Hello friends, and welcome to the week where the hot pre-orders are . . . pens. The best we can figure is everyone is getting out of the way of Onyx Storm, which drops next week. There's likely no warehouse space for anything else, at the moment. We shall persevere, however. There are interesting titles to be found!
Like Julia Cameron's The Artists' Way Toolkit, a companion book to her classic book on creativity. Speaking for ourselves, we could use a little guidance on tackling our morning pages, sourcing dates with our creative muses, and other ways to reinvigorate our creativity. Sign us up!
And while we're off "reinvigorating" ourselves, here's something we can all get behind. This is Marie Clesses's Adorable Mini Animals to Crochet. Twenty-three designs! Whimsical micro-gurumi patterns! Goats and stoats and tiny birds!
All right, on the fiction front, we have Costanza Casati's Babylonia, which is all fancied up with painted edges, luxurious gold foil, and full color endpapers. The sort of attire suited for a queen, which is appropriate for a novel about ancient Assyria, where a wee orphan named Semiramis makes her way up through the ranks of Assyrian nobility to become the empire's only queen. Along the way, there are plots and bodies and a tangled love triangle. Recommended.
And while we're wandering through ancient history, here is Zeinab Badawi's An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence. Badawi, the President of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (as well as a previous chair of the Royal African Society), has written a history that is a true African perspective of the continent. Much of what we learned in school was written during the colonial era, and An African History of Africa digs much deeper to provide a thought-provoking and marvelous exploration of the entire continent. Highly recommended.
And here is Nnedi Okorafor's Death of the Author, a metafictional novel about a writer who writes a story about androids and AI, set in a very distant future. Strangely, when she finishes the novel, her world starts to alter itself in a way that seems prescient, but also self-fulfilling? It's a daring conceit, one that tackles, oh, all sorts of hot topics, but which also is about the transformative power of storytelling and the drive to belong. This one'll rewrite your brain pan.
And speaking of the future taking root in the present, here is Samantha Sotto Yambao's Water Moon, a dreamy soft fantasy novel about a woman who inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets. Naturally, someone ransacks the place and takes a very special token, and the young woman, along with a handsome stranger who mysteriously appears at just the right time, must go off on a grand adventure to recover this stolen prize. Naturally, things get weird and magical.
Hang on. We have a few things we need to pack up and take over to that shop. Don't mind us.
And speaking of having no regrets, here is Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman. Written by, wait for it, Brooke Shields. Shields, of course, grew up in the public eye, which provides her with a bit of insight into what our society values and doesn't value, and she's here to say: "Hey ladies, you know what? We're only getting more awesome as we get older, and frankly, that's empowering."
And speaking of ladies making choices of their own design, Alice Feeney is back this week with Beautiful Ugly, a new domestic thriller about an author, his wife, and what happens after she disappears one day. Grady Green’s wife vanishes mid-phone call, and when he wanders off to Scotland—not overnight, he does spend a year being all WTF?—he runs into someone who looks exactly like his missing wife. Naturally, nothing is what it seems—this is an Alice Feeney book after all—and we expect you’ll be spending half your time turning pages and the other portion of time picking your jaw up off the floor.
And speaking of finding things in unexpected places, here is Stephanie Archer’s Behind the Net. He’s the rising hockey star; she’s his new live-in assistant. Together, they fight—no, wait. Together, they avoid talking about all the sexual tension in the room. For a hundred and twenty pages, at least. And then things start warming up.
And while we’re dallying with prepositions, here is Emily McIntire’s Beneath the Stars, a charming second chance romance about a plucky young woman whose heart gets broken once upon a time, and a dimple-cheeked fellow with intimacy issues. Naturally, they fail miserably the first time they try to hold hands, but life gives them another chance. Well, years later, but it’s still another chance! Oh, come on. You know you want them to find each other.
And that’s the list this week. Unlike elusive heartthrobs, we’re not that hard to find. We’re starting to fill the shelves again. You should come by for a visit and take home a stack or two. Winter time is reading time.
