Category: New Books

Originally released in 1987, The Decagon House Murders is a Japanese isolated mystery novel that takes its influence from And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. In this book, a college club of mystery lovers decide to spend their break in a ten-sided home on an isolated island that was the scene of a grisly quadruple homicide six months earlier. What they don’t know is someone has sent letters to members of the club who are not in attendance, claiming they murdered one of their members a year earlier. And the sender claims to be one of the island murder victims from six months before. While people on the mainland rush to solve the mystery of the letters, the seven people on the island cut off from civilization start dying one by one…

This is a quick, fun puzzle mystery, and I particularly enjoyed the many discussions the characters have that dissect different mystery tropes and plots, and how they put them to use once they find themselves in a real-life murder mystery.

(CW for mention of sexual assault, violence, bodily harm, and murder.)

Backlist bump: The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada, Ross Mackenzie

And if you’re a fan of fun graphic novels with fantasy storylines about brave characters, this one will be right up your alley! Bix and Pella are goblin sisters who live in a village wracked by earthquakes. If someone doesn’t do something soon, their whole world will be destroyed. According to goblin legend, the person in charge of earthquakes is the Earth Queen, whose tower resides in the middle of the Enchanted Forest. So armed with her sister, Bix, who has had to look after Pella since their parents died, and a skein of yarn to find their way back home, the goblin sisters will venture where few have gone—and from where fewer have returned. This is a charming story about sisters and bravery and is perfect for readers of all ages!

Backlist bump: Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne (Author, Illustrator), Kristen Acampora (Colorist), Natalie Riess (Colorist)

And last, but not least: I was completely sucked into this novel about the seven supposedly last people on the planet who are trying to work out what happened to the rest of the world. When Touré goes to bed in Cambridge, it’s a regular night. But when he wakes up, the world seems to have ended overnight. But it can’t be possible—there’s no way the buildings could have crumbled and nature could have taken over all in one night. As he wanders around, perplexed, he encounters more people who are equally as confused. But it is what it is—they must now figure out how to survive the freakish weather patterns and the hungry predators who linger outside their shelter, and possibly go in search of other people. And no matter what the seven think has happened, it’s not going to be anything they—or the readers—will expect.

I will admit that I was a little like “okayyyyyyy” when the cause is revealed, but it was so fun that I was pulled right back in and went with it. It’s a very funny book full of heart.

(CW for ableism, mass death caused by the apocalypse, violence, and animal death (for food and protection reasons.))

Backlist bump: The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette

This is a powerful, dark tale that will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it fascinating. Twins Jeanie and Julius have always had a life a little different than most people. They live in a cottage in the woods with their mother, Dot, where they have very little. They rely on a garden and hunting for their food, and they rely on each other for company. But when Dot suddenly dies, the twins are faced with the possibility of having to go out into the world at large, a daunting prospect. This is a quiet, intense story of family, poverty, and change. Like all Fuller’s novels, it is buoyed by her dark, gripping writing.

(CW for animal death, illness, violence, death, mental illness, classism, bullying, and hate.)

Backlist bump: Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

This is a magnificent follow-up to Garrett’s last novel. This is an Almost Famous-like story set in the #MeToo movement. Seventeen-year-old Josie Wright has wanted to be a successful writer for as long as she can remember. And when she wins a contest to profile a celebrity for a national magazine, it seems like her dreams are on their way to coming true.

Josie is so excited when she is assigned to profile Marius Canet, an up-and-coming actor who is about to start filming a new movie with director Roy Lennox. But when Josie learns that Lennox is a sexual predator who has been protected by the industry for far too long, she begins to rethink what she is writing and wonders if she can make a difference. Will her career be over before it has started? This is an important novel about sexual harassment and speaking up.

(CW for mentions of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.)

Backlist bump: Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

This is a somewhat speculative mystery/legal thriller with a lot of moving pieces, so buckle in. In 2008, teenage Wesley Keener’s routine surgery goes wrong, leaving him in a coma-like state. Ambulance chasing lawyer Jay Shenk convinces the Keeners to let him sue the hospital for malpractice on their behalf. Fast forward to 2019: Shenk has been hired to defend Wesley’s father, who has been charged with murdering an expert witness from his son’s trial. Shenk’s son, now a grown man, thinks he has a chance to prove himself by solving the case. This is an inventive, unusual story about fathers and sons, responsibility, and altered reality. Like all of his other novels, Winters takes readers on an unforgettable (albeit kinda bleak) ride.

(CW for trauma, injury, illness, violence, and death.)

Backlist bump: Golden State by Ben H. Winters

Okay, yes, I am also going to mention this on the show this week, but this is a delightful read and I thought it would be best to open with it to soften the sting of the one below it. (You’ll see.)

So it’s 1985 in Toronto and Rachel O’Brien needs a change. Reeling from a breakup with her boyfriend and the death of her father, she takes a job as a French teacher in Little Cove, Newfoundland. She is not sure she is up for the job, or will be any good at it, but she can’t be any worse that the last French teacher, who ran off with the town’s priest.

At first, Rachel has a hard time adjusting to her new town. She doesn’t understand a lot of the words the villagers say, and they’re not excited to have a mainlander in their village. But over time, she grows to love the village and its people, even going so far as to jeopardize her future to help a student. This is a warm novel that wears its heart on its sleeve.

Backlist bump: Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession (Out in paperback today!)

(CW for mentions of suicide, terminal illness, death of a parent, miscarriage, and unwanted pregnancy.)

Let me start with this: this is an incredible collection of speculative stories about belonging and xenophobia. Peynado is really quite a brilliant writer. Her stories are electric, evocative, and unusual, and I cannot wait to read more from her. But I also need to tell you—and this is in no way a detraction, just a heads up—these stories made me so freaking sad. The collection opens with an amazing, devastating story about angels and a school shooting, and that isn’t even the saddest one. There’s one story about a vet putting animals down that made me cry forever. These are speculative stories, but they are also telling truths about women of color and how society fails them. I 110% recommend getting this collection, but go gently, if you need to. But do get them, because WOW.

(CW for mentions of racism, animal death, violence, death of a child, sexual assault, and body horror.)

Backlist bump: Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

And last, but not least, this is a fantastic story of ghosts and gods. After a series of setbacks, Jessamyn Teoh is moving back to Malaysia to live with her parents. That’s when she starts hearing the voice of her dead grandmother in her head. When she was alive, her grandmother was a medium, the proxy of avatar of a deity called the Black Water Sister. And that deity has decided Jess is going to help her with her unfinished business. Jess doesn’t want to cooperate, but her grandmother’s ghost threatens to tell her parents her secret, so she feels she has no choice. Armed with nothing but spirits, Jess will fight to make things right before the Black Water Sister takes over her body for good.

Backlist bump: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

(CW for mentions of homophobia, racism, partner abuse, sexual assault, and mental illness.)

I am super-into everything Erewhon is publishing these days, and Folklorn is no exception. This is an excellent fantasy novel steeped in Korean myth. When Elsa Park was young, her mother warned her of the ancestral curse hunting their family. Now a particle physicist stationed in the Antarctic, Elsa’s childhood imaginary friend returns, and Elsa thinks she must return to her mother in California, and face her family’s past and the dark secrets and traumas that haunt them. That might sound a bit dark, and it can be, but it’s also a beautiful shapeshifter of a book, full of spellbinding imagery and prose. It’s quite something.

(CW for mentions of trauma, drowning, war, abuse by a partner, violence, grief, mental illness, racism, and death of a parent.)

Backlist bump: Flowers of Mold & Other Stories by Ha Seong-nan, Janet Hong (translator)

If you are in the mood these days for an achingly honest and beautiful memoir to punch you in the heart, have I got a book for you. Granata writes about growing up in a seemingly idyllic family in the Connecticut suburbs, and how a shocking act of violence forever changed his life decades later. One of Granta’s brothers, at the time living with undiagnosed schizophrenia, murdered their mother in their family home. Granta explains to readers what it is like to come to terms with one family member killing another, and what it is like to grieve for them both, and how he worked to find his way towards forgiveness. It is a deeply sad and moving book, and an important look at a mental illness that has long been misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and ridiculed in popular culture.

(CW for mentions of murder, mental illness, grief, trauma, and chemical abuse.)

Backlist bump: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

I can’t let the release of another Murderbot book go by without mentioning it! It is pretty much my favorite series of all time, and I keep reading each new book thinking that Wells can’t hit it out of the park every time—BUT SHE DOES. The series, which is now comprised of five novellas and a novel, is about a self-aware security robot that loves streaming its programs and being sarcastic, and curses its sentimental side that makes it want to help pesky humans. These are some of the smartest, funniest books I have read, with awesome plots and action. I feel you do need to read them in order, but what a treat that is, to have all of those books ahead of you! I envy you, if you haven’t read them already.

