Category: Today In Books

Sailor Moon Cosmos Debuts New Character Designs

Sailor Moon is set to return later this year with two new film adaptations of the final arc in the Sailor Moon manga, Sailor Moon Cosmos. The first movie will be released in theaters in Japan on June 9th, with the second coming later that very same month on June 30th. While a release date in the U.S. had yet to be announced, new character designs and voice actors have been revealed. The final films in the Sailor Moon story arc introduce Princess Kakyuu, voiced by Nana Mizuki, Sailor Galaxia, voiced by Megumi Hayashibara (Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion), and Chibi Chibi, voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, who also plays Usagi/Sailor Moon. The first trailer for Sailor Moon Cosmos was released earlier this month.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge Developing Sign Here as Amazon Series

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is teaming with author Claudia Lux to adapt her book Sign Here as an Amazon series. Lux will write the script and co-executive produce the potential series. Waller-Bridge and Jenny Robins of Wells Street Films are serving as non-writing executive producers. Sign Here is just one of many projects Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) currently has in the works at Amazon.

Potential Warm Bodies TV Adaptation Teased by Author Isaac Marion

In an interview with Syfy, Isaac Marion, the author of Warm Bodies, teased a potential television series adaptation of the zombie-romance novel series. The novel Warm Bodies was originally adapted into a film, starring Nicholas Hoult, in 2013. Since then, Marion said there have been talks about a film sequel adapting the other books in the series, but that “morphed into a TV series.” Marion went on to say that the series “was actually announced as ‘in development’ a couple of years ago, only to mysteriously go silent.” While the future of the adaptation still seems to be a mystery, the author confirmed that all four books have been optioned for TV. Marion said, “To me, Warm Bodies is just the opening act of the story — it’s actually 18 percent of the total word count — so it would be a dream to see the rest of it on screen someday.”

Reading Resolution: Shopping My Shelves in 2023

How the Shop Your Shelves BINGO challenge is helping one reader be realistic with their reading reality.

Drew Barrymore Slams Razzies for Nominating 12 Year-Old Firestarter Reboot Actor

Drew Barrymore, who starred int he original 1984 film adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter, is speaking out against the Razzie Awards for nominating Ryan Kiera Armstrong, the 12-year-old star of last year’s Firestarter reboot. The Razzie awards initially nominated the child star in the category of “worst actress,” but after receiving criticism for the nomination, the awards ceremony eventually retracted the nomination and issued an apology. Barrymore told CBS Mornings, “[Armstrong] is younger and it is bullying. We do want to be cautious about how we speak to or about people because it encourages other people to join in on that bandwagon. I’m glad to see people didn’t jump on the ‘let’s make fun of her’ wave and instead said, ‘This isn’t right.’”

TikTok Star Who Was Functionally Illiterate Finds Community on BookTok

TikTok star Oliver James, who was functionally illiterate, is finding a sense of community through BookTok. “I’ve had dreams of being more than I was showing myself. I always wanted to be a motivational speaker,” James told NPR. “And I knew what I could do if I could read. And I was like, ‘If I learn how to read, no one can tell me I can’t be a speaker.'” James is now sharing his journey with over 120k followers on BookTok.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni to Star in It Ends with Us Movie

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have been cast as Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid in the upcoming film adaptation of Coleen Hoover’s bestselling novel It Ends with Us. Hoover shared the casting announcement in a TikTok video. “Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively,” Hoover said in the video. “Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily. And then when I first met Justin Baldoni, who is directing the film for It Ends With Us, I immediately wanted him to be Ryle.”

11 of the Best Audible Originals

From sci-fi stories to thrillers, find the best Audible Originals to get in your ears.

Eve L. Ewing Becomes the First Black Woman to Write Main Black Panther Series

Chicago writer, scholar, and organizer Eve L. Ewing will be the first Black woman to pen a Black Panther comic under its titular series. “I’m bowled over at the opportunity to write such a marquee character. I see it as a big responsibility,” Ewing said in an interview with Comic Book. “Black Panther is a tremendously important legacy character for Marvel fans, but moreover, the character has become one of the most important icons in pop culture for people of the African diaspora all over the world.” Ewing says in the forthcoming comic series, she plans to elaborate on T’Challa’s story, and show a side of the powerful Wakandans, “as you’ve never seen them before.” Ewing’s opening Black Panther arc is set to release in June.

New York Public Library Acquires Joan Didion’s Papers

The New York Public Library has acquired Joan Didion and husband Gregory Dunne’s joint personal literary archives. The purchase includes letters, photographs, manuscripts, family records, and other materials that span the whole of Didion’s life and “trace the individual and collaborative work of one of postwar America’s most productive and glamorous literary couples.” The library expects Didion and Dunne’s archives to become one of its most heavily used collections.

Here’s a First Look at The Power Starring Toni Collette

Vanity Fair is offering a first look at the upcoming series adaptation of The Power, based on the 2016 dystopian thriller by Naomi Alderman. The series stars Toni Collette as fictional Seattle mayor Margot Cleary-Lopez. The series started shooting in 2020, with Leslie Mann in the role of Margot, but after the pandemic shut down filming, Collette was brought in to replace Mann. Also starring in the series are Auli’i Cravalho, Halle Bush, Zrinka Cvitešić, Ria Zmitrowicz, Josh Charles, Toheeb Jimo, and John Leguizamo. The Power premieres on Amazon Prime Video in March.

2023 Science Books to Add to Your TBR Right Now

These 2023 science books, covering everything from sea creatures to the cell and cult life to the cosmos, belong on your TBR.

Daisy Jones and the Six First Teaser Trailer Released, Along with Debut Single

Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming series adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six has released its first teaser trailer. The trailer features the first single from the soon-to-be-released album Aurora, an 11-song debut album from the fictional band Daisy Jones and the Six. The single, “Regret Me,” is a duet sung by Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). Both Aurora and Daisy Jones and the Six will premiere on March 3.

HarperCollins Agrees to Enter Mediation with HC Union

HarperCollins has finally agreed to enter mediation with the HarperCollins Union. The news was announced this morning after the Union has been on strike without any response from HarperCollins since November 11, 2022. The HarperCollins Union tweeted, “We are hopeful the company will use this opportunity to settle fairly and reset our relationship.” The Union also urged supporters to continue to hold the line until a fair contract agreement has been reached.

Paul McCartney’s Never-Before-Seen Photographs to be Published in New Book

Never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney during the rise of Beatlemania in 1963 and 1964 are to be published in a new book this summer. 1964: Eyes of the Storm, which is being published by Penguin Random House, will include 275 photos from McCartney’s archive, with a foreword from the musician and reflections on the images. The book’s publication will be complemented by an exhibition of the photographs at the National Portrait Gallery in London, which will run from June 28 to October 1.

Quiz: Dystopia, Headline, or Both?

We’re living in *sigh* unprecedented times. Can you tell the difference between these events from dystopian novels and real news headlines?

Kazuo Ishiguro Receives Oscar Nomination for Living

Nobel prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro has received an Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay for the film Living. Ishiguro is now the third winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature to also earn an Oscar nomination. The first was George Bernard Shaw and the second was Bob Dylan. Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.

Egyptians Offered Loans to Buy Books as Inflation Soars

With book prices more than doubling, the Egyptian Publishers Association have announced that customers can now pay for a book over the course of nine months, paying 1.5% interest. Egyptian authors are hoping the initiative will help boost flagging sales. Recently, many authors in Egypt have drastically changed their stories and/or cut down on characters and descriptions to be more economical in their writing. “My book’s been downsized, slimmed down to just 60 pages from around 100, because of the rising printing costs,” author Dina Afifi, who writes popular fiction for teens, told BBC. Even so, readers are often turning to counterfeit books that are sold at stalls on the streets for prices ranging between 50 and 100 Egyptian pounds. The government says it’s doing what it can to bring down prices.

Florida Teachers Forced to Remove or Cover Up Books to Avoid Felony Charges

Following a recent Florida law that prohibits material unless deemed appropriate by a librarian, or “certified media specialist,” school teachers in Manatee county have been forced to remove books from their classrooms or physically covering them up. In order to determine if the books meet the guidelines of the new Florida law, known as HB 1467, certified media specialists must undergo an online training developed by Florida’s department of education. But with only a few media specialists available, the vetting process is taking a long time. Meanwhile, teachers are condemning the new guidelines.

The Manatee Education Association union president, Pat Barber, told local TV station Fox 13, “We have people who have spent their entire careers building their classroom libraries based on their professional and educational experience and understanding of the age of the children they teach…Now, their professional judgment and training are being substituted for the opinion of anyone who wishes to review and challenge the books. We’re focused on things that cause teachers to want to walk away from education because they can’t focus on their mission of educating children.”

Want to fight censorship and book bans? Check out this toolkit to getting started.

10 of the Weirdest Moments from Prince Harry’s Memoir

These ten moments from Spare are among the weirdest in this bestselling and highly anticipated memoir from Prince Harry.

Meena Harris’ Phenomenal Media to Launch Book Imprint

Phenomenal Media, a company launched by Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris to celebrate underrepresented women, is launching a new book imprint in partnership with Hachette Books. “In the first four years of our business, people really came to know and love us as an apparel brand. But the truth is that we’ve never seen ourselves as an apparel brand,” Harris said in an interview with Fast Company. “We are, and have always been building towards 360-degree media company—and one that is inspired and driven by our mission, which is to center women and historically excluded communities.” Harris noted that the publishing industry is still predominantly white, and the goal of Phenomenal Media’s new imprint is to be a part of changing that.

Tressie McMillan Cottom Wins 2023 Gittler Prize

Author Tressie McMillan Cottom has been selected as the 2023 winner of the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize by Brandeis University. “Through her work as a leading academic, sociologist, and writer, Tressie McMillan Cottom brings critical perspective and analysis to some of the greatest social challenges we face today,” said Brandeis University President Ron Liebowitz. “I look forward to welcoming her to campus to engage with our community.” The annual Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize, which was created in 2007 to recognize outstanding and lasting scholarly contributions to racial, ethnic and/or religious relations, includes a $25,000 prize and a medal.

First UK Festival for East and South-East Asian Writing Announced

The bookshop Foyles, in partnership with the ESEA Publishing Network, is launching a new festival celebrating writers from east and south-east Asia. The ESEA Lit Fest is thought to be the first festival in the UK focused on writers from this region. The festival will take place at Foyles’ flagship store on Charing Cross Road in London on September 23, 2023, during ESEA Heritage Month.

How Easy is it to Pirate Books?

Ebook piracy has long been a problem of publishing. How easy it is to pirate ebooks these days? And how do book thieves do it?

“Weird Al” Yankovic Songs Get Animated in New Graphic Novel The Illustrated Al

Z2 Comics is releasing a career-spanning anthology of the comedian “Weird Al” Yankovic’s songs as rendered by cartoonists and illustrators. The graphic novel, The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic is now available to order and features more than 20 songs interpreted by artists including Bill Plympton, Michael Kupperman, Felipe Sobreiro, Fred Harper, Jeff McClelland, Hilary Barta, and Bob Fingerman, among many others. In conjunction with the release of the graphic novel, Yankovic has released a full-length animated music video for his song “Your Horoscope for Today,” which is a collaboration between the musician and artist Aaron Augenblick, who also illustrated the “Your Horoscope for Today” chapter of the anthology.

Little Free Library Launches Indigenous Library Program

Little Free Library’s latest initiative to provide access to books to underserved communities is the Indigenous Library Program. The program, which launches this spring, provides book-sharing boxes for installation on tribal lands, as well as in other Indigenous communities throughout the U.S. and in Canada. Boxes will be shipped at no cost to volunteer stewards and will come with two starter sets of books — 25 books by BIPOC authors and 25 featuring Indigenous content. After the initial set of books, stewards will be responsible for keeping the boxes stocked. People and organizations living in or serving Indigenous communities may apply to receive the boxes.

Read an Excerpt from Stephen King’s Holly

Stephen King’s beloved character Holly Gibney is returning for a new novel Holly, in which the private detective solves the mystery behind multiple disappearances in a Midwestern town. You can read an exclusive excerpt and see the cover reveal from Entertainment Weekly. Holly is hitting shelves on September 5, but the book is available for preorder now.

When Did YA Paperback Books Become $15.99?

Harper Collins hiked the price of their YA paperback books upwards of 25% this year. Is this happening in other publishers, too?

New Children’s Book What’s An Abortion Anyway? Offers Affirming Story of Pregnancy Decisions

What’s An Abortion Anyway?, written by Carly Manes and illustrated by Mar is a new, medically accurate, nonjudgmental, and gender-inclusive picture book for kids and families about abortion. According to Manes, getting the book out in the world was no easy feat. Manes said, “I shopped the book around to different small feminist publishers and book agents for over three years, with no traction.” But literary agents, publishers, and even progressive small presses thought a children’s book about abortions was taking things too far. So in early 2020, Manes decided to publish the book herself. “I was just done trying to convince other people that this book was worthwhile,” Manes explained. “I wasn’t going to let their cowardice dictate how and when our kids learn about abortion.” You can now order the book, in English or in Spanish, directly from the website.

Wanope Joker Manga to End with Next Chapter

In this year’s eighth issue of Kodansha’s Morning magazine, it was announced that Satoshi Miyakawa and Keisuke Gotō’s Wanope Joker (Joker: The One-Man Operation) manga will end with its next chapter. The manga was originally launched in Morning in January 2021 as part of a collaboration between Morning and DC Comics. The manga follows the story of Joker adopting Batman after the superhero is turned into a baby. Joker aims to turn his nemesis into a second Clown Prince of Crime. The manga’s final chapter will not appear in the magazine’s next issue, as the manga is irregularly serialized.

Captain America: New World Order Casts Xosha Roquemore in Key Role

Xosha Roquemore is the most recent addition to the ensemble cast of Marvel’s Captain America: New World Order, starring Anthony Mackie. Tim Blake Nelson, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly and Shira Haas have also been previously announced. The next chapter in the Captain America universe will be directed by Julius Onah, with Falcon and the Winter Soldier showrunner Malcolm Spellman writing the script along with Dalan Musson. The film is scheduled to release on May 3, 2024.

What Book Should I Read?

Wondering what book should I read? We’ve got your answers, stocked with new-to-you titles and reads for the new year.

Gossip Girl Revival Canceled at HBO Max

HBO Max has canceled its Gossip Girl revival after two seasons. The original Gossip Girl series was based on the Gossip Girl young adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar. HBO Max’s new series followed a new generation in a continuation of the story. Showrunner Josh Safran said in a statement, “So here’s the goss: it is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce Gossip Girl will not be continuing on HBO Max…This was honestly the greatest set I ever worked on, top to bottom. We are currently looking for another home, but in this climate, that might prove an uphill battle, and so if this is the end, at least we went out on the highest of highs. Thank you all for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo” The final episode of Gossip Girl, titled “I Am Gossip,” will air on January 26th.

New Training Tells Florida School Librarians Which Books Are Off-Limits

School librarians in Florida will now be required to undergo training on which books are off-limits for school and classroom libraries. This training complies with a state law passed last year. According to the new training, librarians are prohibited from using any instructional materials that include critical race theory, culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, social justice, “and any other unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination.” Librarians will also be required to seek input from parents before buying books. The training also says librarians should be prepared to defend their choices of instructional material. According to the training, “the responsibility of the content of instructional materials lies with those that choose the materials. Parents that are challenging or objecting to materials should not have to prove that those materials are objectionable.”

Movie Adaptation of Comic Cult of Dracula Currently in the Works

A film adaptation of the comic series Cult of Dracula is currently in the works. BR Films, the production team behind Dope Boy Magic, Monogamish, Crossover, and The Last Call, has purchased the film production rights and the project was put into immediate development. Cult of Dracula is written by Rich Davis with illustrations by Henry Martinez.

The Bookish Life of Shonda Rhimes

Whether you know it or not, you’ve likely interacted with the creative work of Shonda Rhimes. Here’s a look at her bookish repertoire.

Outlander to End with Season 8 on Starz

After its 8th season on Starz, Outlander will be coming to an end. This news comes before the planned summer release of Outlander‘s 7th season. The forthcoming 7th season will be 16 episodes long. Outlander‘s final season will run for 10 episodes. “For nearly a decade Outlander has won the hearts of audiences worldwide and we’re pleased to bring Claire and Jamie’s epic love story to a proper conclusion,” said Kathryn Busby, president original programming at Starz. Outlander will end as the longest-running original in Starz history.

Emma Straub Visit Canceled by Katy ISD After Author Curses Online

Katy ISD has canceled plans to host Emma Straub’s visit to two elementary schools after discovering her use of “foul language” on social media. The New York Times bestselling novelist was scheduled to read her first children’s picture book Very Good Hats to Kindergarten and first grade students at Robertson and Cimarron Elementary schools on January 13th. But the district chose to rescind its invitation the day before the event due to complaints from parents about Straub’s of the “F word” on social media. An email from administrators sent to parents and staff read, “It has been brought to our attention that this author has regularly used inappropriate and foul language on her social media platforms…This type of language, as you know, does not align with our school and community’s values.” 

Nikki M. James Joins Disney+’s Upcoming Marvel Series Daredevil: Born Again

Tony Winner and The Book of Mormon star Nikki M. James has been cast in Disney+‘s upcoming Marvel series, Daredevil: Born Again. The series will also see Carlie Cox return to the role of Daredevil, aka lawyer Matt Murdock. Vincent D’Onofrio will also return to play villain Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk. Margarita Levieva, Michael Gandolfini and Sandrine Holt are also starring. The series will be written by Matt Corman and Chris Ord.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Thesaurus

How much do you know about the book where you can look up synonyms? Here are 10 things you didn’t know about the thesaurus.