Author: Liberty Hardy

It’s Monday! We have to treasure the time we have together today, because I will not be paying your inbox a visit this Thursday, because of Thanksgiving. So today I have several fun book-related things for you, and, of course, a cat picture.

Please enjoy the rest of your week, and the holiday if you’re celebrating, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again next Monday. – xoxo, Liberty

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: How much did Tom Clancy get from the Naval Institute Press in 1984 for his debut novel, The Hunt for Red October? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Mackenzi Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice & Virtue is being made into a film for HBO Max.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia talks about her upcoming book. No, the other one. (Yep, she has two out next year!)

Here’s the first look at The Down Days by Ilze Hugo, which is already leading the race for my favorite cover of 2020.

Showtime is making a series from Jacob Tobia’s memoir Sissy.

C.L. Polk announced her third novel, coming in the fall of 2020.

Here’s the first teaser of Michael B. Jordan in the adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows, and forthcoming People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd, have been picked up for series development.

Scholastic will develop three movies for the Hallmark channel.

Here’s the latest cast updates for HBO’s adaptation of I Know This Much Is True.

David Tennant will play serial killer Dennis Nilsen in a three-part series, based on Brian Master’s book, Killing for Company.

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:

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford (Grove Press, July 14, 2020)

One of my goals for next year is to read more Native voices, because they are woefully underrepresented in the arts. So I am excited to pick up this book to help me with that goal. It’s about four generations of Cherokee women in the 1970s and 1980s in Oklahoma and Texas.

What I’m reading this week:

Deacon King Kong: A Novel by James McBride

Stay and Fight: A Novel by Madeline ffitch

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe

Pun of the week: 

Two antennas got married last Saturday. The reception was fantastic.

Here’s a kitten cat kitten picture:

Here’s a flashback to Zevon and Farrokh when they were four months old.

And this is funny.

I cannot get enough of Baby Yoda.

Trivia answer: $5000.

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

Happy Thursday! I am back once again to talk about all things books. I have started thinking about my annual 150 favorite books list that I do each year on Twitter, and I am still considering a favorite books of the decade post. I don’t know that I can even pick my 100 favorites – there are so many great books to choose from!

I am doing this all in between reading, of course. I am halfway through Firewatching by Russ Thomas and I did not want to put it down – I hope the second half holds up when I return to it after I finish this newsletter! Whatever you are doing 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 does the ‘T.S.’ in ‘T.S. Eliot’ stand for? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, Riley Keough, will star in the adaptation of Daisy Jones and the Six.

The winners of the National Book Awards were announced last night!

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins is going to be adapted by Sony Pictures!

HarperCollins Children’s Books has announced the debut of Heartdrum, an imprint devoted to publishing books by Native creators.

The trailer has been released for season four of The Expanse.

The Lord of the Rings series has been renewed for a second season ahead of the release of its first season.

Eragon author Christopher Paolini announced his first science fiction novel.

Mindhunter’s Holt McCallany has joined Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley adaptation.

A limited series adaptation of The Man In The Rockefeller Suit is in the works.

Dracula‘s Renfield is getting his own time to shine.

Here’s the first trailer for the new Call of the Wild adaptation with Harrison Ford.

Maid by Stephanie Lands is being turned into a Netflix series.

Joan Allen is the latest to join the cast of the adaptation of Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story.

Viacom has lined up remakes of Oliver Twist and How Green Was My Valley.

Here’s the trailer for V Wars, the Netflix series based on Jonathan Maberry’s book.

An adaptation of Scott Westerfield’s Midnighters series is on the way.

Here’s the first full-length trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Cats.

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:

A Peculiar Peril (The Misadventures of Jonathan Lambshead) by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), July 7, 2020)

It’s a young adult novel from Jeff VanderMeer. I REPEAT: A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL FROM JEFF VANDERMEER. We are only a couple weeks away from the release of his next novel for grownups, and now I have learned we are getting another book from him next year. It’s the first of a two-volume fantasy about a teen boy who inherits his grandfather’s mansion, discovers three strange doors, and learns his grandfather did not die of natural causes.” YES YES TAKE MY MONEY. 

What I’m reading this week.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

The Unsuitable by Molly Pohlig

Firewatching by Russ Thomas 

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (Reread because OMG it’s so good.)

And this is funny.

I love Baby Yoda.

Song stuck in my head:

“Hot Girl Bummer” by Blackbear

Trivia answer: Thomas Stearns.

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

Happy Monday!!! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I feel like my year is finally calming down. I hope to coast through the last six weeks, reading books and watching Elementary. (I really think I might be a detective in an alternate timeline.)

Also, can we talk for a minute about how it’s the last year of the decade?!? I feel like no one was prepared. Suddenly, everyone is like, “WHOA LAST YEAR.” Myself included! Perhaps I will do a round-up of my favorite books of the decade somewhere. More likely, my head will explode from trying to narrow the list down, LOL.

(TL;DR: Boooooooooooooooks!)

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 are the only two Spike Lee films to receive a PG-13 rating? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

The adaptation of Alexa Martin’s Intercepted will be penned by Power screenwriter Heather Zuhlke.

Here’s the trailer for the new adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing on PBS.

Spike Lee will direct an adaptation of Ron Wimberly’s graphic novel, Prince of Cats.

Zoe Saldana will star in Netflix’s adaptation of Tembe Locke’s memoir, From Scratch.

Here’s the first look at the cover of The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning.

Chris Morgan has signed a deal with Sony Pictures to adapt The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, The Ripleys by Duane Swierczynski, and If I Die Tonight by Allison Gaylin.

Carolina De Robertis announced her upcoming novel, The President and the Frog, coming in 2021.

And Robin Wasserman shared the cover of her upcoming 2020 book, Mother Daughter Widow Wife.

And Arvin Ahmadi announced his next book, scheduled for a fall 2020 release.

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:

The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs by Jason Diamond (Coffee House Press, August 11, 2020)

Jason Diamond is one of the first people I started following on Twitter, because we seem to have the same sense of humor and esoteric taste in micro-histories and pop culture. So I am excited to see what he has to say about the suburbs, since from reading his memoir, Searching for John Hughes: Or Everything I Thought I Needed to Know about Life I Learned from Watching ’80s Movies, that we did not grow up in the idyllic suburb fantasy that movies and television pitched us.

What I’m reading this week:

The Deep by Alma Katsu

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Will Haunt You by Brian Kirk

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao

Pun of the week: 

I’m an archaeologist, so my life is in ruins.

Here’s a kitten cat picture:

Look at this beautiful picture my friend Emily took of Farrokh!

And this is funny.

So many Disney jokes this week with the release of Disney+.

Trivia answer: Malcolm X and Crooklyn, 

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

It’s Thursday, and time to talk books! BUT FIRST: I just started watching Elementary (I am usually 2-10 years behind on media LOL) and I loooooooove it. It is exactly the fun, ridiculous, murder-y goodness I was hoping for. I was looking for a good crime show because I have moved from my weeks-long horror book phase into a mystery phase. Mystery will always be my first and favorite genre. I hope you’re reading something great this week, whether it’s a mystery, a romance, or anything else that has words and pages. READING IS THE BEST. Please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What classic novel was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Here’s the first look at HBO’s adaptation of Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft Country.

Today is full of cover reveals! Our very own BR contributor Adiba Jaigirdar has a book coming out next year, and we’ve got the cover reveal!

And here’s the first look at Astrid Scholte’s upcoming standalone YA novel, The Vanishing Deep.

And here’s the cover of Maria Dahvana Headley’s Beowulf: A New Translation.

One more: The cover of Super Host, the upcoming debut novel from Kate Russo.

And here’s the cover of He Started It by Samantha Downing.

Author Carolina Ortiz announced a queer Jane Eyre!

Netflix has already renewed The Witcher for a second season.

Sarah Michelle Gellar will star in a limited series adaptation of Sometimes I Lie, based on the novel by Alice Fenney.

The pilot of the adaptation of The Peripheral by William Gibson has been picked up for 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:

Wooooooooo, I just learned about two titles coming next year from Riverhead Books that I cannot wait to get my eyeballs on! The first is Little Eyes: A Novel by Samanta Schweblin (March 5, 2020). As you’ve probably heard me say, I am OBSESSED with her novel, Fever Dream, and her collection of stories this year, Mouthful of Birds, is amazing. The description of her new novel is incredible: it’s about stuffed animal camera pets called “kentukis”. “These creatures can reveal the beauty of connection between farflung souls – but they also expose the ugly humanity of our increasingly linked world. Trusting strangers can lead to unexpected love and marvelous adventure, but what happens when the kentukis pave the way for unimaginable terror?” I mean omg, right?!?

The other is The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett (June 2, 2020). It seems like her first novel, The Mothers, came out so long ago! I loved that book and cannot wait to see what she has for us next. The description says it’s “about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.”

Both books sound remarkable, and I am almost equally excited to see what the covers are going to look like. COME ON, 2020, HURRY UP AND GET HERE.

What I’m reading this week.

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Snow: A Scientific and Cultural Exploration by Giles Whittell

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura van den Berg

And this is funny.

Book tours are stressful.

Song stuck in my head:

“Young Blood” by The Naked and Famous

Trivia answer: Jane Eyre.

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

Welcome to another Monday, my little book huggers! It was another excellent reading weekend in Libertyville. I spent some time dropping awesome 2020 titles on Twitter, I drooled a bit over my recent book mail, and I watched a few episodes of Castle Rock with fellow Rioter Jamie Canavés. (She lives in Florida, but it’s fun to watch episodes at the same time and text each other while it’s on. Especially since I’m in Maine, just like the show!) I hope you had an excellent weekend too. 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: The Great Ormond Street Hospital in the London borough of Camden famously received the rights to what classic novel? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Oprah’s next book club pick is Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout.

Here’s the first trailer for Megan Abbott’s Dare Me, debuting on the USA Network.

Tananarive Due announced a graphic novel adaptation of her horror screenplay.

Here’s the trailer for Wendy, the upcoming Peter Pan-related film.

Talia Hibbert announced her new novel: Take a Hint, Dani Brown.

There’s a musical adaptation of Scotland, PA, the amazing movie of Macbeth set in a 1970s fast food restaurant starring my girlfriend Maura Tierney.

And here’s the trailer for the new version of The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss.

Zoraida Córdova shared the first look at Wayward Witch, her upcoming third book in the Brooklyn Bruja series.

And Kelly Yang shared the cover of her next book: Parachutes.

Hulu announced the stars of Monsterland, the upcoming series based on the short stories from Nathan Ballingrud’s collection, North American Lake Monsters.

And here’s the first look at A Song Below Water, Bethany C. Morrow’s upcoming young adult novel.

There’s a musical adaptation of Chelsea Clinton’s children’s book She Persisted debuting off-Broadway.

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!

Loved, loved, loved:

Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries Book 5) by Martha Wells (Tor.com, May 5, 2020)

If you haven’t heard me say it before, allow me to say it again: The Murderbot Diaries is one of the most perfect series I have ever read. It’s an award-winning, four-novella series about a rogue, self-aware security robot who hates humans and emotions, and just wants to stream entertainment shows, yet also wants to help humans. They are some of the smartest, funniest books I have read, and I was SO sad when I read the fourth and supposedly last one last year. BUT PLOT TWIST: There’s a full-length Murderbot novel coming in 2020! I received it on Friday and immediately dropped everything and read it, and I am here to report that it is also AWESOME. I love Murderbot so much. If you haven’t read them yet, what are you waiting for??!?

What I’m reading this week:

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura van den Berg

A Song Below Water: A Novel by Bethany C. Morrow

Solstice: A Tropical Horror Comedy by Lorence Alison

Acid for the Children: A Memoir by Flea

Pun of the week: 

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta.

Here’s a kitten picture:

Zevon and Farrokh turned one this weekend! I guess I will now have to refer to this as a cat picture. *SOB* It went by so fast! It means that they’ve been causing chaos in my life for ten months now. Today is also Millay’s birthday! She’s nine this year, but not nearly as cooperative when it comes to having her photo taken.

And this is funny.

Rakesh Satyal is a gift.

Trivia answer: Peter Pan by J.M Barrie. 

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

Happy Thursday, readers. I hope you’re getting lots of good reading time in even though it’s dark at like 12:30pm or something now. (Whyyyyyyyyyyyy.) I was in Boston earlier this week and picked up some fun stuff to read – which I am going to do as soon as I finish this newsletter! Please remember to be kind to yourself and others. I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

Trivia question time! What 1986 film did Tori Amos audition for the lead role? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Tori Amos announced that she has a book coming in 2020: Resistance: A Songwriter’s Story of Hope, Change, and Courage.

Marie-Helene Bertino announced her new novel, Parakeet.

Charlie Jane Anders announced her new book too: Even Greater Mistakes.

Here’s the beautiful cover of Megha Majumdar’s upcoming novel, A Burning.

Sarah MacLean has partnered with Jordandené for a line of romance-loving, sex-positive, feminist collection.

Juno Dawson’s Hollow Pike will be a TV series.

Here’s the cover reveal of Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev.

There’s still at least one Game of Thrones spinoff still headed our way.

Here are the 2019 World Fantasy Award Winners.

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer is now a webcomic.

And here’s the 2020 Carnegie Medals shortlist.

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:

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (Knopf, July 14, 2020)

Believe it or not, it has already been three years since Homegoing was released. I think that book is amaaaaaaaaazing, and I know many of you think so as well. So we can all be excited together for the arrival of her new novel in 2020! This one is about a troubled Ghanaian family in Alabama. I cannot wait to get my hands on this.

What I’m reading this week.

Queen of the Conquered (Islands of Blood and Storm) by Kacen Callender

Kingdomtide by Rye Curtis

Acid for the Children: A Memoir by Flea

Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit

And this is funny.

So cute.

Song stuck in my head:

“Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus

Trivia answer: Howard the Duck.

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