Author: Liberty Hardy

Hello! It’s a lovely Thursday in February. I am reading the new David Mitchell (I KNOW, RIGHT?!?), and there are so many amazing upcoming books and book deals being announced every day. IT’S AN EPIC NERDPURR. Still wishing I could stop time and read everything, but what can you do?

I’ve also started season seven of Bones, which continues to remain mostly ridiculous (Vincent, oh em gee!) but it serves its purpose. People ask me, “How do you have time to watch things?” And the answer is: while I work! I do a lot of data input and catalog searches, related to books, so it’s fun to also have the television on to have a little entertainment going as well.

And my 365 Day Movie project update: I have watched Always Be My Maybe, Murder Mystery, Wine Country, Brave, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, The Other Guys, and Timmy Failure. 

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What two names did Dickens originally call Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol?(Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Netflix is making To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before available to people without a subscription, just ahead of the release of its sequel.

Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi is being made into a show.

Kendra James is writing a memoir about her experiences as a Black student at boarding school in New England.

Here’s a look at The Lying Life of Adults, the upcoming Elena Ferrante novel.

And Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut will be The Lost Daughter, an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel, starring Olivia Coleman.

Missy Elliott and John Mulaney will have roles in a new adaptation of Cinderella.

Here’s the first look at Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore.

EW has the first excerpt from To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Christopher Paolini’s sci-fi debut.

Sarah Blake, the author of Naamah, announced her next book.

Megan Rosenbloom shared the cover of her upcoming book about books bound in human skin. (That should have been an episode of Bones.)

And here’s the first look at the cover of Thoughts and Prayers, the fall release coming from Bryan Bliss.

And Epic Reads had an amazing thread of upcoming YA books.

And here’s the cover of Drowned Country, sequel to Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh.

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:

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury Publishing, September 15)

It’s really going to happen! Sixteen years after the release of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, we are getting a new novel from Susanna Clarke. Do I wish it was more Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, so we would have some answers? Of course I do. But Clarke doesn’t write for fan service. And this one sounds awesome! It’s about Piranesi, who lives in a house, which contains a labyrinth, which contains an ocean, and also The Other. And maybe possibly a third being. It’s all very mysterious and myth-y. I CAN’T WAIT.

What I’m reading this week.

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Blackwood by Michael Farris Smith

And this is funny.

Lololololol.

Song stuck in my head:

“Keep the Streets Empty for Me” by Fever Ray

Trivia answer: Small Sam and Puny Pete.

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

Happy Monday! I wasn’t a huge fan of January, but I’m really getting into February! Lots of great books, great shows, and great movies. (Brooklyn Nine-Nine is back! 🎉) And I got Long Kiss Goodnight hair. It has more than makes up for my dumb January.

I hope your February has been treating you right, and whatever you’re watching or doing, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What do the ‘S.E.’ in ‘S.E. Hinton’ stand for? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Here’s the first look at the cover of Prime Deceptions, the sequel to Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes.

Naomi Novik is working on a new trilogy!

There’s going to be a new Marilynne Robinson novel this October.

This upcoming collection, Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, sounds amazing.

Sophia Lillis, Noomi Rapace, Charlie Plummer, and Peter Dinklage will star in The Thicket, the upcoming film based on the novel by Joe R. Lansdale.

Barry Keoghan, who was set to star in the adaptation of Y: The Last Man, has dropped out of the project.

Julian Fellowes is writing the script for an upcoming Wind in the Willows adaptation.

Sam Claflin will join Riley Keough in Daisy Jones and the Six.

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!

Excited to read:

Memorial by Bryan Washington (Riverhead Books, October 13)

If you haven’t read Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington, walk, don’t run. It is an AMAZING collection. Which is why I am super-excited to check out this novel. It’s about a young gay couple in Houston who come to a crossroads in their relationship when one of them flies to Japan to see his dying estranged father, while his mother stays behind in his apartment with his partner.

What I’m reading this week:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Blackwood by Michael Farris Smith

Hummus and Homicide (A Kebab Kitchen Mystery Book 1) by Tina Kashian

The Great Offshore Grounds by Vanessa Veselka

Greenwood: A Novel by Michael Christie

Pun of the week: 

I recently took a pole and found out 100% of the occupants were angry with me when their tent collapsed.

Here’s a cat picture:

Sometimes, you just have to scream.

And this is funny.

Source?

Trivia answer: Susan Eloise.

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

Welcome to another fun-filled newsletter of bookish stuff, goods, substance, things, impedimenta, kit, objects, paraphernalia, trappings, etc. I have some interesting bits and bobs to tell you about before I get back to my reading. I am about to start the upcoming Vanessa Veselka novel. I have been waiting seven years to read this, so to say I am excited would be an understatement. I AM MADE OF SQUEE.

And 365 Day Movie project update: I have watched Logan Lucky, Bridesmaids, Fighting with My Family, I Tonya, I Don’t Feel At Home in This World, Captain Marvel, and Inside Out. I reeeeeeally liked Captain Marvel! Mostly for Goose, lol.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What is the name of Celie’s sister in The Color Purple?(Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Toni Collette will star in Netflix’s Pieces Of Her adaptation, based on the novel by Karin Slaughter.

Waterstones shared the cover of Piranesi, the upcoming novel by Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell author Susanna Clarke.

Edwidge Danticat won the $100,000 Vilcek Prize in Literature.

Claribel Ortega’s upcoming novel, Ghost Squad, is being adapted into a film.

Danielle Deadwyler has joined the Station Eleven adaptation.

Alice Hoffman shared the title and cover of a new Practical Magic prequel.

Here’s the latest on adaptation news for Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Jenna Bush Hager’s February book club pick is The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré.

And The Color Purple to return to theaters for its 35th anniversary.

Here’s the cover reveal for Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston. And Tor also shared the cover of Burning Roses by S.L. Huang.

And here’s the cover reveal for David Mitchell’s upcoming novel, Utopia Avenue.

Here’s the first look at Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.

Sarah Rees Brennan shared the cover for the comic Fence: Striking Distance, which weaves queer romance into competitive combat sports.

Here’s the cover reveal of Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao.

Victoria Lee announced her next book, which is pitched as ‘The Secret History meets Genuine Fraud and The Craft‘.

The Dark Corners of the Night, based on the third novel in Meg Gardiner’s UNSUB series, is being adapted as 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!)

Excited to read:

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor (Viking Books for Young Readers, August 18)

This is Nnedi Okorafor’s first middle grade novel! I AM SO EXCITED. I love everything she does. It’s set in Nigeria, and is about a young boy with magical superpowers who vows to avenge the death of his police chief father. YES PLEASE. P.S. I am still over the moon about the Binti adaptation news from a couple weeks ago.

What I’m reading this week.

The Subtweet: A Novel by Vivek Shraya

Hummus and Homicide (A Kebab Kitchen Mystery Book 1) by Tina Kashian

The Great Offshore Grounds by Vanessa Veselka

Greenwood: A Novel by Michael Christie

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

And this is funny.

Same, same.

Song stuck in my head:

“Don’t Talk to Strangers” by Rick Springfield

Trivia answer: Nettie.

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

IT’S MONDAY! Sorry to yell, but it means it’s time for another round of “Look at this delicious book goodness!” Unrelated: Who has seen Logan Lucky? I watched it last week, and while I didn’t think it was a great movie, the part about The Winds of Winter made me giggle like crazy. That was an inspired bit of writing. I also finally watched The Mandalorian, and am still smitten with Baby Yoda. I have spoken.

Whatever you’re watching or doing, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: Which of Shakespeare’s tragedies is his shortest? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

MCD/FSG will publish two posthumous works by Katherine Dunn.

Lilliam Rivera talked about her upcoming Greek myth retelling.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Unstoppable Wasp: Built On Hope by Sam Maggs.

Here’s the first trailer for the adaptation of The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

David E. Kelley is returning to television with The Big Sky, based on The Highway, from C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series.

Here’ the cover reveal for Iron Heart by Nina Varela.

Joel Coen is filming Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.

Here’s the first look at the upcoming children’s book from Dave Matthews.

Kristen O’Neill announced her upcoming book: Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses.

Annabelle Gurwitch has a new book deal with Counterpoint Press.

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!

Excited to read:

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite (Imprint, September 22)

I was excited to learn about this collection! I have a feeling by the time the fall rolls around, I’m going to be in the mood for new vampire stories. This collection includes eleven contributions from some of today’s most amazing YA authors, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.

What I’m reading this week:

This Town Sleeps: A Novel by Dennis E. Staples

Greenwood: A Novel by Michael Christie

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City by Wes Moore and Erica L. Green

Pun of the week: 

I hate insect puns, they really bug me.

Here’s a cat picture:

This is my pal, Owen. He’s a close talker.

And this is funny.

I love word play.

Trivia answer: At 17,121 words, Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy.

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

Buckle up, buttercups, because I have a LOT of news to share with you. Book news, I mean, not personal news. I don’t have any of that, other than I took the (no longer) kittens for their yearly checkup this morning, and the vet declared them GIANT MONSTERS. But that’s not news to me, because I live with them.

Oh! And I’ve also started a 365 Movie project, where I am watching a movie a night. Because I do really enjoy movies. I just haven’t watched very many in the last decade. But I have carved out a little time each evening, and it’s been fun. I have really enjoyed Booksmart and Monsters University so far.

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What author wrote her first novel on a dare from her sister? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The Man in My Basement adaptation, based on the Walter Mosley novel, has added Nadia Lati as its director.

Here’s the cover reveal for Alaya Dawn Johnson’s Trouble the Saints.

Graywolf Press will be publishing two more books from Maggie Nelson.

Wanuri Kahiu will adapt Black Kids, Christina Hammonds Reed’s upcoming YA novel.

Margaret Atwood will publish her first poetry collection in over a decade.

Lyla Lee’s upcoming YA novel I’ll Be The One will be adapted as a film by HBO Max.

Bywater Books is starting Amble Press, which will “will primarily publish fiction and narrative non-fiction from writers who identify as people of color, and those writing across the broader queer spectrum.”

Here’s the cover reveal for Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark.

Amy Rose Capetta announced a magical baking book.

Here’s the first trailer for The Pale Horse, adapted from the novel by Agatha Christie.

A. J. Hackwith shared the cover of The Archive of the Forgotten (A Novel from Hell’s Library).

Here are the 2020 PEN America Literary Awards finalists!

And here are the new Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz award winners, and the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal winners!

Solaris Books has acquired a new novel by Yoon Ha Lee.

Mark Oshiro announced a two-book deal with HarperCollins.

Alex Segura is writing a Poe Dameron/Star Wars novel.

Here’s the first look at the cover of Caitlín R. Kiernan’s The Tindalos Asset.

A great interview with Ruth Negga about her appearance in Hamlet.

And Kristen Radtke announced her next book.

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 Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, July 28)

I heard from one of my favorite book people last night that this is the book she wants everyone to read this year. It’s the first in a trilogy about a serial killer and a young detective known as “Kraken” who is assigned to solve the ritualistic murders. It sounds fantastic. It’s already a huge bestseller in Spain and Latin America. You know me, I love a creepy serial killer book, so I can’t wait to get my hands on this one!

What I’m reading this week.

Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City by Wes Moore, Erica L. Green

Stray: A Memoir by Stephanie Danler

The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri

Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel

Red Dust by Yoss, David Frye (translator)

(It has been a WEEK, so I haven’t finished any of these yet.)

And this is funny.

Poor Mautice.

Song stuck in my head:

“Queen” by Perfume Genius

Trivia answer: Agatha Christie.

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

Happy Monday! Another weekend has come and gone, and unbelievably, we’re heading toward the end of January already. That’s means we have a whole month of amazing books already under our belt! Have you been keeping up with new releases? It’s really easy if you sign up for Book Riot Insiders! I curate the New Release Index, which is a big, colorful calendar of upcoming books. (True story: BR didn’t ask me to say this. I’m just really proud of the work I’ve put into it. It’s an epic nerdpurr!)

Whatever your area of expertise, I hope you have something wonderful to read. Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: How old was Jane Austen by the time she finished writing Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Elaine Welteroth’s memoir, More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say), is being made into a television series.

Netflix is developing The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf as an anime feature.

Marlon James is hosting a new literary podcast.

Marta Kaufman is bringing Karen Thompson Walker’s The Dreamers to the small screen.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is going to be a TV series.

Matt Damon will star in the adaptation of The Force by Don Winslow.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall.

Here’s the final trailer for To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.

Eddie Marsan has joined the cast of The Power.

BOOM! Studios announced The Sacrifice of Darkness, an upcoming graphic novel from Roxane Gay and Tracy Lynne Oliver.

And speaking of Roxane Gay, she’s going to be on the season finale of The L Word!

Here’s the cover reveal for Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall.

Orbit announced a new epic fantasy trilogy from Tasha Suri.

Here’s the trailer for The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion.

An Alex Cross series is in the works.

Hulu is developing a limited series of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is The Night.

Here’s the first trailer for The Undoing, based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

Gill Hornby’s novel, Miss Austen, based on the relationship between Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, is being made into TV 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!

Excited to read:

Alice Knott by Blake Butler (Riverhead Books (July 7, 2020)

Butler’s last novel, Three Hundred Million, was a skull-boinking I still haven’t recovered from, in a good way. It was like 2666 meets the first season of True Detective. I am verrrrrrrrry excited to check out his next novel, which is headed our way this summer. It’s about a reclusive heiress and the destruction of her prized art collection, which is captured on video, and sets off copycat crimes around the globe. Sounds weird – sign me up.

What I’m reading this week:

Stray: A Memoir by Stephanie Danler

The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri

Betty: A Novel by Tiffany McDaniel

Red Dust by Yoss, David Frye (translator)

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Pun of the week: 

Where did the cat go after losing its tail? To a retail store.

Here’s a cat picture:

These two dummies.

And this is funny.

Camouflage!

Trivia answer: 23.

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

Happy Thursday, book lovers! Who wants to hear about books and book-adjacent news? Great, because I have some fun stuff to share today! It’s nice to see that the book world continues to turn even when I look out my window and there’s eight inches of snow and it’s six degrees outside. *side-eyes Maine*

Let’s see, what else? I have been watching a lot of The Great British Baking Show. Why did no one tell me how wonderful it is?!? Jk, everyone has told me how wonderful it is, I just couldn’t hear them over Noel Fielding’s shirts. I find watching it is very relaxing, despite it being a competition. Probably because I’m not one of the bakers. I’m almost done with the last season on Netflix, which is distressing. What should I watch next????

Whatever you are doing or watching or reading this week, please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! In what Nancy Drew book did her dog Topo first appear? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Details about the second season of My Brilliant Friend have been shared.

Former Rioter Preeti Chhibber is writing a Star War! Her picture book about Yoda, illustrated by Mike Deas, will be out in the fall.

Here’s the first trailer for Little Fires Everywhere with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

And here’s the trailer for the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People.

Here are the nominees for the Edgar Awards.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi, the sequel to The Gilded Wolves.

Netflix has acquired U.S. rights to Wasp Network, the Cuban spy thriller with Penelope Cruz, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Edgar Ramirez, based on the book The Last Soldiers on the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five by Fernando Morais.

John Paul Brammer announced his memoir deal.

Ken Follett’s novel, A Column of Fire, is being turned into limited series for Epix.

Suzanne Collins is darthvadering Coriolanus Snow for the Hunger Games prequel.

Here’s the cover reveal for Flying Over Water by N. H. Senzai and Shannon Hitchcock.

Lifetime is making a five-movie series based on the Ruby Landry novels by V.C. Andrews.

Here’s more on the Defending Jacob series with Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery, based on the novel by William Landay.

Here’s the first look at the Nancy Drew prequel The Curse.

Here the cover reveal for An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner.

Luke Evans will star in a three-part series called The Pembrokeshire Murders, based on the book Catching the Bullseye Killer by Steve Wilkins and Jonathan Hill.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling.

Asterix & Obelix: The Silk Road will be a film.

Netflix set the release date for the second season of Altered Carbon.

Here’s the cover reveal for City Under the Stars by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick.

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:

Red Pill: A Novel by Hari Kunzru (Knopf, September 1)

You may remember that I raved and raved and raved about how much I loved Kunzru’s last novel, White Tears. It’s a fantastic psychological horror novel about race and appropriation. This one sounds like another edge-of-your-seat read, about a violent cop reality show and its sinister creator. WE WANTS THE PRECIOUS.

What I’m reading this week.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Tall Tales and Wee Stories by Billy Connolly

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

And this is funny.

Librarian humor!

Song stuck in my head:

“Freeway” by Aimee Mann

Trivia answer: The Whispering Statue (Nancy Drew #14).

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