Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got a rather dark duo of new releases to start you off. Put it down to my week beginning with a winter storm that dropped five inches of snow on top of an inch of sloppy slush, so it felt like getting catapulted back into the depths of winter. The recommendations are at least less dark and more…dreaming. Which seems like the short fiction theme this week! May you have not started your week off with wet shoes like I did. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
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Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here are two places to start: Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian relief to children in the Middle East regardless of nationality, religion, or political affiliation; and Ernesto’s Sanctuary, a cat sanctuary and animal rescue in Syria that is near and dear to my heart.
Bookish Goods
The Map of Mathematics by hunarnim
One of the books has “math” in its title so I wanted to find something related. This isn’t fictional as such, but it’s a really neat cartoon map of how mathematical disciplines fit together. (This is a digital download to print yourself.) $4
New Releases
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
The annual family destination vacation is something Anna has learned to survive over the years, and that’s easier said than done when she’s the only person in the family who doesn’t fit in. This year, the family’s renting an enormous villa in a tiny village, but things start going off the rails quickly and in a very gothic, haunted way.
The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones
This is the final book of the trilogy that started with My Heart Is a Chainsaw. Jade Daniels has been in prison for the last four years after taking the fall for her family and best friend. There are a lot of things the residents of Proofrock, Idaho, don’t want to face, but the greatest of those shadows is the curse of the Lake Witch, and it’s not going to wait any longer.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Today, we’re looking at a couple questions of the weird, the dreaming, and the queer.
Infinity Mathing at the Shore & Other Disruptions by M. Lopes da Silva
This collection leans very into the surreal and the weird…sometimes in a very chilling way. Expect altered landscapes of consciousness and unlikely hauntings.
Two Moons: Stories by Krystal A. Smith
Two Moons gives us stories that are more gentle in their dreaming and surreal concepts, focusing on the magic of Black women living and loving each other.
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.