Tolkien Estate Disavows Film, RIP Lyra McKee, Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy, The Undercover Witch by Gina LaManna, Magnificent Devices and Brilliant Devices by Shelley Adina

Welcome to my latest book reviews, everyone! I wanted to get started by saying that, while I'm becoming more disabled by Crohn's and the other diseases I'm fighting, I still plan on doing my best to keep up with my reading and writing reviews for this blog, which will, by the end of the year, have over 700 posts! A lot of things in my life, looking back, have begun because I was bored with what was happening at the time, either sports, (the SuperBowl) when I started this blog in 2005, or high school classes that weren't challenging enough when I was 16, and decided to go to the local community college to train for my nurse's aid certification (It's also important to note that it got horribly tiresome to be bullied and harassed every day for being who I am, so much so that I tried to be invisible, and when that didn't work, I just gave up and let them beat me down, realizing that the light at the end of the tunnel was college, where I knew a change in environment/people would allow me to flourish, learn and grow, which it did. I feel awful that the Theater Dept at Clarke is no longer in existence, so that young women in the future won't be allowed the escape and haven that I found there in TDH.)

At any rate, this statement from the Tolkien estate surprises me, because my understanding is that this film is very complimentary to JRR Tolkein and his friends, among them CS Lewis, who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia.

Tolkien Estate Disavows Upcoming Film

The family and estate of J.R.R. Tolkien "have fired a broadside http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40485522" against the upcoming film Tolkien http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40485523, the Guardian reported. On Tuesday, they issued a statement announcing their "wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorize or participate in the making of this film," and that "they do not endorse it or its content in any way."

A spokesperson for the estate said the statement was intended to make its position clear, rather than herald future legal action.Directed by Dome Karukoski, the movie stars Nicholas Hoult as the young Tolkien and Lily Collins as his wife, Edith. It explores "the formative years of the renowned author's life as he finds friendship, courage and inspiration among a fellow group of writers and artists at school," and promises to reveal how "their brotherhood strengthens as they grow up... until the outbreak of the first world war which threatens to tear their fellowship apart," all of which would inspire Tolkien to write his Middle-earth novels, according to studio Fox Searchlight. The film will be released next month.

I'm posting this obit because it has become more and more dangerous to be a journalist in this country, and around the world, due in part to the ravings of our insane POTUS, who doesn't like the press because they tell the truth and expose him for the liar/cheater/creeper/misogynist that he really is. So now we have a new band of thugs in Ireland who murdered a 29 year old journalist for exposing who really loses in war/military action...women and children and young men who die before their time, murdered by the old IRA. For shame, Ireland. You can do better, be better than this. 

Obituary Note: Lyra McKee

Irish journalist and debut author Lyra McKee http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40488018 was shot and killed April 18 "while observing rioting in Londonderry's Creggan estate," the Bookseller reported. She was 29. The New IRA has admitted responsibility for the killing. Faber signed a two-book deal with McKee last April. Her first book, The Lost Boys, "exploring the disappearances of a number of children and young men during the Troubles," will be published in 2020, the Bookseller noted.

"We are heartbroken and appalled by the news of Lyra McKee's death in Derry," said Alex Bowler, publisher at Faber. "Lyra was a writer of exceptional gifts and compassion, an inspiring, determined seeker of truth, and the most beloved of human beings. We are honored to be her publisher."

In a tribute posted on Janklow & Nesbit's website http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40488019>, Will Francis wrote: "Lyra McKee was gifted, brave, kind and funny. I'm proud to have been her literary agent. I started working with her after Chrissie Giles at

Mosaic published Lyra's extraordinary piece http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40488020 about the effect of the war in Northern Ireland on her generation, growing up in Belfast after the Good Friday Agreement. She wrote about the legacy of the Troubles, about a city haunted by its recent past, and did so with tremendous wit and insight. I sold her book... to Faber last year on the basis of a proposal. In that document she wrote about growing up in a 'conflict hotspot' in North Belfast, off the road known as the Murder Mile."

The National Union of Journalists' general secretary Michelle Stanistreet commented: "A bright light has been quenched and that plunges all of us in to darkness... Her death is a major loss to journalism." 

