Category: Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson from Holt Paperbacks.

Student Volunteers Replacing School Librarians Criticized In Scotland

Three Scotland schools are testing out a trial program from the Scottish Borders council that will place pupils and volunteers in school library staff positions for cost-cutting reasons. Many parents, experts, librarians, and unions are critical of this plan: “Librarians do not just open the library door and check out books: they have the knowledge and skill to support learners in their study and research, and to support literacy skills.”

He Once Got Himself Arrested On Purpose–And 12 Other Surprising Facts about George Orwell

If your well of facts for “Hey did you know” is running low Mental Floss has put together a list of surprising facts about novelist Eric Arthur Blair, the man behind the pen name George Orwell. You probably already know he wrote Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four but do you know how many foreign languages he knew? Or that he coined the term “cold war?”

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks Statue Unveiled

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks is now the first black, Chicago-based poet honored with a statue and memorial in a city park. Just another “first” for this extraordinary poet who was also first the black person to win a Pulitzer Prize (for Annie Allen) and the first black woman to be the poet laureate of Illinois. If you’re in Chicago you can see her statue at her namesake Gwendolyn Brooks Park or enjoy your weekend with a poetry collection: A Street in Bronzeville.

Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Kiss a four-leaf clover and enter here!

Sponsored by Blood Will Out by Jo Treggiari

Anthony Bourdain Has Died

Anthony Bourdain, world-famous chef, television host, and author of Kitchen Confidential, A Cook’s Tour, and many other books, has died from suicide at age 61. His body was found in his hotel in France, where he was staying to film his show Parts Unknown. “Chef Gordon Ramsay honoured him as a man who ‘brought the world into our homes and inspired so many people to explore cultures and cities through their food’.”

Stranger Things Books Are Coming in the Fall

Penguin Random House announced today upcoming books about/set in the universe of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. The releases begin with a behind-the-scenes book and a young readers’ gift book coming out this fall, and next year author Gwenda Bond will a prequel novel about Eleven’s mother. The books will have audiobook versions–here’s hoping the cast reads them!

James McAvoy to Star in BBC’s Adaptation of His Dark Materials

Actor James McAvoy has been cast to play Lord Asriel in the BBC’s eight-part adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series (Daniel Craig played the part in the full-length movie). The adaptation will be directed by Tom Hooper, and will also star Lin Manuel-Miranda and Clarke Peters.

We’re giving away $500 to spend at the bookstore of your choice! Click here to enter.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by We Are Gathered by Jamie Weisman from HMH.

Poetry Readers In The U.S. Have Almost Doubled

New research by the National Endowment for the Arts has shown that poetry readers in the U.S. have almost doubled in the past five years. People ages 18–24 and African American, Asian American, and other non-white readers make up the largest increase in poetry readership. The increase has been attributed to a number of factors including social media, and the pursuit of insight and comfort during challenging times.

Watch The Girl In The Spider’s Web Trailer

The newest installment of the Lisbeth Salander movies–or, rather, the Millenium series adaptations–has a trailer. The film adaptation of The Girl in the Spider’s Web (the fourth book in the series–this one written by David Lagercrantz, not Stieg Larsson) does not include a bunch of spoilers, according to director and co-writer Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe). Claire Foy (The Crown) plays Salander, and Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason (Borg vs. McEnroe) plays Blomkvist.

When You Just Can’t Wait For That Library Book

I mean, I get impatient waiting for books to become available, but a Hong Kong librarian took reader’s anticipation to a new level. The librarian in question has been arrested for allegedly stealing patrons’ personal information. The reason? She wanted to expedite the return of loaned out books she wanted to read. By reporting their cards stolen and changing their passwords, the librarian compelled patrons to return their books immediately. Yeesh.

Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard.

Women’s Prize for Fiction

Kamila Shamsie has won the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction in recognition of her seventh novel, Home Fire. Rioter Deepali Agarwal writes that this retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone “follows the lives of orphans Isma and her twin siblings Aneeka and Parvaiz after Parvaiz joins the media arm of the Islamic State.”

Netflix’s Running Total: 39 Reasons

We’re getting a third season of “13 Reasons Why,” the controversial adaptation of a YA book by a controversial author. The series started streaming in March of 2017 and has featured suicide, sexual assault, and a school shooting plot.

Haruki Murakami Is Very Haruki Murakami

The prolific Japanese novelist will host “Murakami Radio—Run and Songs” on August 5. He’ll be sharing selections from his personal music collection with a focus on the tunes he likes to listen to as he trains for ultramarathons. Nobody is surprised and everybody is delighted.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone from Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Amazon Orders The Underground Railroad Series

Amazon has ordered a limited series based on Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) is set to direct all 11 episodes of the series about a slave’s harrowing journey for freedom in the antebellum South. No release date yet.

Oprah’s New Book Club Selection

Oprah revealed her new book club selection, and it’s The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton. The book is Hinton’s memoir about his 1985 wrongful arrest for two counts of capital murder in Alabama, his time on death row, and his 2015 release. Oprah described how she randomly happened upon the book, and also noted that Hinton never received an apology for his wrongful incarceration from the state of Alabama.

Watch The Trailer For Mortal Engines

The official trailer for the film adaptation of Phillip Reeve’s post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Mortal Engines dropped. Peter Jackson is producing; he also wrote the screenplay alongside partners Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens. Christian Rivers (King Kong) will direct. Watch it here.

Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here!

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Diode Editions.

#Cockygate Developments

In the chronicles of #cockygate, a judge has denied a motion by romance writer Faleena Hopkins requesting a preliminary injunction to prevent the publication of some books that include the word “cocky” in the title. After obtaining a trademark registration of the word “cocky,” the author began working to block the sale of romance novels that use the word in their titles. Although I’m sure many, particularly those financially affected by this trademark battle, wish the whole thing would go away, we’ll likely hear more on the lawsuit.

Linking Classics To The Incel Movement

A piece in The Guardian looked at possible intersections between literary classics and the incel movement. The article considers the glorification of male sexual frustration in classics such as Hamlet, Great Expectations, and The Great Gatsby, and the celebration of people like Elliot Rodger (the perpetrator of the Isla Vista killings that were motivated by Rodger’s hatred of women) among members of the involuntarily celibate community.

Need Another Reason To Read? SCIENCE

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests reading may help prevent dementia. Researchers conducted the study using a sample size of 15,582 people from Hong Kong, age sixty-five and up, and discovered that readers’ risk of developing dementia was significantly lower than non-readers.

Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here!

We’re giving away $500 to spend at the bookstore of your choice! Click here, or on the image below to enter:

Weird Literary Relics People Bought For A Lot of Money

Here’s some fun tidbits for your next dinner party: 9 Weird Literary Relics People Spent Serious Money On. Someone was willing to pay more than $9,000 for Charles Dickens’ toothpick. I say “ew,” but to each their own–unless they use it, that’s just nasty. Other items include an X-Ray of Hernest Hemingway’s foot, J.D. Salinger’s toilet, and Truman Capote’s ashes–Imagine wanting his ghost!

Celia Cruz’s Autobiography Is Being Adapted

Celia Cruz, the Queen of Latin Music, is getting an English language series based primarily on her autobiography Celia: My Life and the Smithsonian’s more than 500 hours of taped interviews. The Cuban born singer is one of the most influential people in Latin music history, with over 70 albums, so fingers crossed this project is as great as she was. ¡Azucar! 

Music-Themed Sci-Fi Novel Adaptation

It’s the weekend on yet another loooong week let’s continue with awesome, fun, adaptation news: The science fiction novel Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente is being adapted into a music-themed film. After a great galactic war a fierce musical contest arises–and that’s all I need to want this novel (a Book Riot favorite) and this film!

We’re giving away $500 to spend at the bookstore of your choice! Click here, or on the image below to enter:

Algorithm Searches For Career Novelists

De Montfort Literature is offering a £24,000 starting salary to writers who pass a selection process that involves an algorithm designed to identify career novelists, and includes psychometric tests and interviews. Up to 10 novelists will receive support with mentoring, editing, designing, promoting, and publishing. The authors would receive 50% of the profits.

Michiko Kakutani Speaks On Her Decision To Become An Author

Michiko Kakutani, the famed book critic for The New York Times, spoke to Vanity Fair about her decision to become an author in the Trump era. Kakutani left the paper to write The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump. The author said one reason she wrote the book is to call attention to the denunciation of fake news and the citing of alternative facts by Trump and the White House.

Silver & Black Back In Development

Those who have been anticipating Marvel’s Spider-Man spinoff Silver & Black will have to continue anticipating past its planned 2019 release date. The film following female mercenary Silver Sable and Spider-man love interest Black Cat will not premiere in February after all, and Deadline reported word of a possible re-write.

As part of Season 2 of our podcast series Annotated, we are giving away 10 of the best books about books of 2017. Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image below:

A Rare Tolkien Exhibition

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth will be at the Weston Library in Oxford until October. Enter through the Doors of Durin, chart the routes taken by Tolkien’s characters, and gaze upon a rarely displayed Tolkien collection. After October, the exhibition will travel to New York, and then to the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Henry IV And V Adapted For Netflix

Shakespeare is coming to Netflix. The streaming service announced The King, based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V. The 2019 adaptation will star Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson, Joel Edgerton, Ben Mendelsohn, and Lily-Rose Depp. David Michôd will direct.

Hermione Dreams And Potterhead Quizzes

Are you a Hermione whose fondest dream involves taking the O.W.L. exams? Well, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London is here to make your dreams come true with their new series of quiz nights in the Great Hall. Find out whether you pass or fail on subjects including Magical Artefacts, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures in the location where Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat their O.W.L exams.

Don’t forget we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice! Enter here!

We’re giving away $500 to spend at the bookstore of your choice! Click here, or on the image below to enter:

Tolkien Goes Back to School

There’s going to be an epic Tolkien exhibit at Oxford from June 1 to October 31. You can go ahead and spend all your money getting yourself to England, because the exhibit is going to be totally free. And if you think you’ve been there and done that, think again: there will be some never-before-seen items on display, including a “3D, specially-commissioned map of Middle-Earth.” (Isn’t that just called “New Zealand”…?)

The Library of Congress Levels Up in Comics

Bow down to Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, whose work to make a home for comics at the Library of Congress has culminated in an unprecedented comic book donation valued in the millions. The benefactor is Stephen A. Geppi, a major player in comics publishing for the past thirty years. As he put it, “Can you imagine having Action Comics No. 1 sitting right next to the Gutenberg Bible in a display?” Maybe we’ll get just that when the library starts displaying select items from this acquisition sometime this summer.

Hailee Steinfeld to Wander Funny as a Cloud

I can’t say that Emily Dickinson has ever made me crack a rib laughing, but that might change soon. Apple has given “Dickinson” a straight-to-series order, with Oscar-nominated actor and singer Hailee Steinfeld as the belle of Amherst. No news yet on how Apple plans to distribute this scripted comedy.