It’s Thursday again! Funny how that happens. I have had a delightful week, full of books and…well, books. But that’s all I want, so it works out! Speaking of books, it’s the Dewey’s Readathon again this weekend. I’ll be running their Litsy account – I hope you can join us. There’s still time to sign up! I have some fun stuff to share with you today. And I’ll be back on Monday with more great stuff to tell you. 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
Sponsored by A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson, published by Celadon Books.
Eighteen-year-old Stella stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him? Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?
Trivia question time! Who said, “I can’t explain inspiration. A writer is either compelled to write or not. And if I waited for inspiration I wouldn’t really be a writer.” (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, might be opening a bookstore.
Lupita Nyong’o has a children’s book coming in October!
The Goodman Theatre is adapting The Outsiders.
Umbrella Academy has been renewed for a second season by Netflix.
Danielle Brooks to star in Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Reese Witherspoon chose The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo as her next book club pick.
Steve Hamilton, Reed Farrel Coleman, and Meg Gardiner have joined Blackstone Publishing.
Paramount TV, Anonymous to adapt Susan Orlean’s The Library Book.
Minnesota Opera adapts St. Paul writer’s memoir The Song Poet.
Disney announces Shuri-centric animated special for Marvel Rising.
Sarah J. Maas announced House of Earth and Blood, coming January 2020.
Sneak Peeks
Here’s the new trailer for Avengers: Endgame.
And the first trailer for Joker with Joaquin Phoenix.
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! (It will now be books I loved on Mondays and books I’m excited to read on Thursdays. YAY, BOOKS!)
Excited to read:
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai (HarperCollins, September 3)
I love, love, love Lai’s middle grade novels Inside Out and Back Again and Listen, Slowly, so I cannot wait to see what she does for her YA debut! It’s about a brother and sister who are split apart during the Vietnam War – he is taken to America while she is left behind – and their reunion sixteen years later.
What I’m reading this week.
Gods of Jade and Shadow: A Novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Yes, again.)
And this is funny.
How lucky we are to be alive right now.
Trivia answer: Toni Morrison.
You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L