'The Lost Kingdom of Daughters"

New from Lake Union: The Lost Kingdom of Daughters: A Novel by Weina Dai Randel.

About the novel, from the publisher:

In a distant matriarchal land, a woman’s passions for two American brothers spell love and lust, jealousy and betrayal, in a suspenseful historical novel by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Last Rose of Shanghai.

1950s China. In a land of misty hot springs and star-kissed hills lives Lazo, a woman of the Moso people, who follow a matriarchal tradition where women freely choose their lovers and marriage doesn’t exist. Lazo, beautiful and free-spirited, longs to become a mother.

When two brothers, Noah and Adam Starlings, arrive stranded and starving, they are met with Lazo’s generosity. Adam, a charming artist with a restless heart, is intrigued by the no-marriage custom, but Noah, a physician with a traumatic past, values fidelity above all. As the brothers attempt to make sense of a world where men hold little power, they grow attracted to Lazo, deepening their fraught relationships, even as jealousy, betrayal, and a buried secret threaten to destroy them―and the lives of a generation to come.

Weaving in a multigenerational quest for the truth, this rare novel conjures a spellbinding story of freedom and forgiveness, breathing life into a vanishing culture while charting an inevitable clash between tradition and modernity.

Visit Weina Dai Randel's website.

Q&A with Weina Dai Randel.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Rediscovering Homer"

New from Cambridge University Press: Rediscovering Homer: The Human Experience in the Odyssey and the Iliad by Michael B. Cosmopoulos.

About the book, from the publisher:

A timeless tale of a heroic character's journey through life, Homer's Odyssey has captured the imagination of readers from antiquity to the present day. Michael Cosmopoulos approaches this epic, together with the Iliad, not as remote works of literature, but as a living record of human experience shaped by war, loss, memory, and survival. He offers a poignant exploration of the aspects and consequences of war as captured in the Odyssey, including trauma, leadership and politics, human relations, religion and fate, and the struggle to return home and rebuild after upheaval. Cosmopoulos also situates both the Iliad and the Odyssey within the social conditions and the material realities of Greek society during the Aegean Bronze Age. Based on decades of archaeological field work and study of classical antiquity, and written in an accessible style, his book powerfully demonstrates how the poetry of ancient Greece preserves collective memory across the generations – and why these poems still speak to modern readers.

Visit Michael B. Cosmopoulos's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Murder of a Merry Gentleman"

Coming November 10 from Minotaur Books: Murder of a Merry Gentleman: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires, 4) by Celeste Connally.

About the book, from the publisher:

Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie in this dazzling fourth installment to the captivating Regency-era Lady Petra Inquires mystery series.

London, December, 1815. It’s Christmastime, and Lady Petra Forsyth is concentrating on behaving herself. Thus, she’s volunteered to assist the Lady Patronesses of Almack’s Assembly Rooms with a series of bachelor-auction dances in the fortnight leading up to Christmas Eve. Over five nights, the families of unmarried ladies will each bid for their daughter to be the evening’s hostess and dance with the five eligible bachelors―called the Merry Gentlemen in a nod to the season.

However, after only the first evening, Petra discovers the dead body of one of the bachelors, splayed below the ballroom’s balcony. The death is declared an accident, but when another bachelor’s life is nearly ended a few days later, Petra fears something more sinister may be afoot. As tensions rise, the Patronesses ask Petra to investigate from within…by pretending to be one of the ladies vying for the bachelors’ attentions. Indeed, it’s enough to make an obstinate, headstrong girl scream.

As she begins to unravel the truth, all while pretending to flirt with the bachelors to keep her cover, Petra will need to act like a lady―a Lady Patroness, that is―think like an enterprising scientist, and use every lock pick and defensive move she has learned to ensure that her reputation―and her life―don’t become the next target.

Visit Celeste Connally's website.

The Page 69 Test: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Liars, Cheats, and Copycats"

New from Columbia University Press: Liars, Cheats, and Copycats: Trickery and Deception in Nature by James O'Hanlon.

About the book, from the publisher:

Meet some of the world’s most dastardly creatures, who lie, cheat, and deceive for a living.

There’s the deadly praying mantis that looks like an innocent pink flower. The assassin bug that strums spider webs to lure in a tasty snack. The cuttlefish that changes color to hide its romantic intentions.

To understand how these creatures swindle their way to survival, Liars, Cheats, and Copycats reveals the science behind camouflage, mimicry, and masquerade. Taking readers on a journey from tropical rainforests to the darkness of deep ocean trenches, James O’Hanlon explores how animals and plants use deception to avoid predators, lure in prey, and even reproduce.

From creatures that disappear in front of your eyes to ones that misdirect their foes like masterful magicians, this book exposes the endless ways that animals can survive through breathtaking trickery―and illuminates the evolution of these widespread strategies.

Visit James O'Hanlon's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Madeline McKnight Signs Off"

Coming November 3 from Atria Books: Madeline McKnight Signs Off: A Novel by Evan Brooke.

About the book, from the publisher:

It’s never too late to make amends in this hilarious and tender debut novel about intergenerational friendship, women’s ambition, and coming of age no matter what age you are.

Madeline McKnight is writing her final annual report. A former Wall Street power player, she uses a pie chart to rank her most hated rivals, a line graph to follow the trajectory of her net worth and reputation, and even a formula to predict when the metastasized cancer will kill her. But there’s no equation to solve for whether Bri Davis, Madeline’s ex-best friend’s daughter, will agree to take care of her at the end of her life.

Bri is a nursing student fresh off a breakup, ambivalent about her future, and drowning in debt. She accepts Madeline’s strange proposal, mostly for the obscene payday, only to find herself face-to-face with a force of nature rather than an ailing patient. Madeline McKnight has never gone away quietly, and soon she ropes Bri into teaming up with her to handle her unusual bucket list.

An unconventional relationship between women of two generations becomes something transcendent in this vulnerable, heartbreaking, and life-affirming debut novel that will stay with you “long after you turn the poignant last page” (Cat Shook, author of Humor Me).

Visit Evan Brooke's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Sea-King and the Sorceress"

New from Basic Books: The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age by Neil Price.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the acclaimed author of Children of Ash and Elm, an intimate, continent-spanning human journey through the Viking world.

For centuries, Vikings have been stereotyped as brutish and violent pillagers. But now, based on the latest archaeological research, preeminent scholar Neil Price reveals the true diversity and individuality of the Viking Age.

From an arctic hunter to a woman of Persian ancestry; from a Sámi nomad to a bear endowed with personhood; from Viking raiders to Rus’ river traders; from sorceresses to shape-shifters; from immigrants to diplomats; from followers of many gods, to the worshippers of one; from settlers to farmers―as we meet all these and many more, Price enlists the full range of modern archaeological knowledge to reconstruct Norse lives in personal detail, presenting a new and complex image of the Viking Age. Taking the reader from Greenland to Greece and across three centuries, Price demonstrates that Vikings―in all of their heterogeneity―were both surprisingly similar to us today, and also thrillingly strange.

Densely peopled, beautifully rendered, and impressively wide-reaching, The Sea-King and the Sorceress sheds a light on the realities of life in the Viking diaspora.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Slap Shot"

Coming November 10 from Atria Books: Slap Shot: A Novel (Book #3 of D.C. Stars) by Chelsea Curto.

About the book, from the publisher:

A steamy forced-proximity hockey romance between an NHL defenseman and the private chef who moves into his home with her daughter from the USA TODAY bestselling DC Stars series.

Professional hockey player Hudson Hayes has spent months searching for a private chef, but with the NHL season about to begin, he’s running out of options—and patience.

Single mom Madeline Galloway needs a fresh start. After losing her executive chef position in Las Vegas, she’s desperate for a new job when an unexpected opportunity appears in Washington, DC. Cooking for a professional hockey player wasn’t part of the plan, but it’s exactly the lifeline she and her daughter need.

The arrangement is simple: Madeline will run Hudson’s kitchen, and Hudson will stay out of the way. No complications. No personal entanglements. And definitely no falling for the thoughtful hockey star who makes it feel dangerously easy to belong in his home.

But when one stolen kiss on New Year’s Eve changes everything, the boundaries between them start to blur. As their connection deepens—and Hudson goes out of his way to learn American Sign Language for Madeline’s daughter—they’ll have to decide if what they have is just another temporary arrangement or something worth risking their hearts for.

Visit Chelsea Curto's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Philosophy of Taylor Swift"

New from Oxford University Press: The Philosophy of Taylor Swift, edited by Lindsay Brainard, Ryan W. Davis, and Jessica Flanigan.

About the book, from the publisher:

She's much more than a showgirl. Taylor Swift has long been celebrated as a masterful storyteller, but her songwriting is also full of deep philosophical reflection. Hidden beneath the gleaming surfaces of cliffside pools and the shattered edges of mirror balls are philosophical insights for the ages. It's easy to get lost in the labyrinth of her lyrics, but our philosophical guides are here to take you by the hand and lead you through the secret philosophical gardens in Swift's mind. It's worth it. As she tells us, she's only cryptic and Machiavellian because she cares.

The Philosophy of Taylor Swift gathers twenty-two original essays that illuminate the philosophical richness of Swift's catalogue. Written by philosophers with various areas of expertise--including ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of science--and bringing to bear the passion of a fan for an obsessive deep-dive into Swift's music and lyrics, this book of friendly but rigorous essays treats Swift not merely as a pop icon but as a serious intellectual interlocutor. Contributors use philosophy's unique toolkit to analyze her songwriting, showing that she can play ball with Aristotle and that her words are worth much more than meets the cynical eye.

For philosophers, the volume offers a methodologically innovative approach to popular culture, demonstrating how an artist's lyrics can sustain substantive philosophical inquiry. For Swifties, it offers new lenses through which to understand the themes that animate Swift's music: accountability and forgiveness, ambition and vulnerability, moral injury and revenge, love in its many registers, and the search for meaning in a complicated world. The result is a vibrant, interdisciplinary exploration of one of the most distinctive and thought-provoking voices of the twenty-first century.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Art of Living Forever"

Coming November 3 from Orbit Books: The Art of Living Forever (The Sundered Gods, 1) by A. T. Rainach.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A centuries-old rivalry is reignited in A.T. Rainach’s dark romantasy debut, which follows the ancient God of War as he discovers the reincarnated soul of the woman he once loved.

He could never forget her. Not in any lifetime. Not even after a thousand years.

Grace is desperate to escape the future planned for her―a forced engagement to a vile English lord an ocean away―when a mysterious stranger who looks at her like he's known her for lifetimes catches her eye.

Aris is bound by a past he cannot escape. Haunted by a woman with eyes the same gray-blue as a raging sea, he is determined to have her back. No matter the cost.

But in the shadows of Napoleonic Europe, Grace finds herself caught between a love she is only beginning to understand and a darkness that has been waiting for her, setting off a millennia-old conflict between two powerful gods.

Visit A. T. Rainach's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"War in Pieces"

New from Rutgers University Press: War in Pieces: "War on Terror" Media and the Fracturing of American Identity by Renée Laurel Pastel.

About the book, from the publisher:

War in Pieces considers media representations of the first phase of the “War on Terror,” set between 2001 and 2013. The book argues that the central figures around which narratives of the conflicts cohered―the war journalist, the active-duty service member, the veteran, and the military family―served to mask the loss of the myth of a unified American national identity and embodied the negotiation of cultural anxieties. Offering a theory of narrative figuration that draws into conversation repetitions and differences across media forms (fiction and nonfiction films, television shows, and online videos), this book breaks down how these figures contributed to a continued sense of unified national identity even as different audiences came away with divergent understandings. This book frames these questions in terms of how US media packaged the “War on Terror” for future cultural memory even as the conflicts continued.

--Marshal Zeringue