Category: New Books

When cartographer Nell Young’s father is murdered, she discovers that an old map he said was worthless, and was the source of their estrangement, is actually something of great importance. Her investigation into the map’s origins leads her on a wild, dangerous adventure. This is perfect for fans of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore!

Natural-born healer Emma Starling returns to her small New Hampshire hometown when her father becomes sick with a mystery illness. There she contends with a missing childhood friend, her brother’s recovery from substance addiction, her parents’ fractured marriage, her father’s ghosts, and so much more. Yes, I know, I talk about this book a lot, but it’s because it’s SO GOOD. This is the new John Irving novel you’ve been waiting for.

Do you like stunning dystopian novels with lots of secrets, continuation of family legacies, science, Arctic settings, plagues, spaceships, love and loss, and talking pigs? Then look no further, because this gorgeous gut-punch of a book will floor you. Seriously, I may never get over reading this book.

And this is one of the most perfect, gorgeous novels I’ve ever read. Leah is on a routine submarine expedition, but when her sub doesn’t resurface, her wife Miri is adrift. But then Leah’s sub finally returns many weeks later without explanation, and the two will never be the same.

And this is for fans of fantastic fantasy! (Say that three times fast.) Inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, a young girl who grows up on the moon goes on a quest to save her mother from the ruthless Celestial Emperor.

This is a great read for fans of Andy Weir. It’s a darkly humorous story about Mickey, an expendable aboard a spaceship. As an expendable, when there’s a dangerous task to be done, he has to do it. And he dies. A lot. And then a new version of Mickey is created. Unfortunately, due to an error, there are now two of him at once, and it might cost him everything, for good, forever.

It’s about Elizabeth Zott, a young woman working to become a scientist in the sexist world of academia in 1960s California. Eventually, she finds herself a reluctant television star, where she tries to teach other women to become self-reliant and stick it to the patriarchy. (I really loved this book, but I have to admit that I disagree with the light tone of the publisher description. It is dazzling, and funny in places, but there is a lot of trauma in this one.)

And as much as I have enjoyed the novels of Emily St. John Mandel, I think this one might be my favorite! It takes place one hundred years in the past to three hundred years in the future. There’s a young man in the Canadian wilderness, an author on a book tour at the end of the world, a moon colony, and more. It’s so, so amazing. (Heads up that there are minor spoilery characters from The Glass Hotel, but you don’t have to have read it to enjoy this one.)

And true crime fans, mark this one down now! When Rachel Rear was young, her mother remarried. Her stepfather had had a daughter who had gone missing and was presumed dead before he met Rear’s mother, so she only knew her stepsister Stephanie through stories. This is a heart-punching investigation by Rear years later into the mystery of the sister she never knew, and a decades-long unsolved crime.

Do you like beautifully-written novels where you can’t quite figure out what is happening but you are happy to have read them? Then look no further! This is about the interviews with the crew aboard the Six-Thousand Ship. They take on a shipment of unusual cargo and document their feelings about it. I didn’t really understand this book, but by gum, I freaking loved it!

If you knew that detectives would verify what you write in your online dating profile, would it change your mind about what you wrote? Would you be less likely to use the service? That’s a question I pondered as I enjoyed this excellent novel. Claudia Lin is an amateur sleuth for an online dating agency. When one of her clients goes missing, she disobeys protocol to investigate on her own. But what she discovers is a lot more sinister than she expected.

An incredibly moving dystopian middle grade novel about a future where a select group of humans are sent into space to start over. A young girl whose family is aboard the ship is the only one who remembers the past, and must fight a sinister faction who hijacks the ship with their own plans.

This is a complex, fantastic story about historic injustices, racism, the horrors of slavery, and accountability. A young Black woman travels home to the South to attend the wedding of her former best friend. But the event is held on a renovated plantation, and the horrors of its past come back to get justice.

And if you want to read what was probably the most messed up, yet compelling, book I read this year—this is it! A family moves into a seemingly perfect neighborhood on a cul-de-sac, but small misunderstandings, societal assumptions, and past wrongs will expose the rot of the neighborhood, until incidents lead to a violent conclusion.

If you like spy stories and well-written characters, then pick this one up! It’s about a hesitant Russian operative who has become a leader of a Google-like company in Silicon Valley, and an IT worker who stumbles upon her secret and grapples with using the information for her own agenda.

And this is an excellent (and probably not too unrealistic) story of wearable technology. In the near future, a device called a Pilot is implanted in people’s heads to help them multitask. People who get the tech gain status and have advantages, but not everyone can get it, and the controversial device divides the family at the center of the novel.

This is a wildly fun speculative historical novel. It’s a Western, with a bit of magic, about a Chinese American who is conscripted into service for the Central Pacific Railroad after his wife is kidnapped. He travels across the country, meeting an unusual troupe of circus folks along the way, as he blazes a trail of vengeance and bloodshed in his quest to get her back.

In this Highsmith-like mystery, a young woman who works in publishing gets the opportunity to be the assistant to famous author with a secret identity. (Think Elena Ferrante.) When Florence takes the job with the real “Maud Dixon”, their travels lead to disaster and unearthed secrets, giving Florence the chance to become someone else.

And this is a fantastic story collection, full of eerie and riveting supernatural stories about fairy tales, urban legends, and scary happenings. If you like Carmen Maria Machado, this should be at the top of your TBR!

A powerful, heart-squeezing story of family and loss, told in two parts: a family’s time in Thailand, where the son goes missing; and four decades later, when a man claiming to be the missing son reaches out to the family.

A fantastic fantasy novel in which a young girl steals her brother’s prophecy for herself after he dies, and becomes a powerful warrior and leader. This is epic fun!

This was one of the funniest books I read this year and also one of the most heartbreaking. It’s about a young queer woman trying to find her way in life, who lies her way into a job as a receptionist at a Catholic church.

A psychiatrist aboard a space vessel has trouble connecting with the crew, preferring the company of the ship’s AI. But a storm traps the vessel and soon they will all have to confront their problems and something sinister aboard the ship.

And this is like Firefly meets Mad Max! A reclusive veteran from the losing side of an intergalactic battle agrees to help an insolent teenager, who is also a trained weapon, reach her destination when her ship crashes in the desert.

And this is the story of a detective searching for a serial killer who murders fallen angels. I still don’t think I can do any better than my original take, so here it is again: If you ever wondered what it would be like if Good Omens was mashed up with The Black Stallion, with a dash of Loki, then this is the book for you!

And speaking of Loki: Fans of Circe—and everyone else—will enjoy this retelling of Angrboda of Norse mythology, the powerful witch, mother of monsters, and lover of Loki. Why isn’t this book on every end of the year list? Everyone I know who has read it has loved it!

This is another of my favorite short story collections of the year. These are gritty gut punches about criminal elements, with sharp humor throughout, set in the West. I love books that feel like they’re ruining my life when I read them, and this is one I find myself thinking about again and again.

And last, but not least, this fun, heartwarming story about a young boy who is worried about his family’s future when his father’s dreams of owning a successful food truck fail. When he and his friends make a remarkable discovery under the bridges of Pittsburgh, it just might change his luck.

First: an excellent debut! When most people find a dead body, they call the authorities—but not Ellice Littlejohn. She’s too worried about her secrets. Ellice is a Black woman at a mostly white law firm, she’s having a secret affair with her boss, and she has even more secrets from her past that she is hiding. So when she finds her boss dead, she backs out of the room and pretends she was never there. But soon she finds herself promoted to his position, and suddenly she’s wrapped up in what very well may be the case that got him killed. Can she unravel the mystery and keep her secrets before the murderer gets to her too? (CW for infidelity, racism, sexism, violence, murder.)

Backlist bump: Pleasantville by Attica Locke

What if you could get revenge on murderers and never get caught? It’s an offer Camille can’t refuse. Five years ago, her teenage daughter died, and the boy responsible for her death walked away free. After years of grief and rage, Camille is approached by an anonymous internet group that claims they can get her the revenge she seeks, in return for a few small favors. But when Camille realizes those favors lead to the deaths of other people, she wonders if she can extract herself from her deadly new friends—or is she too far gone to care? This one is unrelenting in the thrills! (CW for child murder, suicide, sexual assault, and bullying; loss of a child, car accident and death by car, murder, drowning, chemical use and abuse and overdose, medical negligence, grief, trauma, falling death.)

Backlist bump: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

And last, but not least, a futuristic tale about a former pro baseball player with outdated cybernetic parts named Kobo. He now works as a scout for the Big Pharma-owned teams and spends his free time dodging loan sharks. When his own brother, a baseball superstar, dies at the plate, Kobo goes on a quest for answers. But his search reveals more questions and a conspiracy that goes to the top. This one is like if Raymond Chandler wrote Blade Runner. I love a down-on-their-luck private investigator. (CW for violence, chemical use and abuse, murder.)

Backlist bump: Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison

This fun, fast-paced book is a dark urban fantasy novel about an FBI agent who is investigating a serial killer whose victims all have something in common: they have six fingers and six toes. These people are believed to be Nephalims, also known as fallen angels. Michael Childs is said FBI agent, whose search for a murderer leads him to a Marine sniper, Anaba Raines. Anaba is also not who she first appears to be, and during their partnership, Michael also uncovers something shocking about himself. I call this novel Good Omens mashed up with The Black Stallion, with a dash of Loki. And it’s as awesome as it sounds. MORE, PLEASE. (CW for gore, violence, and murder.)

Backlist bump: The Immortals (Olympus Bound #1) by Jordanna Max Brodsky

World-famous author Murakami, known for such books as Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicles, has created a great little photo book of his T-shirt collection. His collection includes shirts with animals, alcohol brands, bands, bookstores, and of course, a few featuring the author himself. (He has one that says “Keep calm and read Murakami.” The images are accompanied by stories about the shirts, such as where he got them and why he loves them. It’s a great gift for people who love T-shirts, photo books, Murakami, or all three!

Backlist bump: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Translator) (My favorite Murakami.)

And last, but not least, this cool book based on Rosenwald’s popular workshop. It’s a fun guide to being your most original you, and how being yourself—and some human error—can lead to creativity. The book also has pages of visual aids and tips for unlocking your untapped potential. Chapters include “Your Pointless Quest for Perfection” and “Sometimes Not Trying Works Better Than Trying.” I definitely want to get a finished copy of this for myself.

Backlist bump: Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity by Felicia Day

I feel like I should just write “AHHHH” for twenty lines here, or a million heart eye emojis, because nothing I say will do this novel justice. It’s a genre-bending queer love story about a married couple, Leah and Miri. Leah is a scientist who left for a routine submarine expedition, but instead her sub went missing for a long, long time.

When she finally returns to her wife, Miri, Leah is changed. She turns all the faucets on all the time, she hangs out in the tub—she’s just not herself. It’s told between Leah’s time on the ocean floor, and then her return to Miri, who is desperately seeking answers to what happened and what to do now. This is a freaking remarkable novel! You will hear me call my favorite book of 2022 more than once, because it’s so good, I can’t even handle it. (CW for mentions of body horror, suicide, loss, grief, and animal death.)

This should be required reading for everyone. This book expands on the project started in the New York Times in 2019, the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slave ships in America. It covers the history of the United States with the contributions of Black people and the history of slavery as the center focus, something that is usually left out of history books, even today. It features contributions from some of today’s most incredibel writers, including Yaa Gyasi, Darryl Pinckney, Claudia Rankine, Jason Reynolds, and Jesmyn Ward. Grab a copy or two as soon as you can, because it’s going to go fast.

