Category: Book Radar

IT’S MONDAY! Sorry to yell, but it means it’s time for another round of “Look at this delicious book goodness!” Unrelated: Who has seen Logan Lucky? I watched it last week, and while I didn’t think it was a great movie, the part about The Winds of Winter made me giggle like crazy. That was an inspired bit of writing. I also finally watched The Mandalorian, and am still smitten with Baby Yoda. I have spoken.

Whatever you’re watching or doing, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Which of Shakespeare’s tragedies is his shortest? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

MCD/FSG will publish two posthumous works by Katherine Dunn.

Lilliam Rivera talked about her upcoming Greek myth retelling.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Unstoppable Wasp: Built On Hope by Sam Maggs.

Here’s the first trailer for the adaptation of The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

David E. Kelley is returning to television with The Big Sky, based on The Highway, from C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series.

Here’ the cover reveal for Iron Heart by Nina Varela.

Joel Coen is filming Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.

Here’s the first look at the upcoming children’s book from Dave Matthews.

Kristen O’Neill announced her upcoming book: Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses.

Annabelle Gurwitch has a new book deal with Counterpoint Press.

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:

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite (Imprint, September 22)

I was excited to learn about this collection! I have a feeling by the time the fall rolls around, I’m going to be in the mood for new vampire stories. This collection includes eleven contributions from some of today’s most amazing YA authors, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.

What I’m reading this week:

This Town Sleeps: A Novel by Dennis E. Staples

Greenwood: A Novel by Michael Christie

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City by Wes Moore and Erica L. Green

Pun of the week: 

I hate insect puns, they really bug me.

Here’s a cat picture:

This is my pal, Owen. He’s a close talker.

And this is funny.

I love word play.

Trivia answer: At 17,121 words, Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy.

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

Buckle up, buttercups, because I have a LOT of news to share with you. Book news, I mean, not personal news. I don’t have any of that, other than I took the (no longer) kittens for their yearly checkup this morning, and the vet declared them GIANT MONSTERS. But that’s not news to me, because I live with them.

Oh! And I’ve also started a 365 Movie project, where I am watching a movie a night. Because I do really enjoy movies. I just haven’t watched very many in the last decade. But I have carved out a little time each evening, and it’s been fun. I have really enjoyed Booksmart and Monsters University so far.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What author wrote her first novel on a dare from her sister? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The Man in My Basement adaptation, based on the Walter Mosley novel, has added Nadia Lati as its director.

Here’s the cover reveal for Alaya Dawn Johnson’s Trouble the Saints.

Graywolf Press will be publishing two more books from Maggie Nelson.

Wanuri Kahiu will adapt Black Kids, Christina Hammonds Reed’s upcoming YA novel.

Margaret Atwood will publish her first poetry collection in over a decade.

Lyla Lee’s upcoming YA novel I’ll Be The One will be adapted as a film by HBO Max.

Bywater Books is starting Amble Press, which will “will primarily publish fiction and narrative non-fiction from writers who identify as people of color, and those writing across the broader queer spectrum.”

Here’s the cover reveal for Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark.

Amy Rose Capetta announced a magical baking book.

Here’s the first trailer for The Pale Horse, adapted from the novel by Agatha Christie.

A. J. Hackwith shared the cover of The Archive of the Forgotten (A Novel from Hell’s Library).

Here are the 2020 PEN America Literary Awards finalists!

And here are the new Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz award winners, and the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal winners!

Solaris Books has acquired a new novel by Yoon Ha Lee.

Mark Oshiro announced a two-book deal with HarperCollins.

Alex Segura is writing a Poe Dameron/Star Wars novel.

Here’s the first look at the cover of Caitlín R. Kiernan’s The Tindalos Asset.

A great interview with Ruth Negga about her appearance in Hamlet.

And Kristen Radtke announced her next book.

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 Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, July 28)

I heard from one of my favorite book people last night that this is the book she wants everyone to read this year. It’s the first in a trilogy about a serial killer and a young detective known as “Kraken” who is assigned to solve the ritualistic murders. It sounds fantastic. It’s already a huge bestseller in Spain and Latin America. You know me, I love a creepy serial killer book, so I can’t wait to get my hands on this one!

What I’m reading this week.

Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City by Wes Moore, Erica L. Green

Stray: A Memoir by Stephanie Danler

The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri

Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel

Red Dust by Yoss, David Frye (translator)

(It has been a WEEK, so I haven’t finished any of these yet.)

And this is funny.

Poor Mautice.

Song stuck in my head:

“Queen” by Perfume Genius

Trivia answer: Agatha Christie.

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

Happy Monday! Another weekend has come and gone, and unbelievably, we’re heading toward the end of January already. That’s means we have a whole month of amazing books already under our belt! Have you been keeping up with new releases? It’s really easy if you sign up for Book Riot Insiders! I curate the New Release Index, which is a big, colorful calendar of upcoming books. (True story: BR didn’t ask me to say this. I’m just really proud of the work I’ve put into it. It’s an epic nerdpurr!)

Whatever your area of expertise, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: How old was Jane Austen by the time she finished writing Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Elaine Welteroth’s memoir, More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say), is being made into a television series.

Netflix is developing The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf as an anime feature.

Marlon James is hosting a new literary podcast.

Marta Kaufman is bringing Karen Thompson Walker’s The Dreamers to the small screen.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is going to be a TV series.

Matt Damon will star in the adaptation of The Force by Don Winslow.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall.

Here’s the final trailer for To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.

Eddie Marsan has joined the cast of The Power.

BOOM! Studios announced The Sacrifice of Darkness, an upcoming graphic novel from Roxane Gay and Tracy Lynne Oliver.

And speaking of Roxane Gay, she’s going to be on the season finale of The L Word!

Here’s the cover reveal for Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall.

Orbit announced a new epic fantasy trilogy from Tasha Suri.

Here’s the trailer for The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion.

An Alex Cross series is in the works.

Hulu is developing a limited series of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is The Night.

Here’s the first trailer for The Undoing, based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

Gill Hornby’s novel, Miss Austen, based on the relationship between Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, is being made into TV 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:

Alice Knott by Blake Butler (Riverhead Books (July 7, 2020)

Butler’s last novel, Three Hundred Million, was a skull-boinking I still haven’t recovered from, in a good way. It was like 2666 meets the first season of True Detective. I am verrrrrrrrry excited to check out his next novel, which is headed our way this summer. It’s about a reclusive heiress and the destruction of her prized art collection, which is captured on video, and sets off copycat crimes around the globe. Sounds weird – sign me up.

What I’m reading this week:

Stray: A Memoir by Stephanie Danler

The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri

Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel

Red Dust by Yoss, David Frye (translator)

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Pun of the week: 

Where did the cat go after losing its tail? To a retail store.

Here’s a cat picture:

These two dummies.

And this is funny.

Camouflage!

Trivia answer: 23.

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

Happy Thursday, book lovers! Who wants to hear about books and book-adjacent news? Great, because I have some fun stuff to share today! It’s nice to see that the book world continues to turn even when I look out my window and there’s eight inches of snow and it’s six degrees outside. *side-eyes Maine*

Let’s see, what else? I have been watching a lot of The Great British Baking Show. Why did no one tell me how wonderful it is?!? Jk, everyone has told me how wonderful it is, I just couldn’t hear them over Noel Fielding’s shirts. I find watching it is very relaxing, despite it being a competition. Probably because I’m not one of the bakers. I’m almost done with the last season on Netflix, which is distressing. What should I watch next????

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! In what Nancy Drew book did her dog Topo first appear? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Details about the second season of My Brilliant Friend have been shared.

Former Rioter Preeti Chhibber is writing a Star War! Her picture book about Yoda, illustrated by Mike Deas, will be out in the fall.

Here’s the first trailer for Little Fires Everywhere with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

And here’s the trailer for the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People.

Here are the nominees for the Edgar Awards.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi, the sequel to The Gilded Wolves.

Netflix has acquired U.S. rights to Wasp Network, the Cuban spy thriller with Penelope Cruz, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Edgar Ramirez, based on the book The Last Soldiers on the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five by Fernando Morais.

John Paul Brammer announced his memoir deal.

Ken Follett’s novel, A Column of Fire, is being turned into limited series for Epix.

Suzanne Collins is darthvadering Coriolanus Snow for the Hunger Games prequel.

Here’s the cover reveal for Flying Over Water by N. H. Senzai and Shannon Hitchcock.

Lifetime is making a five-movie series based on the Ruby Landry novels by V.C. Andrews.

Here’s more on the Defending Jacob series with Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery, based on the novel by William Landay.

Here’s the first look at the Nancy Drew prequel The Curse.

Here the cover reveal for An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner.

Luke Evans will star in a three-part series called The Pembrokeshire Murders, based on the book Catching the Bullseye Killer by Steve Wilkins and Jonathan Hill.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling.

Asterix & Obelix: The Silk Road will be a film.

Netflix set the release date for the second season of Altered Carbon.

Here’s the cover reveal for City Under the Stars by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick.

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:

Red Pill: A Novel by Hari Kunzru (Knopf, September 1)

You may remember that I raved and raved and raved about how much I loved Kunzru’s last novel, White Tears. It’s a fantastic psychological horror novel about race and appropriation. This one sounds like another edge-of-your-seat read, about a violent cop reality show and its sinister creator. WE WANTS THE PRECIOUS.

What I’m reading this week.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Tall Tales and Wee Stories by Billy Connolly

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

And this is funny.

Librarian humor!

Song stuck in my head:

“Freeway” by Aimee Mann

Trivia answer: The Whispering Statue (Nancy Drew #14).

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

It’s Monnnnnnnnnday! I mean, assuming you’re reading this on the day it went out. Or maybe you’re on the other side of the globe, then it’s probably already Tuesday, because you’re in the future. (In which case, could you email me the winning Maine lotto numbers for today? Thanks.)

I have been chugging along this week, reading and writing, but no ‘rithmatic because ew, math. I’m in the middle of watching season four of Bones, which I find kind of silly at this point, but I am still enjoying the forensic parts. Although I have read online that the show gets some of the science and anthropology aspects wrong, which is so confounding to me, because it’s the 21st century so you can easily ask people to help with this stuff. People who know about forensics and anthropology, I mean. Not just anyone on the internet. I wouldn’t be able to identify bones, for instance. I’d be like, “Sure, that’s the funny bone. And the…ham bone. I think this is the bone that was used as a dog biscuit model. And I’m pretty sure that’s Leon Redbone.”

Whatever your area of expertise, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What famous character was dressed like an old lady to sneak onboard a yacht to steal an emerald necklace when she made her first appearance in comics? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Here’s the first trailer for Disney’s adaptation of Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl with America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal.

There won’t be a second season of Watchmen at HBO after creator Damon Lindelof drops out.

The Magicians author Lev Grossman will publish his first children’s book in the fall.

Here’s the cover reveal for Girl Giant and the Monkey King by Van Hoang.

The possibility of a third season of Netflix’s Mindhunter is in limbo.

Here’s the first look at Laurie Halse Anderson’s paperback cover for Shout.

Here’s the first trailer for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3.

The Dark Tower series adaptation is off. But AMC is developing Stephen and Owen King’s Sleeping Beauties.

The Game of Thrones prequel will be here in 2022.

Chinonye Chukwu will direct the first two episodes of Americanah.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters.

DC will publish a comic for Catwoman’s 80th anniversary.

The Postcard Killings, the Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Famke Jansen film based on the James Patterson thriller, will be released in March.

And here’s the first look at the cover reveal for My Life in the Fish Tank by Barbara Dee.

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:

Three Keys (A Front Desk Novel) by Kelly Yang (Scholastic Press, September 15)

Front Desk by Kelly Yang was one of my favorite middle grade novels of 2018. Based on Yang’s own experiences, it’s about a 10-year-old who helps her parents run a motel. It’s charming, funny, and an important read about immigration in America. So I am really excited that there’s going to be another book set in that world. And I bet it’s as amazing as the first!

What I’m reading this week:

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Death in the Family (A Shana Merchant Novel) by Tessa Wegert

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

Winter Counts: A Novel by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Pun of the week: 

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

Here’s a cat picture:

“Guess who?” – Zevon

And this is funny.

Well played.

Trivia answer: Catwoman.

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

Welcome to another Thursday, readers! I have lots of delicious bookish goodies for you to chew on before the weekend. (Be sure to wait one hour before going swimming after.) I am typing this newsletter and then heading straight back to the books because OMG I LOVE READING. You may have picked up on that before now. Someone develop a way to freeze time already, geez! I would most definitely abuse that power, and am willing to test that theory, lol.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What American poet wrote The Road Not Taken? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

An adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti is in the works at Hulu.

Here’s the cover reveal for Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim.

Gael García Bernal will be a recurring character on HBO Max’s Station Eleven limited series.

Gentleman Jack’s Suranne Jones is adapting boxing champion Jane Couch’s memoir.

Here’s the trailer for the Netflix adaptation of Yangtze Choo’s The Ghost Bride.

A Silence Of The Lambs sequel series, Clarice, is coming to CBS.

Corey Hawkins will join Lupita Nyong’o in Americanah.

Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Miss Fisher’s Murder Mystery movie.

Melissa de la Cruz has signed a deal to write two Hallmark Channel Christmas movies to air in 2020.

John Leguizamo, Daniela Vega, Toheeb Jimoh, and several more actors have joined the cast of The Power, the series adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel.

Here’s the cover reveal for Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco.

There’s a series coming based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher character.

Dr. Brené Brown is launching a weekly podcast called Unlocking Us.

Starz has plans for Outlander spin-offs, and a second season of Dublin Murders.

George Clooney’s Good Morning, Midnight adaptation has also added to its cast.

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:

A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry (Viking, April 21)

I cannot say enough amazing things about Sebastian Barry’s writing. His last book, Days Without End, is one of my favorite novels of the last few years. It’s set in my favorite time period, the second half of the 19th-century in America, as is A Thousand Moons, though they are not connected. I cannot wait to read what such a master writer has in store for us this time. Damn, it feels good to be a reader!

What I’m reading this week.

Parakeet: A Novel by Marie-Helene Bertino

Death in the Family (A Shana Merchant Novel) by Tessa Wegert

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs (Related: I just finished season 3 of Bones.)

Winter Counts: A Novel by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

And this is funny.

“Oh yeah? Well, take that!”

Song stuck in my head:

“Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus. (It’s Rachel’s fault.)

Trivia answer: Robert Frost.

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

Happy Monday, my little page turners! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. As I write this, it is Friday, and I am over the moon because I got my hands on a manuscript of Emily M. Danforth’s forthcoming horror novel. I could not be more excited! It’s called Plain Bad Heroines and it’s about a cursed New England girls’ boarding school, and a horror movie being made about the curse. It’s going to be a while before it comes out, but you should mark it down now!

I also settled on a new show to watch: Bones! It’s exactly what I wanted. It’s not too serious but not too light, plus murder. (Also, in the last newsletter, I said Supernatural has 12 seasons instead of 15. My bad.)

Whatever it is you’re doing this week, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What author once managed a Saab car dealership in Massachusetts? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Here’s the first trailer for Joe Hill’s Locke & Key.

One Night in Miami, Regina King’s directorial debut adapted from the Kemp Powers play, has been cast.

BOOM! is planning a graphic novel version of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

And there’s a three-volume graphic novel adaptation of Dune by Frank Herbert is coming too.

And in even more graphic novel news, IDW is teaming up with the Smithsonian Institution for a new line.

Here’s the cover reveal of Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, Meg Medina’s upcoming picture book.

Here’s the first look at Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, Part 3.

Here’s the cover reveal of Katrina Leno’s Horrid.

And here’s the cover reveal for The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found by Rioter Karina Yan Glaser. (Yay, Karina!)

FX is hoping to make more Charles Dickens adaptations.

Here’s the cover reveal of Queen of Volts by Amanda Foody.

