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In The Club

In the Club Jun 14

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

This newsletter is sponsored by The Hideaway by debut author Lauren K. Denton.

cover of The Hideaway by Lauren K. DentonNamed ‘Debut of the Month’ by Library Journal, The Hideaway is a lyrical, southern gem from Lauren K. Denton.

Sara Jenkins leaves her busy life in New Orleans and heads to The Hideaway, a ramshackle B&B in Alabama that she has just inherited from her late grandmother Mags. She intends to quickly tie up loose ends but soon discovers a home she never expected.

Brimming with winsome details, poignant insights, and endearingly-flawed characters, this novel is ideal for fans of Sarah Addison Allen, Beatriz Williams, and Patti Callahan Henry!

Need more murder for your group? 100 Must-Reads about serial killers.

The Other Scandinavians: Dorthe Nors breaks down contemporary Scandinavian literature, NOT Scandi Noir, and recommends five favorites. Not all of her picks are available in the US, but you’ll want to check out the ones that are after reading this interview.

Foodie + steamy = yes. This list of 8 romances is full of reads about food and love, one of which is literally called Delicious! (I can vouch for that one personally; it’s the Regency foodie Cinderella I didn’t know I wanted.)

And, of course, it is past time for a summer reading round-up!
– Read like Bill Gates.
– Summer reading guide from Modern Ms. Darcy, sectioned out by type of novel!
– Recs from six novelists who own bookstores!
– Bitch Media’s June selections
– The Seattle Times recs 15 books

Since we’re done with the Read Harder Challenge suggestions, I’ll be trying out some ideas for the second section of this newsletter! This week will be a pair of pairs (because my sense of humor is easily tickled) but I’d love to hear from you all! What do you want more of? What might be helpful to your group? More recs? More how-to’s? Hit reply and let me know!

A Pair of Pairs: Page to Screen

I’m still obsessed with the idea of a page-to-screen book group, and since I don’t have one right now you all have to live my dreams for me! Here are two film/book pairings that would make for excellent discussion and viewing:

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang and Arrival

cover image of Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted ChiangArrival was one of the most critically acclaimed films of last year, especially for a science-fiction movie. It was based on the titular novella, “Story of Your Life,” from Chiang’s collection and I have described it as both a gut-punch to the feels and one of the most academically interesting alien encounter stories I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Chiang looks at linguistics, parenting, the nature of time, and humanity’s deep and abiding xenophobia, all in less than 50 pages. The rest of the collection is excellent as well, but “Story of Your Life” has enough meat to it to work as the subject of a full discussion. And, of course, the film inevitably strays from its original source material, so there will be plenty to compare and contrast!

To get the discussion going:
– an interview with the filmmakers of Arrival, via Parade
– a Contrast and Compare via Kirkus

The Hours by Michael Cunningham and The Hours

movie tie-in cover of The Hours by Michael CunninghamI know it’s been a minute since The Hours came out (can it really be 15 years ago for the move?! And 17 for the book.), but for me this was the rare case in which I liked the movie better than the book. It’s hard to argue with the production value or the slew of awards it won, including Best Actress for Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of Virginia Woolf. It’s also hard to argue with the Pulitzer Prize that the novel won! While the movie is overall faithful, changes were definitely made. Do they help the story? Do they hinder it? If your group is interested in books that include family sagas, depression and mental illness, a focus on queer lives, and characters that you can’t always like but you might understand, this is the combo for you. Bonus: you could also throw Mrs. Dalloway in there to make the discussion even wider-reaching!

To get the discussion going:
– Michael Cunningham on seeing the film come to life

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 new 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.

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

Categories
What's Up in YA

An Interview With Author Malinda Lo on LGBTQ+ YA, Her Upcoming Novel, and More

Welcome to another week, YA fans!

This week’s edition of “What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by She’s So Boss by Stacy Kravetz –The Girl Entrepreneur’s Guide to Imagining, Creating, and Kicking Ass.

Whether you already have an idea for a business or you’re mulling how to turn the things you enjoy into a self-sustaining enterprise, this book will connect the dots. From inspiration to execution, there are concrete steps every young entrepreneur, creator, or leader needs to take, and this book shows you how. Packed with information and with the profiles of more than a dozen real-life girl bosses who have turned their passions into business, She’s So Boss is about thinking big, aiming high, and becoming the boss of your thing.

I’m so excited to bring an interview to you, especially as this week’s guest is a Book Riot favorite: Malinda Lo.

Malinda Lo has been writing YA for many years, and prior to her first novel Ash hitting shelves, she was writing for many online outlets. Her work spans fantasy and realism, science fiction, heart-felt essays, short stories, and so much more. She’s here today to talk about her upcoming book (!!!), about the growth and evolution of LGBTQ+ YA lit, and how to be an advocate for inclusive lit, among other things.*

Without further ado, Malinda Lo!

Malinda Lo is the author of several young adult novels, including the forthcoming A Line in the Dark (Dutton, Oct. 17, 2017). Her novel Ash, a lesbian retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book for Children and Teens. She has been a three-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Malinda’s nonfiction has been published by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Huffington Post, The Toast, The Horn Book, and AfterEllen. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their dog.

 

First, tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on between your last release Inheritance in 2013 and your upcoming A Line in the Dark. Anything you can tease us with about the new book?

Since Inheritance was published I dabbled in adult fantasy by joining the writing staff for Tremontaine, a serialized prequel to Ellen Kushner’s classic, Swordspoint. It was a lot of fun to work with other writers on crafting a TV series-like experience for readers. Tremontaine is basically a queer The Three Musketeers meets Dangerous Liaisons, and it is sexy, dangerous fun!

It’s also quite different than A Line in the Dark, although I’d like to believe my new novel is also sexy, dangerous fun! Line is a psychological thriller set in a New England winter, where four girls are drawn together by love, lust, and jealousy. The main character is my first published Chinese American queer girl main character, and she’s kind of the opposite of every stereotype you can imagine about Chinese American girls. It was almost cathartic for me to write her, because she breaks so many of those molds.

 

On a shallow note, the cover for A Line in the Dark is unbelievably good. Did you have any say in the process at all? Were there other concepts that got scratched?

I agree, the cover is unbelievably good! I am so, so thrilled by its creepiness and edginess. My editor, Andrew Karre, had great ideas for the cover from the beginning, when he wanted to commission art from Stina Persson. She does really bold ink and watercolor stuff, and she created the incredible typography for the title. The rest of the book cover went through several design iterations, and I was involved from the start. I wanted to make sure the cover told readers that this would be a mystery with a dark heart, and I think the cover does that brilliantly. I’ve been fortunate work with editors who invite my input into the design process, and I’m very grateful for that.

 

Before writing novels, and even during the time you’ve been writing them, you’ve written for online venues like AfterEllen and Diversity in YA. What have you enjoyed about the world of “online” writing and how/where does it differ for you from “offline” (aka, novel) writing? Do you prefer one over the other?

Everything I’ve written for online has been nonfiction, and to me, nonfiction is a totally different world from fiction. Nonfiction—especially the stuff that’s online—requires a different style, tone, and structure. And online essays require different structure than print essays, because people read online differently than they read in print. I enjoy many kinds of writing, and that’s why I also write fiction in different genres. I need the challenge that different genres and types of writing require, and I like that writing in different genres trains me to be flexible with my words.

 

You’ve been active and involved in the queer YA community for a long time. What sorts of changes have you seen in the way that queer lit is talked about online?

Primarily, there’s a ton more dialogue about it than before. It seems to be everywhere these days! That’s wonderful because it pushes LGBTQ issues to the front of the conversation. I’m glad that people are talking.

 

What do you hope to see more of — or where do you see a lack — in the realm of queer YA?

I want LGBTQ+-identified writers to feel free to write about whatever they want. I want them to feel the same freedom that heterosexual writers feel. In terms of what I find lacking, I want books about queer girls to have the freedom to include frank and moving explorations of sexuality. I don’t want that stuff pushed off the page.

 

What are some of your favorite queer YA novels? What have been some of your influences in writing (YA or otherwise)?

Some of my recent favorites include We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown. My writing influences include Sarah Waters, Madeleine L’Engle, and Robin McKinley.

 

 

What book do you wish you could go back and hand your young teen self? Why?

I would definitely want to give myself Ash. Even though I wrote it! Or because I wrote it. I basically wrote Ash for my younger self. It was the fairy tale retelling I never had, and I think if I’d been able to read it when I was 12 or 13, a lot of things would have made a lot more sense earlier!

 

Like all readers, surely there are some titles you’re looking forward to that are coming out later this year. Can you share a few you’re itching to get your hands on?

I’m fortunate to have already gotten my hands on Stephanie Kuehn’s next novel, When I Am Through With You, which comes out August 1. I love her unreliable narrators, and this one is about a group of teens who go on a hike in the Northern California mountains when disaster (of the natural and unnatural types) strike. Stephanie is such a good writer, and I love the sense of place that is infused in this book — as well as all the delicious moral ambiguity you can imagine.

 

What can readers do to ensure that queer YA lit gets love and attention within and beyond Pride month? How can we become advocates for this segment of the book world and the readers who are eager for both those mirrors and windows?

Keep talking about it! When people ask you for fantasy, give them fantasy that happens to feature queer characters. When people ask you for love stories, give them love stories that happen to feature queer characters. People often think of “queer YA” as fitting a particular box — the coming-out story, or some other sexual orientation-focused plot — and while those stories do exist and can be wonderful, that’s not the end-all be-all of books about queer characters. Don’t forget that queer characters can do things besides be queer; they can also, for example, save the world.

____________________

See you next week, YA friends. Till then, hopefully you’ve found a book or two or more to pick up and enjoy.

— Kelly Jensen @veronikellymars

Categories
The Kids Are All Right

Tips for Engaging Reluctant Readers

Hi Kid Lit Fans!

It finally feels like summer in New York City and kids had their last day of school last week, so I thought for today’s post I would write about engaging reluctant readers. Reluctant reader recommendations are probably the question I get asked most (also my favorite question! I love a challenge!), so here are some of the things I’ve done in my literacy work in school settings and with my own family. See if any of these tips work for you!

Sponsored by OverDrive.

Meet Libby, a new app built with love for readers to discover and enjoy eBooks and audiobooks from your library. Created by OverDrive and inspired by library users, Libby was designed to get people reading as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Libby is a one-tap reading app for your library who is a good friend always ready to go to the library with you. One-tap to borrow, one-tap to read, and one-tap to return to your library or bookshelf to begin your next great book.

1. Continue to read out loud to kids even after they start to read independently. A couple of years ago, Book Riot managing editor Amanda Nelson and I spoke on her Get Booked podcast, and we got a question from a thirteen-year-old girl who talked about how her father still reads to her at bedtime. Not only was that so sweet, I have no doubt this girl’s love of reading was influenced by their shared reading time. My Book Riot colleague, Annika Barranti Klein, recently wrote a great post about Reading Aloud to Older Kids.

My kids are seven and nine, and they still love being read to even though they are both independent readers. Continuing to read out loud to them has been a great opportunity to share books I loved as a child but that my kids might not have picked up on their own. Right now, we are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. The book is set not too far from where I grew up in California, so it has been nice to talk to them about that area and what the ocean looks like over there. It’s also a great opportunity to check for comprehension and clarify any confusing sections.

Reading books out loud at bedtime also seems to be a way to get my kids to talk. My older daughter doesn’t want to talk about what happened at school right after school (whatever I ask her, the response is, “Good” or “Nothing”), but she does open up sometimes at nights after we read.

If adding one more thing to the bedtime routine seems daunting, start small. Even just five minutes every night adds up to over half an hour of reading every week.

2. Audiobooks are excellent ways to engage reluctant readers. I check out our audiobooks online from our library’s website, which allows us to use OverDrive to check out books right onto the OverDrive app on my phone. We listen to audiobooks in the car, while my kids are bathing (using my trusty waterproof speakers), and sometimes during meals. It’s also fun to listen to audiobooks when the kids are drawing or cleaning up. We just finished See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng, a book that is perfect for audio since it is written like a series of transcribed audio files.

3. Let kids read what they want. (Even if it’s something you might not enjoy reading yourself.)

4. Look for books that still have graphic or illustrated elements in them. For younger readers (5-9 year olds), I love the Dory Fantasmagory series by Abby Hanlon, the Sidekicks series by Dan Santat, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger, The Year of the Dog series by Grace Lin, and the Phoebe and Her Unicorn series by Dana Simpson. For older middle grader readers (8-12 year olds), try Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson, the Secret Coders series by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Mike Holmes, Frazzled by Booki Vivat (the sequel comes out in September!), The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz and illustrated by Hatem Aly, and Real Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham.

5. Try books with larger print. I recently met the publisher Thorndike Press, which prints bestselling books with a more readable format (fewer words per page, and more white space). I took a look at their Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, which replaces the “handwriting” font of the original series with a more readable computer font. The books do not say “Large Print” on them and are designed to look like their smaller print counterparts, so there is no stigma attached to reading these books. There are lots of great titles in larger print, including I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

6. Keep books everywhere. In the car, on the dining room table, and by the bed. Keep rotating books around so there are different choices to capture kids’ eyes and minds!

Lastly, I recently talked to awesome Laura Lambert about engaging reluctant middle grade readers on the Brightly website, which you can read here.

Picture Book New Releases!

Hattie and Hudson is Chris Van Dusen’s newest book, released last month. It’s a sweet story about a Loch Ness Monster-type creature that lives in a lake and emerges one evening when Hattie is singing. She names him Hudson, and they become friends until other people see him and want to rid the lake of him. Like all of Chris Van Dusen’s illustrations (he illustrates Kate DiCamillo’s wonderful Mercy Watson series), the colors are vivid, the scenes delightful, and the character’s facial expressions unforgettable.

Pass It On by Sophy Henn is a book bursting with color and a hopeful message about passing on the good things, such as laughter, a smile, good news, a sight of wonder, and a hug. It stars a multicultural cast of kids that you see hanging out in settings like a forest, an ocean, a rollercoaster, and a tree branch. Plus – there’s lots of colorful balloons in this book. Who doesn’t love balloons?

The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry by Dana Smith and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, was published in April, and it was such a fascinating read. The author’s father practiced falconry, and there are such interesting details about how the equipment used; the difference between various raptors, or birds of prey; the specific training needed to train a raptor; and where the birds sleep at night. The illustrations, as you can see from the cover, are stunning.

Early Chapter Book New Release!

Early chapter books are those wonderful “bridge books” between picture books and middle grade, and I love recommending them! Wallace and Grace is a sweet new series by Heather Alexander and illustrated by Laura Zarrin, about two owls that solve mysteries. Their first case, about a ghost in the garden, is very funny and full of misunderstandings. The second book, Wallace and Grace and the Cupcake Caper, is about a cupcake that goes missing overnight.

Middle Grade New Releases!

Ten: A Soccer Story by Shamini Flint (Clarion Books, June 20, 2017), is a fresh new sports story starring Maya, a girl growing up in Malaysia in 1986. Maya is a huge fan of soccer, and when her parents give her a soccer ball she teaches herself how to play using a rose bush as a training prop. But during a time period and place where girls soccer teams didn’t exist, Maya has to use all her resources to create an all-girls team with no coach, no uniforms, and no other teams to play against. This was a fun, inspiring story!

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia, author of the award-winning book One Crazy Summer, is a wonderful new read that combines the rhythm of jazz with the challenges of familial disappointment, grief, and growing up in complicated times. I loved Clayton’s voice, and reading about his relationship with his grandfather and how music bound them together was very touching and sweet. The School Library Journal says, “This complex tale of family and forgiveness has heart.”

Backlist Recommendations!

I recently picked up a copy of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Catwings book, and it is so sweet and perfect for the early chapter book reader. It is about a family of kittens who have wings. They live in the country, but one day they decide to go and find their mother who lives in the city. What ensues is a harrowing journey as they retrace their foggy memories for where they used to live before they were moved to the country. A must-read for all fans of cats!

As I mentioned before, I’m reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell out loud to my daughters. This was a book I remember my fourth grade teacher reading out loud to our class, and I still recall when my teacher got choked up and had to leave the classroom after reading a scene in the book. I remember that moment so vividly even decades later, and I think it was one of the first times I realized how powerful a book could be.

Okay, last thing! I needed to sneak in one shout out to the very awesome NYC children’s bookstore, Books of Wonder, who announced that they are opening a second location in New York City on the Upper West Side of Manhattan! Hooray! Their first store on 18th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues is a treasure in children’s bookstores, and I’m thrilled they are expanding. Congratulations Books of Wonder!

The bookshelves inside Books of Wonder! It’s magical!

 

That’s a wrap for this week! I’d love to hear what you think about the newsletter, or about what books you’re reading and enjoying. Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com. Have a great week, and happy reading!

xo,
Karina

My rabbit Izzy wants you to read ALL THE BOOKS!

Categories
Riot Rundown

061317-Blackout-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Blackout, by Marc Elsberg.

When the lights go out one night, no one panics. Not yet. The lights always come back on soon, don’t they? Surely it’s a glitch, a storm, a malfunction. But something seems strange about this night. Across Europe, controllers watch in disbelief as electrical grids collapse. There is no power, anywhere.

A former hacker and activist, Piero Manzano investigates a possible cause of the disaster. The authorities don’t believe him, and he soon becomes a prime suspect himself. With the United States now also at risk, Piero goes on the run, desperate to uncover who is behind the attacks. After all, the power doesn’t just keep the lights on—it keeps us alive.

Categories
The Stack

061317-Brave-The-Stack

Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Brave, by Svetlana Chmakova.

Svetlana Chmakova’s Awkward was an instant hit with middle grade readers in 2015, being named one of YALSA’s Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2016 and earning an Eisner nomination in the Best Publications for Teens category. Now Chmakova returns to the halls of Berrybrook Middle School, hot on the heels of this success, with Brave!

Categories
The Goods

Read the Rainbow Reprise + Tote Launch

Celebrate Pride Month in literary style with our Read the Rainbow tees and brand new tote bag!

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Insiders

A Super-Secret Pilot Program for Insiders Only!

Hello Insiders,

We’re coming to you today with your first chance to help Book Riot explore a new project! (Now with a link for the form below, if it doesn’t load in your inbox!)  For about as long as we can remember, we’ve wanted to offer readers a custom-recommendations book mail service — think of it as a Stitch Fix for books. Basically, you would tell us what you like to read and what you’re looking for, and we’d send you 3 handpicked books (or book recommendations) we think you’d love, along with a note about why we chose them.

We have a lot of ideas about how this could work, but we have a lot of questions too. That’s where you come in!

As part of our research, we’re offering 25 lucky Insiders the chance to participate in a one-time pilot program.

Here’s what you get:

Level 1: An email containing 3 custom book recommendations for $10

Level 2: A shipment of 3 custom-recommended paperback books for $50

Level 3: A shipment of 3 custom-recommended hardcover books for $75

Shipping is included in the above pricing.

25 participants will be randomly selected and notified by email. If you get into the pilot, you’ll receive a link to purchase the one-time pilot product and a survey about what you’re looking for. Then we’ll send you your picks in July!

Here’s what we need: If you are selected to participate in the pilot, we’ll be asking you to let us know when your books arrive and to give feedback on the process, the selections, and your interest in subscribing to an ongoing book-rec mailing service.

The fine print: The book-mailing portions of this pilot are open to US residents only, BUT we want to hear from those of you outside the US as well so that we know how to gauge interest and plan for the future. Additionally, we’re still figuring out how sales tax will work, so some states may be ineligible.

Complete this form by June 20th, and cross your fingers! We’ll notify the winners June 21st and send your books out in July.

Categories
New Books

New Books Megalist: The Sequel!

