Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for October 11: Cooking up a Nerdstorm

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, exhausted and covered with powdered sugar after thinking that baking treats for work was a good idea on a week night! (Don’t be like Alex.) As we head into the weekend, I’ve got some fun news items (the one about bats is my favorite) for you and baking on the brain.

News and Views

The National Book Awards announced the finalists for this year and genre is still going strong:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Gods of Jade and Shadow) and Lavie Tidhar (Unholy Land) have a new column in the Washington Post!

Favorite essay of this half week: Seanan McGuire on how the best horror stories commit to sincerity.

Though this is a close second: Ad Astra is an Unnecessary, Still Problematic Retelling of Heart of Darkness

And this ties for second: Why This Fanfiction Site’s Prestigious Literary Honor Is a Win for LGBTQ Representation (If you know and love AO3, prepare to get a little teared up.)

A great summary of the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy panel at NYCC, which was standing-room only.

Mary Robinette Kowal live-tweeted a space walk.

A conversation with the force behind Looking for Leia.

FIYAH has started its 2019 State of Black Speculative Fiction Writer Survey. (You can look at previous survey results at the site, too.)

You can donate your old Legos!

The most metal pterosaur ever has been discovered in Australia.

A scientist at the USGS would very much like us to stop using the term “supervolcano.” (As a geologist, I agree with them.)

Turns out that a lot of that bat squeaking is actually arguments.

How the first exoplanet was discovered.

Free Association Friday

I mentioned before that I have baking on the brain, since that basically just consumed my evening and I’m using a goopy mixture of cream cheese and eggs instead of a brain to power through this newsletter. So how about some nerdy cookbooks?

cover for ad astra: the 50th anniversary swfa cookbook

First, I have to mention Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook (edited by Cat Rambo and Fran Wilde), which is put out by the Science Fiction Writers of America. The recipes themselves are not necessarily nerdy, but as you page through, you’ll probably see something by one of your favorite authors.

I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not by the actual number of genre property tie-in cookbooks, but there’s plenty to choose from:

Firefly: The Big Damn Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel came out extremely recently and I’m still not over the fact that there’s a recipe for Mudder’s Milk.

The Star Wars Cook Book: Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes by Robin Davis is only one of several Star Wars cookbooks, but it’s one I personally own and have utilized. It’s another kid-friendly cookbook, and it’s actually just fun to read because it’s full of ridiculous puns and galactic safety tips.

The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques and Christopher Denise is aimed at being accessible for kids. The Redwall books were always wall-to-wall descriptions of absolutely mouthwatering food, so if any series was going to get a cookbook, this one deserved it. Deeper’n’ever Pie for everyone!

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel is definitely more meat (a LOT of meat) than baking, but it’s a way to put together a Game of Thrones-style feast without anyone getting stabbed. I assume. I mean, I don’t know your life.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz is probably the best gift I ever gave my Harry Potter-nerd of a niece, because it’s something she still uses and has a ton of fun in the process. (She makes better brownies than me, and I’d say it’s unfair except she always lets me have one.)

Okay, and it’s not technically genre, but I still want to mention my favorite cookbook of all time because again, it’s more a hilarious journey than just a list of recipes: What the F*@# Should I Make for Dinner?: The Answers to Life’s Everyday Question by Zach Golden. I cannot make it through this book without becoming helpless with laughter from just reading the recipe titles.

See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.

Categories
What's Up in YA

🍕 🍕 Slice This YA Cover Mystery Out

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s not slice this the wrong way. I’ve come across a YA book cover mystery that I cannot understand. I’ve reached out to fellow Book Rioters but it turns out, this is a big piece of surprise.

On YA book covers, we’re not surprised to see any of the following:

Coffee/Tea/Other Caffeinated Beverages

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors, The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson, and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon are, of course, just three out of many books with caffeinated drinks on YA covers.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is a YA book cover staple. For your sampling purposes, Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch, Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian, and The Summer of Firsts and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy.

Baked Goods

There are so many YA books featuring backed goods on their covers and every year, we see this pop up more. The selection here includes donuts on Donut Days by Lara Zielin, The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Schaum and macarons, and a sugar cookie on Sara Zarr’s Sweethearts.

Fruit

We’ve got fruit on YA book covers, include on Orchards by Holly Thomas, With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, and Small Damages by Beth Kephart.

Fruit Sub Category: Apples

Thank Twilight for the fact we have a subcategory of fruit on YA book covers with apples.

This selection includes Bad Apple by Laura Ruby, Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross, and Winter by Marissa Meyer.

(I could easily subcategory peaches here, too!)

More YA Food Covers

This is, of course, far from comprehensive when it comes to food on YA book covers, but a few more worth chewing on (heh) are the animal crackers on All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan, the pho on Hungry Hearts, and the toast on Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry.

October is National Pizza Month, and I was all excited to do a roundup of awesome YA book covers featuring pizza.

Except….

There is not a single YA book published with a traditional publisher featuring pizza on the cover.

For what is a staple food — something near universally loved and able to be adapted for so many dietary requirements — it’s sure strange to see none of it on a YA book cover.

Stranger still is that the two YA books with “Pizza” in the title also do not have pizza on the cover.

Is there pizza grease on the cover of Greg Taylor’s Killer Pizza? Sure. Is it a pizza box? Also sure. But no actual pizza is on the cover. Same goes for Kathryn Williams’s Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous.

Where’s the pizza? Where’s the sauce? The argument-inducing pineapple-topped pizza (which, for the record, can be delicious!).

This is a YA mystery I cannot solve, though it’s one that leaves me wondering.

Until next time, YA readers — grab yourself a slice of your favorite pie and question everything you thought you knew about YA book covers.

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram (note the new name!) and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Categories
Book Radar

Rihanna is Releasing a Visual Autobiography and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, star bits! I cannot believe it has already been a week since I left for Rhode Island, but here we are. It was so much fun! And I picked up a lot of great books that I cannot wait to read, so I can tell you about them. Because you know that’s my favorite thing to do. I hope you’re reading something wonderful right now, and have a great rest of your week. And remember to be kind to yourself and others.  I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! How long did it take Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

dear sweet peaThe Disney Channel has optioned Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy.

The Firekeeper’s Daughter, by Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, sold for a rumored to be seven figures.

Rihanna announced an upcoming visual autobiography, featuring more than 1000 photos.

Here is the shortlist for the Scotiabank Giller prize!

And the finalists for the 2019 National Book Awards!

Here’s the cover of The Voting Booth, the upcoming book from Brandy Colbert.

And here’s the cover of Clap When You Land, the new book from Elizabeth Acevedo.

Michelle Obama is publishing a companion to Becoming next month.

Bad Robot has optioned Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan for television.

David Oyelowo will star in the Showtime pilot of The President Is Missing, adapted from the book by Bill Clinton and James Patterson.

Here’s the first look at the cover of Riley Sager’s Home Before Dark, coming summer of 2020.

Mariah Carey is writing a memoir about her life, and yes, she’s going to discuss Glitter.

Here’s the first look at the cover of Muse Squad by Chantel Acevedo.

inlandInland by Téa Ohbret has been optioned for television.

James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty is being turned into a four-hour miniseries for CBS.

Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell are making a musical version of A Christmas Carol.

The Selection author Kiera Cass announced a new romance duology.

And here’s the first look at One True King, the final School for Good and Evil book.

The oldest part of the Tale of the Genji manuscript has been found.

Lili Reinhart is publishing a book of poems.

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 learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Excited to read:

the holdoutThe Holdout: A Novel by Graham Moore (Random House, February 18, 2020)

Yes, Moore won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for The Imitation Game, and gave that beautiful tearjerker of a speech. But before that, he wrote The Sherlockian, which is a REALLY fun book! It’s partly about Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker investigating a murder in the early 1900s, and the mysterious death of a Sherlock fan in present day. And Moore also wrote The Last Days of Night, a mystery surrounding a lawsuit brought by Thomas Edison against George Westinghouse. So you know I am super pumped to read this new mystery about a woman suspected of killing a fellow juror a decade after the trial they attended ended with an acquittal.

What I’m reading this week.

celestial bodiesCelestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People by Ben Crump

My Dark Vanessa: A Novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Initiated: Memoir of a Witch by Amanda Yates Garcia

Ghoster by Jason Arnopp

And this is funny.

Bad product is bad.

Trivia answer: Six weeks.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
Kissing Books

Exclusive Cover Reveal and Sneak Peek: THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT

I told you to look for something special today, didn’t I?

I’m so excited to share a first look at Farrah Rochon’s The Boyfriend Project! It’s still so far away (June 9, 2020; when even is that?) and I am sad for the wait but I will wait, because THAT COVER. Wait until you see it!

First, a bit about the book:

Farrah Rochon’s The Boyfriend Project is the first in a new series from Forever about three young women who become friends when the live Tweeting of a disastrous date leads them to discover they’ve all been duped by the same man.

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah—along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor—have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status…

For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

If you aren’t screaming just yet, scroll on, because you will freak at this cover, designed by Elizabeth Stokes Turner. It’s so good, y’all.

Just. Just look at it:

Cover of The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

I know, right?

It’s so perfect. I can’t.

Anyway, you probably want a taste of the book, don’t you, after all that? Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve got a whole chapter for you! Read ahead!

***

“Alexa, play Drake.”

Releasing an intentionally loud, dramatic sigh, Samiah Brooks lolled her head toward the opened bathroom door and called out, “Don’t just tell it to play a certain artist, Denise. Tell it what song you want it to play.”

Muffled footfalls shuffled across the bedroom’s alder hardwood floors. A moment later her sister appeared in the doorway.

“I don’t know any Drake songs. That’s why I asked the damn Alexa thingy.” Denise lumbered into the bathroom, plopped onto the toilet’s closed lid, and palmed her substantial belly. The opening bars of Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” began streaming through the HD speakers discreetly positioned throughout the condo. Denise pointed upward. “Is that him? Is that Drake?”

“Yes.” Samiah sighed again. She capped her Fenty Beauty 410 foundation and traded it for the liquid eyeliner. Tugging her lower lid downward, she muttered as she swiped the thin brush along the rim of her eye. “You know you can’t fake this kind of thing, right? Your students will see right through it.”

“Shows how much you know. I’ve been faking it for years. No one’s caught on yet.”

Samiah glanced over her shoulder and grinned. “Make sure you don’t say that around your husband.”

“Oh please.” Denise batted the air as she adjusted her position on the toilet seat cover. “He knows I sometimes have to fake it with him too.”

“Dammit!” Samiah nearly poked herself in the eye with the eyeliner brush. She swung around and glared at her sister. “You said that shit on purpose.”

“What?” Denise asked with wide, guileless eyes. Her knowing smirk nullified her weak attempt at innocence.

“If I gouge myself in the eye with this thing, I’m telling Mama it was your fault.”

“She’d never believe you.” Her sister gestured to the array of palettes scattered across the leathered granite vanity. “Why didn’t you get all dolled up before you went out with me? You wait until we get back to pull out the heavy artillery?”

“Jealous?”

“As if. I can barely remember to pack lip balm in my purse.”

Samiah tsked as she used the smudger brush to blend the shadow into the crease of her eye. “Master the smokey eye and you can conquer the world.”

…want to read more? Find the full chapter here! And don’t wait to preorder The Boyfriend Project now!

***

Are you ready? Because I’m ready! (For it to be June :sobs-forever:) The Boyfriend Project releases June 9, 2020 from Forever, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.

As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback, bookrecs, or just want to say hi!

Categories
Today In Books

Tiny Library Toolkit: Today In Books

Tiny Library Toolkit

For anyone with minimal space wanting to install a library and services using an upcycled shipping container, the Meridian (Idaho) Library District has created a Tiny Library Toolkit. You can get all the info here, and I’ll await someone to create a tiny house type show about building these across the country, thank you very much.

This Cover!

Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X; With the Fire On High) revealed the cover image for her upcoming book Clap When You Land and I am sorry but there are no heart-eye emoji’s left in the world because they have all congregated around this cover. You can see it, and read about the book (I’m going to cry!) and Acevedo here.

The President Is Missing Adaptation

I will skip all very obvious jokes–the book that Bill Clinton and James Patterson coauthored, The President Is Missing, is being developed into a Showtime show and we have our lead: David Oyelowo will play the Vice President who becomes President. You can read all the details here.

Categories
Audiobooks

Audiobooks – 10/10

Hola Audiophiles!

The good news is I don’t have swine flu. The bad news: I did have some sort of head cold situation for a few days. I’m mostly better, but I’m left with that awful tickle cough that makes your eyes water. I had to rewind my audiobook three times in the last hour because I couldn’t hear it over my cough! The worst.

Enough of the plague though. Let me down this hot toddy and get back to the audio.

New Releases – October 15 (publishers descriptions in quotes)

dear girlsDear Girls by Ali Wong, narrated by the author – If you haven’t seen any of Ali Wong’s unapologetic, no-holds-barred Netflix comedy specials (both of which she is super pregnant in, btw), do yourself a favor and do that. Then give a listen to this heartfelt, honest, and cry-laugh-inducing collection of letters from the comedian and writer to her two young daughters, (with explicit instructions not to read them until they’re 21 for… well, reasons!). The intro alone, yo: the Salman Rushdie shade!

  • Narrator Note: Yep, you know what I’m about to say: author narration for the win! I could not imagine anyone else narrating this book. It’s so natural, so vulgar, so hilarious.

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda, narrated by Christian Coulson, Candice Moll, and Steve West – A brutal revolution has claimed the lives of both Annie’s lowborn and Lee’s aristocratic families. Raised together in an orphanage, they’ve spent seven years training to become dragonriders, rivaling for the top position in this governing class. Everything changes when war erupts as the old regime surfaces to take back the city. Pitched as Game of Thrones meets Red Rising, which is very much my sh*t.

  • Narrator Note: This narrator team has credits in work by Michael Ondaatje, Mackenzi Lee, Erin Gough and more. I can’t wait to give this one a listen. I’m ready for accents and dragons and impossible choices!

Me: Elton John by Elton John, narrated by Taron Egerton and Elton John – Storytime! I was raised primarily on music in Spanish, so much so that I get clowned to this day for not knowing a lot of the classic songs I’m “supposed to.” Elton John though? I was singing Bennie and the Jets, Your Song, and The Bitch is Back before I was allowed to say bad words and cannot wait to listen to the Rocketman’s story. If my weepy reaction to this commercial is any indication of what I’m in for, I’m very in and hope you will be too!

  • Narrator Note: I almost forgot that this is narrated by Eggsy from the Kingsman movies, which makes sense since the guy played Sir Elton in Rocketman. I love that Welshman’s accent (and may have a teeny crush on him… and Richard Madden… but I digress). Bonus: here’s an awesome vid of Taron and Elton singing together at Cannes.

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson, narrated by the author – I’ve been a fan of Bill Bryson since Notes from a Small Island, though I confess I haven’t read his more recent work. If you’re a fan of A Short History of Nearly Everything, his latest sounds like a mix of that same “big sweeping view of a complicated thing” plus some deeper dive into the human body.

  • Narrator Note: I looooove his narration. He’s American born but has lived in England pretty consistently since the 70s. His charming accent is then exactly what you’d expect of a native Iowan who’s lived among Brits for decades now and I love it.

Latest Listens

I mentioned last week that I started The Witches by Stacy Schiff and… I dunno, I’m unsure about this one! I love the subject matter and the author, but three hours in, I’m nowhere near as hooked as I thought I would be. There’s nothing really wrong with the narration, but there is a certain theatrical quality to this performance that I think isn’t quite jiving with the subject matter for me. It’s not even over-the-top or anything, but it sometimes feels a touch dramatized in moments when there is no drama?! Argh. Stay tuned. I’m going to keep going for a wee bit longer because I heart me some Stacy Schiff.

Listens on Deck

I’m thinking of taking a small break from The Witches to listen to God Save the Queens, a history of women in hip hop for which I have all the muppet arms. It’s narrated by Bahni Turpin (you already know!) and is a look at the influential women who changed the game long before the Barbs and Bardigang were feuding in these streets. This one isn’t out for a couple of weeks, I’ll report back!

From the Internets

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Selina Meyer reflects on her audiobook grammy nomination. 

Apparently BBC Radio 4 has done an abridged audio reading of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. And by “abridged,” I mean it’s 3.5 hours long in total when the unabridged version is over 13. Que?!?!

Audiobooks for Star Wars fans – I tried so hard to come up with a Star Wars pun and failed. Maybe, “Get your Audiyoda on?” I know, I tried.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
In The Club

In The Club – 10/09

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. Your girl is fighting a cold this week with apple cider vinegar, elderberry syrup, oregano oil, and the occasional hot toddy. Blame that last part for any bad puns or jokes!

I really am all about spooky season and stuck with the theme again this week. Last week I hit you with the witchy reads, and this week we’re seeing ghosts.

Ready? To the club!!

Nibbles and Sips (and Ambiance Tips)

I went to Salt & Straw last October while visiting my now-home of Portland and sampled several of their Spooktober flavors. One of my faves was called Essence of Ghost, a bitter and sweet sorbet with a subtle smokiness reminiscent of “ghouls spooking a foggy graveyard.” I love the idea of smoke evoking ghosts and spookiness, so I’m serving up some more smoky suggestions for today’s nibbles and sips.

  • When I think smoky, I think of mezcal, which I like to think of as tequila’s cousin who smokes like 12 packs a day. The smokiness of this particular spirit pairs so well with books about spirits. My favorite mezcal cocktail is a spicy jalapeno number like this one.
  • Confession: if you put any kind of Chex Mix situation in front of me, I will inhale it like I’ve never been fed. Here’s a smoky version of this highly addictive snackage that I highly encourage you to make lots of.
  • I have never tried this before but my good friend Google suggested it and now I want three of it. It’s a smoked chocolate whiskey cake. WANT.
  • Create a ghoulish mood and hold the club meeting by candlelight. It’s a little obvious and cheesy, but it’s also super fun.

Spirited Reading

Affinity by Sarah Waters – An upper-class woman in Victorian London attempts death by suicide and begins visiting a women’s prison as part of her rehabilitative charity work. She’s instantly fascinated by spiritualist Selina Dawes, a mysterious woman imprisoned after a seance she conducted went horribly, horribly wrong. Strange things begin to happen both in and outside of the prison the more she gets to know Selina, things that could only be explained by the presence of some kind of spectre. It’s got such a delightfully creepy, unsettling quality to it that kept me turning those pages between chills.

  • Book Club Bonus: So many of the questions I was going to suggest are plot spoilers, so I’ll leave you with this: discuss how the main character’s privilege plays into… the things.

Slade House by David Mitchell – I’ve been meaning to read this since The Bone Clocks left me looking like the woman in this meme. It’s a haunted house story with the David Mitchell treatment applied: lots of characters, time hops, and interconnected storylines, all wrapped in a story about a house that you never want to leave until you realize you can’t get out.

  • Book Club Bonus: If you’ve read any other David Mitchell, discuss the similarities and characters or themes that connect all of Mitchell’s works to one another. Unpack the symbolism of doors and the narrative structure; it’s broken up into five parts and is narrated by five different characters.

ghostlandGhostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey – You know I’m always saying truth is stranger than fiction, and it’s also sometimes a lot creepier. This is a literary road trip through some of the country’s most haunted places with tons of interesting and TERRIFYING history along the way.

  • Book Club Bonus: If you’re all game, have the group research haunted places near you and share them with the group! I won’t judge you if you want to do this part with the lights on.

Suggestion Section

I’m not saying we need club uniforms, but if we did….

Good Morning America is the next to get in on the book club game. I do love their first pick!

Oprah explains why she partnered with Apple for her book club.

I covered some of these last week, but here’s a more complete roundup of October’s celebrity book club picks.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

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

Categories
Today In Books

Rihanna Announces Visual Autobiography: Today In Books

Rihanna Announces Visual Autobiography

Rihanna has announced a visual autobiography that will be 1,000+ images of her living her life. So basically just one gorgeous page after another. And now she can add published author to her forever unrolling resume. Rihanna will publish on October 24th and you can see some of the 500 pages in her video preview and learn about the three limited editions here.

50 New Literary Recordings Now Available to Stream Online

Keeping up a recent tradition, the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (AHLOT) has 50 new literary recordings available online in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. The collection, which has almost 800 recordings, is comprised of “audio recordings of poets and writers from Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, the Caribbean, and the LatinX community in the United States reading from their works.” Check out this amazing collection here.

PLA Encourages ACA Enrollment

Open enrollment for the 2020 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace will begin November 1st and the Public Library Association has announced it will award $500 mini-grants to 57 public libraries in the U.S. to help librarians assist patrons and community members in learning about it and enrolling. You can check out the list of libraries here.

Categories
True Story

Memoirs, Essays, and More New Nonfiction

Hello and welcome to a new week, nonfiction friends! The onslaught of new books that marks fall in the publishing world is not letting up any time soon, which is amazing and intimidating and seems like it’ll never quit.

This week, I’ve got three books to feature – two highly-anticipated memoirs and a collection of essays – plus seven more books to put on your radar. Let’s get going!

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones – This coming-of-age memoir about growing up black and gay in the South is one of the most anticipated titles of this year. In it, Saeed Jones writes about finding a place for himself “within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears.” The book is told in a series of vignettes that are about himself and a bigger look at race, queerness, power, love and grief.

Further Reading: Jones was interviewed in The Nation about “queer masculinity and the point of being an artist.”

Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper – As a child, Megan Phelps-Roper protested alongside members of her grandfather’s church, Westboro Baptist Church. She eventually started manning the organization’s Twitter account, where debates about religion began to make her question the church. In this memoir, she chronicles her awakening, departure from the church, and shift away from black-and-white thinking.

Further Reading: Last week, People magazine published a profile of Phelps-Roper where she talks about her relationship with her family.

Burn it Down: Women Writing About Anger by Lilly Dancyger – Given the state of the world, I am always going to pay attention to books about women’s anger. This essay collection brings together 22 writers looking at how anger has shaped their lives. It looks at the #MeToo movement, women running for office, and what anger can mean both personally and systemically.

Further Reading: Dancyger writes a column for Catapult called Fallen Women with a deep and interesting archive.

And to wrap up, seven more books that you could add to your TBR:

  1. Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams
  2. On Time: A Princely Life in Funk by Morris Day and David Ritz
  3. American Radicals: How Nineteenth-Century Protest Shaped the Nation by Holly Jackson
  4. Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despite One Another by Matt Taibbi
  5. Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice
  6. A Savage Dreamland: Journey’s in Burma by David Eimer
  7. Horror Stories: A Memoir by Liz Phair

That’s all for this week! You can find me on Twitter @kimthedork, on email at kim@riotnewmedia.com, and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. Happy reading! – Kim

Categories
Unusual Suspects

Clue Board Game Set At Elite Boarding School 🔪

Hello mystery fans! This week I have for you a character driven psychological mystery, and two fun, totally different, mysteries: an elderly sleuth, and a locked-room YA mystery based on the Clue board game.

Character Driven Psychological Mystery (TW alcoholism/ social anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, PTSD, on page/ past suicide mentioned)

Remember cover imageRemember by Patricia Smith: This starts with a mystery where something horrible has clearly happened but the character, Portia Willows, doesn’t know what it is. We’re then taken back to her as a teenager with social anxiety and agoraphobia and get to know her family. The family she partially loses in an accident. Now she lives with her father, both drinking the day away and barely able to care for themselves and each other. Until a young man moves in across the street, forcing Portia to step outside of her comfort zone in hopes of her first romantic relationship. But we keep getting “now” chapters of Portia trying to figure out where she is, what happened, and where her father is… In a genre that too often grossly uses mental illness as the boogie monster this was a welcome change, and new voice.

Fun!

Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna cover imageAuntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna (Tante Poldi #2) by Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translation): Elderly Bavarian, Poldi, has retired to a Sicilian village and finds herself once again solving crimes. Auntie Poldi loves to drink, loves men, being independent, voicing her opinion, and is hilarious. Of course I love her! The way the series is written made me think a bit of The Princess Bride in that Poldi isn’t telling us the story but rather her visiting nephew, a struggling writer as she tells him her adventures. So we get all of Poldi’s escapades, crime solving–this time she’s trying to solve the poisoning of a dog and murder of a fortune-teller–along with the family bickering, Poldi criticizing her nephew’s writing attempts included. If you like the bigger-than-life characters who will not be told what to do, will-they-or-won’t-they relationships, and beautiful settings this is a super fun, and entertaining series that always makes me laugh.

Hello, Clue Fans! (TW discussions of suicide)

In the Hall with the Knife cover imageIn the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery #1) by Diana Peterfreund: This is the start to a trilogy based on the Clue board game, that has fun references to the film. We get all the names we know so well, from Mr. Boddy (the Blackbrook Academy headmaster) to Mrs. White (in charge of the girl’s dormitory). And in between is all the students (Scarlet Mistry, Orchid McKee, Beth “Peacock” Picach, Vaughn Green, Samuel “Mustard” Maestor, and Finn Plum) who create the stereotypical overachiever, sports star, townie etc we come to expect. And of course they’ve all got secrets! And they all end up snowed in together in the girl’s dormitory. And someone is murdered…I enjoyed that this felt familiar while also new, thanks to the teenage perspective and the added twists to the story–not going to tell you! It’s the start of a trilogy so of course we’re left hanging at the end but what I especially liked was the end, and the door it opened for what is to come!

Recent Releases

The Athena Protocol cover imageThe Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif (Currently reading: I should not have started this before bed because 1. I want to play just-one-more-chapter! 2. It starts with an intense scene–women “snipers” rescuing kidnapped girls when things don’t go as instructed…) (TW child rape, not detailed)

The Furies by Katie Lowe (Currently listening to audio: Slow burn. Private school. Missing girl. Witchy history. The Craft vibes. Girl rage. <–If those are your things, this one is for you!) (TW date rape, on page/ past suicides, discussions/ animal cruelty/ child abuse, not on page)

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia (The author of Bellweather Rhapsody wrote a novel about a billionaire creating an Edgar Allan Poe inspired treasure hunt through the city of Boston and this sounds perfect for fans of The Westing Game and puzzle mysteries and it’s next on my list!)

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

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