Author: Vanessa Diaz

Audiobooks 05/21

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 20, 2020

In the Club 5/20

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 20, 2020

Sponsored by our Robyn Carr Prize Pack giveaway, courtesy of Harlequin.com.

We’re teaming up with Harlequin.com to give away a prize pack which includes the following Robyn Carr titles: Four Friends, The Life She Wants, The Summer That Made Us, The View from Alameda Island, and Virgin River. Enter now!

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. Still here, still in isolation, still having some trouble reading but getting better every day. Today’s recs are a direct response to a request we’ve been getting a lot lately! Time for some hard club hits.

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

This week I’m back in I-don’t-want-to-spend-so-much-time-in-the-kitchen mode, but I of course still want tasty snacks. I’ve been leaning hard on my spice cabinet for quick, easy, delicious bites that I will def work into physical book club meetings in the future. Several of these blends come from Trader Joe’s; if you don’t shop at (or have access) to Trader Joe’s, use whatever spice blend you can find with a similar flavor profile!

Toast topped with mashed avocado + Umami Seasoning Blend

Mix sour cream or greek yogurt with Onion Salt, serve with your favorite chips or sliced veggies This also works with Everything But the Bagel Seasoning or—and this is one of my fave underrated dip seasonings—chicken bouillon powder! Just use it sparingly, it is WAY salty if you use too much.

Toss some arugula in a vinaigrette of EVOO, lemon juice, salt, and 21 Seasoning Salute, then top with shaved Parmesan. This is my go-to simple salad for getting greens on my plate; I pair it with whatever protein I’m craving: salmon, some grilled chicken, or even a hard boiled egg.

Mix equal parts of chopped avocado, tomato, and cucumber, then add lemon juice, lemon pepper, and salt to taste.

Simple, easy, tasty!

Hit Me!

We’ve been getting tons of requests for hard-hitting YA from our readers lately, enough that I decided it was time to dedicate a newsletter to books in that vein. Here are some YA titles that tackle big topics with tons of discussion potential.

Trigger warnings for discussion of the next four titles: general violence, police brutality, sexual assault

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez – Three teens flee their hometown in Guatemala in a fight for their lives, embarking on a harrowing journey through Mexico called La Bestia that will hopefully lead them to a better life in the United States. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this journey will be harrowing in just about all of the ways. It’s been hard for me to read these kinds of stories lately, but I love that we’re seeing more YA perspectives on the topic that handle it with sensitivity and care.

Internment by Samira Ahmed – In a terrifying near-future United States, Muslim American citizens have been rounded up into internment camps. We follow teen Layla as she tries to navigate this new horror and risk everything to coordinate an escape. It’s flat out uncomfortable how not-so-far-away the events of this book feel.

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles – I wanted to include a book that tackles police brutality and racism that isn’t Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give (which I love and you should read but c’mon, you’ve already heard of it). Marvin’s twin brother Tyler vanishes after a party gets shut down by a police raid. His body is later found just as a video surfaces of a copy shooting Tyler while he was unarmed. Marvin must come to terms with this act of violence while also figuring out how to do life without his other half.

All the Rage by Courtney Summers – In a small town where everyone knows your name, Romy Grey is raped by the local sheriff’s son, the golden boy who everyone thinks can do no wrong. It’s a gut-punch of a story about the aftermath of sexual assault: survival, silencing, victim-blaming, and figuring out how to move forward.

Suggestion Section

USA Today suggests 10 perfect picks for your next book club meeting. I have the hardest of cosigns for Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here!

Following along with the Buzzfeed Book Club? Their June pick is Anna K by Jenny Lee.

Check out the latest installment of Vox’s book club discussion of The Secret History.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Audiobooks

Audiobooks – 5/14

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 13, 2020

Sponsored by Lit Stitch: 25 Cross-Stitch Patterns for Book Lovers

Inside Book Riot’s Lit Stitch, you’ll find a number of badass, bookish cross-stitch patterns. Some of these are for bookmarks, others are for wall decor, and still others can take on a whole host of finished outcomes. What they have in common is their literary bent—the patterns speak to all manner of literary-minded book lovers, who are happy to display their nerdier sides. And what better way than through your own cross-stitch art to hang on your wall, prop on your desk, or even gift to friends and family. And most, if not all, are beginner friendly and can be completed in a few hours—instant stitchification! So grab yourself some excellent embroidery floss, hoops, and needles, and pick out one or more of these great cross-stitch patterns for your next project.

Hola Audiophiles! Welcome to another week of audio lurve and ponderings on isolation. It’s both weirder and more normal, amirite? Let’s try some positivity though: I want everyone to think of one good thing they have going for them right now, and feel free to share it with me! Mine is that I’m proud of myself for eating plenty of fruits and vegetables when all I want to eat is buckets of cheese and carne asada fries. Look at me adulting!

K, your turn. Now let’s audio.

New Releases – May 12 (publisher descriptions in quotes)

Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden, read by Deepti Gupta (fantasy) – Razia ran away to live life on her terms rather than die at the hands of her hateful father, finding sisterhood and safety in a community of hijras. By day, she is one of her dera’s finest dancers; by night she is its most profitable thief.This is the price her guru charges for keeping Razia’s identity secret: no one has to know she was born the Crown Prince of Nizam so long as Razia agrees to the thieving. When her latest target leads her to cross paths with the Prince of Bikampur, she falls for him immediately. Problem! That prince has been sent to find out who’s been stealing from his wealthy citizens. Involvement with him will not only embroil Razia in a dangerous political war, but will also bring her face to face with her father.

TW: physical abuse and anti-transgender language

Narrator note: I am a new fan of Deepti Gupta! You have recognize her from A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza or The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

The Anthill by Julianne Pachico, read by Anthony Rey Perez (fiction, horror) – Carolina lived in Medellin, Colombia for the first eight years of her life before she was shipped off to an English boarding school after her mother’s violent death. She returns to Medellín after a 20-year absence, hoping to find connection to the city of her birth and to rekindle a relationship with her childhood best friend Mattias. She buys a one-way ticket to Medellin with plans to volunteer at a community center in one of its poorest neighborhoods, a center run by Mattias himself. But she finds that Mattias has changed, and so has Medellin. As Lina begins to confront her memories and Colombia’s traumatic history, strange things begin happening at the center: the kids are drawing unsettling pictures, something violent is scratching at the closet, and then there’s the frequent sightings of a small, dirty boy with pointy teeth. Gulp.

Narrator note: Anthony Rey Perez is so good in Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez and its sequel. Casual, well-pronounced, clear, and well-paced.

A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet, read by Xe Sands (fiction) – You might not guess it from the title, but this is a searing commentary on climate change responsibility with some major Lord of the Flies vibes. A group of kids and teens are spending a summer with their parents at a lakeside rental mansion, but things are far from peachy. They feel both neglected and suffocated as their parents pass their days in a stupor of booze, drugs, and sex, telling the kids to go play outside when they dare make their presence known. When a massive storm descends on the estate, the kids—led by ringleader and narrator Eve—run away into the apocalyptic chaos outside. As they seek refuge in a farm house, the events in the pages of a children’s bible they have in tow start to bleed into real life.

Narrator note: You may recall that I loved Xe Sands’ performance of Sarah Gailey’s Magic for Liars. If you like her style, you may also want to check out The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro or The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia.

Latest Listens

I finished Sabriel by Garth Nix and got my entire life from it! Sabriel has spent most of her life at a boarding school outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, where the line between the living and the dead is a lil blurry (read: muy blurry) and Free Magic is a powerful force. During her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen—the guardian of the border between life and death—goes missing; though most presume him dead, Sabriel believes otherwise.

She embarks on a journey into the Old Kingdom to find him with two companions in tow: Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, and Mogget, a talking cat (nbd) who’s cranky AF the entire time. As the trio travels deep into the Old Kingdom, they encounter threats of all sorts (most of them dead); every step brings them closer to a battle between the forces of life and death, one that brings Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

I was a little predisposed to liking a book where an even ruder version of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch is involved, but the journey through the world of the dead and the charter magic were what kept me rapt. As for Tim Curry, he is narrator goals! Young necromancer mage? He can do that. Surly cat sidekick? No problem! He balances the snark with the wonder and does a great job of keeping the feminine voice natural (it grinds my gears when male narrators make women sound like Miss Piggy). These books feel like they were made for his voice and I can’t wait to keep going with the rest of the Abhorsen series. This is a definite backlist bump since it was published back in ’08; if you missed these books too and have a love for a good quest story in a fantasy setting with a rude animal sidekick, you know what to do.

