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Chris Evans Will Be Defending Jacob and More Book Radar!

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


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.


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!

ayesha at lastAmy 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

captain marvel posterGet 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 playerThe 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 codeSouthern 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 wolfBlack 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.