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April New Books Megalist – The Sequel!
It’s Tuesday – you know what that means! Say it with me now: NEW BOOK DAY. And holy cats, are there so many great ones! So many, in fact, that I couldn’t narrow it down, so I’ve decided to share another GIANT list of books coming out today, so you can break your TBRs with book goodness. And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about a few awesome books we loved, including Shot-Blue, The Double Bind, and If We Were Villains.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Every Body Yoga by Jessamyn Stanley.
From the unforgettable teacher Jessamyn Stanley comes Every Body Yoga, a book that breaks all the stereotypes. It’s a book of inspiration for beginners of all shapes and sizes. It’s a book for readers already doing yoga, looking to refresh their practice. It’s a how-to book with directions for 50 basic yoga poses and 10 sequences to practice at home. It’s a book that challenges the issues of body acceptance and the meaning of beauty. Most of all, it’s a book that changes the paradigm, showing us that yoga isn’t about how one looks, but how one feels.
The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers
Make Trouble by John Waters
Return of the King: LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Greatest Comeback in NBA History by Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin
Abigale Hall by Lauren Forry
Canoeing with Jose by Jon Lurie
Moving the Palace by Charif Majdalani (Author), Edward Gauvin (Translator)
Tacky Goblin by T. Sean Steele
The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
Alex and Eliza: A Love Story by Melissa de la Cruz
Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl
Cruel Is the Night by Karo Hamalainen (Author), Owen Witesman (Translator)
Dig If You Will the Picture: Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince by Ben Greenman
Man’s Better Angels: Romantic Reformers and the Coming of the Civil War by Philip F. Gura
Beck by Mal Peet (Author), Meg Rosoff
An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal
Second Chances: An Inspiring Collection of Do-Overs That Have Made People’s Lives Brighter by Erin McHugh
Ella WHO? by Linda Ashman (Author), Sara Sanchez (Illustrator)
Thrawn (Star Wars) by Timothy Zahn
Exes by Max Winter
Generation Decks: The Unofficial History of Gaming Phenomenon Magic the Gathering by Titus Chalk
In the Shadow of the White House: A Memoir of the Washington and Watergate Years, 1968-1978 by Jo Haldeman
One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline
Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton
The Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies
The Burial Hour by Jeffrey Deaver
Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook
Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Thirteen Views of the Suicide Woods by Bracken MacLeod
Void Star by Zachary Mason
The Great Unknown: Seven Journeys to the Frontiers of Science by Marcus du Sautoy
The Trembling Answers (American Poets Continuum) by Craig Morgan Teicher
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Sam Shepard: A Life by John J. Winters
The Good Byline by Jill Orr
Gifted by John Daniel
Kingdom of the Young by Edie Meidav
Darwin’s First Theory: Exploring Darwin’s Quest for a Theory of Earth by Rob Wesson
Shot-Blue by Jesse Ruddock
Dangerous Ends by Alex Segura
Penance by Kanae Minato
Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays by Durga Chew-Bose
Athenian Blues by Pol Koutsakis
A $500 House in Detroit: Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City by Drew Philp
Dream Magic by Joshua Kahn
Tender: Stories by Sofia Samatar
Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni
Ruby Redfort Pick Your Poison by Lauren Child
Devil on the Cross (Penguin African Writers Series) by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River by David Owen
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn
Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba (Author), Lisa Dillman (Translator)
The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day
Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon
Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani Shapiro
Cave Dwellers by Richard Grant
Double Bind: Women on Ambition edited by Robin Romm
My British Invasion by Harold Bronson
The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova
Music of the Ghosts by Vaddey Ratner
From Rockaway by Jill Eisenstadt
The Lowells of Massachusetts: An American Family by Nina Sankovitch
Signs for Lost Children by Sarah Moss
At the Lightning Field by Laura Raicovich
Fireworks by Katie Cotugno
Red Leaves by Paulina Simons
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (paperback)
The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth (paperback)
The Geography of Madness: Penis Thieves, Voodoo Death, and the Search for the Meaning of the World’s Strangest Syndromes by Frank Bures (paperback)
Sunshine State: Essays by Sarah Gerard
The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay (paperback)
The Regional Office Is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales (paperback)
Grace by Natashia Deón (paperback)
Daredevils by Shawn Vestal (paperback)
Bucky F*cking Dent by David Duchovny (paperback)
YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me today – time to get back to reading! As always, it has been a delight to share recommendations with you. And if you want to hear more about books, or give me recommendations (my current obsession is books featuring faeries), you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!
Liberty
Win His Alone By Alexa Riley

We have 10 copies of His Alone by Alexa Riley to give away to 10 Riot readers.
Here’s what it’s all about:
From New York Times and #1 ebook bestselling author Alexa Riley. Ryan Justice may be her boss, but nothing will stop him from making her his. Paige Turner is trying to outrun her past. Her need for Ryan got in the way of revenge, took her off course. Redirected her focus. Before she knew it, he’d made his way into her life. Into her heart. True love doesn’t let secrets as big as these stay buried. And when the truth about Paige’s father is finally exposed, Ryan will do anything to fix everything. Paige has always been his—and his alone.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:
Uncle Joe is On the Way
Following in the footsteps of their presidential partners, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, have secured a joint book deal with Macmillan imprint Flatiron Books. The contract reportedly went into at least seven figures and will include two books from the former veep and one from Jill. No release dates have been set. If you need us, we’ll be over here hoping for a the Bidens will team up with the Obamas for a joint book tour of unspeakable coolness. (Do it for the memes, Joe!)
First “Official” Black Lives Matter Memoir in the Works
Speaking of exciting developments at Macmillan! Patrisse Cullors, a cofounder of the Black Lives Matter movement, has inked a high-six-figure deal (with cowriter and journalist asha bandele) for her memoir, When They Call You a Terrorist. St. Martin’s Press executive editor Monique Patterson won the book at auction, competing against six other houses. Angela Davis will write the foreword.
For the hat trick: This week, Macmillan launched Reading Without Walls, an initiative to encourage kids and their parents, teachers, and librarians to expand their literary horizons. If you’ve seen Book Riot’s own Read Harder Challenge, you know we love this idea.
A Map of Aural Tendencies
This week in Cool Interactive Tech with Questionable Methodology: Audible released data (kind of) about the relative popularity of various audiobook genres across the U.S. Have a scroll and see how much your state digs horror, sci-fi, humor, and more. We’d love to have a peek at the raw data that went into this, but given Amazon’s notorious reluctance to release actual numbers for, well, anything, we’ll have to be content with interesting approximations.
Thanks to Strong is the New Pretty by Kate T. Parker for sponsoring This Week in Books.
Girls being fearless. Girls being silly. Girls being wild, stubborn, and proud. Girls whose faces are smeared with dirt and lit up with joy. Strong Is the New Pretty celebrates, through more than 175 memorable photographs, the strength and spirit of girls being 100% themselves. Real beauty isn’t about being a certain size, acting a certain way, wearing the right clothes, or having your hair done (or even brushed). Real beauty is about being your authentic self and owning it.
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves.
Sixteen-year-old Anna is a member of the ruling class who control all magic through an ancient master spell. But she is unable to perform even the simplest magic. All she can do is break spells—by accident. Her family sends her to Hungary where she meets a mysterious boy (or two), comes face-to-face with “The Rebellion” that wants to use her to free magic for all, and confronts the extent of her own powers. What Anna wants more than anything is to belong in her own world. But she may instead be the key to tearing the world apart.
Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean
We have 10 copies of Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean to give away to 10 Riot readers.
Here’s what its all about:
Toward a Secret Sky by New York Times bestselling author Heather Maclean is a fast-paced thriller that mixes reality with possibility, blending an epic romance with a breathless flight through the highlands of Scotland, the secret city under London, and history itself.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:
In the mood for a reading adventure? We’ve got book mail ready for you!
In the new Book Mail box, get two surprise books and a selection of awesome bookish gifts to rock your reading life.
Not so much for surprises? That’s cool, too. We’ve saved some extras of past boxes just for you.
Go meta with the books-in-books box, which includes a rad personal library kit!
Get spellbound with the magic & myth box. What’s more magical than floating bookshelves?
Or tap into your funky side with the strange & peculiar YA box.
Big changes are coming to Book Mail soon. Get in on the action!
Giveaway: Marlena By Julie Buntin
We have 10 copies of Marlena by Julie Buntin to give away to 10 Riot readers.
Here’s what it’s about:
An electric debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the feral year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades
Everything about fifteen-year-old Cat’s new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter, until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat is quickly lured into Marlena’s orbit, and as she catalogues a litany of firsts—first drink, first cigarette, first kiss, first pill—Marlena’s habits harden and calcify. Within the year, Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods. When a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try to forgive herself and move on, even as the memory of Marlena keeps her tangled in the past.