From the Internets

WaPo suggests these three audiobooks for your quarantine stroll (sorry for the paywall!)

Missing your BFFs? Get Literary suggests eight relatable audiobooks to fill that bestie void.

Audiofile put together a great list of romance listen pairings. Hello, comfort!

Over at the Riot

Quick & engrossing audiobooks under six hours long

A roundup of the best-selling audiobooks of all time

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club – 05/13

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 12, 2020

Sponsored by Lit Stitch: 25 Cross-Stitch Patterns for Book Lovers

Inside Book Riot’s Lit Stitch, you’ll find a number of badass, bookish cross-stitch patterns. Some of these are for bookmarks, others are for wall decor, and still others can take on a whole host of finished outcomes. What they have in common is their literary bent—the patterns speak to all manner of literary-minded book lovers, who are happy to display their nerdier sides. And what better way than through your own cross-stitch art to hang on your wall, prop on your desk, or even gift to friends and family. And most, if not all, are beginner friendly and can be completed in a few hours—instant stitchification! So grab yourself some excellent embroidery floss, hoops, and needles, and pick out one or more of these great cross-stitch patterns for your next project.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. How we doing, people of the club? I have a lighter subject topic for us this week: let’s talk graphic memoirs! This medium is working wonders for my very distracted brain right now; something about the art is so soothing and tricks my brain into reading print. I absolutely love all three of these suggestions not only for that art, but for the larger life topics they take on. Y’all know light with a side of serious is my favorite book club style! Let’s get to it then.

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

I made my super easy shrimp tacos over the weekend, the sunniest one I’ve seen in Portland since October. I opened up the windows, let the beautiful breeze blow through my apartment, and washed down the tacos with a cold pilsner. Whether you want to whip some up for yourself, your quarantine buddies, or bring them along on an (appropriately safe and distanced) book club meeting in the park (if that’s allowed wherever you live), I think these tacos are perfect for the warmer weather.

Ingredients: Uncooked shrimp (shelled and deveined), tortillas, chopped onion and cilantro, simple guacamole (mashed avocado with a little lemon juice and salt), salsa of your choice, shrimp taco spice blend*, and a teaspoon or two of flour

*cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt

Pat the shrimp down with a paper towel so they’re nice and dry, then coat liberally with the spice blend. Once coated, add a squeeze of lemon juice and allow to marinate for 15 min. Heat a pan on medium-high heat with a splash of oil, then—and this is a crucial step— sprinkle some flour over the shrimp. Eyeball this part; you want all the shrimp to have a light flour dusting, but precision isn’t important. Now cook shrimp for three minutes on each side (do not disturb in the meantime!). Serve with warm corn tortillas, salsa, guac, onions, and cilantro!

Book Club Books with Pictures

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? By Ron Chast – Very few writers can make me laugh hysterically and sob uncontrollably in one book quite like Roz Chast. Be warned: this graphic memoir of Chast’s experience watching her parents age and then managing their care through the end of their lives is a punch to the gut, especially if you’ve recent experienced the loss of an elderly loved one. But there’s such a great convo to be had here about the unique set of emotions and responsibilities that we take on in this scenario: the pain of seeing the people you love deteriorate, the financial and emotional burden of overseeing their healthcare and affairs, the guilt of feeling overwhelmed by that burden, how messed up our healthcare system and the cost of dying is in this country… whew, I could go on. In the middle of all that sad stuff, Roz Chast also manages to insert her signature humor. I loved this graphic memoir so hard.

