Author: Liberty Hardy

Happy Monday, star bits! I am soooooooo excited to hear the news about the new Redwall adaptation. Not because I’m a big Redwall fan—I’ve never actually read the books. (Don’t @ me.) No, it’s because it’s being developed by the creator of Over the Garden Wall, one of my very favorite shows of all time. I have seriously watched it at least 100 times since discovering it two years ago, and I plan to watch it at least another 100 this year. (And then I’m going to burgle your turts!)

Moving on: I have some exciting book news for you today and a look at an incredible upcoming gothic horror book and a bunch of cover reveals, plus a terrible joke, a cat picture, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What classic children’s book contains only 50 unique words? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Namina Forna’s YA fantasy novel The Gilded Ones is being made into a film. (I looooved this book.)

Here’s the cover reveal of Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora edited by Saraciea J. Fennell.

Netflix’s Redwall adaptation is being made by the creator of Over the Garden Wall (which is the greatest thing—watch it!)

Here’s the first look at Leila Slimani’s In the Country of Others.

Huda Fahmy has sold a graphic novel based on her life, called Huda F Are You.

Here’s the cover reveal of Mine by Delilah Dawson.

The first winner of The Novel Prize has been announced.

Here’s the cover reveal of This is Our Rainbow, an all-LGBTQ+ middle grade anthology edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby.

Dang it! I wasn’t interested in watching the Game of Thrones prequel until they added Rhys Ifans.

And speaking of GoT, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are developing the Richard Powers novel The Overstory for Netflix.

Here’s the cover reveal of Well Matched by Jen DeLuca.

Claire Danes will replace Keira Knightley as the star in the adaptation of Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent.

Diamond White will voice the lead role in Disney Channel’s animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

Here’s the cover reveal of A Soft Place to Land by Janae Marks.

Abby Jimenez’s The Happy Ever After Playlist is being made into a film.

Rebekah Weatherspoon has a YA romance novel on the way.

Lily Gladstone has joined the cast of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Latinx in Publishing is launching two fellowships.

Here are the the finalists for the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards.

Here’s a preview of the final season of Shrill.

Here’s the cover reveal of Witch Please (Fix-It Witches) by Ann Aguirre.

Jamie Chung and Oscar Wahlberg have joined the cast of Dexter.

Jessica Goodman’s They Wish They Were Us is being made into a 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: 

The Death of Jane Lawrence: A Novel by Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s Press, October 1)

This was so awesome! I was a big fan of The Luminous Dead, Starling’s super-claustrophobic space cave diving book, and let me tell you—this is nothing like it. Except that it’s also intense and amazing! It’s like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Mexican Gothic meets Crimson Peak.

Set in the early 20th century, it’s about Jane Lawrence, a young woman with a head for numbers who has decided that marriage is much like math—it is a problem to be solved. She makes a list of the eligible men in her town and decides that the handsome young doctor, Augustine Lawrence, is the best fit. So she proposes a marriage business arrangement, in which it is a marriage of convenience and she also works as his accountant.

There are definite sparks between Jane and Augustine, and she proves to be useful in a medical emergency as well, and so though he wants to say no (for reasons we are not aware of yet), he agrees to the marriage. But Augustine tells Jane he has one rule on which he will not budge: she can never spend a night with him at his family estate, and must instead live alone in the lodgings over his surgery. It is an odd request, but since this is an unconventional arrangement anyway, Jane agrees.

Buuuuuuuuuut this rule lasts for less than an hour once they are wed when, through a series of errors and accidents, Jane winds up Augustine’s derelict family estate, and she soon learns just why it is that Augustine doesn’t want her there.

This blood-soaked book was chilling from beginning to end, with great reveals and an intense romance, plus lots of ghosts, gore, and guts! I loved Jane and her no nonsense approach to everything that comes her way, even when it’s fantastical. And I loved the setting and the unique ghost tale. I would LOVE to see this adapted into a movie or limited series.

Heads up that this is super bloody! Content warnings for graphic descriptions of death, loss of a spouse, illness, body horror, gore, war, miscarriage, and violence.

What I’m reading this week.

Dead Dead Girls (A Harlem Renaissance Mystery) by Nekesa Afia  

The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin

Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton

The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn, Rosie Hedger (translator)

The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

When does a joke become a “dad joke?” When it becomes apparent.

And this is funny:

I never turn my camera on.

Happy things:

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

• Modern Family: I have watched the first episode now—I’m in.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Okay, so this is in no way a happy thing, but it’s just what I need playing in the background while I do jigsaw puzzles. I have now made it to the middle of season five and I am still into it. After watching so much Murder She Wrote recently, I’m enjoying the crimes coming to them, not just happening everywhere they go.
• Jigsaw puzzles! Yup, still puzzling.

• Numberzilla. Still not tired of this game.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

This is what happens when you fold them and put them away before they’re completely dry.

Trivia answer: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

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

Oh, hey, would you look at that—it’s Thursday again! That means it’s time to receive more bookish goodness in your inbox! I have traveled alllllllll the way to the last page of the Internet to find you some exciting adaptation news, cover reveals, and book talk. Plus I’ve included a picture of my little 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! Which writer had a well-publicized “Ten Rules of Writing” that included “Never open a book with weather” and “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip?” (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Oona Out of Order is getting the adaptation treatment.

Holly Black’s Curse Workers trilogy is being released in one special edition.

Here’s the cover reveal of Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.

Here’s the first look at Danny Trejo’s upcoming memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, And Hollywood.

Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty is going to be a series.

Andrea Beaty announced Aaron Slater, Illustrator.

Flight attendant’s first thriller is at the center of a bidding war.

Miramax has optioned a short story from Alice Munro.

Here’s a peek at the first chapter of Leigh Bardugo’s Rule of Wolves.

A Wizard of Oz remake is in the works.

Rob Delaney and Alice Eve have joined the adaptation of The Power.

HBO Max is creating a series based on Leslie Lehr’s memoir A Boob’s Life: How America’s Obsession Shaped Me—and You.

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 Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin (Little, Brown and Company, June 1)

In this upcoming debut novel, a Chinese American assassin is on a mission to find the men who kidnapped his wife and exact his revenge.

I love a Western, and I love a revenge story, but it’s really this endorsement from Jonathan Lethem that sold me on this book: ““In Tom Lin’s novel, the atmosphere of Cormac McCarthy’s West, or that of the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, gives way to the phantasmagorical shades of Ray Bradbury, Charles Finney’s The Circus of Dr. Lao, and Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love.” I mean. How can I resist? I can hear someone mention Geek Love from a mile away, like sharks sense blood in the water. Someone give me this book now, please and thank you.

What I’m reading this week.

Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton

The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn, Rosie Hedger (translator)

The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman 

Song stuck in my head:

Leave Me Alone by New Order. (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:

Very important koala information.

Happy things:

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

• Superstore. Mateo is my new favorite character crush. I’m almost finished all the seasons and I think I’ll watch Modern Family next.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Okay, so this is in no way a happy thing, but it’s just what I need playing in the background while I do jigsaw puzzles. I have now made it to the middle of season five and I am still into it. After watching so much Murder She Wrote recently, I’m enjoying the crimes coming to them, not just happening everywhere they go.
• Jigsaw puzzles! I have moved on to two-in-one puzzles, where you have to separate the pieces to make two entirely different puzzles.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

Chillin’.

Trivia answer: Elmore Leonard.

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

Oh, hey, it’s snowing again in Maine. Meet the new weather, same as the old weather. I don’t mind it, because it’s so pretty and I don’t have to go outside, so I can just sit inside with my books and look at it. Related: I have hit the pandemic wall. I cannot wait until we can all leave the house again and go wherever we want, so I have more exciting things to talk about besides the weather.

Moving on: Last week was so full of book news that it used up a lot of the supply, because there weren’t nearly as many this week. I guess every week can’t have a bazillion news stories. Still, I have a little exciting book news for you today and a look at an incredible upcoming horror book, plus a terrible joke, a cat picture, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Who is the protagonist of Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The Obamas are bringing three novel adaptations to Netflix, including Exit West with Riz Ahmed.

Samantha Irby has joined the writer’s room for the upcoming seasons of Sex and the City.

Here’s the first look at Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s upcoming novel, Velvet Was the Night.

Emma Stone is re-teaming with Yorgos Lanthimos for an adaptation of Poor Things by Alasdair Gray.

Here’s the first look at the adaptation of Alissa Nutting’s Made for Love with Cristin Milioti and Ray Romano.

Paramount is fighting with the Capote estate to remake Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Starz is making The Serpent Queen, a drama based on the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda.

The Brandy and Whitney Houston version of Cinderella is finally going to be streaming.

Fox is developing a one-hour CIA thriller based on Alma Katsu’s Red Widow.

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: 

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen (Harper Perennial, August 3)

Holy cats, this book knocked the top of my brain right off! I watched LaTanya McQueen discuss this novel in a Zoom meeting a few weeks ago and was immediately excited to read it, because it sounded fantastic. But it even exceeded my expectations!

When Mira is a teen, she and her friend, Jesse, decide to investigate the dilapidated ruins of a plantation in their town. The horrifying stories about the owners of the plantation and the people enslaved there have been passed down for generations. What Mira sees there, and what happens next, ends with Jesse being arrested for murder. Up until that time, Mira and Jesse and their friend, Celine, have been thick as thieves, growing up the poorest kids in town and bonding over their mutual struggles.

As soon as high school is over, Mira flees town. But now her former best friend, Celine, is asking Mira to return for her wedding—which is being held at the renovated plantation. Against her better judgement, Mira agrees to attend, partially in the hopes of reuniting with her first crush, Jesse, who she has also not seen since school ended. But the stories Mira’s mother told her about their own relatives being enslaved on the plantation are fresh in Mira’s mind, and when she begins to see things she can’t explain soon after arriving at the wedding, she knows that the rumors must be true. The horrors of history have come back—and people are going to have to pay.

This book is taut and intense and the pages just fly by! It is an important look at historic injustices, racism, the horrors of slavery, and accountability. I loved the complexities of the characters and how real the novel felt, even with the supernatural elements. And every few chapters is an “interstitial”, in the voices of the murdered enslaved people who haunt the plantation, that will break your heart. Make no mistake, this is a flat-out horror book, but one everyone should have to read, to remind us of all the people who suffered and the repeated attempts to erase our country’s past and the lives lost.

(CW include murder, physical violence, racism and racialized language, abuse, torture, sexual assault, and gore.)

What I’m reading this week.

Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman 

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock

The Brittanys by Brittany Ackerman

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

Why did the football coach go to the bank? To get his quarterback.

And this is funny:

I love animal humor the best of all.

Happy things:

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

• Superstore. Mateo is my new favorite character crush.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Okay, so this is in no way a happy thing, but it’s just what I need playing in the background while I do jigsaw puzzles. I have now made it to the middle of season five and I am still into it. After watching so much Murder She Wrote recently, I’m enjoying the crimes coming to them, not just happening everywhere they go.
• Jigsaw puzzles! I have moved on to two-in-one puzzles, where you have to separate the pieces to make two entirely different puzzles.

• Numberzilla. Still not tired of this game.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

They’re ganging up on me.

Trivia answer: Kvothe.

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

Happy Thursday, readers! I am writing to you from Maine, as usual, where we just received over a foot of snow. It has started to shift and slide off the roof, which is making the cats wild. They act as though it must be a giant mouse up there. (Maybe they know something I don’t.) Snow noises aside, it has been a quiet week. I have read a lot of good books and recorded a new episode of All the Books (which is coming up on its 300th episode.) These days, quiet is good—I will take it!

Today I have some exciting adaptation news, cover reveals, SO many awards, and book talk. Plus a picture of my little 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! Who wrote the Swallows and Amazons series? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Here’s the first trailer for Moxie with Amy Poehler.

Reese Witherspoon’s book club is now an app.

The 10 finalists for 2021 Evergreen Award have been announced.

Anna-Marie McLemore and Caleb Roehrig are the latest authors to be announced for the Remixed Classics series, joining Bethany M. Morrow and C.B. Lee.

Brandon Taylor announced his new book deal with Riverhead Books.

Here’s the first look at Stephen King’s upcoming novel Billy Summers.

A young adult edition of Michelle Obama’s Becoming is in the works.

An adaptation of Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks is in the works, and will be produced by and star Booboo Stewart.

Here’s the cover reveal of George M. Johnson’s next book We Are Not Broken.

Neve Campbell has joined the adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer.

Aravind Adiga’s Amnesty is being made into a film for Netflix.

Stephen Chbosky will direct the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen.

Eddie Izzard, Jo Joyner, and Andi Osho have joined the cast of the Harlan Coben Netflix drama Stay Close.

Here’s the cover reveal of As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter,

Here’s the trailer for season five of Queen Sugar.

LeVar Burton has been named the inaugural PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion.

Sonya Balmores has joined the cast of the new adaptation of Lois Duncan’s I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Here’s the cover reveal of June CL Tan’s Jade Fire Gold.

Jon M. Chu will direct the film adaptation of the Wicked musical, which is an adaptation of the novel by Gregory Maguire.

Here’s the cover reveal of The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel.

Zachary Levi will star in a live-action Harold and the Purple Crayon.

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 Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s Press, October 19)

I don’t know about you, but I was a big fan of Starling’s last book, the claustrophobic thriller The Luminous Dead. I didn’t even know she had a new book on the way, so imagine my excitement when I 1) saw the announcement 2) read that it was called “Ninth House meets Mexican Gothic” and 3) read Linden Lewis’s blurb: “Starling’s gothic horror is a tale that haunts you even after you’re done. The Death of Jane Lawrence is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell with sharp teeth and a Crimson Peak you’re scared to look in the eye.”

You’re already on board now too, right??! Well, wait, here’s more fun: The description makes it sound like a post-war England Gothic horror about a young woman who becomes engaged to a mysterious doctor. He’s dashing and wonderful, except he tells her never to visit him at his crumbling mansion. So you know she ends up at his doorstep, right? And it turns out, when he’s at home, he’s a completely different person. It’s got a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde/Bluebeard vibe going on. I want to read this right freaking now, please.

What I’m reading this week.

Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig 

Song stuck in my head:

Some Postman by The Presidents of the United States of America. (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 feel this, so hard.

Happy things:

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

• Superstore. Mostly I’m watching this now for Myrtle. I loved the Halloween episode where she chased the Grim Reaper through the store.
• Jigsaw puzzles! I have moved on to two-in-one puzzles, where you have to separate the pieces to make two entirely different puzzles.
• Numberzilla.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

Farrokh and Zevon, watching for the upcoming snowstorm. (Well, technically looking at me while I take their picture, but you know what I mean.)

Trivia answer: Arthur Ransome.

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

Holy cats, do I have a TON of fun book news for you today, readers! Which is fitting, because as I mentioned last week, tomorrow is a HUGE day for new releases. I don’t know if it’s the below-freezing temperatures here in Maine clearing out my brain fog or what, but I am feeling extra-excited about books lately. Like “make a big pile on the floor and roll around on them like a dog on the grass” excited. And I am leaning into this feeling—I freaking love books so much!

Moving on, I have a little book news for you today, including a look at the start of an awesome new YA Fantasy series and tons of book news, plus a terrible joke, a cat picture, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Which semi-historical novel was dramatized in an immensely popular TV miniseries that first aired in 1977 and went on to win nine Emmys? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Netflix is developing Min Jin Lee’s Free Food for Millionaires as an hour-long show.

Here’s the cover reveal for Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon. (Surely the title comes from this amazing song.)

A new Enola Holmes book is on the way.

Angie Kim announced her follow-up to Miracle Creek.

Amanda Gorman will be the first poet to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show. And Penguin has already ordered a million copies of her upcoming books.

The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag will now be an animated movie musical for Netflix, featuring original music by Haim.

Merriam-Webster added 520 new words to the dictionary.

Here’s the cover reveal of Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo.

Seth Rogen has a book of essays coming in May.

The legendary Cicely Tyson died just two days after the release of her memoir Just as I Am. Here’s a wonderful interview she gave about the book.

Tim Robbins has joined the adaptation of The Power by Naomi Alderman.

Talia Hibbert announced her next rom-com.

Ethan Hawke has joined the cast of the adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story The Black Phone.

Tian Richards will star in the Nancy Drew spinoff Tom Swift.

Here’s the cover reveal of A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow.

We may be getting an adaptation of Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis.

HBO Max acquired the rights to Lyla Lee’s upcoming YA novel I’ll Be The One.

Netflix’s Sandman cast has been revealed. The show will star Tom Sturridge and Gwendoline Christie.

There’s a dramatic reading with an all-star cast of All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson coming in February.

And HBO Max is reportedly developing an animated Game of Thrones series.

Noah Baumbach is adapting Don DeLillo’s White Noise for Netflix, starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig.

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: 

Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard (HarperTeen, May 4,)

Oooh, what royal stabby fun! This is an action-filled YA fantasy novel about a ragtag group of humans—mortal and immortal—who are trying to stop an evil Immortal from destroying their world, just because he can. You know, like for funsies.

There’s an assassin, a squire, an Immortal, and the secret daughter of a pirate and an Immortal. Together they must fight undead armies, monsters, to keep the pirate daughter’s evil uncle from opening a Spindle and turning their realm into a world of ashes. A Spindle is a kind of portal thingy to other worlds, some of them scary. So think Buffy when she kicks Angelus to Hell, except the Spindle is super skinny like a needle and seven feet tall, like the center of the Eye of Hauron. (So much epic nerdiness in one sentence!)

This is the first in a new series, but don’t worry, it wraps up nicely at the end while leaving readers clamoring for more. I loved the characters in this story, especially the assassin, and I also loved how there was so. much. action. And I also REALLY loved—this could be considered a minor plot spoiler so heads up—the epic reveal in the middle of the book. I literally jumped up and cheered because I hadn’t expected it!

(CW for scads and scads and scads of fighting and violence, bloodshed, and death, as well as animal death.)

What I’m reading this week.

Brat: An ’80s Story by Andrew McCarthy

Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig 

A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins

Groan-worthy joke of the week: 

What do you get from a pampered cow? Spoiled milk.

And this is funny:

It’s funny because it’s true.

Happy things:

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

• Superstore. Mostly I’m watching this now for Myrtle. I loved the Halloween episode where she chased the Grim Reaper through the store.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Okay, so this is in no way a happy thing, but it’s just what I need playing in the background while I do jigsaw puzzles. It’s interesting and easy to follow, but I don’t have to be looking at it every second. I am at the beginning of season three and so far, my pick for creepiest guest appearance goes to Chad Lowe. *shudders*
• Jigsaw puzzles! I have moved on to two-in-one puzzles, where you have to separate the pieces to make two entirely different puzzles.

• Numberzilla. Still not tired of this game.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

Faux hawk or dinosaur ridges?

Trivia answer: Roots by Alex Haley.

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

Happy Thursday, readers! I am getting super-excited in anticipation of next Tuesday, which is an ENORMOUS day for new releases. You’re going to flip your lid when you see all the excellent new titles! You may want to just take the whole week off now, as a precaution, so your brainpan doesn’t overheat.

In the meantime, it’s time to enjoy some exciting adaptation news, cover reveals, SO many awards, and book talk. Plus a picture of my little puzzle snatchers, 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! Who created the character of amateur detective Father Brown? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

HBO is developing an adaptation of Alex Marzano-Lesnevich’s memoir The Fact Of A Body.

Tarana Burke and Brené Brown have co-edited a book together and it’s coming in April.

Here’s the cover reveal for A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske. (I heart this book.)

Jodie Turner-Smith will star in the Witcher prequel: The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Alyssa Milano will star in the Netflix adaptation of Brazen Virtue by Nora Roberts—and Roberts doesn’t care if the haters won’t watch it.

Here’s the cover reveal for You Can Go Your Own Way by former Book Rioter Eric Smith!

Spotify is testing adding audiobooks, starting with classic novels.

And speaking of audiobooks, a star-studded cast will narrate Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain.

Joel Fry will join Sarah Snook in the most recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

A Great Gatsby television series is in the works.

Here are the 2020 Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award winners.

The American Library Association announced the 2021 Youth Media Awards.

The Mystery Writers of America announced the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations.

And the National Book Critics Circle announced its 30 finalists in six categories for the best books of 2020.

Amy Adams and A24 will develop Anna North’s novel Outlawed for television.

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: 

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith (Random House, July 6, 2021)

I was excited to read this book from the very first sentence of its description: “Part puzzle, part revenge tale, part ghost story, this kaleidoscopic novel set in Vietnam spins half a century of history and folklore into the story of a missing woman.” PUZZLES AND REVENGE AND GHOSTS, OH MY.

It’s set in three different years and each focuses on a different event: an incident at a rubber plantation, a two-headed cobra, and a missing American in Saigon. There is a young woman at the center of each of these stories and over the course of the book, their narratives become interlocked. Eeeeee, I am even more excited to read it just writing about it. Someone get me this book, stat!

What I’m reading this week.

A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen

Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living by Robert A. Jensen

Let’s Talk About Hard Things by Anna Sale

The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 

Song stuck in my head:

Halfway Home by TV on the Radio. (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:

Cats need to have Zoom meetings too.

Happy things:

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

• Superstore. I feel like I am running out of half-hour comedies that I can tolerate. This one isn’t too bad.
• Jigsaw puzzles! I have moved on to two-in-one puzzles, where you have to separate the pieces to make two entirely different puzzles.
• Numberzilla.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

These two sit like this when I do puzzles, just waiting for the moment I look away so they can eat the pieces.

Trivia answer: G.K. Chesterton.

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

Happy Monday, readers! I am writing this on Friday, and once I finish, I will be starting a big weekend of reading. I hope you have been able to read something wonderful recently. This was a pretty hard week here in Maine, so I want to take a moment to remind you that things won’t always be this way. I really believe that. So take a second and take a breath if you need one, and know that I am rooting for you.

“Ew, gross, Liberty, enough sappy stuff.” Okay, okay. Moving on, I have a little book news for you today, including a look at a delightfully funny and sad new novel, and tons of book news, plus a terrible pun, a cat picture, and trivia! Let’s get started, shall we?

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: The Fireman was a 1951 novella that was later expanded into what full-length novel? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Here’s the first look at Cloud Cuckoo Land, the new novel from Anthony Doerr since 2014’s All the Light We Cannot See.

Here’s more about Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet.

Netflix has renewed Bridgerton for a second season.

Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, has a new release date.

Brayden Harrington, the 13-year-old who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, has a book deal.

The Walter Dean Myers and Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards have been announced.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman will be an eight-part series on Netflix.

Here’s the first look at Getaway by Baby Teeth author Zoje Stage.

You can listen to the first chapter of The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah’s upcoming novel.

A 13-foot Book of the Dead scroll was unearthed by archeologists in an Egyptian queen’s tomb.

AMC will air the British limited series The Beast Must Die, based on the novel by Nicholas Blake.

A new Game of Thrones prequel is in the works at HBO.

Lesley Manville will star in the upcoming adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders for PBS Masterpiece and Britbox UK.

Brie Larson will star in the Apple TV+ series Lessons In Chemistry, which is based on the upcoming debut novel from author Bonnie Garmus.

And here’s the trailer for the tenth—yes, the tenth—season of The Walking Dead.

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: 

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin (Atria Books, July 6)

Gilda is a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian who often finds herself in awkward situations. She likes to live a quiet existence and she doesn’t like to put anyone out or make anyone feel bad. Because of this, she accidentally winds up working as a receptionist at a Catholic church, pretending to be interested in God and men, while secretly looking into the death of her predecessor, Grace.

She is also deathly afraid of dying (pun intended), and spends a lot of time wondering what happens after we are dead. As Gilda investigates the death of the previous receptionist while ruminating on her own mortal coil, her own life unravels more and more. She has a lot to unpack from a childhood spent with her repressive parents, and she has been neglecting her relationship with her girlfriend, choosing instead to spend time hiding in her apartment and posing as Grace in emails with Grace’s old friend. As all the events swirling around in her life come to a head, Gilda will have to face her fears and decide what makes life worth living.

This fantastic dramedy of errors gave me all the feels. It is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read (OMG the cast illustration—I cackled) and also one of the most sensitive and touching. I spent a lot of the book wondering how the author knew some of my innermost thoughts, and I have heard from other readers that they wondered the same thing, because Austin has done an incredible job giving anxious internal thoughts a voice. It was amazing to read a book that so perfectly captures anxiety and depression and its many manifestations. This book is a precious gem.

(Content warning for mentions of homophobia, mental illness, chemical abuse, suicide, self-harm, anxiety, murder, animal death, and a car accident.)

What I’m reading this week.

Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen 

Hola Papi!: How to Come Out to Your Boyfriend in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Lessons on Love, Race, and Sexuality by JP Brammer 

The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois: a Novel by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 

All’s Well by Mona Awad 

Pun of the week: 

Want to hear a joke about paper? Never mind—it’s tearable.

And this is funny:

This is my favorite of the “Bernie at the inauguration” memes.

Happy things:

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

• Palm Springs: Yep, I’m back to my latest movie obsession.
• Knights of Badassdom: Oh, yeah, and my old movie obsession too.
• Jigsaw puzzles! I have moved on to two-in-one puzzles, where you have to separate the pieces to make two entirely different puzzles.

• Numberzilla. Still not tired of this game.
• Purrli: This website makes the relaxing sounds of a cat purring.

And here’s a cat picture!

This is the cover image for the debut album from Millay and The Orange Monsters.

Trivia answer: Fahrenheit 451.

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