It’s always nice to come home from a trip and find that books have arrived while I was gone – I only wish my postman wouldn’t try shoving them all in the mailbox! He is responsible for more warped pages and bent corners than I care to think about.

This week, both books are a bit of a departure for me – more fantasy than my usual fare – but I think everyone needs a little change of pace now and then. They will be perfect to put on the pile and grab when I need something different.

First is Sea Change by S.M. Wheeler. I can’t say quite why the description appealed to me, but I found the cover compelling and the description reeled me in – apropos considering this is a book about the sea.

The unhappy child of two powerful parents who despise each other, young Lilly turns to the ocean to find solace, which she finds in the form of the eloquent and intelligent sea monster Octavius, a kraken. In Octavius’s many arms, Lilly learns of friendship, loyalty, and family. When Octavius, forbidden by Lilly to harm humans, is captured by seafaring traders and sold to a circus, Lilly becomes his only hope for salvation. Desperate to find him, she strikes a bargain with a witch that carries a shocking price.

Her journey to win Octavius’s freedom is difficult. The circus master wants a Coat of Illusions; the Coat tailor wants her undead husband back from a witch; the witch wants her skin back from two bandits; the bandits just want some company, but they might kill her first. Lilly’s quest tests her resolve, tries her patience, and leaves her transformed in every way.

Like I said, not my usual fare, but I was intrigued (maybe by the keys and carrots on the cover) and put it on the list. I am really looking forward to it.

Next, the new novel by the author of The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield. Bellman & Black had an intriguing blurb that really made me want to know how the story progressed – not just how it ended. It’s a little fanciful for me, but that will make it an excellent choice some lazy afternoon when I need something new.

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small, cruel act: killing a bird with his slingshot. Little does he know the unforeseen and terrible consequences of the deed, which is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to be a man blessed by fortune—until tragedy strikes and the stranger in black comes. Then he starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, William enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born.

Definitely an interesting and intriguing choice, don’t you think? Keep checking back for the reviews…