Book Riot is teaming up with Read Bliss this month to giveaway a new iPad to one lucky winner! Entering is as easy as filling out the form here or click on the photo below to subscribe to the Read Bliss newsletter.
Here’s a little more about Read Bliss: Read Bliss is your destination for all things romance and reading. With the latest in romance book news, genre, discussions, author interviews, reading challenges and more, you won’t want to miss a single moment. Watch. Read. Love.
Sponsored by Wolfpack by Abby Wambach
“Abby is a relatable revolutionary.” ―Amy Schumer
From rising young star to co-captain of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Champion team, Abby Wambach’s impressive career has shown her what it truly means to be a champion. Now she’s showing young readers that real success comes when you harness your inner strength, forge your own path, and band together with your team, whether you’re leading from the bench or demanding the ball on the field.
We’re giving away six copies of Barely Functional Adult by Mechi Ng to six lucky Riot readers, and one grand prize winner will also receive a Barely Functional Adult plush toy!
Enter here for a chance to win, or click the cover image below!
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Here’s what it’s all about:
From the creator of Barely Functional Adult, a painfully relatable webcomic with over 130k followers on Instagram, comes a never-before-seen collection of incriminating short stories about exes, murder, friendship, therapy, anxiety, Hufflepuff, sucking at things, freaking out about things, calming down momentarily, melodrama, wrinkles, pettiness, and other wonderful delights. In this beautiful, four-color collection, Meichi perfectly captures the best and worst of us in every story, allowing us to weep with pleasure at our own fallibility. Hilarious, relatable, and heart-wrenchingly honest, Barely Functional Adult will have you laughing and crying in the same breath, while taking solace in the fact that we’re anything but alone in this world.
Sponsored by Blackstone Publishing
A perfect holiday read — check out the debut contemporary fantasy novel from David R. Slayton. ”Slayton’s book gathers up pretty much every modern fantasy trope, turns them upside down, and shakes them… The elves who show up would have Tolkien rolling in his grave, which is my highest endorsement, and the LGBTQIA+ rep is all around outstanding.” — Book Riot; ”Slayton makes a splash with this urban fantasy debut starring a broke, gay wizard living in an Oklahoma trailer park… The complex worldbuilding, well-shaded depictions of poverty, emotional nuance, and thrilling action sequences make this stand out.” — Publishers Weekly
Happy Friday, shipmates! It’s Alex, with a random selection of books (or not so random in this case) for Friday fun and a bit of genre news. We had a typical Colorado snow this week, in that it was a sloppy nightmare with cars getting stuck in the roads in the morning, and then everything had melted off the streets approximately six hours later. But it definitely feels like we’re heading into winter, which I consider to be also a superior season because it causes the cats to be more cuddly. Hope you had a safe holiday if you’re in the US, or a most excellent (and also safe) Thursday if not. See you next Tuesday!
Looking for non-book things you can do to help in the quest for justice? blacklivesmatter.card.co and The Okra Project.
News and Views
Silvia Moreno-Garcia has revealed the cover for her upcoming sword and sorcery novella, The Return of the Sorceress
WorldCon 2021 (aka DisCon III) will be doing a special Hugo Award for video games.
Amazon has released its picks for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2020.
Locus pulled the genre titles from The New York Times Best Books of 2020 list.
The beta version of the Chinese Science Fiction Database has been released.
Elizabeth Bear talks about diversity, mental health, and queers in space over at PopMatters
A health and book update from Connie Willis
John Boyega continues to fight the good fight
The Twitter roasting of Ready Player Two has commenced. I have made popcorn.
Captain Jack Harkness is coming back to Doctor Who!
A Brief History of Dragons Throughout Western Literature
Monolith in Utah!!!!!
On Book Riot
This month you can win a YA Fantasy and Sci-Fi book bundle and/or a $250 dollar Barnes and Noble gift card.
Free Association Friday: Alex’s Housemate Recommends
November is just going to be the month for slightly self-indulgent Fridays, because it’s a month of excellent birthdays–mine included, and my housemate’s as well. My housemate, Corina, reads at a pace that leaves me absolutely stunned, so I asked her what books she wants people to read for her birthday. She came up with a varied list.
This is Corina’s favorite book of all time, which I regretfully still haven’t gotten around to reading yet and I need to do it soon if we’re going to stay friends. Along with its long awaited sequel, This Virtual Night and Malka Older’s Infomocracy, these are also books she loosely groups as imagining what the internet could be in the future.
This is an epic fantasy with a gorgeous environmental message that hit Corina, as the child of two Colorado mountain hippies, particularly hard and really stuck with her. The prose requires some work to read but is incredibly rewarding, and you’ll be thinking about it for months after you’ve finished it.
This is another double feature recommendation, sitting alongside Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. Both are books about people who are really good at math in absolutely reality-bending ways. which is extra cool if you’re a person who’s not necessarily that great at math but still thinks it’s really neat on the principle of the thing.
I told Corina she had to read this book because, and I quote myself here, “it’s about disaster heteros.” She has seen the wisdom of my assessment. It’s a gorgeous Mugal fantasy book, but more importantly, you spend most of the pages wanting to squish the two main characters’ faces together so that they’ll just kiss already.
This book has reincarnation, it’s all about classism/caste, and the main character is a lady who takes absolutely zero crap off anyone.
Beyond the fact that this is a Culture novel and therefore has AI in it (one of Corina’s favorite things in a book, other than dragons), this particular novel has a really cool narrative structure that comes to fruition near the end–and does some really awesome character reveal work.
This is just a delightful, queer book to begin with. In addition, growing up in Colorado meant having grown up around a lot of Latinx culture… and it wasn’t something either of us saw reflected in much of what we read as kids. Cemetery Boys is a celebration of that familiar (if observed from the outside) culture–and such a beautiful story about being loved and accepted for who you truly are.
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.
For thirteen years, German librarians played a game of cat and mouse with a book thief who expertly sliced out maps from antique books. This very real story reads like a spy thriller.
New Zealand singer and songwriter Lorde took a trip to Antarctica with her friend Harriet Were, and now you can purchase a photo book of Were’s photos and Lorde’s writings. The book, Going South, is up for preorder on Lorde’s website and it will start shipping in February. All proceeds will be “donated by Lorde to Antarctica New Zealand to support a postgraduate scholar to study climate change science.”
In a virtual assembly, Barack Obama announced to Chicago public school students and staff that they’ll have free access to digital, audio, or print copies of his presidential memoir, A Promised Land, through the rest of the year. In the new year, there will also be “a little book club.”
Meditation and relaxation can look different for everyone. Click for some suggestions for finding the audiobooks for sleep that work for you.
Sponsored by HarperCollins Children's Books/Quill Tree Books
EXCLUSIVE CROWDCAST EVENT! On Tuesday, December 1 at 6 p.m. ET, join New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author Neil Gaiman and acclaimed illustrator Chris Riddell as they celebrate the release of their new book Pirate Stew! Purchase your copy of Pirate Stew from one of our five partnering bookstores, and on 12/1 you’ll receive an exclusive link to join the event. The first 100 people to purchase a copy from each store will receive signed bookplates from Neil and Chris with their copy! You don’t want to miss this swashbuckling, riotous event!
Hey there, kidlit pals! I am grateful for you, and I just want to wish everyone who celebrates a very happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! In the meantime, if you’re looking for some great reading for this long weekend, buckle up because I have some excellent book deals for you! As always, these deals go fast, so be sure to snag them while they’re active!
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Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk is a new release, and it’s a lovely book about nature and resilience. Snag it for $3!
Masterminds by Gordon Korman is the first in a series and it’s $4.
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is another great series starter and practically a modern classic. Get it for $2.
Want to read Suzanne Collins’s series that she wrote before The Hunger Games? Gregor the Overlander is $4.
Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung is just $4, if you need a good laugh.
The classic The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is $3.
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Speaking of classics (in the making!), grab the Newbery winner Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina for $5, and Newbery winner Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly for $2.
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang is $4, and is about a sixth-grader making peace with family change.
Wink by Rob Harrell is about a kid facing a rare cancer diagnosis, and it’s just $3.
Happy reading!
Tirzah
Sponsored by TooFar Media.
Sign Up for a Chance to WIN a FREE iPAD and WIN a FREE FICTION BOOK Just for Entering, from TooFar Media! TooFar Media publishes immersive story experiences and is hosting a Giveaway Contest just for Book Riot. Winners of the iPAD can explore the TooFar Media app, which fuses fiction with music, art and video. Just for entering, you’ll receive– FREE– the newest book, Balcony of Fog, which illuminates the tension between the power of love and the love of power, by author Rich Shapero. Sign Up Now!
Sponsored by The Right Kind of Fool from historical fiction author Sarah Loudin Thomas.
When deaf teen Loyal Raines stumbles upon a dead body in the nearby river, his absentee father, Creed, is shocked the boy runs to him first. Pulled into the investigation, Creed discovers that it is the boy’s courage, not his inability to hear, that sets him apart, and he will have to do more than solve a murder if he wants to win his family’s hearts again.
Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. It’s the day before Thanksgiving here in the states, so… not sure how many of you are even reading this? There’s a good chance it’s just me, my internationals, and a couple of crickets this week. That’s okay! The club doesn’t close just because a bunch of gobble birds are being carved.
I am however going to keep it kinda chill today with the format. Instead of my usual ramblings, I’m going to hit you all with a quick little gift guide for book clubs. Below you’ll find a roundup of bookish gift suggestions, all priced at $25 or less. Happy gifting, friends! Stay safe and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
To the club!!
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Tis the season for bookish ornaments! Gift your club buddies a memento of another year in book club friendship. $14
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Here’s a snuggly tee for me the tea-drinking bookworm in your life. $11
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If a tattoo feels a little extreme (no judgement though!), wear your book club pride with this snazzy vinyl sticker. $3
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Listen, we’re all going to need a few more face masks this winter. Now you and your friends can be safe, bookish, and cute! $7
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You may remember this from last week. I love it so much! Whip up a batch of baked goods with this, err, stamp of approval! $10
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2021 is looming just around the corner! Gift your book buddy a brand new reading journal to start the year off fresh. $25
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Raise a mug to books, wine, and survival! $18
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More! Masks! $7
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I’ve been judged for using a teabag as a bookmark, and to that I say HA! Pick up a few of these for your tea lovers and spare them that judgement. $7
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How adorable are these bookish planner stickers? A steal at just $5
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For even more bookish gifts galore, check out Book Riot’s big beautiful 2020 holiday gift guide.
Thanks for hanging with me today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with your burning book club questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the Audiobooks newsletter and catch me once a month on the All the Books podcast.
Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa
The incredibly talented, delightful, and charitable Dolly Parton is everywhere this holiday season: she has a new Christmas album (A Holly Dolly Christmas), a Netflix musical (Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square), she helped fund a COVID vaccine, and a documentary about her Imagination Library will debut next month. Directed by Nick Geidner and narrated by Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper!), The Library That Dolly Built will stream live worldwide for free on Facebook on December 9th with a performance by Dolly herself to follow.
It’s Best Of Lists time! The New York Public Library has put out their 2020 lists: 100 Best Books for Kids; 50 Best Books for Teens; and 100 Best Books for Adults. They also selected the top ten for each list plus poetry and children’s books en español which include All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson; The City We Became: A Novel by N.K. Jemisin; Black Heroes of the Wild West by James Otis Smith; Finna: Poems by Nate Marshall; and ¿Cómo lo ves? by Vera Galindo.
The Dallas Public Library system amended their Sprint contract and adopted the budget for the 2021 fiscal year in order to add 2,100 mobile WiFi hotspots to their branches’ circulating collection. The communities should be able to check out the hotspots beginning December 15th, with increased availability at locations where 30% or more of the population doesn’t have home internet.
Browse away with our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide, and may we all get some joy this season.
Opportunities for adventure are limited in 2020. The Read Harder Reading Log is here to expand your literary horizons. Give one to all your favorite readers, and snag one for yourself!
