Author: Liberty Hardy

It may technically be September, but it’s still sunny and 80 degrees out here, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s still summer reading weather. And there are so many amazing books being released today that are perfect for outdoor reading! It’s an embarrassment of book riches (plus the new Ransom Riggs just came out!!!) And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Story of a Brief Marriage, Mischling, and Hidden Figures.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Angel Catbird Volume 1 by Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas, and Tamara Bonvillain.

Margaret Atwood’s first original graphic novel!

Internationally best-selling and respected novelist Margaret Atwood and acclaimed artist Johnnie Christmas collaborate for one of the most highly anticipated comic book and literary events of 2016!

A young genetic engineer is accidentally mutated by his own experiment when his DNA is merged with that of a cat and an owl. What follows is a humorous, action-driven, pulp-inspired superhero adventure—with a lot of cat puns.

Features bonus content by David Mack, Matt Kindt, Tyler Crook, and more!

Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart

Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler

Nicolas by Pascal Girard

Mischling by Affinty Konar

One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi

The Graces by Laure Eve

The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood by Belle Boggs

Leave Me by Gayle Forman

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

To Be or Not to Be: That is the Adventure by Ryan North

Closed Casket: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah and Agatha Christie

The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters by Laura Thompson

Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Fire in My Eyes: An American Warrior’s Journey from Being Blinded on the Battlefield to Gold Medal Victory by Brad Snyder and Tom Sileo

Best. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland by Dave Barry

Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids by Nicholson Baker

Against Everything: Essays by Mark Greif

Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy

Part Wild: A Writer’s Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance by Deb Norton

Into the Sun by Deni Ellis Béchard

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life by John le Carré

A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age by Daniel J. Levitin

The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt by Joseph Lelyveld

The Revolutionaries Try Again by Mauro Javier Cardenas

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Revolution’s End: The Patty Hearst Kidnapping, Mind Control, and the Secret History of Donald DeFreeze and the SLA by Brad Schreiber

Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace by Jessica Bennett

She Made Me Laugh: My Friend Nora Ephron by Richard Cohen

The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch (Author), Sam Garrett (Translator)

Death’s End by Cixin Liu

Blackacre: Poems by Monica Youn

Cloudbound by Fran Wilde

The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan

Swimming in the Sink: An Episode of the Heart by Lynne Cox

Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy (paperback)

A House of My Own: Stories from My Life by Sandra Cisneros (paperback)

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick (paperback)

Loving Day by Mat Johnson (paperback)

Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning by Timothy Snyder

The Strange Case of Rachel K by Rachel Kushner (paperback)

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Well, August, it’s been fun. I’m sad to see you go. But the arrival of fall means BFB: big fall books!  On this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some of the books coming out in the last half of 2016 that we are excited about, including I’m Judging You, The Mothers, and Children of the New World. As for this, the second-to-last day in August, it’s exciting because the sequel to An Ember in the Ashes, A Torch Against the Night, is finally here! And there are these other books I’m going to tell you about it 3…2…1…

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa.

Comics creator Simon Muchat is struggling to find purpose in his existence. Bitter and apathetic towards everything, he gets a chance to travel to Portugal where the roots of his family lie. After an absence of more than 20 years Simon finds himself rediscovering the sounds and smells of his childhood, the radiant warmth of something forgotten. Having soaked up the atmosphere of his fatherland, and driven by the desire to find out the secret behind his family name, Simon sets on a melancholic quest for identity that helps him rediscover his passion for life.

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for most of her years in high school. But when her radio evangelist father moves the family to Rome, Georgia, he asks her something unfair: lay low in her new school and pretend to be straight. Though she reluctantly promises, that agreement is tested when she meets Mary, the friend of a sister. This is a fabulous read! It’s a smart, sexy, funny book at queerness and teens and religion, and a refreshing take on what it means to be yourself. More, please.

Backlist bump: Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

The Nix by Nathan Hill

One of the year’s biggest debuts, both literally and figuratively, The Nix is a sprawling, funny (and sad) story about the relationship between a college professor and his mother. Samuel hasn’t seen his radical hippie mother since he was a young boy, but when she shows up in his life, asking for help, he decides to give it to her. Helping her means revisiting both their pasts, and learning things about his mother and himself he never realized. If you love big, occasionally self-indulgent literary fiction (and I mean that in a good way), this is perfect for you!

Backlist bump: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Tell Me Something Real by Calla Devlin

At first you think this is a novel about three beautiful sisters helping their sick mother as she is treated for cancer, narrated by the middle sister. BUT THEN IT TURNS INTO SOMETHING ELSE. Explaining it would give it away, so let me just say: READ IT, READ IT, READ IT! This book is another example, like A.S. King novels, where I feel books shouldn’t be labeled as ‘young adult’ but ‘books for humans’ instead. PS – Don’t forget tissues.

Backlist bump: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Subsidiary by Matías Celedón (author), Samuel Ritter (translator)

When the subsidiary offices of a major company suddenly lose power, the employees are locked inside. But a loud speaker message inexplicably tells them to keep working in the total darkness. One worker uses his rubber stamp to keep a record of the ordeal and the horrors that occur as the days go on and no one comes to rescue them. The book itself is told with a stamp, a clever gimmick. I read that Celedón hand-designed this book with a stamp he bought in a bookstore, but I don’t know if it gave him the idea, or if he bought it to bring the idea to life. I’m soooooo curious!

Backlist bump: Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra (author), Megan McDowell (translator)

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me today – time to get back to reading! If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats, Millay and Steinbeck), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

FYI: IT’S STILL SUMMER! I know it’s hard to remember, because advertisers are cramming back-to-school and Halloween stuff down our throats already, but there’s still more lovely weather for outdoor reading. I have been enjoying reading outside this super-hot Maine summer (from the safety of the shade, of course.) Whether you like to read inside or out, on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about Behold the Dreamers, The Couple Next Door, and more new releases. BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS!

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Gentleman by Forrest Leo.

A funny, fantastically entertaining debut novel, in the spirit of Wodehouse and Monty Python, about a famous poet who inadvertently sells his wife to the devil–then recruits a band of adventurers to rescue her. Lionel and his friends encounter trapdoors, duels, anarchist-fearing bobbies, the social pressure of not knowing enough about art history, and the poisonous wit of his poetical archenemy. Fresh, action-packed and very, very funny, this debut novel The Gentleman by Forrest Leo is a giddy farce that recalls the masterful confections of P.G. Wodehouse and Hergé’s beautifully detailed Tintin adventures.

The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston

This is the most epic of nerdpurrs: an image-filled exploration of the history of books! From the papyrus scrolls and tablets of ancient history to the beautiful bound books we hold in our hands today, this is the perfect gift to give a book lover. And by “book lover,” I mean “yourself.” (You’re not even still reading this description, are you? I know I was totally sold on the title alone.)

Backlist bump: A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books by Nicholas A. Basbanes

Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson

I have been fascinated by the story of the prison uprising since I was little and saw Al Pacino chanting “Attica!” in Dog Day Afternoon. Despite being a famous event, it has taken over forty years for some of the documents on Attica to be unsealed. Thompson has collected all that information and written a definitive account of the bloody uprising, from the perspectives of both the prisoners and the law enforcement. It is a horrifying, fascinating read on the historical mistreatment of inmates, and how some victims are still searching for justice.

Backlist bump: Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better by Maya Schenwar

We Eat Our Own by Kea Wilson

Okay, I will admit that this might not be for everyone, but if you are a lover of 1970s Italian horror (like I am) or horror movies in general (me again), you are the perfect audience! An unnamed actor flies to the Amazon to shoot a film, only to find upon his arrival that the director is mad, the script is missing, the film is over budget, the crew is on the verge of losing their minds, and the town itself is out to get them. Loosely based on events surrounding the filming of Cannibal Holocaust, this is a dazzlingly written, shocking exploration of violence and art.

Backlist bump: Night Film by Marisha Pessl (If you want another feeling of 1970s Italian horror film directors.)

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

New boooooooooooks! There are GREAT new books out today. The Amy Schumer memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, is out, and I am so excited to get my hands on Riverine, which has thus far escaped my clutches. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I… well… let’s just say the heat got to us this weekend (SO HOT) so we talked about whatever we wanted, including One-in-a-Million Boy, Geek Love, and Golden Years.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson.

Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda, and the path before them is winding and dangerous–what will happen now? This third and final book in the Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed. New York Times-bestselling author Mary E. Pearson’s combination of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action makes  this a riveting page-turner that you won’t be able to put down!

The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore

From the author of The Sherlockian comes another delightful 19th-century tale involving real-life historical figures! This time it’s Thomas Edison. On the brink of getting electric lights into every household, Edison sues his remaining rival, George Westinghouse, to hopefully bankrupt him. But Westinghouse’s young lawyer will prove to be a match for the electric tyrant. Based on real events, Moore once again wonderfully brings history to light. Er, life.

Backlist bump: The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt

The Greatest of Marlys by Lynda Barry

A legendary comic figure, Marlys is Barry’s stand-out star, an eight-year-old freckled, bossy, bucktoothed young girl in glasses that Barry debuted to great acclaim in 1986. This is a brilliant retrospective on Marlys over the last thirty years, and a fantastic trip down memory lane. If you love Roz Chast, be sure to check it out.

Backlist bump: What It Is by Lynda Barry

A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi

Zeba has always been the perfect wife and mother, but when her husband is found brutally murdered, she is jailed for the crime, much to the astonishment of her children. As Zeba awaits trial, she gets to know the other women in her cell, who have also suffered great misfortunes and violence at the hands of men. To these women, jail is more of a haven than a punishment, a safe place away from a world where women are treated so cruelly. A necessary, moving look at the lives of Afghan women and the power of sisterhood, The House Without Windows will lift your spirits and shatter your heart.

Backlist bump: When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi

The Gentleman by Forrest Leo

Due to an enormous book-buying habit, poet Lionel Savage is broke. (Sound familiar?) To help his finances, he marries for money – only to find after the wedding that he is no longer able to write. Many miserable months later, after chatting with the Devil at a party (like you do), Lionel’s wife goes missing. It is then Lionel realizes not only does he actually love his wife, but that he may have inadvertently given her to Satan, and he must get her back immediately. Plenty of charming slapstick ensues. A lighthearted comedy of errors that never takes itself too seriously, The Gentleman is a delight.

Backlist bump: The Most Of P.G. Wodehouse by P.G. Wodehouse

Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture by Jace Clayton

I’m so glad I picked this one up! Clayton (aka DJ Rupture), a musical sensation, explores the connections in music that have been forged from the relatively-new use of the internet. He offers a fascinating look at the different ways people are making music in the digital age, and spins the future of music in a positive light, explaining why there’s no need to fear – music isn’t going anywhere.

Backlist bump: How Music Got Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention by Stephen Witt

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy new book Tuesday! I thought I was only going to do this in July, but once again, I am breaking with tradition, and doing another big round-up of books, because I read SO MANY books out today that I wanted to share with you, I really could not whittle it down to a few. Plus there are many more noteworthy books out today. So here’s a big list!  And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Underground Railroad, I Contain Multitudes, and I Will Send Rain.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa.

Comics creator Simon Muchat is struggling to find purpose in his existence. Bitter and apathetic towards everything, he gets a chance to travel to Portugal where the roots of his family lie. After an absence of more than 20 years Simon finds himself rediscovering the sounds and smells of his childhood, the radiant warmth of something forgotten. Having soaked up the atmosphere of his fatherland, and driven by the desire to find out the secret behind his family name, Simon sets on a melancholic quest for identity that helps him rediscover his passion for life.

The Cauliflower by Nicola Barker

Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

White Nights in Split Town City by Annie DeWitt

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney

The Collected Stories by Mavis Gallant

The Field of the Cloth of Gold by Magnus Mills

Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Who Will Catch Us As We Fall by Iman Verjee

The Hero’s Body: A Memoir by William Giraldi

Results May Vary by Bethany Chase

I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows

How to Party With an Infant by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Mr. Eternity by Aaron Thier

Scream: A Memoir of Glamour and Dysfunction by Tama Janowitz

Seven Skeletons: The Evolution of the World’s Most Famous Human Fossils by Lydia Pyne

Vow of Celibacy by Erin Judge

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood

When Watched: Stories by Leopoldine Core

Wicked Plants Coloring Book by Amy Stewart

Makoons by Louise Erdrich

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Clothed, Female Figure: Stories by Kirstin Allio

Malafemmena by Louisa Ermelino

The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong

Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich

Dinosaurs on Other Planets: Stories by Danielle McLaughlin

Known and Strange Things: Essays by Teju Cole

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Holy cats, it’s August already! That means it’s time for another new books megalist. As usual, the first Tuesday of the month has an amazing number of new releases out today (plus the new Harry Potter just came out!!!), so I like to try and share a bunch with you. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Trees, The Fire This Time, and I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.

From the Emmy, PEN, Peabody, Critics’ Choice, and Golden Globe Award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo comes the thriller of the year.

On a foggy summer night, eleven people depart Martha’s Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the plane plunges into the ocean. With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members, the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens and odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between the crash’s two survivors glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.

Compartment No. 6 by Rosa Liksom (Author), Lola Rogers (Translator)

Carousel Court by Joe McGinniss Jr.

Still Here by Lara Vapnyar

How I Became a North Korean by Krys Lee

I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This: A Memoir by Nadja Spiegelman

Dragonmark by Sherrilyn Kenyon

The Trees by Ali Shaw

The Senility of Vladimir P. by Michael Honig

Christadora by Tim Murphy

Paradime by Alan Glynn

Land of Enchantment by Leigh Stein

The Story of Egypt: The Civilization that Shaped the World by Joann Fletcher

I Shot the Buddha (A Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery) by Colin Cotterill

The Chosen Ones by Steve Sem-Sandberg (Author), Anna Paterson (Translator)

The King’s Revenge: Charles II and the Greatest Manhunt in British History by Don Jordan, Michael Walsh

Peacock & Vine: On William Morris and Mariano Fortuny by A. S. Byatt

A Wife of Noble Character by Yvonne Georgina Puig

Sick On You: The Disastrous Story of The Hollywood Brats, the Greatest Band You’ve Never Heard Of by Andrew Matheson

Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón (Author), Victoria Cribb (Translator)

City of Sedition: The History of New York City during the Civil War by John Strausbaugh

Half Wild: Stories by Robin MacArthur

The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar by Franz Nicolay

American Heiress : The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

Wild Sex: The Science Behind Mating in the Animal Kingdom by Carin Bondar

Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race by Jesmyn Ward

To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

The Regulars by Georgia Clark

Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes (paperback)

Walking with Abel: Journeys with the Nomads of the African Savannah by Anna Badkhen (paperback)

Purity by Jonathan Franzen (paperback)

A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin (paperback)

Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman (paperback)

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

 

 

NEW BOOK TIME! There are GREAT new books out today, including Supernova, the sequel to Lightless, which I am SOOOOO excited about. (Run, don’t walk, to Lightless if you haven’t read it yet!) And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Unseen World, Good as Gone, and Gemini.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Maud’s Line by Margaret Verble.

Now in paperback, this Pulitzer Prize finalist chronicles the life and loves of a headstrong and magnetic heroine and belongs on shelves alongside Jim Harrison and Sherman Alexie.

