Hey there. It's book riot associate
editor sharifah and i'm back to talk
about more Tuesday new releases. Today we
are talking about books out September 26th.
It is officially fall. We are getting
cozy and warm and autumnal and we are
reading a lot of books this season. And
there are a lot of really great new
titles out and so the first one I talked-
want to talk about today is starfish by
Akemi Dawn Bowman. This is a debut novel
coming from Akemi Dawn Bowman and I have
heard so many great things about it. 
So many people have said that it really
resonated with them and that they really
related to the story. And just reading
the synopsis I definitely felt like this
was going to be one where I would be
that person too. I'm going to feel exactly
the same way because it already sounds
like parts of my life. I'm sure a lot of
people will hear this and relate to it
and want to pick up this book. The story
is about Kiko Himura who's a half
Japanese teen. She's really struggling at
home. Her mother makes her feel like a
shadow, like she's insignificant and her
mother's really narcissistic. Kiko only
wants to go to this art school called
prism, like that's her main life goal.
But she gets a rejection from the art school.
And at the same time she gets this
rejection, her abusive uncle returns to
the family's home to stay with them.
Now Keiko has a lot of anxieties and she's
also the sort of person who has a lot of
difficulty talking about the things
she's thinking. But when she gets an
invitation to tour art schools on the
west coast from her childhood friend,
this is sort of her opportunity to leave
this really unhealthy household where
her uncle has just come back in and to
go explore the outside world, outside her
small town, outside her home which is
troubled. And this is where she begins to
learn about herself and explore her past
and to kind of figure out how to be brave.
This is a story about self-esteem
and self-reliance. And again, I feel like
so many people, teenagers and adults
alike, can relate to this story. That was
starfish by a Akemi Dawn Bowman. 
The next book comes to
us from our sponsor. Today's video is
sponsored by flatiron books and dear
Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence. Firstly
can we all take a moment to appreciate
how cute this little book is? I don't
know if you could see it it so bright in here.
There we go. There we go. This is
definitely a book for book lovers. This
is one of those non-fiction books that
is about books. Annie Spence is a
librarian. She's been a Michigan
librarian for a really long time and
this is her collection of love letters
to the various books she's come across.
And even more hilarious, it's not just
love letters, its breakup notes to books.
So book she's come across that she was
just not okay with. She has her breakup
notes here. It sounds snarky and
hilarious and also moving. She writes a
love letter to, for instance the Time
Traveler's Wife, which I feel like if
anybody's read that book it'll probably
strike a chord with them. She also writes
a breakup letter to Fifty Shades of Grey.
And I'm really interested in finding out
what she writes to Matilda by Roald Dahl 
because that is one of my all-time
favorite books and that is another book
that is very bookish. So we'll see a lot
of books within books within books, maybe?
This sounds like an absolute delight.
It also looks like it's a very quick read.
It's not very long. So something to keep
in your bag and to pick up and just look
at letter by letter. Again that was dear
Fahrenheit 451: love and heartbreak in
the stacks by Annie Spence. And thank you
too dear Fahrenheit 451 and flat iron
books for sponsoring today's video.
Next up we have a very highly anticipated
book. This is science fiction. It's
Providence by Ann Leckie. Ann Leckie is of
course the award-winning author of the
Imperial Rach series: ancillary justice,
ancillary sword. This one is I believe
it's a standalone as far as I know. And
it's about, and it's got the interstellar
conflict, it's got a prison planet. So
Ingray is sort of a very driven,
aggressively driven woman who has one
last chance to gain the status she wants.
And that's by salvaging these lost
artifacts. But in order to find the lost
artifacts that are very prized by her
planet and her people, she has to go to
this prison planet and break out the
thief of these artifacts. But nobody has
ever returned from this prison planet.
And then later on, there is an
interstellar conflict. So ingray and the
prisoner have to face this interstellar
conflict where she basically has to save
her planet and her people and her family
and future from this war. So you think
she's dealing with this one problem for
one minute and then she's got this whole
other really major problem to deal with.
So those of you who love the Imperial
Rach series, I'm sure you already know
about this book and you're totally
thrilled about it. But if you wanted to
check out Ann Leckie's work and maybe you
aren't ready to get into a series just
yet, you might want to pick up provenance.
Hopefully I'm not wrong about that not
being a series and you get angry at me,
but we'll see. Next up we have passage
which is a novel by Khary Lazarre-White.
Now Lazarre-White is a social justice
advocate particularly for young black
people and this is the story of warrior.
It's in 1993 in Harlem and in Brooklyn.
Now warrior has a loving family and as
he has a deep connection to his history,
but he's also facing a lot of oppression
and a lot of violence and every day for
him is a struggle. There are constant
reminders that he and his friends aren't
meant to be fully free. He goes to a
school where the teachers aren't really
qualified and they don't care as he and
his peers are trying to pass state exams
and trying to get an education.
They constantly have to escape violence and
death at the hands of what they call
blue soldiers and by their own brothers,
as well. So being warrior means going
home and not knowing if a person that you
love also made it home. So while he's
dealing with these really terrible daily
struggles, he's also haunted by the
spirits of his ancestors and by the
demons of the system of oppression.
This obviously sounds like a very timely
novel even though it takes place in 1993.
There are definitely parallels between
the story that warrior is in and the
stories we see on the news today. Another
really important book, one of many that
are coming out recently. That was passage
by Khary Lazarre-White. Finally we have a
dark fantasy. This one comes to us from
the author of roses and rot. it's Kat
Howard's an unkindness of magicians. Now
this is set in a New York City where magic
powers everything. But it seems like the
power is fading from the magicians in
New York. Magic is fading and nobody knows what's
happening except for Sidney ,who is a
rare magician who's come along. And she
has unmatched powers. Nobody's seen
powers like hers in decades. And she
seems to be the only person who can
solve the problem except she does not
want the problem solved. She comes from an
elusive house called the house of
shadows and they control the magic with
the help of sacrifices from magicians.
This sounds like kind of an antihero
story perhaps. Sidney sounds like an
interesting character, not necessarily
your traditional hero. And again that was
an unkindness of magicians by Kat Howard.
And that's all the time we have to talk
about Tuesday releases today. But I will
be back to talk about more new releases
in the coming weeks. And until then, stay
cozy, stay warm, and happy reading.
