Happy new release day to all who celebrate! I hope you are having a fabulous Tuesday, and are reading something wonderful. I am here to tempt your brain with more reading material. (IT’S NEVER ENOUGH!) Topping my list of books to buy today are The Silverberg Business by Robert Freeman Wexler, Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley (because lol that title), Day Boy by Trent Jamieson, and Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling. (I CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH!)
You can hear about more of today’s new releases on this week’s episode of All the Books! where Patricia and I discussed the best books we read for this week and more, including The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, To Catch a Raven, and Babel. And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Gurnah is the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, for good reason. This is a sweeping epic about a young boy who was stolen by German troops in east Africa and raised to fight his own people. When Ilyas eventually returns home, he finds his family in pieces. Eventually his fate will cross with other young people trying to find their way in a fractured world. It’s a work about brutality and beauty. (CW for racism, colonization, slavery, violence, trauma, illness, and death.)
Backlist bump: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang
I mentioned this on the show and then read it this weekend and had to tell you about it here, too, because it’s so good. It’s a fantasy novel set at Oxford in the 19th century. Robin Swift is an orphan who is brought from China to England, where he is educated at Oxford. Robin’s to work on Babel, the center for magic and translation. Silver is used in the work of translation and it helps the British remain a major world power, which also enables colonialism. Eventually, when Britain declares war on China, Robin wonders if he can help his homeland from the inside. (CW for violence and murder, loss of a loved one, child abuse, sexism, racism, colonization, chemical use, and suicide.)
Backlist bump: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Perish by LaToya Watkins
And last but not least, this powerful debut about family, love, and intergenerational trauma. It follows Helen Jean, the matriarch of the Turner family, as she is on her death bed, and how her choices affected those around her. As her family gathers around her, their long-held secrets come to light. Told in alternating chapters, Watkins explores familial hurts and how the Turners work towards a better future. (CW for racism, violence, chemical use, child abuse, sexual assault, incest, and suicide.)
Backlist bump: The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
This week, I am reading How To Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. Outside of books, I’m still into playing World of Warcraft and I am looking forward to watching the first episode of House of the Dragons soon. (Rhys Ifans 5-eva!) And the song stuck in my head is “Playboy Mommy” by Tori Amos (from my favorite Tori album.) I’m also into listening to music from the 1980s while I play WoW and I started a playlist. It now has over 900 songs and you can listen here! And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon is ready for his close-up.
Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! – XO, Liberty