"Bed Chemistry"

New from Crooked Lane Books: Bed Chemistry: A Novel by Elizabeth McKenzie.

About the book, from the publisher:

One bed. One (very awkward) shared past. What could go wrong?

With a fun and steamy twist on the only-one-bed trope, this debut contemporary romance will delight fans of The Love Hypothesis and The Paradise Problem.

Chemistry teacher Ashleigh Hutchinson knows better than anyone that love and lust don’t mix. The feelings come from different hormones, they trigger different responses, and they demand different reactions. Which is why she doesn’t date. She hooks up. No catching-of-feels required.

When Ashleigh is fired from her job without notice, she signs up to participate in a month-long sleep study, which will pay her enough to cover rent while she job hunts. It seems easy enough—until she walks into the clinic and finds herself staring right into the gorgeous eyes of Xander Miller, the only man to have ever tempted her to abandon her no relationships rule.

When Xander and Ashleigh realize the study is only looking for couples, they agree to pretend to be together—which means sleeping in the same bed every night for the next few weeks. How hard can it be to keep their cool under the covers?

With steamy “will they or won’t they” tension and plenty of hilariously awkward moments, Bed Chemistry is sure to appeal to fans of Christina Lauren, Ali Hazelwood, and Meghan Quinn.

Visit Elizabeth McKenzie's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Bêtes Noires"

New from Duke University Press: Bêtes Noires: Sorcery as History in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands by Lauren Derby.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Bêtes Noires, Lauren Derby explores storytelling traditions among the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, focusing on shape-shifting spirit demons called baka/bacá. Drawing on interviews with and life stories of residents in a central Haitian-Dominican frontier town, Derby contends that bacás—hot spirits from the sorcery side of vodou/vodú that present as animals and generate wealth for their owners—are a manifestation of what Dominicans call fukú de Colón, the curse of Columbus. The dogs, pigs, cattle, and horses that Columbus brought with him are the only types of animals that bacás become. As instruments of Indigenous dispossession, these animals and their spirit demons convey a history of trauma and racialization in Dominican popular culture. In the context of slavery and beyond, bacás keep alive the promise of freedom, since shape-shifting has long enabled fugitivity. As Derby demonstrates, bacás represent a complex history of race, religion, repression, and resistance.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Far from the A-List"

New from MIRA: Far from the A-List: A Novel by Stephanie Burns.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this fresh, propulsive take on fame in the tabloid era of the ’00s, a former child star struggles to figure out who she is beyond the characters she's played—on television and in relationships.

Former child star Michaela Turner is ready for her next big role—she just doesn’t know what it is yet. As someone whose days were once filled with bright lights, never—ending rehearsals, and adoring fans from around the world, Michaela now struggles to define herself beyond the glitz and glamour of her past. She tries hard to stay out of the tabloids, but fading into the background isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Not when her manipulative momager, Caroline, is dead set on launching her daughter’s big comeback, no matter how many old wounds it tears open. And especially not when Michaela’s attempts at “normal” relationships fail spectacularly at every turn, from the toxic ex she can’t seem to escape to the nice guy she wishes she could see a future with.

As her mother’s demands grow more draining and her love life takes hit after hit, she learns a few hard truths about the significance of self—worth and the beauty of letting go. Now, with her ex—boyfriend—turned—best—friend Josh as her only support, Michaela is ready to rebuild herself, one misstep at a time. And maybe, if she’s lucky, after all these years of pretending, she’ll finally have the chance to discover who she really is.

Visit Stephanie Burns's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Crush: Close Encounters with Gravity"

New from The MIT Press: Crush: Close Encounters with Gravity by James Riordon.

About the book, from the publisher:

The fascinating story of gravity, from its intimate role in our daily lives to its cosmic significance.

Gravity is at once familiar and mysterious. It’s the reason for the numbers on your bathroom scale, the intricate dance of the stars and planets, and the evolution and eventual fate of the universe. In Crush, James Riordon takes readers on a tour of gravity from its vanishing insignificance on the microscopic scale to its crushing extreme inside black holes.

From the moment we lift our heads as infants until the moment we lie down and ultimately surrender to its pull at the end of our lives, we labor under the burden of gravity. It has guided the shape and structure of our bodies over eons of evolution and sculpted the Earth as it cooled from a blob of molten rock. As Riordon explains, the stars couldn’t shine without gravity holding them together. Even the atoms that form you and everything around you were forged in stellar furnaces that gravity built. It took Einstein to realize that gravity is not, in fact, a force at all, but instead the curvature of space and time.

A fascinating and memorable read, Crush examines our personal relationships with gravity, explores gravity’s role in making the universe uniquely hospitable for life, and even reveals how the mundane flow of water in your kitchen sink offers a glimpse into the secrets of black holes.

Visit James Riordon's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Grave Deception"

New from Crooked Lane Books: A Grave Deception: A Kate Hamilton Mystery by Connie Berry.

About the book, from the publisher:

Antiques expert Kate Hamilton dives into the past to solve a fourteenth-century mystery with disturbing similarities to a modern-day murder in the sixth installment of the Kate Hamilton mystery series.

Kate Hamilton and her husband, Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, have settled into married life in Long Barston. When archaeologists excavating the ruins of a nearby plague village discover the miraculously preserved body of a fourteenth-century woman, Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, are asked to appraise the grave goods, including a valuable pearl. When tests reveal the woman was pregnant and murdered, the owner of the estate on which the body was found, an amateur historian, asks Kate to identify her and, if possible, her killer. Surprised, Kate agrees to try.

Meanwhile, tensions within the archaeological team erupt when the body of the lead archaeologist turns up at the dig site with fake pearls in his mouth and stomach. Then a third body is found in the excavations. Meanwhile, Kate’s husband Tom is tracking the movements of a killer of his own.

With the help of 700-year-old documents and the unpublished research of a deceased historian, Kate must piece together the past before the grave count reaches four.

Visit Connie Berry's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Art of Betrayal.

My Book, The Movie: The Art of Betrayal.

Q&A with Connie Berry.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Star-Spangled Republic"

New from the University of Virginia Press: The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation by Eran Shalev.

About the book, from the publisher:

Examining the cosmic conceit at the heart of early American political rhetoric

Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? In The Star-Spangled Republic, Eran Shalev answers this and many other questions, considering the cosmic imagery—so familiar today but so peculiar on reflection—that suffused the United States’ early political culture. In this comprehensive study, Shalev uncovers how “political astronomy”—the discussion and representation of politics through astronomical models, allusions, and metaphors—reflected and facilitated the emerging worldview that enabled Americans to justify and find meaning in the country’s new democratic modes of governance and its federal system. No other scholar has looked at American political rhetoric through this lens; in so doing, Shalev is able to explain in fascinating detail how Americans turned away from the sun of heliocentric monarchy toward the night sky full of federated constellations, and to discover republicanism imprinted in the firmament.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Twin Tides"

New from Delacorte: Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen.

About the book, from the publisher:

Long-lost twin sisters unravel the mystery behind their mother's disappearance and face the family betrayal that ultimately separated them in this breathtaking speculative young adult thriller.

Heiress and influencer Caliste Ha lives a glamorous life in an LA high rise, her perfectly curated social media feed hiding the cracks in her family. Across the country, Aria Nguyen is barely surviving as a freshman and academic scammer at Georgetown University. They have never met.

That changes with one unexpected and grim phone call. Their long-missing mother has been found dead in Les Eaux, Minnesota. Upon arrival in the sleepy town, Caliste and Aria discover another shocker—they are identical twins.

Ready to unearth the secrets that led to their mother’s death and their separation, they start looking for answers. But a vengeful ghost is haunting the waters, and an unknown enemy is watching their every move.

Can Aria and Caliste unravel all the sinister mysteries of Les Eaux, or will the town’s deadly secrets ultimately drag them under?

Visit Hien Nguyen's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Autocracy 2.0"

New from Cornell University Press: Autocracy 2.0: How China's Rise Reinvented Tyranny by Jennifer Lind.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Autocracy 2.0, Jennifer Lind reveals how China's leaders defied expectations and propelled the country to innovation-superpower status―and what that means for the balance of power and global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.

In 2008, the world watched in awe as 2,008 men pounded Fou drums in unison at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony―a spectacle that heralded China's arrival as a global powerhouse. Yet even as China's economy skyrocketed, skeptics scoffed at its ability to lead in tech, arguing that its authoritarian institutions smother true innovation. Lind dismantles this assumption, showing that China has not just kept pace; it has, in fact, surged ahead.

Coupling hard data with razor-sharp analysis, Lind shows that China's ascent was fueled by what she calls "smart authoritarianism": a model of governance in which autocratic leaders temper tight political control with inclusive economic measures. By balancing proinnovation policies with tools of repression, China's leaders have obtained political control and economic growth. These smart authoritarians, Lind observes, are not the brass-knuckled dictators of the past―they are their polished Savile Row–clad progeny, and they are found not only in China but also in authoritarian regimes worldwide.

Compelling and incisive, Autocracy 2.0 is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand China's meteoric rise and how today's autocrats are reshaping the technological frontier, governance, and the global balance of power.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Birdwatcher:

New from MIRA Books: The Birdwatcher by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

About the book, from the publisher:

From New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard comes a page—turning drama that explores the beauty of female friendship; the relationship between money, power, and sex; and the very human desire to protect the ones we love most.

When she is convicted of a double murder, Felicity Wild, a brilliant grad student turned high—priced escort, declares, “I may not be innocent, but I’m innocent of this.”

Reenie Bigelow never doubted it. A jury may have given Felicity a life sentence, but Reenie knows that her childhood best friend is not capable of murder. And so Reenie, a journalist, decides to use her deep connections to Felicity’s past to unravel the truth.

The more she uncovers, the more Reenie is convinced that the story the prosecution told is wrong, despite the puzzling fact that Felicity said not one single word in her own defense. But there's one thing Reenie knows for certain: Felicity would never lie.

Visit Jacquelyn Mitchard's website.

My Book, the Movie: Two If by Sea.

Writers Read: Jacquelyn Mitchard (March 2016).

The Page 69 Test: Two If by Sea.

The Page 69 Test: The Good Son.

Q&A with Jacquelyn Mitchard.

My Book, The Movie: The Good Son.

Writers Read: Jacquelyn Mitchard (Noveber 2023).

The Page 69 Test: A Very Inconvenient Scandal.

My Book, The Movie: A Very Inconvenient Scandal.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Impossible Woman"

New from Rutgers University Press: The Impossible Woman: Television, Feminism, and the Future by Kristen Hoerl.

About the book, from the publisher:

Although it may seem like the proliferation of strong women on television is a feminist achievement, a deeper look into their stories tells us otherwise. The Impossible Woman examines a variety of scripted US television series across multiple genres to show how the cultural value of television’s extraordinarily talented female characters often rests upon their ability to endure—but not overcome—sexism. Looking at Parks and Recreation, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Queen’s Gambit, Game of Thrones, and Queen of the South, Hoerl argues that these series contribute to sexist realism, or the cultural assumption that there is no alternative to patriarchy. Situating impossible women’s struggles in the context of contemporary feminist politics, Hoerl explains how the problems facing television’s strongest women illustrate mainstream feminism’s paradoxical dependence upon on cultural misogyny, neoliberal individualism, and racism. The Impossible Woman encourages readers to seek out alternative stories that might help them envision more just feminist futures.

--Marshal Zeringue