Category: Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, publisher of Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake.

Clowns-Only Screenings Of IT: Chapter Two

17 Alamo Drafthouse theaters have planned a clowns-only screening for IT: Chapter Two on September 5th. So clown and horror fans read on here for details and coulrophobics stay home on September 5th.

Woke Baby Book Fair

If you’ll be in Fort Greene (Brooklyn, NY) on Saturday August 3rd you’re going to want to check out the Woke Baby Book Fair which was “named as both a joke about babies’ rocky sleep schedules and a comment on young people’s capacity for social change.” For more awesome details–Jason Reynolds and Dhonielle Clayton will be there!–read on here.

Get Your Votes In!

Not The Booker has announced its longlist–174 books!–for you to vote on two of the books you think should make it to the shortlist round. You can check out the easy how-to voter instructions, and see all the awesome books in the running, here.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by William Morrow books.

Edward Snowden Memoir Drops In September

If you’ve been waiting/hoping for Edward Snowden to write and publish a memoir your wait is almost over: Metropolitan Books will publish Permanent Record on September 17th in 20+ countries. For more on Snowden and the memoir read on here.

Fleabag Special Edition Script Book

The ridiculously talented, and hilarious, Phoebe Waller-Bridge had a hit with the Killing Eve adaptation, was brought on to rewrite the current Bond script, and has a hit with Amazon’s Fleabag, an adaptation of her one-woman show. All of that is to say of course it would be very wise to release a special edition script book of her original Fleabag script.

Florence Wants Dante Back

Er, his body that is. The Divine Comedy author fled into exile in 1302 after being sentenced with burning at the stake, eventually dying in Ravenna where his tomb is to this day. But with Dante’s upcoming 700th death anniversary Florence is thinking of bringing his body back “for a limited period.” I guess we just willy-nilly move bodies now! Anyhoo, more on all of this here.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Dutton.

Help The Library of Congress Transcribe Suffragist Papers

The crowd sourcing platform launched in 2018 by the Library of Congress, By The People, is looking for volunteers to help transcribe almost 16,000 pages of letters, speeches, articles and suffragist documents. Once fully word searchable lay historians and scholars will have a much easier time with the material. Anyone can participate, which you can find out more about here.

Medieval Poem About A Talking Vulva Found In Australia

Only two copies of Der Rosendorn (The Rose Thorn) were known to exist until a recent discovery which has now pushed the origin date of the poem back 200 years. You can read more about the poem–in which a virgin argues with her genitals–along with how Christine Glassner found the poem while looking through manuscripts here.

True Crime Fans: Mindhunter S2 Teaser Trailer Is Here

Netflix’s hit show, based on John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s true crime serial killer book, returns with a second season on August 16th and here’s our scary first look: Mindhunter season 2 teaser trailer.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by David Baldacci’s One Good Deed.

Tonight Show Summer Read Revealed

The Tonight Show fans had five books they could vote on to select the show’s summer book club read. Nearly 1 million votes later the winner is: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane. Which immediately jumped more than 500 spots on Amazon’s bestseller list.

Call Me By Your Name Director Eyes Classic Novel

Luca Guadagnino, who directed the adaptation of Call Me By Your Name, is in talks to direct, and produce, the adaptation of the classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. His vision is “a story that stays true to the text but with a contemporary, ultra-kinetic feel.”

Authors Open Letter To Congress

Forty authors–including Neil Gaiman, Khaled Hosseini, Ariel Dorfman and Viet Thanh Nguyen–who are either immigrants or born to immigrants in the U.S. wrote an open letter in The Nation to congress pleading for action regarding the inhumane treatment of immigrants at the U.S./Mexico border. “The reports of death, abuse, overcrowding, untreated illness, malnutrition and lack of basic hygiene are abhorrent, especially since many of those affected are children.”

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Shadow Mountain Publishing.

The Book Bus

Let’s start the week off right with a delightful story about a book bus! Melanie Moore, a retired school teacher, converted a 1962 Volkswagen Transporter into a book bus–an independent, bookstore on wheels. You can catch Moore, her VW, and books around Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

More Books On Buses

Barbara Nolan decided to bring books to Philadelphia commuters by creating Books in Transit, a program that offers fourteen titles to choose from which you can grab at three SEPTA locations. Bonus, the books don’t have to be returned. And the selection of books is fantastic! May all public transit commuters be this fortunate.

Catholic Publishers New Focus

(TW Clergy abuse) With so many recent cases of abuse by Catholic clergy a recent study found that church attendance and donations are down, prompting Catholic Presses to publish books that address the abuse. For more on the presses read on here.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Libro.fm

A Centenarian Debut Poet

There really isn’t an upper-limit for the age of debut authors. Just ask Sarah Yerkes, who at 101 years old has just released her first collection of poems.

Legolasless

You know Amazon’s upcoming series set sometime before Fellowship of the Ring? According to the elfin archer himself, the show will not feature Tolkien adaptation regular Orlando Bloom.

Nonhumans in Children’s Books Outnumber Black People

In 2018, 27% of children’s books featured nonhuman characters, while only 10% featured black characters. “Black children shouldn’t have to settle for books they can’t relate to.”

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.

Embargo on Library E-books Expanded By Publisher

Over a year ago Macmillan’s imprint Tor embargoed its new released e-books to libraries. Now Macmillan has decided to apply an embargo to the entire company starting November 1st. What this means is libraries will only be allowed to purchase one perpetual access e-book during the first eight weeks of publication for a new Macmillan release. You can read more on the publisher’s controversial new policy here.

OITNB Starts Social Justice Reform Fund

Netflix’s adaptation Orange is the New Black may be coming to an end but they plan on leaving behind more than just a hit show. They’ve begun an initiative to help incarcerated women: The Poussey Washington Fund. You can learn more, including watching their initiative announcement video, here.

The Library of Congress National Book Festival Will Expand

National Book Festival Presents will be a yearlong series of events starting this fall that will feature awesome authors and their books. You can check out the lineup, which ranges from Neil Patrick Harris to Edwidge Danticat, and more here.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Kensington Books.

Mini Boden Launching Kids’ Harry Potter Clothing Line

For all the parents who are Harry Potter fans and all the children discovering, and falling in love with the books for the first time, now there is a new clothing line to get excited about. In a deal with Warner Bros., Mini Boden has designed 81 pieces for kids up to age 16 to wear and enjoy–and you know some petite adult Potterheads are gonna squeeze in. Check out more here.

Megan Rapinoe Books! Megan Rapinoe Books!

I’ve been waiting for someone to give Megan Rapinoe a book deal for a while now and finally the happy news has happened! Rapinoe, who if you don’t follow women’s soccer is an amazing athlete, has signed with Penguin to write an adult book and middle grade books about social justice. Read on here for quotes about each book and more on Rapinoe.

More Award Finalists!

This time the 2019 World Fantasy Awards. This year’s theme is Fantasy Noir, and you can check out the finalists, and more on the awards here. Excellent selections if you’re looking to pick up a recent-ish fantasy read!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Two Lila Bennetts by Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton.

Ursula K. Le Guin Documentary Airing On PBS

The documentary Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin will air on August 2nd on PBS. In the last decade of her life, the prolific author participated in the documentary, which has been showing, and winning awards, in film festivals around the world. Make the popcorn and get ready for a marathon reading of her work after watching the doc!

Hulu Is Adapting The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Hulu is certainly playing the adaptation game: it’s developing Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy into a TV series. The sci-fi comedy will get a modern updating by writers, showrunners, and executive producers Carlton Cuse and Jason Fuchs.

Heart Eye Emojis To This Long List!

The 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize (debut novel) has a long list and it’s a real beauty. From American Spy to On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous I think this list is just Book Riot favorites, it’s so great. Go get your amazing read on here–I’d say so you can cheer for your favorite to win, but good luck picking a favorite.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by THE LIGHTEST OBJECT IN THE UNIVERSE by Kimi Eisele, new from Algonquin Books.

2019 Booker Dozen Announced!

One hundred and fifty-one novels published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019 were judged and reduced to the Booker Dozen–the 2019 Booker Prize longlist! Book Riot favorite My Sister, The Serial Killer along with Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testament, have taken two slots! Check out the other 11 books here!

Vancouver Public Library Pulled From Parade By The Vancouver Pride Society

The Vancouver Pride Society cites their reason for denying VPL to enter next month’s pride parade is due to them allowing Meghan Murphy to give a speech in the library, which they believe gave Murphy a platform for her “transphobic hate speech.” For more on this story, including VPL’s statement, read on here.

Green Bookselling

Green Bookselling: A Manifesto for the BA, Booksellers, and the Book Industry, created by the U.K.’s Booksellers Association, calls on publishers to take an environmentally friendly approach while offering recommendations and commitments. You can read their three principles, ideas, and more on this green initiative here.