Mar 9 2018

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...

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Mar 8 2018

My people

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Slate recently featured an excerpt from Ted Scheinman's Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan. It's sweet, if a little dorky, and definitely makes me want to go to an Austen convention one day—I'm not doing any dressing up or dancing, but I definitely...

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Mar 7 2018

Not the book I would have chosen to have a lot of merch tie-ins

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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...

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Mar 6 2018

Lin-Manuel... and friends

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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...

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Mar 6 2018

At least they didn't record the names

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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...

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Mar 5 2018

Hello Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas

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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...

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Mar 5 2018

Weekly Book Giveaway: Hello Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas

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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...

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Mar 1 2018

A steep decline

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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...

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Mar 1 2018

Dude. No.

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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...

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Feb 28 2018

Shady

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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...

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Feb 27 2018

Flaming hellscape

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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...

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Feb 27 2018

Not convinced, but worth a try

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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...

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Feb 26 2018

The Duchess Deal, by Tessa Dare

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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...

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Feb 26 2018

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Duchess Deal, by Tessa Dare

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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...

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Feb 22 2018

How will he work in Jason Dohring? Only time will tell.

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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...

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Feb 22 2018

Wake me when they start filming

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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...

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Feb 21 2018

"Borrowing"

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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...

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Feb 20 2018

Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai

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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...

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Feb 20 2018

Weekly Book Giveaway: Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai

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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...

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Feb 16 2018

Not for kids, necessarily

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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...

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Feb 15 2018

Killer fishie

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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...

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Feb 14 2018

A knockoff of a knockoff of a

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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...

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Feb 13 2018

Remember phonics?

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There's a fascinating (and horrifying) interview on NPR about the disconnect between current research on the science of reading and how it is actually taught to children, which might explain why only a third(!!!) of American schoolchildren read at grade level. The interview subject is Mark Seidenberg, a cognitive scientist...

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Feb 13 2018

At least there's that

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I don't really see the need for yet another Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie adaptation, but apparently one is in the works. At least this version won't be...

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Feb 12 2018

An Extraordinary Union, by Alyssa Cole

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Alyssa Cole's An Extraordinary Union is ambitious: it's a Civil War-era action/romance featuring a biracial couple, both of whom were inspired by real historical figures. (The heroine is based on Mary Bowser, the hero on Timothy Webster.) Cole doesn't stick every landing, but her story succeeds on an impressive number of fronts...

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Feb 12 2018

Weekly Book Giveaway: An Extraordinary Union, by Alyssa Cole

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Continuing our month-long celebration of romance novels, this week's Book Giveaway is Alyssa Cole's historical romance/adventure An Extraordinary Union. I'm only about halfway through it, but thus far the romance stuff is fine, but a bit of a distraction from the A+++ spy action. A full review will follow shortly...

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Feb 8 2018

May it be the first of many

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For the first time in its 40+ year history, the British comic anthology 2000 AD will feature an all-female creative lineup for one of its upcoming summer special editions. According to THR, everyone working on the Sci-Fi Special issue is female...

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Feb 8 2018

Bored already

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The teaser trailer is out for Sony's upcoming Venom adaptation, and I am underwhelmed. First, this movie appears to be devoid of humor. Second, I'm still confused as to how these movies connect with the Marvel universe. And third, where the hell is Venom's costume? I want to see something that looks like demonic bug...

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Feb 7 2018

PIGOONS!

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Variety informs me that a TV series adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy is in the works at Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. This isn't the first attempt at adapting this material (Darren Aronofsky was previously working on an adaptation of the novels for HBO—thankfully we've been spared that), but...

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Feb 6 2018

The wonderful world of Stephen King

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I keep seeing commercials for Castle Rock, the upcoming Hulu miniseries that appears to mash together loads of Stephen King stories into a single world. The show will feature a bunch of actors who have appeared in movie adaptations of King's books, from Sissy Spacek to Bill Skarsgård, although...

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