Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, my friends, and happy new book day! I hope you had a lovely weekend and found something fun to read. I went on a marathon read of graphic novels the last few days, and I found several I loved that you’ll be hearing about in the coming months, including Quests Aside Vol. 1: Adventurers Anonymous, Things in the Basement, and Mabuhay. Today, I am excited to tell you about one of my new favorite graphic novels below, as well as a fun mystery kicking off a spin-off series, and a powerful memoir.

But first, we must discuss more of today’s books! At the top of my list to acquire are Empty Theatre by Jac Jemc (I would buy this just for the actual whole title alone), Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness: Stories by Jai Chakrabarti, and A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani. You can hear about more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including I Have Some Questions for You, Last Chance Dance, and Wolfish.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of Murder at Haven's Rock by Kelley Armstrong; photo of woman in shadow standing on a cliff's edge against the setting sun

Murder at Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong

This is the start to a spin-off series based on Armstrong’s Rockton series. I have read the fourth, fifth, and sixth books in that seven-book series. (Which makes my brain itch just typing it, and would take too long to explain how that came to be.) That series is based around a hidden town that is refuge to people looking to escape their pasts, both heroes and villains. This book is the start of a new tale featuring the main characters from Rockton as they start a new chapter in their lives, but crime and murder have followed them to Haven’s Rock. Now Casey and Eric must solve the case of the missing construction crew members, which of course turns into bodies being found. I really like Armstrong’s books; they’re fast -paced and the writing flows like it’s effortless, which is a mark of a good book.

Backlist bump: City of the Lost: A Rockton Novel by Kelley Armstrong

cover of Sink: A Memoir by Joseph Earl Thomas; illustration of a red house with a large canary sticking out of the roof, a green snake coming out the side, a green frog on the doorstep, and an alligator on the lawn

Sink: A Memoir by Joseph Earl Thomas

And now for something completely different: This is a brutally honest, heartbreaking, and beautiful memoir. Thomas had a very difficult childhood. HIs mother was an addict, and they frequently had nothing to eat at home. He was bullied at school, and abused at home, often told he didn’t fit in and wasn’t acting the way boys should act. This is his story of surviving his childhood, escaping into games and his mind. It’s a story of triumph over trauma from a fantastic new voice in nonfiction.

Backlist bump: Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

cover of Scurry by Mac Smith; illustration of a big gray cat chasing a white mouse and a brown mouse

Scurry by Mac Smith

And this was the graphic novel I mentioned! I am completely enamored with the artwork in this middle grade fantasy book. It’s set in a future where the humans have destroyed themselves, and now the animals are on their own. There are a group of rodents living in an abandoned house, but the food has run out, and they’re trying to decide if they should risk moving locations. But the outside is full of predators, and it will take a brave team of mice to stand up to the danger. Meanwhile, there is dissent in the ranks back at the house, too. It’s very intense in places, and full of action and adventure. It reminded me a lot of Mrs. Frisby, or a Richard Adams story, or another of my favorites, Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams. Plus, seriously, the art work is S T U N N I N G.

Backlist bump: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

orange cat stepping down off a white radiator cover onto a stack of books; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison and When the Game Was War: The NBA’s Greatest Season by Rich Cohen. Outside of books, I am a big fan of trivia game shows (I get really cranky if I can’t watch Jeopardy every weeknight) so my father-in-law recommended Master Minds and Switch on the Game Show Network. And I love them! I wish they had more episodes. And the song stuck in my head is “Sister Christian” by Night Ranger, because I watched a bunch of All-Star Weekend coverage (Tatum was the MVP!) and they showed the trailer for Air several times. Plus, here is your weekly cat picture: My cats would be the first to tell you that you can’t move very far in my house without encountering stacks of books. This is Farrokh gingerly making his way through my office.


That’s it for me this week, 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!

Happy Valentine’s Day, book lovers! It is time for another new release Tuesday. I have a few books this week that I hope you’ll fall in love with, including a collection of teeny tales, and two books about heartache. (Er…Happy Valentine’s Day?) I hope you all had a relaxing weekend, and are reading something wonderful. I finished The Vaster Wilds, the new Lauren Groff, last night and it is fantastic. And as soon as I finish writing this, I will be jumping back into my current reads, which I’ll tell you about down below. Holy cats, I love books so much!

