Category: New Books

Are you sitting down? You might want to before you read any further, because this is the most epic new release day of 2019 so far! SO. MANY. BOOKS. (Do I even need to add ‘books’ to that? Like, if I didn’t, would you think, “What does she mean? Cabbages? Cadillacs??”) Seriously, there is an embarrassment of riches today. And because I love you, I made you a big shiny list below, and you can hear about more amazing books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about Women Talking, The Affairs of the Falcóns, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, and more.

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Sponsored by Wednesday Books

The monster hidden behind pale, tortured eyes and a devastating smile. The girl with Dark Gods whispering spells in her head. The prince surrounded by deadly assassins and ambitious suitors. “This gothic jewel of a story will sink its visceral iron claws into you, never letting go until you’ve turned the last page.” (Robin LaFevers)

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Oh! Before I show you the list, I have exciting news! For those of you who love to read (or love to give) picture books and chapter books, we’ve got a new podcast, hosted by author and BR contributor Karina Glaser and children’s librarian Matthew Winner! It’s called Kidlit These Days and you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcatcher.

(And like with each megalist, I’m putting a  next to the books that I have read and loved. But there are soooo many more on this list that I can’t wait to read!)

Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison 

Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia by Tracey Thorn

Prince of Monkeys by Nnamdi Ehirim

Women Talking by Miriam Toews 

Around Harvard Square by C. J. Farley

Baseball Epic: Famous and Forgotten Lives of the Dead Ball Era by Jason Novak

As One Fire Consumes Another by John Sibley Williams

Gatsby’s Oxford: Scott, Zelda, and the Jazz Age Invasion of Britain: 1904-1929 by Christopher A. Snyder

Hold Fast Your Crown: A Novel by Yannick Haenel, Teresa Fagan (translator)

Days by Moonlight by André Alexis 

Oscar Wilde and the Return of Jack the Ripper: An Oscar Wilde Mystery (Oscar Wilde Mysteries) by Gyles Brandreth

Ghost Stories: Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense by Leslie S. Klinger and Lisa Morton

A Sin by Any Other Name: Reckoning with Racism and the Heritage of the South by Robert W. Lee and Bernice A. King

Beyond the Point: A Novel by Claire Gibson

Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain by Danny Goldberg 

Since We Last Spoke by Brenda Rufener

To Stop a Warlord: My Story of Justice, Grace, and the Fight for Peace by Shannon Sedgwick Davis

Woman of Color by LaTonya Yvette

Lights! Camera! Puzzles!: A Puzzle Lady Mystery (Puzzle Lady Mysteries) by Parnell Hall

The Buddha Sat Right Here: A Family Odyssey Through India and Nepal by Dena Moes

Leaving Richard’s Valley by Michael DeForge 

Little Lovely Things: A Novel by Maureen Joyce Connolly

Ye by Guilherme Petreca

The Spectators: A Novel by Jennifer duBois

The Deadly Kiss-Off by Paul Di Filippo

Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward by Valerie Jarrett

The Luminous Dead: A Novel by Caitlin Starling 

The Editor by Steven Rowley

There’s a Word for That by Sloane Tanen

The Light Years: A Memoir by Chris Rush

We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett

Greystone Secrets 1: The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix and Anne Lambelet

Lost and Wanted: A novel by Nell Freudenberger 

When a Duchess Says I Do by Grace Burrowes

Orange for the Sunsets by Tina Athaide

A Wonderful Stroke of Luck: A Novel by Ann Beattie

Stay Up with Hugo Best: A Novel by Erin Somers 

The Execution of Justice (Pushkin Vertigo) by Friedrich Duerrematt, John E. Woods (Translator)

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

Lights All Night Long: A Novel by Lydia Fitzpatrick

Soft Science by Franny Choi

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles

Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

I’m Writing You from Tehran: A Granddaughter’s Search for Her Family’s Past and Their Country’s Future by Delphine Minoui, Emma Ramadan (Translator)

The Gulf by Belle Boggs

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman 

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

Loch of the Dead: A Novel by Oscar de Muriel

Wicked Saints by Emily Duncan

The Princess and the Fangirl: A Geekerella Fairytale (Once Upon A Con) by Ashley Poston

Brute: Poems by Emily Skaja 

Germaine: The Life of Germaine Greer by Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

The Mission of a Lifetime: Lessons from the Men Who Went to the Moon by Basil Hero

Boy Swallows Universe: A Novel by Trent Dalton 

A Song for the Stars by Ilima Todd

The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero 

Mother Is a Verb: An Unconventional History by Sarah Knott

American Spirit: Profiles in Resilience, Courage, and Faith by Taya Kyle and Jim DeFelice

Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris

Crossing: A Novel by Pajtim Statovci, David Hackston (translator)

The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht 

The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees by Meredith May

Women’s Work: A Reckoning with Work and Home by Megan K. Stack

The Body Papers by Grace Talusan 

The Tradition by Jericho Brown

All Ships Follow Me: A Family Memoir of War Across Three Continents by Mieke Eerkens

Geek Girls Don’t Cry: Real-Life Lessons From Fictional Female Characters by Andrea Towers and Marisha Ray

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl

The Killer in Me: A Novel by Olivia Kiernan

I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott 

Native Country of the Heart: A Memoir by Cherríe Moraga

Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault: Essays from the Grown-up Years by Cathy Guisewite

At Briarwood School for Girls by Michael Knight 

Radical Suburbs: Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City by Amanda Kolson Hurley

Why Don’t You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It?: A Mother’s Suggestions by Patricia Marx and Roz Chast

You’d Be Mine: A Novel by Erin Hahn

The Becket List: A Blackberry Farm Story by Adele Griffin and LeUyen Pham

Unscripted by Claire Handscombe

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson

The Poison Bed: A Novel by Elizabeth Fremantle

This One Looks Like a Boy: My Gender Journey to Life as a Man by Lorimer Shenher

The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch

Perfunctory Affection by Kim Harrison

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old, or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (I HEART RECOMMENDATIONS!), or see pictures of my cats (How do I make them stop growing?!?), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Thanks so much for reading!

Liberty

Welcome back to Tuesday! As usual, there are great new releases being sent out into the world today. Luckily, I read some before I came down with the spring cold. (Hashtag germy niece and nephew.) All I have done is sleep the last few days. And you know how I feel about sleep. (Spoiler: WE HATES IT.) I hope everyone else is feeling well, and having a great end of March. Our pellet stove has been off here in Maine for over a week – a definite sign that spring is on the way! Below are a few of today’s amazing new releases. And you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Katie and I talked about Good Talk, Guestbook: Ghost Stories, Dig, and more great books.

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Sponsored by Designs on Murder by Gayle Leeson

When Amanda decides to lease a space in historic Abingdon, Virginia’s Shops On Main, she’s surprised to learn that she has a resident ghost. But soon Maxine “Max”, a young woman who died in 1930, isn’t the only dead person at the retail complex. Mark, a web designer who rented space at Shops On Main, is shot in his office. Amanda is afraid that one of her new “friends” is a killer, and Max is encouraging her to solve Mark’s murder a la Nancy Drew. Easy for Max to want to investigate–she can’t end up the killer’s next victim!

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Once & Future by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta

This fun, imaginative book takes the King Arthur legend and flips it on its head! It’s about a teenage girl named Ari Helix. She crash-lands her spacecraft into Old Earth, and ends up pulling the sword Excalibur from its ancient resting place. Now the newest reincarnation of King Arthur, she meets the wizard Merlin. Merlin is…well, he’s a teenager now, having aged backwards over the last centuries. Together they’re going to take on the oppressive government and bring peace to the galaxy.

Backlist bump: Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (Out in paperback next week!)

The Old Drift: A Novel by Namwali Serpell

The last couple years have brought some AMAZING diverse epic novels, the last being this multi-generational Zambian tale. It revolves around a colonial settlement in the banks of the Zambezi River called The Old Drift. It begins with a mistake in a hotel room in 1904, and introduces us to the families involved, who cross paths over the century. It’s a magical, original novel, and everyone should stop what they are doing and read it now.

Backlist bump: Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Aaron Bady (translator)

Sweety by Andrea Zuill

I’m so happy this book is finally out! Sweety is a mushroom-loving, headgear-wearing naked mole rat, who is looking for friends like her, some other critters who like interpretive dance and fungus identification. But being extra is lonely work. But as Sweety is going to learn, sometimes, being Sweety is also the best job. I LOVED THIS BOOK. It gave me all the feels. I wish it had been around when I was little.

Backlist bump: Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

Happy Tuesday, my fiery book dragons!  There are so many good books out today, I might explode. I wish I could read every single one of the books being released, but that’s a wee bit unrealistic. Happily, I have read a few of today’s fabulous new releases, which I’ve shared with you below. And you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! María Cristina and I talked about Queenie, Internment, Sooner of Later Everything Falls Into the Sea, and more great books.

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Sponsored by HQN Books.

The California sunshine’s not quite so bright for three sisters who get dumped in the same week… Finola, a popular LA morning-show host, is blindsided on live TV by the news that her husband is sleeping with a young pop sensation. Zennie’s breakup is no big loss. So agreeing to be the surrogate for her best friend is a no-brainer. Never the prettiest sister, Ali is used to being overlooked, but when her fiancé sends his brother to call off the wedding, it’s a new low. But side by side, these sisters will start over and rebuild their lives.

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A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian

This wonderful novel centers around five best friends living in “Heaven”, a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new buildings in Bangalore, one of India’s fastest-growing cities. The stories of these young women, who include a politically driven graffiti artist, a transgender Christian convert, and the queer daughter of a hijabi union leader, are full of emotion and drama, and also fierce power and hope. Their relationships and support for one another is inspiring, making this a beautiful testament to friendship and individuality. More LGBTQ+ novels about people of color, please!

Backlist bump: Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag, Srinath Perur (Translator)

Look How Happy I’m Making You: Stories by Polly Rosenwaike

There are SO many incredible story collections out this week (see also: Lot and Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea) and this one is among them! It’s a collection of tales centered around motherhood: being a new parent, society’s obsession with women becoming mothers, infertility, losing a mother, and more. It’s an honest, thought-provoking collection.

Backlist bump: After Birth by Elisa Albert

What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir Of Witness And Resistance by Carolyn Forché

This is a fascinating, heart-wrenching memoir of Forché’s life in El Salvador when she was a young woman, assisting a mysterious man in trying to help the poor, and push back against the fighting and devastation in her country. With her beautiful gift for language, she describes her political awakening and the true stories behind her poems. Expect this one to win awards.

Backlist bump: The Angel of History by Carolyn Forché

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

Happy Tuesday, book lovers! We lost an hour of sleep this weekend, but who needs sleep? (Spoiler: Literally everyone.) There’s still plenty of time for reading, and lots of great new books coming down the pike. Today I am excited to get my hands on The True Queen by Zen Cho, the sequel to A Sorcerer to the Crown. I have a few of today’s fabulous new releases below, and you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Kelly and I talked about If Cats Disappeared from the World, SHOUT, When the Irish Invaded Canada, and more great books.

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Sponsored by Epic Reads.

After Zan’s best friend moves to California, she is baffled and crushed when Priya suddenly ghosts. Worse, Priya’s social media has turned into a stream of ungrammatical posts chronicling a sunny, vapid new life that doesn’t sound like her at all. It’s only when Zan meets Logan, the compelling new guy in Spanish class, that she begins to uncover clues that something could be seriously wrong. Maybe Priya isn’t just not answering Zan’s emails. Maybe she can’t.

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The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

A beautiful coming-of-age novel about a girl, Ayaana, and her mother on the island of Pate off the coast of Kenya. As Ayaana grows up, the world she knows on the island changes, and she embarks on a journey to China to learn of her heritage. This is a unique novel of culture, love, and loss, with gorgeous descriptions and fantastic characters. How have we not heard more about this one already???

Backlist bump: Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

Hooray, it’s finally here! And it’s amazing! Fatima is a concubine in the royal court of Granada, and her closest friend is Hassan, the palace mapmaker. And Fatima knows Hassan’s secret―he can draw maps of places he’s never seen and bend the shape of reality. When Fatima befriends one of the women from the visiting newly-formed Spanish monarchy, she doesn’t realize Hassan will be seen as a sorcerer by the Christians. She will have to help Hassan escape the palace to safety if she wants her friend to stay alive. It’s a wonderful, imaginative story about love, friendship, and religion in the time of the Spanish Inquisition.

Backlist bump: Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

Prince: The Last Interview (The Last Interview Series) by Prince and Hanif Abdurraqib

Yes to this book, but also yes to all of the books in this Melville House series. It’s fun to learn things, even when you aren’t familiar with the interview subject. But back to this book: it’s the little dose of purple magic we need to see us through this winter, and it features an introduction by Hanif Abdurraqib, who is fast becoming one of the most important voices of our times.

Backlist bump: They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

I hope you got a lot of rest this weekend, because HOLY CATS there are a lot of amazing new releases today! It’s an epic day. And because I love you, I made you a big shiny list below, and you can hear about more amazing books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project, The Lady from the Black Lagoon, Survival Math, and more.

(And like with each megalist, I’m putting a  next to the books that I have read and loved. But there are soooo many more on this list that I can’t wait to read!)

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Almost Home by Valerie Fraser Luesse and Revell Books, a Division of Baker Publishing Group

With America’s entrance into World War II, the town of Blackberry Springs, Alabama, has exploded virtually overnight. Workers from all over are coming south for jobs in Uncle Sam’s munitions plants—and they’re bringing their pasts with them, right into Dolly Chandler’s grand but fading family home turned boardinghouse. But the house has a past of its own. When tragedy strikes, Dolly’s only hope will be the circle of friends under her roof and their ability to discover the truth about what happened to a young bride who lived there a century before.

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Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T. Kira Madden  

The Reign of the Kingfisher by T.J. Martinson (I’m in the middle of this, and I’m enjoying it!)

Flashback Hotel by Ivan Vladislavic

Goya: The Terrible Sublime: A Graphic Novel by El Torres and Fran Galán

A Stranger Here Below: A Gideon Stoltz Mystery by Charles Fergus

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Between the Lies by Michelle Adams

Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia  

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

Topgun: An American Story by Dan Pedersen

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

Villanelle: No Tomorrow: The basis for Killing Eve by Luke Jennings

The Wall by John Lanchester

The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch) by Rin Chupeco

When All Is Said by Anne Griffin

When I Hit You: Or a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy

The Wolf and the Watchman: A Novel by Niklas Natt och Dag  

She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters, Misters, and Binary Resisters by Robyn Ryle

The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen  

Today I Am Carey by Martin L. Shoemaker

The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in by Ayser Salman

Star Wars Queen’s Shadow by E. K. Johnston

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

Famous Men Who Never Lived by K. Chess  

So Here’s the Thing . . .: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut by Alyssa Mastromonaco, Lauren Oyler (Contributor)

Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter by Veronica Chambers

Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?: Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote by Tina Cassidy

If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

The New Me by Halle Butler

The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project by Lenore Appelhans  

The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Evan Ratliff

The Last 8 by Laura Pohl

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi  

The Parting Glass by Gina Marie Guadagnino

The Salt Path: A Memoir by Raynor Winn

Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family by Mitchell Jackson  

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

Black Souls by Gioacchino Criaco, Hillary Gulley (Translator)

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum  

The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain’s Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War by Aaron Shulman

That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour by Sunita Puri

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle  

Call Me Evie by JP Pomare

The River by Peter Heller  

Baby of the Family by Maura Roosevelt

The Silk Road by Kathryn Davis

The Volunteer by Salvatore Scibona

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths  

An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago by Alex Kotlowitz

Instructions for a Funeral: Stories by David Means

The Gardener of Eden by David Downie

Little Faith by Nickolas Butler  

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell

The Story Prize: 15 Years of Great Short Fiction by Larry Dark and Anthony Doerr  

Deaf Republic: Poems by Ilya Kaminsky

Labrador by Kathryn Davis

We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood by Tom Phelan

The Revenge of Magic by James Riley

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets  

The Altruists: A Novel by Andrew Ridker

Lovely War by Julie Berry

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid  

Ancestral Night (White Space) by Elizabeth Bear

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman

A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro

Minutes of Glory: And Other Stories by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Bending Toward Justice: The Birmingham Church Bombing that Changed the Course of Civil Rights by Doug Jones

Death in Ten Minutes: The Forgotten Life of Radical Suffragette Kitty Marion by Fern Riddell

The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr

A Student of History by Nina Revoyr

King of Joy by Richard Chiem  

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland

Woman 99 by Greer Macallister  

Blood Feud by Anna Smith

Allmen and the Pink Diamond by Martin Suter

When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History by Hugh Ryan  

The Women’s War by Jenna Glass

Mahimata by Rati Mehrotra

the mermaid’s voice returns in this one by Amanda Lovelace

Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman

Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone by Brian Switek  

Smoke and Ashes: A Novel by Abir Mukherjee

Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve

Mitochondrial Night by Ed Bok Lee

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant by Joel Golby

The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things -― Stories from Science and Observation (The Mysteries of Nature Trilogy) by Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst

The Everlasting Rose (The Belles) by Dhonielle Clayton

L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated “Female Byron” by Lucasta Miller

The Twice-Born: Life and Death on the Ganges by Aatish Taseer

Infinite Detail: A Novel by Tim Maughan

Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles (Ronan Boyle 1) by Thomas Lennon, John Hendrix (Illustrator)

She the People: A Graphic History of Uprisings, Breakdowns, Setbacks, Revolts, and Enduring Hope on the Unfinished Road to Women’s Equality by Jen Deaderick and Rita Sapunor

Homeland by Fernando Aramburu, Alfred Macadam (translator)

Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez

Staff Picks: Stories (Yellow Shoe Fiction) by George Singleton and Michael Griffith

City of Jasmine by Olga Grjasnowa, Katy Derbyshire (translator)

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old, or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (I HEART RECOMMENDATIONS!), or see pictures of my cats (THE KITTENS ARE SO BIG!), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Thanks so much for reading!

Liberty

It’s Tuesday! You know what that means – say it with me now: NEW BOOOOOOOKS! It’s already the last Tuesday in February (HOW?!?), but there’s still lots of great stuff hitting the shelves today. I have a few of today’s fabulous new releases below, and you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about The Priory of the Orange Tree, The Good Immigrant, Kid Gloves, and more great books.

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Sponsored by Epic Reads

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run a husband’s household or raise his children. Both paths promise a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class. Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her pedigree is a lie. She must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society. And school couldn’t prepare her for the difficult choices she must make after graduation, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio.

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The Huntress by Kate Quinn

When the Nazis attack the Soviet Union, Nina Markova decides to become a member of the Night Witches, a legendary all-female bomber pilot regiment. But when Nadia is stranded behind enemy lines, she becomes the target of The Huntress, an infamous Nazi murderess. Combined with the stories of an English journalist who hunts war criminals, and a young woman in post-war Boston who senses there’s something wrong about her new German stepmother, this is a meticulously well-researched novel of war and revenge.

Backlist bump: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.

The Body Myth by Rheea Mukherjee

Mira, a teacher living in Suryam, gets mixed up in the lives of a mysterious woman named Sara, and her husband, Rahil. As her relationship with each of them intensifies, Mira, a widow, becomes more caught up in their strange, toxic chemistry. A magnificent achievement of restraint, Mukherjee delivers a wonderful novel about loss and attraction.

Backlist bump: Florence in Ecstasy by Jessie Chaffee

Mother Country: A Novel by Irina Reyn

This is a powerful novel about immigration, belonging, and a mother’s love. Nadia is a Russian immigrant living in The United States. She suffers through two loathsome jobs, and feelings of not belonging anywhere in the world, while she waits for her daughter’s immigration status to be approved by the Department of Homeland Security. But when Nadia learns her daughter is no longer getting the medicine she needs to survive, Nadia decides to do something about their separation herself. TL;DR: Don’t come between a mother and her cub.

Backlist bump: A Mountain of Crumbs: A Memoir by Elena Gorokhova

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

Happy Tuesday, my darling book dragons. I had a great weekend of reading! A couple new books, a couple backlist books, and a rereading of Gideon the Ninth, because I am OBSESSED with it. Seriously, this is the most incredible, WTF space opera I have ever read, and I can’t wait for everyone else to share in the fun! MARK IT DOWN NOW.

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Sponsored by Soho Teen

A drunken mistake. A life-changing accident. The bonds of sisterhood are tested by addiction and a crushing betrayal in Lizzy Mason’s debut. When 17-year-old Harley Langston sees her boyfriend kissing her sister Audrey at a house party, she’s furious. But when her boyfriend drunkenly tries to drive Audrey home, he crashes leaving Audrey in a coma. Adrift in a sea of guilt, grief, and anger, Harley is surprised to reconnect with Raf, an old friend just out of rehab. As Audrey recovers, Harley can see a path forward with Raf’s help—one guided by honesty and forgiveness.

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And if you’re looking for wonderful new things to read today, look no further! I’m going to share a few of today’s great releases below, and you can hear about more awesome reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! María Cristina and I talked talked about The White Book, The Study of Animal Languages, Bangkok Wakes to Rain, and more great books.

The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman

An important, necessary collection of essays by first and second-generation immigrants, exploring what it’s like to live in America under the current administration. The incredible lineup of writers includes Chigozie Obioma, Jenny Zhang, Alexander Chee, Teju Cole, and Porochista Khakpour.

Backlist bump: Go Home! by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan ,

The Birds That Stay by Ann Lambert

A new detective series set in the wintery Montreal weather! Chief Homicide Inspector Roméo Leduc must cancel his vacation to investigate the murder of an elderly woman. The woman’s neighbor, Marie, discovers a clue to the crime after her ailing mother mentions another crime in their neighborhood many years before. Together Roméo and Marie learn that dark secrets have been festering in the shadows, and nothing is what it seems. I am excited to read another book in this series!

Backlist bump: Still Life by Louise Penny

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston

A group of knights who save the king are proclaimed heroes, but two of the young women find that life after fame is harder than they’d expected. Kalanthe and Olsa are having trouble settling back into their old lives with all the attention that comes their way, but they’ll learn that their heroic adventure isn’t quite through with them yet. Johnston has written a delightful fantasy with diverse characters, F/F romance, and a whole bunch of action and fun!

Backlist bump: Pawn of Prophecy: The Belgariad, Book 1 by David Eddings (I have never read Eddings, but Johnston claims to be a huge fan, and I read that The Afterward is an homage to him. So I looked him up, and the internet told me this is the place to start with his work.)

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old, or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (or see lots of pictures of my cats Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

Welcome back, book fans! Didn’t we just do this??? I’m pretty sure that was the fastest seven days ever. At least I managed to get in a few great books. I hope you did, too. And if you’re looking for wonderful new things to read, look no further! I’m going to share a few of today’s great releases below, and you can hear about more great reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked talked about Lost Children Archives, The Book of Delights, Early Riser, and more great books.

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Swords and Spaceships is our biweekly newsletter about all things sci-fi and fantasy literature, and we’re giving away a $100 gift card to Amazon to one lucky reader! Just sign up for the newsletter below to enter (if you win, send us a pic of all the SFF books you buy with it!), and enjoy a regular dose of your favorite genre news, recs, and more, in your inbox.

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American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

Based on true events, this is an intense spy thriller about a young black woman in the FBI during the Cold War. Marie Mitchell joins a task force aimed at bringing down Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary president of Burkina Faso. Marie will get as close to Sankara as she can, and the information she learns helps bring about a coup. But the experience will have her questioning her work as a woman, a spy, and an American. I found this to be a thoroughly electric read. Not only is it a refreshingly different spy novel, but it’s a smart meditation on race and gender inequality in America.

Backlist bump: The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends who are tired of the way women are treated in the world and in their school, so they decide to start a Women’s Rights Club. Despite positive support, when Jasmine and Chelsea’s work goes viral they become the target of trolls, leading the principal to shut the club down. But Jasmine and Chelsea didn’t come this far just to be silenced, and they will risk everything to keep their club going. Watch Us Rise is a passionate novel that will inspire every reader.

Backlist bump: Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

Ji Lin is an apprentice dressmaker, who works at night as a dancehall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. Ren is an eleven-year-old houseboy who is out to fulfill his master’s dying wish: find his missing finger. These two characters will cross paths in 1930s colonial Malaysia as Ji and Ren search for their place in a world that prefers servants like them to remain silent. It’s a gorgeous coming-of-age novel set amidst the mysteries of unexplained deaths in their district and rumors of men turning into tigers.

