New Release Radar: New Books Coming Out on June 17
In the summer of '96, best friends and secret girlfriends Hannah and Sam flee Long Beach for the promise of queer freedom in San Francisco. But when financial strain leads them into stripping – and Hannah into an escort arrangement with an older woman – their dream begins to splinter. As their bond frays and new identities emerge, Hannah must confront what she's willing to sacrifice in the search for love, selfhood and home.
Girls Girls Girls is a powerful coming-of-age story that captures the complexities and beauties of young love and identity. Shoshana von Blanckensee's debut will stay with you for a long time.
RELATED: New Release Radar: New Books Coming Out On June 10 The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick
Five travelers – including a grieving illustrator, a haunted fireman, and a little dog named PJ – journey to a mysterious treatment center in the California desert that promises relief from heartbreak through prolonged sleep. But as their secrets surface and the cost of healing grows clearer, they must each decide how far they're willing to go to forget their pain.
Nikki Erlick's new book release is a speculative novel about grief, hope and the messy path to healing. The Poppy Fields has a unique premise, centering on a speculative moral dilemma and the pain of losing a loved one. The Mercy Makers by Tessa Gratton
In a glittering empire ruled by fear, Iriset—master of magical disguise and daughter of a notorious criminal—uses her talents to help outlaws vanish. But she dreams of something greater: reshaping humanity itself. When the empire condemns her father to death, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and manipulate the imperial family from within. Yet as she earns their trust, she faces a choice between vengeance and transformation.
With dazzling magic and high-stakes intrigue, The Mercy Makers is a story about revolution, identity and love. Tessa Gratton's new book release is the start to a sweeping, romantic epic fantasy trilogy.
RELATED: Book Review: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery by Clarence A. Haynes
Gwendolyn Montgomery is a powerhouse NYC publicist with a perfect life—until a gruesome museum event awakens ghosts from her past. As the veil between worlds thins, she teams up with Fonsi Harewood, a queer Latinx psychic caught in a love triangle with his ex and a ghost, to confront the haunting truths she's long buried.
Glamorous and eerie, The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery is The Devil Wears Prada meets Practical Magic with a spectral twist. This emotionally rich novel is Clarence A. Haynes's adult debut, making him one to watch out for. Seventhblade by Tonia Laird
After the murder of her adopted son, T'Rayles, a feared warrior and daughter of the Indigenous Ibinnas, returns to the colonized city of Seventhblade. Once there, she's determined to uncover the killer. Wielding her ancestral sword and aligning with dubious allies, including an exiled immortal god, T'Rayles must battle deadly magic, political unrest and the ghosts of her past to find justice.
Seventhblade is a fast-paced, anti-colonial fantasy about vengeance, power and ancestral legacy. Perfect for fans of N.K. Jemisin and Rebecca Roanhorse, Tonia Laird's gripping debut blends fierce action and rich worldbuilding with a searing critique of settler colonialism.
RELATED: Sapphics With Swords: 6 Books Featuring Queer Lady Warriors If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
Six months into a rabies mutation outbreak that's turned people into violent 'rabids,' Flora Braddock Paz is still alive – despite never seeing herself as a survivor. With her mother dead and father missing, she and her brother set out for their childhood cabin in Northern California, hoping for safety and answers. But the road north is littered with danger, old wounds, and the truth that death is never far behind.
The Walking Dead meets Yellowjackets in Racquel Marie's tense and emotional YA horror novel. If We Survive This is her first horror novel, but it's also an intense, moving character study. A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry
Stolen by the fairies as a child, Sydney Carton was forced into servitude in the Faerie Realm while a changeling, Charles Darnay, took his place. Now returned to London, Sydney seeks revenge on both the fae and his double. But as he navigates magic, deception, and revolution in London and Paris, his quest for justice leads to a devastating choice beneath the guillotine's blade.
H.G. Parry's new book release tells a heart-rending revenge fantasy set during the French Revolution. Whether you're a fan of A Tale of Two Cities or modern classics like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell , you'll love A Far Better Thing .
RELATED: Book Review: Don't Sleep With the Dead Death on the Caldera by Emily Paxman
When the royal Linde siblings board a luxury train home, a deadly explosion strands them atop a volcanic caldera—and awakens Davina's unknown witch powers. As passengers begin turning up dead, suspicion falls on Davina, whose fractured memory and secret magic make her an easy target. With danger closing in, the siblings must hide the truth and unmask the killer before they're next. But on a train full of secrets, no one is safe.
Emily Paxman's debut combines Murder on the Orient Express with witches and magic. Death on the Caldera is a spellbinding blend of fantasy and Golden Age crime, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Leigh Bardugo and Agatha Christie. Work Nights by Erica Peplin
Jane Grabowski spends her days stifling rage behind polite emails at her NYC newspaper job. Only Madeline, a gorgeous, label-averse intern, gives her something to look forward to. As Jane carefully works her way into Madeline's life, her artist roommate pushes her toward healthier queer spaces, where Jane meets Addy, a principled musician ready for something real. Torn between Madeline's chaos and Addy's stability, Jane finds herself tangled in lies that build toward one final, life-altering decision.
Emily Austen meets Jen Beagin in a lit-fic in Emily Peplin's debut lit-fic novel. Work Nights is a sharply funny and painfully relatable portrayal of petty office politics and the chaotic, queer, 20-something life in Brooklyn.
RELATED: 8 LGBTQ+ Books to Keep Pride Going for the Rest of 2025 Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell
Upon his birth, the future famed hero Heracles dedicates his deeds to Hera, unaware she is the goddess responsible for his suffering. After Hera's guilt leads her to send Furies to drive Heracles mad, resulting in the accidental murder of his own children. Desperate for answers, Heracles and his wife Megara set out for vengeance. But instead of slaying monsters on the quests Hera assigns to mislead him, Heracles begins healing by caring for them. As Heracles gathers followers, Hera is forced to confront her own guilt, and the consequences of the path she set him on.
John Wiswell brings a humanizing level of redemption to the myths of both Heracles and Hera. Like his debut, Someone You Can Build a Nest In , Wearing the Novel is somehow both dark and endearingly sweet.
You can check out these new book releases at Bookshop.org or your local bookstore. What June 10 new release are you most excited to read? Let us know below, and tune in next week to grow your TBR.
11 New Young Adult LGBTQ+ Books You Should Read for Pride Month
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Forbes
9 minutes ago
- Forbes
This Billionaire Is Partnering With The Ellisons On The Paramount Deal
T he year-long saga of Skydance Media's $8 billion Paramount takeover is fit for its own Paramount+ mini-series. There's political intrigue with critics slamming departing boss Shari Redstone's apparent capitulation to Donald Trump to get the deal approved, including Paramount's agreement to pay $16 million to Trump's future presidential library to resolve a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes segment on Kamala Harris followed by CBS News' announcement that it was cancelling popular Trump critic Stephen Colbert's late-night show in 2026 (supposedly for financial reasons). Trump celebrated both announcements vociferously. Then there is the potential family intrigue worthy of a Succession spinoff: David Ellison, the Skydance founder and former Biden backer behind such films as 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'True Grit', is teaming up with his staunch Republican father Larry Ellison who is the second richest person in the world and founder of software giant Oracle. Flying under the radar, beneath all the high-stakes drama, is Gerry Cardinale, a private equity investor who is poised to be an influential figure in the new-look Paramount. His firm RedBird Capital Partners is a shareholder in Skydance, having first invested in 2020. Now the firm is putting in $1.8 billion towards the $8 billion purchase price. Cardinale will join Paramount as a director and will appoint a yet-to-be-named second director. Jeff Shell, former CEO of NBCUniversal who chairs RedBird's sports and media business, will join Paramount as president. Andy Gordon, head of RedBird's West Coast office, will become Paramount's chief operating officer and chief strategic officer. Under the new ownership structure, RedBird will hold 22.5% of Paramount's voting rights, while David Ellison will hold 50% and Larry, who is Skydance's biggest investor, will hold the remaining 27.5%. This complicated familial-financial dynamic is likely to make Cardinale a pivotal voice in scenarios where the Ellisons butt heads. Paramount will become Cardinale's highest-profile investment but it's hardly his first big bet. In the worlds of sports, entertainment and media, the 57-year-old investor has been striking high-stakes deals for over a quarter of a century, first at Goldman Sachs and for the last decade at RedBird, which he founded in 2014. RedBird bought Italian football club A.C. Milan for $1.2 billion in 2022, and has backed household names like Lebron James, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in their independent entertainment ventures. It has also hired big names like Jeff Zucker, former CNN president, who is now leading its acquisition of British broadsheet The Telegraph (alongside co-investor Abu Dhabi-based firm IMI) for $675 million. The firm has also invested a smaller portion of its funds capital ($1.5 billion) on financial services companies. Its willingness to dive into the nitty-gritty of portfolio companies and their operations has helped RedBird grow to $12 billion in assets under management with 100 investment professionals across six global offices. 'I like playing shadow entrepreneur and solving problems with capital,' Cardinal said on Bloomberg podcast The Deal last year. It's been a winning recipe so far: RedBird has delivered 2.5 times gross multiple of capital and a 33% internal rate of return, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cardinale owns 100% of RedBird, filings show, and Forbes estimates he is worth $1.8 billion. (He declined to comment on his net worth or be interviewed for this article). W all Street glory was not always in the cards for Cardinale, who once harbored dreams of being a diplomat. Born in 1967, he grew up in the leafy Main Line suburbs outside Philadelphia, the son of a trial attorney. He later studied social studies at Harvard, where he rowed heavyweight crew and graduated with honors before studying politics and political theory at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Later on, he took a job at a Japanese think tank in Tokyo where he got a front-row seat to the effects of globalization. At the time, he was still considering law school, or getting his PhD in political theory. 'I wasn't one of these Wharton kids who knew I wanted to go to Wall Street from day one,' Cardinale recalled on The Deal. But meeting with investment bankers in Tokyo convinced Cardinale that finance would be a rewarding (and no doubt lucrative) career path. He joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 1992, the same year he published an article on Japanese anti-American sentiment and rising trade tensions in the academic journal Asian Survey . (His strong interest in Japan is something he shares with Larry Ellison, who has a Japanese art collection and modeled his Woodside, California home after a 16th century Japanese emperor's palace.) Cardinale worked at the bank's Hong Kong and Singapore offices before settling in the New York office in 1997 to work in the telecom, media and technology group as an investment banker. He later joined the bank's principal investment division, where he made his name persuading Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to launch the YES regional sports network in 2001. The project was finalized the day before September 11, and Goldman Sachs ended up backstopping the deal with a $335 million private equity investment after another investor pulled out. Though risky, the deal turned into a huge success, and Goldman made Cardinale a partner in 2004. A few years later in 2008, he persuaded Dallas Cowboys' billionaire owner Jerry Jones to team up with Steinbrenner to create the sports stadium concessions business Legends Hospitality, which investment firm Sixth Street Partners acquired a majority stake of in 2021. Cardinale left Goldman in 2013 and briefly worked at merchant bank BDT, founded by fellow Goldman alum Byron Trott, whom he'd previously done deals with. (BDT later merged with Michael Dell's family office to become BDT & MSD, and the firm has advised outgoing Paramount boss Shari Redstone). Cardinale founded RedBird in 2014 and raised $665 million for an inaugural fund from high-net-worth backers he'd met while at Goldman (their identities have not been disclosed) and an anchor investment from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which he also had a preexisting relationship with. RedBird became Skydance's second largest investor in 2020 when it led a $275 million capital raise. It backed Skydance again in 2022 when it raised another $400 million at a $4 billion valuation. RedBird's $1.8 billion cash outlay to buy Paramount represents 15% of its total assets under management. T he potential rewards from investing in Paramount are great but so are the risks: Between the inexorable decline of linear television, competition between streaming platforms, an existing $14.2 billion long-term debt load, and possible viewer blowback to perceived capitulation to Trump, Paramount faces a raft of challenges under its new ownership group. '[It] has the potential to overwhelm RedBird's portfolio,' Paul Wachter, the founder of Main Street Advisors, said earlier this year in a Harvard Business Review case study on RedBird. 'Turning Paramount around is going to be an enormous amount of work.' (Wachter also said he believes the investment will be a success 'because the executives are smart and highly motivated.') From Cardinale's perspective, the new Paramount—with its more than 1,200 film titles, distribution rights to another 2,400 films, and roster of television networks emblazoned in the American viewer psyche—is the perfect candidate to receive the RedBird treatment. 'What we do at RedBird is we look for ways of monetizing world-class IP. This is an over 100-year-old business…with really high-quality intellectual property,' he said last year on The Town, Puck founder Matthew Belloni's podcast, after the Skydance-Paramount deal was announced. 'We're not just deal guys looking to do a deal; we're not just private equity guys looking to go buy something.' While investors eye the numbers, media critics and consumers will be waiting to see how Skydance follows through on what the FCC described as its 'written commitments to ensure that the new company's programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum' and to 'adopt measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media.' There are reasons to believe the new Paramount will be less Trumpy than some fear: David Ellison gave around $1 million to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, and Cardinale, while not a megadonor, has previously given to both Democrats and Republicans. In any case, Cardinale has more to worry about than politics. With its massive debt load and facing structural headwinds, the new-look Paramount is crying out for a financier who understands the industry and is willing to stake his reputation on it. The test begins when the deal closes - which could happen any day now. 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Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A Graceland discovery inspired Peter Guralnick's myth-busting biography of Colonel Tom Parker
As the author of multiple books about Elvis Presley — including his magisterial 1994 biography 'Last Train to Memphis' and its 1999 sequel, 'Careless Love' — Peter Guralnick has interviewed hundreds of subjects and combed through a tall mountain of archival material in his quest for the truth about the most consequential American musical artist of the post World-War II era. But as it turned out there was more material, far more than Guralnick could squeeze into his Elvis biographies, and that material is the basis for his latest deep dive, "The Colonel and the King." A visit to the Graceland archive shortly after the publication of 'Last Train to Memphis' revealed a trove of correspondence written by Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker, the rotund, blustery operator that shepherded the musician's career from the mid-1950s until shortly before his death in 1977. A cursory sift through the material revealed tens of thousands of letters tracing in minute detail the inner workings of Elvis business, from publicity campaigns to the finer points of his recording and movie contracts. These missives exploded the myths around a man who has for decades been derided as a cynical and unscrupulous opportunist that cheapened Presley's legacy while enriching himself at his client's expense. 'I read the letters and thought, 'Oh my God, this is nothing like the person that has been portrayed,'' says Guralnick from his Massachusetts home. What Guralnick found was a scrupulously honest businessman in love with what he called 'the wonderful world of show business' and the art of the handshake deal, in thrall to his star client's talent and willing to do whatever was necessary to keep him front and center. Guralnick's new book is the story of an immigrant scrapper who became a kingmaker with his unerring instinct for the main chance. The first half of the book is Guralnick's narrative; the second half contains a generous selection of Parker letters. Born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in Holland, Elvis' manager-to be-dropped out of school at 12. "His uncle owned a small circus," Guralnick notes. "He did every sort of job, like how to site the tent so it would have the maximum visual impact. He knew how to water the elephants, he studied the acrobats.' After a few false starts, he stowed away in 1929 on a ship bound for New Jersey, adopting the name Tom Parker shortly after reaching American soil. There was an Army stint in Hawaii, some odd jobs, and then he found what he loved: the itinerant world of the traveling carnival. At home in this milieu, Parker mastered the art of grassroots promotion, of pulling in large crowds by plastering the town with loud, hyperbolic placards. "In the world of the carnival and the circus, nobody questioned your pedigree," says Guralnick. "Your handshake was your word, and everyone trusted and supported each other." Parker scouted talent and took them on as clients. By the time he witnessed Elvis performing at the Louisiana Hayride in the summer of 1955, he had already enjoyed big success with singers Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold and had adopted the Colonel moniker. Elvis, he sensed, was different. 'He sees in Elvis someone without limits, a great creative artist with great drive,' says Guralnick, "and Parker was prepared to throw over all of what he had achieved with Arnold and Snow in order to cultivate this untested talent. And he put everything he had into it.' Even a cursory reading of Parker's voluminous correspondence reveals a man not prone to passing over even the smallest detail in order to please his client. Working with a small staff of loyalists including his trusted associate Tom Diskin, Parker oversaw every aspect of Elvis' business, from meals to publicity to hotel accommodations. Work was play, it consumed his life, and this is exactly how he liked it. "It is of course these funny letters and my feeling that One must enjoy his work or grow stale keeps me on the go," he wrote to his friend Paul Wilder in a 1957 letter. He was a tireless proselytizer for his star client. Shortly after signing Elvis to a management deal, he immediately set about convincing the William Morris Agency of the greatness of his charge, writing to agent Harry Kalcheim that Elvis "has the same type of personality, and talents along the line of James Dean," and that "if you ever follow one of my hunches, follow up on this one and you won't go wrong." Elvis, for his part, deeply appreciated Parker's enthusiasm and loyalty. "Believe me when I say I will stick with you thru thick and thin and do everything I can to uphold your faith in me," Presley wrote to Parker in November 1955, shortly after he had secured a recording contract with RCA. "I love you like a father." "Parker defended Elvis against every single entity with which he was dealing," says Guralnick. "RCA wanted to turn him into a mainstream artist, like a crooner, and Colonel wouldn't allow that to happen. When Kalsheim asked Parker to rein in Elvis, because he was too wild on stage, Parker refused." "The Colonel and the King" debunks some of the most stubborn myths about Parker, refuting the notion that Parker destroyed Elvis' career by force-feeding awful material down his throat. While Parker was a hawk when it came to contract negotiations, he had no say in any artistic decisions and fended off record and film executives with designs on grabbing Elvis' ear. "He completely removed himself from Elvis' creative life," says Guralnick. "It was a partnership of equals, but Parker didn't get involved in that aspect of Elvis' career." For many Elvis fans of long standing, Parker's hands-off approach as revealed in his letters will be hard to square with the singer's enlistment in the Army in 1958 and his subsequent posting to Germany, which, so the conventional wisdom tells us, killed the first vital phase of his career and kick-started the descent into awful Hollywood movies that effectively turned this erstwhile force of nature into a B-movie hack. Read more: Heartbreak estate: Inside the legal battles of Elvis Presley's financial legacy Parker endorsed Elvis' Army move — his client wasn't about to be a draft dodger — but the decision to push Elvis into movies was a bilateral strategy that both men agreed was the best way to generate income at a time when Presley was reeling from his mother's death and fretting about money — as was Parker. 'It was actually financial and psychological,' says Guralnick about the left turn that changed Presley's career. 'And so the Colonel needed to reassure him, to say, 'things are even better now than when you went into the Army, and when you get out you'll be making even more money.'' But even 'Clambake' and 'Harum Scarum' couldn't douse Presley's musical artistry and fire. His triumphant 1968 comeback TV special kick-started an artistic renaissance. The hits returned: 'In the Ghetto,' 'Suspicious Minds,' 'Burning Love.' In 1969, Parker booked Elvis for a triumphant series of dates at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The downside of this was that Parker picked up a nasty gambling habit, while his client soon became dependent on prescription drugs. Presley and Parker grew distant, as Presley insulated himself with sycophants and his behavior both on and offstage grew increasingly erratic. Read more: Col. Parker Dies; He Made Elvis a Star Parker was cast adrift by Elvis' death in 1977, retreating to his Palm Springs home. Ten years later, he was brought back into 'Elvisland' by Priscilla Presley and Elvis Presley Enterprises President Jack Soden, coordinating an Elvis festival at the Las Vegas Hilton and selling all of his memorabilia to the estate. But he never regained his standing at the top of the Elvis hierarchy, much to his dismay. In assessing Parker's legacy, Guralnick thinks that it all comes down to 'the great music he helped Elvis bring to the world — not through any musical contributions of his own, obviously, but by creating the conditions necessary to ensure Elvis' creative independence from the start. Not to mention all the joy he himself delivered and derived from what he always liked to call the Wonderful World of Show Business.' Get the latest book news, events and more in your inbox every Saturday. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kirk Herbstreit's Son Lands Analyst Job - And College Football Fans Aren't Happy
Kirk Herbstreit's Son Lands Analyst Job - And College Football Fans Aren't Happy originally appeared on The Spun. Kirk Herbstreit's son, former Ohio State tight end Zak Herbstreit, will be covering college football this season as a national analyst. On Monday morning, On3 revealed that it's hiring Herbstreit's son for the 2025 season. He'll interview the top players, coaches and voices in college football on his show called "Off Script." It's a great opportunity for the son of ESPN's top analyst. "Zak has tremendous natural talent and has grown up immersed in college," On3 Founder Shannon Terry said. "His ability to connect with today's college stars will bring a fresh and authentic perspective to the On3 network. He'll be traveling each week to the biggest games across the country, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at everything that makes Saturdays the greatest day in sports." Immediately after On3 announced this hire, fans questioned Herbstreit's résumé. Of course, some people congratulated him on this accomplishment. "Congratulations @ZHerbstreit Go Buckeyes," one fan wrote on X. "Is this the son that runs @KirkHerbstreit's Twitter? Not sure how he's gonna do both," a second fan replied. "Totally not nepotism I mean just look at all the hard work put in by Zak the last year building his online presence tweeting 0 times in a year," a third fan commented. "I don't necessarily think all nepotism is bad but what has he done to earn this role at all," a social media user wrote. "Atta baby young man," another social media user said. "Best of luck to you on this new journey!" Zak Herbstreit is obviously amped up for this opportunity. He said, "I'm grateful for the path that led me here, and I'm excited to bring real passion, insight, and a player's mindset to the content that On3 creates." Time will tell if Herbstreit can become one of the best analysts in the Herbstreit's Son Lands Analyst Job - And College Football Fans Aren't Happy first appeared on The Spun on Aug 4, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
