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Month: September 2018
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by the GCP Clubcar
Welcome to the GCP Clubcar — your book club resource! We’ve curated a list of great titles to inspire discussions. Enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win 10 copies of one these selections to read with your book club.
Visit GrandCentralPublishing.com/Clubcar to download reading group guides, sign up for our seasonal newsletter, and peruse the featured books.
So it’s fall. That’s a thing it is. You can sort of tell where I live; it’s not deathly hot anymore. I hope you all have some non-hurricane-like fall weather wherever you are.
Sponsored by Harlequin DARE
She has fantasies… Now he’s bringing them to life! Notorious seducer Thor Ragnarsson runs the scandalous Hotel Viking in Reykjavik, where tourists go to fulfill their wildest fantasies. When straitlaced American professor Margot Cavendish gets snowed in while studying Icelandic sex culture, Thor challenges her inhibitions with some very hands-on research—soon she’s exploring every inch of his delicious body. It’s only one night of passion, but when the snowstorm clears they’re left aching for more…
News and Useful Links
If you’re a collector of Georgette Heyer novels, there’s a new signature collection, which includes three of her most famous novels. Unlike Crichton and all those other folks whose unfinished works people keep finding in drawers, there doesn’t seem like anything new is happening, so it’s mostly for fans and potential new readers. If you weren’t into her writing before…that’s probably not going to change with some new covers and an introduction or two.
Alyssa Cole wrote a great piece for Booklist’s romance feature! There are some good lists in their romance coverage this month, too.
In less fun news, there’s been some…stuff…happening on twitter regarding an anthology, and we’ve had to have that conversation about representation and the ever useful Jeff Goldblum/Ian Malcolm quote: [people] were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should. The gist is a group of white romance authors wrote an anthology of novellas featuring Asian heroes. I haven’t read any of the novellas included, and I couldn’t tell you if they felt squickily like fetishizing. I don’t particularly care about that right now. It’s about the fact that nobody in that group of people thought: hey, maybe we should consult an author or two of Asian descent, maybe even invite them to join our anthology. They thought it was perfectly fine to publish a collection about people in a marginalized group written completely by white women, using comparisons to #ownvoices books like Crazy Rich Asians and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before to promote it. It was this last that really hurt. Don’t use own voices titles when there are none of those same voices anywhere near you. Just don’t.
When this was mentioned by authors from various marginalized groups on social media, some authors—both involved and not involved in the project—took offense. The response was unfortunately not surprising, as it was a microcosm of how a number of marginalized authors are treated regularly. Obviously, not by everyone; there are voices of reason in every group. Not surprising, but still disappointing. Two steps forward; one step back.
Now that I’ve got us all depressed, let’s go read this article from the New York Times. It’s good, I promise.
And for some serious joy, Counterpoint just came out and this is seriously the best way to get into it. I read it ages ago and kind of want to read it again just so I can go back to hanging out with these guys.
Deals!
You can preorder Talia Hibbert’s new paranormal romance, Mating the Huntress, for 99 cents. I think the price might go up after it releases, so now’s your chance!
Looking for some short reads? Suleikha Snyder’s new story collection Dil or No Dil is 2.99.
Have you ever thought to yourself “I wonder what an Amish retelling of Beauty and the Beast would look like”? Belle by Sarah Price is 1.99.
Over on Book Riot
I stan Jessica Avery. Like, so hard.
Your favorite vampire love stories. Well, mostly love stories.
Quizzes are fun, even if you’re not really looking for a next book to read.
Dana talked about feelings and it was beautiful.
Trisha and I talked about things while I wasn’t feeling well and it was very much not beautiful. But we still want to hear from you about Butterfly Swords!
Are you following #fallreadathon2018?
Recs!
In just under 12 hours, I’m getting on a plane. I have a touch of travel anxiety (who am I kidding? I’m not going to sleep tonight) and I like to think about worst case scenarios. It’s a thing. But it always makes me think about one of my favorite opening scenes in one of my favorite funny novels.
Can You Keep A Secret
Sophie Kinsella
Do you like funny, outspoken heroines? Emma is definitely one of those. But her life becomes wildly embarrassing the moment she discovers the CEO of her company is the man she spilled all of her secrets to on a flight when she thought she was going to die. (Yeah, these are the connections I make.) The second-hand embarrassment continues throughout this book, but somehow, even though I absolutely cannot stand books, movies, or television in which your embarrassment for a character is so severe that it hurts, I couldn’t help loving this one.
I do have to be clear that Can You Keep a Secret isn’t categorically a romance; it’s technically what we would call Chick Lit—but it ends with an HEA so I’m keeping it.
This book is on my “fun-and-funny” Goodreads shelf, and I think both of those are things we all need right now, don’t you? If you want to just gorge yourself on joy and laughter while the rest of it goes to shit, here are some I always go back to (I’ve obviously talked about some of them here before):
Trade Me by Courtney Milan
Poor first generation student and rich white boy trade incomes and situations. What could go wrong? In the meantime, what could go right?
Cinnamon Blade by Shira Glassman
A superhero and the woman she is super into try to date. World saving happens.
A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert
A comics artist and the former soldier who moves in across from her get to know each other over the food he won’t stop bringing her.
When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare
“Dear fake fiance that I created because I have severe social anxiety, I’m sorry, I have to kill you.” Real man shows up. Fun ensues.
Taking the Heat by Victoria Dahl
A romance advice columnist meets the new hot guybrarian and they immediately hit it off. She needs some help with the whole romance thing.
Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
When a book starts out with Sexy Gandalf and mistaken identity, you never know what might happen next.
Tell Me Something Good by Jamie Wesley
Radio rivals have hella chemistry, and everyone, including their network, knows it. So of course, they get put on air together.
Nuts by Alice Clayton
Food people make food innuendos. That’s really all you need to know.
Soulless by Gail Carriger
If you like your food innuendos slightly more highbrow and Victorianly witty, Alexia and Lord Maccon are spectacular at them.
Seduction and Snacks by Tara Sivec
Okay, so I apparently have a thing about food.
The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie
I gave this book to my mother about ten years ago and she wouldn’t give it back.
***
There. That should last us until the next bit of horrible.
New and Upcoming Releases
Not Another Family Wedding by Jackie Lau
Counterpoint by Anna Zabo (this book is the greatest, y’all)
Thrall by Roan Parrish and Avon Gale (alternate format, anyone?)
Couldn’t ask for More by Kianna Alexander (October 2)
Consumed by JR Ward (October 2)
The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas (October 2)
As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!
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October Audiobook New Releases
Happy October, my audiobook-loving friends,
I’ll try to keep my preamble short and sweet cuz we got lotsa new books to get to, but I finished listening to Retta’s book So Close To Being The Sh*t, Y’all Don’t Even Know and I thought it was great. Let me know what you’re listening to or looking forward to at katie@riotnewmedia.com and/or on twitter at msmacb.
Sponsored by Amazon Publishing
Fall into fiction with these reads. Browse the latest Kindle titles, starting from only $0.99.
New Audiobooks: October
Publisher’s description in quotes
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics by Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, Minyon Moore, Veronica Chambers; narrated by Robin Miles; release date: 10-02-18
“The lives of black women in American politics are remarkably absent from the shelves of bookstores and libraries. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics is a sweeping view of American history from the vantage points of four women who have lived and worked behind the scenes in politics for more than 30 years – Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, and Minyon Moore – a group of women who call themselves the Colored Girls.”
All four women have worked on presidential campaigns and they take listeners behind the scenes of those campaigns as well as black female politicians whose stories too often go untold.
All You Can Ever Know 
by Nicole Chung; narrated by Janet Song; release date: 10-02-18
The buzz around this book is SO GOOD and having read my share of Nicole Chung’s essays, I’m confident in that buzz. Really can’t wait to get my hands on this one.
“Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From childhood, she heard the story of her adoption as a comforting, prepackaged myth. She believed that her biological parents had made the ultimate sacrifice in the hope of giving her a better life, that forever feeling slightly out of place was her fate as a transracial adoptee. But as Nicole grew up – facing prejudice her adoptive family couldn’t see, finding her identity as an Asian American and as a writer, becoming ever more curious about where she came from – she wondered if the story she’d been told was the whole truth.”
