Riot New Media – Page 1061

Elton John Is Releasing His Autobiography and More Book Radar!

Post author By Liberty Hardy
Post date March 9, 2019

Welcome to another Monday, my little Garfields. I have some wonderful things to share with you, all book-related of course. Do I ever talk about anything else? (SPOILER: No.) Hopefully that missing hour this weekend didn’t throw your schedule off too much, and you managed to read something wonderful. Have a great week, and please be kind to yourself as well as others, and remember that life is hard – you are doing a great job! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

The Real Life Of Emily Dickinson: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 9, 2019

Sponsored by our What’s Up in YA Giveaway of a $100 gift card to Amazon! Enter here.

Wild Nights with Emily Trailer

An upcoming movie starring Molly Shannon hopes to shed a new light on Emily Dickinson as more than a recluse who wanted her poetry burned. The film is based on letters written between Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson, “the purported real muse behind her poems.” You can see the film in theaters on April 12th and watch the trailer here.

Where Are My Crime Fiction Fans At?

Agora, a new imprint of Polis Books, has revealed the covers for their first three releases. And “each book is a debut novel, each is about identity, and each tells a harrowing tale of crime and intrigue.” Gimme, gimme, gimme! You can check out the covers here and read more about the novels and authors.

Miss Marple Returning To Television

Guess this round of news got extra crime-y! Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories has partnered with Agatha Christie Ltd to bring us a new Miss Marple series. Agatha Christie wrote 12 Miss Marple books along with twenty short stories so there is plenty of source material!

True Story

Can You Believe? Another Queer Eye Cast Member Gets a Memoir!

Post author By Kim Ukura
Post date March 8, 2019

Hello hello, friends and readers, and cheers to another week of interesting nonfiction news! This week I’ve got some awards finalists, news about Michelle Obama, and a bunch of announcements about upcoming titles, from cookbooks to memoirs.

Sponsored by Hanover Square Press and The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara.

The Lady from the Black Lagoon uncovers the life and work of Milicent Patrick – one of Disney’s first female animators and the only woman to create one of Hollywood’s classic movie monsters—the Creature from the Black Lagoon. For someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre there was little information about Milicent available. Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. The Lady from the Black Lagoon restores Patrick to her place in film history while calling out a Hollywood culture where little seems to have changed since.

Before we dive in, a quick apology on my end for a misspelling in Wednesday’s newsletter. The author of The Skeleton Keys is Brian Switek, not what I wrote. Sorry about that!

Queer Eye’s hair guy, Jonathan Van Ness, will be releasing a memoir this fall. Over the Top will start with “his upbringing in a small Midwestern town” and “reveal sides of himself that the public has never seen.” For those counting, that’s the third Queer Eye memoir this year, following Karamo by Karamo Brown and Naturally Tan by Tan France. Chef Antoni Porowski has a cookbook out this fall as well, Antoni in the Kitchen.

In mid-February, the finalists for the LA Times Book Prize were announced. I usually like this prize list a lot, and this year was no exception. The five finalists in current interest – The Line Becomes a River, Bad Blood, The Fifth Risk, Becoming, and The Library Book – are all some of my favorite titles from 2018. Also notable, Book Riot favorite Terry Tempest Williams will be getting a lifetime achievement award. The winners will be announced on April 12 before the start of the LA Times Festival of Books.

Michelle Obama continues to be too good for the rest of us. While in Houston, she met with 20 women of the HTX Book and Brunch book club and visited students at a Houston high school where she handed out copies of her book. She’s also penned a letter to readers over at Goodreads where she talked about her writing process and the wonder of book clubs with friends.

Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, is writing a new cookbook called What To Cook. No news on a date – in the announcement Nosrat said she’s a “painfully slow writer” – but it’s still exciting news!

Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City, revealed the cover of her upcoming book, The Ghosts of Eden Park. The book is about “the Bootleg King, the women who pursued him, and the murder that shocked Jazz-Age America.” Count me in.

Alice Marie Johnson, a 62-year-old woman freed from prison due to the advocacy of Kim Kardashian-West, is publishing a memoir. Johnson was jailed due to a nonviolent drug offense and, in 1997, was sentenced to life in prison. Last year, Kardashian-West advocated on her behalf and she was released. In the book, Johnson will write about how she got involved in the world of selling drugs, and what happened next. After Life is set to come out May 21.

Augusten Burroughs, author of Running With Scissors, is writing a new memoir. Toil & Trouble is all about how Burroughs is a witch, chronicling his “journey to understand himself, to reconcile the powers he can wield with things with which he is helpless.” Intriguing.

And that’s it’s for this week! You can find me on Twitter @kimthedork, on email at kim@riotnewmedia.com, and co-hosting the For Real podcast here at Book Riot. This week, Alice and I offered some recommendations for International Women’s Day, and celebrated our first podcast-iversary. Happy reading! – Kim

Unusual Suspects

Obama And Biden Return For Another Mystery

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 8, 2019

Hi mystery fans!

Sponsored by Hanover Square Press and The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara.

The Lady from the Black Lagoon uncovers the life and work of Milicent Patrick – one of Disney’s first female animators and the only woman to create one of Hollywood’s classic movie monsters—the Creature from the Black Lagoon. For someone who should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre there was little information about Milicent available. Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague, her career had been cut short and she soon after had disappeared from film history. The Lady from the Black Lagoon restores Patrick to her place in film history while calling out a Hollywood culture where little seems to have changed since.

From Book Riot And Around The Internet

Rincey and Katie recommend spy novels, list new releases, and talk about the history of mysteries/thrillers in the latest Read or Dead.

Read Harder: A Book Of Nonviolent True Crime

5 Books With Female Serial Killers

The Accidental Crime Novelist: Laura Lippman never meant to become a bestselling author. But when the former newspaper reporter began considering life as a private investigator, the stories began to flow.

Flynn Berry On Her True Crime Inspiration, Writing “Unlikeable” Women, And Why She Loves Thrillers

Crime Fiction Empathy and E.A. Aymar’s The Unrepentant

News And Adaptations

Exclusive preview: Obama and Biden return as action heroes in Hope Rides Again

Kumail Nanjiani has boarded the spy action comedy No Glory which Sam Bain is adapting from a yet to be published manuscript.

‘Agatha Raisin’ Returns For Third Season As SVOD Service Acorn TV Marks First Original Renewal

‘Sherlock Holmes 3’ Moved Back By A Year To Christmas 2021

Kindle Deals

If you’re looking to start at the beginning of a great procedural series Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall is $2.99! (Review)

If you like mysteries set at prep schools I loved All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth and it’s $1.99! (Review) (TW suicide/ domestic abuse/ rape)

Tess Gerritsen’s The Bone Garden, a past and present thriller, is $2.99!

And for historical mystery fans, and my purchase, Ovidia Yu’s The Frangipani Tree Mystery is $3.99!

Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. And here’s an Unusual Suspects Pinterest board.

Until next time, keep investigating! And in the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.

If a mystery fan forwarded this newsletter to you and you’d like your very own you can sign up here.

Giveaways

030819-MakeMeACity-Giveaway

Post author By Natalia Heroux
Post date March 8, 2019

We have 10 copies of Make Me a City by Jonathan Carr to give away to 10 Riot readers!

Here’s what it’s all about:

A propulsive debut of visionary scale, Make Me a City embroiders fact with fiction to tell the story of Chicago’s 19th century, tracing its rise from frontier settlement to industrial colossus. A variety of voices give life to Chicago: Jean Baptiste Pointe de Sable, the city founder; John Stephen Wright, bombastic speculator; and Antje Hunter, the first female reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Stories teem around them, and each claim the narrative in turns, sharing their grief as well as their delight. This is the story of the making of Chicago.

Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below!

Today In Books

(3/8)Dyslexia-Friendly Harry Potter Companion Books: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 8, 2019

Sponsored by our What’s Up in YA Giveaway of a $100 gift card to Amazon! Enter here.

The Harry Potter Franchise Aims To Be More Accessible

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are now available in the UK with dyslexia-friendly fonts and printed on paper that offers maximum contrast with reduced glare. The novels have been approved by the Royal National Institute of Blind People and there are plans in the works for similar treatment for all the books in the Harry Potter series. Here’s hoping making them available in other countries is top priority.

Native Son Trailer

We are in an amazing time filled with adaptations! Richard Wright’s 1940’s novel Native Son has gotten the adaptation treatment and will premiere on HBO on April 6th. Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks wrote the script, keeping the same characters navigating the city of Chicago but updated it for the 21st century. Check out the trailer here.

The First All-Women-Of-Color Production Of Richard II

You can catch a production of Richard II with a cast and crew of all women of color at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London. The play is co-directed by Lynette Linton and Adjoa Andoh and Andoh also stars as King Richard II. You can read the review here and hear about it on BBC Radio’s Woman’s Hour.

The Kids Are All Right

Cover Reveal: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of the Ages

Post author By Karina Glaser
Post date March 7, 2019

Hi Kid Lit friends!

I’m so excited to bring to you the cover reveal for The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages by Trenton Lee Stewart! This bestselling series has sold over three million copies worldwide, thrilling a generation of readers.

Sponsored by our What’s Up in YA Giveaway of a $100 gift card to Amazon! Enter here.

I had the opportunity to ask author Trenton Lee Stewart some questions. Check out our conversation below, but first, please take a moment to admire this beautiful cover!

Karina Yan Glaser: I just learned that The Mysterious Benedict Society series has sold over three million copies. When you started writing the first book, did you ever expect for it to take off the way it did?

Trenton Lee Stewart: I didn’t even know it would be published! At that point I’d published only short stories, was still seeking a publisher for my first novel for adults, and had never written for kids. I had hopes, of course, but I kept my expectations low. When I mailed the manuscript from a post office on a rainy day in June, I knew that was possibly the beginning of the end forThe Mysterious Benedict Society. You can imagine how fortunate I feel that things turned out otherwise.

KYG: Tell us about your newest book in the series, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages.

TLS: As this adventure kicks off, the Society members find themselves at a crossroads: Reynie Muldoon is being recruited by prestigious universities; George “Sticky” Washington has been offered the chance to run a famous lab; Kate Wetherall’s on track to become a top secret agent; and the brilliant young telepath Constance Contraire, in danger of being left behind, is predictably furious. Then disaster strikes: the notorious villains known as the Ten Men have mysteriously escaped from prison and are plotting to free the Society’s old nemesis – the world’s most dangerous genius, Ledroptha Curtain – from a high-security facility called the KEEP. Using their extraordinary talents, the four friends once again band together to save the day – and possibly the Society itself.

Like the previous adventures,this one features riddles, clues, and quirky conundrums that readers can attempt to solve alongside the Society. (And most important: the incorrigible Constance is still composing rude poetry.)

KYG: I cannot wait for the riddles! And the rude poetry! Before I get too off topic, let’s talk about the covers of this series. They are so fun and distinctive. Can you tell us about the cover art for this new book and what the scene depicts?

TLS: When the illustrious illustrator Carson Ellis got things rolling with the cover of the first book, she cleverly incorporated various elements from throughout the story into a single scene (shadowy figures spied through windows, chess-piece topiaries, etc). On each cover since then, the equally amazing Diana Sudyka has worked the same magic. In this case, we see the Society members a bit older than in previous installments, but still in typical form: Reynie the problem-solver (here depicted as the pilot) doing his best to chart their course; Kate the physical phenom bringing the bravado, looking boldly ahead; Sticky the human encylopedia frightened but determined as he clings to the wing; and the impossibly stubborn Constance seeming to defy even the laws of physics. The silhouette in the window will be familiar to fans of the series from previous covers, but here might refer specifically to a mysterious new character, known as the Listener, who jeopardizes the Society’s plans. There’s a new young character in the story as well – an irrepressible little boy named Tai Li, seen here with Reynie in the cockpit. Naturally, they have a sinister Ten Man on their tail, and Kate’s pet falcon Madge is dutifully along for the mission. The picture is symbolic rather than a depiction of any particular scene – but there really is a plane in the book, just as there was a bus in the last adventure, a ship in the one before that, and of course Mr. Benedict’s rambling old three-story house in the first.

KYG: Ooh, I can’t wait to read it and meet the newest character, which leads me to wonder, do you have a writing routine?

TLS: It’s pretty straightforward. Once my kids are off to school, I drink coffee and get to work. Sometimes I might appear to be only drinking coffee, but that’s an illusion. Totally an illusion. It might also appear, sometimes, that I am procrastinating. But appearances can be deceiving. I’m just going to leave it at that.

KYG: Hmm, that sounds very similar to my writing routine, only swap the coffee for tea. Now for the last (and most important) question: what is your favorite thing about writing for kids?

TLS: That’s easy: It lets me be a kid again myself (but without the scraped knees and cafeteria lunches.) I always daydreamed about going on adventures when I was young. Writing adventure novels for young readers now is a way of sharing those daydreams – and making them just a little more real. (In other words: It’s fun.)

Look for The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages in September 24, 2019! You can preorder it anywhere books are sold beginning tomorrow, Monday, March 11.

I would love to know what you are reading this week! Find me on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email me at karina@bookriot.com.

Until next time!
Karina

I’m writing this newsletter from Chicago, where I have just done author visits with a couple thousand students! I’m on my way home to New York City, and I can’t wait to get back to my family and pets. I did meet a super adorable cat on my travels, though. His name is Jefferson. Isn’t he amazing?

*If this e-mail was forwarded to you, follow this link to subscribe to “The Kids Are All Right” newsletter and other fabulous Book Riot newsletters for your own customized e-mail delivery. Thank you!*

What's Up in YA

🏀 Score Some Cheap YA Ebooks

Post author By Kelly Jensen
Post date March 7, 2019

Hey YA Readers!

Let’s March right into some excellent YA ebook deals and load ’em up for some reading Madness. (That’s how this works, right?). Prices as of Friday morning.

Marie Lu’s Batman: Nightwalker is $2. You can also score Leigh Bardugo’s take on Wonder Woman and Sarah J. Maas’s take on Cat Woman for $2 each.

I haven’t yet read The Wicker King by K. Ancrum but it sounds weird and great and has some excellent reviews. Snag it for $3.

Want a YA memoir? Pick up How Dare The Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana and Abigail Pesta for $2.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth can be yours for $2 and makes for great reading before you watch the adaptation.
Have you ever read a YA western? You should try Erin Bowman’s Vengeance Road for $3 and change that.
If you’d like to read a book about basketball that does better at sports talk than I do in this newsletter, Geoff Herbach’s Hooper is $2.
Geekerella by Ashley Poston is $2 and looks adorkable.

For women’s history month, pick up any of these amazing biographies by Catherine Reef: Queen Victoria, Florence Nightingale, and/or Mary Shelley.

Grab Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s thriller The Fixer for $1.
Matt de la Pena’s We Were Here is $2.

[Insert a REALLY cheesy line here about how no matter what books you choose, you’ll sink every shot you take by reading].

🏀🏀🏀

____________________

We’ll see you again on Monday!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Book Radar

The First Full Trailer for GOOD OMENS and More Book Radar!

Post author By Liberty Hardy
Post date March 7, 2019

Welcome to another Thursday! There are a lot of exciting things to share with you today. I have to do it fast, so I can cram in more reading, since we’re losing an hour of reading time this weekend. It’s my least favorite day of the year. I hope whatever you’re doing, you have a great rest of your week, and remember to be kind to yourself and others. – xoxo, Liberty

Amazon’s 87 Pop-Up Shops Will Be No More: Today In Books

Post author By Jamie Canaves
Post date March 7, 2019

Sponsored by our What’s Up in YA Giveaway of a $100 gift card to Amazon! Enter here.

Amazon Is Closing Its 87 Pop-Up Shops

The Amazon pop-up stores that had been located in grocery stores, Khol’s, and shopping malls–which usually sold Amazon devices such as Kindles–are closing by the end of next month. Its plans to continue with storefront bookstores continues.

New Tolkien Trailer

The biopic starring Nicholas Hoult as John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and Lily Collins as Edith Tolkien, his wife, has a new trailer you can see here. The film will be in theaters on May 10th.

Rachael Denhollander’s Upcoming Books

Rachael Denhollander–former gymnast, current lawyer, and the first public accuser of Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse–has an upcoming memoir and children’s book. In her memoir, What Is a Girl Worth?, Denhollander will discuss the devastating impact the abuse had, her path to finding the courage to speak publicly, and “illuminate the path to a better way forward.” In her children’s book, How Much Is a Little Girl Worth?, Denhollander will help children see their value so they can learn to develop confidence.