Happy Monday! Raise your hand if you’re reading something good. (I know, you’re thinking, “Liberty, you can’t see me.” And well, you’re right. But it’s fun to pretend.) I hope everything in your world is marvelous and you have something wonderful to read. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty
Sponsored by Flatiron Books
My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
- I’m in a coma.
- My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
- Sometimes I lie.
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
Congressman John Lewis’ next book, Run, will pick up where March left off.
Mary J. Blige to co-star in The Umbrella Academy TV series for Netflix.
NBC orders Suspicion drama pilot based on the Joseph finder book.
Rapper Dessa working on a book of essays.
The Secret Garden musical revival coming to Broadway.
Dev Patel to star in David Copperfield.
Alicia Vikander to star in The Marsh King’s Daughter.
Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish to star in The Kitchen.
Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim is coming to the big screen.
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership coming in September.
V.E. Schwab announces new Shades of Magic prequel comic series.
Netflix is adding a Marie Kondo series.
A Dr. Seuss biopic is on the way.
George Romero’s final book on The Living Dead is getting released.
Cover Reveals
Here’s the gorgeous cover for Two Dark Reigns, the third book in Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns series. (HarperTeen, September 4.)
Here’s the first look at On the Come Up, the new Angie Thomas book! (Balzer + Bray, June 5)
A stunning cover for Laini Taylor’s Muse of Nightmares. (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, October 2)
And The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy from Mackenzi Lee has a cover! (Katherine Tegen Books, October 2)
Here are the covers for Daniel José Older’s Han and Lando book, Last Shot! (Del Rey, April 17)
And the cover of Heidi Helig’s For a Muse of Fire is HOT. (Greenwillow, September 25)
Sneak Peeks!
Watch the trailer for The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society starring Lily James.
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 I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!
The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein (St. Martin’s Press, April 10)
I am a fan of books that wreck me, and HOLY CATS, did this one fit the bill. The true story of the remarkable life of Sandra Pankhurst, a woman in Australia who was raised as a boy in a violent home, became a husband and father, had gender confirmation surgery, worked as a sex worker, and is a now a wife and businesswoman, the owner of a cleaning company that specializes in trauma cleanups. She goes in and takes care of messes that 99.99999% of the population couldn’t fathom. But it is her amazing spirit and belief in kindness, and Krasnostein’s storytelling, that make this such a fascinating, life-affirming story.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil (Crown, April 24)
In 1994, Wamariya and her sister fled the Rwandan massacre and spent the next several years walking through other African countries in search of safety before they were granted refugee status by the United States. This is her story about her two lives, one of fear and death, and the other seemingly the American dream but always shadowed by her past. I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet but it is at the top of my list!
And this is funny.