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Award & Buzzy Book News

2022 Heartland Booksellers Award finalists.

PEN America reports on a 250% increase in educational gag orders, which “legally restrict educational topics that explore race, American history, gender, and LGBTQ+ identities, as reported by Book Riot. 

The man accused in the Salman Rushdie attack is denied bail, according to NPR.

Page to Screen

August 19:

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, based on the manga series by Akira Toriyama. Crunchyroll. Reviews | Trailer

Delia’s Gone, based on the short story "Caged Bird Sing" by Michael Hamblin. Vertical Entertainment. No reviews | Trailer

The Next 365 Days, based on 365 Dni, a trilogy of books by Blanka Lipinska. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Surfside Girls, based on the graphic novels by Kim Dwinell. Apple TV+. No reviews | Trailer

August 20:

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar, based on the manga series by Hiromu Arakawa. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

August 21:

House of the Dragon, based on "A Song of Ice and Fire" books by George R. R. Martin. HBO Max. No reviews | Trailer

Groundswell, based on the book by Katie Lee. HMM. No reviews | Trailer

August 25:

Everything I Know About Love, based on the memoir by Dolly Alderton. Peacock. Reviews | Trailer

Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventures, based on associated titles. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Reviews

The Washington Post reviews We've Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible by Beto O'Rourke (Flatiron): "in his picaresque travelogue of Texan political activism, O’Rourke is also telling his own story — as a careful listener and tireless avatar of all those who have fought against injustice, past and present." Plus, Boundless: The Rise, Fall, and Escape of Carlos Ghosn by Nick Kostov and Sean McLain (Harper Business): "Kostov and McLain, both Wall Street Journal reporters, have unearthed lots of new details, and they tell that part of the story with all the verve and tension of a good spy novel." Also, Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels by Paul Pringle (Celadon: Macmillan): "about a reporter crusading for justice. The bad guys in Pringle’s book are real, but it’s not always clear if he knows who they are. He spends nearly as much time writing about his conflicts with top editors at the Los Angeles Times as he does the doctors at the heart of the book: Carmen Puliafito, dean of USC’s medical school, who was using and distributing drugs, and George Tyndall, a gynecologist at USC who allegedly abused hundreds of young women over a period of nearly 30 years." Lastly, Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them by Dan Bouk (MCD): "Solid storytelling chops and a friendly tone help Bouk convince readers who might question just how interesting a book about the census can be. Surprise — it can be! In the hands of someone who understands it, the census is a mirror of the country’s ideals, values, flaws and attributes."

Datebook reviews Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell (Grove; LJ starred review): “Jane Campbell’s commanding voice — and wise insights about female empowerment, about embracing one’s twilight years and about feeling seen no matter how old you are — is one damn well worth listening to.”

Autostraddle reviews Ma and Me by Putsata Reang (MCD): “complex and nuanced, showing the many sides of the people and circumstances who have shaped Reang. In spite of the many painful and heart-wrenching experiences depicted throughout, Ma and Me is ultimately a hopeful story about finding one’s freedom as a queer Asian American while staying true to all of those identities.”

Vox reviews I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (S. & S.): “a vivid picture of child stardom as a system in which children find themselves turned into walking piles of other people’s cash, and summarily dismantled when they lose their value.”

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

Briefly Noted

Shondaland interviews Brenda Lozano about her book Witches, trans. by Heather Cleary (Catapult), and how it “captures the brutality of gender-based violence and the healing power of friendship.” Also, 9 newly published writers “discuss the one book that brought them joy and inspiration.”

The Millions interviews Barbara Bourland, author of The Force of Such Beauty (Dutton), about “the princess trap, the inescapable pervasion of the monarchy, and fiction as catharsis.”

Katie Welch talks to CBC about “how bees, music and a long-ago acid trip served as inspirations while writing” her novel Mad Honey (Buckrider Books).

The Rumpus chats with Douglas Stuart about his work including Young Mungo (Grove; LJ starred review).

Paula McLain, When the Stars Go Dark (Ballantine), shares a piece with Oprah Daily about “inherited trauma and how to stop the cycle.” Also, there is an excerpt and exploration of Joyce Carol Oates’s new book, Babysitter (Knopf).

Gizmodo reports on George R.R. Martin’s reluctance to answer questions about his anticipated Winds of Winter book.

Tor.com revisits the storytelling in Nghi Vo’s When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (Tor: Macmillan).

NYT’s Inside the Best-Seller List explores Gentleman’s Agreement by Laura Z. Hobson (S. & S.) as the “It book of summer 75 years ago.”

Lit Hub shares a cover reveal for On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel (Knopf).

Tor.com has an excerpt from Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott (Anchor; LJ starred review).

NPR’s Morning Edition revisits the work and life of Patricia Highsmith.

Electric Lit lists “9 Novels That Don’t Fear the Reaper.”

Book Riot has “9 Thrillers That Will Take You to the Beach.”

NYPL Blog provides “friendship-driven fantasy comics” along the lines of the recently adapted Paper Girls comic series by Brian K. Vaughan (Image Comics).

Beth Macy, author of Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis (Little, Brown), shares a "reading list for alleviating panic in the face of secondary trauma" for Lit Hub. 

Tor.com shares 5 Australian speculative fiction books.

CrimeReads provides a booklist of "long-running mystery series set in the world of antiques and collectibles."

The Seattle Times has “5 just-released paperbacks perfect for your late-summer reading list.”

Bustle provides “50 Books to Read With Your Book Club.”

NYT recommends 11 new books & "6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week."

Author Norah Vincent has died at 53. NYT has more on her life.

Authors on Air

Ingrid Rojas Contreras, The Man Who Could Move Clouds (Doubleday), talks about “watching a film about memory loss while experiencing memory loss” on the Open Form podcast.

Anthony Marra, author of Mercury Pictures Presents (Hogarth), talks about “what the censorship of 1940s Hollywood and Italy can teach us” on the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast.

Rozlan Mohd Noor’s book 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders (Arcade) will be adapted for television with UK-based Envision Entertainment. Deadline has more.

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