Category: Today In Books

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman, new in paperback from Vintage Books.

A New Generation Of Native American Writers

BuzzFeed profiled a new wave of indigenous writers trained in the first indigenous-centered MFA program in the US, the Institute of American Indian Arts. Among those featured is Terese Marie Mailhot, who recently published her memoir, Heart Berries. The piece explores the standards of white academia, particularly MFA programs, and what it means to have a program designed around the indigenous experience. Learn more about the history of the IAIA and its up-and-coming writers here.

Watch The Trailer For Idris Elba’s Adaptation Yardie

Idris Elba has taken to the world of book adaptations with his directorial debut, Yardie. The film is adapted from Victor Headley’s novel of the same name about a young Jamaican man in the music industry, caught in a life of crime, and on a quest to avenge his brother’s murderer. Watch the teaser trailer for the film, which premiered at Sundance, here.

Bodleian Libraries’ Tolkien Exhibit And Collection

Bodleian Libraries is not only putting on a J.R.R. Tolkien exhibit; they’re publishing “the largest collection of original Tolkien material ever assembled in a single volume.” According to the Bodleian’s Twitter post, the volume will be 416 pages put together by the exhibit’s curator Catherine McIlwaine and the entire team at Bodleian Publishing.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Comic Bento.

ALA Responds To Proposal To Segregate LGBTQ Books

We have an update on the story about the Orange City community that proposed to segregate books containing LGBTQ themes, and to halt new acquisitions of these books without public input. The Iowa Library Association posted a letter from them and the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom to the Orange City Public Library Board of Trustees. The letter expressed concern about the proposal, and urged the Board “to uphold the freedom to read and the principles of intellectual freedom by supporting the inclusion of all books in the public library collection without discrimination or prejudice.”

The Shape of Water Team Faces Plagiarism Lawsuit

Guillermo del Toro and Fox Searchlight are facing a lawsuit filed against them on behalf of writer Paul Zindel’s estate. The lawsuit claims The Shape of Water copied the plot of Zindel’s play, Let Me Hear You Whisper. Both del Toro and collaborator Daniel Kraus have been named in the suit, and del Toro has responded, saying neither of them had heard of or seen the play. Let Me Hear You Whisper is about a woman working in janitorial services at an animal experimentation plant. The woman works to free a dolphin slated for brain dissection. Fox Searchlight has issued a statement that the claims are baseless and they’ll be filing a motion to dismiss.

Joss Whedon Quits Batgirl Movie

Whedon said he won’t be writing or directing DC’s Batgirl because he couldn’t come up with a good story. io9 explored additional issues that might have played into Whedon’s decision to leave the film, including recent criticism of his portrayals of female superheroes, and allegations of cheating and the use of feminism as a shield against criticism brought against the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator by his ex-wife, Kai Cole. The jury is still out on how DC/Warner Bros. will proceed with the film.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment, publishers of Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand Volume 2.

George Washington’s Hair Found In Old Book

Here’s an odd story for you. Strands of George Washington’s hair have been found in an 18th century almanac at the Schaffer Library in New York. And a librarian who was inspecting the book found the hair in a yellow envelope with the following written on it: “Washington’s hair, L.S.S. & (scratched out) GBS from James A. Hamilton given him by his mother, Aug. 10, 1871.” They think the strands were given to the book’s owner by Alexander Hamilton (:breaks into song:) himself.

Orange City Takes Issue With LGBTQ Books

Some residents of Orange City, Iowa are arguing for separation, and community input on the acquisition of books with LGBTQ themes in their public library. The room seemed split equally between those for and against the petition during a meeting of the Orange City Public Library Board of Trustees. The board has not taken action, but plans to have its policy committee review the input and compare its current policy to other libraries before making a decision.

Booksellers Respond To #MeToo In Kid Lit

Publishers Weekly surveyed booksellers, asking whether or not they would remove children’s books by Jay Asher and James Dashner, both accused of sexual harassment by multiple people, from their shelves. The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators revoked the authors’ memberships and banned them from conferences, their agents dropped them, as did Dashner’s publisher. But in surveying several bookstores, PW encountered mixed responses. Read the results of the survey here.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Birthday Girl by Sue Fortin.

Women Dominate The 2017 Nebula Awards

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America released its nominees for the 2017 Nebula Awards, and the list is dominated by women writers, as noted by The Verge. Nominees include The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin, Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly, River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey, and Want by Cindy Pon. Wonder Woman was also nominated for The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.

Head Of Hachette Livre Calls Ebooks Stupid

Predicting that the “plateau” or “slight decline” in US and UK ebook sales wouldn’t reverse, Hachette Livre’s chief executive called the ebook “a stupid product.” Arnaud Nourry pointed to the limitations of the ebook format and publishers’ lack of digital knowledge as part of the problem. Nourry also discussed ebook pricing, which became a point of contention between Hachette and Amazon, with Hachette refusing to cede price control to Amazon.

Marvel’s Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur Animated Series In Works

Laurence Fishburne will produce the series based on Marvel’s comic about super-genius Lunella Lafayette, a pre-teen black girl who teams up with a dinosaur. Fishburne, who executive produces black-ish and grown-ish with his partner Helen Sugland, is bringing the animated series to Disney Channels Worldwide. The series is currently in development; it hasn’t been decided which of the Disney Channel platforms will air the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur adaptation if it gets the green light.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio.

Women Better Represented In Victorian Novels Than Modern

An analysis from the universities of Illinois and California at Berkeley has revealed a decline in the prominence of female characters in literature across the two centuries. Using an algorithm to examine 104,000 works of fiction dating from 1780 to 2007, the academics also found a decline in the number of books written by women in the first half of the 20th century, and that women in novels have tended to “feel,” while men “get.” They speculated that the drop in female authors could be due to the increasing desirability of novel-writing as a profession for male writers.

The FBI’s War On Black-Owned Bookstores

The Atlantic examined the FBI’s war on black-owned bookstores, where Former Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover focused his sights on an “increase in the establishment of black extremist bookstores which represent propaganda outlets for revolutionary and hate publications and culture centers for extremism.” His directive ordered Bureau offices to locate, identify, and investigate “black extremist and/or African-type” bookstores. He also wanted the Bureau to convince African American citizens to spy on these stores by posing as customers or activists.

Copies of Mary Shelley’s Original Frankenstein Text Will Be Published

A facsimile of the two large notebooks in which Shelley wrote the draft of Frankenstein over nine months will be published to mark the 200th anniversary of the novel’s first release. Complete with revisions, the publication aims “to give the impression to readers that they are holding the original – so you have the feeling the author gave you the notebooks,” according to Jessica Nelson of SP Books. The publisher will release the manuscript in a limited run of 1,000 copies on March 15.

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Today in Books is sponsored today by Blackstone Publishing: 

Ominous Layoffs Come to Every Barnes & Noble Location

In what seems like the most drastic move yet, Barnes & Noble this week laid off almost all of the full-time employees at its 781 North American stores. In a cost-cutting measure that will save $40 million per year, head cashiers, receiving managers, and department leads all were laid off with minimal severance and no warning. Can Barnes & Noble survive as a stripped down version of its former self? Did it have any other choice even?

Random House Drops James Dashner, author of the Maze Runner Series

After a series of allegations of sexual harassment, James Dashner was dropped by his publisher, Penguin Random House. In a statement, the world’s largest trade publisher said that it would not be publishing anymore of his books, though presumably they will continue to sell and reprint his already released and hugely popular Maze Runner series.

Pop-Up Bookstore Selling Only Books by Women Coming to London

From March 5-9, Random House is putting together Like A Woman, a pop-up bookshop and event series featuring only books by women and women speakers. The event coincides with International Women’s Day and all proceeds from books sold at Like a Woman will go to Solace Women’s Aid, a charitable organization supporting victims of domestic violence.

Today in Books is sponsored today by Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi, available from Grove Press:

Not a Pipe Books To Publish Only Women in 2018

A few years ago, a British author issued a challenge to any interested publisher: in 2018, the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S., commit to publishing only books by women. And now it seems that a lone U.S. publisher, Not a Pipe books, is picking up the gauntlet. The small house, based in Independence, Oregon, has 8 books by women on its 2018 docket at that’s it.

James Bond Prequel Novel in the Works

The Ian Fleming estate has authorized a new James Bond prequel novel to be written by Anthony Horowitz. Based on some early notes from Fleming himself, Forever and a Day will see James Bond assume the 007 designation after the previous bearer is assassinated. Horowitz has previously written for the Bond franchise, and his own latest novel, The Magpie Murders, was a great success.

Entire Big Little Lies Cast Will Return for Season 2

After Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman has already re-upped for another season, it remained to be seen which of the other cast members would return for season 2 of the smash hit Big Little Lies. Today we got confirmation that Zoe Kravitz, Laura Dern, and Shailene Woodley would all also be back. And oh by the way, the original cast members will be joined by a little-known newcomer by the name of Meryl Streep.

This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by Dynamite Entertainment, publishers of Jim Butcher’s Dog Men.

Jeff Daniels Will Play Atticus Finch In Broadway Adaption Of TKAM

And adults have been cast in the roles of the story’s children. We’re talking about Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Jeff Daniels has been cast as Atticus Finch, Scout will be played by Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Jem will be played by Will Pullen. Tony winner Bartlett Sher will direct the play, which begins previews November 1, with the official opening on December 13 at a theater to be announced.

A Reimagined Book Expo

The organizers of Book Expo America are adding new features to the event aimed at upping the event’s value for booksellers. They’ll be putting in place programs to increase booksellers’ interactions with editors and publicists, and initiatives to make the show more affordable. “Editor’s hours” to facilitate conversations between booksellers and editors in publishers’ booths will be included in the program (in addition to the ABA’s Meet the Editors program), as well as a publicist “speed dating” event. Find more information on the reimagined Book Expo here.

Black Panther Reaches $25.2 million At Thursday Box Office

Marvel’s Black Panther grossed $25.2 million in ticket sales from domestic Thursday preview shows in the U.S. and Canada. Those numbers set a February record, according to studio estimates, nearly doubling the previous record holder, Deadpool. It’s also the second-highest number ever for a Marvel film, behind Avengers: Age of Ultron. Today is the film’s official release date, and it’s predicted to collect as much as $180 million over the President’s Day weekend.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by HMH, publishers of The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu.

2 Children’s Book Authors Dropped By Agents Amidst Sexual Harassment Claims

Maze Runner author James Dashner and 13 Reasons Why author Jay Asher have both lost representation following sexual harassment claims. Both authors had allegations of sexual harassment made against them in a School Library Journal article on the subject. The article prompted hundreds of comments from people sharing their own experiences with harassment in the industry. Dashner’s agent said he “couldn’t in good conscience continue working with James,” and Asher’s agency “counselled Jay to take a step back from the industry.”

Congressman John Lewis Announced His Next Book

Congressman John Lewis, author of the award-winning March series, has announced his next multi-part graphic memoir titled Run. This next book will pick up where March left off, continuing Lewis’s story and the story of the civil rights movement. March co-author Andrew Aydin will return to work on Run, which will feature the art of Afua Richardson with contributions from March illustrator Nate Powell.

George Romero’s Final Zombie Work Will Be A Novel

George Romero’s final work in zombie lore will be a novel completed by Daniel Kraus. Kraus, who wrote the novelization of The Shape of Water, has been researching Romero and his inspiration in order to complete The Living Dead. The official synopsis describes a story about a zombie plague and the people–including a teenager living in a trailer park, a medical examiner and his assistant, and the helmsman of a nuclear submarine–caught in its wake. The Living Dead will be released in fall 2019.

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This edition of Today in Books is sponsored by The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller.

Trailer for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

We got an official trailer for the film adaptation of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The story follows writer Juliet Ashton who finds the subject of her next book in an alibi-turned-society born during the German occupation. The film, starring Lily James, will be out this April in the UK and Australia–no U.S. release date yet. Check out the trailer.

Dev Patel Will Play David Copperfield In Modern Retelling

Oscar-nominated star of Lion and Slumdog Millionaire Dev Patel will play David Copperfield in a new retelling of Charles Dickens’ The Personal History of David Copperfield. The film will present a modern take on the David Copperfield character, following him as he seeks to find his place within a chaotic world. Veep creator Armando Iannucci is set to direct and write the retelling. No word yet on the release date.

Ibi Zoboi’s Pride and Prejudice Remix

The American Street author’s next book is called Pride, and, yes, it does include a character named Darcy–well, Darius Darcy. Set in Brooklyn, the story follows Zuri Benitez, one of five sisters living in a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood. When a wealthy family by the name of Darcy moves in nearby, Zuri decides she wants nothing to do with arrogant Darius Darcy, until she has no choice but to find common ground. Check out the cover and an excerpt of Ibi Zoboi’s Pride.

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