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If you need some fresh reading this week, I’ve collaborated with Bookshop.org to build you a list of novels I find, in one way or another, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s deeply human drama.
Don’t forget, Villains is 10% off on Bookshop for a few more days, which is a great way to support your favorite indies.
Some news! It’s hard to believe the fifth anniversary of the publication of Villains is upon us, and even harder to believe there are enough people out there who have enjoyed it to justify a new edition. If you missed out on the special edition released last year, now’s your chance to grab a beautiful new hardcover with my little scribbles inside.
You can pre-order the book here, or buy from any good bookshop.
We have a very busy April on the books (it is, after all, the month of Shakespeare’s birth and death) and I’m excited to share that If We Were Villains is the Folger Shakespeare Library’s book club pick. I’ll be participating in a virtual discussion with the book club on Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can register to attend here. I’ll also be joining director Michael Witmore for a conversation as part of the Virtually Everything series, available only to library members, at 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 13. You can become a member and find event details here.
Hope to see you soon.
Great news: in honor of the Ides of March, we’ve partnered with Goodreads to host a giveaway of 100 US ebooks of If We Were Villains. You can enter here through March 25th.
May the Bard be with you.
M
Hi everyone,
Please forgive me for the long delay in posting! I have no better excuse than being overwhelmed with work and life in general. Today’s Reddit AMA reminded me that it’s been far too long since I updated the events page of this website, which I have now done! More to come, but in the meantime you can find a link to this afternoon’s AMA, as well as upcoming appearances.
Hope to see you soon.
I’m back after a long hiatus with some very exciting news: this October, Titan Books will be releasing a special, signed hardback edition of If We Were Villains featuring fresh new cover art and an introduction by me. You can pre-order the book here or from your favorite retailer.
I’m so excited for you to have this beauty in your hands. More soon!
Tomorrow I’ll be in conversation with Kate Weinberg, author of The Truants! Our chat will be hosted by Murder by the Book, and you can find information on how to register here.
If you spend any time on book Twitter, you may have noticed a recent upswing in chatter about Bookshop.org, “an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.” Here’s just one of many recent articles on the Bookshop phenomenon, and how this scrappy little website found an unexpected toehold during coronavirus. You can find a more in-depth profile of the project here.
This is such an encouraging development for the publishing industry, and it’s so heartening to see the reading community embrace an alternative to Amazon which puts books and the people who love them first. If you need something new to read during quarantine, I hope you’ll consider buying directly from your local bookstores or from Bookshop (which has made it possible for many local bookshops to stay in business by taking over distribution during social distancing).
If you’re not sure what you want to read next, you can find a few recommended reading lists on my Bookshop affiliate page. (I’m hoping to make more in the next few weeks so if you have any suggestions for lists you’d like to see, please send them my way.) Using Bookshop affiliate links also pays their author-owners an additional 10% with each sale, so by using an affiliate link, you’re not only supporting independent bookstores broadly, but supporting individual artists directly!
From just one artist, thank you–and happy reading.
Next week I’ll be participating in a online festival of staged readings composed entirely of early modern history plays not written by Shakespeare, hosted by the Brave Spirits theatre company. Here’s a little more info from their website:
BST’s online reading festival celebrates history plays of the English early modern stage, revealing the breadth and popularity of the history genre during Shakespeare’s era. Including works by playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Heywood, George Peele, and John Ford, these plays span historical events from 1199 to 1499 and live in conversation with Shakespeare’s history plays, providing source material and alternate versions of events and characters.
You can find the details for the whole run here; I’ll be reading Constance in George Peele’s King John on Monday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. eastern time, so if you’ve ever wanted to see me do verse, now’s your chance! Hope you’ll join us.
M. L. Rio 