Sponsored by Lit Stitch: 25 Cross-Stitch Patterns for Book Lovers
Inside Book Riot’s Lit Stitch, you’ll find a number of badass, bookish cross-stitch patterns. Some of these are for bookmarks, others are for wall decor, and still others can take on a whole host of finished outcomes. What they have in common is their literary bent—the patterns speak to all manner of literary-minded book lovers, who are happy to display their nerdier sides. And what better way than through your own cross-stitch art to hang on your wall, prop on your desk, or even gift to friends and family. And most, if not all, are beginner friendly and can be completed in a few hours—instant stitchification! So grab yourself some excellent embroidery floss, hoops, and needles, and pick out one or more of these great cross-stitch patterns for your next project.
Hola Audiophiles! Welcome to another week of audio lurve and ponderings on isolation. It’s both weirder and more normal, amirite? Let’s try some positivity though: I want everyone to think of one good thing they have going for them right now, and feel free to share it with me! Mine is that I’m proud of myself for eating plenty of fruits and vegetables when all I want to eat is buckets of cheese and carne asada fries. Look at me adulting!
K, your turn. Now let’s audio.
New Releases – May 12 (publisher descriptions in quotes)
Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden, read by Deepti Gupta (fantasy) – Razia ran away to live life on her terms rather than die at the hands of her hateful father, finding sisterhood and safety in a community of hijras. By day, she is one of her dera’s finest dancers; by night she is its most profitable thief.This is the price her guru charges for keeping Razia’s identity secret: no one has to know she was born the Crown Prince of Nizam so long as Razia agrees to the thieving. When her latest target leads her to cross paths with the Prince of Bikampur, she falls for him immediately. Problem! That prince has been sent to find out who’s been stealing from his wealthy citizens. Involvement with him will not only embroil Razia in a dangerous political war, but will also bring her face to face with her father.
TW: physical abuse and anti-transgender language
Narrator note: I am a new fan of Deepti Gupta! You have recognize her from A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza or The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal
The Anthill by Julianne Pachico, read by Anthony Rey Perez (fiction, horror) – Carolina lived in Medellin, Colombia for the first eight years of her life before she was shipped off to an English boarding school after her mother’s violent death. She returns to Medellín after a 20-year absence, hoping to find connection to the city of her birth and to rekindle a relationship with her childhood best friend Mattias. She buys a one-way ticket to Medellin with plans to volunteer at a community center in one of its poorest neighborhoods, a center run by Mattias himself. But she finds that Mattias has changed, and so has Medellin. As Lina begins to confront her memories and Colombia’s traumatic history, strange things begin happening at the center: the kids are drawing unsettling pictures, something violent is scratching at the closet, and then there’s the frequent sightings of a small, dirty boy with pointy teeth. Gulp.
Narrator note: Anthony Rey Perez is so good in Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez and its sequel. Casual, well-pronounced, clear, and well-paced.
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet, read by Xe Sands (fiction) – You might not guess it from the title, but this is a searing commentary on climate change responsibility with some major Lord of the Flies vibes. A group of kids and teens are spending a summer with their parents at a lakeside rental mansion, but things are far from peachy. They feel both neglected and suffocated as their parents pass their days in a stupor of booze, drugs, and sex, telling the kids to go play outside when they dare make their presence known. When a massive storm descends on the estate, the kids—led by ringleader and narrator Eve—run away into the apocalyptic chaos outside. As they seek refuge in a farm house, the events in the pages of a children’s bible they have in tow start to bleed into real life.
Narrator note: You may recall that I loved Xe Sands’ performance of Sarah Gailey’s Magic for Liars. If you like her style, you may also want to check out The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro or The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia.
Latest Listens
I finished Sabriel by Garth Nix and got my entire life from it! Sabriel has spent most of her life at a boarding school outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, where the line between the living and the dead is a lil blurry (read: muy blurry) and Free Magic is a powerful force. During her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen—the guardian of the border between life and death—goes missing; though most presume him dead, Sabriel believes otherwise.
She embarks on a journey into the Old Kingdom to find him with two companions in tow: Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, and Mogget, a talking cat (nbd) who’s cranky AF the entire time. As the trio travels deep into the Old Kingdom, they encounter threats of all sorts (most of them dead); every step brings them closer to a battle between the forces of life and death, one that brings Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.
I was a little predisposed to liking a book where an even ruder version of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch is involved, but the journey through the world of the dead and the charter magic were what kept me rapt. As for Tim Curry, he is narrator goals! Young necromancer mage? He can do that. Surly cat sidekick? No problem! He balances the snark with the wonder and does a great job of keeping the feminine voice natural (it grinds my gears when male narrators make women sound like Miss Piggy). These books feel like they were made for his voice and I can’t wait to keep going with the rest of the Abhorsen series. This is a definite backlist bump since it was published back in ’08; if you missed these books too and have a love for a good quest story in a fantasy setting with a rude animal sidekick, you know what to do.
From the Internets
WaPo suggests these three audiobooks for your quarantine stroll (sorry for the paywall!)
Missing your BFFs? Get Literary suggests eight relatable audiobooks to fill that bestie void.
Audiofile put together a great list of romance listen pairings. Hello, comfort!
Over at the Riot
Quick & engrossing audiobooks under six hours long
A roundup of the best-selling audiobooks of all time
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, catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast, and watch me ramble about even more new books every Tuesday on our YouTube channel.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa