Month: July 2019

Categories
Check Your Shelf

An Unlikely Poet Laureate, SDCC Updates, and Awesome RA Resources

Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).

“Check Your Shelf” is sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment.

MARCH, 1941: Seventeen-year-old James Bond is a restless student in Scotland, an orphan, eager to strike out and make his mark on the world. But a visit by an old family friend coincides with THE CLYDEBANK BLITZ, the most devastating German attack on Scotland during the War. James will fight through hell to survive, coming out the other side determined to make a difference. He’ll find his calling in a new British government service, secret in nature.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

Cool Library Updates

Worth Reading

Book Adaptations in the News

Collection Development Corner

Publishing News

New & Upcoming Titles

What Your Patrons Are Hearing About

RA/Genre Resources

Books & Authors in the News

  • A Texas high school banned the comic anthology Love is Love due to “extreme homosexuality.”
  • If you haven’t heard about the drama surrounding the New Hampshire poet laureate, the NH governor had a choice between an established literary writer, and a retired dentist who wrote poetry about sex with Condoleezza Rice. Guess who he picked?

Numbers & Trends

Award News

Pop Cultured

San Diego Comic Con

All Things Comics

Audiophilia

Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists

Children/Teens

Adults

Bookish Curiosities

Level Up (Library Reads)

Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.

 

Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you next week!

–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading The Need by Helen Phillips.

Categories
Audiobooks

Moving Mayhem + Magical Librarians

Hola Audiophiles!

Can you hear me?! I’m over here under this pile of moving boxes! I’m packing up my life as I get ready to haul it all to Portland, waging a war against time, cardboard, paper cuts, and the dimensions of a moving van.

Because I love a bit of escapism when stress starts to mount (WHAT STRESS WHO IS STRESSED EVERYTHING IS FINE), this week’s theme is fantasy audiobooks. Magical librarians! Dangerous books! Demons who wear tuxedos when they aren’t posing as cats!! All of that is in my latest listen, and I’ll hit you with some bonus recs.

Ready? Let’s audio.

Sponsored by TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.

TBR is Book Riot’s new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “stitchfix for books?” Now it’s here!

Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. Sign up here.

Latest Listens


Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson, narrated by Emily Ellet – Orphaned Elisabeth Scrivener was raised in a magical library where she’s apprenticing to be a Warden, a sword-wielding protector against sorcery and monstrous books. When her mentor and library Director is found dead, Elizabeth’s attempts at intervention get her labeled as a traitor. When she’s hauled off to the capital to learn her fate, something smells like sabotage: the good guys might be bad guys and the bad guys might be good guys, like the sorcerer she thought to be evil who suddenly looks maybe sort of kissable? She’ll have to enlist his help to clear her name and crack a decades’ old conspiracy, with a couple of demon companions along for the ride.

Narrator Note: Emily Ellet is new to me, but you might know her from R.J. Palacio’s White Bird or What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About by Mchele Filgate. So far I really dig the voice she gives to sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn in particular. It’s really dudely but serves to remind me that Thorn is only 18 and thus an acceptable love match for 16-year-old Elizabeth.

Other fantasy audiobooks you might enjoy:

The Six of Crows series by Laigh Bardugo – A merry band of (maybe criminal?) misfits come together for the one heist to rule them all, one none of them can afford to refuse. Narrated by an ensemble cast that perfectly matches each of these dynamic characters

Nocturna by Maya Motayne, narrated by Kyla Garcia – A Latinx-inspired fantasy featuring a face-shifting thief and a grieving prince who accidentally unleashes a terrible evil. Fun! I’ve critiqued some of Kyla Garcia’s other work, but think she did an overall great job here.

The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, narrated by Susan Duerden – Yes, more magical librarians! Well, sort of. In this first installment of the Invisible Library series, the Library is a mysterious organization and librarian Irene is one of its secret agents. You get stolen books, forbidden cities, even a dragon to keep things interesting. I love this narrator so much! Feels like the voice behind the elevator at the Ministry of Magic: “Department… of Mysteries.”

Listens on Deck

So… about that moving grind. My reading is taking a big hit right now, though I audio when I can. I need something to keep me motivated while I pack, clean, and organize: maybe a super funny listen, a riveting thriller, or a gripping piece of true crime?

Titles I’m toying with are:

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I Was Told There’d be Cake by Sloane Croasley

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (I know, I know: I’ve been slippin’!)

Thoughts?

From the Internets

Feeling romantic? Peep this roundup of YA summer romance audiobooks from AudioFile.

Oh happy day! Your Libby audiobooks work with Apple CarPlay.

Audible is rolling out a captions feature and publishers are big mad. Decide for yourself, but I do think they may have a point.

Over at the Riot

My Read Harder podcast buddy Tirzah Price joined Matthew Winner on this week’s Kidlit These Days! The episode is all about kid lit and audiobooks: lots of amazing recs plus links to relevant info on audiobooks + children’s literacy.

A piece from editor Kelly Jensen on her audiobook reading life: how audiobooks transcend format and her own habits.

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
Kissing Books

The Queer Cinderella Of Our Dreams

Y’all, I have the sequel to Ashley Poston’s Heart of Iron in my hands and it’s taking so much to leave it where it is until I finish writing this. (I haven’t been reading much YA, but this is a space opera retelling of Anastasia with an Android Dmitri hello.)

Sponsored by Shadow Mountain Publishing

Timothy Mayfield is ready to marry for love, but, since his personal finances are thinner than he’d like, he knows he’ll also need to find a wife with wealth. After receiving an unexpected inheritance, he is free to pursue his “perfect woman of over twenty characteristics. Maryann Morrington doesn’t match anything on Timothy’s list—except for wealth. An heiress in her own right, she is tired of men pursuing her only for her money. But at nearly twenty-two years old, and not a particularly stunning beauty, she can’t be as picky as her friend Timothy is.

Over on Book Riot

Do you like stories about heroines who are older than their love interests? Check these out.

I’ll admit, I’d forgotten about the Omegaverse lawsuit. But reading up on it? Hoo, doggie.

Romance readers are great at finding new things to read, but just in case, check out this list of places to find more.

Do you like New Adult? Check out these queer stories.

Deals

cover of Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene FrostI was recently reminded about Jeaniene Frost, and I think other people should be, too. If you haven’t picked up her paranormal/urban fantasy about badass half-vampire Cat Crawford, Halfway to the Grave is 2.99 right now. Or if you’re mostly caught up, the most recent release, Up from the Grave, is 1.99. There are currently seven in total, so you’ve got plenty to read.

New Releases!

This week isn’t quite as…overwhelming…as last week was, but there are still so many books and I don’t know what to do with myself!

cover of Dithered Hearts by Chace VerityDithered Hearts
Chace Verity

I picked up Chace Verity’s contemporary romance Team Phison a couple months ago, if you might recall. And I was smitten. Of course, once I realized that they also wrote fantasy romance, I couldn’t wait to read the next one. And it did not disappoint.

Cynthia isn’t sure about her gender. She doesn’t mind her pronouns, but she definitely isn’t a woman. But she’s not a man. But she doesn’t have much time to consider her options, because her living situation is basically shit. While she still lives on the farm that was in her family, she lives there as an abused servant—her stepmother remarried and her husband is the worst kind of person. Her stepsisters aren’t awful, but she doesn’t interact with them much beyond meals and chores. Her only respite is in Lord Gafford, who arrives before the prince’s great ball to tell her that he is her Fairy Godfather…and also hi, he’s trans and totally gets her gender stuff. (But with a lot more cursing.) He takes her, as his nonbinary child, to the ball, where she gets a different kind of view of both her stepsisters, and makes a friend. A royal friend, who’s not interested in marrying a woman.

That’s right, folks. This is the F/NB/F + M/M Cinderella Fantasy Romance of your dreams.

