Happy pub week to The Rising Tide, the second book in Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral trilogy! Book 2 continues the story of Ebba den Eeden, the teenage heroine who discovers that she’s the heir to a massive fortune—and an ancient prophecy—after spending fifteen years in an underground bunker in Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Now, Ebba must return to the place where it all began and save the thousands left stranded before it’s too late. Learn more about the series and stay tuned for Book 3!
In awards news, Elle McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark, featuring an autistic heroine, won the Waterstones children’s book prize, and Tasmanian author Amanda Lohrey won the Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Labyrinth. Read up on this year’s shortlist, or if you want to learn how to win it, check out this detailed report on the last 64 years of Miles Franklin winners (spoiler alert, you’re in luck if you’re a middle-aged white guy).
Gabriel García Márquez’s son has penned a memoir about the late icon, and (shameless plug) there’s a new biography out about my favorite poet ever, Fernando Pessoa. And coming soon, we finally get to read Patricia Highsmith’s diaries, and send Ursula K. Le Guin in the mail!
In industry news, a new Chinese censorship law is having sweeping effects on Hong Kong’s annual book fair, two Amazon employees have resigned—and many others have petitioned—over the continued sale of an anti-trans book, and (shocker) Trump plagiarized HarperCollins. The Atlantic reports on how TV literary adaptations are changing how we write and read fiction—and speaking of which, did you know that Kumail Nanjiani is set to star in a new FX limited series adaptation of Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar?
History time! Read up on the French newspaper that invented the Tour de France, the many iterations of beloved Chinese literary heroine Lady White Snake, and check out the new site dedicated to Dante’s influence on art.
Here’s your weekly book list round up: check out these 9 LGBTQIA+ comic book characters, 8 books by nonbinary authors, and 24 YA books that get real about depression. If you’re gearing up for the film release of Dune in October, here’s some fantasy epics from Book Riot and fantasy novels about climate change from Washington Post. Buzzfeed‘s got recs for true crime audiobooks, summer romances, and upcoming sci-fi thrillers. And my favorite list of the week: Jaime Herndon recommends 8 classics to be adapted into comics.
For some thought provoking reads: Carolyn Ferrell finds community in the margins, Henry Mance trolls humanity’s superiority complex, and Alfred A. Knopf Executive Editor Jonathan Segal honors two beloved, late editors. Learn how to act your age, find pleasure and spaciousness in the creative process, and why everyone on TikTok so obsessed with “being the main character”. Over at Book Riot, Ann-Marie Cahill argues for more indigenous superheroes, Katie Moench gives a brief history (and some reading recs) of the Western genre, Gianessa Refermat helps you identify your internal narrator, and R. Nassor schools us on what paratext is, where it comes from, and why it makes books sell.
And finally, the best read of the week: Chekhov reviews his first play.
