Author: Vanessa Diaz

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Audiobooks

Audiobooks – 8/8

Hola Audiophiles!

Y’all, I failed! Even a 17 hour road trip wasn’t enough to squeeze some reading into my life. First it was the packing, then the exhaustion of the drive, then unpacking and furniture shopping and Ikea assembly and blah blah blah. Santa Madre, my whole body hurts!

Sleep deprivation and all, you know I’ve got you on the audiobook front. Let’s dive into new releases dropping on August 13th plus a smattering of news.

Ready? Let’s audio.

New Releases – August 13 (publisher’s descriptions in quotes)

Inland by Tea Obrecht, narrated by Anna Chlumsky, Edoardo Ballerini, and Euan Morton – From the author of The Tiger’s Wife comes this mythic journey set in the American West in 1893. A frontierswoman awaits the return of her husband and sons while a former outlaw is haunted by ghosts that compel him to travel west. Their paths collide unexpectedly in a story rooted in a history I confess I know very little about.

  • Narrator note: I mean zero disrespect here because I know Anna Chlumsky has gone on to do other things, but please tell me I’m not the only one who thought, “My Girl is the narrator!!”

The Swallows: A Novel by Lisa Lutz, narrated by Abby Elliott, Lisa Flanagan, Michael Crouch, Ari Fllakos – This thriller from the author of The Passenger takes us to a New England prep school where a teacher seeks a fresh start from a difficult past. One of her creative writing assignments sparks a gender war and opens a big ol’ messy Pandora’s box of the school’s secrets.

  • Narrator note: Full cast! Single-actor narration is great, but give me the chemistry and delivery of a full cast any day. Also, love me some Lisa Flanagan! I stiiiiill haven’t listened to her performance of Spinning Silver, but one of these days!

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, narrated by Beata Pozniak – That’s a title! The premise got me too: Janina is a reclusive woman in a remote Polish village who minds the homes of wealthy Warsaw residents when she’s not studying astrology or translating poetry. Then a neighbor dies, followed by the discovery of several other bodies, and Janina finds herself the object of everyone’s suspicion.

  • Narrator note: Pozniak is most well known for her narration of Anthony Marra and Eva Stachniak’s books.

Black Card by Chris L. Terry, narrated by Leon Nixon – Ever heard someone say their “black card” had been revoked? This novel explores what it means to be “black enough.” A “mixed-race punk rock musician indulges his own stereotypical views of African American life by doing what his white bandmates call ‘black stuff.’ After remaining silent during a racist incident, the unnamed narrator has his Black Card revoked by Lucius, his guide through Richmond, Virginia, where Confederate flags and memorials are a part of everyday life.“ Oh I’m aaaall over that.

  • Narrator note: I’m totally unfamiliar with Leon Nixon, but he appears to be a jack of all genre trades! His credits spans everything from romance to thrillers to guided meditation.

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder, narrated by Traci Kato-Kiriyama – I miss the days when Orwellian plots seemed way far off and unlikely. Maybe they never were?! “On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses – until things become much more serious. Most of the island’s inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.”

  • Narrator Note: Kato-Kiriyama only has a few audiobook credits to her name, but a sample of her performance of The Darkest Legacy was quite pleasant.

Latest Listens, Sorta

Baahahaa what is reading?! Trying not to judge myself too harshly.

Once I get back to a regular routine, I’ll be making time to listen to Stephen Fry’s Mythos. It comes out on August 27th, is narrated by Fry, and it’s a series of retellings of the Greek myths. You know I hit the “download” button on that audio ARC soooo fast…

What are you excited to listen to!?

From the Internets

WaPo suggests some audiobooks with stellar narration, because we all know it really does matter.

Some books just work better on audio than in print, ya know?

Over at the Riot

I mentioned Ruth Ware’s Turn of the Key in last week’s new releases; if you haven’t queued that up yet, listen to a sample of the audio here.

This piece on audiobooks + walks spoke to me; one of the things I’m looking forward to about living in a walkable neighborhood is throwing on an audiobook while going for a stroll.

Rioter Emily wrote a piece after my own heart on the intersection of audiobooks, podcasting, and storytelling at large.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
In The Club

In the Club – 8/7

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Hey now! I’m finally (sort of?) moved into my place in Portland! I survived the 17 hour drive with la familia (all in one day, mind you) and spent the next several days unpacking and shopping for housewares. Ikea furniture assembly frustrations aside (porqueeeee?!?!), it’s actually been kind of fun. Plus this is the patio/common area at my new spot: come through, greenery!

On a more somber note, this week I’m reflecting on the loss of a great American writer, the inimitable Toni Morrison. Let’s examine how we might honor her legacy in book club.

Ready? Vamos. To the club!!

Question for the Club

Alrighty, friends! In our last round of QFTC, I asked what sorts of books you’ve been wanting to read in book club but haven’t and why. The overwhelming response was: YA and sci-fi! seems like the rest of your book club members haven’t been into the idea. Bummer!

Let me say once and for all that YA and genre fiction make great book chats! Read Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give or Samira Ahmed’s Internment, or just about anything by Octavia Butler and N.K. Jemisin: I promise your group will have plenty to talk about.

In Honor of Toni Morrison

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said of Toni Morrison: “Her unmatched ability to use story to kindle empathy and rouse the imaginations of millions to contemplate lived experiences other than their own has transformed our culture.” I couldn’t put it better if I tried; the experience of reading her work changed me, challenged me, dared me to think more critically about the world I move in. In honor of the loss of this great American writer, here are some suggestions for Morrison works to tackle in book club.

The Bluest Eye – This is Toni Morrison’s first book and an excellent introduction into her lush, evocative style, her particular brand of metaphor, and use of magical realism. It’s about a young black girl named Pecola who just wants blue eyes.

Paradise – I love this line from a 2011 Reading Pathway piece by none other than Jeff O’neal: “A crucial skill in reading Morrison is getting comfortable with ambiguity and a certain amount of confusion about what is going on. It’s not just you; it’s part of the ride.” This is certainly true of Paradise, where Ruby is a patriarchal “paradise” built by the descendants of freed slaves. It examines how patriarchy seeks to blame its shortcomings and failures on subversive women. WEIRD does that sound familiar?!?

Beloved – Shame! I’ll admit that I’ve never read this most famous of Morrison works because I’ve feared it’s painful and difficult nature, but this is the year I think that will change. Sethe escaped slavery eighteen years ago but has never once felt free; she’s haunted by the memory of the farm where she was enslaved and by the ghost of a nameless baby whose tombstone reads, “Beloved.” By all accounts, this is an unflinching, violent, and uncomfortable read that stares slavery and it’s long reaching toll straight in the face.

The Source of Self Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations – This last of her published works came out earlier this year at a time when many of us needed it most. The essays embody her thoughts and views on a myriad of topics (the foreigner, female empowerment, money, “black matter(s)”), but it’s the three-part structure that I live for; the first is a prayer for the dead of 9/11, the second is a meditation on Martin Luther King Jr,, and the third is a euology for James Baldwin. There is power on literally every page.

More Morrison:

Reading Pathways: Toni Morrison

Where to Start with Toni Morrison Books

Suggestion Section

Alisha Rai’s The Right Swipe is Bustle’s book club pick for August.

Reese Witherspoon’s August read is The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda.

Speaking of Reese: check out our roundup of aaaaall her book club picks.

Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Founder Glory Edim has announced the club’s fall titles.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources: 

– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Categories
Audiobooks

Audiobooks – 8/1

Hola Audiophiles!

Whew! I’m in the final stages of packing of my life and have a 17-hour drive to Portland in my very near future. Should be some prime audiobooking going on, but I’ll also be driving with my parents and brother. Could be amazing, could be a chaotic throwback to the road trips of my childhood. I can already hear my dad threatening to turn the van around…

Today I’ve got some new books coming out this week; I’ve heard from a few of you that you’d like to see new books broken up week by week, so that’s what I did here. I’ll be back next week with more new books plus updates on my listens – just gotta get this lil’ move out of the way.

Ready? Let’s audio.

New Releases: Week of August 6th (publisher’s descriptions in quotes)

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, narrated by Emily Lawrence – Annaleigh is one of twelve sisters living in an isolated manor by the sea with her father and stepmother. When four of the sisters die in a series of increasingly tragic accidents, Annaleigh is plagued by ghostly visions that suggest they weren’t accidents after all. “When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family–before it claims her next.”

  • Narrator Note: Emily Lawrence narrates a lot of fantasy and cozy mystery and may be familiar to those of you who’ve read The Princess and the Fangirl. I discovered she narrates a title called The Chupacabra Catastrophe. Yo soy intrigued!

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me by Keah Brown, narrated by the author – Keah Brown is a disability rights advocate born and creator of the #DisabledAndCute campaign. She was born with cerebral palsy and spent a lot of time feeling trapped by her disability, but no more! Gone are the days of yearning for a normalcy not afforded to her by society’s treatment of the disabled. She’s reclaimed her narrative and is living a life that flies in the face of stigma. In a series of essays, Brown explore everything from dating, her relationship with her able-bodied twin (called “the pretty one” by friends), and her frustration with the depiction of the disabled in media.

  • Narrator Note: You know how I feel about author-narrated work by now. I’m very into hearing stories exactly how their author intended them to be told.

The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell, narrated by Cassandra Campbell – I kind of didn’t know that Mary Doria Russell had a book coming out this year! TBH I’m still a little shaken by The Sparrow but I’m ready for whatever else she’s got. This one is a historical novel about “‘America’s Joan of Arc’ Annie Clements – the courageous woman who started a rebellion by leading a strike against the largest copper-mining company in the world.”

  • Narrator Note: I love me some Cassandra Campbell and I know many of you do too! She’s the voice behind a lot of beloved titles: Everything I Never Told You, When Breath Becomes Air, Lilac Girls, and the insanely popular When the Crawdads Sing.

the right swipeThe Right Swipe by Alisha Rai, narrated by Summer Morton and Brian Pallino – This is the first in the new Modern Love series from Alisha Rai, and I just cannot compete with the publisher’s blurb! This is indeed a romance “in which two rival dating-app creators find themselves at odds in the boardroom but in sync in the bedroom.” The love interest her is a former pro football player who beds and then ghosts our main character only to resurface later, and he promises “he won’t fumble their second chance.” I mean… how can you not?

  • Narrator Note: Brian Pallino, bruh: I don’t know anything about you. But your voice tho? call me.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware, narrated by Imogen Church – Ruth Ware is one of my contemporary mystery faves, which you probably guessed. She gives me such Agatha Christie vibes! In her fifth mystery novel, Rowan caine has hit the jackpot on the job front: she’s bagged a live-in nanny post in a gorgeous “smart” home in the Scottish Highlands with a fat salary to match. Too good to be true? Probs. “What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.” I’m so in.

  • Narrator note: Imogen Church has narrated all of Ruth Ware’s work and she nails it every time. Great pacing and tension building.

From the Internets

Check out Hypable’s list of unforgettable audiobooks; Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology gets a mention for its full cast narration, which makes me want to experience those books all over again on audio.

Michael Sheen will return narrate the latest Phillip Pullman book!

Paste shares their picks for best audiobooks in July. Don’t know if I could do The Nickel Boys without crying in my car, but it is narrated in part by Whitehead and that’s reason to try.

Over at the Riot

Since I’ll be embarking on not one but two 17 hour road trips in the next month, I thought I’d throw it back to this fun list of mystery audiobooks to take on the road.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
In The Club

That Summatime Sadness

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. I am writing to you from a fort of boxes! Moving is for the birds, but moving in 90+ degree weather is for… I dunno, las cucarachas. Wish me luck as I begin the grand schlep to Portland. For now… to the club!

Question for the Club

Alright friends: time to do the slow two-step-and-snap to Boyz II Men’s End of the Road: Question for the Club has come to an end! Y’all got too busy to send responses! No hard feelings whatsoever. I’ll bring the queries back in the future, just on a less frequent basis, and I’ll still do a wrap-up of July’s query next week!

This week’s theme: That Summatime Sadness

Today’s book club theme is end of summer, which I’ll admit I’ve picked for sentimental reasons. There’s something about the end of a life season more or less coinciding with the end of an actual season that’s a little bit sad, a little bit perfect, and even a touch poetic. I picked books set all or part at the end of summer, reads that tap into that sentimentality while giving you tons to discuss.

Book Club Recs:

the mothersThe Mothers by Brit Bennett – It’s the summer after her senior year in high school and seventeen-year-old Nadia Turner is grieving her mother’s recent suicide. She takes up with Luke, a local pastor’s son; they both know it won’t last, that feelings are fleeting and Nadia will soon leave for college. Then Nadia discovers she’s pregnant, kicking off a string of events that will leave a mark on all involved for many years to come.

This one is set in a northern San Diego neighborhood for extra emo points.

  • Book Club Bonus: Where to begin?? Discuss how the book handles women’s ambition and friendships, and how both can change with the passage of time. Discuss a woman’s right to choose and how even the right choice is sometimes a very difficult one. How did the Greek chorus narration (i.e. “the mothers”) affect the story? By the end of the book, has Nadia fully processed her grief?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – In one of my favorite pieces of contemporary YA, Cath and Wren are twin sisters approaching their freshman year in college. They’ve been inseparable all their lives, especially after their mother walked out on their family, bonding particularly over a shared passion for fan fiction based on the popular Simon Snow fantasy series. Just as school is about to start, Wren tells Cath that she wants to live apart, do her own thing, and drop the fan fic writing to which Cath so desperately clings. Cath is forced to examine her identity as an individual and find her place in her rapidly changing world.

That Simon Snow series, by the way, is basically a queer Harry Potter plus demonic rabbits. Enjoy!

  • Book Club Bonus: I want everyone to flex those creative muscles and write a short piece of fan fiction! Have each club member share theirs with the group – remember, this is a safe space – and then have a discussion about fan fiction as a whole (Was it easy or difficult to come up with yours? How does fan fic add to (or take away from) the original? Do you have a better understanding of why people write fan fiction?). Please do this and then share yours with meeeee!

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg – I read this five times in three years and wept every time. Evelyn is a middle-aged woman in a passionless marriage and Mrs. Threadgoode is the elderly nursing home patient telling Evelyn her life story. That story takes us back to the 30s in Whistle Stop, Alabama and introduces us to Idgie, an incorrigible tomboy with a loud mouth and heart of gold, and Ruth, her loyal friend and co-owner of the Whistle Stop Cafe. Their story made my heart so, so full even as it broke with its examination of racism, friendship, love, and loss. Picture me crying in a library when you read the words, “…whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge…”

  • Book Club Bonus: You probably won’t need my help coming up with conversation for this one: the dehumanizing effects of racism and a murder you might root for are fodder enough. Take a moment though to examine the book as a piece of lesbian and feminist fiction. I don’t want to say too much here to avoid spoilers, but aaaaah smoldering looks and meaningful gestures. You’ll see.
  • Related: I really dig the movie adaptation of this one. Kathy Bates screaming TOWANDAAAAA! is a whole 2019 mood.

Suggestion Section

Chicago rapper Noname has launched a book club to celebrate writer of color and from the LGBTQ community.

I somehow missed that NPR’s Code Switch had a Summer 2019 book club episode back in June??

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources: 

– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Categories
Audiobooks

Moving Mayhem + Magical Librarians

Hola Audiophiles!

Can you hear me?! I’m over here under this pile of moving boxes! I’m packing up my life as I get ready to haul it all to Portland, waging a war against time, cardboard, paper cuts, and the dimensions of a moving van.

Because I love a bit of escapism when stress starts to mount (WHAT STRESS WHO IS STRESSED EVERYTHING IS FINE), this week’s theme is fantasy audiobooks. Magical librarians! Dangerous books! Demons who wear tuxedos when they aren’t posing as cats!! All of that is in my latest listen, and I’ll hit you with some bonus recs.

Ready? Let’s audio.

Sponsored by TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.

TBR is Book Riot’s new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “stitchfix for books?” Now it’s here!

Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. Sign up here.

Latest Listens


Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson, narrated by Emily Ellet – Orphaned Elisabeth Scrivener was raised in a magical library where she’s apprenticing to be a Warden, a sword-wielding protector against sorcery and monstrous books. When her mentor and library Director is found dead, Elizabeth’s attempts at intervention get her labeled as a traitor. When she’s hauled off to the capital to learn her fate, something smells like sabotage: the good guys might be bad guys and the bad guys might be good guys, like the sorcerer she thought to be evil who suddenly looks maybe sort of kissable? She’ll have to enlist his help to clear her name and crack a decades’ old conspiracy, with a couple of demon companions along for the ride.

Narrator Note: Emily Ellet is new to me, but you might know her from R.J. Palacio’s White Bird or What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About by Mchele Filgate. So far I really dig the voice she gives to sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn in particular. It’s really dudely but serves to remind me that Thorn is only 18 and thus an acceptable love match for 16-year-old Elizabeth.

Other fantasy audiobooks you might enjoy:

The Six of Crows series by Laigh Bardugo – A merry band of (maybe criminal?) misfits come together for the one heist to rule them all, one none of them can afford to refuse. Narrated by an ensemble cast that perfectly matches each of these dynamic characters

Nocturna by Maya Motayne, narrated by Kyla Garcia – A Latinx-inspired fantasy featuring a face-shifting thief and a grieving prince who accidentally unleashes a terrible evil. Fun! I’ve critiqued some of Kyla Garcia’s other work, but think she did an overall great job here.

The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, narrated by Susan Duerden – Yes, more magical librarians! Well, sort of. In this first installment of the Invisible Library series, the Library is a mysterious organization and librarian Irene is one of its secret agents. You get stolen books, forbidden cities, even a dragon to keep things interesting. I love this narrator so much! Feels like the voice behind the elevator at the Ministry of Magic: “Department… of Mysteries.”

Listens on Deck

So… about that moving grind. My reading is taking a big hit right now, though I audio when I can. I need something to keep me motivated while I pack, clean, and organize: maybe a super funny listen, a riveting thriller, or a gripping piece of true crime?

Titles I’m toying with are:

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I Was Told There’d be Cake by Sloane Croasley

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (I know, I know: I’ve been slippin’!)

Thoughts?

From the Internets

Feeling romantic? Peep this roundup of YA summer romance audiobooks from AudioFile.

Oh happy day! Your Libby audiobooks work with Apple CarPlay.

Audible is rolling out a captions feature and publishers are big mad. Decide for yourself, but I do think they may have a point.

Over at the Riot

My Read Harder podcast buddy Tirzah Price joined Matthew Winner on this week’s Kidlit These Days! The episode is all about kid lit and audiobooks: lots of amazing recs plus links to relevant info on audiobooks + children’s literacy.

A piece from editor Kelly Jensen on her audiobook reading life: how audiobooks transcend format and her own habits.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
In The Club

Boricua Book Club

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

How’s are all my club people doing? Are we all staying cool?! The San Diego sun decided this last week of July was a good time to remind us who the $#@! she is; my dashboard read 94 degrees before noon and frankly, I felt disrespected.

As for club business, I’m shaking up format again. What do we think about focusing on one theme every week plus a sprinkling of news? I’m trying that out this week – as always, let me know what you think.

Ready? To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

A mesmerizing and witty debut novel about a young woman growing up between two disparate cultures, and the singular identity she finds along the way. Yara Rodrigues Fowler takes us through first love and loss, losing and finding home, trauma and healing, and various awakenings of sexuality and identity. Hypnotic and bold, Fowler will leave you craving for more. Stubborn Archivist is a novel you won’t soon forget.

Question for the Club

One week left in this month’s query, here it is for you again. Send your responses to vanessa@riotnewmedia.com!

a book left open on a sandy beach

This Week’s Theme: Puerto Rican Reads

I am a little obsessed with this awesome interview with Ann Dávila Cardinal, author Five Midnights which I’ve been meaning to read for months! I’m even more hyped to pick it up after getting Dávila Cardinal’s perspective on assimilation, straddling identities, the Puerto Rican diaspora, and of course: El Cuco. 

Inspired by the interview, I’m recommending some reads by Puerto Rican authors. Boricua Book Club, if you will! Friendly reminder that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, yet we “other” the island and leave it out of… well, many conversations. I picked these because they’re a mixture of history lesson and social commentary; you’ll want to discuss why people assimilate, whether “white passing” is an accurate term and the privilege it entails, the reasons people leave their countries of birth, and more.

Book Club Recs:

Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal – This horror + mystery mashup is based on the El Cuco myth set and set in modern day Puerto Rico. A young woman visits Puerto Rico from Vermont for the summer to spend time with her family and soon finds herself wrapped up in one of her tío’s murder cases.

  • Book Club Bonus: Compile a list of Latinx monsters//demons/mythical creatures (i.e. the things that kept us Latinx kids up at night!!). Assign one to every club member to share its origin story with the group. Examples: el cuco/el cucuy or la llorona. If I had to suffer it, now you do too.

War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A Dennis – I pulled this one straight from the interview because it sounds so essential. A deep dive into the 1950 revolution in PR and the long history of U.S. intervention on the island.

  • Book Club Bonus: Make a flashcard quiz to test everyone’s knowledge of basic PR history and/or problematic U.S. involvement in PR and other countries

Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera – Lilliam Rivera is one of my favorite contemporary Latinx writers of YA, and not just because her latest features a girl gang called Las Mal Criadas. It’s a dystopian novel set in a female-dominated society that explores sisterhood, survival, and whether society can ever thrive when any one group dominates the rest.

  • Book Club Bonus: Come up with your own girl/boy/group gang name!

Related:

If you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on in Puerto Rico, you should. Thousands have taken to the streets not only in San Juan but here in the U.S. as Governor Ricardo Roselló refuses to resign.

Broaden your perspective even more with this list of Puerto Rican Writers, Poets and Essayists

Suggestion Section

Once upon a time, Oprah had the only club on the block making giant waves in book sales. Now celebs like Reese Witherspoon and Barack Obama are driving sales and changing careers too.

“This is a book club. We’re gonna drink some alcohol, we’re gonna talk about some books, we’re gonna get a little petty.” So goes the opening line of Roxane Gay’s Vice book club discussion of Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys. Actual book lover’s gold!

Voting is open for Round Dos of Jimmy Fallon’s summer book club and my, is it murder-y! You have until tomorrow (July 25) to cast your vote. Pick your favorite murder.

Check for allergies and prepare for digressions! What one Rioter learned leading a kids book group.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources: 
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Categories
Audiobooks

More July Audiobooks and a Special Announcement!

Hola Audiophiles!

Guess what guess what guess what?! Ok I’ll tell you: as of Monday, July 15th, I am Book Riot’s new Associate Editor! I’ll be relocating to Portland in August as part of the job and will likely regale you with my moving chronicles. Moving is the worst, but I’m so pumped to finally be able to share this news!

I will still be putting together both Audiobooks and In the Club, yapping about books on our YouTube channel, managing social media several days a week, etc. If anything, you’ll probably see more of me.

Enough about me though. Let’s audio.

Sponsored by TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.

TBR is Book Riot’s new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Been dreaming of a “stitchfix for books?” Now it’s here!

Tell TBR about your reading preferences and what you’re looking for, and sit back while your Bibliologist handpicks recommendations just for you. TBR offers plans to receive hardcover books in the mail or recommendations by email, so there’s an option for every budget. Sign up here.

New Releases (publisher’s descriptions in quotes)

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno Garcia, narrated by Yetta Gottesman (July 23)

gods of jade and shadowCasiopea is a young woman in a small Mexican village during the Jazz Age, dreaming of a life where she’s not the family servant or subject to her grandfather’s abuse. Then one day she opens a mysterious box and out pops the Mayan god of death, long dormant after his twin brother betrayed him. An epic journey ensues that takes us everywhere from Mexico City to Baja California in a quest for revenge and restoration of balance in the world of both gods and men. It gave me such glee to hear the places, phrases, and legends of my childhood in a modern work of mythology!

Narrator note: You may recognize narrated Yetta Gottesman from last year’s Sick: A Memoir by Porochista Khakpour. I like her style, balanced and clear, but wasn’t able to get a sample of her Spanish pronunciation.

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman, narrated by Susan Bennett (July 23)

It’s 1966 in Baltimore and reporter Maddie Schwartz has just walked away from a 20-year stint as a pampered housewife. She’s starting to make a name for herself at a local newspaper when she comes across a story that could make her career: a missing woman’s body is discovered in the fountain of a city park lake. She further she looks into the case, the less clear the truth becomes. “Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people – including the man who shares her bed.” Snap!

Narrator note: Susan Bennett has narrated other Laura Lippman works as well as stuff by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Moore. There’s something about her lower register that matches perfectly with a good mystery/thriller!

My Friend Anna: The True Story of the Fake Heiress Who Conned Me and Half of New York City by Rachel DeLoache Williams, narrated by the author (July 23)

I love me a good “rich people problems” book, but this is next level. It’s “rich people who got the %@*# conned out of them problems!” You may be familiar with this bonkers true story as it recently made all the headlines: a young con artist posed as a German heiress in New York and scammed muchos rich peoples out of  $@%*ing boatloads of cash. The book is by the former Vanity Fair photo editor whom Anna scammed out of more than $62,000. QUE!?!

Narrator note:  No lie: I’m pretty stoked (with a touch of schadenfreude) to hear this lady’s tale of getting bilked out of all that cash by a poser.

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean, narrated by Justine Eyre (July 30)

cover of brazen and the beastThis is the second book in Sarah MacLean’s Bareknuckle Bastards series about a trio of brothers bound by a salacious secret they can’t escape. In this installment, Lady Henrietta Sedley is entering her 29th year and fully embracing her spinsterhood. “Everything is going perfectly…until she discovers the most beautiful man she’s ever seen tied up in her carriage and threatening to ruin the Year of Hattie before it’s even begun.” Oh yes!

Narrator note: Justine Eyre narrates a lot of Sarah Maclean’s books, including the first book in this series, Wicked and the Wallflower. She’s done tons of other work by everyone from Tessa Dare to Sujata Massey, but I loved her performance of Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian (give me ALL of the Dracula things).

They Could Have Named Her Anything by Stephanie Jimenez, narrated by Almarie Guerra (July 30)

Maria Anis takes an hour-long subway ride from her home in Queens to a bougie private high school on the Upper East Side every day. She’s struggling to fit in as one of the only Latinx students when she meets Rocky, a wealthy, white, rebellious classmate whose privilege is astonishing to Maria Anis.

As a bond develops between these unlikely friends, neither can see what they share most—jealousy and the desire for each other’s lives. But crackling under the surface of their seemingly supportive alliance, the girls begin to commit little betrayals as they strive to get closer to their ideals regardless of the consequences.

Narrator Note: I’ve never listened to any of Almarie Guerra’s performances, but I do know a couple of people who really enjoyed her performance in the audiobook of Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ Fruit of the Drunken Tree.

Speaking of Summer by Kalisha Buckhanon, narrated by Karen Chilton (July 30)

speaking of summerOn a winter’s night in Harlem, Summer Spencer walks up to the rooftop of the brownstone she shares with twin sister Autumn and is never seen again. Local authorities don’t seem interested in solving the case, so Autumn takes matters into her own hands (she’s clearly never read a literary thriller). “[T]he loss becomes too great, the mystery too inexplicable, and Autumn starts to unravel, all the while becoming obsessed with murdered women and the men who kill them.”

Narrator note: Karen Chilton has narrated several of Alyssa Cole’s audiobooks and gets the Vanessa Diaz Stamp of Accent Approval.

From the Internets

The summer reading and listening lists doth persist! Here’s the latest from Bustle: 15 New Audiobooks To Listen To On Your Summer Vacation. I spy a few faves: The Satapur Moonstone, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and With the Fire on High!

Over at the Riot

Hey you: you look like you could use some free audiobooks. If you’re a Prime member, these 25 audiobooks are available to you for $Free.99. If you’re a Kindle Unlimited user, here are 50 of the best Kindle Unlimited Audiobooks.

There are several audiobook subscriptions out there these days, and thank goodness for that. Yay for not having to lug around a Discman and 12 CDs! You all know I’m a Libro.fm girl, but for those curious about Audible: check out these FAQs.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
In The Club

Press, Pay, and Announcements

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed.

Greetings from Portland, i.e. Guess What I’ve Been Dying to Tell You Town, where I’ve joined the Book Riot team full time as Associate Editor! I’m so excited to begin this new chapter and take on a more hands-on role in this here Riot thang.

I’m up in PDX for training this week and will be relocating officially in August, when I will officially begin my campaign to bring better Mexican food to this otherwise beautiful place. As for content, you’ll still catch me here in the club, putting together Audiobooks, on YouTube, etc.

Enough about me, let’s get down to business. To the club!!

This newsletter is sponsored by Forge Books.

a photo of a small blueberry tart, with a little bird shaped into the crust. under the tart are some spoons bound together with twine, and the table the tart and spoons are on is a marbled blue.Nestled in Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow, where Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.

As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.

Question for the Club

July’s query is:

Question for the Club: What genre of book have you been wanting to read in book club and what's stopped you from doing so?

Get your answers in by end of month!

#PayThem – Ah, the Women’s World Cup: one of the few occasions on which I allow myself an emphatic “USA! USA!” or “‘Murica!” chant. If you’re still buzzing from the thrill of our ladies’ spectacular performance this cup, want to learn more about women’s soccer, or just want to read about women’s badassery in general, this list of post-World Cup books and this list on books specifically about women’s soccer will both come in handy. 

Book Club Bonus: It feels like more people in the U.S. are paying attention to women’s soccer in general, but not everyone knows the journey it took to get here. Consider reading The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer in book club for a comprehensive dive into the history of the USWNT. It should fire up the conversation about the artistry of the sport, yes, but also on sexism, double-standards, and the equal pay struggle.

P.S. Maybe play Bitch Better Have My Money in the background? Just a thought.

Ode to the Black Press – How much do you know about the black press? This post on its history and lists of books by or about black journalists showed me how little I know about this revolutionary moment in journalistic history – and the history of our country in general.

Book Club Bonus: This piece got me thinking about Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first black woman reporter to write for The Washington Post. Her book Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America had me pausing to shake my head over and over again; it’s one woman’s story but also a history of reporting on civil rights and the struggle to hold our country to task for its treatment of black Americans. Break this one down in book club: discuss the issue of media integrity and the ways in which the black press of the 1820s paved the way for women like Gilliam.

Suggestion Section

Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise is Buzzfeed Book Club’s August pick. I keep hearing such good things about this read. 

Book Riot’s Abby Hagreaves put together this post on themed book club ideas. I love all of these! Do you want to see more theme-driven ideas??

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources: 
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

Categories
Audiobooks

July Audiobooks!

Hola Audiophiles!

Did ya miss me? I missed you! I didn’t get to hit you with the news books last week because I was busy eating lobster and drinking micheladas in Mexico on the 4th of July. *shrugs*

Don’t worry though, I’ve got you covered this week and next with the listens I’ve loved or can’t wait to get to in July. So much good stuff, I can hardly keep up! Summer is ‘bout to be lit.

Ready? Let’s audio.

Sponsored by Dreamscape Media and Hallmark Publishing

Celebrate Christmas in July with classic Hallmark Publishing audiobooks available now on hoopla digital, Kobo, and Audible! These heartwarming, clean, romantic audiobooks based on some of your favorite Hallmark Channel Original Movies show you what happens after the first kiss! Don’t miss out on the (second) most wonderful time of the year!

New Releases (Publisher’s descriptions in quotes)

Temper by Layne Fargo, narrated by Jayme Mattler and Hillary Huber (July 2) – Struggling actress Kira is offered the theater role of a lifetime. The catch? She’ll have to work with a director known for pushing his actors past their limits both on and off the stage. Then there’s Joanna, the theater’s cofounder; she’s jealous of Kira and is hiding a pretty gnarly secret about the show. Who’s the greater threat and who should Kira trust, and what lengths will both women go to in the name of ambition?

Fun fact: Narrator Jayme Mattler can also be heard in the audiobook of The Mueller Report. I guess shady characters are sort of Mattler’s thing!

Cover of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi WaxmanThe Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman, narrated by Emily Rankin (July 9) – I’m a little partial to books about books and way partial to books about bookstores, so this one is ringing all of my bells. It’s about a bookseller whose life changes unexpectedly when the father she never knew dies and she discovers she has a big ol’ giant family living nearby. It’s all a lot to process and she doesn’t quite know if she wants to get to know them. I mean, she could just as easily stay home and read with her car named Phil. What to do?!?

This one is narrated by Emily Rankin, who you may recognize from Before We Were Yours or Rules for Visiting. I find her work to always be pleasantly consistent, and a perfect match for what sounds like a charming story.

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl, narrated by Joyce Bean (July 9) – This debut gave me H is for Hawk vibes, a reflection on loss and grief through observation of the natural world. It’s a collection of brief and beautiful essays on Renkl’s upbringing, her relationship with her parents, and her transition from daughter to caregiver, all woven into musings on everything from the beauty of bluebirds to the wonder of bees.

I don’t think I’ve listened to anything narrated by Joyce Bean before, but some of you may be familiar. She’s performed the work of Kristin Hannah, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts and much, much more.

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, narrated by Tara Lynne Barr, Marin Ireland, Mena Suvari, and the author (July 9) – WOOOOOW I don’t think I can keep this blurb short. Award-winning journalist Lisa Taddeo spent almost a decade writing this book, driving across the country multiple times and living with the subjects of her research into women’s desire. What results is a fully immersive dive into three women’s sex lives: a neglected housewife in suburban Indiana having an affair that consumes her; a glamorous New England restauranteur whose husbands enjoys watching her have sex with other people; a North Dakota high school student whose relationship with her English teacher tears her life, his life, and that of their community apart.

These stories aren’t neat or pretty; they’re messy and complicated and often paint their subjects in flawed and unflattering light. It dares to explore the power of the beauty and pain of women’s longing, of the importance of asking not only what women don’t want done to us but in turn what we do. This would make such a fiery book club read and is fantastic on audio; the voices for each of the three women’s parts fit their narratives perfectly (hey Mena Suvari, where ya been??).

the nickel boysThe Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, narrated by JD Jackson and Colson Whitehead (July 16) – I don’t know if I’m ready, y’all. This treasure of an author takes us to the Jim Crow South where young Elwood Curtis has plans to enroll in the local black college. Then an innocent mistake lands him in the Nickel Academy, a juvenile “reform school” and living nightmare where young black men sustain every manner of horrifying abuse. Elwood believes the way to survive is to embody Dr. King’s message of love, but is it enough? “Based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for 111 years and warped the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative that showcases a great American novelist writing at the height of his powers.”

The Marriage Clock by Zara Raheem, narrated by Ariana Delawari (July 23) – Can I get an amen for romance by authors of color? This one sounds nothing short of delightful, the story of a young Indian woman who at age 26 is starting to get a little nervous about her lack of husbandly prospects. Does she want to get married? Yes! Does she want the arranged marriage her parents so desperately want for her? Not so much. And she’s only got three months to prove to them that she can find a good man all by herself.