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy is a novel presented by James Patterson, which leads me to believe he's got this special imprint with Little, Brown and Company publishers to ensure that new and diverse author voices are heard. That, and his consistent monetary gifts that keep bookstores afloat, and I have to say I'm fast becoming a Patterson devotee. This particular YA novel, written by a lesbian couple, is a science fiction retelling of the King Arthur legend, and it's brilliant.Here's the blurb via Publisher's Weekly: Set in the future, this inclusive, refreshing take on the Arthurian mythos by Capetta (The Brilliant Death) and McCarthy (Now a Major Motion Picture) stars an impulsive teen female incarnation of Arthur who faces a heartless intergalactic commercial monopoly. While escaping the Mercer Company’s flagship, Ketchan-born Ari, 17, and Kay, her adoptive elder brother, crash on Old Earth, where Ari draws an ancient sword from a tree. With that act, she awakens backward-aging Merlin—now a teen—from his crystal cave and gives him his 42nd chance to vanquish Morgana and mentor Arthur’s efforts to unite humanity. Ari takes little interest in the Arthurian cycle until it collides with her personal quest to rescue her imprisoned mothers from Mercer. On Lionel, a medieval recreation planet and sole holdout against the corporation, others, including Queen Gwen, join the team, leading to a political betrothal that turns into something much more. This and other nonlethal stratagems and romances among people of various gender identities and ethnicities drive the plot, alongside desperate battle scenes and a well-rounded round table. A marvelous mythology remix for teens who enjoy action-packed speculative fiction and genderqueer romance. 

I want to point out that adults can get a lot from this book as well. YA has it's collective genre fingers on the pulse of the next generation, so if you want a glimpse into our actual future as a society, you need to read books like this. I loved Ari (a female Arthur), Gwen, Kay and Merlin, but while we are supposed to believe that this is primarily Ari's story, I felt that the real protagonist was Merlin, who is Benjamin Buttoning his way through time, trying desperately to find an end to his reverse aging curse and hoping that this Arthur, number 42, will kill the bad guys (a corporation that resembles Amazon), unify the people of all the planets and bring sane rule of law to the galaxy. I loved that the book has it's roots in TH White's "Once and Future King" which I read as a kid and loved enough that it started me on an Arthurian book binge that lasted for almost an entire year. Though there's an HEA, it wasn't a clean one, and the messy finale made the plot seem all the more viable. The prose was fun and fast, and I'd have to say that this novel deserves an A and a recommendation to those who want to read diverse and imaginative fiction, not the same old retellings.

The Undercover Witch by Gina LaManna was an impulse buy that looked like a popsicle on a hot day kind of book...cool and fruity and not so heavy that it will ruin your supper.  Here's the blurb:

My mother says trouble began the day I was born, but I'd disagree. I think trouble started the day I crashed my broomstick into an undercover cop car.
My name is Ainsley Shaw, and I'm a Guardian Witch. The title sounds fancier than it is-really, I'm a glorified bodyguard for magical people. I love my job, and I'm good at it... most days.
Except today. While I was flying around town on my broomstick thinking about life, love, and the latest episode of The Bachelor, I zoned out and ran smack dab into the taillights of a speeding police cruiser. Unfortunately, the man inside was a human cop, which made explaining how I appeared from thin air in the middle of a crime scene a bit of a challenge.
Now, the police think I'm trouble-not least of all Detective Hotterson, the one responsible for denting my shiny new broomstick. Which means that if I can't find the real bad guys before I'm put in jail, I'll be locked away for a crime I didn't commit.
However, when magic is involved, things are never as simple as they appear...
This is a full length, humorous cozy mystery complete with magic, romance, and suspense. So grab your broomstick, hold on tight, and join Ainsley for the ride!
 

Ainsley is pretty funny, though  her meet-cute with the hottie police officer is a bit 

much. Still, I really enjoyed the zingy dialog and the  swift and easy plot. A definite 

B, with the recommendation that those who want a break from some heavy reading 

will want to pick up this beach read ASAP.

Magnificent Devices and Brilliant Devices by Shelley Adina are books 3 and 4 in her 

Magnificent Devices series. They're excellent follow ups to the first two books in this 

Steampunk series which I heartily enjoyed. Adina's prose is sterling and her plots are 

intricate without being tedious or boring. Her characters are full bodied and smart, and

they develop beautifully over the course of each novel. Here are the blurbs:

An air voyage to remember turns into a disaster no one may survive.
With her orphaned charges, Lady Claire Trevelyan joins the Earl of Dunsmuir’s family on an airship voyage to the Americas. If she can stay out of Lord James Selwyn’s way until her eighteenth birthday, she will be of age and cannot be forced into marriage. What she doesn’t know is that Lord James is in the Americas, too, with Andrew Malvern closing in on him—and the wonderful device he stole. But when a storm cripples the airship and air pirates swoop in like carrion birds, Claire and the children must live by their wits to make their way across a harsh landscape. Will Andrew ever see her again and right the wrong he believes he has done? Will Lord James succeed in his monumental thievery? And how exactly does Rosie the chicken evade the soup pot?
Tighten your goggles, pull on your gloves, and prepare yourself for stratagems and strangeness in the third book in the series, Magnificent Devices!

A lady of resources has the power to change the world--if she can stay alive long enough to do it.

Lady Claire Trevelyan had been looking forward to glittering balls, congenial society, and relief from pursuit during her stay with Lord and Lady Dunsmuir in the Canadas. Well, perhaps not entirely. Being pursued by a handsome airship captain is rather diverting, especially when it appears her erstwhile employer, Andrew Malvern, is becoming much too distracted by a certain blond mechanic.

But a shot fired in the night puts an end to such diversions, and instead plunges her and her orphaned band of children into a fight for their very survival. Between secret conversations at the highest levels of society and skullduggery in the diamond mines, Claire must discover who is behind a series of alarming attempts on her friends' lives--before her mother is compelled to make funeral arrangements yet again.

Thought this is a SPOILER, I have to say I am so glad that Lady Claire is finally rid of the odious Lord James S, who was a misogynist and a creep. That said, the whole triangle with Claire and Malvern and the adopted daughter of a local thug, Alice, gets old, fast. Malvern seems to not know his own heart, and keeps sending mixed signals to both women, which is reprehensible, in my opinion, and makes him worthy of neither. But there seems to be a need on the part of the author to "pair up" her main female characters, or at least for them to have a love interest. Perhaps that is due to the time (19th century) that they live in, with its restrictive mores about women. AT any rate, it's fascinating to watch the street children that Lady Claire is raising doing their best to grow up and find their place in society and the world. I find their attachment to Rosie the chicken hilarious, and the various devices they come up with, despite the attempts of society to use them for ill intent, are also wonderous. I have three more books coming to me in the mail tomorrow, and though I am currently reading another book about Russian and American women during WW1, I don't think I will be able to resist putting it on hold while I catch up with the Lady and her "flock" of London orphans. These tantalizing novels deserve an A, and a recommendation to anyone who enjoys Steampunk or a ripping good yarn. 

Bookshops in UK and in US on the Rise, Wonder, the Musical, RIP Gene Wolfe, Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel, The Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes, and Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

The tragic news this week is the fire that burned part of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, though most of the priceless art work and the stained glass windows were saved, thank God. Many on Facebook posted photos of the fire, but also posted illustrations of the hunchback of Notre Dame crying against his beloved spires. Still, there has been a very successful campaign to gather money to rebuild the burned parts, and the plans to renovate to bring the cathedral back to its former glory are already in hand. 

Meanwhile, in Britain and in the US, more bookstores and bookshops are opening than ever before. So there is optimism about the future of print books, it seems.

 British Bookshops Defy Negative High Street Trends

Although a record number of small retailers closed in Britain last year--an average of 16 stores a day--bookshops "are bucking the trend http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40352524," the Bookseller reported. A record net 2,481 stores disappeared from Great Britain's top 500 high streets in 2018. In total, 3,372 shops opened, compared to 5,833 closures. (2017 net loss: -1,772 stores), according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company.

Despite the widespread decline, "bookshops took second spot of the biggest growth categories after gyms with ice cream parlors. Bookshops reported a net change of 18 units with 42 openings and 24 closures," the Bookseller wrote.

While welcoming the news, Booksellers Association managing director Meryl Halls said, "We are delighted that the PwC report confirms the strong showing for bookshops on our high streets that the BA highlighted earlier in the year, and we continue to be immensely proud of the hard work and creativity by booksellers that has led to this situation...

"Booksellers are creative and deft, but they can't save high streets by themselves. We need to work in collaborations and civic partnerships with others to ensure our high streets survive and flourish, and we need government to recognize the enormous part high street retail plays in the culture and economy of the U.K. and act to support it, partly through business rates reform, which currently clearly unfairly favors online and out of town retail."

Indie Bookstores 'Thriving and Growing'

Indies in neighborhoods across the U.S. "are places to discover new books and make new friendships," Voice of America noted in a piece headlined "U.S. Independent Bookstores Thriving and Growing http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40352533." Despite two decades of big box and online competition, "about 10 years ago something remarkable happened as indie bookstores came back to life, many thriving and growing every year."

"I do think it's a special place for people to come," said Lelia Nebeker, the book buyer at One More Page Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40352534, Arlington, Va. "When people come in and share their experiences about a book or an author, it can foster a sense of community where people can meet other people who share their interests."

At Hooray for Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40352535 in Alexandria, Va., owner Ellen Klein attributed part of her success to providing a wide variety of books for the diverse neighborhood: "In this community we have a lot of mixed race families, and so we're trying to serve them as well, and it's wonderful seeing more books with mixed race characters....

"We are a place where you can come for events, you can meet authors, get books signed, and buy books you might not necessarily stumble upon on your own.... We're going to keep doing what we do well, and hope that our community loves having us around enough to support us."

 I enjoyed this book and the movie made from it, so I was delighted to read that they're making a musical from it that will be on Broadway.

On Stage: Wonder Musical

R.J. Palacio's bestselling children's novel Wonder http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40379963, which was adapted by Lionsgate into a hit movie, "may be heading to Broadway," Playbill reported. Tony-winning producer Jill Furman (Hamilton) has signed on as lead producer for a stage musical version of the book. A creative team will be announced at a later date.

"I am beyond happy and grateful that Wonder is being adapted for theatre by this incredible team," said Palacio. "What I've always loved the most about musical theatre is its timelessness--its ability to resonate around the world and across generations. That Wonder and its message of kindness is to become part of that canon for the ages is, quite literally, a dream come true."

Furman added, "R.J.'s indelible characters leapt off the page, and I wept through the movie. I couldn't help but feel there was a musicality to the characters' voices and their story. At a time when 'otherness' is under attack, Wonder celebrates difference in a beautiful way that we should all admire and emulate."

 Yet another author has died, the talented Gene Wolfe. RIP Grand Master Wolfe.

Obituary Note: Gene Wolfe

Science fiction/fantasy author Gene Wolfe http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40382110, who wrote more than 30 novels including his best-known work, the Book of the New Sun series, died on Sunday, Tor reported. He was 87. Published from 1980 to 1983, the books in the tetralogy won British Science Fiction, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Locus, Nebula and Campbell Memorial Awards. In a 1998 poll, the readers of Locus magazine considered the series as a single entry and ranked it third among fantasy novels published before 1990, following only the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Wolfe won the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award in 1989, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1996, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2012, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him a Grand Master. Wolfe's other series include the Book of the Long Sun, the Book of the Short Sun and the Wizard Knight.

"Wolfe's fans include Michael Swanwick, Neil Gaiman, Patrick O'Leary, Ursula K. Le Guin, and many, many more, and he was praised for his exciting prose and depth of character," Tor wrote. "He leaves behind an impressive body of work, but nonetheless, he will be dearly missed."

"I was going to see him in Peoria on Wednesday, and now I never will," Neil Gaiman tweeted adding a link to a 2011 Guardian piece http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40382113 in which he had written: "I've met too many of my heroes, and these days I avoid meeting the few I have left, because the easiest way to stop having heroes is to meet them, or worse, have dinner with them. But Gene Wolfe remains a hero to me. He's just turned 80, looks after his wife Rosemary, and is still writing deep, complex, brilliant fiction that slips between genres. He's my hero because he keeps trying new ways of writing and because he remains as kind and as patient with me as he was when I was almost a boy. He's the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy--possibly the finest living American writer. Most people haven't heard of him. And that doesn't bother Gene in the slightest. He just gets on with writing the next book."

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts is the engaging and fascinating story of Maud and L Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz books and his wife. Maud Gage Baum was raised in an unusual household with a feminist/sufferagette mother who wanted her daughters to be independent and get a college education. While Maud and her sister both struggled to live up to their mother's expectations that they not settle for the drab life of a wife and mother, both women succumb to love and the lure of family life and get married and have children before either can graduate from college. Mauds life with Frank is something of a roller coaster, but when she hears of the movie being made of her husband's Wizard of Oz book in 1938-39, though she's nearing 80, she travels to the set to see if she can help the studio big wigs and writers stay true to the beloved classic book. She meets and befriends a young Judy Garland on the set of the film, and helps her navigate the shark infested waters of Hollywood. Here's the blurb: Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husband’s masterpiece for the screen, seventy-seven-year-old Maud Gage Baum sets about trying to finagle her way onto the set. Nineteen years after Frank’s passing, Maud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the book—because she’s the only one left who knows its secrets.

