Category: Book Radar

Hi book lovers! I, Jamie Canavés, am back one more time to throw at you some bookish things. I also just finished a fantastic fall release that you should very much have on your radar, and I’ll share a few things that made me happy this week–something we can all use.

Bookish News

Hamilton has an official Disney+ trailer

(My Batman will fly again!) Michael Keaton in Talks to Return as Batman for ‘Flash’ Movie

People are microwaving library books and masks to kill COVID-19 — and that’s bad

Research Shows Virus Undetectable on Five Highly Circulated Library Materials After Three Days

The NPR Summer Reader Poll Returns: Tell Us About Your Favorite Kids’ Books

‘Free Comic Book Day’ Becomes Summer-Long Event, Starts July 15

‘Lucifer’ Renewed For Sixth & Final Season At Netflix

The Witcher Season 2 Will Start Filming Again August 17

Karin Slaughter’s 20th book to be marked with SlaughterFest weekend

The Baby-Sitters Club Official Trailer

Foundation Teaser Trailer: First Look At Isaac Asimov Apple TV+ Adaptation

George R.R. Martin Gives Quick Update on Winds of Winter Progress

Tell us more about yourself in our Reader Survey (it’ll only take a few minutes) and potentially win an ereader!

Upcoming Book To Be Excited About–And Totally Worth The Prebuy Button/Telling Your Library To Purchase:

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson: If you’ve yet to discover Jackson’s books you should correct that ASAP. She writes excellent books that are, in some degree in the crime genre, for and about Black girls. She has a twisty thriller (Allegedly), a missing-girl mystery (Monday’s Not Coming), a coming-of-age crime novel that is also a love letter to Brooklyn and the ’90s (Let Me Hear a Rhyme).

Her upcoming suspense novel Grown starts off with Enchanted Jones in a room covered in blood and a dead body–and she has no memory… We’re then taken back into the life of seventeen-year-old Enchanted Jones, who’d love nothing more than to be a famous singer. Which is how she meets the grown ass man Korey, a famous singer… This book made me think of the boiling frog fable where if you put a frog into boiling water it’ll jump out. But if you put it in tepid water and slowly heat it to boiling, it won’t realize the danger it’s in in time. And by that I mean Jackson wrote an exceptionally tense novel from the point of view of a Black teenage girl who wants nothing more than to see her dreams be fulfilled, and how someone can use that to make them their prey. (TW sexual assault and attempted, on page/ partner abuse/ emotional abuse, manipulation)

And I’ll Leave You With Some Things That Made Me Happy This Week (We can all use this, yes?!)

It’s a monster reading t-shirt!

Padma Lakshmi’s new show Taste the Nation dropped on Hulu and it’s fantastic. Along with Love, Victor–a continuation of the Love, Simon/Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda universe.

I am obsessed with this cat’s food hoovering.

This Minions Lego set!

Happy Monday, readers! I somehow missed that it was already almost Monday again, despite the fact that it happens every seven days. So I forgot to do the newsletter last week and am now dashing this off as fast as I can to get it out. So forgive the brief intro, but I’m going to jump straight into it today! But I wish you all books and happiness this week. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

P.S. I can’t believe I am just now learning about We Bare Bears. I am mad at everyone who kept it from me.

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What first book in a series opens with “It wasn’t a very likely place for disappearances?” (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Ibram X. Kendi’s Anti-Racist Baby board book will now also be a picture book.

Keira Knightley is set to star in a limited series adaptation of The Other Typist by Suzanne Randall for Hulu.

HOLY CATS: Maureen Johnson is expanding on the Truly Devious trilogy with a fourth book!

Here’s the cover reveal of One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite.

Emily Lloyd-Jones announced her middle grade debut.

Dial A for Auntie, Jesse Q. Sutanto’s upcoming “Crazy Rich Asians meets Weekend at Bernie’s” novel, is being adapted by Netflix and Fresh Off the Boat creator Nahnatchka Khan.

The Animorphs series is being adapted for the screen.

Racquel Marie announced her #OwnVoices queer YA debut.

Here’s the cover reveal for Aru Shah and the City of Gold, the fourth book in the Pandava Series by Roshani Chokshi

Ben Stiller will direct Oscar Isaac in London, based on a short story by Jo Nesbo.

Here’s the cover reveal for Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez.

Here’s the trailer for the adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel The Luminaries.

Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of The Third Rainbow Girl, announced two new upcoming books.

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 so you can add them to your TBR!

Excited to read:

Outlawed by Anna North (Bloomsbury Publishing, January 26, 2021)

“The Crucible meets True Grit in this riveting adventure story of a fugitive girl, a mysterious gang of robbers, and their dangerous mission to transform the Wild West.” A novel set in my favorite time period that has been blurbed by Jenny Zhang, R.O. Kwon, and Esmé Weijun Wang?!? TAKE ALL MY MONEY NOW.

What I’m reading this week:

A Girl is A Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

The Searcher by Tana French

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War by Alice L Baumgartner

Pun of the week: 

What did the author say about her novel she finished writing it? “It’s a complete mystery.” (I stole this from a popsicle stick.)

Here’s a cat picture:

A rare appearance by Her Royal Highness.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!
• We Bare Bears

Trivia answer: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

You made it to the bottom! Thanks for reading! And tune in Thursday for a review of the amazing book I just read this weekend. (I need a little more time to gather my thoughts!) – xo, L

Happy Thursday! I have been SO EXCITED to tell you about a book I read over the weekend. I have been talking about it pretty much nonstop to my friends and my cats (same difference) since I read it. You can learn about it for yourself below! I’ve also got a little bit of book news for you, and a cat picture, of course.

It’s about to get really hot here in Maine for the next couple weeks, so I am looking forward to time inside in my hammock in the air conditioning. I highly recommend getting an indoor hammock, if you can swing it. (Ba-dum-dum.)

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you virtual hugs. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What was Agatha Christie’s pen name, which she used to write several non-mystery novels? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Oprah’s newest book club pick, Deacon King Kong by James McBride, is being developed for television.

Hulu is also making a series based on the upcoming book Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen.

Congratulations to Rioter – and All the Books! co-host – Tirzah Price on her first book! Book Riot has the exclusive cover reveal.

Michael Keaton will star in Hulu’s limited series adaptation of Beth Macy’s Dopesick.

Constance Wu and Sam Heughan are joining Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu and Oliver Jackson-Cohen in Mr Malcolm’s List.

Colson Whitehead teased an upcoming book for 2021.

You Can’t Catch Me by Catherine McKenzie will be adapted for television.

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 so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Loved, loved, loved:

We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper (Grand Central Publishing, November 10)

In 2009, while a student at Harvard, Cooper heard a story: Forty years ago, an archaeology student had an affair with her professor and when she threatened to tell his wife, he killed her and then the school covered it up. Cooper couldn’t believe that this could be true, or that if it was true, she couldn’t believe the professor in question was still teaching at Harvard. But there he was, waltzing around campus in a cape, like a villain. So Cooper decided to find out about the murder for herself, engaging in what became a decade-long search for answers.

And what she found was that yes, some of that story was true: In 1969, Jane Britton was murdered in her apartment and the case was never solved. But it wasn’t that there was a lack of suspects. In fact, there were almost too many suspects. In the course of her research, Cooper found several people with ties to Jane’s life who had mysterious deaths or suspicious disappearances in their lives both before and after her death. On top of that, she reveals decades of misogyny in academia and the Harvard archaeology department, as well as cover ups, poor property management, government stonewalling, more cold cases, and eventually, the solution to Jane’s murder. Cooper also takes a hard look at her own life and how she relates to Jane and her obsessive interest in the case.

This is the best true crime book I have read where the identity of the killer is known, but not revealed until the end of the book. At the end of the first present-day chapter, Cooper says, “Decades passed, and her case remained unsolved. Unsolved, that is, until yesterday.” And I was like, “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” I flew through this so fast to find out who it was, and the reveal is like WHOA. Honestly, the whole book is like WHOA. But this is not a book about Jane’s killer, it’s a book about Jane Britton and injustice. How were there this many sketchy people involved in this case? This book is absolutely bananapants, and sad, and sensitively researched. I cannot stop talking about it, and soon, everyone will be talking about it when it comes out. Write it down now!

What I’m reading this week.

The Searcher by Tana French

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War by Alice L Baumgartner

The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wildlands by Jon Billman

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Song stuck in my head:

Alone by Heart (This is entirely the fault of Bob’s Burgers.)

And this is funny:

I don’t think I would be mistaken if I said almost everything I find funny involves cute animals.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

And here’s a cat picture!

Is Zevon sleeping or melted?

Trivia answer: Mary Westmacott.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Happy Monday, book fiends! I know I say it often, but wow, the time goes by so fast. I have been reading like whoa, and also watching a lot of Bob’s Burgers. I cannot decide which of the Belcher children is my favorite. I am tempted to say Louise, because we seem to have similar temperaments, but I really love Gene and Tina, too. (Don’t make me choose!) I hope that you’ve also been able to squeeze in some time to relax and read something wonderful.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you virtual hugs. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: The book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family was made into what famous film? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Gabrielle Union is adapting the memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson.

Jeff Daniels will narrate the audiobook of Jim Carrey’s upcoming novel.

This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay is being adapted into a television show.

Sarah Kuhn announced her upcoming YA novel.

And here’s the announcement for Aliette de Bodard’s next book.

The One and Only Ivan will debut exclusively on Disney+ on Aug. 21.

Del Rey announced a new Star Wars anthology.

A Song For A New Day by Sarah Pinsker is being made into a television series.

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 so you can add them to your TBR!

Excited to read:

The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wildlands by Jon Billman (Grand Central Publishing, July 7)

Yes, it’s morbid, but I am in the mood for true crime, and this looks super intriguing. It’s about people who have gone missing in North American parks, and the people who search for them. That’s all I know. I just got a copy a few minutes ago, so I’ll let you know how it goes!

What I’m reading this week:

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

Kitchen Curse: Stories by Eka Kurniawan

The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India’s Quest for Independence by Anita Anand

Camouflage: The Hidden Lives of Autistic Women by Sarah Bargiela and Sophie Standing

Fortune’s Pawn (Paradox Book 1) by Rachel Bach

Pun of the week: 

What did the mayonnaise say when somebody opened the refrigerator? “Hey, close the door! I’m dressing!”

Here’s a cat picture:

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

Trivia answer: Goodfellas.

You made it to the bottom! Thanks for reading! And tune in Thursday for a review of the amazing book I just read this weekend. (I need a little more time to gather my thoughts!) – xo, L

Happy Thursday! Today I have a little bit of book news, a blurb about my love for Mexican Gothic, a cat picture, and more. I have been sick in bed all week, watching Bob’s Burgers and reading books. It’s not a horrible way to spend time, really, minus the not feeling good part. But I am on the mend and hoping to be back to 100% by the weekend!

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you virtual hugs. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What is the name of Starr’s father in The Hate U Give? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The film adaptation of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is streaming for free right now. And here are five more films about systemic racism you can view for free right now.

Here’s the first trailer for the adaptation of You Should Have Left.

Here are 20 happy queer books to check out for Pride Month. And 3 great queer YA books by Black authors. A 6 great audiobooks by queer Black authors.

Here’s the newest cover in C.L. Polk’s Kingston Cycle series.

And here’s the trailer for the I’ll Be Gone in the Dark docu-series coming to HBO, based on the book by Michelle McNamara.

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 so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Loved, loved, loved:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, June 30)

You only have to wait two more weeks for this fantastic novel! It was everything I wanted and more. The story of a young wife shut away in her husband’s family’s secluded home, thinking that nefarious things are afoot, is not a new story. But in Moreno-Garcia’s hands, it’s a new excellent version of the story. It’s set in Mexico in the 1950s: After her newly-wed cousin, Catalina, sends a letter begging for help, Noemí Taboada travels to High Place, a stately manor in the countryside, to help her. When she arrives, her cousin says it was a misunderstanding. Catalina’s handsome husband, Virgil, says Catalina has been sick with tuberculosis and doesn’t know what she’s saying. But Noemí doesn’t think Catalina has the right symptoms, and when she herself experiences some super weird and creepy goings on in the home, she decides she needs to intervene. But will the family let her go? Will the house let her go? This is A+++ creepsville territory, a new gem in the gothic genre crown.

What I’m reading this week.

Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

Song stuck in my head:

Dim All the Lights by Donna Summer

And this is funny:

THE CUTE, IT BURNS.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

And here’s a cat picture!

