distractions

To be honest, I haven’t been doing that much reading, partially because I don’t know what I feel like reading right now, but mostly because I’ve been playing Animal Crossing on the Switch. 

I have gotten a bit farther into my reread of The Secret Garden, though I’m now wondering exactly how the movie adaptation of that is going to come out. It was supposed to be released in late April, presumably in theaters. I know this isn’t exactly publishing related, but I wonder how movie releases are going to be done right now. Would it be beneficial for them to go straight to streaming services? Are they going to be postponed (I hope not because I’m looking forward to this one)? And to bring it to publishing, similar questions could apply to books published during this time as well, especially for debut authors who don’t already have a fanbase waiting to read their newest book. I’ve been following some authors and literary journals on Twitter and I’ve seen several chains asking debut authors during this time to tweet their book titles in the chain, but I feel like that maybe doesn’t do too much for the book’s marketing. Obviously this isn’t the most important effect of the crisis at all, but it’s something to consider.

Speaking of books coming out right now, one of the books I’m thinking about reading is The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel. That’s right, the author of Station Eleven, the book about an apocalyptic pandemic that people are saying is both a good and bad time to read. Don’t worry, it’s not actually anything like this, from what I remember of it. I’m pretty sure this particular book is not necessarily struggling too much with its release time because Station Eleven did really well when it came out anyway and now I keep seeing it all over the place again. The Glass Hotel is, thankfully, not about a pandemic, as the author has assured people on Twitter many times. 

Also only semi-related to reading, but I’ve watched the first three episodes of the Hulu series adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and I think it’s pretty good so far. I don’t remember the book very well at all, but I think it’s following it closely, which is good. I can’t get over the fact that Reese Witherspoon picked the book for her book club, obviously really liked it, and now gets to play a main character in the show. That’s crazy! Imagine really liking a book and then getting to play in its tv adaptation! I guess that’s what it’s like to be Reese Witherspoon. Admittedly, she’s definitely perfect for the role. 

I think when I get more used to online classes and less interested in giving all my time to Animal Crossing, I will be able to get more reading done. I thought that having to stay home would make it easier to read but it just hasn’t been happening for me lately. Sad. :(