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Daniel José Older’s New YA Novel To Be Published by Rick Riordan and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday, star bits! I hope you all were able to enjoy your weekend. I had a lot of assigned reading for my jobs, so I spent the weekend up to my face orbs in words, which is just how I like it. And you’ll be hearing about some of the books that I read in the future here in this newsletter! (IT’S ALL FOR YOU, DAMIAN.) Any excuse to read books is a good excuse, but it’s even better when I get to share. And speaking of sharing, I watched an interview with Emily St. John Mandel last week and all she would say about her next novel, which she has almost finished, is that there is a time-traveling book publicist. Which is not a thing I knew I wanted until just now. I can’t wait!

Moving on: I have some exciting book news for you today and a look at an exciting dystopian novella that takes place in a submarine, plus cover reveals, a terrible pun, a cat picture, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Who wrote the 1959 novel To Sir, With Love, which later became a film starring Sidney Poitier? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Jesse Plemons has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of David Grann’s Killer of the Flower Moon.

Hafsah Faizal’s We Hunt The Flame is being adapted into a television series.

Daisy Ridley will star in the adaptation of The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne.

Rick Riordan’s imprint will publish its first YA novel, which will be written by Daniel José Older.

Here’s the cover reveal for Redemptor, the second Raybearer book, by Jordan Ifueko.

Here’s the book trailer for TJ Newman’s forthcoming book, Falling, which has already been bought by Universal.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Perishing by Natashia Deon.

Here’s the first look at the cover of Sarah MacLean’s new romance novel Bombshell.

Tim Burton is making a live-action Wednesday Addams series for Netflix.

Here’s the first look at the LGBTQ+ graphic novel Eighty Days by A.C. Esguerra.

Mindy Kaling’s Kaling International is adapting Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers for TV.

Paddington 3 is officially in the works.

Here’s a huge round-up of Epic Reads fall book release cover reveals.

Brit Bennett is on the cover of Time magazine as one of their Next 100 Most Influential People.

Here’s the cover reveal for Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez.

Norman Reedus is developing Edward Gorey’s Neglected Murderesses as a series for AMC.

Here’s the cover reveal of A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw.

Netflix is creating an animated musical film based on Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe.

Victor LaValle is writing a brand new five-issue original comic series, which will be illustrated by Jo Mi-Gyeong.

Daniel Cole’s Ragdoll is going to be made into a series.

William Corlett’s Now & Then is being made into a film.

Lily Rabe will join Ben Affleck in George Clooney’s Tender Bar, based on the memoir by J.R. Moehringer.

Here’s the cover reveal for Cherie Priest’s Grave Reservations.

HBO is adaptating Roger Zelazny’s Roadmarks.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker.

Anna Friel will star in the adaptation of Karen Hamilton’s The Perfect Girlfriend.

Here’s the cover reveal for Shoot the Moonlight Out by William Boyle.

Book Riot Recommends 

At Book Riot, I work on the New Books! email, the All the Books! podcast about new releases, and the Book Riot Insiders New Release Index. I am very fortunate to get to read a lot of upcoming titles, and learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Loved, loved, loved: 

We Shall Sing a Song into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart (Tor.com, March 9)

The beginning of the first sentence of the pitch for this was “A Canticle for Leibowitz meets The Hunt for Red October…” and I was like “I’M IN.” A Canticle for Leibowitz is my favorite sci-fi book, and I don’t hear it mentioned that often, so of course I had to read this.

Here’s the three-word elevator pitch: monks in submarines. That’s the whole premise and I loved it. So it’s the future and there’s been a horrible nuclear war that has decimated the planet. People have taken to boats to avoid the poisoned lands, and an order of monks spend their days and nights aboard a submarine that has been outfitted with the last nuclear bomb. They have been on the submarine for years; its electrical wiring is a mess, the other mechanical parts are faulty, and all the monks are suffering from scurvy and radiation poisoning and other ailments.

When the book starts, we meet Remy, a Chorister, who is one of the young boys charged with singing in church aboard the submarine. Except only the dying caplain (like captain and chaplain, get it?) of the boat knows that Remy is actually a girl. He rescued her from a vessel years ago, and had to keep her secret because no girls or women are permitted aboard. And she is also the only one he trusts to hide the key that unlocks the nuclear bomb.

But then the caplain dies, and his power-mad replacement is hellbent on releasing the last bomb and ending everything, and even resorts to using Remy’s best friend as a pawn to try and get what he wants. Can Remy save her only friend and keep the key out the hands of the new caplain?

I thought this was perfectly paced and it seemed entirely plausible. Although submarines stress me out—it also made me feel claustrophobic!

(Content warning for murder, physical violence, drowning, a nuclear apocalypse, radiation poisoning, child abuse, and starvation.)

What I’m reading this week.

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

Lightseekers by Femi Kayode

Redemptor (Raybearer Book 2) by Jordan Ifueko

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Ten Low by Stark Holborn

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

I could tell a joke about pizza, but it’s a little cheesy.

And this is funny:

Great, another thing I’m going to be wondering about instead of sleeping.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • The Great North: From the creator of Bob’s Burgers; it’s kind of like a Bob’s Burgers but set in Alaska, complete with the youngest child wearing an animal costume at all times. But it’s cute and I’ll keep watching. Bonus: Nick Offerman does one of the voices.
  • Warehouse 13: All five seasons are streaming on Peacock! Of course, rewatching this is going to lead to a rewatch of The Librarians, for sure.
  • Gravity Falls: It’s never enough, no, it’s never enough. Also: GRAPPLING HOOK.
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Okay, so this is in no way a happy thing, but it’s just what I need playing in the background while I do jigsaw puzzles. I have now made it to the middle of season five and I am still into it. After watching so much Murder She Wrote recently, I’m enjoying the crimes coming to them, not just happening everywhere they go.
  • Jigsaw puzzles! Yup, still puzzling.
  • Numberzilla. Still not tired of this game.
  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

I should livestream cat wrestling from my house and make a million dollars. Spoiler: Zevon always wins. He always starts it and he always wins.

Trivia answer: E. R. Braithwaite.

Remember that whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you love and hugs. Please be safe, and be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty