Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, my Tuesday friends. I hope you are enjoying your January. There’s so much going on! Lots of wacky weather, lots of sports, lots of great books. We have been dealing with a sick kitty for the past couple of weeks, so I haven’t finished the books I am going to talk about today. But you know how much I love to just get books on your radar! I say it all the time, and I’ll say it again: Books save lives. Finding the right book can make all the difference, and I appreciate you letting me talk about them with you each week. Today, I have the story of an NYC fashion writer who takes a job in Silicon Valley, a moving and scary middle grade novel about big changes, and a sci-fi thriller in which things get a little wooly!

As far as other new releases, at the top of my list of today’s books that I want to buy are The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller, The Best That You Can Do: Stories by Amina Gautier, and All I See is Violence by Angie Elita Newell. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about great books we loved that are out this week, including This Wretched Valley, Escaping Mr. Rochester, and Beautyland.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

And now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, “Ahhh, My TBR!” Here are today’s contestants!

cover of Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao; illustration of a young Asian woman walking from a fashion cityscape to a tech cityscape

Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao

When Zoe Zeng moved to NYC to take a job writing about fashion, she thought she had made it. But her boss is young Miranda Priestly, her living situation is cramped, and the industry is hostile to people who have her body type. When a random stranger at a show offers her a job doing publicity for their fashion app, she brushes it off. As her boss gets more horrible and the city continues to disappoint her, though, she decides, “Why not?” But a cross-country move isn’t necessarily going to solve her problems. As Zoe’s time at the app FitPick goes by, she’ll find that the change of job and scenery still comes with the elitism, sexism, and racism she encountered in NYC. If Zoe can help get the funding to launch FitPick, it will be huge for her career and her bank account. But at what cost?

Backlist bump: The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao

cover of Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu; illustration of a young girl in a yellow raincoat standing in the doorway of a room with purple floral wallpaper and the outline of a ghost girl overhead

Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu

Anne Ursu has been consistently writing wonderful books for children for some time now, and this is no exception. Ursu paints a new picture with a familiar story: A child who has to move schools because a parent marries someone new and starts a new family. In this case, it’s Violet Hart. Her mom and her new husband move Violet and her new sibling into a creepy new house. Violet feels replaced by the new baby, especially after they put her bedroom in the dingy attic with the yellow wallpaper. As if that isn’t bad enough, Violet becomes ill shortly after moving in. With her family perplexed as to what is wrong, Violet begins to have hallucinations that there’s someone else in the attic with her. But as the days of illness turn to weeks, she realizes maybe she’s not imagining things after all. How can Violet get out of her situation — and what does this spirit in the attic want from her? This is a smart, sensitive book about change, illness, and anxiety (drawn from The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.)

Backlist bump: The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu

cover of The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler; illustration of rainbow-colored mammoth tusks

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

And I haven’t read any of this one yet, but it sounds absolutely bananapants! It’s a sci-fi thriller about extinction and cloning. When an elephant expert is killed trying to save the last elephants from ivory poachers, her consciousness is downloaded into the mind of a wooly mammoth. (“Oh, she may get wooly…”) Wooly mammoth: “Extinct, who me?” The mammoths have been cloned using their DNA, and now Dr. Khismatullina is one. The goal is to have her teach the other mammoths how to survive in the 21st century. But can her herd get the hang of their new surroundings before the poachers seeking rare mammoth ivory find them? As Dr. Khismatullina teaches the herd everything she knows, she begins to glimpse the real reasons the mammoths were brought back to life in the first place. (“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”) This sounds like a mammoth revenge thriller, and I can’t wait to see if these toothy snuffleupaguses stick it to the poachers!

Backlist bump: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

two orange kittens wrapped in a red blanket; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn and Ilium by Lea Carpenter. I ended up having a very busy weekend, but I really want to see two movies that have just started streaming: Self Reliance and Death and Other Details. The song stuck in my head this week is “Frying Pan” by Evan Dando. And here is your weekly cat picture: This past week marked five years since these two little orange howler monkeys came into our home. So, I thought I would mark it by sharing a picture from when they were small. That’s smol Zevon on the left and smol Farrokh on the right.

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

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, my friends, and happy Tuesday! I hope your year has started off great. I have been working, watching basketball, reading books, and trying to keep the cats from destroying the house, so it’s been a pretty normal January for me. I can’t believe we are only three months away from the release of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two by Emil Ferris! I don’t believe in being mad at authors about their productivity speed — they can do what they can do — but I am excited when these things finally happen. For you today, I have an electrifying debut mystery, a book of writing advice from amazing authors, and a work of gothic fiction about a haunted mansion!

