Month: March 2019

Categories
Giveaways

032719-Once&Future-Giveaway

We have 10 copies of Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy to give away to 10 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

Ari Helix has been chased her entire life. A fugitive refugee in territory controlled by the evil Mercer Corporation, Ari has always had to hide who she is. Until she crash lands on Old Earth, pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, and becomes the forty-second reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind. No pressure.

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

 

Categories
Audiobooks

A Bounty of New Audiobook Releases, and More

Hola, Audiophiles!

Just like that March is pretty much over and out! April is a few days away and that means it’s time for crazy spring allergies (halp!) but also: new books. There are so, so many upcoming titles I want to share with you today–too many, in fact. So I decided to split up the batch of new books between today and next week’s email to avoid writing The Newsletter of A Thousand Scrolls.

Can I also take a minute to say how excited I am for our new podcast?? Our new show is called Kidlit These Days and it’s hosted by author and BR contributor Karina Glaser and children’s librarian Matthew Winner. It’s perfect for anyone who loves to read (or loves to give) picture books and chapter books. My baby nephew ain’t gonna know what hit him!

Back to the audio things. Here are some titles coming out in the first half of April. Let’s audio!

Sponsored by Oasis Audio

Fred Rogers was an enormously influential figure in the history of television and in the lives of tens of millions of children. The Good Neighbor, the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the story of this enduring American icon. Narrated by LeVar Burton, The Good Neighbor traces Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work — including a surprising decision to walk away from the show to make television for adults, only to return with increasingly sophisticated episodes. An engaging story, rich in detail, The Good Neighbor is the definitive portrait of a beloved figure, cherished by generations.

 New Releases (publisher’s descriptions in quotes)

boy swallows universeBoy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton, narrated by Stig Wemyss (April 2)

Life has never been easy for 12-year-old Eli Bell. He lives in a remote and seedy suburb in less than ideal conditions: his father is lost, his mother is in jail, and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. The one person he looks up to is Slim, an elderly felon with a knack for escaping from prison who serves as protector his Eli and his older brother August. All Eli wants is to fix his broken home, fall in love, and maybe bust a drug ring, as one does. Tis quite the tall order for someone who has yet to start high school. This debut set in 1980s Australia is a coming of age story about brotherhood, love, crime, and friendship in unexpected places.

Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick, narrated by Michael Crouch (April 2)

Fifteen-year-old Ilya is a Russian exchange student who’s newly arrived in Louisiana, ready for what should be a super awesome year in the states. He’s immediately struck by all of the good ol’ American excess: the giant Walmarts, huge televisions, the weirdly cheery personalities of his host family. As he tries to adjust to his new surroundings, he can’t help but think about Vladimir, the brother he left behind in Russia and watched descend into an underworld of drugs and violence before he was ultimately imprisoned for murder. Ilya becomes obsessed with proving his brother’s innocence from afar, discovering truths about Vladimir that he could only have learned from a distance.

The Affairs of the Falcons by Melissa Rivera, narrated by Frankie Corzo (April 2)

Ana Falcón is a young undocumented woman who’s fled economic and political unrest in Peru with her husband and children. They plan to find a fresh start in 1990s New York City, but Ana soon finds that survival is an uphill battle. The factory work she finds in grueling and unrelenting, debt to a loan shark is piling up, the cousin whose spare room the family is staying with has had just about enough of them, and Ana begins to receive unwanted attention from a man who isn’t her husband. Ana’s husband wants to return to Peru, but the past Ana ran from is too dark to return to after all she’s sacrificed to escape. She’ll have to confront what lines she’s willing to cross in order to protect her family.

Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi, Joshua David Stein, narrated by: Kwame Onwuachi (April 9)

You may recognize Kwame Onwuachi as a contestant on Top Chef; this uber talented alum of Eleven Madison Park found himself on the show at just 25 years of age and soon went on to open–and then abruptly close–a much-anticipated restaurant in D.C. Onwuachi now shares details of that experience “in this inspiring memoir about the intersection of race, fame, and food.” He shares the remarkable story of his childhood in the Bronx, being sent to rural Nigeria by his mother to “learn respect,” and the downward spiral that food saved him from and that ultimately gave him a second chance.

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi, narrated by Adina Verson, Jennifer Lim, Suehyla El-Attar (April 9)

“In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes.” Two freshmen from this school, David and Sarah, fall passionately in love and everyone is all heart-eyed emoji about it until BAM! A crazy turn of events turns everything upside down. You think you know what happened, and you sort of do but also… don’t? You’ll have to read until the very last page to piece together this complicated puzzle. Mwahaha.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow, narrated by Jorjeana Marie and Kathleen Glasgow (April 9)

For Tiger, it’s always been her and her mom against the world. Then one day, the brightest day of summer, her world turns dark when Tiger’s mom suddenly dies. Now Tiger is all alone, so alone; this is how you make friends with the dark. This stunning novel deals with loss, grief, empathy in both heart-shattering and heartwarming ways.

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton, narrated by Kyla Garcia (April 9)

The author of Next Year in Havana brings us another beautiful historical novel with Cuba at the root, which I could not be ore jazzed about because I’m going there in just a few weeks! Set in 1960s Florida, Cuban exile Beatriz Perez has lost everything to the revolution: her family, her people, her country. “Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro’s inner circle and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage, Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge and her desire to reclaim the life she lost.” Cuba + history + espionage and strong female character is something I’m going to want to read and I think you are too.

From the Internets

Paste Magazine is going strong with Women’s History Month and recommends these exceptional audiobooks written and narrated by women. Circe and the Broken Earth Trilogy made the list so you know I’m happy!

Over at the Riot

Rioter Rebecca wrote a piece that feels dedicated to me: it suggests using audiobooks to help you reread books and I feel understood!

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
Giveaways

032619-A People’sHistoryofHeaven-Giveaway

We have 10 copies of A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian to give away to 10 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

The eagerly anticipated A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian centers on a circle of friends in a Bangalore slum known as Heaven. Together they wage war on the bulldozers that would bury their homes and the city that does not care. A politically driven graffiti artist. A transgender Christian convert. A blind girl who loves to dance. A queer daughter of a hijabi union leader. “This is a book to give your little sister, your mother, your best friend, yourself, so together you can celebrate the strength of women and girls, the tenacity it takes to survive in a world that would rather have you disappear.” ─Nylon

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

 

Categories
True Story

Literary Murders, Burnout, and More New Nonfiction

Hello and happy end of March, fellow nonfiction readers! I spent a good bit of the last week trying to get my life in order, but mostly succeeded in feeling like I need to jettison some baggage — literally and figuratively — to feel more on top of everything. I suspect I’ll be finding some time to read Gretchen Rubin’s latest book, Outer Order, Inner Calm, to help with that.

One thing that’s not helping is the fact that there are still (still!) so many interesting new books coming out every week. This week’s list is full again with some graphic novels, memoirs, and historical stories I am very interested in diving into. Let’s take a peek!

Sponsored by What’s Up in YA Giveaway of a $100 gift card to Amazon! Enter here.

We’re giving away a $100 gift card to Amazon in support of our YA newsletter, What’s Up in YA, about all things young adult literature! Sign up to enter here.

Good Talk by Mira Jacob – A graphic memoir about having difficult conversations on race, color, sexuality, love, and more among families.

Murder by the Book by Claire Harman – The story of a Victorian-era murder in literary London that connects the grisly crime with the rise of the novel and popularity of sensational true crime stories.

American Messiahs by Adam Morris – A study of cult leaders in the United States and how their visions are “essential for understanding American history.”

Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski – A look at how women experience burnout differently than men and how to fight back against the societal pressures at work in this area.

Coders by Clive Thompson – In a world run by algorithms and computer code, a tech writer explores the world of computer programmers – who they are, how they think, how they become great, and how why we should be concerned.

This One Looks Like a Boy by Lorimer Shenher – A coming-of-age memoir where a Calgary detective “shares the story of his gender journey, from childhood gender dysphoria to teenage sexual experimentation to early-adult denial of his identity—and finally the acceptance that he is trans.”

No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny – A collection of essays about how the idea of “moving on” after unimaginable loss is ridiculous and the tension between finding happiness and holding space for the losses that shape us.

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young – “A provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America.”

Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt – A look at unconscious bias and how “ingrained stereotypes can infect our visual perception, attention, memory, and behavior.”

How We Fight White Supremacy by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin – The editors of Colorlines have put together essays from “organizers, artists, journalists, comedians, and filmmakers” about how to fight against white supremacy.

And that’s all for this week! You can find me on Twitter @kimthedork, on email at kim@riotnewmedia.com, and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. Happy reading! – Kim

Categories
Unusual Suspects

THELMA AND LOUISE Meets GONE GIRL–I’m Listening!

Hello mystery fans! I’m doing things a little differently this time because I just finished a book I loved that won’t be out for a bit, so I’m going to highlight some upcoming crime books that should be on your radar. Great for anyone who loves to pre-buy or be first on their library hold list! Or, if you want to just shake your fist at me for telling you about an awesome book you can’t read just yet, that works too.

Sponsored by The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton. Published by Graydon House Books.

The Perfect Girlfriend cover imageJuliette loves Nate. She will follow him anywhere. She’s even become a flight attendant for his airline, so she can keep a closer eye on him. They are meant to be. The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing. Because Juliette has a plan to win him back. She is the perfect girlfriend. And she’ll make sure no one stops her from getting exactly what she wants. True love hurts, but Juliette knows it’s worth all the pain… Entertainment Weekly says of The Perfect Girlfriend, “this twisted page-turner should appeal to fans of the Netflix series YOU.”

The Things She's Seen cover imageThe Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina, Ezekiel Kwaymullina (May 14th): I was writing about upcoming crime novels for a post and the summary left me so curious I decided to just read the first chapter and, instead, I ended up reading it in one sitting. It was so good. It’s an Australian novel that follows Beth Teller, an Aboriginal girl who died at fifteen and is now a ghost. A ghost that her father, a detective, can see. And talk to. She’s trying to help him solve a case involving a fire at a children’s home that left an unidentified dead body and missing caretakers. She’s helping him stay focused on the case in order to help him get past grieving for her, but then she meets a witness to the fire who can also see her. The novel alternates between Beth and her father solving the mystery and Isobel Catching, the witness, telling her story–one told almost like poetry. It’s a beautiful crime novel about grief, death, family, and friendship, that never feels heavy but rather uplifting. I’ve been thinking about it for days–publishing really needs to be putting out more crime novels like this.

The Best Lies cover imageThe Best Lies by Sarah Lyu (July 2): This is one of those you had me at the cover and tag line books: “Thelma and Louise meets Gone Girl.” It centers around a toxic friendship, the mystery of why one shot her friend’s boyfriend dead, and it’s told in a lyrical prose style–seriously I am all in for this.

 

 

Murder in the Crooked House cover imageMurder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada, Louise Heal Kawai (Translator) (June 25): All I needed to hear was that the author of The Tokyo Zodiac Murders has another novel being translated and I became all gimme-gimme hands. TTZM is one of the only mystery novels where I had no idea what the solve was, and I will forever love Shimada for that. And this is another locked room mystery–my excitement can’t be contained!

The Stories You Tell cover imageThe Stories You Tell (Roxane Weary #3) by Kristen Lepionka (July 9): this is one of my favorite PI series, I love not only watching Weary solve a mystery, but also her personal growth through the first two books. It’s one of those reads where I’m cheering for her to solve the mystery, and also cheering for her personally because, as much as she starts off as a hot mess at the beginning of the series, she’s a person trying to figure it all out. This time around, her brother looks like a suspect after a DJ friend shows up at his house and vanishes, leaving behind her blood.

Recently Release

Murder Lo Mein by Vivien ChienMurder Lo Mein (A Noodle Shop Mystery #3) by Vivien Chien (Enjoyable cozy mystery set in an Asian mall that will leave you hungry.)

Killing November (Killing November #1) by Adriana Mather (Fun!–Group of kids at a spy school but who aren’t allowed to get to know each other…)

Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime by Claire Harman (True crime)

The Night Visitors cover imageThe Night Visitors by Carol Goodman (Great suspense–when you’re on the run can you trust anyone?) (TW child and domestic abuse/ suicide/ rape)

No Tomorrow (Killing Eve #2) by Luke Jennings (The sequel to the book the hit BBC show is based on.)

The Ancient Nine by Ian K. Smith (Paperback) (For fans of secret societies.)

Walking Shadows (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus #25) by Faye Kellerman (Paperback) (Police procedural set in upstate New York.)

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 Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Categories
Today In Books

Oprah Building Biggest Book Club On Planet: Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Designs on Murder by Gayle Leeson.

Designs On Murder ad

Oprah Is Building The Biggest Book Club On The Planet

Do we expect anything less? Oprah announced that, along with two documentaries, she’s working with Apple TV Plus “building the biggest, most vibrant, most stimulating book club on the planet… I want to literally convene a meeting of the minds connecting us through books.” There aren’t many details yet because Apple–*shakes fists*–but I look forward to Oprah screaming “And you get a book!”

Anthony Bourdain Book Tribute

CNN compiled photographs and tributes of Bourdain for his daughter as a keepsake gift, and his estate decided to also publish it as a book for his fans. Anthony Bourdain Remembered will publish on May 28th–have tissues handy.

Newest Development: 2019 RITA Finalists

The 2019 RITA Finalists were announced last week and, again, RITA was really white. The racial bias/racism in Romance publishing and the RITAs (the highest industry award for romance authors) has been pointed out so many times that it’s happening again had many rightfully angry and frustrated. RWA President HelenKay Dimon has released a statement with the steps RWA intends to take.

Categories
What's Up in YA

🗞️ All The YA News You Can Use This Week

Hey YA Fans: Pour yourself a cuppa and let’s catch up on the latest news.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

In the tradition of The Lunar Chronicles, this sweeping reimagining of Les Misérables tells the story of three teens from very different backgrounds who are thrown together amidst the looming threat of revolution on the French planet of Laterre.

For the talk of YA book sales being down, there sure has been a lot of adaptation news lately, suggesting that perhaps the sales come later in the book’s life, as opposed to its arrival? I’m chewing over some thoughts on this, especially related to the old statistic that the bulk of YA books are purchased by adults. Are we seeing this level off and are seeing more organic purchases from teens themselves? There’s a lot to unpack in that article, and I don’t have the answers.

Recent Book Mail…

This huge stack doesn’t even cover it all. The fall releases are hitting fever pitch at my doorstep (and I’m still reading books from this month, y’all!). From top to bottom, starting with Maybe This Time, as the two books above it aren’t YA books.

Maybe This Time by Kasie West

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

Deathcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

The Beholder by Anna Bright

Girls of July by Alex Flinn

Sorry For Your Loss by Jessie Ann Foley

The Language of Fire by Stephanie Hemphill

Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh

This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura

Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

You’d Be Mine by Erin Hnhn

In Another Life by CC Hunter

Dreamland by Sam Quinones

We’ll see you next week with some more book lists, book talk, and more.

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are (currently $2, y’all!).

Categories
The Stack

032619-NancyDrew-The-Stack

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment

Nancy Drew is seventeen and good at everything, but life hits a snag when a mysterious message drags her back to the hometown she left behind. There she’ll have to find out which of her friends are still her friends, which are enemies, and who exactly is trying to kill her…and (hopefully) stop them before they succeed.

Categories
Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

032619-IgniteEnglish-Riot-Rundow

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Ignite English, where we inspire your reading

Giveaway: Win a free March Englishbox!

Ignite your learning, inspire your mind with the Englishbox! A bimonthly book box that brings reading to life! The Englishbox features either a classic or best-selling novel in every box accompanied by an interactive reading guide to help you dive deeper into the novel. You also get 3-4 book inspired items that are curated just for our readers. Each box includes special online access to addition book content and our online book club, so come chat books with us! Sign up for our newsletter for a change to win a free box!

Categories
In The Club

Let Me Put On My Surprised Face

Hola, friends! Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. This week we’re talking food, romance, and pregnancy. You’d think the three were related but… nope! Book club is just funny that way.

To the club!

This newsletter is sponsored by Meerkat Press and Smoke City by Keith Rosson.

“Rosson tackles the big life questions in this book, picking apart themes of purpose, redemption, suffering, forgiveness, addiction, passion, talent, guilt, the unknowable nature of life and death, the ways in which we help each other and the ways in which we hinder, the joy of living and the anticipation of death, and the absolute necessity of an examined life. His talent is staggering, his craft is meticulous, and his story is one of the quirkiest but most heartfelt I have ever read. He will clench your heart and drag you through his landscape of horror and bliss. You’ll be so utterly grateful for it.” – Dianah Hughley, Powells.com

Question for the Club – I asked, you answered: do you only consider a book a “good” pick if everyone liked it? I definitely don’t think so and everyone who wrote in seems to agree! Here are some of your thoughts:

  • One of my core book club beliefs is that people are free to dislike the book–so long as they share why.
  • I find it to be more fun when at least one person DOESN’T like the book! When everyone likes it, the conversation can die quickly.
  • I think that if everyone likes the book it feels like a win, but the discussion is more flavorful if there are some who didn’t like the book and are willing to share why.
  • A good pick for us is one that most of us were interested enough to actually read… some of us will dislike or hate it, and this is when we have the most interesting discussions.

Our next club query is:

Email your answers to vanessa@riotnewmedia.com!

Let Me Put On My Surprised Face – I briefly mentioned this story in this Sunday’s edition of Today In Books, only under the headline, “Here So White, There So White, Everywhere So White White” because whyyyyyy? As Jess Pryde explains with more precision and finesse, the finalists for the RITA and Golden Heart awards were announced and they’re supes blanche. What’s more, they seem to stay this way year after year after year.

Babies on the Brain – As Rioter Anna puts it, “Advice about pregnancy isn’t hard to find, but good advice about pregnancy may as well be made of gold.” We think these new and upcoming releases are a great place to start.

  • Book Club Bonus: I actually think errbody should read up on pregnancy and would encourage book clubs to do so. It is astounding how little most folks know about even the basics of pregnancy, and how little many of us know because we flat out weren’t ever told. This feels like one small step in improving how we approach everything about parenting: pre- and post-partum care, maternity leave, child care…. Let’s start at the beginning and go from there.

Hunger Games: Book Club Edition – I have some travel coming soon (Cuba!!!) but I’m impatient as hell, so I’ve been choosing books set in faraway places to sort of satiate my wanderlust in the interim. The trouble is so many of them have included mouth-watering descriptions of food! The rose and cardamom-flavored Parsi delights in The Widows of Malabar Hill and the fragrant rice dishes and ALL the coconut things in The Night Tiger??? I’ve been staring at my own basic AF meals with sheer and utter contempt for weeks.

  • Book Club Bonus: You do not want to know how much time I spent on the internet trying to find Parsi and Malaysian food near me. Not easy since the dishes I want come from books set in the 1920s! I’ve suggested book/food pairings plenty of times, but this might be a tall order when the cuisine isn’t widely available. Have a go at preparing the foods yourself if you can find some good recipes and ingredients. You could also find a local or online market and at least buy some treats from whatever region you’re looking for; I sure as sh*t ordered some Malaysian pandan layer cakes from an online store and I have no regrets.

Suggestion Section – For those that missed last week’s trial run, Suggestion Section is where I’ll drop links to news, celeb book clubs, online book club announcements, lists for book groups, etc. Basically related content not otherwise talked discussed in the “meat” of the newsletter. Enjoy!

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa