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What's Up in YA

📚 7 Books To Read After Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Hey YA readers! Officially, Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month may be coming to an end, but let’s keep it going even longer.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Somewhere Only We Know from Maurene Goo and Fierce Reads.

A Cosmopolitan Best Young Adult Book of 2019 Sparks fly between a K pop starlet and a tabloid reporter in this heartwarming rom-com from Maurene Goo. 10:00 PM.: Lucky is a huge K-pop star who just performed her hit song to thousands of adoring fans. She’s tired but dying for a hamburger. 11:00 PM: Jack sneaks into a fancy hotel on assignment for his tabloid job. He runs into a cute girl wearing slippers — a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. 12:00 AM.: Nothing will ever be the same.


May is Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but rather than limit reading awesome YA by Asian American authors to one month, let’s add a few more titles to the TBR to keep the love going all year long.

These are all books that, as of this writing, haven’t published yet, so I’ve pulled descriptions from Amazon (I, too, need to add them to my TBR!). There’s a little of everything here genre-wise. I’ve noted with a “*” when the book is part of a series, and I’ve stuck to just first books in a series to avoid spoilers.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee (August 13)

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.

Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (June 4)

It’s 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.

Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He’s terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he’s gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media’s images of men dying of AIDS.

Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance…until she falls for Reza and they start dating.

Art is Judy’s best friend, their school’s only out and proud teen. He’ll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.

As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won’t break Judy’s heart—and destroy the most meaningful friendship he’s ever known.

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas (September 4)

CHINA, 484 A.D.

A Warrior in Disguise
All her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated decades earlier, and avenge her father, who was paralyzed in his own duel.

Then a messenger from the Emperor arrives, demanding that all families send one soldier to fight the Rouran invaders in the north. Mulan’s father cannot go. Her brother is just a child. So she ties up her hair, takes up her sword, and joins the army as a man.

A War for a Dynasty
Thanks to her martial arts skills, Mulan is chosen for an elite team under the command of the princeling—the royal duke’s son, who is also the handsomest man she’s ever seen. But the princeling has secrets of his own, which explode into Mulan’s life and shake up everything she knows. As they cross the Great Wall to face the enemy beyond, Mulan and the princeling must find a way to unwind their past, unmask a traitor, and uncover the plans for the Rouran invasion . . . before it’s too late.

*Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (July 9)

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court enchanter, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra (July 2)

The youngest doctor in America, an Indian-American teen makes her rounds―and falls head over heels―in the contemporary romantic comedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak.

Fresh from med school, sixteen-year-old medical prodigy Saira arrives for her first day at her new job: treating children with cancer. She’s always had to balance family and friendships with her celebrity as the Girl Genius―but she’s never had to prove herself to skeptical adult co-workers while adjusting to real life-and-death stakes. And working in the same hospital as her mother certainly isn’t making things any easier.

But life gets complicated when Saira finds herself falling in love with a patient: a cute teen boy who’s been diagnosed with cancer. And when she risks her brand new career to try to improve his chances, it could cost her everything.

It turns out “heartbreak” is the one thing she still doesn’t know how to treat.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi (June 11)

The first time Sana Khan asked out a girl–Rachel Recht–it went so badly that she never did it again. Rachel is a film buff and aspiring director, and she’s seen Carrie enough times to learn you can never trust cheerleaders (and beautiful people). Rachel was furious that Sana tried to prank her by asking her on a date.

But when it comes time for Rachel to cast her senior project, she realizes that there’s no more perfect lead than Sana–the girl she’s sneered at in the halls for the past three years. And poor Sana–she says yes. She never did really get over that first crush, even if Rachel can barely stand to be in the same room as her.

Told in alternative viewpoints and set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in the springtime, when the rainy season rolls in and the Santa Ana’s can still blow–these two girls are about to learn that in the city of dreams, anything is possible–even love.

*Wicked Fox by Kat Cho (June 25)

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret–she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead–her gumiho soul–in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl–he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to men. He’s drawn to her anyway.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous and reignite a generations-old feud . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s.


Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and we’ll see you again soon!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a wonderful three-day weekend, if that’s a thing that happened where you are. I’ll give you three guesses how I spent mine. (SPOILER: Reading books.) I have a few of today’s amazing new releases to tell you about. And you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Kim and I discussed Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come, Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Other Words for Home, and more great books.


Sponsored by The Plus One from HarperCollins 360.

Polly Spencer is single and turning thirty, but seriously, she’s fine. Even if she’s still stuck at Posh! magazine writing about royal babies and the chances of finding a plus one to her best friend’s summer wedding are looking worryingly slim. But it’s a new year, and Polly’s determined that over the next 365 days she’ll remember to shave her legs, drink less wine, and get her s**t together. Her latest piece is on the infamous Jasper, Marquess of Milton, undoubtedly neither a plus one nor ‘the one.’ She’s heard the stories—there’s no way she’ll succumb to his charms



the flatshareThe Flatshare: A Novel by Beth O’Leary

This is a delightful romantic comedy about two people who are perfect for each other, if only they could meet. Tiffany and Leon share a flat. Just not at the same time. In an effort to save money, Tiffany stays in it at night, and Leon during the day. As the two communicate through a series of notes, they begin to develop a real affinity for one another. Could it translate over IRL? (Writing this blurb is making me want to go watch Ladyhawke.)

Backlist bump: Matchmaking for Beginners: A Novel by Maddie Dawson

rebel beverly jenkinsRebel (Women Who Dare) by Beverly Jenkins

I don’t know why people even bother writing reviews of Beverly Jenkins’s books. She is amazing every. single. time. This romance is about Valinda Lacy, a Northern woman in New Orleans after the Civil War. She’s trying to help the newly emancipated community, but when criminals destroy her school, and threaten her, she flees – and ends up running into Captain Drake LeVeq. He admires Valinda’s strong spirit and independence. And when her father insists Valinda returns home, Drake realizes he feels even more for her.

Backlist bump: Tempest (Old West) by Beverly Jenkins

hope for the bestHope for the Best (Chronicles of St Mary’s) by Jodi Taylor

This is the tenth novel in the Chronicles of St. Mary’s series. I’m here to recommend you this whole delightful series about time-hopping historical researchers. They investigate unsolved events in history and try not to mess time up or get killed in the process. But you can’t just drop in on history and not expect to make an impression… Start with the first book in the series, listed below!

Backlist bump: Just One Damned Thing After Another (Chronicles of St. Mary’s) by Jodi Taylor

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

Categories
The Kids Are All Right

New Children’s Book Releases for May 28, 2019 and Cover Reveal for Leading the Way!

Hi Kid Lit Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend and are enjoying the end of May! We’ve been getting warmer weather in New York City, and the other day my younger daughter and I spent a beautiful afternoon people-watching in Central Park. (It was very interesting!)


Sponsored by our $100 Amazon gift card giveaway! Enter here and win $100 to spend on YA lit!

We’re giving away a $100 gift card to Amazon to support our What’s Up in YA newsletter! Enter here for the chance to win $100 to spend on young adult literature, and get the best YA book recs, news, and more in your inbox.


But before I get to the new releases, check out this new cover for Leading the Way, written by Senator Janet Howell and author Theresa Howell. Senator Howell has been a Virginia state senator since 1992 and is the longest-serving female Virginia legislator. Credited with major legal reforms, she was also the first woman to serve on the powerful Senate Finance Committee and the first and only woman so far to be appointed as a senate budget conferee. Theresa Howell is the coauthor, with F. Isabel Campoy, of the award-winning book Maybe Something Beautiful, illustrated by Rafael López. She is also the author of the picture book series Scout Moore: Junior Ranger. She lives in Colorado with her two daughters and her husband, Brian. This book is illustrated by Kylie Akia, a digital illustrator and painter, and Alexandra Bye, who creates illustrations in various media for a range of outlets, including magazines and children’s publications.

Leading the Way is about some of the most influential leaders in America. It highlights the struggles and accomplishments of more than fifty of the most influential leaders in American political history —leaders who have stood up, blazed trails, and led the way.

Look for Leading the Way on October 8, 2019, published by Candlewick Press.

 

And now… onto new releases! One of my favorite middle grade books of the year is coming out today! I’ve been talking about Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga for months now, and I’m so excited this book-in-verse story about a young Syrian girl who leaves her homeland to stay in Cincinnati with relatives. Check it out!

As always, if I’ve had the chance to read one of these books and loved it, I marked it with a ❀. Please note that all descriptions come from the publisher.

 

Picture Book New Releases

Deep in the Ocean (board book) by Lucie Brunelliere

A scientific team has boarded the submarine Oceanos to explore the ocean’s depths. Suddenly, it gets caught in a violent storm, causing it to drift thousands of miles off-course. From the glittering surface of the sea to the darkness of the abyss, Deep in the Ocean takes readers on a bewitching journey through fascinating waters—some warm, colorful, and crowded with sea creatures, others mysterious and turbulent. Six colors of ink (including neon pink and metallic silver) are used throughout, and a free downloadable soundtrack allows readers to feel even more fully immersed in this beautiful underwater world.

What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive? by Mark Lee and Brian Biggs

When a stegosaurus, a pterodactyl, and a triceratops all show up at Uncle Otto’s car lot, he doesn’t have a clue how to help them. After all, he’s never sold a car to a dinosaur before. Luckily, Ava and Mickey–two kids with a lot of dino knowledge–are there to help pair each customer with the perfect vehicle. But here comes the T. Rex, and he wants to buy a car too! And he’s surprisingly hard to please… So what kind of car does a T. Rex drive? A microcar? A convertible? A minivan? You’ll just have to read to find out!

Flora’s Tree House by Gabriel Alborozo

Siblings Flora and Will couldn’t be more different. Flora brings epic fantasies to life in drawings and paintings, which she then hangs in her tree house. Will’s adventures live in his mind as he leaps from trees and swings twigs like they’re swords. Will has never been in Flora’s tree house, but one day, his curiosity gets the better of him―what exactly is his sister doing up in there?

When Pencil Met Eraser by Karen Kilpatrick and Luis O. Ramo, Jr., illustrated by German Blanco

When Pencil draws on the pages of this book, Eraser erases parts of Pencil’s work, and the book itself becomes a canvas for their different takes on creativity―until the two discover their artwork is even better when they work together.

 

Chapter Book New Release

❀ Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go On A Class Trip by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Colin Jack

Sassy and Waldo are back! When Ms. Twohey announces that her class is going on a trip to the History Museum, Stewart is worried he’s in for another long day of facts and learning. But nothing can be boring when you have two dogs in a trench coat along with you. Just hope they don’t get too close to those huge dinosaur bones!

 

Middle Grade New Releases

❀ Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before.

A Box of Bones by Marina Cohen

Twelve-year-old Kallie despises nonsense. She believes there’s a rational explanation for everything, despite the good-natured prodding of her Grandpa Jess, who takes her to frivolous wastes of time like their town’s local Festival of Fools. There, Kallie meets a faceless man (must be some kind of mask) who gives her a strange wooden puzzle box (must be some kind of gimmick). Intrigued despite herself, Kallie sets to work on unlocking its secrets and
lets something out. From here Kallie’s life begins to entangle with another world, a world where Liah, a young bone carver, journeys with her master to sell wares to a wicked Queen.

The Book Case by Dave Shelton

Daphne is off to an exclusive girls’ boarding school, where she’ll be given a brand-new start after her expulsion. But St. Rita’s school for girls is not your ordinary school. And these are certainly not ordinary girls. As it turns out, nothing is quite what you’d expect at St. Rita’s. But then she meets Emily Lime, a crime-solving genius, who’s looking for a new library assistant. And the book smart Daphne is just the girl for the job. Mystery and intrigue are about to strike St. Rita’s and Emily Lime is going to need all the help she can get.

Secrets of a Fangirl by Erin Dionne

Sarah Anne loves lacrosse, and the MK Nightshade series that everyone was obsessed over in grade school. The problem is that she’s still obsessed, which is way too nerdy for a popular kid like her. So she hides her geekiness with a set of rules meant to keep her geek and jock selves separate. Except when she’s offered a spot in a Nightshade fandom contest, where the winner gets to see the new movie premiere in LA. No one seems to think Sarah Anne can win, since she’s up against a pair of guys in high school–but the more she’s called a fake fan, the more determined she is to wipe the floor with her competition. As long as none of her friends or anyone at school knows what she’s doing.

❀ All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman

After losing his mom in a fatal car crash, Kaede Hirano–now living with a grandfather who is more stranger than family–developed anger issues and spent his last year of middle school acting out. Best-friendless and critically in danger repeating the seventh grade, Kaede is given a summer assignment: write an essay about what home means to him, which will be even tougher now that he’s on his way to Japan to reconnect with his estranged father and older half-brother. Still, if there’s a chance Kaede can finally build a new family from an old one, he’s willing to try. But building new relationships isn’t as easy as destroying his old ones, and one last desperate act will change the way Kaede sees everyone–including himself.

Ranger’s Apprentice: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

King Duncan and Princess Cassandra are trapped in the south tower of Castle Araluen and under near-constant attack from the Red Fox Clan. Sir Horace and Ranger Commandant Gilan are holed up in an old hill fort, surrounded by the enemy. And Ranger’s apprentice Maddie is the only one who can save them all. With the help of Hal, Thorn, and the rest of the Heron brotherband, Maddie will have to break her father and his men out of the hill fort, but will they reach Castle Araluen in time?

Nonfiction New Releases

The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Sean Rubin (picture book)

As a boy, Alan wanted to fly planes. As a young navy pilot, Alan wished he could paint the view from the cockpit. So he took an art class to learn patterns and forms. But no class could prepare him for the beauty of the lunar surface some 240,000 miles from Earth. In 1969, Alan became the fourth man and first artist on the moon. He took dozens of pictures, but none compared to what he saw through his artistic eyes. When he returned to Earth, he began to paint what he saw. Alan’s paintings allowed humanity to experience what it truly felt like to walk on the moon.

Science Comics: Cars by Dan Zettwoch (graphic novel)

In Dan Zettwoch’s Science Comics: Cars, you’ll learn where cars came from and how they work. When you pop the hood, what are you looking at? How does gasoline―or electric batteries, or even steam―make a car move? Rev up your motor and take look at the combustible history of the automobile and its explosive effects on our modern lives.

 

I would love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.

Until next time!
Karina

*If this e-mail was forwarded to you, follow this link to subscribe to “The Kids Are All Right” newsletter and other fabulous Book Riot newsletters for your own customized e-mail delivery. Thank you!*

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Riot Rundown

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Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Somewhere Only We Know from Maurene Goo and Fierce Reads.

“The perfect rom-com for dreamy spring afternoons.” —Bustle Sparks fly between a K pop starlet and a tabloid reporter in this heartwarming rom-com from Maurene Goo. 10:00 PM.: Lucky is a huge K-pop star who just performed her hit song to thousands of adoring fans. She’s tired but dying for a hamburger. 11:00 PM: Jack sneaks into a fancy hotel on assignment for his tabloid job. He runs into a cute girl wearing slippers — a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. 12:00 AM.: Nothing will ever be the same.

Categories
The Stack

052819-AlteredCarbon-The-Stack

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment.

Takeshi Kovacs was a member of the Envoy Corps, ultra-lethal adepts in switching bodies across the stars. While he served, he was known by a variety of names–Mamba Lev, One Hand Rending, the Icepick–all testament to his capacity for rapid response and extreme violence in whatever flesh he wore. Now he’s out of the service and trying to live a different life. But the Protectorate hasn’t changed its spots, no matter what world Kovacs drifts to, and with that old combat rage still burning deep inside him, will he ever really be able to walk away?

Categories
In The Club

Reading Ricanstruction

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Hola book lovers! It’s the last newsletter of May! The rain is finally clearing up here in San Diego, just in time for my trip to Portland this coming weekend. I can’t tell you how excited I am to gawk at trees and eat tasty things! Now, to convince my mama that she should accompany me to Powell’s and not judge me for what happens therein…

But for now: to the club!


This newsletter is sponsored by The Plus One from HarperCollins 360.

Polly Spencer is single and turning thirty, but seriously, she’s fine. Even if she’s still stuck at Posh! magazine writing about royal babies and the chances of finding a plus one to her best friend’s summer wedding are looking worryingly slim. But it’s a new year, and Polly’s determined that over the next 365 days she’ll remember to shave her legs, drink less wine, and get her s**t together. Her latest piece is on the infamous Jasper, Marquess of Milton, undoubtedly neither a plus one nor ‘the one.’ She’s heard the stories—there’s no way she’ll succumb to his charms



Question for the Club

Last call! May’s club query is:

Don’t forget, we’ll have a new club query next week!

