Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and we’re in the home stretch for September, being swept along by the endless tidal wave of super cool new releases. I am…exhausted, to be honest, because I’m dealing with real estate nonsense and nothing turns a brain to soup faster than trying to coordinate that much stuff. But hey, you can still bet I’m building a TBR for when all this is over and I can sit down in my domicile — which will have a designated reading nook — and read until I zonk out in a chair with an elderly cat on my face. Enjoy the new release selections for today: there are more good ones coming at you on Friday. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
Book Riot’s editorial team is writing for casual and power readers alike over at The Deep Dive! During the month of September, all new free subscribers will be entered to win Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, plus five mystery books from The Deep Dive. To enter, simply start a free subscription to The Deep Dive. No payment method required!
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s two places to start: Maui Aloha: The People’s Response, which sends support to those affected by the wildfires on Maui, particularly first responders; 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
Parable of the Sower Hand Stickers by RiddleandJinx
These absolutely gorgeous vinyl stickers have one of the tenets of Earthseed from Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler split across them. I love these so much! $10
New Releases
Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor
A re-issue of an out-of-print novel, this is the start of a story about Ejii Ugabe, a girl living on a changed earth where the laws of physics aren’t quite what they used to be. At 9, she watched her father be murdered; while he was a corrupt and terrible politician, a child doesn’t understand those things. Now 15, she sets out to find her father’s killer, using the strange abilities she has begun to manifest…
The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth
The Undetectables are a detective agency run by three witches and a ghost hiding in a cat costume…well, to be fair, they’re just starting out, and their only case is unsolved. (The unsolved case? It’s the ghost in the cat costume.) But then they’re hired to find a serial killer stalking the occult town of Wrackton, they can hardly say no…and they’d better find the killer soon, before they become the next victims.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Why are there so many books in September? SO MANY. I have to tell you about more. I cannot in good conscience not mention these two as well!
The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde
Ife Adebola has been sent to the prestigious boarding school known as Nithercott, thanks to an Urban Achievers scholarship. She’d rather not be there, and does her best to steer clear of both the friendly and unfriendly faces. But when one of her classmates begins acting very weird, Ife begins to wonder what exactly is going on at the school…and what it might have to do with the school’s legend of the Changing Man.
The Salvation Gambit by Emily Skrutskie
Murdock is part of a four-woman crew, a petty thief turned successful hacker and con artist under the tutelage of the crew’s leader, Hark. They have been undefeated through many heists…until now. But when they’re caught and then tithed to a sentient warship that’s turned itself into an incredibly punitive prison, their next job is conning their way out of this place. Easier said than done, with the team starting to crack…and the AI in charge of the ship very interested in using a hacker like Murdock for its own devices.
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.