The Evil Eye Rests on the Land of Milk and Honey: Book recommendations for August
A curated selection of books released in 2023, based on genre + a round-up of some interesting upcoming releases. Happy reading!
Dear reader,
This month’s book recommendations offer a double whammy. I’ve trawled through the list of books released so far in 2023 to discover the ones that are creating the most buzz among both readers and reviewers, and created a short, curated list for your reading pleasure. As if that wasn’t enough, I’ve also included three upcoming new releases in more niche genres that you should definitely have on your radar. You’re welcome!
Let’s dive right in to this issue!
Recommendation corner
Have some of the bingo prompts got you scratching your head, wondering what to read or maybe even what it means? I got you covered! Every month, I will pick 2 bingo prompts and share a couple of recommendations with you. And just so you’re not here all day reading this, I’ll link you up to Goodreads so you can check out the book and add it to your Want-to-read shelf. Here we go!
A book released in 2023
Oh, how we look forward to new book releases! Be they books by our favorite authors, eagerly anticipated debuts, or the continuation of a series, book lists of new releases regularly do the rounds. But it can quickly become overwhelming, looking at all those beautiful books that are up for release. I’ve done the heavy-lifting to create this curated list for you. Enjoy!
For literary fiction lovers: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
There’s a whole lot of buzz around Yellowface, and for good reason. The novel explores themes of plagiarism, cultural appropriation, and racism, not just in the publishing industry, but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society.
When June Hayward witnesses Athena Liu’s death in a freak accident, she steals Athena's just-finished experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I. So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller?
For thriller lovers: All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
Don’t you just love an unreliable protagonist? Especially when you’re reading a thriller!
One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his questioning paired with her severe insomnia brings up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself.
For chick-lit lovers: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Fair warning, I haven’t read chick-lit in years! But I do remember enjoying some of Jojo Moyes’ earlier books. If the reviews are to be believed, she hasn’t lost her touch!
Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband divorces her and cuts her off. But she’s determined to hang onto her glamorous life, even though she must scramble to cope — she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That’s because Sam Kemp, in the bleakest point of her life, has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But when Sam, who is struggling to keep family afloat, tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change — and that thing is herself.
For YA and fantasy lovers: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Warring gods, worries and addiction, and letters; what’s not to love?
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
For non-fiction lovers: Saving Time: Discovering A Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell
With the increasing backlash against hustle culture, as many of us try to find a saner way through the messaging of constant busyness, this book may provide some hope.
Why is it that our lives, even in leisure, have come to seem like a series of moments to be bought, sold, and processed ever more efficiently? To answer this question, Odell took a deep dive into the fundamental structure of our society and found that the clock we live by was built for profit, not people. This subversive, and deeply hopeful book offers us different ways to experience time—inspired by pre-industrial cultures, ecological cues, and geological timescales—that can bring within reach a more humane, responsive way of living.
A book featuring cats
There are a lot of gorgeous books about these majestic felines; here are a few of my personal favorites.
The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory: It’s the night before Christmas when a self-described curmudgeon rescues a bedraggled feline from a snowy New York City alley. Thus begins this tale of a man and his cat or, rather, of a cat and his man. Deliciously sarcastic with a dry, witty sense of humor, this is a beautiful story about the bond between humans and their cats.
The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa: This was my first read this year, and it was an absolute delight! The book centers around Nana the stray-turned-cherished pet, and his human Satoru. Their beautiful bond, Nana’s tongue-in-cheek commentary on cat behavior, and his thoughts on life and the world and human behavior make this a truly special book for cat lovers.
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie: Narrated by an irreverent and wise cat of many names, who is privy to the constant flow of private meetings between His Holiness and everyone from Hollywood celebrities to philanthropists to self-help authors, the Dalai Lama’s Cat provides us with insights on how to find happiness and meaning in a busy, materialistic world.
On my to-read list:
What can I say? I’m an enabler! In this section, I’ll share a couple of books from my TBR list. These will generally include a mix of upcoming releases and books that have been around for years but never made it into my orbit.
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
Raised in a conservative and emotionally volatile Palestinian family in Brooklyn, Yara thought she would finally feel free when she married a charming entrepreneur who took her to the suburbs. She’s gotten to follow her dreams, completing an undergraduate degree in Art and landing a good job at the local college, while raising their two school-aged daughters and taking care of the house. With her family balanced with her professional ambitions, Yara knows that her life is infinitely more rewarding than her own mother’s. So why doesn’t it feel like enough? When Yara is put on probation at work for responding to a colleague’s racist provocation, her mother blames a family curse for the trouble she’s facing. Though Yara doesn’t believe in old superstitions, she finds herself growing increasingly uneasy with her mother’s warning as she finds her carefully constructed world beginning to implode.
I’ve always been drawn to the juxtaposition of the traditional with the contemporary; the addition of old superstitions {so common in Indian society too} and an exploration of racism make this sound all the more interesting.
Expected release date: 5 September
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
Shantiport was supposed to be a gateway to the stars. But the city is sinking, and its colonist rulers aren’t helping anyone but themselves. Lina, a daughter of failed revolutionaries, has no desire to escape Shantiport. She loves her city and would do anything to save its people. Her brother, Bador, is a small monkey bot with a big attitude and bigger ambitions. He wants a chance to leave this dead-end planet and explore the universe on his own terms. But that would mean abandoning the family he loves―even if they do take him for granted. When Shantiport's resident tech billionaire coerces Lina into retrieving a powerful artifact rumored to be able to reshape reality, forces from before their time begin coalescing around the siblings. And when you throw in a piece of sentient, off-world tech with the ability to grant three wishes into the mix… None of the city's powers will know what hit them.
Full disclosure: I’m not a big fan of science fiction, but I have been curious about Samit Basu’s work since a while. He’s a deeply admired Indian author with a somewhat niche following, which gives me hope that his writing and world building will be all that they are touted to be.
Expected publication date: 3 October
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles. There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body. In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and cool, seductive violence, the chef’s boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate. Land of Milk and Honey lays bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is an imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we play to survive. Most of all, it is a love letter to food, to wild delight, and to the transformative power of a woman embracing her own appetite.
Another one that’s not my usual fare, but this dystopian novel does sound intriguing, don’t you think?
Expected publication date: 26 September
For the love of poetry
Instructions for the Journey
Pat Schneider
The self you leave behind
is only a skin you have outgrown.
Don’t grieve for it.
Look to the wet, raw, unfinished
self, the one you are becoming.
The world, too, sheds its skin:
politicians, cataclysms, ordinary days.
It’s easy to lose this tenderly
unfolding moment. Look for it
as if it were the first green blade
after a long winter. Listen for it
as if it were the first clear tone
in a place where dawn is heralded by bells.
And if all that fails,
wash your own dishes.
Rinse them.
Stand in your kitchen at your sink.
Let cold water run between your fingers.
Feel it.