Categories
Today In Books

Robert Downey Jr. to Co-Star in Drama Series Adaptation of THE SYMPATHIZER: Today in Books

Colin Kaepernick’s New Children’s Book Celebrates the Beauty of Being Different

On Thursday, Colin Kaepernick announced that he is releasing a children’s book next year. The book, entitled I Color Myself Different, is based on a moment from Kaepernick’s own childhood in which he drew his adopted white family in yellow crayon and himself in brown. He realized that it was the first time he’d acknowledged the difference between himself and the rest of his family, and he understood then that differences were something to celebrate. I Color Myself Different will be released in April in partnership with Scholastic as part of a multi-book deal.

Robert Downey Jr. to Co-Star in Drama Series Adaptation of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Former Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. is co-starring in the upcoming A24 drama series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer. The title character who will co-star opposite Downey has not yet been cast. Oldboy director Park Chan-wook will serve as showrunner and director of the project. Don McKellar will co-showrun alongside Chan-wook, and both McKellar and Chan-wook will produce with Downey, Susan Downey, and Amanda Burrell for Team Downey. Robert Downey Jr. said, “Adapting Mr. Nguyen’s important and masterful work requires a visionary team… It’s exactly the type of challenge I’ve been craving, and I believe we will deliver an exceptional viewing experience to our audience.”

Vote for The Tonight Show‘s Summer Reads Book Club Book

Summer is well underway, which means it’s time once again for The Tonight Show‘s Summer Reads Book Club Book. Cast your vote right now for the book you’d like to read along with Jimmy Fallon this summer, and watch the show on Monday, July 19th to see what book won out! Your book club options are: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton, and The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

12 New Releases with Asian Representation on the Cover in 2021

From picture books to adult titles, here are 12 new releases featuring Asians front and center in their beautiful book cover designs.

Categories
Kissing Books

Pulling Out of Stagnate State

Hello again romance readers. I’m PN Hinton, your companion for the world of romance. I hope your spirit is doing well today. If you’re new to the Kissing Books newsletter, welcome and enjoy your stay. If you’re a long-time reader, welcome back; it’s good to see you again. 

I started reading Nicola Yoon’s Instructions for Dancing this last week and it was like a shot of adrenaline to my reading vein. It was like a breath of fresh air to me, and I’m loving it. It’s helping me a bit with my stagnate reading state and I hope it is a catalyst to help pull me out completely.

After listening to to last week’s episode of When in Romance, I actually think I’ve figured out part of what is going on with my reading habits as of late. It has to do with the format of the books I’m reading. I’m getting to the point where I don’t like reading on my phone much since, once I get off of work, I don’t really want to be reading stuff on another screen. If it’s not a physical book, I would much rather read on a tablet or e-reader.

My Kindle Paperwhite is different because it’s e-ink; so, it’s not quite as reminiscent as an actual screen. The drawback, though, is that you can only read Kindle e-books on it. So, I don’t have access to the books that I’ve procured from other places. Since my tablet is essentially now a paper weight, that leaves my phone. But there are other things I’d rather be doing on my phone, such as scrolling through social media and/or TikTok or playing games.

So, when given the chance to read on my phone…I don’t. My next fun purchase is going to be a tablet so I can use other reading apps on, like Google Play, Libby, and Hoopla. I will use my phone for social media, TikTok, texting, and–you know–calling people every now and then. The trick is finding a tablet that supports other reading apps apart from Kindle that isn’t an iPad. Because I personally am not about that Apple life. I don’t have a Samsung, but I’m perfectly peachy with my Pixel. 

Book Riot Romance

If you want to hear about other reading habits, you can still listen to last week’s episode of When in Romance and take part in their survey.

I agree with Rey that paranormal romances have really always been a thing. They experience ebbs and flow like any other genre, but they’re always a constant in the romance world. I’m sure there’s a lot of commentary on the why of that, but that would be a story for another time. In the meantime, here is a list of some that may have flown under your radar. 

Around the Web in Romance

I feel like I’m one of the few people who didn’t like any of the re-issued covers that came out for the Bridgertons, for numerous reasons. One, there was the obvious race-baiting that has happening with The Duke and I, which showed Regé-Jean Page on the cover, even though the Simon in between the pages was super white. And that the ones that came after that were just…generic. I understand that the publishing company was trying to capitalize on the popularity of the series, since this re-cover treatment was also given to The Lady Most Willing and The Lady Most Likely anthologies, due to the Whistledown connection. But yeah, just not for me. Since I came to the series when I first got my very first Kindle, I never saw the original clinch covers. As such, I was super happy to see them all here.

Speaking of covers, Sharon Cooper’s latest cover reveal is giving me strong sexy vibes, and I’m here for all of it. I’m also feeling this same vibe with this debut from Gia de Cadenet that is coming soon. I am really starting to appreciate these cover reveals, since it helps to build the anticipation for upcoming books even more.

Did you hear that not one but two romance novels are in the finalists for the Tonight Show’s Annual #FallonSummerReads book club? Big shout out to People We Meet on Vacation and One Last Stop. I’ve only read the former, and while I wasn’t as big of a fan of it as I was of Beach Read, it was still enjoyable. The latter is, of course, somewhere on my TBR list.

Here is a rundown of some of the more buzz-worthy romance books this summer.

New Releases & Deals

The Poet and the Paragon cover

Some of the new releases coming soon include:

Isn’t it Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams, Hot Under His Collar by Andie J. Christopher, The Poet and the Paragon by Rita Boucher, The Fake Prince Jake by Geoffrey Knight, Part of Her Plan by Catherine Peace, and To the Only Thug I’ll Ever Love by K.L. Hall. 

After the Crash cover

If you’re a fan of deals like I am, then some of the following may snag your interest as well. A Duchess a Day by Charis Michaels, Sanctuary for a Day by Rochelle Alers, Forged in Desire by Brenda Jackson, Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade, and After the Crash by Emma Alcott can all be procured for $1.99.

That’s all for today, friends. I’ll be back Thursday, but in the meantime you can give me a follow under my Twitter handle, @Pscribe801. See you next time.

Categories
The Fright Stuff

Ghost in the Mycelium

Hey‌ ‌there‌ horror fans, ‌I’m‌ ‌Jessica‌ ‌Avery‌ ‌and‌ ‌I’ll‌ ‌be‌ ‌delivering‌ ‌your‌ ‌weekly‌ ‌brief‌ ‌of‌ ‌all‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌ghastly‌ ‌and‌ ‌grim‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world‌ ‌of‌ ‌Horror.‌ ‌Whether‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌looking‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌backlist‌ ‌book‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌give‌‌ you‌ ‌the‌ ‌willies,‌ ‌a‌ ‌terrifying‌ ‌new‌ ‌release,‌ ‌or‌ ‌the‌ ‌latest‌ ‌in‌ ‌horror‌ ‌community‌ ‌news,‌ ‌you’ll‌ ‌find‌ ‌it‌ ‌here‌ in‌ ‌The‌ ‌Fright‌ ‌Stuff.

This week’s slightly obsessive mini-essay is brought to you by the fact that Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic has ruined me for life, and now everything is mushrooms. Okay, not really, but there is an idea in Mexican Gothic that I have been turning over in my head since I finished the book and basically it’s this: how is a colony of fungi like a haunted house?

On the surface, Mexican Gothic seems like a familiar set up: Noemí gets a panicked letter from her recently married cousin, Catalina, claiming that something is very wrong in her husband’s isolated ancestral home, High Place. Noemí goes to the rescue and soon finds herself mired in darkness and secrets. But Mexican Gothic takes a sharp, biological twist that had me seriously second guessing my mushroom-based menu choices that week. Because at the moldering, rotting heart of High Place is the dark secret of its patriarch: a horrific immortality founded in flesh and fungi. A house haunted not by spirits, but by mushrooms.

The horror genre’s affection for mushrooms is easy to understand. As far as biological life forms go, fungi (particularly molds and mushrooms where horror is concerned) are as terrifying as they are fascinating. Mold poses a risk to human health, and its easy association with the sort of slow, rotting, delicious decay that horror adores is more than reason enough for its persistence in horror fiction. It’s easily identifiable as a threat. But mushrooms? Mushrooms are an unassuming terror. Even though there are varieties of mushrooms that are so poisonous they can kill you in a matter of hours, and a variety (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) capable of zombifying its host to increase its chances to spread and prosper, the sight of a mushroom seldom evokes the same visceral horror as rot or mold.

Mushrooms come in compelling colors and grow in a variety of unique and fascinating forms. And even though some varieties like Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha), which grows with corpse-like accuracy, or the juvenile Bleeding Tooth Fungus (Hydnellum peckii), which “bleeds” bright red liquid until it reaches adulthood, may be visually striking in a way that implies horror or violence, they are more likely to encourage our curiosity and enthusiasm than to frighten us. But mushrooms thrive where the dead and dying are. And while mushrooms growing on your lawn may be proof of a healthy cycle of plant growth and decay, mushrooms growing in your house are probably a bad sign.

What fascinated me about the mushrooms in Mexican Gothic, however, was the way Moreno-Garcia played up the most fascinating facet of fungal biology: fungi communicate. They are intelligent and complex lifeforms capable of spreading their mycelium across the forest floor and creating vast networks of communication. If you’re a Hannibal fan, you might remember that fascinating episode where the killer would put his victims into diabetic comas and use them to grow mushrooms as a means of trying to “connect” them to him. He was trying to tap into the fungi’s ability to form communities, obsessed with the similarities between their communication networks and the functions of the human mind. It was the first thing I thought of when Mexican Gothic reached its heart-pounding final act and revealed the body of the family matriarch, Agnes, entombed in fungus, no longer alive, or herself, but not dead.

Much like the way that Ophiocordyceps unilateralis controls its victim’s mind, Agnes’ mind has been taken over by the unnatural fungus that infects the Doyle family tree. The fungi have become her mind, taking on its functions and capabilities. (Mushroom guy would be thrilled.) It is the fungi that keeps the family patriarch alive. So long as he keeps breeding an heir whose body he can inhabit, he will never truly die, and so the fungi is able to take advantage of Doyle’s patriarchal obsession with inheritance and blood lines, manipulating him into satisfying its own biological drive to propagate in exchange for a perverse immortality. But Agnes is its wellspring. She is the source of the family’s curse, as well as the receptacle of their memories.

In true Gothic fashion, the “ghosts” that have been haunting Noemí since she arrived in High Place prove to have a natural explanation… sort of. They’re recreations of the fungi that permeate High Place; echoes of the past that linger in the fungi’s mycelium. Which is genius, really, because one thing that ghosts are a common metaphor for is memory. So in a way, because there are memories trapped and manifesting themselves in the mycelium, High Place really is haunted. Not by the spirits of the dead, but by the last lingering traces of their consciousness preserved in the house’s biological web. And the longer that Noemí is exposed to the mushrooms spores, the more a part of the web she becomes, the more frequent and vivid the “ghosts” appear. Like in all haunted house stories, the longer you stay inside the more intense the haunting becomes.

Which got me thinking.

In a previous Fright Stuff, I hypothesized about why we are compelled to read and write characters who can see and communicate with the dead. How a desire to know the unknowable leads us to speak to the dead because we want to hear the dead speak back. And it made me wonder if the popularity of mushrooms in horror fiction stems from a similar desire. I mean, yes, there’s the inextricable link between mushrooms and death, and mushrooms as signifiers of death. Not to mention all the creepy things they can do and look like. Mushrooms are ripe for horror. But in Mexican Gothic they’re also a source of communication, not unlike what we seek from the dead. The mushrooms that infect the Doyle family connect them in a complex network of biology and memories, one that stretches out its mycelium and tries to attach to anyone who comes to High Place seeing the truth.

We reach out for knowledge and hope something will answer. If not the dead, then who knows. Maybe the mushrooms.

Fresh From the Skeleton’s Mouth

Does the new Fear Street trilogy have you looking to indulge in some ’90s Teen Horror? Then head over to Book Riot for a brief history of teen horror in the 1990s and some spine-chilling recommendations for your TBR!

We’re getting Clown in a Cornfield II! Every great slasher deserves a sequel, so get ready for another corn-filled, candy-flavored kill fest Fall of 2022.

Why have one werewolf story when you can have a whole anthology! The TOC for September’s Were Tales anthology is first class, so make sure to follow Brigids Gate Press for all the details!

As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.

