Author: Liberty Hardy

If you’ve been listening to All the Books! or reading this newsletter even for a little while, you’ve probably heard me mention Kelly Link. She is an incredible writer of fantasy and fairy tale stories. Up to today, she’s released story collections. But now she also has a novel! THIS novel. It’s a 600+ page novel of magic and wonder, a story of teenagers in a small Massachusetts town brought back from the dead by their apparently magical music teacher. The magical tasks they are assigned seem to draw other magical beings to their town as they work to solve the mystery of their deaths and stop whatever destruction seems headed their way. (All while keeping the fact that they were dead and gone from their families and friends.) It’s an amazing, enchanting novel of family, friendship, love, loss, and of course, magic, told only as Kelly Link could tell it. I’m ready to read it again!

Backlist bump: Magic for Beginners: Stories by Kelly Link

I haven’t read this one yet, but I am going through a vampire phase (which I assume happens to everyone in middle age?), so I am looking forward to reading it. It’s a retelling of the vampire novel Carmilla (which I also need to read), about two students at an isolated college in Massachusetts who are competing neck and neck (vampire joke!) for the attention and praise of their poetry professor. There are also some strange rituals that happen on campus. Bring on the dark academia! It sounds a bit like “The Secret History but make it vampires,” which is a thing I just realized I wanted. “The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been undead for several weeks…” Camilla, Carmilla—it’s so close already! I may have to read this as soon as I finish writing the newsletter!

Backlist bump: A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson

And, last but not least, this powerful posthumous collection of stories. Diane Oliver wrote these six stories about the horrors of racism she witnessed and experienced growing up as a young Black girl in the mid-20th century in America. There’s a young woman worried for her brother as he attends his first day at a desegregated school, a college student turning invisible at her college, a couple facing up to the truths of their marriage, and more. Sadly, Oliver died at the age of 22 in an accident while at college in Iowa. This book, her only collection, is haunting and incendiary and displays brilliant talent from a life lost so young. Fans of Tayari Jones, Danielle Evans, and just great short stories will love it.

Backlist bump: Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?: Stories by Kathleen Collins

This week, I am reading There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish by Anna Akbari, Devil Is Fine by John Vercher, and the eighth book in the middle grade graphic novel series, InvestiGators: Class Action by John Patrick Green. Have you read this series? I adore these books, as well as the Agents of S.U.I.T. spinoff. I am also over the moon because they just announced the second book in the Fry Guys series, which I talked about a billion times last year. And there’s a second Officer Clawsome book on the way! Between all these books, I’m pretty sure they have all the puns. ALL OF THEM. The song stuck in my head this week is “Into Dust” by Mazzy Star. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon decided the other day to see if he could open a locked door. Spoiler: He could not.

I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

This week: I’m currently reading The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch and God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer by Joseph Earl Thomas. I’m also considering a reread of The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier, because the snow and cold have put me in the mood for a book about the end of the world. If you have never read it, I am jealous of any of you who read it for the first time. And speaking of snow and cold, I started watching the new season of True Detective. It has everything I love. Just really dire things happening to people isolated in the cold weather, getting scared by creepy, murdery stuff. And I love Jodie Foster so much. The song stuck in my head right now is “Ice Cream (Pay Phone)” by Black Pumas. And here’s a cat photo: Look at this ridiculous little laundry basket case.

First up is a heart-squeezing debut about hopes and dreams, first love, and loss, set at a college. When Daniel de La Luna attends an elite university on the East Coast, he’s unsure of what he’s doing there. His family is probably more excited for him to go to college than he is. But then he meets Sam, his roommate, and things start to click. Soon, they are in the beginnings of a relationship, and suddenly, everything is new and wonderful to Daniel. But after a tragedy, Daniel returns home heartbroken to Mexico to his family’s homestead, where he will try to figure out who he was, who he is here, and how he is connected to his family and this land. It’s a lovely, sad story of young love and loss at college that will give you lots of feels. (Related: remember the college novel The Art of Fielding? Rumor has it there might be a new Chad Harbach book coming this year!) (Content warnings for substance use, anxiety, homophobia, injury, loss of a loved one, and grief.)

Backlist bump: Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala

This new novel is riding the recent-ish trend of books featuring main characters past middle age, solving crimes, kicking ass, and even committing crimes. (After all, there are going to be more seniors than any other age group on the planet soon, if it hasn’t already started.) Josephine and Penny Williamson are British WWII veterans and minor celebrities. The nonagenarians are still full of life and great spirits and agree to join their great-nephew on a trip to Paris. While Archie thinks it’s a vacation with two sweet old ladies, it turns out that the sisters have a lot of secrets about their time in the war they are still keeping — and they still have enemies. Josephine and Penny may be more Mrs. Doubtfire than spitfire now, but underestimating these old women is going to cause a lot of trouble on their trip. It’s an adventure for the (old) ages! (Content warnings for violence, sexism, war, injury, and loss of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Chung, the author of the award-winning collection of bananapants stories Cursed Bunny, is back with a new collection of, well, bananapants stories. These have a bit more technology and sci-fi elements in these takes on life, loss, and capitalism, but they are still weird and awesome and occasionally upsetting. There’s an apartment building elevator that falls in love with a tenant, a man who discovers something shocking about his wife, a nefarious GMO company doing nefarious things (no, it’s not nonfiction), memory removal, artificial intelligence in helpful and harmful forms, the hope for immortality, and more. Related: I watched a publisher event with Chung last year where she talked about her motivation for the stories, and I wrote it down, but now I can’t find it. So I am going to very broadly try and paraphrase. It was something like, “Some writers like to put characters in situations and see how they get out of them; I like to put characters in situations and watch them die.” Whatever the quote, it was VERY dark — you get the idea. And you’ll see it in this collection of dystopian delights (and horrors.) (Content warnings for substance use and abuse, violence, gore, injury, and death.)

Backlist bump: Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur

This week, I am reading A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher and Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle. Have you been watching The Floor? It’s a reality game show on Fox with Rob Lowe, and it’s on every Tuesday. It’s fun! I don’t enjoy the reality show aspects or the posturing, but I do like the quiz part and find myself anticipating the next episode. I love quiz questions! The song stuck in my head this week is “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh is serving a big DND mood this week. (Err, that’s “Do Not Disturb,” not Dungeons & Dragons.) I feel you, buddy.

I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

Sixteen wonderful YA authors working today have contributed stories to this anthology — each about a different sport, and all with a focus on the challenges and triumphs women face in sports. There’s Marieke Nijkamp on archery, Sara Farizan on golf, Dahlia Alder on volleyball, plus stories of softball, cheerleading, basketball, volleyball, and more! It’s a great collection about perseverance, skill, and sisterhood. Iron sharpens iron! (CW for mentions of disordered eating, sexism and misogyny, racism, ableism, attempted sexual assault, and loss of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

Award-winning journalist Hylton draws on over a decade of research to tell the heartbreaking and infuriating true story of a segregated asylum that existed in Maryland for almost a century. Crownsville Asylum in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, operated as a work camp dressed up as a hospital. Hylton discusses how the asylum was able to exist for so long and America’s history of enslaving and exploiting Black people, even after the 19th century. She also talks about mental illness and the Black families affected by the asylum, as well as her own family’s history of mental illness. It’s a little-discussed part of American history that has been expertly and sensitively documented on these pages. (CW for ableism, racism, violence and injury, torture, mental health issues, and loss of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys by Erin Kimmerle

I am a fan of Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings, who writes great tales of fantasy and fairy tales, and I am very excited about this book from Small Beer Press! This new collection draws from known stories, such as Sleeping Beauty and tales from Greek mythology, and brings the readers characters who are hopeful and ambitious, who are looking for change of place, change of life, change of heart. There is magic and mayhem, hard-learned lessons, and some happy endings, too. (Related: sadly, Small Beer Press recently announced they were no longer going to publish new titles going forward after the release of their two 2024 books, at least for the foreseeable future. Luckily, their backlist will still be available.)

Backlist bump: The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe

This week, I am reading Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley and Smoke Kings by Jahmal Mayfield. This past week, I found a book of sudoku puzzles while cleaning my office, and I have almost done every one of them. I can only do the easy ones, though. The song stuck in my head this week is “Saints” by The Breeders. And here is your weekly cat picture: This is Farrokh’s new favorite sleeping spot. He’s giving me the stink eye for taking his photo while he’s trying to sleep.

I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

When Zoe Zeng moved to NYC to take a job writing about fashion, she thought she had made it. But her boss is young Miranda Priestly, her living situation is cramped, and the industry is hostile to people who have her body type. When a random stranger at a show offers her a job doing publicity for their fashion app, she brushes it off. As her boss gets more horrible and the city continues to disappoint her, though, she decides, “Why not?” But a cross-country move isn’t necessarily going to solve her problems. As Zoe’s time at the app FitPick goes by, she’ll find that the change of job and scenery still comes with the elitism, sexism, and racism she encountered in NYC. If Zoe can help get the funding to launch FitPick, it will be huge for her career and her bank account. But at what cost?

Backlist bump: The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao

Anne Ursu has been consistently writing wonderful books for children for some time now, and this is no exception. Ursu paints a new picture with a familiar story: A child who has to move schools because a parent marries someone new and starts a new family. In this case, it’s Violet Hart. Her mom and her new husband move Violet and her new sibling into a creepy new house. Violet feels replaced by the new baby, especially after they put her bedroom in the dingy attic with the yellow wallpaper. As if that isn’t bad enough, Violet becomes ill shortly after moving in. With her family perplexed as to what is wrong, Violet begins to have hallucinations that there’s someone else in the attic with her. But as the days of illness turn to weeks, she realizes maybe she’s not imagining things after all. How can Violet get out of her situation — and what does this spirit in the attic want from her? This is a smart, sensitive book about change, illness, and anxiety (drawn from The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.)

Backlist bump: The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu

And I haven’t read any of this one yet, but it sounds absolutely bananapants! It’s a sci-fi thriller about extinction and cloning. When an elephant expert is killed trying to save the last elephants from ivory poachers, her consciousness is downloaded into the mind of a wooly mammoth. (“Oh, she may get wooly…”) Wooly mammoth: “Extinct, who me?” The mammoths have been cloned using their DNA, and now Dr. Khismatullina is one. The goal is to have her teach the other mammoths how to survive in the 21st century. But can her herd get the hang of their new surroundings before the poachers seeking rare mammoth ivory find them? As Dr. Khismatullina teaches the herd everything she knows, she begins to glimpse the real reasons the mammoths were brought back to life in the first place. (“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”) This sounds like a mammoth revenge thriller, and I can’t wait to see if these toothy snuffleupaguses stick it to the poachers!

Backlist bump: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

This week, I am reading Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn and Ilium by Lea Carpenter. I ended up having a very busy weekend, but I really want to see two movies that have just started streaming: Self Reliance and Death and Other Details. The song stuck in my head this week is “Frying Pan” by Evan Dando. And here is your weekly cat picture: This past week marked five years since these two little orange howler monkeys came into our home. So, I thought I would mark it by sharing a picture from when they were small. That’s smol Zevon on the left and smol Farrokh on the right.

I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

We’re kicking this week off with an electrifying debut novel set in a small lakeside town known for its rich vacationers and the growing opioid addiction problem. When the body of a teen boy is found in a boat in Shaky Lake, Wisconsin, the tiny sheriff’s department is stretched thin trying to investigate. Eli is the son of the sheriff and has been dealing with alcoholism and PTSD since his return from combat. His life has gotten so out of control that others are worried it may hinder his ability to help the investigation, including Eli himself. Luckily, the FBI sends an agent to help because there’s also a missing teen girl, so everyone will have to work together to find out what is really happening in Shaky Lake. It’s a well-plotted, sympathetic story about crime, addiction, war, and family. It felt like a real story, one that doesn’t glorify or judge drug use and mental health issues, with warm, interesting characters and an even plot throughout. I hope we hear more from Shaky Lake. (CW includes alcohol and substance use and abuse; partner abuse; trauma, depression, and PTSD; child neglect, harm, and death; loss of a loved one; violence and murder; and suicidal ideation.)

Backlist bump: Open Season by Archer Mayor

#1000WordsofSummer started out as an online project started by Jami Attenberg to give encouragement to anyone who was looking to make time to write. It has become such a successful event that now it’s this book, filled with advice and tips about making time to write, being creative, and staying focused from some of the biggest names in the business, including Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado. No two writers are the same, and with the information here, people are sure to find something that works for them. I hope 2024 is the year you write the things you want!

Backlist-ish bump: You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory by Ruta Sepetys

If you lived in a boardinghouse with a room behind a locked door, and no one knew what was behind it, would you want to open it? Sana certainly does. She’s a resident at Akbar Manzil, a once-glamorous mansion that fell into ruin and is now rented out by the room. In the mansion’s east wing is a story waiting to be told behind that locked door: the tragic love story of Meena and the grieving djinn that haunts the room. When Sana learns about Meena, she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about what happened to her, even if it means ruffling the feathers of the living and the dead. It’s a lush gothic story of love, loss, and searching for yourself through others.

Backlist bump: If you like misfit boarders in mansions, check out Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey. If you like djinn, pick up A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark and this other book I love simply for the title, Jinn and Juice by Nicole D. Peeler.

This week, I am reading The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh and Ilium by Lea Carpenter. I am still watching a lot of NBA basketball and quiz shows and have taken to playing several hands of solitaire on the computer each night, which I haven’t done for a long time. The song stuck in my head this week is “National Anthem” by Lana Del Rey. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon likes to sleep like an otter floating on its back.

I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

This week: I’m currently reading The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh and Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn. Outside of books, I thought the Barbie movie was pretty great, and I started rewatching Leverage, the original series, so I can finally watch the new series. It’s making me want to watch The Librarians again. The song stuck in my head right now is “Clouds” by Børns (once again, thanks to a car commercial.) And here’s a cat photo: This is Farrokh, who claimed this cat tunnel for himself on Christmas and wouldn’t let the others in it. For about five minutes, anyway. Then he got out and has ignored it ever since, like every other toy they have received. Cats, amirite?

So many authors I admire are excited about this debut novel, so of course I want to read it. Cecily Alcantara has been a spy for the Japanese British-colonized Malaya for a decade, and now she is paying the price. Her work has allowed the Japanese to invade. Now during WWII, she must decide what she can do to save her family. Her son is missing and her younger daughter is being kept hidden from soldiers to avoid the fate of her older daughter, who serves the Japanese soldiers in a tea house. Cecily will do anything to escape the bonds of her arrangement with the Japanese to keep her children safe, but will it be enough?

Backlist bump: Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Another debut I am looking forward to is this contemporary Southern family drama. In Edin, Georgia, four women in the Gardin family deal with family secrets, family responsibilities, and family mistrust. Mary, Martha, Ruth, and Naomi attempt to run the family’s multimillion-dollar peanut business, and a new family restaurant, while also handling loss, love, and the complex bonds of family. It sounds like it’s going to be heartwarming and layered.

Backlist bump: Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

And last but not least, one of my favorite kinds of books to read: a Western set in the late nineteenth century. Well, partially, anyway. Antonio Sonoro is a Mexican bandido in 1895, and when a train robbery goes wrong and his brother is killed, it leaves him with a thirst for revenge. And in 1965, famous actor and singer Jaime Sonoro discovers a book that tells the long history of crime in his family, all the way back to ancient times. As he digs deeper into his past, he may learn the truth of his grandfather Antonio, better known as El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower.

Backlist bump: Mona at Sea by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

This week, I am reading The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Anna O by Matthew Blake. I have watched a lot of NBA basketball this past week, because the Celtics have had a busy schedule. (I can’t wait to see them beat the Lakers on Christmas, Vanessa!) The song stuck in my head this week is “Team” by Lorde. And here is your weekly cat picture: “Hello? Yes, this is Zevon. No, I wasn’t aware my car’s warranty had expired.”

Thank you, as always, for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next year. – XO, Liberty

This is a really fun cat-and-mouse thriller! But I can’t tell you very much about it because it would spoil it. So, I will tell you that Evie Porter is a twenty-something woman who is moving in with her new boyfriend, Ryan, at the start of the novel. Except Evie Porter isn’t her real name: it is the alias of an operative who works for Mr. Smith, doing whatever is asked of her. And this time, Ryan is the mark. But Evie gets the sense that this job isn’t like others. And before she can figure out why, a woman shows up in town pretending to be her. The real her. Evie must figure out why Mr. Smith sent her to watch Ryan and what the fake her is doing in town before someone finds out she’s not who she claims to be, and everything falls apart. It’s nonstop twists and turns in this clever thriller, and it’s also low on the violence, which is refreshing sometimes. (Content warnings for loss of a loved one, cancer, alcohol and drug use and abuse, injury, murder off-page.)

