Category: Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by the GCP Clubcar.

Historic Copy of LADY CHATTERLY’S LOVER Available

You know how in school you would sometimes get a used copy of a book that would have some really helpful marginalia? A Half-Blood Prince situation? Well, anyone who’s got Lady Chatterly’s Lover on their syllabus and deep pockets will be interested to know that the obscenity trial judge’s copy of the book will be up for auction.

RIP Norm Breyfogle

Batman artist Norm Breyfogle has passed away at the age of 58. Tributes, especially from other artists, have been pouring in. Breyfogle suffered a stroke a few years ago and relied on crowdfunding to cover his medical expenses. On Twitter, Tim Seeley noted that fact, and added that “comic book creators are freelancers, and often do not have adequate insurance or any at all.”

The First Book Published in Antarctica

Anyone who’s gone on a trip with a good portion of your luggage reserved for reading material will understand why Ernest Shackleton brought a printing press, ink, and paper with him on his first Antarctic expedition. He edited an anthology authored by his crew, and one of the 70 extant copies was sold this week for $97,500.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

2018 Kirkus Prize Finalists

The 2018 Kirkus Prize Finalists for Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers’ Literature have been announced. They include Lauren Groff for Florida (Fiction), Nafissa Thompson-Spires for Heads of the Colored People (Fiction), Rebecca Solnit for Call Them By Their True Names: American Crises (Nonfiction), Kiese Laymon for Heavy: An American Memoir (Nonfiction), Meg Medina for Merci Suárez Changes Gears (YA), and Jacqueline Woodson for Harbor Me (YA). Three winners of the $50,000 prize will be announced on October 25.

300 New Words Added To Scrabble Dictionary

Three hundred new words have been added to the official U.S. Scrabble Dictionary. Add sriracha, aquafaba, beatdown, zomboid, twerk, sheeple, wayback, bibimbap, botnet, emoji, facepalm, and more to your game. Grab the new edition, study up, deploy, and prepare your smuggest pity-smile for the inevitable challenge.

Hunter S. Thompson Letters To Be Auctioned

Letters from Hunter S. Thompson to a childhood friend will be sold at auction, with bidding set to open at $110,000. The letters begin when Thompson is 17, covering the period when the journalist was writing his novel The Rum Diary, and detailing his experiences while penning Hell’s Angels.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Fierce Reads.

Ibi Zoboi Calls Out Wall Street Journal For Racism

Ibi Zoboi responded to a Wall Street Journal review of her Pride and Prejudice retelling, Pride. “Her heavy use of slang will undoubtedly amuse and validate those readers ages 13-17 who use it themselves, but it may otherwise limit the book’s appeal,” wrote the reviewer, quoting lines of AAVE. Authors and others from the world of books joined Zoboi in calling out WSJ. Read the full story, and definitely read Zoboi’s thread here.

Zoë Kravitz To Star In High Fidelity Reboot

Zoë Kravitz will star in and executive produce a reimagining of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. Some of us may remember the 2000 adaptation starring John Cusack and Kravitz’s mother, Lisa Bonet. This new series reboot, told from a female point of view, will be available on Disney’s upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service.

Brakebills Comes To Comics

Lev Grossman’s The Magicians is coming to comics in 2019, courtesy of Boom! Studios. The first release will be The Magicians: Alice’s Story, an original graphic novel by Lilah Sturges and Pius Bak, in July of next year. Here’s Grossman talking about bringing Brakebills to comics.

This edition of Today In Books is sponsored by Rule by Ellen Goodlett

Have The Apple Watch OS5? Now You Can Listen To Audible!

The recent Audible update puts the app on your Apple Watch letting you get to your audiobooks/podcasts. Check out the features and learn more.

First Listen: Special-Edition Hunger Games Audiobook Narrated By Tatiana Maslany

Time for a reread? Or first listen? You can’t do better than Tatiana Maslany narrating a special-edition audiobook of The Hunger Games (Oct. 30th). Bonus: There will be a Q&A with Maslany. You can listen to an excerpt here! (Now I’ll never stop imagining Helena from Orphan Black narrating–Happy Hunger Games, Sestra.)

Michael B. Jordan To Star In 2 Films Based On Tom Clancy Novels

Make room Jack Ryan because John Clark will also get some screen time. Without Remorse and Rainbow Six are being developed by Paramount Pictures and currently looking for its writers and director.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll.

Google Celebrates Mister Rogers With A Doodle

I’d be willing to bet that today’s Google Doodle made more than a few people claim to have something in their eyes. Google celebrated Mister Rogers, and the 51st anniversary of the taping of the very first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, with an animated Doodle. Give it a watch, go behind the scenes to see how the Doodle was created, and grab a Kleenex.

Not A Good Look

After Yandy announced their “sexy” Handmaid’s Tale costume, we all sat back and waited for the inevitable apology. And here it is. Somehow these “let’s make The Handmaid’s Tale sexy” ideas keep getting approved. People actually decide this is a good idea.

Sorry, Comics Shop Staff

You might want to hold onto that copy of Batman: Damned because DC Comics withdrew a page that showed, for the first time, Batman’s genitals. They’re not visible in the digital editions, which means fans, collectors, etc. are scrambling to get their hands on the last remaining copies of the unaltered issue.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Roar, an imprint of Lion Forge.

The Man Booker Prize Shortlist

The six authors shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction are: Anna Burns, Esi Edugyan, Daisy Johnson, Rachel Kushner, Richard Powers, and Robin Robertson. Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan is on the list for Washington Black, and Daisy Johnson, British author of debut novel Everything Under became the youngest author shortlisted for the prize.

More From The World Of Shirley Jackson Adaptations

Entertainment Weekly gave us a look at the film adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Watch Taissa Farmiga as Merricat Blackwood and Crispin Glover as Uncle Julian from Jackson’s eerie tale. The film, directed by Stacie Passon and executive produced by Michael Douglas, premieres this Saturday at the L.A. Film Festival.

Cool Story, Poe

TED-Ed gave us a seasonally-appropriate animated short about Edgar Allen Poe. Learn more about Poe’s life, writing principles and contributions, and the subtext of his macabre stories. Informative and creepy!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Epic Reads, bringing you Pride by Ibi Zoboi.

Watch THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE Trailer

The excitement over Netflix’s adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House just got turned way up, because there’s a terrifying trailer for the ten-episode series. Strictly speaking, it’s not a proper adaptation, but it will be set in the same world as her book. Look for the premiere in October!

Hotcakes Can Only Dream of Selling Like FEAR

Bob Woodward, the journalist who famously broke open the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein, is the latest to pen a book about the Trump administration. And after Fear‘s first week on shelves, it’s already on its tenth printing. The 1.1 million copies sold so far make it Simon & Schuster’s fastest selling book ever.

James Corden Will Never Be Good Enough for Her Family

If you haven’t seen the film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians yet, well, you should. But this behind-the-scenes sketch from “The Late Late Show” is basically a mini-remake, with James Corden trying to win the approval of Henry Golding’s onscreen mother, Michelle Yeoh.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by KENS by Raziel Reid.

Danez Smith Becomes Youngest Forward Prize for Poetry Winner

Danez Smith has become the youngest winner of the Forward Prize for Best Poetry Collection. Smith, who is also the first winner to identify as gender-neutral, won for their collection Don’t Call Us Dead, which confronts race, gender, and being diagnosed HIV-positive. As the winner, Smith will receive a £10,000 award.

Watch The Captain Marvel Trailer

We got an official trailer for Marvel Comics’ Captain Marvel movie. The film, starring Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, with Gemma Chan and Djimon Hounsou, arrives in theaters March 8. Watch the action-packed trailer here.

Avatar Gets Live-Action Netflix Series

Avatar is getting a reboot as an all-new live-action series, with The Last Airbender’s co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko signed on to oversee the show. The animated series spawned a comics series, and an M. Night Shyamalan film that was criticized for being whitewashed. The creators have stated that this reboot will star characters of color.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by LibraryReads.

Watch The Full Trailer For Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Poppins is back, and you can see her and her magical carpet bag in the new full trailer for Mary Poppins Returns. Mary is played by Emily Blunt, and expect a star-studded cast that includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury, Meryl Streep, and Dick Van Dyck. Mary Poppins Returns is loosely based on the other seven books in P.L. Travers’ series. The film premieres December 19.

Haruki Murakami Withdraws Alt Nobel Nomination

Haruki Murakami has withdrawn his nomination from the alternative Nobel Prize for Literature. Murakami wrote to the organizers of the New Academy Prize that he would prefer to focus on his writing away from media attention. The Award was organized in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that postponed the 2018 Nobel. That leaves Maryse Condé, Kim Thúy, and Neil Gaiman in the running.

Pennsylvania Ends Prison Book Donations

As Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections pushes to get prisoners to buy into a costly eBook system, the DOC plans to ban free book donations to inmates by mail. The DOC is claiming that book delivery is a “primary avenue for drugs” to enter prisons, tweeting as evidence a letter from an inmate to family members asking for a dictionary.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon

Listen To Dolly Parton And Sia’s New Song for Dumplin’

This week we found out that the adaptation of Julie Murphy’s book Dumplin’, starring Danielle Macdonald and Jennifer Aniston, was picked up by Netflix. And now we get one of the film’s songs: Here I Am. Equally excited to see the movie and listen to the soundtrack Dolly Parton and Linda Perry have created!

Amazon Only Book On Long-List For One Of France’s Top Literary Prizes

And I’m guessing you know where this is going: Booksellers are super mad! This is the Cannes Film Festival vs Netflix but of the publishing world. Bande de Français by Marco Koskas is self-published and “available only on Amazon – unless bookstores choose to order it from the online platform, a step many are loath to take.” Can’t we all just get along?

Publishers Are Accusing Target Of Censoring Book Descriptions

Some publishers have noticed that Target’s book descriptions have been removing certain words like “transgender” and “queer.” The words are being replaced by asterisks. Target did not initially respond (read their response here), but it seems they have placed back some of the words after publishers have told them to. This is a problem that had first been noticed back in December and seems to be happening again–or still.

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