What if This Were Enough written and read by Heather Havrilesky
I am a HUUUUGE Ask Polly fan; Havrilesky is so wise and compassionate (and funny!) about all things. I’ve had the galley of this forever but haven’t had the chance to read it, so I am hoping hearing her narrate it will inspire me to follow through because I think she’s the BEST.
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told: An Oral History written and read by Nick Offerman & Megan Mullally; release date: 10-02-18
I LOVE that these two are a couple and I’m positive their narration of this book alone will make it worth a listen. “Eighteen years [after meeting], Offerman and Mullally are still very much in love, and have finally decided to reveal the philosophical mountains they have conquered, the lessons they’ve learned, and the myriad jigsaw puzzles they’ve completed, in an audiobook. Featuring anecdotes, hijinks, interviews, photos, and a veritable grab bag of tomfoolery, this is not only the intoxicating audiobook that Mullally’s and Offerman’s fans have been waiting for, it might just hold the solution to the greatest threat facing our modern world: the single life.”
This Life or the Next
by Demian Vitanza; Tanya Thresher – translator; narrated by Assaf Cohen; release date: 10-09-18
“Tariq Khan is a Pakistani born and raised in Norway. An outsider in his own country – adrift between two worlds divided by class, race, and culture – he’s always been searching for home…Idealistic, driven by faith, and empowered with purpose, he’s drawn to radical Islam – his last resort for achieving a sense of belonging, for embracing and being embraced. It’s only when he enlists in the war against Assad that Tariq’s eyes are truly opened. Dispirited with the violence, faced with the consequences of his choices, and increasingly distanced by the brutalities of jihad, Tariq contends with spiritual struggles that are his alone.”
Trinity by Louisa Hall
; narrated by Cassandra Campbell, David Colacci, Saskia Maarleveld, John Lee, Brittany Pressley, Yetta Gottesman, Charlie Thurston, Amy Landon; release date: 10-16-18
This fictionalized account of the “father of the atomic bomb,” Robert Oppenheimer, “a set of characters bears witness to the life of Oppenheimer, from a secret service agent who tailed him in San Francisco, to the young lover of a colleague in Los Alamos, to a woman fleeing McCarthyism who knew him on St. John. As these men and women fall into the orbit of a brilliant but mercurial mind at work, all consider his complicated legacy while also uncovering deep and often unsettling truths about their own lives.”
Everything’s Trash, but It’s Okay written and ready by Phoebe Robinson; release date: 10-16-18
The author of the hilarious and wise You Can’t Touch My Hair is back with another highly anticipated essay collection. “Written in her trademark unfiltered and singularly witty style, Robinson’s latest essay collection is a call to arms. She tackles a wide range of topics, such as giving feminism a tough-love talk in hopes it can become more intersectional; telling society’s beauty standards to kick rocks; and taking a hard look at our culture’s obsession with work. Robinson also gets personal, exploring debt she has hidden from her parents, how dating is mainly a warmed-over bowl of hot mess, and, maybe most importantly, meeting Bono not once but twice.”
Family Trust by Kathy Wang; narrated by Joy Osmanski; release date: 10-30-18
“Meet Stanley Huang: father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable tastes and temper, aficionado of all-inclusive vacations and bargain luxury goods, newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For years, Stanley has claimed that he’s worth a small fortune. But the time is now coming when the details of his estate will finally be revealed, and Stanley’s family is nervous. As Stanley’s death approaches, the Huangs are faced with unexpected challenges that upend them and eventually lead them to discover what they most value.” Library Journal says, “Readers who enjoy complicated novels about family issues will find this engrossing work impossible to put down.”
I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff written and read by Abbi Jacobson; release date: 10-30-18
One half of the comedy duo that is Broad City shares her reflections on any and everything, with some original illustrations to boot. “Driving across the country alone, Abbi Jacobson “mulled over the big questions: What do I really want? What is the worst possible scenario in which I could run into my ex? How has the decision to wear my shirts tucked in been pivotal in my adulthood? In this collection of anecdotes, observations and reflections – all told in the sharp, wildly funny, and relatable voice that has endeared Abbi to critics and fans alike – listeners will feel like they’re in the passenger seat on a fun and ultimately inspiring journey.”
A plethora of choices for October! Get listening!
Until next week,
~Katie
This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.
2018 Kirkus Prize Finalists
The 2018 Kirkus Prize Finalists for Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers’ Literature have been announced. They include Lauren Groff for Florida (Fiction), Nafissa Thompson-Spires for Heads of the Colored People (Fiction), Rebecca Solnit for Call Them By Their True Names: American Crises (Nonfiction), Kiese Laymon for Heavy: An American Memoir (Nonfiction), Meg Medina for Merci Suárez Changes Gears (YA), and Jacqueline Woodson for Harbor Me (YA). Three winners of the $50,000 prize will be announced on October 25.
300 New Words Added To Scrabble Dictionary
Three hundred new words have been added to the official U.S. Scrabble Dictionary. Add sriracha, aquafaba, beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bibimbap, botnet, emoji, facepalm, and more to your game. Grab the new edition, study up, deploy, and prepare your smuggest pity-smile for the inevitable challenge.
Hunter S. Thompson Letters To Be Auctioned
Letters from Hunter S. Thompson to a childhood friend will be sold at auction, with bidding set to open at $110,000. The letters begin when Thompson is 17, covering the period when the journalist was writing his novel The Rum Diary, and detailing his experiences while penning Hell’s Angels.
Hello mystery fans! I have for you a noir novella, a psychological suspense, and the next BIG thriller you won’t be able to put down. Happy fall reading!
Sponsored by The Gold Pawn by L.A. Chandlar
November 1936. For most of the country, it is the era of soup lines, but for Manhattan’s cosmopolitan set, the Big Apple is a decadent swirl of creativity, cocktails, music, gangsters and romance. At the center of it all is Lane Sanders, the high-spirited personal aide to Mayor La Guardia, sprinting through the corridors of City Hall in her stylish red shoes as she confronts the ghosts of her past and investigates a missing persons case that threatens to destroy everything. Through glittering Art Deco-era Manhattan to the shadowy outskirts of 1930’s Detroit, a ride on the Hindenburg, a band of city urchins, a narrow escape, and many new friends who go on to become the movers and shakers of the Thirties, one peculiar thing ties the mystery of Lane’s past and La Guardia’s current debacle together: The Gold Pawn.
Hitwoman Noir Novella! (TW attempted rape)
All Things Violent by Nikki Dolson: This was an awesome crime novella that focuses on a young woman’s personal life and “career.” Laura Park is a hit woman working for her boyfriend, but she’s still technically in training and her trainer treats her like a child. The events that led her to this life and her current life’s unraveling are the focus as she does her best to kill her assigned marks. Equally tough and vulnerable, Park is a great main character, and the book left me wanting much more future writing from Dolson. While not a genderswap like Megan Abbott did with Queenpin there was an interesting play with the femme fatale…
Slow-Burn Psychological Suspense Mystery (TW suicide)
The Boy at the Keyhole by Stephen Giles: I picked this up because it had a comparison to Shirley Jackson and while I was initially hesitant, because those comps never work out for me, I totally saw it. It isn’t the characters from We Have Always Lived in the Castle but it is the similar vibe of the mystery, and everything basically taking place all in the house. In this case Samuel, a nine-year-old British boy, is desperately missing his mother who abruptly left to America without saying goodbye. Cared for only by Ruth, the housekeeper, he soon lets his imagination go rampant into theories of his mother having been murdered instead of being in America seeking financial support. But is it his imagination? Because Ruth sure does seem to be controlling things and, aside from some postcards, he has yet to actually hear from his mother…
This Will Be The Hit Thriller of 2019! (TW suicide/ rape/ revenge porn/ domestic violence)
As Long as We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Chaney (January 15, Flatiron): Okay, I don’t normally use this slot for future releases but in this case I want you to give future you a deliciously evil gift because you’re going to want to be ahead of the hype on this one! So preorder, be first on your library hold list, mark your calendar. I absolutely adore JoAnn Chaney’s wicked brain. Her writing is sharp, insightful, and darkly funny. And wow can she write a deliciously evil and giddy page-turner! The novel starts with two wives, decades apart, same husband. Each wife about to reach her fate at the hands of her husband. But how can a spouse possibly get away with murder? Twice?! Enter the first detective who doesn’t believe the husband’s story and then decades later two more detectives who don’t believe the husband’s current story when they find out the first story. The book brilliantly gives you slices into each characters life and brain while not only giving you the two focal mysteries but one of the current detectives is accused of murdering a previous partner. I know! I am so excited for everyone to get to experience this ride of a book!!!!
