Author: Emily Martin

This Year’s Best Horror Novel is Out This Week

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date June 7, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Monday, horror fans! I’m so excited for this week’s new releases because two of my most anticipated books of the year are hitting shelves. I can’t wait to tell you about them. But before that, I must tell you…I got attacked by not one. Not two. But THREE crows last weekend. I know you all say it’s not personal, but it’s starting to feel personal. Will update you next week if I encounter any more crows. But for now…horror things.

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Bookish Goods

Felt Ghost Reading Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House by NeedleGhosts

I love these little felt ghosts so much. NeedleGhosts makes tiny little books for the ghosts to hold and read, so you can pick your favorites. My choice would be Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House or Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. There are plenty of other scary books to choose from, though. Or, you could get a bunch and have a full ghost book club. These are $33. Adorbs.

New Releases

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Best book of the year so far, friends. Hands down. I’m so excited that this one is finally out so you can all get it in your hands and start talking to me about it. This book follows a group of young filmmakers setting out to film an indie, experimental horror movie. But after many troubles on set, it’s a horror movie that will never see the light of day. In the present timeline, buzz about the never-released film is building, and some scenes have been released on YouTube. Demand for the film is high, so it’s no surprise that a major budget reboot is in the works. But some movies are just cursed, no matter how many times you try to film them or how much money you put into them.

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

This is another top read of the year for me, and I am so excited to see Nicola Yoon excel in adult fiction as well as young adult fiction. Not that I’m surprised. Jasmyn and King Williams move their family to Liberty, California in the hopes of becoming part of a supportive, thriving Black community. But Liberty is not the Black utopia Jasmyn dreamed it would be. Something strange is going on in this place, and the truth might destroy everything Jasmyn and King have built for their family.

Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

We Don’t Swim Here by Vincent Tirado

It’s still pride month, so I will be featuring queer horror books all month. Here are two more I love! Bronwyn is stuck in rural Hillwoods for a whole year while her grandmother is in hospice. And, as much as she knows she should get in some final moments of quality time with her grandmother, Bronwyn is freaking miserable. If only she could go for a swim in the lake or the pool to distract herself from how depressing her life is at the moment, but everyone keeps warning her not to go swimming. What is really going on in Hillwoods, and what will happen when Bronwyn digs up secrets that would be better left hidden?

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

How fortunate for me that I found this book right when I moved up to the PNW! It’s got all the woodsy, big foot-y, lesbiany vibes a girl could ask for. In Patricia Wants to Cuddle, the final four contestants of a reality TV dating show are taken to a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest. They anticipated competing for love. But they were not prepared for Patricia, a temperamental local who lives alone in the woods and is desperate to make a connection of her own.

What a week, right? I’ll be back next week with more horror things for you, and yes, I’ll let you know about the crows, as promised. Until then, you can follow me (and message me) on Instagram at emandhercat. Sweet dreams, horror fans!

Read This Book

Read This Book…

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date June 6, 2024

Sponsored by

Welcome to Read This Book, your go-to newsletter if you’re looking to expand your TBR pile. Each week, I’ll recommend a book I think is an absolute must-read. Some will be new releases, some will be old favorites, and the books will vary in genre and subject matter every time. I hope you’re ready to get reading!

Y’all…I don’t get it. People are really divided on this one. Sure, some people love it, but some people aren’t getting it. Me? I’m all in. This book is just 100% good. I’m straight-up obsessed. No holds barred. Let’s talk about it.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

Come and Get It is a novel with a fascinating ensemble cast of characters. It’s told against the backdrop of the University of Arkansas in 2017. First, we meet 37-year-old Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer who is working on her next project, a nonfiction book about weddings and wedding traditions. But when she starts interviewing college students about weddings and their thoughts on marriage, Agatha becomes more interested in the students, the ways they live their lives, the ways they spend their money, and their thoughts about the world.

Many of the students at the university also become major players in the novel’s story. There’s Tyler, a wealthy college student who uses her “fun money” to get expensive balayage for her hair (but who also is saving up money to buy a dog). There’s Kennedy, Tyler’s roommate who transferred to the University of Arkansas in her junior year to escape a recent traumatizing experience. Kennedy, unlike Tyler, struggles to make friends at her new school and instead finds camaraderie in things; her dorm room is overstuffed with all of her Target purchases.

Then there’s Millie, a senior resident assistant who helps with Agatha’s research through access to the students in her residence hall. The more Millie spends time with Agatha, the more she becomes wrapped up in Agatha’s process and who Agatha is as a person. In fact, Millie starts fantasizing about Agatha when she’s not there and gets obsessed with the older woman.

All of the women in this story come from different backgrounds and have different expectations of each other, and that’s when things start getting a little uncomfortable. The more you read about each character’s hopes, dreams, and fears, the more you understand that these stories are not aligning in a way that’s going to work out for everyone. From the beginning, Come and Get It is setting up all of these characters for imminent disaster. You will not be able to predict where the story will go, but the journey to get there was completely riveting.

Just like with Kiley Reid’s first novel Such A Fun Age, I could not put this book down. I cringed on behalf of these characters the whole time, but I could not look away. The more mistakes everyone makes, and the more mortifying the situations became, the more invested I became in the build-up to the ultimate disaster at the end of the book. Are you dying to know what happens? I was too. Which is so odd, because it’s not like this is a plot-driven story. It’s an exploration of characters and situations, and it’s hard to say what the plot of the book really is. And yet, I really needed to know what was going to happen next at every turn.

There is so much to love about this story, and so far author Kiley Reid is 2 for 2 as far as I’m concerned. So read this book, and then go back and read Such a Fun Age. You won’t regret it.

Happy weekend reading, bibliophiles! Feel free to follow me on Instagram @EmAndHerCat, and check out my other newsletters, The Fright Stuff and Book Radar!

Book Radar

Abbi Jacobson to Adapt Isle McElroy’s PEOPLE COLLIDE and More Book Radar!

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date June 5, 2024

Sponsored by

Happy Thursday, everyone!

I know I don’t talk about my ~other job~ that often, but I am a Pure Barre teacher (any barre baddies in the house?), and phew, I taught five classes today. Ya girl is sleepy. And so ready to just chill on the couch with you and chat books. Maybe a cat will join us. Who can say? Let’s just start this newsletter and see what happens.

Book Deals and Reveals

Mare of Easttown meets The Outsider in Allison Gunn’s new novel Nowhere, and here’s the cover reveal! The book is available for preorder now. It’s out in March 2025.

Abbi Jacobson, co-creator and star of Broad City and A League of Their Own, has signed on to adapt Isle McElroy’s novel People Collide. Jacobson will serve as writer and showrunner on the project through her Tender Pictures banner.

Clay McLeod Chapman recently announced his first short story collection, Acquired Taste. The horror collection will be out from Titan Books in September 2025.

More new book announcements! Megan Abbott’s El Dorado Drive is expected to hit shelves in summer 2025.

Reese’s Book Club has partnered up with Apple Books to make the platform the book club’s “official audiobook home.” According to a press release, Apple Books will now feature a dedicated page showcasing the book club’s latest monthly picks, previous selections, and “editorial collections curated exclusively by Apple and Reese’s Book Club editors.”

We’re almost halfway through 2024, and here are the most-read books of the year so far, according to Goodreads.

Looking for new queer reads to explore this Pride Month? Here are 43 LGBTQ books coming out the first week of Pride!

Book Riot Recommends

Hi, welcome to everyone’s favorite segment of Book Radar called Book Riot Recommends. This is where I’ll talk to you about all the books I’m reading, the books I’m loving, and the books I can’t wait to read and love in the near future. I think you’re going to love them too!

Can’t Wait for This One!

When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy (Tor Nightfire, April 22, 2025)

Nat Cassidy is an author I am very curious about. I have heard Mary is amazing, but is it weird to say that I, an avid horror fan, have been too scared to pick it up? Please message me and tell me how good this book is and tell me to get over it. Meanwhile, I read Nestlings earlier this year, and I flipping loved it. It was giving me super depressing, extra bone-chilling, unsettling Rosemary’s Baby vibes. Like, okay yeah, I was really scared. But I was ready for morrrre!

Enter When the Wolf Comes Home, the next book from Nat Cassidy. I’m fully in for another round of scaries. Here’s the deal. Jess is a struggling actress who finds a five-year-old hiding outside of her house one day. The boy, tucked away in the bushes, is clearly upset. And then Jess has a horrifying encounter with the boy’s father, which sends both Jess and the boy on the run. As the boy’s father ruthlessly pursues them, it becomes more and more clear to Jess that this man is more dangerous than anything she’s ever encountered before. Strange, gruesome things keep happening around them, and Jess fears they’re up against much more than an angry, violent man.

I can’t wait for this one to come out. Will I finally bite the bullet and dive into Mary to tide me over while I wait for this one? Only time will tell! But I am ready to hear your thoughts. And I can’t wait to read this one along with everyone else (because, duh, this book is going to be popular) next spring!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“One of the more frequent arguments that Agatha and Robin partook in, especially near the end, was what Agatha considered an unfair assertion: that Agatha didn’t like anything. And sure, there were many things that she did not enjoy. Like zoos. And musicals. And photo booths at weddings. Burlesque was another one. Any type of parade. She hated Little Free Libraries in wealthy neighborhoods. (Just use your public library? Which is also free because that’s the point?) She hated when restaurants and stores offered human food to dogs.”

— Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Well, would you look at that! We did end up getting a cat visit. Murray has been feeling a little under the weather, so keep him in your thoughts. He’s clearly a perfect angel who deserves all the happiness in the world!

And that’s where I leave you today, friends. I’m so happy that we got to spend this time together, and I look forward to checking in with you again on Monday! Peace!

Emily

Book Radar

Ta-Nehisi Coates Returns to Nonfiction and More Book Radar!

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 31, 2024

Sponsored by

Hello, Book Friends!

Welcome to another Monday edition of Book Radar. It feels like it was a long weekend. We’re in a whole new month now, and so much is going on in the book world. Let me tell you all about it.

Book Deals and Reveals

Ta-Nehisi Coates returns to nonfiction for his latest book, The Message. Here, Coates explores the power of storytelling and how it creates our reality. It’s out from One World on October 1.

Amazon Prime Video has ordered a series based on Andy Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes novels. Hero Fiennes Tiffin has signed on to star, and Guy Ritchie will direct.

Here’s the cover reveal of Ai Jiang’s sci-fi fantasy novella A Palace Near the Wind. It’s out from Titan Books on April 8, 2025.

Wizards of the Coast has revealed the cover art for the newest edition of Dungeons & Dragons’ Dungeon Master’s Guide. The new cover is illustrated by Tyler Jacobson. It will be out on November 12.

And here’s the cover of Dream Hunters by Nazima Pathan. It’s out on August 1!

Netflix has announced the cast for BET, a live-action high school thriller based on the manga Kakegurui. The cast includes Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, Eve Edwards, Clara Alexandrova, Hunter Cardinal, Anwen O’Driscoll, Aviva Mongillo, and Ryan Sutherland.

Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline has sold the rights to four new books to Grand Central. The first book in the deal, The Unraveling of Julia, will be published in July 2025.

Gary Krist, author of the bestsellers Empire of Sin and The Mirage Factory, will be publishing his latest, Trespassers at the Golden Gate: A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco, with Crown in March 2025.

Get ready for a new nonfiction anthology all about horror. Why I Love Horror, and You Should Too is a collection of essays all celebrating a love of horror. Contributors include horror authors Stephen Graham Jones, Clay McLeod Chapman, Paul Tremblay, Grady Hendrix, Tananarive Due, Victor LaValle, Rachel Harrison, and many more!

Book Riot Recommends

Prepare Your Shelves!

Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel (St. Martin’s Griffin, June 11)

Is June a little too early for a holiday romance? Absolutely not, especially when it’s this cute. Katie Price comes from a small town in Wisconsin, but now she’s a big-name celebrity who is well-known across the country—heck, across the world. But with the holidays coming up, Katie is heading home. It’s been a while since she’s made it back to Wisconsin, and there is someone back home she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about.

That someone would be Wil Greene. Back in high school, Wil and Katie were close, but a whole decade has passed since senior year. Wil’s life has changed significantly as well, and not in the way she thought it would. Wil hoped to have a law career by this point, but nothing is really happening with that. On top of that, her father recently died. Now, Wil is best known for her TikTok account, where she posts about her personal intimacy challenge: kissing a new person twice a week every week.

Wil and Katie’s lives have gone in very different directions, but they’ve never stopped thinking of each other. As soon as they’re reunited, all of those feelings and emotions from ten years ago come flooding right back. They’re from different worlds, but maybe undeniable chemistry is enough to make this connection last this time.

What I’m Reading This Week

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander

Monday Memes

This is for all of you who are patiently waiting for Bridgerton season 2, part 2. You’re almost there.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Two cats for the price of one today! Here’s Remy and Murray, being good brothers. I 100% guarantee Murray was there first and Remy showed up to hang out and be cool. Serious little brother energy.

That’s all for Monday’s Book Radar. Have a beautiful week. See you Thursday!

Emily

The Fright Stuff

Horrors Never Cease…Even in June

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 31, 2024

Sponsored by

Hello, horror fans!

I missed you last Monday. So glad to be back. It’s June, which means a lot of people are looking to pick up their next beach read or pool-side feel-good book. But you know what makes us feel good? Being scared. That’s why we’re sticking with horror all summer long.

Bookish Goods

Overlook Hotel Beach Towel by reflectivedesignsUK

I can’t get enough of this pattern from The Shining. It gives me the creeps every time I see it. Now you can bring it along with you to the beach this summer! $32.

New Releases

Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore

It’s Pride Month, so let’s start with a new queer horror story! The Soler sisters are known around polite society for being brazen and rebellious, which is why their grandmother sends them off to a finishing school called Alarie House, in the hopes of turning them into respectable young socialites. But there’s something strange about the Alarie girls. They’re all just a little too perfect. When Renata returns from the program, she is a little too pleasant to be around. Then she disappears. Determined to figure out what’s going on in the Alarie House and what happened to older her sister, Isla—who left the school almost immediately upon entering—reenrolls to uncover the school’s secrets.

Grim Root by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

I am such a sucker for reality tv stories, especially when it’s (you guessed it) a horror story. The Groom is a reality TV series where women compete to win the love of a bachelor. In this case, the bachelor is Midwesterner Tristan, and the ladies will have to prove their love by spending the night in a haunted house. But then someone dies on set, and the game becomes much more dangerous than anyone could have predicted. Don’t mess with haunted houses, friends!

For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Like I said, it’s Pride Month, so let’s highlight some more queer horror. This one is SO GAY, so yay. Marion Shaw was raised in poverty and longs to escape the difficulties of city life. When she sees a newspaper ad asking for a bloodmaid, Marion applies, hoping this could be her escape. At the notorious House of Hunger, Countess Lisavet presides over a court of hedonism, and Marion becomes her newest bloodmaid. Marion is eager to please her mistress, who is both charismatic and terrifying. But when her fellow bloodmaids begin to go missing, Marion realizes she must learn the rules of House of Hunger or her own life will soon be at risk.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Sorrowland is such a wild story, unlike anything else I’ve read. Desperate to escape the strict religious compound in which she was raised, Vern runs to the woods to seek shelter and solace in the wilderness. After giving birth, she hopes to raise her twins free from the compound’s influence. But the community Vern fled is not going to let her go without a fight, and even in the woods, Vern is being hunted. There is no one Vern can trust, especially after her body starts to transform in inexplicable ways. In order to protect her family and find out what’s happening to her, Vern will be forced to confront the people she hoped to never see again. Solomon also has a new book coming out soon, too, so stay tuned!

Are you feeling all the summer/Pride Month vibes? I hope so! The time has come for me to go, but I’ll be back next week with book recommendations, scary stories, and more. Until then, you can follow me (and message me) on Instagram at emandhercat. Sweet dreams, horror fans!

