We don't know about you, but we are always on the hunt for a good fantasy book to fall into after a long day. This week, Queen of Shadows, the new Throne of Glass novel, is out, for fans of YA fantasy. Also out today us a new, and last, Terry Pratchett Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown.
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New Books in Literary Fiction this week include Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg, a novel about a group of people coping with tragedy that has been longlisted for the Man Booker prize, and can be counted among the list of best new fiction books of 2015.
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New books for teens this week include Don't Fail me Now by Una LaMarche, a tale of a survival, family, and strength, and Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian, a new tale about LGBT youth.
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The Precipice is the sixth in my series of crime novels about a Maine game warden named Mike Bowditch. This one takes place along the Maine stretch of the Appalachian Trail in an area called the Hundred Mile Wilderness which is the most remote section of the entire 2,200 mile long AT.
It begins when Mike’s first getaway with his new girlfriend, a wildlife biologist named Stacey Stevens, is interrupted by a phone call from his superiors. Two female thru-hikers from Georgia have disappeared in the Hundred Mile Wilderness, and the entire Warden Service is being mobilized to find them. In the previous books Mike has been a headstrong, at times reckless young man, but he is trying to get his life in order, and he throws himself into the search.
Clues lead Mike to a disturbing discovery — the young women had reported being pursued by a pack of coyotes in a manner reminiscent of a 2009 attack in Canada. When Stacey joins the search as a volunteer, the situation grows even more complicated since she is convinced that coyotes had nothing to do with the disappearance. She believes that the girls might have been murdered by another hiker or by one of the many drug dealers, poachers, and ex-cons who live near the trail.
Mike soon learns that his new girlfriend is even more headstrong and reckless than he ever was. And when Stacey herself disappears in the mountains, his quest becomes desperately personal.
Love yourself. Not in the sense a narcissist does, but as you would care for a person close to you, accepting their flaws, always urging them to do better, never giving up hope.
These days I am so busy writing I don’t get outdoors as much as I’d like, but I really enjoy teaching people how to fly cast. There is something about the motion that can be deeply relaxing, almost in the manner of yoga, and it forces you pay close attention to your surroundings in a way that no one but artists usually do.
Sherlock Holmes. I was so impressed with his powers of deduction and his mastery of disguises. It was only when i became an adult that I realized he is a bit of a sociopath.
It was reading The Hobbit at age twelve. I put the book down with the realization that I wanted to make other people feel the same thrill I was feeling. Figuring out how to do that has been a lifelong process....
There is a cabin on a lake deep in the Maine woods. I can’t tell you where it is exactly but it is where the idea for my first novel, The Poacher’s Son, came to me. Every time I go there I remember the excitement of realizing what it was that I was meant to write.
Without question the most unusual item is the genuine coyote pelt slung along the back of my writing chair. I bought it from a store in Maine that has a sign out front advertising “Guns, Wedding Gowns, Cold Beer.”
“For most of my life, I had confused heedlessness with heroism. Maybe the time had come to get past that.”
The independent bookstores in Maine have been such amazing champions of my work that I’d prefer not to single one out. I’d just encourage readers to drop in on their local indie before they push the order button on Amazon next time.
I collect quotes the way some people do stamps. Here’s one by Maya Angelou that I especially like: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
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From detoxes to chia seeds to the Paleo diet and more, new trends in wellness are constantly emerging. While we’re always receptive to trying the healthy habit du jour here at NewInBooks (after all, we love bringing you the latest in literature), we also believe in keeping the classics alive. You probably already know that reading is fantastic for you, but here is a list of our five favorite reasons why.
A study at the University of Sussex found that reading for six minutes reduced stress levels in participants by as much as 68 percent, showing it to be more effective than other traditional relaxation methods such as going for a stroll or putting on some tunes. Head investigator Dr. Lewis explained to the Telegraph, “It really doesn’t matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stress of the everyday world”.
Forget having to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes; just find some literary fiction to read! Several studies, including one from David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano featured by Science, show that people who read literary fiction are better at understanding the emotional and mental states of others. This understanding fosters the growth of deeper social relationships. So feel free to embrace all the feels.
Sometimes we focus so much on getting our bodies in tip-top shape that we forget that our brains need some TLC too! According to ScienceDaily, a study published in Neurology found that the mental stimulation created by reading can preserve high cognitive functioning later in life. Even more impressive, USA Today reported that a study published in the the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that adults who read were as much as 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.
In today’s society, there is so much focus on getting information quickly and easily, which often comes at the expense of a diverse vocabulary. A research overview from the National Literacy Trust writes that a 2002 study by Angelos and Mcgriff found that reading boosted vocabulary size regardless of IQ score. Life’s too short to say “very” all the time. Cue Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society.
Yes, we meant to say that. The same report from the National Literacy Trust noted that reading for pleasure fosters positive attitudes towards reading in general, which is correlated with higher achievement in reading. Whether it’s for work or for school, most of us have to do reading that is less than exciting, but with a positive mindset, we can make the reading we have to do more enjoyable and productive. Now you have a valid excuse to keep reading that great book even when you’re supposed to be doing other things.
Lastly, reading just makes you a more interesting human. Don’t be that person at cocktail parties who can only seem to talk about work or the weather. Asking people what they’re reading (or what they want to be reading) is a great conversation topic and can facilitate more stimulating discussion, particularly if you’re able to offer your two-cents. An added bonus: you might even be able to add a new title or two to your reading list.
So the next time you’re not quite sold on those kale chips or suspicious of your friend’s new bone broth obsession, get inspired by one of the oldest tricks in the book (literally).
Want to learn more? Check out these informative articles from The Huffington Post and Real Simple.
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Get sucked into the wormhole of Judgey, the online game that shows you book covers, and you have to guess at the Goodreads rating, with only the cover to go off of. Play Now ↦
Alright y'all, here is the briefest rundown on the politics of this year's Hugo Awards that you're going to find: Sad Puppies eschewed nominations for the Hugo awards because they dislike the concept of rewarding diversity and ingenuity with a Hugo award. They were outvoted and lost. BUT a lot of people who should have gotten awards didn't, so they still kinda won.
If you are interested in the Science Fiction community, and value diversity and social commentary in fiction, I highly suggest reading Wired and NPR's take of the situation.
This year's Mark Twaint Library Book Fair will host thousands of books, including many rare and old books. In CT already? We suggest Checking it out ↦
Need your fix of GOT gossip between seasons? Well, George R.R. Martin has verified that Stannis is still alive!... In the books. In the TV show however? Not so much. Read More ↦
Looking to start a business? Or just, you know, interested in tech things? Check out Entrepreneur's Recommended List ↦
Our weekly celebrity reading list belongs to none other than Jennifer Lawrence, our forever #wcw Read More ↦
It's back to school time! And Forbes is weighing in of which books look at American education the best Read More ↦
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It's a collection of 17 short stories -- ranging in topic from reality TV to World War II to circus elephants to string quartets -- all centered around the question of what it means to make art in difficult circumstances, to try to create order out of chaos.
I have strange taste in this; I love deeply unreliable narrators. One of the least reliable of all time is Charles Kinbote, in Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire. He claims to be a deposed king, but he might in fact be the murderer of the poet whose story he's attempting to tell.
I think Jon Stewart would be a prudent choice. He's fascinating and brilliant, and he could take over when I got too nervous.
My favorite is the newest, a story called "Good St. Anthony Come Around" -- the only one from the collection not to appear in a journal or online. It's about the 1980s art world and the AIDS epidemic. I loved the era so much that I'm pursuing the subject in my next novel.
A lot of junk, mostly. It's hard for me to write at home, since I have small kids. I usually work at the library or a coffee shop. But I do usually keep two stacks of books there related to whatever I'm writing about. One stack is research, and I use that quite a bit, especially if I'm writing anything historical. The other stack is inspiration, novels or stories that I want mine to benefit from. I never touch that stack. It just sits there, and maybe if I'm lucky something seeps from it into the desk.
Writing. That's not to say that I love writing so much that I just can't stop; I mean that between teaching and kids and promoting books, I often have no time to do my actual, main job.
A Tea Party pig roast.
I remember my first grade teacher telling me, in very harsh terms, that I needed to learn to see things from other people's points of view. I wonder how formative that was. I mean, she said it very sharply. And now I spend my life writing from other people's perspectives.
Good god. There's really no way to answer that without sounding like an egomaniac, is there? It isn't at all my favorite, but I'll just give you a juicy one, the opening of "The Miracle Years of Little Fork": "In the fourth week of the drought, at the third and final performance of the Roundabout Traveling Circus, the elephant keeled over dead." (See? Dead elephants! This book is uplifting!)
No. The Guardian just ran a review calling my characters "attractive amoralists," and I like that. I think mottos and quotes and philosophy are morals, of sorts -- which is to say, you go into a situation already believing you know the answer, the lessons. And I think there's nothing worse for a writer.
Rebecca Makkai is the author of the new book Music for Wartime.
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BRUTALITY is the third book in the series featuring Fina Ludlow, a private investigator in Boston who works for her family’s firm of personal injury attorneys. In this installment, Fina is hired to investigate an attack that has landed a woman named Liz Barone in the hospital. Fina discovers that Liz led an ordinary life, except for the fact that she was suing her alma mater, New England University. Liz had been suffering cognitive difficulties that she alleged were the result of her collegiate soccer career at the university. The case drops Fina into the competitive world of college sports where she discovers that many people have a stake in Liz’s lawsuit. Fina also has to navigate her own family’s dysfunction and competing interests.
“Romancing the Stone.” One of my sisters and I quote this movie frequently, mostly to one another. It came out when we were tweens and to this day if she says, “I ain’t no Tarzan,” I immediately picture Danny Devito in a phone booth in Colombia.
I don’t read many books that take place in fictional worlds, but even if I did, there’s no question that I would want to visit Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. A chocolate river, every kind of candy you can imagine, and a glass elevator that takes flight? Sign me up!
My earliest career aspiration was to be a hand doctor. Perhaps I decided that the hand’s 27 bones promised endless variety. I also may have felt that the critical role our hands play in daily living promised job security. My interest dissipated, but my hands play a crucial role in my work, providing a conduit from my brain to the page.
I would love a swim in a warm, clear ocean, followed by a fruity drink and a delicious meal. Given that the nearest ocean is the freezing Puget Sound, I’ll have to satisfy that urge with a warm shower, a dark and stormy mixed by my husband, and take-out from the local Vietnamese place.
I would most likely spend an extra hour each day reading, although I might feel obliged to spend it learning a new skill. The New Englander in me would feel compelled to do something productive!
I’ve purposefully chosen a small writing desk to avoid clutter and piles. The modest space is taken up by my laptop, a lamp, a folder dedicated to an upcoming trip to Spain, an outline of my next book, a diet soda, and my prized mug celebrating the birth of Prince George of Cambridge. A close friend got it for me in London in July 2013 right after his birth. I have a soft spot for his maternal grandmother, the late Princess Diana of Wales, who was a prominent figure during my childhood.
In high school, I remember my father suggesting I close my mouth and open my ears. It was said kindly, but I think it’s advice we could all use. How often do you feel like you listened too much and didn’t talk enough? Someone else once told me to “always consider the source,” and I still think it’s excellent advice, especially in the internet age. Everybody’s got an opinion, but you can decide how much credence to give those opinion.
Choosing a favorite line is an impossible task; there are too many that I like and too many that I don’t remember! There are certain images that stay with me: the young child “popped up from his knees as if he were spring-loaded” or the woman whose “dark brown hair was cut into a graduated bob, a style that never made any sense to Fina. Why would you want the back of your head to look like a wedge of cheese?”
I’m a big of fan of the Gladys Knight lyric “keep on keepin’ on.” She sings it in the context of finding a reason to keep going, but I think of it in terms of working hard and moving forward regardless of the obstacles you encounter along the way. I think it’s an especially good motto for writers; there will always be critics and setbacks, but tenacity counts for a lot.
Ingrid Thoft is the author of the new book Brutality.
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Did you dread going to high school English classes? Did you ever fear the teacher would quiz you about a book you didn't read? Remember when Spark Notes was your best friend? The pressure you felt having to finish a book within a deadline may have kept you from enjoying the classic works of literature that crossed your path in school. Whatever the case may have been, we understand you might not have read, or enjoyed, all those school assigned books. Here's a list of books with classic characters, engaging plots, and great ideas you should seriously consider revisiting as an adult.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
Ever crush on someone so bad it hurt? Ever want something you were certain you could get, if only you tried hard enough? Fitzgerald wrote one of the best observations of a man chasing desperately after the American dream. If you'd like to prepare yourself for the disappointment of things not always going your way no matter how hard you try, you should definitely read (or re-read) this book. Main takeaway: You cannot relive the past.
1984, George Orwell:
There always seems to be some authority monitoring you: your parents in childhood, teachers in school, bosses at work. In college there is a brief reprieve, but for the most part we are a society monitored on some level. Orewell's Dystopia reminds us to watch out for overreaching authority, with his projection of a world where all live in constant fear: fear of punishment for doing things deemed wrong by society that seem right. Enjoy your freedom of speech? Enjoy your freedom in general? Read this book to remember what's at stake when one group has too much control.
Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand:
You've surely been told you are unique in some way of another. This story reminds you to BE unique: in your actions, in your work, in anything you do. It can be very easy to follow a path someone has already made for us. But can be ultimately more rewarding if we make a path of our own. Ayn Rand uses this story to show the power of individual influence and the consequences of following in others footsteps.
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding:
Has anyone ever shocked you with a surprising ability? Better at sports, or writing, or cooking, or something even they didn't expect? You may have hated reading about young boys devolving into savagery on an island (it does have some terrifying passages), but there's more to this novel than the animalistic capabilities of human beings. This story will remind you how you act in certain situations proves who you really are. Are you a hunter? Or are you the hunted? What are you capable of? You may surprise yourself.
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly:
Placing all your passion into proving something may cost you your humanity. Frankenstein may have been a sour read for some teenagers with its flowery prose and long descriptions. If you revisit these lines you may be surprised at how well they sink you into the mood of the piece, setting man at odds with nature, setting beast on the same plane as man. As you read it again, ask yourself who the real monster of the story is, and how things may have ended differently if the protagonist was less cowardly and more capable of kindness.
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte:
Wuthering Heights did not make the list because, while that story is a well written and revisit worthy read, it is not as empowering as Jane Eyre. The story's prose may have put you off on your first attempt. Who wants to read about a girl growing up in Victorian era England? Well, this story is anything but boring, and one of the first popular novels to give its female protagonist so much agency. This story does a lot to fight injustices commonly found in chauvinistic literature, but no one can be upset by the ending's message; love is only allowed to conquer all once all have atoned for their evils and are ready to be conquered.
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare:
One of the most often quoted plays with some of the more intriguing names (Oh Polonius), this particular drama may have caused more than a little grief. It's complicated, bizarre, and all over the place. But the story remains one of the most impactful Shakespeare works of our time. The existential questions from the Prince of Denmark may make him seem the fool, but these lines offer insight into general human interactions. Hamlet's unique method to unveil a murder plot proves both baffling and effective, prompting new perspectives on approaching one's own problems.
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck:
You've been faced with difficult choices. Steinbeck's vivid depiction of the friendship between two laborers allows us an unlikely view into the sad moment of a difficult decision. What is mercy to you? Is it a lie you tell to get others through a day? Is it a truth you share with a loved one, even if you know it will hurt them? It isn't the easy, but its worth thinking on before (or even while) you're faced with a tough decision in your own life.
Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut:
Nothing is ever black and white. It's hard to believe that people can be so set in their positions when they know so little. In high school, this story may have posed a serious challenge to your perceptions of what a novel should do. It goes everywhere, from World War II to Outer Space. Whatever is supposed to happen in life is easier to accept when you realize that anything can happen. Vonnegut's take on death is especially mindful, and may be helpful to anyone trying to understand what's going on in their world.
Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad:
Many of the stories on this list look at humanity's dark capabilities. Joseph Conrad's piece is no exception. Only, this story shows a divide, a gap in two different cultures, both dangerous to intruders and line crossers. This story may have been hard to read before, but looking at it now you may see the beauty in the depictions of social constructs and how they devolve when surroundings change the stakes. Violent, blunt, and well written, lessons from deep in the Congo may remind you of clashes in the American culture of today.
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This post is geared toward the ladies, although we certainly wont fault any guys for reading these fantastic works of fiction! If you're a millenial (or just want to feel like one), check out our list of book to read in your 20's.
Let's face it, your twenties are an interesting time. Whether you go to college or not, it is a time when you are, absolutely, navigating what it means to be "adult". You start to build your sense of self as a teen, and that process comes to an effulgent climax in your twenties. The media and stories that we consume during that time can introduce us to truths and concepts that help us decide what sort of person we will be. The following books to read in your 20s are full of thought provoking truths that just might crawl in through your eyes and make a home in your brain.
How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran : New in paperback, How to Build a Girl is full of adventure, honesty, and, amongst all of the booze, cigarettes, music, and sex, puts forth poignant discoveries about self image, family, friends, and the importance of positivity. And Feminism. Lots of Feminism.
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman : This is the most meta novel you will ever read: get ready to enter the millennial mind. With protagonists that remain nameless throughout the narrative, this salient debut waltzes through such topics as self image, body image, relationships, and belief with razor wit and intelligent self awareness.
The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips : Following a newly wed couple, The Beautiful Bureaucrat discusses the differences that major life changes, such as marriage and moving away from the support of family, can have on an individual and a relationship.
Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes : In a world of Minimalist Pixie Dream Girls, it's male counterpart, the Lumbersexual, and impeccable Instagram feeds, it helps to read books that are simply, truly, unabashedly honest about the ups and downs of life. Barbara the Slut and Other People is one such collection of stories.
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