This Week In Books
February 5, 2024 Edition
This is not a (news)letter: We are kicking off this week’s news with this fun little tidbit from the pages of history: New Zealand writer Kathleen Mansfield would often begin her correspondence with the phrase “This is not a letter.” Shoutout to
who writes Letters of Note and published her introductions this week. I will begin with a quote from Mansfield:“My treasure, this is not a letter. It is a kind of intake of breath before I really begin to tell you all.”
Take a deep breath my treasures, because I’m going to tell you all.
February Book Club Pick: In case you missed it, go see our announcement of The Search Party by Hannah Richell as our February ‘24 pick. Run, don’t walk, and get yourself a copy so we can all talk about it.
Resignations and Censures: Following last week’s kerfuffle about the Hugo Awards’ conspicuous disqualifications, the director and board chair have resigned. Apparently the best way to end a controversy is to grab a shovel and dig your own grave with “curt” remarks on Facebook.
A Swift-ery Solved: The Telegraph broke the book news of the week with their reveal of the true identity of Elly Conway, author of Argylle. And no, it’s not Taylor Swift. It is actually two authors Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen. The concept was that they team up and write the actual book that the character Elly Conway writes in the movie. The book itself is well received and clearly written to tie-in to the movie plot. But it bears asking why all the Swift-ery (see what I did there?) about the author’s true identity? Henry Cavill’s shoulders alone are broad enough to carry the marketing of the film and the book. I mean, have you seen them?
At Least There Will Be One Author In The Family: Taylor Swift may not be an author but Travis Kelce is. Well, not quite. But he is the subject of TidalWave Comic’s soon to be released biographical comic book Fame. In it fans can catch up with all Kelce related facts from his college football career to his relationship with Taylor Swift and everything in between. The furor over these two star studded lovers has reached fever pitch and there is no end in sight. I can’t help but root for them. They’re young, they’re beautiful, they’re in love, but most importantly they keep dipping their toes into literary waters and it gives me such good content for the TWIB. #SwelceForever.
Murder Most Lucrative: The New York Times revealed the long, grisly history of true crime literature. The general public’s long obsession with true crime stories goes back hundreds of years. All the way back to the 1600s, in fact, when broadsides–or cheap pamphlets–were widely circulated and in high demand. In them, authors would wax hyperbolic about the last crimes and confessions of convicted murderers. The public couldn’t get enough. Though broadsides eventually fell out of fashion, the appetite for the macabre hasn’t. Fast forward to today there is still a thriving true crime industry. I was going to borrow from one of those broadside and use the following as our headline for this segment: “The Triumphs of God’s Revenge Against the Crying and Execrable Sinne of Wilful and Premeditated Murther,” but it was much too long, the spelling was confusing, and I had to look up “execrable” in the dictionary.
Hot Shakespeare: If you have spent any time at The Book Tide you know by now that we are huge fans of The Bard and firmly approve of his saucy role in literature. We are irrationally fond of his pizzle jokes and yes, we are going to continue to beat that dead horse until it fails to give us a good chuckle. Which will be never. Seriously though, Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel, Hamnet, will soon be adapted to film by Chloe Zhao. The movie will star Paul Mescal, and it already has some wondering if Hot Shakespeare will be the new Hot Priest.
Wrestling With Wild Things: The New York Times visited Maurice Sendak’s home to profile him twelve years after his death. The Sendak estate will release Ten Little Rabbits, his third posthumous book, on February 6. The article covers the sometimes contrary nature of the author who created whimsical stories for children, while simultaneously battling crippling depression. One thing that is abundantly clear is how beloved he is, not only by his many fans, but most importantly by those who knew him best. Rest in peace, Mr. Sendak.
Wimpy Wit: I would wager that if you asked anybody—literally anybody—they would say that their middle school years were the worst of their life. Well anybody but Jeff Kinney that is, who just announced the 19th Diary Of A Wimpy Kid– Hot Mess. Yes, that high pitched squeal heard around the world this week was an entire generation of kids frothing at the mouth for this newest in a series that has already sold more than 290 million books. Kinney managed to tap into a vein of pure gold when he wrote that first book and he hasn’t looked back. Who knew that the worst years of your life could provide the inspiration for one of the most successful book series of all time?
