You’ve bought the books. You’ve stocked up on glorious new school supplies. Now you need the perfect bag. We’ve got you covered with awesome new totes and pouches, featuring 1984, “When in doubt, go to the library,” and more.
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We have 10 copies of Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller to give away to 10 Riot readers!
Here’s what it’s all about:
I Needed to Win.
They Needed to Die.
Sal Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class—and the nobles who destroyed their home.
When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand—the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears—Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.
Go here for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below. Good luck!
Hello my fellow mystery fans! Let’s end August with a ton of mystery books!
Sponsored by Hunting Hour by Margaret Mizushima—the third Timber Creek K-9 Mystery from Crooked Lane Books.
Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo get called to track a missing junior high student, until they find the girl dead on Smoker’s Hill behind the high school. But before they can catch the killer, another child goes missing―and this time it’s one of Cole Walker’s daughters.
Knowing that each hour a child remains missing lessens the probability of finding her alive, Mattie and Robo lead the hunt while Cole and community volunteers join in the search. It seems that someone has snatched all trace of the Walker girl from their midst. Grasping at straws, Mattie and Robo follow a phoned-in tip into the dense forest, where they hope to find a trace of the girl’s scent and rescue her alive. But when Robo does catch her scent, it leads them to information that challenges everything they thought they knew about the case.
Great Procedural With A Bit of Horror:
I Know a Secret (Rizzoli & Isles #12) by Tess Gerritsen: Rizzoli and Isles–a detective and medical examiner–are perplexed with their recent victim: she’s dead (seeing as she’s holding her eyeballs), but there doesn’t appear to be a clear cause of death. Has an unhinged fan killed a horror movie creator and staged it to look like a scene? Or is there much more to this case?–hint: much more! Also mixed in with the mystery solving are Rizzoli and Isles current personal lives, mostly family issues. If you’ve only watched the show, the characters’ personal lives are different in the books (which I love because it allows me to read and watch while being comforted by the similarities in the personalities, but getting fresh stories/plots). Gerritsen does a great job writing her series (and Rizzoli & Isles, who are very different, while having a great relationship) where you can jump in here and not feel “lost.” And if the personal issues make you want to know more of what you missed, then you can decide to start at the beginning. (A great Little Q&A with Tess Gerritsen.)
Over on Book Riot a guide to Nancy Drew readalikes and a Sherlock edition Book Fetish.
While you wait for the second book in the Lady Sherlock series to release next week (it’s SO GOOD I LOVE IT!) here’s a stand-alone short story set in the universe: Charlotte Holmes and the Locked Box.
Marcia Clark is developing a series for ABC that may sound really familiar because it sounds a lot like her life! (Will 100% watch!)
Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown will be adapted.
The adaptation of Stephen King’s suspense novel Gerald’s Game will premiere on Netflix on September 29th.
All the Trigger Warnings: Fantastic Mystery That Explores Trauma and Living With Grief
The Good Daughter
by Karin Slaughter: I cracked this novel open right before bed and ten minutes later felt like I’d been running for my life and was going to have a heart attack. And this continued to happen to me randomly throughout the book because Slaughter explores violent crimes and trauma with writing that places you right there with the characters.
The novel begins by introducing you to the Quinn family, who have just had to move because their home was burned down by someone angry with their father who is a criminal lawyer–the kind of lawyer who represents rapists/murderers. And then the family is attacked, destroying their world. Almost thirty years later, Charlie, the youngest daughter, finds herself in another violent tragedy. Still living in the small town she grew up in, things really hit the fan when her father decides to represent the person accused of the crime Charlie just witnessed. This event dredges up the tragedy Charlie survived as a child, and as much as she wants to forget it, she’s now about to relive it. The characters have so much depth, the mystery has plenty of twists, the lawyering scenes are excellent, and there are tiny bursts of humor throughout that perfectly deflate the tension, making clear Slaughter is a gifted writer.
A Park Police Officer and A Crime Scene Investigator Make a Perfect Team:
The Weight of Night (Glacier Mystery #3) by Christine Carbo: Gretchen Larson (a crime scene investigator) and Monty Harris (a park police officer) work together to try and recover human remains found near Montana’s Glacier National Park. Problem is there’s a raging fire that firefighters have been working to put out, so Larson can’t treat this with the care a crime scene needs—they literally need to get what they can and run! Told from alternating point of view between Larson and Harris, this procedural takes you through the case as they try to identify the remains and also find a boy who was camping with his family and disappeared. Both Larson and Harris have past traumas they carry, while Larson also has a sleeping disorder she keeps hidden and refuses to get close to anyone because of it. Great read for fans of procedurals who are looking for a new setting.
More Books Recently Released Because What’s a TBR For if It’s Not About to Explode:
The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun, Sora Kim-Russell (Translation) (Slow-burn suspense)
Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka (I love novels that give both YA and Adult POV)
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (Liberty Hardy loved and reviewed)
Atlanta Noir edited by Tayari Jones (Currently reading: almost had to sleep with the lights on after the first, super good, story!)
Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent (Seeing this one mentioned a lot.)
A Thousand Cuts (Spike Sanguinetti #5) by Thomas Mogford (Thriller set in Gibraltar)
Death by His Grace (Darko Dawson #5) by Kwei Quartey (Really enjoyed.)
On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service (Her Royal Spyness #11) by Rhys Bowen (Historical mystery)
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Boström, Michael Gallagher (Translation) (Sounds interesting.)
The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes (Looking forward to reading this one!)
The Dire King (Jackaby #4) by William Ritter (Enjoying reading this series that’s like a Sherlockian fantasy!)
Normandy Gold #3 by Megan Abbott, Alison Gaylin, Steve Scott, Lovern Kindzierski, Claudia Ianniciello (Detective goes “undercover” as an escort to find out what happened to her sister.)
Snap Judgment (Samantha Brinkman, #3) by Marcia Clark (My review of the 1st two in the series)
Glass Houses (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #13) by Louise Penny (Latest in this great series!)
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And if you like to put a pin in things here’s an Unusual Suspects board.
Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime come talk books with me on Twitter and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canaves.
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Behind The Scenes Aug pt 2
How is it almost September? Congratulations are in order for our August Mailbag winners: Susan, our Novel subscriber, and Katherine, our Epic subscriber. Happy reading! As a refresher: if you’re a Novel subscriber and you’ve updated your Watchlist in the last 30 days you’re automatically entered into the drawing, so keep an eye on those New Releases. For Epic, any/all Epic-level subscribers are eligible, so keep on keepin’ on.
In today’s installment of Behind the Scenes, our Art Director Scott is back with a look at some of the designs that never made it off the drafting table — and why!
First up is an alternate take on the Book Riot Insiders logo. I liked the idea of having the door stand in as the letter “I” to create a sense of intrigue, mystery, and surprise that only Insiders would be privy to. Version A is where I started and while I am actually pretty happy with the result a few issues stood out, the main one being that the width of the door compared to the width of the other letters is pretty severe. In version B I tried to using a typeface that had more heft to it, to better complement the ‘heaviness’ of the door. There are 16 characters in Book Riot Insiders, and using just one of them to create a visual pun means that I’m using 1/16th of the logo’s real estate, which in turn means that the door gets muddled at smaller sizes. In the end we opted for the sans-cutesy, cleaner, more streamlined version that has fewer complications attached to it.
Next up is an alternate design for the Reading Trumps Ignorance t-shirt. I sort of knew that this one was going to be problematic from the get-go, but sometimes when you have an idea you just need to see it through, see where it ends up. While the concept of bouncing books off the face of the President was cathartic and fun to execute, at the end of the day I knew that the number of people that would want to wear a shirt with his face on it would not really make it viable.
And here we have an alternate design for the Nolite te bastardes carborundorum shirt. When this task came to me I knew I wanted to focus on repetition of the text, like a mantra that someone repeats over and over. I felt like this design succeeded in creating a pseudo-hypnotic, visually striking composition, but where it falls a bit short is that in the repetition you sacrifice some of the immediate impact and boldness of the saying.
Lastly we have the design that never saw the light of day for an “ugly holiday sweater” Book Riot style. The problem with novelty designs is pretty inherent and we pulled the plug on this one before it could take flight.
[Jenn’s note: I still want this sweater.]
While not my intention, there was apparently some room for interpretation as to the motives of the reindeers in this motif. To be fair, Rebecca was merely the messenger for this request, but nonetheless I leave you with the most bizarre piece of feedback that I have ever received on a design:
-Scott
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr.
Robyn Carr has crafted a beautifully woven story about the complexities of family dynamics and the value of strong female relationships.
For the Hempsteads summers were idyllic at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. Until the summer that changed everything.
After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. But one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.
Today is an AMAZING day for books! I have a few fantastic new titles to tell you about here today, and as always, you can also hear about several more great books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about a few amazing books we loved, including The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, The Burning Girl, and My Absolute Darling.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller.
I Needed to Win.
They Needed to Die.
Sal Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class—and the nobles who destroyed their home.
When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand—the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears—Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.
All Rights Reserved (Word$) by
Imagine a future where you’ll pay for what you’ve said. Literally. That’s what happens in this inventive new book! Speth Jime is set to deliver her Last Day speech. After her speech, she must pay for every word she uses. It’s the same for everyone once they turn fifteen, and a way for the government to keep people down by forcing them to work constantly to afford being able to talk. But what would happen if someone refused to speak? That’s exactly what Speth decides to do, and her actions may very well spark a revolution. I eagerly await the second book!
Patina (Track) by Jason Reynolds
The follow-up to the wonderful National Book Award finalist Ghost. This time, it’s about Patina, a different star runner on the elite middle school track team. Patina has a lot to run from in her life, and a lot to run for – like her mom, who cannot run. But her resentments about her situation are starting to build up, and the coach is not going to put up with Patina’s bad attitude much longer. Can she find a balance and learn to work with others in order to run on the relay team. This is a wonderful story of overcoming obstacles and learning to face your problems.
Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain’s Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War by Ben Macintyre
Macintyre has a knack for finding outrageous stories from history and turning them into fascinating books that read like thrillers. This one is about the SAS, Britain’s secret fighting force that helped turn the tide of World War II and shaped how special forces units operate still to this day. I am always riveted by these tales!
Backlist bump: Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre
Zero Repeat Forever (The Nahx Invasions) by G.S. Prendergast
An exciting new fantasy series, hooray! When the Nahx invade, Raven is away at summer camp. Isolated in the woods, she must do whatever she can to survive, even if it means trusting the enemy who killed her boyfriend. When Raven is injured, she must rely on Eighth, who has deserted his Nahx unit, to help her. Think Beauty and the Beast, but with aliens (and no singing dinner service set.)
Backlist bump: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
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
We’re giving away a 3-month subscription to the Call Number Box!
Book box subscriptions are everywhere (as are subscription boxes for basically anything), so it’s hard to know which ones are worth your money and attention. Call Number is a Book Riot fave: curated by an academic librarian, it is a “library-inspired monthly book subscription box that celebrates Black literature and authors.” Each box contains a book by a Black author, a spine label and catalog card to keep your home library organized (!!!), and 4-5 library/bookish goodies that are relevant to themes in the month’s book pick
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click on the image of one of the past boxes below. Good luck!
Get Cozy, Get Ready For Fall Reading
Some of us have been waiting to resurrect the Snuggie, put on a pot of hot chocolate, and make a nest of our fall reading piles. And, as it happens, you can set your autumnal clock by the book lists that arrive en masse before the first russet leaf falls from the tree. BuzzFeed has a particularly excellent list of upcoming books out this fall. So if your nesting plans are light on books, help yourself to Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, Salman Rushdie’s The Golden House, Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with Me, and so many more must-have fall reads.
St. Vincent To Adapt The Picture of Dorian Gray
St. Vincent (Annie Clark) will direct a female-led adaption of Oscar Wilde’s creepy novel about a hedonistic man, The Picture of Dorian Gray. A novel I halfway skimmed to get to the part where Gray gets his comeuppance because he made me so angry. Here’s the twist: in Clark’s adaptation, the title character will be a woman. St. Vincent is best known as a Grammy award-winning experimental rock multi-instrumentalist, but she does have experience as a filmmaker. It will be very interesting to see where she takes the story.
Instagram Is The New Bookish Buzzmaker
It’s really no surprise that putting a product in the hands of a big name leads to sales, and some books owe a great deal of their success to celebrity buzz. I mean, Oprah. And now, according to this New York Times piece, book publicists are all about foisting their product on celebs, specifically hoping it’ll pop up on their Instagram accounts. Bookish celeb Emma Watson is one of the examples they use–she has a following of 38 million. That’s a lot of potential book buyers.
The Debate About YA Twitter Continues
“If the word ‘toxic’ was colloquially used in the 1960s, white people would’ve labelled the Civil Rights movement as such,” said Dhonielle Clayton, author of the upcoming The Belles. Clayton, alongside many YA authors, responded to Kat Rosenfield’s Vulture article about the “toxic nature” of the young adult community. The response, published on Bustle, was written by YA authors, Sona Charaipotra (Tiny Pretty Things) and Zoraida Córdova (Labyrinth Lost). There’s a lot to unpack here, specifically about the dangerous impact of critical conversations on race and representation being dismissed as “toxic drama,” and how Children’s literature is an overwhelmingly white industry that’s often unfair to marginalized authors. It’s worth a read, and the Vulture article is linked for context.
Thank you to In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.
Elliot is smart, just a tiny bit obnoxious (he is thirteen years old), and perhaps not the best person to cross into the Borderlands where there are elves, harpies, and — best of all as far as he’s concerned — mermaids. In Other Lands is an exhilarating a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world — even if it means giving up your phone.
We have 10 advanced reading copies of The Dire King by William Ritter to give away to 10 Riot readers!
Here’s what it’s all about:
In the epic conclusion to the bestselling Jackaby series, the Sherlockian detective of the supernatural and his indispensable assistant, Abigail Rook, face off against their most dangerous, bone-chilling foe ever. EntertainmentWeekly.com calls the series “fast-paced and full of intrigue.” The Dire King is filled with everything fans could hope for: new mythical creatures, page-turning action, surprising plot twists, romance, and an apocalyptic battle that will determine the fate of the world.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:
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Kids Books About Coding!
Hello there, Kid Lit friends!
If there’s one big trend in STEM I’ve seen this summer, it’s been coding. There has been so much buzz for coding-themed books!
Reshma’s Girls Who Code book is packed with information about how to begin coding. Written in a relatable style with lots of graphics and illustrations, this book starts at the basics and gives clear definitions for coding terminology. What I liked most about this book was the clarity of how coding could be used for practical uses, like for apps or games.
We’ve got a $200 Powell’s gift card to give away! Go here to enter, or just click the image below:
Published in conjunction with Girls Who Code is The Friendship Code, a chapter book about four friends who start a coding club at school. Lucy is so excited about a new school year so she can do amazing things at coding club. But the club is moving so slowly; how can Lucy gain the skills she needs to make her app?
Secret Coders by Mike Holmes and Gene Luen Yang is a terrific graphic novel series for all coding enthusiasts. The series is set at Stately Academy, a school where the founder left plenty of mysteries for it’s enterprising students to solve. Each book dives deep into some aspect of coding. There are currently three books in the series with a fourth, Secret Coders: Robots and Repeats, coming out on October 3rd.
Click’d (Disney-Hyperion, 9/5) by Tamara Ireland Stone is a middle grade book set at CodeGirls summer camp. Allie Navarro builds an app called Click’d which pairs users based on common interests and sends them on a fun scavenger hunt to find each other. The app is a hit; it goes viral. But when Allie discovers that the app has the potential to reveal secrets of the users, Allie races to find the glitch in the coding before anyone finds out.
For parents who struggle to keep up with technology, Coding for Parents is a great primer, organized by grade and age, and clearly defines coding terminology and usage with instructional diagrams and illustrations.
New Releases!
All The Way To Havana (Henry Holt & Company, 8/29) by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Mike Curato, is a beautiful picture book about a boy and his family setting off to visit a new baby cousin for his “zero-year birthday”. However, the car is rickety old vehicle with parts that have been swapped out, rusted, or fixed with wire, tape, and metal scraps. Will they make it to Havana?
The Bad Seed (HarperCollins, 8/29) by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald, is a picture book about a seed with a bad reputation. He lies. He cuts in line. He never washes his hands. Can he repair his reputation, or will he be a bad seed forever?
The Adventures of Caveboy and Caveboy Is Bored (Bloomsbury, 8/29) by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illustrated by Eric Wight, is a perfect chapter book for emerging readers. In the first book, Caveboy wants to be the greatest baseball player ever, until his club breaks. While searching for a new one, he also makes a new friend and learns what it means to take care of each other. In Caveboy Is Bored, Caveboy can’t find anything to do. Everyone is busy… except for his annoying sister.
Patina by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum, 8/29) is the highly anticipated second book in Jason’s track series. His first book, Ghost, was a runaway hit and a National Book Award Finalist. Patina is struggling to keep up with the track team. Between trying to keep her grade point average up at the fancy new school she’s going to, watching over her little sister, and taking care of her mom who is diabetic and wheelchair bound, can Patty keep up with everything and still have energy to train?
Writing Radar: Using Your Journal to Snoop Out and Craft Great Stories by Jack Gantos (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 8/29) is geared for middle grade students looking for writing inspiration. Who better to turn to than legendary storyteller Jack Gantos? The opening line is, “I’m a writer and I’m on your side.” What follows are a series of stories and tips to encourage young people to establish good writing habits as they create, revise, and perfect their stories.
The Van Gogh Deception (HMH, 8/29) by Deron Hicks is a spell binding mystery thriller about a young boy that has forgotten almost everything about himself. He was found sitting in the National Gallery in front of a Degas sculpture and knows oddly detailed facts about artists, but he can’t remember his own name. The book has QR codes sprinkled throughout so readers can look up the referenced paintings, and the end papers have beautiful images of color Van Gogh paintings.
Lucy and Andy Neanderthal: The Stone Cold Age (Random House) by Jeffrey Brown is the second in the Lucy and Andy Neatherthal graphic novel series. In this one, the protagonists have to deal with their greatest challenge yet: humans!
Ebook Deals!
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan is only $1.99! A perfect time to get caught up with the Applewhites before the third book in the series, The Applewhites Coast to Coast, comes out on October 17th.
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace is $1.99. Never heard of it? Meg Ryan, portraying an indie bookstore owner, recommended this book to a little girl in the movie You’ve Got Mail.
That’s it for this week! I just finished reading Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass, which is a great post-eclipse book for upper middle grade kids. I’m in the middle of Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford (HMH, 10/3/17), and The New Kid: The Carver Chronicles by Karen English (HMH, 12/5/17). What children’s books are you reading and enjoying this week? Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.
Until next time,
Karina
Izzy picking out what book I should read next.
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