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Buzzy Book News

Noah Baumbach will direct Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig in a feature adaptation of White Noise by Don DeLillo. The Film Stage has details.

Tessa Thompson is working on adaptations for HBO and HBO Max of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw and Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor. Freida Pinto will headline and executive produce the limited series Spy Princess, based on the biography Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu. An adaptation of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell is in the works for FX. Deadline reports.

HarperCollins signed a three-book deal with Jeffrey Archer. First up this fall is the next book in the William Warwick series, Over My Dead Body. 

One Book, One Philadelphia at The Free Library of Philadelphia selects the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of poems The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon; LJ starred review).

Melinda Gates is donating $250,000 to help underwrite the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which will award its winner $150,000. The recently established prize will honor its first recipient in 2023. O: The Oprah Magazine reports.

Page to Screen

Jan. 15: 

The Dig, based on the book by John Preston. Netflix. Reviews | Trailer

WandaVision, which has associated titles. Disney+. Reviews | Trailer

Jan. 17: 

Batwoman, which has associated titles. The CW. Reviews | Trailer

Jan. 19: 

Hello Ninja, based on the book by N.D. Wilson. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Jan. 20: 

C.B. Strike: Lethal White, based on the Cormoran Strike series by J. K. Rowling. HBO. Reviews | Trailer

Nancy Drew, based on the series by Edward Stratemeyer. The CW. No reviews | Trailer

Riverdale, which has associated titles. The CW. No reviews | Trailer

Reviews

The Washington Post reviews Kamala’s Way: An American Life by Dan Morain (S. & S.): "...[it has] the feel of an insider’s tale. But without access to the vice president-elect or her family, Morain cannot get to the inner Kamala Harris." Also, First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance by Annie Jacobsen (Dutton: Penguin): "Jacobsen brings empathy, compassion, compelling writing and some truly dogged reporting to this first story."Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta (S. & S.): "The writing is largely lucid and succinct, but repetitive in places." Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu (S. & S.): "...this sense of uprooting and uncertainty feels real and resonant, and it is in her capturing of this curious sensation that Owusu shines brightest as a memoirist." The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W. W. Norton; LJ starred review): "...his aim is to study 'the political and cultural contexts' of Greene’s novels. In large measure, this approach enriches the perspective."

The NYT reviews Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu (S. & S.): "...the connective tissue of the book is the near-constant guilt she experiences as she grapples with identity and her willingness to erase the most vibrant parts of herself in an attempt to belong." Plus, brief reviews of post-pandemic books.

The L.A. Times reviews The Push by Ashley Audrain (Pamela Dorman: Penguin): "...what makes it stand out from the rest is Audrain’s nuanced understanding of how women’s voices are discounted, how a thousand little slights can curdle a solid marriage and — in defiance of maternal taboos — how mothers really feel, sometimes, toward difficult children." 

NPR reviews Summerwater by Sarah Moss (FSG: Macmillan): "...to identify the book's themes as domestic or interpersonal would be to miss what makes Moss's work so distinctive: the lovely countermelodies of earth, animal, and sky that contextualize human dramas."

Book Marks’ "Best Reviewed Books of the Week."

Briefly Noted

YALSA selects "2021 Great Graphic Novels for Teens." The list has 126 titles; here are the top 10.

The NYT recommends 12 recent releases.

Amazon suggests mysteries and thriller out this month, plus some books that provide a laugh. 

BuzzFeed shares "18 #OwnVoices Books About Disability And Chronic Illness."

Tor.com excerpts The Moonsteel Crown by Stephen Deas (Angry Robot).

Entertainment Weekly has an excerpt of We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman (Viking Books for Young Readers: Penguin).

Vox interviews Anna North, Outlawed (Bloomsbury: Macmillan).

Alexi Pappas discusses Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas (Dial: Random House) with Shondaland.

The Millions speaks with Sarah Moss, Summerwater (FSG: Macmillan).

Zombie Gatsby? The NYT looks at upcoming editions of the classic, now in the public domain.

Learn more about the Canada Reads 2021 contenders at the CBC.

Where to start with Octavia Butler books, via the NYT.

Electric Lit has a Q&A with Torrey Peters, Detransition, Baby (One World: Random House).

Self-improvement books did very well at the start of the year. Publishers Weekly reports.

The Authors Guild has an outline of the CASE Act and its impacts on copyright.

At 98, Helga Weyhe was Germany's oldest bookseller of its oldest bookstore, the H. Weyhe Bookstore, which was founded in 1840, before Germany was a country. She passed away recently, and the NYT has a memorial.

Cultural anthropologist and author Mary Catherine Bateson died at age 81. The NYT has an obituary.

Authors on Air 

NPR's Morning Edition interviews Annie Jacobsen, First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance (Dutton: Penguin).

Devon Price talks about Laziness Does Not Exist (Atria: S. & S.) on the Keen On podcast.

Ruby Bridges discusses This Is Your Time (Delacorte Books for Young Readers: Random House) on PBS NewsHour.

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