Happy Friday! It sure has been a week, hasn’t it? It’s Alex, and I’ve got some new releases for you to check out, and a couple angry feminist reads to carry you into this long weekend. I hope you have some barbecue and SAFE fireworks in your future (if you’re in the US, at least) and I hope you get to spend it with people you love. Stay safe and fire-free out there, shipmates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.
Bookish Goods
“No Admittance Unless on Party Business” sign by IndustriArtEngraving
A wonderful interpretation of Bilbo’s classic sign from Lord of the Rings, which I think would look very cute hanging on anyone’s wall. $40
New Releases
The Dream Runners by Shveta Thakrar
Tanvi was kidnapped and made into a dream runner for the realm of Nagalok seven years ago. With no memories or emotions, she and the other runners collect mortal dreams for the naga court’s entertainment. But when Tanvi suddenly recovers some of her memories during a dream harvest gone wrong, she turns to the only person she can think of in Nagalok: Venakt, the dreamsmith. But together, what they begin to figure out a terrifying truth that may turn dreams to nightmares.
Drunk on All Your Strange New Worlds by Eddie Robson
The Logi are telepathic aliens who maintain a diplomatic presence on Earth. Lydia, a woman with few qualifications and fewer talents, works as the translator for the Logi cultural attaché, interpreting his thoughts into English. But when something terrible happens to the Logi, she finds herself in the middle of a locked room mystery that she is also deeply unqualified to handle… but she’d better figure it out if she wants to avoid jail.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
As we head into the holiday weekend, I’m feeling both angry and feminist, so how about a couple of books appropriate to that mood?
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
This entire series is brilliant and heartbreaking an so, so rightfully angry about the state of the world. On an Earth where “fifth seasons” are created by life-destroying geological disasters, those who have the power to control stone should be heroes… but instead they are feared, used, and controlled. A woman with these skills, hiding in plain sight, weaves together the story of past and present as she pursues her daughter, kidnapped by her husband after he murdered their son.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
In a world that seems just like our own, a strange thing happens: one day, women spontaneously develop the ability to deliver massive electrical shocks with a touch, ones that can cause agony or even death. What they do with this new power is up to each woman, but… it certainly doesn’t go well for the patriarchy.
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.