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Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

051018-Puddin-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Epic Reads

The show-stopping companion to Julie Murphy’s beloved Dumplin’, soon to be a major motion picture starring Jennifer Aniston!

Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. But this year she has new plans – to chase her dream of being a newscaster—and kiss the boy she’s crushing on.

Callie Reyes is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend.

When fate forces these two together, they realize that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

This heartwarming story is all about unexpected friendship, romance, and Texas-size girl power!

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Giveaways

Win a Copy of THE CACTUS by Sarah Haywood!

 

We have 10 copies of The Cactus by Sarah Haywood to give away to 10 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

For Susan Green, messy emotions don’t fit into the equation of her perfectly ordered life. She has an apartment that is ideal for one, a job that suits her passion for logic and an “interpersonal arrangement” that provides cultural and other, more intimate, benefits. But suddenly confronted with the loss of her mother and the news that she is about to become a mother herself, Susan’s greatest fear is realized. She is losing control.

Featuring an endearing cast of characters and tremendous heart, The Cactus is a poignant debut and a delightful reminder that some things can’t be explained by logic alone.

Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:

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Audiobooks

All The News That’s Fit To…Listen To

Hey there audiobook friends,

Whatcha listening to? I’m on a big deadline, so I’m audiobook-less right now, but I have approximately 50 million books I can’t wait to get to them once I meet this deadline. Listen to audiobooks and sleep, that’s all I want to do for like a month (dare to dream, I know). I hope your audiobook lives are all much more exciting than mine is at the moment.

Sponsored by Flatiron Books and The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

An intellectual and emotional thriller that is also a different kind of murder mystery, THE FACT OF A BODY is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed — but about how we grapple with our own personal histories.

But for now, let’s take a look at some audiobook news:

In West Hartford, January LaVoy visited Hall High School to talk about how students can use their acting skills outside television, movie, and stage acting. Her narrating skills have found their way on to narrator of over 100 audiobooks, so it’s hard to believe that before her first audiobook audition, she’d never even listened to an audiobook. She told the students that this was a blessing in disguise. “I didn’t know how to fail at it. I didn’t know what I was doing. As it turns out, I’m very good at it, which isn’t a surprise because I loved reading as a kid. It’s my job and it’s pretty cool.”

She also had some interesting behind-the-scenes insight into how she narrates books with different voices. Of Libba Bray’s Lair of Dreams, she says,”Libba’s books, she draws her characters so beautifully. If this guy is saying to this girl, ‘Hey baby vamp,’ I know him. I know who he is. That’s very specific. Once I know who they are, it becomes very easy to replicate the sound I’m going to do for them.”

She also gave the any budding voice actors a tip for auditions. “I make a strong decision about a character, make it quickly, make it confidently, and then do it. If I’m tentative at all, the microphone is a microscope. It also detects hesitation. It detects a lack of confidence. It detects everything.”

Read the full article here.

Bloomberg reports that Spotify is going to offer audiobooks featuring the stories about great albums. According to the article, “the world’s largest streaming-music service cut a deal with Britain’s Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, whose 33 1/3 series also documents the back stories behind David Bowie’s ‘Low’ and Metallica’s ‘Black Album’…Nirvana’s ‘In Utero,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘Dangerous’ and Radiohead’s ‘Kid A.’ This sounds pretty freaking cool. I would LOVE if they did one about Graceland…and like every Ani Difranco album from 1990-2001. Just a thought Bloomsbury (*hint hint*).  Full article here.

Remember Audible? Not the audiobook service but the horse. Audible the company (Amazon) didn’t have anything to do with the naming of the horse, but they did promise everyone in America a free audio version of American Pharoah by Joe Drape. While Audible the horse didn’t win, Audible the company is still made good on their promise (yes, sadly past tense, the offer expired yesterday 5/9).

I can’t believe I never knew that Zora Neal Hurston had a book that was previously only available to academics. From NPR, “It’s called ‘Barracoon, and it’s based on a series of conversations that she had with Cudjo Lewis. Lewis came to this country aboard the last ship that brought slaves across the Atlantic…When Zora Neale Hurston first met Cudjo Lewis at his home in Alabama, she called him by his African name, Kossola. Though he was an old man, he was thrilled to hear it again. As one of the last slaves to be brought to this country aboard an illegal vessel, Lewis still had many memories of his life in Africa. Deborah Plant, who edited Barracoon, says that makes the book special because most slave narratives focus on life in this country.”

Listen to the discussion about the book (include an excerpt of the audiobook) here.

Good news for all of us! Apparently listening to audiobooks is good for our mental health. This might be something we all kind of know anecdotally, but goodereader.com makes a point I hadn’t thought to articulate. “American spends 10 hours a day staring at a screen, in the UK the figure is similar. Audio, on the other hand, stimulates a different sense — by using our ears, we can relax our eyes.” I usually talk about how great audiobooks are for one’s commute or doing laundry and walking the dog or whatever, but there’s another delightful aspect to them–-we can listen to them with our goddamn eyes closed. For those of us who feel like we’ve been staring at one screen or another for 5 million years, there is a real pleasure to just listening to an audiobook with eyes closed.

Let me know if I missed any good audiobook news or if you come across audiobook-adjacent stories I should be aware of. You can find me on Twitter at msmacb or at katie@riotnewmedia.com.

Until next week,

~Katie

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Today In Books

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Stage Adaptation Has a Trial Date: Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Surface Tension by Mike Mullin.

 

Atticus Finch v. Atticus Finch

A court will decide if Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird is sufficiently faithful to the book—and soon. The granting of the producer’s motion to expedite the proceedings effectively consolidated the suit in Alabama and the one in New York, and set a trial date for June 4 in Manhattan. It’s the same day as the 2018 Tony Awards, so theatre geeks have a lot to…look forward to?

Avengers Team Up with Little Free Library

After acquiring the rights to Spider Man, Disney must know that with great power comes great responsibility. And we think they’re using that power wisely: “Avengers: Infinity War”-themed Little Free Libraries will be popping up nine U.S. communities on Saturday. Disney, in partnership with Little Free Library and First Book, will make sure the libraries are operational for the next two years.

Speaking of Doctor Strange…

I never say no to an audiobook read by Benedict Cumberbatch. And now I have a new nonfiction audiobook on my TBR (TBL?). So I’m going to learn all about the nature of time because Mr. Cumberbatch will read me The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. They should really get that man to narrate terms of service. Like, all of them.

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Kissing Books

The Cockiest Cocky(TM)(?) to have Ever Cocked

Oh holy mother.

Can we go back to the last Kissing Books, where we were all happy it was May and nobody needed a stern talking to?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Sponsored by The Luck of the Bride, an exquisite new Regency romance by Janna MacGregor.

March Lawson is an orphan who has struggled to raise her siblings on a meager allowance. Instead of preparing to find a husband like most women her age, she must devote her energies to the coldhearted skinflint who refuses to release her inheritance.

When Michael Cavensham, the Marquess of McCalpin, learns that Miss Lawson has been forging his name to procure funds, he can’t bring himself to have the beautiful embezzler arrested. Instead, he visits her home to assess the situation. Can March manage the handsome trustee who controls her purse strings―when he tugs at her heartstrings as well?

News and Useful Links

So, if you aren’t active on the social media circuit, you might have missed the…wildness that came to light on Friday morning and continues to develop in giant balls of fire.

Let me explain.

There’s too much.

Let me sum up:

We won’t get in too deeply about the irony of some full-of-themselves person who doesn’t know anything about how Romancelandia works trademarking the word Cocky(TM), because really.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, how about some good news?

Kit Rocha is going to have a new book featuring a trio of mercenary librarians. Yeah, you read that right.

Roomies is gonna be a movie! And Jenna Dewan is involved.

The Thing About Love is getting the television treatment!

#RomBkLove continues in full force!

And Cindy collected some great romances for AAPI heritage month.

Deals

cover of Rebecca Zanetti's Fated, with a cityscape and a man about to bite a woman's neckLooking for a new vampire series in which the first book features a scientist single mother? Fated by Rebecca Zanetti is 2.99. (I really had trouble picking the less weird cover for this one. The other one had the series title over the cover model’s junk and I just…couldn’t.)

Delaney Diamond’s Do Over just came out. Passion Rekindled, the first in the series, is 1.99.

Noelle Greene’s The Marriage Paradox is 99 cents.

Have you grabbed Talia Hibbert’s Wanna Bet yet? It’s 2.99. If you like friends-to-lovers stories, this is gonna be your jam.

Over on Book Riot

Deepali likes to read as protagonist. Do you?

Casey considers whether internalized misogyny has affected her past interest in romance. Spoiler alert: it totally had. But Casey has seen the light.

All the side eye.

Have you read any Robyn Carr? Erin made a reading pathway!

And of course, let’s go back to the happy carefree days of last Thursday, when Trisha and I wouldn’t know what would befall Romancelandia just 24 hours later.

Recs

Cover of Riven by Roan Parrish. Black background with black haired bearded man in titleRiven (May 29)
Roan Parrish

I don’t usually rec books before they come out, but I decided to read this on a quiet, lonely sick day at home and I have no regrets at all. (Also, I forgot there are people who aren’t like us when I went to ballet the next day and our introduction prompt was “tell us something good that happened this week” and my response was “I read a really good book yesterday.” The befuddled “the whole book” I got from the instructor, you all. Sometimes, I forget.)

That’s neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is, this was my first Roan Parrish book, and as I told twitter immediately upon finishing it, I am now ride-or-die for her books for life. I haven’t gone back to read the entire RP catalogue yet, but bet it’s on my list. There were so many Feelings. How does she invoke such things?

You probably want to know what it’s about, huh?

Theo is a rock star. A legit, wears stupid disguises in public, Riven World Tour rock star. He loves to write music, and lives to perform, but he hates stardom. Grateful for a rare night to himself, he wanders the streets of New York for hours, until he happens upon a sound he can’t ignore. That sound is the music of Caleb, a beautiful, bearded, linebacker-built blues guitarist whose day has come and gone. The two hit it off immediately, finding comfort in each other in ways they hadn’t with others, and even though Theo is headed off on his European leg the next morning, he and Caleb can’t help how they feel for each other. Jump ahead a few weeks, when Caleb is hiding out as usual on the farm he inherited, taking care of his vegetables and basically living as a hermit. Guess who shows up out of nowhere? What happens next, lovers, is history.

Even after finishing Riven and moving on to my next read, I couldn’t stop thinking about Caleb and Theo. These are two people who have a lot to unpack, about the world and about themselves, and sometimes they have to do that alone and sometimes they have to allow themselves to ask for help. This is the kind of story that can cut you up inside, but heal you with the strength of love and with the strength of music.

O….kay. I had feelings about this book. You should read it.

Cover of Body Rocks by AM Arthur with two very muscular torsos, one of which is wearing a leather jacketFor some reason, even though I don’t usually like to read similar books back to back, I was kind of on a gay musician kick after this, so I decided to pick up Body Rocks, the first book in AM Arthur’s Off Beat series. I’d actually read the other two, Steady Stroke and Hot Licks, so I knew a bit about what happened in this one, but I hadn’t gotten to this one. The lead characters are…so so young! One is on the verge of 21 and the other is just a bit older. They’re both aspiring superstars, the high points of two bands vying for the same goal: win Unbound, a national competition that ended in a recording contract. These two invoke different kind of feelings, but if you need to soak up a little extra of the rockstar vibe while working your way up to or coming down from Riven, Off Beat is a nice pool to dive into, with a diverse cast of characters and sexualities.

And I kind of want more. Have you read Moonlight Becomes You by M.J. O’Shea and Piper Vaughn? Tell me your thoughts.

New and Upcoming Releases

Pas de Deux by Lynn Turner
A Song of Blood and Stone by L Penelope
How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger
The Henchmen of Zenda by KJ Charles
Taming the Prince by AC Arthur

As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

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Today In Books

You Can’t Use the Word “Cocky”: Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Romance Novelist Trademarks “Cocky”

This one’s baffling. Faleena Hopkins has been writing to other romance authors whose books use the word “cocky,” telling them she’s been granted the official registered trademark of the word in relation to romance books, and threatening legal action if they don’t change their titles. And the romance community responded. The Romance Writers of America is also on the case with an intellectual property lawyer.

Justin Cronin’s The Passage Gets Series Order

For all of us who, despite the endless nightmares, couldn’t stop reading Justin Cronin’s The Passage series–good news! Fox has given a series order to the adaptation. The TV series is described as an “epic, character‐driven thriller” about a government experiment with a dangerous virus. The story follows young Amy, played by Saniyya Sidney (Hidden Figures), and Brad Wolgast, played by Mark‐Paul Gosselaar (Saved by the Bell–obviously his seminal role).

Parents Are Divided Over Alex Gino’s George

The New York Times wrote about new developments in the story of a district (now two districts) withdrawing from the 2018-2019 Oregon Battle of the Books over the reading list’s inclusion of George. George is Alex Gino’s middle grade book about a transgender child. Parents are divided, but The OBOB is standing by their decision to include the book. Read the full story here.

 

Tomorrow’s the last day to enter to win 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far!

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Giveaways

Win a Copy of EVERYWHERE YOU WANT TO BE by Christina June!

 

We have 10 copies of Everywhere You Want to Be by Christina June to give away to 10 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

From author Christina June comes a new young adult novel, Everywhere You Want to Be, a modern retelling of the Red Riding Hood story. Tilly Castillo thought she lost her chance to be a contemporary dancer, but when a summer job in New York City appears, nothing can stop her from saying yes—not her mother, not the other cutthroat dancers, and not even her fears of the big city.

Go here to enter for your chance to win, or just click the image below. Good luck!

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In The Club

In the Club May 9

Welcome back to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read. Let’s dive in.

This newsletter is sponsored by Murder In The Locked Library by Ellery Adams.

Murder in the Locked LibraryJane Steward, owner of the Storyton Hall book lover’s resort, must pause her plan to build a luxurious, relaxing spa named in honor of Walt Whitman and don her detective hat to uncover a hidden killer when a guest meets an untimely end upon unearthing unusual bones and the remnants of a very old book in the 4th installment of New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adam’s Book Retreat Mystery series.

What are other groups reading and loving? Reading Group Choices asked their subscribers, and they have answers for us. Here are the Favorite YA, Favorite Nonfiction, and Favorite Fiction from 2017.
Book group bonus: Take a look through the lists. Any that you read? Any that you agree with? Which titles, if any, surprised you?

Read along with all of New York City: Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach has been selected for One Book, One New York, chosen from a list of five titles.
Book group bonus: What would you have picked from the list? Take a vote in your group and find out how you line up with the voting readers of NYC.

Bring the outdoors to book club: Here are 50 must-read books about science and nature.
Book group bonus: Plan either an out-door meeting (picnics are wonderful) or an additional nature meet-up! Find a hike, or a park, or maybe a community garden and get some sunshine.

Need some SF/F picks? Unbound Worlds has a list of SF/F titles that are perfect for book groups.
Book group bonus: Assuming you’re not actually in a SF/F book club, take a survey of the group. What was the last sci-fi or fantasy title members read? What are their opinions of the genres as a whole? What’s preventing you from reading more titles in those genres? Discuss!

Amazing Latinx fiction: Recent #MeToo allegations against Junot Díaz, one of the most (if not the most) well-known Latinx authors writing today, have many readers casting about for other authors to support. This list from Bustle has a lot of great options.
Book group bonus: Depending on the comfort of the group, there are a couple of ways to go with this one. Option A: Discuss reader responses to allegations against popular authors. Can you separate the art from the artist? How does it change your perception of the artist’s work? Option B: If a #MeToo discussion would be too heavy, triggering, or otherwise uncomfortable for your group, go straight to discussing one of those other great books!

Mother’s Day approaches! For those who want to do a themed read, here are 8 excellent options. And for the more supernaturally inclined, I’m still very proud of this post about parenting in science fiction and fantasy.
Book group bonus: There’s no time like the present to discuss the different ways parents are (and are not) portrayed in fiction!

And a reminder: Today is the last day for the mystery giveaway! Go enter!

And that’s a wrap: Happy discussing! If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations (including the occasional book club question!) you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda.

Your fellow booknerd,
Jenn

More Resources: 
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

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Unusual Suspects

Fun Mystery Series to Binge-Read

Hi mystery fans! Lately I’ve been craving fun mystery series. While I’m a huge fan of super dark and twisted–which publishing keeps me filled on–I’ve found that funny, laugh-out-loud, mysteries don’t come along often, at least for me. It’s definitely something I would like more of so I thought I’d share three series I’ve found myself enjoying and laughing along to. And I’d love to hear your favorite fun/funny mysteries!

Flatiron Books and The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

An intellectual and emotional thriller that is also a different kind of murder mystery, THE FACT OF A BODY is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed — but about how we grapple with our own personal histories.

Ridiculous Characters And Physical Comedy = Constant Laughs!

An Otter Lake Mystery series by Auralee Wallace: Every character in this series is ridiculous, there is physical comedy, hilarious conversations, and everything is constantly going wrong (in a humorous way). The series follows Erica Bloom, who doesn’t want to return to her hometown of Otter Lake but keeps finding herself in the town where her crush is the town sheriff and her hippie mom lives/runs a retreat. It’s also where her best friend is, and he wants to investigate all the murders–which of course keep happening every time Bloom returns home. Like a delicious candy treat, I inhaled this series of 5 books. It starts with Skinny Dipping With Murder and just published Down the Aisle with Murder. There’s even a marooned-on-an-island-with-a-murderer for fans of Clue: Snowed in with Murder.

Witty Banter For The Win!

cover image: young woman looking directly at you through binocularsTrouble series by Stephanie Tromly: This series of three books is the closest I’ve found to fulfilling my need for more Veronica Mars. And by that I mean the Trouble series has really quick and witty dialogue, a romance for #TeamLogan/Veronica, and the character Digby matches Logan in annoyance (but I can’t not love him). Also, it has a mystery plot that runs through the entire series–Digby investigating his sister’s disappearance– while also having a separate main mystery in each book which works like the seasons/series did. The laughs are in the witty banter between the characters–mostly Zoe and Digby–which feels smart, and fresh, and of course funny. It’s also a series that works equally great in print and in audiobook and with only three books it’s a quick, satisfying binge: Trouble is a Friend of Mine; Trouble Makes a Comeback; Trouble Never Sleeps.

Long Fun Binge!

cover image: drawn pair of eyes with a bullet flying past themStephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich: While this series isn’t cozy and does deal with dark matter– the first in the series definitely has trigger warnings for rape/stalking–the main character Stephanie Plum is sarcastic, smart-mouthed, and fast with a joke. She has an opinion about everything and throws herself head first at problems–which is how she became a bounty hunter in the first place–and brings her quick wit into all the situations she gets herself into. This one is a loooooong binge, with 24 books. It starts with One for the Money and the latest release is Hardcore Twenty-Four. On the plus side, you won’t have trouble keeping track of where you are in the series since the book number is always in the title.

Recent Releases

cover image: black and white image of a street with homes and a picket fence in the foregroundThe Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (Paperback) (All the trigger warnings) (Fantastic true crime memoir– Review)

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall (TBR: psychological thriller told from male stalker pov.)

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson (Wicca teen brings back dead teens to solve their murder–I am loving this so far but had to pause to get a print copy to read because my eyes went on strike from reading an egalley on my laptop.)

Blackout (Pete Fernandez Mystery #4) by Alex Segura (Currently reading: Fernandez ends up on a case from his high school days when a classmate disappeared, leaving her dead ex-boyfriend behind and no other clues.) (A Little Q&A: Alex Segura)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

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What's Up in YA

“Uglies” Gets a Spin-off Series, New HUNGER GAMES covers, and More YA News

Hey YA Readers: Let’s catch up with the latest haps from the YA world.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by by The Unblemished Trilogy by Sara Ella.

Sara Ella masterfully takes readers to new worlds in the jaw-dropping finale to the Unblemished trilogy, as Eliyana fights to save everything—and everyone—she loves.

With the fate of the Reflections at stake, Eliyana must destroy the void… but at what cost?  Traversing the realms of fantasy and reality through a labyrinth of plot twists, Unbreakable delivers a thrilling conclusion to Sara Ella’s Unblemished Trilogy.  Sara Ella continues to examine real world issues young women face every day regarding their own self-worth, strength, and confidence to define themselves in a complicated, mixed-up world that doesn’t always make sense.

Get ready to learn about a lot of adaptations, updates on adaptations, and more!

____________________

Cheap Reads…

Grab ’em while they’re cheap!

For $4, you can get the Twin Peaks-esque thriller Take The Fall by Emily Hainsworth.

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani, a wonderful coming-of-age story about a black girl in Houston, is $2.

$2 will get you the witchy How To Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather (that Mather, indeed).

Pick up Julie Murphy’s Ramona Blue for $2.

Love sports and romance? These Miranda Kenneally’s books are $2-$2.50 each: Coming Up for Air, Defending Taylor, Jesse’s Girl, Things I Can’t Forget. 

Finally, you can snag the first book in Heidi Heilig’s duology, The Girl From Everywhere, for $2.

____________________

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again next week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter and Instagram.