(Well, after the content warnings: physical abuse, gaslighting, and manipulation. There are others in the front matter, if you need them.)

cover of Bodyguard to the Billionaire by Nana MaloneWhen you’re done devouring that one in a matter of hours, you can check out some other new releases:

Bodyguard to the Billionaire by Nana Malone

A Rainbow Above Us by Sharon Sala

One Fine Duke by Lenora Bell

***

Honestly, everything is coming out on the 30th. Brace yourselves for next week.

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, bookrecs, or just want to say hi!

Categories
Book Radar

Hulu to Make HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Series and More Book Radar!

Hello, all you cats and kittens! Welcome to another Thursday of bookish news and excitement. Are you excited about the Booker Prize longlist? There are a couple books I am DYING to read. Now, on to the newsletter, so I can get back to reading! I hope whatever you’re doing, you have a great rest of your week, and remember to be kind to yourself and others.  I’ll see you again on Monday. – xoxo, Liberty

Sponsored by a few of the summer and fall picks of the Class of 2k19 books, 20 authors, 20 MG and YA novels debuting in 2019.

THE GRIEF KEEPER: “A tender tale that explores the heartbreak and consequences of when both love and human beings are branded illegal.” – Fall JLG Selection
THE BEST LIES: “A gripping story of love, obsession, and the space in between.” – Kirkus Reviews
THE TENTH GIRL: “Faring’s exquisite prose weaves a tale that is both seductively eerie and wildly original.” —April Genevieve Tucholke, author of The Boneless Mercies
THE STORY THAT CANNOT BE TOLD: “By turns surprising, poetic, and stark, The Story That Cannot Be Told is one that should most certainly be read.”—Alan Gratz, NYT bestselling author of Refugee

Trivia question time!  Who was born Frederick August Kittel in 1945? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

the hitchhiker's guideHulu is getting ready for a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.

Here’s the first look at The Witcher with Henry Cavill.

And speaking of Netflix adaptations, here’s the first peek at Dracula.

And Viola Davis will star in Netflix’s adaptation of August Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

And the first trailer for HBO’s Watchmen series.

Marvel is relaunching the X-Men series. (Here’s a great Twitter thread of all the Marvel news that came out of the SDCC.)

Here’s the first look at the cover of The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet, coming next year. (I AM SO EXCITED.)

There’s an Ursula K. Le Guin documentary coming to PBS in August.

Lois Lowry is publishing her first book in verse.

An adaptation of the Heathen comic is on the way!

And so is a series adaptation of Barkskins by Annie Proulx.

Book Riot Recommends 

At Book Riot, I work on the New Books! email, the All the Books! podcast about new releases, and the Book Riot Insiders New Release Index. I am very fortunate to get to read a lot of upcoming titles, and learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Excited to read:

the glass hotelThe Glass Hotel: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf, March 24, 2020)

I mean, who isn’t excited about this??? This is her first novel since Station Eleven, which is still talked about all the time. This one says it is “a captivating novel of money, beauty, white-collar crime, ghosts, and moral compromise in which a woman disappears from a container ship off the coast of Mauritania and a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, dragging countless fortunes with it.” I CANNOT WAIT.

What I’m reading this week.

the vexationsThe Vexations by Caitlin Horrocks

The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation by Mark Bowden

The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Speaking of Summer: A Novel by Kalisha Buckhanon

And this is funny.

I have watched this 1000 times and I am still laughing.

Trivia answer: August Wilson. 

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
Today In Books

2019 Booker Dozen Announced! Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by THE LIGHTEST OBJECT IN THE UNIVERSE by Kimi Eisele, new from Algonquin Books.

The Lightest Object in the Universe cover image

2019 Booker Dozen Announced!

One hundred and fifty-one novels published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019 were judged and reduced to the Booker Dozen–the 2019 Booker Prize longlist! Book Riot favorite My Sister, The Serial Killer along with Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testament, have taken two slots! Check out the other 11 books here!

Vancouver Public Library Pulled From Parade By The Vancouver Pride Society

The Vancouver Pride Society cites their reason for denying VPL to enter next month’s pride parade is due to them allowing Meghan Murphy to give a speech in the library, which they believe gave Murphy a platform for her “transphobic hate speech.” For more on this story, including VPL’s statement, read on here.

Green Bookselling

Green Bookselling: A Manifesto for the BA, Booksellers, and the Book Industry, created by the U.K.’s Booksellers Association, calls on publishers to take an environmentally friendly approach while offering recommendations and commitments. You can read their three principles, ideas, and more on this green initiative here.

Categories
The Goods

Count of Monte Cristo Tees

You know him as the Count of Monte Cristo, but his friends called him Edmond Dantes. Celebrate the classic story with new tees!

Categories
In The Club

Boricua Book Club

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

How’s are all my club people doing? Are we all staying cool?! The San Diego sun decided this last week of July was a good time to remind us who the $#@! she is; my dashboard read 94 degrees before noon and frankly, I felt disrespected.

As for club business, I’m shaking up format again. What do we think about focusing on one theme every week plus a sprinkling of news? I’m trying that out this week – as always, let me know what you think.

Ready? To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

A mesmerizing and witty debut novel about a young woman growing up between two disparate cultures, and the singular identity she finds along the way. Yara Rodrigues Fowler takes us through first love and loss, losing and finding home, trauma and healing, and various awakenings of sexuality and identity. Hypnotic and bold, Fowler will leave you craving for more. Stubborn Archivist is a novel you won’t soon forget.

Question for the Club

One week left in this month’s query, here it is for you again. Send your responses to vanessa@riotnewmedia.com!

a book left open on a sandy beach

This Week’s Theme: Puerto Rican Reads

I am a little obsessed with this awesome interview with Ann Dávila Cardinal, author Five Midnights which I’ve been meaning to read for months! I’m even more hyped to pick it up after getting Dávila Cardinal’s perspective on assimilation, straddling identities, the Puerto Rican diaspora, and of course: El Cuco. 

Inspired by the interview, I’m recommending some reads by Puerto Rican authors. Boricua Book Club, if you will! Friendly reminder that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, yet we “other” the island and leave it out of… well, many conversations. I picked these because they’re a mixture of history lesson and social commentary; you’ll want to discuss why people assimilate, whether “white passing” is an accurate term and the privilege it entails, the reasons people leave their countries of birth, and more.

Book Club Recs:

Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal – This horror + mystery mashup is based on the El Cuco myth set and set in modern day Puerto Rico. A young woman visits Puerto Rico from Vermont for the summer to spend time with her family and soon finds herself wrapped up in one of her tío’s murder cases.

  • Book Club Bonus: Compile a list of Latinx monsters//demons/mythical creatures (i.e. the things that kept us Latinx kids up at night!!). Assign one to every club member to share its origin story with the group. Examples: el cuco/el cucuy or la llorona. If I had to suffer it, now you do too.

War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A Dennis – I pulled this one straight from the interview because it sounds so essential. A deep dive into the 1950 revolution in PR and the long history of U.S. intervention on the island.

  • Book Club Bonus: Make a flashcard quiz to test everyone’s knowledge of basic PR history and/or problematic U.S. involvement in PR and other countries

Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera – Lilliam Rivera is one of my favorite contemporary Latinx writers of YA, and not just because her latest features a girl gang called Las Mal Criadas. It’s a dystopian novel set in a female-dominated society that explores sisterhood, survival, and whether society can ever thrive when any one group dominates the rest.

  • Book Club Bonus: Come up with your own girl/boy/group gang name!

Related:

If you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on in Puerto Rico, you should. Thousands have taken to the streets not only in San Juan but here in the U.S. as Governor Ricardo Roselló refuses to resign.

