Categories
Book Radar

Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro’s THE SUN AND THE STAR Gets Release Date and More Book Radar!

Happy Monday (and HAPPY OCTOBER)!

It’s finally our time, y’all. October is like my Christmas. Yes, the whole month. I’m so excited about it getting here, and then when it’s finally here, I’m so sad it’ll be gone soon. So let’s try to drink it in while it’s here. I’m really going to try to savor every day. I’ve already had my first pumpkin spice latte. I’m watching all the scary movies. I even bought autumnal socks. We’re here. Let’s go.

Book Deals and Reveals

she is a haunting book cover

Tor has shared the cover and an excerpt from Trang Thanh Tran’s atmospheric horror debut She Is a Haunting. It’s coming out on February 28th, 2023 in both the US and UK from Bloomsbury YA.

Rachel Howzell Hall has shared the cover of her upcoming fantasy novel The Last One.

In honor of My Policeman hitting theaters on October 21, Penguin has released a new film tie-in cover of the novel.

Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai is producing a film adaptation of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s acclaimed book Disorientation.

The cover and release date has been revealed for the upcoming Nico di Angelo adventure from Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro. The Sun and the Star will be out on May 2, 2023.

Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power debuted at the top of Nielsen’s SVOD charts, outdrawing House of the Dragon among streaming users. This is the first Prime Video series to capture the number 1 overall ranking on the Nielsen chart.

Sandra Proudman announced that she is editing a new book Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories. This is a YA SFF anthology coming in winter 2024.

A.C. Wise’s Wendy, Darling has been optioned for television. Wise tweeted, “It might not get developed, but I’m sure as heck keeping my fingers crossed and having fun daydreaming about it!”

TIME Magazine has named the people who made its Time100 Next list for 2022. Here are the authors who made the list.

In July, an app called Tertulia was launched, promising streamlined book discovery. How does it stack up against existing bookish apps?

Marvel fans: here’s every Marvel Studios movie and Disney+ project coming in 2022 and beyond.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Prepare Your Shelves!

kiss her once for me book cover

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun (Atria Books, November 1)

Halloween isn’t even here yet, but it’s already time to start thinking about what holiday rom coms you want to add to your TBR this year. And if you enjoyed Alison Cochrun’s debut novel The Charm Offensive, then you’ll be excited to know she’s back with a cute holiday romance. So prepare your shelves, because this one is out less than a month from now! And hey, I fully believe the moment Halloween is over, you’re totally okay to start celebrating the holidays. So November 1st is really the ideal time to start reading this book.

One year ago, Ellie Oliver was on top of the world. She’d recently moved to Portland, was working her dream job in animation, and she even met a woman at a bookstore with whom she immediately felt a romantic connection. But the next day, all of that was undone with a betrayal and the loss of her job soon after.

Now Ellie feels adrift, working at a coffee shop and living in the tiniest apartment imaginable. That’s when her coffee shop’s landlord approaches her with a plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and help alleviate some of Ellie’s financial stress. The two plan to spend the holidays in a cabin together to really solidify the “relationship” and make it seem real. But then Andrew introduces Ellie to his sister, who happens to be the woman she met a year ago at that bookstore.

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

What I’m Reading This Week

the getaway book cover

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Monday Memes

We love a good Jane Austen meme, and this is an excellent one. And so relatable.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

The reading chair continues to be a favorite among the kitties. I love seeing these two guys getting so cuddly with each other on the reading chair.

And that is all for Book Radar on this fabulous October Monday. I hope you have a wonderful week. Enjoy an autumnal beverage. Look at some fall leaves if that’s happening in your part of the world. Wear a sweater.

See you Thursday!

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

Here’s a First Look at HIS DARK MATERIALS Season 3 and More Book Radar!

Hi Book Friends!

It’s Thursday, and we’re soooo close to October that I can smell it. It smells like a pumpkin spice candle. And if you don’t like pumpkin spice, stay mad, haters. Anyway! With October basically here and Libra season upon us, I have to say I am in such a good mood. I wish it could be October all year round, but I guess we wouldn’t appreciate it as much if we had it all the time. So I’m just going to try to enjoy it while it’s here. Hope you’re all enjoying it as well. And on that note, it’s Book Radar time, so let’s goooooo!

Book Deals and Reveals

It’s fun to start off with a really exciting cover reveal. Like this one: the cover for Chuck Tingle’s upcoming novel Camp Damascus. This one’s coming at you on July 18, 2023 from Tor Nightfire.

And here’s the cover of L.R. Lam’s new epic fantasy Dragonfall. This is the first book in a trilogy, and it’s out in May 2023.

Oscar winner Tom Hanks has announced his first novel, which is set to come out on May 9th, 2023 from Penguin Random House. The novel is entitled The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece.

HBO is premiering the third and final season of His Dark Materials this December, and here’s a first look at the last season of the series, featuring the return of James McAvoy as Lord Asriel.

Ali Hazelwood has announced her first young adult novel Check & Matea rom com about a young woman who finds herself in a public rivalry with “the reigning bad boy of chess” after she accidentally defeats him. The novel is currently scheduled to be published in November 2023 by Putnam Young Readers.

Back in 2021, Rick Riordan announced that he would be co-writing a Solangelo novel with Mark Oshiro. Now we finally have a title for the upcoming book: The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure.

The first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film Knock at the Cabin has been released. The movie, based on the novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay, will be released only in theaters on February 3, 2023. 

Michelle Obama has announced the the dates and cities for her six-city tour promoting her upcoming book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.

Amazon is changing its ebook return policy to restrict automatic returns to purchases where no more than 10% of the book has been read.

The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon all have their own bestseller lists. Here are the combined results.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Can’t Wait for This One!

highly suspicious and unfairly cute book cover

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (Joy Revolution, January 3)

Book Radar has been horror and thriller heavy lately, I realize. Blame the weather. Blame the October pumpkin candle scent wafting in the breeze. But I figured it was time for a nice, refreshing rom com break. So with that in mind, let’s talk about a novel coming out in January 2023 that you’re not going to want to miss.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is the first book from Nicola Yoon and David Yoon’s imprint Joy Revolution, which focuses on publishing “stories with people of color as their heroes, each searching for love and living their lives on their own terms.” I’ve been so excited to see what Joy Revolution would be publishing, and this book seems like a really strong start, especially because it comes from bestselling romance author Talia Hibbert.

This YA romance is a story about a quirky content creator and a star football player working together to survive the great outdoors. Celine Bangura is obsessed with conspiracy theories, and she isn’t afraid to share her thoughts on everything from UFOs to holiday consumption on social media. But as well-liked as she is online, she’s never been that popular at her own high school. Which is why, she supposes, her ex-best friend Bradley Graeme abandoned her for the cool kids years ago.

Now Celine and Brad usually try their best to avoid each other. Which is why Celine is surprised when she signs up for a survival course in the woods and Brad is right there with her. Now to have a chance at winning the grand prize, Celine and Brad will have to work together, and rehash their messy past in the process.

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“It was difficult and exhausting, but he quickly accepted the fact that life had to go on without her. He’d lost love, and yet the world was not the slightest bit shaken by his loss. The part of his life that had had J in it went away, leaving behind a cavity, a hollow, and still the world was unmoved. Nothing would ever fill in that empty space. But Oghi’s world would keep on spinning regardless.”

The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun

What’s Up in the Book Community?

My iPhone is constantly telling me I spend too much time staring at my screen, which is honestly so rude. But this means I spend a lot of time scrolling around the online book community: BookTube, Bookstagram, BookTok, BookLinkedIn (JK. That’s not a thing…I don’t think). You get the idea. Don’t have the time, energy, or the will to do all of that yourself? No problem. I got you. In this weekly section of Book Radar, we’ll take a look at something cool, interesting, and/or newsy that’s going on in the book community.

I have a couple of follow-ups for you all this week, from previous “What’s up in the book community?” segments. Come along with me.

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Let’s start with the good news, and let’s talk about another Halloween readathon I think you all will want to check out: The Blackoweenathon hosted by Loc’D Booktician. And if those Book recommendations for the readathon aren’t enough, here’s a whole video of recs, fresh for 2022. Enjoy!

And now some bad news. Remember back in August when I said the Bookish Box was potentially problematic? Yeah well. They’re up to more questionable things. You can see a quick breakdown of what happened over at Bookish Tea Alerts on Twitter, but there have been more developments since this was posted. You all know how much I love Book CommuniTEA, so I will let Jess Owens break it down for you. But warning that the Bookish Box tea involves ableism.

Phew that was a lot.

What I’m Watching This Weekend

Somehow I’ve powered through Love Island US, and now I have so much more time to start new shows. So give me your recs. This is a rare opportunity. Thankfully, the final season of Atlanta has started. SO PSA: If you’re not watching Atlanta, what are you doing??? Go do that now. I’m also keeping the horror movie party going. This weekend, I’m going to see Smile. I’m really tired of seeing this trailer, so I’m so happy the movie is finally out. I can’t be the only one who feels this way.

Oh! And My Best Friend’s Exorcism comes out on Friday! How could I forget?? So excited.

I guess I have a lot of movies and TV in my future, friends.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

calico cat on a couch

I know everyone’s been missing seeing Cersei Anne, so here she is, living her best couch life. Speaking of TV, Cersei looooooves the new House of the Dragon show, just FYI. Every time it comes on, she’s right up on the couch, just dying to see what those wacky Targaryens are up to this week.

Do your cats have a fave TV show? Let me know.

And that is all, friends! Have a great weekend.

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

Xiran Jay Zhao’s IRON WIDOW is Going to be a Movie and More Book Radar!

Book Friends,

How are you? I hope you’re doing well. As for me, I’m absolutely devastated because I recently learned that my favorite restaurant in the whole world will be shutting its doors for good on October 7th. The Grit is so full of memories for me. It’s where my friends and I got together for weekend brunches. It’s where I went for dinner on prom night. It was my vegetarian safe haven. If you want to give The Grit a try, you have until 10/7 to get to Athens, GA and grab one last Golden Bowl. Or if you can’t make it to Georgia any time soon, make sure to grab a copy of the Grit cookbook so you can make your own Grit food at home. It’s so good and totally worth it.

Anyway, the show must go on! Let’s chat books.

Book Deals and Reveals

ride or die book cover

Here’s the cover reveal for Ride or Die, Gail-Agnes Musikavanhu’s debut YA thriller, out from Soho Teen on June 6th, 2023.

Iron Widow, the New York Times bestselling novel by Xiran Jay Zhao, is going to be a movie!

The Nerd Daily has the exclusive cover reveal of Jordan H. Bartlett’s Queen’s Catacombs, the second installment in The Frean Chronicles. This book is out on March 14th, 2023.

Here’s the cover reveal for The Future King, Robyn Schneider’s sequel to 2021’s YA humor/fantasy novel The Other Merlin.

Disney+ has optioned a series based on Melissa de la Cruz’s YA novel The Ring & The Crown, published by Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Brian Selznick, author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruckhas a new novel coming out: Big Tree, inspired by an idea from director Stephen Spielberg.

TikTok has partnered with Penguin Random House to create a new in-app feature that allows users to link directly to PRH titles in their video captions.

Here’s the trailer for Rosaline, a comedy based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Netflix has announced that season 2 of Heartstopper is officially in production!

The City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Library have declared themselves book sanctuaries, offering a safe space for endangered stories.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Prepare Your Shelves!

when franny stands up book cover

When Franny Stands Up by Eden Robins (Sourcebooks Landmark, November 1)

When Franny Stands Up doesn’t come out until November 1st, and here we are at the end of September. So while right now November seems a million days away, it’ll be here sooner than you know it. So prepare yourselves for this one, because this novel is the perfect funny and heartbreaking read to pick up for the fall.

Set in Chicago during WWII, When Franny Stands Up tells the story of Franny Steinberg, who is first introduced to the concept of the “Showstopper” one Christmas Eve when she sees the comedian Boopie Baxter perform at the Empire Room of the Palmer Hotel. From that moment forth, Franny’s dream is to become like her idol Boopie. At the Blue Moon Comedy Club, Franny learns the true power of the Showstopper, that moment when the audience laughs so hard that they are transformed. When Franny finds herself onstage in a torn bridesmaid dress, she realizes her Showstopper has the power to change everything. Not just for the audience, but for herself also.

When Franny Stands Up is funny, sweet, and certainly magical, but it also covers difficult topics— such as PTSD and sexual identity— with insight and heart. This book confronts the difficulties of life, but it also celebrates laughter and its power to heal and bring people together.

What I’m Reading This Week

school for good mothers book cover

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

Monday Memes

Not all of these are literature-based, but how could I let this Monday pass and not bring up all the Adam Levine DM memes? The Internet is a wonderful place. I don’t care what anyone says.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

tuxedo cat in cat tree

Checking in with Remy in the cat tree. He’s still loving it. We call this his side car, and it’s perfect because he’s got this dangly toy right in front of him. Whoever invented cat trees was really onto something.

Anyway, that’s it for Monday’s Book Radar! I hope you have a wonderful week. Don’t forget to go eat a golden bowl for me if you’re in Athens.

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

S.A. Cosby Reveals Cover of New Thriller ALL THE SINNERS BLEED and More Book Radar!

Dear Book People,

It’s that time of the week again where we check in with each other, talk about all the books, and talk about all the hot book gossip. Oh, and we’ll probably talk cats or something. Btw, if you have any cat pictures, please send them to me. I have been having a really busy work week and I need to look at cats to calm down. Because cats make everything better. Anyway, here is the deal with books.

Book Deals and Reveals

S.A. Cosby recently did an interview with Crime Reads and revealed the cover of his upcoming Southern noir thriller All the Sinners Bleed. The novel is out from Flatiron Books in June 2023.

Tordotcom Publishing has revealed the cover of Emma Mieko Candon’s The Archive Undying. The publisher describes the book as a “bold entry into the world of mecha fiction.”

Can’t wait to read Rebekah Weatherspoon’s upcoming YA romance novel Her Good Side? You don’t have to! Penguin Teen has an excerpt from the novel that you can read right now (and a cover reveal)!

And if you need more cute romances in your life, check out the cover of Melissa See’s Love Letters for Joy, out from Scholastic in June 2023.

Showtime’s upcoming series Let the Right One In is a reimagining inspired by John Ajvide Lindqvist‘s original 2004 novel, and the first trailer has been released.

A limited edition single volume of the manga One Piece has been released, and it’s being billed as the longest book in existence at 21,450 pages.

Brandon Taylor, the Booker Prize-shortlisted author behind Real Life and Filthy Animalshas moved to Jonathan Cape from Daunt Books for his new novel The Late Americans.

Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter manga is finally returning in November. The Shonen Jump Twitter announced that Volume 37 would come out on November 4th in Japan.

Jenny Saint, author of the retellings Ariadne and Elektra, has a new novel coming out soon entitle Atalanta, and Paste has an exclusive cover reveal and author Q&A.

Former company president of Canada’s Indigo Books & Music, Peter Ruis has been named CEO in place of Heather Reisman who will now assume the role of executive chairman.

Amazon’s Prime Video has given the green light to Blade Runner 2099, a limited series sequel to the iconic sci-fi film franchise, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick.

Spotify has launched its long-awaited audiobooks feature. The company is also looking to create new business models with audiobooks.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Can’t Wait for This One!

the crane husband book cover

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom, February 28, 2023)

Kelly Barnhill’s When Women Were Dragons was one of the most exciting new fantasy novels of 2022. So when I found out she has a novella coming out in 2023? And that it’s a retelling of the Japanese folktale “The Crane Wife?” Yeah, I got pretty excited to get my hands on this one. Also, just check out this incredibly stunning cover. I mean!

The Crane Husband is centered around the story of a small Mid-western family. The fifteen year-old daughter is responsible for raising her brother while her artist mother struggles to provide for her family through selling her beautiful tapestries. Over the past six years, while her mother has brought guests home, none of them have ever stayed. For the most part, it’s just been the three of them.

But then one day her mother brings home a strange guest, a six-foot tall crane that completely turns the family’s life upside down. The mother quickly falls prey to the crane’s every demand, abandoning the world around her to weave the masterpiece the crane has asked for. Now the teen girl knows she must do whatever it takes to protect her mother and save her family.

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“A mother is always giving. A mother never falls apart. A mother is a buffer between her child and the cruel world. Absorb it, the instructors say. Take it. Take it.”

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

What’s Up in the Book Community?

My iPhone is constantly telling me I spend too much time staring at my screen, which is honestly so rude. But this means I spend a lot of time scrolling around the online book community: BookTube, Bookstagram, BookTok, BookLinkedIn (JK. That’s not a thing…I don’t think). You get the idea. Don’t have the time, energy, or the will to do all of that yourself? No problem. I got you. In this weekly section of Book Radar, we’ll take a look at something cool, interesting, and/or newsy that’s going on in the book community.

It’s scary season, and you know what that means. It’s time to prepare for some Halloween Read-A-Thons. My favorite time of year! I will be posting a longer list of Halloween Read-A-Thons next week. But for this week? I wanted to highlight the one I’m planning on participating in this year, and that’s gabbyread’s Weekendween: The Monster Mash. I chose this one because I love Gabby’s horror/thriller read-a-thons, and I love that this one is a manageable amount of tasks over the course of one weekend. Check out the prompts for yourself, and let me know if you’ll be participating too! Should I share what books I plan on reading for this?

What I’m Watching This Weekend

Anyone else a football fan here? Welp. I got NFL Sunday Ticket because I am playing in some fantasy leagues and I was hoping to keep up with all of the games. But. You know. Sunday Ticket hasn’t been working. At $80/month, I feel like I need my money back. Or is this just the price I pay for being a football fan?

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

As the weather starts getting cooler, the cats just start getting cuddlier. We love to see Murray and Remy getting along so famously. And yeah, I love my elephant quilt too.

That’s all for today, everyone. As I say pretty much every Thursday, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I hope you get to pet lots of cats and read lots of good books. I hope you sleep in at least one day this weekend, if not two. And yeah, I’ll see you same time same place on Monday, friends.

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL Coming to Netflix and More Book Radar!

Dear Book Friends,

Happy Monday! It’s been a loooong day. I’m now chilling on the couch with my cats while my husband watches a bad action movie. And now it’s time to write to you. I hope you’re doing well. Let’s chat books.

Book Deals and Reveals

grounded book cover

SLJ (School Library Journal) is sharing an exclusive first look and cover reveal for Grounded by Aisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, & Huda Al-Marashi. The book publishes in May 9th, 2023.

Netflix has released the trailer for its film adaptation of the YA bestseller School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani.

The late actress Anne Heche’s memoir Call Me Anne is scheduled for a January release. According to the publisher, Heche turned in a manuscript shortly before she died.

Ten writers have been shortlisted for HarperFiction and The Good Literary Agency’s inaugural (Re)Presenting Romance Award.

Celeste Ng’s highly anticipated new novel Our Missing Hearts will be hitting shelves in October, and Ng will be doing several events both virtually and in-person to promote the book. Here’s the full schedule!

Jacob Lofland has been cast in a key role in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the film Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips.

The National Book Foundation has announced the 2022 Longlist for the Young People’s Literature Award. Here are the 10 contenders.

Here are the most popular books for summer 2022 as read by Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime users.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Prepare Your Shelves!

a sliver of darkness book cover

A Sliver of Darkness by C.J. Tudor (Ballantine, November 8)

I’m aware we’ve talked about a lot of novels lately, but how about short story collections? There are quite a few exciting short stories coming out here at the end of 2022, but C.J. Tudor’s A Sliver of Darkness is one of the more exciting ones. Whether you’re a fan of Tudor’s other novels, such as The Chalk Man or The Burning Girls, or whether this author is totally new to you, you’re going to want to prepare your shelves for this one.

This debut short story collection features 10 tales that are creepy, twisty, and mind-bending. For instance, there’s “The Lion at the Gate,” a story about a strange piece of graffiti that leads four school friends into a horrifying encounter. And as the world descends into darkness in “Final Course,” a group of old friends find time for one last dinner party. Then there’s “I’m Not Ted,” in which a case of mistaken identity turns deadly. Tudor has been hailed by the Daily Mail as “Britain’s female Stephen King.” So if you’ve been dying to find a collection of stories that will stick with you and chill you to the bone long after you’ve turned the last page, you’re going to want to grab this book when it comes out in November.

What I’m Reading This Week

a tale for the time being book cover

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

What’s Up in the Book Community?

My iPhone is constantly telling me I spend too much time staring at my screen, which is honestly so rude. But this means I spend a lot of time scrolling around the online book community: BookTube, Bookstagram, BookTok, BookLinkedIn (JK. That’s not a thing…I don’t think). You get the idea. Don’t have the time, energy, or the will to do all of that yourself? No problem. I got you. In this weekly section of Book Radar, we’ll take a look at something cool, interesting, and/or newsy that’s going on in the book community.

Have you heard about the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical? Okay, yes, we’ve all probably heard of the TikTok sensation by now. But have you heard Netflix is suing the musical’s creators, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear? If you missed this bit of news, Swell Entertainment has all the details. And here’s more from MickeyJoTheatre.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

happy sleepy orange tabby

I am so obsessed with this cat. Look at sweet Murray, my ginger angel, being the angelest angel you’ve ever seen.

Anyway, I hope your Monday was great and that the rest of your week is super awesome. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I love the optimism of a Monday. Good things are coming for us. I can feel it.

Bye, friends!

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

Samantha Irby Announces New Essay Collection QUIETLY HOSTILE and More Book Radar!

Heyyy book friends!

Is it starting to feel like fall where you are? It is here, which is really exciting for me, a fall baby. I sort of wish it could be fall all year round, but I also realize that part of what makes this time of year so special is we have to endure summer to get to it. But hey… is it finally fall babies’ time to shine? I think so! What a perfect time of year for cozy activities like reading. What’s not to love? And on that note, let’s talk books.

Book Deals and Reveals

Samantha Irby has a new essay collection coming out! In an Instagram post, Irby wrote, “please say hi to my gorgeous new son.” Quietly Hostile is out May 16, 2023 from Penguin Random House.

Here’s a first look at the TV adaptation of Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese, starring Michelle Yeoh.

Lambda Literary has a new executive director! Samiya Bashir is a prolific poet, artist, writer, performer, advocate, and an Associate Professor at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Here’s the cover reveal of BIG, Vashti Harrison’s first written and illustrated picture book. Harrison wrote on Instagram, “While Big is my first piece of fiction, it comes from a very personal place. It is an intimate story about anti-fat bias, the adultification of black girls and the journey to self love. It was a really difficult but cathartic book to write and I hope it can be a mirror or even a guide for anyone else who’s on that same journey. I can’t wait to share it with you!” BIG is out in May 2023.

Another great cover reveal: check out the cover of My Love Life and the Apocalypse, a YA sci-fi/love story from Melissa Welliver. Coming April 2023!

Sofia Coppola is adapting Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s 1985 bestselling memoir Elvis and Me for the big screen. The feature film, entitled Priscilla, will star Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis Presley.

Angela Flournoy has sold The Wounded Wilderness to Mariner’s Rakia Clark in a seven-figure, two-book deal. Mariner says the novel The Wounded Wilderness follows the story of four Black women’s friendship and lives over the course of 20 years, examining “how gender expectations, race, class, and the shifting dynamics of city life” affect them. The second book in the deal will be a memoir entitled When Will I See You Again? which examines the author’s experiences during her first pregnancy while her mother was being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Following the world premiere of Sanaa Lathan’s On the Come Up at TIFF, the film is getting a limited theatrical release to coincide with its Friday, September 23rd Paramount+ release date.

John Green’s first novel might get banned at his own school. “Please don’t ban my books in my hometown,” John Green concluded in his TikTok. “It’s really upsetting for my mom.”

Ahead of Stephen King’s 75th birthday on September 21st, Entertainment Weekly is publishing their Ultimate Guide to Stephen King.

Disney+ released the first trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians at the D23 Expo 2022

Paper Girls, the series produced by Amazon Studios for Amazon Prime Video, has been canceled after one season despite debuting to positive reviews.

Netflix is releasing its adaptation of Tembi Locke’s best-selling memoir From Scratch on October 21st. Tembi’s sister, author Attica Locke, tweeted her excitement for the upcoming series: “I can’t wait for you guys to see my show, made with love with my sister @tembilocke, based on her NY Times Bestselling memoir!” Attica Locke serves as showrunner of the series, which stars Zoe Saldaña.

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Can’t Wait for This One!

scorched grace book cover

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (Gillian Flynn Books, February 21st, 2023)

This is probably one of the most anticipated books for a lot of people heading into the first part of 2023. Why, you ask? Aside from this unforgettable cover design? It’s the first book from Gillian Flynn’s imprint with Zando, which is exciting because Gillian Flynn is the thriller author. And according to Flynn, her new imprint intends to “nurture writers who are surprising and unique, who refuse to surrender to easy literary formulas. I want to help big and new voices find their way in the world.” If that intrigues you, read on.

Margot Douaihy’s Scorched Grace is set in New Orleans (yesss) and follows punk-rocker turned nun Sister Holiday who works at Saint Sebastian’s School. When the school becomes the target of an arson spree, sending the whole community into chaos, Sister Holiday refuses to wait for officials to make sense of the attacks and bring the culprit to justice. No, she decides to track down whoever attacked her home and sanctuary herself. But the investigation sends her down a dark path, one where she starts to suspect and distrust everyone she speaks to, teachers, students, and Sisters alike. As Sister Holiday uncovers the secrets and sins of others, she’s also forced to confront the sins of her past.

You are going to be obsessed with Sister Holiday, a punk-rock, chain-smoking, tattooed, queer nun/amateur sleuth. So you’ll be excited to know that this book is the first in a series. This book doesn’t come out until February, but you can already get excited about more Sister Holiday adventures to come!

Words of Literary Wisdom

“The past is weird. I mean, does it really exist? It feels like it exists, but where is it? And if it did exists, but doesn’t now, then where did it go?”

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

What I’m Watching this Weekend

Did I mention it’s fall? That means the scary movies are coming. I’m trying to make it out to the theater to see two this weekend. Movie #1: Y’all I’ve heard Barbarian is wild, and I can’t wait to see it for myself. Movie #2: You know I have to go see Pearl, the prequel to X. So excited.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

orange cat on a couch

Ugggh I was in Portland over the weekend, and while I got to hang out with some other cats, I missed my cats so much! The first thing I did as soon as I got home? I took a picture of this little buddy. Look at his little face! He clearly missed me so much. I love you, Murray! I’m never leaving home again.

(I am leaving home again but shhh)

Anyway, that’s Book Radar all wrapped up for this Thursday! See you soon!

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

Julia Fine Announces Baroque Venetian Fairy Tale MADDALENA AND THE DARK and More Book Radar!

Dear Book Friends,

How was your weekend? Mine was super eventful and full of socializing, which probably sounds cool to a lot of people. But now all I want to do is stay home and read. My socializing batteries are totally out of fuel. Out of gas? Out of energy? You know what I mean. I’m tired of talking to people. If you feel me, then let’s talk about books quietly to ourselves today. Here’s all the book stuff I have to share (that you can totally read quietly on your own).

Book Deals and Reveals

Maddalena and the Dark Book Cover

Julia Fine shared the cover for her upcoming novel Maddalena and the Dark, which releases next June. Fine describes the novel as “my baroque Venetian fairy tale about two young female music students and their all-consuming hold on one another. It’s got jealousy and ambition and obsession, ghostly lagoons and palazzos and Vivaldi and canals, and this cover captures it all perfectly.”

And here’s the cover for the book Momfluenced, a nonfiction exploration into the world of mommy influencer culture by Sarah Peterson. This one’s out in April 2023.

Amelia Brunskill has shared the cover of Wolfpack, her YA mystery about a group of girls who live in a cult.

Titan Comics is expanding into manga! Their new manga imprint, Titan Manga, launches this month beginning with the publication of the first volume of a new “director’s cut” of Takashi Okazaki’s Afro Samurai.

St. Martin’s Press is publishing former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s political memoirs, written with her longtime political advisor Beate Baumann. The book is scheduled to release in fall 2024.

FilmNation Entertainment is adapting R.O. Kwon’s critically acclaimed novel The Incendiaries into a limited series.

London mayor Sadiq Khan is set to publish his first book Breathe in 2023. The publisher describes the book as a “warm and practical guide” to tackling the climate emergency.

The winners of the 2022 Hugo Awards and Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult book have been announced!

As the weather gets cooler, it’s time to head back to the theater (or stay at home and watch movies). Here are 20 book-to-screen adaptations to look forward to this fall.

And here are 33 new fiction and poetry books coming out this fall. So much to look forward to!

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Prepare Your Shelves!

Dr No Book Cover by Percival Everett

Dr. No by Percival Everett (Graywolf Press, November 1)

A little bit of a personal connection with this author: I’ve been a big fan of Percival Everett’s work ever since I read Erasure in undergrad and he came to visit our creative writing class. In his talk to us, he was just really funny and inspiring, and it made me really excited to be a writer. And of course, it helped that I thought Erasure was an excellent novel as well. So pretty much ever since that very early moment in my creative writing life, Percival Everett has been a must-read author for me. So yeah, I am a little biased on this one, but I think you should be excited about this author, too.

Everett’s latest novel follows the story of a mathematics professor who goes by the name Wala Kitu. He becomes entangled in the plans of an aspiring villain named John Sill, who sees Wala Kitu as the perfect partner. Sill’s big plan is to break into Fort Knox to steal a shoebox containing nothing. He believes that once he controls nothing, he’ll be able to turn a Massachusetts town into nothing. Sounds weird, right? Well, it also turns out that Sill’s desire to become a literal Bond villain originates from some American villainy related to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

Will Wala Kitu be able to fool Sill into thinking he’s on his team while secretly working to foil his plans behind the scenes? That’s what he hopes to do with the help of the brainwashed astrophysicist-turned-henchwoman Eigen Vector.

Dr. No sounds bizarre, creative, and thought-provoking. Just what I’ve come to expect from this author. This one comes out in early November.

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

What I’m Reading This Week

ghost eaters book cover

Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Monday Memes

Who among us hasn’t reacted to a book like this? Or thrown a book across a room?

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

I love a good cat tree meeting. Also just note how big little Remy is getting! He’s basically the same size as Murray at this point. They grow up so fast.

And… that’s all I have for you this Monday, friends. I hope you have a wonderful week. I hope you only drink good coffee. I hope you pet the fluffiest cats. I hope you read all the good books. You know, the usual.

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

DON’T WORRY DARLING Drama Turned into Bookish Memes and More Book Radar!

Hello Book Friends!

It feels like it’s been a hot minute. But really it’s only been a week. I hope you had a good weekend, if you got to have a weekend. I actually have a little trip happening this coming weekend, so I just took it easy. I spent some time in the ‘ole reading chair. Watched some House of the Dragon. Caught up on Only Murders in the Building. You know the drill. Anyway, somehow it’s almost the weekend again, so let’s hop into this book talk while we still have time.

Book Deals and Reveals

the dos and donuts of love book cover

Let’s start with a totally adorable cover reveal. Here’s the cover of Adiba Jaigirdar’s latest, The Dos and Donuts of Love. It’s out in June, and you can preorder it now!

And LGBTQ Reads has the exclusive cover reveal for Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore and and Elliott McLemore. This is a trans YA fantasy releasing from Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan on May 16, 2023.

New York Times bestselling author and former monk Jay Shetty has announced his next book8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go.

Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power has made history as Amazon Prime Video’s biggest premiere ever. Episodes of Rings of Power are set to drop weekly on Fridays on Prime Video.

Macmillan Audio is releasing a special audio version of rock musician Nick Cave’s Faith, Hope and Carnage. The audiobook is scheduled for release on September 20.

HBO Max has renewed the adult animated DC series Harley Quinn for a fourth season. This announcement comes just a few weeks ahead of season three’s September 15th finale.

Little, Brown has purchased Emma Donoghue’s Learned by Heart, a work of historical fiction set to publish in August 2023. According to the publisher, the novel is about “the real-life love story of historical figures Eliza Raine and Anne Lister.”

Here’s a sneak peek at Anissa Gray’s upcoming novel Life and Other Love Songs. This book will be out on April 4, 2023.

Mila Kunis is set to star in The Luckiest Girl AliveNetflix’s film adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Jessica Knoll. The movie will premiere in theaters in September ahead of its streaming debut this fall.

According to George R.R. Martin, House of the Dragon has “fixed” one of his least favorite scenes from HBO’s Game of Thrones series.

Do you know your state’s favorite Stephen King movie? Check out this map to see which movie each state is searching for most often.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

Prepare Your Shelves!

the butcher book cover

The Butcher by Laura Kat Young (Penguin Random House, September 27)

Let’s just start off by saying I love the comps for this one. This book’s got me written all over it, and hopefully you’ll be excited about it too! You see… The Butcher is being described as Shirley Jackson (check) meets Devil’s Day by Andrew Michael Hurley (check check) meets West World (Okay, I haven’t watched the most recent season, but I am into it, so check, check, check). This sounds like such a fun combo, and this one is coming out soon. So if it sounds good to you, you’ll be able to pick it up by the end of the month!

If you somehow need more information before you’re totally sold, here’s the deal. After Lady Mae turns 18, she will be inheriting her mother’s job as the Butcher, dismembering Settlement Five’s residents who commit petty crimes. But when Lady Mae’s mother is called upon to butcher a six-year-old boy, and then she refuses to do it, she is murdered for refusing her duties. Now alone in the world, Lady Mae must take her mother’s place.

This is Laura Kat Young’s debut novel, and it’s definitely worth preparing your shelves for this one. Still want more? Check out an excerpt here.

Words of Literary Wisdom

“Pity fades with age, hate is lost and found, but guilt can last a lifetime.”

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Thursday Memes

I know we normally save memes for Mondays, but with the onslaught of Don’t Worry, Darling memes following that wild premiere, I really could not help myself but share these. So enjoy this special edition of “Monday Memes,” cleverly titled “Thursday Memes.”

And if for some reason you’re behind on the Don’t Worry, Darling drama, you know Jess Owens will fill you in. Bless her.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

Cats sleeping on a chair

The reading chair is once again the star of the show with these cats. I love how they’re sitting together but not without the help of a pillow to keep them separated. I mean, whatever keeps the peace.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’ll be taking the train to Portland this weekend, so I’m envisioning reading my book (Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters), enjoying the view, and just relaxing. I’ll see you back here on Monday, yes?

Farewell!

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

Blake Crouch’s DARK MATTER Adaptation is Coming Soon and More Book Radar!

Hi Book Pals!

I hope you’ve been doing well. It’s been a sorta wild week over here, but we’re pulling everything together. Hoping for a chill weekend to sort of balance everything out. But in the meantime, let’s chat books, shall we?

Book Deals and Reveals

That Self-Same Metal Book cover

Just check out this cover reveal! That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams is the first book in the Forge & Fracture Saga. This cover was designed by Chelsea Hunter. The book will be out on April 25, 2023.

And here’s the cover of Ruth Madievsky’s All Night Pharmacy, out 7/11/23 from Catapult!

Ann Napolitano, author of the 2020 bestseller Dear Edward, has sold her next novel Hello Beautiful to Whitney Frick at Dial Press. Dial said the story follows a college basketball player seeking a better life “after a childhood marred by tragedy” and after marrying into “a tight-knit family of four sisters.” The book is slated to release in 2023.

Jennifer Connelly will be starring opposite Joel Edgerton in the Apple TV+ series adaptation of Blake Crouch’s novel Dark Matter.

Megan Thee Stallion will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her cameo appearance in Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.

Production on the Apple TV+ limited series Lady in the Lake hit pause last weekend after multiple individuals threatened a member of the crew, according to a statement from studio Endeavor Content.

For months, contemporary romance authors like Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry have dominated the New York Times paperback trade fiction bestsellers list. And the success of these authors has been driven in large part by Gen Z readers – and social media.

Washington Post book critic Ron Charles announced in his newsletter that the paper’s standalone print book section is coming back on September 25

After the Patmos Library was defunded by voters for carrying LGBTQ books, donors including Nora Roberts stepped up to help.

Here are the 30 most popular horror novels of 2022 (so far), according to Goodreads users — just in time for peak horror reading season!

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Can’t Wait for This One!

where darkness blooms book cover

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah (Wednesday Books, February 21)

First of all, this is another book that I immediately wanted to pick up because of this fun cover. It’s somehow giving off cool, creepy, and beautiful all at the same time, and I’m so here for it. And if you’ve been reading Book Radar for a while, you know I’m a sucker for a good YA horror novel. So this one is at the top of my to-read list for 2023.

The town of Bishop has always been a strange place. There are a few things the town is most known for. There’s the recurring windstorms. There are the endless fields of sunflowers. And then there are the missing women. Women go missing so often in Bishop that when three women all go missing on one stormy night, no one bats an eye. That is, until a terrible secret is revealed at the women’s memorial.

Now the three women’s daughters are left to make sense of the secret their mothers left behind and pick up the shattered pieces of their lives. All Delilah wants is to be able to move on with her boyfriend Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Meanwhile, Whitney is grieving the loss of her mother and her girlfriend, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney’s twin sister, would rather ignore the whole thing, but her secret has been revealed too: the summer fling she had with Delilah’s boyfriend. Then there’s Bo. Bo is demanding answers. Something happened to their mothers, and she’s sure the townsfolk know what it was.

Words of Literary Wisdom

“If this were a novel, he might simply be a poorly written character. But there are no poorly written people. Only ones you don’t yet understand.”

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

What I’m Watching this Weekend

I know I’m super late to the game, but I’m finally flying through Only Murders in the Building. I just finished season 1, so my prediction is that I’ll be done with season 2 by the end of the weekend. Then I’ll just be waiting around for season 3 with the rest of y’all. And I’m very excited about this casting choice for season 3!

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

tuxedo cat with moana book

I’m finally getting around to organizing all of my books onto these new book shelves, and look at how Remy is helping me! Remy wants everyone to know that his favorite book is this Art of Moana book, and I get it. Because Moana is the best Disney movie ever, and I will die on this hill. Fun fact: I saw this movie seven times in theaters.

Ok… sorry I got off on a tangent there. Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend! See you next week.

Emily

Categories
Book Radar

The Trailer For MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM Slaps and More Book Radar!

Hi Book Friends!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend and that you’re excited for some book talk, because do I have some book things for you to feast your eyeballs upon. Let’s not wait any longer. Let’s just hop right into the things. I can’t wait to share.

Book Deals and Reveals

promo photo for My Best Friend's Exorcism movie by Amazon Prime Video

Holy moly, y’all. I gotta start with the bit of news I’m the most excited about because…is this my most anticipated movie of the year? I think it is. And guess what? Amazon has just release the trailer for My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and it yeah. It friggin’ slaps. In case you have somehow missed out thus far, this movie is based on the book by Grady Hendrix, and it’s so good. So, like, if you haven’t read it yet, go do that before the movie comes out. Go, go, go! The movie’s out September 30th.

Phew. Okay. Now with that out of of my system, let’s talk other book things.

We love the sound of a college-based second chance romance! Check out the cover reveal of The Do Over by Suzanne Park. This looks so cute.

How about a Party of Five remix? Here’s the cover reveal of As Long As We’re Together by Brianna Peppins. Out from Scholastic on April 4, 2023.

Locus Magazine revealed the cover of Olivia Chadha’s Fall of the Iron Gods. This sequel to Rise of the Red Hand is described as a “searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia.”

And check out the cover of Frederick Joseph and Nicholas Smith’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The Courage to Dream, a children’s book tie-in to the new Black Panther film.

Poet and author Teresa La Dart is suing Taylor Swift. La Dart claims that Swift stole the design of her 2010 book Lover for the book accompanying Swift’s 2019 album of the same name.

Stephen Graham Jones has announced that his upcoming comic Earthdivers is set to become a TV series through 20th Television, which is part of Disney.

Netflix has greenlit Parasyte: The Grey, a new Korean original horror series from Yeon Sang-ho, the director of Train to Busan and creator of Hellbound. The upcoming series is a reimagining of Kodansha’s manga series Parasyte, written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki.

Hey you! Are you up for BookyCon 2022, the world’s largest virtual book festival? Reserve your ticket here!

Calling all Stephen King fans! For the third year in a row, USDish.com is looking for a fan who wants to watch 13 movies based on Stephen King novels. In exchange, the fan will receive $1,300, a swag bag with a $350 value — which includes a FitBit — and tickets for the 2023 premier of Salem’s LotCheck out all the details here.

Book Riot Recommends

I’m a Contributing Editor at Book Riot, I write the Today in Books newsletter, and I’m a Bibliologist for Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations subscription service. I also have a PhD in English, so I’m basically a doctor of books. Books are my life, in other words, so in this section of the newsletter, let me share with you some upcoming books I’m super excited about. And I think you will be too!

Prepare Your Shelves!

if you could see the sun book cover

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang (Inkyard Press, October 11)

I love a YA book with just a little pinch of magic, and hey, this book comes out just two days before my birthday, so I’m considering this one a gift from Inkyard Press to mark my special day. In other words, this book is so good it deserves to be my birthday book. Those of you who are big birthday people know what a big deal that is.

Anyway, you’re here to find out about the book, not my birthday (although, FYI, I do love surprise parties).

If You Could See the Sun is Ann Liang’s YA debut. It’s the story of Alice Sun, a teen girl who has always felt invisible compared to the rich kids at her elite Beijing international boarding school. Then one day…she actually becomes invisible. And she has no control over when it happens.

At first, the whole turning invisible thing feels like it’s going to be a huge problem. But when Alice’s parents tell her they will no longer be able to afford the school’s tuition (even with her scholarship), Alice sees an opportunity and seizes it. You see, being invisible has quite a few perks, and Alice has found a way to monetize it. Now, she’s finding out all the secrets her classmates want to know (for a price). But what happens when the secrets escalate too far? And what risks will Alice be willing to take?

Want to read books from this newsletter? You can, for free! Get three free audiobooks with a trial to Audiobooks.com. Claim your 3 free audiobooks now!

What I’m Reading This Week

cover of The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale

Hokuloa Road by Elizabeth Hand

Monday Memes

As someone who loves to read sad books and who cries about everything and is often sad and “doesn’t know why,” I took this meme personally.

And Here’s A Cat Picture!

orange cat in window

Welcome back to the window with everyone’s favorite orange kitty, Murray. I know he looks like he’s about to sneeze, but that’s just him being cute. Fun fact: right after this picture, he saw a squirrel outside of the window and was totally excited. Good for him living his best life.

And…that’s it for Book Radar for this lovely Monday! I hope you have a wonderful week, and I look forward to chatting with you again on Thursday, friends.

Emily
https://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/category/book-radar/
newsletters.riotnewmedia.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2022-40
211528
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:3TQCELCLQFMNZMQNA5JTLFSUGJZGBOAW
<urn:uuid:55c3d075-0a30-42f1-81ee-0f4be5882be2>
2022-10-04T07:09:40Z
54.84.98.106
text/html
sha1:GCGHEXIJ5LVJ44HYH6ZZ6AVW2P5IE7QE
<urn:uuid:3559d36a-14e5-4a6d-9542-54a47d870f41>
https://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/category/book-radar/
response
<urn:uuid:51850a1e-a246-4f42-b84b-ce24c09b1de3>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September/October 2022
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-194
software: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/