In Catalyst Press news, Niki Daly’s You’re a Star, Lolo released this week in the USA! This is our third release from Daly, the beloved South African children’s book author and illustrator—and we know you’ll love it as much as we do! Read more about the series and while you’re at it, get a copy of the first two books, Here Comes Lolo and Hooray for Lolo!
In the book world, Publishers Weekly is gearing up for its U.S. Book Show in 10 days, to replace the recently retired BookExpo (R.I.P.). Speakers this year include Oprah Winfrey, Keanu Reeves, Senator Elizabeth Warren, authors Anthony Doerr and Ijeoma Oluo, and more.
Ruth Gilligan’s The Butchers won the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje prize and Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain picked up another major award this week, winning Book of the Year at the 2021 British Book Awards. n+1 has a newly established Anthony Veasna So Prize and announced their first winner this week.
In celebrity book news, Billie Eilish released a photo book about her family, Stacey Abrams magically found time to write a thriller, and Meghan Markle is writing a children’s book about a… bench? Seth Rogen’s new memoir dropped this week, Jinger Duggar Vuolo (one of the Duggar children) has a new book, and Andrew Yang made the literary world collectively roll its eyes by naming The Catcher in the Rye as his favorite New York novel. The Dungeons and Dragons franchise has a new book this week, and finally, Reading Rainbow fans rejoice! LeVar Burton is starting a book club for adults.
Find out what NFTs mean for books, and if you’re like me, just what NFTs mean… in general… And if investing isn’t for you, you could get rich quick by finding one of the 300 first print run copies of Scottish writer George Mackay Brown’s The Storm.
This week’s best reading lists: here’s six pandemic poems, books about dysfunctional families, contemporary novels featuring queer parents, and the best upcoming fantasy screen adaptations. Get your dose of history with these novels about little-known historical events and books on ancient worlds. It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, so celebrate with books on AAPI joy, via NBC News and Buzzfeed! Here’s five women writers talking about desire, five women of color making waves in the romance genre, The Guardian‘s favorite books about sex and Vanity Fair‘s top art books this spring. And although not technically a book list, it’s on Book Riot so it counts: here’s fifteen heist movies inspired by books.
In South Africa news, the artist of the beloved Kwezi comics, Loyisa Mkize, was selected by DC Comics to illustrate an upcoming comic book, on sale next month in the USA.
In my favorite reads of the week, my beloved Emily Temple collects famous writers’ opinions on punctuation, Rachel Eisendrath meets Virginia Woolf’s ghost, Dan Sheehan fears a Stephen King cinematic dictatorship, Sean Flynn buys a peacock(s?), Kat Smith is erasing Goodreads, and Helena Fitzgerald tells you what books you definitely-don’t-need-to-read if you’ve ever dated a dude.
It’s almost the weekend so waste some time with these useless book quizzes: here’s a Grisha quiz for my Shadow and Bone lovers, and find out what celebrity autobiography you should read based on your Zodiac sign (seriously, Popsugar?).
For some thought provoking reads, here’s Tayari Jones on the legacy of The Women of Brewster Place, Nandana Dev Sev on translating her mother’s poetry, and Miyako Pleines on what Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun meant for interpreting her father’s disability. Holly Williams discusses the iconography of Alice in Wonderland, Elissa Washuta talks three-act structures on Lithub‘s Reading Women podcast, and Carmen Maria Machado wants Texas to stop banning her book (and Margaret Atwood’s, and Jodi Picoult’s, and Jacqueline Woodson’s, and, and…).
Finally, shoutout to this amazing Salt Lake City resident, who crowdfunded over $53,000 to open a queer bookstore.