As far as new releases, at the top of my list of today’s books that I want to buy are The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell (read an excerpt right now!), Sugar, Baby by Celine Saintclare, and California Bear by Duane Swierczynski. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Danika and I talked about great books we loved that are out this week, including First Lie Wins, Just Happy to Be Here, and Lunar New Year Love Story.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

And now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, “Ahhhhhhh, My TBR!” Here are today’s contestants!

cover of Northwoods by Amy Pease; image of shadow of a man standing in front of a lake at sunset

Northwoods by Amy Pease 

We’re kicking this week off with an electrifying debut novel set in a small lakeside town known for its rich vacationers and the growing opioid addiction problem. When the body of a teen boy is found in a boat in Shaky Lake, Wisconsin, the tiny sheriff’s department is stretched thin trying to investigate. Eli is the son of the sheriff and has been dealing with alcoholism and PTSD since his return from combat. His life has gotten so out of control that others are worried it may hinder his ability to help the investigation, including Eli himself. Luckily, the FBI sends an agent to help because there’s also a missing teen girl, so everyone will have to work together to find out what is really happening in Shaky Lake. It’s a well-plotted, sympathetic story about crime, addiction, war, and family. It felt like a real story, one that doesn’t glorify or judge drug use and mental health issues, with warm, interesting characters and an even plot throughout. I hope we hear more from Shaky Lake. (CW includes alcohol and substance use and abuse; partner abuse; trauma, depression, and PTSD; child neglect, harm, and death; loss of a loved one; violence and murder; and suicidal ideation.)

Backlist bump: Open Season by Archer Mayor

cover of 1000 Words by Jami Attenberg; cream with orange font

1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round by Jami Attenberg

#1000WordsofSummer started out as an online project started by Jami Attenberg to give encouragement to anyone who was looking to make time to write. It has become such a successful event that now it’s this book, filled with advice and tips about making time to write, being creative, and staying focused from some of the biggest names in the business, including Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado. No two writers are the same, and with the information here, people are sure to find something that works for them. I hope 2024 is the year you write the things you want!

Backlist-ish bump: You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory by Ruta Sepetys

cover of The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan; photo of woman kneeling on pillows with a red veil over her head

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

If you lived in a boardinghouse with a room behind a locked door, and no one knew what was behind it, would you want to open it? Sana certainly does. She’s a resident at Akbar Manzil, a once-glamorous mansion that fell into ruin and is now rented out by the room. In the mansion’s east wing is a story waiting to be told behind that locked door: the tragic love story of Meena and the grieving djinn that haunts the room. When Sana learns about Meena, she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about what happened to her, even if it means ruffling the feathers of the living and the dead. It’s a lush gothic story of love, loss, and searching for yourself through others.

Backlist bump: If you like misfit boarders in mansions, check out Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey. If you like djinn, pick up A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark and this other book I love simply for the title, Jinn and Juice by Nicole D. Peeler.

an orange cat sleeping on its back like a floating otter; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh and Ilium by Lea Carpenter. I am still watching a lot of NBA basketball and quiz shows and have taken to playing several hands of solitaire on the computer each night, which I haven’t done for a long time. The song stuck in my head this week is “National Anthem” by Lana Del Rey. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon likes to sleep like an otter floating on its back.

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

Categories
New Books

New Books for the First Tuesday of January!

Happy new year, star bits! I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your year. All two days of it, anyway. I kicked off 2024 by reading The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma, which is fantastic, and I am SO excited for all the amazing books coming our way this year. There is a fair amount below, but just wait until you see the first Tuesdays in February and March! And you can keep track of it all with our new reading spreadsheet and read some of them for the 2024 Read Harder Challenge! At the top of my list to acquire today are The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan, Mercury by Amy Jo Burns, and The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri. And Danika and I will be back with a new episode of All the Books! next Tuesday to tell you about great books out that day.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Today, I am doing a round-up of several exciting books from the first Tuesday of January 2024. Below, you’ll find titles (loosely) broken up into several categories to make it easier for your browsing convenience. I hope you have fun with it! And as with each first Tuesday newsletter, I am putting asterisks *** next to the books that I have had the chance to read and loved. YAY, BOOKS!

cover of The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan; blurred image of an Asian woman's face

Fiction

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri

Nonfiction by Julie Myerson

Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts

The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer

Middle Grade

Last Laugh by K. R. Alexander

Courtesy of Cupid by Nashae Jones

The Unbeatable Lily Hong by Diana Ma

The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee, Dan Santat***

cover of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston; image of woman standing on a porch in front of a big house

Mystery and Thriller

Anna O by Matthew Blake

Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody

Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton 

Fragile Designs by Colleen Coble

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston***

This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack

Midnight by Amy McCulloch

The Ascent by Adam Plantinga

Nonfiction

Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma by Dr. Mariel Buqué

Borgata: Rise of Empire: A History of the American Mafia by Louis Ferrante 

Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes

cover of The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with our Wild Neighbors by Erika Howsare; seafoam green with red deer on it

A Hitch in Time: Reflections Ready for Reconsideration by Christopher Hitchens

The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with our Wild Neighbors by Erika Howsare

On Thriving: Harnessing Joy Through Life’s Great Labors by Brandi Sellerz-Jackson

Fog and Smoke: Poems by Katie Peterson

Romance

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming***

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror 

A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch Vol. 1 by Hiro Kashiwaba

cover of The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling; illustration of a young person with glasses, long brown hair, and a red jacket standing in the woods

Young Adult

The Curse of Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling

Immortal Games by Annaliese Avery

Stay with My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan

Cupid’s Revenge by Wibke Brueggemann

Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver

Ghost Roast by Shawneé Gibbs, Emily Cannon

Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

Diary of a Confused Feminist by Kate Weston

Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White  (Song of the Last Kingdom Book 2) by Amélie Wen Zhao


an orange cat inside a toy cat tunnel; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week: I’m currently reading The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh and Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn. Outside of books, I thought the Barbie movie was pretty great, and I started rewatching Leverage, the original series, so I can finally watch the new series. It’s making me want to watch The Librarians again. The song stuck in my head right now is “Clouds” by Børns (once again, thanks to a car commercial.) And here’s a cat photo: This is Farrokh, who claimed this cat tunnel for himself on Christmas and wouldn’t let the others in it. For about five minutes, anyway. Then he got out and has ignored it ever since, like every other toy they have received. Cats, amirite?


That’s it for me today, friends. I am sending you love and good wishes for whatever is happening in your life right now. Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! See you next week. – XO, Liberty

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, my friends, and happy last newsletter of 2023! What an amazing reading year it has been. I am, of course, trying to squeeze in as many books as I can before the end of the year. But I also kinda really love starting a fresh reading spreadsheet. This is the last sparse week of new releases for a long time, and then 2024 hits the ground running. So for this week’s newsletter, I have three books coming out next year that I am really excited to read that I didn’t mention in my preview post: a historical drama about a mother who becomes a spy for Japan during WWII, a debut about four Black women in a Southern family, and a speculative Western set in Mexico!

Every year, I spend a lot of time trying to decide what book I want to read as my first book of the year. In 2023, I reread the brilliant Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. So, at first, I thought for 2024 I might go in the opposite direction and choose something absolutely ridiculous. And I came thisclose to choosing My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews, but then I got an upcoming book I have been dying to read: The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma. I am a big fan of his previous work, so I am happy to launch my reading year with this novel. (Related: Did you see our new reading spreadsheet and the 2024 Read Harder Challenge?)

You can hear about more fabulous books on All the Books! The show is on break today and next Tuesday, but we’ll be back on January 9. Until then, check out older episodes here! Maybe you’ll find another 2023 release that you’ll love. Or another fifteen, even.

cover of The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan; blurred image of an Asian woman's face

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan (January 2, 2024)

So many authors I admire are excited about this debut novel, so of course I want to read it. Cecily Alcantara has been a spy for the Japanese British-colonized Malaya for a decade, and now she is paying the price. Her work has allowed the Japanese to invade. Now during WWII, she must decide what she can do to save her family. Her son is missing and her younger daughter is being kept hidden from soldiers to avoid the fate of her older daughter, who serves the Japanese soldiers in a tea house. Cecily will do anything to escape the bonds of her arrangement with the Japanese to keep her children safe, but will it be enough?

Backlist bump: Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

cover of The Gardins of Edin by Rosey Lee; illustration of the outline of four Black women wearing flower crowns

The Gardins of Edin by Rosey Lee (January 9, 2024)

Another debut I am looking forward to is this contemporary Southern family drama. In Edin, Georgia, four women in the Gardin family deal with family secrets, family responsibilities, and family mistrust. Mary, Martha, Ruth, and Naomi attempt to run the family’s multimillion-dollar peanut business, and a new family restaurant, while also handling loss, love, and the complex bonds of family. It sounds like it’s going to be heartwarming and layered.

Backlist bump: Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

cover of The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James; image of a cowboy on a horse standing on blue ground against an orange sky

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James (January 23, 2023)

And last but not least, one of my favorite kinds of books to read: a Western set in the late nineteenth century. Well, partially, anyway. Antonio Sonoro is a Mexican bandido in 1895, and when a train robbery goes wrong and his brother is killed, it leaves him with a thirst for revenge. And in 1965, famous actor and singer Jaime Sonoro discovers a book that tells the long history of crime in his family, all the way back to ancient times. As he digs deeper into his past, he may learn the truth of his grandfather Antonio, better known as El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower.

Backlist bump: Mona at Sea by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

Are you looking for the perfect gift for that bookish special someone in your life this holiday season? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help! Here at TBR, we pair our customers with a professional book nerd (aka bibliologist) who just gets them. They fill out a survey and then sit back and relax as we pick books just for them. We’ve got three levels — recs-only, paperback, and hardcover — and you can gift a full year or one time, so there are options for every budget! Get all the details at mytbr.co/gift

An orange cat holding its back foot up to its ear; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Anna O by Matthew Blake. I have watched a lot of NBA basketball this past week, because the Celtics have had a busy schedule. (I can’t wait to see them beat the Lakers on Christmas, Vanessa!) The song stuck in my head this week is “Team” by Lorde. And here is your weekly cat picture: “Hello? Yes, this is Zevon. No, I wasn’t aware my car’s warranty had expired.”

Thank you, as always, 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 year. – XO, Liberty

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, star bits! I hope your December has been going well. I have been eyeballs deep in reading. There are so many amazing books coming next year, you are going to flip your lid! And because the new releases are sparse today (although there is Heartbreaker, Vol. 5!), for this week’s newsletter, I have three books coming out next year that I have read and heartily (Hardy-ly?) endorse: a cat-and-mouse thriller, a horror novel set in the woods of Kentucky, and a dark fantasy about assassins!

So I made that big list in last week’s newsletter of 2023 books I wanted to squeeze in before January…and then I read seven different books this week. I am easily distracted, lol. But I still want to read those! Another 2023 release I want to add is After World by Debbie Urbanski, on the recommendation of Michael Chabon. SO MANY BOOKS. You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about several of our favorite novels that we loved this year, including All the Sinners Bleed, Tom Lake, and Happiness Falls.

cover of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston; image of woman standing on a porch in front of a big house

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

This is a really fun cat-and-mouse thriller! But I can’t tell you very much about it because it would spoil it. So, I will tell you that Evie Porter is a twenty-something woman who is moving in with her new boyfriend, Ryan, at the start of the novel. Except Evie Porter isn’t her real name: it is the alias of an operative who works for Mr. Smith, doing whatever is asked of her. And this time, Ryan is the mark. But Evie gets the sense that this job isn’t like others. And before she can figure out why, a woman shows up in town pretending to be her. The real her. Evie must figure out why Mr. Smith sent her to watch Ryan and what the fake her is doing in town before someone finds out she’s not who she claims to be, and everything falls apart. It’s nonstop twists and turns in this clever thriller, and it’s also low on the violence, which is refreshing sometimes. (Content warnings for loss of a loved one, cancer, alcohol and drug use and abuse, injury, murder off-page.)

Backlist bump: The Lies I Tell by Juli Clark

cover of This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer; illustration of a mountain climber hanging from a rock face shaped like a skull

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer

This book is exactly the opposite — it has a TON of violence. This terrifying debut horror novel is about four people who go into the Kentucky wilderness to map and climb what appears to be an untouched rock formation. One hopes to publish a paper about his findings for school; one is a professional climber with her first endorsement; one is an expert in plants and trees; and one is the supportive boyfriend, along for the adventure. But from the very first few steps they take into the forest, things start to go wrong. And we know they won’t go right again — because the book description and the first page of the book have told us that three of the four are dead. Then we go back to find out just what happened. Yikes, the things that occur while they’re down in the valley will give you nightmares! It’s a bloody disgusting good time. (Content warnings for tons of gore, injury, violence, child and adult murder and death on the page, alcohol use, suicide, and animal harm and death.)

Backlist bump: The Hunger by Alma Katsu

cover of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark; photo of a young Black woman wearing a silver mask with cat ears and holding two knives across her chest

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

By now, you have probably heard me talk about this book somewhere because I won’t shut up about it. But that’s because it’s so much fun! It’s a dark fantasy about Eveen the Eviscerator. She’s part of a guild of assassins called…well, you know. But when she is assigned a job that defies explanation and causes her to break an unbreakable vow, she quickly finds herself on the wrong side of the people she works with. Can she figure out just what the heckin’ heck is going on before she gets herself killed? This is a whiplash fast, wicked smart joyride! (Content warnings for animal death, gore, violence, torture, injury, and murder of children and adults. But no dead cats!)

Backlist bump: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

Are you looking for the perfect gift for that bookish special someone in your life this holiday season? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help! Here at TBR, we pair our customers with a professional book nerd (aka bibliologist) who just gets them. They fill out a survey and then sit back and relax as we pick books just for them. We’ve got three levels — recs-only, paperback, and hardcover — and you can gift a full year or one time, so there are options for every budget! Get all the details at mybtro.com/gift

an orange cat staring at a hot dog commercial on the TV; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin and Shanghailanders by Juli Min. I have two weeks before I have to record another episode of All the Books! and I am pretty excited about all the reading I hope to fit in. In non-book things, I watched the Monk movie, and I really, really, really didn’t like it, lol. I should have stuck with my plans to watch the Barbie movie. The song stuck in my head this week is “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh knows what he’s going to ask Santa to bring him for Christmas.

