Author: Sharifah Williams

Get Cozy, Get Ready For Fall Reading

Some of us have been waiting to resurrect the Snuggie, put on a pot of hot chocolate, and make a nest of our fall reading piles. And, as it happens, you can set your autumnal clock by the book lists that arrive en masse before the first russet leaf falls from the tree. BuzzFeed has a particularly excellent list of upcoming books out this fall. So if your nesting plans are light on books, help yourself to Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, Salman Rushdie’s The Golden House, Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with Me, and so many more must-have fall reads.

St. Vincent To Adapt The Picture of Dorian Gray

St. Vincent (Annie Clark) will direct a female-led adaption of Oscar Wilde’s creepy novel about a hedonistic man, The Picture of Dorian Gray. A novel I halfway skimmed to get to the part where Gray gets his comeuppance because he made me so angry. Here’s the twist: in Clark’s adaptation, the title character will be a woman. St. Vincent is best known as a Grammy award-winning experimental rock multi-instrumentalist, but she does have experience as a filmmaker. It will be very interesting to see where she takes the story.

Instagram Is The New Bookish Buzzmaker

It’s really no surprise that putting a product in the hands of a big name leads to sales, and some books owe a great deal of their success to celebrity buzz. I mean, Oprah. And now, according to this New York Times piece, book publicists are all about foisting their product on celebs, specifically hoping it’ll pop up on their Instagram accounts. Bookish celeb Emma Watson is one of the examples they use–she has a following of 38 million. That’s a lot of potential book buyers.

The Debate About YA Twitter Continues

“If the word ‘toxic’ was colloquially used in the 1960s, white people would’ve labelled the Civil Rights movement as such,” said Dhonielle Clayton, author of the upcoming The Belles. Clayton, alongside many YA authors, responded to Kat Rosenfield’s Vulture article about the “toxic nature” of the young adult community. The response, published on Bustle, was written by YA authors, Sona Charaipotra (Tiny Pretty Things) and Zoraida Córdova (Labyrinth Lost). There’s a lot to unpack here, specifically about the dangerous impact of critical conversations on race and representation being dismissed as “toxic drama,” and how Children’s literature is an overwhelmingly white industry that’s often unfair to marginalized authors. It’s worth a read, and the Vulture article is linked for context.

Thank you to In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

Elliot is smart, just a tiny bit obnoxious (he is thirteen years old), and perhaps not the best person to cross into the Borderlands where there are elves, harpies, and — best of all as far as he’s concerned — mermaids. In Other Lands is an exhilarating a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world — even if it means giving up your phone.

Which Harry Potter Character Myers-Briggs Type Are You?

Well I did not expect to get Hagrid, but you are who you are. Now where did I put that baby dragon? Geekology designed a fun and fantastic Harry Potter MBTI chart. If you don’t know your Myers-Briggs type, there’s also a link to the test on the page. Are you sweet-natured, gullible INFP Luna Lovegood? Pessimistic, self-confident INTJ Draco Malfoy? Only one way to find out.

I Hate Chemistry, But I Love This Periodic Table Of Literary Villains

It’s a chart frenzy, my friends! I would need the after-school tutorial to properly understand these elements if this periodic table of literary villains wasn’t pure entertainment. The funnest part (for us, not for them)? They’re ranked here according to a version of Dante’s circles of hell. Clever, clever book nerds. See where classic villains, including Grendel and his mother, Count Dracula, and Lady Macbeth, fit in.

N.K. Jemisin Is On Fire

The news this week was that N.K. Jemisin won her second Hugo in a row for Best Novel, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by an author since Lois McMaster Bujold won in 1991 and 1992. Jemisin, who won the award for The Obelisk Gate this year, also became the first black person to win the Hugo award for Best Novel with the first book in The Broken Earth trilogy, The Fifth Season. Jemisin’s win, and the strong showing from women this year, came as a huge relief after the nightmare of the puppies… (Psst! This wasn’t in the Hugo news, but we also learned that The Fifth Season is going to be adapted for television!)

White Supremacists Harass Bookstore

Where on the villains chart shall we place the “alt-right” trolls who entered radical bookstore Bluestockings to plant copies of Milo Yiannopoulos’ book on their shelves, and proceeded to act aggressively toward staffers when they were asked to leave? The individuals made taunting statements, and baited the volunteer staffer to call the police. Meanwhile, Bluestockings responded admirably and posted a statement detailing the awful situation. Let’s put the trolls next to Satan on the chart–“Not today!”

Thank you to If The Creek Don’t Rise by Leah Weiss for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

Sadie Blue has been a wife for fifteen days. That’s long enough to know she should have never hitched herself to Roy Tupkin, even with the baby.

Sadie is desperate to make her own mark on the world, but in remote Appalachia, a ticket out of town is hard to come by, and hope often gets stomped out. When a stranger sweeps into Baines Creek and knocks things off kilter, Sadie finds herself with an unexpected lifeline…if she can just figure out how to use it.

When You Sue LeVar Burton for Using the Reading Rainbow Catchphrase; When You Have No Soul

Whoever is leading WNED-TV Buffalo, New York’s campaign to sue LeVar Burton for using the catchphrase, “But you don’t have to take my word for it,” must not have been raised on Reading Rainbow. Because how could you? Burton has used the phrase on his new podcast for grown Rainbow readers, LeVar Burton Reads. Let’s get real, WNED, Burton is Reading Rainbow.

Oh, Palahniuk, You Strange, Interesting Human

I want to spend a day inside Chuck Palahniuk’s head. Wait, no I don’t. Wait, yes I do. Hmm. Palahniuk is certainly an Eccentric, so are we even surprised that he hid a time capsule in his former home? Well, the current owners found Chuck’s Horcrux, and in it…a signed copy of Fight Club, some family photographs, and more randomness. I have a sneaking suspicion Palahniuk was disappointed when he heard the news. Disappointed that a strange, unconventional future society of curiously haunted Portlandians didn’t stumble upon it. Plant another and give it maybe 10 years.

Pearl-Clutchers Strike Again

After Brandon James/Princess Onya Mann applied to host a drag queen story hour at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, a conservative citizen group called Keep NC Safe lashed out on Facebook. “Males dressing in women’s fashion or in a feminine manner is shameful and that sort of shameful behavior should not be sanctioned by public libraries,” said one commenter (as someone passed around the smelling salts, I imagine). I hope Keep NC Safe never applies to host story hour because won’t somebody think of the children?

The “Let’s Pretend It Doesn’t Exist” School of Survivalism

“I find it very telling how little these worlds that are so much about power and oppression and ways of resistance also magically somehow have solved race,” said Daniel José Older in a Vulture article titled, “Why Don’t Dystopias Know How to Talk About Race?” The article examines the inexplicable absence of conversations about race in dystopian storytelling, where the genre seems to rely on the concept that things get so dire and survival becomes so important that other issues (like, you know, the small matter of racism) are superseded. Yeah, suspension of disbelief is not go.

Thanks to Other Press for sponsoring this week’s newsletter. Read The Die is Cast, the first book of the Leona trilogy, by the “queen of Nordic noir” Jenny Rogneby.

This best-selling Scandinavian thriller follows its troubled heroine as she investigates a high-profile robbery for Stockholm’s Violent Crimes Division. A hardboiled crime novel, filled with unexpected twists and turns, featuring an unusual heroine. Leona makes for gripping reading while challenging feminine norms and questioning what is behind the choices we make. Millennium Series author David Lagercrantz calls Jenny Rogneby “the new queen of Nordic noir.”

Netflix’s Anne Of Green Gables Adaptation Is Go For Season 2

Good news for fans of the newest Anne of Green Gables adaptation, Netflix has ordered a second season of Anne With an E, which means more stark aesthetic, troubling flashbacks, and moon-eyed Gilbert Blythe. I think some of us will watch an Anne adaptation no matter how far it strays from the original material. Some of us meaning me. Cool sidenote: Season 2 features an all-women writing team.

How Much Do You Needed A Harry Potter/Breakfast Club Mashup?

You’ll know after watching Mashable’s farcical trailer for Harry Potter in the style of The Breakfast Club. The HP gang is up to some John Hughes level high jinks with all the tropey characters represented, including Snape as Mr. Vernon. The ending will be bittersweet and feature a New Wave song that will give you grief every time it takes its turn on your Remembering Yesterday playlist.

Philip Pullman, Independent Bookstore Champion

Philip Pullman wants to reintroduce fixed book prices to protect independent bookstores. I didn’t know anything about Britain’s Net Book Agreement until this article. Said Agreement required that all books be sold at the same price, aside from occasional discounting in special circumstances. Some, including indie booksellers, bemoan its 1997 dissolution. And when indie shops complained about the heavy discounting on La Belle Sauvage, the first in Pullman’s Book of Dust series, the author himself stepped in to say he wants to reintroduce the minimum price and called indie shops “the lantern bearers of civilisation.”

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Organized

The Millions has kindly offered us ten ways to organize our bookshelves. My current organizational system involves finding the closest open shelf space for any given book in my hand. But, for the more organized (or prospective candidates), you may elect to shelve by color, by importance, or with spines facing the wall for secrecy (what?!).

Thanks to See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.

Or did she?

In this riveting debut novel, See What I Have Done—which is already gaining outstanding acclaim—Sarah Schmidt recasts one of the most fascinating murder cases of all time into an intimate story of a volatile household and a family devoid of love.

Time May Change Me, But I’ll Read More Books

Penguin Random House compiled a list of 40 books to read before you turn 40, and all I’ve been hearing lately is the susurration of falling sand. The books include nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, and their inclusion means that the book is a worthy champion when you’re looking for help navigating career, family, or loss. They also kindly threw in a few essential classics that I will likely request be entombed with my cold, quiet body in case I have an opportunity to shred my TBR. The list includes A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Can we pepper this list with some books about refusing to grow up?

Riffle Through da Vinci’s Stuff From The Comfort Of Your Couch

Study the mind of a master courtesy of the digitized notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Thanks to the British Library and Microsoft, you even get an interactive feature that allows you to turn the pages of the notebooks with animations. And with glosses available onscreen, readers are privvy to explanations of the dainty notes scratched around the technical drawings, diagrams, and schematics. Once upon a time (not very long ago), few people had access to the Codex Arundel. Who knows? It might inspire someone to invent the next great bookish device.

Help Save Jane Austen’s Great House

Chawton House, which houses Jane Austen manuscripts and a library of early women writers, has begun fundraising to become a major historic literary landmark. In the 90s, the Great House was restored and reopened as a home for early women’s literature, but the foundation that had provided much of the financial support to keep it open is focusing on other projects. The folks behind the fundraising effort sound optimistic and excited about turning the house into a literary destination, which is heartening. If they’re looking for a volunteer to house-sit and host massive, themed tea parties: right here.

How To Make White People Uncomfortable By Seattle Seahawks Star

Seattle Seahawks football player Michael Bennet is going to publish a memoir titled How to Make White People Uncomfortable next year. Bennett is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, and social justice issues. Co-writer Dave Zirin said the book will cover “the NFL, racism, sexism, intersectionality and athletes being no longer silenced.” This is not going to be one of those quietly published numbers.

Thanks to Penguin Books, publisher of The Dying Game by Asa Avdic, for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

The year is 2037. The Soviet Union never fell, and much of Europe has been consolidated under the totalitarian Union of Friendship. On the tiny island of Isola, seven people have been selected to compete in a forty-eight-hour test for a top-secret intelligence position. THE DYING GAME is a masterly locked-room mystery set in a near-future Orwellian state—for fans of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Dave Eggers’ The Circle, and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

The Buzziest Books of 2017 So Far

What do you think of Bookbub’s 2017 Most Anticipated Books (So Far)? Predictable? WTF? You’ve got The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan–no big surprises there. It’s also not surprising to see Nora Roberts, Michael Crichton, and John Grisham on the list, but it is interesting to discover buzzy titles that managed to slip under one’s supposedly all-seeing, all-knowing bookish radar. I don’t get mad at it, I simply add to the endless TBR.

Right Wing Trolls Attack Kid Lit Publisher’s Facebook Page

Remember that story about the feminist bookstore that was attacked with one-star ratings and rants from a horde of angsty, thumb-twiddling misogynists? Well, the trolls strike (and fail) again. And, seemingly mirroring the Avid Reader/Clementine Ford story, when conservative homophobes attacked Triangle Square Books for Young Reader’s Facebook page during Pride Week, fans of the publisher responded with “a resounding chorus of support with almost 300 new 5-star ratings and reviews.” Good on you, Triangle Square Books and readers! Sweep them out the door.

Most Iconic Books Set in Each Country in the World

So GE Editing assembled a list of the most iconic book set in each country of the world. I can’t find any mention of how they came up with this list, but the infographic is worth a look if you’re curious. I have thoughts about the fact that Singapore’s “most iconic book” is about a British family in Singapore…

7 Tips for How to Read Faster

Mental Floss came up with some tips for reading faster and maintaining reading comprehension. The most useful tip I found here is to create a mind map summary after you’ve finished the book, especially if you’re a visual learner. My reading habits are scattered and generally go unrecorded, but I might be able to convince myself to put mind mapping into practice. The forever-problem with this sort of activity is that I could be reading instead!

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing–publisher of the Hell Divers Trilogy by Nicholas Sansbury Smith–for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

USA Today bestselling science fiction author Nicholas Sansbury Smith delivers another heart-pounding post-apocalyptic adventure in Hell Divers II: Ghosts, the second book in the award-winning Hell Divers trilogy (out July 18th). Bombs dropped during World War III poisoned our the earth. What remains of humankind exists on a massive flying warship. Hell Divers, specially trained men and women, risk their lives to make the dive down to monster-infested, radioactive earth to retrieve fuel cells to keep the ship afloat. They Dive So Humanity Survives!

A Guide to Global Reading Habits

How does your country stack up when it comes to literacy? Global English Editing created an infographic ranking 2016 literacy worldwide. Winner winner chicken dinner goes to Finland. The U.S. came in in 7th place, and Canada was 11th. You can take a look to see where other countries fell (ranked from one to 20), reading habits snapshots, which countries read the most; also check out the top 21 best selling books worldwide. Don Quixote, really? Maybe I’ll give that one another try…someday.

Thought You Knew Everything About the Harry Potter Books and Films?

I can’t help but think someone out there will take a look at this list of 10 things you never knew about the Harry Potter books and films, and say, “Yeah I knew that.” I mean, we are talking about Potterheads, are we not? A couple fun facts: Daniel Radcliffe’s extreme reaction to contact lenses was behind the book-to-film eye color discrepancy, and Rowling regrets coupling Ron and Hermione (please don’t write an alternate ending, Rowling. Please.). But hey did you know Michael Jackson had an idea for the series that Rowling gave the thumbs down?

Rupi Kaur’s Poetic Reveal

Rupi Kaur revealed the cover of her second book of poetry, The Sun and Her Flowers, on Twitter. There, Kaur posted a series of photos in which she’s shirtless (topless sounds gross, doesn’t it?), sporting the cover illustration on her back. Don’t worry, there’s nothing lewd or creepy about these photos. I found the exhibition clever and effective. Poets, man. They know how to spin spare.

But Did You Actually Read Chaesikjuuija?

So…according to numerous reports, the translated version of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, is chockablock full of translation errors. Okay, maybe chockablock is an over-exaggeration. Or, I don’t know, maybe not: “According to a research paper presented last year at a conference at Ewha Womans University, 10.9 percent of the first part of the novel was mistranslated. Another 5.7 percent of the original text was omitted.” Just for the first part of the novel, mind you. Examples in the article cite the numerous embellishments made by translator Deborah Smith, who started learning Korean only six years prior to translating the book. It’s an interesting piece that examines how the freewheeling translation may have contributed to the books success in Western countries.

Thanks to The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy, a HMH Book for Young Readers, for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

Every seven years something disappears in the town of Sterling: reflections…dreams…colors. When Aila arrives, she learns the town is cursed to lose experiences that weave life together…and the theory is that Aila’s deceased mother, Juliet, is to blame.

Aila sets out to clear her mother’s name with the help of George, whose goofy charm makes him a fast friend; Beas, the enigmatic violinist who writes poetry on her knees; and William, whose pull on Aila’s heart terrifies her.

The Disappearances is a bewitching tale full of intrigue and dread that will leave you entranced.

What’s Your Reading Personality?

I can tch and roll my eyes at the very concept of personality quizzes all day long, but I will also compulsively take every single one I stumble upon. So I spared a moment for the reading personality quiz over at Modern Mrs. Darcy and got The Escapist. I don’t disagree. Take me away, dear book. What’d you get what’d you get?!

Well This is Pretty Cute–Babies Dressed in Potterwear

Maybe I’d have kids if it meant I could swaddle them in Harry Potter gear and take adorable photos. Nah prob not! But even I’m making weird cutesy-nonsense sounds at these 29 photos of babies dressed in wee witchy wear inspired by J.K. Rowling’s series. Also, can you believe the Harry Potter books have been around long enough to be passed down to the children of fans who read them as young adults? I needed the smelling salts after that fun realization.

Sarah Jessica Parker Chooses Book By Emerging Desi Writer

Sarah Jessica Parker chose a book about an Indian-American Muslim family, written by emerging Desi writer Fatima Farheen Mirza, as the first novel published under SJP for Hogarth. Tentatively titled A Place for Us, the novel centers around the marriage of the eldest daughter of an Indian-American Muslim family living in California. Hadia’s marriage, which is not arranged, inspires tension between the American children of the family and their immigrant parents. I can’t wait to read this one.

Check Out Book Riot’s Annotated Podcast

Also in recent news, we have a sparkling-fresh podcast! Annotated presented by Hachette Book Group is Book Riot’s new audio documentary series about books, reading, and language. The first episode, “Is it 1984 yet?” traces the recent rise of the not-new 1984 to the number one spot on Amazon’s best-selling books list. It’s up and available for your listening pleasure.

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong. One of the most anticipated books of the summer! Published by Henry Hold.

Told in captivating glimpses and drawn from a deep well of insight, humor, and unexpected tenderness, Goodbye, Vitamin pilots through the loss, love, and absurdity of finding one’s footing in this life.

Get Out of Here With Your Reading List

I’m not even going to name any of the extreme right-wing books assigned to students taking an AP Government class in an Alabama high school. The reading list, assigned by teacher Gene Ponder (who ran an unsuccessful 2010 campaign as a Republican candidate for Alabama lieutenant governor), was pulled from Spanish Fort High School’s curriculum after it went viral. One look at the list and you’ll see why it prompted the mother of a student in said class to post it in a private Facebook group for local progressives. After retracting the list, the Baldwin County superintendent said it had not been approved by the school system … but the list has been around and assigned for three years. Applause to Julia Coccaro, a senior and founder of the Spanish Fort High School Democrats, who said, “The point of AP is to teach how to think, not what to think. I’m going to fight for that.”

Indie Bookstore Takes on Anti-Feminist Trolls and Wins

It was anti-feminist trolls versus Australia’s literary community and guess who won? After the Australian feminist author of Fight Like a Girl, Clementine Ford, announced that she’d signed a contract to write her second book, indie Brisbane bookstore Avid Reader decided to share the happy news on Facebook. The nasty comments and one-star reviews followed, with one troll crying out that the store promotes “misandrism.” Enter fans of the store and of Ford, arriving in great numbers to give Avid Reader more than 2,700 five-star reviews, far outweighing the one-stars from “‘men’s rights’ swamp monsters.” And Avid Reader’s responses to the comments on the page? On point.

Don’t Hate on Hufflepuffs

Amazon released data showing that, in terms of sales, Hufflepuff merchandise came in last place after Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw (in that order), all part of the Harry Potter franchise. It seems damning, and the article certainly makes it sound that way, but Hufflepuffs might simply be rare, precious doves. On a side note, and unsurprisingly, data also showed Dumbledore is the only character in the franchise to feature in the top five most highlighted passages on Kindle.

Emma Watson Takes Up Book Fairy Role Once More

Earlier this year, it was books like Mom & Me & Mom, The Color Purple, and My Life on the Road in London and New York, and around the world. Now, Emma Watson, Book Fairy, is hiding copies of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale around Paris. Previously, Watson teamed up with Book Fairies to leave feminist books for readers to find in surprising places as part of an International Women’s Day event; she’s also hidden books for her book club Our Shared Shelf.

Thanks to Random House, publisher of Who Is Rich? by Matthew Klam, for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

Who Is Rich? is a warped and exhilarating tale of love and lust, a study in midlife alienation, erotic pleasure, envy, and bitterness in the new gilded age that goes far beyond humor and satire to address deeper questions: of family, monogamy, the intoxicating beauty of children, and the challenging interdependence of two soulful, sensitive creatures in a confusing domestic alliance.

Because We Cool Like That

America’s Millennials are more likely to have visited a public library in the past year than any other adult generation, says a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data. Results showed that 53% of Millennials (ages 18-35) say they used a library or bookmobile in the previous year. Whereas 45% of Gen Xers, 43% of Baby Boomers, and 36% of those in the Silent Generation used those same resources. The discrepancy could be the result of changes to the public library system, computer and internet usage, and literacy programs. I know I couldn’t survive without library ebooks and audiobooks on my phone, so I found it interesting that use of public library mobile apps is less common across all generations.

Sorry, No Cumberbatch as Dracula Promises Here

The writers and producers of the BBC’s Sherlock are reuniting to develop a new take on the horror classic Dracula. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat will write the series, and Sue Vertue’s Hartswood Films will produce. But it’ll be a minute before we learn anything about casting, and honestly that’s the news we’re all waiting to hear. Dracula as a character is ideal for adaptation, and I personally loved Coppola’s film take (because Gary Oldman; let’s try to forget about Keanu), so I am not upset by this news. I’ll be tuning in to find out how they modernize the story. Will Dracula discover Tinder?

Broadway Gets Dystopian With Orwell’s Classic

This isn’t Into the Woods or Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This is totalitarianism and Big Brother. This is George Orwell’s 1984 on Broadway. The play, starring Olivia Wilde among other actors, opened this past Friday and was not what you might call a lighthearted production. There is a reason Orwell’s dystopian novel reached No. 1 status on Amazon recently. I’m not sure I’d be able to handle it myself, but a stage production sounds like the perfect platform for rumination.

DREAD NATION Looks Awesome. The End.

Justina Ireland’s forthcoming novel Dread Nation (April 2018) is about zombies, racism, and kick-ass black and Native girls trained in the art of combat. And the cover reveal is so real. You have to see it for yourself.

Thanks to Smoke by Dan Vyleta, new in paperback, for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.

In an alternate Victorian England those who are wicked are marked by smoke. The aristocracy are clean, proof of their virtue and right to rule, while the lower classes are drenched in sin and soot. Readers of the Harry Potter series and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are sure to be mesmerized by Dan Vyleta’s thrilling blend of historical fiction and fantasy, as three young friends scratch the surface of the grown-up world to discover startling wonders—and dangerous secrets.