But first, we must discuss today’s books! At the top of my list to acquire are The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane, Heroes of an Unknown World by Ayize Jama-Everett, and Black Wolf by Kathleen Kent. You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including On the Savage Side, My Flawless Life, and The Last Tale of the Flower Bride.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of Flash Fiction America: 73 Very Short Stories; photo of lightning striking at the end of a long dirt road

Flash Fiction America: 73 Very Short Stories by James Thomas (Editor), Sherrie Flick  (Editor), John Dufresne (Editor)

It has been increasingly harder for me to concentrate lately, which makes it hard to read sometimes. My go-to recently have been middle grade mystery novels, but I also have been dipping into this collection of flash fiction. They are perfect bite-sized stories that you can read in a few minutes, from many of today’s most talented writers, including some of my favorite writers, such as Aimee Bender, Bryan Washington, and Luis Alberto Urrea. Picking one to read is like eating a piece from a box of chocolates without looking at the legend inside the lid. They’re each different, exciting, heartbreaking, and so satisfying. And the foreword is by the amazing Danielle Evans, who also wrote the foreword to a collection of stories I loved recently, A New Race of Men from Heaven by Chaitali Sen, which is a delightful coincidence. I cannot recommend Danielle Evans enough. In fact…

Backlist bump: …I will recommend one of her collections right now: The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella and Stories by Danielle Evans

cover of Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation by Camonghne Felix; illustration of a burning heart with a sword in it

Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation by Camonghne Felix

And this is the first of the two books on heartbreak I wanted to talk about. Felix is a National Book award-nominated poet and former political speech writer. This is her memoir about a breakup that completely blew up her life. She reflects on the period of grief and healing she went through as she recovered in a hospital, while also examining earlier experiences in her life, such as childhood trauma. And Felix uses her dyscalculia, a condition that makes it hard for a person to comprehend math and numbered learning, to explain her decisions when it comes to love and relationships. It’s a unique and interesting way to look at heartbreak. (CW for mention of sexual assault.)

Backlist bump: Build Yourself a Boat by Camonghne Felix

cover of Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams; illustration of a human heart with an arrow through it

Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey by Florence Williams

And out in paperback today from one of my favorite science writers comes a look at heartbreak and how it can literally affect your body. After 25 years of marriage, Williams and her spouse split, and it was shortly after that she began to feel unwell physically. Her weight, her sleep, and her health were all affected, prompting her to investigate what it is about breakups that, despite the fact that your heart doesn’t actually “break”, can actually induce real symptoms in us. Williams undergoes a series of tests surrounding her own breakup and shares her results about heartbreak and grief with humor and candor.

Backlist bump: Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

an orange cat lying on its side making big emoji eyes; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Never Too Old to Save the World: A Midlife Calling Anthology edited by Alana Joli Abbott and Addie J. King and Fever House by Keith Rosson. Outside of books, I have been rewatching The New Adventures of Old Christine and NewsRadio, because I live in the past. (I make my cats watch Family Ties when I leave the house.) The song stuck in my head is “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1” by The Flaming Lips because, again, I live in the past. And here is your weekly cat picture: Here’s Zevon, making his “I am an angel, you can’t stay mad at me” face, which works every time.


That’s it for me this week, 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

New Books for the First Tuesday of February!

Happy Tuesday, book friends! I hope you had a good weekend and read something that made your heart and brain happy. We have reached the part of the new year where so many of the 2023 books I was anticipating are now coming out and I am trying to keep up with them. They are zipping to my TBR like little book bees! (T-Bee-R, lol.)

At the top of my list to acquire today are Skull Water by Heinz Insu Fenkl, Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal, and The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln. You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s (400th!) episode of All the Books! Danika and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Big Swiss, VenCo, and Our Share of Night.

Today I am doing a round-up of several exciting titles from the first Tuesday of February 2023. 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.

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your bookish boo? Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your boo will tell our professional booknerds about what they love and what they don’t, what their reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life. Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

cover of B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found by Christie Tate; green with yellow font

Biography and Memoir

B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found by Christie Tate

Drawing Breath: Essays on Writing, the Body, and Loss by Gayle Brandeis

The Critic’s Daughter: A Memoir by Priscilla Gilman 

Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H

Never Far from Home: My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft, and the Law by Bruce Jackson

My What If Year: A Memoir by Alisha Fernandez Miranda

Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance by Francesca T. Royster

cover of VenCo by Cherie Dimaline; black with purple and white font, and several yellow birds flying around the letters

Fiction

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin ***

Skull Water by Heinz Insu Fenkl

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline ***

A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò

My Nemesis by Charmaine Craig

Eastbound by Maylis De Kerangal, Jessica Moore (translator)

One Month of You by Suzanne Ewart

Deceit by Yuri Felsen, Bryan Karetnyk (translator)

The Promise of a Normal Life by Rebecca Kaiser Gibson

It’s the End of the World My Love by Alla Gorbunova

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes 

cover of Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein; illustration of green fields near blue water with black palm trees and human figures dotting the landscape

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

Black Foam by Haji Jabir, Sawad Hussain and Marcia Lynx Qualey (translators)

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly

Up With the Sun by Thomas Mallon

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, Daniel Levin Becker (translator)

When Trying to Return Home: Stories by Jennifer Maritza McCauley

The Love Scribe by Amy Meyerson

Call and Response: Stories by Gothataone Moeng

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

City of Blows by Tim Blake Nelson

What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro

cover of Victory City by Salman Rushdie; illustration of an ancient desert town

Victory City by Salman Rushdie

Brutes by Dizz Tate

The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3 by Kira Yarmysh, Arch Tait (translator)

Middle Grade

Akim Aliu: Dreamer by Akim Aliu, Greg Anderson Elysée, Karen De la Vega and Marcus Williams (illustrators)

The Pearl Hunter by Miya T. Beck

Opportunity Knocks by Sara Farizan

Rick Riordan Presents Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee

The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln 

Mystery and Thriller

Such Pretty Flowers by K. L. Cerra

The Sanctuary by Katrine Engberg

Six Sweets Under by Sarah Fox

cover of Black Dove by Colin McAdam; paiting of several gflowers, leaves, and butterflies, with blood splatter on one of the flowers

Black Dove by Colin McAdam

Last Seen in Lapaz (An Emma Djan Investigation) by Kwei Quartey

Double the Lies by Patricia Raybon

The House Guest by Hank Phillippi Ryan 

Cold People by Tom Rob Smith

Nonfiction

The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar by Robin R. Means Coleman and Mark H. Harris

Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages by Carmela Ciuraru 

The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls by Miriam Darlington

When Broadway Was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World by Caseen Gaines

Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House by Alex Prud’homme

Culture: The Story of Us, From Cave Art to K-Pop by Martin Puchner 

cover of I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter; photo of the killer's eyes and a house sitting under the night sky

I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter 

The Poetics of Wrongness by Rachel Zucker

Poetry

Village by LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs

Romance

Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher

Just My Type by Falon Ballard

Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez,  Pablo Gerardo Camacho  (Illustrator),  Megan McDowell  (Translator)***

The Spite House by Johnny Compton

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones***

Wild Massive by Scotto Moore

Pod by Laline Paull

The Cradle of Ice (Moon Fall, 2) by James Rollins 

cover of Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones; orange with black font and a big metal hook ripping a hole in the middle

Young Adult

Out of Character by Jenna Miller

The Long Run by James Acker

Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood

Come Home Safe by Brian G. Buckmire

NerdCrush by Alisha Emrich

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang

Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb

These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi

Boy in a White Room by Karl Olsberg

Afterglow (Golden Boys) by Phil Stamper

cover of Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi; illustration of a young Black woman in a white tank top turning to face the front

This One’s for You by Kate Sweeney

Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi

The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder 

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!


faded calico on a bookscase surrounded by more books and bookcases; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week: I’m currently reading The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Outside of books, I watched Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I loved it. It was the kind of supreme weirdness that my brain craves. The song stuck in my head right now is “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert, ever since Jayson Tatum posted a video of his son Deuce bopping along to it. And of course, here’s a cat photo: You’re not imagining it — Millay is totally judging you.


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!

Happy Tuesday, star bits! It is hard to believe it is the end of January, but here we are. I hope you had a pleasant start to the year. Me, I am back from a not-entirely successful week off. (Womp, womp.) I forgot that I had a lot of extra work that was due, so I didn’t get to spend long days reading last week, as I had hoped. But I still got in more down time than usual, which is always wonderful. And I look forward to telling you about a few of the amazing February books that I read! (BIG SWISS IS OUT NEXT WEEK OMGGGGGGG.)

But first, we must discuss today’s books! At the top of my list to acquire are Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren, Agnes Broomé (translator), Promise Boys by Nick Brooks, and The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz. You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Kelly and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Exiles, Vampire Weekend, and The Black Queen.

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your bookish boo? Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your boo will tell our professional booknerds about what they love and what they don’t, what they’re reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life. Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of Maame by Jessica George; pink and red flowers next to the colors of Ghana's flag

Maame by Jessica George

Maddie is a young Ghanaian woman in London, who is ready to start living her life after her mother returns from Ghana. Maddie has always cared for her ailing father, but now that her mother is home, she’s going to get an apartment, start dating, and possibly start pushing back at her horrible boss and racism at work. She’s not going to let familial guilt hold her back any longer. But when a tragedy occurs, she has to decide what is important in her life and what she needs — and which things in her life are both. They are not always easy choices, but Maddie is ready to make them. It’s a wonderful, moving debut. (P.S. The book’s title is pronounced ma-meh.) (CW include illness and loss of a loved one, racism, grief, and anxiety.)

Backlist bump: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

cover of The Davenports by Krystal Marquis; illustration of Black people in fancy yellow clothing from the 1910s

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

So this is one of two of the books Kelly also talked about on the podcast, but they’re so good, I wanted to tell you about them myself! This delightful YA novel is based on the true story of the Patterson family, a wealthy Black family whose patriarch was the first African American to build motorized cars. This book focuses on four young Black women — the two Davenport daughters, their maid, and their friend — and the different challenges they face in their lives as young Black women in America, even when, like the daughters, they come from a wealthy family. One daughter doesn’t want to marry the man her parents expect her to marry, the other is in love with her sister’s suitor. And the other two women both have their hearts set on John Davenport, the sisters’ brother. Will it all work out? This is a wonderful, often romantic novel, about taking control of your destiny in the face of familial expectations, adversity, and prejudice. (CW include mentions of enslavement, violence, racism, classism, and sexism.)

Backlist bump: Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires by Shomari Wills

cover of The Black Queen by Jumata Emill; illustration of the upper half of a young Black woman's face, with blood running from her hairline

The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

And last, but not least, who doesn’t love horror and mystery surrounding the prom queen??? When Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is murdered, her best friend Duchess is sure she knows who killed her: Tinsley McArthur. After all, Tinsley had expected to win the title, and now with Nova out of the way, she can. Duchess’s father is the town sheriff, but she feels that he is doing a weak job of investigating what happened to Nova, hiding behind town politics, because Tinsley comes from a wealthy, influential white family. So Duchess decides she is going to prove Tinsley did it…even if it kills her. If you love thrilling YA where the kids are not all right, like Tiffany D. Jackson and Christopher Pike, this book is for you! (CW for many things, including racism, classism, bullying, violence, sexual assault, and child death.)

Backlist bump: White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (and The Weight of Blood, too, but that’s still frontlist.)

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

an orange cat lying on its back like an otter; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Skull Water by Heinz Insu Fenkl and On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel. Outside of books, I watched the first four available episodes of Poker Face and I loved it. Having just watched all of Columbo last year increased my enjoyment, I think. I also rewatched Good Omens, because it’s important to regularly get a dose of David Tennant. And the song stuck in my head is “Ring the Bells” by James (which is off an album called Seven, and last week the song stuck in my head was also called “7“. Coincidence??! Er, yes.) And here is your weekly cat picture: This is Zevon doing his best impression of an otter. I think he nailed it.


That’s it for me this year, 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!

Happy Tuesday, friends! As you read this, I am hopefully reading a book and enjoying my week without work. I am not calling it a v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n because the last time I tried to take a v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n, I came down with Covid-19 on the first day. So I don’t want the universe to know I’m on a break. Unsurprisingly, I have way more books that I plan to read on my break than I actually can read, but that’s the way (uh-huh uh-huh) I like it.

But first, we must discuss today’s books! At the top of my list to acquire are A Thousand Miles to Graceland by Kristen Mei Chase, The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker, and Polar Bear Café by Aloha Higa (I have a soft spot for manga featuring animals offering services). You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Jenn and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Spice Road, The Chinese Groove, and Georgie, All Along.

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your bookish boo? Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your boo will tell our professional booknerds about what they love and what they don’t, what they’re reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life. Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of The Faraway World: Stories by Patricia Engel; images of colorful outlines of birds

The Faraway World: Stories by Patricia Engel

This is a fantastic collection of award-winning stories (and Engel’s first published collection, if I am not mistaken.) They are beautiful, and moving, and offering hope and light in some of the darkest moments of the characters’ lives. There’s a couple trying to make ends meet in Miami, a woman trying to understand why her dead brother’s bones have been stolen, two Colombian expats in NYC getting to know one another, and more. If you have never read Engel before, you are in for a wonderful treat!

Backlist bump: Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

cover of All Hallows by Christopher Golden; illustration of a frightening monster face made out of red tree branches with flames for pupils

All Hallows by Christopher Golden

And nothing is more fun to read on a snowy day than a chilly horror novel! You know how I love the novels of Christopher Golden, and this one is no exception. It’s about Halloween in a Massachusetts town full of gossip and chaos in 1984. Four unusual children are trying to get the other costumed trick-or-treaters to hide them from someone they call The Cunning Man. But it’s Halloween, a night notorious for pranks, so their cries go unanswered. Which is going to be really unfortunate for the people of the town, because The Cunning Man is coming, and he really likes the vibe of the fractured neighborhood.

Backlist bump: Snowblind by Christopher Golden

cover of This Other Eden by Paul Harding; outline of a house, reflecting sky, water, and land in its sides

This Other Eden by Paul Harding

And because my sense of time was off, I will be mentioning this on the January 31st episode of All the Books! as a book I want to read, because I recorded the episode a week ago, but then I read the book for this newsletter. So next week, when I’m all, “I can’t wait to read this book!” know that I did and it is excellent. It’s a tragic story of love and injustice, based on the true story of Malaga Island in Maine, which was inhabited at the end of the 18th century by a former enslaved man and his wife, and became one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast. Until over a century later, when the local authorities decided to forcibly remove and institutionalize all its inhabitants and use the island for their own purposes. It’s rage-making and sad, and also beautifully written and an important story from history that needs to be told.

Backlist bump: Tinkers by Paul Harding

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

close up of the upside down face of an orange tabby cat; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas and The Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. I am trying not to watch anything other than NBA games this week because I want to focus on reading, but I might have to checkout Poker Face. (It has Reba the Mail Lady!) The song stuck in my head is “7” by Prince. I have been listening to a ton of Prince and Beck this month. (Is it my Year of One-named Artists??) I have been adding to a playlist of songs that are new to me, and you can listen too! And here is your weekly cat picture: Don’t you just want to boop that snoot??? Farrokh was trying to turn on the cute charm to get some cake from my husband. (It didn’t work.)

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, star bits! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I sat down to read one book and ended up starting five different books. Not because the one book wasn’t good, but because there are so many books I want to read! Sometimes I miss the days when I was a book monogamist, but also, I love sampling a bunch of books at once. It’s really fun when you can line the endings up so you finish them around the same time. Then it feels like you read a whole bunch of books in just a couple days. I freaking love books. Speaking of books, I have three very different titles for you today that I enjoyed a lot!

First, today in “I want to buy all the books”: At the top of my list are Decent People by De’Shawn Charles Winslow, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo, and Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey. You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, How To Sell a Haunted House, and A New Race of Men from Heaven.

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your bookish boo? Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your boo will tell our professional booknerds about what they love and what they don’t, what they’re reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life. Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao; illustration o three young Asian people in fancy dress holding flutes of champagne

The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao

Lately, I have been leaning into cozy reads, which is out of character for me, I know. But it has lead me to some delightful books. This debut is about a young woman named Samantha Song, whose big dream is to make it in high Singapore society. With the help of her two fabulously wealthy friends, Timothy and Anya, Samantha finds a way to fake her society status and infiltrate the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But what will happen when people find out she’s a big faker?

Backlist bump: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

cover of The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses; illustration of a basketball played jumping near a journalist

The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses

And this one I had to read because I’ve been so nuts about basketball lately. It’s a look at the racism and prejudice in the world of sports and media. Won Lee is the first Asian American in the NBA, and a powerhouse player, but he still can’t seem to get the attention of his coach, the other players, the fans, or the media. Robert and Carrie are Asian Americans working in media, covering Won’s career and trying to make a breakthrough by covering Won’s breakthrough. It’s an excellent look at hard-fought victories and agonizing defeats, in games and in life.

Backlist bump: Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear by Matthew Salesses

cover of Glitterland by Alexis Hall; illustration of two people hugging in the middle of the cover, one side is covered in blue glitter

Glitterland by Alexis Hall 

And last, but not least: This is a reissue of the first book in Hall’s Spires series. (I am guessing they’ll release the other three later, but since they each feature different characters, maybe not?) This is a grumpy sunshine story about a clinically depressed pulp fiction writer named Ash who falls for the last person he imaged he’d love: a loud, jubilant whirlwind of happiness named Darian. Will Ash step outside his comfort zone and let himself be loved, nay, believe he deserves to be loved? (It’s a romance novel, so you can probably guess.)

Backlist bump: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

two orange kittens piled up in a cat bed; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether, and The Postcard by Anne Berest, Tina Kover (translator). I didn’t watch anything this week, other than NBA games, but I am curious about Not Dead Yet, which is debuting in a few weeks. The song stuck in my head is “Gimme Some Salt” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I have been adding to a playlist of songs that are new to me, and you can listen too! And here is your weekly cat picture: It was the orange monsters’ fourth Gotcha Day this week. I can’t believe they were ever this small!


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 had a lovely weekend and were able to found some time to read. I read a couple of things this weekend, but I also got a few more journals set up to keep track of my reading. (Just curious, how many reading journals are too many???) It’s a big release day for books again. You’ll be seeing Prince Harry’s memoir Spare everywhere, and it sounds like he’s spilling juicy secrets. He and William got in a fight! He had a sleepover with Courteney Cox! He turned me into a newt! (I got better.)

In other huge title news, Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo’s sequel to Ninth House, is also out today. I definitely want to pick that up, as well as The Dream Builders by Oindrila Mukherjee, Very Good Hats by Emma Straub and Blanca Gomez, and Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett. You can hear about some more of the fabulous books coming out today on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I talked about some of the books we’re excited about this week, including Everybody Knows, The Survivalists, and Bad Cree.

The year is still just getting started, so if you’re thinking of doing a reading challenge in 2023, try Book Riot’s new Read Harder Challenge! The 24 tasks invite readers to expand their worldview through books! You can read one book per task, or do some multi-tasking by counting one book for multiple tasks. It’s all good! The point of the challenge is to push yourself to expand your horizons. To find the tasks and subscribe to our newsletter for tips and recommendations, visit Read Harder 2023. And thank you to Thriftbooks for sponsoring Read Harder 2023!

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong; illustration in pinks, blues, and purples, of a woman's face with a postcard over one eye and a bridge on her cheek

Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong

Okay, so this is wild. It’s a bananapants thriller about a woman named Katrina Kim who is definitely not stalking her coworker Kurt, uh-uh, not her. She just finds obsessing over him and spying on him a good way to control her anxiety and give her something to do. But when she witnesses his death by suicide, she discovers he was more aware of her attention than she knew. And suddenly her past comes flooding back, while reality might be going out the door. It’s hard to do this justice without making it sound like a really dark, upsetting book, which it can be, but it’s more nuanced, and the story is twisted around and poured out for us in such a way to make it wildly intriguing and complex. It’s quite something. (CW include discussions of mental health, suicide, violence, and death.)

