Hello friends! Before we launch into a rolling celebration of the new books this week (Fancy covers! Fresh ink smells! Warm paper!), we have a few administrative notes to cover.
1) The newsletter layout is new-ish. The words still go from that side to that side and then on down the page, but we've moved things around a bit to give Writer Man more space to run on without needing extra hyphens. We still create a Bookshop.org list of all the books mentioned in the newsletter, but you can now visit that list by clicking on the cover of any book in the newsletter. Bigger targets for your fingers and mouses.
Or, you can, you know, come visit us and get the books immediately because we like to see your faces. However, that leads us to,
2) This year's mantra is "Shop early; shop often." There are still issues in the supply chain, and there's been an unfortunate uptick in damages, which is to say that the sooner you decide on what marvelous things you're going to get everyone for Christmas, the sooner we can be sure that we can actually get them. To that end,
3) We're going to start mentioning titles in the newsletter that haven't released yet. Why? Because pre-orders allow us to make sure we get enough copies of the Fall Sexy. One of the difficulties still facing publishers is the ability to go back to print on a title that suddenly becomes a hot property, especially in time for the holidays. Just because we have a book this week is no guarantee that we're going to be able to get it four weeks from now.
Of course, we enjoy helping you find treasures, and we will continue to stock all sorts of marvelous surprises that will make even the most well-read bibliophile squee with delight. Plan accordingly, as always.
And now, here are some highlights from this week's new arrivals.
Celeste Ng returns with Our Missing Hearts, a novel about a boy named Bird and his quest to find his mother. Naturally, this is a high-level gloss as Ng has delivered a powerful and ultimately moving narrative about community and disruption and silence. As Bird grows up, he learns that the country he lives in has many rules about who gets to have a voice and who gets to have a family, and his family has been torn apart merely for being different than the "pure culture" that has been decreed. Bird sets out to find his missing mother, and his journey becomes one of defiance and revolution.
Ng has some things to say about the current state of the world, and Our Missing Hearts is both harrowing and hopeful. There is healing to be done, after all, and it requires acknowledgement and acceptance of who we have become and what we have lost. Recommended.
And speaking of stories about family, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples are back with the next volume of Saga, their bonkers graphic novel series about Hazel and her star-crossed family. It's been awhile since we were cliff-hung with the family, and we're delighted to see that Hazel has made some new friends as Vaughan and Staples continue their Romeo & Juliet meets Star Wars meets What the Heck Did Staples Just Draw? series. Endearing and epic. Just the way we like it.
And speaking of strange things that light up at night, here is Ray Nayler's The Mountain in the Sea, which is a story about intelligent octopuses and the convergence (and divergence) of consciousnesses that are not entirely human. We're not alone, kids! And some of those thinky things are artificial. Or are they? Because, you know, once you start Descartesing all over the landscape, the rules kinda change. Nayler dives into the deep end with The Mountain in the Sea, and you should wear a pressure suit when you follow him.
All right, here's something a little different. This is Ann Aguirre's Extra Witchy. We're going to crib the marketing copy because it makes us laugh. "She's a witch who can't let down her guard. He's a slacker who doesn't even dare to dream." Guess what? They run into each other at a party and go off and fight crime! No, actually, they just get in each other's hair until it becomes obvious to them what we already know, which is: Kiss her already, you fool!
Anyway, before you think we've gone all soft on you, here is Pema Chödrön's How We Live is How We Die, a gentle yet firm reminder to not be an ass about things from everyone's favorite Buddhist nun. It's the first awakening of Buddhism, after all, when you realize that negative and self-destructive thoughts grow in your own soil, and that it is your task to yank those up and let the peaceful flowers of kindness and empathy bloom. A very practical guide for this decade.
And if you were looking for a book that would put everything in perspective, we'd like to offer LEGO's In Focus: Explore the Miniature World of LEGO Photography. Yep. It's pictures of LEGO mini figures in natural (and unnatural) environments. Delightful. And not at all what you expect to find in BISAC category "Technology & Engineering / Technical & Manufacturing Industries & Trades." The world is filled with such surprises, isn't it?
Also out this month in this same category is Wendy A. Woloson's Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America. Hmm. Now you're curious, aren't you? We're not sorry.
And this week's charming debut goes to Joanna Quinn and The Whalebone Theatre. It's the story of a headstrong orphan named Cristabel Seagrave and her band of intrepid misfits who build a theatre out of a whale's skeleton. This creative endeavor bonds the troop in a marvelous way, which comes in handy when they are all trooped off to become spies in WWII. The Whalebone Theatre is the sort of book that rests heavily in your lap, but after a few hours, it transforms into a tale that ends much too quickly.
And speaking of character transformations, here is Rachel Harrison's Such Sharp Teeth, which is the story of what happens when you return to your childhood home and hit a wild animal with your car. What happens next is exactly what you think happens when lycanthropy gets involved (doesn't it always?), but Harrison's touch is deft and clever and, well, there's more to this shapeshifter than merely a craving for flesh during the full moon.
And speaking of engaging horror stories, here is Andrea Rogers's collection, Man Made Monsters. These stories loosely follow a sprawling Cherokee family through many generations, telling tales of all the standard monsters of our nightmares. But Rogers has a few other monsters to share with us—the horrors of empire, of partner violence, of dispossession—as well as a few of her own culture's monsters. Man Made Monsters is illustrated by Jeff Edwards, and his black-and-white drawings incorporate all sorts of Cherokee syllabary, adding an extra layer of meaning to the monsters.
Oh, and let us not forget this precious treasure.
That's right. The J. R. R. Tolkien Memorial Leather-Bound Phone Book Edition of That Story About Those Crazy Kids Who Took That Wrong Turn Near Amon Hen And Of The Matters That Followed. It's bigger than a loaf of bread and costs about what you'd expect of a leather-bound edition of The Lord of the Rings, but come on, you have room on your shelf for it, don't you?
And speaking of weighty tomes, there's a marvelous photo book coming out later this month. It's Rooftop Paris: A Panoramic View of the City of Lights. Here's the thing: it's an accordion-folded book that is about this high by this much, and when you unfold the whole thing, you have—wait for it–a panoramic view of the rooftops of Paris. Flip it over? Aha! Nighttime view. Clever, huh?
Now, we get it. "How can I possibly look at this thing if I have to spread it out across that much floor space?" you ask. Well, here's what you do: You simply mount it on a balsa wood frame over your canopied bed. Tape the end together so that it makes a complete loop. Rig up a simple system of interlocking gears to a hamster wheel, and voila! When the little fellows get their exercise in the morning, you can wake up to a slowly rotating view of Paris. Perfection!
