5★
“And just that clearly, in the muddled, whiskey-soaked place where terrible ideas pose as good ones, I knew what I had to do. It made perfect sense. I would write my obituary."

That is an excerpt from John Kenney’s new novel I See You've Called in Dead: A Novel, which reads smoothly, easily, amusingly and sounds as if it might actually live up to what the publisher claims it to be: “The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.”

Kenney’s won several awards and is a contributor to 'The New Yorker', so you know you’re in the hands of an experienced writer.

Much-loved author Emma Donoghue, (with sixteen novels, including "Room" under her belt, or in the back of her brain, or wherever she keeps them) is releasing The Paris Express soon. It’s historical fiction, based on an 1895 train disaster, described by the publisher as “a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia.”

It opens with a young woman hesitating as she’s about to board the train, and I imagine many readers will want to know what happens to her.

The next one that caught my eye is a debut novel, "The Names", by Florence Knapp, who has previously written nonfiction. The excerpt was compelling and I hope I get to read the rest of it. Cora’s husband, Gordon, has instructed her to register the baby’s name, today. Cora and her young daughter walk to the registry office and the little girl suggests a name.

“Cora has never liked the name Gordon. The way it starts with a splintering sound that makes her think of cracked boiled sweets, and then ends with a thud like someone slamming down a sports bag. Gordon. But what disturbs her more is that she must now pour the goodness of her son into its mold, hoping he’ll be strong enough to find his own shape within it. Because Gordon is a name passed down through the men in her husband’s family, and it seems impossible it could be any other way.”

Does a person grow into the name or does the name define your trajectory? I completely forgot this was a debut, at least for fiction, and that is was only an excerpt. It’s imaginative and thoughtful and I’d like to read more, please.

"Notes on Infinity" is a debut by Austin Taylor, who is a recent Harvard graduate with joint degrees in chemistry and English, which she certainly put to good use here. The excerpt opens with Zoe in a dressing room, feeling manic, getting sick, and finally downing four pills before getting her makeup redone and going onstage.

She introduces herself and says she’s going to tell the audience a story.

Then the book cuts to Part 1, and I got caught up in the meeting of two bright students, kind of competing against each other in chemistry classes, which was a lot more interesting than I’ve made it sound - sort of a cat and mouse, unspoken rivalry between exceptionally smart young people.

The publisher describes it as two people going into a biotech startup and discovering a cure for aging, That got my attention, too. I immediately thought of "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin, although this may be completely different, of course.

These Publisher's Lunch Buzz Books are free to download from the Publishers Marketplace.
https://buzz.publishersmarketplace.com/

There are excerpts from 49 books, but there are a lot more titles and release dates for books by acclaimed authors. There are no excerpts, but many authors are famous, so you may find a favourite with a new book to look forward to.

Get a copy and have a look.

Thanks to #NetGalley for my copy for review, but you can download these books for free.

I love this sampler of books publishing in Spring/Summer 2025 from Publishers Lunch! It’s such a great way to give books a chance that may not have initially sounded interesting from the synopsis (and vice versa, which frees up space on my TBR 😉). I’ll be referring back to this often in the coming months as the books sampled here start to publish.

I love the Buzz Books samplers. This is a great reference for upcoming books, and it's nice to preview some of the anticipated releases as well as some books that weren't on my radar.

This was a wonderful way to give us a heads up on the upcoming reads for this year. This was done in a great way and I appreciated the opportunity and access to these works of art. A great gift to us readers and NetGalley users.

These are always well worth a read and once again, I have added lots of books to my list of things to look out for in the coming months. I wish there was a children's books version too!

I look forward to this twice a year! it is great reference material for books coming out. Thank you for publishing this.

This is a very helpful resource for finding new books coming out. It is broken into genres and gives great examples of the books with enough text to get a feel for the books. It is my go to book for previewing up and coming titles.

I've only read so far into this book and already I'm inspired. I have made a list of the books I want to buy, but it could take me a very long time to read them !

Thank you for the copy of Buzz Books 2025: Srping/Summer edition. This is a great way to sample what is coming out next! I already picked out a few new books to try.

I have never read one of these excerpt previews before, but I love it. What a great way to find out what books you want to read. It's like the best short stories!

lots of great previews and even a few titles I wouldn't have picked up if I had not read about them here.

I found this guide to be really helpful in knowing what upcoming books to look out for. The excerpts allow me to know what I would like to request from Netgalley and really hone in on choosing books that appeal to me.

A great preview of what is coming up in the world of publishing and much appreciated. I enjoy having advanced notice of what is coming so that I know what to look out for.

If you're excited about upcoming reads, you'll want to check out Buzz Books 2025 Spring/Summer! The sampler offers a sneak peek at 49 upcoming titles neatly organized by genre. One of the highlights for me was the special section dedicated to debut authors.

Each sample wraps up with a handy link that takes you straight to Netgalley for easy book requests. The excerpts helped determine which titles piqued my interest and which ones I could pass on.

The collection begins with an impressive Spring/Summer 2025 Publishing Preview, showcasing the most anticipated books. The list is extensive, and I couldn't help but wish there were samples of a few more titles I'm excited about.

#BuzzBooks2025 #SpringSummer #MostAnticipated #UpcomingBooks #FirstLook #Thrillers #Read #Readers

Love this! What a great way to get a heads up on upcoming releases. This helped me narrow down books I wanted to request on NetGalley and from publishers.

Very helpful for my mapping of what I want to read this year, there are so many great titles I'm excited about reading.

Thank you for the opportunity to read. So many books I would have expected to see aren't here. It'd be nice to have a more comprehensive list.

How could you not be excited for what's coming up? My most anticipated-
Run For The Hills
The Buffalo Hunter
The Bewitching
The Listeners
The Magician of Tiger Castle
Hemlock & Silver
Katabasis
Culture Creep
Devout: A Memoir

Buzz Books is an amazing source for looking up upcoming releases that provides summaries and excerpts from various genres of books. I especially like how there were many debut authors included, though I would like more fantasy to be included.
This was my first time having a chance to read Buzz Books and it provided me with some titles I was not familiar with that I added to my tbr. The Paris Express and I See You’ve Called in Dead seem especially interesting to me personally, from the excerpts we got. Definitely a great way to find new books!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy.

Buzz Books 2025: Spring/ Summer, by publishers lunch
the 26th edition of our celebrated sampler series.
This collection offers readers an exclusive preview of nearly fifty of the season’s most anticipated releases, curated to showcase both established voices and emerging talents.
Too many books to list.
The books are divided into four categories: fiction, debut, nonfiction, and YA.
Buzz Books 2025: Spring/ Summer, by publishers lunch is a 3 star book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions shared here in this review are my own.