Author: Sharifah Williams

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman, new in paperback from Vintage Books.

Female Writers Dominated 2017’s Bestsellers

Margaret Atwood, Sarah Perry, Zadie Smith and more women dominated the UK’s list of top 10 bestselling literary authors of 2017, according to an analysis by The Booksellers. Atwood topped the list at almost £2.8m with The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace, followed by Perry at £1.6m with The Essex Serpent. Haruki Murakami was the only male writer on the list. The Bookseller noted that they “made somewhat arbitrary value judgments about what is ‘literary,'” and limited themselves to those who won or were shortlisted for major awards.

Lupita Nyong’o Will Publish Her First Children’s Book

Look out for Lupita Nyong’o’s first children’s book, Sulwe, in January 2019. The story follows five-year-old Sulwe from Kenya as she learns to see the beauty of her dark skin while on an adventure in the night sky. According to a New York Times piece, the 12 Years A Slave and Black Panther star was motivated to write the story because of her own childhood struggles with her complexion and self-image.

Fire and Fury Picked Up For TV Adaptation

Endeavor Content has purchased film and television rights to Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Endeavor Content plans to adapt the controversial book about Donald Trump’s first year as president as a TV series, though a network is not yet attached. Wolff will executive produce the series.

Celebrities Will Lend Voices To PBS’s The Great American Read

Publishing and entertainment celebrities including Junot Díaz, Margaret Atwood, George R.R. Martin, and Gaye King will share personal stories about their favorite books as part of PBS’s eight-part TV competition. The series will launch with a two hour special on May 22 on PBS stations. Viewers will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite books over the 15 weeks the show airs. PBS said the list of 100 titles competing will be chosen from a “demographically representative national survey.”

Garbage Collectors Open Public Library In Turkey

Garbage collectors in Turkey have opened a library stocked with books that would have ended up in landfills. The Ankara public library came into existence after sanitation workers started collecting discarded books. Residents have begun donating books directly to the library, which currently has over 6,000 books, including a children’s section and a section for scientific research.

One Million Moms Threatens To Boycott Scholastic For Publishing LGBTQ Kids Books

One Million Moms asked its supporters to notify Scholastic that they’d boycott the company unless it stops “publishing and promoting pro-homosexual and pro-transgender books for children.” The conservative advocacy group took particular issue with George, a middle grade book about a transgender child written by queer writer Alex Gino. In an NPR interview, Gino said they wrote the book in hopes it would help transgender kids feel less alone.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Trailer Is Out

We got The Handmaid’s Tale season two trailer, and it looks as bleak and terrifying as you might expect. Hulu also announced an April 25 release date–the season will begin with a two-episode premiere. The trailer provides a fairly thorough look at what’s ahead for this adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s classic, so check it out.

Margaret Atwood Receives Backlash For #MeToo Opinions

Speaking of Margaret Atwood, the author experienced social media backlash for her opinions on the #MeToo movement, and for signing an open letter last year calling for due process for a University of British Columbia professor facing allegations of sexual misconduct. Atwood wrote on both subjects in a piece entitled, Am I a Bad Feminist? for The Globe and Mail.

Carrie Brownstein’s Memoir To Be Adapted

Carrie Brownstein’s memoir, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, is going to be adapted for a Hulu series. Hulu ordered a pilot episode of Search and Destroy, which is currently in development. Brownstein, Portlandia co-creator and Sleater-Kinney guitarist, will write, direct, and executive produce the series.

New York Rescinds Restrictions On Books To Prisoners

Daniel A. Gross announced on Twitter that the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has rescinded its program that restricted delivery of books to prisoners. The decision came after the New Yorker writer and other news outlets reported on the pilot program, which caused inmates to lose access to new and used book shipments from unapproved mail catalogues, online retailers, and family members. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the Department of Corrections to rescind, stating, “Concerns from families need to be addressed, while we redouble efforts to fight prison contraband.”

The Vegetarian Translator Responds To Criticism

Deborah Smith, translator of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, responded to criticism in a Los Angeles Review of Books piece. The criticism pointed to allegedly significant differences between the original text and the translated text, and the outcry claimed Smith took too many liberties with her translation. In response, Smith analyzed what it means to translate a text, and how public and cultural response to the book affected the acclaim surrounding both the original and the translation.

Get A Librarian Action Figure!

Flavorwire alerted us to an action figure modeled after real-life librarian Nancy Pearl. The Nancy Pearl Librarian Action Figure is one of Seattle-based novelty company Archie McPhee’s most popular. Because librarians absolutely are superheroes. Pearl is an award-winning librarian, best-selling author, literary critic, and TV personality.

These are the final days to enter to win a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year! Click here to enter.

Book Recovered From Wreck Of Blackbeard’s Ship

How cool is this? Archaeological conservators found 16 tiny fragments of paper in the ruins of Blackbeard’s Ship. The book bits were housed in the chamber of a cannon. After months of work spent conserving the fragments, the researchers have determined that they came from Captain Edward Cooke’s A Voyage to the South Sea, and Round the World, Perform’d in the Years 1708, 1709, 1710 and 1711.

Black Widow Is Getting A Movie And A Woman Is Writing It

Marvel Studios has picked Blacklist Screenwriter Jac Schaeffer to write Black Widow, the first solo film featuring the superhero played by Scarlett Johansson. Schaeffer directed and wrote for the 2009 Tribeca film TiMER. She also wrote the The Shower a female-centric sci-fi action comedy with Anne Hathaway attached to star, and Nasty Women, a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

How Reading Increases Your Emotional Intelligence And Brain Function

Ever wonder just how reading improves your mental state? Open Culture rounded up and summarized some recent scientific studies on the effects reading has on emotional intelligence and brain function. These studies ponder how reading might represent an important intervention into developmental disorders, how the act can result in greater levels of empathy, and how we can “live several lives while reading.”

We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter.

Roxane Gay Calls Out Midwest Writers Workshop For Fatphobia

In a Twitter thread, Roxane Gay called out the Midwest Writers Workshop for weight discrimination against activist and writer Sarah Hollowell. It was when Hollowell was under consideration to be brought on to the organization’s Board of Directors that a board member said, “do we really want someone like her representing us?” and made discriminatory comments about Hollowell’s weight, according to Gay. Both Hollowell and the MWW director responded–Hollowell to express the pain she’s experienced as a result of the Board’s conduct, and Director Jama Kehoe Bigger to acknowledge, and apologize for, the organization’s wrongdoings.

National Book Foundation And NYC Partner On Raising Readers Initiative

The National Book Foundation is launching an adult-focused reading initiative, Raising Readers, implemented in partnership with the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development. Raising Readers aims “to empower adults who work with and raise children to expand their own love of books and reading, in order to better model the habit of reading for pleasure with the young people in their lives.” The initiative was created after the NBF received a Mayor’s Grant for Cultural Impact from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Not Even Lupita Nyong’o Can Get Tickets To Black Panther

Lupita Nyong’o got on Twitter to say she, one of the stars of Black Panther, couldn’t get her hands on advanced tickets to the movie (she wasn’t terribly mad, as you might imagine). They went on sale this week and became Fandango’s best-selling tickets to a Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date. Deadline also reported that the film is already outstripping Captain America: Civil War in that regard.

We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter.

Sponsored by Dreaming Of Manderley by Leah Marie Brown.

Manderley Butler is too busy fetching coffee in her job as an assistant to an internationally famous mystery writer and proofreading manuscripts for real writers to even think about working on her own novel. But when her wealthy, eccentric employer decides to relocate to the South of France for the summer, Mandy decides to do something completely out of character: she abandons responsibility in favor of Cannes. Will Mandy find love with a rich, handsome Frenchman and step into the spotlight of her own life in this modern retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s classic romantic thriller Rebecca?

Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown Will Play Sherlock’s Sister

Oh, and the 13-year-old will also produce the film. Millie Bobby Brown (otherwise known as Eleven) will star in a series of movies based on Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes Mysteries. Brown will play Sherlock Holmes’ teenage sister. Legendary Entertainment is putting the film together, but no writers or directors are attached so far.

A GoFundMe Will Help Harlem’s Children See BLACK PANTHER

A GoFundMe to send children in Harlem to see Marvel’s upcoming film Black Panther exceeded its $10,000 goal in three days. The fund, created by Frederick Joseph, will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem, and will pay for admission and refreshments for the children and their chaperones. The GoFundMe page states, “The release of Marvel’s film the ‘Black Panther’ is a rare opportunity for young students (primarily of color) to see a black major cinematic and comic book character come to life.” Any remaining funds will go toward helping the organization advance its work within the community.

PEN Center USA Will Merge With New York Chapter

PEN Center USA, the Los Angeles branch of the literary and human rights organization PEN International, will merge with the New York PEN this year. This new entity, PEN America, will be overseen by Suzanne Nossel in New York. Of the unification, Michelle Franke, executive director of PEN Center USA, said the two braches, which competed for funders and members, will be able to create a unified community. Nossel added that the decision was born from a sense of urgency to fortify their collective efforts “at a time of unprecedented challenges to free speech here at home.”

We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter, or just click the image below.

Get Your Butterbeer On At Starbucks

Starbucks has a sneaky, secret Harry Potter menu, and Entertainment Weekly tipped us on how to order a Butterbeer latte (“order a latte with whole milk and add pumps of caramel syrup, toffee nut syrup, and cinnamon dolce syrup”), and a Butterbeer frappuccino. Grab some coffee money at Gringotts and a copy of your favorite book in the series, then close your eyes and be transported to The Leaky Cauldron.

Limitations On Prisoner Access To Books

We got a couple stories about limitations on book access for prisoners on the East Coast. The ACLU wrote to New Jersey after Michelle Alexander’s award-winning book, The New Jim Crow, was banned at two jails. Following the article, New Jersey corrections officials said they will make the book on mass incarceration and racial discrimination available to inmates at all state correctional facilities. And, in New York, a new program is cutting people in prison off from all books except five romance novels, 14 religious texts, 24 drawing or coloring books, 21 puzzle books, 11 how-to books, one dictionary, and one thesaurus.

Irish Publishers Now Eligible To Submit Novels For The Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction announced that, as of 2018, “any novel written originally in English and published in Ireland by an imprint formally established in Ireland is now eligible for the prize.” The new rule aims to ensure independent Irish publishers have the same opportunity to be recognized by the prize as Irish publishers who have UK headquarters and are already eligible to submit titles.

Time’s running out! We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter.

Today in Books is sponsored by As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti.

What if you could wish for anything—and get it?

Madison is a small town in the Mojave Desert on the road between nothing and nowhere. It’s an unremarkable speck on the map, which is perfect for protecting the town’s secret. Because in Madison, everyone can make one wish on their eighteenth birthday — and that wish always comes true.

Most of Eldon’s classmates have had their wishes picked out for months, even years. Not Eldon. He’s seen how wishing has hurt the people around him. His parents’ marriage is strained, his sister is a virtual ghost in their house, his ex-girlfriend is dating his ex-friend…where does he even begin?

One thing is for sure: Eldon has only twenty-six days to figure it out―and the rest of his life to live with the consequences.

Hear A Dramatization Of Anansi Boys Free

We mentioned before that the BBC would be streaming a dramatization of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys, and now it’s available. You can hear the 30-minute episodes free, but the six-part radio adaptation is only available for a limited time.

French Publisher’s Plan To Produce Antisemitic Texts Creates Controversy

The French publisher Gallimard plans to publish 1930s pamphlets by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, who called for the extermination of Jews. Gallimard says its intention is to frame the texts “and put them back in their context as writings of a great violence, marked by the antisemitic hatred of the author,” but the decision has created a divide in the literary community between those for and against publication. The prime minister’s delegation in charge of fighting racism, anti-semitism, and anti-LGBT hatred even summoned the publisher, urging it to include notes giving the full context drawn up by specialists, including historians. The editor has allegedly rejected this recommendation.

Lily Cole Responds To Emily Brontë Row

Lily Cole responded to the literary expert who quit the Brontë Society after the model and actress was named “creative partner” for upcoming celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the author’s birth. In response to Nick Holland’s argument that the Wuthering Heights author would never have approved of a model receiving the role, Cole said Brontë would not have judged “any piece of work on name alone.” The Brontë Society has also defended their decision to select Cole.

We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter, or just click the image below.

Pre-Orders For Fire and Fury Skyrocket

Donald Trump’s lawyers have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the publisher Henry Holt and to author Michael Wolff demanding they stop publication of Wolff’s forthcoming tell-all “and issue an apology to @realDonaldTrump for defamatory statements made thus far.” This came after the White House issued a statement in response to a released excerpt from Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House where Steve Bannon called a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians, during the 2016 campaign, “unpatriotic” and “treasonous.” Fire and Fury is currently ranked #1 on Amazon.

Jacqueline Woodson Named National Ambassador For Young People’s Literature

Author and four-time Newbery honoree Jacqueline Woodson has been named the sixth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The current Ambassador, author-illustrator Gene Luen Yang, will pass the torch at an inauguration ceremony on January 9 at the Library of Congress. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will preside over the ceremony. One of Woodson’s goals as Ambassador is to reach young people in traditionally underserved areas of the country.

Lindy West Will Release 2 More Books

Lindy West fans, the Shrill author has announced that she’ll be releasing two books: a book of cultural critique and a book of film criticism (she used to be a film editor at The Stranger), both published by Hachette. The books don’t have titles yet, but they will be released sometime in 2018.

Time’s running out! We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter.

Today in Books is sponsored by HMH Teen, publisher of Meet Cute.

MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors. Readers will experience Nina LaCour’s beautiful piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard’s glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, and Nicola Yoon’s imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups. This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.