A quick reminder: today’s links will take you to Libby, a free app where you can borrow ebooks, digital audiobooks, and magazines from your public library. Many of you already know and love Libby, and now you can borrow August’s most exciting new releases (or put them on hold) right from this newsletter. Happy reading (and borrowing)!
Hello, and happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you are safe and well, and reading a book or ten that you love. I have been all over the place with my reading the last few weeks. I’ve picked up more nonfiction than usual, and am reading books about a Disney actor, our social media accounts after we die, and sharks (natch), just to name a few. For you this week, I have a return to a fabulous YA paranormal mystery series, a moving memoir about family and secrets, and a fun look at selling books in the 21st century. Yay, books!
At the top of my list of today’s books I want to pick up are Board to Death (A Board Game Shop Mystery) by CJ Connor, He Who Drowned the World (The Radiant Emperor Duology) by Shelley Parker-Chan, and They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies That Raised Us by Prachi Gupta. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Patricia and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Swim Home to the Vanished, Board to Death, and The Water Outlaws!
Delighting velocireaders since 2017, Book Riot’s New Release Index will keep you in the know about all the latest books. New books for days. Subscribe today — you won’t be able to read them all, but it’s fun to try!
And now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, “Ahhhhhhh, My TBR!” Here are today’s contestants!
Rook by William Ritter
It seems hard to believe that the Jackaby series started ten years ago, or that it has been over for six years. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. The story of an unusual paranormal investigator Jackaby and his assistant Abigail Rook in late 19th-century New England, the quartet is a fun and frightening time! There are creatures, and villains, and a duck pond in the room of Jackaby’s home for one of his old partners (who is now a duck.) And now we have a standalone with Abigail! I don’t want to say too much about this one, because if you haven’t read the first books, some of this plot is a spoiler. So I’ll just say that this time, it’s Abigail and her fiancé who are investigating the supernatural occurrences in New Fiddleham, New England. And if they can’t figure out why some of the local supernatural citizens are starting to disappear, there will soon be a battle in the town that will destroy everything. And to make matters worse, Abigail’s parents are visiting from England and are trying to force her to come back home. Can she keep the career she loves, the man she loves, and stop a supernatural war?
Backlist bump: Jackaby by William Ritter
Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets by Kyo Maclear
The introduction of DNA test results available to anyone who wants to take them has changed a lot of lives. I have been fascinated these last several years by stories of people who discover things they never knew about their families. People who work in these fields often say to make sure you really want to know the answers before you take these tests. But you never imagine you’ll be the one to learn something that will change your life. Kyo Maclear’s memoir is one such story of a shocking discovery. A few months after the death of her father, Maclear learned through a DNA test that her father, the man who raised her, was not actually her biological father. This led her on a search for answers and had her, well, yes, unearthing the truth. It’s a story of family and grief, and complicated family secrets. And a reminder that blood relation doesn’t dictate the only definition of family.
Backlist bump: Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-first Century by Josh Cook
And last but not least, I wanted to be sure to mention this book, because it is a subject near and dear to my heart: recommending books! Author, bookseller, and bookstore co-owner Josh Cook talks about how so much of the book industry has changed over the last several years. But getting a recommendation for a book you read and love, and having had a bookseller put that book in your hands, is still one of the great joys of being a reader. He also discusses what it is like to be a reader and recommender in the midst of such staggering book-banning attempts and widespread hate in the country. And there are also lots of great book recommendations, too. Yay, books! (Full disclosure: Josh is a friend of mine.)
Backlist bump: Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount
Join Rebecca & Jeff in the First Edition podcast to consider the 10 finalists for the “It Book” of August and pick a winner.
This week, I am reading Last Acts by Alexander Sammartino and What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama and Alison Watts (translator). In non-book things, I had a very Charles Grodin weekend. I had a lot of busy work to do on my computer, so I put movies on to play in the background. I watched Midnight Run (twice), The Great Muppet Caper, and Clifford (which I haven’t seen since high school and, it turns out, is still one of the worst movies ever). The song stuck in my head this week is “Roll To Me” by Del Amitri (and now it’s stuck in yours, mwahahah!). And here is your weekly cat picture: It’s mew for the price of one! Farrokh (l) and Zevon got on top of the fridge to observe us as we made dinner.
Thank you, as always, for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty