Weekly Book Giveaway: The Grand Dark, by Richard Kadrey
This week's Book Giveaway is The Grand Dark, a recent standalone fantasy from Sandman Slim author Richard Kadrey. The official premise sounds a little clichéd, but I have faith in Kadrey to transform it into something memorable. A full review will follow shortly...
Fingers crossed
According to Deadline, Netflix has "won" a massive deal for the upcoming TV and film projects from Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. If the way Game of Thrones ended (not to mention the entire idea of their since-cancelled Confederacy project) is any indication, Netflix might live to regret...
Does not compute
Gizmodo informs me that Nickelodeon has acquired the rights to make an animated TV series adaptation of Jim Davis's inexplicably popular Garfield comic strip. I mean... why? Why is there a demand for this? I've spent years reading about the death of newspapers...
If it works, it works
This is probably the most interesting article I've seen about Marie Kondo's work: an essay in Business Insider about using the KonMari method to get rid of credit card debt. The author takes Kondo's tidying-up tips and applies them to her financial life, and the whole thing...
Sans Romeo
The 2020 Pirelli calendar has been released, inspired by the theme "Looking for Juliet”. Eight actresses, performers, and models were shot by photographer Paolo Roversi, each offering a different visual take on the character. All of the Juliets look lovely, but...
The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I really liked Helen Hoang's romance novel The Bride Test, but I watched it under the influence of two truly terrible Chinese dramas, which I suspected might have skewed my enthusiasm. In an effort to clarify my opinion (and read anther unconventional romance novel) I picked up her first book, The Kiss Quotient...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Kiss Quotient, by Helen Hoang
This week's Book Giveaway is Helen Hoang's The Kiss Quotient, a gender-swapped take on Pretty Woman featuring a heroine with autism and a hero who divides his time between several part-time jobs, which include everything from escorting to prom dress alterations. A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 8/15/19...
Crossover event!
According to Deadline, the upcoming third season of Marvel’s Runaways will include a crossover episode with the series Cloak & Dagger, despite the fact that they air on different platforms. I haven't watched either of these shows since their first few episodes, but...
Hard pass
If you (unlike me) are anxiously awaiting Guillermo del Toro's upcoming film adaptation of Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, apparently there's a documentary about Schwartz's work freshly out on DVD. Needless to say, I'll be skipping that, too...
This is the world we live in now
If you're suddenly more interested in presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, Entertainment Weekly has helpfully rounded up a list of her many books, ranked from "mild to wild". I can't believe we have a presidential candidate who has written an off-brand take on The Secret and...
Stephen King, version 3.0?
According to Collider, there are a lot of big-name actors rumored to be signing up for CBS All Access's upcoming 10-episode miniseries adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Stand...
He's got kids to feed.
According to Variety, David E. Kelley has signed on to create a TV adaptation of Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer. The book was already made into a 2006 feature film starring Matthew McConaughey, but I'm assuming he won't be back for the TV show. On the other hand...
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
It's been nearly twenty years since I read Graham Greene's The Quiet American, but a flurry of recent mentions in the news convinced me that it was time to revisit it. I'm still not familiar with the First Indochina War (which I've been meaning to learn more about since, uh, high school), so I can't weigh in on the accuracy of Graham's war descriptions, but...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
After seeing it mentioned in several news articles about Mayor Pete Buttigieg, I decided it was time to re-read Graham Greene's The Quiet American. A full review will follow shortly, but here's a spoiler for you: nearly every speaking character in this novel is totally awful. This giveaway will run through 8/15/19...
What a charmer
Okay, this is definitely one of those "laugh so you don't start crying" things, but if you're looking for a (possibly microscopic) silver lining to Boris Johnson becoming the British Prime Minister, at least we're getting to enjoy this delightfully scathing review of Johnson's "novel" Seventy-Two Virgins...
THAT COVER!
Classic sci-fi nerds take note: there is both an awesome-sounding new audio drama and a comic book adaptation based on Neuromancer author William Gibson's never-filmed script for Alien III...
Best of luck, dude.
With the recent publication of the final issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore has officially retired from comics, according to Screen Rant. His work spanned decades (and included perhaps DC's most beloved comic book of all time, The Killing Joke), won loads...
Stop trying to make Henry Cavill happen.
Hmm. They're doing their best to emphasize the "based on a book series" angle, rather than the "muuuuch better known as a video game" approach to promote The Witcher, but this doesn't look like Netflix's answer to the high-minded fantasy of Game of Thrones...
Nightmare fuel
If you haven't already seen the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation of the musical Cats, get ready to pinch yourself: don't worry, you're not high (I mean... I assume) and you're not having a nightmare...
That Ain't Witchcraft, by Seanan McGuire
That Ain't Witchcraft is the eighth novel in Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series, and the author deserves all the fun-book awards: she keeps trotting out installment after installment, each just as lively, imaginative, and entertaining as the others. I've read more impressive standalone fantasies, but I can't remember another series delivering so consistently and fast...
Weekly Book Giveaway: That Ain't Witchcraft, by Seanan McGuire
This week's Book Giveaway is That Ain't Witchcraft, the eighth installment in Seanan McGuire's ridiculously entertaining InCryptid series. A full review will follow shortly; this giveaway will run through 7/26/19...
Back to the Future
According to Deadline, Amazon is taking their questionably-gotten Prime Day gains and buying a full season adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan's comic Paper Girls...
I'd rather watch the V.C. Andrews movies, and that's saying something.
Well, this is handy. If you're a Neil Gaiman superfan and you've dreamt of seeing America as portrayed via his (frequently extremely yucky) novel American Gods, the SyFy Channel has designed a road trip for you...
Not a sustainable business model
And in other soap-tastic movie news, "The Hustlers at Scores", Jessica Pressler's 2015 longform article for The Cut, has been turned into a movie, and the first trailer looks pretty great. Apparently there's been some pushback from the real women...
Grooooooss
How is there still demand for this? HOW? There is going to be another round of Lifetime movies inspired by V.C. Andrews books. This time it's the Casteel series, and the trailer looks like the filmmakers were working with a clear checklist...
The Delinquent Housewife! Vol.1, by Nemu Yoko
Nemu Yoko's The Delinquent Housewife! is a four-volume manga, originally published in Japan in 2015 and now fully available in English from Vertical Comics. It's an amusingly far-fetched tale about a young woman who has recently been introduced to her in-laws. When Komugi's husband-to-be Tohru deposits her with his family and leaves on a business trip...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Delinquent Housewife! Vol.1, by Nemu Yoko
This week's Book Giveaway is the first installment of Nemu Yoko's four-volume manga The Delinquent Housewife!. A full review will follow shortly, but I can already tell you that, alas, there are some cultural things that have confused the hell out of me. This giveaway will run through 7/22/19...
Creepy
And this is why I prefer paper books: Microsoft has announced that they're getting out of the e-book business, and will be deleting every title ever purchased via their store. Customers will get refunds, and even a small credit ($25) for notes that were made in the digital editions, but I don't care...