One of the (many) reasons you’re coming to Book Riot Live is to meet your bookternet friends in person — so we decided to make it easier! Introducing The Commons, an area at Book Riot Live dedicated to meet-ups arranged by you.
We’re delighted to announce that our first scheduled meet-up in the commons is a Litsy Bookswap. Get the full details and plan your own right here.
The new YA Book Mail box launched earlier this week, and it’s going fast! Now that the wait list has had a crack at it, we’re opening them up to all Book Riot customers. Get yours now!
Looking for adult fiction? The September Book Mail box was magical, and we have some extras still available! Peep the #bookmailbox hashtag on social or check out this unboxing video for a look at the contents.
We’ve also got some awesome additions in our collection of spooky tees. BUNNICULA, y’all!
And keep your toes nice and toasty in our new socks inspired by Sherlock Holmes, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and more.
Hello YA Fans!
This week’s edition of “This Week in YA” is sponsored by Way Down Dark.
Seventeen-year-old Chan’s ancestors left a dying Earth hundreds of years ago, in search of a new home. Generations later, they are still searching . . . Every day aboard the interstellar ship Australia is hell, where no one is safe. The Australia is filled with murderous gangs and twisted cults, vying for supremacy. Fierce and self-sufficient, Chan has learned to avoid the mayhem but then she makes an extraordinary discovery–there may be a way to return to Earth. But doing so will bring her to the attention of the murderers and fanatics, putting her and everyone she loves in danger.
Let’s take a look at the last few weeks in YA news, since there’s been quite a bit worth sharing or thinking about:
And a few links from Book Riot on YA:
Though there will be no edition of “What’s Up in YA?” on Halloween, I couldn’t end this one without talking about how great YA horror is. If you’re itching for a title or two, may I suggest trying out any of these 65 great YA horror reads by women?
Thanks for hanging out for another round of YA news and talk. We’ll be back in early November with more. Until then, grab yourself some candles, flashlights, blankets, and some spine-tingling reads.
Or, you know, whatever it is you want to spend your last days of October curling up with.
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by Unbound Worlds.
Unbound Worlds offers readers insight into books and authors across and between the science fiction and fantasy worlds, including horror, slipstream, pop science, fairy tales and folklore, magical realism, urban fantasy, and anything that’s just a little bit weird.
Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Thrill Me by Benjamin Percy.
In Thrill Me, best-selling author Benjamin Percy dissolves the boundaries between literary and genre fiction. He explores how Cormac McCarthy, Ursula K. Le Guin, Stephen King, and others engage plot, character, dialogue, and suspense. He also makes clear the literary importance of “exploding helicopters, giant sharks, robots with laser eyes, pirates, poltergeists, were-kittens, demons, slow zombies, fast zombies, talking unicorns, probe-wielding martians, sexy vampires, barbarians in hairy underwear…”Percy’s distinctive blend of anecdotes and advice, round out a perfectly thrilling roadmap for writers and readers hoping to understand how and why the best fiction keeps us riveted to the edge of our seats
This week’s Audiobooks! Newsletter is sponsored by TryAudiobooks.com/cooking.
Listen while you cook! While spending hours in the kitchen prepping meals for the holidays, put on a good audiobook and let the story help you along. Cooking for Picasso and The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living are great cooking memoirs or you can listen to Where Am I Now? read by Mara Wilson herself! Let audiobooks be your secret ingredient this holiday season. Visit TryAudiobooks.com/cooking for a free download and get started!
Dear audio-bookworms, please excuse me while I sweep the broken pieces of my heart up off the floor. I just finished the most amazing audiobook, and it was totally by accident. You know when you finish one audiobook but you haven’t queued up the next one yet? (Gasp, the horror.) Well, that just happened to me! I had no choice but to pray for an old forgotten audiobook on my phone.
I asked, and the universe answered.
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez has already gotten heaps of love and praise. But what we still need to talk about is how fantastic it is on audio. Performed by six actors, we meet a striking teenager whose family has left behind their comfortable life in Mexico in hopes of getting treatment for her traumatic brain injury in the US. Some of their new neighbors are great (like the boy from Panama who’s got a little crush), and some are… not great. Ultimately, their new life sets in motion a chain of events that is at turns beautiful, at turns tragic.
I especially loved the cool little vignettes between the main chapters that tell the stories of immigrants from all over the Americas. The narrators breathe so much texture into these stories, and the simple, beautiful language works perfectly on audio. Here’s hoping you’ve fallen in love with some great listens lately, too!
10 Amazing YA Books That Are Even Better on Audio
When it comes to taste in YA books, librarian extraordinaire Molly Wetta is just about flawless. While she didn’t always love audiobooks, she’s now a total convert. Don’t miss her list on Book Riot of all-time favorite YA audiobooks. Yep, these books are amazing in print, but she swears they’re even BETTER on audio!
Meet the Voice of Brit Bennett’s The Mothers
The Mothers by Brit Bennett is just about the hottest new release this fall. I think literally every Book Riot contributor is reading it right now — including me! Naturally, we were beyond honored to have guest contributor Robin Whitten, founding editor of AudioFile Magazine, chat with narrator Adenrele Ojo about what it was like to record The Mothers, the one author she’d especially love to voice, what her special recording session rituals are, and more!
Ron Swanson or Tom Sawyer: Who Said It?
I’ve already mentioned the joyful news that Nick Offerman is the voice of Tom Sawyer on a new audiobook. But why is this pairing so magical — is it the visual of his Parks and Rec character Ron Swanson whitewashing a fence in his big beautiful mustache? Fortunately, Book Riot contributor Deepali Agarwal was willing to roll up her sleeves and do some research. You know, for science.
Take a look at these pics of Ron Swanson and the quotes they’re paired up with, and see if you can tell who said it: Swanson or Sawyer?
WALTER MOSLEY, MARA WILSON, KEN LIU, AND SARA FARIZAN TO BE FEATURED IN BOOK RIOT LIVE 2016 LINE-UP
Programming for the November 12 – 13 reader convention is available at BookRiotLive.com
(Brooklyn, NY) Book Riot Live, a reader-favorite convention celebrating books and the reading life, takes place on November 12 and 13 at Metropolitan West in New York City and will feature authors, publishing professionals, and other personalities who showcase the diversity of talent in the books and comics world.
Festivities will commence on Friday, November 11, 7:00pm at The Strand’s Rare Book Room where Diane McMartin, Certified Sommelier and author of THIS CALLS FOR A DRINK! will pair books with hand-selected wine.
Programming, which includes panels, games, and live podcast recordings, will begin on Saturday, November 12 at 9:30am and continue throughout Sunday, November 13. Walter Mosley and Mara Wilson, who have told stories on stages, screens, and the page, will be in conversation about their experiences, the pros and cons of different mediums, and more. Ken Liu will join other creators to discuss how they discovered their creative voice, and Sara Farizan will take on Mara Wilson and Mark Oshiro (returning champion) in Nerd Jeopardy.
“Book Riot Live is an event designed to bring together readers with their favorite — or soon-to-be-favorite — creators. There are so many artists and writers doing incredible work across so many genres, and this is our opportunity to bring them together under the same roof,” said Events Director Jenn Northington. “Book Riot Live is an extension of Book Riot’s commitment to inclusive coverage of books, reading, and comics; as always, our goal is to surprise and delight readers from all walks of life.”
The second Book Riot Live will repeat favorite features from last year including a bean bag chair-filled reading lounge, personalized reading recommendations by staff from the Brooklyn Public Library, and a live recording of the popular All the Books! podcast hosted by “well-readheads” Liberty Hardy and Rebecca Schinsky.
Book Riot Live 2016 will be held at Metropolitan West, 639 West 46th Street, New York, NY. Tickets may be purchased in advance at BookRiotLive.com or at the door. Tickets for the full weekend are $169, and single-day tickets are $89. Press passes are available upon request by emailing contact@bookriotlive.com
About Riot New Media Group, Inc:
Riot New Media Group, founded in 2011, creates communities dedicated to the idea that content around fandoms should be just as diverse as the fans are. So sometimes we are serious and sometimes we’re silly. Some of our contributors are pros. Many of them aren’t. We like a good list just as much as we like a good review, and we believe that there are smart, funny, and informative things to say about both. RNMG reaches 11MM monthly unique visitors through Book Riot, Book Riot Comics, and the Riot Ad Network.
Celebrating Books and the Reading Life: http://bookriotlive.com
We have one prize pack for one lucky Riot reader, which includes:
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie;
If You Give a Mouse a Brownie;
a $50 Visa gift card to put towards building your little library
You’ve given a mouse a cookie, but what happens if you give a Mouse a brownie? Mouse is back in this delicious new story in the #1 New York Times bestselling If You Give series, which has sold over 14 million copies, from author and illustrator duo Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond. This book is also the first one to feature Mouse in 14 years. With its spare, rhythmic text and circular tale, If You Give a Mouse a Brownie is perfect for beginning readers and storytime.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the button below. Good luck!
Unbound Worlds is one of our presenting sponsors, and they want to give you books! If you love science fiction, fantasy, and genre-bending literature, do not miss this sweepstakes for a library of 23 science fiction and fantasy titles.
Like moderator Rachel Fershleiser, we are head-over-heels excited that Book Riot Live is less than a month away! If you’re already registered, you should have received an email invite from Sched to set up your personalized con schedule and RSVP for limited-seating panels. (If it hasn’t turned up yet, hit reply and let us know.) If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, there is still time! Get them for $20 off with code BOOKNERD.
Speaking of panels you’ll want to go to, here are a few more highlights from this year’s schedule:
Slash, Live
Sponsored by Swoon Reads
Slash returns! Love fanfiction, pop culture, and shipping? Join us for a live, no-holds barred game in which players compete to create the best romantic fan fiction pairing. Featuring Book Riot Comics contributor Jessica Plummer, writers Alyssa Cole and Zoraida Córdova, and Harlequin editor Michael Strother.
Rewriting History
Sponsored by Candlewick Press
How do you find a previously unknown story and bring it to light? How do you tell a known story in a new way? What can you make up and what has to be “true”? YA author Meg Medina, alt-history novelist Nisi Shawl, and historian-and-poet Patrick Phillips discuss these questions and more.
Farm to Table: How A Book Gets Made
Sponsored by Speaking American: How Y’all, Youse, and Your Guys Talk from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
How does a book get from submitted manuscript to your bookshelf? Not always the way you think! Find out more from publishing experts who work behind the scenes:
Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another round of “Make Your TBR Lists Explode.” The hits just keep on coming – there are so many great books out today! And on this week’s episode of the All the Books! Rebecca and I talked about some of the books coming out in the last half of 2016 that we are excited about, including IQ, His Bloody Project, and American Housewife.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas.
Discover the new Sherlock Holmes inspired series from bestselling author Sherry Thomas.
While the inquisitive Charlotte Holmes has never accepted the demureness expected of women in London society, even she did not predict that she would become an outcast.
When the city is struck by a series of unexpected deaths, suspicion falls on her sister and father. Charlotte is determined to find the true culprits. She’ll have some help, but in the end, it’s up to Charlotte, a brilliant mind wrapped in a most feminine package, to challenge society’s expectations and solve the mystery under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes.
Mister Monkey by Francine Prose
This is Prose at her wittiest and most playful yet. Mister Monkey is about, er, Mister Monkey, an off-Broadway children’s musical, and also a production where dreams go to die. Most of the people involved once had grand Broadway dreams but are now reduced to acting in a ridiculous musical for kids. Told in multiple viewpoints, Mister Monkey is a brilliant, bizarre, and biting look at dashed dreams and more. Two opposable thumbs up.
Backlist bump: Blue Angel by Francine Prose
Hotel Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Bruce the Bear is back from his southern migration with his geese friends and ready to relax – but while he was away, three mice have turned his den into a hotel! What will Bruce do???? This is another delightfully charming installment in the Bruce series, and like the first book, full of great stuff for kids and grownups.
Backlist bump: Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction by Benjamin Percy
A collection of work by Percy is fabulous, but it’s extra-exciting when it’s published by the amazing Graywolf Press, purveyors of fantastic non-fiction. This is a wonderful collection, surrounding things to do with fiction. The title essay is a challenge to the notion that literary and genre fiction are somehow mutually exclusive, and the whole books is full of Percy’s advice, wit, and wisdom on the craft of writing. GOOD STUFF.
Backlist bump: Refresh, Refresh: Stories by Benjamin Percy
The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories / The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas by Ursula K. Le Guin
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Two GIANT editions of work by living legend Ursula K. Le Guin. If you’ve never read her before, these are a great place to start, and if you’re a big fan, then WOOHOO! A whole kittenton of her collected work.
Backlist bump: Read everything she has written, obviously, but also check out this wonderful new profile of Le Guin in the New Yorker.
Heart and Brain: Gut Instincts by The Awkward Yeti
Oh, how I love this web comic! And the collection includes even more great stuff. Heart and Brain are kind of like the Pinky and the Brain of the body: Heart is the playful, silly one and Brain is the rational worrier. Together, they star in funny, yet poignant, comics about every day life. It’s a great escape, especially if something big and worrisome has been stressing you out. (Like, say, 2016?)
Backlist bump: Heart and Brain: An Awkward Yeti Collection
YAY, BOOKS! That’s it for me today – time to get back to reading! If you want to learn more about books (and see lots of pictures of my cats, Millay and Steinbeck), 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