Category: Today In Books

Celeste Ng Reveals Cover of Highly Anticipated New Novel

Yesterday on Instagram, Celeste Ng shared the cover of her highly anticipated new novel Our Missing Hearts. Of the cover designed by Hannah Wood, Ng said, “I love it so very much.” Ng’s novel, which comes out on October 4th, is available for preorder now.

Locke & Key to End With Third Season on Netflix

Locke & Key, the Netflix series based on Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s comics, will end with its forthcoming third season. This was a mutual decision between Netflix and co-showrunners Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill, who had envisioned a three-season arc for the story. “Once we began working on the series, we felt three seasons was the ideal length to bring the story of the Locke family and their Key House adventures to a satisfying conclusion,” Cuse and Averill said in a statement. “As storytellers, we are grateful that we had the opportunity to tell our version of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s incredible story exactly the way we wanted.” The final season is set to debut later this year.

This Small Library Off the Coast of Maine is Collecting Banned Books

A shed-turned-library in Matinicus Island, a small community in Maine, is preaching tolerance by filling its shelves with the nation’s most controversial books. Matinicus Island Library houses classics like Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The library also includes contemporary books like Justin Richardson’s And Tango Makes Three. They also hope to obtain copies of Maus by Art Spiegelman. In an interview with Bangor Daily News, library volunteer Eva Murray said, “We are buying banned books in order to publicly push back against the impetus to ban books. To say, ‘If you don’t want it in your library, we want it in ours.'”

LGBTQ Rights Groups Sue Florida Over “Don’t Say Gay” Education Bill

The lawsuit alleges that the bill recruits parents as “roving censors” of LGBTQ content, suing school districts for any perceived infraction.

To All The Boys Spinoff Series XO, Kitty Adds 9 More to Its Cast

Netflix has added nine actors to its cast for XO, Kitty, the upcoming To All the Boys spinoff series. Joining Anna Cathcart, who is taking on the titular role, as series regulars are Choi Min-yeong (Dream Palace), Anthony Keyvan (Love, Victor), Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, Peter Thurnwald (Players), and Regan Aliyah (Club Mickey Mouse). Also joining the cast in recurring roles are Yunjin Kim (Lost), Michael K. Lee, and Jocelyn Shelfo (The Summer I Turned Pretty). Additionally, Netflix shared that XO, Kitty has started production in Seoul, South Korea, with Jennifer Arnold, Jeff Chan, Pamela Romanowsky and Katina Medina Mora signed on to direct this season. The series comes from co-showrunners and executive producer Jenny Han and Sascha Rothchild.

Robert Downey Jr. and Lionel Wigram Developing Sherlock Holmes Series for HBO

HBO Max is in early development of not one but two scripted series based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Robert Downey Jr., who played the Holmes in the popular Guy Ritchie feature films, will executive produce both shows with Lionel Wigram, who received a story credit on the first Holmes film and produced both. Details about the plot of the series are still being kept under wraps. It is unknown whether Downey will reprise his role as the world’s most famous detective.

Here’s the Cover for Nickelodeon Star Jennette McCurdy’s Memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died

Jennette McCurdy, former star of the Nickelodeon series iCarly, has written a memoir all about her experiences as a child actor. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy discusses her relationship with her domineering mother, who pushed her towards becoming a child star, which led to anxiety, shame, and self-loathing that manifested into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. Now that McCurdy has found therapy and has stopped acting, she is ready to talk about her experiences.

McCurdy writes, “It was important for me to explore the emotional and psychological abuse I endured during my time as a young performer. I feel I didn’t have the tools, language, or support necessary to speak up for myself back then, so this book is a way for me to not only honor that experience and give voice to my former self, but hopefully to encourage young people to speak up for themselves in environments where they may be conditioned to just ‘play ball’ and ‘be a good sport.’ (Sorry for the sports idioms, I’ve never played sports so I have no idea why they’re spilling out of me.)”

I’m Glad My Mom Died will be published by Simon & Schuster on August 9, 2022.

Lost Charlotte Brontë Poems to Go on Sale on Author’s Birthday

The palm-sized collection of poems written by a 13 year-old Brontë will be offered up for $1.25 million on her birthday.

Stephen Curry and Ayesha Curry Unveil First of 150 Little Town Libraries

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and entrepreneur wife Ayesha Curry are opening Little Town Libraries all over the Bay Area in California to promote literacy. Through their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, Stephen and Ayesha Curry have unveiled the first of 150 Little Town Libraries at Franklin Elementary in Oakland. “From kindergarten through third grade, making sure you are reading at your grade level by the time you get to third grade determines your educational future,” said Ayesha Curry. “So for us, turning those numbers around is really, really important.” According to a press release from the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, 1 in 3 children are reading at grade level by the end of third grade. In Oakland after two years of distance learning, only 15.4% of Black and 12.5% of Latine elementary students are reading at grade level.

Here’s the Cover Reveal of Alexis Henderson’s Upcoming Gothic Horror Novel House of Hunger

Alexis Henderson has tweeted the cover reveal of her upcoming gothic horror novel House of Hunger, first revealed in a Buzzfeed Books newsletter. The cover image is from photographer Lillian Liu and the cover design by Katie Anderson, who also designed the cover for Henderson’s The Year of the Witching. Read more about the novel and preorder it here.

Britney Spears Confirms She’s Writing A Book

Weeks after reports that Britney Spears had signed a multimillion-dollar deal to write a tell-all memoir, the pop star confirmed Monday that she is currently writing a book. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Spears wrote, “I’m writing a book at the moment and as it’s actually healing and therapeutic… it’s also hard bringing up past events in my life.” Spears also acknowledged that, while it’s difficult addressing her thoughts about events she wasn’t comfortable talking about in the past, she has decided that it’s time to “talk about it.”

National Read-In Set for Thursday Evening

Join Stella Parton and a slate of authors whose books have been challenged for a National Read-In event on Thursday, April 7th.

Morbius Scores Second-Lowest CinemaScore for any Marvel Adaptation

Sony’s Morbius finally hit theaters this weekend after pandemic-related delays, but according to the film’s CinemaScore ratings, the movie was not worth the wait. Morbius has received a C+ CinemaScore from audiences who saw the movie, giving it the second worst score of any Marvel adaptation. The only movie based on a Marvel character to receive a lower score was 2015’s The Fantastic Four. Box office scores for Morbius over the weekend were decent. The film took in $39.1M in the US and $84M worldwide. Morbius is currently playing in theaters.

The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Makes History with Grammy Win

The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical made history on Sunday night when the show creators Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear won the Grammy for best musical theater album. This is the first award from the Recording Academy for a piece of work that originated on TikTok. “A year ago when I asked the internet, ‘What if Bridgerton was a musical?’ I could not have imagined we would be holding a Grammy in our hands,” Barlow said during her acceptance speech. “We want to thank everyone on the internet who has watched us create this album from the ground up. We share this with you.”

You Begins Filming in London for Season 4

The hit thriller series You has begun filming its fourth season in London. The season will star returning series regulars Penn Badgley and Tati Gabrielle. This season also includes a whole new cast of characters, including Tilly Keeper as Lady Phoebe, Amy Leigh Hickman as Nadia, Ed Speleers as Rhys, Niccy Lin as Sophie, Aidan Cheng as Simon, Stephen Hagan as Malcolm, Ben Wiggins as Roald, Eve Austin as Gemma, Ozioma Whenu as Blessing, Dario Coates as Connie, Sean Pertwee as Vic, Brad Alexander as Edward, Alison Pargeter as Dawn, and Adam James as Elliot. Want more details about these characters and the upcoming season of You? Shadow & Act has provided full character descriptions.

Book Riot Will Match Your Donation to UNICEF for Aid to Ukraine

From April 4-6, Book Riot will match donations to UNICEF to assist in their efforts on the ground in Ukraine. Join us in donating!

Amazon workers on Staten Island vote for company’s first unionized warehouse in U.S.

For the first time at one of Amazon’s U.S. facilities, employees at an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island (known as JFK8) voted to join a union on Friday. This vote could challenge Amazon’s labor model, which is the backbone of its Prime two-day shipping promise. The tally was 2,654 votes in favor of joining the union and 2,131 opposed.

Follett has decided not to proceed with new features for their Destiny software

Earlier this week, Follett Learning — the creators of Destiny, a popular library management system used in school libraries — posted a letter on LinkedIn saying that they are developing technology to allow parents to more easily monitor and restrict their children’s choice of library books. Now, in response to the library community outcry, the company released a statement late on Friday that Follett will not proceed with any plans to develop a potential parental control module for Destiny Library Manager.

Julian Zelizer of Princeton has assembled a cast of historians to consider every aspect of four years that shook America

We’ve already had countless articles and books about Donald Trump’s tumultuous presidency, but Julian Zelizer of Princeton hopes to break new ground with contributions from 18 American scholars covering everything from Militant Whiteness to the legacy of Trump’s Middle East policies, under the title Arms, Autocrats and Annexations. The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment will be released by Princeton University Press on April 12, 2022.

The Authors for Ukraine Auction Is Raising Money for Ukraine Crisis Fund

Mystery author Amy Patricia Meade has organized an auction for CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund of signed and dedicated books from more than 170 different authors.

Take A First Look at Jasmine Guillory’s Drunk on Love

Jasmine Guillory’s contemporary romance novel Drunk on Love is out on September 20, 2022, and TODAY has a first look at the book. Set on a vineyard in California’s Napa Valley, Drunk on Love is the story of Margot Noble, who runs a winery with her brother. Luke Williams, looking to leave Silicon Valley for a simpler life has taken a job at the winery. But before they meet at work, the two meet at a bar and sparks fly. It was meant to be a no-strings-attached one-night-stand, but now that they’re working together, everything has gotten much more complicated. Check out the cover reveal and an excerpt from the novel here!

Black Literature vs. the Climate Emergency Virtual Conference Happening on April 5

Black Literature vs. the Climate Emergency is a one-day, virtual conference streaming on YouTube Live at 12pm PST/3pm EST on April 5th. The conference aims to “celebrate the power of Afro-Diasporic fiction, non-fiction and poetry/spoken word at the forefront of addressing the climate emergency and inviting a ramping up of literary efforts to document, imagine, and encourage the engagement Black communities in the movement for climate justice.” The conference is free and open to everyone. You can check out the schedule and further details here. And sign up here to get the after party Zoom link.

Janelle Monáe on Tour to Promote The Memory Librarian

Janelle Monáe will be on tour in April to celebrate the release of her queer sci-fi short story collection The Memory Librarian. Monáe’s book will be out on Tuesday, April 19th, and on the day of the book’s release, Monáe will be in Washington, D.C. for an in-person/virtual hybrid event at Loyalty Bookstore. Also present will be collaborating writer Alaya Dawn Johnson, in conversation with Kimberly Drew. You can purchase tickets for the event here, which also includes a copy of the book. In-person attendees with have an opportunity to receive a signed copy of the book. And here is a full list of venues Monáe will be visiting on the tour.

15 LGBTQ Books Out This Month You Need to Read

Here are some of the most exciting LGBTQ books out in April 2022 that need to be on your TBR lists!

Kathryn Bigelow Adapting David Koepp Novel Aurora

Oscar-winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow is working on a new project with Netflix, developing David Koepp’s upcoming novel Aurora into a feature film. This is Bigelow’s first project since 2017’s Detroit. Koepp is a veteran screenwriter, with Jurassic Park, the first Mission: Impossible movie, and Spider-Man among his credits. Koepp will write the screenplay, and Greg Shapiro and Gavin Polone are set to produce.

Greta Thunberg to Publish a Book on Climate Crisis

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is releasing a new book with Penguin this fall. The Climate Book aims to offer a “global overview of how the planet’s many crises connect.” For the book, Thunberg has assembled more than 100 contributors, from scientists Johan Rockström and Katharine Hayhoe to economist Thomas Piketty and novelist Margaret Atwood. You can see the full list of contributors here. “I have decided to use my platform to create a book based on the current best available science – a book that covers the climate, ecological and sustainability crises holistically,” Thunberg said in a statement. “Because the climate crisis is, of course, only a symptom of a much larger sustainability crisis. My hope is that this book might be some kind of go-to source for understanding these different, closely interconnected crises.” The book will be published in the UK in October 2022, and it will be published in the US in early 2023.

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Announces Debut Novel

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of the critically-acclaimed short story collection Friday Black, has announced details about his upcoming debut novel on Instagram. The author wrote, “Writing a novel is swimming with no shore in sight, for years. It’s having a secret imaginary friend that finds a body. It’s betting the house on Black. It’s deciding to climb a mountain you are too weak to climb hoping and believing that the strength you need will be earned on the way to the summit. I say all that to say, I wrote a novel, the hardest writing project I’ve ever done and… for the first time, truly, I’m proud regardless of whatever happens next.” The novel, entitled Chain-Gang All-Stars, will be published in spring 2023.

Follett Developing Technology to Monitor Student Library Use

Follett is developing new tools for parent monitoring of students’ library usage. That and more in this week’s book censorship news.

Here’s the Trailer for Andrew Garfield’s New True Crime Series

Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones will be starring in Hulu’s true crime series Under the Banner of Heaven, based on the 2003 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer. And Hulu has now released the first teaser trailer for the upcoming series. The series cast will also include Sam Worthington, Wyatt Russell, Rory Culkin, Chloe Pirrie, Denise Gough, Billy Howle, and Gil Birmingham. Under the Banner of Heaven will be available to stream in the US on Hulu starting on April 28th. The series will also air on Disney+ internationally, but an exact release date for the platform is yet to be announced.

Leigh Bardugo’s Hell Bent to be Published in January 2023

Today, Flat Iron books announced the release date of Leigh Bardugo’s sequel to Ninth House. The publisher posted on Instagram, “Get ready @lbardugo fans!! 🐰 Alex Stern is returning in Hell Bent, coming January 10, 2023!” You can check out more information about the upcoming novel—including the cover reveal—on Today’s website. According to Bardugo, “Hell Bent is loaded with occult happenings, deadly grudges, forgotten poetry, peculiar romance, and bad behavior from villain and hero alike.”

Richard Lipez, Who Reimagined the Gay Detective Novel, Dies at 83

Richard Lipez, the author of a series of crime novels centered on an openly gay detective, died on March 16 at his home in Becket, Massachusetts. He was 83. According to his husband Joe Wheaton, the cause was pancreatic cancer. Lipez wrote 17 mysteries in his series under the pseudonym Richard Stevenson. In addition to his husband Mr. Wheaton, Lipez is survived by his daughter Sydney Lipez; son, Zachary; a brother, John; and sister, Kathy Conklin.

Netflix’s Bridgerton Prequel Sets Full Cast With India Amarteifio in Lead Role

The spinoff Bridgerton prequel about a young Queen Charlotte was announced in May, and now Netflix has released the cast list.

House of the Dragon Release Date Announced

HBO’s long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel finally has a release date. The network has announced that House of the Dragon will premiere on August 21st. Set roughly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the story of House Targaryen and stars Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen.

8 Authors Receive the 2022 Windham-Campbell Prize

The winners of the 2022 Windham-Campbell Prize have been announced. The award, which is one of the world’s richest at $165,000 per recipient, is now in its 10th year. The $165k grants are intended “to support [the authors’] writing and allow them to focus on their work independent of financial concerns.” This year’s eight winners are Tsitsi Dangarembga, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Margo Jefferson, Emmanuel Iduma, Winsome Pinnock, Sharon Bridgforth, Wong May, and Zaffar Kunial. When Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga found out she had been chosen the Windham-Campbell prize, she admitted she had been waiting for this news all of her life. She said: “I desperately needed this award, as a writer working on the African continent. Few countries support creativity or the arts in a meaningful manner. Zimbabwe is amongst those that do so least.”

Here’s A First Look at Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before author Jenny Han’s first YA romance book trilogy The Summer I Turned Pretty is being adapted for TV, and Entertainment Weekly has a first look at the upcoming Amazon Prime series.  “Oh my gosh, I have such butterflies about it because my readers have been waiting for so long,” said Han, who is also serving as showrunner and executive producer on the project. “I just really want them to feel satisfied by the long wait and feel like the story has come to life in the way that they were hoping for. I hope fans swoon a lot. The first time I walked on set, I cried.”

Lualhati Bautista Might Become the First Filipina to be Published by Penguin Classics

In a white- and male-dominated classics genre, authors of color are starting to get off the sidelines, including Filipina writer Lualhati Bautista.

Kevin and Danielle Jonas Open Up About New Children’s Book

Kevin Jonas and his wife Danielle have opened up about their new children’s book, There’s a Rock Concert in My Bedroom. The picture book is all about turning to your family for support, something Kevin knows a lot about, as a member of the Jonas Brothers. Kevin says he and his wife always wanted to write a children’s book, “but it felt like now is the right time. Our girls are definitely at the age where they’re reading and wanting to read even more by themselves and us reading to them.” The Jonas’ first children’s book is available in bookstores everywhere, starting today.

The CW’s Gotham Knights Adds Anna Lore to Cast

The CW has announced another cast member for the pilot of Gotham Knights. Anna Lore (All American) will play Stephanie Brown in the new series based on DC Comics characters created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. Lore joins a cast that also features Oscar Morgan, Olivia Rose Keegan, Navia Robinson, Fallon Smythe, Tyler DiChiara, and Misha Collins. Gotham Knights will be the second DC show for Lore, who also appeared in two episodes of Doom Patrol in 2019.

Roxane Gay Announces First Three Titles From New Imprint

This week, Roxane Gay announced the first three titles for her imprint Roxane Gay Books. Each day this week, the authors themselves will be sharing more details about their books. Today, Ani Kayode Somtochukwu will discuss his book And Then He Sang a Lullaby. On Wednesday, we will find out more about Lush Lives by JV Lyon, and on Thursday, Hot Springs Drive by Lindsay Hunter. You can learn more about these titles by signing up for The Audacity newsletter at audacity.substack.com.

Did You Like That Tweet? Then Read This Book

Love viral tweets? Instead of going down the rabbit hole of replies, here are some matching book recommendations to read instead!