Month: April 2020
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In the Club 04/29
Sponsored by Scribner Books.
Now in paperback—one of Vogue’s Best Books of 2019
“Incisive, funny, and tinged with melancholy, the timely novel follows two lost but clever souls desperate for connection.” —Entertainment Weekly
“This timely and often very funny novel speaks to how the #MeToo movement swept Hollywood—and the comedy world in particular.” —LitHub
June Bloom is twenty-nine, broke, and an aspiring comedy writer. Hugo Best is a beloved late-night TV icon and notorious womanizer who invites her to his mansion for Memorial Day weekend. This is the story of their four days together, a “zippy…magnificent…devilishly fun ride” (Vogue).
Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. This week’s inspo comes by way of the gentle British cooking shows I’ve been using as a salve for anxiety during this pandemic. With that flavor of comfort in mind, this week’s book club suggestions are all about food.
Ready to get culinary? To the club!!
Nibbles and Sips, Seared to Perfection
I was craving a nice steakhouse dinner the other night and realized I could throw one together pretty quickly at home. I think it would be super fun to have a fancy dinner with your book club over video chat, it’s fun to feel fancy for a night these days!
- Cooking the perfect steak doesn’t take long at all which is great for the cooking fatigued. I like filet mignon and cooked it as instructed here. The gist of it is that the steak should be brought to room temp and patted dry before cooking, seasoned liberally all over, seared on both sides, then finished in an oven. (Unpopular opinion: I love A1 sauce and will absolutely smother my steak in it because it tastes good DON’T AT ME). My steak only cost me seven American dollars and it was delicious!
- Mushrooms in a wine sauce: Sauté some mushrooms (I used crimini) with some sliced shallots, garlic, and red wine. Season to taste and boom shaka laka, you’re done.
- Salad: Make yourself a wedge salad! Slice a hunk o’ lettuce and top it with crispy bacon and blue cheese dressing.
- Drinkity drinks: had to go the wine route here. A chose a big, bold glass of syrah to pair with that luscious steak plus a giant glass of water. We’re staying hydrated out here, okay?
Delicious Reads
Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl – This memoir from my foodie high priestess focuses on her time at Gourmet Magazine, during which she was tasked with revamping the publication while also trying to be a wife and a mother. It includes lots of wonderful recipes, too, from a decadent chocolate jewel cake to a quick, comforting noodles.
Book club bonus: discuss the unique challenges that women face with respect to balancing a career and running a household. This is especially relevant during this pandemic: raise your hand if you know a woman who’s shouldering all of the home and child responsibilities right now!
Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee – Edward Lee spent two years on the road traveling to every corner of the country in the pursuit of interesting stories about food. The result of that endeavor is this part memoir, part travel book that shines a light on how immigrants and refugees have shaped modern American cuisine. By all accounts, this is a work of beautiful food writing with truly intriguing interviews, conversations and 40 mouthwatering recipes.
Book club bonus: what did you learn about immigrants + food? Talk about this important impact and unpack how American food culture chooses so often to appropriate rather than uplift + appreciate.
Coming to My Senses by Alice Waters – In 1971, a 20-something woman opened a “little French restaurant” in Berkeley, California as a passion project. That woman is Alice Waters and that restaurant is Chez Panisse, the now iconic institution that’s largely considered America’s most influential restaurant. This memoir is a collection of stories, recipes, and letters that chronicles Waters’ evolution from “a rebellious yet impressionable follower to a respected activist who effects social and political change on a global level through the common bond of food.”
Book club bonus: There is so much to talk about in Waters’ journey: the catalyst for her early involvement in politics, her ascent into influential activism, and her brand of foodie excellence to name a few.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain – I had to include this one, okay? I just couldn’t not. Read it in print before? Do it now on audio. I actually teared up hearing his voice and immediately watches some Parts Unknown afterwards.
Book club bonus: Uncle Tony preaches many a word in this food writing masterpiece, so where to start? The restaurant industry’s treatment of immigrants? Its misogyny? Should we do away with brunch (sorry but the answer is no)?
Suggestion Section
Over at the Riot: how to join a book club online
Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel will join the L.A. Times Book Club on May 19
Veronica Roth’s Chosen Ones is The BuzzFeed Book Club’s May pick and you can read the first chapter online now.