Broaden your perspective even more with this list of Puerto Rican Writers, Poets and Essayists

Suggestion Section

Once upon a time, Oprah had the only club on the block making giant waves in book sales. Now celebs like Reese Witherspoon and Barack Obama are driving sales and changing careers too.

“This is a book club. We’re gonna drink some alcohol, we’re gonna talk about some books, we’re gonna get a little petty.” So goes the opening line of Roxane Gay’s Vice book club discussion of Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. Actual book lover’s gold!

Voting is open for Round Dos of Jimmy Fallon’s summer book club and my, is it murder-y! You have until tomorrow (July 25) to cast your vote. Pick your favorite murder.

Check for allergies and prepare for digressions! What one Rioter learned leading a kids book group.

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
Riot Rundown

072419-MomsBoyfriend-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Mom’s Perfect Boyfriend by Crystal Hemmingway, a smart romantic comedy told in an addicting, fast-paced style.

Perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Maria Semple, a smart romantic comedy about mothers and daughters, told in an addicting, fast-paced style.
Crystal has trouble saying no to her lonely, single mother. So when Crystal finds herself jilted, homeless, and unemployed, she is forced to move in with the person who caused it all: her mother.
Desperate for some independence, she hatches a foolproof plan: get an experimental android to play her mom’s “perfect” boyfriend. It’s only a matter of time before her mom finds out, and Crystal will never live down the hilarious and disastrous consequences.

Categories
Unusual Suspects

Starts With A Murderer’s Confession…

Hi mystery fans! This week I have for you a great thriller-ish whydunnit, a dark edge-of-your-seat thriller for horror fans, and a British police procedural!

Sponsored by The Two Lila Bennetts by Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton.

The Two Lila Bennetts cover imageWhen she came to a crossroads, she took both paths. From bestselling authors Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton comes a riveting story of one woman’s past mistakes… with two unexpected endings. Read The Two Lila Bennetts. Prime members read for free.

Starts With A Murderer’s Confession… (TW past attempted murder suicide, discussions/ past domestic abuse mentions/

When I Am Through With You cover imageWhen I Am Through with You by Stephanie Kuehn: Ben Gibson starts by telling us he murdered his girlfriend, as he’s currently in juvenile detention, and takes us through the story. While this one started off by giving me vibes of the show You, it quickly turned into something else filled with twists, reveals, explorations of trauma and mental illness, and a reminder that I have zero desire to go camping. I’m not saying much on plot because for me I really enjoyed just starting off with Ben telling me what he’d done and then letting him walk me through the whole thing. I will say that I really enjoyed the audiobook–I recommend it if you liked the show You‘s style of Joe narrating. Just note it’s a different character–and this one works well for fans of whydunnit and YA relationships.

A Mystery Thriller For Horror Fans (TW suicide, including murder suicide and assisted/ graphic violence/ stalking)

Theme Music cover imageTheme Music by T. Marie Vandelly: This started out completely bonkers–sole survivor of a family massacre moves back into her childhood home where the massacre took place–and turned into a great exploration of trauma. Dixie Wheeler was a baby when her father murdered the entire family with an ax before turning the ax on himself. Now, a grown adult, she impulsively decides to move into the childhood home where the event occurred and finds herself suddenly questioning if maybe her uncle, the only person who believed her father was innocent, wasn’t on to something… With the house appearing to be haunted, Dixie hearing her long dead family members, her boyfriend having none of her new antics, and her aunt furious she would move into that house, Dixie starts digging into the case, starting with finding the now retired detective who’d worked on it. This one works really well for fans of dark mysteries, psychological thrillers, and horror–you’ll be kept on the edge of your seat and on your toes the entire time.

British Police Procedural! (TW suicide/ mention with detail sexual harassment/assault at work)

Stone Cold Heart cover imageStone Cold Heart (Cat Kinsella #2) by Caz Frear: I’m going to start by saying something I never say: you have to start with the first book, Sweet Little Lies, where Detective Constable suspects her father is suspect numero uno in her murder case because this book reveals the solve. Okay, now onto the sequel book in the series: DC Cat Kinsella is working on a murdered Australian woman case where the suspect offers his wife as an alibi and the wife says, “Nope, he wasn’t with me.” I know! You’re taken through the case in its entirety, with plenty of police scenes, while also getting a look at Kinsella’s private life which has family drama (they’re not upstanding citizens) and her boyfriend, who she’s keeping a secret because you’re not supposed to date a previous case’s victim’s relative. Kinsella is observant, judgmental, and snarky and you get to hear all her thoughts as she navigates around London working on the case, interviewing witnesses and suspects. A great read for fans of British procedurals and bonus: both books have a great narrator, Jane Collingwood, on the audiobooks.

Recent Releases

Beijing Payback cover imageBeijing Payback by Daniel Nieh (Current read: Really enjoying this story about a college student who finds out after his dad’s murder that his dad had secrets. Ewan Chung does a great narration on the audiobook.)

Lady In The Lake by Laura Lippman (Current read: Lots to like so far including middle-aged reporter looking into a missing woman case in 1960s Baltimore.)

The Tell Tail Heart (Cat Cafe Mystery #3) by Cate Conte (Cozy mystery)

My Friend Anna cover imageMy Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams (Looking forward to this nonviolent true crime.)

Temper by Layne Fargo (Psychological thriller)

It All Falls Down (Nora Watts #2) by Sheena Kamal (Paperback) (Great PI series: Review) (TW rape/ suicide)

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
True Story

A Fake Heiress, Endangered Salmon, and Internet Slang

Hello nonfiction friends! Since last arriving in your inbox, I have survived a heatwave, hauled fallen tree limbs, and KonMari’d more than 100 books from my overflowing shelves. It feels like it should be the weekend, and it’s only Wednesday.

Sponsored by TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations

TBR is Book Riot’s new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “stitchfix for books?” Now it’s here! Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. Sign up here.

This week is another slower one in the world of publishing, but I’ll take it. I have three new books to feature including a highly-anticipated memoir about a con artist in New York City, an exploration of the danger facing wild salmon, and a peek at the world of language on the Internet. Let’s get going!

My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams – There are few things I love more than a good con story, so of course this book has been on my radar. Rachel DeLoache Williams’s friend Anna Delvey claimed to be a German heiress and, for a while, her luxurious lifestyle supported the claim. But after a series of financial mishaps to the tune of $62,000 on a vacation, Williams learned her friend had been deceiving her… and almost everyone else. Shocking rich people problems!

Further Reading: Williams published an essay about her friendship with Anna on Vanity Fair back in 2018. I expect the memoir will expand on all the juicy details.

Stronghold: One Man’s Quest to Save the World’s Wild Salmon by Tucker Malarkey – This book is a profile of Guido Rahr, “an unlikely visionary and his protect the world’s last bastion of wild salmon.” Rahr’s quest began when he started noticing a decline in the salmon runs of the Pacific Northwest where he fished, but goes on to explore the world of wild salmon through the eyes of “scientists, conservationists, Russian oligarchs, corrupt officials” and more. The marketing copy compares the book to Mountains Beyond Mountains and The Orchid Thief – two of my favorite books about obsessions – which has me pretty psyched.

Further Reading: Outside Magazine included the book on a list of favorite summer reads of 2019, which includes some other great titles too.

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch – I love a good language book. In this one, Gretchen McCulloch, an internet linguist, explores “how the internet is changing the English language, why that’s a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are.”

Further Listening: McCulloch co-hosts a podcast called Lingthusiasm, described as “a lively, nerdy, language-y conversation with real linguists!” I’m mad I didn’t know about this until today, but of course I am going to listen immediately.

Even during the slow season in publishing, it’s exciting to find some additional reads for your TBR. Here are a few more on my radar:

And that’s the end of today’s newsletter! You can find me on Twitter @kimthedork, on email at kim@riotnewmedia.com, and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. This week we talked about a bunch of books celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. It’s out of this world! – Kim