John Legend Joins Zando with His Own Imprint, Get Lifted Books
John Legend is joining Zando as a publisher with his own imprint, Get Lifted Books. Zando’s other imprint partners include Lena Waithe and Gillian Flynn. Per Zando’s business model, John Legend and his team will be involved in the marketing and promoting of Get Lifted’s books. The imprint is expected to acquire and publish approximately four to six titles across fiction and nonfiction over the next three years. Their first book acquisition is Rosewater by Liv Little, a coming-of-age story about a queer, Black, working-class poet in London. The novel is set to publish in 2023. Get Lifted began as a film company, but Legend stresses that adapting books into film or TV is not the primary mission of Get Lifted Books. “We want the books to stand on their own as great books,” said Legend.
Mike Flanagan’s Fall of the House of Usher Adds 20 to the Cast
Mike Flanagan has announced 20 new cast members for his upcoming series Fall of the House of Usher. New cast members include Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Henry Thomas, T’Nia Miller, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Katie Parker, Michael Trucco, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Kyleigh Curran, Paola Nuñez, Aya Furukawa, Matt Biedel, Daniel Jun, Ruth Codd, Robert Longstreet, Annabeth Gish and Igby Rigney. The characters these actors will play have yet to be announced. The Fall of the House of Usher is being described as a modern retelling of the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. Frank Langella will lead the cast as Roderick Usher, the patriarch of the Usher dynasty. Mary McDonnell plays Roderick’s twin sister Madeline, Carl Lumbly plays investigator C. Auguste Dupin, and Mark Hamill also stars as a character who has yet to be named. The Fall of the House of Usher is Flanagan and Trevor Macy’s fifth series for Netflix under their Intrepid Pictures overall deal.
Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples Preview the Return of Saga
After their three-year hiatus, author Brian K. Vaughn and artist Fiona Staples are back with more Saga, and in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, the creators of Saga reveal details about the comic book’s long-awaited return. This is their first interview since announcing the end of their hiatus. Saga is a critically acclaimed epic space opera/fantasy comic book series that has won multiple awards, including 12 Eisner Awards and the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. Vaughn and Staples were reluctant to share too many plot details about Saga issue #55, which is coming out next month. But if you haven’t finished the Saga issues that are currently out, some spoilers for the series up to #54 are included in this interview—proceed with caution!
The New York Times Reveals Their 10 Best Books of 2021
Take a look at the top 10 books of 2021 as selected by the New York Times. Find out what they picked and how their list compares to other best of lists this year.