RIP N. Scott Momaday: This week Pulitzer Prize-winning author of House Made Of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday, died. We salute you for your trailblazing career. You were the first Native American to win the Pulitzer for fiction but certainly not the last. We diverse voices in literature and Momaday made an important contribution.
The Queen of Romantasy Remains Undefeated: Sarah J. Maas gave a rare interview with Jenna Bush Hager this week upon the release of House of Flame and Shadow –the newest in her ACOTAR series. For those that don’t know, (have you been under a rock?) ACOTAR is the first book in her bestselling fantasy series: A Court of Thorns and Roses. For a fantastic breakdown of this fictional universe, read this (savagely titled, but very flattering) article from Vulture. In the battle for the hearts and minds of BookTok’s romantasy fans, Maas is the undisputed queen. See the NYT bestseller list where she holds three of the top fifteen slots this week. House of Flame and Shadow just released this week and hasn’t had time to get there yet but inevitably will. If you were hoping this genre would fade from popularity you are in for a long wait—romantasty books currently hold five spots on the NYT bestseller list. If you can’t get enough of the genre, check out Fairyloot’s subscription box service, but you might have to get in line as thousands are on the waitlist.
A Good Deed Never Goes Unpublished: In the bookish good dead of the week, we bring you Bookshop.org’s partnership with BookTrust in the UK. Bookshop will donate ten percent of all children’s book sales throughout February to BookTrust which provides books to low income and vulnerable children. No jokes, just good deeds.
A Hallmark Month: As part of Hallmark Channel’s “Loveuary” month, they will debut four new Jane Austen inspired films, including Sense and Sensibility which features a majority Black cast. As a huge fan of Bridgerton, I think this is a smart move for Hallmark. It’s about time that people of color are represented in Regency romance. Bring on the fancy dresses. Bravo!
Mini Libraries For Mega Monarchs: Apparently Napoleon wasn’t the only monarch who had a penchant for tiny books. A miniature Windsor Castle was commissioned for Queen Mary in 1920 and is complete with running water, electricity, tiny champagne bottles (containing actual champagne), a miniature Crown with real jewels, and most importantly, a wee library with really small books. Queen Consort Camilla has commissioned the modernization of the library with the addition of books by contemporary authors and illustrators. At first I thought this was just a crazy obsession of the ultra-rich, but a quick search on Instagram confirms that a ton of regular people are out there making adorable itty bitty books. I have decided that I will jump on that bandwagon and start making my own tiny library. But only so I can feel dignified holding fun size books in my giant hands.
Deep Dive: This was such a busy week in books that I’ve included more links below for those hard core book nerds looking for extra credit:
The Academy Awards: Publisher’s Weekly linked to the books behind this years nominees.
The King’s Assassin: Stars adapted the non-fiction book into a saucy seven part limited series starring Julianne Moore.
Dog Man: The much beloved by children book series will be turned into an animated movie.
Masters Of The Air: Author Donald L. Miller talks about Apple TV’s adaptation of his book.
Simon and Schuster Turned 100: and released a list of their most notable books from the last 100 years.
Good Material: by Dolly Alderton is this month’s Read With Jenna pick.
Nadira Simmons: brings us Hip Hop’s trailblazing women in her book First Things First.
Nihar Malaviya: The most powerful person in publishing doesn’t want to talk about himself.
Come And Get It: by Kiley Reid is the GMA Book Club pick for February.
More Library Drama: Alabama backs out of the ALA.
Instagram of the Week: Instagram’s obsession with mini books.
Catch Up with
over at I’m So Glad You Asked.See what
is up to at I Will Tell You This.
Got my copy of The Search Party via Libby and Kindle! But I now have 11 days to finish! I love a challenge!
PS I love the pic of Ripley with the books and quotes!