BOOK NEWS: Nevermoor 3, Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, BBC’s Normal People and more!

I’m happy to be back with more book news on this gloriously wet Wednesday morning. It’s raining in Sydney today, and it’s the perfect kind of weather for curling up in bed with a good book.

Alas, since I am at work and not at home in my pyjamas with Ali Smith’s Spring (sob), I’ll provide you with the next best thing: your weekly book news round-up from The Booktopian.

Read on to see what’s been happening in the world of books for the past week.

Jessica Townsend reveals details of the third Nevermoor book!

Nevermoor fans hold onto your umbrellas: the third book in the series is called Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow and it will be hitting shelves on 28 January, 2020!

This time around, lovable misfit Morrigan will be facing up to her newfound Wundersmith powers while a mysterious illness called Hollowpox infects the Wunimals of the land of Nevermoor.

Author Jessica Townsend announced that Hachette will also be publishing books 4, 5, and 6 in the series. She said, “I’m thrilled to be growing and deepening this series, and can’t wait to tell Morrigan Crow’s next three stories after Hollowpox. Hachette has been a wonderful home for Morrigan and for me. I’m delighted to be taking this next step with them.’

Read more about this here and pre-order your copy here!

Reese Witherspoon announces her next Book Club pick

Our Lady of Excellent Book-to-Screen Adaptations has announced the latest pick for her wildly popular book club.

That book is The Cactus by Sarah Haywood, and it’s the story of a 45-year-old woman who is facing an unexpected pregnancy, an inheritance family drama, and a love triangle.

Reese said, “I found myself laughing out loud at Susan’s prickly character as she finds herself in a love triangle, navigating family ties and dealing with 9 months of pregnancy at the age of 45. Hope y’all love Susan as much as I do!”

You can read more about it here and see the rest of Reese’s book club picks here.

Filming starts on Normal People

Am I the only person who completely missed the casting news for Normal People? It’s one of my favourite books ever written and this news completely flew completely under my radar!

Anyway, filming has started on the much-hyped BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People that is set to air next year. It stars Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal as Marianne and Connell, and will be directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Room, The Little Stranger).

Sally Rooney, also on board as writer and executive producer, said, “As a long-time admirer of Lenny Abrahamson’s work, it’s a special privilege for me to be working alongside him on the adaptation of Normal People. I couldn’t be happier with the cast and team we’ve put together, and I’m very excited to watch them bringing new life to the story on screen.”

You and me both Sally… read more about the Normal People TV adaptation here.

Other interesting tidbits…

• J.K. Rowling will be releasing 4 new Harry Potter eBooks online next month, with each book exploring the magical lore of Hogwarts subjects like Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions. Sounds cute, but J.K. I will give you my life’s savings if you write a Harry Potter Maurauders prequel (please, I’m begging you).
• Aussie kid-lit legend Paul Jennings received the Children’s Book Council of Australia Lifetime Achievement award at the CBCA conference in Canberra last weekend. Congratulations Paul!
• The kids are definitely alright: the US-based Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned 8 young contestants as co-champions, after running out of words that were challenging enough for them.
• The winners of the 2019 Australian Book Design Awards were announced last Friday night, with big winners including The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (designed by Hazel Lam), Rhyme Cordial (designed by Miriam Rosenbloom & Antonia Pesenti), and All The Ways to be Smart (designed by Allison Colpoys). Check out the full list of winners here.

As always, thanks for reading and I’ll catch you this time next week!

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About the Contributor

Olivia Fricot

Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.

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