Thank you, as always, 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

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, my friends, and happy Tuesday! Did you read anything good this weekend? I had grand plans of throwing myself a horror book readathon, but they were quickly interrupted. Still, I managed to read a few books, and I look forward to telling you about them in the coming months. Because the new releases are sparse today (although there is the Curepedia!), for this week’s newsletter, I have three books coming out next year that I am really looking forward to reading: a new story collection in translation, a horror novel from one of today’s best authors, and a return to a beloved mystery series!

And as the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about a few 2023 releases that I still want to read before January. So far, my list includes Fever House by Keith Rosson, Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World by Yepoka Yeebo, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo, and Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein. I am excited! You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about several of our favorite nonfiction books that we loved, including Better Living Through Birding, Liliana’s Invincible Summer, and In the Form of a Question.

cover of Your Utopia: Stories by Bora Chung; image of a white robot with red eyes against a yellow background

Your Utopia: Stories by Bora Chung, Anton Hur (translator)

Bora Chung’s last collection was a finalist for the National Book Award in translated literature. The stories were weird and sometimes gross, but always awesome. If you like fantastic stories that sometimes disturb you, definitely pick it up before this one comes out on January 30. Your Utopia is a new collection with a bit of a more futuristic bent, but will surely still deliver on the brilliant and unusual aspects of the last collection. There are immortality capabilities in the future (but only for the wealthy, of course), an AI elevator in love with the tenant in an apartment building, the revenge of nature, and lots more!

Backlist bump: Cursed Bunny: Stories by Bora Chung, Anton Hur (translator)

cover of I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones; image of an empty black hooded sweatshirt

I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones is one of this century’s greatest horror writers. And one of the most prolific! This will actually be his second release of the year, after The Angel of Indian Lake, the final book in the Indian Lake trilogy. This novel is the “autobiography” of a Texas teen (…black gold, Texas teen…) named Tolly Driver, who is cursed to become a killer in his small town. Slasher films are fun, but you know I prefer to read everything. Especially horror books set in the 1980s! This is sure to be a bloody good time, and you can pick it up on July 16.

Backlist bump: My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

place holder cover for Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Novel by Kate Atkinson

Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Novel by Kate Atkinson

And after five long years, a historical standalone, and a story collection, Kate Atkinson is back with her sixth Jackson Brodie novel! We last saw Brodie in Big Sky in 2019. Not many details are known about this one yet, except it sounds like it’s going to be a locked room mystery. Brodie will be snowed in with a vicar, an Army major, a dowager, and his own sidekick, DC Reggie Chase. September 3rd can’t get here fast enough! Although it gives me plenty of time to reread the first five in the series if I choose. If you like really smart mysteries with fully fleshed-out characters, this series is perfect for you. (And if you like historical fiction, pick up one of Atkinson’s other novels because she’s amazing at writing that, too!)

Backlist bump: Case Histories: The First Jackson Brodie Novel by Kate Atkinson

The holidays have arrived, and so has our new paperback level at TBR! If you (or a reader you know) are just over-carrying around bulky hardcovers or are looking for a more budget-friendly option, we’ve got you. Check out all the offerings at mybtro.com/gift, and give personalized reading recommendations customized for any and every reader.

Orange cat leaning to the side inside a silver mixing bowl; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, Kittentits by Holly Wilson, and Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen. In non-book things, I haven’t watched anything but NBA basketball the past week, but I am considering starting a rewatch of Leverage since I haven’t watched the new series yet. And I want to watch the Barbie movie when it starts streaming at the end of the week! The song stuck in my head this week is “Winter is Coming” by Radical Face. And here is your weekly cat picture: Another bowl picture! When we discovered that Zevon likes to sleep in mixing bowls, we bought a set with non-slip bottoms so that Zevon can’t easily tip himself over. Because just look at this ridiculousness.

Thank you, as always, 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

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, star bits! How is your December going so far? I have been spending a lot of time working on updating my 2024 spreadsheet of upcoming releases, and let me tell you, it is going to be an AMAZING year. I know I say it all the time, but there is nothing I love more than helping people find books they want to read. I’m so grateful you join me every week to learn about a few! For this week’s newsletter, I have three books out today that I am really looking forward to reading: a GBBO spoof, a debut steeped in West African mythology, and a chilly Victorian thriller.

At the top of my list of books to pick up for myself this week are Molly by Blake Butler, The Wildest Sun by Asha Lemmie, and Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground by Dylan Jones. You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Danika and I talked about December 2023 books that we’re excited about, including Prophet Song, Good Girls, and Game On.

cover of Dazzling by Chikodili Emelumadu; illustration done in gold, pink, and purple of leopard camouflaged by spots

Dazzling by Chikodili Emelumadu

First of all, how stunning is that cover??? It’s…dazzling. (Sorry, not sorry.) This is a fantastical story set in 1990s Nigeria and inspired by West African mythology. It’s about two young women trying to find their way after losing their fathers. Treasure meets a floating man who promises he can bring her father back from the dead — for a horrible price. And Ozoemena is wrestling with fulfilling a promise that she doesn’t want to keep, but she made it to her father before he vanished. Both these situations are going to spiral out of control, causing the girls to cross paths and have to figure out together what they are willing to pay to get what they want.

Backlist bump: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

The Great British Bump-Off cover

The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison, Max Sarin 

Okay, this one I actually did read and it’s great fun! It’s a send-up of the reality baking competition The Great British Bake-Off, and it’s pretty delightful. When someone poisons the most obnoxious, entitled contestant on a baking show just before they are set to start filming, the producers are sure the season is over before it starts. But contestant Shauna Wickle is determined the show must go on and convinces them to let her solve the mystery before anything else bad happens. But with so many suspects, it isn’t going to be (over) easy! (I realize I just wrote that whole paragraph when all I needed to say was that one of the judges is a cat. Automatic buy, lol.)

Backlist bump: Giant Days by John Allison, Max Sarin 

cover of where the dead wait by ally wilkes

Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes

Ally Wilkes sure likes setting thrillers in cold climates! Her first novel was survival horror on an Antarctic expedition. And this one is about two scary Victorian polar expeditions. Like The Endurance, but with more horror! And who doesn’t want a little historical horror for the holidays? William Day is a disgraced ship captain famous for a failed polar expedition in which several crew members were eaten. When his second-in-command from that expedition goes missing in the same area thirteen years later, Day sees it as an opportunity to redeem himself if he can find the missing man. But this trip may prove to be just as doomed as the first. Because as he will learn, the past haunts him still, and the dead are very patient.

Backlist bump: All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

It’s happening, readers — we’re bringing paperbacks! Whether you (or a reader you know and love) hate carrying around bulky hardcovers, you’re on a budget, you want a wider range of recommendations or all of the above, you can now get a paperback subscription from TBR, curated just for you by one of our Bibliologists. The holidays are here, and we’ve got three different levels for gifting (to yourself or others) to suit every budget. Get all the details at mytbr.co.

orange cat sitting in a silver mixing bowl; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard and The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hasashi Kashiwai, Jesse Kirkwood (translator). In non-book things…well, it’s pretty much been all books this week, lol. I’m trying to catch up after being sick for so long! The song stuck in my head this week is “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” by Bryan Ferry. And here is your weekly cat picture: It never looks like Zevon could really fit his whole body in that bowl, but I promise you it’s true.

Thank you, as always, 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

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, my friends, and welcome to another Tuesday talk about books! I hope that you had a lovely weekend and are reading something that is knocking your brain’s socks off. Lucky me, I read two such books last week! The first was The Husbands by Holly Gramazio, about a woman whose attic in her flat starts creating husbands. And the other is Moonbound by Robin Sloan, about a young boy, a wizard, and a quest, but set 13,000 years in the future. Both of these were incredible, and you can hear me rave about them on this week’s episode of All the Books! I finished them just in time to be able to shout them out. Phew!

For this week’s newsletter, I have three books out today that I am really looking forward to reading, including a dark fantasy novel about The Nutcracker! You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Patricia and I talked about books coming in 2024 that we’re excited about, including The Book of Love, Little Rot, and Wandering Stars.

cover of The Kingdom of Sweets: A Novel of the Nutcracker; big gold stopwatch with two small outlines of people in front of it done in red

The Kingdom of Sweets: A Novel of the Nutcracker by Erika Johansen 

If you listened to All the Books! a few weeks ago, you know that I am not a fan of The Nutcracker. I don’t know what it is about it, but I’ve never enjoyed it, not even when I was little. And by all accounts, I should because it has giant dancing rodents! But even though I don’t enjoy it, that’s not going to stop me from picking up this new novel. It’s a dark fantasy retelling of The Nutcracker, which, as Jenn pointed out on ATB, sounds right because the ballet is a dark fantasy! And I bet this is going to be a good time. The novel is about two sisters, Clara and Natasha, a curse, jealousy, and Natasha’s revenge.

