Release Week: 17 January 2023
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Release Week: 17 January 2023
Posted on 2023-01-17 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
PICKS:
How to Sell a Haunted House By: Grady Hendrix, read by Jay Aaseng and Mikhaila Aaseng for Penguin -- "When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market. But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them."
Brotherless Night: A Novel By: V. V. Ganeshananthan, read by Nirmala Rajasingam for Random House -- "Jaffna, 1981. Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, a vicious civil war tears through her home, and her dream spins off course as she sees her four beloved brothers and their friend K swept up in the mounting violence. Desperate to act, Sashi accepts K’s invitation to work as a medic at a field hospital for the militant Tamil Tigers, who, following years of state discrimination and violence, are fighting for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority. But after the Tigers murder one of her teachers and Indian peacekeepers arrive only to commit further atrocities, Sashi begins to question where she stands. When one of her medical school professors, a Tamil feminist and dissident, invites her to join a secret project documenting human rights violations, she embarks on a dangerous path that will change her forever."
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel By: Marisa Crane, read by Bailey Carr for Blackstone -- "In a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third, fourth, and fifth) shadow as a reminder of their crime—and a warning to those they encounter. Within the Department, corruption and prejudice run rampant, giving rise to an underclass of so-called Shadesters who are disenfranchised, publicly shamed, and deprived of civil rights protections."
Please Report Your Bug Here: A Novel By: Josh Riedel, read by Torian Brackett for Macmillan -- "A college grad with the six-figure debt to prove it, Ethan Block views San Francisco as the place to be. Yet his job at hot new dating app DateDate is a far cry from what he envisioned. Instead of making the world a better place, he reviews flagged photo queues, overworked and stressed out. But that's about to change. Reeling from a breakup, Ethan decides to view his algorithmically matched soulmate on DateDate. He overrides the system and clicks on the profile. Then, he disappears. One minute, he’s in a windowless office, and the next, he’s in a field of endless grass, gasping for air. When Ethan snaps back to DateDate HQ, he’s convinced a coding issue caused the blip. Except for anyone to believe him, he’ll need evidence. As Ethan embarks on a wild goose chase, moving from dingy startup think tanks to Silicon Valley’s dominant tech conglomerate, it becomes clear that there’s more to DateDate than meets the eye. With the stakes rising, and a new world at risk, Ethan must choose who—and what—he believes in."
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel By: Benjamin Stevenson, read by Barton Welch for Harper -- "Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it? Let’s get started."
The Shards: A Novel By: Bret Easton Ellis, read by the author for Random House -- "A novel of sensational literary and psychological suspense from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and American Psycho that tracks a group of privileged high school friends in a vibrantly fictionalized 1980s Los Angeles as a serial killer strikes across the city."
Decent People By: De'Shawn Charles Winslow, read by Bahni Turpin for Bloomsbury -- "From Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winning author De’Shawn Charles Winslow, a sweeping and unforgettable novel of a Black community reeling from a triple homicide, and the secrets the killings reveal."
Locust Lane: A Novel By: Stephen Amidon, read by Cassandra Campbell for Macmillan -- "For fans of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, a taut and utterly propulsive story about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town."
Pandora: A Novel By: Susan Stokes-Chapman, read by Olivia Vinall for Harper -- "Steeped in mystery and rich in imagination, an exhilarating historical novel set in Georgian London where the discovery of a mysterious ancient Greek vase sets in motion conspiracies, revelations, and romance."
Really Good, Actually: A Novel By: Monica Heisey, read by Julia Whelan for Harper -- "A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about one woman’s messy search for joy and meaning in the wake of an unexpected breakup, from comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter Monica Heisey."
Interface By: Scott Britz-Cunningham, read by Paul Heitsch for Dreamscape -- "Ahead, not too many years from now, everyone has been linked to a network of government-mandated brain implants. The Interface has become a way of life, connecting all people to limitless information, nonstop personal messaging, and instantaneous news flashes. Gone are the days of cell phones and laptops—even loneliness itself is obsolete. But when the genius behind the Interface turns against his own creation and threatens to unleash a deadly electronic brain virus on the public, the fate of the world falls on NYPD Captain Yara Avril, who must stop this sinister, ever-escalating plot before it’s too late. A thrilling nod to a future waiting just around the corner, Interface is a remarkably prescient exploration of the potential links between boundless connection and cataclysmic disaster in digital society."
The Appetite Factory By: Jon Gingerich, read by Adam Barr for Dreamscape -- "As head of the crisis management team at a Madison Avenue PR firm, Leonard Lundell spends his days counseling executives whose reputations have been ruined by scandal. But Leonard has been managing a strange and debilitating crisis of his own that’s held him captive his entire adult life: Leonard likes to eat soap, pencils, paint chips—anything with no nutritional value. For years, he’s kept his compulsion hidden behind a professional veneer. But when he signs an important client, an antisocial file clerk unwittingly discovers Leonard’s secret and blackmails him into accommodating her own bizarre culinary indulgences."
What Lies in the Woods: A Novel By: Kate Alice Marshall, read by Karissa Vacker for Macmillan -- "They were eleven when they sent a killer to prison. They were heroes . . . but they were liars."
Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga edited by Lindy Ryan, read by Betsy Foldes-Meiman, Rachel Jacobs, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Mikhaila Aaseng, Zura Johnson, Angela Lin, and Chanté McCormick for Blackstone -- "A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by the Baba Yaga. Featuring Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley, and R. J. Joseph, with a foreword by Christina Henry."
TRANSLATION WATCH:
- Forbidden Notebook: A Novel By: Alba de Céspedes (1952), translated by Ann Goldstein, read by Cassandra Campbell for Blackstone -- "Valeria Cossati never suspected how unhappy she had become with the shabby gentility of her bourgeois life—until she begins to jot down her thoughts and feelings in a little black book she keeps hidden in a closet. This new secret activity leads her to scrutinize herself and her life more closely, and she soon realizes that her individuality is being stifled by her devotion and sense of duty toward her husband, daughter, and son. As the conflicts between parents and children, husband and wife, and friends and lovers intensify, what goes on behind the Cossatis’ façade of middle-class respectability gradually comes to light, tearing the family’s fragile fabric apart."
NON-FICTION WATCH:
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom By: Ilyon Woo, read by Janina Edwards and Leon Nixon for Simon and Schuster -- "The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave."
The Creative Act: A Way of Being By: Rick Rubin, read by the author for Penguin -- "From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us."
Rikers: An Oral History By: Graham Rayman and Reuven Blau, read by Nathan Agin, Jonathan Beville, Nancy Bober, Gisela Chipe, Nicky Endres, James Fouhey, Philip Hernandez, Cary Hite, Eric Jason Martin, Kamali Minter, Karen Murray, Jose T. Nateras, and Kiiri Sandy for Random House -- "A shocking, groundbreaking oral history of the infamous Rikers jail complex and an unflinching portrait of injustice and resilience told by the people whose lives have been forever altered by it."
A Guest at the Feast: Essays By: Colm Toibin, read by the author for Simon and Schuster -- "From one of the most engaging and brilliant writers of our time comes a collection of essays about growing up in Ireland during radical change; about cancer, priests, popes, homosexuality, and literature."
Tutankhamun and the Tomb That Changed the World By: Bob Brier PhD, read by Christopher Douyard for Tantor -- "It is often thought that the story of Tutankhamun ended when the thousands of items discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon were transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and put on display. But there is far more to the story. Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World explores the 100 years of research on Tutankhamun that have taken place since the tomb's discovery, from the several objects in the tomb made of meteoritic iron that came from outer space to new evidence that shows that Tutankhamun may actually have been a warrior who went into battle."
NEW EDITION WATCH:
- The Way of Shadows By: Brent Weeks (2008), read by Simon Vance for Orbit -- Paul Boehmer's "American" narration for Tantor is supplanted by a new British-flavoured performance by Vance: "The first novel in this breakout fantasy trilogy in which a young boy trains under the city's most legendary and feared assassin, Durzo Blint."
BACKLIST WATCH:
- A Tree of Bones: The Hexslinger Series, Book 3 By: Gemma Files (2012), read by Donald Corren for Blackstone -- "A new Civil War is brewing. With the city of Bewelcome as its headquarters, Allan Pinkerton’s Detective Agency leads a siege on Hex City, the town founded by “Reverend” Asher Rook and his consort, the Mayan goddess Ixchel. Monsters prowl the battleground, rocket trails of spells crisscross the sky, and an unnatural rain falls. Sides must be taken, but Pinkerton-agent-turned-outlaw Ed Morrow, spiritualist Yancey Kloves, and even Rook must choose what ruin or redemption means to each of them. Meanwhile, Chess Pargeter gears up for the greatest fight of his life—and death. A battle out of hell itself."
SERIES WATCH:
Posthumous Education: Fred, the Vampire Accountant, Book 8 By: Drew Hayes, read by Kirby Heyborne for Tantor
The Cabinet of Dr. Leng: Agent Pendergast Series, Book 21 By: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, read by Jefferson Mays for Grand Central
INDIE WATCH:
- Karma of the Sun By: Brandon Ying Kit Boey, read by Keong Sim for CamCat Books -- "Six suns, six blasts in the sky; a seventh one, and the earth will die. In the isolation of the Himalayas, the snows still fall, but they are tinged with the ash of a nuclear winter; the winds still blow, but they wail with the cries of ghosts. The seventh and final blast is near. As the world heaves its final breaths, the people of the Tibetan plateau—civilization’s final survivors—are haunted by spirits and terrorized by warlords. Though the last of the seven prophesied cataclysms is at hand, young Karma searches for a father who disappeared ten years earlier, presumed dead. Driven by a yearning to see his father again before the end, and called by an eerie horn unheard by anyone else, Karma forges into the Himalayas and discovers that his father’s disappearance may be linked to a mystical mountain said to connect the physical world with the spirit lands—and a possible way to save their doomed future."
MOST MISSING:
- Now She Is Witch by Kirsty Logan -- "Lux has lost everything when Else finds her, alone in the woods. Her family, her lover, her home - all burned. The world is suspicious of women like her. But Lux is cunning; she knows how to exploit people's expectations, how to blend into the background. And she knows a lot about poisons. Else has not found Lux by accident. She needs her help to seek revenge against the man who wronged her, and together they pursue him north. But on their hunt they will uncover dark secrets that entangle them with dangerous adversaries."