Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much? Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles — the earned wisdom that helps her continue to “become.” She details her most valuable practices, like “starting kind,” “going high,” and assembling a “kitchen table” of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness. “When we are able to recognize our own light, we become empowered to use it,” writes Michelle Obama. A rewarding blend of powerful stories and profound advice that will ignite conversation, The Light We Carry inspires readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world. Reasons to read it: After writing one of the best-selling books of all time and a historic White House residency, you could do worse than turn to Michelle Obama for tips on overcoming fears, staying positive, and recognizing your worth. She shows how, through building community and optimism, we can all make it through this time of general uncertainty and seemingly constant crises. In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe comes another story of four new customers, each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Café Funiculi Funicula’s time-traveling offer. Along with some familiar faces from Kawaguchi’s previous novels, readers will also be introduced to a daughter, a comedian, a sister and a lover, each with something they wish they had said differently. With his signature heartwarming characters and immersive storytelling, Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time? Reasons to read it: Here’s a chance to travel back in time (again) through Kawaguchi’s café, where four new characters use the café’s magic to sort out feelings of grief, loneliness, and general discontent. These stories are fantastical while still being relatable. From award-winning editorial team Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight comes an anthology of 32 original stories showcasing the breadth of fantasy and science fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora. A group of cabinet ministers query a supercomputer containing the minds of the country’s ancestors. A child robot on a dying planet uncovers signs of fragile new life. A descendent of a rain goddess inherits her grandmother’s ability to change her appearance ― and perhaps the world. Created in the legacy of the seminal, award-winning anthology series Dark Matter, Africa Risen celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and reach of African and Afro-Diasporic SFF and reaffirms that Africa is not rising ― it’s already here. Reasons to read it: With stories that have as much levity as struggle and strife, this collection captures the brilliance of African and Afro-Diasporic SFF. And, at 528 pages, it’s a great opportunity to revel in your favorite authors’ writings while discovering new ones. The year is 1883 and the mining town of Goetia is booming as prospectors from near and far come to mine the powerful new element Divinity from the high mountains of Colorado with the help of the pariahs of society known as the Fallen. The Fallen are the descendants of demonkind living amongst the Virtues, the winners in an ancient war, with the descendants of both sides choosing to live alongside Abaddon’s mountain in this tale of the mythological West from the bestselling mastermind Rebecca Roanhorse. Reasons to read it: This is a fantastical western centered around Biblical themes that, despite its 208 pages, has excellent worldbuiding. If you love noir elements, fully imagined characters, and social commentary, you’ll need this dark fantasy. The novel Jonny Appleseed established Joshua Whitehead as one of the most exciting and important new literary voices on Turtle Island, winning both a Lambda Literary Award and Canada Reads 2021. In Making Love with the Land, his first nonfiction book, Whitehead explores the relationships between body, language, and land through creative essay, memoir, and confession. In prose that is evocative and sensual, unabashedly queer and visceral, raw and autobiographical, Whitehead writes of an Indigenous body in pain, coping with trauma. Deeply rooted within, he reaches across the anguish to create a new form of storytelling he calls “biostory” — beyond genre, and entirely sovereign. Through this narrative perspective, Making Love with the Land recasts mental health struggles and our complex emotional landscapes from a nefarious parasite on his (and our) well-being to kin, even a relation, no matter what difficulties they present to us. Whitehead ruminates on loss and pain without shame or ridicule but rather highlights waypoints for personal transformation. Written in the aftermath of heartbreak, before and during the pandemic, Making Love with the Land illuminates this present moment in which both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are rediscovering old ways and creating new ones about connection with and responsibility toward each other and the land. Intellectually audacious and emotionally compelling, Whitehead shares his devotion to the world in which we live and brilliantly — even joyfully — maps his experience on the land that has shaped stories, histories, and bodies from time immemorial. Reasons to read it: This mix of essays by poet and professor Joshua Whitehead tell the story of survivors, and are as joyous as they are dispiriting. He summons various aspects of himself — as a Two-Spirit person, a member of the Peguis First Nation, and an academic — to examine the lasting effects of colonialism and to highlight a way forward. After winning her mother’s freedom from the Celestial Emperor, Xingyin thrives in the enchanting tranquility of her home. But her fragile peace is threatened by the discovery of a strange magic on the moon and the unsettling changes in the Celestial Kingdom as the emperor tightens his grip on power. While Xingyin is determined to keep clear of the rising danger, the discovery of a shocking truth spurs her into a perilous confrontation. Forced to flee her home once more, Xingyin and her companions venture to unexplored lands of the Immortal Realm, encountering legendary creatures and shrewd monarchs, beloved friends and bitter adversaries. With alliances shifting quicker than the tides, Xingyin has to overcome past grudges and enmities to forge a new path forward, seeking aid where she never imagined she would. As an unspeakable terror sweeps across the realm, Xingyin must uncover the truth of her heart and claw her way through devastation — to rise against this evil before it destroys everything she holds dear, and the worlds she has grown to love…even if doing so demands the greatest price of all. Reasons to read it: Fellow fans of Daughter of the Moon Goddess will want to jump on this conclusion to the action-packed duology. Come for more of the adventure, vivid exploration of Chinese mythology, and the love triangle from the first book. Stay for even more character development, new enemies, excellent pacing, and an overall satisfying conclusion.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-21” author: “Gloria Daley”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast — a kirin — stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. Late at night, the body of a murdered man, stabbed in the chest, is found on the bridge, under the statue of the winged beast. However, that was not the crime scene — the man was killed a few hundred feet away and his body moved to that position. The same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man. The two have no known connection. Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder — and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. Why was the murder victim moved? What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga’s investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why. Reasons to read it: Pick this one up for another in the internationally bestselling series. This story is set in 2011, allowing for a modern look at Japanese society. Plus, this tight mystery has some great twists. Josefa can’t score it alone, so she enlists a team of girls with unique talents: Hinnah, a daring acrobat and contortionist; Violet, an actress and expert dissembler; and Emilie, an artist who can replicate any drawing by hand. They couldn’t be more different and yet they have one very important thing in common: their lives depend on breaking into the vault and capturing the Rubiyat. But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they’ve worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes. While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer… Reasons to read it: When I tell you I have been waiting for this one! Jaigirdar, a former Book Riot writer, describes it as “a sapphic heist novel set on the Titanic.” If that doesn’t get you hype to read it, it’s also told from the perspective of different characters with distinct personalities and motivations. It’s the shifting between these perspectives that helps build up to the high-stakes climax. When real estate developer Drake Faulkner learns that his ex — the one who ghosted him years ago — is a potential buyer for the property his eccentric mentor is selling, his competitive streak amps up. No way is he letting her win the property he wants. Bitter? Yes. Petty? Probably. But his mentor has a stipulation: potential buyers must participate in an Ironman competition of sorts for the property. Drake refuses to play along with this ridiculous demand, until he discovers Morgan has signed up. If Little Miss Can’t Run a Block Without Gasping for Air is doing it, he will too. But as the gauntlet of games heats up and forces them to face the past, they are met with a pull that feels all too familiar. Now, if only they could keep their eyes on the prize instead of on each other — but who’s to say they can’t do both? Reasons to read it: Between Drake’s teenage siblings — who he had to raise since they were two — and Morgan’s plans to help foster kids, this is a second-chance romance with a lot of heart. While this light read’s plot lines may be a little out there, it’s super fun nonetheless. Plus, the spiciness is chef’s kiss. In 1927, South Africa passes the Immorality Act, prohibiting sexual intercourse between “Europeans” (white people) and “natives” (Black people). Those who break the draconian new law face imprisonment — for men of up to five years; for women, four years. Abram and his wife Alisa have their share of marital problems, but they also have a comfortable life in South Africa with their two young girls. But then the Act is passed. Alisa is Black, and their two children are now evidence of their involvement in a union that has been criminalized by the state. At first, Alisa and Abram question how they’ll be affected by the Act, but then officials start asking questions at the girls’ school, and their estate is catalogued for potential disbursement. Abram is at a loss as to how to protect his young family from the grinding machinery of the law, whose worst discriminations have until now been kept at bay by the family’s economic privilege. And with this, his hesitation, the couple’s bond is tattered. Alisa, who is Jamaican and the descendant of enslaved people, was adopted by a wealthy white British couple. But as she grew older and realized that the prejudices of British society made no allowance for her, she journeyed to South Africa where she met Abram. In the aftermath of the Immorality Act, she comes to a heartbreaking conclusion based on her past and collective history — and she commits her own devastating act, one that will reverberate through their entire family’s lives. Intertwining her storytelling with ritual, myth, and the heart-wrenching question of who stays and who leaves, Scatterlings marks the debut of a gifted storyteller who has become a sensation in her native South Africa — and promises to take the Western literary world by storm as well. Reasons to read it: This is a poetic and lyrical novel that shows the toll racist policy takes on families. The writing can be as dreamy as it can be scathing, and South African lore is worked in beautifully. Valerie has been forgetting things. She suspects that she’s suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s, just like her mother had — but if she is, she thinks stubbornly, best not to involve doctors. She wants to live as many years as she can on her own terms. Valerie’s daughter Kendra worries about her being all alone in her big Victorian home, one rumored to be haunted after a tragedy decades earlier, and truth be told, she is a little lonely. With few options, she asks her estranged 25-year-old son Hudson to move in. It’s not quite the reunion she expected. He’s taciturn, moody, and frequently gone to hang out with his deadbeat friends. But it’s a start. Then, a week later, a young woman is found murdered in her home a block from Valerie’s place. A woman they’d been introduced to a few nights before. Val remembers the way Hudson looked at her. And, she recalls nervously, the night of her death, Hudson had been out until after three in the morning, after receiving and ominous texts from a woman he’d dubbed “Blondie.” It’s a horrible thing to even wonder…but this isn’t the first suspicious case Hudson’s been tied to. Valerie is now forced to confront all the memories of odd behavior she’d discounted when her son was younger. Preoccupied with her career and a secret affair with a band mate, she’d chalked it up to normal boy behavior. A phase he’d grow out of. But now she wonders if she’s enabled a monster. A monster she is living with, alone. Reasons to read it: Shifting perspectives and twists keep this mystery/thriller engaging, and the creepy Victorian house adds a nice touch. Pick this one up for interesting characters and intriguing histories — and to find out if Valerie’s house is really the hot mess the blurb hints at. Twenty-five years ago, after her maternal grandmother’s death, Robin Coste Lewis discovered a stunning collection of photographs in an old suitcase under her bed, filled with everything from sepia tintypes to Technicolor Polaroids. Lewis’s family had survived one of the largest migrations in human history, when six million Americans fled the South, attempting to escape from white supremacy and white terrorism. But these photographs of daily twentieth-century Black life revealed a concealed, interior history. The poetry Lewis joins to these vivid images stands forth as an inspiring alternative to the usual ways we frame the old stories of “race” and “migration,” placing them within a much vaster span of time and history. In what she calls “a film for the hands” and “an origin myth for the future,” Lewis reverses our expectations of both poetry and photography: “Black pages, black space, black time — the Big Black Bang.” From glamorous outings to graduations, birth announcements, baseball leagues, and back-porch delight, Lewis creates a lyrical documentary about Black intimacy. Instead of colonial nostalgia, she offers us “an exalted Black privacy.” What emerges is a dynamic reframing of what it means to be human and alive, with Blackness at its center. “I am trying / to make the gods / happy,” she writes amid these portraits of her ancestors. “I am trying to make the dead / clap and shout.” Reasons to read it: I love books that promise a look into intimate histories — especially when the history is of Black Americans, whose stories have a history of being silenced. This collection is a creative celebration of Blackness.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-06” author: “James Upham”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
After years of hard work in a factory outside of Santiago, Chile, Ramón accepts a peculiar job: to look after a Coca-Cola billboard located by the highway. And it doesn’t take long for Ramón to make an even more peculiar decision: to make the billboard his new home. Twelve-year-old Miguel is enchanted by his uncle’s unusual living arrangement, but the neighborhood is buzzing with gossip, declaring Ramón a madman bringing shame to the community. As he visits his uncle in a perch above it all, Miguel comes to see a different perspective, and finds himself wondering what he believes ― has his uncle lost his mind, as everyone says? Is madness ― and the need for freedom ― contagious? Or is Ramón the only one who can see things as they really are, finding a deeper meaning in a life they can’t understand from the ground? When a local boy disappears, tensions erupt and forgotten memories come to the surface. And Miguel, no longer perched in the billboard with his uncle, witnesses the reality on the ground: a society that, in the name of peace, is not afraid to use violence. With sharp humor and a deep understanding of a child’s mind, How to Turn Into a Bird is a powerful tale of coming-of-age, loss of innocence, and shifting perspectives that asks us: how far outside of our lives must we go to really see things clearly? Reasons to read it: This enchanting story is one of eccentricities and belonging. As the tension builds to a violent climax, Miguel’s openness to others is contrasted with the general closed-mindedness of the surrounding society, making this a great comment on how we treat those who are different. How do we experience attraction? What does love mean to us? When did you realise you were ace? This is the ace community in their own words. Drawing upon interviews with a wide range of people across the asexual spectrum, Eris Young is here to take you on an empowering, enriching journey through the rich multitudes of asexual life. With chapters spanning everything from dating, relationships and sex, to mental and emotional health, family, community and joy, the inspirational stories and personal experiences within these pages speak to aces living and loving in unique ways. Find support amongst the diverse narratives of aces sex-repulsed and sex-favourable, alongside voices exploring what it means to be black and ace, to be queer and ace, or ace and multi-partnered — and use it as a springboard for your own ace growth. Do you see a story like your own? Reasons to read it: This is a great addition to the collection of materials out there that bring visibility to a section of the queer community that doesn’t get as much as it should. This gives definitions as well as historical context for a well-rounded understanding of asexuality. — Colonized by the descendants of Earth’s West African Dogon Tribe, the planet of Swazembi is a blazing, color-rich utopia and famous vacation center of the galaxy. No one is used to serious trouble in this idyllic, peace-loving world, least of all the Rare Indigo. But Lileala’s perfect, pampered lifestyle is about to be shattered. The unthinkable happens and her glorious midnight skin becomes infected with a mysterious disease. Where her skin should glisten like diamonds mixed with coal, instead it scabs and scars. On top of that, she starts to hear voices in her head, and everything around her becomes confusing and frightening. Lileala’s destiny, however, goes far beyond her beauty. While searching for a cure, she stumbles upon something much more valuable. A new power awakens inside her, and she realizes her whole life, and the galaxy with it, is about to change… Reasons to read it: The worldbuilding here is lush and full of Dogon mythology, making the land of Swazembi feel vibrant and like a world you’d want to get lost in. This is an Afrofuturist tale that is bursting with color and will have you rethinking how you see beauty. The epitome of floral beauty, orchids have long fostered works of art, tales of adventure, and scientific discovery. Tenacious plant hunters have traversed continents to collect rare specimens; naturalists and shoguns have marveled at orchids’ seductive architecture; royalty and the smart set have adorned themselves with their allure. In Orchid Muse, historian and home grower Erica Hannickel gathers these bold tales of the orchid-smitten throughout history, while providing tips on cultivating the extraordinary flowers she features. The story of orchidomania is one that spans the globe, transporting readers from the glories of the palace gardens of Chinese Empress Cixi to a seedy dime museum in Gilded Age New York’s Tenderloin, from hazardous jungles to the greenhouses and bookshelves of Victorian collectors. Lush and inviting, with radiant full-color illustrations throughout, Orchid Muse is the ultimate celebration of our enduring fascination with these beguiling flowers. Reasons to read it: I didn’t know I needed this microhistory of orchids, but here we are. With rich writing and extensive research, Hannickel takes us from 3,000 years of Chinese orchid breeding to Frida Kahlo, detailing the orchid-loving historical figures in between. As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature. Told in four parts — power, water, light, and time — The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness. Reasons to read it: Brooks-Dalton paints a vivid picture of a dystopian Florida that’s been ravaged by climate change. Nature is its own character, and while a lot of this story is soberingly close to reality, to say the least, there’s also hope. Young kitchen witch Planchette gets an incredible deal on a new house in a magical town. Turns out, there’s a reason: it’s haunted! After unsuccessfully attempting to get these unwanted ghosts to leave, she realizes the only thing to do is to help them with their problems. Along the way, she befriends a shy siren who hates being popular, a girl battling a curse, and a magically-challenged witch from a powerful coven. Reasons to read it: Young. Kitchen. Witch. Obviously, we all want to read cute graphic novels about young kitchen witches, and this is just as heartwarming, cutesy, and cozy as the cover promises. It’s also about friendship. cue all the heart emojis
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-21” author: “Samual Shappell”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
Lush, sensuous, and deeply romantic, The Book of Everlasting Things is the story of two lovers and two nations, split apart by forces beyond their control, yet bound by love and memory. Filled with exquisite descriptions of perfume and calligraphy, spanning continents and generations, Aanchal Malhotra’s debut novel is a feast for the senses and the heart. Reasons to read it: The parts of this book that talk about the ancient practices of calligraphy and perfumery give it a kind of wondrous feel, but the main draw of the story may be the firsthand account of Partition. In Malhotra’s hands, this critical time in history is given a personal touch, which only serves to show just how much was lost and changed. Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain — questions about college, love, and life in general. Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax. The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed. Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game. Reasons to read it: Stevie Bell, the quirky amateur sleuth, is back! And this time she’s in the land of scones. The overseas aspect adds an interesting element to the story, and the new characters who are introduced — although they are legion — have intriguing backstories and realistic character development. The mystery itself gives Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None–type teas and its conclusion is satisfying. Tori Dunlap was always good with money. As a kid, she watched her prudent parents balance their checkbook every month and learned to save for musical tickets by gathering pennies in an Altoids tin. At the age of 9, she started a vending machine business, and sold it at the end of high school before going off to college — where she discovered that her experience with money was pretty unusual, especially among her female friends. It wasn’t their fault. Investigating this financial literacy and wealth gap, Tori found that girls are significantly less likely to receive a holistic financial education; they’re taught to restrain their spending, while boys are taught about investing and rewarded for pursuing wealth. In adulthood, women are hounded by an unfounded image of them as frivolous spenders whose lattes are to blame for the wealth gap. They’re paid less, perceived more negatively than men when they negotiate for more, and, predictably, end up with less capital to invest. Then when something like, say, a global pandemic happens, they’re the first to have jobs cut and the last to re-enter the workforce. Believing there’s no equality without financial equality, Tori founded Her First $100K to teach women to overcome the unique obstacles standing in the way of their financial freedom. In Financial Feminist, she distills the principles of her shame- and judgment-free approach to paying off debt, figuring out your value categories to spend mindfully, saving money without monk-like deprivation, and investing in order to spend your retirement tanning in Tulum. Featuring journaling prompts, deep-dives into the invisible aspects of the financial landscape, and interviews with experts on everything money — from predatory credit card companies to the racial wealth gap and voting with your dollars — Financial Feminist is the ultimate guide to making your money work harder for you than you do for it. Reasons to read it: Living in a capitalistic society unfortunately means participating in capitalism, but what if capitalism wasn’t made for you? People who fall under that umbrella seem to be exactly who Dunlap wrote this book for. I haven’t read this book yet, so I don’t know how well it adheres to Dunlap’s promises of inclusivity, but more books need to be written to help marginalized people get ahead financially, so I’m all for its premise. Marrying a billionaire will fulfill this struggling artist’s dreams — and enable her to make a difference. But exposing the truth will put all her convictions on one dangerous line…Coming from a troubled youth, Morgan Faraday grabs every opportunity to up-level her life. So she definitely plans to keep oil company heir Sebastian Reid interested…all the way to the altar. He’s brilliant, supportive, and is turning his billion-dollar company green to make up for his ancestors’ exploitation. With him, Morgan can have love, money, and the power to make the world better. And securing her future is far more important than the attractive environmental activist she suddenly has unexpected feelings for. But once Morgan gets a glimpse of Sebastian’s secret allies and confidential emails, she’s stunned to find he’s only talking a good game. His company is responsible for several ecological disasters, and a chance encounter makes it clear to Morgan the lengths he’ll go to stay on top. To gather enough evidence to expose him, Morgan will have to rely on her quick wits and new friends to stay one step ahead of a corporate conspiracy. But as the danger comes closer, will Morgan put herself first and run — or face down the risk, even at her cost of her life? Reasons to read it: Okay, so love interest turned person protagonist spies on is a trope I don’t come across often, and this story adds other interesting things to it, like environmental activism and romance. Pick this one up for a fast, fun read that has some intriguing plot points. Brandi Maxwell is living the dream as an intern at prestigious New York fashion house Simon Van Doren. Except “living the dream” looks more like scrubbing puke from couture dresses worn by hard-partying models and putting up with microaggressions from her white colleagues. Still, she can’t help but fangirl over Simon’s it-girl daughter, Taylor. Until one night, at a glamorous Van Doren party, when Brandi overhears something she shouldn’t have, and her fate becomes dangerously intertwined with Taylor’s. Model and influencer Taylor Van Doren has everything…and is this close to losing it all. Her fashion mogul father will donate her inheritance to charity if she fails her next drug test, and he’s about to marry someone nearly as young as Taylor, further threatening her stake in the family fortune. But Taylor deserves the money that’s rightfully hers. And she’ll go to any lengths to get it, even if that means sacrificing her famous father in the process. All she needs is the perfect person to take the fall… Reasons to read it: And I oop! Is exactly the energy I had when I read the title. The story hinges on something Brandi, the intern, hears at a party at Simon Van Doren’s house. What follows is a fast-paced thriller that will admittedly have you frustrated as it contends with racism and privilege. It’s also got some spice to it for good measure. Warrior Duff Kallum MacNeill has long guarded the secret of his late-night avenger campaigns. When the Highlander sets out to free the latest group of Moors enslaved in the King’s court and kidnaps a servant lass without the good sense to know she needs freeing, his plans to drop her at the England border and keep hidden his double life go awry. While attending court three years ago, Ailsa Connery got separated from her escort and forced into servitude despite her claim of being a free woman of the Highlands. Unaware that her separation was no accident, the enterprising lass plots her escape only to be interrupted by a misguided skelpie-monger set on playing hero. Unsure whether her unwanted savior is friend or foe, she must find a way to guard her identity yet convince him to lead her to the edge of her homeland. With his progress constantly hindered by Ailsa’s refusal to cooperate, Kallum’s left with no choice but to take her with him to the Highlands. By the time they get to the dangerous border of MacNeill-Connery land, Kallum’s well aware he’s not the only one keeping secrets. But he’s ill prepared for the crushing realization that his heart’s been stolen by a feisty hellion with family ties to his fiercest enemies and at least one of those enemies may not, in fact, plan to welcome her home. Reasons to read it: Did I know there were Black Highlanders in Scotland way back when? No. Am I overjoyed to read about them doing a little of ye olde Netflix and chill with a bonnie lass? Absolutely. And the slow build up to the steamy scenes add to the payout. Get ready for a more gritty historical romance that centers Black people.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-03” author: “Lauren Kelly”
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album — and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder. As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred — and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind. Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge — and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends. Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle — the birthplace of Frankenstein — The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy. Reasons to read it: An inspired-by list that places the good sis Stevie Nicks next to the Manson Murders and Mary Shelley’s creation is…unexpected to say the least. But how Hawkins weaves together that combination, plus the gothic aspect, make this an intriguing thriller to pick up. And folksx who like reading about words will appreciate the importance placed on writing in this book. If you’ve liked other Hawkins books, you’re bound to like this one. Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes…except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine. Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption — yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.) These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her. Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed…or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship? Reasons to read it: I loved, loved, loved Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy, and have been anxiously awaiting their YA debut. This book, as is the case with Hibbert’s other books, is refreshing in its portrayal of mental health struggles, body diversity, and interesting main characters. Not to mention the growth! Their characters always experience personal growth that feels fitting for them. Between the banter, fun characters, and their chemistry, I’m sure this will convert you into a Hibbert-lover forever. On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys — as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself — have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves. Now each of the six faces a choice. Nan, the doctoring woman, has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. But a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further. And should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe. Visceral and arresting, Night Wherever We Go illuminates each woman’s individual trials and desires while painting a subversive portrait of collective defiance. Unflinching in her portrayal of America’s gravest injustices, while also deeply attentive to the transcendence, love, and solidarity of women whose interior lives have been underexplored, Tracey Rose Peyton creates a story of unforgettable power. Reasons to read it: The last paragraph of the official book blurb encapsulates what attracted me to this book. It takes a lot for me to want to read about slavery, as I prefer my books to have more Black joy in them, but Night Wherever We Go shows the joy Black women experienced. It shows the pain and struggle, too, of course, but a lot of the story is focused on the bonds formed between the main characters and how enriching they were. We need more stories that show the inner lives of Black Americans of the past. At the heart of the story is the nameless narrator, the piano tuner. In his forties, he is balding and ugly, a loser by any standard. But he was once a musical prodigy. What betrayal and what heartbreak made him walk away from greatness? Long hailed in Taiwan as a “writer’s writer,” Chiang-Sheng Kuo delivers a stunningly powerful, compact novel in The Piano Tuner. It’s a book of sounds: both of music and of the heart, from Rachmaninoff to Schubert, from Glenn Gould to Sviatoslav Richter, from untapped potential to unrequited love. With a cadence and precision that bring to mind Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes, and Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country, this short novel may be a portrait of the artist as a “failure,” but it also describes a pursuit of the ultimate beauty in music and in love. Reasons to read it: I came across an explanation of how some of the title’s original meaning got lost in translation: the original Chinese title is “Seeker of Pianos,” with the second character having the double meaning of “piano”/”love.” The potential Seeker of Pianos/Seeker of Love double meaning sets up a story in which lyrical depictions of music are interwoven with how love shapes us. Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped. For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray — a place she’d never visited — had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended. Nearly 20 years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth. Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget. Reasons to read it: This slow-burning story features a host of characters within an atmospheric setting, which — from the raging sea to the blackhouse — feels like a living character itself. Altogether, this is a uniquely claustrophobic and disconcerting tale with notes of otherworldliness. “Shroff captures the complexity of female friendship with acuity, wit, and a certain kind of magic irreverence. . . . The Bandit Queens is tender, unpredictable, and brimming with laugh-out-loud moments.” — Téa Obreht, The New York Times best-selling author of The Tiger’s Wife Five years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. As in, she actually lost him — he walked out on her and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. And it’s a rumor that just won’t die. It turns out that being known as a “self-made” widow comes with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her, or tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry. Freedom must look good on Geeta, because now other women are asking for her“expertise,” making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal. And not all of them are asking nicely. With Geeta’s dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she’s built — but even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry. What happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything, not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village. Filled with clever criminals, second chances, and wry and witty women, Parini Shroff’s The Bandit Queens is a razor-sharp debut of humor and heart that readers won’t soon forget. Reasons to read it: This book is expectantly funny, but it also tackles things like the pursuit of freedom from abuse. The characters are well thought out, and there’s great female friendship, but don’t get it twisted, this book is definitely for when you’re in an extra kind of mood, which, I’m obviously usually in.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Wilbert Cameron”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
For Harry, this is that story at last. With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief. Reasons to read it: Ahead of the release of this memoir, there were already news outlets reporting how it details a physical altercation between Harry and his brother William. This, I think, is a good example of the reasons to pick this one up — there are somber moments, but it’s the messiness of the royal family that will be the major draw. Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory ― even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale. Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls. Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters. Reasons to read it: If you like your dark academia extra dark, this fantasy thriller will get you right. Bardugo continues to stun with clever writing, well-timed humor, and intriguing characters set against interesting world building. Stephen King even said “Bardugo’s imaginative reach is brilliant.” In the 1800s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in the American south, young Lensinda Martin works for a crusading Black journalist. One night, a neighboring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman who recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before she can be condemned for the crime. But the old woman doesn’t want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal an interwoven history of Black and Indigenous peoples in a wide swath of what is called North America. As time runs out, Lensinda is challenged to uncover her past and face her fears in order to make good on the bargain of a story for a story. And it seems the old woman may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda’s destiny. Traveling along the path of the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Michigan, from the Indigenous nations around the Great Lakes, to the Black refugee communities of Canada, In the Upper Country weaves together unlikely stories of love, survival, and familial upheaval that map the interconnected history of the peoples of North America in an entirely new and resonant way. Reasons to read it: By setting this story in Canadian and emphasizing Black and Indigenous relations, Thomas adds another layer to the narrative of North American slavery — one that isn’t often explored. In the Upper Country’s writing is lyrical as it unfurls a past and preset that are interwoven. When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears. Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too — a murder of crows stalks her every move around the city, she wakes up from a dream of drowning throwing up water, and gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina — Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone. Traveling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams — and make them more dangerous. What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside? Reasons to read it: Johns utilizes horror tropes to work out the ramifications of generational trauma to perfect effect. Her writing is descriptive while still being contained. Pick this one up for a chilling narrative that’s about spirits and ghosts, but also about healing. So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hransvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of her research, and utterly confound and frustrate Emily. But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones —the most elusive of all faeries — lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all — her own heart. Reasons to read it: This cozy, academic fantasy is whimsical and endearing with delicious banter between Emily and Wendell. It’s not all fun and games, though: the charming fuzziness is countered with some terrifying moments. Miyazaki fans will probably be pleasantly reminded of Howl’s Moving Castle. If you know, you know. In the wake of her parents’ death, Aretha, a habitually single Black lawyer, has had only one obsession in life —success — until she falls for Aaron, a coffee entrepreneur. Moving into his Brooklyn brownstone to live along with his Hurricane Sandy-traumatized, illegal-gun-stockpiling, optimized-soy-protein-eating, bunker-building roommates, Aretha finds that her dreams of making partner are slipping away, replaced by an underground world, one of selling guns and training for a doomsday that’s maybe just around the corner. For readers of Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, and Zakiya Harris’s The Other Black Girl, The Survivalists is a darkly humorous novel from a smart and relevant new literary voice that’s packed with tension, curiosity and wit, and unafraid to ask the questions most relevant to a new generation of Americans: Does it make sense to climb the corporate ladder? What exactly are the politics of gun ownership? And in a world where it’s nearly impossible for young people to earn enough money to afford stable housing, what does it take in order to survive? Reasons to read it: The Survivalists has a lot going on, in the best way. Cauley’s experience as an attorney peppers Aretha’s professional life in the book with authenticity, and the writing balances humor, social commentary, and suspense well, making for such an entertaining reading experience.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-28” author: “Arline Krause”
Reasons to read it: Hooking up with your best friend’s mom has to be thee definition of messy, and this book is as fun as you’d expect for something with such a messy premise. The sapphic girlies love its characterization, spice, and forbidden romance (Book Twitter has deemed it “the MILF book”). You will fly through this one. Reasons to read it: Millet’s writing is beautiful as always and Dinosaurs is overall a thought-provoking and contemplative novel that asks how we can show up for ourselves and those we care about. If you loved Millet’s National Book Award-nominated A Children’s Bible, you’ll want to pick this one up. In present day New Orleans, Xuan Trung, former beauty queen–turned-refugee after the Fall of Saigon, is obsessed with divining her daughters’ fates through their Vietnamese zodiac signs. But Trac, Nhi, and Trieu diverge completely from their immigrant parents’ expectations. Successful lawyer Trac hides her sexuality from her family; Nhi competes as the only woman of color on a Bachelor-esque reality TV show; and Trieu, a budding writer, is determined to learn more about her familial and cultural past. As the three sisters each begin to encounter strange glimpses of long-buried secrets from their ancestors, the story of the Trung women unfurls to reveal the dramatic events that brought them to America. Moving backwards in time, E.M. Tran takes us into the high school classrooms of New Orleans to Saigon beauty pageants to twentieth century rubber plantations, traversing a century as the Trungs are both estranged and united by the ghosts of their tumultuous history. A “haunted story of resilience and survival” (Meng Jin, Little Gods), Daughters of the New Year is an addictive, high-wire act of storytelling and mythmaking, illuminating an entire lineage of extraordinary women fighting to reclaim the power they’ve been stripped of for centuries. Reasons to read it: Those of us who love multigenerational tales will appreciate how this one mixes it up a bit by going backwards in time. The different points of view throughout allow for a fully fleshed out view of the Trunk women, and the emphasis on Vietnamese food offers an almost multi-sensory experience. Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences — the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost. To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process. Reasons to read it: The sequel to The Witch Haven comes just in time for spooky season. This continues Frances’ story in the early 1900s as she travels from New York City to Paris, France where she learns the terrible consequences of her actions. Speed through the first in the series if you haven’t already and then pick up this one for the magical combination of witchiness + 1913 Paris. Fatima Ali won the hearts of viewers as the season fifteen “Fan Favorite” of Bravo’s Top Chef. At twenty-nine years old, she was a dynamic, boundary-breaking chef and a bright new voice for change in the food world. After the taping wrapped and before the show aired, Fati was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Not one to ever slow down or admit defeat, the star chef vowed to spend her final year traveling the world, eating delicious food, and making memories with her loved ones. But when her condition abruptly worsened, her plans were sidelined. She pivoted, determined to make her final days count as she worked to tell the story of a brown girl chef who set out to make a name for herself, her food, and her culture. Including writing from Fatima during her last months and contributions by her mother, Farezeh, and her collaborator, Tarajia Morrell, this deftly woven memoir is an inspiring ode to the food, family, and countries Fatima loved so much. Flashing between past and present, readers are transported back to Pakistan and the childhoods of both Fatima and Farezeh, each deeply affected by the cultural barriers they faced, shaping the course of their lives. From the rustic stalls of the outdoor markets of Karachi to the kitchen and dining room of Meadowood, the acclaimed three-star Michelin restaurant where Fatima apprenticed, Fati reflects on her life and her identity as a chef, a daughter, and a queer woman butting up against traditional views. This triumphant memoir is at once an exploration of the sense of wonder that made Fatima so special, and a shining testament to the resilience of the human spirit. It is, at its core, a story about what it means to truly live, a profound and exquisite portrait of savoring every moment. Reasons to read it: This heartrending memoir will take you through Fatima Ali’s life and her love of food, though her eyes, her mothers, and one of her collaborator’s. Ali was truly extraordinary and reading her memoir will illustrate exactly why she came to be a Top Chef fan favorite. Mohsin Hamid, author of The Last White Man and Exit West said “Savor is moving, heartbreaking, and defiantly hopeful.” Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they’d met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin’s better judgement — how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad? — she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night. What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
Rain makes vivid this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads across the country and around the world, threatening everything young lovers Honeysuckle and Yolanda hold dear. So begins a gripping graphic-novel presentation of New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill’s acclaimed novella, adapted by David M. Booker (Canto) and Zoe Thorogood (The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott). Also features a bonus art gallery and an all-new introduction by author Joe Hill! Reasons to read it: This queer story is for people who like books that’ll make them ugly cry. It’s suspenseful, heartrending, violent, and asks important questions. Pick this up if you’d like a beautifully illustrated dystopian graphic novel.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Helen Kish”
Reasons to Read it: Read this for a perspective that we don’t see enough of in literature. The experiences of the queer, Arab writers who contributed to the collection ranges from joy to pain to pride, and include everyday life and humor. Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil co-parenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date. But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life — and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life. Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where the epilogue for the “gripping, pulse-pounding” (Sarah Pekkanen, author of Perfect Neighbors) bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband, it proves that “no one delivers an emotional read like Colleen Hoover” (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author). Reasons to Read it: Fans of TikTok darling Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us will want to know the next chapter of Lily’s life. The first book handled the issue of domestic violence with sincerity and care, and this sequel does the same for Lily as a survivor. The romance brewing between her and Atlas is shown alongside her everyday struggles as a single mother, like breastfeeding and trying to start over after leaving an abusive marriage. Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind. Reasons to Read it: This is the best kind of retelling — one that injects its story with relevant context surrounding the original, subverts expectations, and even draws parallels between the original story and current issues. Despite these connections, readers don’t need to have read Dickens’ David Copperfield to get the most out of this novel that paints a scathing portrait of how difficult life is for poor people in the U.S. Including Naveen Desai, the very first match she unceremoniously rejected. Lately Naveen’s been too focused on keeping his sick grandfather’s law firm afloat to think about love, and he’s stunned when Mira walks back into his life to settle her aunt’s affairs. He’s determined to keep things professional…though it’s impossible not to be intrigued by all of the secrets piling up around Mira. If getting back together with an ex is a bad idea, getting kidnapped with one is even worse. Suddenly, Naveen and Mira find themselves in a mad dash through Las Vegas to escape jewel thieves, evade crime bosses, and follow the clues to untangle the mess her family left behind. As her past comes back to haunt her, Mira despairs of ever finding someone who might understand her…but maybe, over the course of one wild night, she’ll find that he’s right by her side. Reasons to Read it: With the kidnapping + romance plot, I can’t help but be reminded of the movie The Lost City with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum that was released this earlier year. Obviously, this takes place in Las Vegas, as opposed to the movie’s jungle, but it’s still just as action-packed and full of twists. This is bound to be a quick and fun read. Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene’s recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret — but it’s not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they’ve needed to keep others out. And now they’re worried they’re keeping a murderer in. Irene’s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept — his calendar is wide open. And his secret is the kind of secret the Lamontaines understand. Andy had never imagined a world like Lavender House. He’s seduced by the safety and freedom found behind its gates, where a queer family lives honestly and openly. But that honesty doesn’t extend to everything, and he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy — and Irene’s death is only the beginning. When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House can’t lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business. Reasons to Read it: Pick this one up for a queer cozy mystery that gives a glimpse of what queer life was in the ’50s, including what it was like to live with a found family. The twists and mystery are fun, but so are the characters, who may even be the main draw. They and their struggles are so realistically portrayed and pull you deeper into the story. This was the collection that established Samanta Schweblin at the forefront of a new generation of Latin American writers. And now in English it will push her cult status to new heights. Seven Empty Houses is an entrypoint into a fiercely original mind, and a slingshot into Schweblin’s destablizing, exhilarating literary world. In each story, the twists and turns will unnerve and surprise: Schweblin never takes the expected path and instead digs under the skin and reveals uncomfortable truths about our sense of home, of belonging, and of the fragility of our connections with others. This is a masterwork from one of our most brilliant writers. Reasons to Read it: This is a finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Fiction. Its tales of domestic life are atmospheric and more than a little disconcerting. Schweblin has a knack for writing eerie stories with minimalist prose. From a military base in the Gulf to loving whispers caught between the bedsheets; and from touring overseas as a drag queen to a concert in Cairo where the rainbow flag was raised to a crowd of thousands, this collection celebrates the true colours of a vibrant Arab queer experience.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-10” author: “Jana Leanos”
Traversing the American South, from the garrulous barrooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness. Reasons to read it: It’s been years since McCarthy’s last novel was published, and while this novel is a bit of a deviation from his usual (less blood!), it still has many of the great elements that fans of the author have come to love. This is a complex, at times fragmented novel about a haunted man and a return to form for McCarthy. It’s the summer of 1964 and three innocent men are brutally murdered for trying to help Black Mississippians secure the right to vote. Against this backdrop, 22-year-old Violet Richards finds herself in more trouble than she’s ever been in her life. Suffering a brutal attack of her own, she kills the man responsible. But with the color of Violet’s skin, there is no way she can escape Jim Crow justice in Jackson, Mississippi. Before anyone can find the body or finger her as the killer, she decides to run. With the help of her white beau, Violet escapes. But desperation and fear leads her to hide out in the small rural town of Chillicothe, Georgia, unaware that danger may be closer than she thinks. Back in Jackson, Marigold, Violet’s older sister, has dreams of attending law school. Working for the Mississippi Summer Project, she has been trying to use her smarts to further the cause of the Black vote. But Marigold is in a different kind of trouble: she’s pregnant and unmarried. After news of Huxley’s murder brings the police to her door, Marigold sees no choice but to flee Jackson too. She heads North seeking the promise of a better life and no more segregation. But has she made a terrible choice that threatens her life and that of her unborn child? Two sisters on the run — one from the law, the other from social shame. What they don’t realize is that there’s a man hot on their trail. This man has his own brand of dark secrets and a disturbing motive for finding the sisters that is unknown to everyone but him… Reasons to read it: Readers who liked All Her Little Secrets may like Morris’s second book even more. The shift in point of view between the two sisters helps readers get to know each one and become more invested in this realistic, page-turning thriller. Meet the mystical women and nonbinary people from U.S. history who found strength through the supernatural — and those who are still forging the way today. From the celebrity spirit mediums of the 19th century to contemporary activist witches hexing the patriarchy, these icons have long used magic and mysticism to seize the power they’re so often denied. Organized around different approaches women in particular have taken to the occult over the decades — using the supernatural for political gain, seeking fame and fortune as spiritual practitioners, embracing their witchy identities, and more—this book shines a light on under appreciated magical pioneers, including: ✦ Dion Fortune, who tried to marshal a magical army against Adolf Hitler ✦ Bri Luna, the Hoodwitch, social media star and serious magical practitioner ✦ Joan Quigley, personal psychic to Nancy Reagan ✦ Marie Laveau, voodoo queen of New Orleans ✦ Elvira, queer goth sex symbol who defied the Satanic Panic ✦ And many more! Reasons to read it: I mean…it’s spooky season. This is about witches, etc. etc. If you need more reason than that, this book does an excellent job of exploring the cultural and racial differences concerning occult practices between women and nonbinary people. Larimar Cintrón works hard at three things: her job as brand manager for Beacon Café, a New York based corporate bakery chain; taking care of her parents and her abuela; and hiding that she’s a ciguapa — a mythical creature of Dominican folklore with long, straight hair and backwards-facing feet. Larimar may only be a ciguapa on full moons, but she feels like an outsider in her family the rest of the month too. Her love of ’90s punk rock music and style further sets her apart. But when her best friend introduces her to Ray, a bakery owner and fellow punk rock lover, Larimar thinks she may have finally found someone with whom she can be her true self. As Beacon’s brand manager, Larimar oversees all new location openings, including its newest store in New Jersey, which could be the project that finally lands her a coveted promotion. But when she discovers the location is right across from Ray’s bakery, Borrachitos, Larimar is torn between impressing her boss and saving Ray’s business. As Larimar continues to grow closer to Ray and the new store’s opening looms, she struggles to hide the truth about herself and her job. But embracing her magical nature may be the only way Larimar can have everything she wants. Witty and poignant, A Touch of Moonlight is a celebration of heritage, culture, and identity — of embracing yourself and finding your place in the world. Reasons to read it: Pick this one up for a cute romance with Dominican folklore that gets bonus points for mouthwatering descriptions of Dominican food! Between Larimar and Ray, stereotypes are dashed and self-love embraced. And, it’s refreshing to see the main female protagonist being the mythological creature in a paranormal romance. In “We Kin” he thinks about the garden (especially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come on) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in “Share Your Bucket” he explores skateboarding’s reclamation of public space; he considers the costs of masculinity in “Grief Suite;” and in “Through My Tears I Saw,” he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying. In an era when divisive voices take up so much air space, Inciting Joy offers a vital alternative: What might be possible if we turn our attention to what brings us together, to what we love? Full of energy, curiosity, and compassion, Inciting Joy is essential reading from one of our most brilliant writers. Reasons to read it: In the midst of all that is wrong with the world, Gay continues to show us ways of coping and even finding joy. Pick this up to feel lighter and more gracious all around. As the internationally best-selling historian Katie Hickman writes, “Myth and misunderstanding spring from the American frontier as readily as rye grass from sod, and — like the wiry grass — seem as difficult to weed out and discard.” But the true-life story of women’s experiences in the Wild West is more gripping, heart-rending, and stirring than all the movies, novels, folk legends, and ballads of popular imagination. Hard-drinking, hard-living poker players and prostitutes of the new boom towns; wives and mothers traveling two and a half thousand miles across the prairies in covered-wagon convoys, some of them so poor they walked the entire route; African American women in search of freedom from slavery; Chinese sex-workers sold openly on the docks of San Francisco; Native American women brutally displaced by the unstoppable tide of white settlers — all were women forced to draw on huge reserves of resilience and courage in the face of tumultuous change. Drawing on letters, diaries, and other extraordinary contemporary accounts, sifting through the legends and the myths, the laws and the treaties, Katie Hickman presents us with cast of unforgettable women: the half Cree, Marguerite McLoughlin, the much-admired “First Lady” of Fort Vancouver; the Presbyterian missionary Narcissa Whitman, who in 1837 became the first white woman to make the overland journey west across the Rocky Mountains; Biddy Mason, the enslaved Mississippi woman who fought for her freedom through the courts of California; Olive Oatman, adopted by the Mohave, famous for her facial tattoos. This is the story of the women who participated in the greatest mass migration in American history, transforming their country in the process; a tale brought to life by a brilliant social historian and a dynamic storyteller. This is American history, not as it was romanticized, but as it was lived. Reasons to read it: This is another book that stands to flesh out a history that is often one-note and focused on a select few. The women of the American West were determined, resilient, and just overall survivors, and we should all learn more about them.
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-06” author: “Lindsay Heath”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago. What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for ― without ending up dead in the water themselves. Reasons to read it: With its sapphic romance, murder mystery, and magical elements, this is bound to be such a fun read! If you liked A Marvellous Light, Marske continues in this latest book with the same great characterization and prose, while expanding on the world building initiated by the first book. Pick up if you’re down for historical lesbian Knives Out on a ship. Which, I mean, who isn’t. If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules. When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend’s struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn’t easy. Bell River’s literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat. And in Maggie’s world, book rules are made to be broken. To help save the store, Maggie starts an underground book club, running a series of events celebrating the books readers actually love. But keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when Maggie unearths a town secret that could upend everything. Maggie will have to decide what’s more important: the books that formed a small town’s history, or the stories poised to change it all. Reasons to read it: Romance readers who love a bookish angle, your time has come. The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks, has eccentric, fun characters, a cozy romance, the charm of a small town, and a good dose of humor. This is altogether a lighthearted and fun read. Rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Tennal, like all neuromodified “readers,” is a security threat on his own. But when controlled, readers are a rare asset. Not only can they read minds, but they can navigate chaotic space, the maelstroms surrounding the gateway to the wider universe. Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier, principled leader, and the son of a notorious traitor general. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. Like all other neuromodified “architects,” he can impose his will onto others, and he’s under orders to control Tennal by merging their minds. Surit accepted a suspicious promotion-track request out of desperation, but he refuses to go through with his illegal orders to sync and control an unconsenting Tennal. So they lie: They fake a sync bond and plan Tennal’s escape. Their best chance arrives with a salvage-retrieval mission into chaotic space ― to the very neuromodifcation lab that Surit’s traitor mother destroyed 20 years ago. And among the rubble is a treasure both terrible and unimaginably powerful, one that upends a decades-old power struggle, and begins a war. Tennal and Surit can no longer abandon their unit or their world. The only way to avoid life under full military control is to complete the very sync they’ve been faking. Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace? Reasons to read it: If you loved Winter’s Orbit, you may like the second in the series even better! Here, queer romance is a big part of the story, but so is an engaging military plot. Also, main character Tennal is wonderfully chaotic, which serves as a nice counter to Surit’s fastidious rule-following. In her virtuosic debut, Courtney Faye Taylor explores the under-told history of the murder of Latasha Harlins ― a 15 year old Black girl killed by a Korean shop owner, Soon Ja Du, after being falsely accused of shoplifting a bottle of orange juice. Harlins’s murder and the following trial, which resulted in no prison time for Du, were inciting incidents of the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, and came to exemplify the long-fraught relationship between Black and Asian American communities in the United States. Through a collage-like approach to collective history and storytelling, Taylor’s poems present a profound look into the insidious points at which violence originates against ― and between ― women of color. Concentrate displays an astounding breadth of form and experimentation in found texts, micro-essays, and visual poems, merging worlds and bending time in order to interrogate inexorable encounters with American patriarchy and white supremacy manifested as sexual and racially charged violence. These poems demand absolute focus on Black womanhood’s relentless refusal to be unseen, even and especially when such luminosity exposes an exceptional vulnerability to harm and erasure. Taylor’s inventive, intimate book radically reconsiders the cost of memory, forging a path to a future rooted in solidarity and possibility. “Concentrate,” she writes. “We have decisions to make. Fire is that decision to make.” Reasons to read it: It’s hard to think of how some violent crimes against Black people in the U.S. have been blatantly disregarded even in recent years. Here, Taylor builds up Latasha’s world in unique ways, at times using reviews of L.A. businesses and collages to set the scene. Latasha’s life comes alive as we’re reminded how precarious it can be just to exist as a Black kid in America. Kari James, Urban Native, is a fan of heavy metal, ripped jeans, Stephen King novels, and dive bars. She spends most of her time at her favorite spot in Denver, the White Horse. When her cousin Debby finds an old family bracelet that once belonged to Kari’s mother, it inadvertently calls up both her mother’s ghost and a monstrous entity, and her willful ignorance about her past is no longer sustainable… Haunted by visions of her mother and hunted by this mysterious creature, Kari must search for what happened to her mother all those years ago. Her father, permanently disabled from a car crash, can’t help her. Her Auntie Squeaker seems to know something but isn’t eager to give it all up at once. Debby’s anxious to help, but her controlling husband keeps getting in the way. Kari’s journey toward a truth long denied by both her family and law enforcement forces her to confront her dysfunctional relationships, thoughts about a friend she lost in childhood, and her desire for the one thing she’s always wanted but could never have. Reasons to read it: Get ready for a murder mystery and ghost story steeped in Indigenous lore with horror that is tied to real life issues, like missing Indigenous women and generational trauma. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic said “This ghost story is a perfect example of new wave horror that will also satisfy fans of classic Stephen King.” Sally Gunnar has been in love, has been mad, has been an agent of destruction, has been spurned; and now she has retreated from the world. She lives in isolation in her small house, where her only companions are a vase of goldfish, a garden toad, and the door-to-door salesman who sells her cleaning supplies once a month. From her comfortable perch, she broods over her deepest regrets: her wayward, weed-hazy college days; her blighted romance with a scornful poet; a tragically comic accident involving a paper cutter; a suicide attempt; and her decision to ultimately relinquish a conventional life. Colorful, crass, and profound, Toad is Katherine Dunn’s ode to her time as a student at Reed College, filled with the same keen observations, taboo-shirking verve, and singular characters that made Geek Love a cult classic. Through the perceptive Sally, a fish out of water among a cadre of eccentric, privileged young people, we meet Sam, an unwashed collector of other people’s stories; Carlotta, a free spirit who nevertheless fails to escape the deception of marriage; and Rennel, a shallow, self-obsessed philosophy student. With sly self-deprecation and mordant wit, Sally recounts their misadventures, up to the tragedy that tore them apart. Through it all, Toad demonstrates Dunn’s genius for black humor and irony, her ecstatic celebration of the grotesque. Daring and bizarre, Toad is a brilliant precursor to the book that would make Dunn a misfit hero — even 50-some years after it was written, it’s a refreshing take on the lives of young outsiders treading the delicate lines between isolation and freedom, love and insanity, hatred and friendship. Reasons to read it: This posthumously published novel has the same beautiful prose that made Geek Love a cult classic, but with less of a far-out plot. Plus the characters are train wrecks and Dunn’s writing will have you living for the ride
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-17” author: “Jack Matthews”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
This is only scratching the surface of the books out this week! If you want to keep up with all the latest new releases, check out: Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers. Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she’s finally got the guy, why can’t she stop thinking about the girl? Cool for the Summer is a story of self-discovery and new love. It’s about the things we want and the things we need. And it’s about the people who will let us be who we are. Reasons to read it: This is one of my most anticipated books of the year! Dahlia Adler, on top of being an excellent author, also runs LGBTQ Reads, which is the go-to source for any queer YA info. I am beside myself in excitement to read this bisexual love triangle YA from an expert in the genre! She soon learns the new voice isn’t even hers, it’s the ghost of her estranged grandmother. In life, Ah Ma was a spirit medium, avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a business magnate who has offended the god — and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it, whether Jess wants to or not. Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business, but dealing with her grandmother is just as complicated. Especially when Ah Ma tries to spy on her personal life, threatens to spill her secrets to her family and uses her body to commit felonies. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she’ll also need to regain control of her body and destiny – or the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good. Reasons to read it: From the author of Sorcerer to the Crown comes a contemporary fantasy novel starring a lesbian zillenial who “fight gods, ghosts, gangsters & grandmas,” according to the author! Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since. Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together — lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong? Reasons to read it: This is the bestselling author of Beach Read, with another perfectly summer read. Whether trips are a possibility for you any time soon or not, this one is supposed to give you the same feelings as a good vacation. It’s full of romance tropes, road trips, and ’90s romcom vibes. Now swept into a conspiracy far beyond his understanding, Danso and Lilong will set out on a journey that reveals histories violently suppressed and magic only found in lore. Reasons to read it: This is the first book in an epic fantasy series inspired by the pre-colonial empires of West Africa. This is supposed to have a vibrant setting and intricate politics and world-building. There are multiple point of view characters, each complex and flawed. Reasons to read it: Time stopping for a year has never felt more relatable. A.S. King is a beloved YA author who writes fabulist, imaginative, mind-bending reads. This one is told in a stream of consciousness style filled with /// slashes instead of punctuation. This is a book about isolation and connection dedicated to the class of 2020. As political wrangling ensues in Washington to potentially replace the ailing judge whose life and survival Avery controls, she begins to unravel a carefully constructed, chess-like sequence of clues left behind by Wynn. She comes to see that Wynn had a much more personal stake in the controversial case and realizes his complex puzzle will lead her directly into harm’s way in order to find the truth. Reasons to read it: Yes, that Stacey Abrams! She uses her inside knowledge of the political landscape to write a thriller set set in the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court. At turns joyful and heartbreaking, Stone Fruit reveals through intimately naturalistic dialog and blue-hued watercolor how painful it can be to truly become vulnerable to your loved ones ― and how fulfilling it is to be finally understood for who you are. Reasons to read it: This is supposed to be a beautiful book about the messy everyday of queer family that will make your heart ache, illustrated in stunning watercolors.
Book Riot’s YouTube channel, where I discuss the most exciting books out every Tuesday! All the Books, our weekly new releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts (including me!) talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
title: “New Releases Tuesday The Best Books Out This Week " ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-06” author: “Eleanor Nevins”
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources
This is only scratching the surface of the books out this week! If you want to keep up with all the latest new releases, check out: Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld? When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything — including her own life. Reasons to read it: This is the highly anticipated next book from the author of The Silent Patient. It’s sure to find readers in fans of dark academia! It also weaves Greek mythology into this claustrophobic murder mystery, packed full of twists and turns. Until he breaks up with her on the air right after graduation. When their unexpected split, the loss of her job, and her parent’s announcement that they’re separating coincide, Lee’s plans, her art, and her life are thrown into turmoil. Searching for a new purpose, Lee recruits her old friend Max and new friend Risa to produce a podcast called “Objects of Destruction,” where they investigate whether love actually exists at all. But the deeper they get into the love stories around them, the more Lee realizes that she’s the one who’s been holding love at arm’s length. And when she starts to fall for Risa, she finds she’ll have to be more honest with herself and the people in her life to create a new love story of her own. Reasons to read it: This is a YA novel that takes place after graduation and just before university. It’s a story about secrets, lies, friendship, found family, and the complexities of love. I really enjoy the podcast element of this one as well: it seems like a podcast I would listen to! This has a bisexual main character and (spoiler:) a polyamorous relationship. Sophie Roseingrave hates nothing more than a swindler. After her family lost their piano shop to a con man in London, they’re trying to start fresh in a new town. Her father is convinced Carrisford is an upright and honest place, but Sophie is not so sure. She has grave suspicions about silk-weaver Madeline Crewe, whose stunning beauty doesn’t hide the fact that she’s up to something. All Maddie Crewe needs is one big score, one grand heist to properly fund the weavers’ union forever. She has found her mark in Mr. Giles, a greedy draper, and the entire association of weavers and tailors and clothing merchants has agreed to help her. The very last thing she needs is a small but determined piano-teacher and composer sticking her nose in other people’s business. If Sophie won’t be put off, the only thing to do is to seduce her to the cause. Will Sophie’s scruples force her to confess the plot before Maddie gets her money? Or will Maddie lose her nerve along with her heart? Reasons to read it: F/F romance readers will already be familiar with Waite’s sapphic historical fiction trilogy Feminine Pursuits, and this is the concluding volume. Along with the usual romantic tension, there’s also a heist element to this one! Aware of the racial tumult in the years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mei tries to remain blissfully focused on her job, her close friendship with the camp foreman’s daughter, and telling stories about Paul Bunyan — reinvented as Po Pan Yin (Auntie Po), an elderly Chinese matriarch. Anchoring herself with stories of Auntie Po, Mei navigates the difficulty and politics of lumber camp work and her growing romantic feelings for her friend Bee. The Legend of Auntie Po is about who gets to own a myth, and about immigrant families and communities holding on to rituals and traditions while staking out their own place in America. Reasons to read it: This is a historical middle grade graphic novel with fabulist elements. It also has a queer main character! This sheds some light on a part of history most white U.S. kids aren’t aware of, including the racism Mei encountered, told in an eye-catching visual style. He races home in full-blown terror as the hand-shaped bruise grows dark on his neck. The truth will destroy Nathan and everything they have together, so Oliver does the thing he used to do so well: he lies. Reasons to read it: This is a twisty thriller about a lie that quickly spirals out of control and a relationship with a power dynamic that makes it difficult to leave or openly communicate. This kind of domestic thriller isn’t unusual, but it is rare to see published with a gay relationship! This one promises to keep you on the edge of your seat. Voya is determined to save her family’s magic no matter the cost. The problem is, Voya has never been in love, so for her to succeed, she’ll first have to find the perfect guy — and fast. Fortunately, a genetic matchmaking program has just hit the market. Her plan is to join the program, fall in love, and complete her task before the deadline. What she doesn’t count on is being paired with the infuriating Luc — how can she fall in love with a guy who seemingly wants nothing to do with her? With mounting pressure from her family, Voya is caught between her morality and her duty to her bloodline. If she wants to save their heritage and Luc, she’ll have to find something her ancestor wants more than blood. And in witchcraft, blood is everything. Reasons to read it: This is the first book in a new paranormal YA series with witches! It’s set in a future version of Toronto and has an eerie atmosphere. The author draws on her Trinidadian and Canadian background to inform this story, and it’s full of messy and memorable characters.
Book Riot’s YouTube channel, where I discuss the most exciting books out every Tuesday! All the Books, our weekly new releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts (including me!) talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved. The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz. Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot Insiders’ New Releases Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
