It’s Tuesday again, friends, and I have a great upcoming book recommendation for you! This past weekend, I read Chickenpox by Remy Lai. It’s a middle grade graphic novel based on the time Lai and her four siblings all had chickenpox, and how annoying it can be to be the oldest child. It was excellent, so be sure to mark it down now, and pick it up when it’s out in January. Lai also has a really creepy graphic novel coming in August that I highly recommend called Read at Your Own Risk (and read at your own risk if you are freaked out by bugs!). Now, for today’s releases, I have a smart comedy about choice and agency, a contemporary retelling of The Brothers Karamazov, and a really unsettling horror novel with a cinematic theme.
As for other new releases, at the top of my list of today’s books that I want to get my hands on are The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza, Mouth: Stories by Puloma Ghosh, and Familiaris, David Wroblewski’s prequel to The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about books we are excited about that are out this week, including Moonbound, Tehrangeles, and The Stardust Grail.
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Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
I have been a fan of Rufi Thorpe since her first book, but it’s this, her fifth novel, that is going to send her into stardom, especially when the adaptation comes out. This smart, funny novel is about a young woman named Margo (surprise, surprise), who is navigating early adulthood as best she can. When she becomes pregnant after an ill-advised brief affair with her professor, Margo decides she’s going to have the baby. But this is hard, as she is seriously broke, with no help available from her parents, a former Hooters server and a pro wrestler. So using her gumption and some tips from her wrestler dad, Margo starts an OnlyFans channel. But when her channel is a surprise success, Margo will have to decide if the cash and notoriety are worth the judgment and internet permanence. Thorpe is an amazing observer of human nature, and like her previous novels, this one is filled with characters who are achingly human and will capture your heart, flaws, and all.
Backlist bump: Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe
The Sisters K by Maureen Sun
This debut is a contemporary retelling of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I fully admit to never having read that book, so I cannot say if it is similar or faithful, but I did think this was excellent. It’s about three sisters who grow up in California with a horrible, abusive father, who reunite at his deathbed after years of estrangement. One has become a cold-hearted lawyer, one is a discontented academic, and the youngest has been left to care for their dad, to the detriment of her own life. The death of their father could change their lives. The sisters want their inheritance, they want closure, they want to see that the man who tormented them for so long is really going to die. It’s a heartbreaking story about a legacy of violence, how it affected the relationships between the sisters and informed their adulthoods, and how complicated family can be. Sun has delivered an ambitious and promising debut, and I look forward to what she writes next.
Backlist bump: The Brothers K by David James Duncan
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
Terrible things and curses surrounding movies and film sets are pretty much its own horror subgenre now, and this new novel is an excellent addition to the shelf. In 1993, a group of kids broke into an abandoned school building to film an indie horror film called Horror Movie. It was disturbing and eerie, and what eventually happened on that set became the subject of rumor and legend for years. Now, three decades later, a group of hardcore fans of the film are remaking it, and the only surviving cast member has been invited to consult and help out with the new shoot. But are they tempting fate by recreating a doomed film? I don’t want to tell you anything else about it, because it’s best for you to experience the horror for yourself. Tremblay has pulled out all the stops in this wicked, weird, and upsetting novel, perfect for fans of scary lore and horror films.
Backlist bump: The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman
This week, I am reading The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich and Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley. For viewing, along with the NBA Finals, my husband and I continued our true crime documentary streak by watching The Staircase. Now we’re trying to decide if we want to watch the Colin Firth fictionalized version. The song stuck in my head this week is “It’s a Shame About Ray” by The Lemonheads. And here is your weekly cat picture: This bread dough looks a little weird.
That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you 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
”I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books.” – Jo Walton, Among Others