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In The Club Jan 25
Hello, current and aspiring book groupers! Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met and well-read.
I’ve been a leader of four book groups, a member of two more, a fielder of book club questions via Get Booked, and a text-message-consultant for several relatives’ groups, so I feel confident in stating the following: The number one hardest thing about book clubs, harder even than making sure that everyone gets to say their piece on the book, harder than getting everyone to actually talk about the book, is picking the books. Maybe you’ve got a benevolent dictator who picks for the group; maybe there’s a rotation, maybe you vote. Regardless, with this newsletter we hope to give you some solid options for your next read (and the next, and the next).
We’ll also cover some great ideas that other groups have put into practice, ways to get the discussion moving (that aren’t just another Reading Group Guide), and the occasional recipe or two (what’s book group without treats, I ask you)! So let’s get started.
A question to add to every meeting: What about that title? Titles can be good, awful, or indifferent; sometimes we notice them (like if they’re the 1,563rd book with “girl” in the title), sometimes we don’t. Talking through why the publisher or author might have picked what they did, how well it relates to the book’s content, and what else a book might have been called with your group can yield a fascinating (and occasionally heated!) discussion.
Reading challenges, ahoy! If you want to broaden your group’s horizon or get out of a reading rut, a challenge is a great place to start. We are (naturally) big fans of our very own Read Harder challenge, but there are other options as well, and Sarah Nicolas has put together a big list.
Whether or not you’re doing a challenge, some of the picks we’ve lined up for Read Harder might be perfect for your group! I’ve got two picks below that are book-group-ready for you, with additional listings from my fellow Book Riot contributors.
For: Read a YA/MG by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+.
The Weight of Feathers, by Anna-Marie McLemore
Whether your book group already reads YA and/or magical realism or wants to add some to your list, this book is a great pick. It’s a spin on Romeo and Juliet, and possibly my favorite one ever. In a modern-day small town, the feud between the Palomas and Corbeaus has carried on to the next generation. The teenagers of both families keep a sharp eye out for each other, whether to avoid or to pick fights. Lace Paloma has not only the feud to worry about, but her own complicated family politics. When a strange boy (who inevitably turns out to be a Corbeau) saves her life, her loyalties are turned topsy-turvy.
McLemore refreshes and beautifully handles the family feud, but what makes this book shine are all the other things she adds. She also takes on the perils of corporate greed and the consequences of family abuse. Then to top it all off, there’s the shimmering and well-chosen elements of magical realism. Everyone has a secret in this book, and I didn’t see a good half of them coming. So not only can your group spend some time riffing on the Romeo and Juliet parallels, but then you can get into the many other layers.
Even more picks for this task, courtesy of Tirzah Price
For: Read a book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey (suggested by author Daniel José Older).
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
There is no time like the present to start reading Octavia Butler. Whether or not your group traditionally reads sci-fi is irrelevant for this novel; it’s a near-future look at religion and politics, and therefore uncomfortably close to reality. Not least because, as many have pointed out, Butler’s villainous presidential candidate also wanted to “make America great again.” Written in 1998 and set in 2032, Parable of the Sower follows a young woman named Lauren who flees an attack on her community and ends up on the road in a harshly divided America. Lauren has, depending on how you look at it, a talent or a curse: she has a heightened perception of pain and sensation in others. She’s developed her own religious beliefs in response to this, and in the course of her travels decides it’s time to start a new community where her religion can grow.
Like any novel that prominently features religion and politics, there’s so much here to unpack. How relevant (or not) is it today? How compelling (or not) is Lauren’s vision? Does it make you want to read the sequel, Parable of the Talents? The questions suggest themselves.
Even more picks for this task, courtesy of Teresa Preston
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Penguin Press, publisher of Homesick For Another World by Otessa Moshfegh.
An electrifying first collection from one of the most exciting short story writers of our time.
There’s something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh’s stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition.
Pretty wild week in the news of the world, so let’s look at some good stuff, okay?
National Book Foundation Launches Book Rich Environment Initiative
Furthering its efforts to promote literacy and expand access to books, the National Book Foundation has launched the Book Rich Environment Initiative to provide books to underserved communities, colloquially known as “book deserts.” In partnership with the US Department of Education, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Urban Libraries Council, and the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, the NBF has secured more than 250,000 donated books from Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan, among others. Between the BRE Initiative and other programs, the NBF will have given away more than 300,000 books by the end of 2017.
