Category: Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by …And Then You Die of Dysentery: Lessons in Adulting from the Oregon Trail by Lauren Reeves

In Sad News: Todd Bol, Creator Of The Little Free Library Has Died

“Bol believed the now-ubiquitous little boxes of books — and the neighbors who cared for them — could change a block, a city, the world. So he brought them to front yards all over, often installing them himself.” A great read to get to know Bol and how The Little Free Library started and grew.

Holy Cats!

Have you seen the cast for the upcoming movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats?! Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, and Taylor Swift! If you’re wondering why I’m talking about Cats in a bookish newsletter, the musical was based on T. S. Eliot’s whimsical poems Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The meow you know–sorry, not sorry.

In Merger News:

The Crown Publishing Group has joined the Random House Publishing Group. “As a result of the merger, Maya Mavjee, president and publisher of Crown, will leave the company at the end of the year. The imprints will retain their distinct editorial identities, McIntosh continued in the memo, and the change is effective immediately.” Random Crown will look awesome on tote bags–just sayin’.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp to make your personal library books feel special.

Just for Book Riot readers: sign up for an Audible account, and get two audiobooks free!

Lin-Manuel Miranda Is Gonna Make You Cry

With his reading on The Late Show of an excerpt from his new book. It’s a poem he wrote the morning he learned of Anthony Bourdain’s passing. His new book, G’morning G’night: Little Pep Talks For Me & You, is a compilation of his inspiring and affirming morning and evening tweets illustrated by Jonny Sun.

Twelfth Night Inspired Musical Coming To Amazon

It’ll be a contemporary television series musical inspired by Shakespeare’s play: “The complicated love story between a young man and biological young woman who, over the course of the series, begins to identify as gender-fluid.” We’re listening!

PEN America Sues Trump For Attacking Journalists

“When President Trump crosses the line and threatens to use his authority to punish the media, or actually does so, it is vital for the courts to step in and affirm that such threats and reprisals are unconstitutional,” wrote Jennifer Egan, PEN’s President, and Suzanne Nossel, PEN’s CEO.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp to make your personal library books feel special.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Libby, the one-tap reading app from your library and OverDrive

The Man Booker Prize Was Announced!

Congratulations to Anna Burns, the first Northern Irish author to win, for her novel Milkman.The judges were unanimous in their choice: “None of us has ever read anything like this before,” said Appiah, announcing the win at a dinner at the Guildhall in London. “Anna Burns’s utterly distinctive voice challenges conventional thinking and form in surprising and immersive prose. It is a story of brutality, sexual encroachment and resistance threaded with mordant humour.”

Exactly How Popular Was To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before?

According to Netflix 80 million subscribers watched its “Summer of Love” rom-coms over the past few months. And the adaptation of Jenny Han’s novel was one of the “most viewed original films ever with strong repeat viewing.” Yeah it was! If Netflix is taking notes and wants some more gigantic rom-com hits may I please introduce Sandhya Menon and Jasmine Guillory. You make the adaptations, we’ll bring the popcorn!

And In Book Resurrection News

V.E. Schwab’s debut novel The Near Witch will no longer be out of print! The part love story, part fairy tale, is being reissued by Titan Books with an introduction by Schwab on March 12, 2019.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp to make your personal library books feel special.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Chronicle Books

The Most Instagrammed Writers Of All Time

U.K.-based McGowan Transcriptions decided to do some numbers and answer this for us. You can probably guess the writer in the number one place: William Shakespeare. You can check out the rest of the list, and awesome infographic, to see if your favorites made it. But I’ll tell you now if they’re alive they aren’t on the list.

Amandla Stenberg Discusses Starring In The Hate U Give

In this extended interview on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Stenberg talks about code switching, the powerful and very current novel, and brings the laughs!

The New Kindle Paperwhite Is Waterproof

Which is probably all you need to know if you’re a Kindle user tired of sticking your ereader in a Ziplock bag. Oh, and it’s $129. More details here.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp to make your personal library books feel special.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH).

Ryan Coogler Officially Back For Black Panther Sequel

He’s signed the contract so it’s official: Ryan Coogler will write and direct the sequel! And that’s really all the news we’ve got so far for the sequel, and that’s all I need–who do I give my money to?!

BBC Sherlock’s Creative Team Is Bringing Us Dracula

Fangs out, popcorn ready, we’re getting a new Dracula adaptation! Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat are adapting Dracula for the BBC into three 90-minute episodes, and Netflix will stream the show in most countries outside the UK. “There have always been stories about great evil. What’s special about Dracula is that Bram Stoker gave evil its own hero.”

Little Miss Flint Is Putting More Books In Flint Kids’ Hands

And you can help Mari Copeny, the child activist who’s always helping her community, by helping her get more copies of books like The Hate U Give and Modern HERStory into the hands of local Flint, Michigan kids. And here’s the excellent book list Amazon wishlist for Flint Kid’s Read.

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp to make your personal library books feel special.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

If You’re A Harry Potter Fan And Celebrate Christmas

You’re going to want to know that Funko will be putting out a Harry Potter Advent Calendar this year! Just look at those big-headed-wittle-bodied figures.

New Literacy Effort: All Books For All Kids

Newbery Medal-winning author Kwame Alexander and Follett are creating All Books for All Kids so children have access to a wide range of books from a broad spectrum of voices. Here’s more about the campaign, Alexander, and Follett.

The Live-Action Remake Of Aladdin Now Has A Teaser Trailer

Which you can see here. And Will Smith revealed the first poster on Instagram. You can watch the movie when it hits theaters in May 2019. Raise your hand if you now have Prince Ali stuck in your head!

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp for your personal library. Stamp all the books!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Flatiron Books, publishers of Good Me Bad Me, now in paperback by Ali Land.

Procedural Accusations Filed In Shooting Of Salman Rushdie’s Publisher

A little history: In 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie and anyone associated with his novel The Satanic Verses. In 1993 Publisher William Nygaard was attacked in Oslo. Now Norwegian police have filed accusations against several suspects.

New Academy Prize In Literature Awarded

After the rape scandal left no viable committee in place for the Nobel Prize for Literature, essentially cancelling it this year, The New Academy was created in hopes of filling in the void. And they’ve awarded Guadeloupean novelist Maryse Condé the New Academy prize in literature!

My Sister, The Serial Killer is the top pick for November’s Library Reads list

And totally belongs there! Not does Oyinkan Braithwaite‘s upcoming novel have a fabulous title but the book measures up to it. Prepare your TBR and check out the other 13 books on Library Reads November list.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp for your personal library. Stamp all the books!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Are You There God? It’s Me, Margarita by Tim Federle, Running Press.

Take A Tour Of Dracula’s Castle

Or, you know, Bran Castle–the one associated with Bram Stoker’s Dracula that everyone visits. How exactly does a place Stoker never even traveled to become the place everyone connects to his novel? Well that involves a communist government and marketing.

Research Study Finds People Who Grow Up With Home Libraries

Have better math, literacy, and technological skills. “Adolescent exposure to books is an integral part of social practices that foster long-term cognitive competencies,” writes a research team led by Joanna Sikora of Australian National University. (Let’s pretend I don’t debunk the math part.)

The National Book Awards 2018 Finalists Have Been Announced

Want to see who is still in the running under fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature and young people’s literature? Here you go–hope your favorites made the cut!

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp for your personal library. Stamp all the books!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by First Second Books.

100+ Film-Related Words Added To Oxford English Dictionary

You can now say “Lynchian,” and if someone doesn’t know what you mean they can look it up in the Oxford dictionary. My favorite, which I’d never heard before, is “Sword-and-sandal”: (chiefly attributive) a genre of film characterized by a setting in the ancient world, often featuring characters from the Bible or classical history and myth.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Accepts PEN Pinter Prize

She accepted the award as a writer whose work shows “the real truth of our lives and our societies,” and in her acceptance lecture, Shut Up and Write, she spoke about the responsibility of speaking out in the U.S. current political climate and also her personal experience for defending women’s rights in Nigeria.

It’s October So Here’s The Trailer for Pet Sematary

No, not the ’80s film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel but the coming-in-April-2019 film adaptation. I can’t look because I’m still traumatized from someone freezing the original on the kid’s shoe in the road but you can see the trailer.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp for your personal library. Stamp all the books!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Zola’s Elephant, written by Randall de Sève and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski.

Join YA Authors In One Action A Day

Follow #28DaysOfAction on Twitter where YA authors have joined together to take one action–big or small–a day to do until the election. It’s a great way to combat that feeling of having no power in a situation, plus many are giving great examples of things to do if you don’t even know where to start.

Calling John le Carré Fans!

Here is your teaser trailer for AMC’s six-part miniseries adaptation of The Little Drummer Girl. Starring Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgård, and Michael Shannon it will premiere November 19th.

And In History Is Cool News

An ancient Roman comic strip with speech bubbles was found in an unearthed Roman tomb in the northern Jordanian town of Beit Ras. There’s more than sixty speech bubble like inscriptions that explain the action in the images. You can see more images and a video of the discovery here.

And don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a custom book stamp for your personal library. Stamp all the books!