On today's episode of #NewBooks #PoliSci : Wendy Hesford explains how the figure of the child-in-peril informs debates about border crossers, Malala Yousafzai, African child soldiers, the criminalization of Black children, and transgender rights. Her book couldn't be more timely.
@bookstodon New and notable books in the U.S. for December 5, 2023.
Dazzling, Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ. [West African mythology collides with modern Nigeria, in this tale centered on two girls who struggle to bend magic to their wills.]
After World, Debbie Urbanski. [AI, one last human on Earth, the recovery of the climate, and the surprising connections that arise.]
A River of Golden Bones, A.K. Mulford. [Sleeping Beauty retelling with queer rep AND Werewolves.]
Five Bad Deeds, Caz Frear. [Perhaps we are all badly-behaved, esp. society's privileged suburban set. This story is suspenseful, vengeful, and super twisty.]
Orbital, Samantha Harvey. [A thoughtful look at ourselves. If we could observe our planet from great remove, how would it change our perspective, our focus, even our priorities?]
Airplane Mode, Shanaz Habib. [Through the lens of travel, the author has a lot to say about our history of racism and ethnocentrism, and about our post-colonial world. Witty, funny, and incisive. Long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medals of Excellence.]
The End of The World is a Cul-de-sac, Louise Kennedy. [Smartly written short stories. Crisp, wry, clarion, and contemporary.]
The Folly, Gemma Amor. [Give me your secluded creepy Gothic mystery!]
Yours For The Taking, Gabrielle Korn. [Climate fiction future. Progress has a dark side.]
@bookstodon Notable* new fiction and nonfiction book releases in the U.S. for November 21, 2023:
Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games, Carmen Maria Machado, ed. [Anthology of essays on this popular tech, and its specific effects on gamer culture, particularly for gamers who are also writers.]
Sailing the Graveyard Sea, Richard Snow. [The only mutiny in the history of the U.S. Navy, a story with plenty of surprises.]
Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South, Elizabeth Varon. [When you can't make up your mind, everyone pegs you as a traitor.]
The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird, Louisa Morgan. [When you get tired of ghosts, the thing to do is find an island of nuns and cows, and maybe a solitary soul who needs your help.]
Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration, Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggets. [I am told that these stories of deep testimony will make you weep.]
A Long Day in a Short Life, Albert Maltz. [Perfect timing for this re-release about incarceration, injustice, racism, classism, and most of all, what we need to do to have a stronger more equitable democracy.]
(Technically published on November 16th) A Thousand Golden Cities: 2500 Years of Writing From Afghanistan and its People, Justin Marozzi. [A veritable encyclopedia of Afghan literature at a hefty 836 pages, full of undiscovered treasures, esp. for Western readers.]
A True Account, Katherine Howe. [Dual timeline narrative of a woman who breaks free by becoming a pirate, and the researcher two centuries later who would also like to escape her confined role in society.]
Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, K.J. Parker. [Book Two of the Corax trilogy. Plucky, unconventional leader of a salvage team needs to save his crew.]
*There are also boatloads of new manga and quite a few book series releases.
Looking to discover #NewBooks on #CentralEurope and #EasternEurope? The Central European University Review of Books showcases new titles on the history, culture, and politics of the region.
@bookstodon New and notable book releases in the U.S. for November 14, 2023
So Late in The Day, Claire Keegan. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Three short, but impactful, stories about relationships between men and women, particularly focusing on agency and autonomy. Strong voice and sense of place.]
The Book of Ayn, Lexi Freiman. [Razor-sharp satire targeting contemporary politics and culture, and the people who think they're above it all.]
Good Girls Don't Die, Christina Henry. [What if you woke up trapped inside your favorite book genre trope, and your familiarity with that type of story is the only way you'll get out alive?]
Other Minds and Other Stories, Bennett Sims. [Strange, eerie, weird, sometimes humorous, but also edging toward horror. Clever stories that slip into that liminal space between fear and anxiety.]
Pritty, Keith F. Miller, Jr. [Family loyalties, gay identity, and an unsolved murder, are all points of tension affecting the relationship between two young Black men in the entrenched culture of Savannah.]
Kinfolk, Sean Dietrich. [Feelgood story of found family and second chances in the Deep South.]
The Great Gimmelmans, David Matthew Goldberg. [Hilarious adventure-chase story of a family on the run in an RV. They must face more than the Feds as they tackle greed, family loyalty, religious traditions, and what it takes to create close bonds.]
A New Race of Men From Heaven, Chaitali Sen. [These short stories feature those who are searching, the wanderers, those who migrate in both a literal and a figurative sense.]
Blood Orange, Yaffa. [Reflective, sensory, liberation poetry, written by a Trans, Muslim, Palestinian author, a myriad self to excavate and transcend.]
Leizar, David Gelernter. November 15th. [The harrowing experiences of generations of a Polish Jewish family who survive in spite of pogroms and every kind of antisemitism.]
Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears, Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar. Graphic Nonfiction. [When we don't try to repress our tears, we find ourselves healthier and, perhaps counterintuitively, happier. Various perspectives on the cleansing power of crying.]
The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are, Tariq Trotter. Nonfiction [Beautifully and poetically examination of how we develop not just our art, but also a deep sense of self.]
Sleep is Now a Foreign Country: Encounters With the Uncanny, Mike Barnes. Nonfiction [Mesmerizing fever dream memoir of madness.]
"Including women in the global South as users, producers, consumers, & developers of technology has become a mantra against inequality.. Narratives about "equalizing" potential of digital tech ignore circumstances that create such inequality as well as potentially violent role of tech in their lives"
In Defense of Solidarity & Pleasure: Feminist Technopolitics from the Global South, Firuzeh Shokooh Valle
"Including women in the global South as users, producers, consumers, designers, and developers of technology has become a mantra against inequality... In this book, Firuzeh Shokooh Valle argues that these efforts have given rise to an idealized, female economic figure..."
In Defense of Solidarity and Pleasure: Feminist Technopolitics from the Global South
@bookstodon Notable book releases in the U.S. for October 31, 2023. 🎃👻📚
Nestlings, Nat Cassidy. [So many horror tropes rolled into one. Multiple evils, including maybe the baby? Amazing how many signs of creeping horror one overlooks just to accept a great apartment in Manhattan.]
The Reformatory, Tananarive Due [Reminiscent of The Nickel Boys. This protagonist can see dead people from the past, but the greater horror might be the race-driven violence of the present.]
Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust, Neal Shusterman. [Graphic novel illustrated by Andrés Vera Martínez, depicting Jewish folklore, cultural traditions, and spirit of resilience under unspeakable horrors.]
A Season of Monstrous Conceptions, Lina Rather. [What if you took Eldritch horror, threw in historical mistrust of midwives along with the usual quest for magic, power, and cosmological destruction?]
The Paleontologist. Luke Dumas. [A Gothic Mystery set in a Museum of Natural History? Yes, please!]
The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne, Shannon Takaoka. [A heartwarming story with a sensitive take on the "What if you could write a new reality for yourself?" question. Examination of memory, experience, and the responsibility we have for each other's stories.]
Blood Sisters, Vanessa Lillie. [Haunting story about the horrors of both past and present missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The investigation led by a Cherokee archaeologist.]
What The River Knows, Isabel Ibanez. [This novel contains several genres: historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, seasoned with Egyptology and ancient magic.]
The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters. [An emotional exploration of family, secrets, loss, and grief.]
Good Comics for Bad People: An Extra Fabulous Collection, Vol 1, Zach M. Stafford. [Nathan Pyle, of Strange Planet fame, says that this is very funny, weird, and expressive.]
The Glutton, A.K. Blakemore. [Lightly based on the historical figure "The Great Tarare," this is a wild card on the list: a disturbing tale of appetites of all kinds, circa the French Revolution. I'm told that the writing, particularly in the setting of scenes, is exceptional.]
White Holes, Carlo Rovelli (Nonfiction). [Theoretical physics is my jam. You can't get out of a Black Hole, and you can't get into a White Hole (though matter can escape), but both might have played a role in providing everything that eventually became you.]
There was one book out today about which I could find no reviews or ratings, so who knows? I Call Myself Iris, Frank Paolino, Jr. [YA Sci-fi Fantasy about an AI helper bot who goes a little too far in trying to be of assistance.]
Also, I couldn't find much on The Buffalo Butcher by Robert Brighton (modern-day Jack the Ripper story), or The Oracle Chronicles Midlife Olympians Boxset: Books 1-3 (modern day dude gets summoned by the Greek gods) , by T.J. Deschamps. I'm leaning toward the second one, but that's just a guess.
There are an unusual number of books which almost made the list this week.
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the US for October 24, 2023, (including an unusual number of anthologies).
Organ Meats, K-Ming Chang. [Incredibly imaginative and intense mythological allegory. Like Bestiary, it's very visceral.]
Julia, Sandra Newman. [Amazing feminist retelling of 1984, told from the perspective of Julia, with the full support of the Orwell estate.]
America Fantastica, Tim O'Brien. [Completely bonkers satirical look at America's obsession with lies and liars.]
Let Us Descend, Jesmyn Ward. [The inner spiritual strength that sustains souls trapped in a descent into the horrors of slavery, and their refusal to lose their inner worth.]
I Died, Too, But They Haven't Buried me Yet, Ross Jeffrey. [This is Grief Horror, described as beautifully and utterly heartbreaking.]
What Wild Women Do, Karma Brown. [Intriguing dual timeline mystery connecting a 1970s feminist activist and a modern day screenwriter.]
The Privilege of the Happy Ending: S/M/L Stories, Kij Johnson. [How 'bout a little experimental speculative fic along with an examination of the nature of stories themselves?]
Jewel Box, E. Lily Yu. [Short stories mostly about how we navigate and think about this one weird, crazy, confounding life, and where our imagination can take us.]
When We Become Ours: a YA Adoptee Anthology. [Powerful adoptee short stories written by actual adoptees.]
Christmas and Other Horrors: an Anthology of Solstice Horror, Ellen Datlow, ed. [Winter Solstice horror shorts from around the world, with contributions from Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Tananarive Due, and more.]
Another Last Call: Poems on Addiction and Deliverance, Kaveh Akbar, ed. [Contributions from Jo Harjo, Bernard Wade, et al.]
Aster of Ceremonies: Poems, JJJJJerome Ellis. [Neurodivergent poet Ellis advocates for the marginalized, and also imagines what reclamation of our past, and healing for our future, might look like.]
Homeland of my Body: New and Selected Poems, Richard Blanco. [National Humanities medal winner Blanco explores home, identity, and Cuban-American culture in this collection.]
Thank you #PublicBooks & Ryan Boyd for this very thoughtful review of #OilBeach!! So honored 😊
"[Dunbar-Hester] makes no promises about the future, and she is not in the business of bromides. But when your economic system is suicidal—when the ordinary business of procuring goods and services is boiling the planet to death—there is no better basis for that than hopeful solidarity, and no option but action"
"However, she does offer glimpses of sustainable, just futures.
All of them are coalitional and collective, and they entail seeing the Southern #California Bight as a contentious, multiplicative, ongoing site of struggle."
