Author: Sharifah Williams

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Nnedi Okorafor Will Write Wakanda Forever For Marvel

Binti author Nnedi Okorafor will write Wakanda Forever, a three-part story following Okoye, Ayo, Aneka and the Dora Milaje, with art by Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque and Terry Dodson. The first story, Wakanda Forever: The Amazing Spider-Man, will be out in June. :Muppet Arms:

Marvel Studios Releases New Infinity War Trailer

We got a new Infinity War trailer. Watch it here. The movie that pits the Avengers against the evil Thanos has an April 27 U.S. release date.

The Paris Review‘s Next Editor

The Paris Review is searching for an editor to replace Lorin Stein who resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, and Vulture wrote an investigation piece on the process. Vulture was able to identify eight candidates–all women, mostly white and in their 40s. It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how an iconic literary establishment rethinks its culture in light of #MeToo, and struggles to find its way forward.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror, Mallory Ortberg. Published by Henry Holt.

Anthony Scaramucci Gets A Book Deal

The former White House Communications Director signed a deal with Hachette for his book, The Blue Collar President: How Trump Is Reinventing the Aspirational Working Class. Scaramucci told the New York Post that the book will tell the story of “an entrepreneur writing about an entrepreneur who has now ascended into the presidency.” His earlier attempt at a book, a tell-all tentatively titled I Did It My Way, had no takers.

Ava DuVernay Will Direct DC’s New Gods

The director of A Wrinkle in Time has come on board to direct New Gods at Warner Bros. First released in 1971, the comic follows natives of two planets, one idyllic and one dystopian, whose people call themselves gods, and who live outside of normal time and space. New Gods is part of the studio’s DC Extended Universe.

When Television Influences Books

Simon & Schuster will publish the fictional novel, Marriage Vacation, from the TV Land series Younger, which is set in the world of publishing. The book is inspired by a tell-all novel one of the characters writes about her ex-husband and boss at a publishing company, which Liza, the main character, has the opportunity to edit. Marriage Vacation “tells the story of a woman who leaves her marriage to go on a journey of self-discovery.”

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg.

Emma Watson Picks Heart Berries For Feminist Book Club

Watson instagrammed the announcement of her most recent pick for her feminist book club: Heart Berries, a memoir by by Terese Marie Mailhot. In the memoir, Mailhot writes about her coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest, PTSD, and depression. In her Our Shared Shelf discussion, Watson wrote, “It feels right and vastly overdue to be reading a story from a First Nation woman with her perspective of a colonial world.”

Harper Lee’s Estate Sues Over To Kill A Mockingbird Broadway Production

The Estate claims that Aaron Sorkin’s theatrical adaptation deviates from the original story in a way that violates a contract between To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee and producers. One of the key issues raised is that the play presents Atticus Finch as “a man who begins the drama as a naïve apologist for the racial status quo.” Sorkin said, “I can’t and won’t present a play that feels like it was written in the year the book was written in terms of its racial politics: It wouldn’t be of interest.”

Stephen Hawking Dies, Age 76

Stephen Hawking, world renowned physicist and author of books, including A Brief History of Time and The Theory of Everything, died in his home in Cambridge. Hawking was known for his work with black holes and relativity, and he appeared as himself on television shows including The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Radical Element edited by Jessica Spotswood.

Markus Zusak’s New YA Novel

Bridge of Clay comes out in October, more than a decade after the publication of Zusak’s international bestselling novel, The Book Thief. Zusak told The New York Times that he struggled with the writing of this book 10 years in the making. Bridge of Clay follows one of five brothers whose mother has died, and whose father returns to ask the boys to help him build a bridge on his property in the wilderness.

Princeton Digitizes More Than 70,000 Religious Texts

And you can explore the collection online. Through the Internet Archive and the work of Princeton University’s Theological Commons’ project, you can read historical thought on religions worldwide, perusing texts including Reginald Scot, Esquire’s 1584 The Discoverie of Witchcraft, L. Austine Waddell’s 1805 The Buddhism of Tibet, and J.G. Frazer’s 1894 The Golden Bough.

Netflix Takes The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for U.S.

For those in the U.S. wondering how they’d see the adaptation of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, fear no more. Netflix has taken the film for the U.S. and other territories. Which is interesting because that means no theatrical release in North America (or Latin America, Italy, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia).

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

New Book From Malala Out This Year

We’re getting a new book by Pakistani female rights activist Malala Yousafzai this year. Yousafzai signed We Are Displaced with Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in the US acquired world English language rights. The book, which focuses on “what it means to lose your home, your community, and the only world you’ve ever known,” will be out in hardback, audio, and e-book September 4th.

Man Booker International Prize Longlist

The longlist for the Man Booker International Prize recognizing fiction in translation was released. Former winners Han Kang (The White Book) and László Krasznahorkai (The World Goes On) made it onto the list, alongside Ahmed Saadawi (Frankenstein in Baghdad), Gabriela Ybarra (The Dinner Guest), and more. The shortlist will be announced April 12th.

Publisher Of Diverse Romance Closes Its Doors

Crimson Romance announced on Twitter that the Simon & Schuster division is closing its doors. The Ripped Bodice, a Los Angeles romance bookstore whose owners recently published a report on the state of diversity in the genre, retweeted the announcement, noting that Crimson Romance is the only romance publisher that published at least 25% books by authors of color last year (the next highest was 12.6%). Members of the romance community expressed their disappointment in Simon & Schuster’s decision.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao.

His Dark Materials Will Be Adapted For Television

Dafne Keen, X-23 in Logan, will play Lyra Belacqua, and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has been cast as cowboy and adventurer Lee Scoresby. The adaptation of the three books comprising Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials will be an eight-part series helmed by Tom Hooper, director of The King’s Speech. Pre-production is expected to start this fall. Let’s hope the TV adaptation fares better than The Golden Compass film adaptation, which was…not great.

Indie Bookstore Forced To Remove LGBTQ Book From School Fair

Avid Bookshop pulled out of a book fair at Athens Academy after the school demanded that the shop remove copies of Newbery medalist Richard Peck’s The Best Man from their display. The book about a middle-schooler who becomes the best man at the wedding of two men had previously been approved for display by the school, but an administrator demanded its removal after a parent was overheard saying, “Is this what we’re teaching our children?” Mounting public pressure forced the school to send a letter to parents explaining the situation, and Athens Academy will host a forum on the issue in the spring.

2018 Women’s Prize For Fiction Longlist

The UK Prize celebrating excellence, originality, and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world announced the 2018 longlist on International Women’s Day. The 16 longlisted fiction titles include The Idiot by Elif Batuman, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, and, not missing a beat, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Look for the shortlist on April 23.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Reluctant Fortune-Teller by Keziah Frost, new from Park Row Books.

The Women’s Prize For Fiction Longlist

The UK Prize celebrating excellence, originality, and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world announced the 2018 longlist on International Women’s Day. The 16 longlisted fiction titles include The Idiot by Elif Batuman, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, and, not missing a beat, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Look for the shortlist on April 23.

New York Times Launches Overlooked With Overdue Obituaries For 15 Women

The section will feature new obituaries for those “who left indelible marks but were nonetheless overlooked.” Writers like Ida B. Wells who reported on lynchings in the Deep South, feminist poet Qiu Jin, Sylvia Plath, and Nella Larsen were included in the list of 15 “overlooked” women highlighted in the kickoff piece. White men have historically claimed the majority of the Times’ obituary space, and just over one in five of its subjects were female in the last two years.

Watch The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Teaser

Hulu released the teaser trailer for the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Count on being disturbed. Elisabeth Moss returns as one of the handmaids in the dystopian society of Gilead for the television series adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel. The first season won two Golden Globes. Season 2 premieres April 25 on Hulu.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

Little Fires Everywhere TV Series

Celeste Ng’s bestselling novel Little Fires Everywhere is getting a television series adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. Witherspoon’s company, Hello Sunshine, secured the rights to the book shortly after its publication, and the series is currently undergoing a bidding war among multiple premium cable and streaming networks. Ng will produce the adaptation of her story about the events surrounding the adoption of a Chinese baby, and that divide a wealthy suburb.

Barnes & Noble Will Open 5 Prototype Stores

After a disappointing third quarter in sales, B&N announced the opening of five smaller, book-focused prototype stores. With music and DVD offerings scaled back, the prototypes will be around 12,000 square feet smaller than their typical stores. The chain also plans to tie the physical stores closer to BN.com. Customers will be able to purchase books online, and pick up the title at their local store within an hour.

Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Telling Will Get Big-Screen Adaptation

Le Guin was working on the adaptation with producers before she passed away in January. The Telling is a science fiction novel following Sutty Dass who learns more about herself and the old religion of an alien civilization after leaving war-torn earth. The film will be written and directed by Leena Pendharkar (20 Weeks, Raspberry Magic), and a theatrical release is planned for 2019.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by I Stop Somewhere by TE Carter.

Neil Gaiman Announces New Sandman Comics

DC Comics is launching a Sandman Universe line of four new comic series. Gaiman will oversee the books and plot out The Sandman Universe #1, but it will be written by new creative teams. The writers attached to the project include Nalo Hopkinson, Kat Howard, Si Spurrier, and Dan Watters. The Sandman Universe launches this August with a one-shot special. Click here for more on what’s to come, and an interview with Neil Gaiman.

Sherman Alexie Acknowledges Sexual Misconduct Allegations

An update on the Sherman Alexie story where multiple people made allegations of sexual harassment against the author: Alexie issued a statement. In it, he said, “There are women telling the truth about my behavior and I have no recollection of physically or verbally threatening anybody or their careers.” Of author Litsa Dremousis’ involvement in the reports of his abuse–she wrote that she’d known about the allegations against him for months–Alexie said she was spreading rumors, and that they had had an affair that ended in 2015. Dremousis says she and NPR have been interviewing women, on the record, about Alexie’s abuses.

BBC Developing Discworld Miniseries

BBC Studios is developing a six-part series based on Terry Pratchett’s epic Discworld series. Deadline reported rumors of Simon Allen, who has written series including Strike Back and The Musketeers, writing the series. The working title of the Discworld adaptation is The Watch, and it’s being co-produced with Narrativia, founded by Pratchett, and now run by his daughter Rhianna and his former business manager Rob Wilkins.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Blackstone Publishing, publisher of The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard.

Sherman Alexie Facing Harassment Allegations

Organizations and individuals who have supported Sherman Alexie are rethinking their involvement with the author and his work in light of allegations of harassment made against him in the comments section of the School Library Journal piece where other prominent figures in publishing were called out for abuse. Alexie won ALA’s Carnegie Medal for nonfiction, and was highlighted for his work with the Institute of American Indian Arts in a BuzzFeed article around the time the allegations surfaced.

Black Panther Actors Reunite For Americanah Adaptation

Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira, who played Nakia and Okoye in Black Panther, will reunite for a miniseries adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. Nyong’o will star as protagonist Ifemelu, and Gurira, who is a playwright in addition to being an actor, will write the screenplay. Both women will also serve as executive producers.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide Returns As Radio Series Reboot

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the radio series adaptation of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the BBC is rebooting the series, and reuniting its original cast. The new series will combine unpublished material from Adams’ notebooks and newer plotlines from And Another Thing, Eoin Colfer’s book continuing the saga. The 40th-anniversary series starts on BBC Radio 4 on March 8.

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