Hi Book Family!
As anticipated, February is here, and I know I’m not the only one who is excited. It feels like everyone I know had a chaotic January. This year is off to a weird start, y’all. Really hoping February is a little easier for all of us. I’m sending all the good vibes. Now let’s chat books.
Book Deals and Reveals
Paste has got the cover reveal for The Spirit Bares its Teeth, a new YA gothic horror novel from Andrew Joseph White. Guess what else? They’re throwing you a sneak peek of the first chapter. Check it out, then preorder it here.
Look at the beautiful cover of A.Y. Chao’s novel Shanghai Immortal. Hodderscape writes, “Get ready to meet Lady Jing, the sassy half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit.” This one’s out in North America on October 31st.
Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan has wrapped Netflix’s Indian adaptation of Japanese author Higashino Keigo’s bestselling 2005 novel The Devotion of Suspect X.
Nicole Kidman and PEN-15 co-creator Maya Erskine have signed on to star in a limited series adaptation of The Perfect Nanny, based on the 2016 novel by Leïla Slimani.
Sailor Moon is set to return later this year with two new film adaptations of the final arc in the Sailor Moon manga, Sailor Moon Cosmos.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is teaming with author Claudia Lux to adapt her book Sign Here as an Amazon series.
The American Library Association has announced the 2023 Carnegie Medal winners. Julie Otsuka’s The Swimmers took home the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Ed Yong’s An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us won the medal for nonfiction.
Here are the best LGBTQ+ YA and children’s books of 2022, according to the ALA’s Rainbow Round Table.
Read an excerpt of Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni, a bisexual Armenian-American romcom about falling in love with your wingwoman.
Read an excerpt from the queer young adult mystery Into the Light by Mark Oshiro, the author of Anger is a Gift.
Book Riot Recommends
Hi, welcome to everyone’s favorite segment of Book Radar called Book Riot Recommends. This is where I’ll talk to you about all the books I’m reading, the books I’m loving, and the books I can’t wait to read and love in the near future. I think you’re going to love them too!
Can’t Wait for This One
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Pantheon Books, May 2)
At the end of last year, I already shared that this novel is one of my most anticipated books of the year, but I think it’s about time we got into more details about Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel. Because I’m so so excited about this book, and I want you to be right there with me too.
CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment) is as popular as it is controversial. Most importantly, the project is a major profit-raiser for America’s private prison industry. In the program, prisoners compete as gladiators and fight each other in death-matches to win the ultimate prize: their freedom. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the program. They are teammates, lovers, and major fan favorites. Thurwar is just a few matches away from her freedom. But that fight to the finish comes with heavy consequences.
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s bestselling short story collection Friday Black was inventive, thought-provoking, and completely brutal. It’s a book that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, and I’m so excited to see what the author does with a full-length novel. I’m fully prepared to be devastated.
Gift Tailored Book Recommendations to your bookish boo this Valentine’s. Gift TBR today!
Words of Literary Wisdom
“To live in a city is to live the life that it was built for, to adapt to its schedule and rhythms, to move within the transit layout made for you during the morning and evening rush, winding through the crowds of fellow commuters. To live in a city is to consume its offerings. To eat at its restaurants. To drink at its bars. To shop at its stores. To pay its sales taxes. To give a dollar to its homeless.
To live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. To wake up. To go to work in the morning. It is also to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?”
— Severance by Ling Ma
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.
It’s February, which means it’s time for the 5th Annual Blackathon on BookTube. There’s sooo much fun stuff going on this month to go along with the readathon. There’s merch. There are daily reading sprints. There’s going to be a viewing of Black Panther. There’s a Blackathon Live Party. A 48-hour readathon will happen on Thursday Feb 9 – Saturday Feb 11th. And there will be a week-long Instagram challenge February 12 – 18th. Events are happening all month. Check it out! And big thanks to Bowties & Books for organizing.
And Here’s A Cat Picture!
So I know I’ve officially announced I’m in my Heartstopper era. Well, I’m not alone. Clearly, Remy is very into Heartstopper as well. He was such a good reading buddy while I was reading Vol. 4 earlier this week, and he even cuddled me when I cried!
Aaaand… that is all, Book Friends. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And a wonderful February! Sending all my love <3