Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.
Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.
In the new books below, there are surreal stories with French doppelgängers, demonic possession in 18th-century Mexico, a deaf memoir, an Octavia E. Butler biography, and more.
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Where Are You Really From: Stories by Elaine Hsieh Chou
From the author of Disorientation comes one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year. In these six surreal short stories and one novella, Chou deftly moves through genres to tell the truth of what we really want. A father reunites with his daughter as a background actor in her film, an American working in Paris as an au pair finds her French doppelgänger, and two teen girls make murderous plans for their downstairs neighbor.—Erica Ezeifedi
New Books
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The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
With plague running rampant throughout Zacatecas, Alba, her parents, and her wealthy fiancé Carlos flee to his family’s mine to escape the contagion. But when Alba begins experiencing strange and terrifying symptoms, it becomes clear that something far worse than sickness lies waiting there. Carlos’s cousin, Elías, knows that Alba’s situation is none of his affair. Yet he can’t help but notice her every time she enters the room. When her deterioration intensifies, he may be the only one able to stop the demon thirsting for her blood.
I adore the way Isabel Cañas perfectly blends gothic and historical fiction. Her first previous books, The Hacienda and Vampires of El Norte, left me breathless, and I’m sure this new one will do the same.—Rachel Brittain
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris
Octavia Butler made a name for herself as the first Black woman to consistently write science fiction. Her works The Parable of the Sower and Kindred (and more!) stand as some of the greatest science fiction novels of all time. Biographer Susana M. Morris gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at Butler’s life, reminding readers of the context of Butler’s work. Butler lived through incredible times, seeing the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, women’s rights, disability justice, and LGBTQ+ activism rise up around her. Whether you are a long-time Butler fan or are new to her work, Positive Obsession is a must-read biography of the year.—Kendra Winchester
The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound: A Memoir by Raymond Antrobus
The award-winning Raymond Antrobus uses his poet’s eye to look at a childhood spent in London, then Jamaica, then the US as a half-Jamaican, half-English boy. He recounts discovering he had missing sounds—like bird calls and alarms—how he was diagnosed as deaf at seven, and even how some people thought he was “slow” or faking it. There’s a particular view of masculinity, race, and even how deaf bodies act that he explores and disembles, too.—Erica Ezeifedi
This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, Nicole Goux
This YA graphic novel comes courtesy of an award-winning writer and illustrator. It uses comics, diary entries, and news articles to tell the story of what happened to Wilberton Academy’s resident It Girl, Elizabeth Woodward, when she’s found dead the morning after the school’s opening night of Romeo and Juliet. Her death is ruled a suicide, but transfer student Abby Kita knows better. She was the last to see Elizabeth alive, and she knows the girl had secrets. Question is, were they enough to get her killed?—Erica Ezeifedi
Black Cherokee by Antonio Michael Downing
In Black Cherokee, myths are made flesh and ghosts return as a young woman with mixed heritage grapples with what exactly that heritage means in 1990s South Carolina. Ophelia Blue Rivers’ conundrum comes from the fact that she is both Black and Native American, but the latter’s community doesn’t want to recognize her as one of theirs. To do so would mean they accept the other descendants of the Black people who were enslaved by Cherokee elites before Emancipation and the Trail of Tears.
Her family’s history is as rich as it is muddy.—Erica Ezeifedi
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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