An Irish Country Welcome - Tor/Forge Blog

Every Forge Book Coming Fall 2021

August 31, 2021May 6, 2024admin

Fall is almost upon us, which means we have a new season of books coming your way! Don your flannel shirts, grab your spiced drinks, and take a look at what Forge has to offer this fall.

September 7th

An Irish Country Welcome by Patrick Taylor

In the close-knit Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo, it’s said that a new baby brings its own welcome. Young doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue are anxiously awaiting their first child, but as the community itself prepares to welcome a new decade, the closing months of the 1960s bring more than a televised moon landing to Barry, his friends, his neighbors, and his patients, including a number of sticky questions.

A fledgling doctor joins the practice as a trainee, but will the very upper-class Sebastian Carson be a good fit for the rough and tumble of Irish country life? And as sectarian tensions rise elsewhere in Ulster, can a Protestant man marry the Catholic woman he dearly loves, despite his father’s opposition? And who exactly is going to win the award for the best dandelion wine at this year’s Harvest Festival?

But while Barry and Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly and their fellow physicians deal with everything from brain surgery to a tractor accident to a difficult pregnancy, there’s still time to share the comforting joys and pleasures of this very special place: fly-fishing, boat races, and even the town’s very first talent competition!

Now available in paperback!

September 14th

Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Everyone knows Lily Atwood—and that may be her biggest problem. The beloved television reporter has it all—fame, fortune, Emmys, an adorable seven-year-old daughter, and the hashtag her loving fans created: #PerfectLily. To keep it, all she has to do is protect one life-changing secret. Her own.

Lily has an anonymous source who feeds her story tips—but suddenly, the source begins telling Lily inside information about her own life. How does he—or she—know the truth?

Lily understands that no one reveals a secret unless they have a reason. Now she’s terrified someone is determined to destroy her world—and with it, everyone and everything she holds dear.

How much will she risk to keep her perfect life?

October 12th

An Irish Country Yuletide by Patrick Taylor

December 1965. ‘Tis the season once again in the cozy Irish village of Ballybucklebo, which means that Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly, his young colleague Barry Laverty, and their assorted friends, neighbors, and patients are enjoying all their favorite holiday traditions: caroling, trimming the tree, finding the perfect gifts for their near and dear ones, and anticipating a proper Yuletide feast complete with roast turkey and chestnut stuffing. There’s even the promise of snow in the air, raising the prospect of a white Christmas.

Not that trouble has entirely taken a holiday as the season brings its fair share of challenges as well, including a black-sheep brother hoping to reconcile with his estranged family before it’s too late, a worrisome outbreak of chickenpox, and a sick little girl whose faith in Christmas is in danger of being crushed in the worst way.

As roaring fireplaces combat the brisk December chill, it’s up to O’Reilly to play Santa, both literally and figuratively, to make sure that Ballybucklebo has a Christmas it will never forget!

October 19th

It’s a Wonderful Woof by Spencer Quinn

Holiday time in the Valley, and in the holiday spirit—despite the dismal shape of the finances at the Little Detective Agency—Bernie refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. It’s also true that the case—promising lots of online research but little action—doesn’t appeal to Bernie, while it seems perfect for Victor, who is not cut out for rough stuff. But Victor disappears in a rough-stuff way, and when he doesn’t show up at his mom’s to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him.

They soon discover that Victor’s client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt—when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod—have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus?

No one is better than Chet at nosing out buried secrets, but before he can, he and Bernie are forced to take flight themselves, chased through a Christmas Eve blizzard by a murderous foe who loves art all too much.

November 2nd

I Will Not Die Alone by Dera White, illustrated by Joe Bennett

Dera White’s I Will Not Die Alone is a hilarious, feel-good story about the end of the world. Featuring illustrations by Joe Bennett, it is a story full of realistic self-love affirmations for all of us who are just trying to get by, until we die.

November 16th

A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape by Joe Pera, illustrated by Joe Bennett

Joe Pera goes to the bathroom a lot. And his friend, Joe Bennett, does too. They both have small bladders but more often it’s just to get a moment of quiet, a break from work, or because it’s the only way they know how to politely end conversations.

