Category: New Books

This week: I’m currently reading Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson and The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth. I just finished season eight of my rewatch of The X-Files. I forgot how much I enjoyed Robert Patrick’s performance as the new FBI agent. He didn’t have an easy job, coming into a popular show to replace beloved actors who wanted to leave the series. (Related: Did you know his brother Robert is the lead singer of Filter, and was once a guitarist in Nine Inch Nails?) The song stuck in my head is “Return to the Moon” by EL VY. And here’s a cat photo: This is Farrokh’s pose when he wants you to give him whatever it is you’re eating. He pulls out all the cute for food.

This was one of my most anticipated novels of 2024, and it did not disappoint! Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale Snow-White and Rose-Red, Bear is the story of two sisters who live on a Northern Pacific island with their mother. Sam and Elena have only ever lived on the island, and their lives have been hard, with resources and money always in short supply. They long to leave the island and start new lives. When a bear is spotted swimming in the waters near their home, they respond differently to its presence. Sam is sure it is a sign of danger and that they should leave the island, while Elena is completely delighted by the bear turning up in their world. But does the bear’s arrival signify danger, and should Sam leave everything behind, including her sister?

Backlist bump: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

Kalynn Bayron tackles another classic fairytale with this exciting take on Snow White! Princess Eve only knows one existence, that in which she was raised to destroy the evil sorcerer, the Knight. Trained to use her magic specifically for this goal from a young age, Eve is set to turn 17 and is ready to take him on. But weird things start happening. Her mother, the Queen, has begun talking to herself in the mirror. And then a mysterious stranger appears, telling Eve shocking things about her past he says were kept from her. Torn in two over what she is supposed to do now, Eve must carry on into battle, but now she’s unsure who it is she must fight to save herself and the queendom.

Backlist bump: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

And last but not least, why not get a little scared this summer? And there isn’t much scarier in horror than little kids talking to invisible things! Eight-year-old Bela lives with her parents and her grandmother…and with her Other Mommy, a hostile presence in their home only Bela can hear. Other Mommy keeps asking Bela if she can go in her heart, which doesn’t sound like a good time to Bela. But only Bela’s loving, stable home is keeping Other Mommy at bay, and now her parents are having problems in their marriage. Bela must decide if she should let Other Mommy have what she wants, as the entity grows stronger and more vicious, before she just takes it anyway, and everyone Bela loves has to pay the price. Can this horror book go inside your heart?

Backlist bump: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

This week, I am reading Dynasty Restored: How Larry Bird and the 1984 Boston Celtics Conquered the NBA and Changed Basketball by Thomas J. Whalen, The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani, Sam Bett (translator), and another re-read of the complete collection of Bone by Jeff Smith. How has there not been an adaption made of Bone yet? I know they’ve tried, many times. I say give it to the people who made the adaptation of Nimona. That was *chef’s kiss*. (Also, Bone has been out for almost 35 years, which seems impossible!) The song stuck in my head this week is “The One Thing” by INXS (which is over 40 years old now!) And here is your weekly cat picture: All hail the queen. Millay was supervising as I read books in my office last week. Probably in case I got a paper cut or something.

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.” ― Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History

For fans of messy family drama (and really, who isn’t?), Claire Lombardo is back with a new novel about motherhood, maturation, and life’s surprises. At 57, Julia Ames is finally starting to feel like she has a good handle on her life. But when you think it’s all going well is when the universe will getcha! Julia’s children both throw her curveballs, and the past has decided it isn’t ready for Julia to forget about it. As she tries to navigate current events without resorting to past behaviors, readers are treated to a realistic tale of what it means to be a parent with their own hopes and dreams, and problems. P.S. Good luck getting the Talking Heads song out of your head. (Read this while you get ready for Reese to adapt Lombardo’s first novel, if you haven’t already read that one!)

Backlist bump: The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

I had the privilege of seeing Joseph Earl Thomas talk a few years ago, and he was such a compelling speaker! He had been talking about his incredible memoir then, and now he also has a novel — it is SO GOOD. It’s about a young Black man in Philadelphia trying to figure out his life after returning from service in the Iraq War. Joseph Thomas is working as an EMT and taking classes, but his time overseas has changed him in ways that not everyone in his life can understand. Not even Joseph Thomas is sure he understands, but Joseph Earl Thomas has certainly captured the nuances and complications of his character’s situation. Joseph Thomas’s observations, struggles, and heartbreaks drive this powerful debut about the life of a young Black man in America, and it is sure to be nominated for a gazillion awards.

Backlist bump: Sink: A Memoir by Joseph Earl Thomas

And last, but not least, if you want to read an author all your favorite authors love to read, pick up a book by Rachel Cusk! Her latest is a format-bending story of a painter named G, who achieves great success in his midlife. It’s also about a painter named G in her twenties. There’s also the story of an attack on a woman in Paris, and one of children contemplating their mother after her death. But are these things all related or separate? And when did they happen? Cusk’s storytelling is deliciously cerebral and challenges the reader to decide what form the novel is taking, and what they believe art to be. I don’t mind putting in a little work when the writing is this good. (Be sure to also check out the Outline trilogy!)

Backlist bump: Second Place by Rachel Cusk

This week, I am reading The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues by Beth Lincoln and illustrated by Claire Powell, and Invisible Kitties: A Feline Study of Fluid Mechanics or The Spurious Incidents of the Cats in the Night-Time by Yu Yoyo and translated by Jeremy Tiang. For viewing, the NBA Finals are still going on, and my husband and I also started watching Bodkin and the new game show The 1% Club. The song stuck in my head this week is “Pa Pa Power” by Dead Man’s Bones, which happens a lot. It’s just so catchy! (Also, if you didn’t already know, it’s Ryan Gosling’s band.) And here is your weekly cat picture: I recently picked up an adorable picture book called Cats Are a Liquid by Rebecca Donnelly and Misa Saburi, because they’re not wrong. Here, Zevon is seen sloshing over the sides of his bowl!

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“I’ve seen the life on this planet, Scully, and that’s exactly why I’m looking elsewhere.”—Fox Mulder, The X-Files (A great quote from one of the worst episodes, IMO. What a waste of M. Emmet Walsh!)

I have been a fan of Rufi Thorpe since her first book, but it’s this, her fifth novel, that is going to send her into stardom, especially when the adaptation comes out. This smart, funny novel is about a young woman named Margo (surprise, surprise), who is navigating early adulthood as best she can. When she becomes pregnant after an ill-advised brief affair with her professor, Margo decides she’s going to have the baby. But this is hard, as she is seriously broke, with no help available from her parents, a former Hooters server and a pro wrestler. So using her gumption and some tips from her wrestler dad, Margo starts an OnlyFans channel. But when her channel is a surprise success, Margo will have to decide if the cash and notoriety are worth the judgment and internet permanence. Thorpe is an amazing observer of human nature, and like her previous novels, this one is filled with characters who are achingly human and will capture your heart, flaws, and all.

Backlist bump: Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe

This debut is a contemporary retelling of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I fully admit to never having read that book, so I cannot say if it is similar or faithful, but I did think this was excellent. It’s about three sisters who grow up in California with a horrible, abusive father, who reunite at his deathbed after years of estrangement. One has become a cold-hearted lawyer, one is a discontented academic, and the youngest has been left to care for their dad, to the detriment of her own life. The death of their father could change their lives. The sisters want their inheritance, they want closure, they want to see that the man who tormented them for so long is really going to die. It’s a heartbreaking story about a legacy of violence, how it affected the relationships between the sisters and informed their adulthoods, and how complicated family can be. Sun has delivered an ambitious and promising debut, and I look forward to what she writes next.

Backlist bump: The Brothers K by David James Duncan

Terrible things and curses surrounding movies and film sets are pretty much its own horror subgenre now, and this new novel is an excellent addition to the shelf. In 1993, a group of kids broke into an abandoned school building to film an indie horror film called Horror Movie. It was disturbing and eerie, and what eventually happened on that set became the subject of rumor and legend for years. Now, three decades later, a group of hardcore fans of the film are remaking it, and the only surviving cast member has been invited to consult and help out with the new shoot. But are they tempting fate by recreating a doomed film? I don’t want to tell you anything else about it, because it’s best for you to experience the horror for yourself. Tremblay has pulled out all the stops in this wicked, weird, and upsetting novel, perfect for fans of scary lore and horror films.

Backlist bump: The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

This week, I am reading The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich and Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley. For viewing, along with the NBA Finals, my husband and I continued our true crime documentary streak by watching The Staircase. Now we’re trying to decide if we want to watch the Colin Firth fictionalized version. The song stuck in my head this week is “It’s a Shame About Ray” by The Lemonheads. And here is your weekly cat picture: This bread dough looks a little weird.

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

”I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books.” – Jo Walton, Among Others

This week: I’m currently reading Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart and Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, translated by Heather Cleary. I’ve just started season seven of my rewatch of The X-Files. It’s going more slowly now that I have dug out all my books on the show and I keep stopping to read stuff about the episodes. Because why be nerdy when you can be extra-nerdy, lol? The song stuck in my head is “Pa Pa Power” by Dead Man’s Bones (a.k.a. Ryan Gosling’s band. And here’s a cat photo: Look at how strong Zevon is, holding up the wall for us! (It’s fun to look at this photo upside down. It looks like someone filled him with helium and he’s bumping up against the ceiling.)

This is a dazzling summer romance novel about two people who discover they might be right for each other…but they’re already involved with the wrong people. Sawyer is a publishing assistant in New York City. She was looking forward to spending a romantic summer with her new fiancé, Charles. But he tells her he has to work a lot more hours over the summer — with his attractive coworker Kendra — and she’ll be on her own. Then Sawyer is contacted by Kendra’s boyfriend Nick, who wants to discuss Charles and Kendra spending so much time together. Their original meeting doesn’t go well, but over the next several weeks, Sawyer and Nick spend many “summer Fridays” together and discover they challenge, support, and make each other better in ways their current partners do not. As the end of the summer approaches, they’ll have to decide if their summer friendship is meant to be a loving romance, or if they should go their separate ways. It’s a charming story of the excitement of young love, hot summers, and sparking chemistry.

Backlist bump: The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Another fun novel of budding young love is this YA novel from Alexene Farol Follmouth (who also writes under the name Olivia Blake.) Viola is pretty cranky about everything in her life at the moment. Her friend tells her she needs to be more likable, her tabletop game campaign fails, and as the vice president of her class, the ineffective president, Jack, is making her life harder. Her only joy is playing an MMORPG* called Twelfth Knight, even if she has to pretend to be a boy to keep from getting harassed. When she discovers that Jack plays Twelfth Knight too, it leads to a friendship between their characters in the game. But what will happen when Jack finds out that Viola is really, well, Viola? And does she want to get involved with someone who infuriates her IRL? It’s a cute take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, about hidden identities and love, but also a great story about authenticity. (*massively multiplayer online role-playing game)

Backlist bump: Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto

And last but not least, this tearjerker from “The Marian Keyes of France.” Emma and Agathe are sisters, with Emma as practical and cautious as Agathe is wild and spontaneous. Despite their differences, they grew up very close, united by a tragedy that destroyed their happy childhood. But at the start of the novel, we know they haven’t really spoken in five years. When their beloved grandmother dies, Agathe suggests they spend one last week at Mima’s house before it’s put on the market. To Agathe’s surprise, Emma accepts. Even Emma is surprised she said yes. She’s not sure they can get along for a week. Over the course of the novel, written in both Agathe and Emma’s voices of the past and present, readers learn about their childhood and the thing that drove them apart, and watch as they try and figure out a way to move forward. It’s a tender, heartbreaking story of family, mental illness, and trauma, but a surprisingly funny one too. It will have you wiping away the tears with your beach towel. (Don’t get sand in your eyes!)

Backlist bump: How to Find Love in the Little Things by Virginie Grimaldi, Adriana Hunter (translator)

This week, I am reading Old Soul by Susan Barker and The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey: Rare Drawings, Scripts, and Stories by Carol Verburg. For viewing, along with the NBA conference finals, I watched the season finales of Elsbeth and The Jinx. The first is silly, but I like it because Carrie Preston is always great, and the second is absolutely bananapants. It’s just…wow. The song stuck in my head this week is “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh has the biggest kitty oven mitts.

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“Now there are some things we all know, but we don’t take’m out and look at’m very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars…everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.” —Thornton Wilder, Our Town

I had to include this one because, on top of having that amazing cover, I know many of you are curious about it based on the title alone. Well, y’all know how I don’t like to say a book isn’t for everyone—and can be said of every book—but this one definitely requires a special audience. It’s about a 10-year-old named Molly in 1992, who lives with her father and some nuns in a home for people down on their luck. Molly lost her mother when she was young, and she’s experienced more trauma since, including a fire that restored her father’s vision. She’s a pretty tough, feral child. When a badass ex-con named Jeanie moves into the house, Molly is smitten. And when Jeanie fakes her own death, Molly runs away to find her. And the story only gets more bananapants from there. It’s wild, funny, and often uncomfortable. If you’re in the mood for an unhinged novel about a crass child trying to find friendship and love, then this is the book for you. (CW for just about everything, including fatphobia, body shaming, ableism and ableist slurs, child endangerment, harm, abuse, and assault.)

Backlist bump: Cruddy by Lynda Barry

I haven’t read this one yet, but I am very excited to get to it because I loved Kwon’s last novel, The Incendiaries! This one is supposed to be an incendiary (sorry not sorry) story of sex and art and desire. Jin is a photographer feeling stuck in her career and her marriage. Lidija is an intriguing ballerina on leave from her dance company for mysterious reasons. During a night of talking, Jin finds herself telling Lidija everything, including secrets she’s not supposed to spill involving a family curse. Irresistibly drawn to one another, the two become enmeshed in a relationship that ignites desires, fuels work, and just might be the ruin of them both.

Backlist bump: The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

And last but not least, a retelling of the Mahābhārata and the story of Ganga, the goddess of the river. Ganga is beloved by most everyone, but when she upsets a sage, she is cursed to become a mortal. And unfortunately, when Ganga is just getting the hang of being human (what’s that like lol?), she is turned back to a goddess and must leave her human son. That son, Devavrata, will be pulled into a terrible fate when he grows up, one that will bring tragedy to their land. Like Kaikeyi, this is a story of mothers, love, and fate, and a moving, smart retelling of the life of a fascinating woman from mythology. (CW include sexism, child harm and death, injury, violence, war, murder, and death.)

Backlist bump: Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

This week, I am reading The Most by Jessica Anthony and Beholder by Ryan La Sala. For viewing, along with the tail end of the NBA semifinals, I just wrapped up season five of The X-Files and the first feature film, both of which continue to deliver a vast array of famous character actors. (I can’t tell you who any of the new famous actors are anymore, but I still know all the old ones, lol.) The song stuck in my head this week is “Run Runaway” by Slade. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh looks like he’s an alien who has just landed in his flying saucer.

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“This, friend, is the way the world always ends, has always ended since we have watched it together: with those who Have choosing demise—always demise—for everything but themselves.”—Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Lost Ark Dreaming 

When King Solomon dies, his last wish is that his four children keep their family home from falling into the hands of developers. The Kingdom, as it’s called, is heir property, which is property held and passed down in a family without a will and often subject to seizure or sale due to its lack of formal paperwork. (Harris wrote this novel about learning of the problem of thousands of people with heir property who couldn’t get assistance rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina because they couldn’t prove they owned their homes.) To stop developers from acquiring the Kingdom, the Solomon siblings return to North Carolina, each carrying their own baggage. They must overcome obstacles and let go of the problems and hurts of the past if they want to save their home for their futures. It’s an emotional tale of family, love, and injustice.

Backlist bump: One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

Hammonds has hit another home run with this YA novel exploring addiction and acceptance. It’s the summer before college, and Blake Brenner desperately wants to get into the prestigious Serena Sorority on campus with her girlfriend, Ella. As the daughter of a Serena alum, Ella is guaranteed a spot. But Blake doesn’t have those connections, so she must work harder to find a way in. Alcohol seems to be the answer — Blake discovers that she’s a different person when she drinks, one who is the life of the party and a viable Serena candidate. But as Blake’s drinking spirals out of control, she begins to wonder how far she will go to achieve what she wants. Is the acceptance of these strangers worth the price of addiction?

Backlist bump: We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

And last (unicorn) but not least, this is a comical fantasy about fairy tale tropes from the prolific author of the classic The Last Unicorn. When Robert’s father dies in the kingdom of Bellemontagne, Robert inherits his job: dragon exterminator. But Robert likes dragons and doesn’t want to destroy them. (Not to mention, while many dragons are small, some of them get to be REALLY big.) But with Prince Reginald — a royal marriage prospect — soon to visit the castle, Princess Cerise needs Robert to get rid of the kingdom’s dragon infestation. And it turns out, Prince Reginald needs Robert’s help in slaying a big dragon so he can impress his father. It seems like no matter what, Robert is going to have to kill dragons. How can he get out of his seemingly destined role as a dragon exterminator and attain the job he has always wanted, that of a royal valet?

Backlist bump: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

This week, I am reading an older novella, The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones, and In Defence of the Act by Effie Black, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize this year. For viewing, along with the NBA semifinals, I have been watching trivia shows and episodes of season five of The X-Files. (Related: I just got a copy of the upcoming tie-in novel, The X-Files: Perihelion by Claudia Gray, and I am so excited.) I also rewatched The Crow for the zillionth time to celebrate its 30th anniversary on Saturday. The song stuck in my head this week is “Dead of Night” by Orville Peck. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon is the cutest basket case.

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“You try to keep life simple but it never works, and in the end all you have left is yourself.”—Sue Grafton, “A” is for Alibi

This week: I’m currently reading Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?: A Memoir by Séamas O’Reilly and Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans. I watched the first season of The Jinx this week. I knew all about it, but it still doesn’t prepare you for it. I’ll probably watch the new season once it is finished airing. I’m also on season four of my rewatch of The X-Files. This is my 12th or 13th time and—spoiler—I still love it. (Peter Boyle’s guest spot is the greatest guest spot in television.) The song stuck in my head is “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners.

And here’s a cat photo: Zevon is catching the last bit of heat from the radiator before it’s too warm to have it on. (You can tell he’s my cat because he’s using books for a pillow.)

The author of Goodbye, Vitamin returns with a new novel about class, family, race, and responsibility. On the cusp of Y2K, Lily, the child of immigrant scientists, falls for Matthew, the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune. It’s love. But we know that something happened to separate the couple because the book moves to 2021, where we meet their son, Nick. Nick is unhappy living alone with his mother, Lily, on a remote island in Washington and sets out to find his father, whom he hasn’t met before and doesn’t know much about. But Nick’s interest in his heritage has the potential to open old wounds and disrupt the lives of everyone involved. This is a heartfelt story of family, genetics, love, and forgiveness.

Backlist bump: Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong

This is an imaginative debut novel about a woman in rural China, who works as a—you guessed it—funeral cryer. Funeral criers are hired to evoke emotion in the mourners and help with their grief using their own words and tears. Despite providing a service, the unnamed narrator of the novel is an outcast in her village, because she works so closely with death. She’s also having a hard time with her husband and is unsure if their marriage will survive. So she decides to do something she hasn’t done before—seek out joy for herself and change her life. It’s an interesting story of a midlife crisis in an area not often portrayed in novels, with more humorous moments than you wouldn’t expect for a novel involving funerals.

Backlist bump: Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

And last, but not least, the winner of the 2021 Sharjah Award for Creativity in the novel category, now in English. This is a sharp and fitting satirical novel for our times. It’s about a book censor who spends his days scouring reading material for mentions of things that have been banned since the Revolution, including anything that mentions the world before the Revolution. But he is also moved and intrigued and curious, and brings the confiscated books home and reads them secretly at night. And what he reads starts to invade his dreams and his days, as he becomes wrapped up in the world of brave people fighting back against censorship.

Backlist bump: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

This week, I am reading Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski and Highway Thirteen: Stories by Fiona McFarlane. I haven’t managed to fit in any television this week (besides the Celtics), but I am looking forward to Jeopardy Masters starting tomorrow. I just love trivia so much! (Speaking of Jeopardy, last week I picked up Baby Got Facts: Totally ’90s Trivia by Jeopardy champion Buzzy Cohen.) The song stuck in my head this week is “Close To Me” by The Cure. And here is your weekly cat picture: Say it with me now: “BOOOOOOP.”

That’s all for this week! I appreciate you more than I can say, friends. Thank you for joining me each Tuesday as I rave about books! I am wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! See you next week! – XO, Liberty

“…I persist in believing that poems do more than newspapers to mend the world.”—Kathleen Rooney, From Dust to Stardust