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Welcome to Thursday, book fiends! Is anyone dressing up for Halloween in quarantine? I had my costume all figured out last year, but the global pandemic had other plans. So I’m saving it for (hopefully) next year. But I bet it will still be fun for people to dress up, for Zoom meetings and stuff. (You could log in and then leave the room, and tell everyone you’re a ghost.) I am also a big fan of pet costumes at Halloween, although I am not a fan of bleeding to death, so I do not dress my cats up. I have to live vicariously through the people with calmer pets.
Now, it’s time for book talk, which is my favorite kind of talk! And remember that whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you love and hugs. Please be safe, and remember to wear a mask and wash your hands. And please be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™
Trivia question time! Which Russian dramatist wrote The Inspector General? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
Mudbound co-writer Virgil Williams will adapt S.A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland.
Here’s the first trailer for The White Tiger with Priyanka Chopra Jonas, based on the novel by Aravind Adiga.
Congratulations to Rioter Susie Dumond, who just announced the deal for her first book!
Undead Girl Gang author Lily Anderson announced her next YA novel.
Here’s the first trailer for The Midnight Sky, the new George Clooney vehicle adapted from Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel Good Morning, Midnight.
And here’s the first look at Batwoman‘s Javicia Leslie in the new suit.
Adam Sandler is set to star in Netflix’s adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař’s novel Spaceman of Bohemia. (I don’t know how I feel about this news, but I was happy to be reminded of this book, because I really enjoyed it.)
And speaking of Netflix, the new adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit by Walter is now available to stream.
The Impossible Fortress author Jason Rekulak has a new novel coming next year from Flatiron Books.
And in awards news, here’s the longlist for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, the 2020 British Fantasy Awards shortlist, and the 2020 Nommo Award winners.
Oscar Isaac is in talks to star in the Marvel series Moon Knight at Disney Plus.
Here’s the first look at Good Company, the upcoming novel by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney.
And here’s the first look at the true-crime-inspired horror novel Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman.
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:
Maxwell’s Demon by Steven Hall (Grove Press, April 6, 2021)
I am so excited about this book that I think I sprained something doing Muppet arms. I literally just found out about it about five minutes before I sat down to write this newsletter and HAD to tell you about it. Because it’s a new novel coming from the author of The Raw Shark Texts, which is such a good book. I cannot believe it came out 14 years ago!
Today is the first I have heard of it, so I know nothing about it, so let’s read the publisher description together, shall we?
“Thomas Quinn is having a hard time. A failed novelist, he’s stuck writing short stories and audio scripts for other people’s characters. His wife, Imogen, is working on a remote island halfway around the world, and talking to her over the webcam isn’t the same. The bills are piling up, the dirty dishes are stacking in the sink, and the whole world seems to be hurtling towards entropic collapse. Then he gets a voicemail from his father, who has been dead for seven years. Thomas’s relationship with Stanley Quinn—a world-famous writer and erstwhile absent father—was always shaky, not least because Stanley always seemed to prefer his enigmatic assistant and protégé Andrew Black to his own son. Yet after Black published his first book, Cupid’s Engine, which went on to sell over a million copies, he disappeared completely. Now strange things are happening to Thomas, and he can’t help but wonder if Black is tugging at the seams of his world behind the scenes. Absurdly brilliant, wildly entertaining, and utterly mind-bending, Maxwell’s Demon triumphantly excavates the ways we construct meaning in a world where chaotic collapse looms closer every day.”
What I’m reading this week.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch: A Novel by Rivka Galchen
A Master of Djinn: a novel by P. Djèlí Clark
The Souvenir Museum: Stories by Elizabeth McCracken
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto
Early Morning Riser: A novel by Katherine Heiny
Song stuck in my head:
Come and Get Your Love by Redbone (Did you see the book that came out this week?) (Also, I’m still really into listening to songs I loved when I was young. You can listen to a lot of them in this playlist I made!)
And this is funny:
“Boop.” “NO BOOP.” “Boop.” “CUT IT OUT.”
Happy things:
Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:
- Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
- Here are livestreams of animals. I particularly enjoy the bat one.
- And more cute animal pictures.
- Schitt’s Creek
- The Great Pottery Throw Down
- Disney Emoji Blitz!
And here’s a cat picture!
Adorable aliens in my office.
Trivia answer: Nikolai Gogol.
You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L