This Week In Books
June 7, 2024 Edition
**A quick note of welcome to any newbies to this newsletter. THIS WEEK IN BOOKS is our weekly column in which we share a lighthearted take on all the book news that has our attention. We are so glad you are here and we can’t wait to share all the good stuff the book world has to offer. **
A groundbreaking Black female character is the star of a new Hulu show, the Jurassic Park of volcanoes, Bond is stirring up trouble (doesn’t he prefer it shaken?), a new Hunger Games novel, and Costco is letting us down. All this and more in our latest edition of the TWIB.
Readers Are Still Hungry: Suzanne Collins announced this week that there will be a fifth book in the Hunger Games franchise with a tentative release date of 3/18/25. Lionsgate, which made all five of the previous book-to-film adaptations, has already announced their plans for the film adaptation. Sunrise On The Reaping will be set 24 years prior to the original trilogy. Fans will remember that this time frame is the Second Quarter Quell and the games that Haymitch won. WE. CAN. NOT. WAIT to get an in depth look into Haymitch’s backstory and another peek into the Panem Universe. We volunteer as tribute to read an early copy! May the odds be ever in our favor!
No More Books At The Big Box: Costco has announced that it will stop selling books at its warehouses effective January 2025 with the exception of the holiday season. This is a huge disappointment for avid Costco shoppers (such as us) and for the book industry in general. It’s never good news when books are harder to buy and getting a spot on that coveted book table was a huge win for authors. Costco has cited the cost of labor to lay out, maintain, and return unsold stock as the reason for this cutback. This will not do. We need to tell Costco to bring back the books. Should we organize a sit in? Perhaps a read in? The upside is that we can buy some good snacks on our way back to the book section for our Occupy Costco protest.
Florida is Keeping Us On Our Toes: Florida released a revised training program in response to the book ban controversy they got themselves into last year. First amendment groups are cautiously applauding the efforts while also calling for more clarification on certain points. It appears as though Florida is attempting to get the poop back in the book-ban goose and we approve of any step in the right direction, even small poopy steps.
Apple Books and Reese’ Book Club Collab: Apple Books and Reese’s Book Club have announced a partnership for audiobooks. Apple Books will “feature a dedicated page for users to follow to be notified about new monthly picks, browse previous selections, and experience themed editorial collections curated exclusively by Apple and Reese’s Book Club editors.” Talk about a power couple!
Queenie: Candace Carty-Williams talked with People Magazine about her 2019 debut novel Queenie and the process of making it into a Hulu show. Carty-Williams shared how she came up with her titular main character at the last minute while driving to a writing retreat at internationally bestselling author Jojo Moyes’s house. Queenie stands out as a strong black woman who also makes mistakes and does not have it all together. We can’t wait to see what’s next for Carty-Williams but in the meantime we will binge watch the show.
The Kids Are Not Okay: A new report from the UK suggests that children are reading fewer and less challenging books. The What Kids Are Reading Report collected data from 6,500 schools and over a million students and found that reading rates dropped sharply in secondary schools (which, we gather, is the UK equivalent of high school. Maybe? The UK is weird, man). Once students hit the higher grade levels, they are no longer required to read as much during school hours and both the amount of time spent reading, and the difficulty of the material is affected. I say we stuff those classrooms with great novels and forbid those children–absolutely forbid them–to read. They’ll be sneaking books into their pockets left and right. Nothing like using a little reverse psychology on the recalcitrant youth.
Resurrection: Danielle Steel has a new book coming out on June 25. Resurrection is the story of a woman who has it all–a successful business, a happy marriage and two beloved daughters. But a trip to surprise her husband in Italy and a worldwide health crisis turn her whole world upside down.This promises to be another in a long line of Danielle Steel’s bestsellers. And with 210 books to her name, that is no easy feat. Especially when you consider that she writes each of her books on a 1940s typewriter. Steel spoke with People Magazine about her new novel, writing on a typewriter, and the foundation she started to honor her son who tragically died in 1997.
Mr. Men Little Miss: Kids will be happy to see that two new characters have been added to the Mr Men Litte Miss universe: Mr. Fib and Little Miss Surprise. The series started by Roger Hargreaves, and continued by his son Adam Hargreaves after his death in 1988, distills complex personality traits into primary colored simply shaped people. Which character is your favorite? You have over 90 to choose from. Dibs on Little Miss Contrary
Eruption Rumors: The rumor mill is abuzz with the news that Steven Spielberg is in talks to adapt the Micheal Crichton/James Patterson book collaboration Eruption. And by rumor mill, we mean that Sherry Crichton spilled the tea to the BBC. While the book rights have yet to be auctioned off, it is no surprise that Spielberg is already in the lead as his adaptation of Micheal Crichton’s Jurassic Park revolutionized filmmaking in the the 90’s. And let’s be real, the Jurassic Park of volcanoes is the book-to-film adaptation we deserve. We deserve it in IMAX 3D with buttered popcorn and peanut M&Ms.
Bond Gone Woke?: Charlie Higson, author of the popular YA series Young Bond has turned his skills to writing for a more grown up audience. On His Majesty’s Secret Service was Published by Ian Fleming Publications last year and brought the infamous spy back into the public arena, even as critics have been calling the novel “woke”. With a far right villain and a “situationship” with an immigration lawyer, Higson has been accused of “ruining” Bond. Higson wrote a defense of his version of the famous spy for The Guardian, saying his desire was to show the same outrageously fun Bond character in a modern world that reflected the sensibilities of the era in which it was written. A world “in which many of the old certainties of identity, empire, masculinity and nationalism had shifted.” But, just for fun, here is Higson in 2021 claiming that Daniel Craig’s movie portrayal of Bond was “woke”, although probably in a more flattering light than Higson’s detractors use. We will leave the reader to decide for themselves how well he adapted the classic character to today’s culture. Our takeaway? “Woke” is a term that is thrown around so much these days that it’s lost all meaning. Also, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that Bond would find himself in a “situationship.” Isn’t that part of what he’s famous for? Let’s just hope this Bond girl makes it out of the book unscathed.
Summer Reading For Grownups: National Book Awards has created a summer reading adventure for grownups. Complete the activities and enter for a chance to win books, hats, ice cream etc., and if you complete all the activities, you’re entered to win the grand prize of an expense paid trip to the National Book Awards ceremony in November. Reading is enough, but the chance to win ice cream? I’m sold.
Deep Dive: See below for all the extra deep cuts of this week’s book news.
Celebrity Book Club Picks: B&N Book Club: You Are Here by David Nicholls, GMA: Malas by Marcela Fuentes, Reese’s Book Club: The Unwedding by Ally Condie, Read With Jenna Book Club: Swift River by Essie Chambers.
Catch Up with
over at I’m So Glad You Asked where she’s explaining how success = finishing. is chronicling the path to her newest novel over at I Will Tell You This.