Dear Book Friends,
I know it’s officially spring and that’s supposed to be exciting and all, but does anyone else just have really bad allergies? I feel like I’m writing you this message through a weird allergy haze, but if you’re there with me, welcome. Let’s take this journey together as I count down the days to fall. Sorry to all my spring/summer fans out there.
Let’s just talk about one thing we can all agree on. Books. Books are good. Here is the hot book gossip.
đź’™ Emily
Book Deals and Reveals
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There’s no such thing as too many Pride and Prejudice retellings! Here is the cover reveal for Nikki Payne’s multicultural retelling Pride and Protest. This one’s out from Berkeley in November.
HBO Max is developing a prequel series to the It film franchise. The working title is Welcome To Derry.
Doubleday has obtained the U.S. rights to Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety. The novel is slated for a September 27th release date.
Roxane Gay has announced the first three titles for her imprint Roxane Gay Books.
Lit Hub has the exclusive cover reveal for Talia Lakshmi Kolluri’s What We Fed to the Manticore, which will be published by Tin House this September.
And here’s the cover reveal for Bridget Farr’s new YA novel, The Truth About Everything. This book follows the story of “homeschooled” teenager Lark who is secretly attending high school, against the wishes of her conspiracy-theorist-Doomsday-prepping parents. This one is out on October 11th.
Nicole Kidman has shared the first look trailer of her Apple TV+ anthology series Roar, based on the short story collection by bestselling author Cecelia Ahern.
Tor Nightfire is publishing Johnny Compton’s Black Southern Gothic novel The Spite House. The book, which is being called The Others meets A Head Full of Ghosts, is scheduled to release in February 2023.
Tupac Shakur wrote a booklet of haikus when he was 11, and it’s now being auctioned, starting at $140,000.
Lualhati Bautista, a Manila-based Filipina writer, may become the first Filipina to be published by Penguin Classics.
Book Riot Recommends
I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!
Can’t Wait for This One
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore (Ace Books, September 6)
This debut novel has been on my personal TBR for what feels like ages, but since Paste revealed the cover last week and provided us with an excerpt of the upcoming novel, I figured it was probably time I shared The Witch and the Tsar with all of you. If you love the idea of a good retelling mixed with real-life history, I think you’ll be just as excited about this one as I am.
The Witch and the Tsar is a historical fantasy novel that retells the story of one of Slavic folklore’s most famous figures, the Baba Yaga. But of course, the woman of this story is more complicated than any witch you might have heard about in those old tales. Yaga is a half-goddess who is feared and shunned by mankind because of her powers. But when her old friend Tsarista Anastasia comes to her hut asking for help, Yaga must finally step out of the shadows of legend to protect the land she loves.
We follow Yaga’s journey to Moscow as she witnesses a country being torn apart as Tsar Ivan (Ivan the Terrible) grows more and more unstable. Meanwhile, the tsaritsa has been struck with a mysterious illness that no one can cure. Yaga longs to protect her country, but what she doesn’t know is that an angry goddess wishes to ruin Russia, and she is the one that is behind all of this destruction.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Words of Literary Wisdom
“Fear releases power. Man might be more tolerable, less fractious and smug, if he had more to fear. I do not mean fear of the intangible, the suffocation of the introvert, but physical fear, cold sweating fear for one’s life, fear of the unseen menacing beast, imminent, bristly, tusked and terrible, ravening for one’s own hot saline blood.”
— The Peregrine by J.A. Baker
What’s Up in the Book Community?
My iPhone is constantly telling me I spend too much time staring at my screen, which is honestly so rude. But this means I spend a lot of time scrolling around the online book community: BookTube, Bookstagram, BookTok, BookLinkedIn (JK. That’s not a thing… I don’t think). You get the idea. Don’t have the time, energy, or the will to do all of that yourself? No problem. I got you. In this weekly section of Book Radar, we’ll take a look at something cool, interesting, and/or newsy that’s going on in the book community.
As you’re probably aware, a whole movie was produced that was fully based on a Twitter thread. So if we can base movies off of tweets, why shouldn’t we also base our reading choices off of the tweets we enjoy? Since you’re reading this section of Book Radar because you love books and you’re curious about social media (probably), then I think you’ll love this post from Tracy Shapley Towley: Did You Like That Tweet? Then Read This Book.
What I’m Watching This Weekend
I feel like this needs no explanation. I guess we’re all watching Bridgerton this weekend, right? Unless you finished it already. If you’re watching, how do you feel about this season compared to season 1? Are you missing RegĂ©-Jean Page as much as I am? Feel free to reach out and let me know!
And Here’s A Cat Picture!
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It’s been a while since my shy calico girl Cersei was featured, so here she is! This is her favorite place to sit when she isn’t hiding. She loves the top of the couch.
Anyway, that is all for today, friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week, same time, same email inbox.
đź’™ Emily