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi – Most people know writer and cartoonist Marjane Satrapi for her bestselling graphic memoir Persepolis about her childhood in Iran and her adolescence in Europe. Embroideries is a little less well known but so. freaking. hilarious. I don’t even know how to classify it; it’s not quite a graphic memoir, not quite a biography. It’s a very enlightening look into the sex lives of six Iranian women: Satrapi’s mother, grandmother, aunts, and their friends are gathered for an afternoon of drinking and (and spilling) tea, and the talk of course turns to love, sex and their various dealings with men. I loved this so much and hope you will too; have a good chat on the social and cultural stereotypes that are shattered in these women’s candid conversations. Perhaps also loop in an examination of women’s sexual agency and freedoms in modern society.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisely: Any newsletter where I get to sneak in food writing is a good one, n’est-ce pas? Lucy Knisley is the daughter of a chef and a gourmet who fed her brie and squid as a kid and ripped into her the one time she asked for ketchup (how dare!). You could say her foodieness (that’s a word, right?) was practically in her blood! This super funny and thoughtful memoir takes us through Knisley’s childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, imparting a love of food at every stage that I can’t help but find infectious. Between the stories are casual recipes, facts about cheese (!!), and of course drawings that are adorable to boot. My favorite quote: “After all, my family worships nothing as we do food, and the trinity of cooking, dining out, and eating.” I need a print of that to hang in my home!

Suggestion Section

For those ready to safely take book club outside again: follow this example.

Not that you needed another reason to read Colson Whitehead, but The Nickel Boys did just win him his second Pulitzer. Here are some book club discussion points for the book, so get at that!

The cutest book club! (and if you’re going to try and chime in with any Meghan Marple hate… don’t.)

Are you keeping up with the Vox book club? Here’s the week one wrap up for Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Audiobooks

Audiobooks 05/07

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 6, 2020

Sponsored by The audiobook edition of Sigh, Gone written and read by Phuc Tran

For anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong, the Sigh, Gone audiobook shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation. This coming-of-age memoir, written and read by Phuc Tran, explores one man’s bewildering experiences of abuse, racism, and tragedy and reveals redemption and connection in books and punk rock. In 1975, Tran and his family immigrated to America. He found solace and kinship in the wisdom of classic literature, and in punk rock, he found affirmation and echoes of his disaffection. Listen to Tran tell his story in the audiobook of Sigh, Gone.

Hola Audiophiles! Do you hear that clapping sound? That’s me giving you big props for making it through another week. Thank you for joining me for some audio love, regardless of whether you’re getting any reading done of your own. Like I keep saying, we’re all just doing our best.

This week brings with it SO many great new audiobooks, it was hard to pick just a few! Let’s get straight to it then, shall we?

Let’s audio!

New Releases – May 5 (publisher descriptions in quotes)

A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight, narrated by Sarah Zimmerman, Karissa Vacker, George Newbern (mystery/thriller) – Lizzie is working late one night at the elite law firm that pays her well but demands grueling hours. She gets a call from an inmate at Rikers, and it turns out the inmate is her old friend Zach. He needs her help, and that’s an understatement: his wife Amanda was found brutally murdered in the couple’s Park Slope brownstone and he’s the prime suspect. Lizzie decides to get involved and guess what: Zach and Amanda gots lots of shady-shade secrets and fo sho are not who they seem,

Narrator Note: Sarah Zimmerman reads N.K. Jemisin’s Dreamblood duology and Erica Ruth Neubauer’s Murder at the Mena House, a new cozy set in Egypt that I mentioned a few weeks back. Karissa Vacker reads several Debbie Macomber titles and is part of the ensemble cast for One of Us Is Next, and George Newbern’s most recent project is Val Kilmer’s memoir I’m Your Huckleberry.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte (YA fiction) – Elizabeth Acevedo is back to bless us with another novel in verse! Camino and Yahaira are 16-year-old sisters; Camino lives in the Dominican Republic and Yahaira lives in New York City. Their paths collide when their father is killed in a plane crash that killed almost 300 people only a couple of months after 9/11 while en route from JFK to the DR. Just when they each feel like they’ve lost everything, Camino and Yahaira learn about each other.

Narrator Note: It’s Elizabeth Acevedo, baby! You already know. I’m excited to listen to Melania-Luisa Marte, the writer, poet, and performer whose poem “Afro Latina” is one you should immediately look up.

Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella, narrated by Karissa Vacker (mystery/thriller) – Cady Archer is starting her freshman year at Harvard, following in the footsteps of her brother Eric who developed paranoid schizophrenia and then died by suicide in his final year. Already overwhelmed with the pressure and demands of her academic life, she hopes to find a sign or bit of information that could have prevented her brother’s death. Armed with a notebook of his scribblings, she starts an investigation and then begins to hear the voices of three ghosts herself. Does Cady share her bother’s mental illness, or is this something else?

Narrator note: This is the second week in a row that I unknowingly pick two books in the same newsletter that are narrated by the same person! I already mentioned Karissa Vacker, but here’s even more of her work: Once and for All by Sarah Dessen, Red Clocks by Leni Zumas, and Krysten Ritter’s Bonfire.

The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson, narrated by Cassandra Campbell (fiction) – Three estranged siblings find themselves under the same roof for the first time in many years when their eccentric grandmother passes away and are shocked to find a secret inheritance among their her possessions: a BIG ol’ diamond. Funny story! It’s no ordinary giant jewel, but the Florentine Diamond: a 137 carat yellow diamond that went missing a century ago and hasn’t been seen since. As they race to determine whether they are even the rightful heirs to this thing and the sizable fortune that comes along with it, they uncover their granny’s tragic and powerful past, forever changing their connection to their heritage and to one another. (Side note: the Florentine Diamond is a real thing!)

Narrator Note: Cassandra Campbell makes a pretty regular appearance in this newsletter: a lot of you loved her narration of Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing and Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You.

network effect a murderbot novel Network Effect by Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (science fiction) – Hey now! A standalone Murderbot book! For those who don’t know, and I’m partially reading myself here because these books have been on my TBR for years, the Murderbot books are a four-novella series about a rogue, self-aware security robot who hates emotions and humans, yet also wants to help humans. But really, it just wants to be left alone to watch its shows. “When Murderbot’s human associates (not friends, never friends!) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action. Drastic action it is, then.”

Narrator Note: Kevin R. Free narrates the Murderbot novellas and is back for this standalone read. I love his voice! I could almost believe there is a little bit of robot in him, it’s so clean and crisp.

Latest Listens

I haven’t finished my current listen because I’m deep in reading for next week’s episode of All the Books, so I’ll have to report back next week with my full review. So far though, I am loving Sabriel by Garth Nix! This is my first Garth Nix book, suggested to me by Managing Editor Sharifah when I told her I have a thing for sassy cat sidekicks (i.e. Salem from the TV version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch). It’s a work of fantasy narrated by Tim Curry, methinks I am going to like it a lot.

From the Internets

AudioFile shares five new fantasy audiobooks to escape into now.

Also from AudioFile: SYNC Audiobooks for Teens 2020 Is Here!

You can read and/or listen to Audible’s interview with Samantha Irby

The #SocksforBinc campaign raised over $28k!

Over at the Riot

4 Under 4: Fast & Fabulous Audiobooks Under 4 Hours

5 Under 5: Audiobooks Under 5 Hours for One-Day Listening

6 of the Best Audiobooks by Karen American Women Writers

5 Graphic Novels and Memoirs That Are Also Outstanding Audiobooks

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club

In the Club 5/6

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date May 5, 2020

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of The Paris Hours by Alex George.

One day in the City of Light. One night in search of lost time.

Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost. Told over the course of a single day in 1927, The Paris Hours takes four ordinary people whose stories, told together, are as extraordinary as the glorious city they inhabit.

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. This week I’m feeling the rage, yo. I’m trying to do my part and stay positive, but when I catch up on the news with only one eye open, I’m just tired. Today I’m pivoting from the comfort content I’ve given you the last few weeks and tossing in some books to help spark conversations on race and oppression. I’m acutely aware of how communities of color are disproportionately affected by all of this mess and encourage my beloved club members to think critically about that too.

But first, imma hit you with some comfort food. We all need it!

To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips

Friends. You know I love to cook. Pero…. the rona has stolen my joy. Not all the way, but I’ve def started looking at these pots and pans thinking, “This again?” If you too are getting sick and tired of cooking and don’t have the budget for a bunch of takeout, here’s one of my cheap go-to recipes for throwing stuff in a dish then tossing it into an oven. I make a big batch of this semi-homemade, super lazy enchilada casserole and freeze half of it for later.

Ingredients (real imprecise, sorrynotsorry)

shredded chicken
big can of enchilada sauce (red or green, up to you. I like the Pato, Herdez, or Las Palmas brands)
shredded Monterrey jack (or other melty white shredded cheese)
crappy white corn tortillas (I’m serious: don’t use the good ish on this sort of thing)
sour cream

Instructions: layer away in an oven-safe (obvi) casserole dish. Start with a little bit of sauce, then a layer of tortillas, then chicken, then sauce, then cheese. Repeat the layering until the pan is full, making sure the last layer is a whole mess of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 min. Top each serving with some sour cream.

Book Club Full o’ Rage

Disclaimer: Like I’ve said and will continue to say throughout this pandemic, read whatever you feel comfortable reading right now, if you even want to read at all. This is the heaviest subject matter I’ve suggested for the club in a few weeks, but the situation in Michigan got me all fired up and I think reads like these will spark important conversations if you’re in the right state of mind to have them.

When They Call You A Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele – This is the first book that came to mind when I saw all those people with their assault rifles descending on Michigan’s Capitol building. That mess goes unchecked, but Black Lives Matter is labeled a terrorist organization? What Black Americans must feel, and what ALL of us should be feeling is just… a lot. This book says it better than I ever could, and one of its authors is a co-founder of BLM.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo – It’s in the title: this is the book you read when you’re ready to have those tough conversations about race, privilege, and systemic oppression. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? And also maybe: how do you tell a bunch of entitled gun-toting <insert-strong-expletive-here>s to stay home and learn how to care about other people? No one is saying it’ll be easy, but it must be done.

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall – For way too many women, feminism is completely non-intersectional. That’s a problem. Mikki Kendall flames that particular brand of feminism, arguing that its loud, flashy focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. If your cause ignores issues like food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care for ALL women, it misses the point.

Suggestion Section

E! News rounded up a bunch of May celebrity book club picks.

This week in Entertainment Weekly’s Quarantine Book Club: how fashion books helped one reader look forward

Marvel has launched a weekly virtual book club with a roundup of celebrity guests!

Vox’s May book club pick has been staring at me from my bookshelf for yearrrrs: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Audiobooks

Audiobooks 04/30

Post author By Vanessa Diaz
Post date April 29, 2020

Sponsored by our Debbie Macomber prize pack giveaway! Enter here.

Looking for some cozy romance reads? We’ve got you covered! Book Riot is teaming up with Harlequin.com and Read Bliss to offer up a Debbie Macomber prize pack to one lucky winner, titles include: Texas Home, Learning to Love, Laughter in the Rain, Looking for a Hero, and Ready for Romance! Enter here.

Hola Audiophiles! I went outside for a walk three days in a row and can I just tell you my mood is so much better after? I got in some excellent audiobook time too as an added bonus, so let’s get straight to the books before I attempt some lame joke at isolation humor.

Ready? Let’s audio.

New Releases – April 28 (publisher descriptions in quotes)

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, narrated by the author – George M. Johnson is a journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist. His young-adult memoir chronicles his childhood, adulthood, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia while examining gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. It’s meant to be both a primer for teens who want to be allies and a testimony for young queer men of color.

The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America’s Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-Hernandez, narrated by Glenn Davis and Ron Butler – Ready for a case of the did-ya-knows? The Compton Cowboys are a group of 10 Black riders on a small ranch in Compton, California, one of the very last in an area that’s been home to African-American horse riders for decades. Decades! The story starts with The Compton Jr Posse, a project founded by Mayisha Akbar in 1988 to offer local youth an alternative to street life. Today’s Cowboys are a group of Black men and women defying stereotypes in a community built on “camaraderie, respite from violence, healing from trauma, and recovery from incarceration.”

Narrator Note: Glenn Davis reads Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay and I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews! Ron Butler is part of the ensemble casts for both Alexis Schaitkin’s Saint X and How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin.

Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova, narrated by Frankie Corzo – Santa madre, this book! Renata is a memory thief who was kidnapped as a child and brought to the palace of Andalucia where she was forced to use her powers to kill thousands. Years later, she’s been rescued by the Whispers, a group of rebel spies working against the crown. When Dez—the commander of her unit and Renata’s boo—is taken captive by the evil jerk-face prince, Renata must return to the palace to complete Dez’ top secret mission. But doing so stirs up some old stuff and reveals a secret from her past that could change the game entirely. The whole thing is set in a lush, magical world inspired by Inquisition Spain.