The upcoming Cinderella adaptation has cast its stepsisters.

Jonathan Lethem’s Gun, With Occasional Music is being adapted for television.

Cary Joji Fukunaga is adapting The Last Of The Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.

And here’s the first look at the cover of Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker.

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:

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth (William Morrow, 2021)

As I mentioned above, I just received this manuscript and I am SCREAMING. I love The Miseducation of Cameron Post so, so much, and this one also sounds incredible. I was told it “tells the interwoven story of a cursed, fin de siècle girls boarding school in coastal New England and the making of a 21st century horror film about that curse. It also heavily features the wonderful (and very queer) 1902 teen memoir, The Story of Mary MacLane.”” Emily has been calling it “Picnic at Hanging Rock + The Blair Witch Project + The Night Film x lesbians.” WHOOOOOA, MUFFINS! I can’t wait to finish my work and get started on this book! It is a while before its publication, so in the meantime, you should check out the writing of Mary MacLane, who is an actual figure from history. I recommend I Await the Devil’s Coming.

What I’m reading this week:

The Wagers by Sean Michaels

Three Keys (A Front Desk Novel) by Kelly Yang

Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why: Essays by Alexandra Petri

Winter Counts: A Novel by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Parakeet: A Novel by Marie-Helene Bertino

Pun of the week: 

What do you call a lazy goat? Billy Idle.

Here’s a cat picture:

And this is funny.

This raccoon sure is thirsty.

Trivia answer: Kurt Vonnegut.

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

Happy Thursday, inklings! We are in our first full week of 2020, and I have to say that book-wise, it’s going great. I have read several books that I have enjoyed, and I am ! I am also back on my SG-1 kick, which I watch while I peruse the publishers’ catalogs in search of interesting upcoming books. It’s a whole lot of nerdy happiness going on at once.

Even though I am only on season one of SG-1 still, I am already trying to decide what to watch next. Perhaps the new BBC adaptation of Dracula? Or maybe I’ll rewatch Farscape or Stargate: Atlantis. Or maybe it’s time to finally check out The Magicians or Lucifer. Or am I brave enough to start Supernatural?!? That’s a 12-season show! It’s a good thing I don’t have this problem when it comes to choosing books.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What word did Robert A. Heinlein introduce into the English language? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Henry Holt revealed the cover for The Mirror & the Light, the final book in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy.

Stacey Abrams is writing a book on voter suppression.

Melissa McCarthy will star with Nicole Kidman in Nine Perfect Strangers.

Jonathan Van Ness is writing a children’s book about a nonbinary guinea pig.

Candice Carty-Williams will be the Guardian’s new books columnist.

Ryan T. Higgins announced his upcoming picture book: We Will Rock Our Classmates.

Tor.com revealed the cover for Drowned Country by Emily Tesh, the follow-up to Silver in the Wood.

Robert Aramayo, who played the younger version of Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, has joined the cast of the upcoming series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

Jake Gyllenhaal will produce and star in a movie musical adaptation of Fun Home.

Here’s the first look at Without Remorse, the Tom Clancy adaptation starring Michael B. Jordan and Jodie Turner-Smith.

Gwenda Bond announced her new two-book deal for her upcoming rom-coms.

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:

Sisters by Daisy Johnson (Riverhead Books, August 25)

I am excited to read this for three reasons:

1. Daisy Johnson is incredible. She is the youngest author ever shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, for her first novel Everything Under. She also wrote the amazing short story collection Fen.

2. Riverhead Books rarely let me down.

3. I am always fascinated by books about sisters, since I don’t know what it’s like to have a sister.

What I’m reading this week.

Winter Counts: A Novel by David Heska Wanbli Weiden 

Parakeet: A Novel by Marie-Helene Bertino

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker

Widow Basquiat: A Love Story by Jennifer Clement

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

(I also started something else that is REALLY exciting, but I can’t tell you what it is yet. #galleybrag)

And this is funny.

Actual LOL.

Song stuck in my head:

“Them Bones” by Alice in Chains

Trivia answer: He coined the term ‘Grok’ in his 1961 science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land, which means “to understand intuitively or by empathy.”

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

Hello!!!!!! It’s the first full week of January. Yep, it’s really-real, it’s really here. Tomorrow is the first new book release day of 2020, and the year hits the ground running! There are a zillion amazing books coming out between now and the fall. We will see fewer releases in the last few months of this year, because historically, publishing holds off on putting a lot of books out around election time. But it’s okay, because we can stock up on great books before then. And it’s a leap year, so we get an extra day to read!

Whatever it is you’re doing this week, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What is different about the French version of Cinderella from the Grimms’ version.? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Here’s the creepy first trailer for Gretel & Hansel.

Jason June announced his debut YA novel, Jay’s Gay Agenda.

I Read YA revealed a bunch of fall YA titles.

Sarah Maslin Nir shared the cover of her upcoming memoir, Horse Crazy.

Here’s the first look at Octavia Spencer in Madam C.J. Walker, inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles.

The New York Times shared its list of 20 most anticipated books of 2020.

You author Caroline Kepnes shared an early preview of the third book.

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:

Mother Daughter Widow Wife: A Novel by Robin Wasserman (Scribner, June 23)

I was a huge fan of Wasserman’s novel Girls on Fire, so I am thrilled to hear we get a new one from her. And it has a blurb from Liz Phair, which is BADASS. This one sounds a little Long Kiss Goodnight-ish, about a woman found on a bus with no idea how she got there, who she is, or where she is going.

What I’m reading this week:

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell 

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

Little Eyes: A Novel by Samanta Schweblin

Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito

Pun of the week: 

Why couldn’t the leopard play hide and seek? Because he was always spotted.

Here’s a kitten cat picture:

Farrokh found himself a new clubhouse. I was looking everywhere for him! Sneaky little monkey.

And this is funny.

Ah, the metric system.

Trivia answer: At the end, Cinderella forgives her stepsisters and finds them husbands.

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

🎉Happy New Year!!! 🎉 I hope that everyone enjoyed the past week. I know I did! I did a lot of television watching – Monk and The Expanse – and lots of reading, of course. I read The Hand on the Wall, the last book in Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious trilogy, and it was AWESOME. And I kicked off 2020 at midnight on New Year’s Day with Drifts by Kate Zambreno, because her writing is incendiary and inspired and floors me again and again, and that’s what I want for my new year, too.

Not a whole lot of big news happens over the holidays, but I have a bit of fun stuff for you below. I hope that you are all well, and excited for a new year of reading. Whatever you are doing or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What author’s first book was a collection of essays about American writers like Joy Williams and Tobias Wolf, called Contemporary American Fiction? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid is Reese Witherspoon’s new book club pick!

FX is developing a new limited series based on Stephen King’s Carrie.

The HBO documentary True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality is now available to watch for free, to coincide with the release of Just Mercy.

Green Eggs and Ham has been renewed for a second season on Netflix.

Barack Obama announced his favorite books of 2019.

Here’s a good recap of the RWA and their horrible ruling/reversal at the end of last year.

Here’s the first full trailer of the High Fidelity reboot with Zoë Kravitz. It’s based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. (HOW WAS THAT 25 YEARS AGO?!!)

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:

Starling Days by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan (The Overlook Press, April 7)

I really enjoyed Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s first novel, Harmless Like You, and I love The Overlook Press, who publishes my favorite living writer*, so I am DOUBLY excited to read her new novel. It’s about a young married couple navigating their way through love and mental illness. It sounds equally parts sad and beautiful.

*who is no longer publishing

What I’m reading this week.

Little Eyes: A Novel by Samanta Schweblin

Lake Like a Mirror by Sok Fong Ho, Natascha Bruce (translator)

Wham!, George Michael and Me: A Memoir by Andrew Ridgeley

Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels by Lisa Brown

Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito

And this is funny.

This is actually how I spent my vacation: watching this video over and over again.

Song stuck in my head:

“This Year” by The Mountain Goats

And here’s a picture of my queen, Millay, to kick off the new year with adorableness:

Trivia answer: Nick Hornby.

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