Pop culture news for readers: September 16, 2026

Here's how pop culture and literature have been intersecting lately ... 

• Singer Shania Twain is narrating a new audiobook of her bestselling 2011 memoir From This Moment On and including a new foreword in it (People). 

• Director Quentin Tarantino will release another novelization of a movie; the book The Adventures of Cliff Booth — based on The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, a spinoff of the film Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood — comes out December 8 (The Associated Press).

• HBO's Harry Potter TV series has more casting announcements: Rafe Spall, Molly Hewitt-Richards, and Jasper Ambrose will join season two as Arthur Weasley, Moaning Myrtle, and Colin Creevey, respectively (The Hollywood Reporter).

• The immersive event FocusFest will return this year, including screenings of the literary adaptations Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, along with the film Elsinore, which tells the story of actor Ian Charleson preparing to perform in Hamlet (Variety).

• Speaking of Pride and Prejudice, Netflix has set a premiere date for the film — December 3 — and has also released some first-look photos (Deadline).

• The verdict is still out on whether James Patterson's collaboration with YouTube star MrBeast will convert Gen Z into fans for the prolific thriller author (The New York Times).