logo
Spring Preview: A Few Books We're Excited For

Spring Preview: A Few Books We're Excited For

New York Times07-03-2025
Every season brings its share of books to look forward to, and this spring is no different. On this week's episode the host Gilbert Cruz and his colleague Joumana Khatib talk about a dozen or so titles that sound interesting in the months ahead.
Books discussed on this episode:
'Dream Count,' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
'Sunrise on the Reaping,' by Suzanne Collins
'The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,' by Stephen Graham Jones
'Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools,' by Mary Annette Pember
'Great Big Beautiful Life,' by Emily Henry
'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,' by Ian Leslie
'Yoko: A Biography,' by David Sheff
'Searches,' by Vauhini Vara
'Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America,' by Michael Luo
'Rabbit Moon,' by Jennifer Haigh
'Mark Twain,' by Ron Chernow
'Authority,' by Andrea Long Chu
'Spent,' by Alison Bechdel
'Fish Tales,' by Nettie Jones
We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review's podcast in general. You can send them to books@nytimes.com.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

It's Still Summer. Let's Talk Road Trip Books.
It's Still Summer. Let's Talk Road Trip Books.

New York Times

time12 hours ago

  • New York Times

It's Still Summer. Let's Talk Road Trip Books.

Summer is the season for road trips, and also for road trip stories. Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' may be the most famous example in American literature — but there are lots of other great road trip books, so this week the Book Review's staff critics Dwight Garner, Alexandra Jacobs and Jennifer Szalai presented readers with a list of 18 of their favorites. On this episode of the podcast they chat with the host Gilbert Cruz about the project, their picks and the top-down, wind blown, carefree appeal of the road trip narrative as a genre. 'It's such a flexible form,' Garner says. 'You can do anything with the road trip idea. So many novels that aren't even road trip novels contain scenes where one of the major characters flees the house and goes away for a few days just to escape what's there — often fleeing in search of something else.' Books discussed in this episode: 'On the Road,' by Jack Kerouac 'Sing, Unburied, Sing,' by Jesmyn Ward 'Lost Children Archive,' by Valeria Luiselli 'I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home,' by Lorrie Moore 'Tramps Like Us," by Joe Westmoreland 'Driving Mr. Albert,' by Michael Paterniti 'Gypsy: A Memoir," by Gypsy Rose Lee 'The Dog of the South,' by Charles Portis 'All Fours,' by Miranda July 'Hearts,' by Hilma Wolitzer 'The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life,' by John le Carré 'Machine Dreams,' by Jayne Anne Phillips 'Lonesome Dove,' by Larry McMurtry 'Lolita,' by Vladimir Nabokov 'The Grapes of Wrath,' by John Steinbeck 'The Price of Salt,' by Patricia Highsmith We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review's podcast in general. You can send them to books@

Elle Fanning Finally Reacted To 'Sunrise On The Reaping' Fans Calling For Her To Play Effie
Elle Fanning Finally Reacted To 'Sunrise On The Reaping' Fans Calling For Her To Play Effie

Yahoo

time4 days ago

  • Yahoo

Elle Fanning Finally Reacted To 'Sunrise On The Reaping' Fans Calling For Her To Play Effie

The cast might be the best movie cast of 2026 — and it definitely proves that the Hunger Games team knows exactly what to look for when casting a role. Joseph Zada as Haymitch? Jesse Plemons as Plutarch? Ralph Fiennes as President Snow? I didn't think it could get much better than then it was announced that Elle Fanning is joining too. And OG Effie, Elizabeth Banks, just weighed in! Here's what Elle Fanning said about playing Effie Trinket in Sunrise on the Reaping. Who's playing Effie Trinket in Sunrise on the Reaping? Elle Fanning will step into the role of a young Effie Trinket (played by Elizabeth Banks in the original Hunger Games series), who serves as the District 12 stylist in the 50th Hunger Games. And Elle's convinced the fans had something to do with the role. 'I think fans made this happen in a way. [Lionsgate] said they were getting kind of hounded online, like, 'Elle needs to play Effie,'" Elle told MTV. "Effie has always been my favorite character. I think Elizabeth Banks, she to that character. I love her." "I'm super excited. I texted the producers as well, and I think she's perfect," Elizabeth Banks told at her The Better Sister premiere May 21. "I think everyone's really happy. And I'm really happy about that. I'm excited for the next generation to have their Effie." And the internet has gone crazy. "The most locked in casting director of recent memory," one X user , while another , "she's so perfect for the role." "if this is true then their casting is on point!" a third person . (It is true, and it is on point). But could we see Elizabeth Banks return, too? The actress told that she'd be open to returning — maybe in a Sunrise on the Reaping epilogue? "Yeah, of course, I love her," she says. "I would, if the fans want to." "I love Effie, it's one of my favorite characters," she continues. "She was not really in Mockingjay, so a lot of that came from the empathy that I got to bring to that character and the community I built with all of the collaborators on that film, including Suzanne Collins, and I think that Effie and Haymitch together became such a phenomenon that it's no surprise to me that Haymitch is getting a story now too." Who else do you want to see in the cast? Check out our with producer Nina Jacobson for more! This post has been updated. Solve the daily Crossword

Elle Fanning Said Fan Commentary Influenced Her Hunger Games Casting
Elle Fanning Said Fan Commentary Influenced Her Hunger Games Casting

Buzz Feed

time5 days ago

  • Buzz Feed

Elle Fanning Said Fan Commentary Influenced Her Hunger Games Casting

When it was revealed this year that Elle Fanning would be playing Effie Trinket in the film adaptation of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the announcement was both incredibly exciting and not all that surprising. Sunrise on the Reaping is the second prequel book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games novel series, and is set 24 years before the events of the first book in the original trilogy. The book — which hit shelves in March 2025 — and its accompanying movie adaptation were announced back in June 2024, and fans had already locked in their ideal castings for the prequel's younger versions of beloved characters like Haymitch Abernathy, Plutarch Heavensbee, Caesar Flickerman, and, of course, Effie Trinket. For context, Effie features heavily in the original Hunger Games trilogy as the escort and advisor to the District 12 tributes. And in Sunrise on the Reaping, a younger Effie is a stylist for Haymitch, who is preparing to participate in the 50th Hunger Games as the District 12 tribute. If you're familiar with the Hunger Games, you'll know that Effie — who was portrayed in the OG movies by Elizabeth Banks — is quite the fashionista. So, when it came to casting a younger Effie for Sunrise on the Reaping, minds went straight to Elle, who fans think has always been 'giving Effie Trinket energy.' 'y'all have any idea that this fandom has been making young effie edits with elle fanning for YEARS??? and until months ago this was an impossible dream???' one X post in response to the announcement read.'Casting director deserves an Oscar alone for what he's done here,' added another fan, while someone else wrote: 'OH MY GOD ITS HAPPENING THE PROPHECY WE MADE IT GUYSSZBDJCJFNDJDJFN.''Elle fanning as Effie Trinket was the most accurate and universally accepted casting that has ever happened in recent years,' echoed someone else. And now, Elle has weighed in on the discourse surrounding her casting, revealing that the online campaigning from fans definitely influenced her landing the job. During a new interview with Josh Horowitz for MTV, Elle was asked about her 'perfect casting' in the upcoming project, to which she said: 'It was funny, because I think fans made this happen in a way. The studio said they were getting kind of hounded online, like, 'Elle needs to play Effie'...So they called.' And it's not just the fans who are pleased with Elle's casting; Elizabeth Banks is very much on board too. When Elle was announced as Effie, Elizabeth contacted her directly with celebratory flowers and told People: 'I'm super excited. I texted the producers as well, and I think she's perfect.' Speaking with MTV, Elle expressed how thrilled she is to be following in Elizabeth's footsteps. 'I'm a huge fan, and Effie has always been my favorite character,' she said. 'I think Elizabeth Banks is— she brought so much, even beyond the books, like, layers to that character. I love her, and I have [gotten] to talk to Elizabeth. We've texted, and she sent me flowers and said, 'May the odds be ever in your favor.'' The movie is due to begin shooting this summer and is currently set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026. Giving some behind-the-scenes insight, Elle said: 'I haven't started filming yet, but we're thinking [about it] and hopefully making the fans happy.' As you may have seen, Elle's participation in Sunrise on the Reaping isn't the only fan-casting for the movie that became a reality. You can read a breakdown of who's playing who in the upcoming movie adaptation here.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store