"Drawing on fieldwork in Costa Rica and a transnational feminist digital organization, Shokooh Valle explores the ways that feminist activists, using digital technologies as well as a collective politics that prioritize solidarity and pleasure, advance a new feminist technopolitics"
"Drawing on fieldwork in Costa Rica and a transnational feminist digital organization, Shokooh Valle explores the ways that feminist activists, using digital technologies as well as a collective politics that prioritize solidarity and pleasure, advance a new feminist technopolitics"
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the U.S. for October 3, 2023, many of which are horror titles:
Death Valley, Melissa Broder. [One woman's quest to process loss, leads her to a desert odyssey. You wouldn't think this would be as funny as it is.]
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, Jordan Peele, ed.
The Quiet Room, Terry Miles. [No one told me that there was a sequel to Rabbits?!? Also, you should totally read Rabbits. It's amazing.]
Beholder, Ryan La Sala. [Horror which plays into all the fears we have about the reflection in the mirror.]
Edenville, Sam Rebelein. [This equal parts humor and horror story, taps into our tendency to see what we want, instead of what's there.]
Starling House, Alix E. Harrow. [Small town Southern Gothic by a wicked good storyteller.]
Before the Devil Knows You're Here, Autumn Krause. [Forest folk tale (Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed) horror, a Faustian bargain, and a Mexican-American poet with a missing brother. This sounds amazing!]
Knock Knock, Open Wide, Neil Sharpson. [Horror blended with Celtic folklore. Very frightening.]
Gone Wolf, Amber McBride. [Too powerful to be just for younger readers. What it means to be Black and young in America.]
Monica, Daniel Clowes. [Superb graphic novel offers a multilayered deep dive into a complex life.]
Brooklyn Crime Novel, Jonathan Lethem. [In one neighborhood, over time, the good guys and the bad guys are hard to tell apart.]
The House on Sun Street, Mojgan Ghazirad. [The 1979 Iran revolution, as seen by a young girl.]
Company: Stories, Shannon Sanders. [Intriguing interconnected stories, each connected by family, and by a guest who enters each story, examining different meanings of company. ]
One Puzzling Afternoon, Emily Critchley. [What if you kept a secret so long, you can't remember what it was, and it involves a long ago missing girl?]
After The Forest, Kell Woods. [Think you know your Fairy Tales? Clever reimagining of several tales at once.]
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the U.S. for September 26, 2023. It took forever to wade through everything this week and try to narrow/compile the best list I could. Please be aware that there's also a lot of great teen, YA, and especially nonfiction released today.
Black River Orchard, Chuck Wendig. [An apple a day won't keep the horror away.] ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Furies, Margaret Atwood, et al. [Feminist tales aim to reclaim slurs used for centuries vs. strong independent female characters.]
Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang. [Examination of the seductive nature of consumption, in a clever allegory about Climate Change.]
The Golem of Brooklyn, Adam Mansbach. [Surprisingly funny and affecting story about faith, group identity, bigotry, and vengeance.]
People Collide, Isle McElroy. [Gender swap premise remade with sharp intelligence and thoughtful questions about sexuality/identity.]
And Then She Fell, Alicia Elliott. [First Nations new mother in Toronto feels her belonging and her sanity unraveling, and cannot determine how much she's being gaslit.]
The Caretaker, Ron Rash. [A small town, in which each character thinks they know what really matters, until dramatic events make them see more clearly.]
The Witches of Bone Hill, Ava Morgyn. [Dark twists and turns abound in this creepy house of horror thriller.]
Enlightened, Sachi Ediriweera. [Graphic novel about the origin of Buddhism: Siddhartha. Told through the prince on a journey.]
The Navigating Fox, Christopher Rowe. [Intriguing speculative/alt history fiction about the Roman Empire expanding into some of North America and, happily, all of the Indigenous Nations still thrive.]
Undiscovered, Gabriela Weiner, Julia Sanchez, translator. [Partially based on actual history, about the emotional
struggle to reconcile the colonial past with modern identity.]
Blackward, Lawrence Lindell. [Fantastic title, right? A graphic novel for all of us who felt like we didn't belong to the cool club in school, with special love for Black, queer, nerdy, "weird" folks.]
