Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 29

Welcome back, everyone! It’s time to talk book recommendations.

This time, I have three recommendations that I’ve recently dished out to eager readers. But one of them came from you all! If there’s a book you’ve heard about that may be interesting to the Bitchery, definitely drop me or Sarah an email about it.

What about you? Get any good recs lately? Or is there a book you’re just dying to get more people to read?

  • Blurb Your Enthusiasm

    Blurb Your Enthusiasm by Louise Willder

    This rec actually came in from a reader! Thanks for letting us know about this one Susan. Here’s what they said:

    This got a good review recently in  The Washington Post and I thought it would be of interest to SBTB. I’ve bought or avoided books based on blurbs and found treasures as well as books that made me question what planet the blurb writer came from, as their definition of brilliant and romantic and every other word in the blurb other than “and” and “the” clearly differed from mine.”

    A dazzling dictionary of book blurbs, filled with writing tips, literary folklore and publishing secrets

    It’s good to judge a book by its cover.

    Drawing on her 25 years writing blurbs for Penguin books, Louise Willder explores the art, anecdote and history of the words that only take a few seconds to read but can determine a book’s fate.

    This illuminating and joyful compendium is about blurbs at their very best and worst. It is also about cover design, movie taglines, adverts, quotes, puns, the creative process, writers from Austen to Orwell and much more. It answers questions such as: Why should adjectives generally be murdered? Which author hated blurbs? Is it ever okay to give away the ending? Why should you never start a blurb with ‘When’? Can blurbs be sexist?

    The story of blurbs is the story of our needs and desires as readers; about who we are and want to be.

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is available from:
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    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

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    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

    Blurb Your Enthusiasm by Louise Willder

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  • The Book of Gothel

    The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne

    I have a few people who I frequently recommend books to who love dark fantasy setting with fairy tale retellings, and this new release ticks those boxes.

    Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel in her tower, but do you know the story of the witch who put her there? Mary McMyne’s spellbinding debut reveals the truth behind the fairy tale—the truth they never wanted you to know, as only a witch might tell it.

    “Smart, swift, sure-footed and fleet-winged, The Book of Gothel launches its magic from a most reliable source: the troubled heart. Mary McMyne is a magician.”—Gregory Maguire, NYT bestselling author of Wicked

    Germany, 1156. With her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, young Haelewise has never quite fit in. Shunned by her village, her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, and of an ancient tower cloaked in mist, where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it.

    When her mother dies, Haelewise is left unmoored. With nothing left for her in her village, she sets out to find the legendary tower her mother spoke of—a place called Gothel, where she meets a wise woman willing to take Haelewise under her wing. There, she discovers that magic is found not only in the realm of fairy tales.

    But Haelewise is not the only woman to seek refuge at Gothel. It’s also a haven for a girl named Rika, who carries with her a secret the church strives to keep hidden. A secret that reveals a dark world of ancient spells and murderous nobles, behind the world Haelewise has always known.

    “McMyne’s shimmering debut… is a sprawling epic, full of magic, love, and heartbreak. Fans of Circe and The Wolf and the Woodsman will devour this taut, empowering fairy tale.”—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is available from:
    • Available at Amazon
    • Order this book from apple books

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

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    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

    The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne

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  • Nightbitch

    Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

    This was my favorite read of 2021. I had a lovely discussion with a customer about horror novels last week. I sent her home with a list and this was at the top of it. Fingers cross the movie adaptation with Amy Adams is worth it!

    In this blazingly smart and voracious debut, an artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced she’s turning into a dog.

    An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler’s demands, only to discover a dense patch of hair on the back of her neck. In the mirror, her canines suddenly look sharper than she remembers. Her husband, who travels for work five days a week, casually dismisses her fears from faraway hotel rooms.

    As the mother’s symptoms intensify, and her temptation to give in to her new dog impulses peak, she struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity secret. Seeking a cure at the library, she discovers the mysterious academic tome which becomes her bible, A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography, and meets a group of mothers involved in a multilevel-marketing scheme who may also be more than what they seem.

    An outrageously original novel of ideas about art, power, and womanhood wrapped in a satirical fairy tale, Nightbitch will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. And you should. You should howl as much as you want.

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is available from:
    • Available at Amazon

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

    Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

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  • The Woman in the Library

    The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

    I handsold this to a woman who wanted a murder mystery in paperback that would make for a good plane read. She also loved local settings and this one prominently features the beautiful Boston Public Library.

    In every person’s story, there is something to hide…

    The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

    Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is available from:
    • Available at Amazon
    • Order this book from apple books

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

    The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

    View Book Info Page

Comments are Closed

  1. DonnaMarie says:

    This is a fine little crop of recs. I’ve found that books about writing and language are a niche catnip for me, so a book about blurbs is definitely going on the tbr pile.

  2. Midge says:

    I think I’ve just found a Christmas present for my friend! Blurb your Enthusiasm sounds like something she’ll like. And I think I’ll have to get it for myself too.

  3. Molly says:

    About writing: Charlie Jane Anders’ Never Say You Can’t Survive

  4. Blurbs are my quicksand, so I was thrilled to see this recommendation for Blurb Your Enthusiasm. Thanks!

  5. Karin says:

    I’ve been meaning to get back to Sulari Gentill’s Rowland Sinclair mystery series. The first book is A Few Right Thinking Men. I learned so much about Australia between the two World Wars, especially the politics. I’m pretty sure anything she wrote will be good.

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