There’s a Star Wars Show book club!
WaPo has been hosting a Wolf Hall book club since late march (my bad). If you’re either a super speedy reader or already read the book and want to join the convo, the book club chat schedule is here.
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, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa
Sponsored by Harper Paperbacks.
From New York Times bestselling author Kate White comes a gripping novel about one woman’s dangerous quest to recover lost memories someone would rather she never find. On a cold, rainy morning, finance journalist Ally Linden arrives soaked to the bone at her Manhattan office, only to find that she’s forgotten her keycard. When her boss shows, he’s shocked to see her—because, he explains, she hasn’t worked there in five years. Written with Kate White’s signature wit and twists and turns, HAVE YOU SEEN ME? is a thrilling and entertaining read, sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Hi mystery fans! I have a translated slowburn suspense from Korea, con women, and a graphic novel thriller where the cat and mouse game is literally up Mount Everest. Hopefully you’ll find some distraction in these books.
The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo, Jung Yewon (Translator): This is a slowburn suspense novel, with low grade creep factor, that doesn’t feel written for shock value but rather is an exploration of nature vs nurture. Seonkyeong is a recently married young criminal psychologist who finds her work and home life upended in different ways: an imprisoned serial killer suddenly decides he wants to talk, but only to Seonkyeong–this is why the book has comps to Silence Of The Lambs, which is the only similarity since tone and violence are all very different from each other. As she starts meeting with the serial killer, her home life suddenly changes when her husband’s young daughter, who she didn’t know of, has to come live with them. It seems that after the young girl’s mother died, and her grandparents took her in, her grandparents also died…
Readers follow as Seonkyeong tries to understand why the serial killer chose her, why her husband never mentioned a child, and questionable behavior from her stepdaughter. This is a great pick for fans of Kanae Minato and I really wish more crime novels would be translated. I love seeing the difference in society, investigation methods, laws, and even just the difference in what may be considered shocking or dark. (TW suicide mention/ child abuse/ animal cruelty)
Pretty Things by Janelle Brown: A layered crime novel that follows a con woman, Nina, and her mark, Vanessa, while exploring family, resentment, loyalty, and revenge. Nina grew up with a con woman mom who placed all her hope in her daughter never having to live that life and instead go to college and get a proper career. What Nina’s mom doesn’t know is Nina’s already a con woman. With a partner. So after her mom’s cancer returns and the treatment is too costly, Nina decides to pull a con that will solve their financial problems. Her mark? The sister of a high school boyfriend whose wealthy family ran her and her mom out of town years ago.
I’d say “let the games begin” but really this novel is more on the side of why people do what they do, giving us first row seats to the inner thoughts, behavior and life of Nina and Vanessa, alternating point of view between the two women now and their lives growing up. If you need something solid to sink into, this story will take you deep into the class war between these characters, while adding interesting things like what the life of a con woman and Instagram influencer are like. I recommend the multicast audiobook if you really want to be submerged into these women’s lives, dramas, and crimes. (TW parents with cancer, including death/ past child abuse/ mentions past molestation / past suicide, detail)
High Crimes by Christopher Sebela, Ibrahim Moustafa (Illustrations): This graphic novel has a hell of a premise and certainly one I’d never read before: two people who find dead climbers on Everest, chop off their hands to identify the person, then offer the person’s family a chance to get their loved one’s body back–for a fee of course. This is a crime thriller so, naturally, something goes wrong. The wrong just happens to be that a body they identify is from a secret agency and that agency is coming for the body and the retrievers. The cat and mouse game takes place mostly up Everest while you get flashbacks of the dead agent, slowly revealing more about the agency, and Zan Jensen, one of the “grave robbers”, who happens to be a disgraced Olympic snowboarder with a lot of baggage and demons that she’s kind of working through but definitely full-on struggling with.
I love graphic novels and find that even when I’m struggling to read ebooks/print I can always read a graphic novel. Plus, you get human and environmental dangers if you’re looking to get out of your head and your living quarters for a while. (TW torture/ addiction, overdose/ suicide, including thoughts, details)
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!
Until next time, keep investigating! 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.
Sponsored by Shadow of the Fox series by Julie Kagawa, published by Inkyard Press
Inspired by Japanese mythology, New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa weaves a stunning, high-stakes tale of alliances and deceptions, characters who aren’t what they seem, and secrets that could change the fate of the world in the epic Shadow of the Fox trilogy.
A great new series to pick up for fans of Marie Lu and Sarah J. Maas!
Happy Thursday!
Welcome to your weekly roundup of all things YA news, YA new releases, and YA talk. As usual, lighter on news than typical during this time period, but there’s still some stuff worth sharing.
YA News
- Love, Victor, the Hulu spinoff of Love, Simon, dropped its first trailer.
- Speaking of Simon, surprise! There’s a forthcoming novella set in the same world.
- YA author Patrick Ness is writing the script for the forthcoming Lord of the Flies adaptation.
- Marissa Meyer’s next book isn’t YA, but I suspect YA readers who love romance are going to love this news.
- Digital author events are not keeping the racists away. A disgusting experience for two YA authors of color.
- A new literary journal for teens and young adults in Ireland.
- The Virgin Suicides might not be YA, but I know it’s a film and book that has huge appeal to YA readers. Here’s a piece on the story’s 20th anniversary.
- No one is surprised that the Hunger Games prequel was already snapped up for adaptation.
New YA Books
This week’s new YA books for your TBR! A * means I’ve read and recommend it.
*All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (especially great on audio!)
A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callen
Clique Bait by Ann Valett
Dig by AS King (paperback)
Don’t Call The Wolf by Aleksandra Ross
Hard Wired by Len Vlahos
How To Be Luminous by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova (first in a new series)
These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling (paperback, first in a series)
The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala (paperback, first in a series)
*The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf (paperback)
YA Book Talk This Week
- Censorship at an Alaska school district.
- Quiz: Which YA Mythological Tale Should You Read Next?
- Read some Western inspired YA fantasies.
Hope you’re hanging in there, and we’ll see you again on Saturday for some excellent YA ebook deals.
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.
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New Releases: Frida Kahlo and Twitter
Sponsored by our Debbie Macomber prize pack giveaway! Enter here.
Looking for some cozy romance reads? We’ve got you covered! Book Riot is teaming up with Harlequin.com and Read Bliss to offer up a Debbie Macomber prize pack to one lucky winner, titles include: Texas Home, Learning to Love, Laughter in the Rain, Looking for a Hero, and Ready for Romance! Enter here.
How are you DOING, nonfictionite? I hope you’re taking care of yourself. I personally will be here to tell you about new and backlist nonfiction twice a week for the foreseeable future, so see that as a steady guidepost if nothing else. And also a way to learn about new nonfiction, which is still being published and we should uplift these authors, so HERE WE GO:
The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris by Marc Petitjean. This cover is so beautiful, I want to just stare at it for a while. Ok, so this book’s deal is: it’s the 1930s! Surrealism is king! Or at least very popular. Frida Kahlo is going to NYC for her first solo show, when her husband with impeccable timing tells her he wants a divorce and ALSO has been sleeping with her sister. Wow. Just wow. So she did what anyone in that situation should get to do: traveled to Paris. To read about what she did there, check out this book.
We Served the People: My Mother’s Stories by Emei Burell. Illustrated stories passed from mother to daughter about China’s Cultural Revolution! This movement lasted from 1966 – 1976 and shaped a generation in China. Burell’s mother tells her about her time driving a truck in the “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside movement,” offering a vantage point not frequently seen.
Twitter: A Biography by Jean Burgess, Nancy K. Baym. Are you a Twitter nerd? These academics sure are. This scant 144 page biography tells the story of Twitter’s evolution “from its origins as a personal messaging service to its transformation into one of the most globally influential social media platforms, where history and culture is not only recorded but written in real time.”
What We Carry: A Memoir by Maya Shanbhag Lang. The story of Maya and her mother. Her mom was a doctor who immigrated to America from India, and they were close for all of Maya’s life until Maya was becoming a mother herself and her mom suddenly withdrew. Maya soon discovers her mother is dealing with Alzheimer’s. The stories she tells become a catalyst for Maya to reexamine their relationship, her mother’s past and “the weight we shoulder as women.”
