Categories
Month: August 2017
We have 10 copies of If There’s No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout to give away to 10 Riot readers!
Here’s what it’s all about:
“Beautiful, real, and devastating…this book will forever have a spot on my all-time favorites shelf.” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas
Lena Wise is always looking forward to tomorrow, and her senior year is going to be epic. She’s ready to pack in as much friend time as possible, finish college applications, and maybe let her childhood best friend Sebastian know how she really feels about him.
Until one choice, one moment, destroys everything.
Now Lena isn’t looking forward to tomorrow. Her life might never be the same. And Sebastian might never forgive her for what happened.
For what she let happen.
With the guilt growing each day, Lena knows that her only hope is to move on. But how can she when tomorrow isn’t a guarantee?
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:
Happy Friday! I hope you have all crushed this past week’s enemies and driven them before you. Today we’re talking about Trish Trash and The Stone Sky, plus the 2017 Hugo winners, Octavia Butler adaptation news, and more.
This newsletter is sponsored by In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan.
Elliot is smart, just a tiny bit obnoxious (he is thirteen years old), and perhaps not the best person to cross into the Borderlands where there are elves, harpies, and — best of all as far as he’s concerned — mermaids. In Other Lands is an exhilarating a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world — even if it means giving up your phone.
The 2017 Hugo Award winners have been announced! Congratulations to all the winners; obviously I am particularly thrilled about NK Jemisin, not only because she has now won it twice but also because TNT IS ADAPTING The Fifth Season!, excuse me while I run around screaming about my feelings!!!!!!
Also! Ava DuVernay is adapting Octavia Butler’s Dawn (Xenogenesis 1) and it is an actual dream come true. Given how excellent DuVernay’s work has been in the past and how great the trailer for A Wrinkle in Time looks, I am over the moon. Sometimes we can have nice things!
Forget passing the NEWTs at Hogwarts, can you pass a quiz about the NEWTs? I could not. No seriously, I only got two right.
Do you need more supernatural teenagers in your reading? This list of 100 inclusive YA SFF books is for you, then. Shout-out to Dreadnought by April Daniels, which you will be hearing more about next week!
Do you need more Game of Thrones chatter and analysis in your life? Vulture has a list of five podcasts that can help with that. My own vote has to go to A Storm of Spoilers, based entirely on name.
How about some ebook deals? This month there are a few that are perfect for completing your series collections, and each is less than $3!
– Lives of Tao series by Wesley Chu: Deaths of Tao (#2) and The Rebirths of Tao (#3)
– Worldbreaker Saga by Kameron Hurley: Empire Ascendant (#2)
For today’s reviews, we’ve got roller derby in space and earth magic!
Trish Trash: Rollergirl of Mars Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Jessica Abel
Please meet one of my favorite graphic novel series of the past 
year — which felt inevitable once I heard the “rollerderby on Mars” pitch. You might know Abel from her previous work (La Perdida, Out on the Wire, Life Sucks, to name just a few) but this is her first foray into outer space, and it’s worth joining her for the journey.
Trish lives on Mars with her aunt and uncle, helping out on their farm. She’s great at fixing things but her real dream is to become a hoverderby star, and when tryouts for the local team are held she thinks she’s that much closer. Too young to make the team, she takes an internship instead — much to her family’s dismay. Juggling school and work on the farm is hard enough, and then one day she discovers a wounded native Martian (largely considered mythical to the human inhabitants) and accidentally saves its life.
Abel is tackling a lot in Trish Trash. The settlers of Mars are almost all indebted to the company that funded the initial exploration and settlement, and there are serious water shortages and little hope of a solution. Poverty and labor camps are widespread. Add to that the displaced native Martians, and you’ve got a lot of layers beneath the hoverderby track. But Abel manages the balance well. Rather than have characters infodump in conversation, each novel includes backmatter that lays out the history of Mars and its complicated present situation. And Trish and her friends and family bring all the hijinks and personality you could want. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Volume 3!
The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin (Broken Earth #3)
Considering that The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth #2) just won the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel, likely no one is surprised that I’m recommending The Stone Sky. Hot off the presses and newly released as of this past Tuesday, it’s the jaw-dropping conclusion (literally, my jaw dropped) to the Broken Earth series and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a third installment.
Mild spoilers for the series follow, so if you want zero plot discussion just go ahead and get yourself all three books and start reading!
The Obelisk Gate left Nassun and Essun finally aware of each other’s location and powers, but many miles apart. The stone eater factions have revealed their goals, and now the fate of the world is hanging in the balance. While The Stone Sky takes us forward to the moment of truth, it also takes us back in time and reveals more history of the Guardians, the obelisks, and the sundering of the Moon. If you’ve been wanting a deeper look at the history of this world, you will be delighted; Jemisin balances the plotline that began in The Fifth Season with a new past narrative that is just as compelling as any other thread we’ve had throughout the series — and there have been many. The conclusion had me white-knuckling my way through the final chapters, and devestated that the story has come to an end.
I’ll be rereading the whole series before long; for those of you who may have read The Obelisk Gate a while back I do recommend a reread. Jemisin does a solid job of providing context where she can without bogging down the narrative, but there were moments where I had to pause to try to remember certain previous characters and plot points. After all, it’s not as though a reread is a hardship. Jemisin’s best, most complex series to date, Broken Earth has reached the top five in my personal list of favorite series, and it will take a hell of a lot to dethrone it.
That’s it for this week! If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.
Your fellow booknerd,
Jenn
Hello fellow mystery fans! If like me you’re still melting and looking for “chilly” mysteries, Linda Greenlaw’s Shiver Hitch is set during a Maine winter. Bring on the brrrrrrr.
Sponsored by Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman
A brutal crime. The ultimate cover-up. How do you solve a murder with no useable evidence?
A woman has been found murdered in her bedroom, her body covered with the dust from hundreds of emptied vacuum cleaner bags, all potential DNA evidence obscured by the calculating killer.
Praised by Lee Child as “a perfect blend of light touch and dark story,” and Harlan Coben as “Irreverent and insightful…sure to become a fan favorite,”Gone to Dust is the debut private eye murder mystery you don’t want to miss.
Start Reading Gone to Dust today!
Amateur Sleuth (I Want to Be BFFs With) Needs Reward Money:
Hollywood Homicide
(Detective by Day #1) by Kellye Garrett: Dayna “Day” Anderson needs money (and fast) or her parents are going to lose their house. Day has quit her dream of becoming an actress and is trying to land work when she decides to solve a hit-and-run case that is offering reward money. Day is one of those characters who I loved from the very beginning (she’s smart, determined, funny, a good friend), and while in my head I’m certain my friends and I solving a murder case would look as efficient and competent as Veronica Mars, we’d probably be more like Day and her friends: disaster-ish and pointing the finger at everyone. Garrett has written a novel with great voice, characters, hilarious moments, and a lot of Hollywood, which is a perfect start to a series. Also, if anyone wants to turn this into a TV series you can count me in as a viewer! (You can read Kellye Garrett’s great Little Q&A here.)
The ear piercing squeal you just heard was me finding out there is a novel (Back to Brooklyn by Lawrence Kelter) that updates where Mona Lisa Vito and Vinny Gambini are today: My Cousin Vinny updated by new novel. I need to go get a copy and read this–I feel like it’s either going to be awesome or terrible, and either way I’ll be entertained and love it. Maybe? I’m gonna go find out!
Over on Book Riot Derek Attig has some awesome crafty finds for Nancy Drew fans.
And I recommend mystery comics based on 3 popular TV shows.
Sarah M. Chen sits down with Danny Gardner to discuss his new (great) book A Negro and an Ofay.
I imagined a book club for those meddling kids on Riverdale.
Louise Penny will write three more novels for her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series and Lisa Jewell (The Girls In the Garden ; I Found You) has closed a deal for two domestic suspense novels according to PW book deals.
Gin Phillips on her new thriller Fierce Kingdom.
Watch the season 2 trailer for BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency adapted from Douglas Adams novels.
A Little Q&A: Kathleen Kent (I give authors I’m excited about five questions and let them answer any three they’d like.)
The Dime
was a total surprise for me, in that it didn’t go at all the way I thought it would–which is always a huge plus in this genre. It has a great mystery plot and an excellent detective who, while made of hard edges, also has heart. Betty Rhyzyk is carrying around the ghost of her uncle and trying to balance work with being a good partner to her doctor girlfriend. I was probably less than a 1/4 way into the book when I was already hoping that it would be turned into a series! (You can read my original review here and listen to Liberty Hardy rave about it here.)
And Here’s Kathleen Kent:
If you were forced to live the rest of your life as one of your characters, who would it be? “I would have to pick Detective Elizabeth (Betty) Rhyzyk, my lead character from The Dime. She does and says things that I think about doing, but don’t have the nerve, or muscle strength, to accomplish. While I like to think that I’m fiercely loyal to my family and friends, and fairly pain tolerant, I’m a lousy marksman, tend to drive the speed limit, and take the middle way when confronted by Yahoos (Yankee speak for obstreperous, combative or willfully ignorant citizens).”
If you adapted a well-known book into a Clue mystery, what would be the solve? “Lisbeth Salander, tattooing gun, in the bedroom.”
If you were to blurb your most recent book: “If you don’t love ferocious, courageous, never-say-die female detectives who don’t like being ‘tied down’, don’t read The Dime. Stick with Nancy Drew.”
Thanks Kathleen! I can’t wait for Detective Betty #2!!!!!!
Mic Drop Climactic Scene!
The Blinds
by Adam Sternbergh: Imagine a town so small, most people don’t know it exists. Now place there criminals and innocents (those who witnessed crimes/testified, etc.) who have had different degrees of their memories altered so that they just don’t remember the crime(s). That’s The Blinds, as it’s nicknamed. While the world knows about them–and the residents get to watch the news and have a delivery truck bring them supplies–they aren’t allowed to contact anyone outside their town, or leave. Technically, they can leave, but if they do they can’t come back and their previous life can find them. But how safe are they in The Blinds when there’s been a suicide and a murder? Sternbergh does a great job of slowly unfolding the workings of the town and the people living in it while threading through a mystery that explores who a criminal would become if their crimes were erased from their mind. A fantastic read, perfect for mystery and crime readers, that is one of 2017’s best releases.
I Poked Around The Kindle Summer Deals and Found You These Great Reads!
Monday the Rabbi Took Off (The Rabbi Small Mysteries) by Harry Kemelman for $1.99 (My review)
Blood Defense and Moral Defense by Marcia Clark (the first two in the Samantha Brinkman series) each for $1.99 (My review)
The Spellman Files: Document #1 by Lisa Lutz for $1.99
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And if you like to put a pin in things here’s an Unusual Suspects board.
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
Book Riot Collection BOGO
Stock up on rad Book Riot originals! Buy one item from the BR Collection, get one 50% off. We’ve got t-shirts and tote bags and hoodies galore!
Categories
Neil deGrasse Tyson Science T-Shirt!
Is this giveaway just an excuse to talk about this excellent t-shirt from Look Human? Maybe. Are we still gonna do it? Yes.
This giveaway is open worldwide (universe-wide now that I think of it), so go here to enter or just click the image below.
I would say good luck, but Neil wouldn’t like that. So how about “see if the chaotic universe spins in your favor.”
Hey YA Readers!
What’s Up in YA? is sponsored by In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
Elliot is smart, just a tiny bit obnoxious (he is thirteen years old), and perhaps not the best person to cross into the Borderlands where there are elves, harpies, and — best of all as far as he’s concerned — mermaids. In Other Lands is an exhilarating a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world — even if it means giving up your phone.
Happy Eclipse Day to those who are able to see this once-in-a-lifetime-but-maybe-twice-in-OUR-lifetime-because-it’ll-happen-again-in-2024 event. Your newsletter scribe is in southern Illinois at a massive party for the occasion.
Last week’s newsletter teased the topic of microtrends. What is a microtrend? Unlike a full-scale trend — think something like the rise in dystopia following The Hunger Games or the mermaid reads trend from years gone by — a microtrend is something that’s not a huge trend but a series of common threads that run among a number of books in any given time. They’re almost like weird coincidences, odd little moments of “huh” that arise when you see book descriptions or read a number of books in a row that all feature a specific thing within them.
Microtrends are fun to look at and think about, particularly because it’s impossible to ever predict what they might be. It takes looking at tons and tons of books to see the commonalities because the things they have in common aren’t necessarily the sorts of things you’d think would have a surge around them.
Let’s take a peek at some of the interesting microtrends that have and continue to emerge in YA lit over the last year. Since not all of the book descriptions highlight the microtrend, I left them off; you can click the links to see them.
Hurricane Katrina
This particular microtrend is interesting in part because it’s been a couple of years since the big anniversary of the storm, so seeing it appear more than once since stands out.
Between Two Skies by Joanne O’Sullivan
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
Superstorm Sandy
This one makes some more sense to me, as the giant superstorm is coming up on its fifth anniversary.
A Hundred Hours of Night by Anna Woltz
The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Drug Cartels in Mexico
There’s actually a pretty sizable trend relating to books set in Mexico or along the border this year, but this specific trend is worth noting. These are all books that explore some aspect of the dangerous drug cartels throughout various parts of the country.
Disappeared by Francisco X Stork (September 26)
Juan Pablo and The Butterflies by JJ Flowers
Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick
Compared to Thelma and Louise
Do you pay attention to the comps books get? I do, if only because I’m curious what the flavor of the season is when it comes to them. This year? We’re seeing quite a bit of Thelma and Louise read alikes. I’m not sure how much of a comp this is for teens; it feels like one meant more for adults and those who serve teen readers.
Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon
Looking for Group by Rory Harrison
Alien Contact
I teased this in a “3 on a YA theme” post earlier this summer. Aliens have always been around in YA lit, but it seems we’re seeing an influx of alien-human encounter titles this year.
Of Jenny and The Aliens by Ryan Gebhart (this cover makes knowing the title near impossible, doesn’t it?)
