Hello Book Friends!
Happy Thursday! Wild that January is almost over, right? I hope your reading has been going well so far this year. And I hope you’re ready to add more books to your TBR list, because that’s what Book Radar is for. Let’s do this.
Book Deals and Reveals
Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy have teamed up to write the middle grade novel Let It Glow, a story about identical twin sisters who were separated at birth and meet at tryouts for a holiday pageant. Check out the cover, designed by Rich Deas at Macmillan Children’s Book Group. It’s out on October 29.
Louise Penny has announced The Grey Wolf, the 19th Chief Inspector Gamache novel. This book will also be released on October 29.
Check out the trailer for the new Netflix series Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novels. Andrew Scott stars as Tom Ripley. The series comes out in April.
Here’s the cover of K.A. Cobell’s Native YA thriller, Looking for Smoke. The cover features photography by Leah Rose and a design by Molly Fehr and Joel Tippie. It’s out on June 4.
Here’s another YA thriller you won’t want to miss: It’s Only a Game by Kelsey Yu. It’s out from Bloomsbury Kids on July 9.
Libro.fm is currently raising money to support independent bookshops going through difficult times. Until the end of today (1/25), all book sales for Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, and Laws of Annihilation by Eriq La Salle will go directly to Binc, an organization that supports booksellers facing emergency financial, medical, and mental health service needs.
The Hugo Awards, one of the biggest sci-fi/fantasy literary awards, is going through yet another controversy. Here’s what we know so far.
Here are all the book adaptations that were nominated for Academy Awards this year, including Oppenheimer, adapted from American Prometheus.
Here are the winners of this year’s biggest awards for youth literature.
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!
While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi (Putnam Books, April 16)
Here’s a debut thriller I can’t wait to get my hands on. I mean, if you compare anything to Parasite and Such a Fun Age, it’s going to be an immediate yes from me.
Elizabeth Smith lives a seemingly perfect life in the suburbs of Memphis. But she’s haunted by the mysterious death of her best friend. Finding out what really happened has become an obsession to the point where Elizabeth has to hire a personal assistant just to help her keep her life in order. That’s how Brianna comes into her life. Brianna seems like exactly what Elizabeth is looking for. The answers to her prayers. The ideal person to pull Elizabeth out of her obsession.
But Brianna has unanswered questions of her own. The police murdered her son, and Brianna wants to know why. Someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood called the cops on her son, and Brianna wants to know who. The only way Brianna will ever find out who ripped her son away from her is by staying close to Elizabeth and finding out everything she can.
Neither woman is who they say they are. Both are hiding secrets. This novel, which explores racism, classism, obsession, and the dark side of female friendships, promises to be full of surprises.
Words of Literary Wisdom
“It is strange to me when killers want credit for their murders, as if it is an accomplishment. Killing someone is not much of a feat. It is simple, logistically, to kill someone. People die pretty easily…A person who murders someone is really just proving that they can do what everyone else assumes they can without needing proof. Even when I factor out all the moral and practical reasons why killing someone sucks, I believe it is more of an accomplishment to never kill someone.”
— Interesting Facts about Space by Emily Austin
What I’m Watching This Weekend
Friends, it’s Sundance Film Festival season, and I love that these film festivals are now semi-accessible online. I have blocked off the weekend (Thursday through Saturday) to get through quite a few Sundance movies.
Here’s what I’m planning on checking out this weekend: Handling the Undead (based on the horror novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist); Thelma (a revenge movie starring 93-year-old action hero June Squibb); Little Death (David Schwimmer stars as a filmmaker in the middle of a mid-life crisis); A Real Pain (a family drama/comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin); and Love Me (sci-fi film starring Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun? Sign me up!)
I’ll report back, friends. Let me know if you’re checking out Sundance this year.
And Here’s A Cat Picture!
You’ve seen Murray in this bed before, but now Remy has made his way in as well! Remy is so obsessed with Murray, and Murray…well, he puts up with Remy, which is still cute.
Anyway! That’s all, friends. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Maybe check out some Sundance movies? Maybe read some books? See you next time!