Narrator note: I loved Frankie Corzo’s reading of Chanel Cleeton’s Next Year in Havana! Other notable performances include The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero and Meg Medina’s Merci Suárez Changes Gears.

Island Affair by Priscilla Olivares, narrated by Carmen Vine – Sara Vance is a social media influencer who’s getting her stuff together: she’s recovering from an eating disorder, her career is on the rise, and things in general are looking good. Then her boyfriend is a no-show on her family’s big Key West vacay and that just will not do! Rather than face the ridicule of her perfect judgy siblings and their perfect judgy spouses, she enlists the help of a sexy Cuban firefighter/paramedic/dive captain named Luis to play the part of her fake fiancé. They play the part and play it well, too well! Will their fake romance become a real one once it’s time for Sara to go home?

Narrator’s note: Carmen Vine reads a lot of romance audiobooks, including Priscilla Olivares’ His Perfect Partner and Stripped by by Zoey Castile (pssst, that’s Zoraida Cordova’s romance pen name!)

Little Family by Ishmael Beah, narrated by Dion Graham – Hidden away from a harsh outside world, five young people make a home in an abandoned airplane somewhere in Zimbabwe. Elimane is the book and street smart one while clever Khoudiemata takes responsibility for keeping the three younger kids safe and fed. Each day they scheme and scam to survive, then Elimane makes a dangerous deal with a shadowy head of a crime syndicate to ensure their continued survival. Meanwhile, Khoudimata is swept up by the “beautiful people,” the fortunate sons and daughters of the elite, and wonders if perhaps it’s time to go off and live life for herself.

Narrator note: Dion Graham has one of my favorite narrator voices, hands down. His work includes Matthew Desmond’s Evicted, Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf, and lots of Nic Stone and Walter Mosley titles. He’s a pro!

Latest Listens

TW: child death, violence/torture (mostly off page)

I abandoned several audiobooks since we last did this newsletter and went back to…. drum roll…. gothic mystery! If you’re thinking, “This again, Diaz?” my feelings won’t be hurt if you skip this section. If you’re still rockin’ with me, let me tell you about The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell, narrated by Jayne Entwistle and Elizabeth Knowelden.

The book reminds me *a lot* of Sarah Waters’ Affinity: an upperclass woman visits the women’s ward of a Victorian London prison and becomes obsessed with a particular inmate. See what I mean? Dorothea Truelove is a young, wealthy, and beautiful woman obsessed with phrenology and it’s potential use in the study of violent crime. Her charitable work takes her to Oakgate prison where she meets Ruth Butterham, a poor seamstress who’s confessed to killing several people with a needle and thread. If you’re thinking she went all stabby stabby, guess again! She claims there’s a supernatural—and deadly—power in her stitches.

The story alternates between Dorothea and Ruth’s perspectives, with Ruth slowly revealing her tragic (the most tragic) backstory to Dorothea. It broke my heart and kept me guessing till the end: is she telling the truth? Is there another sinister force at work? Jayne Entwistle is perfection once again, conveying a range of emotions as Ruth that never once feel contrived. Elizabeth Knowelden, on the other hand, is sometimes a little bit breathy for me. This is the second of her performances that I’ve listened to in the last six months and it took me about an hour to get over what feels like a perpetual hush in her tone.

Worth the listen though? Yep. Just the right amount of Gothic suspense or my liking.

From the Internets

For the gagillionth time: you don’t have to read more if you’re stuck at home. If you want to though, here are some tips—like turning to audiobooks—from CNN.

Today’s the last day of National Poetry month! Here’s a Libro.fm playlist of excellent poetry audiobooks.

Speaking of Libro, check out these awesome interviews with Abby Jimenez (The Happy Ever After Playlist) and C Pam Zhang (How Much of These Hills Is Gold).

Audiofile Magazine is reading my mind! Here are 8 new romance audiobooks from favorite narrators.

Check out Audible’s interview with Veronica Roth.

Last bit of Libro news: did you know they hired booksellers affected by COVID-19? The position goes from April 13th to May 15th and you can meet the bookish superstars here.

Over at the Riot

7 of the Best Audiobooks by Muslim Women Writers

Get Free Audiobooks for Teens This Summer Through SYNC

How Audiobooks Helped Me Feel Less Lonely Staying Home with My Newborn

Radio Drama: Then and Now

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

In The Club