Read This Book

Read This Book…

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 30, 2024

Sponsored by

Make this your most bookish summer yet with personalized reading recommendations from Tailored Book Recommendations! Our bibliologists (aka professional book nerds) are standing by to help you find your next favorite read. Get your recommendations via email, or opt to receive hardcovers or paperbacks delivered right to your door. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Get started today from just $18!

This is such a weird book recommendation for me, because I did love this book so much, but I also know it’s not going to be for everyone.

One time, I recommended this book to a new friend the first day I met her. I immediately regretted going so hard with someone I barely knew. What would she think of me? I was worried our friendship would be over before it even began. But then (I think?) she ended up liking it, and guess what? We’re still hanging out. So if you like this book, use it to see if your friends are really cool and can hang with you.

I’m just kidding. Please don’t test people like that. But do read this book, and then you can let me know if we’re still friends.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

From childhood, Natsuki has felt like she doesn’t belong. Her family openly ridicules her. No one at school understands her. Her teacher takes advantage of her. The only way she can make sense of the world around her is through imagining that she has access to magic, and that she might secretly be an alien from another planet. Then there’s her cousin Yuu. In Yuu, Natsuki feels like she’s found another soul that is an outsider just like she is. But when Yuu and Natsuki are pulled apart, the two make a promise to each other: to survive. No matter what.

Now, Natsuki is an adult, and her feelings of alienation have only grown stronger. She’s married to a man who has zero interest in even touching her. Everyone around her is pressuring her to start a family. Meanwhile, Natsuki is relentlessly haunted by the nightmares of her past.

Natsuki is desperate for an escape from the pressures of adulthood and the expectations of what it means to be a productive member of society. And so she heads to the only place that ever made her feel at home: her family retreat in the mountains of Nagano, far away from the judgmental eyes of her peers. What’s more, she invites Yuu to meet her there. But Yuu comes to Nagano with his own thoughts about how to escape society. Will he be ready to keep his promise to Natsuki? And what will these two be capable of doing when they’re reunited?

This novel, as you might have already gleaned, is dark and disturbing. Content warnings for nearly everything you can think of: cannibalism, incest, sexual assault, murder, trauma, child abuse. This book is anything but an easy read. Like Natsuki, I found myself really clinging on to the more fantastical moments of this novel, hoping for moments of solace amidst the bleakness of what’s happening to our main character. And yet with all of that being said, I could not put Earthlings down. Not for a second.

Earthlings really spoke to me as a heart-breaking narrative of losing oneself in past trauma and feeling suffocated by the expectations of others. While Natsuki’s circumstances are extreme, I think a lot of us (myself included) can identify with those feelings. I also loved that author Sayaka Murata wasn’t afraid of making this story really, really strange. Here, Murata is taking a lot of the themes and ideas from her novel Convenience Store Woman and exploding them into something horrifying and earth-shatteringly unique. So if you read that and thought to yourself, “I wish this main character would just set the world on fire,” Earthlings might be your book. If you love good books, even if they make you super uncomfy, Earthlings might be for you.

Happy weekend reading, bibliophiles! Feel free to follow me on Instagram @emandhercat, and check out my other newsletters, The Fright Stuff and Book Radar!

Book Radar

Reese’s Book Club Picks a New YA Book and More Book Radar!

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 29, 2024

Sponsored by

Book friends, hello!

I’m back in Seattle. The Austin trip was so fun, and yes, I did get to pop into a couple of bookstores. I came home with a suitcase heavy with books. Not gonna lie. I also saw a few movies (I highly recommend I Saw the TV Glow). But again, we are here to talk books, so let’s do it.

Book Deals and Reveals

YA book picks are back at Reese’s Book Club, and they’re kicking it off with Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth! Check out the announcement on Instagram now.

Here’s the trailer for My Lady Jane, a new series based on the novel by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. The show will stream on Amazon Prime Video starting on June 27.

Paste has the exclusive cover reveal and an excerpt from the upcoming horror novella Pocketknife Kitty by Shannon Riley. The book is out from Ghoulish Books on June 24.

And here’s the cover of the latest novel from Sally Rooney, Intermezzo. Rooney’s highly anticipated novel hits bookstores everywhere on September 24.

Abigail Hing Wen, author of Loveboat, Taipei, has a new book coming, and here’s an excerpt! Kisses, Codes, and Conspiracies hits shelves on August 13.

Alice Oseman has shared a big update on the final chapter in the Heartstopper series! In their Instagram stories, the author wrote, “I think I have a first draft of vol 6. (Just the writing, haven’t started the drawing yet). I think it’s probably too long [right now] but maybe I can make it work… but mostly feeling pretty good about it. Gonna share with some friends and colleagues and get some opinions, then make some tweaks probably.”

George R.R. Martin’s latest series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be coming to HBO next year, but the author says fans can expect a very different tone from Game of Thrones. Martin says the new spinoff series “will be a lot shorter than Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, with a much different tone. But it’s still Westeros, so no one is truly safe.” The show is slated to premiere in June 2025.

The winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize has been announced! And it’s Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann.

Summer is almost here! Get ready by adding some of these 120 summer reads to your TBR list.

Book Riot Recommends

Can’t Wait for This One!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (Berkley, January 14, 2025)

This is probably one of my favorite Grady Hendrix covers of all time, and that’s really saying something because Grady Hendrix has quite the history of cool book covers. I can’t wait to have this stunner on my shelf, but more importantly, I can’t wait to read it. Not just because I will look super cool while I read it on the bus. But also because Grady Hendrix is one of the best horror authors of all time, and I’m always excited about his books.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is set in a maternity home in Florida in 1970. It follows five young women living in the home who come across a guide to witchcraft. And yeah, as you can imagine, everything goes haywire from there. According to the publisher, Berkley, Hendrix’s new book is like “Rosemary’s Baby set in a home for unwed mothers in 1970,” and it will “deliver fresh takes on traditional horror tropes with [Hendrix’s] signature voice full of humor, heart, jump scares and a bit of a wink.”

In the early 1970s, these types of homes for unwed mothers were popping up all over the United States. Hendrix told People he took inspiration for his novel from the real-life terrors young women went through when entering these homes. They were meant to be safe havens, but they often turned out to be anything but. It sounds like a lot of research and thought went into constructing this story, and with Hendrix’s ability to always find fresh ways to explore horror tropes, I’m excited to see what he does with this material.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to wait until 2025 for this one, but I’m certainly counting down the months!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“Freddy never uses a gun, does he? Ghostface? Michael? Jade can’t even imagine Michael Myers using a gun. They’re so impersonal, so ‘all at once’ instead of ‘one at a time.’ Jason Voorhees? C’mon. He’ll use a speargun, sure, but that’s just for a 3-D gag. No, any self-respecting slasher finding a pistol in his hand, what he’s supposed to do is look down at it like it’s a strange bug, then shake his hand until this bitey, attention-drawing thing is gone again.”

— Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

Bonus Thursday Book Meme

Since we didn’t get a Monday meme this week, here’s a Thursday meme to get you through. I think I need to start asking my booksellers for notes. This is genius.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Today, I leave you with a picture of the most beautiful girl cat, Cersei Anne. She wants me to tell you that she hopes you have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday for more book talks.

Emily

Read This Book

Read This Book…

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 23, 2024

Sponsored by

Love Dungeons & Dragons? Ever dreamed of being a rockstar? Do you adore sweet, squishy romances? Stories of self-acceptance? If you said yes to any of the above (and why wouldn’t you?), then you should 100% read this book.

Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling book cover

Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant

One thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older: older adults aren’t necessarily any smarter or more mature than young adults. Time has, however, given me the opportunity to wear many hats. I have been the aspiring rockstar. I have been the nerdy kid playing Dungeons & Dragons for hours on end. Through it all, I’ve been nothing if not completely self-critical and unsure of my every decision. Hooray for growing and not learning! This is one of the reasons Young Adult books can really work for everyone. None of us (at any age) actually knows what we’re doing. And this is why I wanted — no, needed — this adorable and affirming YA rom-com in my life.

Delilah is a cool girl in a punk rock band. Reggie is a D&D nerd so deeply steeped in the culture that he writes essays about D&D for fun. They don’t have a lot in common, but they see something in each other that they admire, and yes, they spend a year falling for one another (just as the title suggests). The premise was too cute to deny; on the outside, Reggie and Delilah appear to be from two different worlds, and yet the two connect over and over again over multiple holidays — New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day…you get the idea.

What I love about Delilah and Reggie’s relationship is how much it was based on mutual feelings of admiration and respect. They appreciate each other for what they can learn from each other and how they can help each other grow. And they love who they become when they are around each other. Delilah loves how Reggie is so unapologetically himself. Reggie appreciates Delilah for her boldness. They both wish they could be as brave as the other one, and they both bring out those qualities in each other.

Another big bonus about this book? The friendships. This is a love story, but Reggie and Delilah have other significant people in their lives. For instance, we see Delilah develop a friendship with a super cool rockstar chick named Ryan, who was honestly one of my favorite parts of the book. It was nice to see that Delilah’s journey to self-acceptance and confidence wasn’t just centered around her relationship with Reggie. She also had Ryan in her corner.

If you’re looking for a sweet YA romance with unique and nuanced characters, this is the one. I absolutely loved this book. It’s the perfect love story for the summer. Or for Christmas. Or New Year’s Eve. Or Valentine’s Day. You get the idea.

Happy weekend reading, bibliophiles! Feel free to follow me on Instagram @EmAndHerCat, and check out my other newsletters, The Fright Stuff and Book Radar!

Book Radar

Get a Sneak Peek at BRIDGERTON Season 3 Part 2 and More Book Radar!

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 22, 2024

Sponsored by

Dear Book Friends,

Welcome to another wonderful Thursday of book talk. Today, I’m coming at you from the super scorching hot city of Austin, TX. Super excited to be here and to see my friend get married. But also, as I always do when I’m visiting a new city, I’m excited to check out some bookstores. If you have favorites, be sure to reach out and let me know! Now let’s talk books.

Book Deals and Reveals

finlay donovan digs her own grave book cover

The fifth novel in the Finlay Donovan series is coming soon! Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave is hitting shelves on March 4, 2025. You can preorder it now.

Have you finished Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1, and now you’re pining for Part 2? Here’s a brief teaser for what’s to come in the second half of the season. It releases on Netflix on June 13.

Netflix’s adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole series has found its lead. Tobias Santelmann (The Last Kingdom, Exit, and The Arctic Convoy) will star as the Nordic detective. Also heading the series is Joel Kinnaman (The Suicide Squad), who will play Tom Waaler, and Pia Tjelta (Made in Oslo) as Rakel Fauke.

Emma Törzs’ debut fantasy novel Ink Blood Sister Scribe is being adapted as a fantasy series by Amazon MGM Studios company.

Here’s the cover of Swordcrossed, a new enemies-to-lovers queer fantasy romance from Freya Marske. It’s out on October 10!

Celia Imrie has joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club. Chris Columbus is attached to write the screenplay and direction. Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley were also previously announced as stars.

Netflix’s The Sandman series has cast the remaining family members of The Endless for season 2. Destiny will be played by Adrian Lester, Delirium will be played by Esmé Creed-Miles, and Destruction, now referred to as “The Prodigal” by his siblings, will be played by Barry Sloane.

Mystery and thriller lovers, here are the most anticipated mysteries and thrillers coming out in 2024, according to Goodreads.

The 2024 Eisner Award nominees have been announced! Winners will be announced at San Diego Comic-Con during a gala awards ceremony on July 26.

Book Riot Recommends

Can’t Wait for this One!

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould (Wednesday Books, December 10)

Get excited, because in December, we’re getting a new YA novel from Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark. This one is being compared to Yellowjackets with a dash of Girl, Interrupted, which sounds…okay, fun is probably not the right word. But intriguing, certainly. Right up my alley, definitely. I can’t wait to pick this one up.

When Devin Green is abducted in the middle of the night and dragged into the woods with a group of equally confused teens, she’s surprised to discover her family has signed her up for an experimental therapy program. Two camp counselors explain to the group that they will all be tasked with surviving a 50-day hike through the wilderness. Ideally, the teens will learn how to fight their inner demons and come out on the other side as stronger, more well-adjusted versions of themselves. That is the idea, anyway.

But deep in the Idaho woods, Devin finds many unsettling surprises. She keeps getting these strange visions of people she knows aren’t really there. And the trees seem to have faces. Then the camp counselors go missing, and suddenly Devin is stuck with a group of people she barely knows, unsure of who she can trust, but totally reliant on each and every one of them for survival.

Words of Literary Wisdom

“Being alone isn’t a skill. It’s a disposition.”

— The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

The worst thing about leaving town is having to leave my cats at home. Seriously, I wish I could take them everywhere with me. Just look at this cute little freckled face resting so peacefully in my arms. Cats are actual angels!

And that’s all I have for you today, friends. I hope you have a gorgeous weekend, and I’ll see you Monday, after my friend gets married! Until then!

Emily

Book Radar

WICKED Releases Official Trailer and More Book Radar!

Post author By Emily Martin
Post date May 17, 2024

Sponsored by

Dear Book Friends,

Happy Monday, and once again, it’s time for another round of Book Radar! I’m back with more book news and a lot of fun new trailer news to share with you as well. Yay for the movies! Yay for books! Yay for Monday? Sure. Let’s do this.

Book Deals and Reveals

Get ready, because one of my most anticipated books of 2025 has entered the chat. Here’s the cover of Nat Cassidy’s When the Wolf Comes Home. It’s out from Tor Nightfire on April 22, 2025.

Speaking of 2025 books I absolutely cannot wait for, Grady Hendrix has a new one out on January 14, 2025. And People has the exclusive cover reveal! “Think Rosemary’s Baby set in a home for unwed mothers in 1970,” says publisher Berkley, about Hendrix’s latest, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.

Let’s talk trailers. First up, here’s the trailer for the highly anticipated film Wicked, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Part I is out this November!

Here’s another highly-anticipated book adaptation that just got a trailer: It Ends with Us. The film, starring Blake Lively, is out in August.

Even more film adaptation news. Keira Knightley is set to star in the upcoming film adaption of Ruth Ware’s bestselling novel The Woman in Cabin 10 at Netflix. The film will be directed by Simon Stone.

Ken Follett will be publishing his next book with Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK in 2025. The book is not yet titled.

Today is the last day to take part in Libro.fm’s massive sale! Members always get 30% off sale audiobooks, but right now, all sale audiobooks on Libro.fm are 30% off for everyone (not just members). Just use the code NOTTODAYSATAN.

Book Riot Recommends

Prepare Your Shelves!

Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen (Spiegel & Grau, June 4)

Y’all know I’m really careful about the books I hype up when they’re over 500 pages. I know some people read books that long all the time, but for me, if I’m sticking with a book that long, it has to be worth it. Maybe a 500+ page book is appealing to you. Maybe you’re like me and the thought of diving into a longer book is daunting. Either way, all of this is to say Tiananmen Square is totally worth it, and you will devour every page. It’s a coming-of-age story set in the years leading up to the Tiananmen Square student protests.

Growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Beijing in the 1970s, Lai is mostly ignored by her parents, who seem preoccupied with other things. But after a childish prank lands her in trouble with the police, Lai sees the realities of the Chinese state and understands what her parents went through during the Cultural Revolution. We follow Lai as she learns about the world around her, falls in love with literature, and opens up her mind to revolutionary ideas.

It’s when Lai wins a scholarship to study at the prestigious Peking University that she really begins to fight against the Communist pressure of conformity. Here, Lai meets a group of individualists who are committed to living their lives as their most authentic selves. And as the events of 1989 unfold, Lai finds herself wrapped up in the protest.

Yes, this is a novel, but author Lai Wen is drawing heavily from her own life and experiences. Expect to learn a lot about a historical moment that maybe you remember, or maybe, if like me, you were just a wee baby in 1989, you’re finding out about for the first time. But what I enjoyed most about this one is following Lai’s journey and reconnecting with the hope and idealism of youth. (yeah, ok, I’m old now—I was a baby in the ’80s)