Happy Tuesday, shipmates! It’s Alex, and I’ve got new releases and some short stories for you. I had a great weekend, and I hope you did, too. It was my nibling’s birthday, and I rode my bike while I listened to a good book and got a bit of natural vitamin D in my system. I’m back to getting lots and lots of audiobooks from the library, and I’m enjoying the heck out of it. Stay safe out there, space pirates, and I’ll see you on Friday!
Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help with handpicked recommendations. Tell the Bibliologists at Tailored Book Recommendations about what you love and what you don’t. You can get your recommendations via email or receive hardcovers or paperbacks in the mail. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Plans start at just $18! Subscribe today.
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
Pirate Ship vs. Tentacle Bookends by KnobCreekMetalArts
You know I love a clever set of bookends. The other half of this set is enormous tentacles coming up from the sea, going through your books to grab the hapless pirate ship. Perfect. $70
New Releases
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
The Chained are condemned to ceaselessly toil in the lower decks of a mining ship that drifts between stars. One day, a boy is brought to the upper decks and informed he will be educated in the ship’s university. He comes under the tutelage of “the professor,” the descendant of other Chained who were elevated, who struggles still to be validated by her peers. Together, they may find a way to truly free themselves.
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
Ruyang is a survivor in a world conquered by invaders who one day simply descended from the heavens and swept aside her people and their magic with their overwhelming technology. Ruyang was also born blessed by death, which gives her the power to kill at will at the cost of her own life force. When her gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her a horrific bargain: become his personal assassin, and he will protect her family from further brutalization by his people.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
We’ve got some new short stories on the radar!
To Root Somewhere Beautiful: An Anthology of Reclamation edited by Lauren T. Davila
Twenty-two diverse authors imagine what the wrath of Nature would be like, when she’s lost patience with humanity’s strife and destruction — and how humanity could change, adapt, and redeem itself.
Weird Black Girls: Stories by Elwin Cotman
This collection from Elwin Cotman promises stories that hybridize the literary, the fantastic, and the unnerving, all while focusing on the anxieties inherent in living while Black.
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.