If you listened to A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum or The Wrath of the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh and liked what you heard, you’re in luck! Ariana Delawari is a new narrator for me, but I loved what I heard in a few sample listens.

From the Internets

Why yes, Women.com: I do have an audiobook-shaped hole in my wallet and I do love me some audio drama!

Over at the Riot

Yo… 25 BILLION dollars! That was the net revenue for publishing in 2018, with audiobooks, children’s and YA nonfiction leading the earnings pack.

That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
In The Club

Death, But Not a Downer

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. Today’s club agenda is all about fierce women and death: sounds like a real downer, don’t it?! I promise it’s not. 

As for format, I’m suggesting less ideas but providing more reading recs for the ones I do include. Let me know how you like it and what you want to see more of in this club.

Let’s go!

This newsletter is sponsored by The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess, Published by Henry Holt.

The Last Book Party is a propulsive tale of ambition and romance, set in the publishing world of 1980’s New York and the timeless beaches of Cape Cod. Editorial assistant Eve Rosen finds her professional ambitions floundering when she finds herself at a summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Leaving NYC behind, she goes to work for the writer and has a summer that changes everything.

Question for the Club

July’s query is:

You’ve got till end of month to enter to win 10 copies of A Gentleman in Moscow for your book club. Do it! Do it! Do it!

Let’s Talk About Death, Baby – It seems like there are two kinds of people in the world: those who avoid talking about death at all costs and those that relish it like I love clotted cream on scones. No matter what side you land on, I believe we could all benefit from more frequent convos about death and dying; here’s a great list of books on the subject to increase your understanding, and perhaps make you less uneasy about it.

Book Club Bonus: We need to talk about death, yo! I kind of love the idea of talking about death in book club and then having a candid conversation on preparedness. Do you have an advanced medical directive? What about organ donation? Do you want to be buried or cremated? Have you drawn up a will? And what about your partner, your parents, your children’s plans? Have the talks, then do the things. 

Other book suggestions: 

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty – A candid discussion of death from a twenty-something medieval history major who takes a job at a crematory that changes her life. This coming-of-age story isn’t the kind you’re used to!  Well, that is unless you tend to read a lot of mortician memoirs. It’s morbid, it’s informative, and it’s really darkly funny. It’ll make you look a death with new eyes. 

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley – When the book opens, a woman sustains a head injury while working on a home improvement project that everyone assumes is a mild concussion. It ends up leaving her brain dead though, and her husband is suddenly left with all of these end-of-life care decisions. The clash with his wife’s family that results gave me aaall of the feels, and made me scribble out a quick will of sorts and advanced directive the *minute* I finished it.

I Am Woman, Deal With It – I’ll be guest hosting an episode of All the Books with Liberty this month, and one of the books I’m talking about is just so bananas!! I read it months ago and have not been able to get it off my brain: I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that examines women’s desire quite so honestly, both the good parts and the unsavory with zero regard for anyone’s feelings. Gaaah I want to tell you about it so much! Tune in on July 23rd to get the deets.

Book Club Bonus: As for how this very vague blurb ties into book club, reading that doozy of a book has put me very much in the mood for uncomfortably honest books by and about women, women who look convention and modesty in the face and say, “Not today.” I want to discuss these books with other women and encourage you to do the same. Here are some suggestions:

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. SanchezI Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – Following Sanchez on Twitter alone could spark a whole book club discussion: she is so authentically, frankly, unapologetically herself and cares thiiiiiiiis much how anyone feels about it. I loved this book because she injects so much of her non-confirming and rebellious spirit into main character Julia, who I’ve also seen labeled as unlikable for reasons I feel are unfair. I’d love to unpack that in book club, as well as other topics like grief and the immigrant experience.  

Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman – This book is equal parts cry-laugh-at-a-restaurant and feminist manifesto. It’s a hilarious and poignant reflection on all the ways in which women have been programmed since birth into plucking, preening, perfuming, and/or hiding every last inch of ourselves and then packing it into a waist trainer. It is book club gold: you could read the first chapter alone and spend an hour discussing your feelings on body hair.

I cannot resist sharing these three fun facts: 

1) At Mara’s San Diego book release party, someone gifted her a pair of hemorrhoid earrings and she immediately put them on. 

2) At said release party, Mara gave away a Camel Tote.

3) The Russian translation of the book is called… wait for it… Body Trash. 

shrill coverShrill by Lindy West – Lindy West is smart, clever, and one of the bravest women I know in my head. Even if you’ve seen the Hulu series, go back and read this for book club. Discuss the guts it took to stand up to Daniel Tosh and the misogynist internet, to go on record as saying rape isn’t funny, to publicly share her abortion story, to live as a fat woman and dare to do so happily.  

Suggestion Section

The LA Times is reading Laila Lalami’s The Other Americans for their book club and asks the question: who gets to be American?

If you’re in Canada and looking for a book club, Indigo apparently has three brand spanking new ones.

Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources: 
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page