of the worst evil. - Karen