Category: Today In Books

Discworld Will Get Faithful TV Adaptations

Narrativia, Terry Pratchett’s production company, announced–on what would have been the Discworld author’s 72nd birthday–that they’re teaming up with Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content for “truly authentic … prestige adaptations that remain absolutely faithful to [his] original, unique genius”. While previous adaptations haven’t necessarily always hit the mark, or are accused of not being faithful to the source, Prachett’s daughter thinks the new deal’s partners “’perfectly share our vision’ of what a Discworld screen adaptation should be.”

Exciting Sequel Announcement

Waubgeshig Rice’s apocalypse novel Moon Of The Crusted Snow, set in a northern Anishinaabe community, is getting a sequel! Rice, who has hosted CBC Radio’s Up North for fourteen years, will begin the sequel ten years after the events in the first novel, which will publish in 2022. Can’t wait!

Michelle Obama’s Becoming Coming To Netflix

Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming–totally worth all the sales and hype and awards–is coming to Netflix. Or, you know, her life touring with her memoir and the people she met, along with the huge life change of leaving the White House. The documentary, Becoming, is directed by Nadia Hallgren and will stream on Netflix May 6th. Whose gonna be crying into their popcorn with me on May 6th?

Prince Harry Celebrates Thomas the Tank Engine

Prince Harry, who on his first day of nursery school had a Thomas the Tank Engine bag, is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the children’s book by Rev. W. Awdry with a recorded message introducing a new animated Netflix series Thomas and Friends: The Royal Engine. You can watch the new show, and the animated royal family, on May 1st.

You Can’t Buy Magazines There Anymore

While Barnes & Noble has shuttered the majority of their 600 bookstores in the pandemic, that isn’t the only change: they will no longer buy and sell new magazines. For readers who purchased their single magazine issues from the bookstore they’ll have to hop on over to stores like Target, Walmart, and grocery stores, but this could hurt small publishers who rely on that B&N sale.

Support Lambda Literary

The organization behind the Lambda Literary Awards, who nurtures and advocates for LGBTQ writers, needs help: “For the first time in our history, we cancelled the annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony. We’ve also suspended our work that brings LGBTQ books and authors into schools and we’ve postponed numerous public gatherings.” In order to continue operating they’re asking for donations and are pretty close to their goal if you can and want to help.

Snake Species Named After Harry Potter

Findings published in Zoosystematics and Evolution revealed that researchers in India discovered a new species of green pit vipers and gave the species a name after a Harry Potter character. If you know even just a little bit about Harry Potter, I’m sure you’ve already guessed the species was named after Salazar Slytherin: “The researchers said in their findings that they chose the name Trimeresurus salazar for the snake, though they prefer it to be commonly known as Salazar’s pit viper.”

Wartime Posters Get Pandemic Makeover

Being that it had over 100 wartime posters–created by the Canadian government during the world wars–in its digital collection, the Toronto Public Library decided the posters could be updated to the current pandemic and asked people to remix them. The library’s subreddit had 70 responses: “One of the most popular images was a redesigned Second World War poster on which a stack of toilet paper replaced an elephant, keeping the same wartime message: ‘If you don’t need it … Don’t buy it!’”

If Cats Disappeared from the World

Genki Kawamura’s novel If Cats Disappeared from the World—about a terminally ill Japanese man given the option to live an extra day for disappearing one thing entirely from the world–is being adapted! The author will produce, along with the production company that adapted the 2016 Japanese film, the creator of Sorry for Your Loss will write the screenplay, and Masi Oka (from Hereos!) will also be producing.

First Dork Diaries Novel To Become A Podcast

Calling all fans of Nikky and the Dork Diaries gang! The first novel in the series is being released as a free podcast! Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life will be produced by Simon & Schuster audio and fully dramatized, with the first episode scheduled to drop tomorrow, April 27. The cast includes some of the biggest names in audiobook narration, and the podcast will be complete with sound effects. You can listen wherever podcasts can be downloaded!

Live Webcast: Neil Gaiman In Conversation With N.K. Jemisin

Hey fantasy readers, are you missing live events with your favorite authors? Neil Gaiman and N.K. Jemisin will be chatting on May 2, and the conversation will be broadcast for free. Plus, there’s a special signed copy offer: The first 250 people who buy a copy of Jemisin’s new book, The City We Became, from their indie bookstore partner will have it signed! Save the date!

The Little Book Sellers That Could: How Indie Stores Managed To Take A Slice Of Amazon Business

You might have noticed that Amazon is taking a little longer to process book orders these days, and one website is looking to fill the gap. Bookshop.org is a book retail site where customers can buy new books (most at a discount) and have them shipped from the same warehouses that indie bookstores use directly to their homes. Then, 10% of that sale goes into a pot distributed between indie bookstore affiliates. Bookshop.org is helping a lot of indie bookstores who didn’t have vigorous online storefronts stay afloat during closures, and they’ve raised nearly $1 million for bookstores to date. But whether customers will stay loyal to indie shopping beyond the pandemic remains to be seen.

Mass Market Paperbacks Are Growing–In Size

Kensington Publishing is taking a crack at helping declining mass paperback sales by tweaking their size. Currently mass paperbacks are 4.125 by 6.75 inches and priced around $7.99 to $8.99. Kensington’s new size and price will be 4.75 by 7 inches and $8.99 to $9.99. It may not seem like a big size jump, but it will allow for wider margins and fonts that will be more legible creating a more comfortable reading experience for readers who find the current size too small.

The Kind Of Records You Don’t Want To Break

Last year, book banning attempts in U.S. libraries rose 17%, with 566 books targeted for removal. Before same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. in 2015, ALA’s top 10 banned books list never had more than 20% of books with LGBTQ characters. It has now risen to 80%. “When LGBTQ stories are silenced in this way, LGBTQ youth and children from LGBTQ families get the message that their own stories – their very lives – do not have value, that they are shameful.” It’s always a great time to support targeted books: And Tango Makes Three; Prince & Knight; George; A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.

Data On Quarantine Reading

If you’re wondering how the current state of the world is affecting reading habits here’s a roundup of some data! A UK report found that 31% of Brits stated they’re reading more during quarantine and NPD BookScan reported a 777% increase in the U.S regarding online book sales in the beginning of April. If you’re wondering what people are reading and buying most, that’s also listed, including jumps in sales for quilting and sewing books.

Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped Book Banning

While the pandemic has most things closed and is causing major delays in all aspects of life it has apparently not stopped book banning. Even though it was already in place that parents could opt their child out of required reading the school board in Mat-Su, Alaska voted to ban 5 books and remove newspaper materials from being used in high school journalism classes. The books got the “controversial” label and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings had “anti-white messaging” as one of the reasons for banning.

Helpers

The Clinton Presidential Library is technically closed because of the pandemic but it’s open for service to the community. 70 daily volunteers are working hard to feed members of the community, including students 18 and younger who are offered breakfast and lunch. Around 7,200 meals are created a day to then be delivered around Pulaski County for food distribution.

Uplifting Poems

Add to your calendar Shelter In Poems on Apr 30th, 7:30 PM EDT. Poets laureate, actors, musicians, artists, and more will be reading poems that offer comfort and/or courage. Check out the virtual reading presenters!

Recreate Your Fave Book Cover Challenge

Inspired by the Getty Museum’s art challenge, the New York Public Library is helping people have some fun while isolating at home with their own challenge: recreate your favorite book covers! Share your new book covers on social media using the hashtag #BookCoverDouble–and don’t worry if you don’t want to show your face. As the recreators of Jurassic Park and Running With Scissors have shown, there’s plenty of faceless options.

Chelsea Handler Gives Book Recs Her Way

Chelsea Handler has always been a lover of books, starting with childhood trips to the library with her mom, and her passion has only continued as an adult as she seeks to always learn new things. The author and comedian has taken to Instagram to recommend books using the hashtags #GetLitWithChelsea #NakedLit. The second hashtag is because Handler is naked holding her recommendations over her private parts. Check out her book recommendation photos and video book reviews–is it still NSFW if we’re working alone on our sofa in PJs?

App News

The Library of Congress announced the LOC Collections app, which puts the national library’s digital collections on your iPhone or iPad–Android users’ version is forthcoming. Along with having the digital collection at your fingertips wherever you are, the app also allows you to curate your own personal galleries and share. Anyone else remember when you had to physically go to a library, and only had access to whatever they had in the building?

Books By Bicycle During India’s Lockdown

How to help bibliophiles in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerela during the lockdown due to the pandemic? Books by Bicycle! Volunteers from the Indus Cycling Embassy are delivering, with discounts, books for adults and children written in English and Malayalam. Also in the delivery is a homemade mask and instructions on how to make a face mask.

Penguin Random House’s First-Ever Virtual Con!

On Friday, April 24th, publisher Penguin Random House has a day of fun for book lovers! Beginning at 9 a.m., there will be all kinds of activities storytelling games, quizzes, author AMAs, and you can enter sweepstakes to win highly anticipated upcoming releases. Bookmark this page for front row seats.

Sherlock’s Teen Sister!

Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes Mysteries series will be coming to Netflix with Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) playing Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ teen sister, who sets out to solve the mystery of their missing mother. Sherlock is played by Henry Cavill, Mycroft by Sam Claflin, and the film is directed by the Fleabag director Harry Bradbeer. At least while I wait for a release date announcement I have a whole series of books to read!

MOMA Opens Archives & Sells Rare Books

MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is digging into its archives and selling rare art books since the museum has been closed during the pandemic. “Many of these books—focused on the fields of art, photography, architecture, and more—are in excellent condition and renowned for their high production values.” Check out the, so far, 119 books priced between $25 to $2,500.

As You Wish

Disney+ is blessing us with the gem of a movie The Princess Bride, which it will add to the streaming service on May 1st. You can watch the adorable Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes) reveal the news. And if you’ve never read the novel by William Goldman that the film is adapted from, now is an excellent time to get lost in that world–there’s so much more detail and story!

More Time To Read The Shortlist

The Booker Prize Foundation announced it was postponing announcing the winner for the International Booker Prize award due to *gestures wildly at world* causing major disruptions in publishing and readers having a hard time getting copies of the shortlist. So we have more time to get a copy and read the excellent works up for the prize: The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (anonymous translator); The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh); Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (translated by Ross Benjamin); Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (translated by Sophie Hughes);The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder); The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (translated by Michele Hutchison).

Read Mitch Albom’s New Book Free, One Chapter A Week

The author of Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom, is writing a new novel, Human Touch, and releasing one chapter a week for free online. The idea is to raise money for coronavirus relief so you’ll find a donate button at the bottom of the page. You can head on over and read the first two chapters now.

SDCC Cancelled For First Time

San Diego Comic-Con, the convention that gathers comic book and multi-genre entertainment fans together, has cancelled for the first time in fifty years. This year’s event would have been held July 23 to July 26. “’Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,’ said SDCC spokesperson David Glazner in a statement.” They’ll be back July 22–25 in 2021.

Share You Poem

Children’s author and poet, Kwame Alexander, has a lovely and interesting project with NPR’s Morning Edition you can join: Write a poem about COVID-19 that starts with the line “what I’m learning about grief,” and he will take lines from the poems and create a community-style poem for everyone. You can upload your poem here and read Nancy Cross Dunham’s poem.