Weekly Book Giveaway: Tricks for Free, by Seanan McGuire
This week's Book Giveaway is Tricks For Free, the seventh book in Seanan McGuire's wildly entertaining InCryptid series. After a brief but welcome detour into non-sexy cover art, my mother will be disappointed to see that the cover model is back to a bulging, ripped tank-top, but one cannot have everything...
To be expected
I missed this news last month (and I was definitely happier for it): according to Publishers Weekly, the Trump administration has once again proposed "the permanent elimination of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, as...
The thin line between gossip and news
According to Deadline, David A. Neuman’s Blackrock Productions wants to turn Ryan Holiday’s new book Conspiracy–Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker and the Anatomy of Intrigue into a movie or miniseries. The book covers the legal battle that lead to Gawker's dissolution: one involving a Hulk Hogan sex tape, a vengeful billionaire, and...
Nope!
The official teaser trailer is out for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and once again it looks great. Unfortunately, these movies seem more worried about aesthetics than storytelling—and the filmmakers' (and Rowling's) insistence...
From page to screen
Pajiba recently posted an article about the various book-related movie projects being produced by Reese Witherspoon. It's quite a list, ranging from Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere to S.J. Watson's Second Life. Not all of Witherspoon's choices appeal to me, but...
Scifi fairytales
And speaking of Persuasion, I'm interested in this upcoming film starring Ciaran Hinds. Elizabeth Harvest appears to be a sci-fi take on the Bluebeard story with a little Rebecca thrown in, and despite my reservations about that poster art...
Persuasion (Modern Library Edition), by Jane Austen
As longtime readers of the site know, every few months I indulge myself by reviewing specific editions of Jane Austen's novels. These are not meant to be reviews of the stories (hot take: Austen's books are great! You should totally read 'em!), they are reviews of the supplementary materials included by various publishers. I am a raging nerd, so...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Persuasion (Modern Library Edition), by Jane Austen
This week's Book Giveaway is the 2001 Modern Library edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I'm only a few pages in, but I'm already irritated by the foreword, so brace yourselves for a lot of very nerd-specific ranting. Our review will be posted shortly...
It's lurking
The trailer is out for Disney's live-action film Christopher Robin. I'm sure it will be very affecting and make a bazillion dollars, but I'd feel more enthusiastic about it if my first reaction wasn't: 'DEMON BEAR!' Seriously...
Not the book I would have chosen to have a lot of merch tie-ins
The jewelry makers at Alex and Ani have released a collection inspired by Disney's upcoming A Wrinkle in Time film. I'm not sure how many people would recognize these pieces as being related to the story—they mostly feature generic-sounding inspirational quotes—but...
Lin-Manuel... and friends
The teaser trailer is out for Disney's upcoming Mary Poppins reboot, and no matter how you felt about the original (personally, I avoid it), you gotta give credit to the mouse for common sense: the first character you see is Lin-Manuel Miranda...
At least they didn't record the names
Smith Journal recently posted an article about a box of library queries from the 1940s that was found at the New York Public Library, and it's a pretty great read—as well as a good reminder that we should all be so grateful for...
Hello Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas
Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas's fourth Ravenels book, has an unexpected virtue: it makes me much fonder of Marrying Winterbourne, the second installment in the series. When I first read Marrying Winterbourne, I complained about...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Hello Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas
This week's Book Giveaway is Hello Stranger, the fourth book in Lisa Kleypas's Ravenels series. I have been underwhelmed by this series thus far, but I do want to give props to Ms. Kleypas's cover artist for fixing the sleeve situation. A full review will be posted shortly...
A steep decline
According to The Guardian, a recent study of UK families indicates that the number of toddlers being read to every day has dropped by nearly 20% since 2013. The "Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer" survey is conducted annually by Nielsen Book Research, and consisted of interviews with roughly 2000 parents...
Dude. No.
We've complained about James Bennet, the editorial-page editor of The New York Times, several times on Twitter, and we're far from the only ones. Vanity Fair recently published an in-depth look at Bennet's choices for the op-ed page, and it sums up the problem with his "all-voices-matter" approach beautifully...
Shady
Man, EVERYTHING written about Harper Lee's lawyer has made me 10 out of 10 uncomfortable, and this latest bit of news (involving Lee's unsealed will) is no different...
Flaming hellscape
The first trailer is out for HBO's upcoming film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, starring two of my favorite Michaels: B. Jordan and Shannon. The movie looks good, but do either one of these actors ever play...
Not convinced, but worth a try
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America recently released its nominees for the 2017 Nebula Awards (which are awarded to the best sci-fi novel, novella, novelette, and short story of the year, as determined by professional authors). The Verge published the list of nominees...
The Duchess Deal, by Tessa Dare
After dipping our romance-reading toes into a workplace romantic comedy, a historical suspense novel, and a sexy angst-fest, it's time for an old favorite: a Regency romance...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Duchess Deal, by Tessa Dare
And the last title in our month of romance-themed Book Giveaways is Tessa Dare's The Duchess Deal, the first installment in her 'Girl Meets Duke' series. (I fully approve of that series title, by the way. Evocative!) A full review will follow shortly, but already I feel confident saying that this will appeal to fans of Julia Quinn and Suzanne Enoch...
How will he work in Jason Dohring? Only time will tell.
And in other TV-adaptation news, Rob Thomas (the Veronica Mars and iZombie one, not the singer) is working on an adaptation of Iva-Marie Palmer's 2014 YA novel The End of the World as We Know It. The show will star Gage Golightly, and the plot sounds fun...
Wake me when they start filming
There are signs of life for the BBC's long-dormant television adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. I'm not counting on anything (there doesn't seem to be any news on the cast, director, filming timeline, etc.), but...
"Borrowing"
Atlas Obscura recently posted an article about a potential Shakespearean source text: an unpublished work by a 16th century ambassador. Scholars are using the same anti-plagiarism software that colleges use to count the similarities between George North's 1576 treatise...
Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai
I have strong romance novel preferences. I only willingly read books about characters who routinely bathe. I like sex scenes to feature clearly expressed consent. And, as long-time readers of the site know, I want protagonists to pass my...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai
Continuing our month of romance reviews, this week's Book Giveaway pick is Alisha Rai's Hate to Want You. It looks like it's PACKED with angst, which isn't usually my thing (I prefer romances where the protagonists seem mentally healthy enough to actually make a relationship work, even before loads of therapy). On the other hand, "nice couple meets at puppy obedience class, dates successfully, then lives happily ever after" wouldn't be a particularly scintillating read...
Not for kids, necessarily
According to Deadline, Wonder director Stephen Chbosky has been chosen to direct a biopic about Dr. Seuss. The movie will reportedly focus on Geisel’s relationship with his first wife, Helen Palmer...
Killer fishie
About five years ago, we went through a period where I feel like we were receiving one mermaid-themed book a month. (They varied in quality, but they were all heavy on the angst.) Maybe I just fell out of the mermaid-novel-review circuit, but...
A knockoff of a knockoff of a
The trailer is out for the second season of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I've always dismissed this series as diet Edward Gorey, but I see that they're going for a PG-rated...