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Page to Screen

The adaptation of Normal People arrives, as does a war movie, a beloved Peter Carey novel, and much more.

April 24:

Extraction, based on the comic Cuidad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Fernando Leon Gonzalez, and Eric Skillman (Oni Press). Netflix. Reviews | Trailer

True History of the Kelly Gang, based on the novel by Peter Carey (Vintage: Random House). Digital Download. Reviews | Trailer

Beastie Boys Story, there is an associated title, Beastie Boys by Spike Jonze, Mike Diamond, Adam Horovitz (Rizzoli). Apple TV+. Reviews | Trailer

Defending Jacob, based on the book by William Landay (Bantam: Random House). Apple TV+. Reviews | Trailer

Hello Ninja, based on Hello, Ninja by N. D. Wilson, Forrest Dickison (HarperCollins). Netflix. Reviews | Trailer

April 26:

The Last Kingdom, based on The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell (Harper). Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

April 29:

Normal People, based on the novel by Sally Rooney (Crown: Hogarth; LJ starred review). Hulu. Reviews | Trailer

Summertime, based on the Italian novel Tre metri sopra il cielo by Federico Moccia (Feltrinelli). Netflix. No reviews | Trailer

Reviews

The Washington Post reviews If It Bleeds by Stephen King (Scribner: S. & S.; LJ starred review): “exceptionally compelling novellas that reaffirm his mastery of the form.” Also, How to Pronounce Knife: Stories by Souvankham Thammavongsa (Little, Brown: Hachette; LJ starred review): “Her careful dissection of everyday moments of racism, classism and sexism exposes how power and privilege drive success, how work shapes the immigrant identity, and how erasure and invisibility lead to isolation.” The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris: Frida Kahlo in Paris by Marc Petitjean, translated by Adriana Hunter (Other Press): “a distinctively intimate undertaking … Petitjean creates an unconventional and deeply personal biography.”

NPR reviews Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight To Fit In by Phuc Tran (Flatiron: Macmillan): “a congenial read for our chaotic time.”

The L.A. Times reviews Passage West by Rishi Reddi (Ecco: Harper): “plumbs an important story of Indian immigrant farmers, but isn't quite up to the task as fiction.”

Book Marks picks “The Best Reviewed Books of the Week.”

Briefly Noted

The NYT recommends 11 books for the week. Also, on “The Shortlist” are “Classy Tales From France.”

CrimeReads suggests “5 Debut Novels to Read This Month.”

Vogue picks “The 22 Best Books to Read This Summer.”

Library Journal runs its graphic novel preview.

In forthcoming audiobook news: Doctor Aphra: An Audiobook Original written by Sarah Kuhn is on its way. It is in turn adapting the story first introduced in the comic Star Wars: Darth Vader. StarWars.com has details.

Gizmodo excerpts The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty (Harper Voyager).

Elle has an adapted excerpt of On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist by Clarissa Ward (Penguin).

CBS Sunday Morning excerpts Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen (Workman).

Entertainment Weekly has the first issue of Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice on its site for free reading.

Suzanne Collins reads an excerpt from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Scholastic). Bustle reports.

NPR features Vivek Shraya, The Subtweet (ECW Press).

The NYT features Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, The Discomfort of Evening (Graywolf Press: Macmillan).

Electric Lit interviews Molly Pohlig, The Unsuitable (Henry Holt: Macmillan).

André Aciman responds to The Guardian’s “Books that made me” questions.

Bustle’s “28” series focuses on Judy Blume.

Vox’s "Ask a Book Critic" has a new set of suggestions.

COVID-19 Reading and RA/Collection Development Resources

Lionel Shriver, The Motion of the Body Through Space (Harper; LJ starred review), shares her COVID-19 quarantine experience with the L.A. Times.

The Guardian reports on the mass reading of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Jeremy Irons, Jeanette Winterson, Hilary Mantel, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafore, and Iggy Pop are among the readers.

CrimeReads gathers “Crime Novels in the Time of Plague.”

USA Today has a brief report on ebooks, including library access.

Draft2Digital shares news that Barnes & Noble is delaying payments to publishers for ebooks sold on the Nook platform. The Digital Reader reports.

Authors on Air

Bustle gathers “39 Book Adaptations On Netflix.”

NPR’s Fresh Air interviews Jane Mayer, author of the 2016 book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right (Doubleday: Penguin).

A sequel to the book-based film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is in the works. If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura is headed to Sony Pictures. HBO Max is adapting Jake Tapper’s The Hellfire Club. Deadline had details on all.

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