Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases, and a couple of books I consider to be my favorite airplane reads. And wowie, I hope you’re all warmer than I am. We’re in the cold weather now, what we locally call “Stock Show Weather” because it feels like there’s always a nasty cold snap when the National Western Stock Show is happening. It’s not as bad as it could be — at least we’re not into negative numbers — but I’m sure sticking under a warm blanket with a book this weekend. Stay safe (and warm) out there, space pirates! I’ll see you on Tuesday.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Ernesto’s Sanctuary, a cat sanctuary and animal rescue in Syria that is near and dear to my heart.
Bookish Goods
Book Dragon T-shirt by EnochDesignUS
This is just a delightful T-shirt — bookworm versus bookwyrm, amiright? It comes in a variety of fun colors, too! $18+
New Releases
Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty
The Mathuran Republic teeters on the edge of oblivion after too many violent clashes with the Magadhan Empire. A senator and his wife set plans that span nations into motion, hoping to save their home from destruction — but they are not the only players on this political game board, and they soon find that gold and loyalty run out shockingly quickly.
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher
Harrow has come to Salizar’s as a place to hide after her clan was slaughtered — and maybe forget her past. Then, a monster with wings and power and no memory of who he is or where he came from arrives. Harrow recognizes someone who knows a loneliness like hers, and so she chooses him, working to unbury his secrets — something that will put them both in terrible danger.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
My mom hopped on an airplane yesterday to visit family, and that got me thinking about a good airplane read. In my opinion, you want a book that’s just fun and an easy read to help the time pass quickly. So here’s a couple I’d take on a plane flight any day.
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Roen is a schlubby IT guy who lives a very normal life…up until he suddenly acquires a voice in his head. Worse, it’s an alien named Tao riding along with him — and Tao’s got a mission to stop his people’s ancient enemy, the Genjix, before they sacrifice all humanity. Since he’s just a voice in Roen’s brain, well, looks like Roen needs to train up to be the ultimate secret agent. No problem, right?
The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood
This — and I mean this in the most positive possible way — reads like an epic D&D campaign got turned into a gripping and fun-as-heck novel, in which an orc rogue who decides she doesn’t want to be a sacrifice to a nameless god acquires an employer, loses said employer, but then gains an elven wizard girlfriend.
See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.
