I loved Hotel At the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and I'd read that Jamie Ford, a Seattle resident for many years, had been seeking someone to do justice to the novel's characters in Hollywood, without success (he did, however, allow local theater troupe Book It Repertory to mount a stage production adapted from his book, and I gather it was a great success). I am thrilled that he's finally found someone to do this fine work justice.
Jamie Ford's
bestselling debut novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and
Sweet
is being developed
into a film, with George Takei as executive producer,
Deadline reported.
Producer Diane Quon acquired the film rights, and
Joseph Craig of
StemEnt is also producing. Production is expected to
begin next year.
"The book
tells an intimate love story that is, at once, poignant and
sweeping with
historic magnitude told against the backdrop of the
internment of
Japanese Americans during World War II," said Takei. "I
was captivated by
Jamie Ford's novel when I first read it and visualized
a compelling film
in my mind's eye. I saw the drama of enduring love
despite
governmental racism, the passage of time and the vicissitude of
life. What a
wonderful film it would make. Now we are beginning the
exciting adventure
of making it happen."
Ford, who is
co-writing the screenplay, said, "The number one question I
get from fans from
all around the world is--will there be a film? I'm
delighted to say
yes because for years I said no to filmmakers who
wanted to change
too many things about the story (like the ethnicity of
my main
character). With this team, I'm confident that fans will get a
satisfying film
that remains true to the spirit of the book."
A Front Page Affair by Radha Vatsal was recommended to me by Barnes and Noble's Facebook page as being similar to Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy Mysteries. This series, unlike Bowen's, involves a budding journalist, Capability "Kitty" Weeks, who is working at the a local paper during WW1 as the assistant to the Ladies Pages editor. Of course, she longs to be a 'real' journalist and work on investigative news stories, but such things were rarely allowed women in 1915, an era of pervasive sexism and misogyny. Still, when Kitty discovers a body at a 4th of July party, she finds herself in the midst of a mystery that she must solve. Here's the blurb:
New York City, 1915The Lusitania has just been sunk, and headlines about a shooting at J.P. Morgan's mansion and the Great War are splashed across the front page of every newspaper. Capability "Kitty" Weeks would love nothing more than to report on the news of the day, but she's stuck writing about fashion and society gossip over on the Ladies' Page—until a man is murdered at a high society picnic on her beat.
Determined to prove her worth as a journalist, Kitty finds herself plunged into the midst of a wartime conspiracy that threatens to derail the United States' attempt to remain neutral—and to disrupt the privileged life she has always known.
Radha Vatsal's A Front Page Affair is the first book in highly anticipated series featuring rising journalism star Kitty Weeks.
Though it is obvious that Kitty is bucking tradition by trying to solve a mystery and writing about it for the newspaper (though she is only allowed to type up her interview and observation notes and hand them over to a male journalist in the newsroom, where she's treated with disdain and not allowed beyond a windowed barrier) she seems less tough and smart than Bowen's take-charge heroine Molly Murphy, who would never kowtow to society matrons or others who try to tell her what she can and cannot do because of her gender. Kitty isn't made of sterner stuff, and she's often easily swayed into doing what is expected of her as a woman. That said, she uncovers some shady dealings by her father, and eventually solves the mystery (and gets into danger because the perp is female), but she is left working on the Ladies pages, where she seems to think she must remain as a woman of "gentle breeding" and high society. I found that very disappointing. However, the prose was clean and easy, the plot fast and sure, and all in all, the work is worth a B, with the recommendation to those who just want some light distracting reading for something like airplane travel.
The Clockwork Crown by Beth Cato is the second book in her Clockwork Dagger series, following The Clockwork Dagger, which I read last year. These are the further Steampunk adventures of healer Octavia Leander and the Clockwork Dagger sent to kill her (whom she managed to subvert to her cause and who fell in love with her), Alonzo Garrett. The prose in this book was refined to within an inch of it's life by the swift and enchanting plot that had me careening from chapter to chapter at breakneck speed. I could not put it down! More engrossing than the first book, this volume gets to the real meat of the matter, as Octavia is being groomed to succeed the source of all magical healing in the world, whether she wants the role or not. Here's the blurb:
Rich in atmosphere, imagination, and fun, the action-packed, magic-filled sequel to The Clockwork Dagger is an enchanting steampunk fantasy, evocative of the works of Trudi Canavan and Gail Carriger.Narrowly surviving assassination and capture, Octavia Leander, a powerful magical healer, is on the run with handsome Alonzo Garrett, the Clockwork Dagger who forfeited his career with the Queen’s secret society of spies and killers—and possibly his life—to save her. Now, they are on a dangerous quest to find safety and answers: Why is Octavia so powerful? Why does she seem to be undergoing a transformation unlike any witnessed for hundreds of years?
The truth may rest with the source of her mysterious healing power—the Lady’s Tree. But the tree lies somewhere in a rough, inhospitable territory known as the Waste. Eons ago, this land was made barren and uninhabitable by an evil spell, until a few hardy souls dared to return over the last century. For years, the Waste has waged a bloody battle against the royal court to win its independence—and they need Octavia’s powers to succeed.
Joined by unlikely allies, including a menagerie of gremlin companions, she must evade killers and Clockwork Daggers on a dangerous journey through a world on the brink of deadly civil war. Publisher's Weekly: Dire circumstances and an unsettling sense of inevitable heartache make Cato’s sequel to The Clockwork Dagger a more somber affair, grounded in earth magic rather than the high-flying razzle-dazzle of steampunk. Magical healer Octavia Leander is alarmed by the scope of her new powers and slightly dispirited as she and Alonzo Garrett, the dashing assassin turned love interest, try to uncover information about the Lady, whose mysterious tree is the source of Octavia’s powers. An unexpected source of menace moves the story into fresh territory, while the escalating hostilities between the corrupt kingdom of Caskentia and its even more violent rebel province, the Dallows, put the vigorously determined Octavia in more than enough danger to satisfy her fans. Cato continues to defy expectations, moving the saga toward an unexpected, heartfelt conclusion, and the revelations about Octavia’s abilities are amply rewarding.
Though political machinations generally bore me to tears, I found that Cato managed to make them palitable enough that I was able to continue to devour each chapter, hoping that Octavia would find a solution to the problem of bark growing all over her body, turning her into the lady's tree, while what she really wants to do is continue to work as a healer and marry Alonzo, the love of her life. Fortunately, a last-minute hail-Mary pass is made, and all ends well for the couple. I'd give this novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Gail Carriger's fantastic steampunk novels.
Shadowed Souls is an anthology of urban fantasy short stories, gathered and edited by Jim Butcher of the Dresden Files and Kerrie L Hughes. Being the huge Harry Dresden fan that I am, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a short story set in the Dresden Files universe. Fortunately, there were also stories by Seanan McGuire (the October Daye series, which I've read) Tanya Huff, Kat Richardson, Kevin J Anderson and Jim C Hines. There were a few others by authors I'm not familiar with, so I felt no need to read those stories, and skipped over them. Here's the blurb:
Featuring short stories from Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire, Kevin J.
Anderson, and Rob Thurman, this dark and gritty “must-read anthology for
UF fans”(RT Book Reviews) proves that nothing is as simple as black and white, light and dark, good and evil...In #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher’s Cold Case, Molly Carpenter—Harry Dresden’s apprentice-turned-Winter Lady—must collect a tribute from a remote Fae colony and discovers that even if you’re a good girl, sometimes you have to be bad...
New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire’s Sleepover finds half-succubus Elsie Harrington kidnapped by a group of desperate teenage boys. Not for anything “weird.” They just need her to rescue a little girl from the boogeyman. No biggie.
In New York Times bestselling Kevin J. Anderson’s Eye of Newt, Zombie P.I. Dan Shamble’s latest client is a panicky lizard missing an eye who thinks someone wants him dead. But the truth is that someone only wants him for a very special dinner...
And New York Times bestselling author Rob Thurman’s infernally heroic Caliban Leandros takes a trip down memory lane as he deals wih some overdue—and nightmarish—vengeance involving some quite nasty Impossible Monsters. Publisher's Weekly: The morally gray heroes of this urban fantasy anthology refute the idea that all magic users are either good or evil. Butcher opens with his own “Cold Case,” the heart-wrenching story of a young woman trying to reconcile her new and terrible power with the duty she must perform. Seanan McGuire’s “Sleepover” follows nicely, revealing a world where magical people are reviled and unwelcome. Tanya Huff’s “If Wishes Were,” the grim story of a vampire holding desperately to her humanity through the man she loves, rounds out a powerful opening, but from here the anthology begins to lose momentum. Several stories are amusing but not exceptional. Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Sales. Force.” revives the flagging collection, but the final story, “Impossible Monsters” by Rob Thurman, falls flat, adding an incidental magical element to the tired trope of a serial killer who goes after evildoers. Not every story will appeal to every reader, but the best of them truly shine.
Normally I am not a fan of the horror genre or the "evil is good" anti-hero trope, as I need someone to root for, someone to identify with when I read a book. I read all of the stories by authors whom I've read before and trust (trust that they know how to write decent prose and a strong plot with great characters), but even after Jim Butchers exceptional Molly Carpenter story and Seanan McGuires fun succubus story (it put me in mind of Lost Girl, a TV show I desperately miss), Tanya Huff's vampire tale and Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Sales Force, I found that Kevin Anderson's grim zombie story didn't do it for me at all, and I wasn't engaged enough to read Thurman's Impossible Monsters, or several other tales by authors whose works I've never heard of. I'd give the anthology a B, but I would only recommend it to those who don't mind some clinkers in amongst the good stuff by authors like Butcher and McGuire.
The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell was recommended to me by someone who knows I am a fan of Sarah Addison Allen's magical realism and Dorothea Benton Frank's southern books. I had such high enough hopes for this novel that I was willing to buy it in hardcover, something I try to avoid doing with all but the most desirable books on my Wish List because I can't afford to indulge in book ownership when my family's finances are so precarious. While I did like this story, I felt there were some problems. Though my hopes weren't exactly dashed, I didn't feel that the book met all of my expectations, particularly when the main character became progressively weaker around the male protagonist, and couldn't seem to stand up for herself in the face of bullying. That said, the magic was presented in a charming fashion and the small town characters were fun, even the stereotypical jealous "mean material girl" ex-wife of the male protagonist. The HEA, though inevitable, left a lot of questions unanswered, which was truly frustrating. I dislike authors who can't write a satisfying conclusion to their stories. Here's the blurb:
26-year-old Rachel Monroe has spent her whole life trying to keep a
very unusual secret: she can make wishes come true. And sometimes the
consequences are disastrous. So when Rachel accidentally grants an
outlandish wish for the first time in years, she decides it’s time to
leave her hometown—and her past—behind for good. Rachel isn’t on the road long before she runs out of gas in a town that’s not on her map: Nowhere, North Carolina—also known as the town of “Lost and Found.” In Nowhere, Rachel is taken in by a spit-fire old woman, Catch, who possesses a strange gift of her own: she can bind secrets by baking them into pies. Rachel also meets Catch’s neighbor, Ashe, a Southern gentleman with a complicated past, who makes her want to believe in happily-ever-after for the first time in her life.
As she settles into the small town, Rachel hopes her own secrets will stay hidden, but wishes start piling up everywhere Rachel goes. When the consequences threaten to ruin everything she’s begun to build in Nowhere, Rachel must come to terms with who she is and what she can do, or risk losing the people she’s starting to love—and her chance at happiness—all over again.
The prose was beautifully clean and crisp, and the plot, though it zig-zagged a bit, never lagged. Crispell has the ability to write so you can visualize every scene, and feel compelled to know what's going to happen to these characters next. I am a big fan of page-turners, and this book certainly qualifies. That said, I still do not know if Rachel ever told her brother that he is her "magically displaced" brother, or if she gets together with Ashe and eventually marries him. Does she continue to be the town's Wish Granter, or does she just work with Catch to make magical pies? What happens to her best friend Mary Beth and her family, who seem very attached to Rachel, but live in another town? Especially Mary Beth's daughter Violet, who sounds like a horribly spoiled brat who uses her godmother Rachel to get whatever she wants, which is merely greedy, not charming, especially when her mother doesn't stop her from these machinations. Does Ashe ever find out that his evil, skeevy father had an affair with his wife, when Daddy dearest wasn't throwing widows and orphans off their land (could they have made him any more of a Snidely Whiplash-like evil villain?) Does he ever get his comeuppance, or does he try to use his powers of snake-charming on Rachel to get back his ill gotten gains? Ah well, if there's any justice in the world, there will be a sequel that answers all these questions. Meanwhile, I'd give the novel an A, and recommend it to those who enjoy Southern small-town characters, magic and pie.
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