Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Welcome back to Tuesday, readers. It’s time for new books! At the top of my list of today’s titles that I want to read are For Joshua: An Ojibwe Father Teaches His Son by Richard Wagamese and Perfect Tunes by Emily Gould. I also want a finished copy of The Eighth Life: for Brilka by Nino Haratischvili, even though I’ve been reading a PDF, because I love big books!

You can hear about some of the amazing new books coming out that I did get to read on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Vanessa and I discussed The Unsuitable, Braised Pork, The Happily Ever Playlist, and more!

It has been a long time since I received a galley in the mail, because of everything going on. Which is fine with me – stay home and be safe! But I have still received some amazing upcoming titles I’m excited about via advance PDFs. They include The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison, Red Pill by Hari Kunzru, The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde, A Deadly Education (The Scholomance) by Naomi Novik, Jack by Marilynne Robinson, and You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria.

As always, I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. Here’s where you can learn more about COVID-19 Updates from the Bookish World. We’ll continue to update it regularly. Please stay inside as much as you can, but don’t forget that fresh air is good for you, so be sure to open your windows now and then. (And be sure to watch your pets and small children around them when they’re open.)

And please reach out to your friends and family if you’re having a hard time – talking on the computer or phone is a great way to communicate right now! I wish you all wonderful reading during this hard time.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:

Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui

Although I love to swim, I do it so rarely, because I hate swimming where there are things living in the water more than I love swimming. But I still love to read about swimming! This is a fascinating novel about, well, why we swim, and when, and where, and for how long. Even though humans are not natural-born swimmers, they love going in the water, unlike most other mammals. There is a ton of interesting stuff from history and present-day in this book!

Backlist bump: Swim: Why We Love the Water by Lynn Sherr

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Oh, oh, oh, how I love Frances Hardinge, and everything she writes. It’s always so wildly imaginative and fantastic! This is a YA novel about a teen boy, Hark, who finds the still-beating heart of a monster god, even though the gods supposedly killed each other off decades ago. Hark hides the heart from grownup and the authorities, because he thinks the heart will save his dying best friend, Jelt. But instead, it starts to transform Jelt into a monster. Can Hark do what’s necessary before it’s too late?

Backlist bump: The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel by Cho Nam-Joo, Jamie Chang (translator)

Set in South Korea, this excellent novel is about societal expectations and misogyny vs. personal choice and freedom. Kim Jiyoung leaves her desk job to stay home and care for her newborn daughter, like she is expected to, but it transforms her in the strangest way: she begins to talk in the voices of other women, both alive and dead. Understandably, this freaks out her family, who send her to a psychiatrist. There Kim Jiyoung recounts the difficulties and unfair expectations put upon Korean women, and the inherent sexism and dangers in her every-day routines.

Backlist bump: The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Thanks for subscribing! xx, Liberty