Who do I blame for this?
According to the New York Times, Michael Ondaatje won the "Golden Man Booker Prize" for his 1992 novel The English Patient. The Golden Man Booker Prize is like a souped-up version of the annual award: five judges were asked to choose the best winner from each decade, and then the public voted on the resulting shortlist of nominees. Someone clearly got it wrong, but...
Summer un-fun
I'm always grateful to whomever compiles these massive lists of upcoming anime series for Kokatu, because I suspect they take a lot of work. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a single series I actually want to watch on there. Here's hoping the fall round-up is more fun, because this bunch looks like...
Surely he has enough money by now?
According to io9, R.L. Stine has just signed a multi-book deal with comics publisher Boom Studios. Stine has committed to writing four supernatural/horror-themed graphic novels in a new series aimed at young teens, with the first installment coming out in the fall of 2019...
I have failed myself
While falling down an internet worm hole of Moomin-themed tattoos, I recently discovered that Tove Jansson once illustrated an edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and somehow I don't already own a copy...
Wodehouse on Crime: A Dozen Tales of Fiendish Cunning, by P.G. Wodehouse
During a recent trip to Powell's Books in Portland, OR, I picked up Wodehouse on Crime: A Dozen Tales of Fiendish Cunning, an oddly packaged collection of P.G. Wodehouse stories edited by D.R. Bensen. Wodehouse on Crime features stories from all over the Wodehouse universe: Jeeves and Wooster, Mulliner, Lord Emsworth, Ukridge. Wodehouse was perhaps the furthest thing on Earth from a hardboiled crime writer, but a surprising number of his plots hinge...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Wodehouse on Crime: A Dozen Tales of Fiendish Cunning, by P.G. Wodehouse
We are currently giving away a copy of this extremely ugly but amusingly-titled P.G. Wodehouse collection: Wodehouse on Crime: A Dozen Tales of Fiendish Cunning, originally published in 1990. A full review will follow shortly, but meanwhile, take a gander at that guy lurking on the far left of the cover. Doesn't he look like a beefier Benedict Cumberbatch...
Sorry, comic book stores.
Huh. I thought these already existed, but maybe I'm confusing them with those freestanding kiosks: according to Publishers Weekly, Barnes & Noble recently announced plans to create dedicated sections for middle grade graphic novels in all of its stores...
Decor goals
I'm not sure how I feel about Mandi Johnson's horse painting (I like charming kitsch, but I feel like that horse, uh, only half qualifies), but her IKEA bookcase hack featured on the blog...
Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: Vol. 1, by Tove Jansson
In 2006, the Canadian publishing company Drawn & Quarterly released the first volume of Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip. Whoever did the graphic design for these editions deserves a raise: they're vivid and eye-catching, doing full justice to Jansson's art and characters...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: Vol. 1, by Tove Jansson
We are currently giving away a copy of the first volume of Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, released in 2006 by the Canadian publishing company Drawn & Quarterly. Even if you're not a Moomin fan, this thing is a triumph of graphic design, and would grace any coffee table in all the land...
When it comes out on DVD
Okay, this movie looks incredibly well made and timely and important... and absolutely wrenching. The trailer is out for the hotly-anticipated adaptation of Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give. I've watched it twice, and have firmly decided that there is absolutely zero chance of me watching this movie in public...
From one jerk to another
According to LaineyGossip, Russell Crowe has been cast as Roger Ailes in the upcoming film adaptation of Gabriel Sherman's The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News—and Divided a Country. This is, uh, really inspired casting...
Moving on
If you follow national literary news, there have been a lot of stories this week about the American Library Association's decision to remove Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from their annual award for children's literature. NPR put together a helpful essay exploring the controversy...
Not a new idea
In very different adaptation news, Deadline reports that Syfy is developing a TV series based on Clive Barker’s short-story collection Cabal. The material has been filmed before (as the 1990 movie Nightbreed), and sounds a little like the recent movie Bright...
Maybe if I had enough junk food...
The trailer is out for Netflix's upcoming adaptation of Jenny Han's All the Boys I've Loved Before, and it looks cute, albeit excruciatingly embarassing. I'm still recovering from the news that someone made The Kissing Booth into a (apparently successful!!!) movie...
A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears, by Jules Feiffer
In a world bursting with children's stories that feel like they were designed by an algorithm to appeal to the widest possible audience, Jules Fieffer's A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears stands out. It's a genuinely weird book, and I'd bet cash money it never would have found a publisher had it been written by a less well-known author...
Weekly Book Giveaway: A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears, by Jules Feiffer
This week's Book Giveaway is Jules Feiffer's 1995 children's book A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears. You'd be forgiven for thinking this is one of those deeply weird, self-published books (because that's what it looks like), but I promise that is only half true. A full review will follow shortly.
If only...
I want to go here: Dumbarton House in Washington D.C., headquarters of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, is hosting its 7th Annual Jane Austen Film Festival on Wednesday nights from July 11th through August 1st 2018. I don't actually like any of the films that they've chosen, and...
Timely!
Paste Magazine recently compiled a list of the 30 Best Dystopian Books of All Time. I have some questions (the books are very English-language heavy; surely there are some great dystopian novels that haven't been translated yet?), and...
Be strong, Julia.
I'm not proud of being a sucker, I don't like the packaging (did this really need to be promoted by name-dropping The Big Bang Theory?), and I'm never going to shell out $65 for one of these, but a small part of me really wants this...
I DO, as it happens!
Today, the website Cup of Jo wrote a lovely essay about poetry, and asked their readers if they have a favorite poem. I do have a favorite poem, actually, and I encourage everyone to read it, because...
I think we all know what to expect.
According to Deadline, HBO has made the sensible decision to keep milking their cash cow until it dries up completely: they've greenlit a pilot for a Game of Thrones prequel series. Details are scarce, but the as-yet-untitled show is apparently set thousands of years before the events of A Song Of Ice And Fire...
Misfit City, Issues 3 - 8, by Kiwi Smith and Kurt Lustgarten
When I reviewed the first two issues of Kiwi Smith and Kurt Lustgarten's 8-issue miniseries Misfit City, I groused about the flimsiness of the plot, but felt the characters and setting made up for it. Unfortunately, as the series progressed and less of each issue...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Misfit City, Volume 1, by Kiwi Smith and Kurt Lustgarten
This week we're going to be reviewing issues 3 through 8 of the comic book miniseries Misfit City, so our Book Giveaway pick this week is the graphic novel compilation Misfit City: Vol. 1, which includes the first four issues. Our review of the rest of the series will be up shortly...
So pretty~
Publishers Weekly just posted an article about a bunch of booksellers' picks for promising summer books for kids and teens. I'm excited about the final book of the Penderwick Chronicles, The Penderwicks at Last, by Jeanne Birdsall, and...
Fishy DRAMA
Entertainment Weekly is currently doing their level best to make Aquaman look serious, and Lord knows Jason Momoa's face is doing some heavy lifting... but I'm sorry, nothing is going to make this movie seem anything other than goofy...
Reserving judgment
There is promising casting news coming out regarding the BBC's upcoming miniseries adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy: James McAvoy will play Lord Asriel. I like McAvoy a lot, but...
Revived
According to The AV Club, DC Comics is launching a full revival of their Vertigo imprint of comics for adults. Their goals are lofty: “modern, socially relevant, high-concept, inventive stories." Normally, I wouldn't trust DC to change a light bulb, but the original Vertigo line produced loads...
Mysterious
The official trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines is out, and I'm assuming (based on the December release date) the producers have high hopes for it... but I'm not really seeing why. This is not a good trailer: the dialogue is clunky and clichéd, the biggest name involved (apart from Peter Jackson) is Hugo Weaving, and...
The Unknown Ajax, by Georgette Heyer
First published in 1959, Georgette Heyer's The Unknown Ajax is one of my all-time favorite books. It has a lot in common with The Grand Sophy—both are stories about a previously unknown relative showing up and taking charge of a troubled family—but The Unknown Ajax, happily, doesn't feature a scene with an offensive Jewish stereotype...