Categories
Book Radar

Animated GAME OF THRONES and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a lovely weekend. It was my birthday yesterday, and I had such a nice day. I ended up with a lot of Stephen King books to kick off my SK rereadathon. And I visited a bookstore, which is something I have only done three times in the last sixteen months, so that was amazing. Thank goodness my local indie was doing deliveries this past year!

Moving on: I have exciting news for you today! I also have a look at an excellent YA novel coming in 2022, plus cover reveals, a terrible pun, my precious little orange monster, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Where do the members of the Thursday Murder Club hold their weekly meetings in The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Robert Downey Jr. will co-star in Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Loki has been renewed for season 2 at Disney+.

Janicza Bravo will direct newcomer Mallori Johnson in a pilot for FX based on Kindred by Octavia E. Butler.

Megan Follows is narrating a new Lucy Maud Montgomery audiobook.

Colin Kaepernick and Scholastic announced a multi-book deal for children’s books.

HBO Max is developing two more Game of Thrones animated shows.

Amber Tamblyn’s new books will feature essays from America Ferrera, Amy Poehler, Jia Tolentino, Samantha Irby, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and more.

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is being adapted for the screen.

Here’s the cover reveal of Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza, Thomas Bunstead (translator).

And here are this year’s Tonight Show summer reads nominees.

Book Riot Recommends 

At Book Riot, I work on the New Books! email, the All the Books! podcast about new releases, and the Book Riot Insiders New Release Index. I am very fortunate to get to read a lot of upcoming titles, and learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Loved, loved, loved: 

cover of this golden state

This Golden State by Marit Weisenberg (Flatiron Books, March 1, 2022)

What does the world look like when you’ve lived your life on the run? Poppy doesn’t know why her family has been running her whole life, never settling down in one place very long, using different names, escaping in the night. It’s the only life she and her little sister have known. The Winslow family only has each other, so they have to trust and protect one another.

But it isn’t easy for Poppy and her sister. They have to leave behind the starts of new friendships over and over, and they have very few possessions. But then her parents take them to California, and things are different. They have a whole house instead of a motel room, and Poppy is allowed to take a summer course about computers. It’s here she meets a young man with secrets of his own—and starts to fall for him. Poppy is tired of running, and tired of not knowing who her parents really are, so she submits an online DNA test, hoping to find their real name. But the consequences of her actions will be much, much bigger. Will Poppy ever get to be a regular kid?

I thought this was a great family on the run story, with the 21st century updates, like the girls not having cell phones or being able to use the internet, and the DNA test. It felt like a very real family in a real situation, and my heart ached for all of them.

(CW for stressful situations, and mentions of violent crime, illness, and death.)

What I’m reading this week.

cover of Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson

Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson

Agatha of Little Neon: A Novel by Claire Luchette

Act Like You Got Some Sense: And Other Things My Daughters Taught Me by Jamie Foxx 

The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye

Carrie by Stephen King

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

What did one hat say to the other? “Stay here! I’m going on a head.”

And this is funny:

I’m laugh-crying because it’s true.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring. (Why do I include this every time? Because it’s really that helpful.)
  • Night Court: We just got cable at my house (I know right?? I feel like I’m in a hotel, lol.) The thing about cable is that there are TOO MANY CHOICES. I scroll through and end up watching old sitcoms instead of any newer offerings. Recently, it has been Night Court, which is not a great show, but it’s fun to see these actors and also laugh at what used to pass for storylines. I’ve also checked out episodes of Barney Miller, and Benson.

And here’s a cat picture!

orange cat stretching on the floor

🎵 Stretchy cat, stretchy cat, what are they feeding you… 🎵

Trivia answer: The Jigsaw Room.

Remember that whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you love and hugs. Please be safe, and be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. xoxo, Liberty

Categories
Giveaways

071621-ThriftBooks-Giveaway

We’re giving away a $150 ThriftBooks gift card to one lucky Riot reader!

Enter here for a chance, or click the cover image below!

Here’s what it’s all about:

Summer Reading time is here! With millions of new and used books, ThriftBooks has an endless selection of books at the best prices. From childhood classics to new, undiscovered worlds of adventures, there is something for everyone and every budget. And with the ThriftBooks ReadingRewards program, every purchase gets you a step closer to a free book reward. Shop ThriftBooks.com today to unleash the joys of summer reading. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.

