Month: December 2020

The Kids Are All Right

Kidlit Deals for December 23, 2020

Post author By Tirzah Price
Post date December 23, 2020

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Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date December 23, 2020

Audiobooks 12/24

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date December 22, 2020

Audio Lang Syne (I’m sorry)

**strums ukelele**

Oh the COVID-19 is frightful
But vacation’s so delightful
And since I’ve no place to go
Audio, audio, audio!

I’m actually off work for these last two weeks of the year and plan on using that time to catch up on books I’ve been meaning to read. I’m pretty excited and thought I would share my holiday listening list with you today. Without further ago, here are the audiobooks that will keep me company as I write cards, wrap presents, and cook tasty things.

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

This is the second book in the YA fantasy Camelot Rising series, which reimagines, as you may have guessed, Arthurian legend. In The Guinevere Deception, we first meet Guinevere, except she isn’t who we think she is: she’s a changeling come to Camelot to protect the kingdom, her real name and true identity a secret even to herself (not a spoiler). The Camelot Betrayal finds Guinevere trying to find her place in her adopted kingdom as she grapples with the price of progress and her own search for meaning. All the familiar characters make an appearance, but with all sorts of magical twists and unexpected romance. I feel like not enough people talk about this series and I can’t wait to dive back into this world!

Read by Elizabeth Knowelden (The Book of Dreams by Nina George, The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol, The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss)

Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani

This is a book I’m reading with Book Riot staff and one whose message I hope to internalize and put into practice more in 2021. Reshma Saujani is the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code and starts off by telling us about the time she quit her stable and lucrative career for a disastrous run for political office. She not only lost, she lost hard. That moment acted as a turning point in Saujani’s life and an epiphany: women are taught to chase perfection since childhood, and that pattern ends up holding us back in adulthood. Through a combo of personal anecdotes and some in-your-face statistics and studies, Saujani challenges readers, especially women, to embrace imperfection and live a bolder life.

Read by the author

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

I am high-key obsessed with spy stories and I love Bahni Turpin, so this audiobooks is kind of a no brainer for me. The fact that it comes highly recommended by several Rioters only made the decision that much easier! Marie is a young Black woman working as an FBI agent in the 1980s. She’s in a career rut when she’s approached by the CIA to spy on the president of Burkina Faso; she has her reservations, but figures she may be able to leverage some information of her own if she takes the gig. But as any spy novel aficionado worth their salt knows, that spy life is hashtag complicated: she finds herself sympathizing with her target and thus questioning her loyalties.

Read by Bahni Turpin (The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron, Dread Nation and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead…all of the things!)

Death in D Minor by Alexia Gordon

I’ve been in the mood for a cozy mystery set during the holidays, and it just so happens that the second book in the Gethsemane Brown series takes place over Christmas. Gethsemane Brown is a Black American classical musician who expatriated to an Irish village for a job when she was down on her luck in Murder in G Major. Then as one does, she made friends with a snarky ghost who helped her solve a string of murders and led a school orchestra to victory in a major competition. Now our whisky-drinking, music-playing sleuth in preparing for a little rest over the Christmas break—or not! Her ghost buddy has disappeared, her landlord’s wants to sell her cottage to a skeezy hotel developer, and the brother-in-law who’s shown up to visit unexpectedly has been accused of stealing a valuable antique. It’s up to Gethsemane to go undercover and solve the case.

Read by Helen Duff who also read most of the books in this series as well as a ton of work by Lisa Jewell (Then She Was Gone, I Found You, The Family Upstairs)

From the Internets

Say “I Do” to Love with 5 Wedding Audiobooks – I cosign C.L. Polk’s The Midnight Bargain!

Over at the Riot

at Audiofile: 8 great poetry audiobooks performed by their authors – You know how much I love listening to Danez Smith’s poetry out loud!

at BuzzFeed: 23 Audiobooks That Were Really Popular in 2020

at Libro.fm: 12 Bestselling Audiobooks Across Genres (solid list there!), plus How Real Booksellers Are Faring This Holiday Season: Part II

For my Procrastinator Posse: don’t forget that audiobook memberships make great last minute gifts! Go here for Libro.fm and here for Audible.

That’s all she wrote (literally)! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with with all things audiobook or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter and catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.

