Books Are My People Weekly Newsletter
out today, paperback releases and more!
Let Me Help You Discover Books You Might Not Otherwise Read! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.
Dear Reader,
How’s everyone hanging in there? Life is tough right now; there’s just so much dissonance in the world. I have completed my week of pretending I’m a judge on The Great British Bakeoff and eating every baked good in sight and I’m back to taking care of my body. I was so tired the other night, I fell asleep at 9:30! This is unheard of! What does everyone do for self-care? I’ve been focusing my attention on dogs and books and art and baked goods.
My latest podcast dropped yesterday. I had the pleasure of speaking with Nayantara Roy about her debut novel The Magnificent Ruins, out today! We chat about how she managed the logistics of her page-turning family saga, how her lived experience influenced this novel, as well as how long it took her to write this beautiful, expansive novel.
And Mia P Manansala, author of the cozy mystery Guilt and Ginataan, also out today, recommends a favorite read. Listen to the podcast here.
BOOK COVER CHAT AND DRAW: Let’s paint / draw book covers and have a casual chat about the books we’re reading! (I’ve hosted two of these in the past and people seem to like them! Sign up here. (You must sign up to attend.) All attendees will receive a document with all of the books we talk about. No art experience required, as evidenced by my invented book cover for Katya Apekina’s Mother Doll. Please share with book and art-loving friends!
WHEN: Wednesday, November 13th at 11:30 am PT
WHERE: Sign up here.
COST: FREE!!
Books Are My People paying subscribers exercised their right to vote and selected our February Read With Me pick! Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli. You can join us by upgrading your subscription. (154 pages, published in 2014.)
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray is our Book-to-Film selection for November here on Substack We’ll be reading the book, watching the Lanthimos film or both (you choose) and then having a discussion at the end of November. Come join us by upgrading your subscription.
You can pop in for a month and check it out or join for the year at a discount. Refer three friends who sign up and get a month free!
I am giving away one paperback copy of THE NEW NATURALS by Gabriel Bump. I read this when it was first published and loved it. In it, Rio, a young Black woman deals with the loss of her infant. She craves safety and security and with the help of her husband, Gibraltar, she constructs a literal underground society that aims to be an inclusive utopia. But is the perfect society possible? The book explores issues of race, class and the human condition.
To Enter: Simply make sure you’re following me on Instagram and leave a comment and subscribe to this newsletter. This giveaway will close on Wednesday, November 27th and I will contact the winner on November 29th. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only.
The best way you can support this newsletter is to click on the books below and purchase them through my Bookshop.org affiliate store. A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)
Books Out Today: (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)
*The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy
If you like sprawling family sagas and large homes: Lily returns to Kolkata, India, after learning she’s inherited her family’s sprawling estate. Having been estranged from her mother for ten years, she must confront the legacy of an extended family that she thought she left behind sixteen years ago.
Versailles by Kathryn Davis
Like reading about royals?
Marie Antoinette tells her own story in this novel about girlhood, womanhood, architecture, and--above all--time and the soul's true journey within it.
Big Breath In by John Straley
Suspense / Mystery novel involving the sea: A retired marine biologist with terminal cancer - turned amateur sleuth has an ax to grind--and a child to save.
*Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala
Fans of fall cozy mysteries: A race in a corn maze is suddenly cut short when a dead body is found in the middle of it...and an unconscious Adeena lies next to it, clutching a bloody knife. All signs--murder weapon included--point to Adeena as the culprit. But Lila knows her best friend couldn't have done this, so she and her crew put on their sleuthing caps yet again to find the killer who framed Adeena.
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers illustrated by John Burgoyne
For fans of historical fiction: An alluring literary mystery full of secrets and lies, when an art teacher at a psychiatric hospital in 1960s England finds her life turned upside down by the arrival of a mysterious patient who has spent decades living in complete isolation with his elderly aunts in a decrepit Victorian house.
Toto by A.J. Hackwith
For fans of Oz - I had to include this one as Wicked is coming out in one week!
Toto, the true hero of The Wizard of Oz takes center stage in this delightfully snarky reimagining from the author of The Library of the Unwritten.
Paperback Releases:
The Professor by Lauren Nossett
The dark side of academia? On a spring afternoon in Athens, Georgia, Ethan Haddock is discovered in his apartment, dead, apparently by his own hand. His fatality immediately garners media attention: not because his death reflects the troubling increase of depression and mental health issues among college students, but because the media has caught the whiff of a scandal. His professor, Dr. Verena Sobek, has been taken in for questioning, and there are rumors his death is the result of a bad romance. A Title IX investigation is opened, the professor is suspended, and social media crusaders and trolls alike are out for blood.
Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future by Gloria Dickie
For nature lovers: Weaving together ecology, history, mythology, and a captivating account of her travels and observations, Dickie offers a closer look at our volatile relationship with these magnificent mammals. Engrossing and deeply reported, Eight Bears delivers a clear warning for what we risk losing if we don't learn to live alongside the animals that have shaped our cultures, geographies, and stories.
I hope you all have a wonderfully bookish week! What are you looking forward to reading on or off this list? Share below.
Books Are My People: A Podcast Companion Newsletter
(click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast.)
And, if you haven't yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen!
UPDATED: December - I will be pausing Substack for the month of December in order to recharge. What does this mean for you? If you’re a paying subscriber, you won’t be charged for December. And there will be no paying subscriber activities. For free subscribers, this means no newsletters for the month of December. I WILL still be publishing my book recommendation podcast, Books Are My People during December. And business as usual will resume in January.
I’m looking forward to reading Poor Things.