Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases for you, two ways. I’m going to keep this brief because I just turned in a book and my brain is soup and the words are not coming in so well, but I hope everyone had a wonderful week, and please keep that rolling into a wonderful weekend! Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
Indulge your inner book nerd and join a community of like-minded readers looking to expand their knowledge and their TBR. Subscribe to The Deep Dive, where Book Riot’s editorial staff draws from their collective expertise to bring you compelling stories, informed takes, tips, hacks, and more. Find out why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and explore the great wide world of books and publishing. Get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox, or upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features.
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Entertainment Community Fund, which supports entertainment workers who are striking for living wages and a future where humans can continue to create art for each other.
Bookish Goods
Sci Fi Soda Can Bookmarks by SupernovaComicArt
I know I’ve been on a bit of a bookmark kick lately, but that’s probably because all of my bookmarks are still in a box…somewhere. So, I’m at the stage of marking my pages with old receipts. Also, these are extremely cute! $4
New Releases
Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris
Rita, an artist, struggles with grief after the death of her estranged father; she never had a chance to ask him about his childhood and family or the Mi’kmaq culture she doesn’t know how to be part of. Then her girlfriend Molly gets her an artist’s residency for a week using a forged application — Rita would be angry, but it will put her in a cabin right where her father grew up. Soon, she’s being hit with dark visions from the swamp around the cabin, which she paints, which are leading her somewhere deep into the swamp’s decay.
Also, check out her poetry collection, Elegies of Rotting Stars.
Hellweg’s Keep by Justin Holley
FBI Agent Kendra Omen comes to the moon Zeta One after 37 miners disappear without a trace in a titanium mine…but that’s only the beginning of the strangeness that manifests. There are whispers, moving shadows, and even ghosts to go with evidence of occult practices going on in the dim hallways of the Hellweg Enterprises offices and in the mine. The answers lie below in a labyrinth half-made and half-natural, if Kendra can survive the journey.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Here are a couple of pretty new short story collections for your perusal!
At Night He Lifts Weights by Kang Young-sook translated by Janet Hong
In this newly translated collection, Korean writer Kang Young-sook explores stories of loss and dark goings-on under a calm surface on the backdrop of an ecological dystopia.
My Worst Ideas by Michael Jeffrey Lee
Michael Jeffrey Lee has built a collection of short stories with a decidedly uncanny, dreamlike, and sometimes downright weird tone to go with his lyrical use of prose, exploring notions of growing unease and dislocation.
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.