by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
Here are four books coming out today that I'm excited to read!
Natashia Deón's The Perishing (Amazon | Bookshop.org)
Description from Publisher:
"A Black immortal in 1930's Los Angeles must recover the memory of her past in order to save the world in this extraordinarily affecting novel for readers of N. K. Jemisin and Octavia E. Butler.
"Lou, a young Black woman, wakes up in an alley in 1930s Los Angeles with no memory of how she got there or where she’s from. Taken in by a caring foster family, Lou dedicates herself to her education while trying to put her mysterious origins behind her. She’ll go on to become the first Black female journalist at the Los Angeles Times, but Lou’s extraordinary life is about to take an even more remarkable turn. When she befriends a firefighter at a downtown boxing gym, Lou is shocked to realize that though she has no memory of meeting him, she’s been drawing his face for years.
"Increasingly certain that their paths previously crossed—and beset by unexplainable flashes from different eras haunting her dreams—Lou begins to believe she may be an immortal sent here for a very important reason, one that only others like her can explain. Setting out to investigate the mystery of her existence, Lou must make sense of the jumble of lifetimes calling to her, just as new forces threaten the existence of those around her.
"Immersed in the rich historical tapestry of Los Angeles—Prohibition, the creation of Route 66, and the collapse of the St. Francis Dam—The Perishing is a stunning examination of love and justice through the eyes of one miraculous woman whose fate seems linked to the city she comes to call home."
Why I want to read it:
Oh my goodness, this is right up my alley. I love the blend of history and fantasy, and I think the connection to L.A. is fascinating. This sounds just amazing.
Louise Erdrich's The Sentence (Amazon | Bookshop.org)
Description from Publisher:
"In this stunning and timely novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story, a tale of passion, of a complex marriage, and of a woman's relentless errors.
"Louise Erdrich's latest novel, The Sentence, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention,' must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.
"The Sentence begins on All Souls' Day 2019 and ends on All Souls' Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written. "
Why I want to read it:
Well. Louise Erdrich. I pre-order everything she writes, so there was really no question. But how great does this sound? Erdrich really does own an independent bookstore, so I can't wait to see what her insider's view reveals here.
Lily King's Five Tuesdays in Winter (Amazon | Bookshop.org)
Description from Publisher:
"By the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers and Euphoria comes a masterful new collection of short stories
"Lily King, one of the most 'brilliant' (New York Times Book Review), 'wildly talented' (Chicago Tribune), and treasured authors of contemporary fiction, returns after her recent bestselling novels with Five Tuesdays in Winter, her first book of short fiction.
'Told in the intimate voices of complex, endearing characters, Five Tuesdays in Winter intriguingly subverts expectations as it explores desire, loss, jolting violence, and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. A reclusive bookseller begins to feel the discomfort of love again. Two college roommates have a devastating middle-aged reunion. A proud old man rages powerlessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. A writer receives a visit from all the men who have tried to suppress her voice.
"Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, this wide-ranging collection of ten selected stories by one of our most accomplished chroniclers of the human heart is an exciting addition to Lily King's oeuvre of acclaimed fiction. "
Why I want to read it:
I loved (I mean, I LOVED) King's book Writers and Lovers (Amazon | Bookshop.org), so I have high hopes for this one! I've had good luck in the past with short story collections from novelists whose work I appreciate, so my fingers are crossed for this one.
Dustin Thao's You've Reached Sam (Amazon | Bookshop.org)
Description from Publisher:
"If I Stay meets Your Name in Dustin Thao's You've Reached Sam, a heartfelt novel about love and loss and what it means to say goodbye.
"How do you move forward when everything you love in on the line?
"Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out―move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone.
"What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?
"Filled with a diverse cast of characters, the heartache of first love and loss, and the kind of friends that can get you through anything, plus a touch of magic, You've Reached Sam will make an instant connection with anyone looking for a big emotional romance of a read."
Why I want to read it:
Well, this sounds like a heartbreaker, but sometimes, that's what I want. I think this sounds just fabulous, and of course, I love the blend of romance and just a bit of magic.
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