For your reading list

Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau

Jamie Marina Lau's debut novel introduces a unique and infectious new voice into fiction, one that perfectly evokes the angsty, imaginative, and desperate interior world of a teen. Pink Mountain on Locust Island follows 15-year-old Monk, who lives in a rundown Chinatown apartment that seems to be in a perpetual shadow. She lives with her "grumpy brown couch" of a dad, a former art teacher who barely pays attention to her, and antagonizes her when he does. When she meets a high school senior she calls Santa Coy (based on his email address — santacoyshotsauce@gmail.com) she's quickly enamored — but when she brings him home for the first time, she's surprised to witness an immediate bond between him and her father. Monk's father becomes obsessed with Santa Coy's abstract artwork, and the two become partners in a get-rich-quick scheme, while Monk rides along as the third wheel on their ill-fated journey. It's a moody, page-turning noir that sneaks up on you, disguised by a lackadaisical tone. I fell in love with it within the first pages. Get your copy. — Arianna Rebolini

BuzzFeed Book Club's November Pick: Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

We're so excited to announce David Heska Wanbli Weiden's debut thriller Winter Counts as BuzzFeed Book Club's November selection. This gritty thriller follows Virgil Wounded Horse, a man hired to deliver punishment on the Rosebud Indian Reservation when the American judicial system or tribal council comes up short. When his nephew Nathan — the son of his beloved late sister — ODs on heroin laced with fentanyl, he sets off on a mission to find the man responsible, with the unexpected help of his ex-girlfriend. They find themselves in the midst of a complicated web of drug cartels, uncovering a dangerous world of money, power, and violence with far-reaching ramifications. It’s an absolutely riveting page-turner.

Check out an excerpt here — and sign up for a chance to win a signed copy.

This Week in Virtual Book Events:

Oct. 19–Oct. 25

Monday, Oct. 19

Connor Towne O'Neil discusses Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy with Kiese Laymon — hosted by Politics & Prose, 6 p.m. ET. More info.
Rebecca Roanhorse discusses Black Sun with Ken Liu — hosted by Brookline Booksmith, 7 p.m. ET. More info.

Tuesday, Oct. 20

Peter Frampton discusses his memoir, Do You Feel Like I Do?, with Cameron Crowe — hosted by Hachette and multiple bookstores, 7 p.m. ET. More info.
Leslie Jamison celebrates the paperback release of Make It Scream, Make It Burn with a panel discussion on essays about obsession, featuring Lynn Steger Strong, Gregory Pardlo, Andre Perry, and Esmé Weijun Wang — hosted by Powerhouse Arena, 8 p.m. ET. More info.

Wednesday, Oct. 21

A horror writers panel featuring Shaun Hamill (A Cosmology of Monsters), Alexis Henderson (The Year of the Witching), and Adam Cesare (Clown in a Cornfield) — hosted by An Unlikely Story, 7 p.m. ET. More info.
Christina Lauren discuss In a Holidaze with Sarah MacLean, Kennedy Ryan, and Sally Thorne — hosted by Northshire Bookstore, 5:30 p.m. ET. More info.

Thursday, Oct. 22

Kevin Young, editor of African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song, will lead a panel discussion on "the African American poetic tradition and its imaginative range and richness that is rooted in the lived experience of being Black in the American South" — hosted by the Auburn Avenue Research Library, 7 p.m. ET. More info.
Lee van der Voo discusses As the World Burns: The New Generation of Activists and the Landmark Legal Fight Against Climate Change with 13-year-old environmental activist Levi Draheim — hosted by Books & Books, 7 p.m. ET. More info.

Friday, Oct. 23

Crime Fiction: The Dark Side, a panel featuring Rachel Howzell Hall (And Now She's Gone), Ivy Pochoda (These Women), and Attica Locke (Heaven, My Home), moderated by James Queally — part of the LA Times Festival of Books, 6 p.m. PT. More info.
Matthew McConaughey discusses his memoir, Greenlights, with Kate Hudson — hosted by Community Bookstore, 7:30 p.m. ET. More info.

Saturday, Oct. 24–Sunday, Oct.25

Casey Cep discusses Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee with Jia Tolentino — hosted by Interabang Books, Sat. 10/24, 6 p.m. CT. More info.
Lindy West presents Shit, Actually — hosted by Powell's, Sun. 10/25, 5 p.m. PT. More info.

And many more! Check out the full list here.