The upcoming National Book Awards ceremony is going to be a VIBE. The National Book Foundation announced yesterday that Kyle MacLachlan is set to host, with Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast (also the author Crying in H Mart) as the musical guest.

Spread the word. Share this email with friends.

Sally Rooney pulls books from UK shelves

Sally Rooney’s publisher will stop selling her books in the UK. The statement from publisher Faber reads:

Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work. To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher.

Rooney’s support for Palestine Action is behind the author and publisher’s joint decision to stop supplying her works to UK booksellers in any format. The author of bestselling books including Normal People and Intermezzo is using her royalties to support the protest group.

The UK labeled Palestine Action a terrorist organization in 2025, a move that has been criticized for being the first use of terrorism powers for damage to property rather than the use or threat of violence against people.

Rooney said she is in full agreement with her publisher and added, in a statement:

“I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.”

– SZW

The literary collab custom-built for millennials 

Image courtesy of Little Free Library

If you still hold Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! among your core memories, you’ll be jazzed to hear about their latest literary endeavor. No, it’s not exactly free personal pan pizzas for all book-loving adults. It’s a collaboration with Little Free Library.

You read that right.

Pizza Hut has teamed up with Little Free Library to design and give away “Little Hut Libraries,” designed to look like the iconic red-roof pizza places. These book sharing boxes will be distributed across the United States and include:

• A stylish Little Free Library, including a charter sign and post kit
• 25 new books to start the library, all of which will be selected by Little Free Library
• Pizza Hut and BOOK IT! Goodies.

Each of the recipients of the Little Hut Libraries will get a small number of coupons for a free personal pan pizza, too. 

You can apply through October 31 for one of the Little Hut Libraries.

Already a Little Free Library steward and feeling a little envious? Never fear. Little Free Library and Pizza Hut have an opportunity for you to apply for Pizza Hut and BOOK IT! goodies, too, including a BOOK IT! Tee, stickers, and buttons. The gift pack also includes $25 to Barnes & Noble. 

In a world of creative–and sometimes baffling–literary collaborations, this one is a match made in ooey-gooey pizza heaven. October is both National Book Month and National Pizza Month. 

And yes, Pizza Hut still runs their BOOK IT! Program, which opened for school-year applications this month, too. – KJ

Your favorite SF/F webtoons adapted

Graphic novel adaptations allow us to engage with stories we already know and love in new and exciting ways.

• Illustrated art adds new depth to familiar stories, and brings them to a whole new audience who might prefer the graphic format.

For webtoons, graphic novel adaptations offer a more tactile experience for readers used to enjoying the originals on screens.

• Dungeon Crawler Carl began as a webtoon and is now a bestselling graphic novel series, too.

Here are three graphic novel adaptations of beloved science fiction and fantasy webtoons, from a LitRPG fantasy to a YA witch/vampire romantasy.

• Morgana and Oz, Vol 1 by Miyuli – When a struggling witch and an angsty vampire from a rival clan get together, sparks fly. But are they sparks of love or sparks of war? In their case, probably both.

• The Runebound Professor (Vol. 1) by Actus* – In this graphic novel edition of a bestselling isekai LitRPG fantasy, a lost soul assumes the body of the most hated—and recently murdered!—professor at a magic academy

• Doom Breaker (Vol. 1) by BLUE-DEEP – The last human fighting evil in a world abandoned by the gods is slain by a demon lord, only to be reincarnated, giving him one last chance to avenge his loved one, and maybe save humanity while he’s at it. —VD

_{*A message from our sponsor}

Award-winning graphic novels

Whether you’re wading into the world of comics or are a devoted fan, these award-winning graphic novels deserve a place on your TBR.

• Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Winner of Canada Reads)
• They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steve Scott, and Harmony Becker (Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work)
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Best Book for Young Adults, American Library Association)
• Himawari House by Harmony Becker (Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature)
• New Kid by Jerry Craft (John Newbery Medal)
• American Born Chinese by Gene Yuen Lang (Michael L Printz Award)
• Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant: A Memoir by Roz Chast (National Book Critics Circle Award)

Learn more about all 20 award-winning graphic novels and comics.

What to watch this weekend

If ever there was an age of the Book Adaptation, it’s now, which you may already have realized with all of our adaptation coverage. We thought we’d take things a step further and give a few practical recommendations for adaptations you can watch this weekend.

A couple are adapted from classics, one is a documentary on book banning, and another looks deliciously messy.

What to stream:

• The Librarians– Librarians have been on the front lines in the battle against censorship. In this Emmy Award-winning documentary, we watch as Librarians fight for the right to read, and learn about what’s at stake if we don’t join them.
• East of Eden– This 1900s-set limited series is adapted from the classic novel of the same name by John Steinbeck, in which a woman becomes entangled with two brothers, and their families, across generations. It stars Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, and Mike Faist. This looks dark and scandalous, and kind of makes me want to finally pick up Steinbeck’s 600-page tome.

New in theaters:

• Whalefall – Daniel Kraus is having one helluva year. There’s this adaptation’s debut, and the Pulitzer for Angel Down won earlier in the year. The Whalefall adaptation is aptly described as The Martian meets 127 Hours: Jay (Austin Abrams) is on a mission to recover his father’s (Josh Brolin) remains when he’s swallowed by a sperm whale. He’s all squished betwixt whale viscera as he tries to escape. *Thalassophobia activated*
• Sense and Sensibility– This film is based on Jane Austen’s 18th-century tale of sisterhood and survival, and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, and Fiona Shaw. I’m surprised I haven’t seen much said about this, considering Austen’s enduring popularity.
• *Bonus: You Can See Everything– I’m listing this as a bonus because it’s not adapted from a book, but will definitely interest anyone who read and liked Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (which we listed as one of the Best Nonfiction Books of the Century So Far). Plus—and this is the real reason—it looks messy as hell. Elizabeth Holmes looks unhinged, Nathan Fielder is beside himself, and I am beyond ready for the train wreck. —EE

BIPOC nature writing

Western culture is largely disconnected from its environment. Colonization is inherently exploitative—both of land and of people—and then there is the Judeo-Christian belief system that was made to replace a lot of Indigenous beliefs.

The result is an overall attitude that looks at our environment as a resource instead of something that nourishes us as we nourish it. Looking at books about nature from BIPOC writers can start to remedy that, though.

Through the following books, curated by Susie Dumond, we see how intertwined our history is with nature:

• The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer- I haven’t come across anyone who read Kimmerer’s other nature-focused book Braiding Sweetgrass who didn’t love it. Here, she taps into Indigenous views on ecology to explore how we can be more like the serviceberry, which positively impacts its environment.
• When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery- The history of Black Americans and America’s trees are entangled—in good and bad ways. Sycamore trees helped those escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad, while poplar trees have been historically linked to lynching. Montgomery ties it all together, including Black people’s knowledge of trees and plants, which goes even further back.
• Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange by Katie Goh- There’s a lot of history in the orange, and Goh traces it—and her own as a queer Chinese Malaysian Irish kid growing up in Ireland. She follows the fruit, tracing its origins in the East, and following it to the West as it goes from a luxury fruit for royalty to an underappreciated one in modern times.

More BIPOC nature writing. —EE

Oscar Wilde, born October 16, 1854

Did you know? Wilde was heartbroken when his childhood sweetheart, Florence Balcombe, married someone else. That someone else was Bram Stoker.

You are now free to roam about the internet

Fall into these campus mystery novels.

These are the best paperback releases of the month.

Enter to win a $250 donation to the library of your choice.

Stop crying. H Mart has a cookbook now!

Yet another prize-winning story seems to be written by AI.

Written by Rebecca Schinsky, S. Zainab Williams, Kelly Jensen, Vanessa Diaz, Erica Ezeifedi, Danika Ellis, and Jeff O’Neal. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here.

_{Got a tip, question, comment, or story idea? Drop us a line: thenewsletter@bookriot.com}