Quotes of the Day, Season 3 of Handmaid's Tale, More Iowa Bookstores, An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor, The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester, The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman and The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Quotations of the Day

"Storytelling is fundamental to human beings. It is how we explore and

make sense of this world and understand one another. Because books

absorb us and harness our imaginations, they are an essential medium for

storytelling--as well as a satisfying one. The idea that these benefits

and pleasures are for a limited subset of any given population is

dangerous. Books are not exclusive.

"Literature strengthens our imagination. If we all have the tools to try

to imagine a better world, we're already halfway there. Each day, there

are more books being published that speak to every kind of person, from

every kind of place. And I believe readers can be built--because I know

we have an unlimited number of invitations to this party."

--Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, in

Time magazine's "The Art of Optimism" special issue

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39751264

"My fellow booksellers are

generous with their time and their knowledge. They don't hesitate to

lend a hand to a fellow bookseller. They constantly try to make the tent

larger so more of us, and those who are different than we are, can not

only fit but thrive. The knowledge sharing, the Spanish-language book

drive to send books to people at the border, the numerous seminars on

ways to facilitate conversations across society's various divides found

at Winter Institute make me proud to be a part of this profession."

--Catherine Weller, co-owner of Weller Book Works

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39632943, Salt Lake City, Utah, in her opening essay for yesterday's store e-newsletter

Margaret Atwood is certainly in the news a lot lately. Here is some news on season 3 of her program based on one of the great feminist novels of the 20th century.

TV: The Handmaid's Tale, Season 3

A new trailer debuted during Super Bowl LIII for the third season of The

Handmaid's Tale

<http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39662550,

the hit Hulu series based on Margaret Atwood's novel. The teaser painted

"a bleak, fire-filled picture of the Republic of Gilead," Deadline

reported, noting that the trailer bears similarities to Ronald Reagan's

1984 "It's Morning in America" presidential campaign ad.

The Handmaid's Tale "will venture further from the novel in Season 3,"

Deadline wrote. New cast members include Christopher Meloni (Law &

Order: Special Victims Unit) and Elizabeth Reaser (The Haunting of Hill

House), who join series regulars Elisabeth Moss, Amanda Brugel, Joseph

Fiennes, Alexis Bledel, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle, Max

Minghella, Samira Wiley and Bradley Whitford.

Bruce Miller serves as showrunner and an executive producer of the

series, which is also executive produced by Warren Littlefield, Moss,

Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Ilene Chaiken, Eric Tuchman and Mike Barker.

'State of the Bookstore Address'

"Friends, readers, Washingtonians, lend me your ears. I come not to

praise Amazon, but to bury it.

"In the year of our Lord, 2018, we faced challenges great and

small -- friends and allies of ours faded away (R.I.P. Riverby Books),

and our mortal enemy announced plans to build a new base just across the

river in Crystal City.... And yet, as I stand here today, the state of

our bookstore has never been stronger....

"But I will tell you this, readers: we will not go gentle into that good

night. We will rage against the dying of the light! When Amazon's drones

hover above this fair city, we will climb to the rooftops, slingshots in

hand! We will marshal an army of loyal readers against the

homogenization of our neighborhoods by the bourgeois banality of

developers! And finally, in 2019, we call upon all independent

bookstores in D.C. to unite under the banner of D.C. statehood!"

Awesome! More bookstore love from my home state of Iowa!

Iowa Bookstore Owner Buys Bookstore Down the Block

Kate Rattenborg, owner of the general bookstore Dragonfly Books

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39688984, Decorah, Iowa, has bought Master's Touch http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39688985, the Christian

book and gift store that is on the same block as Dragonfly, from Shari

Brink, who purchased Master's Touch in 2013.

"It is important to keep our main street retail businesses strong," said

Rattenborg. "Master's Touch has a loyal customer base, and I'm

appreciative of the opportunity to own and manage this business in

addition to Decorah's indie bookstore, Dragonfly Books."

Rattenborg, who founded Dragonfly in 2011 and is president of the

Midwest Booksellers Association, added on Facebook: "So... some folks

buy cars or go on vacations for their birthdays... this is what I did!"

Brink, who sold the business in order to spend more time with her

growing family, said, "I am so excited that Kate is the new owner. The

retail knowledge and experience that she brings to Master's Touch is a

true gift, and I look forward to the great things she will do, not only

for Master's Touch, but for downtown Decorah as a whole.... It has been

a great experience owning Master's Touch and being part of downtown

Decorah for the past five plus years. I am so thankful for great

employees and all the wonderful customers who made this possible.

Support from family and friends has been an incredible blessing as well.

Thank you to all who were part of this journey with me."

Rattenborg plans to make some renovations at Master's Touch and will

retain two longtime employees and cross-train her staff from Dragonfly

Books. "I will be relying on the expertise of our longtime employees to

help me absorb the differences in running the two separate, yet related,

businesses," she said. "I will be splitting my time between the two

stores, and I look forward to meeting new customers, and continuing the

mission of Master's Touch.... My staff and I want to provide a safe and

comfortable spot for the community."

Rattenborg worked for 20 years as a college/university librarian in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Minneapolis before moving back to her hometown

of Decorah with her daughters after the unexpected death of her husband.

She has served on many local boards, including five years on the Chamber

of Commerce board. She reported that in the past few days, "many, many

folks have stopped by to say thank you for purchasing the business and

keeping it open." She noted that Decorah, in the Driftless Area of

northeastern Iowa, has a strong shop local community and robust tourism.

We've had a rare bout of snowstorms over the past week here in Western Washington,so,since we can't get the cars out of the driveway, it's been a good time to curl up with a few good books and make a dent in my TBR stacks.

An Argumentation of Historians is the 9th and latest book in the Chronicles of St Mary's time traveling adventure series by Jodi Taylor. Though I think there is a great deal too much sexism and misogyny in this series, I just can't help but read the next book to see what the hapless protagonist, Max, gets up to in her jumps back in time. The prose is slick and silky and the plots zing along well above the speed limit in this series, plus there's that British wit to look forward to in nearly every chapter. Here's the blurb: The ninth book in the bestselling British madcap time-travelling series, served with a dash of wit that seems to be everyone’s cup of tea.

Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, a different kind of academic work is taking place. Just don’t call it “time travel”—these historians “investigate major historical events in contemporary time.” And they aren’t your harmless eccentrics either; a more accurate description, as they ricochet around history, might be unintentional disaster-magnets.

From Tudor England to the burning city of Persepolis, from a medieval St. Mary’s under siege to Victorian Rushford and a very nasty case of gaol fever, Max is struggling to keep her private life intact. There’s an ambitious programme hindered by giant teapots, plus Mrs. Midgely’s objection to dead hamsters in her airing cupboard, and Mr. Markham’s stubborn refusal to reveal his exact marital status.

And as if that’s not enough—the unfortunately not leprosy-laden Malcolm Halcombe is back. Admittedly, none of this is the most secure platform from which to launch an initiative to bring down the renegade Clive Ronan, but hey—what’s the worst that could happen?

I sincerely hope that book number 10 comes along this year and is the final book in the series, because much as I enjoy them, they're outrageously bad books and I get agitated and tense every time the main character takes the blame for everything that wasn't her fault, just because she's a woman with low self esteem, which seems to be an epidemic among English women. That said, the book seems to promise that Max is going to take the hunt for the antagonist up herself in the next book, assuming that she won't mess everything up, as she's wont to do. Still, I'd give the book a B, and recommend it to all the other frustrated time travelers who got hooked into this series and now have to see it through to the end.

The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester was right up my alley, with WWII historical fiction that focuses on the lives of women during the conflict. And I did enjoy reading it, as the prose was nice and tidy, the plot marched along at an even pace and the characters were charming. However, I kept getting the feeling that I'd read this book before. Once I was well into it, it occurred to me that the book followed along the same general outline as many other "women in WWII alternating with chapters about their female heirs today" so closely that I could predict what would happen in any given chapter. It was as if the author also read a lot of this type of fiction, (her work is compared to Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Lilac Girls) wrote up an outline of how these books were structured, and then just added her own spin and got the whole thing down in a "paint by numbers" fashion. as an artist friend of mine once said "Its the school of copy and trace...you just trace the pattern and copy another artists work onto the canvas." That said, Ms Lester, who is Australian, may have done no reading of this genre of fiction at all, and this could be something she brought forth of whole cloth, from her own imagination. Either way, it was an interesting read, full of charming characters that I wanted to spend time with, and fascinating bits about fashion, as well as a theme of exposing evil and festering secrets so that they can't continue to harm you. Here's the blurb: 1940: As the Germans advance upon Paris, young seamstress Estella Bissette is forced to flee everything she's ever known. She's bound for New York City with her signature gold dress, a few francs, and a dream: to make her mark on the world of fashion.
Present day: Fabienne Bissette journeys to the Met's annual gala for an exhibit featuring the work of her ailing grandmother - a legend of women's fashion design. But as Fabienne begins to learn more about her beloved grandmother's past, she uncovers a story of tragedy, heartbreak and family secrets that will dramatically change her own life.
 

Publishers Weekly: Lester whisks readers away to the past in this marvelous pair of intertwined romances. Fearing repercussions from the Germans for aiding the French resistance, seamstress Estella Bissette leaves Paris for New York in 1940. Once shipboard, she meets Sam, a talented American pattern cutter; after starting work in New York, Estella befriends Janie, a beautiful Australian model. Sam and Janie join Estella at a high-society party, where Estella shares a kiss with Alex Montrose, a British spy she’d met in Paris. But Estella discovers that Alex kissed her believing that she was Lena Shaw, a woman who looks exactly like Estella. Fast-forward to 2015 New York City, where Fabienne Bissette attends the annual Met Gala for an exhibit honoring her grandmother Estella, now a famed designer. At her grandmother’s urging, Fabienne spends a weekend in Paris and meets Tiffany designer Will Ogilvie. Will and Fabienne fall in love, but their relationship is hampered by the distance between her home in Australia and his in New York. Their complicated romance is expertly juxtaposed against the story of Estella’s life as she struggles to become successful and copes with the secrets her mother hid from her, including why she and Lena look so much alike. This rich, memorable novel unfolds beautifully from start to finish.

The family genetic secrets and soforth lend a bit of spice to the novel, but still don't set it into the A category for me. So I'll give it a B+ and recommend it to fans of Hannah and other women who have written about women during WWII.

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman is the 5th Invisible Library novel that I've read and enjoyed. These paranormal/steampunkish fantasy mysteries are always fun to read because Irene the Librarian and Kai the dragon library intern (though he's now an ex-intern), along with Vale the Sherlock Holmes character are always fascinating as they weave into and out of trouble throughout the twisty plot. Cogman's prose is very precise and sensible, and that makes her books all the more lucid and enjoyable. Here's the blurb: In the latest novel in Genevieve Cogman's historical fantasy series, the fate of worlds lies in the balance. When a dragon is murdered at a peace conference, time-travelling Librarian spy Irene must solve the case to keep the balance between order, chaos...and the Library.

When Irene returns to London after a relatively straightforward book theft in Germany, Bradamant informs her that there is a top secret dragon-Fae peace conference in progress that the Library is mediating, and that the second-in-command dragon has been stabbed to death. Tasked with solving the case, Vale and Irene immediately go to 1890s Paris to start their investigation.
Once they arrive, they find evidence suggesting that the murder victim might have uncovered proof of treachery by one or more Librarians. But to ensure the peace of the conference, some Librarians are being held as hostages in the dragon and Fae courts. To save the captives, including her parents, Irene must get to the bottom of this murder--but was it a dragon, a Fae, or even a Librarian who committed the crime?

Even Irene has noticed at this point in the series that she's shouldering most of the work of getting things done and solving the case, while the others seem determined to get themselves caught in the bad person's traps. Irene, of course, saves them again, but you can tell she's annoyed that these seemingly capable males of whatever species can't keep themselves out of trouble. I was not surprised, however, by who was the power behind the actions/murders taken to derail the peace talks. Anyone who hasn't figured it out by the time they're halfway through the book is a dunce. Yet it's enjoyable to read how Irene and company deal with the aftermath of the finger-pointing. All in all, a solid B+, with a recommendation that anyone who has read any of her other books in this series must pick up a copy of this one immediately. It's well worth the price.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is a slightly fictionalized account of the story of Lale Sokolov and Gita Furman, both Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau for three years during WWII. It's an amazing story of the strength and power of love in the most harsh climate imaginable, and how being in such a place can bring people of different faiths, creeds, lifestyles and ideals together in compassion and understanding. Here's the blurb:

This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, a story about the extremes of human behavior existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none.”—Graeme Simsion, internationally-bestselling author of The Rosie Project
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

Having studied WWII history and the role of women fairly extensively, I thought I was prepared to read this book and not be overwhelmed by it. I was wrong. I will give it to you straight, if you can read Lale's story and not weep and fall in love and feel deep despair and joy, all within the span of 260 pages, then you're a stronger human being than I am, or you're a robot. I actually had to set this book down, more than once, because I was physically ill reading about the things that one group of human beings did to another group, merely because they were of a different religion or ethnicity. Yet I always felt compelled to pick it up and see what would happen next to Lale and poor Gita. Once I finished this book, I had to take a break for 24 hours, because I was so moved by their story, which is ultimately uplifting. I'd give the book an A, and recommend it to anyone and everyone who has even the slightest interest in humanity, or WWII or love stories. Please do read this book, it's important, just as Ellie Weisel's Night is or Victor Frankel's Man's Search for Meaning is, or the Diary of Anne Frank is. We must not let fascism take root anywhere again. Ever.