Sponsored by Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan.
When Karina Ahmed’s parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, she expects some peace and quiet. Instead, she gets roped into a fake-dating scheme with her school’s resident bad boy, Ace Clyde. Tutoring him was already crossing a line, but pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books a week. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back and things return to normal.
Happy Thursday, star bits! I had a very exciting beginning to my week. I was a part of author Aidan Truhen‘s secret identity reveal for the launch of his second book and it turns out he’s none other than—drum roll—Nick Harkaway! Needless to say, I was honored and delighted to be a part of this fabulous event with one of my very favorite authors. And the good news for you Harkaway fans is that there are two more books out there than you realized! GO FORTH AND READ.
Moving on to today’s newsletter: I have exciting book news for you about adaptations, book covers, and a book I am excited to read, plus I’ve included a picture of the queen of my heart, some trivia, and more! I love writing these newsletters and I appreciate your support so much. Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I hope you good bob and we same place again very now. I’ll see you again on Monday. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™
Trivia question time! In Where’d You Go, Bernadette, what musical instrument did Bee play? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
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Berkley Romance is publishing the first three Selena Montgomery romance novels by Stacey Abrams.
We’ve got a giveaway for a chance to win an iPad Mini! Enter here.
Julianna Margulies talks about her new memoir Sunshine Girl: An Unexpected Life.
Here’s the cover reveal of They Can’t Take Your Name by Robert Justice.
The Locus Awards finalists have been announced.
Pride Book Fest 2021 kicks off virtually in June.
Here’s the cover reveal of the upcoming f/nb queer romance Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly.
Tegan & Sara Quin’s memoir High School to be a series.
Here’s the first look at Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith as Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel.
Here’s the cover reveal of Stuntboy, In the Meantime, the first illustrated middle grade fiction by Jason Reynolds.
The Sherlock Holmes detective drama The Irregulars has been canceled by Netflix after one season.
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Barack & Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground is adapting Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us as a Spotify podcast series.
Here’s the first look at The Bench, the debut children’s book from Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, with illustrations by Christian Robinson.
Here’s the trailer for the adaptation of The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes.
Here’s the cover reveal of Kerstin Hall’s Second Spear.
Christopher Eccleston, David Threlfall, Billy Jenkins, and Saira Choudhry will star in the BBC’s Dodger, based in the world of Oliver Twist.
Elizabeth Olsen will star in a true crime limited series called Love and Death, based on the book Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson. (This crime was also already the subject of an excellent 1990 television movie with Barbara Hershey that still gives me nightmares.)
Here’s the cover reveal for Where the Drowned Girls Go (Wayward Children) by Seanan McGuire.
Holly Hunter is in talks to star in the adaptation of Sue Miller’s Monogamy.
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, who played hobbits Merry and Pippin in The Lord of the Rings films, are launching a podcast based on the franchise.
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:
Devil House by John Darnielle (MCD, January 25, 2022)
Sometimes, the universe gives you a lift right when you need it. I was feeling kinda ho-hum the other day and then I found out that John Darnielle, author and frontman of The Mountain Goats, has a new novel coming in January! It turned my whole day around! Much like what happens when I listen to The Mountain Goats. What an amazing surprise it was to hear him play live after the National Book Awards ceremony last year!
I am a huge fan of his previous novels, Wolf in White Van and Universal Harvester, and Devil House also sounds fantastic. It’s about a successful true crime writer who has an opportunity to move into the ‘Devil House’, where a pair of murders occurred in 1980s. And his investigation into what happened is going to lead him to a place he never expected—his own life.
OOOOOOO. Sounds creepy and fun! I can’t wait to see the cover. If you love a ‘there’s something wrong in that house’ book, mark this one down now.
What I’m reading this week.
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Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach
Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
The Anatomy of Desire by L. R. Dorn
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir by Ai Weiwei
Song stuck in my head:
Your Ghost by Kristin Hersh with Michael Stipe. Hersh’s new memoir, Seeing Sideways: A Memoir of Music and Motherhood, is out now, so I have been playing a lot of her music. Also, if you have missed me saying it the one million times I have mentioned it before, her memoir Rat Girl is my favorite memoir. (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:
Oh, mom.
Happy things:
Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:
- Warehouse 13: I have circled back to this older Syfy show. I find the sci-fi shows like The Librarians, Stargate, STNG, etc, to be extremely comforting these days.
- Lantanas: It’s mostly beautiful here in Maine now, which means it is time to go to the greenhouse and acquire my favorite flowering plant. Lantanas are Froot Loops-colored little flowers that seem to make the hummingbirds in our area very happy.
- Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
And here’s a cat picture!
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Here’s my sweet, smiley queen, Millay.
Trivia answer: Flute.
You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L