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Award & Buzzy Book News

The 2021 Goldsmiths Prize shortlist is announced.

Vox explains “the great book shortage of 2021.”

Page to Screen

October 8:

Nancy Drew, based on the books by Carolyn Keene. CW. Reviews | Trailer

October 9:

Blue Period, based on the manga series by Tsubasa Yamaguichi. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

South Beach Love, based on the book by Caridad Piñeiro. Hallmark. No reviews | Trailer

October 11:

The Baby-Sitters Club, based on the books by Ann M. Martin. Netflix. Reviews | Trailer

October 13:

Batwoman, based on associated titles. CW. Reviews | Trailer

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, based on associated titles. CW. Reviews | Trailer

Dopesick, based on the book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy. Hulu. No reviews | Trailer

Fever Dream, based on the book by Samanta Schweblin. Netflix. Reviews | Trailer

Just Beyond, based on the graphic novel by R. L. Stine. Disney+. No reviews | Trailer

Reflection of You, based on the book by Jung So-hyeon. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

The Sinner, based on the book by Petra Hammesfahr. USA. Reviews | Trailer

October 14:

Aquaman: King of Atlantis, based on associated titles. HBO Max. No reviews | Trailer

The Family Business, based on the book series by Carl Weber. BET+. No reviews | Trailer

Legacies, based on the book The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith. CW. Reviews | Trailer

Reviews

NPR reviews Reprieve by James Han Mattson (Morrow): “The novelette-sized chapters about each character are so lengthy and detailed that it's easy to get lost and forget about not only the horror, but also the other characters. Only Mattson's storytelling skills keep the whole thing from being self-indulgent.” Also, Fight Night by Miriam Toews (Bloomsbury): “Toews has, again and again, mined the oppressive patriarchy and repressive religion of the Mennonite community she left behind. She peppers her novels with Plautdietsch dialect, punctuates them with absurdity that deflates sanctimony, and centers them on the perspectives of strong women who have suffered much but are determined to persevere.”

The Washington Post reviews Redeeming Justice: From Defendant to Defender, My Fight for Equity on Both Sides of a Broken System by Jarrett Adams (Convergent: Penguin Random House): “The intimacy of Adams’s writing illustrates the inherent violence of our carceral system in a way that would be impossible without his firsthand experience — and without his willingness to share it.” Also, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters by Steven Pinker (Viking): “Pinker’s main focus is the sort of conscious, sequential reasoning that can track the steps in a geometric proof or an argument in formal logic. Skill in this domain maps directly onto the navigation of many real-world problems, and Pinker shows how greater mastery of the tools of rationality can improve decision-making in medical, legal, financial and many other contexts in which we must act on uncertain and shifting information.”

NYT reviews Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling by Esi Edugyan (House of Anansi): “The stories we tell ourselves define us, Edugyan says, and at present they are missing something. They do not bind all of us. “Out of the Sun” offers refuge at the very least, if not a way forward.”

Tor.com reviews The Björkan Sagas by Harold R. Johnson (House of Anansi): “The swift pace and dream logic that make it so readable and so memorable may, in the end, deprive it of some emotional charge. With the rules and stakes and worlds of Joe’s sagas shifting as they do, it’s hard to perceive the characters as anything more than figments from a dream or figures drawn to illustrate a point.” Also, Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (Tor: Macmillan): “This novel is an atmospheric balancing act, and Aoki enacts it dazzlingly. There’s deliberate heartache and intensity here, but it’s written with profound catharsis, forgiveness when it’s due, and so, so much hope.” 

Book Marks has “The Best Reviewed Books of the Week!”

Briefly Noted

Shonaland speaks with Jen Winston, author of Greedy: Notes From a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much (Atria: S. & S.), about how “bisexuality isn’t just a buzzword” for her. Also, Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women (Amistad: HarperCollins), “offers tips on how to deal with a painful past so you can thrive in life.” Plus, Liane Moriarty of Apples Never Fall (Henry Holt) discusses how she “doesn’t want you to call her a thriller writer.”

Molly Stern, an editor for books such as Becoming by Michelle Obama (Crown), Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown), and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Ballantine), is launching her own imprint, starting with All the Secrets of the World by Steve Almond (Zando Projects) to come out April 2022. Entertainment Weekly gives a first look.

Brian Herbet, son of Dune (Penguin Random House) author Frank Herbert, chats with Wired about being “the keeper of the canon and the ultimate defender of his dad’s work.” 

Scout Comics will launch a Latine imprint with Mucho Mas Media. The Hollywood Report has the scoop.

Four new Star Wars books to come out from Del Rey and Disney Lucasfilm Press. Gizomodo has that story.

NYT has “New Fiction About Family Members Gone Missing” including The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (Graywolf: Macmillan), The Swank Hotel by Lucy Corin (Greywolf: Macmillan), The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall (Ballantine: Penguin Random House). Also, a feature on “How Comics Responded to Our Locked-Down, Anxious Covid Lives.” NPR’s Book of the Day features Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness (Viking; LJ starred review). BBC Culture focuses on Wole Soyinka, who has written his first novel since 1972, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (Pantheon), and “the role of satire in literature.”

People provides highlights from Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (S. & S.). Also, an exclusive on Billy Porter’s memoir Unprotected (Abrams; LJ starred review). Plus, an interview with Donald Antrim, author of One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Suvival (W. W. Norton & Co.) about how he “shares raw details of his suicidal illness to help others.”

Tor.com has a cover reveal for the Dune audiobook by Frank Herbert (Penguin Random House). 

The Millions lists “The 10 Strangest Dystopias.”

Tor.com provides “Five SFF Stories About Trains and Railways.”

CrimeReads has “Book Focused on Opulent Wealth, Family Secrets & Suspense,” and “Crime Fiction Set In Claustrophobic Communities.”

Book Riot lists “The Best Novels Set in the Publishing World.”

Locus Magazine gives “100 Novels That Shaped Our New World.”

Popsugar has “14 Novels Written by Mexican Authors to Add to Your Must-Read List” and “13 Spooky-Not-Scary Books.”

Good Morning America provides “14 books to read in October.”

NYT has “10 New Books We Recommend This Week” and “New in Paperback.”

Authors on Air

Stephanie Land discusses the television adaptation of her book Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive (Hachette) with Bustle.

Brené Brown interviews authors Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman about their book Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close (S. & S.) and “why the lack of meaningful intimate, vulnerable friendship is almost a crisis right now.”

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