So they created a functional meditative guide to help people who suffer from social anxiety and deal with it in this very particular way. Although it’s a comedic book, the goal is to help these readers:

Relax
Recharge
Rejoin the world outside of the bathroom

It’s also fun entertainment for people simply hiding in the bathroom to avoid doing work.

A Secret Never Told by Shelley Noble

Philomena Amesbury, expatriate Countess of Dunbridge, is bored. Coney Island in the sweltering summer of 1908 offers no shortage of diversions for a young woman of means, but sea bathing, horse racing, and even amusement parks can’t hold a candle to uncovering dastardly plots and chasing villains. Lady Dunbridge hadn’t had a big challenge in months.

Fate obliges when Phil is called upon to host a dinner party in honor of a visiting Austrian psychologist whose revolutionary theories may be of interest to the War Department, not to mention various foreign powers, and who may have already survived one attempt on his life. The guest list includes a wealthy industrialist, various rival scientists and academics, a party hypnotist, a flamboyant party-crasher, and a damaged beauty whose cloudy psyche is lost in a world of its own. Before the night is out, one of the guests is dead with a bullet between the eyes and Phil finds herself with another mystery on her hands, even if it’s unclear who exactly the intended victim was meant to be.

Worse yet, the police’s prime suspect is a mystery man who Phil happens to be rather intimately acquainted with. Now it’s up to Lady Dunbridge, with the invaluable assistance of her intrepid butler and lady’s maid, to find the real culprit before the police nab the wrong one . . .

Law of the Land by Elmer Kelton

Sixteen stories, where good meets bad, and everything inbetween, from the legendary author of the west, Elmer Kelton.

Law of the Land chronicles some of his most exciting and dangerous tales of the old west, collected together for the first time–including the exciting first publication of a never-before published Kelton story, Biscuits for Bandit.

Extras / What's New

Forge Your Own St. Patrick’s Day Party!

March 16, 2021May 1, 2024admin

By Lizzy Hosty

St. Patrick’s Day always holds a special place in my heart from growing up in an Irish American household – every year was celebrated with corned beef and cabbage, cake, and, of course, various types of beer. Last year, everyone’s celebrations were put on hold due to the beginning of the quarantine, and it’s pretty sad to know that yet again I will not be able to celebrate with family again this year. If you’re in that same camp, don’t worry! I’ve created a list of fun activities you can do to commemorate the day and still feel connected to your family and friends.

Buddy read a great Irish book!

Reach out to one of your loved ones and ask them if you want to read a book at the same time together, and then chat on Zoom afterwards to debrief – kind of like a mini-book club! Some books to get you started are:

An Irish Country Welcome (or any of the Irish Country Books) by Patrick Taylor, about a close-knight Irish village anticipating the birth of the town’s beloved doctor, Barry Laverty and his wife Sue at the tail end of the 1960’s.
Of Irish Blood or Irish Above All by Mary Pat Kelly, of the Of Irish Blood series, which follows Nora Kelly a young woman in the beginning of the 20th century, and who inadvertently interacts with key Parisian celebrities, like Gertrude Stein (in Of Irish Blood) and important American politicians, like President-elect Franklin Roosevelt (in Irish Above All).
Finn Mac Cool by Morgan Llywelyn, book three in the Celtic World of Morgan Llwelyn series, and which is about the mystical person of Finn Mac Cool – part myth, parth history – who rose from lowest classes of Irish society to eventually lead the invincible army of Fianna.

2. Decorate your living space with party supplies!

Even though we can’t host traditional parties anymore, we can still make the place look festive and merry! Either brave entering your closest dollar store, or order online with quick shipping, and scoop up some faux pots of gold, four leaf clover sunglasses, green beaded necklaces, green party garlands, leprechaun decals, rainbow stickers, and don a green St. Paddy’s day top hat.

3. Invite your friends and family to watch an Irish movie online and drink your beverage of choice!

Some streaming services are now offering ways to watch movies on the site with other folks that have an account, including Disney+ (built into the website), Amazon Watch Party (still in beta), Hulu Watch Party, Teleparty (a third party extension that lets you watch multiple sites, including Netflix), and for when only one member of the group has a subscription, use Kast, formerly known as Rabbit (third party extension). Some Irish movies to suggest to your friends are The Luck of the Irish, anything with Saorise Ronan in it (Little Women, Lady Bird, Brooklyn), and The Breadwinner.

4. Cook some traditional Irish foods!

Listen, don’t let the “and cabbage” part of corned beef and cabbage throw you off – this dish is actually really delicious, and is well worth the time it takes to make it. But if you’d rather forgo the time and cabbage (I’m telling you, you’re missing out!), there’s also shepherd’s pie and Irish soda bread. And if you want to make some dessert, you can always scoop up some easy to make cookies with those four leaf clovers on them, or you can make Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies (or just buy a tub of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream; both works).

5. Listen to some Irish pub songs!

Recently on TikTok, there has been a craze with listening to sea shanties, and while I definitely recommend listening to all those videos immediately if you haven’t, you can also listen to the jovial group songs that once permeated Irish pubs, like “If You’re Irish, Come Into the Parlour,” “The Fields of Athenry,” or “Whiskey in a Jar.”

Extras / What's New

Holiday Treats for Your Holiday Reads

November 20, 2020May 1, 2024admin

By Julia Bergen

What we all need this holiday season is to sit down with a book and some treats. It’s socially distanced, it’s relaxing, it’s everything you need right now. But what treats go with what book? No worries, friend, we’ve thought this out so you don’t have to. Now get back to decorating that tree/cooking that turkey/ordering that Indian food/living your best pandemic life.

A Resolution at Midnight by Shelley Noble – Champagne Truffles

Even if you’re not reading A Resolution at Midnight on New Year’s Eve, you can still feel like you’re ringing in the New Year with a champagne truffle. This historical mystery is set in Gilded Age Manhattan, right during Christmas season, and Shelley Noble is ready to transport you to the streets of Old New York. Just make sure to hold your pinky out while you eat your truffles; Lady Dunbridge is an aristocrat, after all!

A Dog’s Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron – Peanut Butter Cookies

Bake some for yourself, and some canine-friendly peanut butter treats for your best fluffy friend. Not only are peanut butter cookies perfect for this book because dogs love peanut butter, but also because W. Bruce Cameron books are kind of the peanut butter cookie of your bookshelf. They’re sweet without being saccharine, they’re utterly delightful, and everybody loves them. Another good holiday treat for this book, if you’re into puns, peppermint BARK.

And Now She’s Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall – Thumbprint Cookies

Since the protagonist of And Now She’s Gone is a PI, thumbprint cookies are the perfect treat for this fast-paced mystery. While the mystery of who left the thumbprint on your cookie is already solved, the mystery of how many thumbprint cookies you’ll eat is still unfolding! You’ll need a generous plate of these, because the last thing you’ll want to do while trying to find out whether Isabel Lincoln is missing or on the run is get up for another plate of cookies.

An Irish Country Welcome by Patrick Taylor – Irish Shortbread Cookies

You’ll want an Irish treat as you immerse yourself in the village life of Ballybucklebo, where cozy stories happen 365 days a year. Preferably alongside a nice cup of tea for dipping. In this particular tale, doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue are anxiously awaiting their first child, while a new well-to-do fledgling doctor attempts to fit in with rough and tumble village life. That’s enough coziness to last you through 2022.

South of the Buttonwood Tree by Heather Webber – Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is the perfect holiday AND Southern dessert to make your reading experience perfect as you settle in to South of the Buttonwood Tree. Best served with a tall glass of sweet tea! Heather Webber perfectly creates the atmosphere of a small Southern town in Buttonwood, Alabama in this heartwarming story of magic, love, and family.

What's New

Irish Country Recipes to Cook at Home

October 15, 2020admin

The temperature is dropping and the leaves are changing… the coziest season of them all is finally here! And with it comes a new book in the Irish Country series by Patrick Taylor. Fans know that one of the features of these utterly charming books is the selection of recipes from Mrs. Maureen “Kinky” Auchinleck, Dr. O’Reilly’s colorful and kooky housekeeper. Her Irish favorites, like soda bread, parsnip and apple soup, and roast goose are perfect for enjoying on a cool fall afternoon.

In honor of the release of An Irish Country Welcome, Patrick Taylor’s latest entry in the series, we suggest some of her yummiest recipes – one savory and one sweet – just made for cozying up with a cup of tea.

Mushroom Puffs

Makes about 30 to 40

1 tablespoon of canola oil 2 shallots, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
455 g. / 1 lb. mushrooms (any variety), chopped
Pinch of salt and a little black pepper
455 g. / 1 lb. cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons of Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce
455 g. / 1 lb. packaged puff pastry
1 egg yolk and a little milk
Preheat the oven 200°C / 400°F.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet and gently sauté the chopped shallots. Add the crushed garlic and fry gently until cooked through but still transparent.

Now add the chopped mushrooms and pepper and when cooked, season with salt to taste.

Drain the liquid from the mushroom mixture. Combine the mushroom, shallots, and garlic with the softened cream cheese and the Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce.

Roll each piece of puff pastry out into 2 rectangles and cut each in half lengthwise.

Place a layer of mushroom and cheese mixture down the middle of each pastry rectangle, then brush each with beaten egg wash on one side edge.

Now fold the unwashed pastry edge over to the other side and press the 2 edges together to seal.

Brush the top with the remaining beaten egg to make a glaze and cut into 8 to 10 bite- size pieces.

Bake for about 15 minutes until puffed up and golden.

Victoria Sandwich Cake

225 g. / 8 oz. flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
225 g. / 8 oz. butter or good- quality margarine softened to room temperature
225 g. / 8 oz. sugar
4 eggs
A splash of milk
Raspberry or strawberry jam
Heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350F°.

Grease and line 2 circular cake tins, 20 cm. / 8 in. in diameter, and 5 cm. / 2 in. deep, with baking paper.

Sift together the flour and the baking powder until well blended. Using an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together in a separate bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time. To prevent the mixture from curdling, add a spoonful of flour after each egg has been added.

Carefully fold in the flour mixture using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if necessary, to create a batter with a soft dropping consistency.

Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and spread out evenly with a knife or a spatula.

Bake for 20– 25 minutes, or until golden- brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack and cover with a dry tea towel.

Whip the cream with an electric mixer until it forms soft peaks when the beater is removed.

Sandwich the cakes together with the whipped cream and jam. Dust the top with confectioner’s sugar.

You can make this beautiful sandwich with a variety of flavours: 1) add grated orange or lemon zest and a little juice instead of milk. 2) add a little made- up strong black coffee and fill with a buttercream icing.

Recipe for Buttercream Icing

After the ingredients add

140 g. / 5 oz. butter, softened
280 g. / 10 oz. confectioner’s sugar
1– 2 tablespoons milk or other flavouring such as coffee
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the ingredients together

Grab your copy of An Irish Country Welcome—on sale now!

Excerpts / What's New

Excerpt: An Irish Country Welcome by Patrick Taylor

August 6, 2020April 11, 2024admin2 Comments

An Irish Country Welcome is a charming entry in Patrick Taylor’s internationally bestselling Irish Country series.

In the close-knit Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo, it’s said that a new baby brings its own welcome. Young doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue are anxiously awaiting their first child, but as the community itself prepares to welcome a new decade, the closing months of 1969 bring more than a televised moon landing to Barry, his friends, his neighbors, and his patients, including a number of sticky questions.

Welcome back to Ballybucklebo, as vividly brought to life by a master storyteller.

An Irish Country Welcome will be available on October 6th, 2020. Please enjoy the following excerpt.

1

Day and Night Love Sang

My heart at thy dear voice

Wakes with joy, like the flow’r

At the sun’s bright returning!

Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly leaned back in his chair at the packed Ballybucklebo Bonnaughts Sporting Club hall. Not a sound could be heard but the soaring voice.

Flo Bishop, standing behind the microphone on the small stage, let her magical contralto caress the notes of Camille Saint-Saëns’”Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” from the opera Samson and Delilah. The song was better known in English as “Softly Awakes My Heart.” As she sang, her eyes were fixed on those of her husband, Bertie Bishop, who, after he had helped his wife onto the stage, had joined O’Reilly’s table. The man’s eyes were overflowing with adoration, and O’Reilly clearly recalled how some months ago, when his brother Lars had helped Bertie draw up his will, Bertie had told the two men how he had fallen in love with the sixteen-year-old Flo McCaffrey at a cèilidh in a church hall many years ago.

O’Reilly let the notes flow over him and marvelled at the purity of sound coming from the throat of the rotund wife of the equally spherical Councillor Bertie Bishop. Bertie was one of the prime movers behind using the Ballybucklebo Bonnaughts Sporting Club on Saturday nights for social events like ballroom dancing, hops, and cèilidhs. Bringing the two already tolerant country communities closer together in Ballybucklebo seemed important given the recent outbreak of sectarian troubles, some violent, that had been going on across the six counties for more than a year. Tonight, Saturday, July 5, 1969, the Bonnaughts were hosting the first of what was hoped would be a regular series of talent contests.

Bertie’s lips were moving, and O’Reilly knew the man was silently mouthing along.

Oh, bide here at my side!

Promise ne’er thou’lt depart!

O’Reilly glanced around the table, struck suddenly by the other love stories there. Kitty and he had celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary two days ago. She caught his eye and smiled. It would have been a longer getaway, but he had promised to attend here tonight.

Was it really thirty-eight years since a young Dublin medical student had fallen for a Nurse Kitty O’Hallorhan from Tallaght and in 1935 had left her to pursue his all-consuming interest in his work? She’d taken herself off to Spain during the Civil War to work in an orphanage and he’d lost track of her. Thanks to his partner, Doctor Barry Laverty, he and Kitty had met again, and the long-cherished embers of their love had burst into fresh flames. Barry sat across from him now, holding the hand of his wife, Sue. Five years ago, he’d been besotted with Patricia, a young engineering student who’d won a Cambridge scholarship, left Ulster, and broken Barry’s heart. He’d been devastated, but some months later had fallen for Sue, paid court, and married her. Now they were expecting.

As winds o’er golden grain

Softly sigh roving by . . .

Next to Barry was his former classmate, the surgeon Mister Jack Mills, who sat close beside his fiancée, Doctor Helen Hewitt, although O’Reilly knew the engagement was still a secret. When would they make their plans public?

The party was completed by Lord John MacNeill, Marquis of Ballybucklebo, and his sister, Myrna. Both were widowed and O’Reilly wondered if they were thinking of their lost loves, perhaps moved, as he was, by the obvious bond between Bertie Bishop and Flo.

He returned his gaze to Flo, took a pull on his pint of Guinness, placed it on the table, and stuck his pipe back in his mouth. He thought of the aria’s final words, but in the original French, which his father had insisted he and his brother Lars learn and which O’Reilly had polished with some French cruiser officers while serving in Alexandria on HMS Warspite during the war:

Ah! respond to Love’s caresses,

Join in all my soul expresses!

Flo stood for a few seconds, then bowed as deeply as her considerable waist would allow.

Bertie was on his feet, hands ready to clap, but before the applause could begin, O’Reilly, with his basso voice, finished the aria with Sampson’s reply:

“Dalila! Dalila! Je t’aime!”

Bertie said with a smile, “That’s my line, Doctor.”

The room erupted. Not with its usual racket—say for a well-sung Irish song or neatly performed sean-nos hard-shoe dance—of whistles, foot stamping, and cries of, “You done good, you-girl-ye.” No, tonight the audience responded with all the decorum that would be accorded a professional opera singer. Flo Bishop was given a standing ovation and the hand clapping was deafening.

O’Reilly looked over to the contest’s judges, Father O’Toole and the Reverend Mister Robinson. From the way the men were grinning at each other, they were not going to have any difficulty deciding the winner, even if she was one of the event organisers. So far tonight a cèilidh band had played, Alan Hewitt had sung Irish songs, six girl dancers from the Dympna Kelly School of dance had skipped and jigged, and even O’Reilly himself had performed a rousing sea shanty—and there was only one more act to come.

The applause gradually died, replaced by the scraping of chair legs on the floor as people retook their seats and the dull hum of renewed conversations. A single voice that O’Reilly could not identify remarked above the murmuring, “—and Rod Laver beat John Newcombe in Melbourne in the men’s tennis finals the day.”

O’Reilly watched as Councillor Bertie Bishop helped his wife down, hugged her, and Ulster reticence be damned, planted a firm kiss on her lips before letting her accept the congratulations of some of the nearest members of the audience.

Her place onstage was taken by a carroty-haired buck-toothed young man. “All right, youse lot. Settle down. Settle down.” He waved his right hand, palm down. “Crikey, Flo, but you done very good. Very good indeed. You was sticking out a mile.” There was awe in his tone. “You have the voice of an angel, so you have.”

Flo blushed and inclined her head.

More applause.

Since Bertie had made Donal a partner in the Bishop Building Company in May, willing the company to him when both Bishops died, the Bishops and the Donnellys were on Christian-name terms. Indeed, Bertie now treated Donal like the son he’d never had.

“I’ll say that again,” Donal said when a semblance of quiet had returned. “Voice of an angel.”

“Aye, Mrs. Bishop has that,” yelled Dapper Frew, Donal’s best friend. “And you, you bollix, Donal Donnelly, you can’t carry a tune in a bucket. I hope you’re not planning to sing nothing.”

Much laughter.

“Get on with what you’re going til say. There’s folks here with their tongues hanging out for a jar.”

Donal Donnelly, carpenter by trade, architect of schemes for separating people like bookies and gullible English tourists from their money, was tonight’s master of ceremonies. As was to be expected in a place like Ballybucklebo, there was much good-humoured ribbing between audience and MC. Donal cocked his head sideways, looked askance at his friend, and said, “Dapper? Away off and chase yourself, you buck eejit.”

More laughter.

“But Dapper’s right about one thing. Well, two things actually. It’s true I couldn’t sing in tune if my life depended on it, and with this crowd it might. And it is time for us to take a wee break before I introduce the last act. So, chat nicely among yourselves, stretch your legs, and youse all know where the bar is.” Donal hopped down and the noise level rose.

O’Reilly joined in the general applause and as people began moving about the room, he called, “Bertie, bring Flo over here so we can congratulate her.”

John MacNeill said, “Hear, hear.”

As the couple approached, the men at the table stood as was proper when a lady joined the company.

O’Reilly pulled out his chair. “Have a pew, Flo.”

Before sitting, Flo made a curtsey and said, “My lord. My lady.”

O’Reilly and Bertie remained standing while the other men took their seats.

Above the background noise of voices Barry overheard Dapper Frew saying to Donal Donnelly, “Do you think them Yankees will get that there Apollo 11 up til the moon this month and a fellah out ontil the surface?”

“Nah,” said Donal. “The moon’s a quarter of a million miles away. They’ll use special effects, like til make a film in Hollywood. It’ll be the best con trick pulled ever.”

Dapper laughed. “Takes one til know one.”

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Lists / What's New

Six Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2020

December 20, 2019May 3, 2024admin

By Alison Bunis

How’s your 2020 to-read list looking? Nice and neat, every book listed in the order you want to read them? You know exactly what books you’ll be reading when for all of 2020, right? It’s almost January, everything should be all planned out…Yeah, no one does that. Not even the Forge team, and we’re pretty big book nerds here. Even if you tried to make a list like that, it can be so hard to stick to, because sometimes you see a book that you just have to read this very second. We get it.

But we do like to know what great stuff we can look forward to reading in the upcoming year, and we figured you might, too. So here’s a list of six of the great books coming out from Forge this year! Put them on your (disorganized, not-in-any-particular-order) to-read list now!

Nobody Does It Better by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross (2/11/20)

For over five decades, the cinematic adventures of James Bond have thrilled moviegoers. Now, bestselling authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross take you behind-the-scenes of the most famous and beloved movie franchise of all-time filled with reflections from over 150 cast, crew, critics and filmmakers who reflect on the impact of this legendary movie franchise as well as share their thoughts about their favorite (and least favorite) 007 adventures and spy mania which gripped fans the world over in the wake of the success of the James Bond films. Get your martini glasses out, and get ready to learn the incredible, uncensored true stories of the James Bond franchise, from the birth of Bond through the latest adventures. Don’t worry—since Nobody Does it Better is hitting shelves on February 11th, there’s plenty of time to read it before No Time to Die comes out in April!.

Crash by David Hagberg and Lawrence Light (4/28/20)

Whether you’re a financial junkie or have never gotten closer to the stock market than watching Wall Street, Crash will strike a chord with everyone who remembers the 2008 financial crisis. Much like in our reality, the world’s economies are groaning under too much debt. If one thing goes wrong, the entire rickety system collapses. In Crash, with debt-burdened governments and businesses worldwide about to go bust, a cabal of Wall Street big shots plot to provide that one thing that goes wrong. In 24 hours, a powerful computer worm will smash the exchanges and spark an international panic. The Wall Street gang’s investment bank will be the last one standing, able to make a killing amid the ruins.But when one of the bank’s computer experts, Cassy Levin, spots the worm, she invents a program to destroy it, and her bosses have her kidnapped. When Cassy disappears, her boyfriend Ben Whalen, a former Navy SEAL, starts looking for her, and ends up stumbling onto the entire plot. Now Ben only has one day to save the woman he loves and prevent a global economic collapse like we’ve never seen before.

The Nemesis Manifesto by Eric Van Lustbader (5/19/20)

Get excited for a new series from Eric Van Lustbader, packed with Russian meddling, American fragmentation, global politics, and the adventures of singular new hero Evan Ryder. Evan is a lone wolf, a field agent for a black-ops arm of the DOD, who has survived unspeakable tragedy and dedicated her life to protecting her country. When her fellow agents begin to be systematically eliminated, Evan must unravel the thread that ties them all together…before her name comes up on the kill list.

The list belongs to a mysterious cabal known only as Nemesis, a hostile entity hell-bent on tearing the United States apart. As Evan tracks them from Washington D.C. to the Caucasus Mountains, from Austria to a fortress in Germany where her own demons reside, she unearths a network of conspirators far more complex than anyone could have imagined. Can Evan uproot them before Nemesis forces bring democracy to its knees?

Death Rattle by Alex Gilly (7/14/20)

When Carmen de la Vega’s boyfriend tries to kill her, she hands over all her savings to a smuggler and sets out from Tijuana in a small, leaky boat. Within sight of the California coast, the boat starts to sink, and its passengers have to be rescued by border patrol. Soon after, Carmen turns up dead in a privately-operated Migrant Detention Center. Neither Nick Finn, the officer who saved Carmen from drowning, or his wife, human-rights lawyer Mona Jimenez, are satisfied with the prison’s account of what happened to Carmen. Trouble is, the company that runs the prison is on the verge of signing a billion-dollar procurement contract with Homeland Security. And there are people in this world for whom a billion dollars is worth a whole lot more than one human life. Or even three.

South of the Buttonwood Tree by Heather Webber (7/21/20)

If you were enchanted by Heather Webber’s Midnight at the Blackbird Café, then boy do we have good news for you: she’s got a brand new book this July, filled with just as much warmth, magic, and charm as her first. This time, we meet Blue Bishop, a town outcast who has a knack for finding lost things. While growing up in charming small-town Buttonwood, Alabama, she’s happened across lost wallets, jewelry, pets, her wandering neighbor, and sometimes, trouble. No one is more surprised than Blue, however, when she comes across an abandoned newborn baby in the woods, just south of a very special buttonwood tree.

Meanwhile, Sarah Grace Landreneau Fulton is at a crossroads. She has always tried so hard to do the right thing, but her own mother would disown her if she ever learned half of Sarah Grace’s secrets.

The unexpected discovery of the newborn baby girl will alter Blue’s and Sarah Grace’s lives forever. Both women must fight for what they truly want in life and for who they love. In doing so, they uncover long-held secrets that reveal exactly who they really are—and what they’re willing to sacrifice in the name of family.

An Irish Country Welcome by Patrick Taylor (10/06/20)

In the close-knit Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo, it’s said that a new baby brings its own welcome. Young doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue are anxiously awaiting their first child, but as the community itself prepares to welcome a new decade, the closing months of 1969 bring more than a televised moon landing to Barry, his friends, his neighbors, and his patients, including a number of sticky questions.

A fledgling doctor joins the practice as a trainee, but will the very upper-class Sebastian Carson be a good fit for the rough and tumble of Irish country life? And as sectarian tensions rise elsewhere in Ulster, can a Protestant man marry the Catholic woman he dearly loves, despite his father’s opposition? And who exactly is going to win the award for the best dandelion wine at this year’s Harvest Festival?