Happy Tuesday, star bits! I hope you are ready for great books! Today I have a literary-themed murder mystery, the tale of a haunted retired policeman, and a bananapants adventure with a wacky alien cult. I’m also excited that everyone will now be able to read Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash because if I had to sob my eyes out, you should too, lol. Seriously, it’s so beautiful — you should read it.
At the top of my list of today’s books to acquire are The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud, The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores, and Biography of X by Catherine Lacey. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Beyond That, the Sea, While You Were Dreaming, and Flux.
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And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Gaaaaaah, everything Barry writes is SO good. This is one of his shorter novels, but it’s still as wonderful and heartbreaking as his others. Maybe the most heartbreaking one yet. Tom Kettle is a retired Irish policeman in his sixties, living a quiet life in a castle annex with his memories and only occasional visits from his children. But when two police officers show up to discuss a case that has always bothered Tom, it brings old secrets to the surface. This is a look at the abuse of children at the hands of priests, the coverups, and the shame. It’s an important topic that still doesn’t get discussed (or prosecuted) enough, and Barry has skillfully and powerfully woven such injustice in with the story of victims, and family, and fading memory. (CW for discussion of child abuse and sexual assault, violence, murder, and suicide.)
Backlist: Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
The Raven Thief: A Secret Staircase Mystery by Gigi Pandian
This is the second book in the Secret Staircase series, but you don’t have to have read the first one to enjoy it. Tempest Raj works for her family’s construction company building really cool rooms, interiors, and hidden staircases for homes. Their latest build is a mystery novel-themed house. (Can you imagine??!) But as often happens in mystery novels, there is a murder in the mystery house. (Is that meta?) Tempest was one of the people invited to attend a séance at the house before the body was found, and so was her grandfather, who is now the prime suspect, because he somehow wound up with blood on him. She will have to find a way to solve the tricky (stair)case before Grandpa Ash winds up behind bars! (CW for infidelity, violence, and murder.)
Backlist bump: Under Lock & Skeleton Key: A Secret Staircase Mystery by Gigi Pandian
The Donut Legion by Joe R. Lansdale
And last, but not least, this wacky hardboiled mystery from one of the best crime writers out there. When Charlie Garner learns that his ex-wife Meg has been missing for a week, he decides to investigate. Little does he know that along with his brother and a journalist, he is about to be drawn into the wildest, weirdest case of his life. It involves a donut shop owned by a cult that believes in aliens, a chimpanzee, and a stockpile of weapons. It all adds up to more fun than a barrel of monkeys! (But not the chimpanzee, because chimps aren’t monkeys.) I loved this wild, weird, witty ride. It’s perfect for fans of Dan Chaon’s Sleepwalk. (CW for Sexism, misogyny, violence, gore, murder, animal death, illness, infidelity, chemical use and abuse.)
Backlist bump: Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale
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This week, I am reading The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng, Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin, and “B” is for Burglar by Sue Grafton. Outside of books, I have been watching lots of basketball and game shows. It’s wild how the subjects of trivia questions start to overlap when you watch three different quiz shows a day. The song stuck in my head is “Can’t Hardly Wait” by The Replacements. And here is your weekly cat picture: I bought a small trampoline (or rebounder) to try a new way to jumpstart (pun intended) exercising again. Of course, the cats immediately claimed it as a bed. I did manage to remove them, and then I jumped up and down on it for about thirty seconds, before I thought I might die. So I may let them have it after all.
That’s it for me this week, friends. I am sending you love and good wishes for whatever is happening in your life right now. Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty