Happy Tuesday, book lovers! As you read this, I am early in my reading vacation, and am hopefully shoving lots of amazing books in my brain. I have a houseful of books to choose from, so the odds are pretty good. (But just in case, I got more books, lol.) I am hoping that you had a good weekend, friend, and are reading books you love. I just want people to read books they will love and be happy. ❤️
Now, about today’s books: At the very top of my list of books to buy are Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel, Miss Chloe: A Literary Friendship with Toni Morrison by A. J. Verdelle, and I definitely need a copy of the best book of the week: The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris. (OMG it’s so cute.) And for this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I discussed Café Con Lychee, Forbidden City, The Hacienda, and more. And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Finally! This speculative sensation is now out in the world. It’s the first of two recs I have today featuring Hollywood starlets. Luli Wei is a Chinese American actress looking for her big break. But there aren’t many starring roles for her, and Hollywood is filled with monsters—seriously. A dark magic runs under the glitter and glamour. To get the great parts—and the girl she loves—Luli will have to become a monster to beat them at their own game. (CW for racism, sexism, violence, death, miscarriage, disordered eating, body shaming, chemical use and abuse, xenophobia and homophobia.)
Backlist bump: The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, #1) by Nghi Vo
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
One of the most reliably great authors of the last couple decades is Chris Bohjalian. He has a way with words and he crafts interesting, compelling stories. His most recent follows a 1960s starlet who travels to Tanzania with her new husband and their friends for her honeymoon. The back stories of these people are woven into a tale of danger, when things take a violent turn and the group winds up being kidnapped by Russian mercenaries. Politics and danger are combined masterfully with Hollywood and history to create an excellent read. I will say that it’s being billed as a thriller and I found it to be a bit too slow-moving to be thriller-y, but it’s still great. (CW for racism, violence, murder, and animal death.)
Backlist bump: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror by John F.D. Taff
And last but not least: What’s better than a horror story? A bunch of horror stories! Treat yourself to some scary stuff with this collection from Tor Nightfire, featuring several of the best in the genre writing today, such as Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, John Langan, and Josh Malerman. These are scary stories, so be warned that the collection features mentions of miscarriage, animal death, body shaming, disordered eating, sexual assault, violence, murder, and gore.
Backlist bump: The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume 1 edited by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
 |
This week: I’m currently reading ALL THE BOOKS. At least I hope so, lol. Early vacation reading plans include all of Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata and All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. Outside of books, I watched all of Our Flag Means Death (more, please!) and Slow Horses (more, please!), and I’ve started Midsomer Murders and the British version of Ghosts. (I *adored* the US remake.) The song stuck in my head is Cell Block Tango from the Chicago musical. And as promised, here is a cat picture: We’re currently stacking boxes to see how many Farrokh will sleep in at a time. Right now it’s up to eight.
Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! – XO, Liberty ❤️