B&N wishlist

Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization by Ed Conway

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/books/review/new-books-recommendations.html

Possible library reserve (from Publisher's Weekly, 12/11/23)

 

★ Twice Lived

Joma West. Tordotcom, $26.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-81032-8

West (Face) uses parallel worlds to explore the pain of coming of age in this deeply emotional fantasy. Lily and Canna alternately share one body that randomly shifts between two alternate Earths. Shifters normally settle into one or the other in their toddler years but Lily/Canna is 16 and still shifting. As each identity begins to feel uncomfortable in her own skin and the duo’s memories become increasingly blurred, they learn that if they don’t settle soon, they risk psychological fracturing. Racing against time, Lily and Canna each fight to stay in their own world yet prepare their separate families for the worst-case scenario. West does an admirable job portraying the tug-of-war between individuals as they grapple with issues of family, identity, and friendship. Readers young and old will appreciate the notes of tenderness amid the conflict and will find it difficult to choose a side. Replete with a shocking yet satisfying ending that showcases West’s cleverness, this is an impressive feat. (Feb.)

QUOZ: A FINANCIAL THRILLER by Mel Mattison

From Publisher's Weekly, 11/27/23:

Fintech executive Mattison puts his cryptocurrency expertise to good use in his chilling debut, which imagines a near-future threat to the global economy. In 2027, financial experts have developed "a groundbreaking quantum AI platform": the International, Central, and Automated Regulation of the Universe of Securities, or ICARUS. During its brief existence, ICARUS has delivered on its promise to create a more stable global economy and made "bank runs, bailouts, and volatile share prices" things of the past. But just before the platform’s latest upgrade goes live, Kota Nakazawa, one of ICARUS’s chief designers, detects some disturbing anomalies in market trading patterns. He seeks advice from his disgraced former colleague, Rory O’Connor, who’s lived in Caribbean exile since he suffered a breakdown a year earlier. As the two dig into the anomalies, they unearth a vast financial conspiracy orchestrated by America’s foreign enemies that’s designed to collapse global markets. Mattison heightens suspense by cluing in readers to certain details of the book’s central conspiracy before his characters unearth them, and his knowledge of international finance lends weight and authenticity. Joseph Finder fans should check this out. (Jan.)

THE QUIET TENANT by Clémence Michallon

Read about this novel months ago. For some reason, it just popped in my head this morning, even though the reviews (I think one was in The New York Times) didn't sell it well. Memory is so weird.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92508-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-june-12-2023.html

THE HELSINKI AFFAIR by Anna Pitoniak

library reserve: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/11/11/helsinki-affair-thriller-review/

AND THEN SHE FELL by Alicia Elliott

library reserve: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/books/review/im-a-fan-sheena-patel-candelaria-melissa-lozada-oliva-and-then-she-fell-alicia-elliott.html

A MORBID TASTE OF BONES by Ellis Peters

 Reserved at library because it's in Molly Young's Read Like the Wind newsletter:

“A Morbid Taste for Bones,” by Ellis Peters

Fiction, 1977

The place: Shrewsbury Abbey. The time: late spring of the year 1137. The person: Brother Cadfael, a monk with a torrid past, a penchant for herb-gardening and a knack for solving crimes.

This is the first book in a once wildly popular series that follows the adventures of a shrewd yet pious amateur sleuth. As plotlines go, the one driving this novel is almost comically boring in summary, so I’ll cover the basics quickly; you’ll just have to trust me on its spine-tingling potential:

A chief administrative monk becomes upset that his abbey doesn’t have any cool relics or miracle-working saints that he can leverage to draw visitors. (The abbey lacks an “It factor,” you could say.) Soon the greedy monk discovers the existence of a neglected martyr in a faraway town and — thinking, “I can work with this” — sends a crew of flunkies to fetch the martyr’s body and claim it for their own. Brother Cadfael, having a bad feeling about the whole business, gets himself conscripted for the journey and thus finds himself on the scene when a dead body shows up! His holy mission, which he indeed chooses to accept, is to puzzle out whodunnit.

Read if you like: Porridge, cozy (or “cosy”) mysteries, herbaria, the British television series “Prime Suspect” starring Helen Mirren, wholesome fun Available from: Also currently free to borrow from the Internet Archive — and check bargain bins and libraries near you. (Or eBay.)

SHAKESPEARE WAS A WOMAN AND OTHER HERESIES by Elizabeth Winkler

For centuries, Christianity had exerted a pacifying influence on the population, encouraging values of meekness and self-sacrifice, and unifying all classes, from the richest congregant to the pious peasant, under a single ideology.

p. 147

SAHA by Cho Nam-joo, translated by Jamie Chang

B&N wish list.

Town, a city-state that is “not quite company or country,” enforces a multi-tiered class system. Laboring under it are the citizenship-less, referred to by the name of the decrepit apartment complex where they live. The Saha Estates are where authorities turn when a doctor is murdered, and where Jin-kyung decides to fight back, for her missing brother, her neighbors and herself.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/13/books/new-paperbacks-nam-joo.html

LAND OF MILK AND HONEY by C Pam Zhang

<<There’s an ornateness to this prose that is missing from much contemporary fiction, which is arguably obsessed with holding the attention of a “typical” reader, one often imagined to have a short attention span and an interest only in the progression of plot.>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/books/review/c-pam-zhang-land-of-milk-and-honey.html

https://newrepublic.com/article/176022/chef-end-world-c-pam-zhang-land-milk-honey

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/05/land-of-milk-and-honey-by-c-pam-zhang-review-an-intriguing-tale-of-post-apocalyptic-cuisine

PEOPLE COLLIDE by Isle McElroy

B&N wishlist because not available yet at library.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/24/books/people-collide-isle-mcelroy.html

TECHNOFEUDALISM: WHAT KILLED CAPITALISM by Yanis Varoufakis

B&N wishlist

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/yanis-varoufakis-technofeudalism-capitalism-ukraine-interview

DIFFICULT MEN: BEHIND THE SCENES OF A CREATIVE REVOLUION by Brett Martin

10th anniversary edition. B&N wishlist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/arts/television/difficult-men.html

REYKJAVIK by Ragnar Jonasson & Katrin Jacobsdottir; and BEYOND THE WALL: A HISTORY OF EAST GERMANY by Katja Hoyer

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/14/books/review/9-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

Though, I also saw reviews of Beyond the Wall a week or two ago. Can't remember if it was in The New York Times, The Guardian, and/or The Washington Post.

BLISS & BLUNDER by Victoria Gosling

 B&N wishlist

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/18/bliss-blunder-by-victoria-gosling-review-an-arthurian-legend-for-our-times

PINK SLIME by Fernanda Trías

B&N wishlist

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/11/the-best-recent-science-fiction-fantasy-and-horror-reviews-roundup

FEVER HOUSE by Keith Rosson

B&N wishlist, since library doesn't list it.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92951-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-aug-14-2023.html

SEA OF TRANQUILITY by Emily St. John Mandel

Edwin is capable of action but prone to inertia.

p. 5

There are words you encounter all your life without knowing what they mean.
p. 137

.

PROPHET by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché

B&N wishlist

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92916-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-aug-7-2023.html

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/04/our-book-is-barbie-meets-oppenheimer-why-we-wrote-about-nostalgia-in-an-era-of-crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/20/prophet-by-helen-macdonald-and-sin-blache-review-an-enjoyable-homage-to-the-x-files

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/23/prophet-by-helen-macdonald-and-sin-blache-review-fun-high-octane-sci-fi-thriller

A GOOD HOUSE FOR CHILDREN by Kate Collins

 B&N wishlist

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/28/books/review/a-good-house-for-children-kate-collins-i-will-greet-the-sun-again-khashayar-j-khabushani-all-night-pharmacy-ruth-madievsky.html

BIG SWISS by Jen Beagin

B&N wishlist

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/27/books/new-paperbacks-kenan.html

WHAT REMAINS by Wendy Walker

library reserve

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/books/review/new-books-recommendations.html

AUGUST BLUE by Deborah Levy

...some of us are creators...and the rest of us are performers.

p. 18

Nietzsche rightly believed...that music was the highest art, the essence of being.

p.19

THE NENOQUICH by Henry Bean

B&N reserve

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92743-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-july-17-2023.html

MY MURDER by Katie Williams

library reserve

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/katie-williams-my-murder.html

SEVENTEEN by Joe Gibson

B&N wishlist

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/08/joe-gibson-affair-with-teacher-seventeen-book-extract-nfbntw

PET by Catherine Chidgey

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/02/pet-by-catherine-chidgey-review-sly-psychological-thriller

A LONG TIME DEAD by Samara Breger

library reserve

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/books/review/new-books-recommendations.html

LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN by Lisa See

library reserve

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/lady-tans-circle-of-women-lisa-see.html

LITTLE MONSTERS by Adrienne Brodeur

 library reserve

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92581-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-june-26-2023.html

WHAT AN OWL KNOWS: THE NEW SCIENCE OF THE WORLD'S MOST ENIGMATIC BIRDS by Jennifer Ackerman

B&N wish list.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/books/review/what-an-owl-knows-jennifer-ackerman.html

THE FORBIDDEN TERRITORY OF A TERRIFYING WOMAN by Molly Lynch

I put on my B&N wishlist.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92508-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-june-12-2023.html

BRIDGE by Lauren Beukes

I put on my B&N wishlist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/books/fiction-summer-books.html

The Dissident by Paul Goldberg

I reserved at B&N because it's not at my library.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/books/review/paul-goldberg-dissident.html

TIME SHELTER by Georgi Gospodinov

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/26/georgi-gospodinov-interview-time-shelter-international-booker

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/20/time-shelter-by-georgi-gospodinov-review-the-dangers-of-dwelling-in-the-past

library reserve

Whether Violent or Natural by Natasha Calder

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/28/whether-violent-or-natural-by-natasha-calder-review-superbug-apocalypse-now

library holds

All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/19/books/review/new-paperbacks-lytle-hernandez.html

August Blue by Deborah Levy

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92307-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-may-22-2023.html

INDEPENDENCE SQUARE: ARKADY RENKO IN UKRAINE by Martin Cruz Smith

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/92163-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-may-8-2023.html

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

Unsure if I'm going to get the large print or regular edition.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/05/books/review/new-paperbacks-haig.html

EVEN IF EVERYTHING ENDS by Jens Liljestrand

B&N wishlist because it's only available for pre-order.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/books/review/new-this-week.html

B&N wishlist & library reserve

B&N wishlist: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/01/the-lost-album-of-the-beatles-review-daniel-rachel-deeply-researched-what-ifs

library reserve: The Ferryman by Justin Cronin: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/books/new-may-books.html

library reserve

 Heard about it in an email from Barnes & Noble: Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls.

library reserve

This was actually in today's New York Times book review: Owen King's The Curator. I'll give it a shot.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/06/books/review/owen-king-the-curator.html

B&N wishlists

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling, and Paradise-1 by David Wellington

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/91890-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-april-3-2023.html

library reserve

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/books/review/the-writing-retreat-julia-bartz.html

library reserve

 A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/books/review/what-napoleon-could-not-do-dyscalculia-a-country-you-can-leave-dk-nnuro-camonghne-felix-asale-angel-ajani.html

B&N wishlist

 Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age by Reid Mitenbuler

B&N wishlist

Empty Theatre: A Novel or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty... by Jac Jemc

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/91562-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-february-20-2023.html

Katherine Duncan-Jones' SHAKESPEARE: AN UNGENTLE LIFE

Some seventeenth-century writers estimated that barely one in 500, or even one in 1,000, lived to be sixty.

His Line of Life, p. 296

. . . more rival than enemy . . .

NOTES, p. 335

in New York Times: book review of Deepti Kapoor's AGE OF VICE

People say the two saddest words in the English language are “What party?” But “planned trilogy” cannot be far behind.

library reserves

• Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen
• The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz (also in Washington Post)
• The Drift by C.J. Tudor

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/91380-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-january-30-2023.html

Fred Hampton quote

“We don’t think you fight fire with fire best; we think you fight fire with water best. We’re going to fight racism not with racism, but we’re going to fight with solidarity.”

SPLINTERLANDS by John Feffer

 ...physicians can't operate on themselves, therapists can't cure their own neuroses, and intellectuals are blind to the very knowledge that can set then free.

p. 7, Introduction

Empires, like adolescents, think they'll live forever. In geopolitics, as in biology, expiration dates are never visible. As a result, it can be hard to distinguish growing pains from death rattles. When the end comes, it's always a shock.

p. 14-15, Chapter 1

library reserve

Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/01/15/stephen-amidon-locust-lane/

WINTERLAND by Rae Meadows

She couldn't even hate him because what was the use: he'd lost his humanity long ago.

p. 122, chapter 11 

...the present contains the past...

p. 161, chapter 14

library reserve

The Deluge by Stephen Markley

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/91244-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-january-9-2022.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/01/06/deluge-book-markley/