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Amazon Removes Pseudoscience Books
Books unscientifically claiming that autism can be cured with potentially toxic forms of bleach and other pseudoscientific methods have been removed from Amazon. While Amazon confirmed the books are no longer available they did not comment on why, but the move occurred after an article in Wired pointed out the dangers of Amazon stocking these books.
2019 Man Booker International Prize Long List Announced
Highlighting translated fiction from around the world the 2019 Man Booker Dozen has been announced, and congrats to all the authors, translators, and publishers! Check out the thirteen works here and standby for the short list announcement on April 9th–in the meantime you can get your translated work read on!
“What If” Marvel Series In The Works
Disney+ streaming platform and Marvel are working on an adaptation of the “What If” comics which explored alternate histories from what was comic lore and established stories. “One of the confirmed episodes will be an adaptation of What If? Vol. 1 #47 titled What If Loki Had Found the Hammer of Thor?” This sounds fuuuuun!
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A Real Life Double Agent!
Hello mystery fans! This week I have for you a small-town mystery where the buried secrets will rise, a real life double agent, and a dark serial killer novel!
The Huntress, new from Kate Quinn, the New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network.
One of Marie Claire’s Best Women’s Fiction of the year! One of Bookbub’s biggest books of the year! “If you enjoyed The Tattooist of Auschwitz, read The Huntress.” – The Washington Post From the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Alice Network, comes a fascinating historical novel about a battle-haunted English journalist and a Russian female bomber pilot who join forces to track the Huntress, a Nazi war criminal gone to ground in America.
Small-Town Missing Person (TW domestic violence/ addiction/ suicide)
Fallen Mountains by Kimi Cunningham Grant: I’m a sucker for small-town mysteries where the buried secrets are gonna rise and this novel did all of that really well. It’s told in past and present while following a group of people in Fallen Mountains, Pennsylvania: Red, a widowed sheriff set to retire; Transom, Chase, and Laney, friends who grew up together; Possum, a once bullied kid now out of prison. Transom is missing and while most think this is just his usual M.O. of leaving without saying anything his girlfriend is certain something is wrong and convinces Red to investigate. This set’s off Transom’s father to hire an investigator sent to work with Red–and a thing I really liked about this novel was that instead of them fighting and trying to stop the other they actually work together in trying to figure out where Transom is. The thing is Transom was the type of person who even those who loved him knew to watch out for his possible bite. So soon you realize, if he didn’t pull a Transom and take off, lots of people had a reason to harm him. While Red is a good sheriff he has a secret that Transom’s disappearance may drag out into the light and, well, it’s a small-town filled with secrets and it seems this missing person case may be a reckoning for many…
Real Life Double Agent! (TW suicide mention)
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre: For fans of spy novels this is a must-read nonfiction that details the life of a conman turned double agent during WWII. I knew this was going to be a ride when just at the beginning of getting to know Eddie Chapman–prior to his double agent days–there was safe heists, blackmailing women he’d given STDs too, and a prison escape. He was a criminal and conman who managed to always slip by and ended up being sent into Britain on a mission as a German spy but ended up working for MI5 for years! The thing with Chapman was no one ever really knew who he was really working for and while MI5 believed he could be trusted to always complete any mission they gave him they knew he couldn’t be trusted with anything else. Literally nothing else. This is one of those nonfiction reads that has the pacing and feel of a thriller with moments where you do a double take and have to remind yourself this is a true story. I really recommend the audiobook if you’re a listener, and if you’re a fan of John le Carré type novels get thee this book now!
Dark-ish And Intense Serial Killer Novel (TW rape/ pedophile)
The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets: This was another one of those reads that rang a lot of my bells: serial killer; character with unique/interesting job; strangers pair up to solve a mystery; did he or didn’t he? Told in past and present we get to know Marian Engström who works with training dogs in remote areas where conservation studies are being performed. This is how she meets the love of her life Tate Mathias, her mentor. But after his death things start to not add up for her and she begins to question if he could have been the still unidentified serial killer. He couldn’t have been really, she would have known, right? But he did tell her the story of having found one of the serial killer’s victims and she can’t let this go, so she contacts the psychologist/forensic profiler from the case who is now retired and dying of brain cancer. I inhaled the audiobook (great multiple narrators) of this dark, atmospheric mystery that had me both fascinated with the conservation studies and the exploration of grief and being a victim. The audiobook ends with the author explaining her own story of rape and why she wrote this novel.
Recent Releases
A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn (Currently reading and loving–this is one of my favorite historical mystery series!)
The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson (True crime)
Article 353 by Tanguy Viel,William Rodarmor (Translation) (French noir)
The Hunger by Alma Katsu (Paperback) (An eerie, suspenseful reimagining of the already horrifying historical event of the Donner-Reed Party–Full review) (TW child death/ suicide/ rape–including incestual)
Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe (Paperback) (Super good crime novel–Full review) (TW rape/ domestic abuse/ addiction/ pedophile)
The Italian Party by Christina Lynch (Paperback) (Historical fiction about newlyweds where one doesn’t know the other is a spy.)
Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh (Paperback) (Twisty thriller.) (TW: suicide/ domestic abuse)
Too Close to Breathe by Olivia Kiernan (Paperback) (Dark Dublin Procedural–Full review) (Trigger Warnings: cutting/ domestic abuse/ suicide)
The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Paperback) (Group of friends, decade old mystery.) (TW suicide)
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.
If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.
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Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!
Happy Tuesday, book lovers! We lost an hour of sleep this weekend, but who needs sleep? (Spoiler: Literally everyone.) There’s still plenty of time for reading, and lots of great new books coming down the pike. Today I am excited to get my hands on The True Queen by Zen Cho, the sequel to A Sorcerer to the Crown. I have a few of today’s fabulous new releases below, and you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Kelly and I talked about If Cats Disappeared from the World, SHOUT, When the Irish Invaded Canada, and more great books.
Sponsored by Epic Reads.
After Zan’s best friend moves to California, she is baffled and crushed when Priya suddenly ghosts. Worse, Priya’s social media has turned into a stream of ungrammatical posts chronicling a sunny, vapid new life that doesn’t sound like her at all. It’s only when Zan meets Logan, the compelling new guy in Spanish class, that she begins to uncover clues that something could be seriously wrong. Maybe Priya isn’t just not answering Zan’s emails. Maybe she can’t.
The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
A beautiful coming-of-age novel about a girl, Ayaana, and her mother on the island of Pate off the coast of Kenya. As Ayaana grows up, the world she knows on the island changes, and she embarks on a journey to China to learn of her heritage. This is a unique novel of culture, love, and loss, with gorgeous descriptions and fantastic characters. How have we not heard more about this one already???
Backlist bump: Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
Hooray, it’s finally here! And it’s amazing! Fatima is a concubine in the royal court of Granada, and her closest friend is Hassan, the palace mapmaker. And Fatima knows Hassan’s secret―he can draw maps of places he’s never seen and bend the shape of reality. When Fatima befriends one of the women from the visiting newly-formed Spanish monarchy, she doesn’t realize Hassan will be seen as a sorcerer by the Christians. She will have to help Hassan escape the palace to safety if she wants her friend to stay alive. It’s a wonderful, imaginative story about love, friendship, and religion in the time of the Spanish Inquisition.
Backlist bump: Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
Prince: The Last Interview (The Last Interview Series) by Prince and Hanif Abdurraqib
Yes to this book, but also yes to all of the books in this Melville House series. It’s fun to learn things, even when you aren’t familiar with the interview subject. But back to this book: it’s the little dose of purple magic we need to see us through this winter, and it features an introduction by Hanif Abdurraqib, who is fast becoming one of the most important voices of our times.
Backlist bump: They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.
xoxo,
Liberty
Hola, Audiophiles!
Things are pretty steady here in the land of Required Reading: still balancing 10+ books at the same time, still walking around audiobooking whenever I’m not regular-booking. Things have been so busy that I forgot to share some pretty cool news about Harry Potter and one of my crushes last week! Read on, dear friend, and bear with me while I babble about my latest listen.
Let’s audio.
Sponsored by Dreamscape Media, LLC and Good Riddance, by Elinor Lipman.
