Happy Tuesday, book dragons! The weather has been disgusting in Maine this past week, just really muggy and raining all the time. But it’s perfect reading weather! (I know all weather is perfect reading weather, but let me pretend.) I got a lot of reading done inside my house, away from the mosquitoes, so I have some wonderful books to recommend today. You can also hear about several more great titles on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about Severance, She Begat This, His Favorites, and more.
This edition of New Books is sponsored by Tyndale House Publishers.
A girl with a deadly lung disease . . .
A boy with a tragic past . . .
A land where the sun never sets but darkness still creeps in . . .
A bargain that brings life, but may cost more than anyone can imagine . . .
When a mysterious stranger appears to Madeline Oliver and offers to heal her in exchange for one year of service to his people, Madeline and her friend Jason Wu are swept into a strange land where they don’t understand the rules or the far-reaching consequences of their decisions.
PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away 16 of the great books mentioned on the Recommended podcast! Enter here by August 31st for a chance to win.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Kya Clark was left alone in the marsh as a young girl, abandoned by her family. Resilient and self-sufficient, she takes care of herself as her existence becomes the stuff of legend. But when a body turns up in the swamp under perplexing circumstances, the local police have no suspects. So their attention turns to the town’s “Marsh Girl.” This is not just a mystery, but a beautiful and sad novel about nature and loneliness.
Backlist bump: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
Fresh Ink: An Anthology edited by Lamar Giles
A fantastic YA anthology from thirteen of the most recognizable, diverse authors writing today including Nicola Yoon, Jason Reynolds, Melissa de la Cruz, published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books. The tales in this collection leave the ending up to the reader, encouraging imagination and a love of reading.
Backlist bump: Flying Lessons & Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft (Translator)
Winner of the Man Booker International Prize, this is a gorgeous collection of interwoven tales about leaving your house, leaving your country, and leaving your body. It is a reflection on lives constantly in transit, what it means to belong to a certain place, and how we use the space we occupy. It’s a truly remarkable book.
Backlist bump: Bird Cloud: A Memoir of Place by Annie Proulx
Alien Virus Love Disaster: Stories by Abbey Mei Otis
Aliens pay to watch kids fight. A sex robot crashes to Earth. A woman avoids reality by living in a video game. These stories and more make up this wonderful collection. Each story is about aliens and alien concepts, about power and control, but the reader knows that WE are really the aliens. (The humans, I mean. In case I needed to clarify for any cats, or vampires, or other creatures reading this newsletter.)
Backlist bump: Tender: Stories by Sofia Samatar
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