Summer reading
The Guardian recently posted a great article on tips and tricks to encourage children to read during the summer. I've always been a fan of the "give them no other option" approach myself, but...
R-rated fairytales (again)
I don't know if this is the most, uh, intellectually strenuous take on adult fairytales: according to io9, CBS All Access has released a trailer for its new series Tell Me a Story, a "serialized drama from Paul Wesley and Kevin Williamson (Vampire Diaries) that interweaves the stories of The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel into a gritty drama"...
Butter!
Last month, cookbook author and food blogger Molly Yeh posted a recipe for Smoked Butter Shortbread with Violet Buttercream, apparently inspired by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The cookies sound amazing, and I'm definitely tempted to make them, but I want all of my nearest and dearest to know that if I ever manage to pipe a single frosting decoration...
Other people's books
Earlier today, the website Cup of Jo posted an article titled "15 Great Reader Comments on Books". The readers on Cup of Jo are a great resource for book recommendations, and I highly recommend skimming the entire comments...
The money continues to roll in
This morning Deadline reported an update about yet another Stephen King movie adaptation: filming is underway In the Tall Grass, based on a short story King co-wrote with his son Joe Hill. The movie will star Patrick Wilson and be released by Netflix in 2019...
Dune: 50th Anniversary Edition, by Frank Herbert
I was so excited when I was offered a 50th anniversary edition of Frank Herbert's Dune. There are so many exciting editions of this story: lurid Dune! Tasteful Dune...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Dune, by Frank Herbert
I feel like it's time to re-read a classic that wasn't written by Jane Austen or P.G. Wodehouse. Someone was kind enough to send us a 50th Anniversary edition of Frank Herbert's Dune, so that's this week's Book Giveaway. A full review will follow shortly...
Older and wiser, sure, but not old and wise
So much Jane Austen news recently! I just learned that there are TWO modern-day film adaptations inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion in the works. I have always loved the 1995 movie version of Persuasion, and I thought the 2007 version was... reasonably watchable, but I'd like to see an adaptation that plays up what I consider to be a central aspect of the novel...
And those 80s tops were very forgiving
This is not as exciting as yesterday's news, but it's still pretty amazing: someone is making a Golden Girls cookbook, and Babble has already posted its cheesecake recipe. The cheesecake recipe actually sounds great, but I'm hoping the rest of the book is...
They're obviously hoping to play up the nude bathing.
Well, this is VERY EXCITING. According to PBS, ITV is working on an 8-hour-long adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon, to be written by Andrew Davies. It would be even MORE exciting, of course, if they didn't describe the heroine as...
Nothing new under the sun
According to Collider, HBO has given a straight-to-series order for a TV show adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel The Time Traveler’s Wife, to be produced by Doctor Who and Sherlock showrunner Steven Moffat. The book was already adapted for film in 2003, but...
Starting at the top
According to the Georgian Papers Programme, a researcher named Nicholas Foretek has found evidence that the first documented purchaser of any novel by Jane Austen was actually the Prince Regent (later George IV). I know that Austen had, at best, mixed feelings about the Prince Regent, but...
The Poisoned City, by Anna Clark
As longtime readers of the site know, every once in a while we review nonfiction books on subjects that we consider to be of general interest: money, food, education, the environment. Our latest pick is Detroit journalist Anna Clark's The Poisoned City, a convincing and devastating look at the water crisis in Flint, Michigan...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Poisoned City, by Anna Clark
It's summer, so it must be time for me to find a depressing nonfiction book to read on vacation! This week we're giving away a copy of Anna Clark's The Poisoned City, about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. A full review will follow shortly...
Buffyless
According to Pajiba, it has now been made clear that the much buzzed-about reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer won't be a Buffy-centric reboot, but rather an entirely new series set in the same world, featuring a new slayer. This still doesn't sound like must-see-TV, though. I'd much rather...
Not the series I would have picked, but okay!
There's a massive article in The New York Times about Shonda Rhimes's partnership with Netflix. The streaming service wooed Rhimes away from ABC with a nine-figure deal, and she has agreed to make eight shows for them. I'm particularly excited to see what she does with a proposed adaptation...
Upwards and onwards
According to Slate, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has announced he’s leaving The Atlantic. This makes sense for Coates, whose national profile has steadily been rising, but it's not a great sign for The Atlantic, particularly with their short-lived decision...
Imaginary reboot
Vulture recently asked several Sex and the City writers—Jenny Bicks, Cindy Chupack, Amy B. Harris, Julie Rottenberg, and Elisa Zuritsky—what six episodes of a 2018 reboot of the show would look like. I have no idea how much these story ideas have in common with Candace Bushnell's original book, but...
The dorkiest quest
There's a great long-form essay on Kotaku about one woman's quest to find video evidence of the long-lost attempt at rebooting Sailor Moon into a half live-action, half-animated American kids' series...
A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
Nine times out of ten, a book is better than its movie or television adaptation. No matter how talented the filmmaker, the literary medium—which has no need to worry about production schedules or actors' salaries—is usually best. That isn't always true, however, and Deborah Harkness's novel A Discovery of Witches is a prime example...
Weekly Book Giveaway: A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
We are currently giving away a copy of Deborah Harkness's novel A Discovery of Witches, which the author describes as a book about books. I'm going to post our full review shortly, but: no, it isn't. A.S. Byatt's Possession is a book about books, as are Jasper Fforde's Tuesday Next series and...
Far-seeing
There's an article on Buzzfeed about Rona Jaffe’s The Best of Everything, a novel written in 1958 that offered a prescient look at the eventual #MeToo crisis. The book was reissued about a decade ago, and I'm...
Dudes. No.
Man, people are worked up about the upcoming She-Ra reboot, written by Nimona author Noelle Stevenson. Setting aside the creepy details of their thoughts...
Will absolutely watch
Koala's Playground recently posted a description (with some images) of an upcoming k-drama adaptation of the webcomic Ring When I Like You. The concept sounds cute, I like the prospective lead actress, and...
Seriously, he was the worst.
Town and Country magazine recently posted an absolutely fascinating essay by Paula McClain about the career of Martha Gellhorn, a journalist and war correspondent who was also Ernest Hemingway's third wife. Gellhorn sounds...
Hell no
I'm sorry, but everything about this Mary Queen of Scots movie looks terrible. Some dude on Vulture posted a solid little explanation of the fundamental things the promotional posters are getting wrong, but...
Royals, by Rachel Hawkins
I have no idea if Rachel Hawkins timed the release of her new book Royals to coincide with the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or if it was just a happy accident, but either way people looking for a little more royal-wedding action have absolutely lucked out...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Royals, by Rachel Hawkins
If you're going through Royal Wedding withdrawal, we have just the book for you: we're currently giving away a copy of Rachel Hawkins's new YA novel Royals. Sure, this book is pure fluff, but it does feature embarrassing relatives, snotty aristocrats, silly hats, and an American/royal engagement, so the parallels are uncanny, at least as far as I'm concerned. A full review will follow shortly...
Maybe? If I'm in the right mood?
I just saw the trailer for Netflix's upcoming miniseries adaptation of Vikram Chandra’s 2006 novel Sacred Games, and I'm thinking of checking it out. My mother is fond of foreign cop procedurals, but I usually decline to watch any series that centers around...
Who do I blame for this?
According to the New York Times, Michael Ondaatje won the "Golden Man Booker Prize" for his 1992 novel The English Patient. The Golden Man Booker Prize is like a souped-up version of the annual award: five judges were asked to choose the best winner from each decade, and then the public voted on the resulting shortlist of nominees. Someone clearly got it wrong, but...