Month: April 2017

Categories
Giveaways

SPILL ZONE GIVEAWAY

We’ve got 10 copies of Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld to give away!

Here’s what it’s all about:

Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within its borders. Uncanny manifestations and lethal dangers now await anyone who enters the Spill Zone. The Spill claimed Addison’s parents and scarred her little sister, Lexa, who hasn’t spoken since. Addison provides for her sister by photographing the Zone’s twisted attractions on illicit midnight rides. Art collectors pay top dollar for these bizarre images, but getting close enough for the perfect shot can mean death—or worse.

When an eccentric collector makes a million-dollar offer, Addison breaks her own hard-learned rules of survival and ventures farther than she has ever dared. Within the Spill Zone, Hell awaits—and it seems to be calling Addison’s name.

Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:

Categories
Unusual Suspects

Why the FBI Recruits Mormons, and More Mystery/Thrillers

Hello my fellow mystery fans! Netflix is remaking Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? with Gina Rodriguez as the voice! Exploding emoji heart eyes over here! Maybe we’ll also get a new series of books?! Comic series?! I am here for it all!

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick.

On the outskirts of Juarez, Arturo scrapes together a living working odd jobs and staying out of sight. But his friend Faustino is in trouble: he’s stolen money from the narcos to smuggle his girlfriend and her baby into the US, and needs Arturo’s help to get it back. To help his friend, Arturo must face the remorseless world of drug and human traffickers that surrounds him, and contend with a murky past.

Past and present mysteries!

I Found You by Lisa Jewell: Alice Lake is a single mum to three kids who finds a man on the beach who’s lost his memory and (against a bit of common sense) takes him in. That’s the thing about Alice: she doesn’t think she’s always made the greatest choices and now, having tried to correct that, she’s ended up quite lonely. So maybe this man is her chance at happiness? Except, unbeknownst to Alice there’s a young, recently married woman named Lily who has just reported her husband missing. Once the police start to ask her questions about her husband, Lily starts to realize that the very brief time they’ve known each other was not enough time to have really gotten to know him. As for the past, mystery readers are taken back to the early ’90s when a family with a teen daughter and son are vacationing, and let’s just say these chapters reminded me a bit of the movie Fear. I read this one in two sittings because I quite liked getting to know Alice, Lily, and Kirsty, and both the mysteries definitely had me hooked.

Still talking about Big Little Lies: Liane Moriarty talked about the adaptation of Big Little Lies and I’m always here for authors critique on the adaptations of their books. And I wrote about 4 things about HBO’s Big Little Lies that need discussing.

Not Hollywood’s FBI.

Three Minutes to Doomsday: An Agent, a Traitor, and the Worst Espionage Breach in U.S. History by Joe Navarro: I’m a big fan of behind-the-scenes and making-of type things, which is what I found interesting about this book, along with the reminder that the FBI we see on TV is generally not realistic. Navarro is intense AF, he literally almost killed himself more than once with his obsession over proving his hunch about Rod Ramsay. Navarro is retelling the investigation from the ’80s that started with him having to beg his boss to give him leeway to keep looking into Ramsay, all because of Ramsay’s body language from an interview. This was before it was apparently popular because it seems his boss thought Navarro was ridiculous for thinking he could read anything into suspects based on their body language. If you enjoy in-depth type procedurals and how things really work, I’d pick this one up. It sent me down a few rabbit holes, including why the FBI recruits heavily at schools with large populations of Mormons. (Just don’t expect wild car chases and shootouts type excitement–it is literally just Navarro’s obsession with proving he’s right about Ramsay and the real process–at least in the ’80s–of how suspected spies are treated.)

For Fans of Making a Murderer: Read an excerpt from Illusion of Justice by Jerome F. Buting.

Paula Hawkins upcoming novel adaptation news: With the success of The Girl on the Train many readers have been eagerly anticipating her upcoming novel Into the Water, and it appears so has Hollywood. And while the release of Into The Water is only a week away, here’s still a good round-up: 14 novels while you wait on Read it Forward.