Vanessa

Today In Books

NY Libraries’ Most Borrowed Books Of 2020: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date December 22, 2020

NY Libraries’ Most Borrowed Books Of 2020

I love knowing the most popular checked out books at libraries and the three public library systems of New York City–Queens Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and The New York Public Library (Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island)–have released 2020s top borrowed books. Britt Bennett’s The Vanishing Half is The New York Public Library systems most checked out title and backlist titles that are still popular checkouts include Tara Westover’s Educated and Michelle Obama’s Educated.

The White Tiger Official Trailer

Aravind Adiga’s bestselling novel The White Tiger has been adapted into a Netflix film by Ava DuVernay, written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, starring Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Rajkummar Rao. And we have a trailer for the story about a driver for a wealthy Indian family with a plan to escape poverty.

The Magical Reality Of Nadia Will Be An Animated Series

Comedian and political satirist Bassem Youssef has written–along with Catherine R. Daly, with illustrations by Douglas Holgat–an upcoming children’s book The Magical Reality of Nadia. And it will also be a children’s animated television series by Powerhouse Animation Studios. No date on the adaptation, but you can purchase the book in February 2021.

2021 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists

Find out which books made it on the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards longlists.

True Story

New Releases + A Look Back

Post author By Alice Burton
Post date December 22, 2020

The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries: The Evidence and the People Who Found It by Donald R. Prothero

The next entry in Prothero’s 25 Discoveries series (previous works include fossils and dinosaurs) shares 25 vignettes concerning those who made discoveries that became important to our understanding of evolution. Seems a good book to dip in and out of, which is always a useful thing to keep on hand.

The Terroir of Whiskey: A Distiller’s Journey Into the Flavor of Place by Rob Arnold

Look. Some books I put on here for you, some books I put on for me, and some I put on because I assume someone somewhere is interested. But no, delving deep into any subject can be fascinating, and master distiller Arnold travels the world and tells you all about flavor, what farmers are doing, and what terroir is and why it definitely is not the word terror.

Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor

You might have heard of the Green Book, but if you haven’t, it was what offered Black American travelers some measure of safety from the 1930s to 1960s. The Green Book listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for them. Taylor’s book “shows the history of the Green Book, how we arrived at our present historical moment, and how far we still have to go when it comes to race relations in America.”

A Woman Like Her: The Story Behind the Honor Killing of a Social Media Star by Sanam Maher

In 2016, Pakistan’s first social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, was murdered in a suspected honor killing. Journalist Maher tells Baloch’s story and “depicts a society at a crossroads, where women serve as an easy scapegoat for its anxieties and dislocations.”

Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain

Historian Chatelain not only covers the history of fast food companies and their relationship with Black communities, but how those companies have historically exploited those communities. It “tells a troubling success story of an industry that blossomed the very moment a freedom movement began to wither.”

That’s it for this week! For more nonfiction reads, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Unusual Suspects

Under Radar 2020 Titles Not To Miss

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date December 22, 2020

Execution in E (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries #5) by Alexia Gordon

If any year were to need a cozy mystery marathon read, it would be this-year-I-refuse-to-name. Anyhoo, this is a fun series with a helpful ghost that will let you armchair travel to Ireland. (Review)

The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristin Lambert

If you’re so absolutely over this year that you’d like to be immediately transported into another, enjoy New Year’s Eve 1929 in a New Orleans speakeasy. Don’t mind the murder. (Review)

What You Don’t See (Cass Raines #3) by Tracy Clark

This is a recent P.I. series with an ex-cop lead who is still friends with her ex-partner, manages the apartment complex she lives in, and has a nun for a friend. Every book has been a satisfying mystery, with a character I enjoy spending time with, that leaves me wanting the next book. And if you want a marathon, three books is totally doable. (Review)

Three by D.A. Mishani, Jessica Cohen (Translation)

I very much recommend getting to know Mishani’s work, and his latest is perfect for fans of suspense who don’t want to know the ride they’re on until it’s too late. (Review)

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

This was so intense towards the end that it successfully transported me from an IRL tense world to a fictional one where I was yelling (out loud like anyone could hear me), “Look out!” If you like YA mysteries with true crime podcasts enjoy! (Review)

A Deadly Inside Scoop (Ice Cream Parlor Mystery #1) by Abby Collette

A cozy, with a ton of descriptions of ice cream I needed to get in my pie hole immediately. The bonus for me, this year, was that it had a really nice family and was very low on drama, meanness, etc, even though there was a dead body. (Review)

Vera Kelly Is Not A Mystery (Vera Kelly #2) by Rosalie Knecht

Knecht started the series with a spy novel unlike the rest and now transitioned into a P.I. series, both books focusing on history rarely used in historical fiction. If you like character driven books, the series is great; if you need more speed, start with the sequel. Either way if you need a fresh, new voice, grab these books. (Review)

Premeditated Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #1) by Elizabeth C. Bunce

And here is an absolutely delightful historical British mystery following a teen detective with a passion for criminal science. Think Enola Holmes and Flavia de Luce levels of enjoyable. (Review)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming releases for 2020 and 2021. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, 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.

Read This Book

Read This Book: FESTIVUS: THE HOLIDAY FOR THE REST OF US by Allen Salkin

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date December 22, 2020

Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us by Allen Salkin

Are you ready to take out Santa and throw away the Elf on the Shelf? Then it’s time to add a little bitterness to your holiday season with Festivus. The holiday became a household name thanks to Seinfeld where Frank Costanza celebrated Festivus with a bare aluminum pole, “feats of strength,” and “airing of grievances. Soon, it transcended the show and inspired a global phenomenon. Join journalist Allen Salkin as he tastes Festivus beer, meets Miss Festivus while sharing all the ways Festivus is and can be celebrated.

If you’re wondering what’s the deal with Festivus, then you are probably not much of a Seinfeld fan. No worries, I was right there with you. It was just one of those Seinfeld plots that became part of the cultural zeitgeist. However, if you believe Festivus began in December 1997, then you are in for a rude awakening. People have been celebrating Festivus for centuries! Although not the Festivus as we know it, the raucous bacchanalian Festivus spirit apparently originated with the Romans.

The celebration as we know it began with Daniel O’Keefe. There was no pole, but there was an “Airing of Grievances” into a tape recorder and wrestling matches between younger Daniel O’Keefe and his siblings. The younger Daniel would go on to become a writer on Seinfeld where he adapted that family holiday tradition into the subplot of the now infamous Seinfeld episode “The Strike.” Although the episode was about Kramer’s strike against a bagel shop, it has become known as The Festivus Episode. In addition to the true origin story of Festivus, Festivus includes more insight and anecdotes about the episode, but the majority of Festivus is about how people around the world celebrate the holiday.

No matter your Festivus affiliation, you are sure to find something enjoyable in Festivus. For me, there was the foreword from Jerry Stiller along with the story about the cat named Festivus and her progeny Microfestivus. After reading this book, I have no doubt the future of Festivus is strong! I also predict many 2020 Festivus celebrations being overrun with the Airing of Grievances.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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What's Up in YA

Your YA Book News and New Books: December 24, 2020

Post author By Kelly Jensen
Post date December 22, 2020

YA Book News

Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land is being adapted for a TV Series.
The fantasy series “The Thief” by Megan Whalen Turner, which just saw its final installment come out 20-some years after the first volume, is also getting an adaptation.
Burn by Patrick Ness has a TV deal.
MK England’s The Disasters just announced series news.
Here’s the latest pick for Reese’s YA book club.
Netflix’s adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone is scheduled for April and there’s a teaser trailer to enjoy.
I do not believe this is going to hit the US (at least not yet!) but Frances Hardinge’s Cuckoo Song was picked up by Netflix UK.
Angie Thomas’s virtual tour for Concrete Rose looks awesome.
And here’s a trailer for the YA Black Canary novel by Alexandra Monir.

New YA Books This Week

I do not have a single book down for release this week! But because we’re not going to have an update next week, here’s a look at the books that’ll hit shelves next Tuesday, December 29.

Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir

Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson (paperback)

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (series, paperback)

The Grand Escape by Neal Bascomb

Just Our Luck by Julia Walton

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (series, paperback)

Light It Up by Kekla Magoon (paperback)

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (paperback)

YA Book Talk at Book Riot

Where to begin reading Jay Kristoff books.
12 great movies for YA readers.
Where to begin reading Brigid Kemmerer books.
Great YA books about dance.

Thanks for hanging out, pals. I hope you find the perfect books to curl up with to round out this year. I’ll see your inbox in the new year.

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

The Stack

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Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date December 22, 2020

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Post author By Devin Service
Post date December 22, 2020

Sponsored by Trusting Skylar by Susan Stoker.

Former military operative Carson “Bull” Rhodes hasn’t dated seriously since he left the army and opened Silverstone Towing—a front for his other job: hired killer. When Skylar Reid calls for help while stranded on the side of the interstate, the attraction is instant, but she’s not sure she can handle what he really does for a living. When Skylar faces threats that have nothing to do with Bull’s job, Bull will use everything he’s learned to protect the woman he loves. Read Trusting Skylar by New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker.