Austin Butler Signs on for Multiple Book Adaptations and More Book Radar!

Book Deals and Reveals

Reactor has shared the cover of Wen-yi Lee’s lyrical YA horror debut, The Dark We Know. It’s out from Gillian Flynn Books on August 13.

And Nerd Daily has revealed the cover and an excerpt for Libby Cudmore’s Negative Girl. This neo-noir thriller is out on September 10 from Datura Books.

Kelsey Horton at Delacorte has acquired the rights to the latest from Clay McLeod Chapman. In Shiny Happy People, a teen girl notices people around her becoming unnervingly upbeat after a new drug comes to town. It’s out in fall 2025.

Eight writers are the recipients of this year’s Windham-Campbell prizes, worth $175,000. The prizes are awarded across fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry. Recipients include Deirdre Madden, Kathryn Scanlan, and Hanif Abdurraqib.

Jenna Bush Hager’s Read With Jenna book club pick for April is The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. Jenna told TODAY that the book is “equal parts humor and love story.”

Joan Baez has announced her first-ever poetry book, When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance. It’s out on April 30.

Austin Butler is set to star in the upcoming adaptation of Caught Stealing, based on the book by Charlie Huston. Darren Aronofsky is attached to direct.

But there’s more Austin Butler news! The Elvis star will also play the role of a crime boss in the adaptation of Don Winslow’s novel City on Fire. Butler will also produce alongside David Heyman and Shane Salerno.

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!

Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help with handpicked recommendations. Tell the Bibliologists at Tailored Book Recommendations about what you love and what you don’t. You can get your recommendations via email or receive hardcovers or paperbacks in the mail. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Plans start at just $18! Subscribe today.

Can’t Wait For This One!

One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin (Berkley, June 18)

I recently mentioned one of Laura Hankin’s books on Read This Book. I’m a big fan. And now the author of Happy & You Know It, A Special Place for Women, and The Daydreams is back with another one this June, and yep, I can’t wait.

One-Star Romance is the story of Natalie and Rob, two people who have absolutely nothing in common. But when Rob is the best man and Natalie is the maid of honor at their friends’ wedding, they’re both prepared to set their differences aside. Until right before the wedding, Natalie discovers that Rob has posted a 1-star review of her latest book.

The moment the wedding ends, Natalie and Rob do their best to avoid each other, but life keeps throwing them back together. As their friends celebrate buying a house and having kids, Natalie and Rob are forced to to see each other again and again and again. If someone wrote a negative review about your book, would you be able to forgive them, move past it, and possibly see your perfect match hiding behind the surface of your worst critic? Well, Natalie just might.

Words of Literary Wisdom

“People don’t see things and hear things as objectively as they might think. The visual and auditory information that enters the mind is distorted by experiences, thoughts, circumstances, wild fancies, prejudices, preferences, knowledge, awareness, and countless other workings of the mind.”
— Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Yes, it’s time for another pic of Murray sleeping peacefully in the bed with a recovering Ben somewhere underneath him. It’s quite the theme we’ve had going on this spring. I hope you enjoy.

And that’s all for now, friends. Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you Monday!

Emily