Eastern Oklahoma, 1928. Maud Nail lives on an allotment parceled out by the U.S. Government to the Cherokees. Maud’s days are filled with hard work and simple pleasures but often marked by violence and tragedy. Her prospects for a better life are slim, but when a book-peddler shows up at her door, she finds herself facing a series of high-stakes decisions that will determine her future and those of her loved ones.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

Katie and Eric Knox have devoted their whole lives to helping their gymnast daughter, Devon, achieve her dreams of making the Olympics, even if it has meant giving up their own dreams. But when a violent death rocks their small community, they are about to learn they may not know their neighbors – or each other – as well as they thought they did. We are in the age of the always-amazing Abbott. Her books are contemporary tales of family and society with delightfully nasty twists and turns. And you can expect to see a couple of them on the screen in the coming years!

Backlist bump: Dare Me by Megan Abbott

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniels

The inhabitants of Breathed, Ohio are experiencing a summer heatwave like the town has never seen before. So it only makes sense that the devil would find it a great place to live. He shows up in the guise of Sal, a thirteen-year-old boy who claims he was invited there by someone in town. The son of a local prosecutor takes him home, suspecting he’s just a troubled runaway. But when word gets out that the devil may be in Breathed, tensions and temperatures will rise, and soon the town will find itself enveloped in full-blown hysteria. A fantastic Jackson-esque debut about rumors, fears, and beliefs.

Backlist bump: The Weirdness by Jeremy Bushnell

Infinite Home by Kathleen Alcott

Now in paperback: A group of unusual tenants in a Brooklyn brownstone have been living quiet lives together, each dealing with their own problems and pains, but when their kind elderly landlord’s mental capacity begins to weaken, the tenants are faced with eviction when her greedy estranged son takes over the building. They have always found solace in each other, but now must decide what they will do back out in a world that has always treated them cruelly. It’s a beautiful story of living on the outside of society and what it means to choose your own family. (Also, does the cover make anyone else want to play Q-bert? No? Just me?)

Backlist bump: The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets by Kathleen Alcott

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday! Time for more new books to feast your brains upon. I hope your reading summer has been awesome so far. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as This Must Be the Place, The Inseparables, and Monstress.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Liquid Cool by Austin Dragon.

Blade Runner fan? Love Snowcrash or Neuromancer? Liquid Cool is cyberpunk reimagined; it’s science fiction meets the detective thriller; it’s Blade Runner Meets the Maltese Falcon. Welcome to the high-tech, low-life world of Liquid Cool described as “Lots of shooting, lots of crazy maniacs, lots of action and fun!”

Revolver by Duane Swierczynski

If you’re looking for a good crime novel for your summer, this is a perfect choice: Swierczynski’s novels are always a ton of fun. Revolver revolves (teehee) around three generations of a family whose lives are torn apart by murder. Young Jimmy was devastated when his police officer father died, and he vowed to get revenge. He grows up to be a cop and does just that, but then Jimmy’s daughter discovers something that makes her think her father was mistaken about the killers identity. Gritty and gripping!

Backlist bump: Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski

Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra (Author), Megan McDowell (Translator)

I absolutely adore Zambra’s work. He’s wildly inventive, never more so than with this novel, which invites readers to respond to thought-provoking, multiple choice questions, and to read short paragraphs, which illuminate his feelings on love, life, and family. Zambra is a gem, and I highly recommend checking out his backlist titles, too. His books are tiny treasures.

Backlist bump: My Documents by Alejandro Zambra (Author), Megan McDowell (Translator)

Monterey Bay by Lindsay Hatton

Fifteen-year-old Margot Fiske arrives in Monterey Bay, California, right at the height of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, the novel that made the area famous. Steinbeck himself is there, hiding out at the home of Ed Ricketts, the biologist Steinbeck made famous. Margot manages to get a job with Ricketts, over the protests of the author and her father, helping Ricketts out by making drawings of sea creatures. But her relationship with him turns personal and puts the future of the Monterey Bay aquarium – and her relationship with her father – at risk. A beautiful, passionate debut.

Backlist bump: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (In my top five all-time favorite books.)

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday! Today I am breaking with form, and doing another big round-up of books, because I read SO MANY books out today that I wanted to share with you, I really could not whittle it down to a few. So here’s a bunch more! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Devourers, Heartbreaker, and Siracusa.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman, Fábio Moon, and Gabriel Bá.

Two teenage boys are in for a tremendous shock when they crash a party where the girls are far more than they appear!

From Neil Gaiman—one of the most celebrated authors of our time—and award-winning artists Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, this sumptuous graphic novel is not to be missed!

“Gentle, strange, and full of perfectly good advice (‘You just have to talk to them!’), How to Talk to Girls at Parties is wise and odd. Neil Gaiman’s writing is sweetly complemented by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá’s art. It’s a quirky delight.”—Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler’s Wife)

Ninety-Nine Stories of God by Joy Williams

You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein

All the Time in the World by Caroline Angell

Mickey by Chelsea Martin

The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown

The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux (Author), Lazer Lederhendler (Translator)

The Year 200 by Agustín de Rojas (Author), Nicholas Caistor (Translator)

Not Pretty Enough: The Unlikely Triumph of Helen Gurley Brown by Gerri Hirshey

Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

 

Necessity by Jo Walton

Miss Jane by Brad Watson

The Kingdom by Fuminori Nakamura (Author), Kalau Almony (Translator)

A Natural History of Hell: Stories by Jeffrey Ford

Stranger, Father, Beloved by Taylor Larsen

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

Cream of the Crop by Alice Clayton

Break in Case of Emergency by Jessica Winter

The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

The Death of Rex Nhongo by C.B. George

Champion of the World by Chad Dundas

Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner

How to Be a Person in the World: Ask Polly’s Guide Through the Paradoxes of Modern Life by Heather Havrilesky

 

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday! As usual, the first Tuesday of the month has an amazing number of new books out today, so I’ve made a special newsletter because YAY, BOOKS! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Wolf Road, Here Comes the Sun, and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

As always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes. And below I have made you a big list of notable releases – there are sooooo many! SO MUCH TO CHECK OUT.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner.

A page-turning literary mystery that brings to life the complex and wholly relatable Detective Manon Bradshaw, a devoted member of the Cambridgeshire police—though she loves her job, she longs for a personal life. Edith Hind—a beautiful graduate student who seems to have it all—has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. With no clear leads, Manon summons every last bit of her skill and intuition to close the case, and what she discovers will have shocking consequences not just for Edith’s family but for Manon herself.

Absalom’s Daughters by Suzanne Feldman

Ithaca: A Novel of Homer’s Odyssey by Patrick Dillon

Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage by Gordon Corera

The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology by Stuart Clark

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Another One Goes Tonight (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery) by Peter Lovesey

In the Shadow of Frankenstein: Tales of the Modern Prometheus edited by Stephen Jones

You Are Having a Good Time: Stories by Amie Barrodale

How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball

The Harrows of Spring: A World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler

Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

The Drone Eats with Me: A Gaza Diary by Atef Abu Saif

The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone

Night of the Animals by Bill Broun

An Innocent Fashion by RJ Hernandez

Accidence Will Happen: A Reformed Pedant’s Guide to English Language and Style by Oliver Kamm

Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman

The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez

A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence by Ray Raphael

Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

The Storyteller: Tales out of Loneliness by Walter Benjamin

Underground Airlines by Ben Winter

The Trap by Melanie Raabe

I Am No One by Patrick Flanery

The Games: A Global History of the Olympics by David Goldblatt

The Prisoner of Hell Gate by Dana I. Wolff

Brightfellow by Rikki Ducornet

Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays by Cynthia Ozick

YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad!

Liberty