Author: Liberty Hardy

It’s that time again: Fresh! Hot! Books! Tuesdays are my favorite days. I’ve highlighted a few of the week’s best below, and on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about more great books, such as Chronicle of a Last Summer, All the Missing Girls, and We Could Be Beautiful.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Fight Club 2 by Chuck Palahniuk and Cameron Stewart.

Some imaginary friends never go away . . .

Ten years after starting Project Mayhem, he lives a mundane life. A kid, a wife. Pills to keep his destiny at bay. But it won’t last long—the wife has seen to that. He’s back where he started, but this go-round he’s got more at stake than his own life. The time has arrived . . . Collects issues #1–#10 of the series.

“Cameron Stewart and Chuck Palahniuk are working some twisted magic.”—SCOTT SNYDER

“The book is fantastic, my highest recommendation.”—BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

On Bowie by Rob Sheffield

There was no way I wasn’t going to read this book! The death of David Bowie shocked and saddened the world, but his legacy will love on long after we’re gone. Sheffield, one of the most respected music critics of our time, examines Bowie’s catalog of work in a series of essays written in Sheffield’s characteristic cultural astuteness. He explains why Bowie was so important to the world and his influences on music and culture, and why it’s okay to be sad that he’s gone. Because we sure are sad.

Backlist bump: Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut by Rob Sheffield

The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam

Zubaida is a student in Cambridge when she falls for Elijah, but the stars are not aligned for the star-crossed lovers, and she returns to her country to follow her family’s plans for her future. Disheartened and stifled by her decision, she moves to the beaches of Chittagong to work on a documentary and seek the remains of “the walking whale.” The Bones of Grace is a deeply moving novel of love, immigration, and loss, moving from Boston to India and back again, that will sweep you away with its beautiful language and sad, lovely story.

Backlist bump: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

Tracer by Rob Boffard

It’s the future, and what is left of the now-uninhabitable Earth is orbiting the planet inside a rundown space station. If mankind doesn’t find a new place to live soon, it’s lacy, gently wafting curtains for everyone. And as if the pressure of extinction isn’t enough, there’s also a villain aboard the space station with destruction on his mind. It’s up to Riley Hale to stop the chaos on the ship before it’s too late! I love this books tagline: “In space, every second counts. Who said nobody could hear you scream?”

Backlist bump: Lightless by C.A. Higgins (out in paperback July 26, but sooooooo worth it in hardcover.)

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, ring-ring! It is absolutely gorgeous here in the 207, and I hope you’re enjoying some lovely early summer reading weather as well. BECAUSE WHOOOOOO NEW BOOKS! I’ve highlighted a few of the week’s best below, and on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about our favorite books of 2016 (so far), such as Queen of the Night and Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist. 

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by the Fiona Fitzgerald Mystery Series by Warren Adler.

The Fiona Fitzgerald Mystery Series follows Detective Fiona Fitzgerald, an unlikely force for justice in Washington, D.C.’s predominantly male police force. As a Senator’s daughter and top investigator in the homicide division of the Metropolitan Police Department, Fiona maneuvers between two vastly different worlds, moving quickly from opulent State galas to gritty crime scenes. Born into the elite social circles of the nation’s capitol, and armed with intimate knowledge of the true face of the political establishment, Fiona is determined to expose the chicanery concealed within the highest echelons of the American political aristocracy.

The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver

Shriver (We Need to Talk About Kevin) is back with a fantastic near-future novel about the effects of an economic collapse on four generations of a once-prosperous family. The Mandibles have always relied on the sizable family fortune, but when the U.S. engages in a bloodless war that wipes out the nation’s finances, they must scramble to make ends meet, igniting old rivalries and jealousies.

Backlist bump: The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Hogarth’s Shakespeare series continues with Tyler’s reboot of The Taming of the Shrew: Dr. Battista’s assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported, so the doctor comes up with a hairbrained scheme to keep him in the country. But that scheme involve’s Kate, the doctor’s stubborn, antisocial daughter. Kate feels she already has her hands full running the doctor’s household and playing second fiddle to her younger, prettier sister, Bunny. Will the doctor’s plan to bring love and work together succeed? I love Tyler soooo much, and was dismayed when Tyler announced she was done writing fiction after her last novel, but then she turned around and wrote this, which is so exciting! YOU’RE PLAYING WITH MY HEART, ANNE.

