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Page to Screen

Oct. 16:

Clouds, based on Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom's Small Prayer in a Big Way by Laura Sobiech. Disney+. Reviews | Trailer

Helstrom, based on the Marvel comics. Hulu. Reviews | Trailer

The Last Kids on Earth, based on the books by Max Brallier. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Martin Eden, based on the book by Jack London. Virtual theaters. Reviews | Trailer

Oct. 17:

Photo Ark, based on the book by Joel Sartore. Nat Geo WILD. No reviews | Trailer

Oct. 18:

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and it Feels So Deadly, based on the series by Charlaine Harris. HMM. No reviews | Trailer

Oct. 20:

The Magic School Bus Rides Again: The Frizz Connection, based on the series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Oct. 21:

Rebecca, based on the book by Daphne du Maurier. Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Oct. 22:

The Witches, based on the book by Roald Dahl. HBO Max. No reviews | Trailer

Reviews

The Washington Post reviews Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (William Morrow: Harper; LJ starred review): “A hot amalgamation of gothic horror and Hollywood satire, it’s draped with death but bursting with life.” Also, 150 Glimpses of the Beatles by Craig Brown (FSG: Macmillan; LJ starred review): “an idiosyncratic cocktail of oral history, personal memoir, tourism and biography.”

The NYT reviews We Walk: Life with Severe Autism by Amy S. F. Lutz (ILR Press): “extraordinary and thought-provoking series of essays.”

The L.A. Times reviews The Nightworkers by Brian Selfon (MCD: Macmillan): “hypnotic.”

The Washington Post reviews A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett (Crown: Random House; LJ starred review): “engrossing.” Those Who Forget: My Family’s Story in Nazi Europe–A Memoir, A History, A Warning by Geraldine Schwarz (Scribner: S. & S.: LJ starred review): “immensely powerful.” Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography in Essays by Claire Messud (W.W. Norton): “her intent is generous … Her faith is quite possibly unrealistic, but couched in Messud’s lucid, quietly fiery prose, it’s also inspiring.” American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic by Andrew Cuomo (Crown: Random House): “granular recounting of how New York state responded to the disease that was taking 1,000 lives a day at its peak. In its detailed account of how decisions are made, it’s a book that would serve to leaven a diet of theoretical political science books in an.” The Luckiest Man: Life with John McCain by Mark Salter (S. & S.): “outstanding and frequently moving.” White House, Inc.: How Donald Trump Turned the Presidency into a Business by Dan Alexander (Portfolio: Penguin): “Drawing on the public record, his own shoe-leather reporting and the work of a range of investigative journalists, all immaculately and transparently sourced, he paints a thorough and damning picture.”

Lit Hub picks “The Best Reviewed Books of the Week.”

Briefly Noted

Time picks “The 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time.” Here is how they selected the list. There is also an essay by N.K. Jemisin on “The Timeless Power Of Fantasy.”

Kate Davies and Amrou Al-Kadhi are the winners of the 2020 Polari Prizes. The Bookseller reports.

The 2020 Heartland Booksellers Awards are announced. Shelf Awareness has a report.

The finalists for the Chicago Review of Books CHIRBy Awards are also announced.

The Shortlist for the Albertine Prize is announced.

The 2020 Ned Kelly Awards are announced.

NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute announces the “Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade.” Many of the selections are books.

The NYT has “9 New Books We Recommend This Week” and also picks new paperbacks for the week.

CrimeReads suggests “Six True Crime Books to Read This October.”

Parade offers “From Murders to Love Affairs, Don't Be Spooked By These New Books Coming in October.”

Book Riot has “7 Eerie Books By Asian Authors That You Must Read This Halloween” and “17 Excellent Short Stories By Black Authors.”

USA Today gathers “10 spooky children's books for a homebound Halloween.”

The November LibraryReads list is announced. The top choice is Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce (Dial Press: Random House). The November Indie Next list is also out. Memorial by Bryan Washington (Riverhead: Penguin) is the top choice.

Entertainment Weekly reports on His Dark Materials: Serpentine by Philip Pullman, illustrated by Tom Duxbury (Knopf Books for Young Readers).

In forthcoming book news, Tordotcom announces that S. L.Huang’s next book will be The Water Outlaws, “a queer epic fantasy full of bandits, heroes, and revolution inspired by the Chinese classic Water Margin.” It is due out in 2022. Bustle excerpts Ghosts by Dolly Alderton (Fig Tree). USA Today reports on Good Morning Zoom by Lindsay Rechler, illustrated by June Park (Philomel Books: Penguin). The University of California Press announces that it will publish Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union, a collection of some of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s unreleased materials this March. Ginsburg was working on the book before her death with Amanda Tyler. USA Today reports.

Curtis Sittenfeld answers The Guardian “Books that made me” questions. She is the editor of the newest edition of The Best American Short Stories 2020 (HMH).

Claire Messud, Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write: An Autobiography in Essays (W.W. Norton), answers the NYT “By the Book” questions.

O: The Oprah Magazine reports on “Alegría Mobile Bookstore, which aims to bring books by Latinx writers, poets, and thinkers into the hands of younger generations in Los Angeles' at-risk neighborhoods.”

The StarTribune posts the Talking Volumes interview with Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Random House; LJ starred review).

The Super Rooster starts quarterfinals next week.

Authors on Air

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah is no longer moving forward at HBO Max as Lupita Nyong'o drops out due to the pandemic. Entertainment Weekly reports. Also, Showtime is not moving forward with The President Is Missing based on the book by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson, also due to the pandemic. Deadline has that news.

Netflix is adapting “First Kill,” based on a short story by V. E. Schwab that is published in Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite by Natalie C. Parker and Zoraida Córdova. Ava DuVernay’s company ARRAY has bought the film Funny Boy based on the novel by Shyam Selvadurai. Netflix has early images of Bridgerton. It will start streaming on Christmas day and is based on the Julia Quinn series. Deadline reports.

His Dark Materials, season two, gets a trailer. It is based on the Philip Pullman series and arrives on HBO on Nov. 16.

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