Author: Liberty Hardy

It’s the beginning of another week and you know what that means: reading, full steam ahead! I had the privilege of attending an event with Rebecca Makkai last week. Her new novel, The Great Believers, is easily one of the best books of the year. I thought I’d mention it, in case you were looking to read a beautiful heart punch. Me, I can’t read enough of ’em! Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Enter here by July 31st!

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Sponsored by Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley.

It’s late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.

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Here’s this week’s trivia question: What bestselling book contains only 50 unique words?(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

A Gentleman’s Murder by Christopher Huang is going to be a series. (The book is out tomorrow!)

Roxane Gay let it drop on Twitter that she is writing an advice book and also has a new comic project.

G. Willow Wilson has a new book coming in 2019!

The Shirley Jackson story, The Lottery, will be a film. (Pleeeeeease let it be called For Those About to Rock.)

This week in Stephen King adaptations: From a Buick 8.

There’s a book on the way from the March for Our Lives founders.

Edgar Ramirez in talks with Netflix to adapt the graphic novel The Last Days of American Crime.

Netflix is also adapting the graphic novel Daybreak.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michelle Williams, Sam Rockwell team for series about Bob Fosse.

And in more LMM news, he will be in the adaptation of His Dark Materials. And a filmed performance of Hamilton is headed to the big screen.

The series based on Altered Carbon has been renewed for a second season, this time with Anthony Mackie.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella to become a feature film.

Marie Lu weighed in on new Legends adaptation news.

Tiffany D. Jackson announced a new book for 2019.

White Tears by Hari Kunzru is going to be a limited series!

The Ray Bradbury estate inked a deal to make all the things.

Reese Witherspoon snagged the rights to the new Taylor Jenkins Reid book Daisy Jones & The Six.

And Nicole Kidman grabbed the rights to the new Liane Moriarty novel Nine Perfect Strangers.

Several cast members have been announced for the adaptation of Megan Abbott’s Dare Me.

Regina King discussed the Watchmen remake.

Veronica Roth is writing a novel for adults.

Julianna Margulies to star in The Hot Zone series about Ebola outbreak.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at Sally Thorne’s 99 Percent Mine. (William Morrow, January 29, 2019)

And Valerie Jarrett shared the cover of her forthcoming memoir Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. (Viking, April 2, 2019)

And here’s the first peek at I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying: Essays by Bassey Ikpi. (HarperCollins, February 19, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Jenny Han shared the first full trailer for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Angie Thomas shared the official poster for The Hate U Give.

Here’s the trailer for Far From the Tree, a documentary based on the book by Andrew Solomon.

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 learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!

Loved, loved, loved:

Little by Edward Carey (Riverhead Books, October 23)

I have been a big fan of Carey’s for some time now. And with good reason! This is a tremendously ambitious tale about an orphan in Revolutionary Paris, who grows up to become Madame Tussaud (of wax museum fame.) It is an unusual, endearing delight!

Excited to read:

Dig by A.S. King (Dutton Books for Young Readers, March 26, 2019)

I am so excited about this because I am a HUGE fan of King! (If you’ve ever seen my book bathtub photo, that’s one of her books that I’m reading.) She is so smart and compassionate, and I wish she were in charge of everything.

 

What I’m reading this week.

A Study in Honor by Claire O’Dell

America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo

Spin by Lamar Giles

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

If Only by Jennifer Gilmore

And this is funny.

This kid gets it.

Trivia answer: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

Happy Monday, readers! San Diego Comic Con was this past week, which means there’s always some great book-adjacent news, which I have included below. I hope your summer is going swimmingly and you have tons of fabulous stuff to read. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Alfred A. Knopf, publisher of Cherry by Nico Walker.

Hammered out on a typewriter, Cherry is a breakneck-paced debut novel about love, war, bank robberies, and heroin.

Cleveland, 2003. A young man falls hard in love and gets married—just before flunking out of school and joining the Army. But he’s unprepared for the grisly reality that awaits him as an Army medic. When he returns from Iraq, his PTSD is profound, and the drugs on the street have changed. Hooked on heroin, desperate for a normal life, and running low on cash, he turns to the one thing he thinks he could be really good at—robbing banks.

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PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Enter here by July 31st!

Here’s this week’s trivia question: In 1950, the first drive-through windows were established for book returns in what city? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

MOAR MURDERBOT! Martha Wells is writing a novel.

N.K. Jemisin has a short story collection coming in the fall!

Amber Tamblyn joins the cast of Y: The Last Man.

Lin-Manuel Miranda announced Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You, a joint project with Jonny Sun.

In news surprising to no one, Andy Weir’s Artemis will be a film.

There’s going to be a podcast based on Sadie by Courtney Summers.

They Called Us Enemy, a graphic novel memoir of George Takei’s childhood in American internment camps, is coming this summer.

Nnedi Okorafor is writing a comic about Black Panther’s Sister Shuri.

Typecasting: Frances McDormand will play God in Good Omens.

Seanan McGuire is writing Spider Gwen.

Shonda Rimes is doing a series for Netflix based on books by Julia Quinn. (And seven other series!)

Becky Chambers is writing a pair of novellas.

Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles in the works at Hulu.

Netflix is planning a bunch of stuff with Mark Millar.

Batwoman series in development at CW.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at A Deadly Divide, the fifth book in the Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak series by Ausma Zehanat Khan. (Minotaur Books, February 12, 2019)

And the cover for Justina Ireland’s Lando book was revealed at the SDCC. (Disney Lucasfilm Press, October 2)

Here’s the cover of Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken. (I AM SO EXCITED.) (Ecco, February 5, 2019)

Megan Whalen Turner revealed the cover for Return of the Thief, the final installment in the Queen’s Thief series. (Greenwillow Books, March 19, 2019)

Dutton revealed Phoebe Robinson’s new memoir, Everything’s Trash But It’s Okay.

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the first trailer for Boy, Erased, based on the memoir by Garrard Conley.

The trailer for Titans was released at the SDCC.

And so was the trailer for Aquaman.

And also the first peek at Wonder Woman 1984.

Annnnnd also the new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald.

Here’s a peek behind the scenes as they make Good Omens.

And the first full trailer for George R. R. Martin’s Nightflyers.

And here’s a (partial) first look at the cast of Umbrella Academy, coming to Netflix in 2019.

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 learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!

Loved, loved, loved:

Wild Milk by Sabrina Orah Mark (Dorothy a Publishing Project, October 1)

I read this over the weekend during the 24-in-48 readathon, and loved it. It’s a tiny book of unusual short stories. (I loved a weird book – go figure!) It’s perfect for fans of George Saunders. And I love everything Dorothy a Publishing Project releases.

Excited to read:

The True Queen (A Sorcerer to the Crown Novel) by Zen Cho (Ace, March 12, 2019)

There isn’t a cover image yet for this one, but I was THRILLED to hear that the second book has been announced! (And curious that it’s paperback when the first one was in hardcover first.) To celebrate, go read Sorcerer to the Crown right now, even if you’ve already read it.

What I’m reading this week.

Mirage: A Novel by Somaiya Daud

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

We Can’t Breathe: On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival by Jabari Asim

Dream Country by Shannon Gibney

JELL-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom

And this is funny.

I laugh every. single. time. (NSFW for curse word in the accompanying comment.)

Trivia answer: Cincinnati, Ohio.

Another Monday is upon us readers! I have been spending my summer eating tacos, reading books, and watching Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls over and over. This may be my best summer yet. I hope you are all enjoying the season as well and have tons of fabulous stuff to read. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by: Wicked Cow

Everyone thinks Lulu is a bulldog, but she knows that can’t be true, because Lulu is a Rhinoceros—that is what she sees staring back at her when she looks in the mirror. But sometimes, being yourself can be a difficult road to walk. And just when all hope seems lost, Lulu finds a small friend that makes a big difference in her life when she realizes that the courage to be herself has been inside of her all along.

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PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Enter here by July 31st!

Here’s this week’s trivia question: In 1948, James Baldwin left the United States and moved to what country? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Diane Lane to star in FX drama pilot based on Y: The Last Man.

Pose star Indya Moore is set to star in a modern retelling of Frankenstein called Magic Hour.

The fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series by “Robert Galbraith” has been announced.

PBS Masterpiece will adapt Jane Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon.

Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge will be a film.

Actor Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock) is writing his first book and it’s about a gay Indian-American teen growing up in Indiana!

After a long ten years, we’re getting new Umbrella Academy! (ASFKLAFJKKL!)

Karin Slaughter’s forthcoming novel, Pieces of Her, will be a television show.

And Liane Moriarty’s Three Wishes is also getting the television treatment.

Anya Taylor-Joy will star in the film adaptation of Francesca Lia Block’s Weetzie Bat.

Netflix to adapt The Letter For The King, the classic Dutch novel.

I have nothing to link to but I wanted to share: I just learned that Alexis Coe is writing a biography about George Washington and it’s called You Never Forget Your First. LOLOLOLOLOL!

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at Storm of Locusts, the follow-up to Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse! (Saga Press, April 23, 2019)

Here’s the cover of Jeff Zentner’s third book, Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee. (Crown Books for Young Readers, February 26, 2019)

Sophie Hannah revealed the US and UK covers of her upcoming nonfiction book, How to Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment―The Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life. (Scribner, January 1, 2019)

Here’s the first look at Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy. (jimmy patterson, March 5, 2019)

And the first peek at Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith. (HMH Books for Teens, March 5, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Check out the trailer for The Bookshop, the film adaptation of the novel by Penelope Fitzgerald.

Here’s the trailer for Season 6 of Orange is the New Black. (How is it 6 already??!)

And here’s the trailer for Colette, with Keira Knightley in the title role.

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 learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!

Loved, loved, loved:

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, August 21, 2018)

I can’t believe I didn’t start reading Slaughter until just last year. She is EXCELLENT at what she does and I am such a big fan now. This one is excellent, about a daughter who learns a secret about her mother’s previous identity. The rights have already been swooped up, so yay adaptation! Also does anyone else see Fairuza Balk when they look at the cover? No? Just me then?

Excited to read:

Untitled by Trevor Noah (Spiegel & Grau, May 7, 2019)

The announcement of a new memoir from Noah, the host of The Daily Show, is so new it doesn’t even have a title or a cover yet! I hope it picks up where Born a Crime left off, because I’d love to hear him tell the story of how he became famous.

What I’m reading this week.

Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

A Room Away From the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma

Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

The Exene Chronicles by Camille A. Collins

Non-book-related recommendation.

I wish I could take you all for tacos at Barrio in Portsmouth, because they are all I want to eat for every meal now. They have been open for two weeks and I have already had been six times. Cleveland, you have five Barrio locations in your city. The rest of you, I’m sorry. But they are so good, I had to mention it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And this is funny.

Punnnnnnnnnnnnny.

Trivia answer: France.

Happy Monday, readers! It is so hot in Maine, my brains are melting out my ears. I do not know many people who aren’t experiencing sweltering heat these days. I hope it breaks soon! It was a slow news week last week, because of the holiday and vacations, but I still have a few great bookish tidbits to share with you. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by: Wicked Cow

Everyone thinks Lulu is a bulldog, but she knows that can’t be true, because Lulu is a Rhinoceros—that is what she sees staring back at her when she looks in the mirror. But sometimes, being yourself can be a difficult road to walk. And just when all hope seems lost, Lulu finds a small friend that makes a big difference in her life when she realizes that the courage to be herself has been inside of her all along.

---

PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Enter here by July 31st!

Here’s this week’s trivia question: What was Toni Morrison’s name at birth? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

YouTube star Jahkara Smith will appear in the television adaptation of NOS4A2. (P.S. She is amazing, go watch all her videos right now!)

Fancy Nancy is going to be a television series.

The graphic novel Infidel is going to be a horror film. (I can’t remember if I already included this news in an older newsletter, but I just read the book this weekend, so I thought I’d share it.)

The Night Manager is getting a second season.

Oprah Winfrey casually dropped the news that she’s producing a film version of An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.

Cover Reveals

Here it is, the cover for The Kingdom of Copper, S.A. Chakraborty’s follow-up to The City of Brass! (Harper Voyager, January 22, 2019)

And here’s the first look at Samira Ahmed’s upcoming book, Internment! (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, March 19, 2019)

And Happily Ever After has TWO, yes, TWO cover reveals: One for Patricia Briggs and one for Anne Bishop.

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the first look at a trailer for The Miseducation of Cameron Post! (I love this book so much!)

And here’s the first trailer for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, coming to Netflix.

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 learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!

Loved, loved, loved:

The Witch Elm by Tana French (Viking, October 9, 2018)

While on the one hand I want Dublin Murder Squad mysteries every year until the end of time, I really enjoyed this break from the series. It’s about a young man named Toby who stays at his ancestral home while recovering from an assault. While he’s there taking care of his dying uncle, a skull is found in the garden, leading him to believe his past is not what it seems. I love an unearthed skeleton mystery – who could it be?!? – and to get one from Tana French is even better!

Excited to read:

Spin by Lamar Giles (Scholastic Press, January 29, 2019)

A young DJ is found dead at her turntables and it is up to two sworn enemies to work together to find her killer. WHAT FUN. I really enjoyed Endangered by Giles, and I am constantly looking for more YA mysteries, so I am excited for this!

What I’m reading this week.

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch) by Rin Chupeco

The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland

Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen (Translators)

And this is funny.

Kelly Link, again, always.

Trivia answer: Chloe Ardelia Wofford.

Hello, my book friends. The world hasn’t been exactly heckin’ swell lately, but I hope you are all taking care of yourselves and finding wonderful things to read. Small pleasures are everything these days. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers

From a New York Times bestselling author, Betsy Cornwell, a fresh, female-centered take on “Robin Hood” in which a young noblewoman, like the legendary hero, becomes an outlaw fighting for social justice. Perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Sarah J. Maas, this smart, gorgeously written take on the Robin Hood lore goes beyond the original’s focus to explore love, gender roles, the healing power of nature, and what it means to be family.

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Here’s this week’s trivia question: How long did Robinson Crusoe spend on the desert island as a castaway? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

So many Megan Abbott projects happening.

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is coming to Netflix as a series.

Rebel Wilson to star in and produce an adaptation of the comic book Crowded.

A new biography on Anthony Bourdain is coming next year.

Stranger Things is getting the comics treatment.

Rioter Eric Smith announced his next book!

Amazon orders pilots of three YA novels.

And Greta Gerwig will be doing her own adaptation of Little Women.

Cover Reveals

Mackenzi Lee shared the back cover of The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. (Katherine Tegen Books, October 2)

Tahereh Mafi shared the first look at the cover of A Very Large Expanse of Sea. (Harper Teen, October 16)

Flatiron Books debuted the cover of Enchantée by Gita Trelease. (Flatiron Books, February 5)

Vivien Chien revealed the first look at the third Noodle Shop Mystery, Murder Lo Mein. (St. Martin’s Paperbacks, March 26, 2019)

Entertainment Weekly has the first look at Hafsah Faizal’s debut We Hunt the Flame. (Macmillan, May 14, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Here it is, the first trailer for A Discovery of Witches!

Entertainment Weekly has the first look at Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new take on Captain America.

And Patty Jenkins shared the first image of Kristen Wiig in Wonder Woman 1984.

Another new trailer for George R. R. Martin’s Nightflyers.

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 learn about a lot of upcoming titles, and I’m delighted to share a couple with you each week!

Loved, loved, loved:

Sharky Malarkey: A Sketchshark Collection by Megan Nicole Dong (Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 18)

I have been reading twice as many graphic novels and comic collections the last two years (because self-care) and I was delighted by this book. Her illustration style is like if Adam Ellis and Sarah Andersen had a baby. And it is worth the price of admission just for comics about her cat. They made me laugh and laugh.

Excited to read:

The Bus on Thursday by Shirley Barrett (MCD x FSG Originals, September 18)

I am a big fan of Barrett’s last novel, Rush Oh! and I am soooo intrigued by the description of this one: “Bridget Jones meets The Exorcist.” I mean. (How many calories are there in pea soup anyway?) It’s sounds weird and scary and amazing. Cannot. Wait.

What I’m reading this week.

The Bear and the Paving Stone (Japanese Novellas) by Toshiyuki Horie and Geraint Howells

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

Comemadre by Roque Larraquy (Author),‎ Heather Cleary (Translator)

Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic

It All Falls Down: A Novel by Sheena Kamal

Non-book-related recommendation.

As some of you know, I had quite a Red Bull habit. I gave it up but I did find these delicious alternatives: V8 Energy.

And this is funny.

I have kept myself happy and calm this week by watching this video repeatedly.

Trivia answer: 28 years, 2 months and 19 days.