Backlist bump: The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

“Waste people.” “Offals.” “Rubbish.” “Lazy lubbers.” “Crackers.” These are some of the names given to the poor in America spanning from colonial times to the present day, where the term “white trash” has taken over. Isenberg offers a fascinating, detailed examination of class system in America, and how class issues involving poor people have played a part in shaping America and historical events for the past four hundred years, from the earliest British colonial settlement to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty.

Backlist bump: Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday! We are well on our way to summer now, and there are tons of amazing new books to bring with us! I’ve highlighted a few of the week’s best below, and on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some great new releases, such as Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty and Grace. 

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Girls by Emma Cline.

The Girls is the story of Evie, a woman who is haunted by the summer of 1969, when she was a lonely fourteen-year-old growing up in Northern California. One day she sees a girl at a park, a girl with a gang of other girls who seem free and alive. She is mesmerized by them, Suzanne in particular. She is quickly drawn into their soon-to-be infamous cult and meets the man who is its charismatic leader. As her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go wrong.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Barkskins is a glorious, epic, 700+ page story spanning three hundred years, that follows two immigrants in “New France” and their descendants as they travel the world and make use (and steal and ruin) each country’s resources. This is a brutal, often darkly comic, environmental saga by a master writer, and I loved it. (I will admit that being an established Proulx fan may have increased my enjoyment of this novel. Because 700+ PAGES WHUT. But it is her first in over a decade, and so I was wildly excited to read it!)

Backlist bump: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

The first in an exciting new trilogy! Captain Kel Cheris, a disgraced captain, has a chance to redeem herself by recapturing a star fortress taken by heretics. Her best hope of winning is the undead tactician Shuos Jedao, who has never lost a battle. But sometimes he loses his mind, like in his last life, when he killed his own army. Cheris must figure out how much she can trust Jedao before the whole siege – and her life – is lost. YAY SPACE OPERA!

Backlist bump: Central Station by Lavie Tidhar

Death and Mr. Pickwick by Stephen Jarvis

I think any book that you read on the beach qualifies as a beach read, so why not an 800-page Dickensian novel about Dickens? (Wait is that meta?) Based on the story of The Pickwick Papers and the beginning of the career of Charles Dickens, this is a delightful novel, full of history and fun – and it’s now in paperback! It will charm your pants off.

Backlist bump: Drood by Dan Simmons

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty

 

Happy Tuesday! As usual, the first Tuesday of the month has a ridiculously amazing list of new books out today, so I’ve made a special newsletter. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some great new releases, such as Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge, Homegoing, and Marrow Island.

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 The Fireman by Joe Hill.

Dragonscale, a terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one. Highly contagious, the deadly spore marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote.

Harper Grayson, a compassionate nurse, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin, but Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Harper’s husband abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror.

Super Extra Grande by Yoss (Author), David Frye (Translator)

Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood

I Like You Just Fine When You’re Not Around by Ann Garvin

What We Become by Arturo Perez-Reverte

But What If We’re Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman

Monsters: A Love Story by Liz Kay

Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner?: A Story of Women and Economics by Katrine Marcal

A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin

Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger

The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen

Faerie by Eisha Marjara

The Edge of the Fall by Kate Williams

The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman

Autumn Princess, Dragon Child: Book 2 in the Tale of Shikanoko by Lian Hearn

You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand and Brodi Ashton

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer by Arthur Lubow

Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley Blume

Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick by Michael Shelden

Everything Explained That Is Explainable : On the Creation of the Encyclopaedia Britannica’s Celebrated Eleventh Edition, 1910-1911 by Denis Boyles

The Good Lieutenant by Whitney Terrell

American Girls by Alison Umminger

Never a Dull Moment: 1971–The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth

The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan by Laurence Leamer

End of Watch by Stephen King

Hogs Wild: Selected Reporting Pieces by Ian Frazier

Clinch by Martin Holmén and Henning Koch

They May Not Mean To, But They Do by Cathleen Schine

Among Strange Victims by Daniel Saldaña París (Author), Christina MacSweeney (Translator)

The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men’s Prison by Mikita Brottman

I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan

Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings

Baba Dunja’s Last Love by Alina Bronsky (Author), Tim Mohr (Translator)

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

This Is Not My Beautiful Life by Victoria Fedden

Security by Gina Wohlsdorf

The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner

The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

NOW IN PAPERBACK:
The Seven Good Years: A Memoir by Etgar Keret

Just One Damned Thing After Another: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor

The Clasp by Sloane Crosley

Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings by Shirley Jackson

Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh

The Daughters by Adrienne Celt

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty

The long weekend is over – luckily there are lots of wonderful books out today to help you cope. On this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some great new releases, such as The Hour of Land, Before the Fall, and Modern Lovers. I have a few more great titles for you below, and as always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes. Okay – let’s do this!

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Penguin Random House and Room & Board, who have partnered to offer one lucky book lover the prize of their dreams: modern furniture to create a reading nook and a library of books in their favorite genres to stock it!

We’re All Damaged by Matthew Norman

I am so excited for this book, because I am a HUGE fan of Domestic Violets, and I think Matthew Norman is one of the funniest writers out there. His new novel is the story of a man named Andy, who is flailing around in his life after his wife leaves him, he loses his job, and he relocates to NYC, where he leads a sad, drunken existence. A trip back home to visit his dying grandfather in Omaha puts a new path in front of him – but can Andy pull himself together enough to follow it? A funny and touching story about family and hopes and dreams.

Backlist bump: Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman

I love this collection! Nine connected stories comprise this smart, darkly funny book about contemporary young women. A Russian teen gymnast travels to America; two high schoolers go back to sleepaway camp; a young woman moves from London to San Francisco to start what she thinks will be her adult life; and more. Each story is about the impatient wish of these young women for their grown lives to start and the struggles they have dealing with that responsibility. Ulman’s writing is concise and heartbreaking.

Backlist bump: Blueprints for Building Better Girls by Elissa Schappell

June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Secrets and murder and blackmail, oh my! Young Cassie Danvers is mourning the loss of her grandmother, June, when she learns she is heir to the vast fortune of a film star. How did her grandmother cross paths with the famous actor? And why did he leave Cassie all his money? When Jack’s daughters come looking for answers, together with Cassie, they’ll slowly uncover what happened on a fateful day sixty years before. June is a perfect blend of mystery and family drama.

Backlist bump: Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday! Hope you enjoyed your spring – how did it go by so fast??? I can’t believe it’s almost over. At least there were lots of great books to read. And more to come! On this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some great new releases, such as Sweetbitter, How to Make White People Laugh, and The Queue. I have a few more great titles for you below, and as always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Penguin Random House and Room & Board, who have partnered to offer one lucky book lover the prize of their dreams: modern furniture to create a reading nook and a library of books in their favorite genres to stock it!

The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

THE END OF THE END TIMES IS HERE! That’s right, it’s the final book in The Passage trilogy. I don’t usually recommend sequels, just because there are so many other books to talk about, but this is too exciting to pass up. BECAUSE IT’S FINALLY REAL. And epic. And crazy, thrilling, scary, sweet, and a bunch more adjectives I could list but I’m going to stop and let you get right to it because it’s also (of course) REALLY LONG! I am kinda sad that it’s over. Which means I should read them all again.

Backlist bump: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee

It’s 1908, and Mercy Wong is a 15-year-old girl in San Francisco who is trying to escape the poverty of Chinatown by attending a prestigious school for girls. She is desperate to prove herself through an education, but when a historic earthquake rocks the city, destroying Mercy’s school and home, she refuses to sit by in the temporary shelter, and instead decides to prove herself by helping rebuild her city. I loved Under a Painted Sky, Lee’s last book, and she has once again mastered the perfect balance of history and storytelling with her latest.

Backlist bump: Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger

Junger, author of A Perfect Storm and War, does a deep dive into the culture of belonging. What drives humans to seek out other people like them? What does it mean to belong? Using history, psychology, and anthropology, Junger explores how people have almost always sought out like-minded people and groups, and how it has been essential to our survival. Fascinating stuff.

Backlist bump: War by Sebastian Junger

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty

Hey, readers! I know it’s only Thursday, but I couldn’t wait to tell you about a few books I saw at Book Expo America 2016! Because despite a bus trip that I was sure would be the end of me, I survived to tell the tales.

If you’re not familiar with BEA, it is North America’s largest book convention. This year it was in Chicago at McCormick Place. I had never been to Chicago before – what a beautiful city! In addition to BEA, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago to see a Francis Bacon painting (I LOVE HIM), went to a party at the top of the Hancock Center, bought tons of books at Unabridged Bookstore, and ate basically every meal at an adorable place next to my hotel called Sunny Side Up.

Now, about the books. SO MANY AMAZING BOOKS! At BEA publishers pitch their upcoming titles and recent releases. Here are several of the books I picked up that I am the most excited about.

