Hi Book Friends!
Greetings, and happy Thursday! I haven’t really spoken much about this in the newsletter, but I thought I should let you know. I am writing you from the hospital today. My husband had a pretty big surgery last week, and it’s been a rough week in the hospital as he recovers. Just keep us in your thoughts, and hopefully he will be better soon. Hopefully, next time you hear from me, I’ll report back with better news. But books stop for no one, so let’s talk book things.
Book Deals and Reveals
Here’s the cover of Jordan Ifueko’s upcoming novel The Maid and the Crocodile, set in the same world as the Raybearer series. It’s out from Abrams Books this summer.
Southwest Review has revealed the cover of Mark Haber’s Lesser Ruins. The book will be published by Coffee House Press on October 8.
And here’s the cover of Beth Revis’s Full Speed to a Crash Landing. This sexy space heist novella is the first in a trilogy. It’s out on August 6 from DAW Books/Astra Publishing House.
Netflix has dropped a new trailer for Ripley, a series starring Andrew Scott and based on the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Ripley premieres on Netflix on April 4.
Haruki Murakami revealed his new yet-to-be-published short story “Kaho” at a Tokyo book event called “The Owl Reads in Spring.”
Speaking of Murakami, the author is publishing his first novel in six years, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, later this year. The publisher, Harvill Secker, says the novel “revisits a town his readers will remember, a place where a Dream Reader reviews dreams and where our shadows become untethered from ourselves.” It’s out in November.
In an interview with Bustle, Dakota Johnson says she’s “not surprised by how critics and viewers have panned her film Madame Web. Johnson says, “Decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not.”
Here’s the official trailer for Butterfly in the Sky, the documentary about Reading Rainbow. The film premieres in select AMC theaters on March 17 and 20.
Worcester Public Library is clearing fines for damaged or lost materials if patrons show or draw a photo of a cat this month.
The winners of this year’s Audie Awards for best audiobooks have been announced!
Book Riot Recommends
Hi, welcome to everyone’s favorite segment of Book Radar called Book Riot Recommends. This is where I’ll talk to you about all the books I’m reading, the books I’m loving, and the books I can’t wait to read and love in the near future. I think you’re going to love them too!
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Can’t Wait for This One
Make My Wish Come True by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick (Simon & Schuster, September 1)
Too early to talk about holiday rom-com books? NEVER! Especially sapphic holiday rom-coms. If you’ve been around for a while, then you know I love a TBR list full of holiday rom-coms for the winter months, and I’m already planning this year’s list now. Make My Wish Come True is described as “a sapphic Netflix-esque Christmas movie meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Intrigued? Let’s chat about it.
Hollywood teen actor Arden James just can’t shake her party girl image, which is a problem because she’s missing out on a dream role. How can she convince the picky director to give her a chance? Simple. Tell a small lie based on a truth. She tells the director that she’s a simple small-town girl (which is true). And she tells the director her childhood best friend Caroline is actually her long-term girlfriend (this is a lie).
When Arden approaches her ex-best friend Caroline and asks her to play along with this lie, Caroline is skeptical at first. After all, she hasn’t given Arden much thought over the past several years. But Caroline has long dreamed of becoming a journalist. And Arden suggests that their twelve romantic days together over the Christmas holiday could lead to a big break with Cosmopolitan. How can Caroline say no?
Of course, we know how these fake dating stories go. Fake feelings might just turn into real feelings. And with the magic of Christmas helping to guide these two back together, a real-life snowy romance might just be in their future.
Words of Literary Wisdom
“Grief is the space between two states of being: who you were and who you are.”
— Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
And Here’s A Cat Picture!
This picture is a little shadowy, because it’s so sunny outside today. But my joy every day has been going home to feed my kitties and visit with them for a little bit before I head back to the hospital. I feel like the boys torment Cersei while I’m not there, because she’s been hiding in my sock drawer every time I come home. I’m glad she felt safe enough to come out of hiding while I was around.
Well, friends, I’m going to get back to caring for the patient! I’ll see you next week. Have a lovely weekend. Read some good books.