Landscape With Invisible Hand by MT Anderson (September 12)
What Goes Up by Kate Kennedy
Their Fathers Are Shop Owners
This was a commonality between two books I read nearly back-to-back and it’s one that I really love. Both of the girls in these stories have fathers who own stores. . . and those stores and their fathers happen to play good-sized roles in the story.
The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Fan Cons
There are a boatload of books about fandom, about fan fiction, about geekery, and more. They’ve been having a moment for a few years now. More recently, though, it’s been the fan convention as backdrop to stories about teen geeks and nerds.
Don’t Cosplay With My Heart by Cecil Castellucci (January 2)
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash
The Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, and Michelle Schusterman (March 27)
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
Score Sweet Cheap YA Reads!
If you want a few good reads for few dollars, you might be interested in these.
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson ($1.99) is a long-standing YA classic.
Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten ($1.99) will scratch your itch for a solid thriller.
Tell The Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan ($1.99) is about magic, romance, and revolution.
____________________
Thanks for hanging out this week. We’ll see you again next Monday.
–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars
Currently reading When I Am Through With You by Stephanie Kuehn.
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Sponsored by Weinstein Books, publisher of Irena Brignull’s THE HAWKWEED PROPHECY and THE HAWKWEED LEGACY.
Poppy Hooper has only just discovered her position and her power as queen of the witches. She’s fled her dangerous world and the betrayal of her best friend, Ember Hawkweed, and flown to Africa. But Poppy never stops longing for her would-be lover, Leo, and when she feels his magic begin to spark, she will do anything to be reunited with him.
As the girls come of age and Poppy’s powers grow stronger, her mother sets into motion a plan that puts Poppy and Ember, the boy they love, and the world as they know it at risk.
Happy Tuesday, book lovers! The hits just keep on coming. I have a few fantastic new titles to tell you about today, and as always, you can also hear about several more great books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about a few amazing books we loved, including The Mountain, Home Fire, and You Play the Girl.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin.
The shattering conclusion to the acclaimed fantasy trilogy that began with THE FIFTH SEASON, winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2016.
“Jemisin deliberately refuses to provide easy answers: they’re simply not available, in this world or ours. Painful and powerful.” —Kirkus
“Vivid characters, a tautly constructed plot, and outstanding worldbuilding meld into an impressive and timely story of abused, grieving survivors fighting to fix themselves and save the remnants of their shattered home.” —Publishers Weekly
How to Behave in a Crowd by Camille Bordas
A moving story about a tragedy in a family and the young boy who thinks he can heal them. Isidore is the youngest of six successful siblings. Living in their shadows, he hasn’t received a lot of credit for also being his own person with his own skills and interests. But when a tragedy happens, Isidore feels he has the unique skills to help his family get through it – that’s if he decides he wants to help. It’s a lovely story about a boy learning that the adults don’t always know what is best, either.
Backlist bump: Margherita Dolce Vita by Stefano Benni, Antony Shugaar (Translator)
A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Spanning over 70 years, this powerful debut novel follows a Creole woman and her children in New Orleans as they deal with love, addiction, racism, redemption, and the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. It’s a stark look at the legacy of racial disparity in the South, as Eleanor and her family seek to make a life for themselves.
Backlist bump: Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption by Benjamin Rachlin
The true story of Willie J. Grimes, an innocent man sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988 for a horrific crime, and the tireless efforts of the people who fought for over two decades to prove his innocence. It seems like there are a lot of these stories out in the world now, but it is always frightening and infuriating to hear about the prejudices and shortcomings of the justice system that allows them to happen.
Backlist bump: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Karma Khullar’s Mustache by Kristi Wientge
Wientge has taken the subject of body hair and turned it into a delightful Blume-esque tale about a young girl trying to figure out how to deal with the hairs that have grown on her lip just as she’s due to start middle school. Karma thinks her parents are too busy with their own problems, so she must deal with what she feels is going to be a horrifying experience all on her own. It’s a charming and funny story about friendship and family.
Backlist bump: The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Veera Hiranandani
Things That Happened Before the Earthquake by Chiara Barzini
A teen girl moves from Italy to Los Angeles just weeks after the 1992 riots, and must navigate the unfamiliar territory of a new culture in a new country while dealing with family problems, not to mention an earthquake. This is a smart, dark, coming-of-age novel about immigration and growing up. (I will say the opening paragraph was so WTF, I had to set it down for a while before I continued because yuck. *shudder*. )
Backlist bump: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
That’s it for me today – time to get back to reading! If you want to learn more about books new and old (and see lots of pictures of my cats, Millay and Steinbeck), or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (I HEART RECOMMENDATIONS!), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!
Stay rad,
Liberty
Categories
Win a Brand New Amazon Kindle Voyage!
We have a brand new, top of the line Kindle Voyage to give away, courtesy of our friends at Avon.
And according to people who review these sorts of things, the Kindle Voyage is the best dedicated ereader ever made.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image below. Good luck!