Backlist bump: The Lies I Tell by Juli Clark

This book is exactly the opposite — it has a TON of violence. This terrifying debut horror novel is about four people who go into the Kentucky wilderness to map and climb what appears to be an untouched rock formation. One hopes to publish a paper about his findings for school; one is a professional climber with her first endorsement; one is an expert in plants and trees; and one is the supportive boyfriend, along for the adventure. But from the very first few steps they take into the forest, things start to go wrong. And we know they won’t go right again — because the book description and the first page of the book have told us that three of the four are dead. Then we go back to find out just what happened. Yikes, the things that occur while they’re down in the valley will give you nightmares! It’s a bloody disgusting good time. (Content warnings for tons of gore, injury, violence, child and adult murder and death on the page, alcohol use, suicide, and animal harm and death.)

Backlist bump: The Hunger by Alma Katsu

By now, you have probably heard me talk about this book somewhere because I won’t shut up about it. But that’s because it’s so much fun! It’s a dark fantasy about Eveen the Eviscerator. She’s part of a guild of assassins called…well, you know. But when she is assigned a job that defies explanation and causes her to break an unbreakable vow, she quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the people she works with. Can she figure out just what the heckin’ heck is going on before she gets herself killed? This is a whiplash fast, wicked smart joyride! (Content warnings for animal death, gore, violence, torture, injury, and murder of children and adults. But no dead cats!)

Backlist bump: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

This week, I am reading How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin and Shanghailanders by Juli Min. I have two weeks before I have to record another episode of All the Books! and I am pretty excited about all the reading I hope to fit in. In non-book things, I watched the Monk movie, and I really, really, really didn’t like it, lol. I should have stuck with my plans to watch the Barbie movie. The song stuck in my head this week is “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh knows what he’s going to ask Santa to bring him for Christmas.

Thank you, as always, for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty

Bora Chung’s last collection was a finalist for the National Book Award in translated literature. The stories were weird and sometimes gross, but always awesome. If you like fantastic stories that sometimes disturb you, definitely pick it up before this one comes out on January 30. Your Utopia is a new collection with a bit of a more futuristic bent, but will surely still deliver on the brilliant and unusual aspects of the last collection. There are immortality capabilities in the future (but only for the wealthy, of course), an AI elevator in love with the tenant in an apartment building, the revenge of nature, and lots more!

Backlist bump: Cursed Bunny: Stories by Bora Chung, Anton Hur (translator)

Stephen Graham Jones is one of this century’s greatest horror writers. And one of the most prolific! This will actually be his second release of the year, after The Angel of Indian Lake, the final book in the Indian Lake trilogy. This novel is the “autobiography” of a Texas teen (…black gold, Texas teen…) named Tolly Driver, who is cursed to become a killer in his small town. Slasher films are fun, but you know I prefer to read everything. Especially horror books set in the 1980s! This is sure to be a bloody good time, and you can pick it up on July 16.

Backlist bump: My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

And after five long years, a historical standalone, and a story collection, Kate Atkinson is back with her sixth Jackson Brodie novel! We last saw Brodie in Big Sky in 2019. Not many details are known about this one yet, except it sounds like it’s going to be a locked room mystery. Brodie will be snowed in with a vicar, an Army major, a dowager, and his own sidekick, DC Reggie Chase. September 3rd can’t get here fast enough! Although it gives me plenty of time to reread the first five in the series if I choose. If you like really smart mysteries with fully fleshed-out characters, this series is perfect for you. (And if you like historical fiction, pick up one of Atkinson’s other novels because she’s amazing at writing that, too!)

Backlist bump: Case Histories: The First Jackson Brodie Novel by Kate Atkinson

This week, I am reading The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, Kittentits by Holly Wilson, and Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen. In non-book things, I haven’t watched anything but NBA basketball the past week, but I am considering starting a rewatch of Leverage since I haven’t watched the new series yet. And I want to watch the Barbie movie when it starts streaming at the end of the week! The song stuck in my head this week is “Winter is Coming” by Radical Face. And here is your weekly cat picture: Another bowl picture! When we discovered that Zevon likes to sleep in mixing bowls, we bought a set with non-slip bottoms so that Zevon can’t easily tip himself over. Because just look at this ridiculousness.

Thank you, as always, for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty