What do a cast-member of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, a Locus Award winner, and a Grammy-winning writer have in common? They’re all part of the roster at Book Riot Live 2016. Check out our guides to who’s who, where to start reading, and glory in the full speaker list.
Then, grab your weekend pass for $20 off with coupon code BOOKNERD!
Ready your confetti cannons! The first YA Book Mail box is coming Wednesday. There’s a limited supply, and they’re gonna go fast. You’re on the mailing list, so you’ll get first crack. Watch your inbox and get ready to get down with a rad collection of books and bookish items.
Happy Tuesday! Today I am breaking with form, and doing another big round-up of books, because I read SO MANY books out today that I wanted to share with you, I really could not whittle it down to a few. So here’s a bunch more! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Devourers, Heartbreaker, and Siracusa.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman, Fábio Moon, and Gabriel Bá.
Two teenage boys are in for a tremendous shock when they crash a party where the girls are far more than they appear!
From Neil Gaiman—one of the most celebrated authors of our time—and award-winning artists Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, this sumptuous graphic novel is not to be missed!
“Gentle, strange, and full of perfectly good advice (‘You just have to talk to them!’), How to Talk to Girls at Parties is wise and odd. Neil Gaiman’s writing is sweetly complemented by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá’s art. It’s a quirky delight.”—Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler’s Wife)
Ninety-Nine Stories of God by Joy Williams
You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein
All the Time in the World by Caroline Angell
Mickey by Chelsea Martin
The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown
The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux (Author), Lazer Lederhendler (Translator)
The Year 200 by Agustín de Rojas (Author), Nicholas Caistor (Translator)
Not Pretty Enough: The Unlikely Triumph of Helen Gurley Brown by Gerri Hirshey
Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
Necessity by Jo Walton
Miss Jane by Brad Watson
The Kingdom by Fuminori Nakamura (Author), Kalau Almony (Translator)
A Natural History of Hell: Stories by Jeffrey Ford
Stranger, Father, Beloved by Taylor Larsen
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon
Cream of the Crop by Alice Clayton
Break in Case of Emergency by Jessica Winter
The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
The Death of Rex Nhongo by C.B. George
Champion of the World by Chad Dundas
Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner
How to Be a Person in the World: Ask Polly’s Guide Through the Paradoxes of Modern Life by Heather Havrilesky
YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!
Stay rad!
Liberty
The dog days are here! Stay cool in our new World Reading Champions tank top, and get your BOGO on. Today is the last day to buy one tank, get one half off!
Amazon Bringing Physical Bookstore to the Big Apple
To this point, Amazon’s handful of physical bookstores have been limited to the West Coast (California, Washington, and Oregon), but that is set to change by the end of next year. Amazon is opening a store in the heart of U.S. publishing: New York City. The store will be part of the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan, but not much else is known about it yet. One thing is for sure: expect to hear a lot of noise about this when it finally does open. The twist here is that physical bookstores are doing well enough and are valuable enough that Amazon is now fully in the game. Be careful what you wish for, eh?
The Curious Case of Gay Talese’s New Book
Gay Talese wrote an amazing magazine article about a voyeur who for decades spied on the customers of his hotel. The dynamite story now forms the center of a whole book, with just one little problem: it’s unclear what, if any of it, is true. Real estate records show that the owner didn’t actually own the hotel in all the years he said he did, and other discrepancies are now coming to light. And after initially disavowing the book after these revelations, Talese is now un-disavowing it. Every few years we get a reminder that most publishers don’t fact check most non-fiction books, and every few years we get these sort of disastrous messes.
Neil Gaiman’s New Book
In what sounds like a match made in Valhalla, Neil Gaiman’s next book will be a spin on Norse mythology. Gaiman was approached by Norton to do the book (give someone a raise for sheer pluck over there), and it will come out in early 2017. The exact nature of the book is a little sketchy: “an almost novelistic retelling of famous myths about the gods of Asgard.” I am not exactly sure how a book is almost something that has qualities of a novel, but I guess we are going to find out.
Hero of the Week
Tyler Fugett of Clarksville, Tennessee decided to spend his summer allowance buying books for a local prison. He got the idea after seeing his stepfather in and out of jail, and as of this writing has bought more than 100 books to donate. He is nine years old.
