Stone Soup Digest 07.29.22

Welcome to the Stone Soup Weekly Digest! This is where I share what I'm up to and some of my favorite things from around the internet. Subscribe to Stone Soup to get this in your inbox every week.

Every single time I release a book into this wide beautiful world of ours, I tell myself that I will leave myself space to freak out in the lead-up and time to become a puddle of goo in the aftermath. And every time, as we get closer and closer to launch, I manage to convince myself that this time I won’t need it. (I am always wrong.)

This week I have mostly been a small lump under a pile of blankets, texting my friends about cool bugs. As a result of my lump status, this week’s digest is Just Books, plus some news about Just Like Home. This book release has been an incredible, lovely whirlwind. Thank you so much for supporting this release and my work – I couldn't do a single part of this without you.

See you in August!

My interview with Drew Broussard

This was one of the most exciting, rewarding, fun conversations I’ve had in my whole life. Go listen to it!

The Vampire Slayer #4 is in comic shops now

Go read the preview here! I invented a fast-casual pasta chain of restaurants and spent way too much time designing the menu and brand!

Your Guide to Domestic Horror

Book Riot called Just Like Home one of “the scariest domestic horror books that define the genre”! I couldn’t be more proud. Go see who else is on the list!

I’m Reading: Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern

Rylla McCracken dreams of escaping her family’s trailer in the Dust States to go to college, but on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, her mother demands she drop out of school to work for Lockburn chemical refinery instead. When Rylla learns Lockburn is planning to dam the Guadalupe River—the last flowing water in Texas—she defies her mother to protest in the state capital. The protest ends in disaster, but her ensuing viral infamy gains Rylla an acceptance to the mysterious Wingates University.

At Wingates, Rylla befriends a diverse group of students, all working on new technologies to save the planet. Besides mountains of homework, Rylla struggles with guilt for leaving her brother behind in the Dust, where tensions with the Lush States are escalating towards civil war. Succeeding at Wingates seems like Rylla’s best chance to help her family, until she uncovers a terrible secret about the school’s billionaire backers. Now, Rylla and her friends are in a race against the rich to reclaim the world-altering technology they’ve developed—before it’s too late.

Featured New Release: Spider-Man's Social Dilemma by Preeti Chhibber, illustrated by Nicoletta Baldari

Peter Parker has been swinging and thwipping his way through New York City as Spider-Man for just a few months, and balancing his double life is complicated. He goes to school and tries not to embarrass himself in front of his crush, MJ; he takes photos for the Daily Bugle and tries not to embarrass himself in front of his boss, J. Jonah Jameson; and he fights crime in the evenings and . . . well, he's kind of always trying to not embarrass himself. Easier said than done when you're a teen with spider powers you're still getting used to.

On top of all that, the notorious villain the Sandman is acting more strangely than ever, social media seems to be taking a toll on MJ, and someone keeps trying to steal an artifact that's supposedly powered by alien matter . . . which can't be good. Something eerie is going on, and Peter is determined to figure out what it is before things go from weird to dangerous.

Add Spider-Man's Social Dilemma to your tbr here. Order it from your local independent bookseller, or order it via Bookshop.org to support independent booksellers throughout the US and the UK. For international shipping, you can try Barnes & Noble. If you prefer audiobooks, here’s a Libro.fm link. You can also request Spider-Man's Social Dilemma from your local library — here’s how to get in touch with them. And if you need to order from the Bad River Website, here’s a link that will leverage your order for good.

If you’re a paying subscriber, come by the Stone Soup Supper Club for our weekly chat! I can’t wait to find out how you’re doing and I’d love to know what you’d order at Pappa Delle’s.

—Gailey