Bookish Deaths and Anniversaries, and More Updates for Libraries

When libraries are being attacked and censorship is wreaking havoc across the country, it’s very easy for the more mundane library updates to get pushed to the side. So here’s a solid resource roundup for comics, audiobooks, book adaptations, and more!

New & Upcoming Titles

Book Rioters picked out the best books coming out in April, plus April picks for mysteries/thrillers/true crime, SFF, romance, historical fiction, horror, nonfiction, children’s books. And if that’s not enough, here are the biggest April picks from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (adults, teens, children), Kirkus, LA Times, New York Times, Time, Town & Country, Vanity Fair, and Washington Post.

All Things Comics

Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series is getting a graphic novel adaptation. Sales for kids’ graphic novels in the UK are booming. 12 book-to-graphic-novel adaptations for kids. 7 comics about trauma. 8 graphic novels set in New York City. Comics about trans women. Middle grade graphic novels about crushes.

Audiophilia

Spotify is expanding its audiobook reach to include self-published authors. Check it out: The Spoken World is a new podcast exploring the global audiobook boom. The most-anticipated audiobooks for April from LitHub and Barnes & Noble. Is listening to an audiobook considered “cheating?” (No!! It’s not!!) 11 excellent fiction audiobooks by female authors. 10 great audiobooks for National Poetry Month. 6 nail-biting thrillers on audio.

Book Adaptations in the News

(These adaptation updates have been collecting in my notes for a couple months now, so…there are a lot.)

Emma Knight’s The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is getting a series adaptation at Amazon. Disney might have “screwed up big time” by letting go of the rights to Children of Blood and Bone. Crazy Rich Asians is now getting a TV series adaptation. Rachel Weisz is starring in Netflix’s adaptation of Julia May Jonas’s Vladimir. Netflix is producing another adaptation of Stephen King’s Cujo. Martin Scorsese is adapting Marilynne Robinson’s Home. Gulliver’s Travels is getting a TV adaptation. Verity gets a May 2026 release date. Percy Jackson & the Olympians has been renewed for a third season with Disney+. Robert de Niro is starring in the adaptation of Alex North’s thriller, The Whisper Man, which if you haven’t read already, is hella creepy. Sunrise on the Reaping gets a screenwriter and a production date. Juno Temple is starring in the Apple+ series adaptation of Holly Gramazio’s The Husbands.

Deaths and Anniversaries

L.J. Smith, author of the Vampire Diaries series, has died at 66. Actor and author Richard Chamberlain has died at 90. Actor and author Val Kilmer has died at 65. 100 years of The Great Gatsby. Revisiting House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski on its 25th anniversary. Celebrating 20 years of The Glass Castle.

Award News

The finalists for the 2024 Nebula Awards have been announced. The winners of the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced.

The 2025 PEN America Literary Awards longlists have been announced. Fiona McFarlane wins the 2025 Story Prize for Highway Thirteen. Here are the shortlists for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction. The shortlist for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award has been released.