Next Year's Book List, The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman, The Case of the Spellbound Child by Mercedes Lackey and Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw

This is the last post of the year, and, due to the holiday binge-watching (The Morning Show, See, Outlander, Witcher, Lost in Space, Hobbs and Shaw, a ton of Christmas movies and the last Star Wars film, Rise of Skywalker, which made me cry), I have only three books to review, and no tidbits from Shelf Awareness, unfortunately. 

That said, I have 11 books on my bed TBR, just waiting to be read and savored, so I can't complain too much. Here's a short list of books that I didn't get for my birthday or Christmas, that I will be seeking in the new year (I can't believe it is almost 2020! The last 10 years, heck, the last 20 years have flown by!)

1) Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

2) A Cruel Deception:A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd

3) We Came Here to Shine by  Susie Orman Schnall

4) The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

5) Cartier's Hope by M.J.Rose

6) The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

7) The Library of Legends by Janie Chang

8) Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen

9) The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates

10) A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier 

11) Year of the Wicked: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring by Jeff Mariotte

12) Becoming by Michelle Obama

So there you have it, and even dozen books that I will be looking for in 2020, some of which aren't out until later in the year.

Meanwhile, here are the reviews of the books I did manage to read in the last week or so.

The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman is the 6th book in her Invisible Library series, which I began reading after the first book debuted years ago. I have thoroughly enjoyed most of them, but some of the books in this series were uneven and just not as exciting, plot wise, as previous installments. However, the Secret Chapter thankfully hearkened back to the beginning of the series, when the action and adventure were paramount, and the politics of the library took a backseat to the thrilling plot and spy-like characters, all with secrets to protect. Here's the blurb: 

In the latest novel in Genevieve Cogman’s historical fantasy Invisible Library series, Irene and Kai have to team up with an unlikely band of misfits to pull off an amazing art heist, or risk the wrath of a dangerous villain in his secret island lair.

A Librarian spy’s work is never done, and after their latest adventure, Irene is summoned back to the Library. The world where she grew up is in danger of veering into chaos – so she needs to obtain a particular book to stop this happening. And the only copy of the edition they need is in the hands of a notorious Fae broker and trader in rare objects: Mr Nemo.
Irene and Kai make their way to Mr Nemo’s remote Caribbean island, and are invited to dinner – which includes unlikely company. And Mr Nemo has an offer for everyone there. He wants them to form a team to steal a specific painting from a specific world. And he swears that that he will give Irene the book she seeks, if she joins them – but only if he has the painting within the week.
No one can resist the deal he offers. But to get their rewards, they’ll have to work together. And is this really possible when the team includes a dragon techie plus assorted fae - filling the roles of gambler, driver and ‘the muscle’? Their goal? A specific Museum in Vienna, in an early twenty-first-century world. Here, their toughest challenge might be each other.
The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman is a bookish adventure where a Librarian spy must fall in with a nefarious group to achieve her goals. Imagine Ocean’s Eleven meets James Bond with a pinch of magic . . .

 For once, I totally agree with the blurb, in that this book read like an Ian Flemming novel, complete with nasty villains who feed their opponents to the sharks and a group of "experts" in various kinds of espionage who have to work together to steal a painting. That one of those experts is Kai the dragons ne'er do well sister only adds spice to the stew. I also like the fact that Irene the librarian is so competent and smart that she really doesn't need Kai to rescue her. She kicks her own share of rumps! Cogman's prose is finely woven to propel the zipline plot along at 100 MPH. Thankfully, there's an HFN ending (Happy For Now) and readers can feel they've learned more about the families of the protagonists (Irene and Kai) while also enjoying a fast-paced story that will keep them turning pages until the wee hours. I'd give this book an A and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the Invisible Library series books.

The Case of the Spellbound Child by Mercedes Lackey is the 14th book in the Elemental Masters series. I've read all of them, and enjoyed a majority of them tremendously. This installment involves ghastly ghosts and a horrible elemental who uses lost and orphaned children to supplement his magic. Here's the blurb: The fourteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series continues the reimagined adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a richly-detailed alternate 20th-century England.

While Sherlock is still officially dead, John and Mary Watson and Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White are taking up some of his case-load--and some for Lord Alderscroft, the Wizard of London.

Lord Alderscroft asks them to go to Dartmoor to track down a rumor of evil magic brewing there. Not more than four hours later, a poor cottager, also from Dartmoor, arrives seeking their help. His wife, in a fit of rage over the children spilling and spoiling their only food for dinner that night, sent them out on the moors to forage for something to eat. This is not the first time she has done this, and the children are moor-wise and unlikely to get into difficulties. But this time they did not come back, and in fact, their tracks abruptly stopped "as if them Pharisees took'd 'em." The man begs them to come help.
They would have said no, but there's the assignment for Alderscroft. Why not kill two birds with one stone?
But the deadly bogs are not the only mires on Dartmoor. 

One thing I found interesting about the book that I wasn't expecting was the horrible treatment of children in the early 20th century. Beatings and starving and sending children to work hazardous jobs, or to death-traps like the workhouse (which was where a lot of poor and homeless children ended up) were not at all uncommon. I'd thought that some of that treatment was ending now that Victoria's reign was almost at an end. This wasn't so, unfortunately. I also found the kidnapped children's ingenuity in trying to escape and finding ways to get more food and to help each other stay as healthy as possible before and after each grisly "harvesting" of their powers, to be heartening and fascinating. Of course, the creepy pedophilic incubus-like guy who was stealing their powers gets his in the end, and most of the children are recovered. Lackey is a gifted storyteller whose prose is as smooth as silk, and her plots move at a great trot, never lagging behind. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who has been following the Elemental Masters series.

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw is a YA "dark" fantasy that reads like a fairytale retelling. I've read this author's other book, The Wicked Deep, and as I recall, I had problems with the female protagonist wimping out in that book, too. Here's the blurb: Be careful of the dark, dark wood…

Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.
Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.

But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.

For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why. 

Just as in the Wicked Deep, Nora, who is from a long line of witches, doesn't really seem to know if she is one, and she spends a majority of the book beating herself up and doubting her worth and value because she doesn't have a specific magical talent, like the other women in her family. She's also ineffective at solving the mystery until the very end (SPOILER, though this will seem obvious to anyone reading the first few chapters, Oliver is, actually, dead, and it is only his ghost who is following her around, and only she can see and touch him), when, (AGAIN, SPOILER) she just suddenly finds her talent is turning back time, so she goes back to the fateful moment when everything went wrong, undoes it, and saves Oliver from drowning and becoming a ghost. And she cries and blubs like a baby, again. I really think witches should be more emotionally sturdy, but Nora just isn't. She blubs and blathers and is scared like a bunny surrounded by wolves during the whole book. So while I appreciate that we have a female protagonist for this book, does she have to be so weak, emotionally fragile and incompetent? That just plays into a bunch of nasty sexist stereotypes that men have set up for centuries about women being "hysterical" and unreliable and the 'weaker' sex. The strongest characters in this book are the trees, who even manage to devour a character who deliberately sets a forest fire. While readers may wish that could actually happen, I prefer to read about strong women characters instead of sentient trees. So I'd give this novel a B-, and recommend it to those who find dark woods full of trees terrifying, and who like deus ex machina style endings.

By the way, to date I've read and reviewed 2,825 books since 2005. 

GRRM Opens Beastly Books in Santa Fe, Little Fires Everywhere Comes to TV, Travel Words at Kinokuniya, Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia and Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart

Merry Christmas to all my book loving friends and readers! I've got 12 new books on my Bed TBR, just waiting to be opened and savored, or whipped through at lightening speed, depending on the genre and author and prose style. Meanwhile, I have a bunch of book news and three reviews to post, so let's get to it, shall we?!

Most people don't know that GRRM taught at my Alma Mater, Clarke College (now Clarke University) in Iowa before he embarked on his solo writing career, which catapaulted him to fame with A Song of Ice and Fire, and the Game of Thrones TV series. Before that, he also wrote a TV series based on the Beauty and the Beast legend that I adored back in the 80s. Yes, I did meet him and speak with him when I was a freshman at Clarke, and he gave me a copy of his book, A Song for Lya. I am thrilled that he's opened a bookstore, though it is in a state I have never visited and likely never will (due to being disabled, not for lack of desire). But I am glad that he's opening a place for those who love his work and others works.

George R.R. Martin Opens Beastly Books in Santa Fe

On November 30, author George R.R. Martin opened Beastly Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42847189, an independent bookstore located at 418 Montezuma in Santa Fe, N.Mex., next door to the Jean Cocteau Cinema http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42847190, which he had acquired in 2013.

On his blog http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42847191, Martin noted that the theater has been hosting "amazing author events" over the past six years. "Dozens of terrific, award-winning, bestselling writers have appeared at the JCC to speak, read, and sign their books... SF writers, mystery writers, historical novelists, romance writers, thriller writers, mainstream literary writers, YA authors, non-fiction writers and journalists... the list goes on and on. And all of them have signed stock for us. The only problem was the Jean Cocteau lobby was far too small for us to display all of these wonderful autographed books."

Beastly Books was named in honor of Cocteau's most famous film, Beauty and the Beast, as well as "a certain TV show I worked on in the '80s" by the same name, Martin wrote. "Needless to say, we have a huge stock http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42847192 of my own books--A Song of Ice and Fire, Wild Cards, and all the rest. All signed. But we have a lot of other fantastic books by other authors too, and all of them are autographed as well."

The shop also offers coffee, tea, hot chocolate and soft drinks, with plans to add pastries soon. "You can visit the Iron Giant as well... but no, he's not for sale," Martin joked, adding: "Do come by and visit us the next time you come to the Land of Enchantment. Beastly Books. Hear us roar!"

I read Little Fires Everywhere, and I still don't see why it was a bestseller and deserving of a TV series on Hulu, but I might watch an episode or three just to see if the story translates better on the screen than it does in the book, which was rife with characters I loathed.

TV: Little Fires Everywhere

Hulu released a combo teaser clip/release date video to announce that Little Fires Everywhere http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42876550,its upcoming limited series based on Celeste Ng's bestselling book, will premiere March 18, 2020, Deadline reported.

Developed and written by Liz Tigelaar (Life Unexpected, Casual), the project stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, leading a cast that includes Joshua Jackson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jade Pettyjohn, Jordan Elsass, Gavin Lewis, Megan Stott, Lexi Underwood and Huang Lu.

The series is produced by Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, Washington's Simpson Street and ABC Signature Studios, a part of Disney Television Studios. Tigelaar will serve as creator, showrunner and executive producer. Executive producers are Witherspoon, Washington, Lauren Levy Neustadter, Pilar Savone and Lynn Shelton. Celeste Ng is also producing.

This is such a cool idea! I am sorry that I missed this event in Seattle.

Image of the Day: Travel Words

Books Kinokuniya http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42878121 in Seattle, Wash., recently hosted the launch for Explore Every Day: 365 Daily Prompts to Refresh Your Life (Lonely Planet). The event featured an interactive activity from the book: everyone wore a name tag on which they wrote their five "travel words." Then, says author Alex Leviton, "they found someone they didn't know who'd written down a similar word, or a word they admired (e.g., adventure and challenge). Then everyone had to suggest to each other a local thing to do based on one of the person's words--the Wing Luke Museum for 'learning' or kayaking on Lake Union for 'adventure.' Everyone stayed late to keep talking, and a nine-year-old girl even did the 'buy a fruit or vegetable you've never eaten' prompt. It warmed my heart."

Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan is an utterly brilliant lesbian romance novel about two older women, one in her 60s and the other in her 70s, who work together in the late 19th Century to bring down an odious misogynist male relative. Bertrice Martin is a wealthy widow with a fierce temper and a brilliant mind whose nephew is attempting to suck her dry of her fortune because he's a lazy slob who feels entitled to her money. Violetta Beauchamps is the vile nephew's landlord, who has been fired because she dared to try and collect his many months past due rents, when women of that time were expected to be meek and not question "gentlemen" even when the man was doing something nefarious. Violetta decides to try and collect back rent from Bertrice anyway, and then get out of town before anyone notices that she's no longer a landlord, but as she schemes with Bertrice to take down the evil nephew, she finds herself falling in love. Here's the blurb:

Mrs. Bertrice Martin—a widow, some seventy-three years young—has kept her youthful-ish appearance with the most powerful of home remedies: daily doses of spite, regular baths in man-tears, and refusing to give so much as a single damn about her Terrible Nephew.
Then proper, correct Miss Violetta Beauchamps, a sprightly young thing of nine and sixty, crashes into her life. The Terrible Nephew is living in her rooming house, and Violetta wants him gone.

Mrs. Martin isn’t about to start giving damns, not even for someone as intriguing as Miss Violetta. But she hatches another plan—to make her nephew sorry, to make Miss Violetta smile, and to have the finest adventure of all time.

If she makes Terrible Men angry and wins the hand of a lovely lady in the process? Those are just added bonuses.Author’s Note: Sometimes I write villains who are subtle and nuanced. This is not one of those times. The Terrible Nephew is terrible, and terrible things happen to him. Sometime villains really are bad and wrong, and sometimes, we want them to suffer a lot of consequences. 

I'm not normally a regular romance reader, but this slender volume called to me. I wasn't disappointed in the deliciously witty prose and the whirlwind plot, either, which made me laugh and cry and wonder why there aren't more smart senior women in books in general. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who wants a fun and fast read with characters that are memorable and realistic. 

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia has a bit of a misnomer for a title. Tuesday, goth queen of the internet data miners, doesn't actually speak to one specific ghost until page 148, and even then, we don't really get the gist of why she hears her dead best childhood friend's voice until around page 200. Tuesday's current besties are a delightful gay man named Dex, and her next "Dorry" teenage neighbor, both of whom are often more interesting than Tuesday, and certainly keep the plot zipping along on this roller-coaster ride of a novel. Here's the blurb: A handsome stranger. A dead billionaire. A citywide treasure hunt. Tuesday Mooney’s life is about to change…forevermore.
Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.

Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams.

A deliciously funny ode to imagination, overflowing with love letters to art, from The Westing Game to Madonna to the Knights of the Round Table, Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is the perfect read for thrill seekers, wanderers, word lovers, and anyone looking for an escape to the extraordinary. 

The prose style of this rambunctious novel is often mysterious and shadowy, while the plot keeps things swooshing by so fast that the mystery of where the treasure hunt will end, what they will find and who will show up to try and thwart our heroes will keep most readers on the edge of their seats. Though they could be pretty annoying with their agendas, I still loved Dex and Dorry, and I felt that Tuesday's journey back to herself wouldn't have been the same without them. The reprehensible rich guy and his murderous relatives just added to the tension, though I couldn't understand why Archie's sister and mother didn't do more to help their son escape his vile brother. If one of my siblings was a murderer and was trying to kill one of my other siblings, I would do my best to protect the sibling in danger, especially if I knew this was happening as a mother to these adult children. Anyway, I was riveted to this fascinating novel, and I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes quirky mysteries with literary and pop culture references. 

Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart is the 5th book in her Kopp sisters series. Having read all of the Kopp sisters novels, I found this installment to be one of the best of the bunch. Norma, my least favorite character, has more to do in this book, and is therefore slightly less annoying and irritating than in previous volumes. Ditto for Fleurette, who normally is so flighty, silly and spoiled that I want to smack her alongside the head. Because she has a lots of sewing to do, and befriends "Roxi" or Beulah, so she has more to do than sulk and pout and cause trouble for her sisters. But even our protagonist, Constance, is trying to find her path in this book, because she's been fired from her policewoman/jail matron job, and doesn't seem to realize that her leadership and detective skills would be of great use during WW1 or elsewhere in law enforcement. Here's the blurb: In the fifth installment of Amy Stewart’s clever and original Kopp Sisters series, the sisters learn some military discipline—whether they’re ready or not—as the U.S. prepares to enter World War I.

It’s the spring of 1917 and change is in the air. American women have done something remarkable: they’ve banded together to create military-style training camps for women who want to serve. These so-called National Service Schools prove irresistible to the Kopp sisters, who leave their farm in New Jersey to join up.

When an accident befalls the matron, Constance reluctantly agrees to oversee the camp—much to the alarm of the Kopps’ tent-mate, the real-life Beulah Binford, who is seeking refuge from her own scandalous past under the cover of a false identity. Will she be denied a second chance? And after notoriety, can a woman’s life ever be her own again?  
In Kopp Sisters on the March, the women of Camp Chevy Chase face down the skepticism of the War Department, the double standards of a scornful public, and the very real perils of war. Once again, Amy Stewart has brilliantly brought a little-known moment in history to light with her fearless and funny Kopp sisters novels.

Stewart's prose is sturdy and crisp, and her plot unflagging. I was fascinated by the National Service Schools for training women, which I had never heard of before, and I was glad to see that women were as eager to serve their country in The Great War as men. This is an overlooked part of history rich with stories of women going above and beyond, and I laud Amy Stewart for highlighting it with her Kopp sister characters. I am certain that the next book, which will hopefully be set either in the war itself or soon after, will be just as enlightening. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it highly for anyone who has read any of the other Kopp sisters books. 

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Amazon under Scrutiny, Bad Sex in Lit Award, The Devil Wears Prada Musical, The Pursuit of Love and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay on TV, Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly and The Toll by Neal Shusterman

Well, here we are on Friday the 13th, the day after my 59th birthday, finally getting a post into place after 10 days. I have been doing more DVD watching and binge-watching on Netflix than ever before, mainly because of Crohn's difficulties and all kinds of craziness with the holidays and family issues. Still, now that I have a whole roster of birthday books to read, I need to get to it and get this post done and reviews up so I can delve into the exciting new TBR stack! 

Oh Amazon...why, with all that money streaming into your coffers do you have to play dirty with workers lives and town livelihoods? 

More Scrutiny About Amazon

While the New York Times ran a front-page story http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680889 this past weekend documenting Amazon's unsettling effects  on the city of Baltimore, Md., the newspaper is not the only news outlet or other organization to put Amazon's practices under increased scrutiny lately.

Early last week, the Atlantic, in conjunction with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, reported on the severe performance quotas http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680891 under which Amazon employees and contractors work at its fulfillment centers and warehouses, and found that in 2018 employees were injured at a rate more than twice the industry average.

In a report underwritten by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Economic Roundtable http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680892 said that while Amazon has provided jobs for a "job-hungry labor force" in Southern California, wages for the typical warehouse worker are so low that the company helps "perpetuate the economic struggle in these neighborhoods." The report also discusses the company's carbon footprint as well as the air pollution caused by its trucking operations, which disproportionately affects low-income communities of color.

A coalition of 42 local and national organizations, ranging from labor groups and digital privacy watchdogs to social and environmental justice groups, has come together to form Athena http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680893, an alliance set on organizing opposition to "Amazon's growing, powerful grip over our society and economy."

On the subject of grassroots resistance against Amazon, in another story, the Times discussed http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680894 the growing movement in greater detail, touching on Amazon's decision to abandon its plans for a new headquarters in Long Island City in New York as well as its failed attempt to stack the City Council in Seattle, Wash., with politicians sympathetic to the company.

And finally, the Seattle Times http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680895 ran a round-up of its own, including some comments from an Amazon spokesperson.

Every year I love hearing about authors who write horrible, pathetic or hilarious sex scenes into their novels. I would think that there would be no lack of them, as most of the romance novels I've read have horrible sex scenes in them, complete with heaving bosoms and throbbing manliness. This year marks one in which two authors shared the honor, as the judges couldn't decide which one was worse.

Bad Sex Scenes in Literature Award

Didier Decoin and John Harvey were co-winners of "Britain's most dreaded literary prize," the Bad Sex Award http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42680942 for "the year's most outstandingly awful scene of sexual description in an otherwise good novel." The Guardian reported that Decoin won for passages in The Office of Gardens and Ponds, while Harvey earned the dubious honor for Pax.

"Faced with two unpalatable contenders, we found ourselves unable to choose between them. We believe the British public will recognize our plight," the judges said. The Guardian noted that "in a clear callback to the controversial decision to award two Booker prizes this year, when chair of judges Peter Florence claimed, 'We tried voting, that didn't work... We couldn't separate them,' the Bad Sex judges said they were unable to choose even 'after hours of tortuous debate.... We tried voting, but it didn't work. We tried again. Ultimately, there was no separating the winners.' "

Who can forget Meryl Streep as the thinly disguised Anna Wintour? Or the delicious turn of Stanley Tucci as her ME? ("Gird your loins, people!") I can just imagine this musical, which will be hilarious and ribald and wonderful, if done right.

On Stage: The Devil Wears Prada Musical

Tony winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, Mamma Mia!) has been cast as Miranda Priestly and Taylor Iman Jones (Head Over Heels) as Andy in The Devil Wears Prada http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42723962 musical, Playbill reported. James Alsop is the choreographer. Based on Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel, the story was previously adapted as a film in 2006 starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.

The production's opening date has been pushed to July 13, 2021, with plans to run through August 15 at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago. Additional casting and Broadway plans will be announced at a later time.

"We realized that we wanted more time to work on the show," said producer Kevin McCollum. "Our creative team members are in demand around the world with ridiculous schedules. The new dates mean that not only do we get an ideal theater in Chicago (the CIBC Theatre), it also allows our New York landlord to confirm the Broadway venue, which means we have more time to coordinate our physical design, marketing, and sales plans accordingly."

The Devil Wears Prada musical has music by Elton John, lyrics by singer-songwriter Shaina Taub, a book by Paul Rudnick, music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo and direction by Tony Award winner Anna D. Shapiro.

I used to have a real thing for the Mitford clan...they all seemed so bright and talented and nefarious. So I think this new adaptation, especially by Mortimer, should be fantastic.

TV: The Pursuit of Love

Lily James (Downton Abbey, Baby Driver) will star in The Pursuit of Love http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42751106, a BBC One adaptation of Nancy Mitford's classic novel, written and directed by Emily Mortimer. Deadline reported that a three-part series has been ordered from BBC Studios-backed Moonage Pictures and Open Book.

Mortimer is currently writing a reboot of the popular British legal drama Rumpole of the Bailey, based on the book series by her father, John Mortimer. Commissioned by Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, and Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, The Pursuit of Love will be produced by Rhonda Smith.

 This was a wonderful book back when I read it 20 years ago. I developed a respect for Chabon as a writer and cultural critic. His wife, however, seemed to me to be insane, and her writing style left me cold. However, I would like to think that this adaptation for Showtime will turn out well, especially if they allow it to migrate to Netflix.

TV: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The "20-year journey to the screen" of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42780963 "may finally be coming to an end," Deadline reported. A limited series adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been set up at Showtime through CBS Television Studios "with a big production commitment."

The project will be written and executive produced by Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, who have signed a multi-year overall deal with CBS TV Studios. Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman are also executive producing the series, which will be produced by Paramount Television, "whose movie studio parent Paramount Pictures owns the rights to the book, and CBS TV Studios in the first collaboration between the new corporate siblings at the merged ViacomCBS," Deadline noted.

Waldman and Chabon have other projects in various stages of development, including A Really Good Day, based on Waldman's book and starring Anna Chlumsky (Veep) for Showtime; Behind You at Hulu, from National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson; and The Heavens, inspired by Sandra Newman's bestselling novel.

"Ayelet and Michael are two of America's pre-eminent writers," said David Stapf, president, CBS Television Studios. "From award-winning novels and non-fiction to their television and film collaborations, they have a remarkable body of work. We're thrilled to have them on our incredibly talented roster."

"The team at CBS Studios is the best we've ever worked with," said Waldman and Chabon. "We're looking forward with so much excitement to this next phase of our collaboration."

This song by a band called Placebo is a real kick in the gut if you know anyone who struggles with alcoholism. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWtg8z4uzL0&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1S8tJ_uBLdaXF2nFj4MJDuunhiQBmwV_prAD0ndtNSMCoGfKE4_uU5TFA

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly is a YA reboot of the Cinderella fairytale, told from the perspective of the so called "ugly" stepsisters. The main protagonist, however, is Isabelle, the older stepsister who is what used to be called a "tomboy" and who is, in her heart, a strong warrior woman (and horsewoman). Her sister Tavi is a mathematician and bookworm who loves science and is smarter than 99 percent of her contemporaries, and thus is considered a hard sell in the marriage market. The real evil person in the tale turns out to be their greedy, grasping mother who wants them to marry into the aristocracy so that she will be well taken care of and never have to work. Women are only valuable for how they appear and appeal to men, in other words, and Stepmother dearest is the one who insists that Isabelle cut off her toes and Tavi cut off her heal to try and fit into Ella's glass slipper. Here's the blurb: Don't just fracture the fairy tale. Shatter it.

Isabelle should be blissfully happy - she's about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn't the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince's heart. She's the ugly stepsister who's cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella's shoe . . . which is now filling with her blood.
When the prince discovers Isabelle's deception, she's turned away in shame. It's no more than she deserves: she's a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a bold girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.

Isabelle has tried to fit in. She cut away pieces of herself in order to become pretty. Sweet. More like Cinderella. But that only made her mean, jealous, and hollow. Now she has a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

Evoking the original version of the Cinderella story, bestselling author Jennifer Donnelly uses her trademark wit and wisdom to send an overlooked character on a journey toward empowerment, redemption . . . and a new definition of beauty. 

This retelling from the women's POV was refreshing and surprising in the best way. The prose was lyrical without being too poetic, and the plot flowed like a waterfall in spring. I couldn't put this book down, and read it all in one day. I've read The Winter Rose, the Tea Rose and The Wild Rose, all by Donnelly, but I wasn't aware of her YA fiction, and her deft touch with YA supernatural creature fiction in general, as it appears she's written a mermaid series and other books for Disney. Now that I know she's written so many more books, I will be on the look out for further copies of her work at the library and used bookstores. Meanwhile, I loved the feminism in this book and the strong message of self acceptance and self love, that we are all imperfect and yet all worthy of admiration and love and happiness. I'd give this stellar YA fairytale reboot an A, and recommend it to every preteen and teenage young woman out there. Adults could certainly give it a read as well.

The Toll by Neal Shusterman is the third and final book in the Arc of a Scythe Series, which began with the groundbreaking YA book Scythe. I loved the fast pace of Scythe, along with the riveting characters and swift plot. The second book, Thunderhead, was even more of a roller coaster ride, which culminated in a huge cliffhanger that had me awaiting this book anxiously, so I could discern the outcome of said cliffhanger. Though this is a long book, Shusterman's brisk prose and racetrack plot make most of the pages fly by, and you will be near the end before you know it. Here's the blurb: In the highly anticipated finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy, dictators, prophets, and tensions rise. In a world that’s conquered death, will humanity finally be torn asunder by the immortal beings it created?

Citra and Rowan have disappeared. Endura is gone. It seems like nothing stands between Scythe Goddard and absolute dominion over the world scythedom. With the silence of the Thunderhead and the reverberations of the Great Resonance still shaking the earth to its core, the question remains: Is there anyone left who can stop him?

The answer lies in the Tone, the Toll, and the Thunder.

There were a couple of times in this book that I did wish that an editor had gone through and cut out a bunch of dead weight, especially stuff that didn't move the plot forward, and I honestly didn't like the addition of so many new characters because they weren't fleshed out enough, and I felt that they took time away from the characters readers had invested in, like Citra and Rowan, from the first two books. I do like that the bad guy is vanquished, but the very end of the book comes with not a bang but a whimper. It was somewhat anticlimactic after all the build up, and the "solution" to a world without Scythes seemed passive-aggressive and brutal, as it negated much of the good things about the society posited in the first book. Though I liked that there was a genderfluid character, too much time was spent on explaining when they were a man or a woman, and it got redundant after awhile (and therefore boring). Still, I enjoyed most of the book, and I'd give it a solid B, and recommend it to those who have patience and are able to read through some of the extraneous stuff to get to the ending.If you don't have the patience, but loved the first two books, just read the last 3 chapters of this book and you will be fine.

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Barnes and Noble Stores are Boring, Emma, Call of the Wild and Babette's Feast Movies, Oddest Book Title of the Year, The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg, and Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

This has been a challenging day, so I am going to get to it and do the reviews and get this posted ASAP. 

I love this quote, mostly because it is the naked truth about B&N. Though I enjoy shopping at Barnes and Noble (I have yet to meet a bookstore I didn't like), it's a fairly dull place without much character, like you'd find in an independent, mom and pop-style bookshop. Quotation of the Day

James Daunt: 'B&N Stores Crucifyingly Boring'

"I now arrive at Barnes & Noble where they've had a loyalty program forever and a day. And yet if you walk into any of the Barnes & Noble bookstores, they are the most crucifyingly boring stores. Which is odd, because they know what people want, they have all this data, and yet they can't interpret it and they've been unable to manipulate that knowledge to in any way deliver decent bookstores to people....

"We have to use our character and personality, the curation and the intellectual engagement that we have as booksellers with the titles that are published, an ability to seize the book that not many have noticed, to champion it, to spread it. If we can't do that, then we have no role and we'll be destroyed."

--James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble and managing director of Waterstones, in a keynote speech at the FutureBook conference in London, as quoted by the Bookseller

 I'm really excited to see what they will do with both Emma and Call of the Wild. Harrison Ford is old and grizzled enough to make the latter really interesting.

Movies: Emma and The Call of the Wild

The first trailer has been released for "a lively update" of Jane Austen's Emma http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42569537, featuring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) "as the iconic lead character in a social class satire brimming with comedic wit," Entertainment Weekly reported.

Directed by Autumn de Wilde from a script by Eleanor Catton, the film's cast also includes Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, and Callum Turner. Emma opens in limited release on February 21.

"Harrison Ford goes on the adventure of a lifetime with his new dog" in the trailer for The Call of the Wild http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42569538, based on the Jack London novel, the Hollywood Reporter wrote. Directed by Chris Sanders, the film also stars Dan Stevens, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Bradley Whitford and Colin Woodell. The Call of the Wild will be released February 21.

This was one of my favorite movies of the 1980s, though I don't talk about it much, because it is a very personal story for me...it is one of those movies that moved me right down to the bottom of my soul. I read all of Isak Dinesen's works in the 80s (and a couple in the early 90s) and I remember gasping at her brilliant prose and gorgeous storytelling. The film was stark and beautiful, but I still loved the book better. Now they're "re-imagining" the story to be set in the Midwest, (I was born and raised in Iowa) so I am cautious yet curious as to what they'll do with it.

Movies:  Babette's Feast

Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways) will direct a re-imagining of Babette's Feast http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42647198, the 1988 Oscar-winning Danish film which Gabriel Axel wrote and directed from a story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). Deadline reported that the script will be written by Guy Branum (The Other Two, The Mindy Project).

The film "will be set in a religious community in small-town Minnesota, where two older, unmarried sisters accept a refugee, who leads them to confront their regrets, over an extraordinary meal," Deadline wrote.

 Wow...a title about Dirt Holes is apparently the oddest thing they could come up with....LAME. I would have thought the Cheese War book would have won.

The winner of the 2019 Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42647203 is The Dirt Hole and Its Variations, a re-released classic hunting and trapping guide by Charles L Dobbins. The Bookseller, which sponsors the prize, reported that the winning title "swept away the competition, claiming 40% of the public vote." Catherine Donnelly's Ending the War on Artisan Cheese was second (24%), followed by Xanna Eve Chown's Noah Gets Naked (18%). 

Horace Bent, administrator of the prize, said: "Once again it has been a standout year for this, the world's most prestigious literary gong. I salute the late, great Charles L Dobbins, The Dirt Hole... and all its many beautiful variations, although I doubt the variations are beautiful to the foxes, bobcats and coyotes they are designed for. I also tip my hat to Dobbins for contributing a number of Diagram-worthy odd titles to the world."

Because no prize could be given to the author, Dennis Drayna, who nominated this year's winner, was awarded the traditional "passable bottle of claret."

The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg is the third book in her "Arthur Truluv" series, and for this one Berg decides to "flip the script" a bit and has everything revolve around a group of women who confess their "sins" or "problems" to one another, forgive the member confessing and then eat dessert. So there isn't as much of a story with a set of a few characters who go from point A to point B and end up with an HEA ending. It's more like a lot of short stories stitched together with one of the characters from previous books hanging around to make it cohesive and hearken back to the past. Here's the blurb: When a group of friends in Mason, Missouri, decide to start a monthly supper club, they get more than they bargained for. The plan for congenial evenings—talking, laughing, and sharing recipes, homemade food, and wine—abruptly changes course one night when one of the women reveals something startlingly intimate. The supper club then becomes Confession Club, and the women gather weekly to share not only dinners but embarrassing misdeeds, deep insecurities, and long-held regrets.
They invite Iris Winters and Maddy Harris to join, and their timing couldn't be better. Iris is conflicted about her feelings for a charming but troubled man, and Maddy has come back home from New York to escape a problem too big to handle alone. The club offers exactly the kind of support they need to help them make some difficult decisions.
The Confession Club is charming, heartwarming, and inspiring. And as in the previous books that take place in Mason, readers will find friendship, community, and kindness on full display.
“[A] feel-good testament to taking risks, falling love, and reinvention . . . Berg effortlessly wraps her arms around this busy universe of quirky characters with heartbreaking secrets and unflagging faith. . . . Readers new to Berg’s Mason will be dazzled by this bright and fascinating story, and fans will be cheering for the next volume.”—Publishers Weekly 

Though I loved this book and seeing some of the characters from previous books, I found it slightly difficult to get into and track as to who was who. I also didn't like how judgy some of the women were of others, usually based on their religious background. That said, Berg's prose is gold, and her plots never fail to arrive at the station on time. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read the first two books in the series.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim is one of those books on the NYT bestseller's list that has gotten rave reviews and tons of "good ink" from all the usual print outlets (newspapers and magazines). I had heard that it was masterfully written and a unique story that involved disabled children, so I figured that I would get a copy from the library and see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, I am really glad that I didn't waste any money on this huge bummer of a novel. Most of the characters are horrible people, and one of the parents, Elizabeth, is either a sociopath or a victim of Munchausen's by Proxy, a dreadful mental illness wherein a parent, usually a mother, physically and mentally harms and abuses her child in order to get attention from doctors and nurses and pity/sympathy from the public. This horrific waste of air actually laughs and "feels free" when her autistic son is murdered by being burned alive. And if that doesn't make you want to retch, the daughter of the immigrant Korean family who own the hyperbaric chamber used to scam the parents of disabled children actually sets the fire that kills the boy and a mother of another handicapped child (who also has other children), all because she can't come to terms with being sexually molested by a doctor who is taking treatment for low sperm count. This shitheal of a doctor totally gets away with it, too, and goes off without having to take responsibility for his actions. UGH. Here's the blurb:

How far will you go to protect your family? Will you keep their secrets? Ignore their lies?
In a small town in Virginia, a group of people know each other because they’re part of a special treatment center, a hyperbaric chamber that may cure a range of conditions from infertility to autism. But then the chamber explodes, two people die, and it’s clear the explosion wasn’t an accident.
A powerful showdown unfolds as the story moves across characters who are all maybe keeping secrets, hiding betrayals. Chapter by chapter, we shift alliances and gather evidence: Was it the careless mother of a patient? Was it the owners, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? Could it have been a protester, trying to prove the treatment isn’t safe?
“A stunning debut about parents, children and the unwavering hope of a better life, even when all hope seems lost" (Washington Post), Miracle Creek uncovers the worst prejudice and best intentions, tense rivalries and the challenges of parenting a child with special needs. It’s “a quick-paced murder mystery that plumbs the power and perils of community” (O Magazine) as it carefully pieces together the tense atmosphere of a courtroom drama and the complexities of life as an immigrant family. Drawing on the author’s own experiences as a Korean-American, former trial lawyer, and mother of a “miracle submarine” patient, this is a novel steeped in suspense and igniting discussion. Recommended by Erin Morgenstern, Jean Kwok, Jennifer Weiner, Scott Turow, Laura Lippman, and more-- Miracle Creek is a brave, moving debut from an unforgettable new voice.