When an unsavory yearbook filled with her mother’s past comments about students gets into the hands of a woman who wants to turn it into a documentary, Daphne must stop her before her family secrets are in danger. As she struggles to silence the documentarian, she also finds herself struggling with her own demons. Expertly written and beautifully narrated, Elinor Lipman’s newest audiobook is available free with your library card on hoopla digital. Experience the novel that has received rave reviews from the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, and People.
Latest Listen
I finished The Night Tiger and… wow. Last week I mentioned starting this mythical, sumptuous and delightful read set in 1930s Malaysia about a young woman working at a dance hall on the low and a house boy whose master has given him a task to complete at his death. Their paths collide when they each embark on separate and dangerous missions involving a mysterious severed finger in a glass vial. You get a murder mystery, a ghost story, and tale of forbidden love all wrapped up in one!
What really sets this story over the top are the lush descriptions of scenery, aromas, and some of the most decadent food I’ve seen on a page (I paused the audio to Google “Malaysian food in San Diego” on at least three occasions). I also really love the theme of women’s empowerment that’s woven throughout; I clapped at the end when Ji Lin made a choice I was hoping she’d make but wasn’t sure she would.
Listens on Deck
Get up, stretch, use the restroom and grab your coffee because I’m about rave about Helen Oyeyemi’s Gingerbread. Oyeyemi is just a master at reworking a fairy tale in strange and lovely ways, and with language that has me hitting that rewind button on my Libro app to experience a sentence like this one again:
“A gingerbread addict once told Harriet that eating her gingerbread is like eating revenge…with darts of heat, salt, spice, and sulfurous syrup, as if honey was measured out, set ablaze, and trickled through the dough along with the liquefied spoon.”
British schoolgirl Perdita and her mother, Harriet, live in a gold-painted seventh-floor walk-up apartment where they make gingerbread that no one seems to really… want? One day Perdita appears to commit suicide by ingesting some poisoned gingerbread, but leaves a note behind that’s like, “BRB Mom! Not really dead, just going off to find the long-lost friend you always talk about!” That friend’s name is Gretel and the mythical place is Druhástrana, a faraway land where Harriet spent her youth that most people don’t believe exists. Perdita survives and comes back with a story, one she will only tell if Harriet first tells the truth about her mysterious past.
I’ve gone on long enough but one more thing: this one is narrated by Oyeyemi herself and her voice is silky smooth perfection.
From the Internets
They Came, They Saw, They Audied – The Audie Awards happened last week! The full list of winners is here. Some highlights include Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi winning Audiobook of the Year and Educated by Tara Westover winning for both Autobiography/Memoir and Best Female Narrator.
Audio Across the Pond – Here is some more talk of audiobooks’ double-digit growth for you from the London Book Fair. Check out the write-up in Publisher’s Weekly on why it’s likely to continue.
Harry Potter and the News I Forgot to Tell You – How I forgot to mention this last week, I don’t know: the Harry Potter audiobooks will be available in Spanish for the first time this year. Alohomora, that is good news! The cherry on top here is that the books will be narrated by Carlos Ponce, the Puerto Rican actor and singer that I crushed* on HARD for the better part of my youth. Those eyes!
*past tense used here because lies
Over at the Riot
LatinAudio Love – While I’m personally not an Audible user, I do support the creation of spaces for Spanish-language books. Audible has done just that with the launch of Audible Latino; I’ll clap for that.
Sounds of SciFi – Rioter Alex has done us all a huge favor here with this list of 25 Science Fiction audiobooks to get into, plus a little more if you count the entire series and not just the first installment. As Alex points out, you get 35 audiobook recs for the price of 25!
All About Accents – Last week I talked audiobook accents over at the YouTube – my thoughts on when they work, when they don’t, and when they’re doing the most.
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
Sponsored by Putnam Books
Harper Lee Was Also An Artist
While Harper Lee became known for her novel To Kill A Mockingbird she also loved to draw. And was quite good. For the first time 15 of her works, mostly ink drawings, will be going to auction by Bonhams. You can check out the images of some of her caricatures here.
Cookbook Sales Rise
NPD Bookscan data shows that cookbook sales rose 21% from 2017 to 2018 even though the internet and social media offers tons of free recipes. I’m guessing the recent popularity of food shows and docs are driving people to want the physical books in their kitchen but whatever the reason bookstores that specialize in selling cookbooks are certainly thrilled. I for one would like more food memoirs, please.
Let’s Forget The Teaser And Watch The Trailer
While there was lots of jokes and head-shaking at the recent live-action Aladdin teaser the trailer is finally here and it looks really good. I for one want that pink outfit, feel Will Smith was a great choice (he isn’t always blue!), could have done without the earworm, and may have pulled a “how you doin'” at Jafar. Check it out yourself here.
Hey YA Readers! Let’s highlight some books about rad women and nonbinary folx through history.
“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Flatiron Books, publishers of Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza.
Bestselling author of All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven calls emerging talent Shivaun Plozza’s charming and romantic second novel “from cover to cover swoon-worthy, moving, deep, and funny”!
Over the last few years, there has been a wave of collective biographies highlighting women who’ve done awesome things throughout history. Whereas these books used to be very white, they’ve become more inclusive, both in terms of racial and religious diversity, as well as in including those all along the gender and sexuality spectrum (and those who choose not to identify on a spectrum at all).
The point of collective biographies isn’t to tell the whole story. Rather, it’s to encourage further exploration of the amazing people who have done — or are currently doing! — groundbreaking things. Browse a few collective biographies and it becomes clear whose histories have been told and whose histories have been buried. I know whenever I pick up one of these books, I find myself itching to dive into some long, juicy biographies.
Here are a few of the standouts within this sub-genre of nonfiction worth picking up and sharing not only for Women’s History Month, but all year long.
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked The World by Pénélope Bagieu
This collection of ladies through history is not only a book in translation. It’s also a comic. Learn about brilliant women like Naziq al-Abid, Nellie Bly (my favorite!), Josephine Baker, and more. Not only is this one fascinating because of the women included, but the art is spectacular.
History Vs. Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don’t Want You To Know by Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams
“From Mongolian princesses to Chinese pirates, Native American ballerinas to Egyptian scientists, Japanese novelists to British Prime Ministers, History vs Womenwill reframe the history that you thought you knew” — that’s from the description on Goodreads and frankly, I couldn’t do any better. Well-known feminist Sarkeesian teams up with academic Adams to offer up stories of amazing women throughout history that haven’t had their stories shared. This book, like the others, has lovely illustrations that make these women’s stories come even more alive.
Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History by Blair Imani
The focus of this collective biography is not only on the changemakers of the past, but it explores those who are making the world a better place today. It celebrates not only cis women, but people who identify as genderqueer, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, trans, and more. Imani is herself a young Muslim activist, so her keen eye and insight into those who are changing the world makes this particular title especially powerful.
Rad Girls Can: Stories of Bold, Brave, and Brilliant Young Women by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl
You might be familiar with Schatz’s work with her previous two collective biographies, which covered rad women of American history and rad women of history throughout the world. This book, which came out last year, is similar but it focuses on young women who are making — or have made — a difference. There are the usual suspects like Malala and Jazz Jennings, but there are plenty of young people included who are lesser known but whose stories deserve attention.
Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played To Win by Rachel Ignotofsky
A couple of years ago, Rachel stopped by this newsletter to talk about her first book, Women in Science. This is her followup, highlighting 50 awesome women athletes throughout history. Her biographies are not only short and sweet, but they’re well-designed and visual treasures. There are infographics, statistics, and the book highlights not just a wide range of women. It also highlights a wide range of sports.
____________________
Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you again next week for even more talk of badass ladies, feminism, and the latest in YA news!
— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.
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031119-LittleDarlings-Giveaway
We have 10 copies of Little Darlings to give away to ten Book Riot Readers.
Here’s what it’s all about;
Set in present-day and spanning the first five weeks following a traumatic childbirth, Lauren’s hopes and dreams of being a new mom are shattered when she encounters a mother’s worst nightmare—someone is threatening to take her twins if she leaves them alone. Inspired by dark fairy tales and folklore, Little Darlings ranges from the stark loneliness of returning home after birth to the confines of a psychiatric unit, as the reader is forced to question if Lauren is losing her mind—or does she know something we don’t? Little Darlings, soon to be a major motion picture, will have you checking—and rechecking—your own little ones just to be sure. Just to be safe.
Click here for a chance to win, or click on the cover image below!
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In The Club – 3/13
Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read.
Hello friends! Currently staring at the rain pouring just outside my window and wondering if this is what having seasons feel like? This San Diegan is not used to all this moisture. Super weird.
But you didn’t come here for weather; you’re here for another round-up of book club things to chat about. This week’s topics include Oprah, inclusion, book prizes, and more. Let’s get into that.
To the club!
This newsletter is sponsored by Libby, the one-tap reading app from your library and OverDrive.
Meet Libby. The award-winning reading app that makes sure you always have something to read. It’s like having your entire library right in your pocket. Download the app today and get instant access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free thanks to your public library and OverDrive.
Question for the Club: Last week I asked you all to share some of your favorite book club memories. So many good ones! Here are a few of my faves:
- “One is when we read ‘Let’s Pretend This Never Happened‘ because we got to to talk a lot about mental health and the struggles that we all faced in that capacity. I think that meeting went on for like four plus hours and it was a really good discussion.” Love this, so much.
- “When we read ‘Fangirl’ and met up at a local eatery. One of our members was going off on a bit of a rant (as she does) and using adult language. At one point one of the other members was like ‘Language; there’s a child’ pointing to a little girl at a nearby table and the other girl was like ‘She has headphones’ to which the other one responded ‘BECAUSE OF YOU!!!'” It be like that sometimes!
- “My favourite night of the year is in June when we pick our selections for the following Sept-May, and it’s not my favourite night of the book club nights, it’s my favourite night of the 365 nights of the year. Anyways, since everyone brings 2 or 3 suggestions, we usually have 20-30 suggestions total and have to bring that number down to ten… My favourite is always the disappointment when the books come off the list and we have to remind ourselves that we are still allowed to read them!” UMMM YOU MEAN YOU HOLD A BOOK CLUB DRAFT?? Hell yes!
And now for our next query:
Give Them All the Prizes – I fangirled pretty hard in my intro last week about the Women’s Prize longlist, which is just… I… but…
- Book Club Bonus: If you already read women, need to read more women, are a woman, know a woman… basically if you’ve ever breathed air: read these books! If your book club is big enough to do so, maybe split off into groups and assign a different nominee to each group. Then come together to discuss and declare your own winner!
The Book Club That Cares – “One of our members is a romance lover and she gamely reads everything the rest of us suggest without complaint, yet we have never tackled her favorite kind of book. I’d like to propose a romance as our next selection.” I’m so here for this question from this week’s Get Booked (Episode 171: Making Reader Face).
- Book Club Bonus: I love that this book club was open to switching things up to include the romance reader’s preferences. MORE OF THIS PLEASE! Do a quick check-in with your people to see how they’re feeling about your selections and be willing to try something new to promote inclusion.
- Related: Need help finding a book in this new genre? You only have to ask. You can write in to Get Booked, of course, or try a librarian or bookseller (be warned: I *will* make you a spreadsheet). One thing I know for sure: book people love to talk books.
Get That Book Club Money, Honey – Tayari Jones wrote a piece for The Cut’s Get That Money segment and I can’t say enough good things about it. She talks about the success of An American Marriage, getting the call from Oprah, and what she did with those sweet, sweet royalties after Oprah’s Book Club. Or as she put it on Twitter:
A better headline would be: I’M KEEPING MY DAY JOB.https://t.co/RfOxy4W5QV
— Tayari Jones (@tayari) March 4, 2019
- Book Club Bonus: An American Marriage really is a phenomenal book club pick. The commentary on race, marriage, empathy, the justice system.. I could go on.
Perfect Pairings – I somehow missed this piece from Parade last month on ideal snack spread pairings for the perfect book club. You all know it’d be like a day without orange juice if I didn’t throw some foodstuffs in the mix so… voila.
- Book Club Bonus: I won’t lie to you: whenever I think of pairings for book club, I’m usually thinking booze. I love the thought that went into these snack suggestions – please share if you’ve come up with creative ones of your own!
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
Hello and happy Tuesday, friends! Today we’ve got a bajillion trailers, both of the book and screen variety, some very Star Wars beetles, exciting new releases and book deals, and a review of Tade Thompson’s The Rosewater Insurrection.
This newsletter is sponsored by The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, available now from Grove Press.
A fantastical journey set at the height of the Spanish Inquisition from the award-winning author of Alif the Unseen and writer of the Ms. Marvel series, G. Willow Wilson’s The Bird King is a jubilant story of love versus power, religion versus faith, and freedom versus safety. The novel follows Fatima, the only remaining Circassian concubine to the sultan, and her dearest friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker, on their quest to find the mysterious, possibly mythic island of The Bird King, whose shifting boundaries will hopefully keep them safe.
Today’s news round-up includes a bonanza of trailers:
Here’s the trailer for the final season of Game of Thrones.
And here’s the first full trailer for the adaptation of Good Omens.
And here’s a book trailer for The Dysasters by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.
In adaptation news, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez has been acquired by Netflix, for a Spanish-language series, and I am sure I am not the only magical realism fan who is (potentially) very excited about this. Let the fancasting begin!
The Lord of the Rings TV adaptation will be set during the Second Age, which is good news for Silmarillion fans but bad news for people who wanted to see young Aragorn; let us now all hope for young(er) Elrond and Galadriel! I remain skeptical but curious.
In “not a trailer” news: details have FINALLY been released about the Harry Potter AR game from the makers of Pokémon Go, and it’s available for pre-order on Google Play (although no official release date yet).
In my continued glee over science nerdery, I present you with beetles named after Yoda and Artemis, among others.
And last but not least, in case you too are still playing catch-up with late February, this year’s Oscar’s red carpet rundown from Genevieve Valentine includes a fable about JLo. (Seriously.)
And in this week’s stand-out new releases:
The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson (reviewed below!)
The ebook deal gods have smiled upon us with the discounts on the first books of several series:
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) by N.K. Jemisin, $2.99
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey, $2.99
The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden, $1.99
Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie, $2.99
And in today’s review, we have aliens and zombies and special agents, oh my!
The Rosewater Insurrection (The Wormwood Trilogy #2) by Tade Thompson
Trigger warnings: self-harm, child abuse
We did a whole SFF Yeah! book club episode on Rosewater, so you can imagine my excitement about the next installment — especially considering that my one wish upon finishing Rosewater was to get more story from Aminat’s perspective, and The Rosewater Insurrection does just that! Of course, it’s not all Aminat; instead we get multiple narrators, across multiple timelines, in the next gloriously tangled installment of this war for the fate of Earth and humanity.
To recap: Rosewater is the name of a city that formed around an alien creature that implanted itself into the planet, formed a biodome, and released spores and xenoflaura and -fauna. Some of those alien elements heal people, some hurt people, and some humans were granted psychic powers as the result of exposure. Kaaro, our narrator in the first book, was one of those “sensitives,” who began to uncover exactly what the alien structure was, as well as its goal — nothing less than the takeover of the planet, and the possible end of humanity.
In Book 2, we follow Rosewater’s mayor Jack Jacques, bad-ass S-45 special agent Aminat (who is dating Kaaro), and a soldier named Eric, among others, all of whom have a different part to play and whose own motivations are not always clear. Aminat’s storyline was both my favorite and is the easiest to sum up: S-45 has discovered a human who has unusually high levels of alien DNA, and wants her brought in for examination and questioning. Aminat is sent out to locate and acquire this target, and in the process must make her way through riots, gunfights, pseudo-zombies and killer plants, and her own organization’s twisted methods. That’s just the tip of the plot iceberg, but it’s a solid start, and to tell you anymore would spoil the fun (and actual plot points).
I’ve read a few sequels recently that suffer a bit from sophomore slump, or are very slow burns; The Rosewater Insurrection is anything but. This book is a whirlwind from start to finish, building on the foundation of Rosewater and ratcheting up the stakes, the action, and the plot threads, with an incredible finale that changes, yet again, the rules of this potentially deadly game. If you too were a fan of the first book, get this ASAP; if you haven’t started yet, there’s no time like the present.
And that’s a wrap! You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. If you’re interested in more science fiction and fantasy talk, you can catch me and my co-host Sharifah on the SFF Yeah! podcast. For many many more book recommendations you can find me on the Get Booked podcast with the inimitable Amanda, or on Twitter as jennIRL.
Stay away from suspicious domes,
Jenn