Backlist bump: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi (Not quite backlist yet, but too important not to mention.)

And calling all history fans: This is an excellent debut historical novel based on the true scandal of the Jacobean court. It’s about the friendship between Frances Howard, the wife of the Earl of Essex, and Anne Turner. Bonds are made and broken in an instant in the court, and friendships and fortunes can change in the drop of a fancy hat. The women struggle to take charge of their own futures and write themselves a happy ending, but risking everything means they could lose it all.

Backlist bump: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

And the amazing author of Binti, Remote Control, and more, is back with this great novella! Set in a near-future Nigeria, it’s about a young woman named Anwuli Okwudili, who has several body augmentations, and ends up on the run across the deserts of Northern Nigeria after a bloody confrontation at the local market. Who can AO trust, and how will the story of this technologically advanced woman end? It’s a great book that takes on race, class, and colonialism in a fast-paced adventure story. You’ll read it so fast, you’ll get whiplash!

Backlist bump: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

This is not an upcoming book, but one that is available now exclusively through Kobo! And it is a freaking DELIGHT. Liza and her wife, Hanna, are having relationship troubles, so Hanna booked them a romantic getaway at a castle in Scotland. Which is part of why they’re having troubles—Liza feels like Hanna never asks her what she wants, she just goes ahead and does stuff, like booking them a trip. Hanna is a financial advisor who makes mad bank and works a lot of hours, and she is beginning to resent all the time Liza spends working on her true crime podcast, which grows in popularity each week, because it cuts in on their free time. Is a weekend in a remote location with a bunch of stuffy aristocrats the answer for their marital woes?

Because you know what might not be good for a relationship in trouble? A giant snowstorm that traps everyone in the castle, including a mysterious femme fatale with designs on Liza and an unknown murderer, who has started offing the guests. There’s no escape and no way to call for help. But now Liza now has the chance to show Hanna her podcast isn’t just a hobby and solve an actual case, and she and Hanna will learn what lengths they will go to in order to keep each other safe.

This is a fun satirical take on Agatha Christie and classic locked room mysteries. Hall does an excellent job nailing down all the situations and characters you find in those stories. But he also adds a couple of twists, including two things I really loved that I can’t mention because they’re spoilers, so you’ll have to hit me up after you read it.

(CW for violence and murder, mentions of infidelity and suicide.)

A young Black woman wakes up naked in an alley in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Lou has no memory of how she got there, but she does have a strong sense that this has happened before. People seem familiar, like she already knows them. After getting stuck in this time, she goes on to become the first Black woman journalist in L.A. Lou will investigate her own life in this time period, to figure out why it all seems so familiar—and what destiny has in store for her. This is a remarkable book, but I fully admit that it is very complex and I found it hard to follow at times. But I still loved it. (CW for mentions of violence, war, racism, abuse, and assault.)

Backlist bump: Grace by Natashia Deón

I love everything Lily King writes. It seems impossible that King’s last book, Writers & Lovers, only came out in March of 2020, because I feel like I have been thinking about it forever. But here we are, with a whole new book to read. This is a fantastic collection of stories, King’s first, filled with love, loss, triumph, and heartbreak. There’s tales of a painful college reunion, a grandfather’s rage, a bookseller’s new love, and more. These are ten powerful stories of raw emotion about the helplessness of being human. You may want to savor them so your heart doesn’t break.

Backlist bump: Writers & Lovers by Lily King

And this one is so in our wheelhouses, it’s almost like cheating. But who doesn’t love a book about libraries?! This is exactly as advertised: a fascinating look into libraries past and present, the collecting and theft of rare books, and the future of libraries. For those of you who yell “TOO SOON!” whenever someone mentions the burning of the Library of Alexandria, this book is for you!

Backlist bump: I really wanted to recommend A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books by Nicholas A. Basbanes, but it is no longer readily available in print. So instead, here’s your reminder that you should definitely have Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes and The Library by Sarah Stewart and David Small in your collection.

First of all, you know how I love a book cover you can see from space. I am surprised more covers aren’t this loud. Why wouldn’t you want your cover to jump out at potential readers?? Good news, the inside is just as wild, too. This is a fun dystopian satire about office work and a hazardous outbreak in a tech company building.

Jacob Elliot is getting nowhere in his career, so he begrudgingly takes a temporary job in the mailroom at Delphi Enterprises, a Google-like tech company. But Jacob is about to have a horrible first day of work: During a meeting of all the company’s executives in the auditorium, something poisonous gets into the air vents. It kills everyone in the room, leaving only the interns and low-paid employees left in the building.

Jacob is sort of put in a leadership position of this motley group, who don’t know what the toxic event is that has occurred, only that it isn’t safe to leave the building. So they start their own version of society, a community of sorts, in the enormous building. But playing at a new paradise doesn’t please everyone. And there’s also the problem of rations and power. And as the survivors search around for supplies and answers, they uncover a much darker conspiracy that may go all the way to the top.

Despite its high body count and some serious events, this is a fun and funny read about a locked room mystery of sorts, and a sharp stab at the tech world. Kinda like Lord of the Flies set in Silicon Valley. (CW for mentions of mass illness and death, chemical use, violence, assault, and murder.)

This is an exciting, powerful YA novel about an alien invasion in Los Angeles. Pedro, Luna, and Rafa are three Latinx teens who attend Fairfax High School together, although they’re not really friends, but they’re brought together by unbelievable circumstances. Because aliens have decided that humans do not deserve Earth, so they’ve sent a representative to check the planet out and ready it for annihilation. When the Visitor arrives, it assumes the form of Luna’s dead cousin, Tasha, which confuses everyone. Pedro, Luna, and Rafa wind up on the run together from Alien Tasha, while also trying to foil her plans. Complicating matters is the behavior of the police, who are still trying to detain and arrest people in the middle of an alien invasion. While an alien invasion may never happen (but who knows anymore), the rest of the story is all too real. I loved the relationships and road blocks that pop up in the character’s lives, and all the action, too. (CW for violence, death, illness, pandemic, police violence and killings, people experiencing houselessness, racism, and bullying.)

Backlist bump: Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera

Okay, I must be completely honest with you: I am only one-third of the way through this because I only got my hands on it right before I started writing this newsletter. But it’s quite remarkable—remarkable enough that I felt the need to include it anyway. It’s about a Swedish man in the early 20th century named Sven Ormson. Sven leaves Stockholm to find a life of quiet and solitude near the Arctic circle, and after a traumatic injury, retreats completely into isolation. But he learns that his quest for solitude will lead him to the most important relationships he has made in his life. The writing is unbelievably gorgeous and the story is a roller coaster of emotions. I can’t wait to finish it. (My incomplete list of CW so far include body shaming, peril, injury, and trauma.)

Backlist bump: Tinkers by Paul Harding

And last, but not least, this is a fun debut thriller! It’s about a journalist named Jordan Manning in Chicago. Jordan has a master’s degree in forensic science and uses her keen instincts for crime in her reporting. She tries to give voice to young Black women victims, whose murders have gone unreported and overlooked. But when a teen girl is killed, it hits Jordan particularly hard, and the arrest of three young boys doesn’t strike her as the correct solution to the case. So Jordan decides to investigate the case herself, but she just might end up being a news story instead. What makes this story more fun is the fact that Hall herself is a journalist. And this novel is definitely an exciting page turner, but do not believe the ‘cozy mystery’ label that has been attached to it. It’s not a cozy! (CW for racism, violence, murder, and sexual assault.)

Backlist bump: Notorious by Allison Brennan

Oh, how I loved this novel! It’s so fantastic. Imagine it’s the future and the Earth is really bad off. (Not that hard to imagine, right?) The temperature of the planet is raging out of control, and heat and fires are causing massive deaths. So scientist Alex Welch-Peters is sent into space by the giant tech company Sensus to work on his project: creating a strain of algae that will eat up carbon emissions and reverse climate change. He’s been workin gon it for two decades and is close to a solution, but his passion for his work has cost him his marriage. Alex’s lab is housed in Parallaxis, a space station being built for billionaires who have invested heavily in the project so they can leave the hellscape that is Earth behind.

There are a lot of problems at Parallaxis right away, starting with the fact that it isn’t even done being built. Meanwhile, back on home, Alex’s family is dealing with problems of their own. Technology has advanced to the point where people wear their Sensus phones as implants in their ears, and Alex’s daughter Mary Agnes is being bullied by a classmate who has sent around an upsetting video to the other students to humiliate her. Mary Agnes wants to join her dad in space, but her mother won’t let her.

There’s also the founders of Sensus, two brilliant and opportunistic sisters, who are locked in a sibling rivalry over the fate of Parallaxis and what must be done to placate their investors. And Tess, a young social psychologist who has been hired by Sensus to monitor the team on the space station and create an algorithm that predicts human behavior, who becomes obsessed with her work.

I’m doing a terrible job trying to compress all the incredible and heartbreaking things involved in telling this amazing story of family, technology, and the future. Parts of it reminded me of We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker, and parts were like In the Quick by Kate Hope Day. But all together, it is its own remarkable story of survival in the face of the consequences of our own actions. This book haunts me, and I can’t wait for everyone to read it. (CW for illegal surveillance, attempted rape, suicide, illness, mass shootings, and mass deaths.)

I talked about this on All the Books a couple weeks ago but then the release date got moved, so I am going to mention it again here, because it’s one of the best fantasy books of the year! It’s a a somewhat-retelling of the fairy tale The Goose Girl. Vanja, a young woman who was raised by Fortune and Death, became a servant and while in the employ of the princess, stole her magic necklace. Now Vanja appears as the princess, and while attending swanky events, she’s pulling off robberies to get enough money to split town. But when the princess’s betrothed and a hunter looking to get to the bottom of the crimes both show up, she thinks she’s got real trouble on her hands. But then a curse is placed on her where she starts to grow rubies on her face, and THAT is real trouble. This book is so inventive and fun and I loved it to pieces! (CW for child abuse and neglect, attempted assault, and violence.)

Backlist bump: The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow Series Book 1) by Margaret Owen

And this is a really fun middle grade novel set in an alternate Egyptian universe. Ash is a regular kid growing up in Egypt, except for the part where he has a mentor who is training him for a secret purpose. On the eve of his twelfth birthday, he finds out what that is—to compete to be the protector of the prince. The contest is deadly, five days of dangerous tests, each overseen by a different Egyptian god, and not everyone will survive. But does Ash, who has been preparing for this moment all his life, have what it takes to become the Shadow Prince?

Backlist bump: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

And last, but not least, a fun feminist look at women and the vital roles they played in the history of alcohol throughout the world. From the ancient Sumerian beer goddess Ninkasi up to the 20th century, O’Meara has created a fascinating look into what is historically depicted as a man’s enterprise. This is perfect for people who love to learn about rarely discussed history! (Full disclosure that Mallory is a friend of mine, but I promise the book is awesome regardless.)

Backlist bump: The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara

I would be remiss not to point out that the amazing Sarah Andersen has another hilarious collection coming out, just in time for holiday shopping! Her delightful comics about being an introvert, owning cats, reading books, and more, are one of my very favorite things about the internet, and this might be the best collection yet. Also, be sure to check out her new comic, Cryptid Club, and don’t miss her amazing vampire/werewolf romance graphic novel, Fangs!

Backlist bump: Adulthood Is a Myth: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection by Sarah Andersen