Author: Emily Martin

Hello Book Friends!

Welcome to another Monday edition of Book Radar. Today, we’re going to do all the things you’d expect from a Monday Book Radar. We’re going to talk about books. We’re going to laugh together over bookish memes. We’re going to feast our eyes upon beautiful book covers. Of course, we’re going to look at cat pics. It’s going to be a good time.

Book Deals and Reveals

I’m so excited to share the cover of Lamar Giles’ Ruin Road, which is personally one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Over at Paste, there’s a cover reveal and an excerpt, so be sure to check that out! This YA horror/thriller, which is described as Friday Night Lights meets Needful Things, will be out in September. The cover designer is Maeve Norton, and the cover artist is Lola Idowu. 

Romance fans, here’s the cover reveal of Yours Truly by Katie Shepard. This novel about “renovating the family B&B with your ex-husband, his movie star ex-boyfriend, and their dozen screaming fangirls” is out on September 3.

And here’s the cover of Justine Pucella Winans’ middle grade horror novel Wishbone! The cover was designed by John Candell with an illustration by George Bletsis. It’s out on September 17.

This next one is a supernatural romance coming out on October 8, and the cover is super cute! So check out the cover of Haunt Your Heart Out by Amber Roberts.

Is sci-fi more your speed? Check out the cover of the dystopian sci-fi romance The Dividing Sky by Jill Tew. The author describes the novel as follows: “In 2460 Boston, a girl who sells her emotions to wealthy clients deals a bit of illegal happiness on the side. But a handsome rookie is determined to arrest her…if he doesn’t fall in love with her first.” It’s out from Joy Revolution on October 8.

Netflix has renewed Survival of the Thickest for a second season. The series, based on Michelle Buteau’s essay collection of the same name, stars Buteau, Tone Bell, Tasha Smith, Garcelle Beauvais, and Michelle Visage.

We’re getting a new book from Sabaa Tahir this year! Heir is hitting shelves on October 1!

The cast for Marvel’s Fantastic Four has been announced! The movie stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing). The Fantastic Four is set for a July 25, 2025 release.

Speaking of Marvel, here’s the official trailer for the new X-Men animated series for Disney+. It’s out on March 20!

Reese Witherspoon is producing a film adaptation of Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel Romantic Comedy. The film will be written by Jordan Weiss and Dan Brier. Curtis Sittenfeld and Ashley Strumwasser will also executive produce, with Lauren Neustadter producing.

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!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Prepare Your Shelves!

What I’m Reading This Week

Siri, Who Am I? by Sam Tschida

The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Monday Memes

Y’all. I can’t tell you how much Belle from Beauty and the Beast was goals for me as a child. And the more I grow into my bookish adult self, the more I realize, much like Ariel’s incredible (but physically impossible) hair flip out of the water, everything Disney sold us about being a bookish beauty WAS A LIE.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

So, on Valentine’s Day this year, Ben and I went to Neko Cat Café for a special Meowentine’s Day Celebration! The kitties made us Valentines and special sugar cookies with sweet kitty messages on them. It was a good time. But obviously, after all of that hard work, the kitties were very tired. DJ Silly Goose here just remained passed out on this pillow for the entirety of his visit! Meowentine’s Day is not for the faint of heart!

And…that’s all! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Emily

Hi, everyone!

I hope your week has been going well. Did you have a nice Valentine’s Day? After a quick little jaunt to Nashville, I’m back home in Seattle and ready to dive into another Thursday edition of Book Radar. So let’s do this.

Book Deals and Reveals

Scholastic Graphix has announced two new comic adaptations of The Baby-sitters Club, based on the novels by Ann M. Martin. The Baby-sitters Club: Kristy and the Walking Disaster by Ellen T. Crenshaw is scheduled for a September release. The Baby-sitters Litter Sister: Karen’s Grandmothers by DK Yingst is scheduled for October. Get a first look at both of the books here!

SNL alum Kate McKinnon is writing a debut novel aimed at readers aged 8 through 12. The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science will be published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, on October 1.

The Color Purple, the movie musical starring Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, and Halle Bailey, will be streaming on Max starting on February 16.

Despite a report earlier this week that the project was scrapped, Hulu’s TV adaptation of Sarah J. Maas’s romantasy book series A Court of Thorns and Roses is still a go. For now.

Tiny Reparations Books has secured North American rights to two new books by National Book Award–longlisted author LaToya Watkins. The first book, The Book of Chuck, will be published in spring 2026.

Tia Williams has sold North American rights to two new novels to Grand Central. The publisher says the first book is about “a woman employed by a search-engine company who accidentally sparks a worldwide search for the sexy stranger she made a deep connection with on a flight.”

Here’s the cover of Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible. It’s out on September 3.

Dictionary.com has released a list of new and updated words for 2024. Which words are your favorite?

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!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Can’t Wait for This One!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“Society wants us to look for the approval of men in everything we do. Self-care is the radical act of dressing and living for ourselves.”

— Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Today, I leave you with this cat puddle. Because there’s nothing better than a cat cuddle puddle. Enjoy.

And have a wonderful weekend, friends. Thanks for being here!

Emily

Hello, Book Radar Family!

As promised, I am writing to you from Nashville, TN. Although I flew here from Seattle, I think I brought the rain with me. Sorry to all the Nashville locals. Anyway, I’m here with some book content for you to feast your eyes upon on this fine Monday morning. So, let’s get to it.

Book Deals and Reveals

Electric Literature shared the cover of Edwidge Danticat’s new essay collection, We’re Alone. It’s out from Graywolf Press on September 3.

Here’s a first look at Isabela Merced in the upcoming adaptation of John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down. The film, directed by Hannah Marks, will be on Max this spring.

Nancy Drew meets Miami Vice in The Sherlock Society by James Ponti, and School Library Journal has the cover reveal! This first book in a new middle grade series will be out September 3.

And here’s the cover of The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes. This coming-of-age debut releases on May 21.

Interview with the Vampire is back for a second season! Here’s the trailer for season 2, which premieres on AMC and AMC+ on May 12.

Speaking of season 2s, Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been renewed for a second season on Disney+!

Tia Williams’ bestselling novel Seven Days in June is being adapted into a series for Prime Video. The series does not have a release date yet.

Paramount+ has revealed a first look at their adaptation of A Gentleman in Moscow, based on the novel by Amor Towles. The series, starring Ewan McGregor, premiers on March 29.

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!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Prepare Your Shelves!

What I’m Reading This Week

Rouge by Mona Awad

The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Monday Memes

It’s Monday, which means it’s meme time. And personally, from now on, I want all my bookish memes to have Reneé Rapp in them.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

I was packing for my trip, and Murray decided to pose with my current read! Thanks for being such a good book model, Murray! I love you! And I miss you!

Aaaand…that’s all, friends. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and I’ll see you on Thursday!

Emily

Hi, Book Friends!

Guess what? I’m heading out to Nashville tomorrow for a surprise work trip, but before I do all of that, I wanted to check in with all of you and talk to you about books. Just so you know, next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Nashville. Pretty cool. Alright, let’s do this.

Book Deals and Reveals

Lizzie and Darcy are back to solve another mystery in Tirzah Price’s new novel, In Want of A Suspect. This is the first in a new spin-off series featuring everyone’s favorite couple from Pride and Premeditation. It’s out on November 12.

AMC has ordered a third season of their supernatural anthology series, The Terror. This season will be based on The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle.

Speaking of horror, Richard Chizmar has revealed the cover of his new novel Memorials. It hits shelves on October 22.

Electric Literature has the exclusive cover reveal of The Empusium by Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk. The novel, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, will be published by Riverhead on September 24.

And here’s the cover reveal of Jessica Vitalis’ Unsinkable Cayenne, a historical novel in verse out from Greenwillow/HarperCollins on October 29th.

Anna Diop is set to star opposite Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe in the upcoming film adaptation of Walter Mosley’s The Man in My Basement, directed by Nadia Latif.

Here’s the teaser trailer for Dark Matter, based on the novel by Blake Crouch. It premieres on Apple TV on May 8.

America Ferrera’s feature directorial debut, I Am Not Your Mexican Daughter, is in development at Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures. The film, based on Erika Sánchez’s New York Times bestselling novel, will be written by screenwriter Linda Yvette Chávez.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Emily Nussbaum has announced her new book about reality TV entitled Cue the Sun! It’s out on June 25.

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!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Can’t Wait for This One!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“Without the sun, what’s the moon? Just a rock in the outer dark. Its illumination just a trick. Just a trick from the sun’s light, which it steals. And that’s what Beauty is too.”

— Rouge by Mona Awad

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

It’s Mardi Gras season, and while we were very excited about getting the king cake, Murray was, of course, more excited about the king cake box!

Shout out to Gambino’s for the king cake. This was delicious, and yes, they deliver nationwide!

Alright, everyone! See you soon, Nashville. Have a great weekend!

Emily

Happy Monday, Book Friends!

Who among you celebrates Mardi Gras? Well, king cake season is upon us, and I’ve given up on finding a decent king cake in Seattle. They’re fine, but they’re overpriced and not quite the same as getting the real deal shipped from New Orleans. So I’m now trying to decide once and for all what my favorite New Orleans king cake is. Do you have favorites? Let me know. And if you’re curious, I can come back after Mardi Gras to let you know who won out this year. In the meantime, we’re here to talk about books. So, let’s hop to it.

Book Deals and Reveals

Check out the US cover of Adiba Jaigirdar’s Rani Choudhury Must Die. The cover features an illustration by Jani Balakumar and is designed by Samira Iravani. It’s out on November 12.

Here’s the cover of the Jewish YA novel Night Owls by A.R. Vishny. It’s out from HarperTeen on September 17.

Cosmopolitan shared the cover of Elle Kennedy’s The Dixon Rule. This book, the second in Kennedy’s Campus Diaries series, will be out on May 14.

And here’s the cover of the sapphic rom-com A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen. It’s out on August 27.

Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar is publishing a debut collection of short stories. The Last Dream, translated from the Spanish by Frank Wynne, will be out from HarperVia on September 24.

Author Stephanie Wrobel pays tribute to the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, in her new thriller novel The Hitchcock Hotel. Entertainment Weekly has all the details, including a cover reveal. It’s out on September 24.

FX has ordered a limited series adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Say Nothing. Michael Lennox will direct.

Amy Adams is in talks to star alongside Jenna Ortega in the upcoming adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. Taika Waititi is set to direct the project, which should begin filming soon.

Here are the 100 most popular romances, according to Goodreads. How many of these have you read?

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!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Prepare Your Shelves!

What I’m Reading This Week

Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

Rouge by Mona Awad

The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter

Bookish Memes

Sopranos fans, here are 12 books that would be on Carmela Soprano’s TBR. She was always one of my fave characters.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

How lucky are we to have the toe beans on full display in this photo? There’s really nothing cuter than cat beans. Murray’s are so beautiful and pink too! But we love beans of all colors here.

Anyway, I could talk about beans all day. And I have. And I will again. But for now, I’ll let you run. I hope you have an amazing week, and I’ll see you on Thursday!

Emily

Hi Book Friends!

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for more Book Radar! I have to be honest. This has felt like the longest week of all time, so it feels like I haven’t talked to you in forever, even though it was just a few days ago. Anyway, I have a whole lot of book tea to spill, so let’s get to it!

Book Deals and Reveals

Elle shared the cover of Colored Television by Danzy Senna, designed by Lauren Peters-Collaer. The book is out from Riverhead Books on July 30.

Here are the finalists for the 2024 Audie Awards. Winners will be announced at the Audie Awards Gala at The Avalon in Los Angeles on March 4.

Whoopi Goldberg is releasing a new memoir inspired by the lives of her late mother and brother and her struggle with grief. Goldberg says Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me is “dedicated to anyone who’s found themselves on a scary path not of their choosing or dealing with loss.” It’s out on May 7.

Crime Reads shared the cover of Gabino Iglesias’s House of Bone and Rain, along with an excerpt from the novel. It’s out from Mulholland Books on August 6.

Paul Murray and Fern Brady have won the inaugural Nero book awards. Murray won for his novel The Bee Sting, while Brady took home the nonfiction prize for her memoir Strong Female Character.

Paul Mescal is set to play William Shakespeare in a film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao. Mescal will appear alongside Jessie Buckley, who will play Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway.

HBO is adapting Gillian Flynn’s novel Dark Places as a limited series. Flynn will serve as co-creator, writer, and co-showrunner on the project.

The term “romantasy” really blew up in 2023. Let’s take a look at what other bookish portmanteaus could emerge next.

Pulitzer-winning author N. Scott Momaday has died. He was the first Native American author to win a Pulitzer Prize. He passed away on January 24th at age 89.

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!

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Can’t Wait for This One!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“The work of telling is essential, and it is not enough. There is always the danger that the energy of the injustice will exhaust itself in the revelation—that we will be horrified but remain unchanged. The reason for this, I suspect, is that these are stories we all already know. A girl was assaulted. A boy was molested. The producer, the judge, the bishop, the boss. To hear these stories spoken aloud is jarring, but not because it causes us to reconsider who we are and how we are organized. It is only when power is threatened that power responds.”

— Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Cersei is sleepy. And…same. A nap next to a Sailor Moon manga? This is where I am, spiritually.

And on that note…I’m going to go read a book. Have a wonderful weekend, friends! I’ll see you next time.

Emily

Dear Book Friends,

It’s Monday, and I’m recovering from a weekend of watching Sundance movies. I hope you had a great weekend. I hope you stayed warm. And, of course, I hope you’re ready to talk about books, because here we go.

2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!

Book Deals and Reveals

Cosmopolitan shared the cover of Dustin Thao’s When Haru Was Here. It’s out from Wednesday Books on September 3.

Former *NYSNC singer Lance Bass shared a sneak peek of his upcoming children’s book Trick or Treat on a Scary Street. “Writing a children’s book about my love for Halloween was an absolute blast,” Bass says. The book is out on July 23.

Carnegie Medalist Ruta Sepetys and Newbery Honor-winning author Steve Sheinkin are joining forces for the new middle grade novel The Bletchley Riddle. It’s out from Viking on October 8.

Cale Dietrich has shared the cover for his upcoming novel, The Rules of Royalty. It’s a queer spin on The Princess Diaries about two princes who fall in love. The cover was designed by Olga Grlic with art by Petra Braun.

Here’s the 2024 longlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize. The list recognizes 12 titles, including A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò, Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson, and Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein.

The finalists for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced. Nominees include I Would Meet You Anywhere by Susan Kiyo Ito, Blackouts by Justin Torres, and more.

New year, new books to read in 2024! Which books are you most excited to read in the new year? Here are our top picks!

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!

Prepare Your Shelves!

What I’m Reading This Week

One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In by Kate Kennedy

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele

Rouge by Mona Awad

The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter

Bookish Memes

The awards season book memes keep coming, and I love them. All of them.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

I left my AirPods at home the other day, which was sad because I couldn’t listen to my audiobook on the bus. But when I came home, Murray was taking good care of them for me. Such a sweetie! He looks so proud of himself.

Okay! I’m exhausted after all of this book talk. I’m going to go to bed. Have a wonderful week!

Emily