C'mon, guys...
Well, we started off the week praising Macmillan Publishing, but that's officially over: there's an disturbing editorial in the Seattle Times about the effect Macmillan's upcoming e-book embargo will have on public libraries throughout the country...
Back when things were even worse
Suzanne Collins recently announced a prequel to her famous Hunger Games series, and io9 has the details: the book will be called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and it's set 64 years before...
Content, content everywhere
There's an article at the Guardian about two very different, currently-airing Jane Austen adaptations, both based on unfinished works. There's a relatively bland description of ITV's Sanditon, and a more in-depth discussion of Laura Wade’s version of The Watsons...
Pride and Prejudice (Macmillan Collector's Library edition), by Jane Austen
As longtime readers of the site know, I periodically treat myself by reviewing a new edition of my all-time favorite book: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Few things make me happier than analyzing editorial choices—how creative are the essays? Is the cover art period-appropriate? Are the footnotes accurate? Did they weigh in on...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Pride and Prejudice (Macmillan Collector's Library edition), by Jane Austen
This week's Book Giveaway is the Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. A full review will follow shortly, but I can already tell you this: at $12.99, this is an A+++ bargain. This giveaway will run through 11/09/19...
Another $10 I will not be spending
The full-length trailer for the upcoming Birds of Prey trailer has debuted, and it has three major strikes against it: Ewan McGregor's attractiveness may have been dealt a fatal blow by that velvet leisure suit...
It looks SO GOOD
The first official trailer is out for HBO and the BBC's adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, and it looks PHENOMENAL, creepy and atmospheric and elegant...
Hideous, but kind of cute?
While looking up Eric Carle information the other day, I stumbled across this fabric based on some of the artwork from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I can't quite imagine...
Oof
Well, the reviews are out for ITV's adaptation of Jane Austen's Sanditon, and they are brutal. The kinder critics describe it as "good dirty end-of-the-pier fun but about as enduring as an ice-cream cone"...
Did you know...
I missed this when it was published this summer, but it's still interesting: Mental Floss posted an article called "15 Facts About The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in honor of the Eric Carle children's classic's 50th anniversary. Most of them were...
No Judgments, by Meg Cabot
Like nearly all of Meg Cabot's books, No Judgments is funny, charming, smart—and way messier and lazier than it has any right to be.
Bree Beckham has left behind a serious relationship, an overbearing mother, and her law studies to start life anew in Little Bridge, a tiny island in the Florida Keys. She loves living on Little Bridge, particularly after adopting a sweet, elderly cat named Gary...
Weekly Book Giveaway: No Judgments, by Meg Cabot
Our current Book Giveaway is Meg Cabot's No Judgments. Alas, I will be judging, and thus far I'm underwhelmed. (Evacuate when you're told to, people!) A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 11/09/19...
Modern classic
The Hollywood Reporter informs me that Andrew Scott—best known as the “Hot Priest” on Fleabag—has signed on to star as the title character in a Showtime series based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel...
Personal line in the sand
It's been more than a decade since I reviewed Tana French's novel In the Woods, but it stands out in my memory. The upcoming Starz adaptation of both In the Woods and French's followup, The Likeness, looks like they've put a lot of effort into capturing the novels' tone...
Like Tolkien, hopefully it's better on film
According to Deadline, A24 and producer Jennifer Fox have teamed up to turn Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea fantasy books into a television show. Before her death in 2018, Le Guin had given Ms. Fox permission to turn her books into a series of films, but...
Small Kindnesses
I've never heard of the writer Danusha Lameris, but I absolutely love this poem. It was published in the New York Times Magazine, and I found it via Bailey Richardson's...
Treasury of the Lost Litter Box, by Darby Conley
I really enjoyed Darby Conley's comic strip Get Fuzzy, which ran in my local paper for more than a decade, and my family still routinely refers back to his joke about how you can “verb anything”. Conley and his strip disappeared about five years ago, much to my chagrin, but when I recently ran across a copy of his Treasury of the Lost Litter Box collection...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Treasury of the Lost Litter Box, by Darby Conley
Our current Book Giveaway is Treasury of the Lost Litter Box, a collection of Darby Conley's late (or at least on indefinite hiatus) and much-lamented comic strip Get Fuzzy. A full review will follow shortly, and this giveaway will run through 11/09/19...
How-to
There's a great article in The Atlantic about raising your children to become avid readers. The whole things is worth reading (and I enthusiastically second the tip about seeding your house with books, particularly if you have very young children...
If you were hoping for a happy ending? Tough luck.
Oh, YAY, more misery: according to Deadline, MGM Television and Hulu have already started developing The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, into a TV series...
Not their finest hour
According to the Tennessean, students at the St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville will no longer be allowed to read the Harry Potter series, as a pastor at the parish school says he "consulted several exorcists" and decided the books were dangerous. He explained further...
Just think of the insurance!
I'm not sure what an "event series" actually is (it's just a fancy way of saying "miniseries", right?), but USA has shelled out for a high-profile show called Treadstone, based on the world of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels...
Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, by P.G. Wodehouse
On a recent trip to Canada, I picked up Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, a beautifully packaged little collection of P.G. Wodehouse stories from Arrow Books, who blithely describe it as "A Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up!". Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo consists of three short stories: two Mulliner tales, including the title story (about a meek curate who turns into an ass-kicking, name-taking problem solver...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, by P.G. Wodehouse
This week we're giving away Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo, which has the dubious honor of being the most over-packaged collection of P.G. Wodehouse short stories I've ever seen. A full review will follow shortly, but here's a spoiler: this is a lot of wrapping for very little gift. This giveaway will run through 11/09/19...
Creepy animals galore
The trailer is out for Briarpatch, the TV series adaptation of the Ross Thomas novel of the same name. It looks super David Lynchian in style; I'm a little surprised it's going to be a TV series, rather than a feature film...
Dress for success
If you're a big Halloween fan (or just nostalgic for the diet horror of one's middle school years), there is a Goosebumps t-shirt on sale at Urban Outfitters for $34. Beware: it's cropped. (Also, Urban Outfitters...
Positive signs
There are some good reviews coming out for the movie adaptation of How To Build a Girl, based on Caitlin Moran's coming-of-age novel of the same name. I'm never going to see this movie (even reading the plot summary makes me cringe), but...
Just in time for...?
Harper Perennial recently announced a limited run of Olive Editions reprints of eight famous mysteries and thrillers. The eye-catching books will be released on October 1st, and they're clearly aimed at Halloween shoppers, although...
Another Fine Myth, by Robert Asprin
I hunted down a copy of Robert Asprin's Another Fine Myth after reading an absolutely glowing review of it on NPR. When I hear about a book described as a “joyous dad-joke fantasy”, I'm interested. Sadly, I found NPR's description to be a bit hyperbolic; Asprin's novel is more like a mildly amusing novelization of a D&D game.