Weekly Book Giveaway:Ruslan and Lyudmila, by Alexander Pushkin
We're starting off 2024 by giving away the literary equivalent of a deep, deeeeep cut: a copy of Alexander Pushkin's 1820 fairytale-esque poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". I'm curious to see if this one will even get any takers, but if you've ever wanted to be one of those characters in old books who appear to honestly delight in super-long poems about knights and stuff, today's your day!
I'll pass
I finally watched the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of the French graphic novel series The Killer, written by Alexis "Matz" Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamo. It looks... utterly miserable, I gotta be honest. This is why my action movie tastes run in the John Wick direction: if...
Maybe let it lie
NPR recently published an interview with Andrew Gulli, the managing editor of The Strand. Gulli recently published a previously undiscovered story by Truman Capote: "Another Day in Paradise". He received permission to publish from Capote's estate, and the story's plot sounds interesting...
Spoooooky
Netflix's upcoming adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher does not appear to have much in common with its source material, but it does look like some very glossy and entertaining pre-Halloween viewing...
Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
The first third of David Grann's 2017 nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon is structured like a mystery novel, and—trust me on this—readers are best off knowing as little about the "plot" as possible. I was unfortunately already familiar with the fates of most of the people involved, and it made for the kind of claustrophobic, creepifying reading experience that lingers...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
This week's Book Giveaway is David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, a National Book Award Finalist and the inspiration for the upcoming movie of the same name. Obviously, this isn't the "fun" kind of Wordcandy, but I am very much looking forward to the idea that this movie adaptation might inspire more widespread awareness of the ongoing issues faced by...
SOAPTASTIC
I feel like the blog has been heavy on the melodrama this week, but here's one more: if you're a fan of webtoons, the popular series Marry My Husband just posted its series finale. It is super soapy, with a magical second chance-at-life premise...
It dripped with judgment
Ouch: Drew Barrymore was dropped as the National Book Awards host after her short-lived attempt to bring back her talk show despite the ongoing writers' and actors' strikes. While she eventually reversed her decision, I doubt the National Book Awards will reverse theirs; their official statement was...
Eh, maybe
This movie adaptation of Iain Reid's 2019 novel Foe looks like a modern, big-budget Twilight Zone episode. Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal are both pretty buzzy young actors, so I'm assuming they wouldn't sign up for something terrible, but I'm...
Pretty!
Thrilling news for fans of tastefully bound Jane Austen adaptations: the "Puffin in Bloom" series from Penguin Random House, which features cover art by Rifle Paper's creative director Anna Bond, will release new editions of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility...
This looks enjoyably trashy
I've been bombarded by trailers for Amazon's adaptation of B.E. Jones's novel Wilderness, which I must admit looks delightfully soapy, down to the hilariously impractical little dress the main actress appears to be wearing to go for a massive hike. Also, A+ use of that Taylor Swift song...
Wild Hunger, by Chloe Neill
Chloe Neill's Wild Hunger is very clearly a spin-off. It's a fun, easy-to-follow spin-off that works reasonably well as a standalone novel, but there are plenty of areas where I felt like the author was skimming over huge chunks of characterization or background, lest she bore her preexisting fans with stuff they already knew. I definitely wish I'd started with the earlier books—not that...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Wild Hunger, by Chloe Neill
Our current Book Giveaway is Chloe Neill's novel Wild Hunger. This is a spin-off of her popular "Chicagoland Vampires" urban fantasy series, but works reasonably well as a standalone novel. A full review will follow shortly...
Not even close
Jane Austen scholar Deborah Yaffe periodically adds to her ongoing list of misattributed Austen quotes. While I'm used to seeing people quoting Austen in an out-of-context manner (you would not believe how many people soulfully quote Miss Bingley's sycophantic speech about reading, thinking it was meant in earnest), these...
It's a kind of red-orange color
The Financial Times just posted an article by fashion historian Hilary Davidson, author of the upcoming book Jane Austen's Wardrobe. According to both the article and Davidson's book's official description, "Jane Austen has all too often been accused of dowdiness in her appearance." To which I say... she has? I mean, inasmuch as...
Gross, but maybe fun?
And speaking of magical-school stories, the first trailer was recently released for Gen V, a spin-off of the series The Boys, which is based on a comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. This looks super OTT...
Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing is the literary equivalent of an ice cream sundae. It might not be the most avant-garde idea out there, but it's packed with stuff people really like: dragons, a magical school, loads of violence, and some New Adult-level sex and pining. In the hands of a less competent author, this might read like a derivative mess, but Yarros's hell-for-leather pacing and solid characterization keeps the pages turning...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
Our current Book Giveaway is Rebecca Yarros's novel Fourth Wing. A full review will follow shortly, but here's the gist: if you've got any long, boring stretches of time you want to fill on your schedule (like a plane ride), this book is an A+ page-turning distraction machine...
What could have been
There's a depressing article on Variety about the upcoming Blue Beetle movie. Blue Beetle is the first superhero movie to be directed and written by and starring Latinos, and many were hoping its success could lead to a real step forward towards increased diversity in Hollywood...
They have deadlines to meet, too
According to the website Celebitchy, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have purchased the rights to Carley Fortune’s romantic melodrama Meet Me at the Lake, which they intend to turn in to a movie for Netflix...
On the scale of dumb...
Truly, nothing could be as dumb as claiming the children's book Arthur's Birthday "damages [children's] souls", but this comes close: apparently, some library in Indiana has decided to move Indianapolis author John Green's best-selling novel The Fault in Our Stars from...
SO COOL
According to Town and Country magazine, the Macmillan Collector's Library is about to release new editions of three of Jane Austen's most famous novels—Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense & Sensibility—all of which will feature cover art based on fragments of wallpaper patterns...
Get ready to sharpen those crayons
If you're a big fan of tan, beige, khaki, gold, and light brown, BIG NEWS: Ace Books is releasing an official Dune coloring book, due out in late September and perfect for people who really yearn to color in a lot of sand...
The Awakening, by Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts's attempts at writing an epic fantasy have been hit-or-miss, in my opinion, but she keeps on trying. She has already made her fame and fortune twice over (as a conventional romance novelist under her own name, and as an author of futuristic romantic mystery as J.D. Robb), so at the very least I applaud her work ethic as she sets out to dominate yet another genre—no matter how mediocre the results...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Awakening, by Nora Roberts
It's been a few years since I last attempted a Nora Roberts fantasy novel (which can be real hit-or-miss, in my opinion), but it's time to give her another shot. This week's Book Giveaway is The Awakening, the first book in Roberts's "The Dragon Heart Legacy" series. A full review will follow shortly...
The importance of a toilet cannot be overstated
According to Apartment Therapy, Random House Worlds is partnering with Netflix and Shondaland to release a Bridgerton-inspired coloring book and a cookbook/entertainment guide, ideal for fans who want to "recreate the Regency era of London". Both titles will come out this fall. Personally, I can see the appeal of the coloring book...
Creepy and yet awesome
My family continues to take covid pretty seriously, so I don't get to spend countless hours browsing bookstores the way I used to. This is undoubtedly better for my budget, but an ongoing bummer every time I'm forced to consider all the cool reprints of classic books that have escaped my notice. Case in point...
Surrealism, for teens
And speaking of upcoming movies, there's an adaptation of M.T. Anderson's Landscape With an Invisible Hand due out in a few days. Anderson's novels can get extremely weird (and this looks, uh, pretty faithful to his vibe), plus August is generally regarded as...