Hello, Book People!
How are things? Any of you from Seattle? Because I’m in Seattle today! It’s my first time ever coming here. By the time you read this, it will be too late for you to give me any recommendations for this trip, but if you love Seattle, I’d love to hear your favorite things about it for next time I get to come. Seriously! You give me your Seattle recommendations, and I give you some book recommendations. Seems like a good deal? Let’s do this.
Book Deals and Reveals
 |
Cover reveal time! Check out the cover of Just My Type, a new novel by Falon Ballard. This one’s out from Penguin Random House on February 7th, 2023.
Here’s the cover for Queen Move author Kennedy Ryan’s next book Before I Let Go! You can get this one in November.
LGBTQ Reads had the exclusive cover reveal for Edward Underhill’s debut novel Always the Almost, releasing on Valentine’s Day, 2023.
And Tordotcom has released the cover of The Lies of Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi.
Anchor Books bought the US rights to Nicola Yoon’s first adult novel, a psychological thriller entitiled One of Our Kind. The novel is slated for a 2024 release.
This June, Marvel’s newest mutant superhero Escapade will join other LGBTQIA+ Marvel heroes as part of Marvel’s ongoing Marvel’s Voices series.
U2’s Bono has written a memoir, entitled Surrender, and he will be publishing it with Knopf this November.
Author Rick Riordan has spoken out against fans upset about casting choices for the upcoming Disney+ adaptation of his series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
In San Diego, an 8-year-old published a book about how a turtle got its shell, and he plans to donate the proceeds for art and music supplies.
Book Riot Recommends
I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!
Prepare Your Shelves!
The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Doubleday, July 12th)
Get ready for this one, because this might just be the best memoir you read all year long. Ingrid Rojas Contreras writes a memoir about magic, family history, grief, loss, ghosts, and incredibly powerful women. And she grapples with all of these subjects and more through humor and honesty. In other words, make room on your shelf right away, because this one’s out in just two short months.
In The Man Who Could Move Clouds, Ingrid Rojas Contreras tells a story of true magic, starting with her childhood raised in Columbia in the 1980s and ’90s. Her maternal grandfather was a curandero, a community healer gifted with the ability to speak with the dead, tell the future, treat the sick, and move the clouds. Rojas Contreras’ mother became a fortune teller and was the first woman to inherit “the secrets,” which is what the family calls their magic powers.
Rojas Contreras never though these “secrets” would be passed on to her, but after she suffers a head injury in her twenties that leaves her with amnesia, the family excitedly tells her that the same thing happened to her mother. Right before she gained “the secrets.”
When her grandfather dies, Rojas Contreras agrees to join her mother to disinter her grandfather’s remains. From there, the two women go on a journey back through their family history to their Indigenous and Spanish roots, the origins of “the secrets,” and those who thought the magic to be a curse.
What I’m Reading This Week
 |
The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe
Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
This is Not the Real World by Anna Carey
Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
Monday Memes
I mean, who among us hasn’t lost hours of sleep when they’re in the middle of reading a good book?
Other Things That Make Me Happy
I got to visit another cat cafe this weekend! Pictures forthcoming (I can’t help myself), but this one is Purrington’s Cat Lounge in Portland! I mentioned this last week, but I just love popping into cat cafes while I’m traveling. Nothing makes me happier than cats, let’s be real.
And Here’s A Cat Picture
 |
Speaking of cats! I’m missing Murray today. I can’t wait to go home and see him tomorrow! The best part of going home is seeing the cats again. Look how sweet he is sleeping on my Sailor Moon blankie!
Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful week, and as always, I thank you so much for spending your time with me today. You are truly the best!
💙 Emily