Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and today I’m coming in with an extravaganza of new releases that includes a couple of exciting indie titles that I wanted to spotlight. I don’t know what is up with this November — there are so many good books coming out — but I’m certainly not complaining. Stay safe (and warm) out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: NDN Collective and Jane’s Due Process.
Bookish Goods
Baba Yaga necklace by WhiteWhaleApothecary
Channel your inner Baba Yaga with this necklace inspired by the Baba Yaga house. $18
New Releases
Nubia: The Awakening by Omar Epps and Clarence A. Haynes
Zuberi, Lencho, and Uzochi have never seen their utopic, ancestral homeland of Nubia; it was destroyed by massive storms. Their families fled as climate refugees to New York City, already suffering its own climate difficulties and torn by class struggle. For most of their fellow Nubians, being a refugee means being constantly disrespected. But these three teenagers are awakening to something more, powers both extraordinary and terrifying that they could use to either lift their people up — or leave them behind.
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
Bree wanted only to find out the truth about her mother’s death when she infiltrated the Legendborn Order; on the other side, she’s found herself the wielder of power she could have never imagined. She is a medium, a bloodcrafter, and a scion — and the boy she has fallen in love with has been kidnapped. The Regent of the Order claim they want to protect her, and that secrecy is of the utmost importance; Bree isn’t about to let any of that stop her.
Into the Forest: Tales of Baba Yaga edited by Lindy Ryan
A collection of new short stories inspired by the eastern European legend of Baba Yaga, the witch who lives in a house that runs on chicken legs and travels in a mortar and pestle.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I want to shine the spotlight on more indie/small press books as we’re moving toward the holidays…so here’s a couple to consider for your shopping needs!
Dr. No by Percival Everett
Wala Kitu is a brilliant professor of mathematics whose name literally means “Nothing Nothing” — the thing at which he is an expert. Aspiring villain John Sill, who wants to break into Fort Knox to steal a mysterious shoebox also filled with nothing, sees him as the perfect partner in crime. It’s up to Wala Kitu to figure out how to foil John Sill’s plans to become a literal Bond villain while somehow also remaining in his employ.
Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister
Nine-year-old Magdala and her father flee across the harsh desert of the American West in search of the holy city of Las Vegas, hoping for succor from the neon-powered saints who reside there. But they never make it across the Sonoran desert; one by one the adults die and Magdala fends for herself for seven years before turning her path once again toward Las Vegas — and this time she will not be stopped.
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.