Nothing cures a case of the Mondays like an awesome bookish freebie! Today’s your last chance to get a free pouch when you buy any tote in the Book Riot Store.
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May 2017 YA mailbag giveaway
We’re giving away a stack of excellent new YA releases for this week’s Mailbag Giveaway, including Caraval, Julie Murphy’s new book Ramona Blue, and more!
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click on the image of the full shelf of books included in the giveaway below. Good luck!
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another great day for books! I know what I’m picking up first: Things to Do When You’re Goth in the Country and Other Stories by Chavisa Woods.Because WOW, THAT TITLE. And in case you hadn’t heard, there’s a new book in Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series! It’s called Thick as Thieves and it is A++++. And it’s just one of the many awesome books making its debut today. You can 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, such as York: The Shadow Cipher, An Awkward Age, and The Push.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers.
A provocative new novel by bestselling author Randy Susan Meyers about the seemingly blind love of a wife for her husband as he conquers Wall Street, and her extraordinary, perhaps foolish, loyalty during his precipitous fall.
When Phoebe learns her husband’s triumph and vast reach rests on an elaborate Ponzi scheme her world unravels. Her children refuse to see her if she remains at their father’s side, but abandoning him feels cruel and impossible.
From penthouse to prison, Randy Susan Meyers’s latest novel exposes a woman struggling to survive and then redefine her life as her world crumbles.
Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff
Grace is a recent high school graduate who is holding on to a secret: she’s still a huge fan of Fever Dream, the boy band everyone loved in middle school. For Grace, the band is still an important part of her life. (She spends a lot of time squealing over it with strangers online.) Then she gets the chance to meet her idol, and she learns the truth about celebrity. A smart coming-of-age story about learning how to move on when you realize the things you think define you are no longer important.
Backlist bump: A Song to Take the World Apart by Zan Romanoff
Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Ohhhhhhhh, my friends, get ready for this one. It’s a Commonwealth Prize-winning story about the Kintu Kidda’s clan in Uganda and the centuries-long history of the family’s “cursed bloodline,” starting in 1750. Makumbi breaks the book up into six parts and details the lives of Kintu’s descendants and what it means to live in the shadow of the curse a they try to carve out their own futures. What a fantastic read!
Backlist bump: I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (Another amazing Commonwealth Prize winner.)
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
I mention this on the podcast several months ago, but I just want to reiterate how amazing this book is. Marzano-Lesnevich went to Louisiana to help work with prisoners on death row, and instead found herself questioning her opposition to the death penalty when she came across a particularly heinous crime. Her investigation into the case led to reopened memories of her own childhood trauma and forced her to face some painful truths. (This book is fascinating and beautifully written, but please be aware that there are some really brutal, possibly triggering things discussed in it as well.)
Backlist bump: No bump, just advice to mark down After the Eclipse: A Mother’s Murder, a Daughter’s Search by Sarah Perry now, because WOW.
Florence in Ecstasy by Jessie Chaffee
Hannah, a young woman from Boston, is trying to recover from an intense episode with an eating disorder. Seeking something new, she travels alone to Italy to soak up the beauty and culture. Drawn into the city’s seemingly insatiable lust for life, Hannah – with the help of the natives – sets off down a path of drinking, sex, and food. But will the appearance of a face from the past threaten to upend her present? A vivacious, intelligent novel about the female body, pleasure, and the turmoil of trying to find your way back to yourself.
Backlist bump: Sister Golden Hair by Darcey Steinke
Give a Girl a Knife: A Memoir by Amy Thielen
A delightful memoir about Thielen’s journey from her hometown in Minnesota – home of America’s largest French fry factory – to the kitchen’s in the finest restaurants in NYC. It’s a charming story about how hard work and perseverance still help some people achieve their dreams, and how Thielen’s roots helped her realize her goals – and ultimately brought her back home.
Backlist bump: Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson
Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays by Fenton Johnson
A collection of personal essays about Johnson’s travels and the things he encounters, covering such topics as Burning Man, basketball, the AIDS epidemic, monasteries, and Oscar Wilde. These are wonderfully thoughtful and intelligent pieces that fit together with frank introspection to make a remarkable book.
