Author: Jamie Canaves

Free YA Crime Audiobooks

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 30, 2020

Discworld Will Get Faithful TV Adaptations: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 29, 2020

Sponsored by A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callen, with Fierce Reads

Discworld Will Get Faithful TV Adaptations

Narrativia, Terry Pratchett’s production company, announced–on what would have been the Discworld author’s 72nd birthday–that they’re teaming up with Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content for “truly authentic … prestige adaptations that remain absolutely faithful to [his] original, unique genius”. While previous adaptations haven’t necessarily always hit the mark, or are accused of not being faithful to the source, Prachett’s daughter thinks the new deal’s partners “’perfectly share our vision’ of what a Discworld screen adaptation should be.”

Exciting Sequel Announcement

Waubgeshig Rice’s apocalypse novel Moon Of The Crusted Snow, set in a northern Anishinaabe community, is getting a sequel! Rice, who has hosted CBC Radio’s Up North for fourteen years, will begin the sequel ten years after the events in the first novel, which will publish in 2022. Can’t wait!

Michelle Obama’s Becoming Coming To Netflix

Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming–totally worth all the sales and hype and awards–is coming to Netflix. Or, you know, her life touring with her memoir and the people she met, along with the huge life change of leaving the White House. The documentary, Becoming, is directed by Nadia Hallgren and will stream on Netflix May 6th. Whose gonna be crying into their popcorn with me on May 6th?

Unusual Suspects

Cat And Mouse Game Up Mount Everest 🔪

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 28, 2020

Sponsored by Harper Paperbacks.

From New York Times bestselling author Kate White comes a gripping novel about one woman’s dangerous quest to recover lost memories someone would rather she never find. On a cold, rainy morning, finance journalist Ally Linden arrives soaked to the bone at her Manhattan office, only to find that she’s forgotten her keycard. When her boss shows, he’s shocked to see her—because, he explains, she hasn’t worked there in five years. Written with Kate White’s signature wit and twists and turns, HAVE YOU SEEN ME? is a thrilling and entertaining read, sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Hi mystery fans! I have a translated slowburn suspense from Korea, con women, and a graphic novel thriller where the cat and mouse game is literally up Mount Everest. Hopefully you’ll find some distraction in these books.

The Onlly Child cover image The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo, Jung Yewon (Translator): This is a slowburn suspense novel, with low grade creep factor, that doesn’t feel written for shock value but rather is an exploration of nature vs nurture. Seonkyeong is a recently married young criminal psychologist who finds her work and home life upended in different ways: an imprisoned serial killer suddenly decides he wants to talk, but only to Seonkyeong–this is why the book has comps to Silence Of The Lambs, which is the only similarity since tone and violence are all very different from each other. As she starts meeting with the serial killer, her home life suddenly changes when her husband’s young daughter, who she didn’t know of, has to come live with them. It seems that after the young girl’s mother died, and her grandparents took her in, her grandparents also died…

Readers follow as Seonkyeong tries to understand why the serial killer chose her, why her husband never mentioned a child, and questionable behavior from her stepdaughter. This is a great pick for fans of Kanae Minato and I really wish more crime novels would be translated. I love seeing the difference in society, investigation methods, laws, and even just the difference in what may be considered shocking or dark. (TW suicide mention/ child abuse/ animal cruelty)

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown: A layered crime novel that follows a con woman, Nina, and her mark, Vanessa, while exploring family, resentment, loyalty, and revenge. Nina grew up with a con woman mom who placed all her hope in her daughter never having to live that life and instead go to college and get a proper career. What Nina’s mom doesn’t know is Nina’s already a con woman. With a partner. So after her mom’s cancer returns and the treatment is too costly, Nina decides to pull a con that will solve their financial problems. Her mark? The sister of a high school boyfriend whose wealthy family ran her and her mom out of town years ago.

I’d say “let the games begin” but really this novel is more on the side of why people do what they do, giving us first row seats to the inner thoughts, behavior and life of Nina and Vanessa, alternating point of view between the two women now and their lives growing up. If you need something solid to sink into, this story will take you deep into the class war between these characters, while adding interesting things like what the life of a con woman and Instagram influencer are like. I recommend the multicast audiobook if you really want to be submerged into these women’s lives, dramas, and crimes. (TW parents with cancer, including death/ past child abuse/ mentions past molestation / past suicide, detail)

High Crimes cover image High Crimes by Christopher Sebela, Ibrahim Moustafa (Illustrations): This graphic novel has a hell of a premise and certainly one I’d never read before: two people who find dead climbers on Everest, chop off their hands to identify the person, then offer the person’s family a chance to get their loved one’s body back–for a fee of course. This is a crime thriller so, naturally, something goes wrong. The wrong just happens to be that a body they identify is from a secret agency and that agency is coming for the body and the retrievers. The cat and mouse game takes place mostly up Everest while you get flashbacks of the dead agent, slowly revealing more about the agency, and Zan Jensen, one of the “grave robbers”, who happens to be a disgraced Olympic snowboarder with a lot of baggage and demons that she’s kind of working through but definitely full-on struggling with.

I love graphic novels and find that even when I’m struggling to read ebooks/print I can always read a graphic novel. Plus, you get human and environmental dangers if you’re looking to get out of your head and your living quarters for a while. (TW torture/ addiction, overdose/ suicide, including thoughts, details)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Today In Books

Prince Harry Celebrates Thomas the Tank Engine: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 28, 2020

Snake Species Named After Harry Potter: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 27, 2020

Mass Market Paperbacks Are Growing–In Size: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 25, 2020

Sponsored by To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek, from Canongate Books.

Mass Market Paperbacks Are Growing–In Size

Kensington Publishing is taking a crack at helping declining mass paperback sales by tweaking their size. Currently mass paperbacks are 4.125 by 6.75 inches and priced around $7.99 to $8.99. Kensington’s new size and price will be 4.75 by 7 inches and $8.99 to $9.99. It may not seem like a big size jump, but it will allow for wider margins and fonts that will be more legible creating a more comfortable reading experience for readers who find the current size too small.

The Kind Of Records You Don’t Want To Break

Last year, book banning attempts in U.S. libraries rose 17%, with 566 books targeted for removal. Before same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. in 2015, ALA’s top 10 banned books list never had more than 20% of books with LGBTQ characters. It has now risen to 80%. “When LGBTQ stories are silenced in this way, LGBTQ youth and children from LGBTQ families get the message that their own stories – their very lives – do not have value, that they are shameful.” It’s always a great time to support targeted books: And Tango Makes Three; Prince & Knight; George; A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.

Data On Quarantine Reading

If you’re wondering how the current state of the world is affecting reading habits here’s a roundup of some data! A UK report found that 31% of Brits stated they’re reading more during quarantine and NPD BookScan reported a 777% increase in the U.S regarding online book sales in the beginning of April. If you’re wondering what people are reading and buying most, that’s also listed, including jumps in sales for quilting and sewing books.

Today In Books

Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped Book Banning: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 24, 2020

Sponsored by our Debbie Macomber prize pack giveaway! Enter here.

Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped Book Banning

While the pandemic has most things closed and is causing major delays in all aspects of life it has apparently not stopped book banning. Even though it was already in place that parents could opt their child out of required reading the school board in Mat-Su, Alaska voted to ban 5 books and remove newspaper materials from being used in high school journalism classes. The books got the “controversial” label and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings had “anti-white messaging” as one of the reasons for banning.

Helpers

The Clinton Presidential Library is technically closed because of the pandemic but it’s open for service to the community. 70 daily volunteers are working hard to feed members of the community, including students 18 and younger who are offered breakfast and lunch. Around 7,200 meals are created a day to then be delivered around Pulaski County for food distribution.

Uplifting Poems

Add to your calendar Shelter In Poems on Apr 30th, 7:30 PM EDT. Poets laureate, actors, musicians, artists, and more will be reading poems that offer comfort and/or courage. Check out the virtual reading presenters!

Today In Books

Recreate Your Fave Book Cover Challenge: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 23, 2020

Sponsored by Remembering Mother Nature by Stuart French.

Recreate Your Fave Book Cover Challenge

Inspired by the Getty Museum’s art challenge, the New York Public Library is helping people have some fun while isolating at home with their own challenge: recreate your favorite book covers! Share your new book covers on social media using the hashtag #BookCoverDouble–and don’t worry if you don’t want to show your face. As the recreators of Jurassic Park and Running With Scissors have shown, there’s plenty of faceless options.

Chelsea Handler Gives Book Recs Her Way

Chelsea Handler has always been a lover of books, starting with childhood trips to the library with her mom, and her passion has only continued as an adult as she seeks to always learn new things. The author and comedian has taken to Instagram to recommend books using the hashtags #GetLitWithChelsea #NakedLit. The second hashtag is because Handler is naked holding her recommendations over her private parts. Check out her book recommendation photos and video book reviews–is it still NSFW if we’re working alone on our sofa in PJs?

App News

The Library of Congress announced the LOC Collections app, which puts the national library’s digital collections on your iPhone or iPad–Android users’ version is forthcoming. Along with having the digital collection at your fingertips wherever you are, the app also allows you to curate your own personal galleries and share. Anyone else remember when you had to physically go to a library, and only had access to whatever they had in the building?

Unusual Suspects

Sherlock Holmes’ Teen Sister Coming To Netflix!

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 23, 2020

Books By Bicycle During India’s Lockdown: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date April 22, 2020

Sponsored by Shadow Mountain Publishing.

Books By Bicycle During India’s Lockdown

How to help bibliophiles in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerela during the lockdown due to the pandemic? Books by Bicycle! Volunteers from the Indus Cycling Embassy are delivering, with discounts, books for adults and children written in English and Malayalam. Also in the delivery is a homemade mask and instructions on how to make a face mask.

Penguin Random House’s First-Ever Virtual Con!

On Friday, April 24th, publisher Penguin Random House has a day of fun for book lovers! Beginning at 9 a.m., there will be all kinds of activities storytelling games, quizzes, author AMAs, and you can enter sweepstakes to win highly anticipated upcoming releases. Bookmark this page for front row seats.

Sherlock’s Teen Sister!

Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes Mysteries series will be coming to Netflix with Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) playing Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ teen sister, who sets out to solve the mystery of their missing mother. Sherlock is played by Henry Cavill, Mycroft by Sam Claflin, and the film is directed by the Fleabag director Harry Bradbeer. At least while I wait for a release date announcement I have a whole series of books to read!