Trivia answer: Maverick.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Hello, readers, welcome to another Monday! Thank you to Jamie for filling in on Thursday while I dealt with some things at home. It was a weird feeling to have unexpected life emergencies happen at home with everything going on in the world. But everything is better here now, thank goodness. I have some book news for you today, and a cat picture, of course. But before I get to that I want to say two things in case there was any question about where I stand: 1. Black Lives Matter. 2. I will no longer include any news pertaining to JK Rowling in this newsletter for as long as I write it.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you virtual hugs. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question:  Who was the first American writer to earn one million dollars? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Here’s the trailer for Lovecraft Country, coming to HBO.

Here are 45 upcoming books by Black authors you can preorder now. And a list of Black-owned bookstores you can preorder them from.

Here are the 2020 Eisner Awards nominations.

Here’s a look at Simon Stephenson’s Set My Heart To Five, which hasn’t been released yet, but is already being adapted.

Here are 14 summer queer books for your June TBR.

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 so you can add them to your TBR!

Excited to read:

Secret Santa: A Horror for the Holidays Novel by Andrew Shaffer (Quirk Books, November 10)

Shaffer has written a lot of great, quirky stuff, like a Fifty Shades of Grey spoof, A Sharknado companion book, and Obama-Biden buddy mysteries. Now, he’s throwing his hat into the horror ring with an upcoming book about a horror editor at a publishing house in the 1980s. After she receives a gnome doll at the holiday party, people around her begin to die under strange circumstances, leading her to suspect her gnome doll may be a demonic elf on the shelf.

What I’m reading this week:

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

The Lightness by Emily Temple

Wendy, Master of Art by Walter Scott

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Pun of the week: 

A man sued an airline company after it lost his luggage. Sadly, he lost his case.

Here’s a cat picture:

True story.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

Trivia answer: Jack London.

You made it to the bottom! Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Hello book lovers! Today’s Book Radar is gonna drive on different rails–or off them–because I, Jamie Canavés (from the Unusual Suspects newsletter), will be temporarily driving this train of bookish news. It’s actually pretty quiet in the world of news that isn’t about *gestures wildly at everything * so I’m going to add in excellent Kindle deals if you’re hiding out in a bookfort, plus upcoming books I’m super excited about, what I’m reading, and I don’t have cats so you get the goat and a dinosaur.

Bookish News

Your next excellent read is definitely on this list: 2020 Lammy Winners.

“I read in Susan Orlean’s The Library Book that libraries fumigated books for public health reasons. Do they still do that?” Smithsonian Magazine’s answer.

If you’re a fan of online book clubs: Vox has chosen The Princess Bride and Jenna Bush Hager chose Megha Majumdar’s A Burning.

Richard Adams Estate Wins Back Rights To ‘Watership Down’ In English High Court Case

Warner Bros. Offers Free ‘Just Mercy’ Rentals, Encourages ‘Systemic Racism’ Education (And if you’ve yet to read the book by Bryan Stevenson I highly recommend doing that.)

Crime author Rachel Howzell Hall has sold her next mystery book and it sounds gooooood.

CrimeFest announced their Awards Nominations

 

Upcoming Books To Be Excited About–And Totally Worth The Prebuy Button/Telling Your Library To Purchase:

Alyssa Cole, who you may know from her excellent smooching books, has an upcoming thriller that is A+. And by that I mean I inhaled the book, and now have no one to talk to about it until it comes out later this year–I know boohoo for me. While I recommend knowing as little as possible about When No One Is Watching I will say it’s about a young woman in Brooklyn trying to keep her life and neighborhood together and it comes with all the suspense and way-too-real creepy vibes.

 

One more mystery that has to be on your radar: Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. We do not get many crime novels set on Native American reservations and we certainly do not get many Indigenous voices in the genre–or any area of publishing. So I was really excited to read this and not only do we get a great mystery–who is bringing drugs into the reservation?–but the characters are fantastic, starting with a vigilante for hire who gets roped into working with his ex-girlfriend and the FBI.

 

Sandhya Menon is my go-to for a feel good read that I can escape the world from. They’re not fluffy books necessarily, they deal with real problems and issues the characters struggle with, but there’s a HEA. And, more importantly for when I need her books, the characters are always trying to do good. In 10 Things I Hate About Pinky you get annoyed-by-each-other to lovers and a fainting possum. No, not like plays dead duh because that’s what possums do. It’s not very good at being a possum and it literally faints all the time, which never failed to make me laugh.

Here Are Some Kindle Deals

For fans of fantasy, conquest, and revenge: Queen of the Conquered (Islands of Blood and Storm Book 1) by Kacen Callender is $1.99!

Love fantasy, novellas, and looking to start a series? The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle #1) by Nghi Vo is $3.99!

For fans of short stories and literature: Lauren Groff’s Florida is $4.99!

How about a fun and funny space opera with psychic cats?! Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes is $2.99!

And if you’ve yet to read Trevor Noah’s exceptional memoir Born a Crime it is currently $4.99 and you should run to it as it’s equally heartfelt and hilarious.

I’m currently reading:

A rare translated true crime: Magnetized: Conversations with a Serial Killer by Carlos Busqued, Samuel Rutter (Translator)

A nonfiction graphic novel: Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall, A. D’Amico (Illustrator)

A romance novel: Beach Read by Emily Henry

 

And I leave you with the goat and a dinosaur:

Hello, readers, it’s Monday again, which seems impossible. I’m going to jump right into the newsletter today. I have a bit of bookish news for you, and a cat picture, of course. Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you virtual hugs. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question:  What character from a 1838 novel was based on Ikey Solomon, a real-life British thief? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Paul Feig is adapting The School For Good And Evil for Netflix.

Here are the winners of the 2020 Best Translated Book Awards.

And here are the 2019 Nebula Awards winners.

Gael Garcia Bernal and Nazanin Boniadi will star in an adaptation of People of the Book.

Michael Punke, the author of The Revenant, will release his first novel in almost 20 years.

Former Rioter Sarah Knight’s The Life-Changing Magic Of Not Giving A F*ck is being adapted into a series.

Jake Abel but has been announced as the audiobook narrator for Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun.

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 so you can add them to your TBR!

Excited to read:

The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado, Dani (Illustrator) (DC Comics, September 29)

I am a huge fan of Her Body and Other Parties and In the Dream House, so of course I was out of my mind with excitement when they announced that CMM was penning her first comic! It’s about an illness that causes people to forget in Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania.

What I’m reading this week:

Hench: A Novel by Natalie Zina Walschots

Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States edited by Joe Macaré, Maya Schenwar, and Alana Yu-lan Price (It’s being offered for free right now.)

Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator), Robin Patterson (Translator)

The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit, and Defrocking by Adam Sisman

The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

Pun of the week: 

What did the duck say when she purchased new lipstick? Put it on my bill.

Here’s a cat picture:

This is what happens when you fold them while they’re still wet.

And this is funny.

Writers gonna write.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

Trivia answer: Fagin from Oliver Twist.

You made it to the bottom! Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Happy Thursday! I hope you had a lovely week and were able to fit in some time for yourself to do things that make you happy. Like read books! That’s why we’re all here, right? I managed to read a few great books over the long weekend, and finish up Steven Universe, too – now I need to see the movie! I also watched the new Hannah Gadsby special on Netflix. I think she is a genius! There is no one who makes me laugh more.

Other than reading, and more reading, I don’t have any upcoming plans. It’s h-o-t here in Maine now, so I will be hiding from the sun the next several days, for sure. But I don’t mind staying inside because that’s where the cats and books reside. They are my favorite things!

Before I share all the bookish news I have to tell you, please remember, whatever you are doing or not doing this week, you are doing a good job! I am sending you virtual hugs. This is hard, but we are doing what is necessary, and I’m so proud of us! I hope you are safe, and please remember to be kind to yourself and others. Thanks for subscribing, and I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What author issued a public statement in January of 1999, reminding the world that the third millennium really began on January 1, 2001? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Reese Witherspoon and her production company will adapt The Cactus by Sarah Haywood.

There’s a Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series in the works.

Bryan Washington has been named the winner of the £30,000 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.

Naomi Novik’s upcoming YA novel A Deadly Education is getting a film adaptation.

Here’s the trailer for Love, Victor, Hulu’s Love, Simon-inspired series.

J.K. Rowling is offering The Ickabog, a “political fairy tale,” serialized for free on its own website ahead of its publication.

Bill Clinton and James Patterson are writing a second book together.

Lauren Oliver announced that the Netflix adaptation of Before I Fall starts June 8th.

Here’s the amazing cover for What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo.

The Gossip Girl reboot has been postponed.

David E. Kelley and Netflix are developing an Anatomy of a Scandal adaptation, based on the novel by Sarah Vaughan.

The television rights for Juno Dawson’s young adult series have been optioned.

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 so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Excited to read:

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (St. Martin’s Press, January 5, 2021)

I know a lot of people love Jane Austen retellings, but I myself am a big fan of Jane Eyre retellings. Which is why I am so excited for this one! I love the Rebel Belle series that Hawkins wrote, so I am extra-excited for her first adult novel, a Southern gothic present-day twist on Jane Eyre, set in a neighborhood of McMansions in Alabama, where Jane meets widower Eddie Rochester.

What I’m reading this week.

Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Margaret Jull Costa (Translator), Robin Patterson (Translator)

Stranger in the Lake: A Novel by Kimberly Belle

The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit, and Defrocking by Adam Sisman

The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman

Song stuck in my head:

Let Her Dance by The Bobby Fuller Four

And this is funny:

The new age of working from home.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

And times like these call for a bonus cat picture!

Farrokh, fierce guardian of the Harrow galley.

Trivia answer: Arthur Clarke.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Happy Thursday! While I am excited we are “spending” this time together today, I am a little sad we will have to wait until next Thursday to talk again, because Monday is a holiday. It will go by fast, though! I promise to save all the best news I hear about to share with you next week.

As soon as I finish writing this newsletter, I have to record next week’s episode of All the Books! and then I have a four-day weekend. I AM SO EXCITED. It’s supposed to be lovely here in Maine and even hot – possibly 80 on Friday! (“Birds singin’, squirrels makin’ lots of rotten little squirrels, the sun beaming down in a nice non-fatal way. It’s very exciting. I can’t wait to see if I freckle.”) I plan to read a lot of books, watch the last episodes of Steven Universe, and possibly attempt to bleach my hair because I am tired of looking at these red roots.

Now, on to the newsletter! I have a few things to share with you that I am VERY excited about! Remember, whatever you are doing or not doing this week, you are doing a good job! I am sending you virtual hugs. This is hard, but we are doing what is necessary, and I’m so proud of us! I hope you are safe, and please remember to be kind to yourself and others. Thanks for subscribing, and I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! Which Stephen King novel was once offered in a limited edition with an aluminum-coated asbestos cloth cover? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty is being made into a Netflix series!

Here’s the cover reveal for Across the Green Grass Fields, the newest installment of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series.

Taika Waititi is leading a star-studded cast of supporting actors in a reading of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach on YouTube.

Edgar Wright is going to adapt Tade Thompson’s The Murders Of Molly Southbourne.

Here’s the first look at Veronica Schanoes’ debut story collection, Burning Girls and Other Stories.

Here’s the first look at Adriana Herrera’s new department store romance Here to Stay.

Charlie Jane Anders announced her first YA novel.

Holly Black announced her upcoming Cardan novella.

HBO Max will adapt L.C. Rosen’s Camp, which is out this coming Tuesday.

These Women, the new Ivy Pochada novel that came out this week, is being made into a series.

Bill Gates shared his summer reading picks.

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 so you can add them to your TBR! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)

Excited to read:

The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem (Ecco, November 10)

I love, love, love Lethem’s novel As She Climbed Across the Table, and many of his other novels, so I was delighted to learn this week that he has a new novel for us at the end of 2020. (2020 is going to end, right??!) The description says it’s “an utterly original post-apocalyptic yarn about two siblings, the man that came between them, and a nuclear-powered super car.” And it’s set in Maine, which is even more exciting for me!

What I’m reading this week.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman

Weird Al: Seriously by Lily E. Hirsch

Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Song stuck in my head:

Who Needs You by The Orwells

And this is funny:

Oooooooooops.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
• Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
• And more cute animal pictures.
• Music Catch, one of my favorite desktop games. I also still play Lemonade Stand occasionally.
• Disney Emoji Blitz!

And times like these call for a bonus cat picture!

THE CUTE, IT BURNS. Pigeon watching has never been more adorable.

Trivia answer: Firestarter.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L