I do not know what the authors listed saw in this godawful book to recommend it, but I The parents were dupes, all thinking that hyperbaric treatment from people who weren't actual medical professionals would somehow "cure" their children of diseases like autism and cerebral palsy, and when Elizabeth's son gets better on an allergen and gluten free diet, they all start following her "protocol," but not well, and are surprised that their children don't respond as well as hers did. I think that her son responded because she was so abusive and cruel to him every second of every day that he had no choice but to try and appear more "normal" because he was told, repeatedly, that he was not wanted just as he was, that he was unlovable and annoying, and deserved the physical and mental abuse and control his mother dished out. I couldn't feel even an ounce of sympathy for Evil Elizabeth, and I felt the other parents were also abusive by putting their children through these quack treatments. 

The author tries to get readers to sympathize with these lame parents by saying that all mothers feel like they'd like to kill their children at one time or another. This just isn't true, and it makes me worry about the authors children. I never, ever wanted to kill my son or harm him in any way. I can't think of any moms that I know who would actually want to murder their children just because they are handicapped or sometimes annoying or difficult. The only people who seemed sane to me were the protesters, though I don't agree with their methods of getting parents attention and trying to shut down the hyperbaric chamber. At any rate, this lame courtroom drama ends with at least a bit of justice being served, but, as I pointed out earlier, a rapist gets away with his crime and the Korean mom,Young, ends up looking heroic instead of weak and stupid, which is what she really was, unable to even get the truth from her husband and daughter, and then forgiving them immediately because she only wants to see the 'good' in her family. Blech. I'd give this book a D, and only recommend it to those who like lots of anti-heroes and parents, especially mothers, being portrayed as vain, weak, cruel or sociopathic. 

Worst-Case Scenario Experience, Wigtown Book Festival, Pipi Longstocking on Stage, Maid on TV, Wilder Girls by Rory Power and There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

It's almost Thanksgiving, and here I am struggling to get books read and not be distracted by a thousand holiday movies, Apple TV offerings (SEE with Jason Momoa is a standout of great acting and script writing and directing) and regular TV programs that are winding down for their fall finales, or finishing up their run as a series. Despite pessimism running rampant these days in America (and on social media) I am looking forward to the glittery lights and snow covered landscapes of Christmas and New Years. Anyway, here's a bunch of interesting tidbits and two reviews. Happy Thanksgiving to all my bibliophile friends.

I remember reading this book back when it first came out, and I thought it was hilarious, though my boyfriend at the time found it more instructional than funny (but he's one of those people who sees the worst case scenario in every situation he encounters, everyday.) I wish I could visit this museum experience!

At Philadelphia's Frankfurt Institute: The Worst-Case Scenario Experience

The "Worst-Case Scenario Experience," an exhibition at the Franklin Institute http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42424223 based on The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Philadelphia natives Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht, has opened and runs through April. The exhibit allows museum-goers to learn 13 survival skills, including how to pick a lock, how to get out of quicksand and how to jump from a moving train. Also in the "gymnasium": listening stations that offer additional advice and how-tos from the original audiobook narrated by the late Burt Reynolds, as well as a live actor who plays the role of the "worst-case pro." The exhibit displays everyday items that can be used for extreme survival and displays graphics about fear and anxiety and how stress, physical exhaustion and disorientation can make surviving more difficult. In the "hall of fame" gallery, the exhibit documents real-life incidents of near-death escapes, from evading an angry lion to surviving a shark attack, and celebrates people who encounter worst-case scenarios daily: emergency first responders, wildlife rescue workers, psychologists and physical trainers In March, the Worst-Case Scenario celebrated its 20th anniversary with a fully updated and expanded edition, which will be on sale at the exhibit. Quirk Books is one of the co-producers of the "Worst-Case Scenario Experience."

One of the main items on my "Bucket List" is going to Wales to Hay on Wye and Wigtown in Scotland to visit these places where book shops outnumber regular stores and where you can find lots of like-minded readers to chat with about books!

Wigtown Book Festival

Although they had no plans then to return so soon, Fred credits Kathy's recent retirement from Frostburg State University and the support of his "well-seasoned staff" at Main Street Books for allowing the couple to come back as festival volunteers last month.

"The Wigtown Book Festival is a huge undertaking," he said. "It started as a weekend event and has now become the second largest book festival in the country after Edinburgh. Many people are repeat customers. What we like about Wigtown's events is how close they are to each other. The village green is the center of the set-up with five other locations used that are a few steps away. This creates such an intimacy for all who attend as well as the town since the authors, staff and festival goers are all together and run into each other all the time."

With only about 900 residents, Wigtown is not large, but for 10 days each year book-lovers make the pilgrimage to this rural village in southwest Scotland. In 2019, more than 29,000 people attended 200-plus events, ranging from author talks and children's/YA programming to forums on current events (Brexit) and music. There were breakfasts, hosted by the Bookshop Band and Wigtown Feasts, dinner forums held in the homes of local residents.

"The streets are full of book lovers as the town is also the home to 16 second-hand book shops. For that reason it is easy to make friends and hold conversations with strangers since you all have books as a common love," Fred said. "We were lucky enough to rent the snug (extra room) above The Old Bank Bookshop and spend time with the owners Ian and Joyce Cochrane and their daughter Helena. When not staffing an event at the festival, we were helping out in downstairs bookshop."

With 30 years bookselling experience, Fred had no problem recommending titles he spotted on the shelves to readers. He said that for Wigtown booksellers, festival week is like the Christmas season for U.S. booksellers: "Kathy and I were often support for the Old Bank staff and made many cups of tea to keep them going. Lots of books are being put in customer's hands and talk of books can be heard in every bookshop, tea shop and cafe."

The Powells arrived in Scotland a few days before the start of the festival and worked in a variety of roles--as a set-up team, stewarding author events and staffing an interactive map exhibit set up in an old bank. Fred noted that the festival would not happen without all the volunteers involved: "This year there were over 150 folks doing everything from parking cars, picking up authors at airports and train stations, selling tickets and so much more. Across the year, the festival office estimates that there were 4,300 volunteer hours to support the Festival Company."

Kathy observed that although southwest Scotland "is very remote, the residents are rather cosmopolitan. The festival has found a way to choose topics--such as farming or bird watching--that tie the locals' interest with the book world.... It's not just a place that loves books but a town that loves ideas. This may be the real draw. Wigtown may be a bit off the map, but you are not really remote if you have a great festival. I loved talking with all the U.K. and international visitors as I volunteered at events during the festival. In a divided world, books can be the great unifier."

A handseller at heart, Fred noted: "Lastly, I couldn't call myself a bookseller without recommending three titles from authors that presented at the festival: The Way Home: Tales from a Life without Technology by Mark Boyle (OneWorld), Our Man in New York: The British Plot to Bring America into the Second World War by Henry Hemming (Quercus); and Dark Skies: A Journey into the Wild Night by Tiffany Francis (Bloomsbury Wildlife)."

When I asked him what his "elevator pitch" might be to handsell a Wigtown Book Festival trip to other American booksellers (or book-lovers, for that matter), he replied: "There is no better place to immerse yourself in the world of books than Wigtown Scotland and their annual book festival. The air is full of 'book talk' from festival goers of all ages, authors and friendly town folks. New books, secondhand books and amazing cakes make it 10 days to treasure. Don't just read about bookshops, go to Wigtown and live it!"--Robert Gray

 I've read Pippi Longstocking several times throughout my life, but I always found the original movie somewhat off-putting. But now they're doing a circus stage production of the story, which should be very exciting. I hope that someone films it for the rest of the world to enjoy.

