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It’s tiiiiiiiiiiiiime for book news! I hope you are all safe and well as we roll into the third week of 2021. The year is off to a bananapants start, so thank goodness we have books to help us get through it. I have a little book news for you today, including details about one of my favorite feminist Westerns, a look at one of my new favorite books, and also great round-ups of 2021 titles, a groan-worthy joke, a cat picture, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?
Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Sir Walter Scott is known for his historical novels about which country? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
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Heresy by Melissa Lenhardt is being made into a series.
Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page is currently favored to be the next James Bond.
Good Housekeeping has started a book club.
Ausma Zehanat Khan announced a new series.
Alyssa McClelland, the 6-year-old who published a book over the summer, is now 7 and writing more books.
R.O. Kwon published her annual list of books by women of color to read in the coming year.
Here’s Lit Hub’s most anticipated books of 2021.
Crime Reads published a list of the most anticipated crime books of 2021.
The Undoing star Noma Dumezweni has joined The Little Mermaid live-action cast in a brand-new role.
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!)
Loved, loved, loved:
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown and Company, March 2)
Fans of Patricia Highsmith, listen up! This is a deliciously nasty debut novel worthy of the comparison. Florence Darrow is misanthropic low-level publishing employee who dreams of being a famous writer. After things go south at her job, she is surprisingly offered a dream position. Maud Dixon—THE Maud Dixon—wants her to be her assistant.
Dixon isn’t just any author—years ago, she published a highly acclaimed bestselling novel, and readers have been clamoring for more from her ever since. ‘Maud Dixon’ is a pseudonym for Helen Wilcox, but no one actually knows that, except Helen’s editor. She’s kind of like Elena Ferrante, only not as prolific.
If Florence takes the position, she will have a chance to be the second keeper of a great secret and also study Helen in order to be a better writer. So she jumps at the chance, of course, and moves into Helen’s secluded home right away. Helen is hard at work on her second book, but things aren’t progressing the way she wants, so shortly after Florence’s arrival, she flies them to Morocco to do more research. But within a couple of days, there is a horrible car accident, and Florence wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what happened, and Helen has disappeared…
I loved this book! It moves at a whiplash pace, and it’s funny and suspenseful at the same time. Florence is a wonderful main character, because she is deeply flawed and makes terrible decisions, but you still want everything to turn out okay for her anyway. Think The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Devil Wears Prada. I can’t wait for everyone to read this!
(Content warning for mentions of infidelity, murder, physical violence, car accidents, and chemical use resulting in overdose.)
What I’m reading this week.
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Intimacies: A Novel by Katie Kitamura
Reel Bay: A Cinematic Essay by Jana Larson
The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel
A Shadow on the Lens by Sam Hurcom
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Pun (joke) of the week:
Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired.
And this is funny:
I am a sucker for a blooper reel. (Heads up, this video contains swear words and spoilers for The Good Place.)
Happy things:
Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:
- Psych: One of superpowers is watching shows a decade or two after they came out. For instance, I just started the first season of this show which premiered in 2006, and it is exactly the right kind of dumb that I need right now. Plus, I had no idea Timothy Omundson was in it! I love him and now I want to rewatch Galavant. (I SUPER BELIEVE IN YOU, TAD COOPER.)
- The Good Place: I rewatched the whole series last week and this hilarious, weird, heartsqueezing show was exactly the balm I needed for my soul.
- Jigsaw puzzles! Still on a HUGE puzzle kick. Several of you have asked how I do puzzles with destructive felines in the house, and the answer is: very carefully. I only do 500-piece puzzles, because I cannot leave them unattended or the cats will destroy them. So once I start a puzzle, I am committed to finishing it.
- Numberzilla. Still not tired of this game.
- Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
And here’s a cat picture!
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Where is Millay? A Hide-and-Seek Adventure.
Trivia answer: Scotland. (Related: Some of my trivia questions lately have been coming from The Great Literature Trivia Quiz Book: 500 Quiz Questions and Answers about Books by Book Riot contributor Sarah S. Davis!)
Remember that whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I am sending you love and hugs. Please be safe, and be mindful of others. It takes no effort to be kind. I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty