Category: Today In Books

I Am Legend Producer Says New Sequel Will Follow Alternate Ending

Producer Akiva Goldsman has some major updates to share about the upcoming I Am Legend sequel. In a recent interview with Deadline, Goldsman shared that the film will use the original movie’s alternate ending. In the alternate ending, available on the DVD, Will Smith’s character Dr. Robert Neville escapes to freedom rather than sacrificing himself. Goldsman, who is serving as co-writer and producer of the film, explained that the new movie will “trace back to the original Matheson book… What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.” Smith will return for the sequel and star alongside Michael B. Jordan.

Shonda Rhimes and Julia Quinn Team Up for Queen Charlotte Novel

Just days after Netflix announced a release date for the upcoming Bridgerton spin-off series Queen Charlotte, Shondaland has announced another expansion to the “Bridgerverse”: Queen Charlotte is getting her very own book. The novel Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story was written by the show’s creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes, and Bridgerton book series author Julia Quinn. The book will be available on Tuesday, May 9th, a few days after the series premiere on May 4th.

Jimmy Choo Unveils New Collection in Honor of Sailor Moon 30th Anniversary

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the beloved anime/manga series, Jimmy Choo has launched a collection inspired by Sailor Moon. The collection was assembled by Jimmy Choo’s creative director, Sandra Choi, whose goal was to pay homage to Naoko Takeuchi’s manga and its influence on pop culture. The collection includes boots, platforms, pumps, sneakers, bags, and even an LP of Sailor Moon-inspired tracks put together by Honey Dijon.

Celebrate Black Love with these Black YA Romances

Celebrate love with these excellent Black YA romances. Whether you like friends-to-lovers, time loops, queer love or more, there’s a read for you.

George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson Sign Seven-Figure Book Deal

Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group has signed a seven-figure, two-book deal with George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson. There’s Always Next Year, the duo’s first collaboration, is set to release in 2025. The novel is a contemporary YA romcom following two cousins — Andy and Dominque — working to fix their love lives in time for the New Year. “This book is special because as a Black queer teen, I had no representation of love,” George M. Johnson said in a statement. “While others went to the prom with their sweethearts, I could only dream of my day where I got my happy ending. This book does that.” Leah Johnson said that she hopes to support queer youth through her writing: “My hope is that by continuing to put this type of work out in the world, and being loud and visible queer authors, we can affirm to young people everywhere that their stories do now, and will always, matter.”

Woman Who Paid Photographer $100 for Photos Now the Face of an Erotic Novel

Christian Demeritt, a Florida native who is now an actress in California, took headshots 13 years ago and later discovered her likeness being used on an erotic novel. Demeritt documented her discovery in a series of TikTok videos last month. Her likeness has also been used in training modules and breast reduction advertisements. Demeritt admits she didn’t read the fine print when booking the photographer. “I understand that I signed something that I did not completely understand,” she said. She cautions others, “Make sure you read the fine print and don’t act out of desperation.”

Netflix Releases Shadow and Bone Season 2 Trailer

Netflix has released the full trailer for season 2 of Shadow and Bone. The highly anticipated second season, which is based on Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling novels, will pick up with Alina’s newly-discovered sun-summoning powers. Alina will work toward perfecting her powers to fight against the Darkling. “The most wonderful thing about Season 2 is that we get to advance the story of these characters that we’d left in precarious positions at the end of Season 1,” showrunner Eric Heisserer said at Netflix’s Tudum event. “There’s a lot of potential for them this season.” Season 2 will premiere March 16th on Netflix.

Books About the Waco Seige on Its 30th Anniversary

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Waco Siege. These books explore the story behind the deadly standoff.

Amanda Gorman Announces Second Children’s Book Something, Someday

Amanda Gorman has announced her second children’s book Something, Someday, which will be released on September 16 by Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. With her second children’s book, Gorman hopes to send a message to young readers that everyone has the power to make a difference and create change. “I wrote Something, Someday to show that though it might be difficult, when we work together, even the smallest acts of kindness can lead to the largest positive change,” said Amanda Gorman in a statement. Something, Someday follows Gorman’s debut picture book, Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem. For her new book, Gorman is partnering with Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor-winning illustrator Christian Robinson. Of the book, Robinson said, “This book was an honor to illustrate, and it’s my hope that it encourages young readers to be the change they want to see in the world.”

How to Train Your Dragon Live-Action Adaptation Coming in 2025

A live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon is heading to theaters in 2025. Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed the animated trilogy, will be returning to write and direct the new adaptation, based on the books by Cressida Cowell. The new film is slated to release on March 14, 2025.

Author George M. Johnson’s Family Fights Back Against Book Bans

Queer Black author George M. Johnson’s memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue has seen their memoir banned in at least 29 school districts. But when Johnson’s family found out the author’s book was facing a ban at a public library in New Jersey, they showed up to fight against it. Last week, Glen Ridge United Against Book Bans invited Johnson to attend its library board of trustees meeting. Unable to attend, Johnson instead asked their mom and two aunts to appear in their place.

At the meeting, Johnson’s mother, Kaye Johnson, read a statement prepared by her child to defend their work: “Our books are not introducing teens to hard topics. They are simply the resource needed so they can understand the hard topics they are living out day to day… As a Black queer person, I know what it’s like to read books that don’t tell my story. So in this hunt to protect teens, does it ever cross your mind that removing or restricting this life-saving story for LGBTQ students only harms them more or how removing this life-saving story for Black teens harms them? Or do you not care? That’s really what this fight is over — removing LGBTQ stories and Black stories. If you don’t want your child to read it, that’s fine, you have every right to allow your child not to read, but you don’t get to trample on the rights of parents like my mother and my aunts.”

The statement was met with applause from the audience. After hearing from Johnson’s family and other community members, the Glen Ridge Public Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to keep Johnson’s book and the others in circulation. 

The Dark Corner of BookTok: All the Horror Books That Scare the Sh*t Out of HorrorTok

Love BookTok? Love horror? Find the best books on HorrorTok now to scare the sh*t out of you and make you say “What did I just read?!”

New Book from Bill Watterson Coming in Fall 2023

There’s a new book for adults coming from Bill Watterson, bestselling creator of Calvin and Hobbes, and caricaturist John Kascht. For The Mysteries, Watterson and Kascht abandoned their old art styles and created a whole new style working together. The book will be available on October 10.

American Library Association Rainbow Round Table Announces Top 10 Book List

The Over the Rainbow committee of ALA’s Rainbow Roundtable has chosen their Top 10 Book List. The committee considered 298 titles in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry featuring the diversity of queer identities. This year, due to recent challenges making queer literature less accessible, the committee has decided to share their top 10 list, an annotated short list, and a list of all the titles considered. You can find the short list here and the full list here.

Read an Excerpt of Ali Hazelwood’s New Novel Love, Theoretically

Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, is back with a new enemies-to-lovers STEMinist romance novel entitled Love, Theoretically. And you can now read an excerpt from the upcoming novel here. Love, Theoretically will be published by Berkeley on June 13.

These Books Made Us Feel So Seen

From tales of growing older to adjusting to motherhood to experiencing disability — here are some books that make us feel seen.

Experts Found Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda Was Poisoned

Forensic experts have determined that Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda died of poisoning nearly 50 years ago. For years, the official position was that Neruda died of complications from prostate cancer, but the poet’s driver has argued for decades that Neruda was poisoned. Several years ago, international forensics disregarded the official cause of death as cachexia, or weakness and wasting of the body due to chronic illness (such as cancer). But at the time, they had no answers for what had actually killed the poet.

Tor Publishing Announces New Romantic Imprint, Bramble

Devi Pillai, president and publisher at Tor Publishing, has announced a new romantic imprint for the publishing company, Bramble. The imprint aims to publish a wide range of romantic stories across genres: “From science fiction and fantasy to contemporary and family saga, romance belongs in every genre and every genre belongs in Bramble.” Of the new imprint, Pillai said, “Tor Publishing Group is the gold standard of genre publishing and it’s the perfect time to have an imprint dedicated to romance. Bramble will be the destination for exceptional love stories of all kinds. Expanding into romance gives our team and our readers another chance to do what we do best: get obsessed! Plus, let’s be real, I just want to publish more books I love to read!”

Here are the Finalists for the $50K Gotham Book Prize

The Gotham Book Prize, an annual award that celebrates the best writing about New York City, has announced its eleven 2023 finalists. Here are this year’s finalists: Activities of Daily Living by Lisa Hsiao Chen, An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy, Big Girl, Mecca by Jamilah Sullivan, Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham, Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman, The Deceptions by Jill Bialosky, The Sewing Girl’s Tale by John Wood Sweet, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana, Three Muses by Martha Anne Toll, and Trust by Hernan Diaz. The winner will be chosen by a jury of “leading New Yorkers and authors,” including Stephanie Danler, Tom Healy, Melissa Rivero, and Safiya Sinclair. The winner will receive $50,000 at an event this spring.

8 Essential Queer Black History Books

Let these books act as doorways into a yearlong project of reading and exploring Black queer history.

Shelley Parker-Chan Reveals Cover of He Who Drowned the World

Shelley Parker-Chan has revealed the U.S. cover of their upcoming fantasy novel He Who Drowned the World. Chan tweeted of the cover art, “The cover of She Who Became the Sun was masculine — sun, fire, gold, yang — so He Who Drowned the World is feminine: moon, water, darkness, yin. We all know the special contempt the world has for effeminate men, so this is the story of someone who, after a lifetime of being spat upon, is here to slay.” The cover art comes from illustrator Jung Shan. He Who Drowned the World is coming out from Tor Books on August 22.

Penn Badgley Says This Taylor Swift Single is Perfect for His Character Joe in You

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, actor Penn Badgley said that Taylor Swift’s new single “Anti-Hero” is the song that inspired him to start a TikTok account. Badgley, who plays Joe on the Netflix series You, told the magazine, “I thought for years, ‘I’ll get a TikTok when the time is right… And then when Taylor’s record came out, it just seemed the song wouldn’t have worked with anybody else. Me. Joe. Anti-Hero. Taylor Swift? It just was the perfect moment.” Last year, Badgley shared a TikTok of himself lip-synching the song as the character Joe, who is inspired by the character from Caroline Kepnes’ You novels.

Talented Mr. Ripley Series Moving to Netflix from Showtime

A new series based on Patricia Highsmith’s Talented Mr. Ripley novels will no longer air on Showtime. The show, titled Ripley and starring Andrew Scott as the title character, will instead stream on Netflix. Details of the deal are still being finalized, but the show has finished filming and is currently in postproduction.

Welcome to the Grown-Up Scholastic Book Fair

Take a stroll through this grown-up Scholastic Book Fair with nostalgic school supplies, accessories, and decor.

Spider-Man Noir Live Action Series in the Works from Amazon Studios

Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television are developing a Spider-Man Noir live-action series. The project will be written by Oren Uziel, who previously worked on The Lost City and 2021’s Mortal Kombat. Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the producers behind Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will executive produce the series under their Lord Miller banner.

Matthew McConaughey Announces Children’s Book Just Because

Matthew McConaughey is set to publish his first children’s book Just Because on September 12. According to a press release from Viking Children’s Books, the book will be a “soulful and irreverent collection of life lessons” that will “explore the contradictions all around us, and how they make us who we are.” The book features illustrations by Renée Kurilla, and an audiobook version narrated by McConaughey will also be released.

Sandhya Menon Reveals Cover of Of Dreams and Destiny

Sandhya Menon has shared the cover of her upcoming novel Of Dreams and Destiny, the third book in the Rosetta Academy series. The YA fantasy romance novel follows Daphne Elizabeth “DE” McKinley, the heiress to the McKinley hotel dynasty, in her senior year at Rosetta Academy. After a difficult break-up, DE is determined to just keep her head down in her final year. But then, she wasn’t planning on meeting new student Xander. Nor was she planning on having to confront a spell that’s putting the whole school into a deep sleep. Of Dreams and Destiny will be out on September 19.

7 Literary Valentine’s Day Crafts for Children

Looking for some great literary Valentine’s Day crafts for kids? Look no further for an array of heart-filled fun ideas.

Christina Lauren Announces Five-Year Anniversary Edition of Love and Other Words

To celebrate the five-year anniversary of Love and Other Words, Christina Lauren has announced a special hardcover edition of the book. The special edition will include hand signed tip-in sheets, exclusive never before seen chapters in Elliot’s POV, and a special edition double-sided dust jacket. 10% of proceeds benefit RAINN, the largest nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization in the US. Copies will ship in May, and you can preorder the book here.

Alice Oseman Says Heartstopper Season 2 Will Explore Isaac’s Asexuality

During an interview with Attitude, Heartstopper author Alice Oseman teased some of the things fans should expect to see in the second season of Netflix’s adaptation. Most notably, Oseman confirmed that the character Isaac (played by Tobie Donovan) is asexual and that this will be explored in season 2. “Netflix will hate me for spilling, but yes, asexuality will be discussed on TV in a big way,” Oseman said, “I’m excited. I hope it’ll change the world. I hope when it happens in Heartstopper it doesn’t feel like a lesson. You know Isaac, you care about him, and now you’re going to learn something new about him.”

Mena Massoud to Produce First Ever Foreign Language Stephen King Adaptation

Aladdin star Mena Massoud will be producing the first-ever foreign language adaptation of Stephen King’s work. The short film The Last King is in Farsi and set in Iran. The film stars Iranian-American actors such as international comedian Maz Jobrani and Sheila Ommi, star of Tehran.

The Risks and Rewards of Giving Annotated Books As Gifts

Gifting an annotated book can be a token of connection…or it can be one full of potential cringe.

Gillian Flynn Talks New Book and Shares Reading Recommendations

Bestselling author Gillian Flynn recently talked with Today about upcoming book projects and book recommendations. The author admitted that after writing a book as successful as Gone Girl, she feels pressure with her next book to write something that isn’t too much like Gone Girl while also worrying about writing something not enough like Gone Girl. “I’m a slow writer,” she said. “I’m never going to be one of those writers who can crank out a book a year.” Flynn has also been hard at work with her new imprint, which will be publishing its first book, Scorched Grace, on February 21st.

HarperCollins Reaches Tentative Deal with Union After Three-Month Strike

HarperCollins Publishers and the union representing around 250 striking employees have reached a tentative agreement, which would provide increases to entry level salaries. The union, which has been on strike since November 10, still has to ratify the contract. If they do, it will run through the end of 2025. HarperCollins released a statement Thursday night, announcing “increases to minimum salaries across levels throughout the term of the agreement, as well as a one time $1,500 lump sum bonus to be paid to bargaining unit employees following ratification.”

Kennedy Ryan Releases Exclusive Audible Original Novella

Romance author Kennedy Ryan has just released a novella, exclusively available as an Audible Original. If you have Audible Plus, the book is free. Ryan writes on Instagram, “I can’t wait for you to listen and hope you enjoy!” Coming Home is narrated by Wesleigh Siobhan and Jakobi Diem and features the musical stylings of Southern University’s marching band, Human Jukebox.

The Best New YA Books Out in February 2023

Whether you’re in the mood for being scared or for swooning, the best new YA books out in February 2023 have got you covered.

Penguin Teen Reveals Cover of New Adam Sass Novel Your Lonely Nights Are Over

Scream meets Clueless in the latest YA horror novel from Adam Sass, Your Lonely Nights Are Over. Penguin Teen is giving readers a sneak peek at the upcoming book, which tells the story of two gay teen best friends whose friendship is tested when a serial killer targets their school’s Queer Club. Your Lonely Nights Are Over is out on September 12.

Derrick Barnes Receives Overwhelming Support After Alabama Schools Cancel Appearances

An Alabama community is rallying behind Derrick Barnes, award-winning children’s book author and National Book Award finalist, after Alabama schools canceled three of the author’s appearances scheduled for Black History Month. Barnes was scheduled to appear at Bluff Park, Deer Valley, and Gwin Elementary Schools, but the visits were abruptly canceled following complaints from a parent that Barnes was posting “controversial ideas” on social media.

Last Wednesday, Ashley Dorough, a parent of a 7-year-old at one of the schools, started a fundraiser to help cover the payments Barnes would have received from the planned visits. Any money collected that goes above the payment Barnes was owed will be donated to an organization that aims to help prevent the “school-to-prison pipeline” by increasing child literacy within the Black community.

In addition, Kristen Berthiaume launched a “Derrick Barnes Book Drive” to buy and donate books written by Barnes to kids in the surrounding areas. So far, $1,200 of Barnes books have been purchased. Barnes says he is overwhelmed by the support and thanks the Alabama community for supporting him.

Books for Syria and Turkiye Auction Runs Until February 16

A book auction for Syria and Turkiye is currently running until February 16 to raise money to help with earthquake relief efforts. Email booksforturkiyeandsyria@gmail.com to donate items for auction. Items will be added to the auction until February 13.

Read These New Romance Releases Out in February 2023

It’s time for new romance novels! February is bringing love and joy with these new romance releases that’ll make you instantly swoon.