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“On The Smugglers’ Radar” is a feature for books that have caught our eye: books we have heard of via other bloggers, directly from publishers, and/or from our regular incursions into the Amazon jungle. Thus, the Smugglers’ Radar was born. Because we want far more books than we can possibly buy or review (what else is new?), we thought we would make the Smugglers’ Radar into a weekly feature – so YOU can tell us which books you have on your radar as well!

On Ana’s Radar:

As you may know, the first novelisation of Squirrel Girl was one of my top 10 reads from last year. Imagine my surprise when realising a SEQUEL CAME OUT THIS WEEK AND I HAD NO IDEA??? I want it so much!

Squirrel Girl is BACK in an all-new adventure and things are about to get . . . hairy. Thanks to Squirrel Girl, Ana Sofia, and the Squirrel Scouts, the crime rate in New Jersey is at an all time low. It makes for safer streets but also bored-er squirrels. That’s why it’s super exciting when Doreen’s school announces a new mall is being built right next to their town. Mmmm . . . Doreen can smell the soft pretzels now. The corporation building mall has also announced that there will be a competition to choose the mall’s mascot. Because malls need mascots?Anyway, Doreen’s school will be voting for a cat and the neighboring school will be voting for a dog. As the relationship starts to unravel between the two towns, Squirrel Girl and her friends suspect something more sinister is at work. With the help of old friends like Ana Sofia, Tippy Toe, and The Mighty Thor as well as some surprising new ones, Squirrel Girl will squash a villainous plot and save everyone.The unbeatable Squirrel Girl is ready for more nuts AND more butts! Are you?

Beautiful cover, intriguing cover copy:

Seventeen-year-old Anouk envies the human world, where people known as Pretties lavish themselves in fast cars, high fashion, and have the freedom to fall in love. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. Enchanted from animal to human girl and forbidden to venture beyond her familiar Parisian prison, Anouk is a Beastie: destined for a life surrounded by dust bunnies and cinders serving Mada Vittora, the evil witch who spelled her into existence. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.

Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. Pursued through Paris by the underground magical society known as the Haute, Anouk and her fellow Beasties only have three days to find the real killer before the spell keeping them human fades away. If they fail, they will lose the only lives they’ve ever known…but if they succeed, they could be more powerful than anyone ever bargained for.

From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd, Grim Lovelies is an epic and glittering YA fantasy. Prepare to be spellbound by the world of Grim Lovelies, where secrets have been long buried, friends can become enemies, and everything—especially humanity—comes at a price.

I keep hearing great things about The Poet X:

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.

So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

The final cover for Furyborn – a book I am SUPER looking forward to, has been revealed:

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable?until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers the evil at the empire’s heart.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world?and of each other.

Naomi Novik’s next novel is a retelling of Rumplestiltskin and I am here for that:

On Thea’s Radar:

I am happy to say that I already have a copy of Spinning Silver AND I CANNOT WAIT to tear into it. Other books that I have on my TBR shelf this week:

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, whose lives have been turned upside down by Aric and his men. The crew has one misson: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command just barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether or not to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all…or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

Next up, this western SFF novel that sounds AMAZING.

Carol Evers is a woman with a dark secret. She has died many times . . . but her many deaths are not final: They are comas, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death, each lasting days.

Only two people know of Carol’s eerie condition. One is her husband, Dwight, who married Carol for her fortune, and—when she lapses into another coma—plots to seize it by proclaiming her dead and quickly burying her . . . alive. The other is her lost love, the infamous outlaw James Moxie. When word of Carol’s dreadful fate reaches him, Moxie rides the Trail again to save his beloved from an early, unnatural grave.

And all the while, awake and aware, Carol fights to free herself from the crippling darkness that binds her—summoning her own fierce will to survive. As the players in this drama of life and death fight to decide her fate, Carol must in the end battle to save herself.

And then there is this book that came out late last year but I finally have a copy on my shelf:

Black Panther meets Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch in Beasts Made of Night, the first book in an epic fantasy duology.

In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts—lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt. Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family.

When Taj is called to eat a sin of a member of the royal family, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves—and his own life.

Debut author Tochi Onyebuchi delivers an unforgettable series opener that powerfully explores the true meaning of justice and guilt. Packed with dark magic and thrilling action, Beasts Made of Night is a gritty Nigerian-influenced fantasy perfect for fans of Paolo Bacigalupi and Nnedi Okorafor.

And last but not least, this terrifying sounding book that I keep hearing good things about:

Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial–this can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

And that’s it from us! What books do you have on YOUR radar?

The post On the Smugglers’ Radar appeared first on The Book Smugglers.

The Harry Potter Reread could probably use some more coffee, but it has sadly reached its morning limit. This seems unjust. Wizards probably have spells for those sorts of things, and that’s alongside tea. If they can bounce from great heights, they can probably take all the stimulants!

Today’s chapters are primarily concerned with bad decisions that seem great when you’re twelve, and the realization that no one should ever wear solid aquamarine anything, let alone aquamarine floor-length robes. It’s time for chapters 5 and 6 of Chamber of Secrets—The Whomping Willow and Gilderoy Lockhart.

Index to the reread can be located here! Other Harry Potter and Potter-related pieces can be found under their appropriate tag. And of course, since we know this is a reread, all posts might contain spoilers for the entire series. If you haven’t read all the Potter books, be warned.

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Chapter 5—The Whomping Willow

Summary

It’s time to get on the Hogwarts Express and the Weasleys and Harry are running a bit late. After having to go back to the Burrow a few times for forgotten items, the group ends up at King’s Cross with only minutes to spare. Harry and Ron are the last to head through the barrier to Platform 9 and 3/4, but they somehow cannot make it through. Ron suggests that this is an emergency, so they should take Mr. Weasley’s flying car to school. Harry is keen on the idea, but the Invisibility Boosters on the car go faulty almost immediately. When they periodically drop out of cloud cover to make sure they’re on the same route as the Express, the car is visible.

The Ford Anglia starts to die right as they arrive at Hogwarts, and they crash into the Whomping Willow, which immediately begins… whomping them. The car reverses, saving their lives—it then ejects them and runs off. Ron’s wand is broken in the crash. Harry and Ron rush to the castle, hoping to get in for the feast, but they are caught and stopped by Snape. The Potion’s Master informs them that they were spotted by several Muggles in the car, and is hoping for their expulsion. Professor McGonagall is shocked by their behavior, pointing out that they simply might have informed someone at the school that they were unable to get onto the platform by owl. Dumbledore also comes in and voices his (very quiet and controlled) disapproval. He informs the boys that they are not expelled, but that they mustn’t pull stunts like that again.

Harry and Ron are given detention by McGonagall, though she doesn’t take house points from Gryffindor. Hermione is appalled at Harry and Ron’s antics, but when the boys reach the Gryffindor common room they are greeted by a horde of awed and excited classmates. In order to avoid Percy’s temper, the two quickly run off to bed, but not before allowing themselves a little victory when confronted by roommates Neville, Seamus, and Dean.

Commentary

I had completely forgotten that they had to go back and get Ginny’s diary. Which is obviously Riddle’s diary. Guys, if Arthur and Molly had only put their foot down about not going back to the house to retrieve things, THIS ENTIRE BOOK WOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT THEIR HUMDRUM SECOND YEAR. I know, Molly probably would have mailed it. Still, it’s a great little tip off there, not knowing what its real significance is the first time around.

Also love that Molly doesn’t realize the car has been magically expanded to accommodate her whole family. It seems a pretty good signifier of just how absent-minded wizards are in regard to anything concerning the Muggle world. More interesting is the fact that Arthur wants to break the law that he helped to draft, trying to prod Molly into letting him use the car to fly to King’s Cross. I don’t know that I would view this as a sign of corruption at the Ministry, but I do think that wizards tend to view laws much more flexibly than the rest of the world, which fits in with much of what we see of their society. There’s a playfulness element to wizard culture that may be dangerous, but not in a manner that they find concerning.

The kid logic when Harry and Ron can’t make it onto the platform might be one of my favorite elements of this book because it’s so on point with the seeming finality of everything when you’re a child. They’re both panicking over missing the train, over whether or not Molly and Arthur will make it back through the barrier, over not getting to school. It goes from Fine to Everything In The World Is Wrong in a manner of seconds. As McGonagall points out, they simply could have sent an owl. Or at least waited a few minutes to see if Molly and Arthur returned. But Harry is in freak-out mode, and once Ron gets it into his head to use the car, there’s no considering a simpler option. I would argue it’s far more Ron’s fault that Harry’s; he clearly really wants to do this, he’s the instigator. Harry has just spent a month of summer vacation in a wizard house for the first time ever—his understanding of what is normal in this case has been a bit skewed.

So here’s a question—what’s the deal with the car going all feral after the Whomping Willow beating? (The obvious and simple answer is, of course: “It’s funny, Emily, leave it alone.” But when have I ever done that?) Because it basically implies that using magic on anything inanimate provides it with a certain amount of “life.” It’s not something I’d thought of before, but it sort of makes sense to me in this world. It is also an exaggerated example of something that we “Muggles” do; naming our cars, talking to pieces of technology as though they’re people, applying human attributes to anything that isn’t human.

Wonder if Snape got the Evening Prophet first, or noticed that Harry and Ron were missing from the feast first. Either way it’s pretty funny. I appreciate that McGonagall seems to realize the kid logic for what it is—once she sees Harry’s reaction to her bringing up Hedwig, it’s clear that she gets how the panic unfolded. And then Harry has to go being all sad and cute about house points, and she basically melts and decides to go easy on the poor, famished twelve-year-olds. Here is also the first place where we see how Dumbledore handles a dressing down. It’s perfectly horrible—the quiet ones are always the worst to disappoint.

And then, in true Gryffindor fashion, everyone is up waiting to congratulate Harry and Ron for being bonkers. Is it really any wonder that Gryffindors are like this as a group? They’re surrounded by a house of people every bit as nuts as they are.

Chapter 6—Gilderoy Lockhart

Summary

Victory doesn’t last long—the very next morning, Ron is sent a Howler by his mother. The screaming message informs him exactly what sort of hot water he’s in, and also that Arthur Weasley is facing an inquiry at work. They head off to Herbology and find that Professor Sprout has just patched up the Whomping Willow, while Gilderoy Lockhart insists to the students that he explained the proper way of doing it for her benefit. He takes Harry aside before class and assures him that he knows why Harry pulled that stunt with the car; he got a taste for fame after getting his picture in the paper with Lockhart. Harry is baffled, but heads into Herbology.

Sprout is having the students repot Mandrakes, which can be used in restorative potions if someone is cursed or transfigured. They emit a cry that can kill when full grown, so the kids all have to wear earmuffs. Harry, Ron and Hermione meet Justin Finch-Fletchley of Hufflepuff House. After a rough Transfiguration class, Harry is approached by a First Year named Colin Creevey, a Muggle-born student with a milkman for a father. He wants a picture of himself and Harry together so he can show his dad. (The students have apparently told Colin all about Harry, so the boy views him as something of a celebrity.) Draco Malfoy comes ’round to mock Harry about it, which leads Lockhart to think that Harry really is offering signed pictures of himself. He gives Harry another round of advice on fame, and how he shouldn’t get a big head… yet. Since he’s not quite as famous as Gilderoy Lockhart himself.

Lockhart’s first Defense Against the Dark Arts class begins with a pop quiz all about himself. He is impressed that Hermione gets every question right, which seems to sit very well with the starstruck Miss Granger. Then he unleashes a cage of Cornish Pixies on the room, which he clearly has no idea how to tame. When class is dismissed, he asks that Harry, Ron, and Hermione clean up the hoard. Harry and Ron are dismissive of Lockhart’s now-famous abilities, but Hermione insists that what he has written in his books must be true.

Commentary

The howler. Wow. Why do wizarding children ever misbehave? If there was even the slightest chance that I could get one of those from my parents, I don’t think I’d ever have done anything wrong. Ever. Just… public humiliation at the breakfast table. Sheesh. Though, this is one of the first times when Harry gets a sense of fallout from his actions (via Mr. Weasley’s work inquiry), which is a pretty important part of his development.

This is the first glimpse we get of Herbology class, and really one of the only chances we get to watch Professor Sprout in action. It’s also a clever setup for the Mandrake, which will be pretty important later on in the narrative. The introduction of Justin Finch-Fletchley is so much more random than I remember it, and I do think it could have been wedged in somewhere more appropriate. He literally introduces himself (though it makes no sense that they wouldn’t know him, having taken the same classes last year), and then nothing happens. When you know that he’s relevant later on with the attacks, it comes off even more Hand of the Author-y. (On a side note, I’m not over-burdened with knowledge of British public schools, but I do know that getting into Eton is a pretty big deal, and likely means that Justin’s family is basically swimming in $$$$$$$—except you should pretend those were pounds signs.)

“I know, I know—it’s not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award five times in a row, as I have—but it’s a start, Harry, it’s a start.”

Lockhart. Oh my. He’s kind of what would happen if you put Willy Wonka on steroids and gave him no life mission beyond self-promotion. He’s a complete cartoon, but in the best possible way. It’s fun to have him for this book, particularly after getting so little out of Quirrell in the first installment. Interestingly, this “Harry wants the spotlight” issue is one that comes up again and again in the books, no matter how Harry choses to deny it. And it is arguably all Lockhart’s fault for pushing that in the first place. His attentions do far more damage than Malfoy’s ever could.

Hermione’s crush on Lockhart is… I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, Hermione seems too smart to be taken in by the guy. On the other hand, she’s still so young; this is really the only point when you could expect her to be susceptible to the charms of someone who is so obviously a fraud. I’ll have to see if my opinion changes going forward—I think I sort of blocked it from my mind.

And then there was Colin Creevey! Poor kid. This is book is practically all the time he gets, which is unfortunate because what we get here isn’t a lot. You only ever get to feel sorry for him—there’s no real development, just a quiet kid behind a camera. He has a bit in common with Harry, not knowing about magic before getting his letter, but it doesn’t quite resonate. It makes me wonder if there were ever other plans for him that Rowling never got around to. If so, I wonder what they were….

Emily Asher-Perrin almost feels bad for the Whomping Willow. Almost. You can bug her on Twitter and read more of her work here and elsewhere.