Author: Liberty Hardy

Happy Thursday! Here is some great stuff to smoosh in your brainpan. Because book stuff is the best smoosh stuff! I hope whatever you’re doing, 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

Sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment

Underpowered and overwhelmed, Kenton tries to hold the Sand Masters together as forces political and personal conspire against them. Now, in one final push, Kenton must tap the most dangerous depths of his own abilities to combat the enemies within his own guild, and discover the truth behind the ambush that killed his father and almost destroyed the Sand Masters for good.

Trivia question time! What show inspired the Traveling Symphony’s motto “survival is insufficient” in Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Patrick Somerville is adapting both Made for Love by Alissa Nutting and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

And speaking of Emily, she revealed information about her new novel The Glass Hotel.

Constance Wu will star in the Goodbye, Vitamin adaptation.

Stephen King’s The Stand miniseries announced its all-star cast.

Keegan Michael-Key to star with Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande and more in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix musical adaptation of Prom.

Joe Hill is writing and overseeing a new line of DC horror comics, including a contribution from Carmen Maria Machado.

Universal Pictures has optioned the rights to The Giver of Stars, a new novel from Jojo Moyes.

Marvel unveils one-act plays featuring Ms. Marvel, Thor, and other heroes.

George Clooney to direct and star in Lily Brooks-Dalton’s Good Morning, Midnight.

Lincoln Lawyer series in development at CBS from David E. Kelley.

Daisy Ridley is reportedly the top choice for the Batgirl film.

Cover Reveals

Samantha Irby shared the amazing cover of Wow, No Thank You, her upcoming memoir. (Vintage, Spring 2020)

Here’s the first look at Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life, the upcoming book from Anne Bogel. (Baker Books, March 3, 2020)

And the first look at Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold. (Balzer + Bray, February 25, 2020)

Sneak Peeks

Here’s a clip of the new Ophelia movie with Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts.

Here’s the trailer for the final season of Orange is the New Black.

And here’s the first photos of the adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel Sandition.

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 Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray (Dutton, February 4, 2020)

I am going to be completely honest with you: I don’t remember why I wrote this down. I have a short list where I add upcoming titles that have been recommended to me, and I don’t remember who told me I needed to read this one. That said, the plot sounds amazing, about a plausible dystopian near-future and a scientist who is doing her damndest to save the world. And the planet’s rotation has stopped and the US population now inhabits the lower half of Great Britain which sounds bananas. I am indeed excited to get my hands on it!

What I’m reading this week.

From Hell to Breakfast by Meghan Tifft

In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen: A Novel by Dexter Palmer

Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger

And this is funny.

Start them young.

Trivia answer: Star Trek: Voyager.

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

Hello, hello, hello! IT’S MONDAY. But don’t fret: there’s lots of fun things to read about today! I would never let you be completely miserable on Mondays. Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Sponsored by Doubleday

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world–a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Here’s this week’s trivia question:  What children’s book author also wrote more than 800 songs? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reels, and Squeals!

Ngozi Ukazu announced her follow-up to Check, Please.

Riverdale’s Asha Bromfield has sold her first YA novel.

Melissa Broder announced her next novel: Milk Fed.

The Devouring Gray author Christine Lynn Herman also announced her next book.

Noelle Stevenson is publishing a graphic memoir called The Fire Never Goes Out.

Maureen Johnson discussed the last book in her Truly Devious trilogy.

Daveed Diggs will narrate the audiobook for The Deep by Rivers Solomon.

Kylie Bunbury to star with Demi Moore in a Brave New World series.

A Dark Crystal comic book series will accompany the Netflix show.

Cover Reveals 

Here’s the first peek at the cover of A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell. (Viking Books for Young Readers, March 10, 2020)

And here’s the cover of The Dragon Egg Princess, the upcoming middle grade novel from Ellen Oh. (HarperCollins, March 3, 2020)

And the first look at the new Laura Ruby: Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All. (Balzer + Bray, October 1)

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 Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht (Tor.com, September 24)

Ohhhhhh, what a deliciously disturbing little delight this is! It’s about a town called Elendhaven, which seems to be on a black moon after the North Pole split in two. And there is a creature called Johann, who has come out of the sea, and he likes nothing more than to murder. Johann teams up with a frail magician to double the evil, double the fun (and engage in an effed up courtship), and together they set about plotting horrible plots. This is like the anti-Edward Scissorhands. It’s a 160-page-long gothic grotesquerie that I wish was 1600 pages.

What I’m reading this week:

Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams

Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen: A Novel by Dexter Palmer

Akin by Emma Donoghue

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan

Pun of the week: 

It was an emotional wedding. Even the cake was in tiers.

Here’s a kitten picture:

Farrokh sleeps like he’s dancing in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

And this is funny.

Took me a second. It’s very clever.

Trivia answer: Shel Silverstein.

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

Hello from my secret volcano lair, where I am currently plotting world domination. JK, I’m reading and petting cats. Being in charge of the world would take up too much precious reading time. In any case, it is Thursday, and I have bookish things to tell you! I hope whatever you’re doing, 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

Sponsored by Sourcebooks

Exiled Charmer Leena Edenfrell is running out of time. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts—an offense punishable by death—and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes Noc an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life. Plagued by a curse that kills everyone he loves, Noc agrees to Leena’s terms in hopes of finding a cure. Never mind that the dark magic binding the assassin’s oath will eventually force him to choose between Leena’s continued survival…and his own.

Trivia question time! What author’s name was James Oliver Rigney, Jr., before he changed it to his famous pen name? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Suzanne Collins is releasing a Hunger Games prequel in May of 2020.

Riverhead Books is publishing Lidia Yuknavitch’s first story collection.

Elizabeth Acevedo became the first writer of color to win the Carnegie medal in its 83-year history.

Rosamund Pike will play Moiraine in the Wheel of Time series adaptation.

Joy Harjo is the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate.

Janet Mock signed a landmark deal with Netflix.

Julie Andrews will voice Lady Whistledown in Shondaland’s Bridgerton series for Netflix, based on Julia Quinn’s novels.

Paramount made a 7-figure film deal for the rights to the upcoming thriller The Chain by Adrian McKinty.

Cover Reveals

Here’s the cover reveal for Madness Blooms by Mackenzi Lee. (And here’s her response to feedback on the jacket copy.) (Flatiron Books, February 4, 2020)

And coincidentally, here’s a similar cover reveal for Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy. (HMH Books for Young Readers, July 21, 2020)

And here’s the cover reveal of Unnatural Magic by C. M. Waggoner. (Ace, November 5)

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the trailer for The Rook, the series adaptation based on the novel by Daniel O’Malley.

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:

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, January 7, 2020)

I’ve been hearing buzz about this debut novel since last year, and we still have six months to go. It’s about a white blogger whose African American babysitter is confronted by a security guard for being with a white child. The whole episode is filmed, and in turn, brings up trouble from the past for the blogger, and harassment for the babysitter. In other words, it sounds 1000% plausible. I can’t wait to read it!

What I’m reading this week.

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean

My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet

And this is funny.

This made me laugh for like 10 minutes.

Trivia answer: Robert Jordan.

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

Welcome to another bookish Monday, friendos. I hope that you were able to read something wonderful over the weekend, and got lots of rest, because there are a bunch of amazing books coming out next week. We’ll never read them all, but we have the best time trying, right? Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Sponsored by Lifelines by Heidi Diehl

For fans of Meg Wolitzer and Maggie Shipstead: Lifelines is a sweeping debut novel following an American artist who returns to Germany—where she fell in love and had a child decades earlier—to confront her past at her former mother-in-law’s funeral.

Exquisitely balanced, expansive yet wonderfully intimate, Lifelines explores the indelible ties of family; the shape art, history, and nationality give to our lives; and the ways in which we are forever evolving, with each step we take, with each turn of the Earth.

Here’s this week’s trivia question: What actress was a young model for the cover of Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls, a book in the Baby-Sitters Club series? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

The National Theatre announced an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of Lane.

Orphan Black’s storyline will continue with Tatiana Maslany in a new audio series for Serial Box.

All 131 Baby-Sitters Club novels are being turned into audiobooks.

Ciannon Smart announced her upcoming novel about Caribbean witches, called Witches Steeped in Gold.

Bradley Cooper is in early talks to star in Guillermo del Toro’s adaption of Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has postponed Naomi Wolf’s latest book.

Ed Harris will succeed Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway, starting in November.

Cover Reveals 

Here’s the first look at the cover of Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles. (HarperTeen, January 21, 2020)

And here’s the first peek at Be Not Far from Me by Mindy McGinnis. (Katherine Tegen Books, March 3, 2020)

Paste has the cover reveal of Rioter Eric Smith’s new YA novel Don’t Read the Comments. (Inkyard Press, January 28, 2020)

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the first trailer for Doctor Sleep, Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining.

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 Swallows: A Novel by Lisa Lutz (Ballantine Books, August 13)

This is an (unfortunately) timely and relevant suspense novel about inappropriate behavior and blackmail at a New England prep school. Alexandra Witt joins the faculty at Stonebridge Academy hoping for a fresh start. But she soon catches wind of a long-standing unofficial tradition: an online document kept by the male students that rates and discusses the sexual activity they have with the girls on campus. Ms. Witt is not alone in her outrage – there is a growing group of girls (and a couple guys) hellbent on taking the website down, literally, along with its users. But breaking traditions is frowned upon, especially when it turns out some of the staff are aware of it too, and several people who have tried to stop it in the past have found themselves on the receiving end of blackmail and job dismissal. Can it be done? This is an infuriating, empowering novel for the #metoo movement.

What I’m reading this week:

The Right Swipe: A Novel by Alisha Rai

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Pun of the week: 

Napoleon may not have designed the coat he wore, but he did have a hand in it.

Here’s a kitten picture:

Zevon has never met a mirror he didn’t like.

And this is funny.

It’s funny because it’s true.

Trivia answer: Kirsten Dunst.

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

Happy Thursday! I have a little bit of fun information to share with you today. It was kind of a slow news week, book-wise. Everyone must be busy watching soccer. But there are still some fun things! (And I threw in a bonus kitten picture.) I hope whatever you’re doing, 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

This newsletter is sponsored by Libro.fm.

Get three audiobooks for the price of one, with code BR19!

P.S. And if you’re looking to learn about more fun stuff, check out Book Riot’s Amazon storefront–we’ve put together a selection of our favorite books and bookish stuff for summer!

Trivia question time! What author sold more than 85 million books worldwide, has been translated to 37 languages, and was knighted for services to literature in 2009? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Mindy Kaling met with Marvel Studios in an effort to bring Ms. Marvel to the screen.

Sandhya Menon shared the title of her Summer 2020 rom-com.

Abdi Nazemian’s YA novel Like A Love Story is being adapted for television.

Terry Pratchett’s The Amazing Maurice will be an animated film.

The First Wives Club remake will premiere on the BET streaming service.

Ibi Zoboi announced the first book in a two-book deal.

Dune: The Sisterhood series is planned for WarnerMedia’s new streaming service.

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:

Horror Stories: A Memoir by Liz Phair (Random House, October 8)

Hard to believe that Exile in Guyville has been about for 26 years, but it has, and it’s still as amazing as ever. I am a huge fan of the enigmatic Liz Phair, and I can’t wait to read what she has to say about her life. There’s no way this isn’t going to be filthy, right?

What I’m reading this week.

The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

All of Us with Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil

Bonus kitten picture:

Zevon can’t resist a mirror.

And this is funny.

This is why I have Twitter.

Trivia answer: Terry Pratchett.

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

Hello and happy Monday, my little page eaters! All this lovely weather has lifted my spirits. I have been reading up a storm, and can’t wait to share all the good books with you. (A reminder that you can stay on top of great new releases with the New Books! newsletter and the All the Books! podcast.) Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to be excellent to each other! I’ll see you again on Thursday. – xoxo, Liberty

Sponsored by Crazy4Fiction

Sample this summer’s titles, including:
MOMENTS WE FORGET: A woman overcomes cancer but struggles with her husband’s shocking revelation.
THE MEDALLION: Two families torn apart by war are connected through a small child and the medallion she carries.
LONDON TIDES: A war photographer returns to London and reconnects with her ex-fiancé.
COLD AIM: Sheltering an FBI witness shines an unwelcome spotlight on Tess O’Rourke’s small town.

Here’s this week’s trivia question: What author had four of his novels featured on the New York Times Best Seller List in the same week in 2004? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

AMC to adapt Mona Awad’s Bunny novel for TV.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown is being made into a series.

The survivor from the Brock Turner case is writing a memoir. (TW for discussion of sexual assault.)

Picador won the rights to the new novel from Sarah Moss.

Ansel Elgort will start in a series adaptation of Tokyo Vice, based on the book by Jake Adelstein.

The rights have sold to Margaret Atwood’s first novel The Edible Woman.

Cover Reveals 

Here’s the first look at the cover of All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson. (FSG Books for Young Readers, April 28, 2020)

And Paste has the first look at Akemi Dawn Bowman’s Harley in the Sky. (Simon Pulse, March 10, 2020)

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:

Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly (Dutton, July 23)

(TW for discussion of extreme violence and murder.)

Dixie Wheeler was just a baby when her father murdered her mother and three brothers with an axe. The only survivor of the massive tragedy, she becomes known in the papers as “Baby Blue” (because of the song playing over and over while her father slaughtered her family.) Raised away from prying eyes by her aunt. Dixie feels aimless and curious as an adult about the family she doesn’t remember. Maybe that’s why she thinks it’s a good idea to buy her old family home when it goes up on the market. (SPOILER: It isn’t.) From the first day at the murder house, she begins seeing and hearing things. Are they real? Or is Dixie becoming unstable just like her dad? This book is wildly gruesome and spooky and comes completely unhinged at the end. I quite enjoyed it.

What I’m reading this week:

All City: A Novel by Alex DiFrancesco

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

Ghosts of Berlin: Stories by Rudolph Herzog and Emma Rault

Lock Every Door: A Novel by Riley Sager

Pun of the week: 

I wasn’t originally going to get a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind.

Here’s a kitten picture:

I do very important work in my office.

And this is funny.

Punctuation humor!

Trivia answer: Dan Brown.

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

Welcome back to another Thursday, book dragons. Is Thursday anyone’s favorite day of the week? Do people have favorite days of the week? I quite like Thursdays. It means I’m one day away from a weekend full of reading! Because yes, everything is book-related with me. And speaking of books, I have some fun things to tell you about today! I hope whatever you’re doing, 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

Sponsored by In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

A deliciously disarming debut novel about a twenty-something Londoner who discovers that she may have been looking for love — and pleasure — in all the wrong places (i.e. from men), In at the Deep End is an unforgettable and audacious odyssey through the pitfalls and seductions we encounter on the treacherous path to love and self.

Trivia question time! What author graduated from Kenyon College in 2000 with a double major in English and religious studies? (Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)

Deals, Reals, and Squeals!

Sandi Tan will write and direct an adaptation of Elif Batuman’s The Idiot.

The adaptation of Looking for Alaska will be available to stream on Hulu in October.

Mahershala Ali may star in the adaptation of Albert Woodfox’s memoir Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades In Solitary Confinement, My Story of Transformation and Hope.

Barry Jenkins will direct a film based on Jennifer Dunning’s biography Alvin Ailey: A Life In Dance.

Marieke Nijkamp has a graphic novel coming in Spring 2020. It’s part of DC’s Zoom and Ink series, which features several other upcoming titles.

George R.R. Martin is the new Chief World Builder for Meow Wolf, the Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment collective.

A Sammy Davis Jr. miniseries is in the works from Lee Daniels, based on the book In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Wil Haygood.

William Boyle announced a new novel for March 2020. (I am a big fan of his stuff.)

The graphic memoir Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home by Nicole J Georges is being adapted for television.

Sarah McCoy announced a new novel for 2021.

Thelma the Unicorn by Aaron Blabey is being made into a musical.

And Jonathan Lee announced a new novel for 2021.

Cover Reveals 

EW has the first look at Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. (Bloomsbury Publishing, January 28)

Courtney Summers shared the cover for the rerelease of her novel Cracked Up to Be. (Wednesday Books, February 4, 2020)

Catapult shared the covers for Night Theater by Vikram Paralkar (January 14, 2020) and A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Search for Belonging by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary (February 11, 2020).

And here’s the cover of Oligarchy: A Novel by Scarlett Thomas. (Counterpoint Press, January 14, 2020)

Sneak Peeks

Here’s the trailer for the Netflix adaptation of Trinkets by Kirsten Smith.

And here’s the first trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

And the trailer for season two of Sweetbitter.

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 Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, August 20)

The new novel from the author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things! That book was one long punch in the face, in a good way. I’m excited to see what Greenwood has cooked up next.

What I’m reading this week.

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora

Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi

The Doll Factory: A Novel by Elizabeth Macneal

Ghosts of Berlin: Stories by Rudolph Herzog, Emma Rault (translator)

And this is funny.

This is consistently one of my favorite Twitter accounts.

Trivia answer: John Green.

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