Summertime brings lots of fun activities, one of which is reading! The warm weather and later daylight hours give us the opportunity to sit and read on the beach, by a lake, in your local park, at a resort, your own backyard, and many more places.

Below are some new releases that I personally am looking forward to reading this Summer. After the main list of new releases, I’ve included a “Read Before You Watch” of some older titles getting a TV/Film adaptation (such as Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman coming to Netflix!), as well as some classic literature, like Dracula, which celebrates its 125 anniversary this year. Each listing has accompanying links to the print, ebook, and audiobook editions; the publisher’s synopsis; and my quick thoughts.

Continue on to check out my Summer 2022 Book Recommendations….

Casting has begun on Amazon’s massive Lord of the Rings series based on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic books, and one of the lead roles has now been filled.

It’s being reported that Will Poulter has joined the show as one of the main characters, though it has not yet been revealed which character that is. Poulter is known for his work in Son of Rambow, We’re the Millers, The Maze Runner, The Revenant, Detroit, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and the recent Midsommar among others.

One of the first tragedies of the Disney-Fox merger was the dissolution of Fox’s smaller branch Fox 2000. That branch produced films like Hidden Figures and Life of Pi.

It was thought that everyone at Fox 2000 would be out of a job. But a new report says another studio will be saving it. Sony will be hiring Elizabeth Gabler, former head of the now defunct Fox 2000, and her team to do film and TV adaptations of smaller films based on inspirational stories. More on the report below.

Well this is just getting insane. Less than one month ago came word that the first seasons of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings would cost more than all three movies in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. Around $500 million.

But that’s just the beginning of the craziness. Amazon’s adaptation is going to cost hundreds of millions more than Jackson’s trilogy. In fact, it’s expected that once all the costs of producing the show are factored in—including casting, producers, visual effects, and so on—the price tag will be over $1 billion. BILLION. For a television show. It’s going to be the biggest TV series ever produced in terms of price tag.

Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel
Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook (Digital) | Audio CD
By Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Publisher: HarperCollins/Harper Perennial
Release date: January 10, 2017 (Paperback Edition)

If you’re already a listener of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, then this original novel set in its universe will surely pique your interest. If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s a podcast that’s staged as a radio show set in the bizarre fictional town of Night Vale, where the local library is one of the most terrifying places to visit. The podcast, which releases twice per month, was created in 2012 by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, who co-author this book of the same name.