12 new SFF books to help beat back the January blues

The Conference of the Birds – Ransom Riggs

This is author Ransom Riggs’ fifth installment in his Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series, and the direct sequel to A Map of Days, which kicked off a whole new story for a new group of peculiars in America. (It’s kind of confusing, and this is probably not the place to jump into this series if you’re new. Just saying. But fans of the Miss Peregrine’s series will be over the moon at a chance to continue the story.)

The Conference of the Birds continues the story of its immediate predecessor, which launched readers into the previously unexplored territory of American peculiars, as Jacob returned to Florida and investigated his grandfather Abe’s double life. Now, Jacob, Miss Peregrine, Emma and all their peculiar friends must face new adversaries, and attempt to answer the many new questions raised both here and in the previous novel.

The synopsis is even more vague and unhelpful than you might expect, giving virtually nothing away about the story of The Conference of the Birds. Which probably shouldn’t be that big of a surprise given how many twists these novels tend to have. But, just know we’ll all be going in pretty blind.

"Now, with enemies behind him and the unknown ahead, Jacob Portman’s story continues as he takes a brave leap forward into The Conference of the Birds, the next installment of the beloved, bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series."

The Conference of the Birds is available on January 14.