Bok bok b*tch, we’re back

Dreams do come true, folks: we’re getting more Crazy Rich Asians.

After eight long years of waiting for the film sequel that never was and two years spent in development, a series based on Kevin Kwan’s bestselling books is officially in the works at HBO. 

“This series is the sequel we’ve been waiting for, but instead of just one movie, we get eight episodes to delve into the characters and worlds of Kevin Kwan’s brilliant books,” says the film’s original co-writer Adele Lim. 

Though the show will also be called Crazy Rich Asians, Lim’s statement means it’s probably at least a loose adaptation of China Rich Girlfriend, the second book in Kwan’s series

We’ll likely meet Rachel and Nick as they’re preparing for their own wedding when Rachel receives shocking news about the identity of her biological father. 

Here’s what else we know so far:

The eight-episode series is being billed as a drama, whereas the original film was a rom-com. 

Adele Lim will serve as showrunner and executive producer, with director Jon M. Chu, producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, and Kevin Kwan joining her as EPs

Constance Wu, Henry Golding, and Ronny Chieng will reprise their original roles, with Michelle Yeoh recurring 

It is unconfirmed whether Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, and Ken Jeong will return for the series.

Crazy Rich Asians, the movie, did absolute work at the box office when it dropped in 2018, grossing over $239 million worldwide. Director Jon M. Chu is more than ready to return to the universe that changed his life:

“Finally, I get to answer the question I’ve been asked almost every day for eight years: ‘When are we getting the sequel?’ Well… bok bok bitch, we’re back.”

The series is set to begin production in 2027. —VD

Antilibrary feelings

Last week, we shared a piece about Valentino Antibiblioteca, Valentino’s literary fashion show held at Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève in Paris.

Despite the scary-sounding nomenclature (antibiblioteca = antilibrary), the vibes appeared to be prolibrary: invites came in the form of green library cards with requests for guests to bring books to the event that would then be donated to local libraries.

Sounds cool and very pro-literacy, right?

After reading the full description of the event in preparation for a podcast, the vibes began to feel off.

Valentino’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele lays out what he sees as the connection between the concept of an antilibrary (a term a term coined by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco) and his ethos on fashion, citing a passage from Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan.

The concept of finding more value in your shelves of unread books than your read ones aside (because listen, who doesn’t own a ton of unread books), the friction for me is more in the details of the show. Upon further inspection, they feel less like a celebration of literacy and more a soulless farce in defense of overconsumption for overconsumption’s sake.

I’m no librarian, but I’m not sure the directive to bring a new or used book of your choice is the most productive way to support your local library.

Those invitations? They included a catalog full of book titles, but all of them were fake. Fake. Books. So cool. So high fashion.

I do think books are cool and that reading will always be in fashion; but this particular interpretation leaves a lot to be desired.

Listen to Jeff and I rant discuss our full antilibrary feelings on the most recent episode of The Book Riot Podcast, along with a download on all the book awards, Goodreads’ half star innovation, and more.

Goodreads (finally) has half stars… how are we feeling about it?

After many, many years of user requests, Goodreads now allows half-star and quarter-star ratings. How’s everyone feeling about it?

I sifted through thousands of comments on Instagram and Reddit, and here are the top sentiments being shared:

Hooray!: There are a lot of party popper emojis in the Goodreads Instagram comments, but it’s not all celebrations…

“Alexa, play ‘Too Little, Too Late’”: The most-liked comment is, “girl it’s been 89 years,” and the third is, “Truly bananas it took you this long to listen to your users.”

Keep going…: Users are still begging for basic functionality upgrades for the apps and the desktop version, including dark mode and the ability to easily switch between editions (like audiobook vs. print).

Have you tried the StoryGraph?: Readers are quick to point to reading trackers that have had this functionality for ages, including the StoryGraph, which has the added bonus of not being owned by Amazon.

Now I have homework: Some readers jumped to update their entire back catalog of ratings to reflect this new functionality. And some just had one rating in mind: “Immediately went and changed the rating on the book I hate most to a quarter star.”

Do we really need a 20-point scale?: Over on Reddit, users are debating the merits of half- and quarter-star ratings, which turn a five-star scale into a 20-point scale. Some comments say readers just need to commit more, instead of fussing with fractions: “Half-stars are for cowards.” —DE

Get your cozy on with these whimsical picture books

Halloween may be getting all the attention right now, but fall is more than jack o’ lanterns, ghosts, and skeletons. It’s also the season of all things cozy and whimsical. 

One of the best ways to sip in autumn is through a picture book or two (young person beside you or not!). There are so many fabulous cozy, gentle, and whimsical picture books to dive into.

Think of these as books with vibes like the beloved Frog and Toad: they’re focused on the magic–real or perceived–in the everyday, with plenty of time spent lingering on feelings, setting, and the ordinary. Many center on friendship, family, and community, sometimes without expanding into a broader plot.