4-Year-Old Power Reader is LoC’s “Librarian for a Day”
Daliyah Marie Arana was reading whole books on her own before her third birthday. Now, at four years old, she has read more than 1,000 books, including some college-level texts. This week, Daliyah and her family traveled from their home in Gainesville, GA to the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, where Daliyah spent a day with Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, and was named “Librarian for a Day.” It’s pretty incredible to see Hayden, the first woman and first black person to serve in the position, interact with a young girl who not only might want her job someday but who can now see that it is a real possibility. Representation matters.
2017 Tournament of Books Shortlist & Judges Announced
For the 13th year running, the Rooster prepares to crow! The Morning News has revealed the shortlist and judging panel for the 2017 Tournament of Books. As always, the list is a mix of literary bestsellers, critical darlings, and a few surprises. It’s hard to imagine anything beating Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad, but in a tournament where subjectivity and idiosyncrasy reign (to glorious effect), anything can happen. Things really start get interesting when the brackets and book-judge pairings are revealed, so stay tuned.
Thanks to Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis for sponsoring This Week in Books.
What could cause a man to suddenly snap and destroy everything he has built? This is the question that haunts Sergeant Ryan DeMarco after the wife and children of beloved college professor and bestselling author Thomas Huston are found slaughtered in their home. Huston himself has disappeared and so is immediately cast as the prime suspect.
DeMarco knows—or thinks he knows—that Huston couldn’t have been capable of murdering his family. But if Huston is innocent, why is he on the run? And does the half-finished manuscript he left behind contain clues to the mystery of his family’s killer?
We’re stilling giving away some our favorite reads of 2016, and we’re doing Young Adult next.
We’ve got three hardcovers of Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star to three Book Riot readers.
Both Amazon and Entertainment Weekly named it among the best books of the year, and it was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Young Readers.
Here’s what it’s about:
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
Go here to enter our giveaway, or just click on the image below. Good luck!
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Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by The X-Files Origins.
How did Fox Mulder become a believer? What made Dana Scully a skeptic? The X-Files Origins has the answers. Read these dark thrillers to find out why millions of people became obsessed with The X-Files.
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We’re giving away a $200 American Express gift card. Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click on the image below:
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Audiobooks!: January 12, 2017
This week’s Audiobooks! Newsletter is sponsored by Audiobooks.com.
Get your book fix on the go with Audiobooks.com! Whether you’re in the car, at the gym or on the couch, Audiobooks.com makes it easy to listen to over 100,000 titles on their user-friendly apps for iOS and Android. Stream books live or download for offline listening, and enjoy cool features like sped-up narration and custom bookmarking. You can browse by genre or curated lists, check out promotions and giveaways, and switch seamlessly between devices with cloud-syncing technology. And best of all, your first book is free! Try Audiobooks.com today.
Happy New Year, audiobooks friends! I had a wild and crazy New Year’s Eve — I went to a train restaurant with my toddler and stayed up late to finish listening to Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. It was BASICALLY the best NYE ever, this book was a sneak attack of awesomeness that stands out as one of the best of 2016.
Most U.S. listeners know Trevor Noah for taking over The Daily Show from Jon Stewart. Those are giant shoes to fill, and it seems like most Americans think of him as “the guy that I don’t love as much as Jon Stewart.” I’m so happy that we get to know him a little better through this memoir, and I’m now a 100% converted fan.
In Born A Crime, Trevor Noah is at turns deeply insightful and ridiculously funny. He grew up in South Africa under Apartheid as the child of a black mother and white father — in other words, it was LITERALLY a crime for him to exist. In between brilliant commentary about race and Apartheid, he entertains with stories about being a smartass kid at a Catholic school, his side hustle selling pirated CDs in high school, and his spectacular failure at the senior prom.
At the heart of Born a Crime is Noah’s relationship with his mom, a devout Christian and stubborn non-conformist. His love for his mom burns brightly on every page, even as they constantly butt heads. The book closes with a shocking story about his mother’s troubled marriage that still sucks the breath out of me.
Trevor Noah is a fantastic storyteller and an even better narrator. You’ll be SO glad you put this on your to-be-read list.
10 Audiobooks for Podcast Listeners
Book Riot contributor Rebecca Hussey is drawn to a particular kind of audiobook: the kind that reminds her of a podcast! Lately she’s loving memoirs and essays that are chatty, topical, and told in an original — often humorous — voice. They keep her listening without demanding intense concentration. If this sounds like your cup of tea, check out these 10 audiobooks she recommends for podcast listeners.
4 Dangers of Listening to Audiobooks in Public
Has an audiobook ever made you sob in public?
Book Riot Contributor Susie Rodarme drew these rad original cartoons about the dangers of listening to audiobooks in public that are possibly (definitely) based on her real life experience, check ‘em out!
‘Square’ is the New ‘Rectangle’: How Audiobook Covers are Made
Raise your hand if you love iconic book covers! My heart thumps for the covers of The Great Gatsby, Invisible Man, and The Handmaid’s Tale, to name a few. And one thing these covers all share is that they’re rectangular — NOT square. So what’s a cover designer supposed to do with that? (It’s like when Instagram wants you to crop your perfectly framed photo, no thank you, I don’t think so, WTF.)
Fortunately, cover designers are non-evil geniuses who can piece together complicated puzzles to create square artwork that scales from a mobile phone screen to a traditional CD box to a freaking huge Times Square billboard. All while looking awesome. You can get a closer look at the cover design process over on Audible’s blog.
We have 10 copies of Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis to give away to 10 readers.
Here’s what it’s about:
What could cause a man to suddenly snap and destroy everything he has built? This is the question that haunts Sergeant Ryan DeMarco after the wife and children of beloved college professor and bestselling author Thomas Huston are found slaughtered in their home. Huston himself has disappeared and so is immediately cast as the prime suspect.
DeMarco knows—or thinks he knows—that Huston couldn’t have been capable of murdering his family. But if Huston is innocent, why is he on the run? And does the half-finished manuscript he left behind contain clues to the mystery of his family’s killer?
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click on the cover image below. Good luck!
Howdy, YA Readers!
This Week’s “What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Elly Blake’s Frostblood.
They say that frost and flame were once friends. That world is long gone.
Vivid and compelling, Frostblood is the first in an exhilarating new series about a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies…but together create a power that could change everything.
____________________
I spent a long time this last week digging around, trying to pull together a comprehensive list of YA books being adapted for the big screen this year. It wasn’t easy — there’s a lot of half-way information about production schedules, release dates, release territories and so forth. Hollywood operates much differently from the book world that trying to get answers as an outsider, even with a paid subscription to a tool like IMDB Pro, is challenging.
Which is to say, if the information I did find is accurate, it seems to me that there are fewer YA adaptations this year than in years past. Perhaps more than 2016, where we saw more flops than we saw hits, but it’s still a rather small number for what seems like were an endless number of deals and rights acquisitions for adaptation in the last few years. A lot of those deals, though, are still marked as being pre-production or in some other similar status, so we might see them pop up later in the year or in future years.
To make this list a little bit longer, I’m including the adaptations going to the smaller screen. Think Netflix series and made-for-TV productions. Again, this isn’t comprehensive but what I could verify through more than one source.
Descriptions come from IMDB, since those offer the most interesting and succinct look at how the book is being reimagined for film, and I’ve included the book cover from which the adaptation is coming, with the title linked through to the book’s Amazon listing.
Please note that release dates can change and some titles don’t yet have a final release date. If you know of other adaptations, especially those hitting smaller screens, I’d love to know the titles and release dates. As the year progresses and we learn more about what to expect in the summer and fall, I’ll pull together another similar round-up.
On The Big Screen
I’ll start with my cheat title.
Hidden Figures (release date: currently playing)
Based on a true story. A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program’s first successful space missions.
*I consider this one a cheat title, if only because the adaptation is from the adult version of the book, rather than the Young Reader Edition. But since there’s a Young Reader Edition, it’s counting.
A Monster Calls (release date: currently playing)
A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mum’s terminal illness.
Before I Fall (release date: March 3)
February 12 is just another day in Sam’s charmed life until it turns out to be her last. Stuck reliving her last day over one inexplicable week, Sam untangles the mystery around her death and discovers everything she’s in danger of losing.
Break My Heart 1,000 Timess (release date: May 4)
Set nine years after an apocalyptic event that killed millions and left the world inhabited by ghosts.
Everything, Everything (release date: May 19)
A teenager who’s lived a sheltered life because she’s allergic to everything, falls for the boy who moves in next door.
Let It Snow (release date: November 22)
In a small town on Christmas Eve, a snowstorm brings together a group of young people.
Ashes In The Snow (release date: unannounced)
In 1941, an aspiring artist and her family are deported to Siberia amidst Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region. In a seemingly hopeless place, love is the only means of survival.
*The change in title on this one makes sense, as it would be far too easy to get Between Shades of Gray confused with another ‘Grey’ franchise.
Fallen (release date: unannounced)
A young girl finds herself in a reform school after therapy since she was blamed for the death of a young boy. At the school she finds herself drawn to a fellow student, unaware that he is an angel, and has loved her for thousands of years.
*This one’s been released in some countries already, but there’s been no date set for a US release. Last year, the director had mentioned something about waiting to see what the interest was in the States before a date would be given, but so far, there’s still no date for either a theatrical or DVD release.
My Friend Dahmer (release date: unannounced)
Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by John Backderf, Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy- and during his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he becomes.
*This Alex Award winning graphic novel has massive appeal for YA readers, so I’m including it on the list since I didn’t know it was going to be adapted.
On The Small Screen
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix, current)
After the loss of their parents in a mysterious fire, the three Baudelaire children face trials and tribulations attempting to uncover dark family secrets.
*Probably technically more along the middle grade lines, but it has such great YA appeal, I’m including it.
Trollhunters (Netflix, current)
Based on a book by del Toro, Trollhunters tells the story of friends who unearth a mystery underneath their hometown.
Famous in Love (Freeform, April 18)
An ordinary college student gets her big break in a Hollywood blockbuster and must navigate through an undeniable chemistry with her two co-leads, while uncovering the truth about a missing popstar.
The Divergent Series: Ascendant (no network listed, June 17)
Tris and Four fight to end the Bureau of Genetic Welfare’s authoritarian reign over the United States.
*This one has so much information and so little at the same time. There’s a release date but I couldn’t find the network it would be released on. We don’t know who Tris is, either.
13 Reasons Why (Netflix, no date listed)
Thirteen Reasons Why, based on the best-selling series by Jay Asher, follows teenager Clay Jensen in his quest to uncover the story behind his classmate and crush Hannah’s decision to end her own life.
*No release date yet but we know it’ll be this year. It feels like this one has been talked about for years and years (it might have even been the first YA acquired for Netflix).
And there you have it! Anything that you’re looking forward to seeing? Anything you’re surprised will be making the leap to the big/small screen?
We’ll be back next week with more YA talk. Until then, snuggle in with a good YA book — or a good YA adaptation!
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Welcome To Kissing Books!
It’s here! It’s here!
Welcome to the first issue of Kissing Books!
From here on out, every two weeks, you’ll get tons of romance fun, right in your inbox. And what, you might ask, do I mean when I say romance? For the most part, I’m sticking to books published under the category of romance by romance publishers and imprints, so it’s going to be grown-ups falling in love, with or without the sexytimes. Kelly is doing such an awesome job with her YA newsletter that I would just be repeating her work if I wanted to cover all the love stories for all the ages, but don’t come after me with pitchforks if you occasionally see one or two spectacular pieces of YA fiction that I think romance readers would love! Here, you’ll get everything from drama in romancelandia to quick reviews, and every now and then, information about those near unicorns: film adaptations!
Let’s start with those! Have you seen the newest Fifty Shades Darker trailer yet? I will admit to (*gasp!*) having absolutely no idea what’s going on because I didn’t make it to the second book in the series. But I enjoyed the movie and am looking forward to seeing this one…eventually. In the comfort of my own home.
And in future news, Jill Shalvis tweeted this page from a movie script for her book The Trouble With Mistletoe. According to her blog, casting is next, but there isn’t much out there on the project. No other info on who’s picked it up, how it’ll be released (I’m hoping for some Christmas-in-July Hallmark Channel feels), but I’m gonna keep an ear to the ground on this one!
It’s been a couple weeks, but the drama with All Romance ebooks (ARe) and their offshoots has still left quite a few people upset and unsure of what the future of independent online sales might look like. Larger publishers like Riptide have been patient with customers, offering copies of their ebooks to people who didn’t get the chance to pull their libraries from All Romance before it went dark on January 1 (as long as they provided screenshots proving they owned the titles already), allowing customers to keep the titles and (hopefully) getting more royalties to their authors if those purchases were made in Q4. But independent authors who were relying on royalties there were otherwise pretty much screwed. (If you have no clue what I’m talking about, here’s a blog post about it, and here is a quick rundown from Bree Bridges on Twitter.)
Over on Book Riot, Amanda Diehl wrote about how annoying it is when publishers compare books to Fifty Shades of Grey, and I couldn’t agree more! It was such a polarizing book, and continues to be so, so why would you potentially turn away half of your customer base when the people who enjoyed it might not need the comparison as an impetus to pick up the book?
Dana, meanwhile, wants a few tropes subverted. Don’t you love a good trope-twisting? I think that might be one of the reasons I’m such a fan of menage romance—not only is the conflict of the love triangle taken out (though in those cases, you actually end up with a real triangle, not a love V as most “love triangles” tend to be), but, in the good ones at least, the other issues with heteronormative hypermasculinity can be addressed in ways straight cishet romances often can’t or won’t address them.
Did you see Hidden Figures this past weekend? Want to read about more awesome women doing things with numbers, letters, and code? NPR put out a nice roundup of romances with women in STEM. I haven’t read any of them, but they’re all on my list!
And now, quick reviews!
Roller Girl, Vanessa North
I started out my year with Vanessa North’s Roller Girl, and it was adorable. Tina, a newly divorced physical trainer has a midnight plumbing emergency, and Joe is definitely not the person she expected the company to send. The two are immediately attracted to each other, but Joe is interested in Tina for more than just getting to know her; she wants Tina to join her roller derby team. Tina, a pro wakeboarder in her former life, is definitely interested in getting back into competitive sports, but there’s one problem: Joe is the coach. There’s nothing illegal about team members fraternizing with coaches, but it could still cause issues. The whole secret relationship concept is not usually my thing, but Tina’s relationships with everyone else in her life kept me going. And the writing is so great and the community is so gorgeous, I’m going to have to go back and read everything else North has written.
Read Harder Bonus: Not only is it a book about an uncommon sport, but it’s also an LGBTQ+ romance!
Insert Groom Here, KM Jackson
In the first book in Jackson’s new Unconventional Brides series, we open the scene with Eva getting dumped on national television. And this isn’t just any dumping; the pair have won a contest to have their dream wedding live in just a few weeks. In a fit of rage, Eva declares to the world (and the internet) that she will have her wedding; “insert groom here!” Leave it to someone at the station to come up with a new plan: push the wedding back long enough to have a Bachelor-style segment where she goes on dates to find her perfect groom. Unfortunately, there’s a problem. She and her new producer, Aidan, have a super hot chemistry, and no matter how they try, they can’t stay away from each other. Too bad she’s supposed to be getting married at the end of all this, huh?
I really enjoyed this novel; it was compelling and I really needed to see what Eva was going to do about the whole Aidan thing. I will admit to wanting to see if they were going to throw in a date that she’d end up liking more than her former fiance. It wasn’t fall down, roll over funny like I expected from some people’s descriptions, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment.
No Read Harder Bonus here, but I will admit that I spent half my time trying to actually envision Aidan in my head. His race is never mentioned, and any description of him is almost racially ambiguous—so if you wanted to, you could consider him a POC. But that’s up to you.
And just as a bonus because it’s on sale and the second book in the series is a pretty damn good price right now:
Love on My Mind, Tracey Livesay
I don’t usually go for romances that involve extensive deception, but this one pulled me in and kept me going through to the end, almost without stopping. Chelsea is a PR specialist who has been corralled into an impossible task: get tech bigwig Adam Bennett through his next big launch, without telling him he’s her job. This means getting into his life using…alternative methods, and using her best PR skills to subtly get him through interviews and public appearances. Maybe change his image, too. Adam, who has Asperger’s syndrome, has very strong feelings about liars and deception, and has trust issues to boot. What could possibly go wrong?
Other new releases to look out for until we chat again:
Wanted, A Gentleman by KJ Charles
Taming Sugar, Rebecca Grace Allen
Finding Your Feet, Cass Lenox
Dirty Money, Jessica Clare
Driven to Distraction, Olivia Dade
May you have many swoons and sizzles until next time!
–Jess
Thanks to Serial Box for sponsoring our first Kissing Books newsletter!
Serial Box, today’s hottest publisher of serialized fiction is bringing everything that’s awesome about TV (easily digestible episodes, team written, new content every week) to what was already cool about books (well-crafted stories, talented authors, enjoyable anywhere). From Urban Fantasy to Young Adult Science Fiction – they have something for every taste, and reading (or listening!) on the go has never been easier than with their iOS app. Readers longing for royalty can get their feet wet with Whitehall – the lush historical drama of Queen Catherine of Braganza, the King she loved, and the mistress he loved.