Not their finest hour
According to the Tennessean, students at the St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville will no longer be allowed to read the Harry Potter series, as a pastor at the parish school says he "consulted several exorcists" and decided the books were dangerous. He explained further...
Just think of the insurance!
I'm not sure what an "event series" actually is (it's just a fancy way of saying "miniseries", right?), but USA has shelled out for a high-profile show called Treadstone, based on the world of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels...
Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, by P.G. Wodehouse
On a recent trip to Canada, I picked up Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, a beautifully packaged little collection of P.G. Wodehouse stories from Arrow Books, who blithely describe it as "A Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up!". Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo consists of three short stories: two Mulliner tales, including the title story (about a meek curate who turns into an ass-kicking, name-taking problem solver...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, by P.G. Wodehouse
This week we're giving away Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, which has the dubious honor of being the most over-packaged collection of P.G. Wodehouse short stories I've ever seen. A full review will follow shortly, but here's a spoiler: this is a lot of wrapping for very little gift. This giveaway will run through 11/09/19...
Creepy animals galore
The trailer is out for Briarpatch, the TV series adaptation of the Ross Thomas novel of the same name. It looks super David Lynchian in style; I'm a little surprised it's going to be a TV series, rather than a feature film...
Dress for success
If you're a big Halloween fan (or just nostalgic for the diet horror of one's middle school years), there is a Goosebumps t-shirt on sale at Urban Outfitters for $34. Beware: it's cropped. (Also, Urban Outfitters...
Positive signs
There are some good reviews coming out for the movie adaptation of How To Build a Girl, based on Caitlin Moran's coming-of-age novel of the same name. I'm never going to see this movie (even reading the plot summary makes me cringe), but...
Just in time for...?
Harper Perennial recently announced a limited run of Olive Editions reprints of eight famous mysteries and thrillers. The eye-catching books will be released on October 1st, and they're clearly aimed at Halloween shoppers, although...
Another Fine Myth, by Robert Asprin
I hunted down a copy of Robert Asprin's Another Fine Myth after reading an absolutely glowing review of it on NPR. When I hear about a book described as a “joyous dad-joke fantasy”, I'm interested. Sadly, I found NPR's description to be a bit hyperbolic; Asprin's novel is more like a mildly amusing novelization of a D&D game.
Weekly Book Giveaway: Another Fine Myth, by Robert Asprin
Our latest Book Giveaway is Another Fine Myth, a 1978 fantasy/comedy written by Robert Lynn Asprin. (This isn't the cover art featured on our particular edition, but don't worry: they're both equally ugly.) A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 10/25/19...
Webtoons: Super Secret
Our last Webtoons recommendation is eon's Super Secret. This series has three major things going for it: A) it's already completed (and the ending is great), B) it centers around a bunch of non-spooky monsters...
Webtoons: Age Matters
Our fourth featured title from Webtoons is Enjelicious's Age Matters. This series features a fairly conventional romantic set-up: there's a super rich, handsome guy (cranky yet secretly caring!), and a poor-yet-spunky heroine...
Webtoons: My Giant Nerd Boyfriend
Next up in our week of Webtoons mini-reviews is My Giant Nerd Boyfriend, a comedy/romance/slice of life story written by someone who calls herself fishball. This series, which is updated three times a week, consists of a bunch of A+++ standalone jokes about the writer and her much-taller boyfriend, both...
Webtoons: Lore Olympus
The second Webtoons title we're featuring is Rachel Smythe's Lore Olympus, an ongoing series updated on Sundays. It's a modern retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth that features a deliciously soapy take on the Greek Gods. The series is...
Finally, the one I care about
We're ending with the trailer I am most excited about: ITV's adaptation of Jane Austen's Sanditon. Frankly, I have a lot of concerns about this show (starting with petty stuff, like why the heroine is constantly wearing her hair down, and working up from there), but I'm still gonna watch it, even if...
So much no
Continuing with our full week of movie trailers: today it's the final trailer for Warner Bros.' Joker. Clearly, the filmmakers behind this movie thought they'd one-up Heath Ledger's take on the character by going for the "depressed and angry loser" approach...
A lot of terrible hair
And in our next featured trailer, we have The King, which is rife with strange head-styling choices, from Lily-Rose Depp's wimple to Timothée Chalamet's bowl cut to... whatever is happening to Robert Pattison's hair...
Interesting
There have been a flurry of trailers released recently, and I'm, oh, 40% intrigued and 60% confused by this AppleTV trailer for Dickinson. Are they really attempting the full-blown A Knight's Tale-style anachronistic take...
The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay
Norman Lindsay's 1918 novel The Magic Pudding is proof positive of my theory that Australian fiction—even their fiction for children—is not for the faint of heart. It centers around the Magic Pudding, a rude, sulky, anthropomorphic dessert, and the three friends who form the Noble Society of Puddin'-Owners...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Magic Pudding, by Norman Lindsay
This week's Book Giveaway is Norman Lindsay's The Magic Pudding, which was originally published in 1918 and is considered to be an Australian children's classic. (It is also exhibit A in my ongoing argument that Australian literature is a uniquely red-blooded beast.) This giveaway will run through 10/25/19...
Instant no
Here's the trailer for the new movie Vita and Virginia, based on the love affair between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Frankly, if I wanted to watch two attractive people make each other miserable for two hours, I'd prefer the misery originated from...
More magic (this time with rules)
People informs me that HBO Max has greenlit a series based on Rules of Magic, the prequel to Alice Hoffman's novel Practical Magic. Set in the 1960s...
One of the giants speaks
According to the Guardian, comics legend Art Spiegelman is claiming that he was asked to remove a criticism of Donald Trump from an introduction he wrote for Marvel. (It was really more of an implied criticism—he mentioned something about how "the Orange Skull haunts America".) The official reason...
The Right Swipe, by Alisha Rai
The Right Swipe is a spin-off from Alisha Rai's Forbidden Hearts series. It features a totally different style of cover art (one that I suspect is meant to evoke Jasmine Guillory and Helen Hoang's novels, which makes sense, as all three authors are at the top of the “smart, hot, diverse” romance market), but it has a lot in common with her earlier books, including a multi-ethnic cast, family drama, and interesting career dilemmas...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Right Swipe, by Alisha Rai
Our latest Book Giveaway is The Right Swipe, the most recent romance novel from Alisa Rai. You might not guess it from the completely dissimilar cover styles, but this is actually a spin-off from her earlier series. It stands up just fine on its own, but completists should take note. This giveaway will run through 10/25/19...
Beach reads for a very intellectual swimmer
Former president Barack Obama just released another list of recommended reads, and his choices are predictably excellent—thoughtful, important, challenging books. I'd actually quite like it if Trump would do something similar, if...
