Launch Day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY!
Welcome back, and hallo, new readers!
This is it! The US launch day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is February 4th. I’m amazed and relieved to get to this point. Thank you so much if you’ve already ordered the book or have been telling people about it.
If you’re new to this newsletter and are wondering what the book is about, a description, the wonderful cover, and ordering details are at this link. At the end of this newsletter are ways you can help the book in its path through the world (even for free!).
This month began with a week in New York City, where I attended the American Historical Association annual conference and got to see HUMANS at the University of California Press booth - mind-blowing!
Since then I’ve been doing podcast interviews. For the Vulgar History podcast I chatted with Ann Foster about ancient geography, Renaissance maps, my beloved Star Trek, and a seventeenth-century science fiction novel written one Lady Margaret Cavendish, a lady who preferred bears. Since we recorded this just as I was catching a nasty cold, I sound a bit like Kermit the Frog - a silver lining? I was also interviewed by Cara Santa Maria on Talk Nerdy. Our conversation ranged from timely political themes in the book to more escapist, even utopian ones.
Waiting to air: On the Drafting The Past I talked with Kate Carpenter about history research, writing habits, and storytelling. For Talking Tudors I chatted with Natalie Grueninger about monster-making in Renaissance Europe and beyond. And I’m super-excited about the utterly fun movie I got to talk about with Jason Herbert on Historians At The Movies. If you subscribe for free to these shows wherever you get your podcasts, you’ll be the first to know when the episodes become available. I’ll update the podcasts page on my website as each episode appears.
Book launch and tour events
I’ve also been preparing for virtual and in-person book events. Key changes since the last update:
A free virtual book launch event on Wednesday February 19th, hosted by the Society for Renaissance Studies! Click here for info and to register. For more virtual and in-person events, click here.
Friday March 7th at the Huntington Library, Pasadena, CA. Click here to RSVP before February 28 for either/both these daytime book events (and lunch!).
For an evening bookstore event nearby a few hours later, come along to Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena at 7pm, when I’ll be in conversation with Megan Kate Nelson.
Amherst, MA: time change and location: now 6pm at Amherst Books on Thurs. March 27.
Berkeley, CA date change: now Friday March 16 late afternoon/early evening.
I’ll keep updating the book tour page at this link. There are plenty more events on here already!
In case you missed it
My last newsletter, on basement adventuring as a grad student, went viral, especially among educators. What I learned by designing and completing my PhD dissertation project gave me insights into the flaws, dangers, and limits of LLM-based AI for work involving words, judgment, or evidence-based testimony, or where the purpose was developing deep, trustworthy expertise. If you missed the newsletter or would like to share it with folks you know or on social media, the link in my newsletter archives is here.
Some ways you can help launch HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY
Order the book now, if you haven’t already.
Ask your library to buy the book.
Post a photo of the book (perhaps in a store, or with your cat or coffee) on social media: HUMANS in the wild! I’m using the hashtag #HAMH. Feel free to tag me if you wish. BlueSky is my primary platform (@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social). I also use Mastodon, Instagram, and Threads).
Rate and/or review the book (on, e.g., Goodreads, Storygraph, or Amazon). If you bought the book on Amazon, reviewing it there after reading it (on or after Feb. 4) would be super-helpful since your review would receive a “Verified Purchase” label. Amazon’s guidelines on posting a review, and who can post there, are at this link. And for a wiki article with detailed instructions, click here.
Reviews can be whatever length is easiest to write - a paragraph, a sentence, or a single word! You can even upload a picture with your review. The number of reviews makes a difference; reviews don’t need to be long or to cover “everything”.
Tell someone you know about the book (feel free to forward this newsletter to them).
Suggest the book to your book club.
Re-share any of my book-related posts on BlueSky, if you’re on there. I tag many of them with #HAMH to make them easier to find.
Thank you in advance for taking a look at the book! I hope that it’s both fun and informative.
You can also find me on www.surekhadavies.org,
BlueSky (@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social),
and Instagram/Threads (@surekhadavies).