Sponsored by Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group.
Eleven-year-old Willow doesn’t want to go to her dad’s weird old summer camp any more than she wants her family to move to the weird old town where that camp is located. But her family—and fate itself—seem to have plans of their own. Soon, Willow finds herself neck-deep in a confounding mystery involving stolen snacks, suspected vampires, and missing campers, all shrouded in the sinister fog that hides a generation of secrets at Camp…whatever it’s called.
Welcome to Thursday, kittens! I hope you are having a great week, or at least a reasonably good week. I have been balancing work with reading books and watching television, which is just how I like it. (Keep your eyes out for a Gideon the Ninth post on the site soon!) And I am hoping for an awesome weekend of reading ahead. I enjoy being able to read upcoming books so I can talk to you about which ones you should get excited about. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. 😉
Moving on, I have exciting adaptation news and book talk. Plus I’ve included a picture of my snuggly orange monster, some trivia, and more! Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I hope you good bob and we same place again very now. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™
Trivia question time! Which Spielberg film is based on a book by Thomas Keneally? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
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Theo James and Rose Leslie will star in HBO’s series adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
Fifty Shades author E.L. James is taking her entire catalog to a new imprint.
Numa Perrier is directing the adaptation of The Perfect Find by Tia Williams.
Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, Regé-Jean Page, Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana De Armas will star in The Gray Man, Netflix’s biggest budget film to date. It’s based on the novel by Mark Greaney.
Here are the L.A. Times Book Prize finalists.
Kal Penn is writing a memoir called You Can’t Be Serious.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield has written a debut novel.
Cynthia Erivo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will join Keegan-Michael Key and Tom Hanks in the live-action Pinocchio.
Netflix is going ahead with the animated Asterix limited series.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Oyelowo will star in HBO Max’s adaptation of The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney.
C.J. Cherryh is the winner of the 2021 Robert A. Heinlein Award.
Blondie announced that they’re writing a graphic novel.
Stephen King’s 2018 novella Elevation will be a film.
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!)
Excited to read:
Second Contact by Mike Chen (MIRA, 2022)
Recently I asked book publishing Twitter to tell me about their upcoming books, and I could not be more excited that Mike Chen responded! As you know, his newest novel, We Could Be Heroes, is one of my favorite books of the year. And he has two more books coming in the new two years! He mentioned the title coming in 2022. It’s called Second Contact and he said it’s “a story of a family destroyed by an alien abduction — but then brought back together when the abductee returns 15 years later claiming to be a space soldier. Think X-Files meets Netflix’s Hill House series w/ a little Last Starfighter.”
Holy cats, it’s like he’s writing this book for ME. It sounds like ten tons of fun. I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I must have watched The Last Starfighter two hundred times when I was young. (Remember when cable channels showed the same five movies over and over each month?) And his 2023 book is titled Vampire Weekend. He hasn’t shared details, but I’m going to guess it’s about—I know it’s wild but hear me out—vampires. (Related: Why is The Last Starfighter never streaming anywhere??? 😩)
What I’m reading this week.
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Dear Miss Metropolitan by Carolyn Ferrell
Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America’s Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt by Daniel Barbarisi
Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors by Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn with Nicole Weisensee Egan
We Have Always Been Here by Lena Nguyen
The Revelations by Erik Hoel
Song stuck in my head:
Disco Sheets by Wolf Parade, my very favorite band. (Also, I’m still really into listening to songs I loved when I was young. You can listen to a lot of them in this playlist I made!)
And this is funny:
It makes it less sad when it’s a literary reference.
Happy things:
Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:
- Modern Family: This show makes me laugh a lot. I am a big fan of people falling down and/or getting hit in the head. I just started season six and my favorite parts now are Stella the dog and how evil and sarcastic Lily has become.
- Joseph’s Chocolate Hommus: This is my favorite treat!
- Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
And here’s a cat picture!
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Look at my little cinnamon roll!
Trivia answer: Schindler’s List.
You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L