Category: Book Radar

Happy Monday, book lovers! I attended the fall conference for the New England Booksellers Association last week and, WOW, are there amazing books on their way next year! I can’t wait to talk about them over the coming months. (You can see my haul on Instagram.) Today, I have lots of fabulous book-related bits. Enjoy your upcoming week, be kind to yourself as well as others, and remember that I love you and I like you. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

In fifteenth-century France, the convent of St. Mortain provides sanctuary to girls seeking refuge from the cruelty of the outside world. But sanctuary comes at a price—and each of Death’s Handmaids pay it in blood. Grave Mercy, Dark Triumph, and Mortal Heart make up the New York Times bestselling His Fair Assassins trilogy: where romance, magic, and political intrigue collide. Fans of Marie Lu’s The Young Elites and Kiersten White’s And I Darken will love this seductive dark fantasy collection.

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Here’s this week’s trivia question: Who coined the phrase ‘Wars of the Roses’?

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Zoe Kravitz will star in the High Fidelity reboot. (Her mom was in the original!) (Also, how is this book 23 years old already??!?)

From the “I Didn’t See That Coming” files: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be on the writing staff of the Veronica Mars revival. (This totally counts as book news, since he’s also an author. Plus, it’s mind-blowing.)

The Editor by Steve Rowley will be made into a film.

Guillermo Del Toro and Cornelia Funke are writing a Pan’s Labyrinth book.

Lindy West announced a new book: The Witches Are Coming!

Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay may become an opera.

The Female Persuasion will be made into a film and Nicole Kidman will be a producer.

Eva Green & Eve Hewson to star in BBC Two’s adaptation of The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.

The CW is developing a series based on The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks.

Paul McCartney announced his children’s book, Hey Grandude.

And What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli is going to be a film.

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the first chapter of Gwenda Bond’s upcoming Stranger Things book about Eleven’s mother.

Here’s the first trailer for Dark Phoenix, the new X-Men movie.

Cover Reveals

We Need Diverse Books shared the first look at Just South of Home by Karen Musing. (Simon Kids, May 7, 2019)

Holy xenomorphs! Here’s the first look at Alien: Echo, a young adult novel set in the Alien-verse. (Imprint, April 9, 2019)

Tor.com revealed a million (okay, nine) amazing upcoming covers, including Sylvain Neuvel and Seanan McGuire.

Here’s the gorgeous cover of With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. (HarperTeen, May 7, 2019)

Here’s the first look at Sarah Gailey’s upcoming novel Magic for Liars. (Tor Books, June 4, 2019)

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballentine Books, March 5, 2019)

I loved this rocking novel of a 1970s rock band in California and the story of their meteoric rise and the truth behind why they split up. And the cover gives me Almost Famous/Exile in Guyville vibes.

Excited to read:

Boy Swallows Universe: A Novel by Trent Dalton (HarperCollins, April 2, 2019)

Each time you attend a book convention, the reps always have a book they are putting in people’s hands immediately. This year, the amazing HarperCollins rep pushed this debut Australian novel at me before I had even finished stepping to the table, and it sounds a bit like A Fraction of the Whole, another Australian novel I love, so I am 100% on board to read this one.

What I’m reading this week.

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood by Maureen Stanton

Insurrecto by Gina Apostol

The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy) by S. A Chakraborty

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

And this is funny.

Helen Ellis, with the obvious answer.

Trivia answer: Sir Walter Scott.

Welcome to Monday, book lovers! It’s another glorious week of book news and new releases. And it’s finally not suffocatingly hot here in Maine, so I can read outside. I hope you had a great weekend and are reading something that is knocking your socks off. (PSA: Don’t try walking if your socks are knocking.) Enjoy your upcoming week. And be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Disney Publishing Worldwide

Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars go Southern in this comedic mystery about, Sawyer, a girl raised by a down-on-her-luck single mom who allows her wealthy grandmother to bribe her into becoming a proper Southern debutante—all in the hopes of finding out who her father is. Sawyer quickly discovers that her family isn’t the only mainstay of high society with skeletons in their closet. As she navigates the twisted relationships between her new friends and their powerful parents, Sawyer’s search for the truth about her own origins is just the beginning.

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Here’s this week’s trivia question: Before becoming a science fiction/fantasy writer full time, what author’s most famous professional achievement was an engineering contribution to the machine used to make Pringles potato chips?

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Amy Pascal’s Pascal Pictures has acquired Ayesha at Last, a Muslim romantic dramedy novel by Uzma Jalaluddin.

Angelina Jolie will star in The Kept, based on the novel by James Scott.

Pharrell Williams joins the new animated version of The Grinch as the narrator.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe got a book deal.

And speaking of former FBI directors, James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty is (probably) going to be a miniseries.

Michael B. Jordan will star in a new Tom Clancy film series.

Mary Robinette Kowal will publish two new Lady Astronaut novels.

Chris Evans will star in the adaptation of Defending Jacob.

Simon Pulse acquires YA novel inspired by Black Panther.

Bond 25 gets Cary Joji Fukunaga as its new director.

A new book about Joy Division is on the way next spring.

There’s going to be reissues of a few of the old horror books featured in Paperbacks from Hell.

Sneak Peeks

Get ready: The trailer for Captain Marvel dropped.

Here’s the first trailer for The Haunting of Hill House.

The Twitter thread between Chuck Wendig and Sam Sykes is now a film. Here’s the trailer for You Might Be the Killer.

And here’s the full trailer for Mary Poppins Returns.

Anne Rice’s upcoming Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat has illustrations.

Here’s the trailer for If Beale Street Could Talk.

Here’s a clip from We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi and Cathy Hirano

This is a fantastic YA fantasy novel, about a young girl named Elin who inherits her mother’s ability to talk to the beasts of the land, which puts her in a powerful but dangerous position in the kingdom. She must try to keep her head while figuring out a way to keep the animals from harm during the coming war. It’s heartbreaking and magical, and Elin is a wonderful, complex heroine. (Henry Holt & Company, March 26, 2019)

Excited to read:

Southern Lady Code: Essays by Helen Ellis (Doubleday, April 16, 2019)

Helen Ellis is one of the most entertaining people on social media, plus she’s an awesome writer. I loved her other books, American Housewife and Eating the Cheshire Cat. This is a collection of essays, which I hope includes one about the time she taught Colson Whitehead to play competitive poker.

What I’m reading this week.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

A Small Charred Face by Kazuki Sakuraba

Blood Cruise by Mats Strandberg

The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

And this is funny.

Hey, Game of Thrones fans, you see it too, right?

Trivia answer: Gene Wolfe.

Happy Monday, book lovers! As you are reading this, I am on vacation and knee-deep in backlist titles. (Hopefully. I can’t actually predict the future.) I can’t wait tell you about everything I’ll read this week! I hope you get time off to read soon. Enjoy your upcoming week. And be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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P.S. Don’t forget we’re giving away a 6-month subscription to OwlCrate Jr! Enter here!

Here’s this week’s trivia question: What poet joined the army under the name Silas Tomkyn Cumberbatch?

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The film adaptation of Dumplin’ lands at Netflix.

Kevin Nguyen has sold his first novel!

Leesa Cross-Smith is publishing a story collection and a novel in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The Gossip Girl creators are developing a Nancy Drew show.

Benjamin Percy has a sci-fi trilogy on the way.

The Ripped Bodice romance bookstore inked a deal with Sony Pictures TV.

Zachary Quinto, Ashleigh Cummings to star in NOS4A2.

Dean Norris joins Guillermo del Toro’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Matthew Norman has sold his third novel.

And Lauren Beukes has a new novel on the way too!

Kate Bush is publishing a book of lyrics, and David Mitchell is writing the introduction.

Kenya Barris looking at potential adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between The World And Me.

The BBC has already ordered a second season of His Dark Materials before the first has even aired.

Rosamund Pike will star in the series adaptation of The Banker’s Wife.

Glennon Doyle’s Love Warrior is being made into a film by Oprah.

Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder is in development for television.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at Laurie Halse Anderson’s powerful memoir SHOUT. (Viking Books for Young Readers, March 12, 2019)

And Bustle also has the first peek at The Suspect by Fiona Barton. (Berkley, January 22, 2019)

And they have the first look at Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan. (Bloomsbury YA, February 12, 2019)

And Rainbow Rowell shared the cover for her first graphic novel, Pumpkinheads, which is illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks. (First Second Books, August 27, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Lana Condor tweeted a peek at her role in Deadly Class.

Oooooooo: Here’s the first teaser trailer for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

And here’s the teaser trailer for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken (Ecco, February 5, 2019)

A new Elizabeth McCracken novel is a reason to celebrate! Bertha Truitt mysteriously arrives in a small New England town. No one knows about her past, and she’s not talking. Bertha starts a family and opens a bowling alley. After her death, a perosn from her past appears in town, and the enigma that was Bertha is unraveled. I loved, loved, loved this book. And just look at that cover!

Excited to read:

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (April 2019)

This is in such beginning stages, there isn’t even a description for it yet, but it’s by Holmes, who hosts the Pop Culture Happy Hour on NPR, and that’s all I need to know to be excited to read it.

What I’m reading this week.

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi, Cathy Hirano (translator)

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl from Somewhere Else by Maeve Higgins

No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

And this is funny.

THESE OTTERS. The scrubbing! The teeth! Lolololol!

Trivia answer: Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Goodness grape juice, I missed you so much! It was weird not doing the newsletter last week. I resorted to telling my cats all the publishing news. (SPOILER: They didn’t care.) But I’m back, baby, and ready to talk books! I held onto a few things from the week before, because they’re still exciting, and also have new news. So please enjoy this newsletter and please enjoy your upcoming week. And be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Under My Skin by Lisa Unger, new from Park Row Books.

Bestselling author Lisa Unger delivers an addictive psychological thriller about a woman on the hunt for her husband’s killer.  

What if the nightmares are actually memories? It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused.

The case was never solved, and those lost days continue to haunt her. As her vivid nightmares intensify into daily blackouts, she starts to lose track of what is real. But her terrible dreams might hold the key to what really happened to Jack…

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Oh, and don’t forget that Book Riot wants to hear about the ins-n-outs of your reading life – come share them with us in our Fall Reader Survey!

Here’s this week’s trivia question: Who is the first author ever to win a Hugo award for Best Novel three years in a row? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Brother by David Chariandy is being made into a film.

The First Wives Club is going to be a television series.

The cast has been chosen for Guillermo del Toro’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark adaptation.

Susan Swan’s novel The Biggest Modern Woman of the World is being adapted for television.

Lena Waithe acquires rights to Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid.

Alyssa Cole is writing a SFF romance Audible original.

Avatar: The Last Airbender universe to expand with new novels.

Gillian Flynn drops news of another book.

And Daniel José Older is working on a third Shadowshaper book.

The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock is going to be made into a film.

Henry Cavill will star in the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher.

The BBC is developing the classic murder mystery novel The Beast Must Die.

Mrs. Doubtfire (which, believe it or not, was a novel first) is being made into a musical.

Black Sails star Luke Arnold is publishing a fantasy series.

Cover Reveals

YAY YAY YAY! Here’s the first look at Aru Shah and the Song of Death (Pandava Series) by Roshani Chokshi (Rick Riordan Presents, April 16, 2019)

Here’s the first peek at the cover of To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (Dial Books, February 12, 2019)

Here’s the first look at the cover of Glimmer of Hope, the book the March For Our Lives founders wrote. (Razorbill, October 16)

Sneak Peeks

Here’s Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci in the trailer for The Children Act, based on the novel by Ian McEwan.

And here’s Cate Blanchett and Jack Black in the trailer for The House with the Clock In Its Walls.

Watch the first teaser trailer for HBO’s adaptation of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.

And speaking of HBO, here’s the first trailer for Miss Sherlock.

Here’s the first look at Netflix’s adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Here’s a look at the cast of Deadly Class.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

As Long as We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Chaney

Ohhhhhhhh, this was just as wonderful as I hoped it would be! I am a HUGE fan of her last novel, What You Don’t Know. This one is about two detectives working hard to prove that a man murdered both his wives. Chaney tells you in the first few pages who is going to die and I STILL got all anxious waiting to find out what happened. That’s great storytelling.

Excited to read:

Quotients by Tracy O’Neill

I actually know nothing about this book except that it exists and is coming out in 2019. In the meantime, I may reread her novel The Hopeful, which is fantastic. You should too.

What I’m reading this week.

The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai

These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock: A Novel by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Miracle Submarine: A Novel by Angie Kim

Sorry by Zoran Drvenkar, Shaun Whiteside (Translator)

And this is funny.

Meow, meow meow meow, meooooooow.

Trivia answer: N.K. Jemisin.

Happy Monday, book lovers! It has been another slowish news week, but news will take off in the publishing world again in the next few weeks, because fall book season is WILD. Until then, I still have a couple of great things to share with you. Because I love you and I like you. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Epic Reads

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, especially the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding…and something more.  But with family problems and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.

Starring all characters of color, American Street author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

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PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away 16 of the great books mentioned on the Recommended podcast! Enter here by August 31st for a chance to win.

Here’s this week’s trivia question: What famous writer had several butterflies named after his characters? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Hollywood is going ahead with the Crazy Rich Asians sequel.

Dopesick by Beth Macy, about America’s opioid crisis, is being made into a show for Fox.

Snoop Dogg is publishing a cookbook called From Crook to Cook.

iO9 has a list of every Ursula K. Le Guin adaptation in the works.

Eve Ewing is writing Ironheart for Marvel.

Cecelia Ahern’s upcoming story collection, Roar, is going to be a television series.

Andrea Tang has sold the rights to her novel about sentient mechanical dragons. That’s right: SENTIENT. MECHANICAL. DRAGONS.

HBO has picked up another series based on a Tom Perotta book: Mrs. Fletcher, starring Kathryn Hahn.

Three new Harry Potter books (as in about Harry Potter) are coming this October.

Showtime is developing a series based on Kill Creek.

Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp sold the rights to his first novel, Cold Storage, to Paramount.

And the adaptation rights to two upcoming books, The Revenge of Magic and Star-Crossed: A Novel, have been snagged by Stampede.

Apple orders a series based on Issac Asimov’s Foundation novels.

Dylan Farrow is writing two YA fantasy novels.

Cover Reveals

Riverhead released the first look at Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi, the upcoming Helen Oyeyemi novel. (Riverhead Books, March 5, 2019)

And here’s the first look at N.K. Jemisin’s upcoming story collection How Long ’Til Black Future Month? (Orbit, November 27)

Sneak Peeks

There’s a new trailer for The Hate U Give.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle (Pegasus, March 5, 2019)

Imagine if Charles Portis wrote a mash-up of Two Days in the Valley and The Sopranos: You’d have this book, a smart, gritty crime novel about loss, second chances, and the Mafia. Mob widow Rena (rightfully) knocks her disgusting neighbor on the head with an ashtray and steals his car, setting off a chain of events that sends her in the direction of other people’s comeuppances and coincidences. It’s dark and funny, just the way I like them.

Excited to read:

The Memory Police: A Novel by Yoko Ogawa, Stephen Snyder (translator) (Pantheon, May 14, 2019)

This is being called an Orwellian novel about state surveillance on an unnamed island. I don’t know much more, but I love The Housekeeper and the Professor and Revenge, so I am looking forward to getting my hands on this one. Keep an eye on the release date – the e-book version is listed as August, so I don’t know which one is actually right. Let’s hope it’s May!

What I’m reading this week.

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

Seventeen: A Novel by Hideo Yokoyama, Louise Heal Kawai (Translator)

The Golden State by Lydia Kiesling

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri and Corban Wilkin

And this is funny.

This one made me actually LOL.

Trivia answer: Vladimir Nabokov.

Hello, fellow book dragons! It’s time for another round of “OMG I want to read that and that and that!” The news was a little slow this week, but I’m happy to bring you a few interesting bookish news tidbits. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Epic Reads

Kristen Ciccarelli’s epic ISKARI fantasy series continues in THE CAGED QUEEN, the companion to her bestselling debut, THE LAST NAMSARA. Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and Renee Ahdieh.

Enter a lush, intricately woven world of deception, dangerous magic, (and dragons!) that fantasy fans won’t be able to resist. With formidable heroines, forbidden romances, and page-turning action – both books in this series will have you captivated until the very last page!

Don’t miss THE LAST NAMSARA and the sequel – THE CAGED QUEEN – available now wherever books and audiobooks are sold!

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PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away 16 of the great books mentioned on the Recommended podcast! Enter here by August 31st for a chance to win.

Here’s this week’s trivia question: Which of Shakespeare’s plays features a sorcerer named Prospero? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Have we already discussed how Roomies is going to be a film?

Hulu renewed Castle Rock for a second season.

Lee Daniels has optioned The Spook Who Sat By The Door.

Hannah Gadsby is writing a memoir!

Nine Lives by Ursula K. Le Guin to become a feature film.

Rick Riordan Presents will publish Paola Santiago and the Drowned Palace by Tehlor Kay Mejia in 2020.

Watchmen has officially been picked up by HBO.

Netflix renewed Anne with an E for a third season.

Angel of Darkness will continue The Alienist‘s second season.

Ashes in the Snow, the film adaptation of Shades of Gray, is coming to the US.

Ann Friedman and Aminatou Snow are writing a book about the importance of friendship.

Keanu Reeves is getting in the publishing business.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at I Miss You When I Blink, Mary Laura Philpott’s upcoming book of essays. (Touchstone, April 2, 2019)

Josh Malerman revealed his upcoming novel Inspection. (Del Rey, April 23, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Here are new photos from the upcoming Sabrina the Teenage Witch series.

Death and Nightingales: Here’s the first look at the BBC drama starring Jamie Dornan and Matthew Rhys.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

Snazzy Cat Capers by Deanna Kent,‎ Neil Hooson (Illustrator) (Imprint, September 18)

A literal cat burglar! Ophelia von Hairball V is an international jewel thief trying to impress the FFBI. (That’s the Furry Feline Burglary Institute.) Can she can steal the giant Himalayan diamond and win their top award, or does something about this job smell fishy? I mean, really, what’s not to love???

Excited to read:

Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra (Imprint, May 21, 2019)

I am a big fan of Charaipotra’s collaboration with Dhonielle Clayton on the Tiny Pretty Things series, and I am also really excited to see what she does for her first solo book!

What I’m reading this week.

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery

Unmarriageable: A Novel by Soniah Kamal

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

Hadriana in All My Dreams by René Depestre, Kaiama L. Glover (Translator)

Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman

And this is funny.

“So close, so close, so close!”

Trivia answer: The Tempest.

Happy Monday! I am happy to slide into your email once again with a newsletter bursting with bookish news! It’s so much fun to compile this each week. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away 16 of the great books mentioned on the Recommended podcast! Enter here by August 31st for a chance to win.

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Sponsored by Nobody Real by Steven Camden, published by HarperCollins

For years, Marcie has been hitching a ride on the train of her best friend Cara’s life. Now there’s only one more summer until they’re off to college as planned. But Marcie has a secret, and time is running out for her to decide what she really wants. Thor was also Marcie’s friend—before she cast him out—and time is running out for him too. But Thor is not real. And that’s a real problem. This is the story of a teenage girl and the return of her imaginary friend, and we guarantee you’ve never read anything like it.

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Here’s this week’s trivia question: Who was the first Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Apple has optioned Pachinko by Min Jin Lee!

Rebecca Hall will direct Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga in an adaptation of Nell Larsen’s Passing.

Actor Thomas Lennon is writing a middle grade series.

Navajo artist creates Native superheroes for new comic book.

Ijeoma Oluo will appear in a film, Thin Skin, based on the play I’m Fine Now by Ahamefule Oluo.

Elizabeth Acevedo will return in May 2019 with With the Fire on High.

Michael Chabon is a producer on the newly announced Captain Picard Star Trek series.

AMC is developing an animated show based on Ken Liu’s short stories.

Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan has a drama series in development at Amazon.

And a Slaughterhouse-Five series is in development at Epix.

Patrick Wilson will star in Netflix’s adaptation of the Stephen King/Joe Hill novella In The Tall Grass.

Brie Larson to co-star with Michael B. Jordan in Just Mercy.

Akwaeke Emezi will publish her next two books with Riverhead.

Ruby Rose cast as Batwoman in the CW’s DC crossover and potential series.

Idris Elba joins the adaptation of Ghetto Cowboy, which is based on the novel by Greg Neri.

Tor announced three new novels from Annalee Newitz.

The hosts of My Favorite Murder are writing a book!

Lamar Giles teased some great news.

New Wheel of Time novella coming in 2019.

Cover Reveals

Sona Charaipotra announced Symptoms of a Heartbreak. (Imprint, May 21, 2019)

Justin Timberlake revealed the cover of his upcoming book, Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me. (Harper Design, October 30)

Here’s the first look at Sea Monsters by Chloe Aridjis. (Catapult, February 5, 2019)

Some of Dan Brown’s books are getting a makeover. They’ll be available August 21.

Sneak Peeks

See the first trailer for Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, starring Julianne Moore.

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson reunite for King Lear.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory (Berkley, October 30)

The author of The Wedding Date has done it again! This time, she perfectly captures the age of internet outrage. When Nikole’s boyfriend of five months proposes to her onscreen at a Dodgers game, she says no. He didn’t even spell her name right! But the fans are mad on his behalf, and soon the internet piles on the criticism. Luckily, Nikole meets a handsome stranger named Carlos, and he’s helping take the sting out of the outrage.

Excited to read:

Miracle Submarine: A Novel by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton Books, April 16, 2019)

I saw this cover go by on Instagram and I knew I needed to read it, before I even knew what it was about! THEN I READ THE DESCRIPTION. It’s about a couple who find themselves embroiled in a murder trial after their experimental medical treatment device kills two people. This is being compared to Everything I Never Told You and Defending Jacob! YES PLEASE.

What I’m reading this week.

Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison

Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Magical Negro by Morgan Parker

The River by Peter Heller

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty

And this is funny.

Bilbo Trash Panda.

Trivia answer: Gao Xingjian.

Hello, book dragons, and welcome to August! The prospect of all the reading ahead of us is exciting. I hope to knock a bunch of books off my TBR, and I hope you get to do the same. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Penguin TeenPenguin Teen

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric. But when Caledonia’s best friend barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric once and for all…or will he threaten everything the women have worked for?

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PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away 16 of the great books mentioned on the Recommended podcast! Enter here by August 31st for a chance to win.

Here’s this week’s trivia question: “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” – who wrote this quote? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

ALL THE MUPPET ARMS: Amy Poehler is adapting The Vanderbeekers of 141 Street by BR contributor Karina Yan Glaser!

The Kiss Quotient is getting an adaptation!

The Expatriates, based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s book, will be a series with Nicole Kidman as an executive producer.

Aidy Bryant’s Shrill series, based on the Lindy West memoir, was picked up by Hulu. (It will also star Luka Jones, the very talented brother of BR contributor Wallace Yovetich!)

There will be a graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler‘s Parable of the Sower. And one of Lois Lowry’s The Giver too.

Sandhya Menon revealed the title to the When Dimple Met Rishi sequel.

Steven Moffat is adapting The Time Traveler’s Wife for HBO.

Priyanka Chopra in talks to join Cowboy Ninja Viking.

Holy cats, er, dogs! Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas will get a three million copy first printing.

Lakeith Stanfield will star in an adaptation of Prince of Cats.

Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg bringing women’s voting drama to TV.

Netflix buys Andy Serkis’ Animal Farm adaptation.

The Queer Eye Fab 5 will release a book together.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at the title of the fifth book in Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series. (HarperCollins, April 2, 2019)

Here’s the first peek at Tessa Gratton’s follow-up to The Queens of Innis Lear. (Tor Books, April 30, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the first trailer for If Beale Street Could Talk, adapted from the novel by James Baldwin.

Here’s the first full trailer for A Discovery of Witches.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

This is every bit as fun and sassy as The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue! This time, Monty’s sister Felicity is the star. She is hoping to convince a doctor to help her get into medical school, which is currently for men only. A mysterious young woman tells her she can help with this plan. But then everything goes awry.

Excited to read:

As Long as We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Cheney

If you listen to All the Books, you know how much I loved Cheney’s seriously creepy thriller What You Don’t Know. This one is about a marriage gone wrong, and a husband who may be a killer. I can’t wait!

What I’m reading this week.

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

The Wildlands by Abby Geni

Let Me Be Like Water by S.K. Perry

Seventeen by Hideo Yokoyama

Nothing Good Can Come from This: Essays by Kristi Coulter

Non-book-related recommendation.

Because I spend so much time with my nose in a book, I am often late to the party on other media. Including Over the Garden Wall. It’s an animated 10-episode series from 2014 about two brothers lost in the woods. It’s streaming on Hulu right now, and I highly recommend it. It’s only 110 minutes total. I have watched it at least 20 times all the way through since learning about it last week. I may never watch anything else. I love it so.

And this is funny.

I may have snort-laughed.

Trivia answer: Alexander Pope.

It’s the beginning of another week and you know what that means: reading, full steam ahead! I had the privilege of attending an event with Rebecca Makkai last week. Her new novel, The Great Believers, is easily one of the best books of the year. I thought I’d mention it, in case you were looking to read a beautiful heart punch. Me, I can’t read enough of ’em! Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Enter here by July 31st!

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Sponsored by Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley.

It’s late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.

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Here’s this week’s trivia question: What bestselling book contains only 50 unique words?(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

A Gentleman’s Murder by Christopher Huang is going to be a series. (The book is out tomorrow!)

Roxane Gay let it drop on Twitter that she is writing an advice book and also has a new comic project.

G. Willow Wilson has a new book coming in 2019!

The Shirley Jackson story, The Lottery, will be a film. (Pleeeeeease let it be called For Those About to Rock.)

This week in Stephen King adaptations: From a Buick 8.

There’s a book on the way from the March for Our Lives founders.

Edgar Ramirez in talks with Netflix to adapt the graphic novel The Last Days of American Crime.

Netflix is also adapting the graphic novel Daybreak.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michelle Williams, Sam Rockwell team for series about Bob Fosse.

And in more LMM news, he will be in the adaptation of His Dark Materials. And a filmed performance of Hamilton is headed to the big screen.

The series based on Altered Carbon has been renewed for a second season, this time with Anthony Mackie.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella to become a feature film.

Marie Lu weighed in on new Legends adaptation news.

Tiffany D. Jackson announced a new book for 2019.

White Tears by Hari Kunzru is going to be a limited series!

The Ray Bradbury estate inked a deal to make all the things.

Reese Witherspoon snagged the rights to the new Taylor Jenkins Reid book Daisy Jones & The Six.

And Nicole Kidman grabbed the rights to the new Liane Moriarty novel Nine Perfect Strangers.

Several cast members have been announced for the adaptation of Megan Abbott’s Dare Me.

Regina King discussed the Watchmen remake.

Veronica Roth is writing a novel for adults.

Julianna Margulies to star in The Hot Zone series about Ebola outbreak.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at Sally Thorne’s 99 Percent Mine. (William Morrow, January 29, 2019)

And Valerie Jarrett shared the cover of her forthcoming memoir Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. (Viking, April 2, 2019)

And here’s the first peek at I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying: Essays by Bassey Ikpi. (HarperCollins, February 19, 2019)

Sneak Peeks

Jenny Han shared the first full trailer for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

Angie Thomas shared the official poster for The Hate U Give.

Here’s the trailer for Far From the Tree, a documentary based on the book by Andrew Solomon.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

Little by Edward Carey (Riverhead Books, October 23)

I have been a big fan of Carey’s for some time now. And with good reason! This is a tremendously ambitious tale about an orphan in Revolutionary Paris, who grows up to become Madame Tussaud (of wax museum fame.) It is an unusual, endearing delight!

Excited to read:

Dig by A.S. King (Dutton Books for Young Readers, March 26, 2019)

I am so excited about this because I am a HUGE fan of King! (If you’ve ever seen my book bathtub photo, that’s one of her books that I’m reading.) She is so smart and compassionate, and I wish she were in charge of everything.

 

What I’m reading this week.

A Study in Honor by Claire O’Dell

America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo

Spin by Lamar Giles

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

If Only by Jennifer Gilmore

And this is funny.

This kid gets it.

Trivia answer: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

Happy Monday, readers! San Diego Comic Con was this past week, which means there’s always some great book-adjacent news, which I have included below. I hope your summer is going swimmingly and you have tons of fabulous stuff to read. Enjoy your upcoming week, and be excellent to each other. – xoxo, Liberty

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Sponsored by Alfred A. Knopf, publisher of Cherry by Nico Walker.

Hammered out on a typewriter, Cherry is a breakneck-paced debut novel about love, war, bank robberies, and heroin.

Cleveland, 2003. A young man falls hard in love and gets married—just before flunking out of school and joining the Army. But he’s unprepared for the grisly reality that awaits him as an Army medic. When he returns from Iraq, his PTSD is profound, and the drugs on the street have changed. Hooked on heroin, desperate for a normal life, and running low on cash, he turns to the one thing he thinks he could be really good at—robbing banks.

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PS – Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction so far! Enter here by July 31st!

Here’s this week’s trivia question: In 1950, the first drive-through windows were established for book returns in what city? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

MOAR MURDERBOT! Martha Wells is writing a novel.

N.K. Jemisin has a short story collection coming in the fall!

Amber Tamblyn joins the cast of Y: The Last Man.

Lin-Manuel Miranda announced Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You, a joint project with Jonny Sun.

In news surprising to no one, Andy Weir’s Artemis will be a film.

There’s going to be a podcast based on Sadie by Courtney Summers.

They Called Us Enemy, a graphic novel memoir of George Takei’s childhood in American internment camps, is coming this summer.

Nnedi Okorafor is writing a comic about Black Panther’s Sister Shuri.

Typecasting: Frances McDormand will play God in Good Omens.

Seanan McGuire is writing Spider Gwen.

Shonda Rimes is doing a series for Netflix based on books by Julia Quinn. (And seven other series!)

Becky Chambers is writing a pair of novellas.

Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles in the works at Hulu.

Netflix is planning a bunch of stuff with Mark Millar.

Batwoman series in development at CW.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the first look at A Deadly Divide, the fifth book in the Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak series by Ausma Zehanat Khan. (Minotaur Books, February 12, 2019)

And the cover for Justina Ireland’s Lando book was revealed at the SDCC. (Disney Lucasfilm Press, October 2)

Here’s the cover of Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken. (I AM SO EXCITED.) (Ecco, February 5, 2019)

Megan Whalen Turner revealed the cover for Return of the Thief, the final installment in the Queen’s Thief series. (Greenwillow Books, March 19, 2019)

Dutton revealed Phoebe Robinson’s new memoir, Everything’s Trash But It’s Okay.

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the first trailer for Boy, Erased, based on the memoir by Garrard Conley.

The trailer for Titans was released at the SDCC.

And so was the trailer for Aquaman.

And also the first peek at Wonder Woman 1984.

Annnnnd also the new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald.

Here’s a peek behind the scenes as they make Good Omens.

And the first full trailer for George R. R. Martin’s Nightflyers.

And here’s a (partial) first look at the cast of Umbrella Academy, coming to Netflix in 2019.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

Wild Milk by Sabrina Orah Mark (Dorothy a Publishing Project, October 1)

I read this over the weekend during the 24-in-48 readathon, and loved it. It’s a tiny book of unusual short stories. (I loved a weird book – go figure!) It’s perfect for fans of George Saunders. And I love everything Dorothy a Publishing Project releases.

Excited to read:

The True Queen (A Sorcerer to the Crown Novel) by Zen Cho (Ace, March 12, 2019)

There isn’t a cover image yet for this one, but I was THRILLED to hear that the second book has been announced! (And curious that it’s paperback when the first one was in hardcover first.) To celebrate, go read Sorcerer to the Crown right now, even if you’ve already read it.

What I’m reading this week.

Mirage: A Novel by Somaiya Daud

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

We Can’t Breathe: On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival by Jabari Asim

Dream Country by Shannon Gibney

JELL-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom

And this is funny.

I laugh every. single. time. (NSFW for curse word in the accompanying comment.)

Trivia answer: Cincinnati, Ohio.