(CW for mentions of sci-fi violence.)

Backlist bump: All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

All of today’s picks are heartsqueezers! This is another wonderful collection of essays, stories, poems, and illustrations from the multitalented Sun. The book covers topics such as mental health, happiness, and what it means to belong with lots of heart and humor. This is a great book for you or to give as a gift—Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduation are all coming up, if you can believe it. (And for more inspiration, be sure to pick up the book Sun illustrated with Lin-Manuel Miranda called Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You.)

Backlist bump: Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

This one will make you cry a lot, and that’s okay. But it’s really a celebration of the life of O’Hara’s daughter, Caitlin. Caitlin was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of two, and the doctors told her parents she wouldn’t live another year. Instead, she lived over another thirty years. O’Hara examines what it’s like to have a child with this kind of diagnosis, and the joy and sorrows of their life with their daughter. The book is also peppered with entries from Caitlin’s own writing, about her life and her illness. O’Hara also talks about all the ways she still feels Caitlin in the world. And as sad as this memoir sounds, this is an inspiring memoir too about joy and love.

Backlist bump: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker have been best friends for so long, they are almost like one person. They have all the same interests, including musical theater. And they have the same taste in boys, which is a problem when they both start crushing on Matt, who gets the lead in the musical opposite Kate. Kate thinks Matt might be feeling the same about her, but that would mean hurting her bestie Anderson, which she doesn’t want to do. And Anderson is beginning to suspect that Kate’s brother’s best friend, Noah, has joined the cast because he’s interested in Kate. This is a delightful comedy about the complications of high school relationships. It’s a hilarious love letter to theater lovers and it’s full of so much heart about staying true to your friends and yourself.

Backlist bump: What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

This is the first in a fantastic new YA series from the author of All the Birds in the Sky! In so many books, kids are often surprised to find out that they are The One, or are from another planet, etc. Like, “Surprise! You’re actually the only secret weapon that can defeat the evil Jelly Emperor in the Donut Realm.” But in this book, Tina Mains knows from a young age that she is an alien, brought to Earth, camouflaged as a regular human baby, and given to her mother to keep her hidden and safe. She also knows that nestled inside her is an interplanetary rescue beacon, because sometimes, it glows. And one day it’s going to go off for real, and Tina will have to run for her life until she can be located by her people, leaving behind everything she knows and loves. She’s excited, but also scared.

But when that day comes, it’s going to be a lot more dangerous and stressful than she imagined. For while Tina is a clone of the brilliant military commander Captain Thaoh Argentian, she doesn’t have any of the knowledge. She’s just a teenage girl with regular human memories and abilities. Can she regain the skills of her former life in time to help fight off an evil alien army and save the galaxy? That’s a lot of pressure. Luckily, Tina has friendship and love on her side. (Awwwww.) Anders has written a fun space opera that also touches on a lot of important issues, such as gender and self-identity, depression, and anxiety.

Backlist bump: A Spark of White Fire (The Celestial Trilogy) by Sangu Mandanna

This is extremely Liberty wheelhouse, but also, there are a zillion Agatha Christie fans out there, so I am sure many of you will also be excited to pick this up! It’s an extremely comprehensive deep dive into all of Christie’s novels featuring her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. It’s almost more of a reference book than one you would sit and read cover to cover, unless you find everything Christie to be an epic nerdpurr, like I do. You can choose a Poirot title, and read about not just the book, but what was going at the time the book was written, character development, and more. As someone who has an entire bookcase of books about Agatha Christie, I enjoyed learning more about the books and Poirot than the usual information. It also features an introduction by Mark Gatiss, who has played the brother of another of the world’s most famous detectives.

Backlist bump: A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup

I don’t know what it is exactly about big books, but I gravitate towards them. When I see an enormous book on the new release table, or get a huge galley in the mail, that is the book I am most excited to read, even if I don’t know what it’s about!

So imagine my excitement when I got a box in the mail the other day and inside was a 600-page Japanese mystery novel! As a huge fan of Six Four, I was thrilled! This tome was originally published to great acclaim in Japan in 1997, and is taught in college classes there. Now, because it’s 600 pages long, I have only made it a quarter of the way so far, but I am enjoying this dark, atmospheric tale of kidnapping and crime, inspired by a true unsolved case referred to as “the Monster with 21 Faces.” And I don’t know what it is about the cover, but it’s very effective in giving me the creeps!

Backlist bump: Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, Jonathan Lloyd-Davies (translator)

I was a big fan of Greenidge’s debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, so I was over the moon when I was able to read her new one! Set during the American Civil War, it’s about a young Black woman named Libertie. Libertie and her mother live in Brooklyn, where her mother is a doctor. Because her mother is light-skinned, she is able to pass as white, and she has high hopes that Libertie will follow in her footsteps as a doctor. But because Libertie’s skin is darker than he mother’s, she is subject to the racism of the times. And Libertie isn’t sure she actually wants to be a doctor, even though she is going to school for it. So when she meets a charming man from Haiti who tells her she would be free to live her life as she wants and as his equal if she marries him and moves back to his country, she accepts his offer. But Libertie quickly learns that life for a Black woman in Haiti is still a life of subservience. This is a wonderful novel about a young Black woman trying to find herself and freedom in a world that opposes her at every turn. And it was inspired in part by the life of one of the first Black women doctors in the United States.

Backlist bump: We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Abdurraqib is one of today’s most incredible nonfiction writers. He’s previously released collections of essays about music and pop culture as well as a National Book Award-nominated book on a Tribe Called Quest. Now, in A Little Devil in America, he covers Black performances in America through history, such as Josephine Baker and Merry Clayton. Each performance is thoroughly examined, and its impact and significance at the time is explained. It’s a fascinating, important look at parts of history that often go unremarked. And as with all his work, Abdurraqib elegantly explains why these works resonate with him personally. I could read a million more of his essays. Abdurraqib is my new ‘automatic buy’ author, and I hope he becomes yours, too.

Backlist bump: Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib

I want to say up front that I have not read much Shakespeare and I don’t have a favorite dog in the ‘Shakespeare didn’t actually write his plays’ fight, but I do love reading about it! Over the centuries, a few people have been credited with his work, most famously Christopher Marlowe. This book is a look at self-taught Shakespearean scholar Dennis McCarthy and his 15-year quest to prove that Shakespeare’s works were actually written by Sir Thomas North, an Elizabethan courtier. Using technology, McCarthy claims to have found links between Will’s plays and North’s unpublished works that he says proves the bard is a fraud. Blanding presents the story in a way that lets readers decide for themselves, and whether or not you decide it’s true, the book is an epic nerdpurr about one of history’s longest-running literary mysteries.

Backlist bump: Banvard’s Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn’t Change the World by Paul Collins (This is one of my favorite nonfiction books, and includes a chapter about a Shakespeare denier, as well as many other fascinating people.)

Many of you are familiar with Katsu and her supernatural/horror novels, but this new book is subject Katsu is intimately familiar with: national security. Katsu has been an intelligence officer for over 30 years, and she has channeled her expertise into an exhilarating spy thriller! Red Widow is about two CIA agents working in the Russian division to stop a threat to national security that is coming from inside the agency. Agents Lyndsey Duncan and Theresa Warner must work around the clock to ferret out the mole (ha, rodent puns) before more people lose their lives.

Backlist bump: Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

This is another one of those “I am mentioning the sequel’s release to draw your attention to the first book” recommendations. These are wonderful graphic novels written with middle grade readers, but perfect for anyone who wants a lovely haunting story. In Sheets, the first book, we meet Marjorie Glatt, a teenager trying to get through school and run her parents’ laundromat. While Marjorie deals with her daytime problems, at night the laundromat is visited by Wendell, the ghost of a young boy who is having a hard time adapting to the afterlife. It soon becomes apparent that these two are in need of each other’s friendship to help them get through the tough times. The second book, Delicates, is also wonderful and is about friends and fitting in. I highly recommend these books for both personal and classroom reading.

Backlist bump: Sheets by Brenna Thummler

And last, but not least, this is an excellent new debut fantasy filled with action! Touraine was conscripted into her country’s army as a child ad raised to be the perfect soldier. But when her company is sent back to her homeland, she is contacted by Luca, who is looking for a traitor. Luca needs someone to help her rebel against her cruel uncle, who sits on the throne. Touraine is at first against Luca’s request, but things become more complicated when she becomes the princess’s lover. Can Touraine go against everything she’s been trained to do—and even if she can, will it be enough to lead a rebellion? This is a taut novel of revolution and responsibility, filled with hard choices and heart!

Backlist bump: The Tiger’s Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera