Author: Liberty Hardy

Hellooooooo! Happy Thursday! I accidentally typed ‘Harpy Thursday’ first, and realized that works too. I am totally a book harpy. (BRB, changing my business cards.) Now, I hope you are sitting down, because there is some exciting news in today’s newsletter. I wouldn’t want you to get overstimulated and fall down. Okay, all set to go? Great! I hope you have a great rest of your week, and remember to be kind to yourself and others.  I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

Trivia question time! What is the name of the fictional author of The Princess Bride in William Goldman’s The Princess Bride? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Rena Barron’s Kingdom Of Souls trilogy has been acquired by Michael B. Jordan’s production company.

Duchess Goldblatt, everyone’s favorite fictional Twitter user, has written a real memoir.

IT’S HERE: io9 has the first look at the upcoming full-length Murderbot novel from Martha Wells, called Network Effect.

Here’s the cover reveal of Quotients by Tracy O’Neill. (Soho Press, May 12, 2020)

Here’s the trailer for the adaptation of Josie & Jack by Kelly Braffet!

Alyssa Cole has a thriller coming next year AND it’s going to be a movie too!

John Mulaney will play Henry David Thoreau in Apple TV+’s Dickinson.

My First Black Boyfriend, Chris Rock’s forthcoming book of essays, will be out in the fall of 2020.

Here’s a look at the adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s How to Build a Girl.

There was a brief rumor yesterday that Hollywood wants to remake The Princess Bride but Cary Elwes isn’t having it.

Elton John’s The Devil Wears Prada musical has set a pre-Broadway run on Chicago.

The trailer for season two of Castle Rock has teased the origin story of Annie Wilkes.

And here’s the first official trailer for Raising Dion on Netflix.

Ellen Oh announced two upcoming book deals.

Here’s the first look at the cover of The Daughters of Ys by M.T. Anderson. (First Second Books, May 2020)

The 2019 National Book Awards longlists are rolling out this week. Here are the nominees for young people’s literature, works in translation, and poetry.

And Wayétu Moore shared the cover of the upcoming memoir The Dragons, The Giant, The Women (Graywolf Press, June 2020)

Here’s the trailer for the new adaptation of The Secret Garden. (Me, I am 1987 version, all the way, because Barret Oliver. And that one also featured Colin Firth btw.)

V.E. Schwab’s The Archived book series is being made into a show for The CW.

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:

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com, June 2, 2020)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH it’s the sequel to Gideon the Ninth!!! I cannot wait to read this. In fact, if I could skip straight from today to June 2nd, I would. Sorry everyone who will miss Halloween, Hanukkah, Christmas, their birthdays, etc. But this is TOO EXCITING. But really, even with the extra day next year, June will be here before you know it. It’s already practically OCTOBER.

What I’m reading this week.

The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

Remember by Patricia Smith

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

Rat Rule 79 (Yonder) by Rivka Galchen, Elena Megalos (Illustrator)

And this is funny.

But…why?

Trivia answer: Simon “S.” Morgenstern.

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

Welcome to another week, book fans! There is a lot going on in the world of books. Partly because everything is a book adaptation these days. But there’s nothing wrong with that! Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What was the first children’s title to win the Whitbread Book of the Year award? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

HBO is making plans for a Game of Thrones spinoff about the Targaryens, based on Fire and Blood.

Here’s a new teaser trailer for His Dark Materials.

Here’s the first look at Helen Hoang’s upcoming novel, The Heart Principle. (Release date TBD)

Knopf announced Old Fourth Ward, a new novel by Tayari Jones.

There’s a title and release date for a new Alyssa Cole novel!

Penguin Random House has a new star-studded line-up of actors reading audiobooks.

Buffy and Angel, together again. In a comic, anyway.

Wiz Khalifa is playing Death in Apple TV+’s Emily Dickinson show.

Here’s the first look at the cover of It’s Not All Downhill From Here by Terry McMillan. (Ballantine Books, March 31, 2020)

The adaptation of The Tall Grass by Stephen King and Joe Hill is coming to Netflix.

News broke of an HBO limited series adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah.

The Wheel of Time cast shared their first group photo.

Toni Collette has joined Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Nightmare Alley.

Netflix is making an adaptation of the sci-fi novel Way Station by Clifford D. Simak.

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:

The Return by Rachel Harrison (Berkley, March 24, 2020)

So many people told me this was amazing, and brilliant, and creepy, and THEY WERE RIGHT. It’s about four best friends from college, and what happens when one disappears for two years, then shows up again with no memory of what happened. First of all, I really dig that she went missing in Maine, because Maine can be spooky for sure! (Why do you think Stephen King is the way he is?!) And I love the dynamics between the friends, and what a bitch it is sometimes when someone knows you so well. And also how Harrison has seemingly made even interior design seem threatening. I loved it.

What I’m reading this week:

Rat Rule 79 (Yonder) by Rivka Galchen, Elena Megalos (Illustrator)

Weather by Jenny Offill

The Remaking: A Novel by Clay Chapman

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

Pun of the week: 

What do you call cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho Cheese.

Here’s a kitten picture:

Handy in a pinch!

And this is funny.

So simple, yet so amazing.

Trivia answer: Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. (Known in North America as The Golden Compass.)

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

Hellooooooo! How about that Tuesday new release line up?? There were so many amazing books out this week. It was an exceptional day, for sure. I hope you were able to find lots of great stuff to read this week. I have some fun news for you now. I hope you have a great rest of your week, and remember to be kind to yourself and others.  I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

Trivia question time! What famous two-word titled poem from the 19th century originally featured a parrot? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Starz finally set the premiere date for Dublin Murders, based on the novels of Tana French. Here’s the SUPER CREEPY trailer.

And here’s the first trailer for BET’s new adaptation of The First Wive’s Club.

Elena Ferrante’s new novel will be available in Italy on November 7, with an English translation hopefully not too far behind.

Markus Sakey’s superhero novel Brilliance is being made into a movie, with Will Smith to play the lead.

Here’s the first look at the cover for The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho. (Tor.com, June 23, 2020)

Here’s the cover reveal for Paloa Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia. (Rick Riordan Presents, August 4, 2020)

And here’s the cover reveal of The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs by Jason Diamond. (Coffee House Press, August 2020)

Ali Fazal has joined the cast of Death on the Nile.

Hold on to your nostalgia hats: Apple TV+ is remaking Ghostwriter.

Richard Dormer will appear in the BBC’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s The Watch.

Whoopi Goldberg has joined the cast of the new adaptation of The Stand.

Rupert Everett has taken a role in the Broadway revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He replaces Eddie Izzard, who had to drop out because of a schedule conflict.

Netflix is making a Young Wallander series, based on the character from the Henning Mankell novels.

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:

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn (MCD/FSG, March 31, 2020)

Yes, yes, this novel had me at “shark.” I LOVE THEM. But it also sounds really good! It starts in 1995, when seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls over the side of a boat into shark-infested waters. But instead of being eaten, the shark brings the boy back to his family on the deck. I mean, how awesome is that beginning??? I can’t wait to read it!

What I’m reading this week.

The Return by Rachel Harrison

Chilling Effect: A Novel by Valerie Valdes

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Remaking: A Novel by Clay Chapman

In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

And this is funny.

I don’t always make puns, but when I do, they’re literary/really bad.

Trivia answer: Nevermore by Edgar Allan Poe. 

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

Happy last days of summer, readers! Fall publishing hit the ground running – the new releases are AMAZING. I am now eyeballs deep in 2020 releases, and I promise you, it’s also going to be incredible year. How lucky are we????? Please enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

Here’s Monday’s trivia question: What author grew up in the far woods of Quebec and did not attend a full year of grade school until she was about 13 years old? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals! 

Emma Cline, author of The Girls, announced a new collection coming in 2020.

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders has been optioned for a series.

Here’s the first peek at the cover of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (A Pandava Novel) by Roshani Chokshi. (I love this series!) (Rick Riordan Presents, April 7, 2020)

Here are the nominees for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Fonda Lee is writing for Marvel.

And here’s the cover reveal for The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel. (Forever, May 12, 2020)

Video essayist Lindsay Ellis announced her debut novel.

Olivia Dade is releasing a series about a fan who gets a date with her television star dream date.

ZR Ellor is releasing May the Best Man Win, his debut novel, about ex-boyfriend’s competing against each other for Homecoming King.

And Erik Larson’s upcoming book centers on the Nazi bombing of London in 1940-41.

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 Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan (Soho Press, March 10, 2020)

I got my hot little hands on this yesterday and I cannot wait to read it…except I have to wait a little bit, because I need to read stuff coming out sooner for work. BUT I will be JAZZED when I finally get to pick it up, because Rainbirds was such a wonderful book. This novel is about friends of a college student trying to find out what was behind her death, and also keep their lives together while piecing their broken hearts back together.

What I’m reading this week:

In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

The Remaking: A Novel by Clay Chapman

Blue Flowers: A Novel by Carola Saavedra

Docile by K.M. Szpara

The Knockout Queen: A Novel by Rufi Thorpe

Pun of the week: 

What kind of tea did the American Colonists want? Liberty. (I can’t believe I had never heard this before.)

Here’s a kitten picture:

I can’t really refer to them as kittens much longer as they are now 13-pound monsters.

And this is funny.

Oh, Bruce.

Trivia answer: Margaret Atwood.

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

Hello, starbits! How’s your September going so far? Mine is filled with books, which is just how I like it. I have a lot of great things to tell you today, what with there being no newsletter last Monday and all. I hope you have a great rest of your week, and remember to be kind to yourself and others.  I’ll see you again on Monday! – xoxo, Liberty

P.S. More fun news: be sure to enter Book Riot’s giveaway of the year’s 10 best mystery/thrillers so far!

Trivia question time! What actor was originally cast as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Emily St John Mandel’s upcoming novel, The Glass Hotel, is being adapted for television, with Mandel herself writing the pilot.

The trailer for Just Mercy with Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan has arrived.

Hulu is already developing the Handmaid’s Tale sequel based on The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, which comes out next week.

Buenos Aires-based author K Ferrari has sold his first novel in English, Like Flies from Afar, to Canongate.

Kate Mulgrew has joined the cast of Mr. Mercedes.

Nic Stone is writing a Black Panther novel about Shuri, to publish next year. And former Rioter Preeti Chhibber is writing about the Avengers!

Rooney Mara has joined Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley adaptation.

Will Poulter has been cast in the lead of the Lord of the Rings series.

Authors Jenny “The Bloggess” Lawson and Etaf Rum are opening bookstores, in San Antonio and Rocky Mount, respectively!

Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle is being adapted for television.

The 2019 Booker Prize shortlist has been announced.

Here’s the trailer for the third season of Anne with an E on Netflix.

Daniel Henney will play al’Lan Mandragoran in the Wheel of Time series.

The New York Times talked to the Stanford assault victim, Chanel Miller, who is publishing her memoir on September 24. (TW: sexual assault.)

BJ Novak is releasing a companion edition to The Book with No Pictures.

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:

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler (Knopf, April 7, 2020)

NEW ANNE TYLER. I read everything she writes. She is my go-to comfort read. I have always loved her, since I was a kid. Favorite Tyler novel? Saint Maybe. There was something a few years ago in an interview where I swear I heard that she said she wasn’t going to publish anymore novels after she reached her twentieth one, but I am glad that has turned out not to be true. This one is about a meticulously organized tech programmer whose life is tipped into chaos when a teenager arrives, claiming to be his son. I can’t wait! Tyler is so good at human nature.

What I’m reading this week.

Docile by K.M. Szpara

The Knockout Queen: A Novel by Rufi Thorpe

Last Couple Standing: A Novel by Matthew Norman

Think Black: A Memoir by Clyde W. Ford

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

And this is funny.

Hahahaha.

Trivia answer: Stuart Townsend. 

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