On A Funny Wavelength – Who here listened to last week’s Get Booked? *pretends to see your hands raised* Awesome! You may have noticed that one reader’s request ties in very nicely with our current QFTC: funny books for book club!

Book Club Bonus: I’ll share some of the responses to Question for the Club in next week’s newsletter, but Jenn and Amanda’s picks for this question got me thinking even more about funny book club books. I wonder how many people, myself included, would immediately have gone for a humor book for this recommendation as opposed to just a book that’s funny. How limiting, right?

On that note: if you’re looking to add more humor to your own book club selections, remember that you don’t have to pick up Jenny Lawson or David Sedaris. Take Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions for example, one of my favorite cozies from the last few years. It is ultimately a mystery, but Auntie Poldi is like a drunk and Polish Sophia Petrillo and her whole character arc would be great for a convo on sex positivity and ageism. It’s also happens to be funny as f…ocaccia.

Comics Curious – While more and more people seem to be getting into comics, plenty of us (and I’m throwing shade at myself here) don’t read enough of them. I’ve encouraged you all to read more comics in the past, but maybe you don’t know where to get started. This piece is a great guideline for getting your comics journey underway.

Book Club Bonus: I recommend the graphic novel series La Borinqueña for book club: it’s by a Latin American creator and features an Afro-Latina superhero! Do a little research and discuss the ways in which the comic draws from Taino myth and addresses the economic and environmental challenges facing Puerto Rico.

You know I love me a little do-gooding with my book club, si? For bonus points, read the sister comic Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuiliding Puerto Rico. It’s an anthology that teams up La Borinqueña with popular comics characters such as Batman and Wonder Woman! Its hefty list of contributors includes Rosario Dawson, Gabby Rivera, and Greg Pak, but the best part? Proceeds from Ricanstruction go towards relief and recovery efforts aimed at rebuilding the island.

Related: I was pretty stoked to see that Mooncakes artist Wendy Xu signed a six-figure deal for three forthcoming graphic novels with Harper Collins Children’s Books. Okay Wendy, get it! More diverse comics for us to read.

Suggestion Section

Wine Enthusiast shares tips on How to Pick Wine for a Book Club

A New Jersey middle school book club recently read Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime and has a pretty sweet message for the Daily Show host.


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

More Resources: 
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships May 28

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday! In this corner, we have new releases, facing off with our every-newsletter feature of news and views! Whose cuisine will reign supreme? It’s Alex, with some horribly muddled pop culture references, books, and news–so much news!


This newsletter is sponsored by Alfred A. Knopf, publisher of Exhalation by Ted Chiang.

From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Others—the basis for the film Arrival—comes a groundbreaking short fiction collection, tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only Ted Chiang could imagine.

A portal through time forces a fabric seller in Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. An alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with universal ramifications. The ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radical examination of choice and free will. Including all-new stories as well as classic uncollected works, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic, and revelatory.


New Releases

Five Unicorn Flush by TJ Berry – Sequel to Space Unicorn Blues, where interstellar travel is powered by unicorn horns; as you can imagine, it sucks to be a unicorn.

The Red-Stained Wings by Elizabeth Bear – sequel to The Stone in the Skull.

Longer by Michael Blumlein – In a universe where the wealthy can reboot themselves to a younger age twice–but not three times–married research scientists Gunjita and Cav have a problem. One of them is on their second and final reboot; one of them is not.

Lent by Jo Walton – Girolamo Savanarola seems to always be miraculously at the right place at the right time to change the course of history.

Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky – An astronaut has been separated from his expedition in a freak accident, and is now lost and alone in an alien artifact.

The Gameshouse by Claire North – The Gameshouse is a place where any game can be played… at any stakes. Including at the scale of empires.

The Quanderhorn Xperimentations by Rob Grand and Andrew Marshall – I think this bit of the back cover copy says it all: “England, 1952. A time of peace, regeneration and hope. A Golden Age. Unfortunately, it’s been 1952 for the past 65 years.”

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg – The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park created by bioengineering and technology; Ana is one the park’s creations, a perfect princess. She falls in love with a park employee… and then is accused of his murder.

News and Views

Happy belated Towel Day! Ever wondered what Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy character you’re most like? We’ve got a quiz for that.

Stranger Things has an absolutely gorgeous new art book coming out, and io9 has some images.

On the dubious origins of “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.” And on the topic of fairy tales, an argument that Ever After is one of the best adaptations out there.

More Hidden Figures: Two women programmers and the birth of chaos theory.

Scientists think they may have found extraterrestrial organic matter from carbon-rich meteorites mixed with spinels in a 3.3 billion-year-old sedimentary layer.

Also in cool science news: An Iron-age shield made out of bark has been found.

Speaking of wood, this chemically-altered wood may have some exciting applications for fighting climate change.

A deeper look at what star ratings on Amazon actually mean.

Taika Waititi is going to be directing the live-action Akira movie? (On one hand, he has earned my trust. On the other hand, that’s… real different from all of his other work I’ve seen.)

Tor.com collected a list of 13 optimistic fantasy novels.

James D. Nicoll writes about the inevitable trend of older SF books being forgotten.

An fascinating examination of Game of Thrones and the real historical conflicts that it mirrors.

Oh, and George R.R. Martin has at least jokingly indicated a timeline for The Winds of Winter.

Some scientists have attempted to model the tectonic history of Westeros and Essos.

One more Game of Thrones thing because this made me laugh. During filming, Jon Snow was the subject of some hilarious script directions.

Celebrating Alien‘s 40th anniversary with a Lego sculpture.

Inspector Gadget as a refutation of transhumanism.

Director Xavier Dolan called out the film industry for marking films as “gay” like it’s a distinct genre, and not heterosexual. Applies to book world too, I feel like.

On the hotness of beards.

Book Riot roundup of fashion at the Nebula Awards.

Rotten Tomatoes is making it harder for whiny manbabies to manipulate movie ratings.

If you feel like being punched in the heart, here’s a bit about the incorporation of Carrie Fisher into The Rise of Skywalker.

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me on the (Hugo-nominated!!!) Skiffy and Fanty Podcast or over at my personal site.

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Canada Giveaways

052719-TheRumor-CAGiveaway

We have 5 copies of The Rumor by Lesley Kara to give away to 5 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

Rumor has it that a notorious killer, who committed a brutal crime as a child, has been living a new life under an assumed identity in Joanna’s seaside town. When she hears the shocking rumor outside her son’s school, she never intends to pass it on. But one casual comment leads to another
 and now there’s no going back. A rollercoaster ride of a book, The Rumor will keep you hooked until the very end.

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

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Today In Books

Little Free Library Is 10 Years Old This Month: Today In Books

This edition of Today In Books is sponsored by Amazon Publishing.


Get a Clue Comic Book

Board game, cult film, and now comic book miniseries! Clue: Candlestick by Dash Shaw is a surreal psychological thriller. Pick it up for fun sequential art sleuthing.

Little Free Library Is 10 Years Old

The Wisconsin nonprofit that inspired all the take-a-book-leave-a-book boxes peppered in neighborhoods around the world turned 10 this month. Check out the #LFL10 hashtag on social media to see how people have been celebrating.

Taking the “Book” Out of “Bookshelf”

Are your bookshelves teeming with tomes? Here are some design tips for giving those bookcases a makeover with trinkets, plants, and art (but only if you want to).

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Today In Books

University Library Discovers 3 Poisonous Books: Today In Books

Sponsored by Wishtree by Katherine Applegate.

Wishtree cover image

 


University Library Discovers 3 Poisonous Books

While poisonous books make for a great item in a fictional plot, we don’t really want them on the shelves of libraries in real life. Which is what happened at the University of Southern Denmark library which found they had three books, from 16th and 17th centuries, with covers containing large amounts of arsenic. Read here for all the interesting details and tests.

Tilda Swinton Curates Orlando Exhibition And Magazine Issue

Talk about a role that stayed with an actor: 27 years after starring in the adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, Swinton has chosen Orlando as the theme for an exhibit and magazine issue from Aperture. If you’ll be in New York between May 25th and July 11th you can check out the exhibition at Aperture Gallery. For now look at these gorgeous images.

Another Study Proves Books Are Amazing

A study by Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has found that toddlers who are regularly read to “are less likely to be hyperactive or disruptive” and those doing the reading “are less likely to engage in harsh parenting.” Another win-win for books and reading! You can read all the details here.