Sponsored by Clarion Books.
In this thrilling conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige’s The Ravens duology, loyalty, love, and friendships are tested as sorority sisters Scarlett and Vivi must face the forces of hell itself when a rival sorority threatens to wreak havoc on campus.
The ultra-exclusive Kappa Rho Nu—the Ravens—are determined to restore balance to the world. After destroying an ancient talisman and barely saving their sorority in the process, they’ll go to any lengths to keep their secret as Westerly’s most powerful coven of witches.
Greetings from Ireland, Book Friends!
I’ve been traveling for about 24 hours and I am very, very tired, but of course I had to send you some Book Radar before I fall out for the day. Especially because I feel like a lot has happened since the last time I wrote to you. So let’s see what’s going down in the book world!
❤️ Emily
Book Deals and Reveals
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Crime Reads has got a cover reveal and an excerpt from Stephen Graham Jones’ upcoming novel Don’t Fear the Reaper, his sequel to My Heart is a Chainsaw.
Sarah Gailey has announced her next novel. Just Like Home, which Gailey describes as “a story of obsession, reconciliation, and monstrosity,” is out on July 19, 2022.
Here’s the cover reveal for Kelly Robson’s High Times in the Low Parliament, a novel the autho describes as a “lesbian stoner buddy comedy with fairies — about Brexit.”
Little, Brown has purchased the world rights to Nathan Harris’s sophomore novel, The Rose of Jericho.
Author Adam Silvera announced that he would be expanding the universe created in his hit novel They Both Die at the End with two new books. The author wrote that the universe would be expanding into two interconnected novels, starting with The First to Die at the End, which will be out October 4, 2022.
Netflix will no longer be making a film adaptation of Alice Sebold’s memoir Lucky.
Netflix might not be moving forward with Lucky, but they have ordered five new U.K. series, including a series adaptation of the novel One Day by David Nicholls.
The NPR staff has announced their favorite books of 2021, and some of their choices might surprise you.
Let’s talk about some literary real estate! Mary Shelley’s former London apartment is for sale. Additionally, if you’ve ever dreamed of owning a library, now might be your chance: this former Carnegie library is for sale!
Book Riot Recommends
I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Can’t Wait for This One
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas (Berkley, May 20, 2022)
Okay, buckle up, because if you love dark gothic suspense as much as I do, then you’re going to be in for a wild ride with The Hacienda. Set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, this story follows Beatriz, a young woman who accepts a proposal from the strikingly handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano, in spite of those who warn her against it. Sure, there are rumors about what happened to his previous wife, but Beatriz is more concerned with the life of luxury a marriage to someone like Don Rodolfo could afford her.
But when she arrives at their home in Hacienda San Isidro, Beatriz soon realizes that her home is not the place of luxury and comfort she’d anticipated it being. And after Rodolfo leaves her alone in the house while he tends to work at the capital, Beatriz starts seeing visions and hearing voices in her head. Is the house haunted by the spirits of Rodolfo’s past? And what really happened to his first wife?
If you’re reading this and getting serious Rebecca vibes, you’re not wrong. But where Rebecca remains squarely in the atmospheric and slightly chilling area of gothic fiction, The Hacienda is not afraid to get straight up creepy. This book has all the things you would expect from a creepy haunted house story, and yet… that’s not all this is. “But what do you mean?” you ask. Well, you’ll have to read to find out!
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Words of Literary Wisdom
“All of us experience loss in our lives. We will cry until we have no tears left and then we will hurt even more. Even for the luckiest of us, life is mostly pain, with moments of happiness thrown in just to keep us vertical. But the Denises of the world don’t understand that. They say things like ‘Everything happens for a reason,’ and they believe it because it comforts them, the idea that people like me must have deserved what they got.”
— The Collective, Alison Gaylin
In Loving Memory
Friends, I am writing this on the fourth anniversary of my brother’s death, and so it’s a hard day for me. And probably why I chose the quote above for this week. I know it’s dark, but it resonated with me, and for those of you who have lost someone dear to you, I hope it might speak to you as well. I just wanted to take a moment this week to remember my brother Adam and tell you some of the bookish things about him. For instance, Adam’s favorite book was Catch-22.
He was a huge fan of Game of Thrones—both the books and the show—but was not above critiquing it. After one particular episode of Game of Thrones, he texted me this, “Westeros approximately 3,000 miles from the Wall to Sunset Sea. Dragonstone to the Wall is approximately 2/3rd the distance of Westeros. That’s 2,000 miles. A crow can only fly 16-19 MPH. At 19 MPH it would take a crow 105.26 hours or 4.4 days to fly that distance. That’s if a crow could fly that distance at full speed nonstop. Then calculate however fast you think a dragon can fly with a rider and how long it would take to make the return trip. Yeah, I don’t think Daenerys would have made it there in 16 hours or whatever it was. And that’s not even counting Gendry running back to the wall in the first place.
Wait. Recalculate for raven. Max speed 28 MPH. It would take 2.98 days to fly from the Wall to Dragonstone.”
And that… was just the way my brother was, readers. I will forever miss him!
Your Weekend Reading Soundtrack
Time to get nostalgic! Around this time of year, back when I was a kid, we used to decorate the Christmas tree and break out the Muppets Christmas album. I cannot stress this enough. The Muppets… they hold up. If you’re doing some decorating this weekend, this is great for reading or decorating.
And Here’s A Cat Picture!
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I’m missing my cats so much right now! Thankfully my kind neighbor is taking care of them. She sent me this picture today. Here we see Murray wondering why I left him and this beautiful stack of books behind while I went on a trip.
Look at the sad eyes.
That’s a wrap, everyone! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you on Monday, when I will, yes, still be in Ireland. Until then, I hope you do good things. Even if that good thing is taking a nap. That can be a very good thing.
❤️ Emily