Backlist bump: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

cover of Didn't See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto; illustration of teen boy and girl with headsets and game controllers

Didn’t See That Coming by Jesse Q. Sutanto 

This is another new book from Jesse Q. Sutanto, one of the hardest-working writers in the business. It’s her fourth release of 2023! Yes, you read that right. This last offering for the year is a charming YA novel about a teen named Kiki, who is a big-time gamer online. She is friends in-game with a player named Sourdawg, who she discovers is a student at her new school. It’s one of the reasons she enjoys playing the game. But Kiki can’t tell him who she is because she plays as a male character online to avoid harassment and is worried Sourdawg won’t want to be her friend anymore when he finds out she’s a girl. Can she discover which student is Sourdawg and manage to stay friends…or maybe more?

Backlist bump: Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

cover of The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor; illustration of a modern white mansion on a cliff over the ocean

The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor

Jillian Cantor has written a LOT of novels, and each seems to be better than the last. They have mostly been in the genre of historical fiction, but her last novel was a historical mystery retelling of The Great Gatsby that I thought was fantastic and deserved more love. So, I am very excited to pick up this most recent book, which is a straight-up thriller. It’s about a down-on-her-luck author named Olivia who is offered a lucrative position ghost-writing a biography for a famous billionaire. Henry “Ash” Asherwood has a secret he wants to share about his late grandmother and Daphne du Maurier, the author of Rebecca. But the more Olivia digs into Ash’s family history, the more dangerous things become for her. Is signing an NDA going to mean she winds up DOA? (Lol, that was bad. But I’m keeping it in because it’s funny-bad.)

Backlist bump: Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

Indulge your inner book nerd and join a community of like-minded readers looking to expand their knowledge and their TBR. Subscribe to The Deep Dive, where Book Riot’s editorial staff draws from their collective expertise to bring you compelling stories, informed takes, tips, hacks, and more. Find out why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and explore the great wide world of books and publishing. Get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox, or upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features.

two orange cats on a blue blanket on a bed; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (which just won the Booker Prize on Sunday!), The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, and The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhorn. In non-book things, I started watching Obituary on Hulu, but I’m not loving it, so back to rewatching Psych it is! The song stuck in my head this week is “Strangers” by Mt. Joy. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon and Farrokh rarely get this close to one another for more than a few seconds, so I have to wonder if they’re plotting something.

Thank you, as always, 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

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, star bits! How was your 2023 reading year, now that it’s winding down? I am excited because I am headed into the biggest reading weeks of my year. We do round-up shows on All the Books! until the new year, so I have a little wiggle room. I use it to read a few backlist books that have caught my attention and also get a jump on my reading for the coming year. I *love* this time of year! This weekend, I read Penance by Eliza Clark. It was really good, but holy cats, it’s a really hard story to read. If you love true crime, you should pick up this novel. It was as stressful as any true crime book I have read!

For this week’s newsletter, I have three books out today that I am really looking forward to reading, including a book about pirates! You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about books that make great gifts, including Snacking Bakes, Wizkit, and Fly.

And now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, “Ahhh, My TBR!” Here are today’s contestants!

cover of A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself by Katherine Howe; white with small illustration of a ship on it

A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself by Katherine Howe

Katherine Howe is a master at historical fiction, going all the way back to her debut novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. This one is about pirates! (Pirates are really big right now.) It’s actually the story of two women: Hannah Masury and how she became the most notorious, feared pirate of the high seas. And Marian Beresford, a professor in 1930 who is studying Hannah’s own telling of the story of her life and trying to get to the bottom of a mystery involving the infamous pirate. It’s a look at two women yearning to get out from under the societal constrictions placed on women in their time. And did I mention there are pirates???

Backlist bump: Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown

cover of Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games by Carmen Maria Machado and J. Robert Lennon; outline of video game console and controller

Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games by Carmen Maria Machado and J. Robert Lennon

This collection from the fabulous Graywolf Press is pretty self-explanatory: It rounds up some of today’s amazing writers to talk about their video gaming lives! Contributors to the book include Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Chain-Gang All-Stars), Alexander Chee (The Queen of the Night), Charlie Jane Anders (All the Birds in the Sky), Hanif Abdurraqib (They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us), and Elissa Washuta (White Magic).

cover of Tone by Sofia Samatar and Kate Zambreno; image of religious icons in whites and blues

Tone by Sofia Samatar and Kate Zambreno

This is a book I only just learned about, and I am already so excited to get it. (Probably the paperback version because it’s from a university press, so the hardcover is $80.) Sofia Samatar and Kate Zambreno are two unbelievably amazing writers, and the idea that they have done a book together makes me jump up and down. It’s about literary criticism with a specific examination of tone. From the publisher: “Tone is a collaborative study of literary tone, a notoriously challenging and slippery topic for criticism.” I’m not going to lie, just the description of this book was too smart for me, but I don’t care because I love the authors so much.

Backlist bump: A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar and O Fallen Angel by Kate Zambreno

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orange cat looking up at the camera; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Second Chances in New Port Stephen by TJ Alexander, Ice: Why I Was Born to Score by George Gervin and Scoop Jackson, and Burn by Peter Heller. In non-book things, I started rewatching Psych for the zillionth time. And thanks to a commercial — again — the song stuck in my head this week is that donut song from the new Dunkin’ commercial. IT WON’T LEAVE MY BRAIN. (It’s a really cute song, tho.) And here is your weekly cat picture: This is the face of a cat who wants to be fed again, after he just ate. (It doesn’t work on me.)

Thank you, as always, 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

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you have been having a good November. I just had my last author event of 2023 yesterday. I got to talk to Travis Baldree, who wrote Legends & Lattes and Bookshops & Bonedust, both of which are delightful, cozy fantasies if you’re looking for something charming to snuggle up with this winter. And down below, I have some more snuggly reads for you today, two of which are returns to favorite series. Yay, books!

As far as other new releases, at the top of my list of today’s books that I want to buy are The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump, Eyeliner: A Cultural History by Zahra Hankir, and So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Jenn and I talked about great books out today and that we loved from 2023, including A New Race of Men from Heaven, Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World, and My Murder.

And now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, “Ahhhhhhh, My TBR!” Here are today’s contestants!

cover of Before We Say Goodbye (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi; illustration of two dining room chairs with red cushions, a black cat, and a large vase of cherry blossoms

Before We Say Goodbye (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (translator)

In this bestselling series, patrons of Café Funiculi Funicula are treated to more than just coffee and baked goods. They have the ability to travel back in time—but only for a few minutes. In each book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, we meet a new set of visitors and learn where they want to travel and why. Which means you can read them in order or pick any one of them up first. In this fourth book, there are things left unsaid that need to be answered: a woman missing her dog (sob!) and familial strife that needs to be rectified. They’re charming and heart-squeezing books, and I don’t see why this series won’t go on for a long, long time.

Backlist bump: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (translator)

cover of Punycorn by Andi Watson; cartoon of a unicorn wielding a big sword

Punycorn by Andi Watson

And this is one of my favorite middle grade graphic novels of the end of the year. Punycorn is the teeniest unicorn in the land of Carbuncle. Much smaller than any of the other unicorns, so he is not taken very seriously. When the other unicorns go off on an adventure, he is left behind at the castle. And that’s when the dastardly Sir Ogre decides to try and take over Carbuncle! Ready to fight to save their home, Punycorn and his friends, a dragon who can’t breathe fire and a very industrious dung beetle, are going to show everyone that you can’t judge a book by its cover. And they just might save the day in the process. It’s adorbs to the nth degree.

Backlist bump: Batcat: The Ghostly Guest by Meggie Ramm

cover of System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries Book 7) by Martha Wells, illustration of a security bot crouching in the woods

System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries Book 7) by Martha Wells 

Yes, I know you have heard me mention this series roughly a million times. But there is always someone out there who is reading about it for the first time! And since it’s the greatest sci-fi series of the last decade, it’s worth repeating. This is the seventh book in the Murderbot Diaries and the second full-length novel. Murderbot is a security droid that accidentally gained sentience (and chose its own name.) It says it doesn’t like humans, and it wants to be left alone to stream television shows all day. But under the curmudgeonly demeanor is a droid with a metal heart of gold. Murderbot frequently fights for the tiny, fleshy humans and begrudgingly makes friends along the way. In this novel, Murderbot is not operating like it should and will need help figuring out what is wrong so it can help its team on a rescue mission. You don’t have to read these in order, but I strongly suggest it. There are little details and comments that make more sense if you do. Plus, you get to read this award-winning series, and that is an amazing treat!

Backlist bump: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Indulge your inner book nerd and join a community of like-minded readers looking to expand their knowledge and their TBR. Subscribe to The Deep Dive, where Book Riot’s editorial staff draws from their collective expertise to bring you compelling stories, informed takes, tips, hacks, and more. Find out why the bestseller list is broken, analyze some anticipated books, and explore the great wide world of books and publishing. Get a free subscription for weekly content delivered to your inbox, or upgrade to paid-for bonus content and community features.

orange cat lying stretched out on the back of a red couch; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen, “What Do You Mean, Murder?” Clue and the Making of a Cult Classic by John Hatch, and The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim. In non-book things, it’s NBA season, so I am watching a lot of games, along with our nightly intake of quiz shows. (Switch is really fun, y’all.) Thanks to a commercial, the song stuck in my head this week is “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone. And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon has the “it’s dark at 4:30” blues. (Related: That blanket he is on is called a Coma Inducer, and it’s the most comfortable blanket I’ve ever owned!)

Thank you, as always, 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