Go here to enter for a chance to win a copy, or just click the cover image below. Good luck!
Swords and Spaceships Apr 7
Happy Friday, geek friends and nerd pals! I have been scouring the interwebs for interesting tidbits, and boy did I find some.
First and foremost: The Hugo Finalists are heeeeeeere! You will notice some repeats from the Nebulas, which is neither unusual nor unexpected in these cases (Obelisk Gate and All the Birds in the Sky, what what!). If you want a look at how the rules changes from last year may have affected this year’s nominations, our own Alex is happy to oblige.
There are always trend pieces making the rounds, but I happened to see three in a row. Things what are Hot Right Now: dystopias, space opera, and killer flus. (Not mutually exclusive, let us note.) Dystopias always seem to be on-trend to me, but I welcome additions to the ranks. Space opera, on the other hand, does seem to be having its day in the Sun (heh); Wired and I have a lot of the same favorites, which means you should definitely read them. And killer flus are like little black dresses — perennial and inescapable. If that’s all a little heavy for you, have some talking cats too.
Speaking of space opera! There’s a gorgeous new cover for Ann Leckie’s forthcoming Provenance, which we will not get until October, argh. If you haven’t read the Ancillary trilogy, never fear: this is a new story, so you can jump right in. But you have several months between now and October, so you definitely could read them, I am just saying.
And last but not least, here is a sci-fi short film that I found delightful and eery as all get-out, plus it is only five minutes long: Strange Beasts.
Now for recommendations! Here’s something brand new and something old (because in publishing, 2015 was like a decade ago).
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
Ambiguous near-future astronaut stories are also hot right now! We just talked about Spaceman of Bohemia, which I read back to back with The Wanderers. Whereas Spaceman goes unabashedly surreal, Wanderers sticks hard to the science-possible. Three astronauts from around the world are hired by a private space-exploration company called Prime Space (it’s all very Elon Musk) and sent into a seventeen-month-long simulation to prove that not only is a landed mission to Mars possible, but they’re the right crew. As the story — told skillfully from multiple points of view — develops, astronauts Helen, Sergei, and Yoshi each develop a different view of what is actually going on.
There are comps to be made with The Martian; Howrey gives us technical action, company politics, and pencil-pushers as well as problem-solving and astronaut body-humor. But she also delves deeply into the emotional fault-lines of her characters, which gives us some of the funniest and most moving moments (occasionally at the same time!). Helen’s grown daughter Meeps, a struggling actress, absolutely steals every scene she is in, as does Yoshi’s wife Madoka. And Sergei’s sons, oof! My heart breaks. So, to wrap this up, my short recommendation is: come for the Hijinks Involving Space, stay for the incredible characters.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro excels at writing books that are not at all about what they seem to be about, as you know if you’ve read Let Me Go. That one appears to be about boarding school and is actually about, ahem, medical ethics (I am resisting the urge to spoil it for you, you’re welcome). The Buried Giant does not actually have a giant in it — ogres yes, pixies yes, knights yes, dragons yes!, but not a giant to be found. For a while you’re pretty sure it’s just about two olde time British people who can’t remember anything, then it’s about King Arthur, and then you get to the ending and it’s about — Well, I don’t want to spoil it, but it wasn’t what I thought.
And yet despite all of this confusion and ambiguity (which ultimately does have a point), I couldn’t put it down. The Buried Giant is a dreamy walk through an ancient England that barely knows itself from one day to the next, and that contains surprises both wondrous and horrible around every turn. From the troubled relationship between the Saxons and the Britons, the role of the early Catholic church, the long-deferred quest of Sir Gawain (who I could not help picturing as a Monty Python-era John Cleese), to the perils facing an aging couple in a harsh world, Ishiguro balances a ton of depth with a deceptively simple style. A slow burn of a novel, this one is for Ishiguro fans, readers who enjoy open-ended plots, and my fellow Arthurian completists.
This newsletter is sponsored by Macmillan Teen.
We have a YA Science Fiction & Fantasy prize pack to give away! Click here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image below:
040617-CageMatch-TheStack
Cage Match is back! Unbound Worlds is pitting science fiction characters against fantasy characters in a battle-to-the-death tournament, and you can win a collection of all 32 books featured in the competition.
Enter now for your chance to win this library of sci-fi and fantasy titles!