Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with two new releases and some howlin’ good werewolf books for this spooky second week of October. We haven’t quite cracked open the candy corn over here yet, but it’s only a matter of time. (Yes, my housemate and I are known candy corn partisans.) And as we’re going into the cozier time of the year, I finally tried my hand at a mug cake (this one) and all I can say is I should have done this years ago. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.
Bookish Goods
Werewolf Warning Sign by SignsbyLindaNee
Since we’re having a werewolf day over at Swords and Spaceships, I thought this cute warning sign would do the trick. It’s only fair to let trespassers know that your property is protected by a trained werewolf, after all. $17 and up.
New Releases
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
Tesla Crane is a brilliant inventor and a fabulously wealthy heiress, and she finally has her chance to get out of the spotlight when she goes on a honeymoon cruise between the Moon and Mars. But when someone is murdered mid-cruise, her husband gets arrested as the chief suspect — and Tesla bends her intellect to proving his innocence and stopping the killer from striking again.
Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston
Cinnamon Jones longs to be an actress, following in the footsteps of her grandparents — unfortunately, she doesn’t have the talent for it, though she’s not going to let that stop her. She also has a book called The Chronicles of the Great Wanderer, which her brother gave her before he died. It’s the story of a Dahomean warrior woman and an alien at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. There seems to be little connection between these spheres of her life, until Cinnamon’s family is hurt by a violent act and she calls on her theater group to solve the mystery of it.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
No theme grabbed me by the throat with the new releases… so instead I’m going to go with a spooky October classic — werewolves! And these selections certainly run the gamut in tone, from mystery-horror to teen coming of age!
Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve
Z Chilworth has undergone a lot of changes in their recent life, from being genderqueer to waking up as a zombie after the car crash that killed the rest of their immediate family. After being rejected by their blood relatives, they move in with their mother’s friend, Mrs. Dunnigan, and makes a new friend — Aysel, a would-be goth who is also an unregistered werewolf. But when a local psychiatrist is murdered, apparently by werewolves, Z and Aysel must try to survive together in a town that has become even more hostile toward “monsters.”
Loups-Garous by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, translated by Anne Ishii
In a near future where the surveillance state reins supreme and no one has face-to-face meetings anymore (it’s all over the network — sound familiar?), a serial killer begins slaughtering junior high school students. The crackdown is swift and harsh. The latest victims have all been in contact with three young women, who take it upon themselves to find the killer — who just might be a werewolf.
Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens
I normally don’t do graphic novels, but this one is so sweet, I cannot resist. When Artie sneaks out of her house one night, she finds out that her mother is a werewolf — and thus she begins to learn everything about her family, and finds herself in a new community in which she thrives… and develops a crush on her new friend, Maya. But soon she discovers that werewolves aren’t the scariest things out there — vampires are.
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.