Month: November 2021

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Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date November 19, 2021

Maureen Goo Announces Next YA Novel THROWBACK: Today in Books

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date November 18, 2021

Sponsored by HarperPerennial, publisher of You Feel it Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson

Jesse Eisenberg and Lizzy Caplan to Star in Fleishman is in Trouble

Jesse Eisenberg and Lizzy Caplan have signed on to star in the FX on Hulu limited series based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel Fleishman is in Trouble. The story follows forty-something Toby Fleishman, who is recently separated and diving into the world of app-based dating. Meanwhile, his ex-wife, Rachel, has disappeared, leaves him with the kids. Eisenberg will play Toby, and Caplan has been cast to star as Libby, the narrator of the story and Toby’s friend whom he reconnects with after his separation. Author Brodesser-Akner will write the TV adaptation of her own novel. This marks the author’s television writing debut. A premiere date for the show has not yet been determined.

Maureen Goo Announces Next YA Novel Throwback

Earlier this week, author Maureen Goo tweeted some big news: her next YA novel Throwback will be published by independent publisher Zando Projects in 2023. Pitched as Back to the Future meets Ladybird, Goo’s new novel sees second-generation teen Sam Kang transported back to the 1990s, where she meets the teenaged version of her mother. Goo tweeted, “I’m working with the wonderful @Tiff_Liao, a perfect match made possible by Faye Bender at @thebookgrp Can’t wait for you all to meet Sam and Priscilla! (And…Jamie).”

Nick Brooks Receives 7-Figure Book Deal for YA Thriller

Emerging filmmaker Nick Brooks has sold his first young adult thriller in a seven-figure book deal. The novel Promise Boys is the story of three boys at a Washington, D.C. charter school who investigate the murder of their principal. The story in drawn in part by Brooks’ own experiences as a teacher working with high-risk kids. Henry Holt Books for Young Readers expects to publish the book in 2023.

Announcing the Winners of the 2021 National Book Awards

Here are the 2021 winners of the National Book Awards, across five different categories.

Unusual Suspects

Best Mystery Books Coming Out in 2022

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date November 18, 2021

Sponsored by Kindle Unlimited - 4 months of unlimited Mystery books for $4.99.

With a Kindle Unlimited membership, you can read as much as you want from an ever-growing selection of over two million eBooks, thousands of audiobooks, comics, short reads, and up to three magazine subscriptions. Our selection has just got even bigger and better with hundreds of exciting titles we’ve recently added to our catalog including Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris, The Passenger by Lisa Lutz and more. For a limited time, get 4 months of unlimited reading for $4.99!

Hello mystery fans! It’s time for all the clickable links for mystery lovers including news and roundups–and a blockbuster 2022 title! If you’re like “Where are the ebook deals?”, I didn’t forget! They’re technically now in their very own special mystery deal newsletter which you’ve probably already noticed.

From Book Riot and Around the Internet

Chilly and Killy: 10 Great Wintery Thrillers to Delight and Frighten You

Dark Mystery & Thrillers Because Who Needs Sleep?

Best Mystery Books Coming Out in 2022

‘Delicious caper’ by Jesse Sutanto wins Comedy women in print award

Ann Cleeves on her literary path, not meddling in TV adaptations

Vote in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards

16 of the Best Historical Mysteries

Patrick Radden Keefe has announced his next book: Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

Alma Katsu’s cover reveal for the paperback edition of Red Widow

Lisa Jewell revealed the cover for her upcoming The Family Remains

I’m so happy Hollywood Homicide and Hollywood Ending will once again be published (and I love the new covers!): Check out Kellye Garrett’s announcement.

Alex Segura’s Pete Fernandez PI novels will be getting audiobooks!

Tamron Hall on the Jada Pinkett movie she watches on repeat and the book that helped her with her own debut

On Book Riot’s new podcast, Adaptation Nation, we read it. We watch it. We talk about it.

Giveaway: Enter to Win a $250 Gift Card to Barnes a Noble: November, 2021

Giveaway: Win a $100 Amazon Gift Card (plus a Radish Swag Bag!)

We’re hiring an Advertising Sales Manager! Do you like books and comics? Does helping advertisers reach an enthusiastic community of book and comics lovers intrigue you? This might be your job. Apply by December 5, 2021.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Watch Now

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows on HBO Max: The sequel to Guy Ritchie’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes film is streaming if you’re a fan of action, adventure, and of course Sherlock and Watson. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, and Rachel McAdams. Here’s the trailer. And fingers crossed we’ll get the third film in 2022!

Recent Interests That May Also Interest You + My Reading Life

Reading: Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez / Body and Soul Food (Books & Biscuits Mystery #1) by Abby Collette

Streaming: The Owl House on Disney+

Laughing: A bot writes a romantic comedy

Helping: Former Rioter’s Book Drive hopes to “give every one of our 375 students a brand new book to read over winter break.” (Great list of books!)

Upcoming: Did I drop every single thing I was doing when a galley for Dolly Parton’s 2022 crime book landed on my doorstep? Like you don’t know the answer–because who wouldn’t?! Dolly Parton is a national treasure and she wrote a crime book. I know! And wait, there’s more exciting news: the book will release with a same titled album of new songs that Parton wrote for the book. I know! And the songbook is at the end of the book! It’s all super exciting. And let me tell you Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson is super entertaining! You’ll sit down thinking you’re going to squeeze in one quick chapter and in a blink you’ll be 100 pages in and wondering where the time went.

If you’re thinking that it will probably be a book written by someone else with Dolly Parton’s name on it, that is not the case. Dolly Parton’s personality, compassion, and especially humor shines through this book, as does her love of country music and her knowledge of the industry. It makes sense that someone as gifted as Dolly Parton in storytelling through song could partner with James Patterson to write a page-turner with ladies you’re going to fiercely love, and want to brunch with STAT.

Readers follow AnnieLee Keyes, a young woman who has just hitchhiked her way to Nashville hoping to finally catch a break and become a country singer. She’s feisty, funny, determined, and filled with talent. But the world seems more ready to chew her up and spit her out. It also does not help that danger keeps finding her… Readers can look forward to a novel that takes you into the country music industry, gives you romance, danger, action (the blockbuster movie kind where somehow no one ends up in the hospital), and friendships—including one that shows feminism is pulling those up behind you not lifting the ladder up behind you.

Come for the novelty that Dolly Parton wrote a crime novel and stay for the spitfire joy that is AnnieLee Keyes in this wildly entertaining book.

(TW attempted sexual assault/ brief recounting of unknown suicide or accidental overdose/ mentions of child abuse/ panic attack/ human trafficking, not graphic/ recounts domestic abuse without graphic details)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2021 releases. 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…

Post author By Tirzah Price
Post date November 18, 2021

The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenthood by Krys Malcolm Belc

Krys Malcolm Belc and his partner Anna wanted to have children. When their son Sean, whom Anna carried, was just a few months old, Krys found out he was pregnant with their second child. This experience of being nonbinary while going through the medical system for pregnancy and childbirth clarified to Krys his own gender identity, as he felt like his experiences didn’t always fall under the umbrella of “motherhood.” In a series of probing essays, Krys deconstructs his experience with pregnancy and what it means for him, his family, and his identity.

This is a beautifully written and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to nonbinary and trans, and how the world isn’t always set up for those who don’t fall into the boxes society prescribes. It highlights many of the practical barriers to queer and trans parents, but it’s also a deeper look into Krys’s own coming of age and coming to be process, as he reckons with many facets of his identity and confronts his relationships with his parents, siblings, partner, himself, and ultimately, his children. Carrying his son gives him clarity to start taking testosterone, and the confidence to live his authentic self, but the journey isn’t always clear. I’ve not been so mesmerized by a memoir since I read In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, and if you’re looking for a read alike to that book, this is it—literary, nonlinear, but ultimately an absorbing look at queer life and identity, and the formation of a family.

Happy reading!
Tirzah

By the way, we’re hiring an Advertising Sales Manager! Do you like books and comics? Does helping advertisers reach an enthusiastic community of book and comics lovers intrigue you? This might be your job. Apply by December 5, 2021.

Swords and Spaceships

Cozy SFF Reads to Read Under a Blanket

Post author By Alex Acks
Post date November 18, 2021

News and Views

Bill Nighy to narrate Terry Pratchett’s footnotes in new Discworld recordings

Welcome to the Family: An Open Letter to Old and New Fans of The Wheel of Time

Predator Prequel Starring Indigenous Actress Amber Midthunder Reveals Title Prey, Summer 2022 Release Date

Tobias S. Buckell has a new short story collection coming!

Amazon has made its picks for best SFF for 2021

Unstuck in Time: the Kurt Vonnegut documentary 40 years in the making

Plot point that’s already appeared in SFF and will no doubt appear in more: US officials: space station at risk from ‘reckless’ Russian anti-satellite test

On Book Riot

This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast has some recommended picks for gifting this season.

Out of this world SFF short story collections

Who writes the books in video games?

9 binary-breaking books by intersex authors

Queer books are a hydra: an anti-censorship manifesto

It’s time to vote in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards

Comics have a real colorism issue

Don’t forget to check out our new podcast Adaptation Nation, all about TV and film adaptations of your favorite books!

This month you can win a selection of spicy sequels and a $200 Barnes and Noble gift card, a $100 Amazon gift card and a Radish swag bag, and a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

Free Association Friday: Cozy Reads

It got really chilly for the first time this season today, so is it any wonder I just want to curl up under a blanket with one or both cats and read a good book? We’ve got a long winter coming, and it’s that time to do some comfort re-reading. Here are a selection of my personal favorites.

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

Beatrice is a sorceress in a land where the magic of women is considered to be dangerous, something that must be locked away with a collar once she’s married, because the pregnancy of female mages has supposedly produced unfortunate results. She would rather not marry at all, but her family is as desperate for money as she is to practice magic. Still, she pursues her dream until another sorceress from a foreign land snaps up the grimoire that she was going to use to become a Magus… and then she meets that woman’s brother and falls unfortunately in love. She has to decide which dream to sacrifice… or find a way to have both.

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Humans left Earth hundreds of years ago in the Exodus Fleet and have spread through the galaxy since then. But the Exodus Fleet remains in a stable orbit around an alien star, forgotten history for many humans, but the cherished home of those who remain. The lives of several people intersect–space born and planet born–as the fleet tries to find meaning in its continued existence as a home for any human who cares to return.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an Amrithi outcast and a governor in the empire that conquered that people. Her Amrithi heritage gives her magic she barely understands but the empire fears, magic that may allow her to talk to gods. As a way to control her, she’s married to another Amrithi in service of the oppressive empire, a man she barely knows. But these two find more in each other than they could have ever guessed possible–life and resistance. Also, you can read about Mehr’s sister in Realm of Ash.

Angelica by Sharon Shinn

Suzanna is chosen by her god to be the Angelica, the most powerful woman in the land, but to meet her fate she must marry a man she doesn’t know, who snatched her out of her campsite. Can she bring peace to a land that’s seen strangers for the first time in its history?

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

It was a coin flip between this and Seven of Infinities. What if Sherlock Holmes was an eccentric scholar in a far future where humans live in a collection of ring habitats? And what if Doctor Watson was actually a sentient ship discharged from military service after a traumatic battle? And what if the two of them meet over a murdered corpse?

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay

In pseudo-medieval France, a religious clash leads a bitter, jaded ex-mercenary to see the value of beauty in the world–and love.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Miryem belongs to a family of money lenders, though her father has proven incredibly bad at that job, since he won’t collect on debts. She takes over the business to save her family from starvation and quickly earns a reputation for “turning silver to gold” with her cool unwillingness to be put off. But when that boast catches the attention of the Staryk king who has been slowly freezing the land she lives in, she’ll have to use all of her cleverness to save herself, her family, and two kingdoms.

See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

True Story

It’s Awards Season, Baby!

Post author By Kim Ukura
Post date November 18, 2021

One Thing I Like

Turns out I’m not reading enough to tell you about a new book every week. Instead, I’m going to use this last bit of the newsletter to feature a thing that I like – hopefully with a nonfiction connection.

This week I want to highlight an episode of author Adam Grant’s podcast WorkLife (or maybe it’s called Taken For Granted – I can’t totally tell). Anyway! In this episode, he interviews Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father, Luis Miranda, about “finding harmony between creativity and productivity.” The interview is from back in July, around the time In the Heights was entering movie theaters, but it’s all evergreen content about creative process, family, and advocacy.

The nonfiction connection? Adam Grant is the author of several books. His most recent is called Think Again and is all about the ability to rethink and unlearn and know what we don’t know. All of that is so important right now.

For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork. Happy weekend!

Highly Engaged

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Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date November 18, 2021

111821-Tidesong-KidlitGiveaway

Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date November 18, 2021

We’re giving away five copies of Tidesong by Wendy Xu to five lucky Riot readers!

Enter here for a chance, or click the image below!

Sophie is a witch prepping for her entrance exams to the Royal Magic Academy, even though her magic is shaky at best. Frustrated with training, Sophie attempts a spell that goes wrong, accidentally trapping a water dragon named Lir on land.

Lir has no memory of where he came from, but is everything Sophie isn’t—beloved by Sophie’s family and skilled at magic. With his help, Sophie might just ace her exams, but that means standing in the way of Lir’s attempts to regain his memories. Sophie knows what she’s doing is wrong, but without Lir’s help, can she prove herself?

The Stack

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Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date November 18, 2021

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Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date November 18, 2021