Author: Liberty Hardy

Happy Tuesday, readers! It’s time for another round-up, as we are now halfway through Rounduptember! Today’s newsletter is about 20 of the books coming out in 2020 that I am excited about that I haven’t read yet. (Publishers/editors/authors/agents, feel free to send them to me!) Next week, I’ll cover books I have read. Which is woohoo for me, because you know how I love to tell you about as many books as I can!

You can hear about about more favorites from this year on this week’s episode of the All the Books! María Cristina and I discussed several of our favorite nonfiction books of 2019, including On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, The Priory of the Orange Tree, The Hollow Kingdom, and more!

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:

Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling (Grand Central Publishing, January 7)

I heard that this book was awesome from Kira Jane Buxton, and since she wrote The Hollow Kingdom, I know she has amazing taste. It’s about a future country built entirely on algorithms. Peter Jobless is a machine scrapper who can’t bring himself to destroy some of the machines sent his way, so his home is now populated by a band of robot misfits. And one day he returns a machine, calling into question Qualityland’s whole system.

Virtuoso by Yelena Moskovich (Two Dollar Radio, January 14)

The first offering of 2020 from one of my very favorite indie presses is a novel sent in Prague, Paris, Boston, and Wisconsin. The Guardian calls it a mashup of David Lynch, Elena Ferrante, Anaïs Nin, Antonin Artaud, and Lana Del Rey, which is quite the impressive mashup.

 

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (Scholastic Press, February 4)

I was a big fan of Callender’s 2019 release, Queen of the Conquered, which is most definitely NOT a children’s book. But this upcoming release IS for kids (and everyone else.) It’s a middle grade read about a 12-year-old boy who thinks his brother turned into a dragonfly after he died.

 

The Snow Collectors by Tina May Hall (Dzanc Books, February 12)

I marked this one down to read months ago, and then forgot, and then came across it a few weeks ago, and thought “WOWZA! I WANT THIS!” and then of course discovered I had already written it down, lol. I love when I do that. It’s being billed as a Gothic mystery about the Franklin Arctic expedition. I can’t wait to read it! I’d love to have a favorite novel about Arctic exploration that wasn’t by a garbage fire.

So We Can Glow: Stories by Leesa Cross-Smith (Grand Central Publishing, March 10)

I loved Cross-Smith’s novel, Whiskey and Ribbons, from 2018, so I am incredibly interested to see what she has for us in shorter form. Also, I think we need to bring neon signs back to more book covers. Last year’s cover trend was snakes. Maybe this year’s trend will be neon snakes.

 

You Will Never Be Forgotten: Stories by Mary South (FSG Originals, March 10)

I am all aboard for every book that FSG puts out, but I will admit that I saw an author I greatly respect discussing this online, so I marked it down without even reading about it. I can no longer remember who the author was (Elizabeth McCracken, maybe?) but I have now read over the synopsis of the stories and remain committed.

 

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, by Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett (Translator), David Boyd (Translator) (Europa Editions, April 7)

The author of Ms Ice Sandwich returns with a novel about three women in Japan and their relationships with their own bodies. One woman struggles with self image after giving birth; one is a girl terrified to experience puberty; and the unnamed narrator deals with being neither a daughter or mother.

Braised Pork: A Novel by An (Yu Grove Press, April 14)

I have heard amazing things already about this novel of a woman in Beijing who finds her husband dead in the bathtub after breakfast. Next to his body is a mysterious pencil sketch that sends her off on a journey across the city for answers.

 

 

Northernmost: A novel by Peter Geye (Knopf, April 14)

A man thought lost in an Arctic expedition returns home to discover his funeral is underway. His wife, of course, is shocked to see him alive. Over a century later, a woman travels to Oslo to learn more about her great-great-grandmother who was born there but moved away as a young woman and never returned.

 

The Abstainer: A Novel by Ian McGuire (Random House, April 28)

This is already the third mention of Arctic exploration and I’m not even halfway through my list, but I loved McGuire’s novel, The North Water, about an expedition gone wrong. It is a grisly, darkdarkdark novel, so I cannot wait to see what he does with his new one, about an Irishman in nineteenth-century England and the underground movement for independence.

Gory Details: Adventures From the Dark Side of Science by Erika Engelhaupt (National Geographic, May 12)

And it wouldn’t be a list by Liberty without something macabre! This book covers “the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe” and is being compared to Mary Roach. WE NEEDS THE PRECIOUS.

 

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess (Random House Books for Young Readers, May 12)

The promo material for this YA novel calls it “Three Dark Crowns meets The Breakfast Club with DRAGONS.” I don’t think I need to say anything else.

 

 

Catherine House: A Novel by Elisabeth Thomas (Custom House, May 12)

Okay, not only am I a sucker for a 1980s reference (see above), but I will read anything compared to The Secret History, which this has been. I guess you can say it’s in my Catherine Wheel house. (Sorry not sorry.) It’s a Gothicky novel about a very selective school of higher learning hidden in the Pennsylvania woods.

 

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (Scholastic Press, June 2)

I 100% admit to wanting to read this simply because it is a reference to my favorite Andrew Scott moment on Sherlock. (Yep, that’s where the title for the Billie Eilish song came from, too.) It’s about two girls competing for prom queen who fall in love. Sounds amazing, I want to have read it yesterday. SIGN ME UP.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue (Random House, June 16)

This is Mbue’s first novel since her impressive debut, Behold the Dreamers, back in 2016. (Where DOES the time go???) This one is about the people of the fictional African village of Kosawa, who are fighting back against the devastation caused by an American oil company.

 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, June 30)

This is SMG’s second novel coming in 2020, the first being Untamed Shore in February. Mexican Gothic is “a reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel, a story about an isolated mansion in 1950s Mexico.” MY BODY IS READY.

 

 

Hamnet: A novel by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf, July 28)

This is based on O’Farrell’s fascination with a story regarding Shakespeare and the death of his eleven-year-old son, Hamnet. It’s a look at Shakespeare and his wife after the loss of the son, and in the years leading up to the production of Hamlet.

 

Empire of Wild: A Novel by Cherie Dimaline (William Morrow, July 28)

This one was blurbed by Tommy Orange, so I cannot wait to get my hands on it ASAP. It’s a fable inspired by the traditional Canadian Métis legend of the Rogarou—a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of native people’s communities. My goal in 2020 is to read more Native voices, and I think this one is going to be incredible.

Luster: A Novel by Raven Leilani (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August 4)

And this promises to be an electrifying debut about a young Black woman who gets involved in an open marriage, that turns into attachment when she loses her job and grows close with the wife and child.

 

 

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Vol. 2 by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics Books, September 15)

I’m not going to get too excited, since they have already pushed this release date three times, and then pulled it entirely for a while. But for now, it appears to be back on, and I love the first book so much that I don’t care if I am sharing incorrect information right now, I just want it to happen. The artwork in the first book is some of the most amazing pen-and-ink work I have ever seen.

See you next week!

xx,

Liberty

Happy Tuesday, readers! It’s time for another round-up, lol. They should just change ‘December’ to ‘Rounduptember.” Totally plausible and easy-to-use name, right? Today’s newsletter is about 20 of my favorite books of the year! Obviously, I love so many more than that but I cannot mark all of them down, so I will pick the first ones that pop into my head.

If you want to read about more of them, I have started off my yearly Twitter thread of 150 favorites. (Just barely: Twitter was down almost as soon as I started, so I am only up to #9 right now. It was a conspiracy!) And you can hear about about more favorites from 2019 on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Kelly and I discussed several of our favorite nonfiction books, including Good Talk, Say Nothing, Dapper Dan, and more!

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:

All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg

I loved this book so much. SOOOOOOO MUCH. It’s about members of a family who have been lorded over by the abusive narcissist patriarch their whole lives. When he suffers a heart attack, they reflect on his past behavior, and contemplate forgiveness and whether we have to give it. And the ending, holy cats! It was the first time I fist-pumped the air and said “YESSSSSS” while reading a book. I looked like Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club.

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer

This is a very important book: Treuer presents the history of Native Americans in America from the end of the 19th century to present day, a history not often highlighted or documented in history books. This was a finalist for the National Book Award for nonfiction.

 

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson

Madison needs her former bff, Lillian, to be the governess for Madison’s soon-to-be-arriving stepchildren. She can’t hire just anyone, because she needs someone she can trust to keep the family secret: These children catch on fire when they get upset. This is a really sweet, funny novel, and I loved it from beginning to end. I think that it works because Wilson never makes it over-the-top. No one seriously questions the science behind fire children. The book never flies too high, so he has no problem landing it.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel by Ocean Vuong

The debut novel of the incredible poet Vuong, written as a letter from a son to his mother, about her life in Vietnam before his birth, and their difficult lives together later on. This is “reach into your ribcage, pull your heart out, and rub it on your head” beautiful. What a powerfully moving read.

 

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I know I mention this book practically every week, but it is my obsession. A swordswoman of the Ninth House accompanies her necromancer to the First House to participate in a competition for the Emperor. Add lots blood, skeletons, and swordplay, and shake vigorously.

 

 

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

THIS BOOK IS BANANAS, Y’ALL. It’s about the end of humanity brought about by the apocalypse, told through the eyes of animals. Mainly S.T., a foul-mouthed domesticated crow, who is traveling to find a cure to help his infected human friend. It’s SO funny and gross and awesome, and it’s also incredibly moving. I can’t wait for the AMC for animated TV series.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

A genre-defying young adult novel about monster hunting from the author of Freshwater. This book is such a tremendously imaginative way to talk about children and parents, and the dangers of silence and denial. This was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

 

 

gods with a little g by Tupelo Hassman

This is an incendiary novel of youth and grief and yearning. It perfectly captures how stupid, immediate, and confusing it feels to be a teenager. I loved it with the heat of a thousand suns. I feel like this one needs more love.

 

 

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

It’s definitely one of the year’s best novels. It’s about a couple who find themselves embroiled in a murder trial after their experimental medical treatment device kills two people. But it’s also a story of family, and responsibility, and immigration. The writing is astounding, and it will deliver a kick-o-gram straight to your heart. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

 

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

This book is so intense, and remarkably sad, but it’s an incredible read about a mother of ten who was taken in full view of her neighbors in 1972 and never seen again. Everyone knew who took her, but no one would speak, because they were afraid of repercussions. It’s an excellent examination of The Troubles and the effects on the country.

The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar

This is an incredible look at micro-aggressions and macro-aggressions experienced by people of color who are American citizens. The main character, Mother, is reflecting on these as she lies injured in her driveway, the result of police violence. The writing in this book and the non-linear storytelling is also amazing.

 

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Evvie Drake is about a young widow and a burned-out ballplayer in Maine who strike up a friendship. There’s plenty of witty banter and “will they, won’t they” tension, but it’s also a freaking smart, emotionally charged story about loss. It charmed the pants off me. I can’t wait to read more from Holmes.

 

 

We Cast a Shadow: A Novel by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

I can’t believe this was just out in January. I feel like I’ve been recommending it for years. It’s a profound satire about racism and survival in America, about a near-future, post-post-racial America where a father tries to make more money, so his son can have a radical surgery to lighten his skin.

 

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia

Do you want to recapture the feeling of reading The Westing Game or Agatha Christie novels for the first time? Then read this book. Well, when it comes out. I loved it! It’s a spooky, charming scavenger hunt, kind of like a ghostly reality show, but better because you don’t have to look at anyone. Reading this made me feel like I was a kid again, watching Mr. Boogedy, just absolutely thrilled and tickled pink. TL;DR: The Westing Game for adults.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Two young boys with different views on facing the world deal with their challenges after they are thrown in a brutal reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. Whitehead has taken another dark spot in American history, based on a real school of horrors in Florida, and transformed it into a compelling, powerful novel.

 

Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood by Maureen Stanton

This is a fantastic memoir about Stanton’s delinquent childhood, growing up in a working-class prison town. It aches with painful truths and bad decisions, and the writing is incredible. I will be mentioning it eleven million more times, at least, between now and its release.

 

Science Comics: Cats: Nature and Nurture by Andy Hirsch

I adore this book to pieces. I was delighted by the wonderful illustrations and all the information in the book, but my favorite part is when Hirsch poses the question: Are house cats domesticated? And his answer is pretty much, “LOLOLOL, NOPE.” Basically, if your cat was big enough, it would eat you, no matter how well you get along. Sleep well.

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

I am so glad I managed to squeeze this one in after its released date, because it ended up being one of my favorite novels of the year. It’s a look at love, friendship, and faith, revolving around two couples who meet at a church in Chicago in the 1960s.

 

 

Your House Will Pay: A Novel by Steph Cha

Another book from 2019 that I think deserves WAY more attention. Cha has done an amazing job with this literary thriller about two families caught up in the wake of the shooting of a black teenager in early 1990s in Los Angeles, and a second crime that brings them back together two decades later. This is the most realistic novel I read this year, if that makes sense.

 

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle

When mob widow Rena (rightfully) knocks her disgusting neighbor on the head with an ashtray and steals his car, she sets off a chain of events that sends her in the direction of other people’s comeuppances and coincidences. It’s dark and funny, just the way I like them. Imagine if Charles Portis wrote a mash-up of Two Days in the Valley and The Sopranos, and you’d have this book, a smart, gritty crime novel about loss, second chances, and the Mafia.

See you next week!

xx,

Liberty

IT’S DECEMBER. Which means publishing is more about pushing books than publishing books at the moment, because of the holidays. So new releases become slower than molasses rolling uphill. For this week, I have a great big list of titles coming out the whole month of December. Next week, I’ll share my favorites of 2019, and the week after that, books I am excited about coming in 2020. It’s going to be an explosion of book awesomeness! You can hear about some of this month’s books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about Such a Fun Age, Dead Astronauts, This is Going to Hurt, and more.

And like with each megalist, I’m putting a next to the books that I have had the chance to read and loved. It has been slow reading for me the last few months, so I haven’t read as many as I wished, but I did get to a few of today’s books. And there are soooo many more on this list that I can’t wait to read! Like, seriously, I want to read most of the books out today. Someone invent a way to stop time, please.

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer

The Measure of Our Lives: A Gathering of Wisdom by Toni Morrison

This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Medical Resident by Adam Kay

Cheaters Always Win: The Story of America by J. M. Fenster

Treachery: A Novel (Giordano Bruno Thriller) by S. J. Parris

Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean

Free Day (New York Review Books Classics) by Inès Cagnati, Liesl Schillinger (translator)

Nine Elms (Kate Marshall) by Robert Bryndza

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (THIS. A MILLION TIMES, THIS.)

The Wilds by Vita Ayala, Emily Pearson (Artist)

One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle

Now You See Them (Magic Men Mysteries) by Elly Griffiths

Just Watch Me: A Novel by Jeff Lindsay

The Attempted Murder of Teddy Roosevelt by Burt Solomon

Plate Tectonics: An Illustrated Memoir by Margaux Motin

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance by Jennieke Cohen

The Thank-You Project: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time by Nancy Davis Kho

Meg and Jo by Virginia Kantra

All the Colors of Magic by Valija Zinck

When Old Midnight Comes Along (Amos Walker Novels) by Loren D. Estleman

Scared Little Rabbits by A.V. Geiger

Thin Ice: A Mystery by Paige Shelton

1973: Rock at the Crossroads by Andrew Grant Jackson

Walk the Wild With Me by Rachel Atwood

Reverie by Ryan La Sala

Oppo: A Novel by Tom Rosenstiel

Anyone: A Novel by Charles Soule

Down Among the Dead by K.B. Wagers

Children of Virtue & Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

Winter Grave (An Embla Nystrom Investigation) by Helene Tursten, Marlaine Delargy (translator)

Scornful Stars (Breaker of Empires Book 3) by Richard Baker

The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast: New and Selected Stories by John L’Heureux

Reputation: A Novel by Sara Shepard

Diamond & Dawn (Amber & Dusk, Book 2) by Lyra Selene

Trace of Evil: A Natalie Lockhart Novel by Alice Blanchard

Elena Ferrante’s Key Words by Tiziana de Rogatis, Will Schutt (translator)

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

The Sacrament: A Novel by Olaf Olafsson

Alice Adams: Portrait of a Writer by Carol Sklenicka

Heaven on Earth: How Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo Discovered the Modern World by L. S. Fauber

The General Zapped an Angel: Stories (Art of the Story) by Howard Fast

Nietzsche and the Burbs by Lars Iyer

Blitzed (The Playbook) by Alexa Martin

The Revisionaries by A. R. Moxon

A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman’s Harrowing Escape from the Nazis by Françoise Frenkel

This Is Happiness by Niall Williams

From Sea to Stormy Sea: 17 Stories Inspired by Great American Paintings by Lawrence Block

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters

The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey

The Road to Delano by John DeSimone

A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution by Jeremy Popkin

The Wonderful by Saskia Sarginson

The Dead Girls Club: A Novel by Damien Angelica Walters

The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan, N Kalyan Raman (translator)

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

The Hills Reply by Tarjei Vesaas, Elizabeth Rokkan (translator)

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin

The Wicked Redhead: A Wicked City Novel by Beatriz Williams

All That’s Bright and Gone: A Novel by Eliza Nellums

Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition by Buddy Levy

Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke, Christiane Marks (translator)

Gatekeeper: Poems by Patrick Johnson

The German House by Annette Hess, Elisabeth Lauffer (translator)

A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed by Jason Brown

The Kill Club by Wendy Heard

Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins

A Trace of Deceit: A Novel by Karen Odden

The Network: A Novel by L. C Shaw

Star Trek: Discovery: Dead Endless (6) by Dave Galanter

Afterwardness by Mimi Khalvati

Karen’s Witch (Baby-Sitters Little Sister Graphix) by Ann M. Martin  (Author), Katy Farina (Illustrator)

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

The Wives: A Novel by Tarryn Fisher

Like Sisters on the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

The Sky Done Ripped (Ned the Seal) by Joe R. Lansdale

Self-Confidence: A Philosophy by Charles Pépin, Willard Wood (translator)

The Guilty Feminist: You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Overthrow the Patriarchy by Deborah Frances-White (Author)

The Best of Uncanny by Naomi Novik, Hao Jingfang, et al.

Splintegrate by Deborah Teramis Christian

F*ck No!: How to Stop Saying Yes When You Can’t, You Shouldn’t, or You Just Don’t Want To (A No F*cks Given Guide) by Sarah Knight

See you next week!

xx,

Liberty