Put your seat belts on, hell of a ride!

Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen: Hannah Monroe returns home from a business trip to discover that her boyfriend has left. Which sucks, but this is a thriller and it isn’t just that he’s left but that he’s basically extracted himself from her life as if he never existed to begin with. (What?!) I started this book wondering if this was going to be the most intense gaslighting ever or if something happened to him? I honestly couldn’t put this one down because I needed to know–and the more I read the more intense things got. It builds and builds and—ha, not gonna tell! You may want to read with a friend so you can swap theories along the way. And did I mention twists and an ending with a big bite!

On Book Riot: Katie McGuire wrote about Nostalgia, Murder, and Comic Book Adaptations.

If Booknerdlandia sounds like a place for you: Book Riot has a new subscription program called Insiders! You can track new releases (it’s an amazing database), listen to a dedicated podcast, behind-the-scenes newsletter… starting at $3/month—and one of the levels has an Insiders-only forum on Slack with a mystery channel (We’re currently talking about the creep factor of Perfect Days, and forensic books)!

I have to go shopping now:

There’s a James Bomb gift set with a bath bomb and muscle relaxer that sounds perfect for Bond fans–and pun lovers.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime come talk books with me on Twitter and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.

Categories
Riot Rundown

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Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Atria Books.

A provocative new novel by bestselling author Randy Susan Meyers about the seemingly blind love of a wife for her husband as he conquers Wall Street, and her extraordinary, perhaps foolish, loyalty during his precipitous fall.
When Phoebe learns her husband’s triumph and vast reach rests on an elaborate Ponzi scheme her world unravels. Her children refuse to see her if she remains at their father’s side, but abandoning him feels cruel and impossible.
From penthouse to prison, Randy Susan Meyers’s latest novel exposes a woman struggling to survive and then redefine her life as her world crumbles.

Categories
The Goods 2

Tote-Socks BOGO

Case of the Mondays? Take a double dose of good deals! Today’s your last chance to get a pair of socks free when you buy a tote and get 20% off sitewide on all other items.

Categories
New Books

Beartown, Burntown, and More New Books!

Remember what I said last week about the beautiful weather? I jinxed myself. It has been cold, cloudy, and rainy here in Maine ever since. Booo. But April is coming to an end. And I have a ton of great books to read! (And who am I kidding, I don’t go outside, LOL.) I have a few great books to tell you about today, and you can hear about more wonderful books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about a few awesome books we loved, including Borne, Startup, and Scienceblind.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by I Found You by Lisa Jewell.

Two decades of secrets, a missing husband, and a man with no memory are at the heart of this brilliant new novel, filled with the “beautiful writing, believable characters, pacey narrative, and dark secrets” (Daily Mail, London) that make Lisa Jewell so beloved by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Jewell is a wonderful storyteller. Her characters are believable, her writing is strong and poetic, and her narrative is infused with just enough intrigue to keep the pages turning. Readers of Liane Moriarty, Paula Hawkins, and Ruth Ware will love.” —Library Journal (starred review)

skullswornSkullsworn by Brian Staveley

Whether or not you have read Staveley’s fantastic Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy, you can still enjoy the hell out of this standalone novel set in the same universe. This one involves a priestess who has ten days to kill seven people, including one she must first love, or it’s curtains for her. Action-packed and richly detailed, this is a must-read for fantasy fans!

Backlist bump: The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley

beartownBeartown by Fredrik Backman

Confession time: I still haven’t read A Man Called Ove. Or any Backman, in fact. But I enjoyed this novel about a small town trying to win a big hockey title to help bring the town back from the brink of failure. But a violent act during the semi-finals will have far-reaching consequences. It’s a beautiful, occasionally brutal, slow burn of a novel. (Be sure you’re ready to read a LOT about hockey.)

Backlist bump: We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

the boy in the earthThe Boy in the Earth by Fuminori Nakamura, Allison Markin Powell (Translator)

Who’s in the mood for some dark, fantastically written fiction? Nakamura (Last Winter We Parted, The Gun) is back with a bleak tale of a suicidal taxi driver and his alcoholic girlfriend. Using the narrator’s search into his past, The Boy in the Earth examines – and challenges – the notion that everyone is worthy of a chance at redemption. It’s thought-provoking, to say the least.

Backlist bump: The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura

burntownBurntown by Jennifer McMahon

I am always in the mood for McMahon’s creepy New England books. (I find them comforting – is that weird?) Her latest is a tale of secrets, murder, and stolen plans set among abandoned mills and factories of a sleepy Vermont college town. The town’s misfits play a big role in the story as a killer from the past resurfaces. Read this when you’re alone late at night for maximum effect!

Backlist bump: The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

oolaOola by Brittany Newell

The jacket copy had me at “the wicked love child of American Psycho and Lolita.” Oola, a music school dropout, sets out on a road trip across Europe with Leif, stopping to housesit for his parents’ friends along the way. But soon her Oola’s time with Leif turns dark and isolated, and the fun dynamic begins to shift into something sinister. Oola is a twisty story of privilege and creativity, built around the title character’s young energy and sexuality. It’s addictive and strange.

Backlist bump: Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me today – time to get back to reading! As always, it has been a delight to share recommendations with you. And if you want to hear more about books, old and new, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Be excellent to each other.

Liberty

Categories
Giveaways

Earth Day coloring book prize pack

 

We have 10 Earth Day coloring book prize packs from Chronicle Books to give away to 10 Riot readers.

Celebrate Earth Day with this book bundle from Chronicle Books! Color the world with the latest book from artist Steve McDonald, Fantastic Planet; find inspiration and order in the geometric animals featured in Crystal Menagerie by Michelle Waldie; and explore the outer reaches of space with black-and-white drawings based on photographs from the archives of NASA in the Earth and Space Coloring Book! And in case you’re in need of supplies, look no further than these Space Swirl Colored Pencils, a package of ten two-tone pencils inspired by NASA’s deepspace images.

Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click on the image of the prize pack below. Good luck!

Categories
This Week In Books

HBO to Make New Adaptation of Fahrenheit 451: This Week in Books

It Was a Pleasure to Burn

Dystopian novels are having a moment, and it looks like The Handmaid’s Tale is not going to be the only classic of the genre to be re-adapted for the big screen. HBO announced this week that it will produce a new feature-length version of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Michael B. Jordan will star as the fireman Guy Montag, with Michael Shannon playing his boss, Beatty. As a big fan of Bradbury, Jordan, and Shannon, I couldn’t be more excited. I only wish the subject matter didn’t feel so timely.

So Many Books, So Little Time (Literally)

A new study of 2,000 adults in the UK commissioned to mark World Book Night reveals that 67% would like to read more, but 48% “admit” (interesting word choice, there) they are too busy to read. Rather than wondering how much time these oh-so-busy folks spend on Facebook and TV, I’ll move right along to the survey’s more interesting finding: 26% of respondents say they would read more if they got recommendations from someone they know. The algorithms haven’t won it all, friends! (And perhaps we at the good ship Book Riot should step up our UK awareness efforts?)

Now for Something Completely Different

In what is hands-down the weirdest publishing-related headline in recent memory, the band Insane Clown Posse are being sued for allegedly plagiarizing a poem. And not just any poem. A poem originally published in A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul. More questions than answers to be found in this story. I don’t even know.

Bonus unexpected combo: here’s Ludacris rapping a Llama Llama book.

Until next time, happy reading.

Rebecca

Level up your reading life with Book Riot Insiders! We’ve got exclusive content and goodness for subscribers, including a new releases calendar, an Insiders-only forum, and more. Join us!

Categories
Book Radar

Book Radar: Hidden Figures and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows

Swapna here again! This will be my last Book Radar, but fear not—I’m handing the reins over to Liberty, and I know she’ll do an excellent job keeping you all up to date on the newest releases.

All the Deal News You Can Use

Penguin Press will be publishing Hillaryland by Lissa Muscatine, who was Hillary Clinton’s chief speechwriter. She worked with the former presidential nominee, Secretary of State, Senator, and first lady for over 25 years.

Han Kang, author of The Vegetarian, will be publishing The White Book, a novel about grief and loss, with Hogarth in Fall 2017.

That forever-in-development Wheel of Time TV series, based on Robert Jordan’s hit fantasy series, finally has an update: It’s been picked up by Sony Pictures Television.

Robert Stone and Alan Andres have written a narrative history of stories about the race to the Moon, called Chasing the Moon, to be published by Ballantine. The release of the book, in 2019, will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing and a limited PBS series.

Hidden Figures author Margot Lee Shetterly will be writing two new books with Viking about extraordinary African American figures whose histories and legacies have been “hidden.”

Book Riot Recommends

We’ve got two new reviews for you today! I absolutely adored both these books—they felt fresh and new, and they’re both perfect for any reading situation from the beach to a busy commute.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows – Balli Kaur Jaswal (June 13)

This delightful novel features Nikki, a young Londoner who pays the bills by tending bar. That might not seem out of the ordinary, but for Nikki, who is from a traditional Punjabi Sikh community, it’s seen as an act of rebellion by her mother. On an impulse, Nikki responds to an ad at the local temple for a creative writing instructor—after all, as a law school dropout, she does have some writing experience. But what she doesn’t expect is that a group of widows will become regulars in her class—and that they have other types of “creative writing” in mind. This novel is funny and warm, with a sympathetic main character in Nikki. Jaswal does an excellent job bringing Sikh values to life for the reader, showing how the traditional can exist alongside the modern, but also making sure to tell the story of a group of women mostly forgotten by society.

Cocoa Beach – Beatriz Williams (June 27)

Beatriz Williams is the queen of the historical beach read, and she’s in fine form for her latest, Cocoa Beach. Virginia Fortescue met and fell in love with her husband on the battlegrounds of World War I, and now he’s dead. He survived the war, but not his own misdeeds, and he’s paid the ultimate price for them. Estranged from her husband at the time of his death, Virginia has travelled to Cocoa Beach, Florida, to settle her husband’s estate and see if she can move on with her life. But even in death, her husband isn’t finished keeping secrets. This is a breezy, escapist read, and the twists and turns will keep readers hooked as they try to puzzle out what exactly happened between Virginia and her husband.

Insiders

If you need even more Book Riot in your life than just this newsletter, we’ve launched a new subscription program called Insiders. You can have access to exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes newsletters, a dedicated Read Harder podcast, and much more, depending on your subscription level. Check out the Insiders site for more details, price points (it starts at just $3/month!) and to sign up!

This newsletter is sponsored by Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf.

When a tragic accident leaves nurse Amelia Winn deaf, she spirals into a depression that ultimately causes her to lose everything that matters—her job, her husband, David, and her stepdaughter, Nora. Now, two years later and with the help of her hearing dog, Stitch, she is finally getting back on her feet. But when she discovers the body of a fellow nurse in the dense bush by the river, deep in the woods near her cabin, she is plunged into a disturbing mystery that could shatter the carefully reconstructed pieces of her life all over again.

Categories
Riot Rundown

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Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

One shot ruined his life. Another one could end it.
From New York Times bestselling author Barry Lyga comes a heartbreaking novel about living with your worst mistake. For fans of This Is Where It Ends, Bang is as true and as relevant as tomorrow’s headlines, the story of one boy and one moment in time that cannot be reclaimed.

Categories
Giveaways

Win a Stack of Hot Young Adult Titles!

 

Summer is approaching and it’s time to start building out a reading list for the season.

Courtesy of Fierce Reads, we have a stack of exciting new young adult novels to give away, including:

Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image below. Good luck!