First Taste: Michael Magee reads from Close to Home

First Taste: Michael Magee reads from Close to Home

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Read an excerpt from I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane

Read an excerpt from I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane

Marisa Crane’s debut novel, I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself, explores queer parenthood in a near-future dystopian America. In it, Kris is a new mother who is grieving the loss of her wife. She’s also a “Shadester,” a person who has been stripped of civil rights protections due to something she did in her past.

The novel is written in beautiful, vivid fragments that will leave a lump in your throat. Crane taps into their characters’ inner psyche with pitch perfect insight. There is a sense of very real realism in this very weird speculative work of fiction. I first read Crane’s book in August 2022 and I can say I have thought about it at least once a week. Exoskeletons will stay with readers long after the last page. It will haunt readers. It will change how readers think about parenthood, grief, and our country. It’s a must read for anyone looking for one of the best books of 2023.

I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself is out now. You can read an excerpt from the book below.

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The Best Debut Books of 2022

The Best Debut Books of 2022

Debutiful’s goal since launching in January 2019 has been to help readers discover debut authors. Sometimes ‘debut’ means renowned poets publishing a novel for the first time. Sometimes it means authors publishing on a bigger print after finding success in the indie world. Sometimes it’s a collection of essays or stories from someone who released a longform project.

Precisely defining debut never was what Debutiful wanted to do as long as we’re introducing readers to damn good writer entering the fray.

With that being said, two of the best books this year that are debuts in a new form have been left off this list because Debutiful has included the author on previous Best Of the Year lists. Chelsea Bieker was previously introduced by Debutiful for her debut novel Godshot. This year’s story collection Heartbroke is hands down one of the best collections this year. Similarly, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s collection Sabrina and Corina was listed as a Best Debut a few years ago. Her first novel Woman of Light is a novel everyone should read. When it comes down to semantics, they were both debuts, but hopefully those authors have been discovered by Debutiful’s readers before. This list includes authors Debutiful have never covered before.

Below are the Best Debut Books of 2022.

You can purchase the books on Debutiful’s Bookshop.org store by clicking each title. Each purchase will help support the Debutiful website and podcast.

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A Life of Books: Gabriel Patterson, author of Reminding Me of Mo

A Life of Books: Gabriel Patterson, author of Reminding Me of Mo

Gabriel Patterson is and musician and storyteller from Denver. His career has always been about representing his home city and the people he knows and loves. His debut memoir is no different. Reminding Me of Mo is an ode to his friend Geranimo Maestas, who was murdered for his Denver Broncos jacket in 1993.

Debutiful asked the author to answer our recurring “A Life of Books” questionnaire so readers can get to know him better.

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The Best Debut Books of 2022 (So Far)

The Best Debut Books of 2022 (So Far)

Below are the fifteen best debut books that Debutiful’s founder Adam Vitcavage has read and covered so far in 2022. The titles include not-quite-dystopian criticisms of our current society, coming-of-age tales that bend the genre’s tropes, family dramas built on memorable characters, and some of the most uniquely crafted short story collections you’ll ever read.

You can purchase all of the books listed below via Debutiful’s Bookshop.org page.

Continue reading “The Best Debut Books of 2022 (So Far)”