This Week in Books is sponsored today by Dreamjumper by Greg Grunberg and Lucas Turnbloom.
Ben’s dreams are all nightmares . . . And his nightmares are real! He can also jump into other people’s dreams. So when his friends start falling victim to an evil dream-monster that prevents them from waking, Ben knows he has to help them. With help from a talking rabbit-companion who has a mysterious past, Ben might just be able to defeat the monster and save his friends . . . if he can figure out how to harness the power within him against his enemies.
Find out more and start reading Dreamjumper here.
We’re delighted to welcome back some of our vendors and exhibitors from last year, and say hello to some new ones! Here’s the scoop on a few of the booths you’ll see at Book Riot Live 2016.
When you’re done checking out our vendors and speakers, how about $20 off your registration? Use coupon code BOOKNERD during check-out!
Happy Tuesday! As usual, the first Tuesday of the month has an amazing number of new books out today, so I’ve made a special newsletter because YAY, BOOKS! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some more great new releases out today, such as The Wolf Road, Here Comes the Sun, and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
As always, you can find a big list in the All the Books! show notes. And below I have made you a big list of notable releases – there are sooooo many! SO MUCH TO CHECK OUT.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner.
A page-turning literary mystery that brings to life the complex and wholly relatable Detective Manon Bradshaw, a devoted member of the Cambridgeshire police—though she loves her job, she longs for a personal life. Edith Hind—a beautiful graduate student who seems to have it all—has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. With no clear leads, Manon summons every last bit of her skill and intuition to close the case, and what she discovers will have shocking consequences not just for Edith’s family but for Manon herself.
Absalom’s Daughters by Suzanne Feldman
Ithaca: A Novel of Homer’s Odyssey by Patrick Dillon
Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage by Gordon Corera
The Unknown Universe: A New Exploration of Time, Space, and Modern Cosmology by Stuart Clark
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Another One Goes Tonight (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery) by Peter Lovesey
In the Shadow of Frankenstein: Tales of the Modern Prometheus edited by Stephen Jones
You Are Having a Good Time: Stories by Amie Barrodale
How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball
The Harrows of Spring: A World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler
Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
The Drone Eats with Me: A Gaza Diary by Atef Abu Saif
The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone
Night of the Animals by Bill Broun
An Innocent Fashion by RJ Hernandez
Accidence Will Happen: A Reformed Pedant’s Guide to English Language and Style by Oliver Kamm
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman
The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez
A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence by Ray Raphael
Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia by Julian Fellowes
The Storyteller: Tales out of Loneliness by Walter Benjamin
Underground Airlines by Ben Winter
The Trap by Melanie Raabe
I Am No One by Patrick Flanery
The Games: A Global History of the Olympics by David Goldblatt
The Prisoner of Hell Gate by Dana I. Wolff
Brightfellow by Rikki Ducornet
Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays by Cynthia Ozick
YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me. If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats), or tell me about books you’re reading, you can find me on Twitter at MissLiberty, on Instagram at FranzenComesAlive, or Litsy under ‘Liberty’!
Stay rad!
Liberty
Hello, YA lovers!
This week’s “What’s Up in YA?” newsletter is sponsored by Dream Jumper.
Ben’s dreams are all nightmares . . . And his nightmares are real! He can also jump into other people’s dreams. So when his friends start falling victim to an evil dream-monster that prevents them from waking, Ben knows he has to help them. With help from a talking rabbit-companion who has a mysterious past, Ben might just be able to defeat the monster and save his friends . . . if he can figure out how to harness the power within him against his enemies.
Read a free preview at scholastic.com/dreamjumper.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked some big stuff, haven’t we? We’ve covered YA adaptations at the box office, gender and feminism in YA, sexual assault through YA fiction, and in the last newsletter, we got to see a wonderful collection of YA Pride displays. And on Book Riot proper, we’ve seen pieces on “bad kids,” on queer YA that isn’t tragic, and YA author Benjamin Alire Saenz wrote a piece about the power of books and community that requires a tissue or ten to get through.
But this week . . .
In honor of America’s 4th of July and Canada Day long weekends, let’s take a break from the heavy work of talking YA.
How about a giveaway? This will be open to subscribers only (meaning if you pass along this link, those who enter will also need to sign up for the newsletter) and it’s open world-wide. I’ve curated a collection of brand new YA titles, along with some backlist titles that are worth your reading time. I’m also throwing in a few advanced reader copies for titles I know YA readers will be eager to pick up ASAP.
Here’s what you can win:
(Ignore that my wonderful chalk art reads “Giveawa” and not “Giveaway” — it’s art).
A closeup of the three small piles so you can see the titles:
Both of those piles are finished, pristine, beautiful hardcover books.
And here are the four ARCs I’ve got to give, too:
Tempted? Great! All you need to do is fill out the form. Click here to be taken directly to it. I’ll pick a winner and email them on or around July 12.
We’ll be back to regular YA news programming in two weeks. In the mean time, enjoy a little break and kick back with a great YA novel or two. Perhaps in a future newsletter, I’ll be asking you to share your favorite reads from 2016. . . get thinking!
This week’s Audiobooks! newsletter is sponsored by TryAudiobooks.com.
Have you ever taken a road trip with your family that seemed to go on forever? We all have! Audiobooks can solve that problem by providing entertainment for the whole family. Visit TryAudiobooks.com/family-travel for a free full download and start listening with the whole family on your next car ride.
Hello again, audiobook-loving friends. You know how we were commiserating about how hard it is to find audiobooks that everyone in the family can listen to together? I remember it just like it was a few weeks ago. (Oh wait, it was!)
100 Family-Friendly Audiobooks, You’re Welcome
Librarian and Book Riot contributor Molly Wetta has come to the rescue with 100 family-friendly audiobooks that are fun for kids, but are also engaging enough for adults. Many have voices you’ll recognize – like Kate Winslet (Matilda!), Tim Curry (Sabriel and A Series of Unfortunate Events!), and Stephen Fry (a bunch!). Whether you’re in the car with five-year-olds or teenagers, Molly promises something for everyone that will make your trip fly by.
Lindy West’s Shrill is Kind of the Most Fantastic Thing Ever
If you are a person who appreciates unapologetic feminism, body positivity, and a well-placed poop joke, Lindy West’s Shrill might wind up being the best book of essays you have ever listened to in your life. Sandwiched between HILARIOUS jokes about reading high fantasy by Robert Jordan on the bus, and the situation with deeply disturbing high school choir outfits, Lindy has gifted us a “fat feminist abortion manifesto” (her words), because “people don’t expect to hear from women like that. And I want other women to see me do that and I want women’s voices to get louder.”
I love Lindy West’s amazing comedic timing in her writing for The Stranger, Jezebel, and The Guardian, and listening to her deliver her jokes on audio was kind of the most fantastic thing ever. She confesses that she never wanted to be the poster child for fighting virtual trolls and calling out rape jokes, yet she does it every day for everyone who wants women’s voices to get louder. She’s doing it for me, and she’s doing it for you. Thank you, Lindy West <3
A Brief History of the Audiobook, With Mustache Jokes
From a 1940s New York Public Library project that recorded textbooks for blind soldiers, to a record company that produced talking books by Dylan Thomas, Eudora Welty, T.S. Eliot, and William Faulkner in the 1950s, Book Riot contributor Aram Mrjoian has turned up some fascinating tidbits about the history of audiobooks (complete with jokes about Tom Selleck’s mustache, because Book Riot).
Maggie Gyllenhaal Reads Anna Karenina and I Can’t Even
When mermaid unicorn goddess Maggie Gyllenhaal recorded Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar earlier this year, I freaked out a little. How does it get more perfect than that, right?? Here’s how: Gyllenhaal just recorded a brand new edition of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and now I don’t even know what to do with myself. Hold me.
I just watched BBC’s gorgeous new War & Peace mini-series (Gillian Anderson as Anna Pavlovna!), and this recording of Anna Karenina is the best possible follow-up. That smoky voice, reading those famous opening lines… It’s up for pre-order now, and will be officially out from Audible on July 12. Confetti canon!
T-shirts and tank tops and tote bags galore! There’s just one day left to get 25% off everything in the Book Riot Store.
*sale excludes Book Mail & themed book boxes