Backlist bump: Small Fires: Essays by Julie Marie Wade
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’!
And ICYMI, I’m writing the new Book Riot newsletter, Book Radar, which will give you all those things! You can sign up here.
Stay rad,
Liberty
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051417-RadiumGirls-Riot-Rundown
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by The Radium Girls by Kate Moore.
The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.
Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories—the glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive – until they begin to fall mysteriously ill. As the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.
Now THIS is a giveaway: we have 100 Advance Reader’s Editions of The Waking Land by Callie Bates to give away to 100 Riot readers!
Here’s what it’s all about:
In the lush and magical tradition of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted comes this riveting debut from brilliant young writer Callie Bates—whose imagination places her among the finest authors of fantasy fiction, including Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.
Lady Elanna is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Elanna is accused of his murder—and must flee for her life.
Returning to the homeland she has forsaken, Elanna is forced to reckon with her estranged father. Feeling a strange, deep connection to the natural world, she also must face the truth about the powers that suddenly stir within her.
Go here to enter the giveaway, or just click on the (pretty amazing) book cover below. Good luck!
People Who May or May Not Wear Lab Coats Think We’re Nice
“…According to a new study, reading regularly could make you kinder and more empathetic.” Emphasis mine. Well, are we or aren’t we kinder? Because I already bought the t-shirt. Our friends at Kingston University in London conducted a cheeky study, finding that readers were more likely to act in a socially acceptable manner compared to those who preferred watching television. Readers of drama, romance, experimental, and comedy fiction got extra high fives for positive vibes. I personally suspect that the masterminds behind the study forgot to mention that watching television adaptations also counts.
Adapt This! PBS Announces Little Women Miniseries
Oh, you hadn’t heard? Apparently, we’re not done talking about new adaptations of classics. Netflix got Anne of Green Gables, Hulu got The Handmaid’s Tale, and now PBS and MASTERPIECE have announced they’re teaming up with Colin Callender’s Playground and the BBC for a television adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless tale of sisterhood, Little Women. Casting has yet to be announced, but we do know that the three-part miniseries will sit nicely beside the BBC Special Edition Pride & Prejudice DVD box set.
Those Bookish Clintons
First, we hear that former POTUS Bill Clinton is writing a book with James Patterson. The suspense novel, The President is Missing, will be published jointly by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company in June 2018. Then, we get the news that Hillary Clinton will appear at BookExpo in New York City on the evening of June 1 (what’s that line going to look like?). Go on with your bookish selves, Clintons.
Dapper Tot Reads A Cool Million
Not only do you have to read about Britt David Magnet Academy kindergartner Breyden Suragh to celebrate the fact that he read a million words during the school year; you also have to visit the page to witness his epic-cool fashion sense. Someone get this child a book bow-tie! Six-year-old Breyden and his accomplished peers received celebrity treatment as part of his school’s “millionaire bash” for kids who reached that million-word mark. The reader and his school gained viral attention thanks to his uncle who gave his nephew a shoutout on Twitter. We applaud you, Breyden and crew.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen by Hope Nicholson, published by Quirk Books.
Think comic books can’t feature strong female protagonists? Think again! In The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen you’ll meet the most fascinating exemplars of the powerful, compelling, entertaining, and heroic female characters who’ve populated comic books from the very beginning. With vintage art, publication details, a decade-by-decade survey of industry trends and women’s roles in comics, and spotlights on iconic favorites like Wonder Woman and Ms. Marvel, The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen proves that not only do strong female protagonists belong in comics, they’ve always been there.
At least there’s one good thing about Mondays: It’s time for Book Radar! Sit back, relax, and check out deals, cover reveals and more upcoming book goodness. – xoxo, Liberty
All the Deal News You Can Use
Donald Glover is making an adult, animated Deadpool television series because he loves us.
Anne Rice shared some details about her upcoming Vampire Chronicles television series.
James Patterson convinced Bill Clinton to write his next book for him collaborate on a new book.
Bryan Cranston is bringing The Dangerous Book for Boys to the small screen.
George R. R. Martin’s 1980 supernatural sci-fi novella Nightflyers is being turned into a TV series.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is officially coming to Broadway next spring.
There’s a pub date for Artemis, Andy Weir’s follow-up to The Martian! Surprising no one: the film rights were snatched up right away.
In more unsurprising news, Starz has already renewed American Gods for a second season.
There’s a Hellboy reboot in the works with Stranger Things’ star David Harbour.
New Curtis Sittenfeld novel will imagine Hillary Clinton’s life without Bill.
Julia Roberts will star is a film adaptation of The Bookseller.
Tom Hanks will star in the film version of The News of the World. (This was one of my favorite books of 2016!)
Cover Reveals
Out in 2018: Whitney Gardner’s Chaotic Good cover is fabulous!
Nick Harkaway has a new novel coming! It’s called Gnomon and its cover is fin-ally here.
Here’s the fancy cover for Martha Brockenbrough’s Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary.
I immediately clicked this link when I saw “Indiana Jones set in space.” It’s an upcoming book from Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.
Sneak Peeks!
Shonda Rhimes tweeted the first look at Still Star-Crossed, her television sequel to Romeo And Juliet.
A new trailer for the new adaptation of Stephen King’s It. And there’s one for The Mist. (I may have to make a whole separate column just for SK adaptation news.)
Get your tissues ready: It’s the new trailer for Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything movie.
The trailer for the Blade Runner sequel, Blade Runner 2049, looks batty.
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!
Today I want to mention a couple upcoming sequels I just read and loved, so you have plenty of time to read the first books before these come out!
One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns) by Kendare Blake (Sept. 19, HarperTeen): Last year I read the first book, Three Dark Crowns, and was like WHOAAAAA. It’s about three sisters who must fight each other to the death to decide who will be king. And it’s so dark and twisted and sexy! Every time I thought it couldn’t get twistier, IT DID. And it ended in a cliffhanger that had me clamoring for the next book. WHICH IS SO GOOD. It’s a kick-ass, magicky, medieval extravaganza!
The Dire King: A Jackaby Novel by William Ritter (Aug. 22, Algonquin Young Readers):This is the fourth – and last – adventure of Jackaby and Miss Rook. I am having so many feeling about finishing up this series. It has been so much fun! It’s like a mash-up of Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And unlike the last book in a lot of series, I loved this one.
And this is funny.
A little Cher book humor at the library.
We have 10 copies of Driving Miss Norma by Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle to give away!
Here’s what it’s all about:
At the age of 90, in the same hospital where her husband of 67 years passed away just days earlier, Miss Norma received the news that she had cancer. Declining traditional cancer treatment, Miss Norma opted instead to live the remainder of her life to the fullest, traveling the country in an RV with her son Tim, his wife Ramie, and their poodle, Ringo. As Miss Norma put it to her oncologist: “I’m 90 years old. I’m hitting the road”. Come along for the ride of this unforgettable journey, and let Miss Norma inspire you to say YES to living.
Go here to enter, or just click on the cover image below. Good luck!
It’s time for a very speculative Friday, y’all! I am writing this from your past, and you are reading this in my future. Welcome back.
Who’s ready for a new Nick Harkaway novel??? (Answer: Me, I am, right here.) He answered 20 questions for the Times Literary Supplement and there’s a section in it about Gnomon, which is coming to the UK in October and the US in January (sob).
The adaptations roll on:
– Wired feels some kind of way about The Dark Tower trailer and if that one’s on your list, this piece is worth a read.
– Game of Thrones is getting FOUR spin-offs (and here I just want one measly Jacqueline Carey adaptation).
– The Black Company series by Glen Cook has been optioned by Eliza Dushku’s production company (#TeamFaith). Guess I need to read these now!
“If we do not imagine the future, how can we invent (or prevent) it?” The healthcare industry in the UK wants your science-fictional ideas, and I love everything about this contest.
What do we think about the new design for the World Fantasy Awards? Does anyone else feel like that tree wants to talk to them, and not in a friendly way? Creepiness aside, this seems like a solid choice, both in terms of symbolism and in terms of picking something that is currently inclusive and can stay inclusive in meaning.
It’s Friday, we all deserve a beer! Alex has some pairings for you — speculative fiction and beer pairings, naturally.
For this week’s reviews, let’s have some astrophysics and some necromancy!
Astrophysics for People In a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
If you are like me and often skim through the sciencier parts of science fiction, this book is for you! If you cannot get enough of NDT’s dad jokes, this book is also for you. If you are already an astrophysicist and/or a science-nerd, you probably know everything in it already.
Tyson is, as we know, great at breaking complex theory into digestible nuggets. And as the title suggests, that’s the goal here: to bring astrophysics to readers who otherwise don’t have time for it. (Hi Neil, it’s like you know me!) While I read this just to feel a little bit smarter — which I 100% did, upon finishing — I also found that it complimented the harder sci-fi reading I’ve done. Faster than light travel, dark matter, the origins of moons, exoplanets: these things all make sense now in ways they didn’t before, and I was deeply entertained by Tyson’s bons mots sprinkled throughout the actual explanations. In addition to being funny and informative it is less than 300 pages, and has an absolutely gorgeous cover.
So, to sum up: if you or someone you know has forgotten everything you learned in college physics (assuming you took it) and would like a powerhouse scientist and pop culture figure to explain it to you, look no further than Astrophysics For People In a Hurry.
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Before we talk about anything else, I have to warn you that this book is extremely Book 1 of a Series. The ending actually made me yell “WHAT!?!” to an empty room, and we’re going to have to wait till March of 2018 for the next installment. So if you’re not prepared to sequel-wait, put this towards the bottom of your TBR list — but definitely still put it there, if you’re a fan of necromancy, world-building, and/or female characters who refuse to play by the rules.
The Bone Witch follows Tea, who is born with the power to raise the dead and channel Dark magic. She doesn’t find this out until she accidentally resurrects her dead older brother at his funeral, of course. Awkward! In Tea’s world, “bone witches” or Dark asha are known and training is available, but they’re also looked on with suspicion and fear. The story alternates between the discovery of her powers in her early teens and subsequent training, and her at 17, on a beach and making some very dark choices indeed. This was my favorite part of the book — I love a complicated heroine, and when the heroine in question might burn down the world you have my full attention.
If I had to point to a flaw, it would be the lack of any plot resolution; no threads are tied up, and we’re left with far more questions than answers. But that’s part of what makes the story so urgent, and keeps the pages turning. It’s an origin story, an immersion into a beautifully-rendered and complex Asian-inspired new world, and a meditation on power: who can wield it, and what happens when it wields the user. For an excellent dive into that last in Bone Witch, see this piece on Tor.com (especially all the Buffy fans in the audience).
Magic and ritual, darkness and light, politics and passion: The Bone Witch has these all in spades. Consider me very ready for whatever comes next.
This newsletter is sponsored by Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.
A #1 New York Times bestseller.
Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.
His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend dumped him, and there’s a monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz, his roommate and nemesis, would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and he hasn’t shown up.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, and a mystery. It has as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far more monsters.
Categories
Woman no. 17 giveaway
We have 10 copies of Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki to give away to 10 Riot readers.
Here’s what it’s all about:
High in the Hollywood Hills, writer Lady Daniels has taken a break from her husband. Left alone with her children, she’s going to need a hand taking care of her young son. In response to a Craigslist ad, S arrives, a magnetic young artist who will live in the guest house, care for Lady’s toddler, Devin, and keep a watchful eye on her teenage son, Seth. But in the heat of the summer, S’s connection to Seth takes a disturbing, and possibly destructive, turn. Darkly comic, twisty and tense, this mesmerizing new from Edan Lepucki novel defies expectation.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below!