Recent Releases
Transcription by Kate Atkinson (TBR: Looking forward to this literary spy novel set in the ’40s and ’50s about a BBC radio producer who once worked for MI5…)
Haunted Hayride with Murder (An Otter Lake Mystery #6) by Auralee Wallace (Currently reading: This is one of those cozy mystery series where all the characters are ridiculous and it’s funny and I get to just enjoy myself and laugh.)
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.
Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.
If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.
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Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!
Happy Tuesday, book lovers! You are going to be so excited when you see what is out today. The new V.E. Schwab! The new Ben Fountain! The sequel to The Vanderbeekers, from our own Karina Glaser! And so many more. (You can check the show notes for All the Books each week for an even bigger list.) I have some wonderful books to recommend today, and you can also hear about several more great titles on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Jenn and I talked about Grand Theft Horse, Rosewater, Transcription, and more.
Sponsored by Mulholland Books
When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. Trying to get to the bottom of the story, Strike and Robin Ellacott—once his assistant, now a partner in the agency—set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.
A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
This is a badass retelling of Alice in Wonderland set in Atlanta, where Alice is a warrior who fights monsters in the dream world of Wonderland. When her mentor is poisoned, she must travel deep into the heart of Wonderland for the antidote, but can she retrieve it before she loses her head? I thought I was tired of Alice retellings but this one changed my mind. It’s awesome.
Backlist bump: Heartless by Marissa Meyer
You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P! by Alex Gino
Jilly’s sister, Emma, is born deaf, something Jilly doesn’t understand. Emma is African American and Jilly is white, and Jilly realizes that they will be treated differently by the world. So she turns to Derek, a deaf, African American ASL user, to help her better understand her sister’s perspective, and to help her see her own mistakes. Gino’s new middle grade novel is about the importance of learning – and learning from our mistakes – and how being open to change and learning about experiences outside our own can make the world a better place.
Backlist bump: George by Alex Gino
The Shape of the Ruins: A Novel by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
A literary mystery set in Colombia that starts with an attempted theft of a bullet-riddled uniform at a museum, and turns into an epic filled with conspiracies, secrets, assassinations, and history. It slyly resonates with our present-day behaviors and situations. This is Vásquez’s most ambitious novel – and it’s a success.
Backlist bump: The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
Who doesn’t love a “danger in the woods” story??? Liba and Laya live in their cozy family home in a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine. Raised on their parents’ delicious food and tales of caution, they still disregard the danger of strangers (because it wouldn’t be an exciting story if they didn’t) and suddenly find the dark forest closing in on their home. But a family secret may be the key to their salvation.
Backlist bump: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
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
We have 10 copies of The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas to give away to 10 Riot readers!
Here’s what it’s all about:
It wasn’t technically an exorcism, what they did to Clare. When the reverend and his son ripped her demon from her, they called it a “deliverance.” But they didn’t understand that Clare and her demon—known simply as Her—were like sisters. She comforted Clare, made her feel brave, helped to ease her loneliness. Now, Clare will do anything to get her demon back, even if it means teaming up with the reverend’s son and scouring every inch of her small, Southern town for answers. But if she sacrifices everything to bring back her demon, what will be left of Clare?
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:
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092518-Amulet#8-The-Stack
Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic
Emily has lost control of her Amulet and is imprisoned in the Void, where she must find a way to escape the influence of the Voice. Meanwhile, Emily’s brother, Navin, travels to Lighthouse One, a space station where the Resistance is preparing to battle the approaching Shadow forces that would drain planet Alledia of all its resources. Emily and Navin must be smarter and stronger than ever to ensure Alledia’s survival.
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Peace Is Always Beautiful
Walt Whitman was right: peace is always beautiful. Wear your heart on your sleeve with our latest limited-edition tee, available in 5 styles for $19.99.
