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New Books

Hooray, It’s Another May Megalist!

Happy Tuesday! If you’ve been following this newsletter for a while, you know by now that I *HATE* making decisions. Which is why I am sending you another giant list of books – there are just too many good ones for me to leave any out! Your TBRs will thank me. (Jk, they’re probably screaming for mercy.)


Sponsored by Penguin Teen

Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal’s Pakistani village, she has no complaints, and she’s busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when the unimaginable happens. After an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.


You can hear about several of today’s new books and more great titles on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about a few amazing books we loved, including That Kind of Mother, Undead Girl Gang, Belly Up, and more.

(And like with each megalist, I’m putting a ❤️ next to the books that I have read and loved. There are soooo many more on this list that I can’t wait to read!)

P.S. Don’t forget that Book Riot is giving away 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far! Enter to win here.

cover image: jean pocket with a pink heart pin that says undead girl gangUndead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson ❤️

The Boy from Tomorrow by Camille DeAngelis

My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir by Jessica B. Harris

That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam ❤️

The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea by Denis Thériault

Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas by Mark Kurlansky

The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi,‎ Luke Leafgren (Translator) ❤️

Blackout by Alex Segura

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

junk by tommy picoJunk by Tommy Pico ❤️

Puddin’ (Dumplin’) by Julie Murphy 

Allmen and the Dragonflies by Martin Suter,‎ Steph Morris (Translator)

Side Life by Steve Toutonghi

Sal by Mick Kitson ❤️

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine ❤️

A Theory of Love: A Novel by Margaret Bradham Thornton

The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story by Christie Watson

Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed ❤️

My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley

barracoonBarracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston ❤️

The Lost Pilots: The Spectacular Rise and Scandalous Fall of Aviation’s Golden Couple by Corey Mead

Ramayana: An Illustrated Retelling by Arshia Sattar,‎ Sonali Zohra (Illustrator)

Tell Me: Thirty Stories by Mary Robison ❤️

Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock by Steven Hyden

The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy by B. T. Gottfred

We’ll Fly Away by Bryan Bliss

End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage and Motherhood by Jan Redford

Come West and See: Stories by Maxim Loskutoff 

song in a weary throatSong in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage by Pauli Murray ❤️

From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia by Michael McFaul

The Destiny Thief: Essays on Writing, Writers and Life by Richard Russo ❤️

The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry by Wendell Berry

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall ❤️

Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt

Tiny Infinities by J.H. Diehl

Landwhale: On Turning Insults Into Nicknames, Why Body Image Is Hard, and How Diets Can Kiss My Ass by Jes Baker

Bobby Sky: Boy Band or Die by Joe Shine

tomb of the unknown racistTomb of the Unknown Racist: A Novel by Blanche McCrary Boyd ❤️

The Aviator by Eugene Vodolazkin,‎ Lisa Hayden (Translator)

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms by Michelle Tea

Alternative Remedies for Loss by Joanna Cantor

Belly Up: Stories by Rita Bullwinkel ❤️

How to Set Yourself on Fire by Julia Dixon Evans

Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells ❤️

The Mercy Seat by Elizabeth H. Winthrop

I find your lack of faith disturbingI Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing: Star Wars and the Triumph of Geek Culture by A. D. Jameson ❤️

The Foreseeable Future by Emily Adrian

Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement by Janet Dewart Bell

Lost Empress: A Novel by Sergio De La Pava

The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith ❤️

Valley Girls by Sarah Nicole Lemon

King of Ashes: Book One of The Firemane Saga by Raymond E Feist

The Queen Underneath by Stacey Filak

cover image: vintage colored photograph from the '50s of a white teen girl with thick bangs and a bob of dark hariMI5 and Me: A Coronet Among the Spooks by Charlotte Bingham

The River by Starlight: A Novel by Ellen Notbohm

The Widow Nash by Jamie Harrison (paperback) ❤️

No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal (paperback) ❤️

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old (and see lots of pictures of my cats, Millay and Steinbeck), or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (I HEART RECOMMENDATIONS!), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Stay rad,

Liberty

Categories
The Stack

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Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Vault Comics

NYT best-selling author Kevin J. Anderson and TV writer-producer Steven L. Sears collaborate with artist Mike Ratera to bring to life this sci-fi story about space exploration, aliens, and war. Joe Human is taken to a harsh P.O.W. camp on a distant planet where he will be examined, tortured, and forced to endure experiments that rip into his very mind, as the alien Krael seek to answer the question: What is human? At 192 pages, this full-length hardback graphic novel also offers an original novella written by Anderson and Sears with art by Nathan Gooden.

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Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

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Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Nocturnal Meetings of the Misplaced by R.J. Garcia from The Parliament House.

Mystery surrounds the town of Summertime, Indiana, where fifteen-year-old Tommy Walker and his little sister are sent to live with relatives they’ve never met. Tommy is invited to late-night meetings in the woods by his new neighbor, Finn. The meetings become a place where kids who don’t fit in at school or home finally belong. As the group of friends slowly unravel long-buried secrets— they discover the truth is darker and closer than they ever imagined. If they live to tell will anyone believe them?

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Today In Books

Hamilton The Exhibition in Chicago (and On Tour?): Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Read It Forward Book Recs.


Hamilton: The Exhibition

Chicago gets first crack, lucky ducks. The Hamilton musical writer and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and his producer Jeffrey Seller are opening “an interactive, immersive, one-of-a-kind, only-in-Chicago attraction designed to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton and the founding of America.” Don’t worry too much about that “only-in-Chicago” part–the exhibition will likely go on tour.

What Happened To FanCon?

If you fell down the rabbit hole of #FanConFallout trying to make sense of what happened to the event poised to be a celebration of marginalized fandom communities, you might want to read this Vulture story. The piece takes us behind the convention collapse so far-reaching and damaging that Roxane Gay accused the organizers of “willful delusion” and “malfeasance,” and LeVar Burton wrote, “I am extremely distressed and disappointed by the sh*t show that #UniversalFanCon has become.”

The Fate of Barnes & Noble

People are talking about Barnes & Noble’s seemingly bleak fate. A New York Times Opinion piece noted that revenue from Nook has fallen more than 85 percent since 2012, physical book sales have plummeted, stores are closing across the country, and staff has been reduced across stores. TechCrunch responded to the Times‘ call for B&N to be saved by posing the question “Why save B&N if writing is doomed?” Which is just…what?

 

 

And don’t forget to enter to win 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far!

Categories
Events

The Bronx Book Festival is #goals

Welcome to Book Riot’s Events Newsletter, hosted by me, María Cristina. We’re looking ahead at some of the bookish ways you can spend your time in the next couple weeks, and I’m sure there’s at least one item here that can tempt you to put on pants and go out (in that order, please). Clear your calendars on the following dates, my reading friends.


We’re giving away 15 of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year so far. Click here to enter, or click the image below:


IRL GATHERINGS

Romantic Times Booklovers Convention: May 15-20 in Reno, NV

This is an epic gathering of romance readers and authors! Registration is pricy if you’re a casual romance reader or festival goer. But if you have the stamina for a full day on the convention floor and parties all night, you will definitely get that bang for your buck. Wow, that sounds dirtier than I meant it…

Dear America: Poems of Resistance and Hope: May 17 in La Conner, WA

This event is part of the biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival. For $40 you get a ticket to “join three-time US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Ada Limon, Lena Khalaf Tuffah and Brian Turner for this evening of poetry.” There will also be a band there called Hot Damn Scandal and I’m mad I didn’t take that name first (for a band, my child, whatever).

Gaithersburg Book Festival: May 19 in Gaithersburg, MD

She has no idea I’m plugging this, but Book Riot’s very own Karina Glaser, Contributing Editor extraordinaire, will be appearing at this book festival! Her debut middle grade book The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was one of my favorite reads of 2017, and I’m 100% convinced I would feel that way even if I didn’t know for a fact that Karina herself is AMAZING. So go to the Jim Henson Pavilion at 2:15 for her presentation and signing!

The Bronx Book Festival: May 19 in the Bronx, NY

We’ve been excited about this event ever since its inspiring Kickstarter campaign. And now it’s almost here! Founder Saraciea Fennell told us, “This festival purposefully consists of predominantly authors and creators of color to show that there is a market for lit by and for marginalized people.” YEAH THERE IS! Can’t wait for the Keynote Panel featuring Daniel José Older and Elizabeth Acevedo. Talk about book festival #goals.

 

AUTHORS ON TOUR

Jesmyn Ward

Stops include: May 8 (Brooklyn, NY), 9 (Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC), 10 (Atlanta, GA), 14 (Chicago, IL), 15 (Austin, TX), 16 (Houston, TX), 22 (New Orleans, LA), and 24 (Pass Christian, MS)

Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing was a highlight of last year’s literary landscape. That’s reason enough for me to celebrate it. But the occasion of its paperback release means we get more Jesmyn Ward on the literary circuit, so more YAY for this Southern Gothic/magical realism read!

that kind of motherRumaan Alam

Stops include: May 9 (Brooklyn, NY), 13 (Washington, DC), and 17 (Brooklyn, NY)

Just in time for Mother’s Day, we get Rumaan Alam’s latest, That Kind of Mother. I find this more funny than appropriate, because the titular parent is kind of an awful person? But it’s a thought-provoking novel by a non-awful person.

Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Stops include: May 8 (New York, NY), 9 (Maplewood, NJ), 10 (Haverford, PA), 11 (Washington, DC), and 12 (Frederick, MD)

My kid is the kid who gives other kids books for their birthdays. It would be very uncool, except she’s only three and nobody’s clamoring for whatever her generation’s Beanie Babies are going to eventually be. Her entire social circle will be getting Square in the coming year, because I’m her personal shopper and this is my favorite book of 2018, no lie.

 

ON THE HORIZON

June

BookCon at BEA in New York, NY

Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, IL

July

Detroit Festival of Books in Detroit, MI

Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw, Canada

August

Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair in Denver, CO

Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA

 

THERE YA GO!

If you end up participating in any of the above, tell us about it on social media.

And if there are any bookish events that should be on my radar, tweet me @meowycristina or email me at mariacristina@bookriot.com.

Hope to see you Riot readers in the wild!

-MC

 

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Giveaways

Win a Copy of THE COURAGE HABIT by Kate Swoboda!

 

We have 10 copies of The Courage Habit by Kate Swoboda to give away to 10 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

What kind of life would you live if you didn’t allow your fears to hold you back? The Courage Habit offers a powerful program to help you conquer your inner critic, work toward your highest aspirations, and build a courageous community.

In The Courage Habit, certified life coach Kate Swoboda offers a unique program based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you act courageously in spite of fear. By identifying your fear triggers, releasing yourself from your past experiences, and acting on what you truly value, you can make courage a daily habit.

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

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The Goods 2

JAWS

Add some thrills to your summer wardrobe with our new JAWS tees and tanks.

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Book Radar

THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE is Hitting the Big Screen and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday, readers! I enjoyed a lovely vacation and read a ton of great books that I will be sharing all over Book Riot and the internet in the coming months. But I am also happy to be back! Today I have a bunch of fabulous book-related news for you. I hope everything in your world is marvelous and you’re reading something wonderful. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty


Sponsored by Endling #1: The Last by Katherine Applegate, the bestselling author of The One and Only Ivan!

Byx is the youngest member of her dairne pack, a rare doglike species. Rumored to have remarkable abilities, dairnes have been hunted to near-extinction in the war-torn kingdom of Nedarra. When her pack is lured into a trap and wiped out, it seems Byx may be the last of her species: an endling.

As Byx sets out on a quest to find a safe haven—and perhaps even another of her kind—she meets new allies, who each have their own motivations for joining her. They begin as strangers and grow to be their own kind of family, and together they will uncover a secret that will threaten the existence of not just the dairnes, but every other creature in their world.


P.S. Don’t forget that Book Riot is giving away 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far! Enter to win here.

Here’s this week’s trivia question: What classic novel features the villainous Cathy Ames?

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

scary storiesGuillermo del Toro is making a film of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!

Reese Witherspoon announced her first book: Whiskey in a Teacup.

Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 3 is going to happen.

Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning novel, The Marrow Thieves, is coming to the small screen.

Series based on The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is in the works.

Hulu has renewed The Handmaid’s Tale for a third season.

Octavia Spencer is turning Are You Sleeping? into a series (which is being produced by Reese Witherspoon.)

Yesssssssss: Lydia Millet’s Sweet Lamb of Heaven is going to be a film.

the gentleman's guideAnd so is Mackenzi Lee’s Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue!

Sony Pictures Television acquires Wattpad story Death Is My BFF.

Jenny Slate, Alex Sharp, Zach Galifianakis, Gillian Anderson to star in the adaptation of Rebecca Dinerstein’s The Sunlit Night.

Jasper Fforde announced a new book: Early Riser.

Hold on to your Achilles tendons: John Lithgow has joined the Pet Sematary remake.

Roomies by Christina Lauren in getting a big screen adaptation.

Cover Reveals

Alyssa Cole shared the cover for An Unconditional Freedom, the last book in the Loyal League series. (Kensington, February 26, 2019)

Leigh Bardugo revealed the cover for King of Scars! (Imprint, January 29, 2019)

Josiah Bancroft shared the cover for The Hod King. (Orbit, December 4)

Check out the gorgeous hardcover editions of the Binti trilogy! (Tor.com, July 24)

Happily Ever After has the cover reveal of Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers. (HMH Books for Young Readers, February 5, 2019)

Here’s the first look at Sarah Pinsker’s collection Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea. (Small Beer Press, March 2019)

And The Mary Sue debuted the cover of In An Absent Dream, the fourth book in Seanan McGuire’s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning series The Wayward Children. (Tor.com, January 8, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

a simple favorHere’s the first trailer for A Simple Favor, based on the novel by Darcey Bell.

Here’s the first look at Strange Angel, about rocket scientist and occultist Jack Parsons, and loosely based on the book by George Pendle.

Here’s the new trailer for Ant Man and The Wasp.

Here’s a peek at Kiernan Shipka at Sabrina, from the upcoming Netflix series.

Book Riot Recommends 

At Book Riot, I work on the New Books! email, the All the Books! podcast about new releases, and the Book Riot Insiders New Release Index. I am very fortunate to get to read a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!

clock danceClock Dance by Anne Tyler (Knopf, July 10)

A new Anne Tyler novel is a thing I live for. I find reading her to be like being enveloped in a warm, fuzzy blanket. Her writing is so lovely and calming. This new novel is about a older woman, who has lived a relatively safe and uneventful life, who makes an impulsive decision to fly across the country, based on an unexpected phone call from a stranger.

a thousand beginnings and endingsA Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman

Fifteen wonderful stories reimagining the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia, written by such amazing authors as Renée Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Cindy Pon, and Alyssa Wong. This beauty was compiled by the team behind We Need Diverse Books.

What I’m reading this week.

transcriptionTranscription by Kate Atkinson

Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach

This Body’s Not Big Enough for the Both of Us by Edgar Cantero

All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung

The Wicked King by Holly Black

Non-book-related recommendation.

Two words: Collateral is worth watching for Carey Mulligan’s performance alone. Her acting is jaw-dropping.

And this is funny.

Author Sam Sykes has made up his own titles for some seriously dark episodes of Friends.

Trivia answer: East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

Categories
Giveaways

Win a Deluxe Edition of I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson!

 

We have two copies of The Folio Society edition of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend to give away to two Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

The Folio Society has just published a stunning new edition of Richard Matheson’s masterpiece, I Am Legend featuring seven searing colour images and four black and white section-opening spreads created by award-winning illustrator Dave McKean. Acclaimed horror novelist Joe Hill has provided a perceptive introduction examining the impact this ‘novel of unrelenting menace’ has had on science fiction, horror and the wider landscape of our nightmares. Also available as a special edition limited to 295 copies. Bound in black leather and blocked in red with a design by the artist, it is accompanied by an exclusive signed and numbered print.

Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image of the edition below!

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Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

050618-Whisper-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Whisper by Lynette Noni from KCP Loft

Teenaged Jane Doe (aka Subject 684) has been locked in a secret underground government facility for over two years, as authorities have tried — unsuccessfully — to get her to speak. But now a young evaluator, Landon Ward, is assigned to break her resolve, and her resistance begins to crumble. The last thing she expects is for him to be keeping secrets of his own … Whisper is a compelling, addictive, face-paced fantasy that will leave readers begging for more.