Backlist bump: I don’t even want to try and compare it to something! So pick your favorite book with an unreliable narrator and add it here.

cover of Bloodbath Nation by Paul Auster; black and white text for title and then the opening of the book, typed right on the cover

Bloodbath Nation by Paul Auster

In keeping with Liberty’s Cheery Picks™ today, I chose this devastating and important book. If you’re a citizen of this country, it’s something you should read. We all know about the prevalence of gun violence and mass shootings in America. It happens so often now that it often doesn’t even make the news anymore. Auster looks at the history of gun use in this country and examines how it became the world capital of gun violence, and what, if anything, can be done about it.

Backlist bump: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

cover of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett; black with white font and greenery and little flowers around the border

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

And last but not least, let’s end this week on a delightful note. If you like faeries, magic, whimsy, romance, etc., you might be charmed by this one. It’s told through the journal entries of Cambridge’s foremost expert on faeries. Emily Wilde has set out to write a book about all the knowledge there is about faeries. To do so, she’ll need to go work among people, who are a species she’s not as sure about. But when a handsome academic rival appears in the small town where Emily is working, she discovers there’s another kind of magic she didn’t know existed — love. Okay, yeah, I made myself a little nauseated with that last sentence. But it is a charming novel for fans of fantasy (but a heads up that it isn’t very fast paced) and it certainly surprised me.

Backlist bump: Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

orange cat snuggled up in a shaggy light pink blanket; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Bellies by Nicola Dinan and Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie. Outside of books, I watched The Menu this weekend and I *loved* it. Ralph Fiennes is just the best — THE BEST — and I always love Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult. If you watch it, try and avoid learning anything about it. Don’t even watch the trailer, it’s too spoiler-y! Moving on, the song stuck in my head is “Heathens” by Twenty One Pilots. I have been adding to a playlist of songs that are new to me, and you can listen too! And here is your weekly cat picture: I got a new blanket called a Coma Inducer to help me sleep, and it has been helping! It’s super-soft and pink and I named it Shagatha. But Zevon, who needs no help going to sleep, definitely uses it more than 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

New Books for the First Tuesday of January!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BOOK FRIENDS!!!! It’s the first new release day of 2023 and publishing hits the ground running with lots of great titles to check out. I kicked off my 2023 by re-reading one of my favorite books, Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. It’s such a lovely, calming little book, and that is the energy I want going into the new year. (Says human Red Fraggle, lol.) Last week, I also re-read all the books in Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series, which I cannot recommend enough. It’s so much smart fun. Now I plan to only read books I haven’t read before until February when I re-read The Secret History, because it’s kinda my thing.

Today I am doing a round-up of several exciting titles from the first Tuesday of January 2023. 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.

If you’re thinking of doing a reading challenge in 2023, may I recommend Book Riot’s new Read Harder Challenge? The 24 tasks invite readers to expand their worldview through books! You can read one book per task, or do some multi-tasking by counting one book for multiple tasks. It’s all good! The point of the challenge is to push yourself to expand your horizons. To find the tasks and subscribe to our newsletter for tips and recommendations, visit Read Harder 2023. And thank you to Thriftbooks for sponsoring Read Harder 2023!

And speaking of today’s great books, for this week’s episode of All the Books! Danika and I discussed some of the wonderful books that we’ve read, such as Age of Vice, The Villa, The Bandit Queens, and more.

cover of Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor; black with gold font

Biography and Memoir

Drinking Games: A Memoir by Sarah Levy

Coolidge by Amity Shlaes

Fiction

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor***

Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino

The New Life by Tom Crewe

Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan***

cover of Sam by Allegra Goodman; photo of a young woman's face in shadow, with pink font

Sam by Allegra Goodman

Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh

History

The Discovery of Pasta: A History in Ten Dishes by Luca Cesari, Johanna Bishop (translator)

Pharaohs of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of Tutankhamun’s Dynasty by Guy de la Bédoyère

Middle Grade

My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement by Willie Mae Brown

Sincerely Sicily by Tamika Burgess

Suitehearts #1: Harmony and Heartbreak by Claire Kann

Officer Clawsome: Lobster Cop by Brian “Smitty” Smith, Chris Giarrusso***

Mystery and Thriller

cover of The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone; image of white house hanging upside down over a roiling ocean

The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone***

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai Thriller) by Damyanti Biswas

Blaze Me a Sun by Christoffer Carlsson, Rachel Willson-Broyles (Translator)

Hide (Detective Harriet Foster) by Tracy Clark

Code 6 by James Grippando

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

Nonfiction

The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction by Jamie Kreiner

Have You Eaten Yet: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan

Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility by Martha C. Nussbaum

cover of Have You Eaten Yet: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan; illustrations in red of Chinese food and dishes

Northeaster: A Story of Courage and Survival in the Blizzard of 1952 by Cathie Pelletier

Decolonization: Unsung Heroes of the Resistance by Pierre Singaravélou, Karim Miské, Marc Ball, Willard Wood

Poetry

you are your own fairy tale by amanda lovelace

Romance

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper

Token by Beverley Kendall

Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror

cover of The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams; illustration of an industrial building with many windows sitting in snow

The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams

VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend

The Strangers by Jon Bilbao, Katie Whittemore (translator)

Young Adult

The Stranded by Sarah Daniels

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman

The Stolen Heir: A Novel of Elfhame by Holly Black

Breakup from Hell by Ann Dávila Cardinal

They’re Watching You by Chelsea Ichaso 

French Kissing in New York by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

Cursed Princess Club Volume One by LambCat

Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden

cover of Nick and Charlie (The Heartstopper Novellas) by Alice Oseman; illustration of two young men snuggled on a bed, one asleep and one reading

Rebel of Fire and Flight by Aneesa Marufu

All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri

Nick and Charlie (The Heartstopper Novellas) by Alice Oseman 

The Wrong Kind of Weird by James Ramos

A Ruinous Fate (Witch’s Dice) by Kaylie Smith 

Sisters of the Lost Marsh by Lucy Strange

The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim

16 & Pregnant by LaLa Thomas

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!


https://bookriot.com/secret-history-30th-anniversary/

This week: I’m currently reading The Davenports by Krystal Marquis and I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane. Outside of books, I watched Glass Onion, which I thought was weird and silly in the most delightful way (put Janelle Monáe in everything, you cowards!) and The Banshees of Inisherin, which is really good and really upsetting. I cried so much. The song stuck in my head is “Been Here Before” by Tony Molina, because I just watched the first three seasons of Miracle Workers. (Daniel Radcliffe is a treasure.) And of course, here’s a cat photo: The orange monsters have been sitting closer to each other lately. It’s probably a cold weather necessity thing. It almost always devolves into wrestling and biting. (Related: Have you ever read No Fighting, No Biting? It was one of my favorite books as a kid.)


Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in the new year, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! – XO, Liberty ❤️

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Hello, star bits! I hope you have all had wonderful holidays, or wonderful days, however you spent the last few weeks. Christmas for me is a day off—I spent it in my reading nest with my cats, re-reading all 16 Phoebe and Her Unicorn books and eating ice cream. I love being an adult! I also spent time setting up my 2023 reading spreadsheets and journals. You know how I love to nerd out!

And I love to talk about books! You can hear about some of the fabulous books coming out in 2023 on this week’s episode of All the Books! Patricia and I talked about the ones we are most excited about and more, including Chain-Gang All-Stars, The Terraformers, and House of Cotton.

If you’re thinking of doing a reading challenge in 2023, may I recommend Book Riot’s new Read Harder Challenge? The 24 tasks invite readers to expand their worldview through books! You can read one book per task, or do some multi-tasking by counting one book for multiple tasks. It’s all good! The point of the challenge is to push yourself to expand your horizons. To find the tasks and subscribe to our newsletter for tips and recommendations, visit Read Harder 2023. And thank you to Thriftbooks for sponsoring Read Harder 2023!

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of Nine Liars (Truly Devious) by Maureen Johnson; illustration of a shatter picture frame lying on a bed of fall leaves

Nine Liars (Truly Devious) by Maureen Johnson

If you are like me, you were very sad when the Truly Devious trilogy came to an end a few years ago. But then we got a new book, The Box in the Woods, starring our favorite contemporary genius teenage sleuth, Stevie Bell! And oh my stars and Nick Carters, there’s a fifth book now. This time, Stevie goes to London to visit her boyfriend and college, and winds up investigating a double-murder from over two decades before. In 1995, nine friends gathered for a party and a game of hide-and-seek. At the end of the game, two were dead. Was one of the remaining seven friends the killer? Stevie is determined to find out. Which means we also get to find out. WHAT FUN.

Backlist bump: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

cover of The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra; purple flower patterned cloth with a gold ornament resting on it

The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra

And if you want to slip one more amazing historical novel into your brain before the year is out, I recommend this debut. I really don’t understand why it was tucked away on the last Tuesday of the year, but at least now it’s available! It’s the beautiful story of a perfumer’s apprentice and calligrapher’s apprentice who fall in love in Lahore in Pakistan. But when Partition divides their city, their relationship becomes forbidden and the lovers must decide how much they want to risk for one another, and figure out how they are going to move forward with their lives. I will say that it is a slow-paced novel, and it is sad (and very sad) in parts, but it’s worth it.

Backlist bump: Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition by Nisid Hajari

cover of Vinyl Resting Place: The Record Shop Mysteries by Olivia Blacke; illustration of a record featuring the title hanging over a shop window with a table and chairs inside, plus an orange cat and a smashed record on the sidewalk outside

Vinyl Resting Place: The Record Shop Mysteries by Olivia Blacke

And if you want to end the year with a lighthearted cozy mystery instead, this one would work great! It’s about the Jessup sisters in Cedar River, Texas—Juni, Tansy, and Maggie— who open a record store with a café called Sip & Spin Records. But their plans for a grand business skip a groove when a body is discovered in the closet of the store and their uncle is arrested for the murder. Now the Jessup sisters must do a little detective work to find the real killer and save their uncle from prison. It’s light and fun and will help you unwind for a few hours.

Backlist bump: A Deadly Inside Scoop (An Ice Cream Parlor Mystery) by Abby Collette

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

orange cat asleep sitting up and leaning to the side in a silver mixing bowl; photo by Liberty Hardy

This week, I am reading Yellowface by R. F. Kuang and Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare by Megan Kakimoto. Outside of books, I am still rewatching Psych and looking forward to seeing Glass Onion now that it is streaming! And the song stuck in my head is “Wasted Time” by the Eagles. (In 2023, I have decided to stop fighting it and embrace the fact that I *do* love the Eagles.) Recently, I started a new playlist of songs that are new to me, and you can listen too! And here is your weekly cat picture: Zevon loves his mixing bowl. Does this look like a comfortable way to sleep to you? Well, he thinks so. He looks like that straw in a glass of water example we were shown in science class.


That’s it for me this year, friends. I am sending you so many good wishes for a wonderful 2023. (Seriously, we deserve it.) 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, friends! I hope you had a great weekend. I declared it Murderbot Day at my house on Saturday and reread the series to celebrate the announcement of a seventh book. I love Murderbot so much! It’s the second-to-last new release day of the year, so pickings are slim. Instead, I am going to tell you about three 2022 books I read after their release date that I haven’t shared with you yet. There’s a big drama about friendship, a powerful memoir, and a mystery set at New Year’s Eve (which is fitting). You can hear about more fabulous books on this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I talked about our favorite nonfiction of 2022 and more, including I’m Glad My Mom Died, Strangers To Ourselves, and The Milky Way.

Have you seen Book Riot’s new Read Harder Challenge? The 24 tasks invite readers to expand their worldview through books! You can read one book per task, or do some multi-tasking by counting one book for multiple tasks. It’s all good! The point of the challenge is to push yourself to expand your horizons. To find the tasks and subscribe to our newsletter for tips and recommendations, visit Read Harder 2023. And thank you to Thriftbooks for sponsoring Read Harder 2023!

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.

cover of Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu; photo of person holding a camera up to their face and pointing it at the camera

Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu

This is a slim, beautifully written love letter to identity, friendship, and grief. Hsu, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, grew up in California feeling like an outsider. He clung to American culture, as a way to discover his identity and to bond with his father. In college, he made a friend, Ken, who he had nothing in common with, except their love of American culture and finding the things that moved and excited them before everyone else discovered them. Then Ken was killed in a carjacking, and Hsu was left to grieve his friend. He has written an amazing book that captures the swirling, angsty feelings of youth. There is no question why it was named one of the top five nonfiction books of the year by The New York Times.

Backlist bump: Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner

cover of Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark; photo of a lake seen through pine trees at sunset

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

I picked this up because I saw SO many people talking this year about how they loved it. It also has all the starred reviews. What I did not realize when I started it was that it’s just under 600 pages long. But that’s okay, because it was wonderful. It’s about two 80-year-old best friends. Agnes is a secret and public bestselling author (you’ll see) who has remained unattached her whole life. Polly is a mother and wife whose life has always revolved around her family. When a developer threatens to build McMansions in their sanctuary of Fellowship Point in Maine, the resulting attempts to keep it from happening will test their friendship. Plus, sooooooo much more. Illness! Secrets! Death! It’s not fast-paced, but it’s lovely and feels very real. Hooray for older protagonists!

Backlist bump: In The Gloaming: Stories by Alice Elliott Dark

cover image for The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh; image of a house at night with one window lit and a person in the reflection

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

And, last, but not least, if you are looking for a thriller with a bit of substance, I really enjoyed this one. It’s one of the “everyone hated the victim” stories, which is fun, because that means there are a lot of suspects! Officer Ffion Morgan regretfully wakes up on New Year’s Day beside a stranger. Unfortunately, she’s going to encounter him again before the day is out when they’re both assigned to investigate the murder of a local businessman. Someone killed him at his New Year’s Eve bash. But since he was hated by most, and everyone has a secret or two, how will they narrow down the list of suspects? I’m looking forward to the next book in this series, which is coming in August of 2023.

Backlist bump: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

orange cat on a stool placing its paw on the bellyy of another orange cat lying on a desk; photo by Liberty Hardy.jpg

This week, I am reading Return of the Living Elves by Brian Asman and Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan. Outside of books, I started rewatching Psych. I need my comfort shows right now! Also, Dulé Hill is a ridiculously under-appreciated actor. And the song stuck in my head is “Free” by Florence + The Machine. Again. It’s just so good! Recently, I started a new playlist of songs that are new to me, and you can listen too! And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh was trying to wrestle his brother, but Zevon calmly said, “No.”


Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! – XO, Liberty