Backlist bump: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old, or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (or see lots of pictures of my cats Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty

Put on your seatbelt and helmet, because today’s megalist is going to make you explode with happiness! There are soooooooooooo many great books out today. Like eleventy hundred, at least. (I counted, using my fingers and my toes.)

It’s been a tough couple of months and I did not get to nearly as many as I hoped, but I’m finally getting back into my groove, so I hope to knock a bunch more off the list! And because I love you, I made you a big shiny list below, and you can hear about more amazing books on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Kelly and I talked about Bowlaway, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, On the Come Up, and more.

(And like with each megalist, I’m putting a  next to the books that I have read and loved. But there are soooo many more on this list that I can’t wait to read!)

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Sponsored by Epic Reads

Seattle, 1913

Dorothy spent her life learning the art of the con. But after meeting a stranger and stowing away on his peculiar aircraft, she wakes up in a chilling version of the world she left behind—and for the first time in her life, realizes she’s in way over her head.

New Seattle, 2077

If there was ever a girl who was trouble, it was one who snuck on board Ash’s time machine wearing a wedding gown—and the last thing he needs is trouble if he wants to prevent his terrifying visions of the future from coming true.

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On the Come Up by Angie Thomas 

Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li

Savage Conversations by LeAnne Howe 

Stalker: A Novel by Lars Kepler

Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts by Jill Abramson

Polaris Rising: A Novel by Jessie Mihalik

I Am Yours: A Shared Memoir by Reema Zama

The Clockwork Dragon (Section 13) by James R. Hannibal

Willa & Hesper by Amy Feltman

The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber

Figuring by Maria Popova 

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

Fraternity: An Inside Look at a Year of College Boys Becoming Men by Alexandra Robbins

Jimmy Neurosis: A Memoir by James Oseland

Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

Watcher in the Woods: A Rockton Novel (Casey Duncan Novels Book 4) by Kelley Armstrong

A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams

The Waning Age by S. E. Grove

The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams

The Lost Man by Jane Harper 

More Deadly than the Male: Masterpieces from the Queens of Horror by Graeme Davis

The Peacock Feast: A Novel by Lisa Gornick

The Made-Up Man: A Novel by Joseph Scapellato

I Owe You One: A Novel by Sophie Kinsella

What We Did: A Novel by Christobel Kent

Best Babysitters Ever by Caroline Cala

Enchantée by Gita Trelease

The Atlas of Reds and Blues: A Novel by Devi S. Laskar 

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang

When You Read This: A Novel by Mary Adkins

The Writer’s Practice: Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing by John Warner

How to Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship by Eva Hagberg Fisher

Notes from a Black Woman’s Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins by Kathleen Collins 

No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History by Dane Huckelbridge

The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons) by Jenn Lyons

Stolen Time by Danielle Rollins

Magical Negro by Morgan Parker 

The Antidote by Shelley Sackier

Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor 

I Am God by Giacomo Sartori and Frederika Randall

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins

A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel

The Age of Light: A Novel by Whitney Scharer 

The Spirit of Science Fiction: A Novel by Roberto Bolaño and Natasha Wimmer

Sea Monsters: A Novel by Chloe Aridjis 

More Than Words by Jill Santopolo

Here’s Your Hat What’s Your Hurry: Stories (Art of the Story) by Elizabeth McCracken 

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken 

Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman

Don’t Let Me Down: A Memoir by Erin Hosier

Hard to Love: Essays and Confessions by Briallen Hopper

American Pop by Snowden Wright

Nothing but the Night (New York Review Books Classics) by John Williams

Wild Life by Molly Gloss

The Hundred Wells of Salaga: A Novel by Ayesha Harruna Attah 

New Kid by Jerry Craft

The Coronation: A Fandorin Mystery by Boris Akunin, Andrew Bromfield (translator)

The Last Romantics: A Novel by Tara Conklin 

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

Tonic and Balm by Stephanie Allen

Don’t Wake Up: A Novel by Liz Lawler

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James 

The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

Europe: A Natural History by Tim Flannery

Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore

Bellini and the Sphinx by Tony Bellotto

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 

Brown White Black: An American Family at the Intersection of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Religion by Nishta J. Mehra

Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier’s First Gunfighter by Tom Clavin

The Falcon of Sparta: A Novel by Conn Iggulden

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Graphic Novel: A Modern Retelling of Little Women by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo

10,000 Bones by Joe Ollinger

The Dead Ex: A Novel by Jane Corry

Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder by Reshma Saujani

Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds: The first official Stranger Things novel by Gwenda Bond

Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems by Theodora Goss

Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones by Micah Dean Hicks

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt

The Be-Bop Barbarians: A Graphic Novel by Gary Phillips and Dale Berry

Evil Things by Katja Ivar

The Best of R. A. Lafferty by R. A. Lafferty

Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by P M Freestone

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old, or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (I HEART RECOMMENDATIONS!), or see pictures of my cats (THE KITTENS ARE SO BIG!), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Thanks so much for reading!

Liberty

Happy Tuesday, book lovers! Your reward for surviving another Monday is a kitten picture, and to hear about some wonderful books. I’m going to share a few of today’s great releases below, and you can hear about more great reads on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked talked about We Cast a Shadow, Deep Creek, Notes on a Nervous Planet, and more great books.

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Sponsored by Gallery Books

From New York Times bestselling author V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic) comes a gripping psychological thriller about a stalker hell-bent on destroying a young woman’s life. Pru Dunning has everything she ever wanted: a successful boyfriend, a thriving career, and a truly comfortable life. But then the strange voicemails start. Scarletta, the woman calls herself. She seems to know Pru, although Pru doesn’t know that name or recognize the voice leaving her poisonous messages. When Pru suddenly becomes a person of interest in a murder case, it feels like Scarletta’s toxic voice will silence all beauty in Pru’s life, once and for all.

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The Plotters: A Novel by Un-su Kim

HOLY CATS. This book is bananapants. It’s like if Park Chan-wook and Wes Anderson collaborated on a version of Gross Pointe Blank. It’s about an assassin named Reseng. Adopted as a baby, he was raised in Seoul to be an assassin by Old Raccoon, an elderly killer. It’s the only life he’s ever known. But then one day, Reseng deviates from his orders, and discovers a scheme involving the plotters behind all his jobs. Will he continue to take orders, or try and take control for himself?

Backlist bump: The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (They’re not so much similar – although both have a Library – but I think people who love Mount Char will love The Plotters.)

Spin by Lamar Giles

I’ll say it one more time for the people in the back: There are not enough mystery novels for young adults. Luckily, there are at least a few great ones. Including this, a delightfully devious mystery about the murder of DJ ParSec, found dead at her turntables. When the police investigation hits a dead end, her former best friend and her biggest groupie put aside their mutual hatred for one another to work together to find her killer.

Backlist bump: Endangered by Lamar Giles

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

This is a creative reimagining of Beauty and the Beast! Prince Rhen, heir to Emberfall, is cursed to repeat his 18th birthday until he can find a woman to fall in love with him, even as a monstrous beast. He’s failed 327 times. Harper is a young woman with cerebral palsy and a sad home life, who is trying to prove she is tough. When Harper stops what she thinks is a kidnapping on the streets of D.C., she’s instead transported to the world of Prince Rhen. Can she be the one to break his curse? (This is not #ownvoices, but an early reader reached out to me on Twitter to recommend this book, and said she has cerebral palsy and that this novel had accurate representation.)

Backlist bump: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett

This book is not for everyone. I don’t say that as a condemnation, because it’s fantastic, but it is upsetting and dark AF, so be warned. RJB has taken our national gun-death epidemic and written a spot-on satire about America’s gun problem. The book is set in the United States in 2030, where there are no more laws restricting guns. Pretty much everyone has a gun, and the country is in ruins. Capitalizing on this is John McDean, executive producer of “Vigilance,” a reality game show where shooters appear in crowded places without warning, and the survivors get a cash prize. Like I said, dark AF. But sometimes when we feel helpless, we turn to satire, or else we might start screaming and never stop.

Backlist bump: Normal by Warren Ellis

That’s it for me today! If you want to learn more about books new and old, or tell me about books you’re reading, or books you think I should read (or see lots of pictures of my cats Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!

Thanks so much for visiting me here each week! Y’all are the best.

xoxo,

Liberty