Books Coming to Screens: January 2024
Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
Widowed mum Mya is disturbed by an image of her late husband captured on her toddler’s nanny cam.
Jan 1st/ Netflix/ Put on hold
Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui
Can sisters be reincarnated from dragon poop? Laios and his friends Marcille and Chilchuck delve into an endless dungeon in search of his fallen sister, fighting monsters, starvation, and corruption.
Jan 3rd/ Netflix/ Put on hold
A Sign of Affection by Suu Morishita
Yuki Itose, a hearing-impaired university student, meets Itsuomi Nagi. Unlike most, he knows her impairment which makes him fascinates. A new world begins to open for them as they learn about each other’s different lives.
Jan 6th/ Crunchyroll / Put on hold
Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day by Judith Viorst
Follows a Mexican American family who have recently lost their connection to each other and their roots, as they embark on an epic road trip that immediately goes hilariously wrong.
Jan 10th/ Disney+/ Put on hold
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
In 1980s Brisbane, a precocious boy and his selectively mute brother embark on a suburban odyssey of love, redemption and retribution after their family is torn apart by a drug lord.
Jan 11th/ Netflix/ Put on hold
The Maltese falcon / Dashiell Hammett
(Monsieur Spade)
The famous detective Sam Spade is now 60 and living as an expat in the south of France in 1963.
Jan 14th/ AMC/ Put on hold
Which Brings Me to You by Steve Almond & Julianna Baggott
Two romantic burnouts meet at a wedding and almost hook up in the coatroom before putting the brakes on. They agree to exchange candid confessions about their pasts on the off chance that this might be the real thing.
Jan 19th/ Theatres
Masters of the Air : America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller
Five miles above the ground and behind enemy lines, eleven men inside a bomber known as a “Flying Fortress” battle unrelenting flocks of German fighters.
Jan 26th/ Apple TV/ Put on hold
The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee
A look at the personal and professional lives of a tight-knit group of expatriates living in Hong Kong.
Jan 26th/ Amazon/ Put on hold
Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Leamer
(Feud: Capote vs. The Swans)
An anthology series centering on famous feuds, including Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and Truman Capote and the New York elite.
Jan 31st/ Hulu/ Put on hold
Wilfried Wils must survive as an auxiliary policeman during the Nazi occupation of Antwerp.
Jan 31st/ Netflix
What is entering Public Domain in 2024?
The beginning of a new year also means that lots of books, movies, and music enter the public domain. What is the public domain? The public domain are works where the copyright has expired so they are now free to the public to use. In 2024, this includes books and movies first published in 1928. When a work enters into the public domain, the public is free to use the works. This could be by publishing their own edition, reimagining the characters, creating art and more. Of course, there are still some things you need to make sure of before using these works and characters. Always do extra research beforehand on what you can or can’t do with the work.
Here’s a list of books and movies now in the public domain (and you can check them out from the library)
Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy
The earliest movie featuring Mickey Mouse is entering the public domain! Steamboat Willie is where we first see the famous mouse and is also the first appearance of Minnie Mouse. The two are also featured in Plane Crazy. While the characters are still silent in these films, the copyright expiring means that this famous mouse couple can be used by anyone. Although, specifically their black and white versions from these films can be used.
The House at Pooh Corner
While the first Winnie the Pooh book entered the public domain in 2022 (which is how Blood and Honey, a Winnie the Pooh horror movie was able to be made), the second book is entering the public domain this year. The most notable fact about this is that Tigger first appeared in this book, which means Tigger will be entering the public domain. Again, this is specifically the Tigger featured in this book as Disney still holds the copyright for their version.
Millions of Cats
First published in 1928 and winning the Newberry Honor in 1929, this picture book is one of the oldest picture books still in print. The tagline goes: “How can an old man and his wife select one cat from a choice of millions and trillions?”
The Mystery of the Blue Train
Hercule Poirot has been in the public domain for a few years now, but now his sixth mystery is in the public domain. But only in the U.S. In the U.K. the detective is still under copyright and will be under copyright until 2046.
The Trumpeter of Krakow
The winner of the Newberry Medal in 1929 is also entering the public domain. A summary of the book: “A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy’s memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father.”
The Missing Chums, Hunting for Hidden Gold, and The Shore Road Mystery
Books 4, 5, and 6 in the Hardy Boys series are entering into the public domain this year.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Published in 1928 and the last novel written by the author. The book was well-known and sold millions of copies but was also famous for being controversial as it was once banned in United States, Canada, Australia, India and Japan.
Sci-Fi Books for National Science Fiction Day
January 2nd is National Science Fiction Day, so we put together a list of some science fiction we recommend!
All systems red / Martha Wells
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Project Hail Mary/ Andy Weir
The sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission to save both humanity and the earth, Ryland Grace is hurtled into the depths of space when he must conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
The Paradox Hotel / Rob Hart
A locked-room murder mystery set at a hotel for time travelers–in which a detective must solve an impossible crime before her own grip on reality crumbles–from the author of The Warehouse.
The genesis of misery / Neon Yang
Neon Yang’s The Genesis of Misery gives a space opera twist to Joan of Arc’s story, full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a queer and diverse array of pilots, princesses, and prophetic heirs. It’s an old, familiar story: a young person hears the voice of an angel saying they have been chosen as a warrior to lead their people to victory in a holy war. But Misery Nomaki knows they are a fraud. Raised on a remote moon colony, they don’t believe in any kind of god. Their angel is a delusion, brought on by hereditary space exposure. Yet their survival banks on mastering the holy mech they are supposedly destined for, and convincing the Emperor of the Faithful that they are the real deal. The deeper they get into their charade, however, the more they start to doubt their convictions. A retelling of Joan of Arc’s story given a space opera, giant robot twist, The Genesis of Misery is a story about the nature of truth, the power of belief, and the interplay of both in the stories we tell ourselves.
Mickey7 / Edward Ashton
The Martian meets Multiplicity in Edward Ashton’s high concept science fiction thriller, in which Mickey7, an “expendable,” refuses to let his replacement clone Mickey8 take his place.
Translation state /Ann Leckie
When Enae’s grandmaman passes away, Enae inherits something entirely unexpected: a diplomatic assignment to track down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. No one actually expects Enae to succeed; it’s an empty assignment meant to keep hir occupied. But Enae has never had a true purpose-no one ever expected hir to do more than care for grandmaman-so sie is determined to accomplish this task to the best of her ability. Reet knows nothing about his biological family. He loves his adoptive parents, but has always secretly yearned to understand his identity, the roots that would explain why he seems to operate just a bit differently. After all, no one else hungers to study the world by ripping it apart, by slicing into those around them in order to make sense of things. So when a political group approaches him with the claim that he has ties to a genetically mysterious, long-deceased family, Reet is only too eager to believe them. Qven was created to be a Presgr translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presgr and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something different isn’t “optimal behavior”. It’s the type of behavior that will have you eliminated. But Qven rebels anyway, determined to find a way to belong on their own terms. As a Conclave of the various species approaches-and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presgr is on the line-the paths of all three will collide in a chain of events that will have ripple effects across galaxies.
This is how you lose the time war / Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them.
In the lives of puppets / TJ Klune
New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts. In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots-fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming. Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
Station eternity / Mur Lafferty
Amateur detective Mallory Viridian’s talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove her to live on an alien space station, but her problems still follow her in this witty, self-aware novel that puts a speculative spin on murder mysteries, from the Hugo-nominated author of Six Wakes. From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide. But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime-and fast-or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board…
Winter’s orbit / Everina Maxwell
Summoned before the Emperor, Prince Kiem-a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild-is commanded to renew the empire’s bonds with its newest vassal planet. The prince must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire. But the Jainan suspects his late husband’s death was no accident. And Prince Kiem discovers that Jainan is a suspect himself. But broken bonds between the empire and its vassal planets leaves the entire empire vulnerable, so together they must prove that their union is strong while uncovering a possible conspiracy. In the shadows of a secret past and an insecure future, Kiem an Jainan must come together to protect both of their worlds.
Dark matter / Blake Crouch
A mind-bending, relentlessly paced science-fiction thriller, in which an ordinary man is kidnapped, knocked unconscious–and awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew.