Author: Liberty Hardy

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Book Radar

Snow-tunes: Game of Thrones Is Headed for Broadway and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, book lovers. I hope you’re all having a decent week and have a lot of good things to read. I am hip-deep in the new 700-page Led Zeppelin biography, which makes me happy, and I also discovered a new season of Nailed It!, so it was like a bonus happy surprise! I also recently heard that there’s a new season of The Great Pottery Throw Down just around the corner. Hooray for gentle television!

Moving on to today’s newsletter: I have exciting adaptation news and book talk, plus I’ve included a picture of one of my ridiculous orange monsters, some trivia, and more! 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 Monday. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™

Trivia question time! In The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, what costume is worn by the enigmatic figure that offers Aiden advice and guidance? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The full Shadow and Bone trailer has dropped.

Tiffany D. Jackson announced her new YA novel, White Smoke, which is releasing in September.

Randall Park will make his directorial debut with an adaptation of Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel Shortcomings.

Game of Thrones is headed to Broadway.

The International Booker Prize has announced its 2021 longlist.

Ken Follett’s The Evening And The Morning is being developed as a show.

Here’s the first trailer for The Irregulars on Netflix.

Amanda Seyfried is replacing Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Holmes in the limited Hulu series.

Of Women and Salt is the GMA April 2021 Book Club pick.

Here’s the cover reveal of Dragonblood Ring by Amparo Ortiz.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is going to be a Hulu series.

American Gods has been canceled after three seasons, but it may return as a TV movie.

Here’s the cover reveal of Dear Diaspora (The Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry) by Susan Nguyen.

The adaptation of Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class from Lee Daniels and Karen Gist has been ordered to series.

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: 

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, September 7)

I am really excited about this sequel, but also mentioning it here to bring your attention to the first book. Because it’s so much fun and I think more people need to know about it! The first book is called The Inheritance Games and it’s available now. It’s about a high school student named Avery Grambs, who doesn’t foresee anything remarkable happening in her future—and then she finds out that billionaire Tobias Hawthorne has died and left her his fortune. And Avery is like “Tobias who? Inheritance what now?”

Because, you see, Avery has never met Tobias Hawthorne, so she has no idea why he’d leave her everything. HIs family has never heard of Avery, and they are Not Pleased™ that the fortune they assumed was theirs is going to a stranger. And there’s a catch (there’s always a catch): Avery must move into the Hawthorne mansion with the Hawthorne family in order to collect the money. Avery agrees to this, because billions, but the Hawthorne family sees this as an opportunity to solve Avery like she’s a puzzle. They think that maybe she’s just another puzzle that game-loving Tobias Hawthorne has left for them to solve.

This book is a delight! If you love The Westing Game, like I do (but not as much as I do, because no one else can love it that much, I will fight you) then The Inheritance Games is a perfect read for you, and you should marl this second one down now.

What I’m reading this week.

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

Because of You by Dawn French

Moon and the Mars by Kia Corthron

Song stuck in my head:

Song for Zola by Phosphorescent. This was the last song of the very last episode of Superstore. Goodbye, Superstore. You were only funny once in a while, but you had a great soundtrack. (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:

I laughed at this for a long time.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • Nailed It! The fifth season of this baking competition show is up on Netflix now and I can feel my blood pressure dropping just writing about it.
  • Star vs. the Forces of Evil: My love of all things Alan Tudyk right now has led me to another rewatch of this fabulous cartoon.
  • 3rd Rock from the Sun: This show is dumb and certainly problematic at times, like most old shows, but it is just the right of mindless silly my brain needs right now. I’m not big on reality these days. And everyone in it is fantastic. It’s streaming for free on Peacock. Also, I still want Harry’s coat.
  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

Same, tbh.

Trivia answer: A plague doctor.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, readers! It’s been beautiful here in Maine (for the most part) the last few days. It’s nice to sit inside and read a book by the open window while listening to all the birds make noises at our feeders. They’re probably saying terrible things to one another and calling each other awful names, but, hey, it sounds pretty!

Moving on to books: I’m looking forward to a lot of today’s new releases and I hope that very soon I’ll be able to get my hands on Girlhood by Melissa Febos, All You Knead Is Love by Tanya Guerrero, and Empire of Ants: The Hidden World and Extraordinary Lives of Earth’s Tiny Conquerors by Susanne Foitzik and Olaf Fritsche. (There are actually a surprising number of nature books coming out from big publishers today, including The Nation of Plants, Rescuing the Planet, A World on the Wing, The Bedside Book of Birds, A Most Remarkable Creature, and Second Nature.)

And speaking of today’s great books, for this week’s episode of All the Books! Patricia and I discussed some of the wonderful books that we’ve read, such as The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, Of Women and Salt, Black Girl, Call Home, and more.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:

Libertie: A Novel by Kaitlyn Greenidge

I was a big fan of Greenidge’s debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, so I was over the moon when I was able to read her new one! Set during the American Civil War, it’s about a young Black woman named Libertie. Libertie and her mother live in Brooklyn, where her mother is a doctor. Because her mother is light-skinned, she is able to pass as white, and she has high hopes that Libertie will follow in her footsteps as a doctor. But because Libertie’s skin is darker than he mother’s, she is subject to the racism of the times. And Libertie isn’t sure she actually wants to be a doctor, even though she is going to school for it. So when she meets a charming man from Haiti who tells her she would be free to live her life as she wants and as his equal if she marries him and moves back to his country, she accepts his offer. But Libertie quickly learns that life for a Black woman in Haiti is still a life of subservience. This is a wonderful novel about a young Black woman trying to find herself and freedom in a world that opposes her at every turn. And it was inspired in part by the life of one of the first Black women doctors in the United States.

Backlist bump: We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

Abdurraqib is one of today’s most incredible nonfiction writers. He’s previously released collections of essays about music and pop culture as well as a National Book Award-nominated book on a Tribe Called Quest. Now, in A Little Devil in America, he covers Black performances in America through history, such as Josephine Baker and Merry Clayton. Each performance is thoroughly examined, and its impact and significance at the time is explained. It’s a fascinating, important look at parts of history that often go unremarked. And as with all his work, Abdurraqib elegantly explains why these works resonate with him personally. I could read a million more of his essays. Abdurraqib is my new ‘automatic buy’ author, and I hope he becomes yours, too.

Backlist bump: Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib

North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest for the Truth Behind the Bard’s Work by Michael Blanding

I want to say up front that I have not read much Shakespeare and I don’t have a favorite dog in the ‘Shakespeare didn’t actually write his plays’ fight, but I do love reading about it! Over the centuries, a few people have been credited with his work, most famously Christopher Marlowe. This book is a look at self-taught Shakespearean scholar Dennis McCarthy and his 15-year quest to prove that Shakespeare’s works were actually written by Sir Thomas North, an Elizabethan courtier. Using technology, McCarthy claims to have found links between Will’s plays and North’s unpublished works that he says proves the bard is a fraud. Blanding presents the story in a way that lets readers decide for themselves, and whether or not you decide it’s true, the book is an epic nerdpurr about one of history’s longest-running literary mysteries.

Backlist bump: Banvard’s Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn’t Change the World by Paul Collins (This is one of my favorite nonfiction books, and includes a chapter about a Shakespeare denier, as well as many other fascinating people.)

Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. – XO, Liberty

Categories
Book Radar

Oprah Winfrey Will Interview Poet Amanda Gorman and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? I spent mine—wait for it—reading books. I have reached a point in my life where I am suddenly panicking about how many unread books I have in my house. My unread physical book numbers have gone waaaaaay up since most of my work reading became electronic. I used to get a lot of physical galleys but since the pandemic, I get PDFs almost exclusively. So the only physical books coming into the house now are I buy books that I want to read, but I never seem to get to them. So this weekend I have decided I am going to dedicate one day a week just to backlist to try and tackle this Cadillac problem. I love a reading challenge!

Moving on: I have some exciting book news for you today and a look at a wonderful witchy book, plus cover reveals, a terrible pun, my kitty queen, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What dish is served on New Year’s Day at a buffet at Una and Geoffrey Alconbury’s house in Bridget Jones’s Diary? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Oprah Winfrey to interview The Hill We Climb poet Amanda Gorman on Apple TV Plus.

For the first time, a new edition of Lord of the Rings will include J.R.R. Tolkien’s own art.

Congratulations to Rioter Adiba Jaigirdar, who has not one but TWO upcoming books!

Here’s the cover reveal of Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Alexander.

David Duchovny will star in the series adaptation of his Truly Like Lightning book.

Here are the six writers on the Dylan Thomas prize shortlist.

Nnamdi Asomugha, Jessica Chastain, and Eddie Redmayne will star in the adaptation of The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber.

Here’s the cover reveal of City of Illusion by Victoria Ying.

Matthew McGough’s book The Lazarus Files: A Cold Case Investigation is being adapted for television.

The #DVPit founder has launched a nonprofit to better serve diverse authors and illustrators.

in the dream house

Carmen Maria Machado has won the £30,000 Rathbones Folio Prize for In the Dream House.

Here’s the cover reveal of Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain.

Here are the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award winners.

Alexander Siddig has joined the cast of Apple’s Shantaram.

Christopher Gorham has joined Netflix’s adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer.

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: 

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom (Tor Nightfire, September 14)

If I had to do an elevator pitch for this book, I would call it The Witch movie meets Carrie. Abitha is a young woman in Connecticut in 1666, where she was sent my her parents to marry a farmer. She and her husband, Edward, live on the farm and attend church with their Puritan neighbors, and not much else.

At the beginning of the book their goat, Samson, goes missing, and it turns out it has something to do with the reanimation of—Church Lady voice—Satan. That’s right, the wilderness demons have brought Satan back to life (you’ll later find out what happened to him the first time around), although he’s having an identity crisis. Could he really be the bad creature everyone tells him he is?

Meanwhile, Edward’s horrible brother Wallace has lost Edward and Abitha’s farm in a bet. They were renting to own and only had one payment left, but now their dreams are shattered. And then, Edward dies. But not before the town elders rule in favor of Abitha and Edward keeping their land, which enrages his brother.

Wallace sees Edward’s death as a chance to take his land back, but Abitha is not as easily bossed around as the other women in the village, nor is she afraid of speaking her mind. While Wallace threatens to do everything he can to get his land back from Abitha, and the people of the village are starting to gossip about what kind of woman would live alone with a cat (SPOILER: It rhymes with pitch), Abitha’s busy making an ally of a cloven-footed gentleman she met in the woods named Slewfoot. And she’s not going down without a fight.

I thought this book was great fun! I loved how Abitha refused to back down, standing up for herself and doing the right thing, even in the face of the threat of the stockades and imprisonment. I also loved how Slewfoot was not behaving like the bad guy that everyone says he should be. It’s wild to think how people were so scared all the time in Colonial New England, and how they also turned on each other so quickly. And the ending is one long action-packed revenge scene, à la Carrie.

(CW for murder, gore, violence, fire, animal death, religious abuse, and misogyny)

What I’m reading this week.

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

Because of You by Dawn French

Chouette by Claire Oshetsky

Moon and the Mars by Kia Corthron

Aquarium by Yaara Shehori, Todd Hasak-Lowy (translator)

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

Why do seagulls fly over the ocean? Because if they flew over the bay, we’d call them bagels.

And this is funny:

You have to love a sassy bird.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • 3rd Rock from the Sun: This show is dumb and certainly problematic at times, like most old shows, but it is just the right of mindless silly my brain needs right now. I’m not big on reality these days. And everyone in it is fantastic. It’s streaming for free on Peacock. Also, I still want Harry’s coat.
  • Gravity Falls: Okay, but seriously, have you watched this show? It’s my favorite cartoon. Yes, I just rewatched it three weeks ago. Yes, it has been many times. No, I’m not sorry. I also made a playlist with 64 versions of the theme song.
  • Star vs. the Forces of Evil: My love of all things Alan Tudyk right now has led me to another rewatch of this fabulous cartoon.
  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

Zevon tilts his head when he’s thinking, as if putting his brain up on its side helps him. In this photo, he’s trying to decide if he should investigate my dinner.

Trivia answer: Turkey curry.

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

Categories
Book Radar

A New Book by Douglas Adams and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, book lovers. I hope you are doing as well as can be expected. It has been an extra-difficult couple of weeks, and I am sending love to everyone out there who needs it. Be kind to yourself, and reach out to friends and family if you need help. It seems like I have to say this all the time now, and it breaks my heart.

So I’m going to talk about happier things now: I have exciting adaptation news and book talk. Plus I’ve included a picture of one of my ridiculous orange monsters, some trivia, and more! 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 Monday. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™

Trivia question time! Who wrote Rip Van Winkle? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Hulu is making a TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy.

Independent Bookstore Day will be on April 24th this month.

A book of unseen writing by Douglas Adams is being crowdfunded.

And Alex Segura, Elizabeth Little and David Hahn’s crimefighter comic, The Dusk, is being Kickstarted.

Ijeoma Oluo announced Be a Revolution, her upcoming book.

The 2021 Windham-Campbell prize winners have been announced.

Here are the the 2021 Audie Award winners.

Susan Orlean’s next book is going to be On Animals.

Nicole Lesperance revealed the cover of The Dream Spies, the sequel to The Nightmare Thief.

Surrender Your Sons author Adam Sass announced a new book.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Red Palace by June Hur.

Author Julie Berry has bought an independent bookstore.

Seven more actors have joined the second season of The Witcher.

Zac Efron and Russell Crowe are set to star in the adaptation of The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A True Story of Friendship Stronger Than War.

Made for Love, the adaptation of Alissa Nutting’s novel, will premiere on HBO Max in April.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams by Mindy Thompson.

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: 

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu (Avon, November 2)

I am a big fan of stories where the main character has to work in their family’s restaurant. (See Death by Dumpling and A Deadly Inside Scoop.) So I was totally on board when I read about this upcoming romantic comedy! It’s about Jasmine Tran, who returns home to work in her parents’ donut shop when times get tough. Although it isn’t her idea of a fulfilling life, things get more interesting when her college crush, Alex Lai, shows up on the scene. He’s everything she thought she wanted and the husband material her parents want for her, but when Alex reveals himself to not be the ideal boyfriend Jasmine thought he was, can she figure out a way to get out of her obligations without hurting anyone’s feelings? This is being compared to the show Kim’s Convenience, which is finishing up this season, so it might be nice to have this on deck. And a donut. Mmmmm…donut.

What I’m reading this week.

Chouette by Claire Oshetsky

Moon and the Mars by Kia Corthron

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen 

Aquarium by Yaara Shehori, Todd Hasak-Lowy (translator)

All of Us Villains by Christine Lynn Herman & Amanda Foody

Song stuck in my head:

Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung. This was one of my favorite songs when I was young. And I sang the chorus as “dance all day” every time, even though the correct words were right there in the title. Ah, youth. (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:

Poor doggo lolololol.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

And here’s a cat picture!

This is what happens when you fold them and put them in the drawer while they’re still damp.

Trivia answer: Washington Irving.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

It’s Tuesday—time to party! And by party, I mean talk about new books. Not that I need it to be Tuesday to do that, but today is like a weekly holiday, because of all the new releases. And it’s also like a holiday, because think of all the authors having book birthdays each week! HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I’m looking forward to a lot of today’s new releases and I hope that very soon I’ll be able to get my hands on Red Island House by Andrea Lee, Renegade Flight by Andrea Tang, and Bruised by Tanya Boteju.

And speaking of today’s great books, for this week’s episode of All the Books! Patricia and I discussed some of the wonderful books that we’ve read, such as Lost in the Never Woods, Mixed Plate, and The Ladies of the Secret Circus, and more.

And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:

Red Widow by Alma Katsu 

Many of you are familiar with Katsu and her supernatural/horror novels, but this new book is subject Katsu is intimately familiar with: national security. Katsu has been an intelligence officer for over 30 years, and she has channeled her expertise into an exhilarating spy thriller! Red Widow is about two CIA agents working in the Russian division to stop a threat to national security that is coming from inside the agency. Agents Lyndsey Duncan and Theresa Warner must work around the clock to ferret out the mole (ha, rodent puns) before more people lose their lives.

Backlist bump: Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

Delicates (Sheets) by Brenna Thummler

This is another one of those “I am mentioning the sequel’s release to draw your attention to the first book” recommendations. These are wonderful graphic novels written with middle grade readers, but perfect for anyone who wants a lovely haunting story. In Sheets, the first book, we meet Marjorie Glatt, a teenager trying to get through school and run her parents’ laundromat. While Marjorie deals with her daytime problems, at night the laundromat is visited by Wendell, the ghost of a young boy who is having a hard time adapting to the afterlife. It soon becomes apparent that these two are in need of each other’s friendship to help them get through the tough times. The second book, Delicates, is also wonderful and is about friends and fitting in. I highly recommend these books for both personal and classroom reading.

Backlist bump: Sheets by Brenna Thummler

The Unbroken by C. L. Clark

And last, but not least, this is an excellent new debut fantasy filled with action! Touraine was conscripted into her country’s army as a child ad raised to be the perfect soldier. But when her company is sent back to her homeland, she is contacted by Luca, who is looking for a traitor. Luca needs someone to help her rebel against her cruel uncle, who sits on the throne. Touraine is at first against Luca’s request, but things become more complicated when she becomes the princess’s lover. Can Touraine go against everything she’s been trained to do—and even if she can, will it be enough to lead a rebellion? This is a taut novel of revolution and responsibility, filled with hard choices and heart!

Backlist bump: The Tiger’s Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera

Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. – XO, Liberty

Categories
Book Radar

Dolly Parton To Star in Her Own Comic and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday, readers! I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. Let’s see, what have I been doing lately? Oh yes! I am all caught up on Resident Alien, which I have been enjoying very much. And my orange monsters went for their yearly checkup on Friday and the vet said they need to go on a diet, so I am preparing for them to be extra-annoying about food. They’re just so cute, how can I not give them a million treats???

Moving on: I have some exciting book news for you today and a look at an exciting space western adventure, plus cover reveals, a terrible pun, my kitty queen, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What is the name of the thousand-year-old secret society depicted in The Da Vinci Code? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover will be a Disney+ series.

Phoebe Robinson shared the cover of her upcoming book Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes.

A Spanish language spinoff of Bird Box is in the works at Netflix.

Dolly Parton will star in her own comic book.

Let the Right One In will now also be a television series.

Here’s the cover reveal of Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo.

Justified‘s Raylan Givens may be back in another series.

Here’s the cover reveal of The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu.

Matthew McConaughey is returning for the sequel series to A Time For Mercy.

HBO is once again developing three more Game of Thrones spinoffs.

Here are the new series tie-in covers for Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone series.

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: 

Ten Low by Stark Holborn (Titan Books, June 1)

Holy cats, was this book fun! The blurb promised “Dune meets Firefly” and it did not disappoint. I would even add “with a side of Mad Max” to that comparison. Bottom line: It’s an epic nerdpurr.

Ten Low about an ex-army medic named, well, Ten Low, who lives on one of the desert wasteland planets at the edge of the universe after fighting in an interstellar war years ago. She travels alone and keeps to herself, but then a spaceship falls from the sky and crashes right in front of her.

The survivor of the wreckage is a 13-year-old girl with markings that Ten recognizes immediately: this is a child soldier, modified and trained to be a deadly weapon by the side Ten fought against in the war. The child is Gabriella Ortiz, a decorated general, and she’s ready to fight Ten, even though she’s lost and injured. But Ten strikes a deal with her, because she’s still a child and Ten is a medic: Ten will help her find the military base she was looking for before the crash in return for medical supplies.

But it’s not long, minutes really, before they’re being chased by deadly scavengers, and things just get worse from there. The General’s rendezvous point turns out to be an assassination attempt—the army is ready to decommission its child soldiers. Now the duo is on the run from the army and scavengers, and they will make a few more enemies along the way before the book is over, when the secrets Ten is hiding also come to light. Will they ever find a place they feel safe again?

I LOVED THIS BOOK. The action is nonstop and lots of fun, with many gunfights and cruiser chases, and there’s lots of dirty dealings and double-crossings. It’s a futuristic Wild West! I also loved the General. Just because Ten is helping her doesn’t mean she has to like her, and she’s a surly a-hole to Ten the whole book, which I found funny, too. I love a reluctant partner-road trip story. (Which is why Midnight Run is one of my favorite movies. RIP Yaphet Kotto.)

(CW for crashes, fires, war PTSD, physical violence, murder, and mention of assault.)

What I’m reading this week.

The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry 

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

Matrix by Lauren Groff 

Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone

Girl Giant and the Jade War by Van Hoang

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

Did you know corduroy pillows are in style? They’re making headlines.

And this is funny:

Well, they’re not wrong.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

And here’s a cat picture!

Where’s Millay, lol?

Trivia answer: Priory Of Sion.

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

Categories
Book Radar

Teenage Agatha Christie Series in the Works and More Book Radar!

Good grief, how is it Thursday already?!? I hope you have been having a good week. Mine has been great, because on Tuesday’s podcast, I mentioned how Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead was the book I most wanted to read—and then Tuesday night it showed up in my Edelweiss account! THE UNIVERSE DELIVERED. I immediately sat down and read the whole thing, and it was GREAT. It reminded me a lot of the crime novels of Walter Mosley and of Deacon King Kong by James McBride. I can’t wait for more people to read it!

Moving on, I have exciting adaptation news and book talk. Plus I’ve included a picture of one of my ridiculous orange monsters, some trivia, and more! Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I hope you good bob and we same place again very now. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™

Trivia question time! What is the longest book of all time? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

you should see me in a crown

Author Leah Johnson, author of You Should See Me In a Crown, has signed a new book deal with Disney Hyperion.

An upcoming book chronicling the making of the hit musical In The Heights is in the works.

The 2021 Lambda Literary Award finalists have been announced.

Jeni’s Ice Cream is partnering with Dolly Parton to benefit Dolly’s Library.

Killing Eve will end with season four.

Here’s a sneak peek at the next novel by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal.

Tiffany Haddish is going to star in the adaptation of the Mystery Girl comic.

And here are the the finalists for the 56th annual Nebula Awards.

Oprah Winfrey chose Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series for her book club.

The Crown‘s Emma Corrin will star in a new take on Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy is being developed as a TV series.

Idris Elba is writing children’s books.

Tom Hiddleston has joined Claire Danes in the adaptation of Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent.

Tiffany D. Jackson shared the cover of her upcoming children’s book Santa in the City.

A television series is in the works about Agatha Christie’s teenage years.

Here’s the cover reveal of All the Feels by Olivia Dade.

And here’s the first look at The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green.

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: 

question mark

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra (Hogarth, Fall 2021)

Okay, I know so little about this book, you’re probably wondering “Why even mention it?” Because Anthony Marra’s last two books were SO GOOD. So here’s the scoop: I got a tweet from a PRH rep stating the title and that it’s coming in the fall. That’s it. There’s no Goodreads listing, no mention in a catalog, or any mention in a Google search that I can find, so don’t hold me to this info. Just get excited that it’s happening, and read A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories while you wait.

What I’m reading this week.

Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone

Girl Giant and the Jade War by Van Hoang

O Beautiful by Jung Yun

Stories to Tell: A Memoir by Richard Marx

The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb

Song stuck in my head:

Thumbs by Lucy Dacus. I saw her perform this song on St. Patrick’s Day in 2019. It was something she had just started working on, so it wasn’t available, and I have been obsessively checking Spotify for it ever since, because it’s so amazing. Such a gut punch. (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:

I totally feel this.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • My happy light: Because sometimes you need a little help. Every time I use it, I think of Walt on Northern Exposure. But seriously, I’ve had this light for almost six years, and it’s worth the money.
  • Disney Emoji Blitz: Ooops, I started playing this again. But I’m trying really hard to resist downloading the Funko Pop! Blitz.
  • Gravity Falls: Okay, but seriously, have you watched this show? It’s my favorite cartoon. Yes, I just rewatched it three weeks ago. Yes, it has been many times. No, I’m not sorry. I also made a playlist with 65 versions of the theme song.
  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

The cat tart overfloweth.

Trivia answer: Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus, published in the 17th century, at 13,095 pages.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L

Categories
New Books

Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Happy Tuesday, book lovers! I hope you have been able to quickly recalibrate after the time change. It doesn’t usually affect me, because what is sleep, lol, but my cats are all out of whack. Or maybe they just want me to think that and they’re secretly trying to trick me into double-feedings.

Moving on, today’s newsletter is a little different. I am bummed to say that I did not read and enjoy many of today’s new releases. That isn’t to say there aren’t a lot of great books out today—there absolutely will be!—just that I didn’t enjoy most of today’s releases I was able to get my hands on and read early. And the ones that I did enjoy, I already talked about on the podcast today. But there are certainly some releases today I can’t wait to read, like Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley and The Dating Plan by Sara Desai.

So today’s newsletter is a round-up of seven books that have already been released this year that I loved and thought they should be pointed out again. In the end, it’s all about getting great books into your hands so you can put them in your brains. Because all I want is to help you find books you’ll love! And I should be back to my regularly scheduled weekly new release recommendations next week.

But first, about those great new books coming out today that I did read: On this week’s episode of All the Books! Tirzah and I discussed some of the wonderful books that we’ve read, such as The Dating Plan, The Jigsaw Man, The Mirror Season, and more. And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow: AHHHHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants:

Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews

Florence Darrow is misanthropic low-level publishing employee who dreams of being a famous writer. After she is fired from her job, she is surprised to receive an offer to be Maud Dixon’s assistant. The reclusive author published a highly acclaimed bestselling novel and Florence would love to work by her side and learn from her. But ‘Maud Dixon’ is really Helen Wilcox, and only Helen’s editor and now Florence know that. Florence accepts the job and moves into Helen’s secluded home, where Helen is desperately trying to finish her second novel. Shortly after, Helen flies them to Morocco to do more research for her book. But then there is a horrible car accident, and Florence wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what happened, or where Helen is… I loved this book! It moves at a whiplash pace, and it’s funny and suspenseful at the same time.

We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen

Jamie and Zoe are strangers who recently awoke with no memory of who they are or how they got there. And oh yeah—they now have superpowers! Jamie uses his powers for evil, erasing people’s minds to pull what he considers victimless crimes: bank robberies. Zoe spends her days catching criminals instead. When something happens while they’re both at a support group for people with memory loss leads, they realize their fates are linked. Together, they seek the truth of their pasts and the origin of their powers, while becoming besties along the way. We Could Be Heroes is a refreshing take on superpower origin stories, full of adventure, laughs, and heart. I enjoyed reading a happy, kind hero story for a change.

The Low Desert: Gangster Stories by Tod Goldberg

Let me say up front: This is a dark, often violent collection, but it’s also a brilliant, compelling collection. I wouldn’t be telling you about it if it wasn’t incredible. Goldberg expands on the stories of characters from his Gangsterland novels to create taut, funny, unforgettable tales about family, crimes, and human connection. And don’t worry, you don’t have to have read the novels to read these stories. You just have to be ready to have your mind blown. This is perfect for fans of Donald Ray Pollock, William Boyle, and Harry Crews.

The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard

The Rib King takes place in two parts in the early 20th century. The first part is set in the prestigious home of a once-affluent white family. As the African American staff try to come up with ways to stretch what little they have to work with, there is fighting over recent changes to the staff. August Sitwell has worked for the Barclays since he was a young orphan, but his feelings about his employment and the world are starting to change. And the second section is set ten years later, after a horrific crime at the home, and follows one of the former maids, Jennie, as she attempts to grow her own beauty care business, but keeps finding her dealings overshadowed by her time at the home. I cannot decide which section I enjoyed more! It was such an exciting juxtaposition. The further I got in the second section, the more I saw the genius of the first as well. It’s such a powerful novel that I immediately read it again because I didn’t want to lose that feeling it gave my brain. 

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

This is a touching space opera romance! Prince Kiem is a wild child-turned-adult and an embarrassment to the royal family. So the Emperor decides to marry him off to the widower of a prince on the Empire’s newest vassal planet to keep the peace. Count Jainan doesn’t want to marry any more than Kiem, but they see it as their duty. But soon Kiem learns that Jainan’s husband’s death may not have been an accident. And despite the fact that feelings start to grow between them, Jainan is a suspect. Is Kiem putting himself in danger by marrying Jainan, or can he help him solve his previous husband’s death and save the empire? This is an exciting and tender book about responsibility, love, and grief.

Picnic In the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen

This book is like if the Coen Brothers wrote and directed episodes of Northern Exposure. It’s a crime novel about who owns the past. A young anthropologist who gets caught up a bungled theft, after she accidentally sees the priceless items. The inept thieves are a pair of esoteric brothers, well known to the local police. But their inability to carry out the job correctly means a cleaner has to come to town, and he’s ten times scarier than anyone else. This is a thrill but also one of the funniest books I have read in years. It has several intense chase scenes, fantastic dialogue, and a lot of smart discussion about who owns history.

We Shall Sing a Song into the Deep by Andrew Kelly Stewart

Remy is a Chorister aboard a nuclear submarine, one of many of an order of monks who have been circling the globe since the annihilation of the world above. The monks are in possession of the last nuclear missile and are waiting for a sign from God to launch it. But when the chaplain gives Remy the key to the missile before he dies, it’s because he no longer thinks they should launch it—and he only trusts Remy to keep it from happening. But the caplain’s power-mad replacement is hellbent on releasing the last bomb and ending everything, and even resorts to using Remy’s best friend as a pawn to try and get what he wants. Can Remy save what is left of the world and keep the key out the hands of the new caplain? I thought this was perfectly paced and it seemed entirely plausible.

Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. – XO, Liberty

Categories
Book Radar

Lily King’s WRITERS & LOVERS To Be Toni Collette’s Directing Debut and More Book Radar

Happy Monday, friends! I don’t know if it’s all the sunshine we’ve been getting or all the great upcoming books I have read lately, but I feel like my spirits are lifting a bit. Or maybe it’s all the amazing adaptation news that has been announced lately. There are so many books I love that are now going to be movies or television series. I need to clone myself just so I can watch them all! (Despite all the books and films in which cloning goes horribly wrong, I am still not sure I wouldn’t do it, lol.)

Moving on: I have some exciting book news for you today and a look at another book in a fantastic middle grade comic series, plus cover reveals, a terrible pun, my cat posse, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What is believed to be the first full-length novel ever written? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

writers & lovers

Toni Collette will make her feature directing debut with Writers & Lovers by Lily King.

Our very own Jenn Northington is hosting an Epic Reads YA fantasy panel next month, featuring Adam Silvera, Jessica Rubinkowski, Rena Barron, Brittany Cavallaro, and Maya Motayne!

Here’s the cover reveal of Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson.

Toni Morrison’s Song Of Solomon is getting the limited series treatment.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction has announced its 2021 longlist.

Here’s the cover reveal of A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria.

The City of Ghosts series by Victoria “V.E.” Schwab is going to be a television series.

Here’s the cover reveal of You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo.

In the Quick by Kate Hope Day—one of my favorite books of the year—has been chosen as a GMA Bookclub Buzz Pick.

Natalie Portman & Lupita Nyong’o will star in a series adaptation of Lady In The Lake by Laura Lippman.

Here’s the cover reveal of Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson.

Deesha Philyaw has won the 2020 Story Prize for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.

Indigenous actors Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins and Jillian Dion have joined the cast of Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon.

Dakota Fanning has joined Showtime’s Talented Mr. Ripley series.

FX is filming a limited series based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is In Trouble.

Nicole Kidman will star in an adaptation of Gordon Reece’s YA novel Mice.

Jesmyn Ward mentioned she is working on a YA novel.

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: 

Unicorn Famous: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure by Dana Simpson (Andrews McMeel Publishing, April 6)

Are you looking for something happy-making, thoughtful, and funny to read? Then you definitely need to read the Phoebe and Her Unicorn series! This series is one of the great delights of my life. It’s about a young girl named—you guessed it—Phoebe and a unicorn named Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. After meeting in the forest, the two become best friends. Marigold has a huge ego, but you would too if you were a beautiful unicorn with magical powers.

The two of them have adventures in Marigold’s field of expertise, such as magic and trolls, and in Phoebe’s middle school world, where she battles homework and trolls of another kind. I love their friendship and how they support one another. Marigold is hella-snarky, but her heart is huge and she is still always wise and supportive. And Phoebe learns valuable lessons about friendship and always being kind and being yourself. Plus the illustrations are adorable, and they book is often funny.

If you are new to the series, you can rejoice in knowing you have 12 volumes to read before this one comes out. And if you have already read the books, you can rejoice in knowing you have time to reread the first 12 volumes before this one comes out. That’s so much rejoicing across the land!

What I’m reading this week.

O Beautiful by Jung Yun

Stories to Tell: A Memoir by Richard Marx

The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb

Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori Lee

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory 

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

Shout out to my fingers. I can count on all of them.

And this is funny:

No one ever thinks of Mark.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

And here’s a cat picture!

Sometimes it feels like I have three hundred cats, not three. If I stop and think too much about three small sentient creatures moving about the house, making their own decisions about where to go and what to do, I get a little freaked out. 😂

Trivia answer: The Tale of Genji, written in 1008 by Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu.

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

Categories
Book Radar

Octavia E. Butler’s KINDRED To Be an FX Series and More Book Radar!

Happy Thursday, star bits! I wrote today’s newsletter while listening to the playlist I made of almost 70 different versions of the Gravity Falls theme and it was an excellent choice. It’s also an amazingly beautiful day here in Maine—I even have the window open! There is lots of sunshine and lots of bird noises, and supposedly it’s only going to get warmer as the week goes on. I’ll take it! Also, don’t forget we have to set our clocks an hour ahead this weekend. It’s my least-favorite day of the year, but I do enjoy more sunshine. (And who am I kidding, all the clocks change themselves now, amirite?)

Moving on, I have exciting adaptation news and book talk. Plus I’ve included a picture of one of my ridiculous orange monsters, some trivia, and more! Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, I hope you good bob and we same place again very now. – xoxo, Liberty, Your Friendly Neighborhood Velocireader™

Trivia question time! What famous older novel starts with a reader returning a defective book to a bookshop? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Octavia Butler is being inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. And speaking of Butler, FX is working on an adaptation of Kindred.

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman is getting a new Folio Society edition. You can also check out the new adaptation, which is streaming on Peacock.

Here’s the official teaser trailer for part two of Lupin on Netflix.

Zoraida Córdova announced her Marvel comics debut.

The Duffer Brothers of Stranger Things fame are adapting The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

The roller derby comic Slam! is in the works at HBO Max as an animated series.

Talia Hibbert is writing a YA romance novel.

A V.E. Schwab short story about vampires is being adapted into the series First Kill.

Here are the finalists for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Dominique Fishback will star alongside Samuel L. Jackson in Apple Studios’ adaptation of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley.

Here’s the first look at the Sandman/Locke & Key comic crossover.

The Burning Girls by C. J. Tudor is being adapted into a series.

And here’s the gorgeous cover for the new edition of Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

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: 

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim (Ecco, December 7)

I fully admit that it’s the gorgeous cover that made me stop and want to know more about this book. And it sounds excellent! It’s about the intertwined fates of a girl sold to a courtesan school and a penniless hunter, starting in occupied Korea in the early 20th century.

It starts with a Japanese officer being saved from a tiger by a hunter. Over the next decades, a young girl becomes a courtesan and meets an orphan boy who lives on the streets, and they become friends. Later, when she becomes a highly sought-after performer, she will have to decide if she wants to live a life of status or love.

After reading Pachinko, I have been interested in reading more novels about the Japanese occupation of Korea, and this one sounds incredible, so I cannot wait to get my hands on it!

What I’m reading this week.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori Lee

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Song stuck in my head:

The Breakup Song by The Greg Kihn Band. (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:

This seems like sound advice.

Happy things:

Here are a few things I enjoy that I thought you might like as well:

  • Gravity Falls: Okay, but seriously, have you watched this show? It’s my favorite cartoon. Yes, I just rewatched it three weeks ago. Yes, it has been many times. No, I’m not sorry. I also made a playlist with almost 70 versions of the theme song.
  • Joseph’s Chocolate Hommus: This is my favorite treat! It’s like eating brownie batter.
  • Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

Zevon: Clear eyes, empty head. ❤️

Trivia answer: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino.

You made it to the bottom! High five. Thanks for reading! – xo, L