Categories
True Story

BAD BLOOD and Other Stories of Silicon Valley

As I’m writing this newsletter, I’ve just finished reading Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, an account of “the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos,” a biotech startup led by a woman who was hailed as the next Steve Jobs. But then a Wall Street Journal reporter got a tip that the technology the company was using on patients and preparing to sell to major healthcare companies didn’t actually work, an investigation that revealed the company was built on lies.

We’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA! Click here, or on the image below to enter:

I’m not sure how this one completely missed my radar when it came out in May, but I ended up grabbing it at the recommendation of a friend and because of the chatter amongst the Book Riot editorial staff. And everyone was right – this book might be the most banapants work of nonfiction this year (that’s not about politics). The details about what went on inside Theranos, including the oddness of the CEO and the corruption among her supporters, seem almost too insane to be real. But it’s well researched and the reporting was rigorously managed, so I’m confident it’s accurate. So, so good!

Reading the book brought to mind a few other books on Silicon Valley that have been on my radar (or I’ve read) — Reset by Ellen Pao, The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, and Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton, just to name a few. It’s an area ripe for great stories.

With that gushing out of the way, on to this week’s newsletter!

New Books!

This week’s new books are three titles that have me curious but, for a variety of reasons, a little bit skeptical. My skepticism might be your genre kryptonite through, we’ll see!

The Widower’s Notebook by Jonathan Santlofer – This book is a memoir about a man learning to live without his wife, who died unexpectedly and tragically after a routine operation. It’s been compared to Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking or Joyce Carol Oates’ A Widow’s Story, except getting at this particular type of tragedy and grief from the perspective of a widower rather than a widow. One review I read suggested that his arguments about grief and gender rely on some old-fashioned cultural norms, but I’m curious anyway.

The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani – In this book, the former New York Times critic wonders “how truth became an endangered species in contemporary America” (as we all are…). She looks to the cultural forces like social media, television and politics, as well as trends from both political parties, to look at how we got where we are. This book feels like it’s slotting right into a trend – books on truth in a world that’s abandoned facts – but I’m generally here for it.

Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley by Adam Fisher – After finishing Bad Blood, my interest in books about Silicon Valley culture is pretty high. Adam Fisher grew up in Silicon Valley, but didn’t realize how unusual it was until he was an adult. Valley of Genius is an oral history of Silicon Valley that relies in more than 200 interviews with people who lead the technological revolution, and shares “the most told, retold, and talked-about stories in the Valley.” A skim of the contributors looks very full of dudes, which I suppose makes sense for a book on Silicon Valley, but still gives me a little pause.

Book Lists!

And finally, I’ll wrap this one up with a few recent book lists that look pretty excellent:

Don’t forget! We’re hosting an awesome giveaway of $500 of the year’s best young adult fiction and nonfiction so far, picked out by our resident YA expert Kelly Jensen. Hop over to this link before July 31 to enter: https://goo.gl/iZpwWZ

With that, have an awesome weekend! You can find me on Twitter @kimthedork, and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. Happy reading!

Categories
The Stack

071918-TheConArtist-The-Stack

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente, published by Quirk Books.

Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con expecting just another con—and maybe a chance to reunite with his ex-wife—but when his rival murdered, he becomes the prime suspect. To clear his name, Mike will have to navigate every corner of the con, from intrusive fans and obsessive collectors to the world’s slowest chase scene down the aisles of Hall H. In the process, he unravels a dark secret behind one of the industry’s most legendary creators. With ten illustrations and an unconventional setting, The Con Artist is perfect for comic fans and mystery lovers alike.

Categories
Today In Books

We’re Getting a Shuri-Centric Comic Book Series: Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Litworld Publishing House. Gestation is available for free today! Download your copy by clicking the image below.

Sing It, Sister

Ann Brashare’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants got turned into a movie that embodied the spirit of female friendship so thoroughly that the four principal actors are still BFFs. And now the rights to the film have been acquired for development as a stage musical.

Fall for Shuri Series

Everyone’s favorite Wakandan (yeah, we said it) is going to get her own ongoing comics series. It’ll be dropping in October, and has got maybe the most perfect writer in Afrofuturist extraordinaire Nnedi Okorafor whose Binti has been a recent favorite around the Riot.

A Political Memoir Prompts 2020 Speculation

The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by California Senator Kamala Harris is forthcoming from Penguin Press. The publication date of January 2019 has many wondering if the political memoir is a prelude to a presidential campaign.

Don’t forget–we’re giving away $500 of this year’s best YA books (so far)! Click here to enter.

Categories
Audiobooks

Rioters Writing about Audiobooks

Heya Audiophiles,

Happy Thursday! I’m on the road this week, so howdy from toasty Colorado! It’s been a busy couple of months of traveling for me, which means I haven’t had as much time to keep up with the audiobooks posts on everyone’s favorite site, Book Riot. So I thought we could take a look at some of the Book Riot Audiobook posts that I, and perhaps you as well, may have missed over the past few months.

We’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA! Click here, or on the image below to enter:

As you may know, there are few things that bug me more than when people claim that listening to audiobooks is somehow “less than” reading the print book. Not only is it ablest, it’s just not accurate. Rioter Dana breaks it down in this Audiobooks vs. Reading post, but I wanted to highlight one particularly interesting note here:

“There’s a fair amount of research on the subject of comprehension in audiobooks vs reading. The most helpful and positive of these that I came across was that of Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, of the University of Texas, Austin and Austin NPR’s Two Guys on Your Head. On reading: ‘When you read something, you are looking at symbols on a page, and your brain is busy filling in all the blanks. Like the sounds of the voices, the scene, the inflection, the deeper meaning, the plot, etc.’ On audiobooks: ‘Because you can’t go back and reread something, you’re much more likely to do a better job of trying to extract the gist of what someone meant when you’re hearing them than when you’re reading.’”

Danika Ellis has discovered that few sounds get her to sleep more than the sound of whispering. This prompted her to ask our fellow Rioters if there were any audiobooks that were particularly soothing and voila; 13 Soothing Audiobooks to Fall Asleep To was born!

Do yourself a favor and read this beautiful piece from Rioter Gretchen about the closest thing she has to a “spiritual practice.” Check out the lovely excerpt below and then read the whole thing here: The Salve of Beach Glass and Audiobooks.

“The voices of the book along with the rhythm of my glass hunt drown out my ordinarily noisy brain. With my mind quiet, I can watch the terns with their black streaked heads dive for food, I can watch the storm clouds build over Lake Michigan with angry unnameable grace. Sometimes, for a moment, or an hour—beauty.”

The Infamous Kelly Jensen has 3 Award-Winning YA Audiobooks for your Summer Enjoyment here.

Love audiobooks but not being tied to a single book for 23 hours? Never fear, shorter audiobook lover! Rioter Laura Sackton has 50 Must Read Audiobooks under 10 hours for you to choose from. The list includes some of my personal faves, like Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Where’d You Go Bernadette?

One of my favorite things about audiobooks is that you can learn stuff while doing other, boring but necessary things like folding laundry or commuting to work. Rioter Sarah has 12 Audiobooks to Listen to On Your Commute to Make You Sound Smart. One of Nichols’ suggestions? So You Want To Talk About Race by the brilliant Ijeoma Olou. Nichols says, “ contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the ‘N’ word.” Bonus: this book is narrated by one of my favorite fiction narrators, Bahni Turpin.

Because Pride Month should never really be over, Laura Sackton has 15 Audiobook Memoirs Written and Read by LGBTQ authors.

And if you want to listen to a good mystery on audiobook while road tripping, like I did when I listened to The Passenger on my way to Tahoe and arrived in the woods by myself, certain I was about to be murdered? Great! Rioter Emily has the Best Mystery Audiobooks for Road Trips for all your nailbiting (but keep at least one hand on the wheel!) needs.

Love Fantasy? Alex Acks has 35 of The Best Fantasy Audiobooks (and Series)! What does that mean? Alex explains, “This list runs the gamut from epic to contemporary fantasy, from the dark to the light, because fantasy as a subgenre is a wonderfully open sandbox for authors to play in. Look for gods and monsters, heroes and villains, and a lot of ordinary people who have had greatness and plot complications thrust upon them.”

If your smarty-pants needs weren’t met by those books to listen to on your commute, Sophia Lefevre has 20 History Audiobooks You’ll Want To Listen To. Sophia says, “Reading a traditional history book (a work of nonfiction, not a textbook) felt flat and dry. Deciding to make one last effort, I tried history audiobooks. This turned out to be the “Just Right” solution for me.” Check out which she thinks are the best of the best here.

That’s all for me this week! As always, feel free to get in touch with me on twitter where I’m msmacb or my email at katie@riotnewmedia.com.

Until next week,

~Katie

 

Categories
In The Club

In the Club Jul 18

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

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders.

Com on in! Bag your bookish perks. Start your free trial.Wishlist upcoming releases you’re dying to read. Get exclusive podcasts and newsletters. Enter to win swag. Do it all when you join Insiders. And you can get a free 14-day trial to the Novel level when you subscribe now!

Need more go-to book club questions? Here are some options!

I’ve come to love celebrity memoirs, possibly because so many interesting celebrities are writing them. If you’ve also been bitten by the bug — or just want a good starting point, here are some coming out this fall to have on your radar.
Book group bonus: Pair with a viewing of interviews or a performance by the celeb in question! How well does their page-presence match with their screen presence?

What is the difference between hardboiled and noir? Megan Abbott has some opinions!
Book group bonus: There are a lot of fascinating bits in this interview; no matter which book of Abbott’s you might pick to read, it’s a great addition.

Controversy strikes! The woman who helped create the Richard and Judy Book Club has called them out on their new relationship with WH Smith.
Book group bonus: There are layers and layers of paid promotion in publishing. How much does it matter to the readers in your group whether a recommendation is “supported” by dollars from the publisher?

Read like Francine Prose: She picked five classics as personal favorites, ones you may or not be surprised by.
Book group bonus: Her newest book, What to Read and Why, is a book club discussion starter and potential guide in and of itself.

More poetry! Ever since I signed up for the Pome Tinyletter, I’ve found it a much more accessible medium. Here are some Native American poets to add to your group’s TBR the next time you’re ready to tackle some poetry.
Book group bonus: Here’s where I pitch you Bojan Luis, whose work I adore.

Looking for #ownvoices reads? We’ve got a list of transgender fiction by transgender authors!
Book group bonus: Here’s an exercise for your meeting. Go over the last however-many group-selected reads. How many of them are about a specific community and written by someone from that community? For example, Celeste Ng is Asian-American and writes about an Asian-American family in Everything I Never Told You; Friend (With Benefits) Zone by Laura Brown has deaf/hard of hearing protagonists and is by a HoH author. Use your results as an opportunity to think about who and what you might read next!

Related: This piece by Jordy Rosenberg is a thoughtful and interesting discussion of what it means for a work of fiction to be trans lit.

Listen while you work (or do the dishes, or whatever): Here’s a round-up of great sci-fi and fantasy audiobooks for your listening and discussing pleasure!
Book group bonus: This would be a fun opportunity to compare an author-read audiobook (e.g. Half-Resurrection Blues) with a narrator-read audio (e.g. The Goblin Emperor).

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

Categories
Today In Books

1% of UK Kidlit Books Have Minority Ethnic Main Character: Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment.

Survey Exposes Dearth Of BAME Characters In Kidlit

Last year, England’s Department of Education identified 32.1% schoolchildren of minority ethnic origins in the country–also in 2017, 1% of the children’s books published had a BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) main character. The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education conducted the research project, which also found that 10% of these books contained “social justice” issues, such as war and conflict. The report “warns publishers that if children do not see their realities reflected in the world around them or only see problematic representations mirrored back at them, the impact can be tremendously damaging.”

Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles Gets Hulu Series

Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles is officially in development over at Hulu. The adaptation of the popular book series, which begins with Interview with the Vampire, was optioned last year. Anne Rice’s son Christopher Rice will serve as executive producer alongside the author herself. :waits impatiently for casting news:

Lin-Manuel Miranda Writes Gmorning, Gnite!

Lin-Manuel Miranda, he of Hamilton fame, is turning his positive Gmorning and Gnite tweets into a book, illustrated by Jonny Sun (everyone’s a aliebn when u a aliebn too). The book, aptly titled Gmorning, Gnight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You, came at the request of fans. Check out the article for sample Gmorning, Gnite tweets and the cover reveal.

 

And don’t forget–we’re giving away $500 of this year’s best YA books (so far)! Click here to enter.

Categories
What's Up in YA

YA Authors of Color Top The Bestseller Lists, YA Adaptation Trailers Galore, and More YA News

Hey YA Readers: It’s YA news-o’clock!

What’s Up in YA? is sponsored by Campfire from Shawn Sarles from JIMMY Patterson Books.

Campfire by Shawn Sarles book coverBe careful what stories you tell around the campfire… they just might come true.

While camping in a remote location, Maddie Davenport gathers around the fire with her friends and family to tell scary stories. Caleb, the handsome young guide, shares the local legend of the ferocious Mountain Men who hunt unsuspecting campers and leave their mark by carving grisly antlers into their victims’ foreheads.

The next day, the story comes true.

Let’s take a look at the latest in YA news from around the web:

Cheap Reads

Grab these delicious YA ebook deals while they’re hot:

And I Darken and Now I Rise by Kiersten White are each $2, and what a deal to find when the third book Bright We Burn just hit shelves.

Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn has had so many rave reviews. Grab it for $2.

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman is a YA western! $2.

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas is a twisty, dark thriller and worth picking up for $2.

Radioactive by Winifred Conkling is the story of Irene Curie and Lise Meitner, radioactivity, and how these two women totally revolutionized science (it’s excellent YA nonfiction!). $2.

Blast From The Past

Some Book Riot YA themed posts from this month in years past that you might want to revisit — or visit for the first time:

Recent Book Mail

Here’s what has hit my mailbox in the last week, for your TBR considerations:

Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley (with awesome Native rep and totally fine for middle grade and younger YA readers)

Giant Days by Non Pratt (A novel based on the comics)

Blood Will Out by Jo Treggiari (I was underwhelmed with this thriller, but others have disagreed, especially because the twist is pretty fresh and unexpected)

The Agony House by Cherie Priest

Come November by Katrin van Dam

____________________

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

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter and Instagram

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday! I’m changing things up a bit today because I had several books I wanted to tell you about but not enough for a megalist. (GREAT BIG ENTHUSIASM, itty bitty newsletter space.) So you can check out a bunch of awesome books below, and you can hear about several more great titles on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Amanda and I talked about The Mere Wife, Blood & Ivy, What We Were Promised, and more. (PS – Apologies in advance: I also sang a song.)

Sponsored by Flatiron Books, publishers of The Family Tabor by Cherise Wolas.

New from the author of the highly acclaimed The Resurrection of Joan Ashby – set over the course of a single weekend, this provocative novel reckons with the nature of the stories we tell ourselves and our family and the price we pay for second chances.

Give Me Your Hand coverGive Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN. Believe me when I tell you this is her best and since she’s already awesome, you KNOW it’s good. This is about two former friends who become rivals a decade later at a science lab when they are competing for the same position.

The Family Tabor by Cherise Wolas

The Tabor family is gathering together in honor of their father, who is receiving an award. They appear to be the perfect family, but they each have secrets, and over the course of the weekend, a lot of ugly truth is going to come out. I love a messy family novel!

The Secret Habit of Sorrow: Stories by Victoria Patterson

These stories are tremendous, but what I have to say about them can’t top the publisher’s blurb: “…has a Denis-Johnson refiltered-through-Raymond-Carver-vibe, along with the emotional depth and density of Elena Ferrante.”

hullmetal girlsHullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie

Girls! In! Space! This is a kickass story of a girl who volunteers to become a mechanically enhanced space soldier in order to make the money to save her ill brother. But there’s a rebellion coming, and she may have to fight.

Tacky Goblin by T. Sean Steele

I’m so happy that Unnamed Press is putting an edition of this out, because I loved this weird little book about a slacker renting an apartment with his sister and trying to get his life together.

Condomnauts by Yoss (Author),‎ David Frye (Translator)

Warning: This book is not going to be for everyone. It’s about sexual ambassadors in the galactic community. It’s a weird space adventure with technology and sex that is also a satire about Communist Cuba. But damn that Yoss can write.

when life gives you demonsWhen Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn

Shelby Black is training to be an exorcist, but she doesn’t want the cute boy she has a crush on to know that. But she soon discovers it’s a hard thing to hide… The title cracks me up!

Kill the Farm Boy: The Tales of Pell by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson

An ordinary farm boy becomes the Chosen One, and must rescue a princess in her tower. Along his journey, he’s going to meet some WEIRD people. This is a funny adventure by way of Terry Pratchett and Monty Python.

Apocalypse Nyx by Kameron Hurley

An ex-government assassin turned bounty hunter manages a ragtag group of misfits as she takes on missions.

A Sloth’s Guide to Mindfulness by Ton Mak

An adorable book about slowing your life down and breathing, with cute illustrations. It would make a great gift and also a perfect book for young people who want to learn about meditation.

the mere wifeThe Mere Wife: A Novel by Maria Dahvana Headley

A retelling of Beowulf set in the suburbs! MDH has done a fantastic, fascinating job with a super old tale in a contemporary setting. And it’s feminist as all get out.

Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder That Scandalized Harvard by Paul Collins

A true crime set at Harvard Medical School, featuring several of the day’s famous authors, and a gruesome murder. If you like The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher or Devil in the White City, this is your jam.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Sometimes Hanna’s mom wishes she hadn’t been born. With good reason. HANNA IS EVIL. She torments her mother (and others) for fun but her mother is determined not to let Hanna get the upper hand. If kids creep you out, you will be doubly upset in this domestic horror novel.

That’s it for me today – time to get back to reading! 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

071718-BONE-The-Stack

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic.

The first book in Jeff Smith’s New York Times bestselling, award-winning graphic novel series featuring an unlikely hero who must save an idyllic valley from the forces of evil.

After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins — Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone — are separated and lost in a vast, uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. Eventually, the cousins are reunited at a farmstead run by tough Gran’ma Ben and her spirited granddaughter, Thorn. But little do the Bones know, there are dark forces conspiring against them and their adventures are only just beginning!

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Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

071718-LikeNeverandAlways-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Like Never and Always by Ann Aguirre

One summer night, Liv, Morgan, Clay, and Nathan are driving home from a party. Best friends dating brothers? It doesn’t get better than that. But the joyride ends in disaster.

Liv wakes in the hospital. At first she’s confused when they call her Morgan, but she assumes it’s a case of mistaken identity. Yet when the bandages come off, it’s not her face in the mirror. It’s Morgan’s.

Forced to confront the disturbing truths that Morgan kept hidden in life, Liv must navigate a world of long-buried murder, a dangerous love affair—and a romance that feels like a betrayal.