Themis-Athena's Garden of Books

One recommendation and three expectations:

Ann Leckie - The Raven Tower: That rare beast of a newly-released book that worked for me on every level despite all the hype attached to it.  Fantasy / supernatural, but without the usual menagerie of magical beasts: instead, an alternative early medieval society and its (very much alive) gods, with a truly awesome narrator. My review is HERE.

Margaret Atwood - The Testaments: The new release I'm looking at with the greatest amount of trepidation, because come on, how do you match something as iconic and monumental as The Handmaid's Tale ... even as that book's own author?

Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Gods of Jade and Shadow: The book that, thanks to Chris's review, instantly made it onto a good number of Halloween Bingo reading lists; including mine.  A modernized (well, sort of) retelling of the Popol Vuh rendered in a storyteller's voice, what's not to like?

And, finally:

Michael Connelly - The Night Fire: Connelly never lets up and his writing is still as crisp as on day one.  Bosch and Ballard return as a team (I'm very much hoping as a team only), moonlighting in the investigation of a cold case Bosch has "inherited" from his recently-deceased mentor. -- Side note: I've been bingeing on the Bosch TV series while compiling my "Halloween Bingo pre-party" posts up to now, which of course has only served to increase my anticipation of this particular book.