Earth Almanac: A Year of Witnessing the Wild from the Call of the Loon to the Journey of the Gray Whale by Ted Williams. Look at this DARLING BOOK. I’ve been dipping into this at night when I need something calming. Williams has a column in Audubon, and he writes vignettes about animals and the fascinating little things they do. Did you know skunk cabbage has been prescribed for whooping cough? And that coatmundis are VERY cute?
Stay inside if you can, nonfictionites. Wash your hands, wipe down your phone, and read read read (while also taking a break to prevent eye strain!). As always, you can find me on Twitter @itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time! Enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.
Prince Harry Celebrates Thomas the Tank Engine
Prince Harry, who on his first day of nursery school had a Thomas the Tank Engine bag, is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the children’s book by Rev. W. Awdry with a recorded message introducing a new animated Netflix series Thomas and Friends: The Royal Engine. You can watch the new show, and the animated royal family, on May 1st.
You Can’t Buy Magazines There Anymore
While Barnes & Noble has shuttered the majority of their 600 bookstores in the pandemic, that isn’t the only change: they will no longer buy and sell new magazines. For readers who purchased their single magazine issues from the bookstore they’ll have to hop on over to stores like Target, Walmart, and grocery stores, but this could hurt small publishers who rely on that B&N sale.
Support Lambda Literary
The organization behind the Lambda Literary Awards, who nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers, needs help: “For the first time in our history, we cancelled the annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony. We’ve also suspended our work that brings LGBTQ books and authors into schools and we’ve postponed numerous public gatherings.” In order to continue operating they’re asking for donations and are pretty close to their goal if you can and want to help.
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Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!
Sponsored by A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callen, with Fierce Reads.
For fans of Speak, If I Stay, and All the Bright Places comes a haunting and breathtaking YA contemporary debut novel that packs a powerful message: hope can be found in the darkness. “Achingly poignant . . . a love letter and a life raft to the brokenhearted.” –New York Times bestselling author Alison McGhee. “A necessary story . . . radiates with passion, honesty and love.” —National Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author An Na. “An exquisitely played love song to life, in all of its hurts, wonders, memories, and loves.” –Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days.
Welcome back to Tuesday, readers. It’s time for new books! At the top of my list of today’s titles that I want to read are Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World by Vivek H. Murthy, Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova, and The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds.
You can hear about some of the amazing new books coming out that I did get to read on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Patricia and I discussed The Knockout Queen, What Is Color?, All Boys Aren’t Blue, and more!
This past weekend, I finished watching the first 30 seasons of The Simpsons, which is just bananas when I say it out loud, lol. Now I plan to watch some newer Agatha Christie adaptations, and possibly reread all her books in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of her first book. I am in the mood for (fictional) murder.
As always, I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. Please stay inside as much as you can, but don’t forget that fresh air is good for you, so be sure to open your windows now and then. (And be sure to watch your pets and small children around them when they’re open.) And please reach out to your friends and family if you’re having a hard time – talking on the computer or phone is a great way to communicate right now! I wish you all wonderful reading during this hard time.
And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
Many years ago, when I worked at a bookstore, we did an event with the amazing author Adam Haslett, and someone asked him what he recommends people read. He said Amity Gage. It was one of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard. She’s a marvelous writer, and her stunning new novel about a couple that cashes it all in to live on a sailboat with their children, and the complications that arise in their marriage, is a smart exploration of motherhood, relationships, and societal expectations.
Backlist bump: The Folded World by Amity Gaige
Little Family by Ishmael Beah
If you listen to the show this week, you’ll hear me mention how I was just starting this novel. Well, ta-da! I finished it that night, and it is indeed great. It’s a look at five young people who live together in the relic of an abandoned airplane, the community they have built for themselves, and the dangers of the inevitable interruption from outsiders. Beah does a great job relaying images of the struggles of life in a postcolonial Africa.
Backlist bump: Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
No Man’s Land: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran Britain’s Most Extraordinary Military Hospital During World War I by Wendy Moore
Why is so little written about World War I, compared to all other wars? I don’t have an answer, but I am interested in all military history, which is why I picked up this book. It’s about two women physicians who broke barriers. Originally treating wounded soldiers in Paris, they were moved to London by the British Army, where they treated hundred of casualties. It’s a big deal, partly because prior to that, women were only allowed to attend to children and other women. The story of Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson is harrowing and inspirational, and a must-read for anyone interested in history.