On Stage: Pippi at Cirkus

Pop House Productions and the Astrid Lindgren Company will celebrate Pippi Longstocking's 75th anniversary http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42496436 next summer with Pippi at Cirkus http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42496437, "a fun, musical circus show in collaboration with Cirkus Cirkör http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42496438," Broadway World reported. ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus is exec producing and will be responsible for the show's lyrics to accompany previously released instrumental music by Benny Andersson, among others. Tilde Björfors, Cirkus Cirkör's founder, director and artistic director, is the circus director alongside Maria Blom, who will direct the actors.

"I had the privilege of meeting Astrid several times and her calm, confident radiance with a bright glitter in her eyes always made a deep impression on me," said  Ulvaeus. "Västervik, where I grew up, is only 55 kilometers from her Vimmerby, so we are both Smålanders. I especially remember how proud I was when she said that I was 'a real Emil.' I have the deepest respect for her work and hope we can present something she would have been proud of."

Olle Nyman, CEO of the Astrid Lindgren Company, added: "Imagine being in the audience when Pippi goes to the circus; it's totally irresistible! Pippi wants to play and not just sit in her place, so this will be great fun. We are extremely excited about this opportunity to share the strong, independent, fun and brave Pippi with this amazing company."Pippi at Cirkus will premiere at Cirkus June 26, 2020 and will run throughout the summer.

This book is on my Library Book Groups list of books for next year, and I can hardly wait to read it. Now it appears it will become a Netflix series, which should be fascinating to watch.

TV: Maid

Netflix has given a series order to Maid http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42541907, inspired by Stephanie Land bestselling memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, according to Deadline. The project is from writer Molly Smith Metzler (Shameless, Orange Is the New Black); John Wells Productions; Margot Robbie's LuckyChap Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television, where the project had been in development. Metzler will write, executive produce and serve as showrunner on the series.

"Stephanie Land's book is a powerful and necessary read, with incredible insight into the struggles people face whilst just trying to get by," said LuckyChap Entertainment in a statement.

Wells commented: "Stephanie tells the searing and remarkably human story of a young woman battling to find a secure future for herself and her infant daughter, Mia, in the face of overwhelming odds and governmental assistance programs of impossible complexity."

Channing Dungey, v-p original series at Netflix, added that Maid "is a poignant portrait that chronicles Stephanie Land's strife and victories, and has the power to connect with our members around the world as they identify with her struggles and root for her success."

Wilder Girls by Rory Power is a bizarre YA dystopian novel that resembles a combination of Lord of the Flies (with girls instead of boys) and the Andromeda Strain with a little Hunger Games thrown in for good measure. The prose is fine and gritty, but the plot wanders a bit and there is no real resolution in the end. Here's the blurb: A feminist Lord of the Flies about three best friends living in quarantine at their island boarding school, and the lengths they go to uncover the truth of their confinement when one disappears. This fresh, new debut is a mind-bending novel unlike anything you've read before.

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her.

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.
But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.
  I find it amusing that they say that this is unlike anything you've read before, while at the same time saying the book is a "feminist" retelling of Lord of the Flies...so if you've read that classic tale, you've obviously read something like this book before. And I don't really think its a "feminist" retelling if you just replace the boys with girls. Yes, the main character is a budding lesbian, but here, that is almost a trope, since it's a girl's school, and everyone expects homosexuality at schools segregated by gender. I think the point that the author makes here, that girls are just as mercenary and cruel and murderous as boys when they are struggling to survive, is one that has been made before in many other books, so it's nothing new. The only "new" or fresh take that I got from the book is that the parasitical infection is caused by climate change, because when ice in a cold place like an Island in Maine melts, the bacteria and creatures it uncovers can come back to life and infect all the flora and fauna in the area. There are lots of gruesome and deadly monsters and grotesque transformations in this book, so if you have a weak stomach, this isn't the book for you. It was even a bit too horror-oriented for me, which is why I'd give it a B-, and only recommend it to those who enjoy survivalist/environmental nightmares. 

There Will Come A Darkness by Katy Rose Pool is a YA fantasy novel reminiscent of Lord of the Rings and Six of Crows with some of Cashore's Graceling series thrown in for spice. The dystopian world it takes place in is well written, as are the characters, most of whom are well fleshed out, though they skirt stereotypes. The plot marches along at a decent pace, and once you get past the first 50 pages you may find yourself unwilling to put the book down until you've finished it, it's that compelling. Here's the blurb:

The Age of Darkness approaches.
Five lives stand in its way.
Who will stop it . . . or unleash it?
For generations, the Seven Prophets guided humanity. Using their visions of the future, they ended wars and united nations―until the day, one hundred years ago, when the Prophets disappeared.
All they left behind was one final, secret prophecy, foretelling an Age of Darkness and the birth of a new Prophet who could be the world’s salvation . . . or the cause of its destruction. With chaos on the horizon, five souls are set on a collision course:
A prince exiled from his kingdom.
A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand.
A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart.
A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone.
And a dying girl on the verge of giving up.
One of them―or all of them―could break the world. Will they be savior or destroyer?

Oddly enough, Pool doesn't make her protagonists likeable, (and surprisingly, that wasn't a deal-breaker for me this time.) Anton is weak and selfish and cowardly, Hassan lies and is gullible, Ephyra has little conscience and is willing to kill anyone, from parental figures to an entire town full of people, to keep her sister Beru alive, and Beru, who is actually a zombie (surprise) seems to also have no conscience, as she allows her sister to continue to kill to keep her living, when her time has passed, and she knows that it isn't sustainable for either of them to go on this way. Jude is a conflicted and somewhat stupid homosexual who is in love with his best friend, but can't seem to understand that his best friend doesn't love him back,and is, in fact, more interested in avenging his family (who were killed by Ephyra) than he is in hooking up with Jude. All of these characters have a role to play in saving their world from the Witnesses, a growing group of fanatics who want to kill anyone with a "grace" (this world's word for magical powers) and make the world "normal" with themselves and their god and priests in control, of course. It's obvious, at the end, that this is a series and we won't know the full extent of the consequences of everyone's actions until book 2 comes out. Still, I found this book riveting reading, and I'd give it an A-, and recommend it to anyone who likes adventure oriented magical fantasy. 

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Vroman's Walk of Fame, NYC's Drama Book Shop Reopening, This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, Chasing the Shadows by Maria V Snyder, and the Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

This will be my 701st post, on a blog begun out of boredom on Superbowl Sunday in 2005. It's been something of a roller-coaster, but I believe that I've written a lot of good reviews and certainly made some changes in how I read and what I read as a result. 

My good friend Jenny Z lives in Pasadena, CA, where Vroman's is located, and she is able to attend events at the newly expanded bookstore/winebar/cafe. How I envy her having this treasure of a store in her backyard! Anyway, I love that they're celebrating great writers with an author walk of fame, which is something that Amazon will never be able to do.

Image of the Day: Mosley Joins Vroman's Walk of Fame

Vroman's <http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42424194>, Pasadena, Calif., hosted a ceremony this past weekend celebrating the newest inductee into its Author Walk of Fame, Walter Mosley. Mosley added his handprints and signature, joining fellow honorees Lisa See, Michael Connelly, Luis J. Rodriguez and Naomi Hirahara. Following the dedication, Hirahara joined Mosley for a conversation about his books. Vroman's held a tandem celebration of the bookstore's 125th anniversary, where California State Senator Anthony Portantino honored the bookstore with a Senate resolution marking its 125 years of service to the community.

 There used to be a drama bookstore near where I was living in Cambridge, MA during grad school, and I recall being fascinated by it. I would love to visit the original in NYC, but I doubt that is in the cards at this point. Still, Lin Manuel Miranda is a total rock star for helping to save this iconic shop. Theater majors and drama nerds everywhere rejoice!

NYC's Drama Book Shop Reopening in 2020 at New Location

New York City's Drama Book Shop http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42452613 will reopen next spring at 266 West 39th St., "in a garment district storefront just a block south from its previous location," the New York Times reported, adding that the bookshop "is a century-old mainstay of the city's theater community, selling scripts and books about the stage."

The legendary store was purchased http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42452615 last January by Lin-Manuel Miranda and three of his Hamilton collaborators after they learned it would be closing due to a large rent increase. The other partners are Thomas Kail, who directed the musical; Jeffrey Seller, who was the lead producer; and James L. Nederlander, whose company operates the Broadway theater where the it is running.

"It was both a destination for tourists and it was also our hub, and so we wanted to keep it close to the theater district," Miranda said. "And, too, we're in the business of creating community, and that's another thing the Drama Book Shop does, and that's incalculable--I can't tell you how many creative teams on theater companies say 'Let's go meet at the book shop and talk there.' "

After closing the store's previous location in January, they "moved its contents into storage, and, with the assistance of city officials eager to preserve an arts-related business in Midtown, looked for a new location," the Times noted.

David Korins, who created Hamilton's set and is the store's designer, said the new centerpiece will be a large, spiral worm-shaped sculpture of dramatic literature, bursting out of the back wall and corkscrewing into the space.

"With a look inspired by European cafes and a reading room atmosphere, it will sell coffee, merchandise and writing materials, along with play scripts, librettos and books about the arts," the Times wrote. A basement level could be used for classes, readings or other gatherings.

"Early on, Jeffrey sent me an article about European cafes of 100 years ago, and how they were beautiful spaces where people would sip coffee and exchange ideas," Korins said. "We wanted to create a space where we were looking back into the past and into the future, so the space is carved up like a reading room cafe, with a tin ceiling, aged with patinas, and mix and match furniture."

The manager of the former location will helm the new store, with the operation overseen by a Hamilton-related company that already handles another Midtown business--the musical's merchandise shop, the Times reported.

"I'm the old guy in the bodega who is still talking about boxers. I'm an aggressively small-business person http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42452618," Miranda recently said at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York, adding: "We're opening a bookstore in post-Kindle, post-Amazon America!"

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger is a magnificent book that I spent an entire day reading, enthralled by his divine storytelling. I believe I'd read Ordinary Grace years ago, but I don't recall much about it. Still, this tale of two orphan boys, Odie and Albert, and their Native American friend Mose, as well as a little recently orphaned girl with strange precognitive gifts, Emmy, and their journey to freedom and a decent life is utterly enthralling. Krueger's prose is gorgeously simple, yet it flows like a river along the smooth and swift plot. Here's the blurb: A magnificent novel about four orphans on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression, from the bestselling author of Ordinary Grace.

1932, Minnesota—the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O’Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an en­thralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole. 

This story reminded me of Mark Twain's works and of Ivan Doigs tales of the old West. Odie is such a tough kid in terrible circumstances who still manages to have a tender heart and soul, you can't not be moved by his travails. I thought I might have a problem with Emmy becoming a kind of Deus Ex Machina in the end, but I didn't, really, I was only saddened that we don't get as much information about what happened to her as an adult as we do with the other characters. Still, this great sweeping tale of the Midwest during the depression deserves an A, and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a classic story.

Chasing the Shadows by Maria V Snyder is the sequel to Navigating the Stars that came out a year or so ago. I've read all of Maria's wonderful fantasy series, including her Poison Study series that is just brilliant. Now she's got a desert fantasy series going and this science fiction series, so I can only imagine what is next for the talented Ms Snyder. Her prose is clean, clear and vibrant, as it winds along her plot with precision and grace. Here's the blurb: Year 2522. Lyra Daniels is dead.

Okay, so I only died for sixty-six seconds. But when I came back to life, I got a brand new name and a snazzy new uniform. Go me! Seriously, though, it's very important that Lyra Daniels stays dead, at least as far as the murdering looters, know.

While dying is the scariest thing that's happened to me, it morphed my worming skills. I can manipulate the Q-net like never before. But the looters have blocked us from communicating with the rest of the galaxy and now they believe we've gone silent, like Planet Xinji (where silent really means dead).
A Protector Class spaceship is coming to our rescue, but we still have to survive almost two years until they arrive - if they arrive at all. Until then, we have to figure out how to stop an unstoppable alien threat. And it's only a matter of time before the looters learn I'm not dead and returns to finish what they started.

There's no way I'm going to let the looters win. Instead I'll do whatever it takes to save the people I love. But even I'm running out of ideas.

Ara Lawrence is a fun character, but her need to save everyone but herself gets her beat up and nearly dead many times in this book. Her love of Niall is also sweet, but somehow seems a bit too hormonal and obsessive for someone her age (that said I am sure its realistic for many young women in their late teens...I just was never one of them). Still, she is a fully-formed character, as are all the others in this book,and I loved seeing Ara "worm" into the Q-net without any assistance, and try to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. I loved the storytelling and the whole book, and can hardly wait for book three coming out next year in November. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who read the first book in the Sentinel of the Galaxy series, Navigating the Stars.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is the sophomore book by the author of the brilliant and much beloved Night Circus, which made the author a rising star, though it was only her first novel. Because this book took 8 years to create, it was highly anticipated, and many people were hoping it would cement her reputation as a master of magical fantasy. I was so excited to get a copy of this book that I nearly waited by the door for delivery on November 5,Guy Fawkes Day, which would prove to be prophetic. 

It has been a long time since I was so disappointed in a novel like this. I wanted so desperately to love Starless Sea. I kept struggling through the disjointed stories and fragments of tales littered through each chapter, as I sought some sort of cohesive narrative or plot. The whole "meta novel" idea, of a book about a book(s) that had the characters become part of the book about a book while you were reading about them in a book (yeah, I know, makes your head hurt, doesn't it?!) not only didn't resonate with me, it bored and confused me, and made me wonder what the point was. Even Morgenstern's prose was stilted and soupy with sentimental weirdness. I kept thinking that it had to get better and come together at some point, but it didn't even start to ask the right questions until around page 300, and then most of them are never answered. 

Here's the blurb: Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

To add to my immense frustration with this book, every chapter that he was in starts out by naming the protagonist, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, in italics in the first words of the chapter. This annoyed me to no end, and by the final chapter I wanted to scream "WE KNOW HIS NAME, for heaven's sake! STOP already!" Meanwhile, all we really learn is that the so-called "Starless sea" is really made of honey, that bees are great cooks who can make anything out of honey, and that there are doors that move in and out of time. Other than obsessing about honey and books and keys and secret clubs set to kill anyone who knows about the underground library near the honey sea, that's all she wrote. There's no real resolution, no ending per se. There is little that even makes sense in this world, and sadly, no reason to want to visit or revisit it, because it's all nonsense and bits of tales about people who are the embodiment of things like Fate or the Moon. I don't even know how to grade this pastiche of bizarre narratives. I can't recommend it, either, as it becomes tedious and boring during the first chapters. So the only thing I can do is warn you that if you decide to pick up this book,expect to be confused, irritated and befuddled before you're through it. I hope that Ms Morgenstern does better on her third book, which I will likely borrow from the library instead of buy.