Release Week: 5 March 2024
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Release Week: 5 March 2024
Posted on 2024-03-05 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
FICTION PICKS:
Parasol Against the Axe: A Novel By: Helen Oyeyemi, read by Dorje Swallow for Penguin -- "The prize-winning, bestselling author of Peaces and Gingerbread returns with a novel about competitive friendship, the elastic boundaries of storytelling, and the meddling influence of a city called Prague."
Big Time: A Novel By: Ben H. Winters, read by Eva Kaminsky for Mulholland -- "What if time could be taken from us—the minutes, the hours, the years of our lives, extracted like organs taken for transplant? What would it mean for the world? And what would it do to the person from whom it’s taken?"
Thirst: A Novel By: Marina Yuszczuk, translated by Heather Cleary, read by Maria Liatis for Penguin -- "It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet. In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother's terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back."
The Silver Bone: A Novel By: Andrey Kurkov, read by Josh Bloomberg for Harper -- "From Ukraine’s most celebrated novelist, a perplexing mystery that introduces rookie detective Samson Kolechko in Kyiv as he is tackling his first case, set against real life details of the tumultuous early twentieth century."
Island Rule: Stories By: Katie M. Flynn, read by Carlotta Brentan, Corey Brill, Erin deWard, Kitty Hendrix, Jensen Olaya, Joy Osmanski, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine, and Kimberly Woods for Simon and Schuster -- "An angry mother turns into a literal monster. A company in San Francisco can scrub your entire reputation and create a new one…for a price. A failed actor on a reality show turns into an unlikely world savior. And much more. Through each of these twelve interconnected stories, Katie Flynn masterfully blends people, places, and even realities."
Fruit of the Dead: A Novel By: Rachel Lyon, read by Carlotta Brentan and Joy Osmanski for Simon and Schuster -- "An electric contemporary reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter set over the course of one summer on a lush private island, about addiction and sex, family and independence, and who holds the power in a modern underworld."
Chicano Frankenstein By: Daniel A. Olivas, read by Thom Rivera for Blackstone -- "An unnamed paralegal, brought back to life through a controversial process, maneuvers through a near-future world that both needs and resents him. As the United States president spouts anti-reanimation rhetoric and giant pharmaceutical companies rake in profits, the man falls in love with lawyer Faustina Godínez. His world expands as he meets her network of family and friends, setting him on a course to discover his first-life history, which the reanimation process erased."
Rose/House By: Arkady Martine, read by Raquel Beattie for Tantor -- "A house embedded with an artificial intelligence is a common thing: a house that is an artificial intelligence, infused with a thinking creature that is not human? That is something else. But now Deniau's been dead a year, and Rose House is locked up tight, as commanded by the architect's will: all his possessions and files and sketches are confined in its archives, and their only keeper is Rose House itself. Rose House, and one other. Dr. Selene Gisil, one of Deniau's former protege, is permitted to come into Rose House once a year. Until this week, Dr. Gisil was the only person whom Rose House spoke to."
The Canopy Keepers: The Scorched Earth, Book 1 By: Veronica G. Henry, read by Robin Miles for Brilliance -- "What happens when nature will no longer stand by and accept its destruction? A female fire chief discovers an ancient world rooted with secrets that can save—or destroy."
NON-FICTION PICK:
- The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir By: RuPaul, read by the author for Harper -- "From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date—a brutally honest, surprisingly poignant, and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance."
BACKLIST WATCH:
The Telling: Hainish Cycle, Book 8 By: Ursula K. Le Guin, read by Alyssa Bresnahan for Recorded Books -- "Once a culturally rich world, the planet Aka has been utterly transformed by technology. Records of the past have been destroyed, and citizens are strictly monitored. But an official observer from Earth named Sutty has learned of a group of outcasts who live in the wilderness."
Alcestis By: Katharine Beutner (2010), read by Samara Naeymi for Recorded Books -- "A fiercely feminist retelling of a little-known Greek myth: the ultimate story of sacrifice and forbidden desire."
A God of Hungry Walls By: Garrett Cook (2015), read by Jim Patton for Fright Night -- "When you are within my walls, I am God. I have always been here, and I will always be. I have complete dominion. I control what you see, what you feel, and how you think. I will bend reality to whatever I wish. I will show you your worst fears and make you indulge in your darkest desires. Your pain is my pleasure. Your tears are my ambrosia. Your despair is my joy. I will break you. I will ruin you."
SERIES WATCH:
The Hunter: Cal Hooper, Book 2 by Tana French, read by Roger Clark for Penguin -- "Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or less: he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge."
The Hidden Queen: The Nightfall Saga, Book 2 By: Peter V. Brett, read by Saskia Maarleveld and Michael Crouch for Random House -- "Humanity thought the war with demonkind was over. Now, after less than a generation to rebuild, the demon corelings have returned with a vengeance. The Spear of Ala—the fortress that stands at the gates of the demon’s hive—is the last bastion against the horde, and reports say it may already have fallen."
The Icarus Job: Icarus, Book 3 By: Timothy Zahn, read by Marc Thompson for Random House -- "Hoping to take possession of a new alien star-hopping portal, Roarke and Selene are tasked with transporting an assassin, who is herself being targeted."
Mona of the Manor: Tales of the City, Book 10 By: Armistead Maupin, read by Mara Wilson for Harper
Aftermarket Afterlife: InCryptid, Book 13 By: Seanan McGuire, read by Emily Bauer
MORE FICTION:
The Great Divide: A Novel By: Cristina Henriquez, read by Robin Miles for Harper -- "An epic novel of the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there, by Cristina Henríquez, acclaimed author of The Book of Unknown Americans."
The Extinction of Irena Rey By: Jennifer Croft, read by Lanessa Tremblett for Bloomsbury -- "From the International Booker Prize-winning translator and Women's Prize finalist, an utterly beguiling novel about eight translators and their search for a world-renowned author who goes missing in a primeval Polish forest."
Anita de Monte Laughs Last: A Novel By: Xochitl Gonzalez, read by Jessica Pimentel, Jonathan Gregg, and Stacy Gonzalez for Macmillan -- "1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten—certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret. But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist."
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport: A Novel By: Paulette Kennedy, read by Lauren Ezzo for Brilliance -- "The bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil mines the subtle horrors of 1950s America in a gripping novel about a woman under pressure—from the living and the dead."
Three Kinds of Lucky: The Shadow Age, Book 1 By: Kim Harrison, read by Marguerite Gavin for Penguin -- "Petra Grady has known since adolescence that she has no talent for magic—and that’s never going to change. But as a sweeper first-class, she’s parlayed her rare ability to handle dross—the damaging, magical waste generated by her more talented kin’s spellwork—into a decent life working at the mages’ university. Except Grady’s relatively predictable life is about to be upended. When the oblivious, sexy, and oh-so-out-of-reach Benedict Strom needs someone with her abilities for a research project studying dross and how to render it harmless, she’s stuck working on his team—whether she wants to or not."
What Grows in the Dark By: Jaq Evans, read by Elena Rey for Harlequin -- "In this chilling contemporary horror novel, a phony spiritualist returns to her hometown to assist in an investigation that eerily mirrors her sister’s death, forcing her to confront the secrets she’s been running from."
MOST MISSING:
- Reports from the Deep End: Stories inspired by J. G. Ballard edited by Maxim Jabukowski and Rick McGrath (Titan Books) -- "A fascinating and unsettling anthology of 32 science fiction short stories in tribute to the prophetic dystopias of New Wave sci-fi pioneer, and literary titan of the twentieth century, J. G. Ballard—featuring Will Self, Iain Sinclair, Christopher Fowler, Chris Beckett, and a new Jerry Cornelius story from Michael Moorcock."