Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.
Somehow, we’ve made it to the middle of the middle month of the year. I don’t know about you, but my TBR has been positively exploding with this year’s new books and that doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. I cover all things new YA books every week in the What’s Up in YA? newsletter, and whew, it’s been a good year for reading.
So what’s hitting shelves this week? A little of everything. We’ve got two very different witchy reads, a work of nonfiction about language and the internet, some dang potent cheesecake, and so much more.
Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic
Aleksic writes the fantastic newsletter The Etymology Nerd, which is a nerdy-as-hell dive into the ways that algorithms on the internet have changed the ways we use language both on and offline. If you’ve ever wondered where the word “brainrot” came from or have been curious why everything has some kind of -core to it–think cottagecore, nerdcore, and others–and if you’ve ever been flummoxed by the use of words like “unalived” to talk about very serious mental health issues, you’ll want this deep dive into etymology and technology on your TBR stat. This blends original research with the history of how humans use language to create a highly readable, compelling work of nonfiction.
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest horror novel is a witchy tale exploring the story of women from three different areas who get caught up in witchcraft. Minerva is a graduate student, studying the history of horror. When she discovers that horror author Beatrice Tremblay’s most famous novel was inspired by a true story, Minerva becomes obsessed with finding out the truth behind the manuscript. Decades earlier, when Tremblay attended the same university as Minerva, a girl went missing under mysterious circumstances. – Emily Martin
Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky
You may know Kurlansky for his nonfictional food writing, but in his latest, you’ll be treated to a novel about a Manhattan community obsessing over an ancient cheesecake recipe.
It’s the 1970s, West 86th Street. The people love their delectable local dessert options, but this grows even truer with the arrival of the Katsikases. They’re a Greek family opening a new restaurant who’ve brought with them Cato the Elder’s original 234 BCE cheesecake recipe. The goal was to attract “upscale” diners, but the cheesecake has been a hit with everyone. As a result, Art Katsikas begins to use his family’s new-found wealth to buy up local real estate, forever changing the landscape of this block of West 86th Street.
It’s a bit slice-of-life and a lot slice-of-cheesecake.
New Books
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Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity by Joseph Lee
We all live on Native land, even on Martha’s Vineyard. Aquinnah Wampanoag journalist Joseph Lee has had to watch as his people increasingly can’t afford to live in their ancestral homeland. In Northing More of This Land, Lee parallels his people’s experience with a broader look at what being Indigenous means for Native Peoples in the twenty-first century. – Kendra Winchester
Only Lovers in the Building by Nadine Gonzalez
When you spontaneously quit your job and get a short-term rental in Miami to read and figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life, the best thing that could happen is to discover that your handsome new neighbor shares your love of romance novels. What Lily doesn’t expect is to also fall in love with the entire wacky community she finds at The Icon, and to find that all the answers she’s looking for might be right in front of her. – Jessica Pryde
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Once-powerful witch Sera Swan lost her magic abilities and was thrown out of her Guild after she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine. Now she runs an inn with her no-longer-dead great-aunt and a talking fox, while also searching for a way to restore her powers. And then the answer arrives on their doorstep: guest Luke Larsen, a curmudgeonly historian who knows the spell for restoring magic. But Sera will have to convince him to help her and keep it hidden from the Guild if she wants to be witchy once more. – Liberty Hardy
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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