“Wandering Stars” by Tommy Orange

Extending his constellation of narratives into the past and future, Pulitzer Prize-finalist and breakout bestseller Tommy Orange traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through three generations of the family readers first fell in love with in There There. It’s an exceptionally powerful novel about epigenetic and generational trauma that has the force and vision of a modern epic.

Oprah’s Book Club Selects Moving Memoir From Formerly Incarcerated Woman

The wait is over! Oprah has announced her first Book Club pick of the new year: The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin. This fast-paced, deeply moving memoir recounts Hardin’s journey from suburban soccer mom to convicted felon who stole her neighbors’ credit cards to fund her opiate addiction. But this is not a book about loss so much as it is, in Oprah’s words, a book “about redemption, about joy, about hope, about claiming yourself and what you rightly deserve.”

“The Rule of Threes”

In his latest novella, Jeffery Deaver follows Special Agent Constant Marlowe as she investigates an obsessed serial killer trolling a quiet Midwestern town. With the killer’s scope on her and every indication that victim number three is only days away, Constant accidentally leads the devil to a local family’s doorstep. She will do anything to protect them — but nothing in this town is quite what it seems.

ALA Introduces “Book Résumés”

The American Library Association’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative has unveiled a new free resource — a collection of “book résumés.” Created in collaboration with dozens of publishers, these documents help teachers, librarians, parents, and community members defend books from censorship. They detail each title’s significance and educational value — including a synopsis, reviews from professional journals, awards, accolades, and more — and are easy to print and share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members. The book résumé program launched with hundreds of documents available, with ALA reps noting that more will follow in time for National Library Week (April 7–13).

Pretty, Pink and Poisonous

When it comes to pink in horror, the tide is just starting to rise, and there are not one but two beautiful pink waves washing through the literary landscape today: the works referred to in the subgenre now called “pink horror” and all the absolutely breathtaking pink book covers flooding the subgenre. From Mona Awad’s Bunny to Rachel Harrison’s debut The Return and Sarah Gailey’s Gothic Just Like Home, today, pink horror is all the rage — literally.

30% Of This Year’s Top Netflix Shows Are Adaptations

So far this year, Netflix has had 33 shows break onto its weekly Top 10 most-watched chart — and 10 are based on existing intellectual property (IP), from novels, toys, video games or other existing works. Some of these include Fool Me Once, a limited series based on Harlan Coben’s novel; Resident Alien, a science fiction mystery drama based on the Dark Horse comic; and even a series based on a novel that was first posted on Wattpad.

Queer Erasure in “The Color Purple” Remake

In an interview with BuzzFeed, Oscar nominated actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who played Mama in The Color Purple remake, called out the film for its erasure of Black lesbian romance. In the interview, she shared insights on her experiences as a Black queer actor and shed light on the importance of recognizing Black LGBTQIA+ individuals during Black History Month. Read the full interview here.

New Book Releases

Check out some of the highly anticipated books coming out this week!

BookTrib's February 2024 Selections

Also Making News This Week

Announcing the Libby Book Awards

The inaugural celebration of “The Libbys” is set to roll out March 12th with winners in over a dozen literary categories voted on by librarians and library workers across North America. This expert panel has already narrowed down each category to 5 finalists. Check out the full list of finalists, and register to watch the upcoming ceremony, here.