The Out Side: Trans and Nonbinary Comics, The Kao, ed. [I enjoyed this graphic novel. You rarely see comics about the experiences of coming out, collected all in one place.] ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's Monstrous release day! I love this book so much. It's a YA #ContemporaryFantasy#Horror with a main character you've gotta root for, even when she makes questionable decisions. Totally rooting for the sapphic romance subplot, too. The cult is chilling and kept me on the edge of my seat, while the snake god himself, well, I honestly kinda like him.
Can't wait till my copy arrives! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690250/monstrous-by-jessica-lewis/
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the US for September 12, 2023:
The Free People's Village, Sim Kern. [Alt history where Al Gore won and we combatted Climate Change.]
Rouge, Mona Awad. [The author of BUNNY has created a gothic horror fairy tale? Yes, please.]
This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America (GN), Navied Mahdavian. [Creating cultural identity via that delicate dance of learning to belong]
The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff. [What if the power to break settler colonialism, and to learn to live in a new way, were simply a matter of inspiration?]
A Market of Dreams and Destiny, Trip Galey. [What if granting each of your desires were merely a matter of price, at a very special underground market?]
Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women, Molly Llewellyn, ed. [Honestly, the title sold me.]
The Death I Gave Him, Em X. Liu. [Queer retelling of Hamlet.]
The Best Short Stories 2023: The O. Henry Prize Winners, Lauren Groff, ed.
Normal Rules Don't Apply, Kate Atkinson. [The rule should be that we always read Kate Atkinson. Eleven interconnected stories.]
Rez Ball, Byron Graves. [I'm hearing rave reviews about this heart-tugging YA tale of a First Nations teen trying to live up to legendary dreams.]
Those Pink Mountain Nights, Jen Ferguson. [Stand-out contemporary YA author gives us a lesson in how we all need each other.]
Hemlock Island, Kelley Armstrong. [Locked room mystery, the island version, with a bit of paranormal thrown in.]
🚨 Very happy to announce that THE SECRET LIFE OF DATA, to be published by @mitpress next April, is available for pre-sale! 🚨
@jesse & I have been working for years on this project, which feature insights of dozens of experts across the world of technology & culture.
Barnes & Noble is currently offering members a 25% discount on pre-orders using the coupon code PREORDER25, with an additional 10% off for premium members.
The Square of Sevens, Laura Shepherd-Robinson [Dickensian tale of an orphaned fortune teller, who finds that the path to truth is filled with twists and turns.]
The Spirit Bares its Teeth, Andrew Joseph White [Dickensian tale of a spiritual medium, who finds that the path to authenticity and self empowerment is torturous.]
Herc, Phoenicia Rogerson [Instead of centering Hercules, this feminist retelling of the Greek myth tells the stories of those around "Herc."]
Hush Harbor, Anise Vance [No justice, no peace means what it says.]
Phoebe's Diary, Phoebe Wahl [Illustrated story of adolescence. Honest and forthright.]
The Circumference of the World, Lavie Tidhar [Sly SciFi Pulpfic Puzzle.]
The September House, Carissa Orlando [That creepy house is going for cheap. What could go wrong?]
The Trespassers, Stephanie Black [How long can paranormal powers be kept secret?]
Mother-Daughter Murder Night, Nina Simon [Marketed as "Gilmore Girls, but with murder."]
Wednesday's Child: Stories, Yiyun Li [What jolts you out of the mundane, out of your ordinary life? From the author of The Book of Goose.]
Dayswork, Chris Bachelder, Jennifer Habel [Not for everyone, but if you like subtextual metaphors, this introspective novel is for you.]
Dearborn, Ghassan Zeineddine [The complex immigrant experience, told in stories.]
Launch party for A SECOND CHANCE FOR YESTERDAY at American University at 6pm. @rachelcleves and @aram will be reading from the book and AU Lit Prof David Keplinger will lead a Q&A. Free and open to the public.