Categories
Today In Books

Amber Tamblyn’s New Essay Collection Acquired by Park Row Books: Today in Books

DC’s Hill House Comics Horror Line is Back with Refrigerator Full of Heads

DC Comics isn’t finished with horror. The Hill House Comics Horror Line—which previously published Basketful of Heads, The Low Low Woods, The Dollhouse Family, Daphne Byrne, and Plunge—is back with a follow-up series to Joe Hill’s Basketful of Heads. Joe Hill’s new series has an even more horrifying title: Refrigerator Full of Heads. Hill said in a statement, “I was goofing on possible sequel ideas with the novelist Rio Youers and he pitched me a gonzo-action-horror story that would make Sam Raimi weep happy tears of blood. I can’t wait to see Rio and wunderkind artist Thomas Fowler stacking some cold ones in the fridge. This one is going to be a ride.” The first issue (of six) will be out on October 19th.

Amber Tamblyn’s New Essay Collection Acquired by Park Row Books

Amber Tamblyn’s new essay collection has been acquired by Park Row Books. The essay anthology—entitled Listening in the Dark—features essays from leading feminist voices, such as Amy Poehler, America Ferrera, Jia Tolentino, Samantha Irby, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and of course Amber Tamblyn herself. Listening in the Dark will be published in 2022.

Bridgerton’s Julie Anne Robinson & Adjoa Andoh Working on Adaptation of Vanessa Riley’s Island Queen

Two big names from Bridgerton are teaming up yet again! Emmy-nominated director Julie Anne Robinson is developing Vanessa Riley’s recently released novel Island Queen for television via her UK-based Longboat Pictures production company. Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh is also attached to executive produce the project. The novel Island Queen is based on the true story of Dorothy “Doll” Kirwan Thomas, a woman who was born into slavery and later bought her freedom. She then became one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the Caribbean in the early 1800s. Julie Anne Robinson said in a statement, “We are so excited to be bringing [Island Queen] to the screen, and I could not be happier to have this opportunity to continue the collaboration with Adjoa that began on Bridgerton.

How We Sell Stories: A Brief History of Paratext

What is paratext and how does it influence your reading experience? Here is a brief overview of paratext, its history and what it tells us about a book.

Categories
What's Up in YA

Masking Up YA Book Covers: Yay or Nay?

Hey YA Readers!

Though we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and case numbers, particularly among the unvaccinated, are rising again across the world, more and more places have begun to return to “normal” operations — whatever “normal” is, anyway. It’s both exciting and nerve-wrecking, particularly for those of us who have or work with the demographic who cannot get vaccinated, be it because of their age or chronic conditions.

We’ve started, too, to see more books about COVID-19 or set during a pandemic that’s meant to resemble this one. A number of those books take inspiration from the newness of America’s mask mandates on their covers, despite the fact masking when one feels ill has been routine in other nations.

Masks on YA book covers is symbolic of the pandemic, of course, as well as symbolic of something feeling utterly not “normal,” but I can’t help wonder: what do readers think about these book covers? Are they interested in reading a book that feels too close to right now? To a major period of fear and anxiety? To grief and loss and mourning?

It’s really hard to say, of course, but I know when these pop up, I find myself pausing and wondering if I’m actually ready or ever will be ready to read fiction that reminds me of a very non-fictional world. Two of the three below are romances, while the third explores the pandemic as it intersects with Black Lives Matter protests — light reading that feels overshadowed with darkness from the masks, alongside a book that’s already taking on something big and adding the complexities of what the masking symbolizes.

Here’s a look at a few of these covers and what the books are about. I’ve purposefully left cover art and designer information off, as the commonality here and the choices made in design aren’t always entirely in their hands and therefore, the criticism isn’t geared to their specific work.

Going Viral by Kate Cicatelli-Kuc (November 2)

During lockdown with her family, Claire’s unable to be with her friends or girlfriend Vanessa. But soon, she begins to notice a new girl who sits on her fire escape across the street from her, and Claire uses that as inspiration for writing a story that immediately goes viral. But is the fame too much for Claire, and how does she reckon with where her heart truly lies?

Hello (From Here) by Chandler Baker and Wesley King

Maxine and Jonah meet in the canned foods aisle just as California begins lockdown because of the pandemic. Jonah lives with anxiety, now exacerbated by COVID-19, while Maxine’s job at the supermarket turns into a nightmare. It’s a terrible time to fall in love, but perhaps it was really meant to be.

Zero O’Clock by CJ Farley (September 7)

Geth’s living in New Rochelle, New York, a pandemic epicenter, and she’s isolated from her best friends. She finds herself confronted with the cops at this time, and steps into being part of the Black Lives Matter movement, for which she’s become deeply passionate. The pandemic and protests upend everything she knows, and now she has to decide how much she’s willing to risk to fight for what she believes.

Perhaps what I’m finding interesting is that there are books taking on pandemic-related topics and that don’t use the symbolic mask. For me, this feels less off-putting, even though the content is going to be similar to the above. An example:

Together, Apart by Erin A. Craig, Auriane Desombre, Erin Hahn, Bill Konigsberf, Rachael Lippincott, Brittney Morris, Sanji Patel, Natasha Preston, and Jennifer Yen

This anthology is a collection of love stories all set during the pandemic lockdown, with entries from some big YA names.

Maybe my adult sensibilities read too much into it, but it’s hard for me to see big appeal for teen readers whose lives have been upended in unbelievable ways gravitating toward mask-themed covers. The anthology makes clear what the book is about and where it’s set, but in a way that feels far less charged and anxiety-evoking.

What do you think? Are you picking up books like the ones with masks on covers or are you hesitating too? Is it just too soon?

There are no right or wrong answers, but it’s a question certainly worth pondering, especially as more bookstores, libraries, and schools eye reopening and books will be more visually browsable for readers.


Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you again on Thursday!

— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram

Thanks to MIT Press and The Curie Society for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Categories
Riot Rundown

071621-ThereWereWolves-RR

Categories
The Kids Are All Right

Cover Reveal for Remy Lai’s New Non-Fiction Graphic Novel Series!

Hi Kid Lit friends,

I’m so thrilled to introduce you to Remy Lai’s new non-fiction graphic novel series for younger readers! I have found that young readers particularly love this genre, and there aren’t enough books out there to satisfy their thirst. 🙂 That is why I was so thrilled to hear that Remy’s new books will hit bookstores and libraries next year. And if you haven’t heard of Remy yet, please look at her books! Her illustrations are full of mischief and fun and whimsy. Check out Pie in the Sky, Fly on the Wall, and Pawcasso.

Here is my interview with Remy about her new nonfiction series:

1. Your new young reader graphic novels all have a conservation message. Is conservation something you have always been passionate about?
Because I love animals, I have always loved reading National Geographic since I was a kid, especially their features on animals. I also watched plenty of Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. While I know a little about animal conservation, I don’t think I’m doing enough about it, but I’m trying!

2. Each graphic novel follows a species whose habitat is being threatened. How do you decide which animal to feature?
The idea for the series came about when I decided I wanted to write something inspired by a true story I had read about some years back. It was about a few elephants who lost their homes due to deforestation and swam across an ocean to another island. That story naturally became the first book. The second book is about a koala trying to survive a bushfire because I live in Australia, and the summer of 2019-2020 was one of our most severe bushfire seasons. For the third book, I decided we should have a change of scenery and head to the ocean, especially because the health of our oceans has a great impact on us.

3. How many books do you plan to make in this series?
Currently, there are 3 books planned.

4. What type of research goes into each book?
I read up all I could on the true stories that inspired the books. I also had to read up facts about the different animals—for example, their habitats, whether they’re territorial, and if and when they leave their herd. Even though the books are fiction, and some of the animals’ thoughts and actions are anthropomorphized, I wanted the core of the stories, the heart of what drives the animals to do what they do, to be as true as possible.

5. What message do you have for young people who are growing up in a world that is being harmed by climate change, habitat destruction, and species elimination?
To have hope. While we are destroying the earth, we are also working hard to save it. Every little bit we do counts!

Look for Remy Lai’s Surviving the Wild series on April 5, 2022! The books are designed by Lisa Vega and Sharismar Rodriguez.

Surviving the Wild: Star the Elephant by Remy Lai

Star the Elephant and his herd are searching for a new home. But when Star is separated from his family, he must journey alone into the great unknown. He’ll come face to face with giant spiders, the vast ocean beyond his island, and strange humans. Can Star find his way back to his family?

Surviving the Wild: Rainbow the Koala by Remy Lai

Rainbow the Koala is ready to go off and live on his own―or so his mom says. But Rainbow is scared! The kookaburra bird cackles at him and he struggles to find a tree to call his home. As scorching heat takes hold and Rainbow runs out of water, he’ll soon face his most dangerous test: surviving a bush fire.

Categories
Swords and Spaceships

I Will Keep Shrieking Until You Read This Book

Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex with some links to take you into the weekend, and a book that really grabbed me by the heart that I want to talk about–The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore. And I’m still excited over here about all the Emmy nominations WandaVision got. (I bet Loki is going to get some next year, too.) Here’s hoping Marvel takes the hint and gives us something much weirder in the future. Have a great weekend, space pirates, stay safe out there, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Here’s a thing to smile about: I love excavators

Let’s make the world a better place, together. Here’s somewhere to start: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ and anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co


News and Views

Queer Dads: Demons and Machines in Sorcerer’s Son by Phyllis Eisenstein and the Terminator Franchise

Goodreads: Meet the Authors of the Summer’s Biggest Sci-Fi and Fantasy Adventures

Makeshift Modernity: The rise of African speculative fiction

Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem has now become a serialized podcast

How women are written in sci-fi movies

What We Do in the Shadows season 3 teaser

How WandaVision Went From “Totally Bananas” Underdog to Emmy Juggernaut

Elon Musk Is Correct, I Am Specifically Attacking Space Itself and Not Just His Mars Colonization Project

90-year-old William Shatner conquers his fear of sharks by swimming with them

The ultimate fate of a nearby four-planet system: cosmic pinball, then game over

We’re getting a Wheel of Time prequel film trilogy to augment Amazon series

SFF eBook Deals

Autumn Bones by Jacqueline Carey for $1.99

Alpha Bots by Ava Lock for $0.99

The Traitor’s Son by Pedro Urvi for $0.99

On Book Riot

Incredibly epic fantasy journeys for every reader

I spy with my little eye 9 fantasy books about spies

15 magical books like Legendborn

This week’s SFF Yeah! podcast is about our favorite SFF of 2021 so far

This month you can enter to win a $250 Barnes & Noble gift card, a Kindle Paperwhite, and a Kindle Oasis.

Free Association Friday

While I know I normally like to do fun little lists that the ol’ brain meats free associate this day of the week, I occasionally want to take this corner of the newsletter to talk about a particular book that’s really stuck with me, that I want to shove at everyone and shriek at them to read.

This is one of those Fridays.

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore

I will say up front that this book comes with big trigger warnings for sexual assault and, to a lesser extent, bullying. It is an easy book to read because Anna-Marie McLemore’s prose is gorgeous and rich while still being sleek and light. It’s an incredibly hard book to read because of what it’s about, which is two teenagers who start out as strangers meeting on the worst night of their lives, during which they are both sexually assaulted. It follows them through the stutter-step process of reaching a full understanding of what happened to them and how it affects them and their friendships and their relationship to each other. It’s unflinching in its depiction of healing as an uneven, nonlinear process that takes time and is never entirely finished.

The Mirror Season isn’t a plot-heavy book because it’s so much about what’s going on with the characters, and it gives them space to process and interact and think and breathe, which is something I feel like I find only rarely in genre books. There’s a lot of push for things to be pacy in SFF, which makes it really stand out to me when I find a book that’s so completely focused on character.

Also, if you are even a tiny bit into baking, this book is an absolute feast. Which feels like a strange thing to say about a book built around recovery from sexual assault, but there’s very consciously a lot of joy in the pages of The Mirror Season to balance out the pain and anxiety. The main character, Graciela, works at a pasteleria and has a magical ability to tell exactly what kind of pan dulce every customer wants. In the immediate aftermath of the assault, she loses her power, but then slowly recovers it as part of her own healing. And the baked goods she describes! I spent a lot of this book absolutely desperate for a concha.

I’ll be thinking about The Mirror Season for a long time. Difficult, beautiful, and necessary.


See you, space pirates. If you’d like to know more about my secret plans to dominate the seas and skies, you can catch me over at my personal site.