{"id":7538,"date":"2026-10-12T16:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=7538"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:34:00","slug":"%f0%9f%93%9a-back-like-they-never-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=7538","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udcda Back like they never left"},"content":{"rendered":"
October 12, 2026View Online<\/a> | <\/span>Join All Access<\/a> | <\/span>Listen<\/a><\/span><\/a>\n

We\u2019re still buzzing<\/strong> over last week\u2019s adaptation news (more on that in a minute!). If a beloved film adaptation\u2019s sequel is gonna fall through, a TV series is a consolation prize we can absolutely get down with.<\/p>\n

Spread the word.<\/strong> Share this email<\/a> with friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

THE HEADLINE<\/span>\n

Bok bok b*tch, we\u2019re back<\/h1>\n

Dreams do come true, folks<\/strong>: we\u2019re getting more Crazy Rich Asians<\/em>. <\/p>\n

After eight long years<\/strong> of waiting for the film sequel that never was and two years spent in development, a series based on Kevin Kwan\u2019s bestselling books<\/a> is officially in the works at HBO<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis series is the sequel we\u2019ve been waiting for, but instead of just one movie, we get eight episodes to delve into the characters and worlds of Kevin Kwan\u2019s brilliant books,\u201d says the film\u2019s original co-writer Adele Lim<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though the show will also be called Crazy Rich Asians,<\/em> Lim\u2019s statement means it\u2019s probably at least a loose adaptation of China Rich Girlfriend<\/a><\/em>, the second book in Kwan\u2019s series<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll likely meet Rachel and Nick as they\u2019re preparing for their own wedding when Rachel receives shocking news about the identity of her biological father.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what else we know so fa<\/strong>r:<\/p>\n

The eight-episode series is being billed as a drama, whereas the original film was a rom-com.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Constance Wu, Henry Golding, and Ronny Chieng will reprise their original roles, with Michelle Yeoh recurring\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is unconfirmed whether Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, and Ken Jeong will return for the series.<\/p>\n

Crazy Rich Asians,<\/em> the movie,<\/strong> 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: <\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, I get to answer the question I\u2019ve been asked almost every day for eight years: \u2018When are we getting the sequel?\u2019 Well\u2026 bok bok bitch, we\u2019re back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The series is set to begin production in 2027. \u2014VD<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ON AIR<\/span>\n

Antilibrary feelings<\/h1>\n

Last week, we shared a piece<\/strong> about Valentino Antibiblioteca<\/em><\/a>, Valentino\u2019s literary fashion show held at Biblioth\u00e8que Sainte Genevi\u00e8ve in Paris. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Sounds cool and very pro-literacy, right?<\/p>\n

After reading the full description<\/strong> of the event in preparation for a podcast, the vibes began to feel off. <\/p>\n

Valentino\u2019s 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<\/a> from Nassim Nicholas Taleb\u2019s The Black Swan<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The concept of finding more value<\/strong> in your shelves of unread books than your read ones aside (because listen, who doesn\u2019t<\/em> 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\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no librarian, but I\u2019m not sure the directive to bring a new or used book of your choice is the most productive way to support your local library. <\/p>\n

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

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

Listen to Jeff and I rant discuss <\/strong>our full antilibrary feelings on the most recent episode of The Book Riot Podcast<\/a>, along with a download on all the book awards, Goodreads\u2019 half star innovation, and more. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/a><!–<\/a><\/a><\/div>\n
\u201cHALF-STARS ARE FOR COWARDS\u201d<\/span>\n

Goodreads (finally) has half stars\u2026 how are we feeling about it?<\/h1>\n

After many, many years of user requests, Goodreads now allows half-star and quarter-star ratings<\/a>. How\u2019s everyone feeling about it? <\/p>\n

I sifted through thousands of comments on Instagram and Reddit, and here are the top sentiments being shared:<\/p>\n

<\/strong> Hooray!:<\/strong> There are a lot of party popper emojis in the Goodreads Instagram comments, but it\u2019s not all celebrations\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAlexa, play \u2018Too Little, Too Late’\u201d: <\/strong>The most-liked comment is, \u201cgirl it\u2019s been 89 years,\u201d and the third is, \u201cTruly bananas it took you this long to listen to your users.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep going\u2026: <\/strong>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).<\/p>\n

Have you tried the StoryGraph?: <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n

Now I have homework:<\/strong> Some readers jumped to update their entire back catalog of ratings to reflect this new functionality. And some just had one rating in mind: \u201cImmediately went and changed the rating on the book I hate most to a quarter star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do we really need a 20-point scale?:<\/strong> 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: \u201cHalf-stars are for cowards.\u201d \u2014DE<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

IMMACULATE KID LIT VIBES<\/span><\/a>\n

Get your cozy on with these whimsical picture books<\/h1>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Halloween may be getting all the attention right now, but fall is more than jack o\u2019 lanterns, ghosts, and skeletons. It\u2019s also the season of all things cozy and whimsical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Think of these as books with vibes like the beloved Frog and Toad:<\/em> they\u2019re focused on the magic\u2013real or perceived\u2013in 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2192 Chirri & Chirra<\/a><\/em> by Kaya Doi, translated from Japanese by Yuki Kaneko<\/strong>: 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\u2014it\u2019s as much a gentle introduction to genre-braiding as it is a way to show how much magic exists in the world around us.<\/p>\n

\u2192 Sora and the Cloud<\/a><\/em> by Felicia Hoshino, translated from Japanese by Akiko Hisa<\/strong>: Sora\u2019s learned to travel in all of the traditional ways\u2014crawling, walking, and climbing trees. But as he gets a little bigger, he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u2192 Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest<\/a><\/em> by Phoebe Wahl:<\/strong> Little Witch Hazel lives in the forest, and this book includes four short stories\u2014one set across each of the four seasons\u2014immersing readers in Little Witch Hazel\u2019s world. Along the way, she\u2019ll rescue an egg that\u2019s been orphaned, meet with her fellow forest creatures, go sailing, and more.<\/p>\n

Read your way into even more cozy and whimsical picture books<\/a>, including a story set inside of a watermelon. \u2013 KJ<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/a><!–<\/a><\/a><\/div>\n
YOUNG ADULT LIT<\/span>\n

A poet at the top of her game<\/h1>\n

Elizabeth Acevedo won<\/strong> the Kirkus Prize<\/a> for young readers\u2019 literature last week, awarded for her latest release, Anger Is Only a Shadow<\/em>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acevedo has been killing it<\/strong> for a minute now. In addition to serving as the 2022 Young People\u2019s Poet Laureate, she won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People\u2019s Literature for her debut novel, The Poet X. <\/p>\n

The book also won her the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpr\u00e9 Award, the Carnegie medal, the Walter Award\u2014and that\u2019s not even the entire list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t yet read<\/strong> the work of this talented author and slam poet at the top of her game, now\u2019s an excellent time to begin your discovery. Before you dive into Anger is Only a Shadow<\/em>, here\u2019s a pathway to put you on. <\/p>\n

The Poet X<\/a><\/strong><\/em>: Start with Acevedo\u2019s debut, a YA novel in verse about a Dominican American teen coming of age and navigating her family\u2019s expectations while finding her voice as a poet. It won all the awards for a reason.<\/p>\n

With the Fire on High<\/a><\/em><\/strong>: This novel in prose follows Emoni, a teen mom with a passion for cooking. She\u2019s not sure she can balance her responsibilities with her culinary dreams, but giving in to her talent will set Emoni free. This one\u2019s worth the price of admission for the recipes alone!<\/p>\n

Family Lore<\/a><\/em><\/strong>: 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.\u00a0\u2013VD<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY<\/span><\/a>\n

Recent Indigenous picture books<\/h1>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Traci Sorell <\/strong>is the author of <\/em>Indigenous from A to Z<\/a>, illustrated by Natasha Donovan, out now from Workman Kids. Below, she recommends five recent picture books by Indigenous authors for Indigenous Peoples Day.<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/em>, 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. <\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

Sisters\u2014filmmaker Jen Loren and Caldecott Medalist Rebecca Lee Kunz\u2014share their great aunt\u2019s civil rights organizing in Ruth Muskrat and the So-Called Indian Problem<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

Ojibwe narrator Red Bird offers modern, humorous takes on Paul Bunyan\u2019s fabrications in Dawn Quigley and Chief Lady Bird\u2019s Paul\u2019s Bunion: A Tall Tale Resized<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Three other picture books integrate Indigenous languages in stories about the seasons, military service, and a dear grandfather becoming an ancestor. <\/p>\n

Seasons by the Lake<\/a><\/em>, 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). <\/p>\n

Gabriel\u2019s Winter Count<\/a><\/em> 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. <\/p>\n

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

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\u2019s definitely cause for celebration as well!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/a><!–<\/a><\/a><\/div>\n
HAPPY BIRTHDAY<\/span>\n

NioViolet Bulawayo (October 12th)<\/h1>\n

Did you know?<\/strong> Bulawayo is the first Black woman to be twice shortlisted for The Booker Prize.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

CRITICAL LINKING<\/span>\n

You are now free to roam about the internet<\/h1>\n

Add some of this fall\u2019s most anticipated queer books<\/a> to your TBR. <\/p>\n

Pass the creepypasta with these novels based on internet horror<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Psst. The gift guides are coming<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For your watchlist: new shows<\/a> based on Latin American SF\/F Classics.<\/p>\n

Poe\u2019s most chilling opening lines<\/a>, just in time for spooky season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

END NOTES<\/span>\n

Written by Vanessa Diaz, Danika Ellis, Kelly Jensen, and Jeff O\u2019Neal. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Got a tip, question, comment, or story idea? Drop us a line: thenewsletter@bookriot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 12, 2026View Online | Join All Access | Listen We\u2019re still buzzing over last week\u2019s adaptation news (more on that in a minute!). If a beloved film adaptation\u2019s sequel is gonna fall through, a TV series is a consolation prize we can absolutely get down with. Spread the word. Share this email with friends. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}