Author: Liberty Hardy

When identical twins Sam and Elli were young, they were beloved child actors and as close as could be. But the pressures of fame and growing up drove them apart. Sam turned to drugs and alcohol, while Elli threw herself into being a model homemaker and wife. The sisters haven’t spoken in a long time. But when Sam learns that Elli moved out of her home and is now hiding away at a suspicious retreat, she decides it’s time to figure out what is happening and reconcile with her sister. But there are a lot of secrets to unravel before that happens! (CW for chemical use and dependency, infidelity, mental illness, trauma, infertility, bullying, kidnapping, child endangerment.)

Backlist bump: Pretty Things by Janelle Brown

This is a supernatural exploration of the incarceration camps where Japanese Americans were held during World War II. It follows Meiko Briggs and her daughter, Aiko, who are removed from their home in Seattle and confined in a camp in the Midwest. Once there, they are confronted by terrors both human and otherworldly. The Fervor is a commentary on a past that is scarily similar to today, and the violence and destruction fear has on the nation. (CW for racism and racialized violence and incarceration, xenophobia, illness, murder, miscarriage, trauma, grief.)

Backlist bump: The Hunger by Alma Katsu

And last, but not least: This memoir is by a detective who helped catch the Golden State Killer. Holes talks about his lifelong interest in forensics (starting with Quincy M.E.), and how he became one of the foremost cold case detectives in the country. Spoiler: It was by being obsessive about his work, sometimes to the detriment of his health, his family, and everything else around him. This is his honest account of a side of crime that needs to be explored more: the numerous victims left after a crime and how the trauma affects them, including the families, the detectives, the people who write about crimes (like Michelle McNamara), the jurors, and everyone else who is exposed to the aftermath. (The content warnings are too numerous to list, so keep in mind that this is a book about serial killers.)

Backlist bump: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

If you haven’t read Nicola Griffith before, let 2022 be the year you correct that. This novella would be a great place to begin. Griffith is writing some of the best fantasy and historical fiction being published today. Spear is a gender-bent, queer Arthurian retelling, featuring a young woman named Peretur who travels as a man to Caer Leon to join the court of King Artos. It’s a rich, beautifully realized story of adventure, romance, and action. (CW for chemical use, violence, and death of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: Hild by Nicola Griffith

The multi-talented Monáe and a group of contributors—Yohanca Delgado, Eve L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, and Sheree Renée Thomas—have put together a selection of futuristic stories exploring race, gender, queerness, and love. These tales are full of characters who push back against society. The stories are built off Monáe’s album Dirty Computer, but you don’t have to have listened to the record to enjoy the book. (I read it first, then listened to it.) I would love more album/book tie-ins, please! (CW for racism, homophobia, and transphobia)

Backlist bump: Reconstruction: Stories by Alaya Dawn Johnson

I haven’t read this sequel yet, but I figured it was a good time to remind people who are fans of the first book, Black Sun, that it’s out (because whoa cliffhanger.) Or to remind you that you’ve always wanted to read it! It’s about a society inspired by Pre-Columbian Americans, where a ship carrying a mysterious passenger is headed to the holy city of Tova in time for the winter solstice, which will coincide with a solar eclipse. Doesn’t sound ominous at all, does it??? (I don’t remember all the specifics, but there are definitely content warnings for violence and gore, suicide, war, child abuse, and murder.)

Backlist bump: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

So this is SUPER ADORABLE. The Apprentice Lord of Darkness (ALoD from here on out) reminds me of Ludo from Star vs the Forces of Evil. ALoD wants to rule the kingdom, so decides to put together a group of flunkies and make a play for the throne. But the flunkies are a sweet, silly bunch and none of the plans ever go the way they want. Together, as they attempt to take over the world, they end up doing more good than evil. Does that mean the ALoD is really all that evil? And who IS the ALoD, anyway?

I liked reading this because while it’s a continuing story throughout the book, each page is its own contained bit of a story with its own completed jokes. And the characters are delightfully silly and the art is adorable and colorful. It’s a good starter book for kids who are not quite old enough for Bone yet, and great for anyone who needs some light, silly reading in their life.

From the delightful Philpott (you should really follow her on Twitter) comes a new humorous and heart-squeezing collection of essays about life and anxiety, family and love. She discusses how no matter how you worry or prepare, you never know what is going to happen. It’s based around an incident involving her teenage son that woke her in the middle of the night. In these relatable essays Philpott talks about how despite all the frightening unknowns in the world, we still have love and joy to keep us anchored. And we get to hear about her nature friend, Frank the Turtle. (That’s him on the cover!) Philpott is very funny, very wise, and a joy to spend time with. (CW for illness, child peril, health issues, pandemic talk, anxiety, death.)

Backlist bump: I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott

This compelling drama about two young people meeting in high school is inspired by Chinese mythology and Romeo and Juliet. (Which, tbh, is not a Shakespeare play I enjoy but I did love Pan’s last novel, so I had to read it anyway.) Hunter Yee and Luna Yang are two teens caught up in the lies and mistakes made by their families. They both feel misunderstood and despite the problems between their families, they are drawn to one another like moths to a flame, leading to a slightly magical and angsty romance, and an ending that will punch you in the heart. I will say that this is definitely a slow-burn of a book, but I think Pan is a wonderful writer. (CW for infidelity, illness, physical and emotional abuse, torture, violence.)

Backlist bump: The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

This is a candid and heartbreaking memoir by actress Shannon, a Saturday Night Live alum. She opens up about the car accident that claimed the lives of family members when she was young, and how her grieving father, who was severely injured in the accident, was left to raise his children alone. Shannon explores how she was bitten by the acting bug at a young age and her journey to the most famous sketch comedy show in the world, with lots of great anecdotes about people she has worked with along the way. It’s a really honest and sweet story of her love for her father and for life, and the unexpected moments, good and bad, that make us who we are. (CW for car accident, injury and loss of a loved one, chemical dependency, trauma, grief, sexual harassment.)

This book was compared to I Know What You Did Last Summer, and I’ve been missing a good Lois Duncan-esque read, so I picked it up. And it is indeed a fun YA thriller, about a group of friends who may be being haunted by their best friend. Last year, Chelsea and her friends spent a week at a lake house for summer vacation. At the end of that week, Emily was dead.

Now it’s a year later and the friends have all been sent anonymous invitations back to the lake house, by someone claiming that one of them is a murderer. No one is particularly excited to go back and stir up the pain and grief of losing Emily, but they feel like they have no choice. As the story unfolds, we get more and more info about just what happened last summer. And as suspicions among the remaining friends grow, someone continues to toy with the friends. And as far as they can tell, it’s Emily herself. But…how? This is a fun, super-fast read with all the thrills of a horror movie and a resolution I didn’t see coming! (CW for infidelity, stalking, violence, murder, drowning, house fires, and animal death.)

I have been a big fan of Maud Newton since the first week I started using the internet. She had the first literary blog I had ever heard of (and she was also the first person I knew who had their blog hacked.) She has been pouring her heart and soul into this memoir for many years and it shows. It’s a fascinating investigation into her Southern family, beginning with the wild story she was told about a relative who murdered someone in Texas. It’s a remarkable look at family and the lasting powers of stories, whether true or not. (CW for illness and death, loss of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

This is an excellent YA sci-fi thriller! After another police killing of a young Black man, residents of Baltimore lead a city-wide protest. Jamal Lawson is a young Black aspiring journalist who hopes to cover the story, but then the government uses a new total militarized tactic: the Dome. It covers the city, trapping people inside and keeping information from getting out. Suddenly, Jacob is now a part of the story, and he joins up with two other people trapped alongside him who may be able to find a way out if they work together.

Backlist bump: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

And last, but not least, a fun dystopian satire about office work and a hazardous outbreak in a tech company building. On Jacob’s first day as a temp at Delphi Enterprises, a Google-like tech company, a deadly contaminant is released into the world and only the temps manage to survive. As they search around for supplies and answers, they uncover a much darker conspiracy that may go all the way to the top. It’s kind of a locked room mystery with a high body count and some serious swipes at Silicon Valley. (CW for mentions of mass illness and death, chemical use, violence, assault, and murder.)

Backlist bump: Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski

One thing I am excited about this week is that I am going to be a guest on the When in Romance podcast! Romance is a genre I do not read nearly enough of, so I am trying to change that. I have read a couple monster romances this week—monster as in featuring creatures, not monster as in page count—and I hope to add this one soon. It’s about a woman named—you guessed it—Savvy Sheldon, who decides to renovate her life from top to bottom after a break-up. But along the way she realizes, it’s not about changing herself but changing how she sees herself. Plus there are kissing parts!

And as many of you know, I am a library brat, meaning I grew up in the library. I spent most of my time there when I was young, because 1) my mom was a librarian 2) that’s where the books were, and 3) I loved whistle seats. So I will always read everything I can about libraries. In this book, Oliver takes a much-needed look at the way libraries and librarians in contemporary society are expected to do so much more that check out books, and how they are often at the center of so many of today’s issues.

And last, but not least, I am looking forward to this queer mystery from an indie press! Yolanda Ávila is a former LAPD cop-turned private investigator with a lot of guilt and premonitions. And they might be coming true when her godson is kidnapped and his parents are charged with murder. She will have to rely on facts and feelings to solve the case. I am so ready for a badass middle-aged lady detective! (Speaking of which, I am also excited to read another of today’s new releases, Comeuppance Served Cold by Marion Deeds. Patricia talked about it on this week’s episode and it sounds delightful!)

If you love books with magical writing, then this should go to the top of your TBR! It’s a hauntingly beautiful story of a young woman who has a supernatural ability surrounding the souls of the dead and a gravedigger. Their fates are intertwined when they meet in the cemetery. I would say this has more atmosphere and gorgeous prose than action, but it’s also a powerfully compelling story of loss and fate. (CW for illness and death of a loved one, violence and murder, child abuse.)

Backlist bump: How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

And this is a remarkable memoir-slash-true crime book. Krause worked as an investigator, looking into cases for lawyers. When she was assigned the case of a sexual assault of a college student, she took the job despite her personal experience with sexual violence. Over the next five years, her life was consumed with the investigation and trying to keep it from overwhelming her. This is a fascinating and honest account of Krouse’s world and the horrifyingly few cases involving sexual assault that end with justice. (CW for sexual assault, trauma, and violence.)

Backlist bump: Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan

And last, but not least, this incredible new novel from one of today’s most amazing writers. Straight is a National Book Award-nominated author, but I feel like she still gets very little recognition. This novel is set to make her a household name: it’s a devastatingly amazing story of a crime and the aftermath, and how it affects the characters for decades to come. It’s set against the background of race, family, and history in California. It’s a brutally honest read, but Straight’s storytelling is a marvel. (CW for racism, violence, sexual assault, police violence, and death.)

Backlist bump: In the Country of Women: A Memoir by Susan Straight

This book is an action-packed delight, from beginning to end! Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are the Sphinxes, the first-ever all-women team of elite assassins trained by the Museum. The Museum is a secret organization working outside the law, tracking down criminals and killing them. They started out as Nazi hunters, but have branched out to drug lords, sex traffickers, etc. They recruited the women when they were just out of school and turned them into deadly human weapons.

When the book starts, the four women, who are now all in their sixties, are supposed to be celebrating their retirement. After four decades, they’re hanging up their weapons. They’re even been given a trip aboard a luxury cruise liner by the Museum’s directors. That’s where it all starts to go wrong, when one of them discovers an assassin on board who has been sent to kill them. But who would want them dead now that they’re done killing and why? It’s up to the women to use their various talents and pull one last job to figure it out.

Think Killing Eve set in Eve’s twilight years. This book has tons of action, snappy dialogue, and lots of flashbacks to older assignments. And it is never patronizing to its main characters. Do they have hot flashes? Yes. Can they still kill someone twice their size with a necklace or a knitting needle in a matter of seconds? You bet. The reason the women are so good at their jobs is because society underestimates women, and now that they’re old, they’re also practically invisible. They use it to their advantage, which makes for a lot of great capers, and a heck of an ending. (CW for sexism, sexual assault, mention of an off-page dog death, and lots and lots of violence and murder.)

This is a humorous and heartfelt coming of age memoir about Gao’s life as a Chinese immigrant in Texas. She and her family moved when she was a toddler, and she spent her youth trying to fit in, including changing her name to Laura, and trying to figure out her feelings towards girls. Gao is from Wuhan, which she says most people in America had never heard of until the Covid-19 pandemic. The end of the book covers the rise in anti-Asian violence, which has Gao wondering about her place in America. It’s a sweet and powerful look at trying to discover who she is when so many people are ready to label her. (CW for racism, homophobia.)

Backlist bump: Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

En garde! This is a gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers (which I admit to never having read, but I know they had big floppy hats and poked things with swords). In Lainoff’s exciting version, Tania de Batz is the daughter of a famous former Musketeer. She has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, which makes her dizzy quite often. All she wants is to stop being treated as ‘weak’ and learn to fight like her father. When he’s mysteriously murdered, Tania carries out his dying wish: to attend L’Académie des Mariées, a finishing school. Finally, she’s taught the art of sword fighting and she’s trained to be a dangerous assassin. When she meets a charming young man who may have the answers to her father’s death, she’ll have to decide how far she’ll go to get them—and who she can trust. (CW for violence, death of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

And last, but not least, Gutowitz puts her immense knowledge of lesbian pop culture down on the page for this commanding collection of essays. It includes a look at how it took a lot longer for lesbians to be represented in mainstream culture than gay men, what it was like for her growing up with hardly any lesbian role models, and a lot of funny experiences she’s had because of her writing and the internet. (Including a visit from the FBI!) It also includes serious events from Gutowitz’s experiences growing up, including her search for her identity and an abusive relationship with a partner. (CW for mentions of bullying, sexism, outing, homophobia, sexual assault, drug abuse, mental illness.)