 

Welcome back, book fans! I’m here to make your TBR list beg for mercy. There are SOOOOOO many amazing books out again today, I couldn’t just pick a few. SO here’s a giant list for your perusal. And you can hear about several of these great titles on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about amazing books we loved, including The Prey of Gods, Hunger, and The Widow Nash.

Also, if you missed the news, I’m going to be hosting a little All the Books spinoff called All the Backlist! It swims into the All the Books stream starting June 23rd.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grandi Ginder.

A bitingly funny, hugely entertaining novel in which a fractured family from the Chicago suburbs must gather in London for their eldest daughter’s marriage to an upper-crust Englishman, proving that the harder we strain against the ties that bind, the tighter they hold us close.

kingdom consKingdom Cons by Yuri Herrera, Lisa Dillman  (Translator)

A House Among the Trees by Julia Glass

Not Constantinople by Nick Bredie

Knife Creek (Mike Bowditch Mysteries) by Paul Doiron

The Grim Sleeper: The Lost Women of South Central by Christine Pelisek

Devil’s Due (Destroyermen) by Taylor Anderson

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

Roar by Cora Carmack

The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman

Virology by Ren Warom

Undertow: A Novel by Elizabeth Heathcote

surpassing certaintySurpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock

The Beach at Painter’s Cove: A Novel by Shelley Noble

The Darkest Promise (Lords of the Underworld) by Gena Showalter

The Swallow’s Nest by Emilie Richards

The Ultimatum by Karen Robards

My Vanishing Twin by Tom Stern

Blind Spot by Teju Cole

Soldier Boy by Keely Hutton

Daylily Called It a Dangerous Moment by Alesandra Lynch

Joplin Wishing by Diane Stanley

Night Thoughts by Wallace Shawn

continentContinent: Stories by Jim Crace

Adua by Igiaba Scego, Jamie Richards (Translator)

I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet

A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation by Scott Nations

Silver Silence (Psy-Changeling Trinity) by Nalini Singh

Hundreds of Interlaced Fingers: A Kidney Doctor’s Search for the Perfect Match by Vanessa Grubbs, M.D.

Stay Interesting: I Don’t Always Tell Stories About My Life, but When I Do They’re True and Amazing by Jonathan Goldsmith

Mad: A Novel (Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know Trilogy) by Chloé Esposito

The Switch by Joseph Finder

The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs by Mark O’Connell

Runnin’ with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen by Noel Monk

Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios

the circusThe Circus by Olivia Levez

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen

Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard

The Forgotten Girl by Rio Youers

A God in the Shed by J-F. Dubeau

The Great Rescue: American Heroes, an Iconic Ship, and the Race to Save Europe in WWI by Peter Hernon

Small Hours by Jennifer Kitses

Lockdown: A Novel of Suspense by Laurie R. King

Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards by Michelle Tea

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean

The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock by David Weigel

The Substitute by Nicole Lundrigan

Campus Confidential: How College Works, or Doesn’t, for Professors, Parents, and Students by Jacques Berlinerblau

wantWant by Cindy Pon

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

Tom Clancy Point of Contact (A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel) by Mike Maden

The Widow Nash by Jamie Harrison

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity) by Victoria Schwab

Endgame: A Nameless Detective Novel (Nameless Detective Novels) by Bill Pronzini

Ash Falls by Warren Read

The City Always Wins by Omar Robert Hamilton

You Should Have Left: A Story by Daniel Kehlmann, Ross Benjamin (Translator)

So Much Blue by Percival Everett

raven stratagemRaven Stratagem (Machineries of Empire Series) by Yoon Ha Lee

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

The Accomplished Guest: Stories by Ann Beattie

Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif

The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne

Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood, and History by Camille T. Dungy

Turf: Stories by Elizabeth Crane

Nothing Lasts Forever by Sina Grace

Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913 by Daniel Wolff

Fugitive in Full View by Jack Marshall

Away with Words: An Irreverent Tour Through the World of Pun Competitions by Joe Berkowitz

down among the sticks and bonesDown Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children) by Seanan McGuire

The Lost Letter by Jillian Cantor

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

Scribbled in the Dark: Poems by Charles Simic

Blue Money by Janet Capron

Hothouse by Karyna McGlynn

Fingerprints of Previous Owners by Rebecca Entel

Post High School Reality Quest by Meg Eden

The Other Side of Paradise: The Uncensored Memoirs of Bob Chinn by Bob Chinn

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

marriage of a thousand liesMarriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu

The Forgotten Flight: Terrorism, Diplomacy and the Pursuit of Justice by Stuart H. Newberger

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Strange Magic: An Essex Witches Mystery by Sydney Moore

The Salt House by Lisa Duffy

The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett

The Black Elfstone: The Fall of Shannara by Terry Brooks

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel (paperback)

Devils of Cardona by Matthew Carr (paperback)

Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst (paperback)

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
This Week In Books

LEVAR BURTON READS Makes Our Dreams Take Flight: This Week in Books

Take a Look, It’s in a Book, It’s a LeVar Burton Podcast!

Did anyone else notice the Explicit label on LeVar Burton’s new podcast, LeVar Burton Reads? Whatever. All I can say is this: when Mr. Reading Rainbow himself started narrating a snippet of fiction for the bumper episode (a speculative fiction reading, no less–we see you Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge), I got goosebumps. How many times can I click subscribe? The first full episode will appear on iTunes on June 13. Y’all.

Bet You Thought We Were Done With Harper Lee News

We’ll never be done. But iunno…I’m kind of looking forward to reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the graphic novel. Lee’s estate is a-okay with plans for the adaptation, which will be illustrated by Fred Fordham who worked on Philip Pullman’s graphic novel, The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship. I did not, nor do I ever plan to read Go Set a Watchman, but I’m fond of the “put an illustration on it” concept, and likely would only ever have reread TKAM in this format. It’s novel enough…

Down in the Underground, A Land Serene, A Library

I didn’t realize I’d be singing you links today. But here we are. And what deserves the magical treatment of a Labyrinth melody more than a library in an underground forest? It’s difficult to figure out what exactly is being said in the Architect announcement describing the reading and art space in Shanghai’s Onepark Gubei community club, but it sounds like different levels and areas of the space will complement different moods and levels of interactivity (put me on the waiting list for the “leave me alone I’m reading!” room). And, honestly, the gallery speaks for itself.

Ready, Set, Speed Read!

Lifehacker, the site we all lovingly check in with to have our minds blown by tips destined to never be employed in our blithely inefficient lives (just me?), has compiled a list of speed reading apps to help you show books and other readables what’s what. Part of me wants to try these out, but the other part of me is as hesitant as I was that first time I upped my audiobook speed to 1.25x. :hand-wringing:

Thanks to A Dark So Deadly by Stuart MacBride for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

A gripping standalone thriller from the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of the Logan McRae series. DC Callum MacGregor’s career was going pretty well until he covered up a mistake to protect his pregnant crime-scene tech girlfriend. Now, Callum’s stuck on a squad with all the other misfits—the officers no one else wants, but who can’t be fired—never likely to get within reach of a decent case again.  That is, until they accidentally get handed the biggest murder investigation the city of Oldcastle has ever seen. When a mummified body is found in the local garbage dump, the top-brass assume pranksters have stolen it from a museum. But as Callum and his colleagues investigate, it starts to look less like student high-jinx and more like the work of a terrifying serial killer…

Categories
Riot Rundown

061117-StartWhereYouAre-Riot-Rundown

Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by TarcherPerigee, publisher of Start Where You Are by Meera Lee Patel.

A lushly illustrated, interactive journal featuring beautiful watercolors and inspiring quotes from celebrated writers, artists and visionaries…
The hardest questions are the ones that open doors. Every spread in this book features an inspiring quote from a famous figure paired with an exercise. These exercises–often taking the form of a chart, list or written prompt–are designed to help you apply the lesson within each quote to your life.
There is no right or wrong way to complete this book. If you’re honest with your thoughts, you’ll become privy to various pieces of yourself – some that you know very well, and others that have previously gone unnoticed.

Take your time. Use what you have. Start where you are.