Categories
Swords and Spaceships

Swords and Spaceships for February 28: Do a Combat Roll

Happy friday, shipmates! It has been cold as heck here in Colorado… hopefully you’re somewhere warmer, or if not, you’re getting to curl up under a blanket with a good book and a mug of your favorite hot beverage of choice. It’s Alex, with some news items (there was a lot of book news this week!) and some combat-heavy books to peruse for you.

In the department of things I can watch again and again: this amazing video of an owl in flight.

And on a completely different level, were you aware of the viral moment on twitter where we learned how fast a javelina can run? A lot of people set that video to music. Here’s my favorite.

News and Views

A hard-hitting essay about The Hunger Games and revolution for mass consumption: The Revolution Will Be Dramatized

Three Crows magazine did an interview with Tamsyn Muir about, among other things, Gideon the Ninth and the fanfiction controversy. TW for discussion of child abuse.

Amazon is partnering with Macro TV and Ava Duvernay’s production company for the adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Dawn.

File 770 brings you the 2019 edition of Novellapalooza! If you’re looking for a short-but-not-too-short-read recommendation, this is an amazing place to go.

Alix E. Harrow would like to tell you about her next novel.

Rest in peace, Clive Cussler.

Beer inspired by Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy.

Drama dots!

The next Star Wars universe major project: The High Republic. Let me tell you, as a resident of Colorado, I really have to wonder if they thought hard enough about that name.

Smithsonian Curators Remember Katherine Johnson.

A 46,000-year-old preserved bird.

On Book Riot

10 Dark Fantasy Books Like The Witcher

Cover Reveal: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Bookish Candles for Fans of The Raven Cycle

Free Association Friday: Combat-Heavy SFF

the rage of dragonsI just finished reading The Rage of Dragons, which is honestly a little darker than I normally like to go in my fantasy, but it still gripped me from start to finish. (And after a slightly long “training montage” middle, it takes a left turn into some absolutely dizzying fantasy politics that had me on the edge of my seat.) But one thing that really stands out in this book is just how focused on the feel, mechanics, and intensity of absolutely brutal sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat.

So I was thinking, what are some other books that have a major focus on the nitty-gritty of combat… and make it interesting instead of a dry play-by-play? (And I’ll admit right here that I’m skirting military scifi, because that’s really its own whole topic.)

The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust is a fantasy take on The Three Musketeers, following the story of a young noble from the country who wants to make his way in the emperor’s court. And it’s got SO MANY SWORD FIGHTS. And magic duels. There’s just a lot of fighting in this book.

Jade City by Fonda Lee has a fighting tournament that’s a major turning point for one of the characters, and to go with the tournament there is some intense kung fu action.

cover image: a young native american woman in a leather jacket holding a sword standing on top of a pickup truck with a young man inside and lightning in the sky behindTrail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse is about a lady who hunts monsters and also has to fight plenty of humans who don’t like her. There’s a lot of down and dirty combat. There’s also an (illegal) fighting pit that gets a moment in the spotlight.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman does not actually have as many sword fights as some of the other books, but it more than deserves a place on the list because the fight between Wesley and Inigo is full of so much intense fencing nerdery.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner is not as intensely nerdy about its fencing as The Princess Bride, but it is approximately a million times gayer.

And then as honorable mentions for intense combat that isn’t so up close and personal:

ninefox gambit by yoon ha leeNinefox Gambit is the token scifi for this list and it opens off with an amazing ground forces battle scene of “calendrical warfare,” which involves using math to just rip your opponents to shreds. Then some quick thinking leads our protagonist into giant ship-to-ship battles… and a war that will end up encompassing billions of lives.

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik has often been shorthanded as Master and Commander but with dragons instead of ships, and for good reason. The level of detail and thought that goes into Patrick O’Brian’s (or C. S. Forester’s a la Horatio Hornblower) loving and intense descriptions of ship-to-ship combat and sailing action in his novels is basically replicated here… with massive dragons crewed by humans.


See you, space pirates. You can find all of the books recommended in this newsletter on a handy Goodreads shelf. 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.

Categories
True Story

Black History Reads for the Next 10 Months

We’re closing out Black History Month with some awesome reads to carry you into the rest of the year. We’ve got singers, we’ve got mathematicians, we’ve got chess players! No matter what your interest (as long as it’s one of those three), you’re covered this week!

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. You’ve seen the movie. Probably. Now read the book! Central figure Katherine Johnson died this week at 101 (someone on Twitter said a very fun math thing about this). This book has history, it has tragedy, it has triumph, it shines a light on the previously overlooked and unsung genius women who helped get us into space. Check it out!

 

Sound of Freedom CoverThe Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America by Raymond Arsenault. Let’s talk real quick about Marian Anderson. She was the first Black person to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. Not the first Black American; the first Black person from ANY country. Opera is an incredibly international art form, and the Met is the best opera house in the country, so the fact their first Black performer only got onto the stage in 1955 is shameful. But years before that, Anderson, roundly acclaimed as an amazing singer, was refused permission by the Daughters of the American Revolution to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. So Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt worked with her on an alternative solution: she instead performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939. This book tells that story.

Blues Legacies and Black Feminism CoverBlues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis. Davis looks at three blues singers who seriously impacted the genre and provides “the historical, social, and political contexts with which to reinterpret the performances and lyrics… Davis demonstrates how the roots of the blues extend beyond a musical tradition to serve as a consciousness-raising vehicle for American social memory.” Pull up Spotify or your music app of choice and make this book an awesome multimedia experience.

Queen of Katwe CoverThe Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by Tim Crothers. Phiona Mutesi grew up in a slum called Katwe in Uganda, selling maize in a street market. She discovered an after-school program about chess and by age 11, she was her country’s junior chess champion. As a teenager, she flew to Siberia in her quest to become a grandmaster.

 

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock. Transgender rights activist Mock’s first book describes her life from her childhood in Hawaii, her work in the sex industry to pay for her own hormone therapy, her career at People magazine, and her relationship with later-husband Aaron Tredwell. Redefining Realness won the Stonewall Book Award and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

That’s it for new releases this week! You can find me on Twitter at itsalicetime and co-hosting the For Real podcast with Kim here at Book Riot. Until next time! Enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Categories
Read This Book

Read This Book: THE FOUNTAINS OF SILENCE

Welcome to Read This Book, a weekly newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!

The Fountains of Silence cover imageThis week’s book is The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys.

Content warning: child death, some violence

I’ve been a big fan of Ruta Sepetys since I read her debut, Between Shades of Gray, which is about Stalin’s deportation and imprisonment of thousands of people from the Baltics during WWII. Sepetys writes wonderfully detailed historical fiction that is marketed as YA, but has lots of crossover appeal for adult readers. Her latest book, set in 1957 Madrid, did not disappoint!

Daniel Matheson is the son of a Dallas oil baron and a Spanish mother. When he graduates from high school, his parents take him to Spain, where’s he’s eager to spend his summer photographing the “real” Spain. That is not a simple task, as he learns when he tangles with the Guardia Civil on his first day. But it’s not until Daniel befriends Ana, a maid working at his hotel, that he begins to understand all that the country suffered the Civil War, and the deep wounds that have not been healed under Francisco Franco’s rule.

“When you discover the truth, you must speak it aloud and help others to do the same…Truth breaks the chains of silence. It sets us all free.”

This is a marvelous book with so many fascinating political and personal layers. Although most of the book is from Daniel’s outsider perspective, Sepetys uses multiple points of view to show the wide-ranging effect of war, violence, censorship, loss of freedom, and poverty on the people of Spain. This is a complicated history, and Sepetys doesn’t shy away from demonstrating how American influence enabled Franco’s hold on Spain, including snippets of primary resources in between chapters. Among the many injustices of the period, she anchors this story around the scandal of Catholic charities stealing infants from families with Republican ties and adopting them out to more suitable (and wealthier) families at home and abroad. This is a book with fascinating, varied characters who are struggling to survive the best they can under a tremendous burden of silence–and the possibilities that open up to them when they finally are allowed to speak the truth. I particularly enjoyed how Sepetys takes this book from 1957 to 1975, giving readers a unique perspective on the lasting impact of Franco on Spain. It’s a must-read for historical fiction fans!

Happy reading!

–Tirzah

Find me on Book Riot, the Insiders Read Harder podcast, All the Books, and Twitter.

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, click here to subscribe.

Categories
Unusual Suspects

7 Mysteries from the Past 🔪

Hello mystery fans! You’re here for the mystery links, Kindle deals, and something crime-y to watch (hopefully) so here we go:

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Midnight In Mexico cover image15 Best True Crime Authors Who Are Must-Reads For Genre Fans

Patricia and Liberty talk about Walter Mosley’s latest Trouble Is What I Do on All The Books!

11 Mystery and Suspense Authors Like Gillian Flynn

THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS: A Retrospective

The Best Small Presses Publishing Crime Fiction Today

Exclusive preview: This sizzling debut unfolds a murder-mystery at a Long Island prep school

Watch Out Behind You: 7 Mysteries from the Past

Agatha Christie: Her 10 best novels, from Death on the Nile to The ABC Murders

The Secret of the 25 Chapters in Nancy Drew Books

The best-selling author of Before I Let Go is headed to a haunting cabin-set thriller for her next book. Get a first look.

News And Adaptations

Deanna Raybourn, author of the great Veronica Speedwell series, has sold an upcoming book about elite female assassins being forced to retire and it sounds amazing give it to me RIGHT now!

The Mystery Surrounding Rami Malek’s James Bond Villain Is Deepening With A ‘No Time To Die’ Featurette

If a murder mystery meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a gimme-hands for you (me!) than Karen M. McManus has got you with her upcoming book!

“Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy) set as a series regular opposite David Oyelowo in The President Is Missing, Showtime’s drama pilot based on the novel by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson.”

Watch Now

The film adaptation of Joan Didion’s The Last Thing He Wanted, starring Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Rosie Perez and directed by Dee Rees, is streaming on Netflix. It’s one of those journalist won’t let the story go stories and it hasn’t gotten great reviews, but that literally never stops me from watching something I’m interested in. Here’s the trailer.

Kindle Deals

The Good Son by You-jeong jeong cover imageThe Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong is $1.99 if you’re looking for a wakes-up-covered-in-blood-what-happened slow-burn psychological suspense! (Review) (TW: stalking/ suicide)

If you’re looking to start a long running procedural series that started in the ’80s Indemnity Only (V.I. Warshawski #1) by Sara Paretsky is $2.99!

The sequel to Stillhouse Lake (Review) by Rachel Caine, Killman Creek is $1.99!

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!

Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Categories
Book Radar

Judy Blume’s SUMMER SISTERS Coming to Hulu and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday! How is your 2020 reading year going so far? It’s impossible to keep up with all the amazing books that are being released, but at least it’s fun to try, right? YAY, BOOKS!

Hmmmm, what else? I had to take a break from Bones because it’s just too silly for me right now. So I started in on the first 30 seasons of The Simpsons on Disney+, because CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. (I was in 8th grade when it premiered, lolsob.) It’s definitely problematic, but it’s also comforting, in a way, to have on in the background, because it reminds me of watching it with my family when I was a kid.

And my 365 Day Movie project update: I watched 10 Things I Hate About You, Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Rango, Missing Link, The Two Deaths of Sam Cooke, and The Big Sick. I looooooooved Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet!

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. Thanks for subscribing, and I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! Who wrote the famous line “ships that pass in the night?”(Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen will be adapted for the screen.

Tony Hale will star in Hulu’s adaptation of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Deanna Raybourn announced a new series about female assassins.

Book Riot has the cover reveal for The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow.

Anthony Veasna So has a deal for two forthcoming books with Ecco.

Jane Goodall has a new book coming in 2021.

Ava DuVernay and Victoria Mahoney are adapting Dawn, the first book of Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis/Lilith’s Brood trilogy.

Unnamed Press revealed the cover of Like a Bird by Fariha Róisín.

First Wives Club has been renewed for a second season.

R.L. Stine is writing a new series based on the Garbage Pail Kids.

The Ex Files by Victoria Christopher Murray is being adapted for Lifetime.

Universal has bought the rights to The Mister by E.L. James.

A.K. Small’s Bright Burning Stars is being made into a series.

The Silence of the Lambs sequel has found its Clarice.

Michael Rooker has joined the cast of Showtime’s adaptation of The President Is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton.

Greg Kinnear will take over as Atticus Finch in Broadway’s run of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters will be a Hulu limited series.

Bella Heathcote has joined the cast of the Netflix adaptation of Pieces Of Her by Karin Slaughter.

A new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is coming to television.

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!)

Excited to read:

The Ghost Variations: One Hundred Stories by Kevin Brockmeier (Pantheon, October 6)

TRUE STORY: Last week, I was talking to a fellow Brockmeier fan, saying it had been so long since he released a book that surely we must be due for one soon And the VERY NEXT DAY, I saw a picture of this book on Carmen Maria Machado’s Instagram account. So basically, I wished it into a reality. You’re welcome. I love his writing so much! If you’ve never read him, go check out The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier or Things That Fall from the Sky to start.

What I’m reading this week.

wow no thank youWow, No Thank You.: Essays by Samantha Irby

Feast Your Eyes by Myla Goldberg

Destination Wedding by Diksha Basu

Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco by Alia Volz

The Price You Pay by Aidan Truhen

And this is funny.

Accurate.

Song stuck in my head:

“The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” by Cyndi Lauper

Trivia answer: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
Audiobooks

Audiobooks – 02/27

Hola Audiophiles! It’s Vanessa here with the latest from the audiobook world. I’ve finally gotten back on a good listening streak after striking out with *seven* different “meh” listens! I’ll share one of the good ones with you all today, but first: let’s get to new releases.

Ready? Let’s audio.


New Releases – February 25  (publisher descriptions in quotes)

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, narrated by Brittany Pressley – It’s 1982 on New Year’s Eve and Oona Lockhart will turn 19 at midnight. Then she faints, wakes up, and BAM! She’s 51 years old in a strange house she learns belongs to her. She also learns that with each passing year, she’ll wake up at a different point in her life at random.

Narrator Note: I’ve had my eyes on Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb which Brittany Pressley also narrates. You may recognize her from lots of thriller titles by David Baldacci, Fiona Davis, Mary Burton, and Carolyn Brown. She also narrates Zoraida Cordova’s YA Star Wars novel A Crash of Fate!

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall, narrated by the author – I know the term “searing” gets thrown around a lot, but this very much sounds like it earns the searing badge of honor. It asks: “How can we stand in solidarity as a movement when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?” Basically, it flames white feminism, indicting the glaring blindspot therein that ignores women outside a particular category of race, class, and privilege. I’m always looking for ways to keep myself accountable; this book promises to be a powerful reminder on the importance of intersectionality.

Narrator Note: Listen to that sample, yo. Mikki Kendall is a natural; she narrates like she’s speaking her words to you in an in-person conversation.

Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today by Rachel Vorona Cote, narrated by Suehyla El Attar – Rachel Vorona Cote is a Victorian scholar who draws some interesting (and maddening!) parallels between that era’s fixation on women’s “hysterical” behavior and the policing of women’s behavior that still very much occurs today. How dare we “illicit liberties to feel or fuck or eat with abandon!” It encourages women to reconsider the beauty of their excesses; as I like to say whenever I’m called a handful, maybe some of y’all just need bigger hands!

Bonus: Rachel Vorona Cote recently wrote a piece for Lit Hub that rang ALL of my bells: How Ramona Quimby Taught a Generation of Girls to Embrace Brashness. Have I ever told you all that I named one of my dolls Chevrolet?

Narrator Note: Suehyla El Attar is one of the narrators on Trust Exercise by Susan Choi, a book that most people seem either love or hate with no in between!

We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia, narrated by Kyla Garcia – This is the sequel to Latinx inspired fantasy We Set the Dark on Fire and gaaaaah I can’t say much here without spoiling it! In the first book, the Medio School for Girls trains young women for one of two roles in their highly polarized society: Primeras run their husbands’ households and Segundas raise their children. Dani is stoked when she’s named Primera to Medio’s most eligible bachelor, until mean girl Carmen is appointed her Segunda. To make matters worse, Daniela is approached by a resistance group who will only keep Daniela’s deepest, darkest secret if she agrees to help them spy on her husband, who it turns out is kind of a jerk face. What to do???

We Unleash the Merciless Storm picks up right after We Set the Dark on Fires cliffhanger ending. It promises high stakes, political intrigue, and (I hope) a continuation of a certain queer love story. Gimme!!

Narrator Note: Yes, yes, I’ve been critical of Kyla Garcia’s narration in the past. I’m pleased to report that I enjoyed her work here and had no issues with any of the pronunciations!

Latest Listens

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas cover imageA Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas, narrated by Kate Reading – This is the second book in the Lady Sherlock series and I think Lady Sherlock is my fave! The famed detective Victorian-era London knows as Sherlock Holmes is actually Charlotte Holmes, who solves cases with the help of a generous benefactor, a camera, and a few little white lies about her brother Sherlock being in another room. Huzzah! In A Conspiracy in Belgravia, Lady Ingram writes to “Sherlock” to ask for help finding the man she loves. Problem! The missing love of her life is not the man she’s married to but he is Charlotte’s estranged half brother. Problem, part two: Lady Ingram’s husband is Lord Ingram, the gentleman our dear Charlotte happens to be in love with.

I’ll admit that it took me a second to get into this listen, but I don’t think that was due to any fault on Reading’s part. As is often the case with this style of whodunnit, a lot of facts needs to be laid out before we get to the good stuff. About a quarter of the way in, I was hooked! I am a sucker for an English accent, and I love how smoothly Reading switches between numerous dialects and how she paces her narration. I’m excited to keep going with this series!

From the Internets

I sometimes naively forget that not everyone has hopped aboard the audiobook train.. Let’s welcome all newbies with open arms and remind them that now is a great time to start!

Jude Law, Evanna Lynch, Jason Isaacs, Bonnie Wright and several other actors from the HP universe have signed on to narrate the new Tales of Beedle the Bard audiobook! J.K. Rowling isn’t someone I’m eager to throw my money at these days, but guess what else is true: Jude Law could get it is very nice on the eyes and ears (as are the rest of the cast) and no amount of hate can take those stories from my Hogwarts-loving corazon. Also, sales of the new audiobook will go to the Lumos foundation.

Over at the Riot

Sometimes you need a quick listen and that’s where short stories come in. Here’s a list of some excellent short story collections for you ear holes.


That’s all I got today! Shoot me an email at vanessa@riotnewmedia.com with audiobook feedback & questions or find me on Twitter and the gram @buenosdiazsd. Sign up for the In The Club newsletter, peep the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Tuesday and Friday too!

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

Categories
Today In Books

Adorable Bike Libraries In Afghanistan: Today In Books

Adorable Bike Libraries In Afghanistan

Afghanistan has low adult literacy rates–“about 45% for men, and about 17% for women”–due to years of war, so University student Idress Siyawash has created Read Books to help. On a weekly basis Siyawash and fellow University students travel on bikes with adorable libraries to rural areas: “Our idea is to show that reading can be fun, and explain why education is so important.”

This Is Huge

Right now you can use the Smithsonian Open Access, which has 3 million digital items collected from the “Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo.”

Posthumous Book From U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings

We’re Better Than This by Baltimore Rep. Elijah Cummings, which was 95% completed when he passed away, will publish in June. The book, “part memoir, part call to action”, was completed by his wife Rockeymoore Cummings who worked with Cummings’ ghostwriter James Dale. I’m going to need tissues, my face is wet.

Categories
Kissing Books

What Did You Think of SANDITON?

Happy Thursday! I hosted my first Romance Book Club and it was so much fun! I totally blabber way more about books in person, so we’ll see what happens after this month. Do you have a local romance book club in your area? Or maybe looking to start one? Anyway, let’s talk about books.

Over on Book Riot

Isabelle contemplates her romance reader origin story.

I dug around into the idea of Black history and the necessity of romance as a vehicle for telling those stories.

Sil gave us lots of options if we’re feeling a void after Red, White & Royal Blue.

While the PBS adaptation of Sanditon was apparently disappointing, Kathleen wants more.

Want to join a book club but not really a people person? Here are some tips.

Get some short books for the short month and some romances for Read Harder from us on this week’s When In Romance.

There are still days left to win a B&N gift card!

Deals

Sales make for good opportunities to try a new author, and while you might have read the works of Patricia Sargeant, I have not. Right now her book Heated Rivalry is 3.99. Work rivals at an ad agency—one of whom is a former NBA player—have to figure out how to work together when they realize they’re meant to be together.

New Books

There are a few books out this week that I’m pretty excited about, but there’s one that you knew I was going to talk about. You had to have known.

cover of a cowboy to remember by Rebekah WeatherspoonA Cowboy to Remember
Rebekah Weatherspoon

That handsome Black man in the Stetson on the cover of this book ain’t got nothin’ on the Zach Pleasant presented in the book. He’s tall and huge, with a sleek cut and beard. His smile could melt Antarctica. And the first thing he does when he comes back into Evie’s life is make her cry. Not by anything he’s done, of course. He’s been showing up in her dreams, which is saying something, considering she has total amnesia. Like the level of amnesia where I’m not sure how she knows words, because she doesn’t know what things like Target are. Evie is a popular chef on a morning show with a lot on the line if the producers find out, so her agent contacts Jesse and Zach Pleasant, who Evie has listed as an emergency contact. She grew up on their ranch, and they hope she might be able to recover in peace there, and hopefully reunite with her memories. Also, she was definitely pushed down some stairs, but nobody knows who did it except the culprit.

This book has all the draw of Rebekah’s self-published books, from the close relationships and friendships to the quips and jokes. It’s a little longer than her more recent stuff, but the ride is definitely a trip.

Other books that are out this week that I’m excited for:

cover of Blind Date WIth a Book Boyfriend by Lucy EdenBlind Date with a Book Boyfriend by Lucy Eden
Forbidden Promises by Synithia Williams
How to Love Your Elf by Kerrelyn Sparks
One Night With the Sexiest Man Alive by Ainslie Paton
Calling on Quinn by Blue Sapphire
An Inconvenient Duke by Anna Harrington
A Worthy Opponent by Katee Robert
Cancer Ships Aquarius by Anyta Sunday

As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at wheninromance@bookriot.com if you’ve got feedback, bookrecs, or just want to say hi!

Categories
In The Club

In the Club – 2/26

Welcome to In The Club, a newsletter of resources to keep your book group well-met, well-read, and well-fed. This week we’re talking re-reads and movie watchings, which I may just partake in by my literal self because writing it about it got me hyped?

While I decide on my preferred book/film combo, let me share a few suggestions with you. To the club!!


So you may have noticed that we like to have fun on our podcasts. I know I had a blast breaking down Such A Fun Age with Sharifah and el Jefe, and not just because I got paid to do it! As a listener, I have really been enjoying the main Book Riot podcast’s bonus episodes breaking down movie adaptations. This gave me the idea of bringing back the book + movie club idea. I really want to do this!

Nibbles and Sips 

I have been wanting to have a movie night for such a long time; make it bookish and I’m in times two! Arrange to meet at someone’s house (or some other event space/venue if you fancy) and have a spread of movie snacks at the ready:

  • Popcorn – Get the movie theater butter variety, duh.
  • Candy – Keep it classic with Red Vines, Milk Duds, Raisinettes, etc
  • Nachos – Yesss, melt that delicious fake processed cheese in that Crock Pot and slather it all on those corn chips! Have pickled jalapeños on deck or I’m not coming.
  • Beverages – You probs don’t have an Icee machine in house (props if you do!), so go with whatever quenches your thirst. Might just have a bottle of Coca Cola to keep it all the way real.

Read the Book, Watch the Flick

I picked a couple of the book/adaptation pairs that Jeff, Rebecca, and friends have covered on the pod recently as well as a couple of others I think would just be fun.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare – While there are numerous adaptations to choose from here, I think a great one for discussion is Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo + Juliet. Break down the setting (Verona as part Venice Beach, part Brazil?), the use of the traditional iambic pentameter in a modern setting, the soundtrack, and ALL of the symbolism (Catholic imagery! Drugs! Guns!) as it relates to the themes in one of the Bard’s most famous of tragedies.

Related: Jeff and Rebecca’s rewatch of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton – You know the premise: some smarty pants scientist man finds a dusty ol’ mosquito in a chunk of amber and decides it’s a good idea to harvest the dino DNA therein. The next logical step is of course to bring dinosaurs back and then stick ’em in a theme park. Foolproof plan, nothing could go wrong! I so, so want to do a re-read and rewatch of this one.

Related: I happened to be sitting next to Jeff as he edited the bonus pod episode covering Jurassic Park and was treated to several hilarious transcriptions snafus, recording anecdotes, and a whistled edition of the Jurassic Park theme song. Amanda joins Jeff and Rebecca for this one – check it out!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – Now might be good time to stipulate that this doesn’t have to be a re-read situation because ehhemI’veneverreadthisbook. No judgement if it’s your first time with a read! Whether you go with the 1966 film version or the one from 2018 HELLO because Michael B. Jordan is fine, there should be plenty to talk about regarding government suppression and misinformation.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – If you’re unfamiliar with this classic by the Queen of Crime, it’s all in the title, boo. There is a murder and it happens (gasp!) aboard the Orient Express. I urge you to pair this re-read with the most recent adaptation featuring Kenneth Branagh as Poirot and a whole lotta other famous people. I know one thing I’d like to unpack is the choice to depict Poirot as a man with a broken heart. He’s just fastidious, bruh. Did that have to be about a woman? Anyway, discuss!

Note: This version does start Johnny Depp which some of you may take issue with, and I get that. If it makes you feel any better—SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER, skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid SPOILERS— ol’ Johnny Boy’s character is the victim of the titular murder so you don’t have to look at him for too long.

Suggestion Section

In Rowlett, Texas, a mother and her son started a book club for members of the young man’s football team. The group of seventh grade teammates started out reading graphic novels (YES, so much yes) and have now incorporated traditional novels. Love this!

Kiley Reid, Tomi Adeyemi, and Jason Reynolds each shared several books for Black History Month with the Good Morning America Book Club. All of these reads are perfect for book club. I’m re-reading Danez Smith’s Homie now!

Club Stuff at the Riot

How to find a queer book club, or start one of your own!

Joining a book club can be an intimidating for an introvert, but it doesn’t have to be!


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, get it on the Read Harder podcast, and watch me booktube every Tuesday and Friday too.

Stay bad & bookish, my friends.
Vanessa

More Resources:
– Our Book Group In A Box guide
– List your group on the Book Group Resources page

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