Sponsored by Size Zero by Abigail Mangin.
Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on fashion runways. A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion’s biggest stage. The body is identified as Annabelle Leigh, the teenager who famously disappeared over a decade ago from her boyfriend’s New York City mansion. This new evidence casts suspicion back on the former boyfriend, Cecil LeClaire. Now a monk, he is forced to return to his dark and absurd childhood home to clear his name. He teams up with Ava Germaine, a renegade ex-model. And together, they investigate the depraved and lawless modeling industry behind Cecil’s family fortune.
Happy Thursday, book nerds! Surprise, surprise, I’ve got a load of fun book news for you today! I’ve been spending my work days plopped in front of the fan in my dining room, trying to stay adequately hydrated while listening to audiobooks on and off as I work. There’s something reassuring about listening to a book where the characters are melting in the heat as much as I am (The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires), but wow, my kingdom for some AC!
I hope you’re staying cool, drinking lots, and are well stocked in books! Keep on washing those hands, wearing your bookish masks, and staying socially distant!
Trivia time: What play does Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury get its title from?
Book and Adaptation News
I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee, a book I squealed about last month on All the Books, has been picked up by HBO Max!
Check out the cover reveal for Black Futures, a visual anthology that will release later this year!
Book Rioters have rounded up some of the best books of 2020 so far, and the list is amazing!
Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer and The Refugees, has a new book coming out in 2021! The Committed is set in Paris in 1982, and the cover is striking!
Rainbow Rowell has announced that the Eleanor & Park movie now has a director attached, and casting will start this week. The news has caused a resurgence of critiques surrounding how Park, a biracial Korean-American character, is portrayed in the novel. So far, Rowell hasn’t addressed that criticism.
Mary L. Trump’s book about Donald Trump is not only proceeding with publication, but it will be out as early as next week!
Book Riot Recommends:
At Book Riot, I am a cohost with Liberty on All the Books!, plus I write a handful of newsletters, cohost the Insiders Read Harder podcast, and create content for the site. I’m always drowning in books, so here’s a book I recently read and loved!
Goodbye from Nowhere by Sara Zarr
I’m a huge Sara Zarr fan (everything she writes is amazing, and the Lifetime movie adaptation of her first novel, Story of a Girl, is directed by Kyra Sedgwick and is *chef’s kiss*), so I was super excited to finally start in on her 2020 release, which I’ve had since May! This is the first book she’s written from a male POV, and I thought she did a fantastic job. This book is about Kyle, a California teen who thinks his family is a little messy but mostly great, and he’s super proud to introduce them all to his girlfriend at Thanksgiving. But then shortly afterwards, he learns that his mom is having an affair–and that his dad knows all about it. Kyle begins spinning out, trying to reconcile the family he thought he had with his new reality. During this time, he reaches out to his cousin Emily, who lives hours away, and finds their friendship deepening as she supports him through this tumultuous time, especially when the family learns their grandparents are selling the family farm.
I loved the emotional arcs in this book, and the characters! Kyle is a baseball loving, classic musical watching teen who loves his family, but turns a blind eye to their deeper-rooted issues until he has to face them head on. Along the way, he learns the importance of communicating your feelings and fighting for what you want and what you believe in. He also discovers that just because you’re family doesn’t mean that your relationship is secure–being there for one another takes work and time, but it can be totally worth it. I also loved the family farm setting–so different from what you see of a lot of California settings!–and the family dynamics. This is a great pick if you’ve never read a book by Sara Zarr, and a must-read if you’re already a fan!
Check out: 12 Must-Read High Fantasy Novels Coming Out in the Second Half of 2020
On My Radar This Week:
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (finally started, loving it so much!)
The Mysterious Messenger by Gilbert Ford
Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA edited by Nova Ren Suma and Emily X.R. Pan
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (this is a queer fantasy about Black girls taking down an evil system, and I am so excited for it!)
Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka (the latest book in one of my favorite mystery series!)
Trivia Answer: It’s Hamlet, by William Shakespeare!
I’ll leave you with a photo of a recent read, and a bowl of the best homemade animal crackers I’ve ever had. (Let’s be real, they’re more like cookies and I am okay with this.) I followed the Half-Baked Harvest recipe, which is easy albeit a little fussy in this hot weather and they were delicious–the frosting is made from confectioner’s sugar and strawberry juice and it’s perfection. I got the cookie cutters from Etsy, and eating these totally made me feel like a kid again!
Happy reading!
Tirzah