Skip to content
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • PodBean
  • Subscribe To My Pal Sammy Newsletter
  • ABOUT
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

My Summer Lair

Think NPR's Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: My Summer Lair with host Sammy Younan: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.

  • Home
  • Podcast
    • My Summer Lair
    • Space Station Oddity
  • Set The VCR
  • New Book Alert
  • True Sammy Stories
  • Toggle search form

New Book Alert: February 1-5, 2021

Posted on February 6, 2021August 14, 2023 By Sammy Younan No Comments on New Book Alert: February 1-5, 2021

My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.

Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
by Avi Loeb
Non-Fiction & Space Is The Place / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: January 26, 2021

The Truth Is Out There! Actually the truth now comes in book form via Avi Loeb’s Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. “Harvard’s top astronomer lays out his controversial theory that our solar system was recently visited by advanced alien technology from a distant star.” Is this the proof we seek? Is there something more than stars up there? Cheers to the irony of finding “Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” when we struggle to find it here on Earth.

Best sellers in the last 24H!!

#7: Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
Avi Loeb
publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
USD 20.99https://t.co/YHuDl2BWEy

— Top10Books (@top10books_us) January 31, 2021

A Bright Ray of Darkness
by Ethan Hawke
Novel? / Knopf Publishing Group
Published: February 2, 2021

Ethan Hawke’s (yes: that Ethan Hawke) latest novel (he’s turning into a fine writer) is a meditation about art and love, fame and heartbreak. If you dig this then check out his 2015 book: Rules for a Knight.

Did you see? 👀

Today, our friends at @EW revealed the cover for Ethan Hawke’s forthcoming novel, A BRIGHT RAY OF DARKNESS!

🔥✨

For more information on this Spring 2021 release, visit:https://t.co/HRWWtnSkqc pic.twitter.com/FueSPL9z92

— Alfred A. Knopf (@AAKnopf) October 5, 2020

Fast Forward, Play, and Rewind
by Michael Oberman
Non-Fiction & Music / Backbeat Books
Published: October 15, 2020

Here’s the thing: if we call the individuals who make great music Artists…then why wouldn’t their interviews also be part of their art? This book is filled with more than 100 interviews: The Doors, James Brown, the Grateful Dead, the Sir Douglas Quintet, David Bowie plus many more!

Fast forward, play, and rewind (Backbeat) https://t.co/Giq3zUULqy pic.twitter.com/0RyHgoG7id

— New history books in the UK (@ukhistorybooks) October 10, 2020

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know
by Adam M. Grant
Non-Fiction / Viking Books
Published: February 2, 2021

Adam Grant is back! If you dig Malcolm Gladwell then you’ll be Glad and Well you’re also reading Adam Grant. “For too many of us, our ways of thinking become habits that we don’t bother to question, and mental laziness leads us to prefer the ease of old routines to the difficulty of new ones. We fail to update the beliefs we formed in the past for the challenges we face in the present.” Certainty (especially with celebrities: “I KNOW he did it!”) is a major red flag. I’m certain I don’t trust your certainty. I certainly don’t trust your thinking.

What does it take to rethink our own opinions, open other people’s minds, and create cultures of learning?

Announcing the #thinkagain virtual tour.

Join us here: https://t.co/gHkMmxMctd pic.twitter.com/5iqGriZwJB

— Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) January 17, 2021

Mike Nichols: A Life
by Mark Harris
Non-Fiction & Movies / Penguin Press
Published: February 2, 2021

And now some “Carnal Knowledge” about director Mike Nichols. After reading Mark Harris’ “playful” biography Mike Nichols: A Life you’ll Graduate with strange fun facts like Nichols turned down The Exorcist?!

Today’s the day! Happy pub day to #MikeNichols by @MarkHarrisNYC! Learn more about this “superbly well-written” (@latimes) biography of one of the most influential creative forces in American entertainment history here: https://t.co/9dM3HJ2Hgd pic.twitter.com/3e6HYKjOG7

— penguinpress (@penguinpress) February 2, 2021

-28-

Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.

New Book Alert Tags:Books, Music, Reading is FUNdamental, Science-Fiction, Space Is The Place

Post navigation

Previous Post: New Book Alert: January 25-29, 2021
Next Post: New Book Alert: February 8-12, 2021

More Related Articles

New Book Alert: February 8-12, 2021 New Book Alert
New Book Alert: February 17-21, 2020 New Book Alert
Recommended Reading: 2016 Books Coming Soon… New Book Alert
Under-Review: The Dynasty Books
Under-Review: Steve Kerr: A Life Books
Reyan Ali (NBA Jam) and Sammy Younan in My Summer Lair Under-Review: NBA Jam Books

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • #SetTheVCR: October 20-26, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Welcome to Derry is not the sole vanishing children TV Recommendation this week. #SetTheVCR has lots of Happy Halloween offerings so keep that G.I. Joe nightlight handy.
  • #SetTheVCR: October 13-19, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    This week's TV Recommendations is loaded with TV We Love to Happy Halloween suggestions that'll leave you Scared Shitless. A wonderful range like that can only be: #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: October 06-12, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    With these week's TV recommendations say goodbye to John Candy and the Woman In Cabin 10. But say hello to #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: September 29 – October 05, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Like a man in the basement I got TV recommendations that are a Chef's Kiss. On The Lost Bus, this is your stop: It's #SetTheVCR!
  • #SetTheVCR: September 22-28, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    I got the Lowdown on this week's TV Recommendations so you don't hafta Go Into The Void all Wayward and lost. Just as The Simpsons keep going, so too does #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: September 15-21, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    This week's TV Recommendations are not a Stop Gap Measure. Rather it's a Lilith Fair celebration of charming TV presented as #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: September 08-14, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Lots of TV Recommendations for you to Sheen this week. Like your Cable Guy, I got you hooked up with #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: September 01-07, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    Have I Got News for You: I got TV Recommendations for you Winter Spring Summer or Fall. From the Highest 2 Lowest this is #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: August 25-31, 2025
    by Sammy Younan
    This week's #SetTheVCR is dedicated to my Stans.
  • #SetTheVCR: August 18-24, 2024
    by Sammy Younan
    Night Always Comes and like a TV Gambler you seek bold TV Recommendations without going Eenie Meanie. Once again #SetTheVCR is here to help, always cooler than Devo.
  • #CouchWorthy: Smell Ya Later Ozzy OsbourneOctober 3, 2025
    Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home is one documentary way to say...Smell Ya Later Ozzy Osbourne. Thanks for the music.
  • #TIFF50: Eleanor the GreatSeptember 25, 2025
    In Eleanor The Great, June Squibb brings to life the proudly troublesome Eleanor Morgenstein, who after a devastating loss, tells a dangerous tale.
  • The Savant vs The Idiot…September 24, 2025
    The series follows The Savant an undercover investigator as she infiltrates online hate groups to stop domestic extremists before they act.
  • New Book Alert: Cesar Romero: The Joker Is WildAugust 26, 2025
    My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan reviews Yaron Weitzman's Tanking to the Top. Trust The Process of The Philadelphia 76ers?
  • Morning Tea: Happy UFO Day 2025!July 2, 2025
    What's popping in popular culture? My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan steeps some seriously serious tea which prompts reflections.
  • Trial By Trailer: The Running Man (A Remake…)July 1, 2025
    Trail By Trailer is judging a book by its cover or in this case...a movie by its trailer. Are you 100% IN or is it a Hard Pass?

  • New Book Alert: Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild
    by Sammy Younan
    My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan reviews Yaron Weitzman's Tanking to the Top. Trust The Process of The Philadelphia 76ers?
  • Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Gotham Nocturne: Overture
    Under-Review: Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne: Overture
    by Sammy Younan
    My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan reviews Batman - Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne: OvertureL Volume 1,
  • New Book Alert: California Bear
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?
  • New Book Alert: The Music Was Just Getting Good
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?
  • New Book Alert: The Ascent
    by Sammy Younan
    New Book Alert is just that: A useful Yo for a fresh book. from your pal Sammy. What Are You Reading?

Copyright © 2025 My Summer Lair.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme