Skip the department store crowds and click your way to a back-to-school wardrobe that declares your book love.
Stock up on $20 adult tees and $15 kids’ tees while you can. Sale ends Monday!
And stock your cabinets with our new pint glasses. Buy 3, get 1 free. Cheers to books!
A few of our podcasts will be returning to Book Riot Live 2016; while you wait to find out which, why not revisit the delightful antics of last year’s live recordings? Listen along below, and register here with code BOOKNERD for $20 off!
New boooooooooooks! There are GREAT new books out today. The Amy Schumer memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, is out, and I am so excited to get my hands on Riverine, which has thus far escaped my clutches. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I… well… let’s just say the heat got to us this weekend (SO HOT) so we talked about whatever we wanted, including One-in-a-Million Boy, Geek Love, and Golden Years.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson.
Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda, and the path before them is winding and dangerous–what will happen now? This third and final book in the Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed. New York Times-bestselling author Mary E. Pearson’s combination of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action makes this a riveting page-turner that you won’t be able to put down!
The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
From the author of The Sherlockian comes another delightful 19th-century tale involving real-life historical figures! This time it’s Thomas Edison. On the brink of getting electric lights into every household, Edison sues his remaining rival, George Westinghouse, to hopefully bankrupt him. But Westinghouse’s young lawyer will prove to be a match for the electric tyrant. Based on real events, Moore once again wonderfully brings history to light. Er, life.
Backlist bump: The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt
The Greatest of Marlys by Lynda Barry
A legendary comic figure, Marlys is Barry’s stand-out star, an eight-year-old freckled, bossy, bucktoothed young girl in glasses that Barry debuted to great acclaim in 1986. This is a brilliant retrospective on Marlys over the last thirty years, and a fantastic trip down memory lane. If you love Roz Chast, be sure to check it out.
Backlist bump: What It Is by Lynda Barry
A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi
Zeba has always been the perfect wife and mother, but when her husband is found brutally murdered, she is jailed for the crime, much to the astonishment of her children. As Zeba awaits trial, she gets to know the other women in her cell, who have also suffered great misfortunes and violence at the hands of men. To these women, jail is more of a haven than a punishment, a safe place away from a world where women are treated so cruelly. A necessary, moving look at the lives of Afghan women and the power of sisterhood, The House Without Windows will lift your spirits and shatter your heart.
Backlist bump: When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi
The Gentleman by Forrest Leo
Due to an enormous book-buying habit, poet Lionel Savage is broke. (Sound familiar?) To help his finances, he marries for money – only to find after the wedding that he is no longer able to write. Many miserable months later, after chatting with the Devil at a party (like you do), Lionel’s wife goes missing. It is then Lionel realizes not only does he actually love his wife, but that he may have inadvertently given her to Satan, and he must get her back immediately. Plenty of charming slapstick ensues. A lighthearted comedy of errors that never takes itself too seriously, The Gentleman is a delight.
Backlist bump: The Most Of P.G. Wodehouse by P.G. Wodehouse
Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture by Jace Clayton
I’m so glad I picked this one up! Clayton (aka DJ Rupture), a musical sensation, explores the connections in music that have been forged from the relatively-new use of the internet. He offers a fascinating look at the different ways people are making music in the digital age, and spins the future of music in a positive light, explaining why there’s no need to fear – music isn’t going anywhere.
Backlist bump: How Music Got Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention by Stephen Witt
YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!
Stay rad!
Liberty
This giveaway is sponsored by The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.
Moonlight is magic—ask anyone you like.
A girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon must unlock the dangerous magic buried deep inside her in order to save her life, her family, and even the community that once left her to die. Kelly Barnhill, acclaimed author of The Witch’s Boy, delivers another coming-of-age fairy tale destined to become a classic. Shelf Awareness calls The Girl Who Drank the Moon “utterly spellbinding,” and the Minneapolis Star Tribune says Barnhill is “a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman.”
We have 10 copies of The Girl Who Drank the Moon for 10 lucky Riot Readers! Just complete the form below to enter. Entries are limited to the United States and will be accepted until 11:59pm, Tuesday, August 16th. Winners will be randomly selected.
This month’s Read Harder Book Groups are sponsored by A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev.
Do you like books? Do you like talking about books? Have we got a group for you. Join your fellow readers-at-large at Read Harder Book Group, meeting in your city this month! It’s an “any book” book club, which means anything you’re reading counts. You’ll get occasional goodies from our month’s sponsor and recs for your Read Harder Challenge (or just recs in general, Challenge not required).
Hope to see you soon!
Toronto, ON – 8/13
Vancouver, BC – 8/18
Chicago, IL – 8/18
New York City, NY – 8/20
Los Angeles, CA – 8/20
Glasgow, GB – 8/20
Boston, MA – 8/20
Portland, OR – 8/21
Philadelphia, PA – 8/21
Washington, DC – 8/21
Houston, TX – 8/21
Hey YA fans!
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Mary E. Pearson’s The Beauty of Darkness.
Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda, and the path before them is winding and dangerous–what will happen now? This third and final book in the Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed. New York Times-bestselling author Mary E. Pearson’s combination of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action makes this a riveting page-turner that you won’t be able to put down!
This newsletter won’t have a huge amount of new things to talk about — just a short round-up of newsy items at the end — in part because this will be a longgggg read. Now that I’ve thoroughly confused you, let me explain.
In early July, as well as in the last newsletter, I asked you to share your favorite 2016 YA reads so far.
And you responded.
It wasn’t a small response. We’re talking roughly 1,700 of you — about 10% — of the subscribers to this newsletter chimed in with your favorite reads. Because there were so many responses, I whittled down the favorite reads by these criteria:
1. The book was published between January 1, 2016 and August 8, 2016. I kept off books that are coming that people have read advanced copies of or are anticipating (I loved reading so many responses along the lines of “I haven’t read x yet but I know I’m going to love it”).
2. The book was published as a YA book. I didn’t worry about fiction or non-fiction; it just needed to be a book explicitly marketed as YA. A lot of stuff skirts both the middle grade and the adult lines and YA readers read up and down, but just to keep numbers easier, I made the executive calls.
3. The books were published in the US. Not that I don’t appreciate the responses for books that were published outside the states — again, awesome to see those! — but they’re likely hard for readers here to check out.
4. I consolidated multiple responses for the same titles. In the list, you’ll see some titles have a * beside them. That means 15 or more readers listed it as their favorite.
5. For those responses with multiple answers, I went with the first title or the first title that was published this year in the timeframe.
6. Errors are mine. Because 1,700 responses!
That brought a grand total of 131 unique titles among your favorite YA reads this year.
This is such a fun list, rich with YA of all shapes and sizes. There are series books, there are stand alone titles, there are books which got a lot of buzz, as well as quieter reads. There’s both fiction and non-fiction represented here. It was neat to see the responses and be pleasantly surprised a book showed up that wasn’t one I’d expected to see. It’s also nice to see titles that published early on in the year — the ones that could be easy to forget — make an appearance.
Grab your TBRs. Here are your 131 favorite YA reads from January – August 8, 2016, in alphabetical order. I’m linking the titles so you can click through to read descriptions. Pasting them here would kill everyone’s bandwidth (& apologies if this comes out as one longgggg list — if that doesn’t work for you, click here for the readable and clickable spreadsheet).
| *A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro |
| A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry |
| A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty |
| *A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir |
| A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison |
| *A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood |
| A World Without You by Beth Revis |
| After the Woods by Kim Savage |
| All the Feels by Danika Stone |
| American Girls by Allison Umminger |
| *And I Darken by Kiersten White |
| Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann |
| Asking For It by Louise O’Neill |
| Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Ahiers |
| Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi |
| *Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings |
| Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten |
| Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman |
| Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandiera |
| Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina |
| Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie |
| Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh |
| *Calamity by Brandon Sanderson |
| Chasing Impossible by Katie McGarry |
| Consider by Kristy Acevedo |
| *Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas |
| Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker |
| Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman |
| Devil and the Bluebird by Jennifer Mason-Black |
| Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn |
| Drag Teen by Jeffry Self |
| Dreamology by Lucy Keating |
| Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux |
| Everland by Wendy Spinale |
| *Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick |
| *Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston |
| Firstlife by Gena Showalter |
| Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn |
| *Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima |
| Flannery by Lisa Moore |
| Flawed by Cecelia Ahern |
| Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury |
| Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong |
| Front Lines by Michael Grant |
| Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter |
| *Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes |
| *Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard |
| Half Lost by Sally Green |
| *Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley |
| Hurricane Kiss by Deborah Blumenthal |
| I Woke Up Dead At The Mall by Judy Sheehan |
| If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo |
| Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh |
| Into the Dim by Janet Taylor |
| Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan |
| *Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare |
| Let The Wind Rise by Shannon Messenger |
| Lois Lane: Double Down by Gwenda Bond |
| Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana |
| Misunderstood: Why The Humble Rat May Be Your Best Pet Ever by Rachel Toor |
| My Kind of Crazy by Robin Ruel |
| *My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows |
| Nil On Fire by Lynne Matson |
| No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista |
| Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee |
| Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine |
| *Passenger by Alexandra Bracken |
| Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff |
| Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Jade Lange |
| *Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton |
| Riders by Veronica Rossi |
| Ruined by Amy Tintera |
| Run by Kody Keplinger |
| *Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys |
| Saving Montgomery Sole by Jillian Tamaki |
| *Scarlett Epstein Hates it Here by Anna Breslaw |
| See How They Run by Ally Carter |
| Shadow Queen by C.J Redwine |
| Starflight by Melissa Landers |
| *Stars Above by Marissa Meyer |
| *Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins |
| Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum |
| Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach |
| The Blood Between Us by Zac Brewer |
| *The Crown by Kiera Cass |
| *The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye |
| The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas |
| The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash |
| The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig |
| The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead |
| The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle |
| The Haters by Jesse Andrews |
| The Island by Olivia Levez |
| The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker |
| The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian |
| The Last Star by Rick Yancey |
| The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge |
| The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes |
| The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone |
| *The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry |
| The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork |
| The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder |
| The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson |
| The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight |
| *The Problem With Forever by Jennifer Armentrout |
| *The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater |
| *The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh |
| The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda |
| The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury |
| *The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock |
| The Square Root of Summer by Harriet R. Hapgood |
| *The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokhi |
| The Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin |
| Titans by Victoria Scott |
| *The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson |
| The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith |
| *The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski |
| This Is The Part Where You Laugh by Peter Brown Hoffmeister |
| *This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp |
| This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab |
| Three Truth and a Lie by Brent Hartinger |
| *Truthwitch by Susan Dennard |
| Unbecoming by Jenny Downham |
| Up To This Pointe by Jennifer Longo |
| *We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson |
| *When We Collided by Emery Lord |
| Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood |
| Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke |
| With Malice by Eileen Cook |
| You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan |
| You Were Here by Cori McCarthy |
A huge, huge thank you to everyone who submitted a response. I know I asked some additional questions but after playing with these answers, I figured this would be enough to bust even the biggest reader’s to-read lists.
A handful of interesting/news-worthy links worth sharing:
* Though this piece is about books for kids under the YA set, it’s really worthwhile reading since the same observations about female protagonists made there can be said about YA.
* A wonderfully in-depth look at the evolution of LGBTQ+ YA stories.
* The Thousandth Floor, which is publishing later this month, has been picked up for a TV series. Not surprising at all, given it’s an Alloy book — they’re the same company behind things like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl.
* The adaptation of the “Chaos Walking” series by Patrick Ness has scored a big name — Daisy Ridley.
* A sweet little reminder that reading YA is totally okay for adults.
And a few links from Book Riot:
* I was blown away by the tremendous (!) response to this piece about why YA needs more quitters.
* A round-up of queer YA set at summer camp.
Thanks for hanging out with us for another collection of YA news and fun. “What’s Up in YA?” will hit your inboxes again in two weeks.
In the meantime, perhaps a book or two mentioned here will suck you in.
This week’s Audiobooks! newsletter is sponsored by Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty.
Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It’s just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong? In Truly Madly Guilty, #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations of our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm. This can’t miss audiobook is read by Caroline Lee.
Hi, audiobook lovers! By the time you read this, I’ll be in the middle of a 5-day staycation: knitting gloves for the cooler temps ahead, drinking a cold beer, and listening to the rest of Imbolo Mbue’s fantastic debut Behold the Dreamers. (I’ve promised myself I’m not going to spend the entire time taking over gyms from the 13-year-old bike gangs in my neighborhood.)
My brain is already in pre-vacation mode, so I’m totally content to let Book Rioters Jamie and Kay do the heavy lifting this time! They’ve been hitting it out of the park with some solid audiobook recs, and I have a feeling you’re about to add a few new titles to your listening queue.
10 of the Best Audiobooks of 2016 So Far
I’m guessing you can completely relate to these feels of Book Riot contributor Jamie Canaves: “Where once I used to hope that a book would someday be available as an audiobook now I find myself having the conundrum of deciding whether I want to read recent releases with my ears or eyeballs (or both!).”
Jamie rounded up ten of Book Riot’s favorite audiobooks of 2016 (so far), including: a paranormal thriller read by a Star Trek alum, a time travel adventure with pirate ships, a story about kickass lady assassins with mechanical arms, a science memoir, and a short story collection with reality show contestants, a ridiculous neighbor war, and a bra size fitter (!). Read on to see what we’re loving so far this year.
Listen to Amy Schumer read an excerpt from The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo
Amy Schumer’s memoir The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo is coming out on August 16, and I. Can’t. Wait. (Earlier this summer, I refreshed my library’s website every day until it finally showed up in the catalog and I got the #1 spot on the holds list. I guess you could say I’m dedicated.) I am so ready for Amy to dish out all the smart satire, feminism, and butt jokes. If you, like me, can’t wait until next week, you can go here to find an excerpt of her reading the chapter, “My Only One-Night Stand.”
10 Great Science Fiction and Fantasy Audiobooks
Want to add more science fiction and fantasy to your reading list? (Yes, the answer is yes.) Kay Taylor Rea is a Book Riot contributor, a Slytherin, and a self-described SFF nerd. She also recommends ten great audiobooks with just about everything there is to love about SFF, including: time travel, aliens, a modern faerie tale, steampunk set in India, a Jane Austen-style Regency drama but with magic, and an epic fantasy masterpiece set in a post-post-post-apocalyptic world. Enjoy!
Ready to find out more about our speakers?
Get your tickets for $20 off your weekend pass with code BOOKNERD!
The Boy Who Sold
In case anyone doubted, Harry Potter can still storm the book world. In the first few days of publication, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sold more than 2 million copies in print in the U.S. and Canada alone. (The next best-selling titles of 2016, for comparison, have sold in the 300k-500k range). And with more than 4.5 million copies in print already, there is no question that it will be the best-selling book of 2016 and might even be enough to move the needle on the industry’s year on the whole.
The Underground Railroad Emerges as the It Book of 2016
Colson Whitehead has had quite a week. First, Oprah announced that The Underground Railroad would be the next selection in the dormant Oprah’s Book Club. Doubleday even moved up the publication date by six weeks so that The Underground Railroad was available to buy the day of the announcement.
Next, in a move I don’t recall ever seeing before, The New York Times printed a 16,000-word excerpt of The Underground Railroad as a standalone section in this weekend’s edition. The literati pre-publication buzz around the book has been excellent, but these two developments make The Underground Railroad the most visible literary title of the year.
Thought Police in Action
Faizah Shaheen, a mental health professional in the U.K., was detained by police and interrogated after her flight landed at Dorchester airport.
The reason? She was reading a book about Syria. A crewmember saw Shaheen reading Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Front Line and reported it to police. Shaheen was interrogated and released.
This Week in Books is sponsored by After Anna by Alex Lake.
The real nightmare starts when her daughter is returned.
A bone-chilling psychological thriller that will suit fans of Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, Daughter by Jane Shemilt, and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
A girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has vanished, traceless.
The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved.
But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted, their daughter is returned.
She has no memory of where she has been. And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.
Happy new book Tuesday! I thought I was only going to do this in July, but once again, I am breaking with tradition, and doing another big round-up of books, because I read SO MANY books out today that I wanted to share with you, I really could not whittle it down to a few. Plus there are many more noteworthy books out today. So here’s a big list! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Underground Railroad, I Contain Multitudes, and I Will Send Rain.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa.
Comics creator Simon Muchat is struggling to find purpose in his existence. Bitter and apathetic towards everything, he gets a chance to travel to Portugal where the roots of his family lie. After an absence of more than 20 years Simon finds himself rediscovering the sounds and smells of his childhood, the radiant warmth of something forgotten. Having soaked up the atmosphere of his fatherland, and driven by the desire to find out the secret behind his family name, Simon sets on a melancholic quest for identity that helps him rediscover his passion for life.
The Cauliflower by Nicola Barker
Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton
White Nights in Split Town City by Annie DeWitt
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
The Collected Stories by Mavis Gallant
The Field of the Cloth of Gold by Magnus Mills
Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Who Will Catch Us As We Fall by Iman Verjee
The Hero’s Body: A Memoir by William Giraldi
Results May Vary by Bethany Chase
I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows
How to Party With an Infant by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Mr. Eternity by Aaron Thier
Scream: A Memoir of Glamour and Dysfunction by Tama Janowitz
Seven Skeletons: The Evolution of the World’s Most Famous Human Fossils by Lydia Pyne
Vow of Celibacy by Erin Judge
Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood
When Watched: Stories by Leopoldine Core
Wicked Plants Coloring Book by Amy Stewart
Makoons by Louise Erdrich
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Clothed, Female Figure: Stories by Kirstin Allio
Malafemmena by Louisa Ermelino
The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich
Dinosaurs on Other Planets: Stories by Danielle McLaughlin
Known and Strange Things: Essays by Teju Cole
YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!
Stay rad!
Liberty