Backlist bump: Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy
Thanks for subscribing! xx, Liberty
Categories
Best Books of the Year So Far
We’re rounding up our favorite reads of the year as they come out–shop the full list at our Amazon storefront!
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PA & NC TBR Tax Changes
Hello, reader friends!
We hope this finds you safe, healthy, and stocked up on reading material.
Just a quick heads-up that effective May 1, 2020, your TBR subscription will include sales tax, in compliance with your state’s regulations that require taxing of digital goods. You don’t need to do anything — this update will occur automatically in your next billing cycle.
Read on, and wash your hands.
Team TBR
Sponsored by We Are Water Protectors written by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade
Inspired by Indigenous-led movements, this lyrical picture book is an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. How the heck did we get through April so fast when March was a thousand years long?
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- How Bookshop.org has helped indie bookstores take a slice out of Amazon.
- Kensington Publishing is increasing the size of its mass market paperbacks in an effort to increase sales.
- Lambda Literary has put out an urgent call for donations.
New & Upcoming Titles
- Becky Albertalli has a Simonverse novella coming out on June 30th.
- Update on the tell-all book from Michael Cohen, which has yet to be sold to a publisher.
- New & upcoming books from Asian and Asian American authors.
- International crime novels, debut crime titles, and true crime titles for April.
- 11 books to watch for in May.
- 17 most-anticipated YA books to read in May.
- 22 best books to read this summer.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- How to Pronounce Knife: Stories – Souvankham Thammavongsa (New York, Washington Post)
- The Knockout Queen – Rufi Thorpe (Entertainment Weekly, LA Times)
- If I Had Your Face – Frances Cha (Washington Post)
- The Book of Longings – Sue Monk Kidd (Washington Post)
- Coyotes of Carthage – Steven Wright (Washington Post)
On the Riot
- How to make impactful purchases at your indie bookstore.
- The best places to find book recommendations on Reddit.
- An in-depth look at the enemies-to-lovers romance trope.
- A brief tour into the world of cozy mystery authors.
All Things Comics
- Due to the coronavirus, San Diego Comic-Con has been cancelled for the first time in 50 years.
- Sony is developing a film based on the One Punch Man series.
- 8 comics about being stuck inside.
On the Riot
- 20 of the best graphic novels for teens.
- Get up to speed with this guide to the X-Men characters.
Audiophilia
- The founder of Audible donated $1 million to launch a new meal delivery service in his hometown of Newark, NJ.
On the Riot
- 5 audiobook memoirs & essay collections written by bi+ women of color.
- New poetry audiobooks to listen to for National Poetry Month.
- How audiobooks helped this reader feel less lonely as a new parent.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- Green books for eco-minded kids and parents.
- 38 YA fantasy worlds to disappear into.
Adults
- Books with happy endings.
- 15 best mystery novels for any mood.
- 27 debut authors to read in quarantine.
- 7 books about living paycheck to paycheck.
- 21 great books from small presses.
- 6 books about women athletes.
- 10 memoirs to keep you company in isolation.
- 24 feminist books to read after watching Mrs. America.
- Required reading list for National Poetry Month.
- 36 great books you may not be aware of.
- 8 novels to make you question reality.
On the Riot
- 7 books for curious kids.
- 12 picture books for Earth Day.
- 8 picture books about nature.
- Picture books about changing seasons.
- Middle grade books that help kids unpack complex conversations.
- 15 of the best nonfiction books for middle graders.
- YA earworm titles to get stuck in your head.
- 6 of the best medieval YA titles.
- Funny self-help books.
- 10 cat behavior books if you’re having trouble adjusting to your new WFH coworkers.
- 5 quarantine reads to keep your inner activist alive.
- Parenting books to help you get through the pandemic.
- 8 awesome short story collections.
- 9 nonfiction books about nature and climate change.
- 5 nonfiction books that challenge COVID-19-inspired racism.
- 10 medieval and medieval-ish mystery novels.
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.
Virtual hugs. Stay safe, healthy, and relatively sane.
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently re-reading The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton.