We wanted to do another bookish meme on Wednesday and after doing Can’t Wait Wednesday a few times we decided that would be a fun one to bring around more often! About twice a month you’ll see this meme on our blog.

Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

It’s time to join the party! Adventure awaits readers of all ages on Día de Muertos in this stunningly original and lushly illustrated tour de force about family, love, and overcoming grief from #1 bestselling superstar Leigh Bardugo and World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award-winner John Picacio.

Everyone in the neighborhood was getting ready for the party.
Everyone knew somebody on the guest list. . . .
This was the day the dead returned.

There’s a party tonight, but Cala doesn’t want to go. While her family prepares for the celebration, Cala grieves her grandfather and tries to pretend she’s not afraid.

But when she is separated from her family at the cemetery, Cala encounters four mysterious riders who will show her she is actually quite brave after all.

Brimming with magic and humor, The Invisible Parade is the first picture-book collaboration between award-winner John Picacio and New York Times bestselling Leigh Bardugo. Set on the night of Día de Muertos, Cala’s story is one of love, loss, and the courage that can be found in unexpected places.

While this is an August release, it wasn’t included in our Wishlist Wednesday post last week. And that’s because I hadn’t heard about this one yet! I am subscribed to Leigh Bardugo and that is where I learned about this release. As you might know, I adore Leigh Bardugo and her work so of course I was immediately interested in this newest release. But reading how Leigh Bardugo talked about this book makes me want to read it even more. She was talking about grief and how that impacted her writing and her characters and it was so interesting to read. This is another book about grief, but she goes about it in another way than she has before. And I can’t wait to read this story!

This is an illustrated book and I love those a lot. I’m not familiar with John Picacio’s work but the cover of the book looks gorgeous. And I of course looked at John’s work at his website and it turns out his work is hauntingly beautiful! Looking at those images makes me even more excited to get my hands on this release.

Was this one on your radar? Do you plan on picking it up at the end of August? I would love to hear your thoughts on this release down below!