This special edition newsletter is sponsored by The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.

Broken Wheel, Iowa has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her book-loving pen pal. When she arrives, however, she finds Amy’s funeral guests just leaving. The residents of Broken Wheel are happy to look after their bewildered visitor—not much else to do in a small town that’s almost beyond repair. They just never imagined that she’d start a bookstore. Or that books could bring them together—and change everything.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett: This was THE buzz book at BEA, a debut about a young woman who, reeling from her mother’s suicide, has a teen romance with a former high school football star, becomes pregnant, and must deal with the resulting consequences.

Reel by Tobias Carroll: There are few people I know who champion indie press books more than Carroll, so I am delighted to see him getting his turn! And his publisher is Rare Bird Books, a new indie press I am hella-excited about. (You want to read Vow of Celibacy when it comes out.)

An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden: NYRB Classics just released a new edition of this children’s classic from prolific author Godden, about the mystery surrounding dirt disappearing from the garden.

Umami by Laia Jufresa (Author), Sophie Hughes (Translator): This blurb was all I needed to pick this up: “Ms. Jufresa: Where the f*#! did you learn to tell a story so well?” — Álvaro Enrigue, award-winning author of Sudden Death

The Island by Olivia Levez: A troubled young girl on her way to an Outward Bound-style program as part of her juvenile detention sentence finds herself stranded in the Indian Ocean when the plane crashes. I hear it’s brutal, but worth it.

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride: This is McBride’s follow-up to her jaw-dropping debut, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, about a teen who travels from London to Ireland to study drama and her relationship with an older actor.

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai: I am not going to remember this verbatim, but it was pitched to me as something like a time-travel novel that resulted from a conversation between Jonathan Tropper and Kurt Vonnegut in heaven. I couldn’t grab it fast enough!

Sirens by Joshua Mohr: I am a huge fan of Mohr’s books, most recently his last novel, All This Life (which just won the Northern California Book Award in Fiction). This is his memoir, out in the beginning of 2017 from the awesome Two Dollar Radio.

The Unseen World by Liz Moore: Moore’s novel Heft is uh-may-zing (SERIOUSLY, READ IT), so I was eager to get my hands on her new one! It’s about a young child prodigy who struggles to discover what her scientist father was working on before his mind failed.

Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy: Longlisted for the Man Book International prize, it’s about a seaside town in India where the citizens find their lives disrupted by the appearance of a young female documentary filmmaker.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: Saunders has taken the structure of the novel as it is known, completely destroyed it, and rebuilt it to suit his brilliant beautiful mind. I am obsessed with this book – his first novel! – and will be talking about it a lot more in the months to come.

Vampire in Love by Enrique Vila-Matas (Author), Margaret Jull Costa (Translator): Collected for the first time in English, these are stories by the author called “arguably Spain’s most significant contemporary literary figure.” (Joanna Kavenna, The New Yorker). (Also, A++++ cover!)

Children of the New World: Stories by Alexander Weinstein: These stories, about living in an age of devices, were written by Weinstein after his students told him they would rather interact with people online than have face-to-face conversations.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead: You’ve heard me mention this a million times already, and I will mention it a million more, because this astounding novel of a slave’s desperate escape should be required reading for everyone. I can’t stop thinking about it.

Phew! I feel much better now that I’ve shared some of my incredible BEA finds. BOOKS ARE THE BEST. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have reading to do. I’ll see you all next Tuesday (or sooner on Twitter or Litsy!) Happy reading!

Liberty

Welcome back, book fans! I SURVIVED BOOK EXPO AMERICA. I had a blast, and was so excited to see all the new books. You can bet I will be telling you about them over the next several months. Now, let’s talk books out today. I’m excited to buy The Fat Artist and Other Stories by Benjamin Hale and Company Town by Madeline Ashby. I’ve been looking forward to reading them! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! we talked about some great new releases, such as The Fireman, Shrill, and Girls on Fire. I have a few more great titles for you below, and as always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North.

The new thriller from the acclaimed author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

My name is Hope Arden, and you won’t know who I am. But we’ve met before — a thousand times.

It started when I was sixteen years old. A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger.

No matter what I do, the words I say, the crimes I commit, you will never remember who I am.

That makes my life difficult. It also makes me dangerous.

Joe Gould’s Teeth by Jill Lepore

The story of Joe Gould is wildly interesting. He was an eccentric man, friends with famous artists, including Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. He believed himself to be the most brilliant historian of his time, and he claimed to write down everything that was ever said to him, and boasted of having written a nine million word manuscript. Reporter Joseph Mitchell later claimed in a New Yorker article that the manuscript to be a figment of a madman’s imagination. Joe Gould’s Teeth is a fascinating story of historian Lepore’s own search for the missing – possibly imaginary – Gould manuscript.

Backlist bump: Joe Gould’s Secret by Joseph Mitchell

One Hundred Twenty-One Days by Michèle Audin (Author), Christiana Hills (Translator)

This dazzling work tells the story of French mathematicians during World Wars I and II, with the writing style varying from chapter to chapter. It is told in diary form, in novel form, as historical research, and more. This is an inventive novel from Audin, a mathematician and Oulipo member. This is a little gem of a book – expect to see it on lots of lists at the end of the year

Backlist bump: Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman

Nitro Mountain by Lee Clay Johnson

Set in a grim mining town in Virginia, Nitro Mountain is a dark, intense story of a group of friends bound together for better or worse – but it’s almost always worse. Fueled by alcohol, drugs, and crime, they navigate their bleak lives, where the lines between doing what’s right and doing what they need to survive are often blurred. It’s a great debut and perfect for fans of Frank Bill and Donald Ray Pollock.

Backlist bump: The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher

When Tess Turner learns that the man she thought was her dad isn’t her birth father, she’s shocked into silence. Literally. As she looks into her past, the truth about her real dad may uncover a lot of painful secrets. But when you aren’t talking, it’s easier to keep them. This is a fantastic contemporary coming-of-age novel about the definition of family and identity.

Backlist bump: My Sister Lives On the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

 

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday! As you read this, I am currently on a bus to Chicago to attend Book Expo America to learn about wonderful books coming out in the next year! You can bet Rebecca and I will tell you all about them on the podcast when we get back. On this week’s episode of the All the Books! we talked about some great new releases, such as Mongrels, The High Places, and The Loney. I have a few more great titles for you below, and as always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes. And I want to wish a happy pub day to my pal Dan Wilbur! His book, Never Flirt with Puppy Killers: And Other Better Book Titles, is out today.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey, the much-anticipated sequel to The Girl at Midnight.

Everything in Echo’s life changed in a blinding flash when she learned the startling truth: she is the firebird, the creature of light that is said to bring peace. The firebird has come into the world, but it has not come alone. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and Echo can feel a great and terrible darkness rising in the distance. Cosmic forces threaten to tear the world apart. Echo has already lost her home, her family, and her boyfriend. Now, as the firebird, her path is filled with even greater dangers than the ones she’s already overcome. She knows the Dragon Prince will not fall without a fight.

Echo must decide: can she wield the power of her true nature—or will it prove too strong for her, and burn what’s left of her world to the ground?

Welcome to the shadow hour.

LaRose by Louise Erdrich

Erdrich has solidified her place as a consistently wonderful writer who knows how to break your heart every time. In this case it’s a tragic accident involving neighbors, the gift of a child, and the threat of a secret revealed that drives this devastating, beautiful novel.

Backlist bump: The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay

Fans of David Mitchell will enjoy this enormous, epic novel of interwoven stories transcending time and space. Set in three different Venices – Italy, Los Angeles, and Los Angeles – and involving mirror makers, espionage, ominous councils, secret plans and more, this is an utterly original story that will spin your brain in your skull.

Backlist bump: Bats of the Republic by Zachary Thomas Dodson

Albina and the Dog-Men by Alejandro Jodorowsky (Author), Alfred MacAdam (Translator)

This is one of the stranger things I’ve read lately, which is fine by me – I love strange! A beautiful amnesiac albino giantess and her protector arrive in a South American town, where Albina’s beauty turn the men into wild animals, and they must fend off her suitors while hiding from a dangerous criminal. There’s also killer bees and parrots. (Like I said, it’s strange.) And certainly not for everyone. But if you like bizarre Kafkaeque stories, then it’s for you.

Backlist bump: Where the Bird Sings Best by Alejandro Jodorowsky (Author), Alfred MacAdam (Translator)

The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas

It sounds like a strange thing to say out loud, but I felt really grown up while reading this book. It’s a fantastic, weird novel about love, sex, yoga, botany, and more. The characters say and do questionable (sometimes even unacceptable) things – I yelled out loud at them more than once – but they always do what feels real to them, and that human side is what makes book tick. It’s truly an original delight.

Backlist bump: White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar

Tidhar is poised to take the scifi world by storm. This latest effort is a wild tale of real life and virtual reality, where a city grows at the foot of a space station, data-vampires hunt their prey, cyborg soldiers hunt for parts, and more, all under the shadow of the interplanetary hub, Central Station. This is a fantastic tale of complicated politics and even more complicated relationships.

Backlist bump: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

And if you’re at BEA this week, and you see me, say hi!

Stay rad!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday! Time for a new release mega-list! It is impossible to read all the books out today, but I did my best. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some great new releases, such as The Yoga of Max’s Discontent, Sweet Lamb of Heaven, and Imagine Me Gone. I have a few more great titles for you below, and as always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes. And I mean big – this is a HUGE day for new releases! I have shared a whole bunch below that I enjoyed.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Unforgivable by Amy Reed. 

Unforgivable is Amy Reed’s sequel to Invincible. In Unforgivable, Marcus continues Evie’s story of their intense romance after saving her life only to find his life—and their relationship—falling to pieces.

 

Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh: Haigh returns to Bakerton with a moving drama about small town vs. big businesses.

Eleven Hours by Pamela Erens: A pregnant nurse in an ER helps a young woman who shows up alone and in labor.

The Dove’s Necklace by Raja Alem: A gripping noir, about a discovered body and subsequent investigation in Mecca. Alem is the first woman to win the international prize for Arabic fiction.

Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart: A powerful, brave story about Lily, a transgender girl, and Dunkin, a boy dealing with bipolar disorder.

Tasa’s Song by Linda Kass: Based on true events, this is the extraordinary story of a young girl, and her family’s escape from the Nazis in Poland.

The Star-touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi: A fabulous YA novel drawn from Indian folklore and mythology, about a seventeen-year-old queen.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ All-Time Greatest Hits by Mark Binelli: A fictionalized version of the life of Hawkins, one of rock and roll’s legendary madmen.

In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero: The OITNB and Jane the Virgin actress discusses the deportation of her parents and brother when she was 14 and her struggle to survive without them.

Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo: Russo returns to North Bath with a sequel to his wonderful 1993 novel Nobody’s Fool!

Not Working by Lisa Owens: An insightful novel about a woman quits her job in the hopes of finding her real passion.

Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman: Lu Bryant, the first female state’s attorney of Howard County, Maryland, prepares to make her name with a big murder case.

The Assistants by Camille Perri: A technical error in an expense report allows the assistant to a CEO to make some much needed changes to her finances.

The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan: A grand, lush story of racism, prejudice, and wealth, revolving around horse racing.

The Veins of the Ocean by Patricia Engel: A woman with a guilty past moves to a sleepy town in the Florida Keys after her brother’s death.

Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann: A teenage girl must make big choices in this fantastic novel-in-verse. (I love love love Heppermann’s last book, Poisoned Apples, too!)

If I Was Your Girl by Melissa Russo: A contemporary coming of age novel about a young girl with a secret who moves to a new school.

White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World by Geoff Dyer: Dyer continues his search for answers in Beijing, White Sands, Los Angeles, and New Mexico

 

Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety by Ann Y. K. Choi: A bittersweet coming of age novel about a young Korean girl in 1980s Toronto.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman: A socially awkward busybody must make her way alone in the world after she walks out on her cheating husband.

The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore: A look at twenty real-life tsars and tsarinas over the span of three centuries.

Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto, trans. from the Portuguese by Alex Ladd: A renowned Brazilian therapist searches for a former patient, and discovers he is now a woman living in NYC.

The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight: McCreight makes her YA debut with the suspenseful tale of a missing girl in the Maine woods.

Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table by Ellen Wayland-Smith: A fascinating look at how the successful flatware company started out as a free-love utopia.

Desert Boys by Chris McCormick: A series of interconnected stories revolving around a man named Daley Kushner and his acquaintances.

I Let You Go by Claire Mackintosh: A grieving mother struggles with a hit-and-run that leaves a young boy dead, and her survivor’s guilt.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave: A love story set at the beginning of World War II, based on the author’s own grandparents.

Beer Money: A Story of Privilege and Loss by Frances Stroh: Stroh’s memoir about her family, heirs to a beer dynasty, and the crumbling industry and decisions that led to its decline.

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’! (OMG I am OBSESSED with Litsy.)

Stay rad!

Liberty