Author: Jenn Northington

Epic Update: September 12, 2022

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date September 12, 2022

Hello Epic folks! We took last week off for a long weekend, but now we’re back with booky goodness.

Just one note: the New Release Index-only level is now live for anyone and everyone, so if you’ve got a friend you think might be interested, feel free to clue them in!

What Are You Reading?

I just got back from a small outdoor wedding, which was my first real trip since the beginning of the pandemic, even though it was just an hour’s drive out of town. I packed a full ereader and a couple of paper books to read by the lake, but of course I didn’t get around to them, so it looks like they’ll be done this week instead!

As soon as I saw the title and cover of the Laid-Back Camp manga series, I knew I needed to pick it up ASAP, and now I’m three volumes in. It’s exactly what it says on the tin, and just what I wanted to squeeze the last drops of summer out of my reading life — though, they’re actually winter camping. I guess camping is less common in Japan, because I was delighted by the earnest instructions on how to do things like put up a tent and start a fire. At this point it has about zero conflict, which — I know it’s an unpopular opinion — I love in a book to break up my more bleak reads.

Next up, I have the upcoming anthology Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry edited by David Ly. Need I say more? This should be the perfect transition into my seasonal reading. Fun fact: I hate horror most of the year, but when October comes around, I can’t get enough of it. Looks like this year, I’m starting a little bit early. But who can resist queer monsters any time?

What’s on your TBR pile this week? Let us know in the comments!

— Danika

The Goods 2

Get Star-Struck For 25% Off!

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date September 7, 2022

Need some reading recs customized just for your sign? Get our new bookish astrology book, Reading the Stars, for 25% off by preordering it at Barnes and Noble with the code PREORDER25 by Friday, Sept. 9th!

Insiders

Epic Update: August 29, 2022

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date August 29, 2022

Hello and happy Monday, Epic folks! May your August finish up well and your September bring some joy. No news today, so let’s get right into our book-chat.

What Are You Reading?

I know I said last week was the end of the month, but it turns out August had one more Monday to throw at us. That means you get one more week of me talking books with you all!

Reading horror really doesn’t have a season in my opinion, but with the weather finally turning a little chillier this week, I was inspired to get back into the genre. This week I read Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline and revisited a classic, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Both are shorter reads that pack emotional intensity, plenty of creepy vibes, and outright scares.

Empire of Wild is a contemporary fantasy that follows Joan, who one day is stunned to find her missing husband, Victor, preaching in a revival tent in their town. Even stranger is that he insists he doesn’t know her. Joan quickly comes to realize that in order to save her husband, she will have to defeat a monstrous creature from Métis lore known as a rougarou— a vicious man-dog hybrid that has taken control of Victor. I love how grounded the story is in the relationship between Victor, Joan, and the community, in spite of it being a creature-horror. There are multiple points of view to follow, but each one adds layers of perspective and richness to the story.

For this week’s other dose of horror, I reread a classic I’d first picked up a few years ago after watching the Netflix show by the same name. I’m normally not one to watch the adaptation first, but thankfully the show is a pretty loose interpretation Jackson’s novel. Even the premise is entirely different: in the novel, the characters have gathered at the titular Hill House for an academic study in to the existence of ghosts. The tension slowly builds as the narrative follows Eleanor, a young woman participating in the study, as she and the other occupants become increasingly convinced that the house is home to a sinister presence. I get a shiver just thinking about it! It’s clear to see how Jackson’s work has influenced the haunted house genre as a whole and Hill House certainly stands the test of time. I haven’t read any of her other novels, but We Have Always Lived in the Castle is next up on my list.

Well, that’s all from me (for real this time)!

What are you reading this week? Weigh in in the comments!

Amanda

Insiders

Epic Update: August 22, 2022

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date August 22, 2022

Hello Epic folks! An announcement today that you’ll see go out to everyone later this week, but as always y’all get first notice and crack at things.

In response to some requests, we’ve introduced a New Release Index-only level. If you love that feature and don’t find yourself needing all the other perks of Insiders, it’s now available (only for current supporters, while we finish testing). We love you no matter which level you’re at ;).

-Jenn

What Are You Reading?

Can you believe it’s already the last week of August? I’m back for one last round of talking books with you all. I finally reached a huge unpacking milestone this week: I successfully unpacked and found places for all of my books!

Reorganizing my books meant I rediscovered a few titles that had slipped off my mental to-be-read shelf. One of those was The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. A magical piratey adventure with queer romance? Sign me right up. I’ve been a big fan of high-seas adventures since I devoured the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer as a kid. The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea definitely did not disappoint! I enjoyed how each of the characters’ voices came through so strongly and the world building was rad. The story follows the pirate Florian, formerly an orphan named Flora, and Evelyn Hasegawa, a young noblewoman who crosses paths with Florian on the way to marry the man her parents chose for her. As you might have guessed, the two begin to develop feelings for each other while sailing the seas. There’s also forbidden magic, political intrigue, a nonbinary boss pirate, and of course, mermaids.

Another read I unearthed in the shuffle and started this week was The Farm by Joanne Ramos. So far it reminds me somewhat of The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan with its emphasis on reproductive control and themes of motherhood. I love dystopia novels, but The Farm is feeling chillingly relevant right now. It’s about a facility that houses and tightly controls women serving as surrogates to wealthy clients. I still have to finish it, but I’m invested in these characters and their reasons for coming to the farm. For my next read, I might just have to pick up something a little lighter and less realistic.

What are you reading this week?

-Amanda

Insiders

Epic Update: August 15, 2022

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date August 15, 2022

Hello, Epic folks! Things have finally cooled off enough by me for my brain to start working again, with the added bonus of it being a reasonable temperature in which to cook, so I broke out the waffle iron this weekend. Sending you all hopes for literal and figurative waffles in turn!

No announcements this week, so let’s talk about books.

-Jenn

What Are You Reading?

Hi there Insiders!

Deciding what to read this week was easy since many of my books are still packed in boxes. Side note: figuring out how I’m going to organize my shelves feels like a big undertaking. Do I do it by genre? By color? By general vibe? Some vague combination of the three?

Even with all the unpacking after my move last week, I’ve made it a good way through Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh. The story takes place in a near future where scientists have discovered a planet that is suitable for human life, which is handy since the Earth is dying. Terra-Two is so far out in the solar system, however, that it’s a twenty-three year journey to reach it. Enter six teenagers, chosen from an elite training program after preparing their entire lives for the chance. The chapters alternate between the characters’ points of view as the cracks begin to form in each of them. It’s a more character-driven story than I was expecting, but I’m enjoying getting to know each character and their motivations.

Speaking of character-driven sci-fi, another book I enjoyed recently was We Have Always Been Here by Lena Nguyen. It follows Dr. Grace Park, a psychologist aboard a ship crewed by a mix of humans and androids destined for an unexplored ice planet, as a mysterious illness causing violent outbursts starts to infect the human crew. The crew start to suspect the androids, and Park — who has always been closer to the android crew members than the humans — is accused along with them. This one is packed with psychological horror and the most claustrophobic setting I’ve found in a while.

For next week, I think I’ll steer away from sci-fi and go for a different genre to mix things up. Assuming I unpack the rest of my books that is!

What are you reading this week? Click through to add your reading list to the comments!

-Amanda

Insiders

Epic Update: July 25, 2022

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date July 25, 2022

Good morning and good Monday, Insiders! I hope your week is off to a good start — and it help it along, I thought I’d share this amazing conversation between Ed Yong and Alice Wong about perspective, nature, and science. A friend texted it to me this morning, and it was the best way to kick my day off.

No announcements, on to the good stuff!

-Jenn

What Are You Reading?

Hey Insiders!

Can I tell you something? I’m still reading the same lone book from last week. I am really enjoying True Biz by Sara Nović, and I’ve been chipping away at it slowly not because it’s not great but because my time to just read is….well, it’s there but my motivation and energy are not. I’ve done a lot of solo parenting this week, as my (wonderful) nanny takes a much-needed vacation and my partner has been working 12+ hour days.

Despite not reading, I have done a number of fun bookish things. The best one? My kiddo got her first book prize for summer reading club at the library. Though they did not have board books for her to choose from, she did get a really neat National Geographic Kids paperback about safaris. She picked it from a few, and you’ll see she quite enjoys it!

Hopefully next week I’ll have more to report on the reading front. But if not, here’s your reminder it’s okay to go through periods where you read and periods where you simply do not. It doesn’t make you any less of a book person.

So, what are you reading?

-Kelly Jensen

The Goods

Accessorize your summer reading with Book Riot’s printable bookmark sets!

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date July 21, 2022

Epic Update: July 18, 2022

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date July 18, 2022

Hello Epic folks, and happy Monday! Here’s your reminder that you can still vote on the Book Riot Podcast’s next theme for their Bonus episode of Q3, until Sunday 7/24. And now, let’s talk about books!

What Are You Reading?

Hey Insiders!

You may recall that last week I said I’d pick up a romance for my mini vacation. I…did not read anything on that trip at all. Instead, I ate a lot of cherries, hung out in a lavender field, and visited my favorite beach. I may not have read, but I did stop at two different bookstores and in addition to picking up a pile of board books for my daughter, I bought myself two books. The first is Diary of a Naturalist by Dara McAnulty, a nonfiction book about the environment and nature–fitting to buy it on an island that is mostly undisturbed–and the second is The Sturgeon’s Heart by Amy E. Casey, a contemporary monster story set on the shore of Lake Superior. The two bookstores, for those curious, were Fair Isle and Novel Bay.

I did finish up two books when I got home, though. I blew through the rest of Jumper by Melanie Crowder, which I was super into until one Big Moment which felt…disappointing/frustrating. I also finished listening to Written in Bone by Sue Black, which was fascinating. I also picked up a number of books from the library for the coming weeks, including Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda.

What are you reading right now? Chime in in the comments!

– Kelly

Events

Get Your Sleuth On With Us: It’s Thrillers and Mysteries Week!

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date July 15, 2022

Best Books of 2022 So Far

Post author By Jenn Northington
Post date July 12, 2022

Somehow, we’re already more than halfway through 2022, and it’s a fantastic year for books. We’re sharing our favorites published between January 1 and June 30, and you’ll find reads across genres — from psychological horror to a memoir about disability and motherhood and a historical fantasy full of feminist rage (plus dragons!). Happy browsing!