Backlist bump: We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.: Essays by Samantha Irby

I have been having some recurring health issues and was feeling pretty down this weekend. And then I discovered a galley of this book in my TBR and it brightened my whole day! I am not saying this is the best book of the year, but I am not *not* saying it. It is a freaking delight!

In this wonderful middle grade graphic novel, the planet is in trouble when something starts eating the moon. The culprits: Rats, who live on the dark side of the moon. The government knows that the destruction of the moon needs to be stopped, so it sends the best secret defense that it has: a domestic short hair. Given the name First Cat in Space, he bravely blasts off, prepared to do battle with the rotten rodents. On his journey, he discovers a stowaway, LOZ 4000, a verbose robot who vows to help him with his mission.

The two of them meet the Moon Queen when they land. She tells them it will be a dangerous trip to the dark side of the moon, fraught with peril. But together, they can do anything! There will be giants, monsters, more robots, whales, and yes, pizza. I liked how the Moon Queen insists everything on the moon is different, but it’s all just the same things, but with the word ‘moon’ in front of them. Like moon sand, moon bread, moon shoes… (Except for fruit. Let’s not get ridiculous.) This is hilarious, and delightfully illustrated. Harris has a very Dav Pilkey-like illustration style and it’s so fun. And it’s 360 pages long, so that’s a lot of fun packed into one book! Related: I also recommend Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires.

I am so delighted that We Ride Upon Sticks put Barry on everyone’s radar, because now people will sit up and take notice when she has a new book out. This is her fantastic new novel about a young monk and his most definitely not-a-monk twin brother, who set out on a journey to find the reincarnation of a great lama somewhere in Mongolia. It’s a story of faith and family, and finding one’s purpose. It is such a beautiful, wildly inventive book, and I hope you all love it like I do!

Backlist bump: We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

And this is a fantastic YA historical fantasy novel from the author of Rebel Seoul! It’s a feminist retelling of the classic Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong.” It’s about a land ravaged by storms that have wiped away villages. To appease the Sea God, the villagers plan to throw the Sea God a bride. But the intended bride is Mina’s brother’s beloved, and when he tries to interfere, Mina offers herself up instead. Under the water, Mina discovers the Sea God is enchanted and joins up with a motley crew of underwater beings to break the spell and save her village. It’s delightful and full of adventure!

Backlist bump: XOXO by Axie Oh

Warriors, and healers, and sorcerers, oh my! Macallister, known for her fun historical fiction, is making her first foray into adult fantasy, and it’s great! This is the first book in what will be the Five Queendoms series. For centuries, peace has existed between the queendoms of the land. But when a decade passes without a girl being born, it throws the world into chaos. Magic and secrets will come to light as the queens struggle to make sense of the Drought of Girls, and fight to hold onto alliances and fend off new threats. It’s an immersive, queer, epic adventure! Plus, people hitting things with swords!!! (CW for violence, murder, childbirth, and death of a loved one.)

Backlist bump: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Okay, as a World of Warcraft fan, this is definitely in my wheelhouse. This is a super inside baseball look at how the company behind the biggest role-playing game of all time ended up almost shuttering its doors before being rescued by its nemesis.

When Dungeons and Dragons was released it was a huge hit. People bought the books and the kits by the armful, having never experienced anything like it before. But from the very start, TSR, the company behind the game, could seem to make no wise decisions. Through bad deals, mismanagement, and poor use of talent, it slowly, slowly sunk into mountains of debt. And then the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering came out, and D&D sales dropped even more. And just when it looked like TSR would have to shut down, it was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Magic: The Gathering.

Riggs has written an extremely thorough examination of all the trials and tribulations of TSR, since its inception in 1974 by co-creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It charts everything from the dozens of failed new products and ventures, to the ousting of its creators, to the wild ‘Satanic panic’ years of the game in the early 1980s, and its final death throes in the mid-1990s that strangely involved Buck Rogers.

As I said, it’s quite inside baseball, and isn’t so much about the people involved (Gygax disappears not even a quarter of the way in) as the company and its decisions. And there are some things I wished we learned more about, involving the creators and employers. But of the three controversial figures involved, two have died and the other refuses to talk about it. But I was fascinated by all the ways in which the company seemed to get in its own way, and the hubris of management, who seemed to know nothing about games or even nerds. And I loved learning about the many now-famous writers and artists who got their start working on Dungeons and Dragons. If you love role-playing games, or any kind of games, or even just want an epic nerdpurr, then pick this up!