Welcome to Genre June! We are trying something a little different this month: we’ve picked three amazing books in different genres to enjoy near the beach, lake, or pool this summer: romance, science fiction, and mystery. Read one, read two, or read them all, according to your preferences, and then attend one, two, or three virtual meetings with the authors at the end of the month. Romance: How To End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang Helen Zhang despises Grant Shepard — and for good reason. So when she learns Grant won’t only be a part of, but a lead member of the writing team turning her novel into a TV show, well, it’s a worst case scenario…or is it? This sweeping love story follows an unlikely couple as they navigate grief, success, ridicule, mental health, and of course, love. It’s complicated, emotional, messy, and exhilarating. I can’t wait for you all to fall in love with these characters and Kuang’s storytelling like I did! — @emweaves Speculative Fiction: The Blueprint by Rae Giana Rashad In the near future, patriarchy and racism have won a second civil war in America, and now women are assigned their place in the world based on an algorithm. Here, we meet Solenne, a Black woman who is without agency or choice. Trying to grapple with her unbearable reality, she escapes into writing the biography of her ancestor Henriette, a slave and concubine who lived in the 1800s, and readers begin to see the parallels quickly – as well as how not so very removed present-day America is from its terrible past and dystopian future. This beautifully written and heartbreaking debut is literacy but fast-paced, meditative but urgent. You will not be able to stop thinking about it after reading the last page. Mystery/Thriller: Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum Caitlin Levy is the newest hire at a dysfunctional corporation with an eccentric CEO. The benefits are great even if the job might be a bit hard to grasp – but everything goes awry at a company retreat in Miami when one employee turns up missing and then dead. What secrets will come to light, and how will the rest of the employees react to protect themselves and their jobs? Written by Bustle Digital Group’s own CCO, Emma Rosenblum, this corporate crime drama is darkly funny and filled with despicable characters making bad decisions. — Sarah Aswell, Senior Editor, News & Social |
