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Ash and Daniel are no strangers to feeling like outcasts. As someone who cycles through genders, it’s a struggle for Ash to feel in control of how people perceive them. Daniel’s been told he’s overly sensitive more times than he can count. As he and Ash join forces to save a rescue dog, things go from cute to complicated when they start catching feelings for each other—and Daniel thinks Ash is a girl. With so much on the line, they’ll have to decide to go against binaries and embrace the beauty of living in between or forever feel at war with themselves.
Happy Thursday, book friends! I hope all is well in your worlds, and that you have lots of great things to read. I am hurrying to finish this newsletter so I can get back to Ham Helsing: Vampire Hunter, which I’m pretty sure was written just for me. Do you read middle grade graphic novels? I highly recommend it. I’m a big fan of Zita the Spacegirl and Rutabega the Adventure Chef, and Bone, of course. I also loved Dungeon Critters, which I read recently.
Moving on to today’s newsletter and book talk: I have shiny news for you today, including adaptation deals, book cover reveals, and a look at a debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Plus I’ve included a picture of my upside down orange monster, some trivia, and more! I love writing these newsletters and I appreciate your support so much. Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I hope you good bob and we same place again very now. I’ll see you again on Thursday (because of the holiday). – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™
Trivia question time! Michelle Zauner, the author of Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, is also a member of what band? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Deals, Reals, and Squeals!
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Crying in H Mart will be a film, with author Michelle Zauner adapting her memoir and providing the soundtrack for the film via her music act Japanese Breakfast.
Here are the winners of the 2020 Nebula Awards.
Here are the finalists of the Good Sex Awards.
N.K. Jemisin will adapt her Broken Earth trilogy for Sony’s TriStar.
Emma van Straaten has won the inaugural Women’s Prize Trust Discoveries writing prize for Heartstring.
Bryan Fuller is directing a new adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine, just in time for the book’s 40th anniversary.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid is being adapted as a series for Hulu.
Here’s the cover reveal of Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak by Charlie Jane Anders, the sequel to Victories Greater Than Death.
Here’s the first look at You’ve Got Red On You, a book about the making of Shaun of the Dead.
Here’s the cover reveal of One True Loves by Elise Bryant.
Netflix has renewed Shadow and Bone for a second season.
Netflix has also just revealed new official photos for the second season of Locke & Key.
And speaking of Joe Hill, his short story Abraham’s Boys is being adapted into a film.
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:
Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (Flatiron Books, April 5, 2022)
This book has been on my radar for soooooo long and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. It’s a debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act, about a Chinese girl trying to find her place in the American West in the 1880s. You know how I love books set during that time period!
Daiyu was kidnapped from China and brought across the ocean to America, and she must now fight to survive and discover her true self as she traverses from “a calligraphy school, to a San Francisco brothel, to a shop tucked into the Idaho mountains.” I have heard nothing but incredible things about this book and Jenny Tinghui Zhang, and I hope galleys are available soon!
What I’m reading this week.
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Ham Helsing: Vampire Hunter by Rich Moyer
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi
Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Danticat
Things Are Against Us by Lucy Ellmann
Song stuck in my head:
Brighton by Swelo. A perfect song for summer drives. (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:
That’s one strong duck.
Happy things:
Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:
- Music! I’ve had to take a lot of car trips recently, which means I get to listen to music! It’s something I rarely do at home, because I cannot read while there is music playing. So I turn the stereo in my truck all the way up (yes, I’m that driver, I’m sorry) and rock out on the road. Here’s a playlist I made last summer that is once again all I want to listen to. (*Roger Daltrey voice* Meet the new playlist, same as the old playlist.)
- Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.
And here’s a cat picture!
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These cats have it real rough, I tell you what.
Trivia answer: Japanese Breakfast.
You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L