→ Chirri & Chirra by Kaya Doi, translated from Japanese by Yuki Kaneko: This nine-book series follows the titular girls as they begin a series of adventures throughout the world around them. The books thoughtfully marry realism with fantasy—it’s as much a gentle introduction to genre-braiding as it is a way to show how much magic exists in the world around us.

→ Sora and the Cloud by Felicia Hoshino, translated from Japanese by Akiko Hisa: Sora’s learned to travel in all of the traditional ways—crawling, walking, and climbing trees. But as he gets a little bigger, he’s invited to climb a friendly cloud. Traveling through kites, fireworks, and more, the story marries the magic of traveling aboard a cloud with the beauty of family, culture, and community.

→ Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest by Phoebe Wahl: Little Witch Hazel lives in the forest, and this book includes four short stories—one set across each of the four seasons—immersing readers in Little Witch Hazel’s world. Along the way, she’ll rescue an egg that’s been orphaned, meet with her fellow forest creatures, go sailing, and more.

Read your way into even more cozy and whimsical picture books, including a story set inside of a watermelon. – KJ

A poet at the top of her game

Elizabeth Acevedo won the Kirkus Prize for young readers’ literature last week, awarded for her latest release, Anger Is Only a Shadow. 

The novel in verse follows a loyal and rebellious teen on probation after a recent arrest, and the difficult choice she faces when her older brother experiences a mental health crisis. 

Acevedo has been killing it for a minute now. In addition to serving as the 2022 Young People’s Poet Laureate, she won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for her debut novel, The Poet X.

The book also won her the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Carnegie medal, the Walter Award—and that’s not even the entire list. 

If you haven’t yet read the work of this talented author and slam poet at the top of her game, now’s an excellent time to begin your discovery. Before you dive into Anger is Only a Shadow, here’s a pathway to put you on.

The Poet X: Start with Acevedo’s debut, a YA novel in verse about a Dominican American teen coming of age and navigating her family’s expectations while finding her voice as a poet. It won all the awards for a reason.

With the Fire on High: This novel in prose follows Emoni, a teen mom with a passion for cooking. She’s not sure she can balance her responsibilities with her culinary dreams, but giving in to her talent will set Emoni free. This one’s worth the price of admission for the recipes alone!

Family Lore: Acevedo is known for her YA novels, but her adult debut was a knockout, a story about the magical women in a Dominican American family. One of them summons the others to attend her wake, but the gathering she envisioned as a way to bring them together goes awry: old tensions and buried secrets come bubbling to the surface. –VD

Recent Indigenous picture books

Traci Sorell is the author of Indigenous from A to Z, illustrated by Natasha Donovan, out now from Workman Kids. Below, she recommends five recent picture books by Indigenous authors for Indigenous Peoples Day.

Indigenous Peoples Day helps us as a country to celebrate the contributions, the resilience, and the humanity of Native Nations and their citizens. When I set out to write Indigenous From A to Z, a new nonfiction picture book illustrated by Natasha Donovan, I thought about how to blend those aspects of what our ancestors lived and taught us with our present-day realities as Native people in the US.

How fun to choose a word or phrase for each letter and illuminate for young readers what they may or may not know about wide-ranging topics like activism, joking, and Native languages. 

In previewing other recent Native created picture books, I found stories that take a deeper dive into topics I shared in my book.

Sisters—filmmaker Jen Loren and Caldecott Medalist Rebecca Lee Kunz—share their great aunt’s civil rights organizing in Ruth Muskrat and the So-Called Indian Problem.

Ojibwe narrator Red Bird offers modern, humorous takes on Paul Bunyan’s fabrications in Dawn Quigley and Chief Lady Bird’s Paul’s Bunion: A Tall Tale Resized.

Three other picture books integrate Indigenous languages in stories about the seasons, military service, and a dear grandfather becoming an ancestor.

Seasons by the Lake, created by Naja Lund Aparico and Alex Nees, provides a colorful, fun look over one year in the lives of two Inuit brothers in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland).

Gabriel’s Winter Count from the late Andrea M. Page and Alfreda Beartrack Algeo features a grandmother teaching her grandson how to stay connected to his parents serving far away by making a traditional Lakota calendar.

In Until We Meet Again Donadagohvi by Christine Hartman Derr and Morgan Thompson, a young girl stays connected to her late grandfather, a first-language speaker, by talking in Cherokee.

Another reason to applaud these stories is that they are all the picture book debuts for these five authors. I love seeing Native creators craft narratives in new formats for young people. That’s definitely cause for celebration as well!

NioViolet Bulawayo (October 12th)

Did you know? Bulawayo is the first Black woman to be twice shortlisted for The Booker Prize.

You are now free to roam about the internet

Add some of this fall’s most anticipated queer books to your TBR.

Pass the creepypasta with these novels based on internet horror.

Psst. The gift guides are coming.

For your watchlist: new shows based on Latin American SF/F Classics.

Poe’s most chilling opening lines, just in time for spooky season.

Written by Vanessa Diaz, Danika Ellis, Kelly Jensen, and Jeff O’Neal. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

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