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What's Up in YA

YA Characters Who Change The World, Fabulous Backlist Reads, and More YA Book Talk

Hey YA Fans: Let’s catch up on the last month of bookish talk and upgrade our TBRs even more.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Anger Is A Gift by Mark Oshiro from Tor Books.

Moss Jeffries is many things—considerate student, devoted son, loyal friend and affectionate boyfriend, enthusiastic nerd.

But sometimes Moss still wishes he could be someone else—someone without panic attacks, someone whose father was still alive, someone who hadn’t become a rallying point for a community because of one horrible night.

And most of all, he wishes he didn’t feel so stuck.

When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes again, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.


(I heartily endorse today’s sponsor title — perfect for readers who love The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon, or All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely).

Onto the book talk!

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Cheap Reads!

Snap up some YA without dropping a whole lot of pennies with these ebook deals.

If you love the show and have never read the book inspiring it, you can pick up Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl for $3.

Burn for Burn, the first book in the trilogy written by power duo and besties Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian is $5 (and it’s a big book!).

Karen Hattrup’s Frannie and Tru is $3.

Haven’t read anything by Shaun David Hutchinson OR are looking to read more of his backlist? Snag The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley for $5.

$3 can get you The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee.

Lauren DeStefano’s The Glass Spare is $2.

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And finally, if you don’t already know, now you do: we’re giving away $500 to one winner in the US to your favorite bookstore. For real. Want to enter? Do so by June 21 for the chance to win your ultimate summer reading shopping spree here.

Thanks for hanging out this week & we’ll be back in your inbox in 7 days!

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter and Instagram.

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Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

052218-Chrysalis-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Litworld Publishing House. For Riot Rundown readers, Project Chrysalis will be available for 5 days only for .99!

Project Chrysalis: a new hyper-realistic, litRPG set in the virtual world of magic, mysterious creatures, dark rituals and newborn gods.
In the future, every orphan under government care is placed in Chrysalis with an in-game family to receive all the care they need.

But something went seriously wrong for Anji.

Betrayed, Anji appears in the most hopeless place of Chrysalis – Hell. Fueled by homesickness and revenge, he will venture through Hell and face what is hidden in every corner.

Anji’s story has only just begun, though. After all, Hell isn’t the scariest place in Chrysalis.

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Events

BookCon, FROM TWINKLE WITH LOVE, David Sedaris, and More Bookish Happenings!

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.


Sponsored by Amazon Publishing

From chilling thrillers and epic adventures to inspiring non-fiction, discover your next summer read from Amazon Publishing starting at only $0.99.


IRL GATHERINGS

Literary Death Match: May 24 in New York, NY

Here’s a lively hybrid event for y’all. Three celebrity judges sit in appraisal as four authors compete in a read-off. In this installment, Matt Bellassai (Everything Is Awful and Other Observations), Iris Smyles (Dating Tips for the Unemployed), Tochi Onyebuchi (Beasts Made of Night), and New York Times contributing opinion writer Kashana Cauley duke it out at Manhattan’s Caveat.

BookCon At BEA: June 2 and 3 in New York, NY

I don’t know why there are so many other things listed in this newsletter when this is the only event that matters…because it’s the only event where I’ll be interviewing Nico Tortorella onstage about their debut poetry collection, All of It Is You! When I feel excited about it, it’s like BookCon is my reward for traipsing around the Javits Center during the preceding BookExpo America. When I feel nervous about it, I can’t finish my s
So come holla at your girl if you find yourself in the vicinity of the Downtown Stage Saturday at 1:45! #TeamJosh

Why Reading Matters: Reading Without Boundaries: June 7 in Brooklyn, NY

We’re just stuck in New York for this edition of the newsletter, aren’t we? Well, at least we can get out of Manhattan for a bit and stretch our legs in Brooklyn for this conference put on by the National Book Foundation. In its third installment, the conference will host everyone from authors to librarians to educators to jam out to this year’s theme: “how we can use books to bridge divides, create new connections, and deepen understandings.” Heck yeah!

 

AUTHORS ON TOUR

from twinkle, with loveSandhya Menon

Stops include: May 22 (Downers Grove, IL), 23 (Fort Collins, CO), 24 (Seattle, WA), 25 (Menlo Park, CA), and 26 (San Jose, CA)

We here at the Riot were head-over-heels for When Dimple Met Rishi, and we’re beyond excited that From Twinkle, with Love is hitting shelves! This epistolary YA novel will charm your socks off.

Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

Stops include: May 23 (Dearborn, MI), 28 (Minneapolis, MN), 30 (Chicago, IL), and June 5 (Portland, OR)

The Map of Salt and Stars is debut fiction, but it deals with the very non-fictional Syrian refugee crisis. It’s not the “beachiest” of reads, but through all the pain, the book just shimmers (I loved the astrological threads throughout). If you’re working through some grief, you might find this especially soothing—if you’re ready.

Aja Gabel

Stops include: May 23 (San Francisco, CA), 24 (Santa Rosa, CA), June 1 (Portland, OR), and 6 (San Diego, CA)

As a flautist, I’m always tickled to see drama portrayed outside my section, and boy is there some string quartet drama in this debut novel! The Ensemble also has a cover that’s just begging to be blown up and framed.

David Sedaris

Stops include: May 29 (Decatur, GA), 30 (Winston-Salem, NC), 31 (Davidson, NC), June 1 (Pittsboro, NC), 2 (New York, NY), 3 (Brooklyn, NY), 4 (Washington, DC), and 6 (Boston, MA)

What can I tell you about David Sedaris that Ira Glass hasn’t already? An upperclassman once gave me Holidays on Ice as a Secret Santa present, and it was scarily perfect. Sedaris is the warmest curmudgeon, and that earns Calypso an automatic “add” to my TBR pile.

 

ON THE HORIZON

June

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

 

Categories
Today In Books

N.K. Jemisin Wins Nebula for Best Novel: Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg.


N.K. Jemisin Wins Nebula For Best Novel

The 2017 Nebula Awards were announced over the weekend. N.K. Jemisin won Best Novel for the final installment of The Broken Earth series, The Stone Sky. All Systems Red by Martha Wells won Best Novella, and “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” by Rebecca Roanhorse won Short Story. Click here to check out the full list of winners.

The Female Anthology Series Based On NY Times Obituaries

The New York Times is working with Paramount Television to produce a series based on the The Times’ Overlooked section. Overlooked highlights the women visionaries and trailblazers who were left out of the mostly male, mostly white obituaries. Women who have been featured in Overlooked include Jane Eyre author Charlotte Brontë, and investigative reporter Ida B. Wells, who campaigned against lynching.

A New Literary Festival In New York

Deep Water Literary Festival is coming to Narrowsburg, New York. The inaugural event features a marathon reading from Emily Wilson’s new translation of The Odyssey. Readers will include Mark Ruffalo, Marlon James, and Tilda Swinton. The festival will be held this summer, June 15-17.

 

We’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here!

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, book fans! Once again, there are so many great books making their way out into the world today. I have a few awesome books for you below and you can hear about several more great titles on this week’s episode of the All the Books! We celebrated our third anniversary by having all the hosts (ALL THE HOSTS!) on this episode. We answered listener questions and talked about a few amazing books we loved, including Anger is a Gift, MEM, and more.


Sponsored by Hush, My Inner Sleuth by M.E. Meegs

This serpentine saga opens in the year 1947 at a New England women’s college, where the ever-playful Betty escapes a meddlesome narrator by slipping her friend Willie a mickey and assuming her identity. Undaunted, the plucky storyteller adopts Willie as her new protagonist and travels with her to L.A.

Soon after their arrival, the pulp-inflected ghost of Skip Ryker—a recently atomized Hollywood detective—hijacks the head of the literarily precocious Willie in  hopes of solving his murder. What follows is a comic saga of intrusive narrators, metafictional backstabbing, and one very peculiar psyche.


PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here by June 21st!

from twinkle, with loveFrom Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Menon’s delightfully charming new novel is told by Twinkle, an aspiring filmmaker, through a series of letters to her favorite female directors. She explains how she has the opportunity to make an entry for an upcoming film festival, which means working with her #1 crush – but how she has found herself falling instead for his twin brother. Menon has scripted (get it?) another perfect tale of unexpected adventure and love.

Backlist bump: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

all the ever aftersAll the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother by Danielle Teller

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella and her missing shoe, but hold on to your pumpkin, because this is the origin story of her wicked stepmother, Agnes. Born into a poor family and forced into servitude, Agnes endures a life of grueling work and misfortune before she finally makes her way into the home of Cinderella’s father. After the early life of hardships she suffers, it’s no wonder she turned out to be so mean. Perfect for fans of Gregory Maguire!

Backlist bump: The Woodcutter by Kate Danely

cover image: a black teen girl sitting down facing the camera with the cover and photo washed in redMonday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson

Claudia doesn’t see her bestie, Monday Charles, on the first day of school, yet only she seems to notice or even care that Monday is missing. As the days turn into weeks, and still no Monday, Claudia must dig deeper into Monday’s disappearance to learn the truth about her missing best friend. A thought-provoking, heart-stomper of a book about race and abuse.

Backlist bump: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

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
Unusual Suspects

Sherlock Retellings, and That Time Conan Doyle Defended a Wrongly Convicted Man

Hi mystery fans! We’ve got a special edition of Unusual Suspects so we can gather around and blow out 159 candles for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday. Over on Book Riot, we’ve dedicated the day to Sherlock, Doyle, and mysteries (*throws confetti) with excellent posts from Sherlock Holmes Escape Rooms to Spiritualism and Fairies, and you’re gonna want to check them all out here.

black and white image of Conan Arthur Doyl, white man with mustache, with colorful balloons photoshoped in the background


sponsored by The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

The most inventive debut of 2018, this clever, mind-bending murder mystery will leave readers guessing until the very last page.

One of Stylist Magazine’s 20 Must-Read Books of 2018.
One of Harper’s Bazaar’s 10 Must-Read Books of 2018.
One of Marie Claire, Australia’s 10 Books You Absolutely Have to Read in 2018

 

At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed. Again. She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder. However nothing and no one are quite what they seem.


I didn’t actually read Doyle’s work until my 30s, when I found my mom’s copy of A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes from 1955. I did what I always do when I randomly come across a book: I stopped what I was doing and read the first page. Before I knew it, I’d read A Study in Scarlet and understood how these two characters are still beloved.

If you’ve never read Doyle’s work, you can download almost all of his novels and short stories in different formats for free here: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Canon

If you’re an audiobook fan, LibriVox (also free) has a bunch of selections here. And my personal favorite is the entire collection narrated by Stephen Fry, who also has a little introduction before each piece: Sherlock Holmes. It’s perfect if you’ve always wanted to reread the works.

cover image: woman in victorian red dress running away towards a doorwayMy favorite reimagining out of all of the reimaginings that I’ve read goes to Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series. It’s delightful, kickass, brilliant, and equally excellent in print and in audiobook. It starts with A Study in Scarlet Women and I hope the series goes on for-EV-er.

 

 

cover image: title and author name with brick wall inside lettersAnother series I love that nods at Sherlock Holmes is Joe Ide’s IQ series. It’s a modern PI in East Long Beach who uses his intelligence and deduction skills to take on cases. He also has a somewhat sidekick named Dodson–which sure does seem to rhyme with Watson.

 

cover image: red and yellow cover with a graphic of a magnifying glassAnd I’m looking forward to reading the upcoming Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox (June 26, Random House). It tells the true story of when Doyle, already known for his Sherlock writing, used his own deduction skills to work on a case of a wrongly convicted man.

Well, that’s it for me today so now back to our regularly scheduled programing. Happy deducing!

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.

Categories
Book Radar

Elisabeth Moss is Going To Play Shirley Jackson, and More Book Radar!

Helloooooooooo! Welcome to another week filled with books and…well, books, because let’s be honest, what else do you need, right? I have a ton of exciting book-related news for you today. 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

PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here by June 21st!


Sponsored by The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Magicians are pitted against one another to make the next big discovery in Charlie N. Holmberg’s fascinating new read in The Paper Magician series.

Alvie Brechenmacher came to London to study under world-renowned magician Marion Praff. Little did she know she would make a discovery that could change the world of magic forever. Now a rival is after the plans, and in the high-stakes world of magical discovery, not everyone plays fair . . .

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg returns to the enchanting world of The Paper Magician.


Here’s this week’s trivia question: What famous author drowned after his boat sank and was later cremated on a beach in Italy?

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

ms marvelRiz Ahmed and Mindy Kaling want to write a Ms. Marvel movie together.

There’s a documentary about Ursula K. Le Guin on the way.

Kristen Stewart is adapting Lidia Yuknavitch’s The Chronology of Water.

Sharp Objects gets a premiere date.

Beastie Boys announce massive 600-page book.

Clifford the Big Red Dog returning to TV in 2019.

Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg to star in a Shirley Jackson thriller.

Queer Eye fashion expert Tan France to publish memoir.

Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio are talking about reteaming for a Ulysses S. Grant biopic, based on the book by Ron Chernow.

Stephen King & Joe Hill’s In the Tall Grass to become a film at Neflix.

Sarah J. Maas to release her first adult fantasy series.

Cover Reveals

Fest your eyes on Sangu Mandanna’s young adult novel, A Spark of White Fire. (Sky Pony Press, September 4)

Here’s the first peek at Tear Me Apart, a new thriller by J.T. Ellison! (MIRA, August 28)

Scholastic rolled out a preview of the new edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. (Scholastic, October 9)

And here’s the new Marissa Meyer’s book, Archenemies, the sequel to Renegades. (Feiwel& Friends, November 6)

Sneak Peeks

the passageHere’s the full trailer for The Passage, based on the trilogy by Justin Cronin.

SyFy released the trailers for Nightflyers and Deadly Class.

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!

how to love a jamaicanHow to Love a Jamaican: Stories by Alexia Arthurs (Ballentine Books, July 24)

The hot short story collection of July! Featuring vibrant, poignant stories about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home, full of love, identity, resentment, and ghosts. This debut has already had its praises sung by Zadie Smith, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Carmen Maria Machado, Naomi Jackson and more!

the mere wifeThe Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley (MCD, July 17)

A modern retelling of the literary classic Beowulf, set is suburbia. Willa leads a privileged life in a gated community with her husband and her son, Dylan. Dana is a war veteran living in a cave outside town with her son, Gren. When Gren escapes his home and runs off with Dylan, the women living in two very different worlds meet. This is wildly inventive!

What I’m reading this week.

cover image: young black woman wearing sunglasses and a tan scarf wrap around hair.My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Dodging and Burning: A Mystery by John Copenhaver

Riddance: Or: The Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children by Shelley Jackson

Useful Phrases for Immigrants by May-lee Chai

Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge by Becky Aikman

Non-book-related recommendation.

If you listen to All the Books, you know that I have a Red Bull addiction, which is bad, because it is terrible for you. I gave it up in January, and have since been drinking tea (yuck) for my caffeine. But last week, I bought a Hi-Ball Organic Energy Drink at the health food store. IT WAS DELICIOUS. I had the Blood Orange, and it tasted like a mimosa without the buzz but with the BZZZZZZZZ! I have found my new caffeine god.

And this is funny.

One of the cutest/most mortifying bookseller misunderstandings ever.

Trivia answer: Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Categories
Giveaways

Win a Copy of CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth!

 

We have 100 audio downloads of Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth to give away to 100 Riot readers! Yeah, you’re not imagining the triple digits.

Here’s what it’s all about:

Performed by Austin Butler & Emily Rankin.

Globally bestselling Divergent author Veronica Roth delivers a breathtaking fantasy featuring an unusual friendship, an epic love story, and a galaxy-sweeping adventure.

Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth have grown up in enemy countries locked in a long-standing fight for dominance over their shared planet. When Akos and his brother are kidnapped by the ruling Noavek family, Akos is forced to serve Cyra, the sister of a dictator who governs with violence and fear. As Akos fights for his own survival, he recognizes that Cyra is also fighting for hers, and that her true gift—resilience—might be what saves them both.

Includes a bonus excerpt from The Fates Divide, book 2 in Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark Series!

Giveaway downloads courtesy of Libro.fm.

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

 

Categories
Riot Rundown TestRiotRundown

052018-AdjustmenDay-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by by Chuck Palahniuk’s Adjustment Day, on sale now from W. W. Norton.

People pass the word only to those they trust most: Adjustment Day is coming. They’ve been reading a mysterious book and memorizing its directives. They are ready for the reckoning.

In his first novel in four years, Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk does what he does best: skewer the absurdities in our society. Smug, geriatric politicians bring the nation to the brink of a third world war; working-class men dream of burying the elites. When Adjustment Day arrives, it fearlessly makes real the logical conclusion of every separatist fantasy, alternative fact, and conspiracy theory lurking in the American psyche.

Categories
Today In Books

Publisher Claims To Know 1971 Plane Hijacker’s Identity: Today in Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by First Lessons by Lina J. Potter by Litworld Publishing House.

cover image: gold brooch with a design of a castle inside


Publisher Claims To Know 1971 Plane Hijacker’s Identity

There’s only one still unsolved skyjacking in U.S. history: The identity of “D.B. Cooper” the man who hijacked a 1971 flight and parachuted out with $200,000. Carl Laurin’s publishing firm announced they cracked the case with a “memoir detailing the confessions of a longtime friend who supposedly committed the crime: Walter R. Reca, a former military paratrooper and intelligence operative.” (If reading about when plane hijackings were routine is your thing, you’ll probably be interested in The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking by Brendan I. Koerner)

New Albany Library Plants Book-Themed Gardens

In the year that felt like spring would never come, I love this story about a library that turned eyesore spots in the parking lot into gardens inspired by books: “Frankenstein,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “The Color Purple” and “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” And in taking it to the next level each garden will have a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone, which will connect to a library page that gives you information about the flowers and the book.

Jimmy Kimmel Asked People To Name A Book–It Didn’t Go Well

Jimmy Kimmel thought the recent Pew Research Center’s findings that one in four Americans has not read a book was probably even worse in reality so Kimmel Kimmeled and asked random people to name a book. Any book. It went really bad so let’s all hold hands together and laughsob as we watch.