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Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got your last round of new releases for January and part one of a focus on Palestinian SFF authors. I had a long, working weekend so I’m going to keep this short — please take care of yourselves, please do the little things you can to build peace in the world, and I’ll see you on Friday!
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Let’s make the world a better place, together! Rose and Jasmine Press is a Palestinian-owned small press based out of Canada, and they are fundraising for their first year!
This is a bit of a stretch, perhaps, since I normally try to find book or SFF-adjacent things, but I used to cross-stitch while listening to audiobooks, and this pattern is absolutely captivating. I might have to start cross-stitching again. It’s a PDF pattern for download. $12
Mariana has just lost her best friend and would like to just give up and start over — even leaving her job as a consultant at a top-secret particle accelerator. But then Carter Cho mysteriously shows up to stop her with a warning: they’re caught in a time loop together. Then suddenly, it’s Monday morning again, and Mariana and Carter are living through the same four days together. Except Carter’s memories are starting to disappear…
The Everly family has lived for centuries, receiving the punishment of Penelope, a mysterious woman who appears to be immortal, who shows up to take their best and brightest in exchange for a crime no one remembers. Violet’s mother disappeared ten years ago when she set off to break this curse; now, Penelope has given Violet an ultimatum. She must find her mother, or she will be taken in her place. But Violet sees a third option: breaking the curse like her mother failed to do. This quest will lead her to the edges of the world and the mysterious city of Stardust, where it all began.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
This week, I want to shine a spotlight on SFF by Palestinian authors. Here’s part one!
SF writer Wayne Dolan has come to the Deriwelle Institute, which he’s convinced is an absolute scam. It’s built on sacred Native American ground, and the institute claims they’re on a mission to find God using advanced technology. The scientists are an unreliable group, to say the least…but Wayne is soon plagued by strange dreams and visions, heralding the nightmare the waking world is about to become.
After years of being abused and living in a wasteland in the Midwest (not to mention the fact that her father is missing), Hala has decided to die at the age of 17. Too anxious to carry through with it, she begins writing songs to serve as a memoir of her life. But in another world, 24-year-old Deena finds Hala’s book of songs and it forges a connection between their two worlds. Then, things begin to get a bit…strange.
See you, space pirates. 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.
It’s the last January newsletter! Has this month seemed to last forever to anyone else? I guess the bizarre weather and multiple school closures have made January a bit weird.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
This would be an adorable tee to wear for Valentine’s Day. It’s available in kid and adult sizes. $9+
This delightful picture book is the first in a series about Molly, her invisible friend Lexi, and her experiences with dyslexia. This first book tells the story of Molly’s dyslexia diagnosis. Molly has a lot of trouble on spelling tests, and Lexi encourages her to ask for help from the teacher. At first, Molly resists, but when she does ask for help, she’s glad. She takes tests with a different teacher, and she and her parents meet with her to discuss the test results and come up with a plan to help with Molly’s dyslexia. Back matter includes an author’s note about being diagnosed with dyslexia when she was seven, a discussion of identity-first terminology, and how adults can help dyslexic kids in their lives.
This is a funny, original, and heartfelt middle grade graphic novel about a Chinese Canadian middle schooler, Kevin Lee, in the mid-90s. Kevin lives above his mother’s alterations shop with his mother, older sister, and grandmother, who has recently moved in. Now, Kevin shares a bedroom with his older sister, who is not happy about it. As one of only a few Asian kids at school, he’s often ostracized, but he does have a few good friends. His social status plummets when he brings a century egg to school for lunch. The one thing he’s looking forward to is a trip to Thrill Planet, but his frequent trips to the principal’s office put that in jeopardy. Kevin also loves art and comic books, and interspersed within the main story are scenes from his favorite comic book.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Valentine’s Day is coming soon, and while it’s not my favorite holiday, I do enjoy reading children’s books about love. Here are four to read for Valentine’s Day!
In this adorable interactive board book, young readers can turn a wheel to hide a heart and then lift flaps to reveal where the heart is hidden. Each page shows different animals celebrating Valentine’s Day scenes. This would be a great read for toddlers, and I love the art.
This stunning picture book celebrates twelve Arabic expressions for different types of love. There’s the love of remembering one’s homeland, the love of welcoming new life into the world, the love of friendship, and more. The lovely, textured illustrations give the impression of a canvas and depict cherished moments in a Palestinian immigrant family’s life. The words for love are written in the Arabic script.
My daughter is a huge fan of the Flubby reader series. In this most recent addition to the series, the child main character wonders what to gift Flubby the cat for Valentine’s Day. Flubby doesn’t like any of the typical Valentine’s Day presents. This series uses repetition and humor to engage beginning readers.
This is the second book in the hilarious Teeny Houdini chapter book series, though they can be read in any order. Bessie Lee wants to be a magician, so when her teacher asks her to make an extra special Valentine for the class’s new student, she decides to make it into a magic trick. But how can she make the perfect magic Valentine?
My home office shares space with my bedroom, so during the day, my bed is often covered in books I’m reviewing…plus my planner, tissues, and laundry that needs to be put away.
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, Twitter @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom.bsky.social, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
All the best,
Margaret Kingsbury
Hello, my Tuesday friends! It is already the last Tuesday of January, if you can believe it. (I refuse.) How was your reading month? I had lots of bookish fun this month, talking about books in newsletters and on podcasts, going to book events, planning more book events, and decorating my new book journals. Oh, and reading books, of course. I am going to let you in on a secret: I LOVE BOOKS. I know, you would never have guessed, but it’s true. I am looking forward to telling you about February books, but first, let’s end this month with more great January recommendations. For you today, I have a debut novel of young love and loss, an espionage thriller starring two sisters of a certain age, and a collection of stories that will delight and disturb you.
As for other new releases, at the top of my list of today’s books that I want to get my hands on are The Cleaner by Brandi Wells, Come and Get It by Kiley Reid, and The Mountain King by Anders de la Motte. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Patricia and I talked about great books we loved that are out this week, including A Quantum Love Story, Be a Revolution, and Interesting Facts About Space.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
And now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, “Ahhh, My TBR!” Here are today’s contestants!
First up is a heart-squeezing debut about hopes and dreams, first love, and loss, set at a college. When Daniel de La Luna attends an elite university on the East Coast, he’s unsure of what he’s doing there. His family is probably more excited for him to go to college than he is. But then he meets Sam, his roommate, and things start to click. Soon, they are in the beginnings of a relationship, and suddenly, everything is new and wonderful to Daniel. But after a tragedy, Daniel returns home heartbroken to Mexico to his family’s homestead, where he will try to figure out who he was, who he is here, and how he is connected to his family and this land. It’s a lovely, sad story of young love and loss at college that will give you lots of feels. (Related: remember the college novel The Art of Fielding? Rumor has it there might be a new Chad Harbach book coming this year!) (Content warnings for substance use, anxiety, homophobia, injury, loss of a loved one, and grief.)
Backlist bump: Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala
This new novel is riding the recent-ish trend of books featuring main characters past middle age, solving crimes, kicking ass, and even committing crimes. (After all, there are going to be more seniors than any other age group on the planet soon, if it hasn’t already started.) Josephine and Penny Williamson are British WWII veterans and minor celebrities. The nonagenarians are still full of life and great spirits and agree to join their great-nephew on a trip to Paris. While Archie thinks it’s a vacation with two sweet old ladies, it turns out that the sisters have a lot of secrets about their time in the war they are still keeping — and they still have enemies. Josephine and Penny may be more Mrs. Doubtfire than spitfire now, but underestimating these old women is going to cause a lot of trouble on their trip. It’s an adventure for the (old) ages! (Content warnings for violence, sexism, war, injury, and loss of a loved one.)
Backlist bump: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
Chung, the author of the award-winning collection of bananapants stories Cursed Bunny, is back with a new collection of, well, bananapants stories. These have a bit more technology and sci-fi elements in these takes on life, loss, and capitalism, but they are still weird and awesome and occasionally upsetting. There’s an apartment building elevator that falls in love with a tenant, a man who discovers something shocking about his wife, a nefarious GMO company doing nefarious things (no, it’s not nonfiction), memory removal, artificial intelligence in helpful and harmful forms, the hope for immortality, and more. Related: I watched a publisher event with Chung last year where she talked about her motivation for the stories, and I wrote it down, but now I can’t find it. So I am going to very broadly try and paraphrase. It was something like, “Some writers like to put characters in situations and see how they get out of them; I like to put characters in situations and watch them die.” Whatever the quote, it was VERY dark — you get the idea. And you’ll see it in this collection of dystopian delights (and horrors.) (Content warnings for substance use and abuse, violence, gore, injury, and death.)
Backlist bump: Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
This week, I am reading A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher and Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle. Have you been watching The Floor? It’s a reality game show on Fox with Rob Lowe, and it’s on every Tuesday. It’s fun! I don’t enjoy the reality show aspects or the posturing, but I do like the quiz part and find myself anticipating the next episode. I love quiz questions! The song stuck in my head this week is “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh is serving a big DND mood this week. (Err, that’s “Do Not Disturb,” not Dungeons & Dragons.) I feel you, buddy.
I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty
We’re partnering with HTP Books to give away a year of hardcover titles customized for you!
Enter here for a chance to win, or click the image below!
Here’s a bit more about our partner: HTP Books newsletter celebrates books and popular culture, connecting readers, booksellers, librarians, and book clubs with relevant content and resources.
Welcome to Check Your Shelf. I’m getting this newsletter in a little later than I usually do because Blaine and I were playing a cutthroat game of Scrabble that lasted for over two hours. (I won, or as Blaine put it, “barely escaped with my life.”)
Anthony Hopkins is writing a biography, release date TBD.
Elton John is publishing a book about his experiences during his farewell tour, out September 24th.
Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner are writing a new standalone global thriller.
Alex Segura is publishing a follow-up novel to Secret Identity, out later this year.
Louise Penny announces the 19th book in her Chief Inspector Gamache series, out on October 29th.
Here’s a first look at Casey McQuiston’s third adult romance novel, The Pairing.
Most anticipated books of 2024 from BBC, Elle.
Weekly picks from Crime Reads, LitHub, New York Times.
January picks from LitHub (children’s books), New York Times (romance), People.
February picks from Barnes & Noble (adults, teens, children).
Martyr! – Kaveh Akbar (LA Times, New York Times, NPR)
Dead in Long Beach, California – Venita Blackburn (New York Times, Shondaland, Washington Post)
The Bullet Swallower – Elizabeth Gonzalez James (Esquire, LA Times, Shondaland)
The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon – Adam Shatz (LA Times, New York Times)
The Wall Street Journal offers book, movie, and TV recommendations made by AI.
Why so many authors are writing multi-generational stories.
So fetch, so fierce: in praise of all the literary mean girls.
25 excellent books to read in 2024.
The best new weekly releases to TBR.
What genres and subgenres should be called, based on their covers.
Embracing seasonal reading with picture books.
Publisher’s Weekly has a spring 2024 comics & graphic novels preview for adults and teens.
The New York Times looks at the recent surge in the popularity of French graphic nonfiction.
The 10 categorically best comics of 2023.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
The complete user’s guide to Spotify audiobooks.
Great Greek mythology books for kids.
15 YA books that navigate teen pregnancy.
9 literary mysteries with a big winter mood.
Weirding the West: Strange tales that complicate the picture of Texas.
5 horror novels featuring spooky mountains.
6 books to read if you’re upset about Greta Gerwig’s Oscar snub.
20 books you can read in a weekend.
8 gothic science fiction novels that will chill and thrill you.
Books that will help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions.
The most influential fantasy books of the 1980s.
10 modern horror classics keeping the genre alive.
Making sense of 2023 through books.
20 must-read sapphic fantasy books.
Do you take part in Library Reads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen has a guide to discovering upcoming diverse books, and Edelweiss has a new catalog dedicated to diverse titles, which is managed by Early Word Galley Chatter Vicki Nesting. Check it out!
I went back through the photos of Gilbert I’ve used in previous newsletters and found this gem — our happy, chatty boy yelling for more snuggles.
All right, friends. I’ll be back on Friday!
—Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter.
Hey, all, happy Tuesday! It may still be winter here, but we are inching ever closer to spring and all of the bugs and allergies it brings. I prefer winter, is what I’m saying. But in any case, at least we can enjoy our comics all year round!
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Just the thing to keep you snuggly warm for the rest of the winter! Pick from nine different colors (red seems appropriate!) and multiple sizes. $33+
This anthology collection allows a wide range of creators to explore dystopian worlds of all kinds from many different angles. Whether it’s giving prehistoric man access to advanced technology or journeying to the far reaches of our understanding in search of new universes and dimensions, this book explores the uncomfortable and the surreal in all its forms.
When Brotown is in trouble, who do they call? Brothers Panchi, Kouro, and Joukei, who are committed to helping each other and their community — and who also happen to be robots! Now, you can own all of the brothers’ fun and exciting adventures in a single volume that comes with extra bonus material.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Today’s Riot Rec theme is: birds! Maybe don’t watch any Hitchcock movies before picking up these comics…
Birdsy Seagull and his gang are determined to rule Shoretown with an iron wing (or have a nice lunch and take a nap, whatever is easier). But when the local humans start stepping out of line, can this band of misfits and layabouts get it together in time to protect what is theirs?
Through stunningly beautiful illustrations and almost no words, this comic depicts a young girl’s magical visit with her grandmother. Shortly after arriving, she finds a flamingo feather with an amazing story attached to it — a story that will bring grandmother and granddaughter closer together.
I have to fly off now, but I’ll be back on Thursday with more comics for you to feather your nest with!
~Eileen
Welcome to Read This Book, a newsletter where I recommend one book that should absolutely be put at the top of your TBR pile. Recommended books will vary across genre and age category and include shiny new books, older books you may have missed, and some classics I suggest finally getting around to. Make space for another pile of books on your floor, because here we go!
I’ll say it upfront: I am generally not a fan of Superman. I had never been able to connect with him as a character, and I usually found him pretty boring — it’s remarkable that an alien could be boring, but there you have it. Today’s pick is a graphic novel that gave me a new appreciation for the character.
This middle grade graphic novel was originally published in three individual issues; however, the one I recommend is all three together, plus a lovely bonus essay at the end of the book by Gene Luen Yang. This story was inspired by an actual 1940s Superman radio show serial titled the “Clan of the Fiery Cross.”
While Superman is obviously one of the main characters, the other main character is Lee Lan-Shin, who has been given the American name Roberta, which is mostly used throughout the book, but it’s good to keep her Chinese name in mind. Roberta Lee, her brother Tommy, and their parents are all moving into Metropolis from Chinatown. The family is Chinese American, and the year is 1946. Roberta has a lot of anxiety and a sensitive stomach. The whole Lee family is trying hard to fit into their new, mostly white community, and in doing that, there are definitely times when they are trying to downplay their own culture. It’s as heartbreaking to see on the page as it is in real life.
Meanwhile, Superman is also not living up to his full potential, and he has a lot of questions about where he is truly from.
Roberta and Tommy meet Jimmy Olsen, who, after seeing how great Tommy is at pitching, has him join the local Little League team. The team’s pitcher, Chuck, is low-key racist and really unhappy about Tommy joining the team, so he quits. Chuck sulks and tells his uncle, who is a part of a racist terrorist group: the Klan of the Fiery Cross. As you can guess, the Lee family gets targeted. It’s not as straightforward of a story as you think, and there are plenty of surprises. Content warnings for racism, specifically anti-Chinese and anti-Black racism, imagery of a burning cross, and Klan members in their costumes. Outfits. Whatever.
I enjoyed it way more than I anticipated, and I hope you do, too. As I mentioned, there are lots of surprises and some really great moments. I’m always a fan of Gurihiru’s art style, and it is a perfect fit for this story.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
That’s it for now, book-lovers!
Patricia
Find me on Book Riot, the All the Books podcast, Bluesky, and Instagram.
Find more books by subscribing to Book Riot Newsletters.
Even if you’re not into Valentine’s Day for the romantic aspect, these make great cards for bookish friends! $5
Dear Book Friends,
It’s Monday, and I’m recovering from a weekend of watching Sundance movies. I hope you had a great weekend. I hope you stayed warm. And, of course, I hope you’re ready to talk about books, because here we go.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Cosmopolitan shared the cover of Dustin Thao’s When Haru Was Here. It’s out from Wednesday Books on September 3.
Former *NYSNC singer Lance Bass shared a sneak peek of his upcoming children’s book Trick or Treat on a Scary Street. “Writing a children’s book about my love for Halloween was an absolute blast,” Bass says. The book is out on July 23.
Carnegie Medalist Ruta Sepetys and Newbery Honor-winning author Steve Sheinkin are joining forces for the new middle grade novel The Bletchley Riddle. It’s out from Viking on October 8.
Cale Dietrich has shared the cover for his upcoming novel, The Rules of Royalty. It’s a queer spin on The Princess Diaries about two princes who fall in love. The cover was designed by Olga Grlic with art by Petra Braun.
Here’s the 2024 longlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize. The list recognizes 12 titles, including A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò, Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson, and Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein.
The finalists for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced. Nominees include I Would Meet You Anywhere by Susan Kiyo Ito, Blackouts by Justin Torres, and more.
New year, new books to read in 2024! Which books are you most excited to read in the new year? Here are our top picks!
Hi, welcome to everyone’s favorite segment of Book Radar called Book Riot Recommends. This is where I’ll talk to you about all the books I’m reading, the books I’m loving, and the books I can’t wait to read and love in the near future. I think you’re going to love them too!
I’m married, so obviously, I don’t want to burn marriage to the ground or anything. Not yet, anyway. But I have also been through a divorce and I have done a lot of (too much) reading about the history of marriage and considering how marriages (specifically heterosexual relationships) are complicated by the patriarchy. So, this kind of nonfiction is perfect for me, and I will absolutely be reading this when it comes out. I mean, what a perfect post-Valentine’s Day read.
But enough about me. You want to hear about the book. This American Ex-Wife is part memoir, part sociological study, part history book about the patriarchal institution that is marriage. In this book, journalist and proud divorcée Lyz Lenz shares research, interviews, and personal experiences to break down the power imbalances built into heterosexual marriage. Lenz argues that women have long been forced to define themselves based on their relationships with men, and it’s time to change that narrative.
One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
Rouge by Mona Awad
The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
The awards season book memes keep coming, and I love them. All of them.
I left my AirPods at home the other day, which was sad because I couldn’t listen to my audiobook on the bus. But when I came home, Murray was taking good care of them for me. Such a sweetie! He looks so proud of himself.
Okay! I’m exhausted after all of this book talk. I’m going to go to bed. Have a wonderful week!