But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of “Over the Rainbow,” Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life story, from her youth as a suffragette’s daughter to her coming of age as one of the first women in the Ivy League, from her blossoming romance with Frank to the hardscrabble prairie years that inspired The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Judy reminds Maud of a young girl she cared for and tried to help in South Dakota, a dreamer who never got her happy ending. Now, with the young actress under pressure from the studio as well as her ambitious stage mother, Maud resolves to protect her—the way she tried so hard to protect the real Dorothy.

The author of two New York Times bestselling nonfiction books, The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, Elizabeth Letts is a master at discovering and researching a rich historical story and transforming it into a page-turner. Finding Dorothy is the result of Letts’s journey into the amazing lives of Frank and Maud Baum. Written as fiction but based closely on the truth, Elizabeth Letts’s new book tells a story of love, loss, inspiration, and perseverance, set in America’s heartland.

Lett's prose is brilliant, and her mesmerizing blend of historical background and fictional conversations makes the plot whiz by like a firefly. I only wish we could have found out, during the story, what happened to Maud's sister and her niece, Magdalene, who grew up in a hardscrabble area of the Dakotas. Anyway, I loved this book almost as much as I loved the Wizard of Oz movie, which I first saw when I was only 4 years old in 1965 (the author notes that she also saw it when she was 4 in 65, what a coincidence!). I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who loved the books or the movie, or was inspired by them to let their imagination run free.

The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel was mislabeled as regular fiction, when in reality the author turns it into "inspirational fiction" (meaning it's Christian religious fiction) 2/3 of the way through the novel, which nearly ruined it for me, as I don't like stories ramming religious messages down my throat as a reader. Shame on this publisher for trying to pass this offensive tale off as regular fiction! That said, prior to the religious messages, the novel wasn't too bad. It was a rather stereotypical representation of women and romance and abusive relationships, however. But I did feel that the main character, Sophie, was healing from the trauma of her abusive husband who died in an accident. Ginny Rose, the secondary protagonist, seemed like quite a wimp to me, however, and a blind one at that if she didn't see that her husband running off to London to "find himself" was merely an excuse for starting up a new adulterous relationship while leaving Ginny in charge of his failing bookstore. I didn't feel that Ginny's husband deserved any forgiveness for his horrible treatment of his wife, but her complete innocence strained my credulity. Here's the blurb:

As a counselor, Sophia Barrett is trained to help people cope with their burdens. But when she meets a new patient whose troubles mirror her own, she realizes she hasn’t dealt with the pain of her recent past. After making a snap decision to get away for the summer, Sophia moves overseas to an apartment above a charming bookstore in Cornwall, England. She is hopeful she will find peace there surrounded by her favorite thing: great literature.
Bookstore owner Ginny Rose is desperate to save her business without asking for help from a husband who’s decided to take a break from their marriage. Ginny never imagined she’d be solely responsible for keeping afloat her husband’s dream, but the unexpected friendship with her new renter has her feeling more optimistic. Between the two of them—and Ginny’s brother-in-law, William—the bookstore might stand a chance.
Then Sophia finds a notebook in the bookstore that contains journal entries from Emily Fairfax, a governess who lived in Cornwall more than 150 years ago. Sophia learns that Emily harbored a secret passion for becoming an authoress—as well as a deep love for her childhood friend, Edward, whose station she dared not dream to touch.
Eager to know more of Emily’s story, Sophia goes on a quest—dragging Ginny and William with her—to discover the heart of the woman behind the beautiful entries. Soon Ginny’s need to save the bookstore becomes more than a way to save her marriage, and Sophia finds new purpose of her own. Together they find that sometimes both heartache and hope can reach across the centuries.

 I found the story within the story conceit more interesting than the lives of the

protagonists, and though I knew what was coming, I loved the reveal of who Emily 

Fairfax really was.I'd give this book a C+, mainly for the religious stuff clumsily 

woven into the story. I'd recommend it to those who enjoy a romance and English

history. 

The Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes is another book that was a disappointment, though it also takes place in a small English village. I’ve read 4 of Moyes other books, and I am always surprised when her storytelling doesn’t live up to the standard she set with the wonderful “Me Before You.”  Though that novel tells a tale of regular people, this book outlines the lives of some of the snobbish and awful aristocracy, and the regular people who marry into their families (and help clean up the gene pool, IMHO). Here’s the blurb via Publisher’s Weekly: Moyes moves forward from her Me Before You trilogy with an emotionally luscious, freestanding novel about generations of mothers and daughters navigating grief and the satisfaction of self-discovery. Suzanna Peacock lives in a small town in Suffolk near the estate of the family from whom she has estranged herself, and struggles with an unsettled marriage and pressure to have a baby. Despite her awkwardness with people, she opens a quirky coffee and curio shop. A young mother in an abusive relationship and an Argentinian male midwife become her close friends at the shop, but she keeps even from them her inner turmoil about her relationships to her missing birth mother, wild debutante Athene Forster, and to Vivi Fairley-Hulme, the mother who raised her. Moyes moves back and forth though the timeline to tell Suzanne and Vivi’s stories with profound sympathy. Though this is not a romance novel like Moyes’s previous works, it maintains their legacy of diving into the emotions of desire and connection, and a spirit of optimism and setting the world right.

I don’t think it maintains the legacy of her previous works at all, and I have to say that I didn’t really like anyone in this book except poor old spineless slave Vivi, who puts up with her hideous mother in law and her wimpy, distracted husband, as well as her ungrateful, nasty children. If I were Vivi, I would have bought myself a plane ticket to somewhere sunny and just left them all to their own devices. Instead, she constantly takes care of everyone’s needs but her own, and puts up with all kinds of verbal abuse from all corners. It is only toward the end that she finally gets some help with her vile MIL, but even then, the daughter she raised as her own is a complete idiot and treats her Vivi like dirt, while never seeming to know what the hell she wants from life. Ugh. I would give this book a C, and that’s being generous, and only recommend it to those who believe in this classist BS that is misogynistic as hell.

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner was, by contrast, a thoroughly delightful story about two young women whose friendship binds them on a journey of self discovery. Here’s the blurb: Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six.
But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show's guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder.

Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he'll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too.
As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous...and momentous.

I laughed my butt off one minute and the next I’d be misty eyed, so this tale pulls out all the stops on what teenagers call “The feels.” Though I understand why she needed to meet her father to ascertain why he abandoned Delia and her mentally ill mother, I knew he would turn out to be one of those cowards who, when something goes wrong with a partner in any relationship, cuts and runs like a asshat. I really felt for Delia, as I know what it is like to try and gussy up some family horror with stories you make up in your head to make living with it more palatable. I also understood Josie’s need to get away from the limiting public access format and spread her wings for the sake of her career. Because my husband is a huge fan of old crappy horror films (he never finds them laughable, no matter how awful they are), I could just imagine these two young women introducing the films and making skits around them, like the old “coffin cornballs” of the 60s and 70s that we used to watch on Saturday night. Zentner’s prose is witty and wonderful, and his plot shiny and sure. I’d give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone looking for excellent storytelling and insights into the old horror movie hosts of yesteryear.

Looking for Alaska/Nancy Drew TV series, Lady of Devices and Her Own Devices by Shelley Adina, The Weight of the Stars by K.Ancrum and The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear

I watched some interesting movies tonight, the best being "Mortal Engines" which is based on some YA books that I thought I'd read, only to discover that I had mistaken the title for Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments YA series, which involves Shadowhunters, demons, angels and is completely different than this dystopian steampunk movie. Perhaps because I've not read the books, I enjoyed the Mortal Engines for its simple storyline with the romantic subplot, and I was thrilled that the lead bad guy was played by the wonderful Hugo Weaving. I adore his acting and his gravely voice that purrs through his lines with menace and antipathy. I gather it wasn't a popular movie in the theaters, and that the readers of the book series hated it as well. That's okay, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just happen to disagree. I think others who are into steampunk fantasy will like the movie as well. 

Meanwhile, here are two books that are going to be made into TV series that I am really excited about...I loved nearly all of John Green's books, and Nancy Drew was my jam when I was about 7-8 years old. I read all of her books that were in the Mt Pleasant Library. Once I turned 10, I felt that I'd outgrown Nancy, so I left her behind for serious science fiction, fantasy and the odd bit of literature and folklore/mythology. 

TV: Looking for Alaska; CW's Nancy Drew

Timothy Simons (Veep) and Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) will be series regulars opposite Charlie Plummer and Kristine Froseth in Looking for Alaska http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40321602, Hulu's eight-episode limited series based on John Green's novel, Deadline reported. The project, which has begun production, comes from Paramount Television and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's Fake Empire.

Pamela Sue Martin, who starred in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, the first TV series adaptation of the Nancy Drew books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40321603 that ran from 1977-79 on ABC, has been cast as a guest star in the pilot episode of the CW network's new series, "giving a nod to the TV history of the iconic character," Deadline reported. Martin "will appear alongside newcomer Kennedy McMann, who is taking the mantle of playing the amateur detective."

Written by Noga Landau, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and directed by Larry Teng, the untitled project "centers on 18-year-old Nancy Drew (McMann) and is set in the summer after her high school graduation. She thought she'd be leaving her hometown for college, but when a family tragedy holds her back another year, she finds herself embroiled in a ghostly murder investigation--and along the way, uncovers secrets that run deeper than she ever imagined."Martin will play Harriet Grosset, a psychic who offers her talents to help Nancy investigate a murder. Deadline noted that the name of the character "appears to be paying homage to Nancy Drew's origins: author Harriet Adams is credited with shaping up the literary character and early storylines, while Grosset & Dunlap was the publisher of the first books in the series."

Lady of Devices and Her Own Devices by Shelley Adina were recommended on the Parasol Protectorate Facebook page as lovely steampunk fantasy novels, so I had to check them out right away! I managed to get these first two books from the library (they don't, for some odd reason, have the third or fourth books in the series so I am going to have to buy copies next week). I was surprised, almost shocked, to discover how well written they were, and how much I enjoyed the fully formed characters that Adina has created with her fortifying prose.  The plots of both books weren't predictable, and once the story moved past the first 43 pages of the Lady of Devices, it got a head of steam and chugged along like a train that's right on time. Here are the blurbs:

Lady of Devices: London, 1889. Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin's son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world.
At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire's talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London.
But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It's not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices. When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his . . . but sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals.
Her own Devices:Escaped lunatics, lost children, vengeful lords, and love. Really, the situation is becoming quite impossible.
Left alone after the Arabian Bubble financial disaster, Lady Claire Trevelyan now leads the cleverest group of gamblers and reformed cutpurses in the London underworld. The lightning rifle she took from a rival gang contains a unique source of energy--and its inventor has been locked up in Bedlam by powerful men in order to suppress its very existence. In order for Lady Claire to understand it, she must consult with the mad scientist ... even if it means breaking her out of the most frightening institution in London.
Then, in a moment of madness, she becomes engaged to Lord James Selwyn, who knows nothing of her double life. He expects her to be the perfect hostess to the rich investors interested in his and Andrew Malvern's Kinetick Carbonator. But how can Andrew stand by and watch Claire marry someone she does not love?

I loved that Lady Claire doesn't shy away from doing what she has to do to protect the street children in her care, and that she is a smart and strong and independent woman at at time when it was very difficult to be a woman in society. The point is made, several times, that sexism and misogyny were so rampant that young bright women were often committed to lunatic asylums for not conforming and becoming obedient, slave-like wives and mothers. I liked that there are other characters, a young Churchill and a brave engineer that they have to break out of a lunatic asylum, who are also flouting society's rules, and that they all travel to Canada regularly because it's a country that provides asylum to brilliant women who want to have careers in science and engineering. I often think of running away from the USA to the better healthcare and culture that is Canada, so I know how Lady Claire feels! At any rate, I'd give these first two books in the series an A, and recommend them to anyone who enjoys steampunk stories with a pinch of romance. 

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum was an amazing book that shattered me with it's incredible beauty. This YA science fiction book was described as poetic and intense, but I didn't realize that I was in for a passionate book written in a very unusual style/format that swept me up and didn't deposit me back into reality until the last page. Several times I got so caught up in the story that I was surprised when I discovered that my tears were falling, wetting the page. I'd never even heard of this title or author until I read a list of new and diverse science fiction books that had come out in the past month, and since science fiction and YA SF/Fantasy have long been in need of diverse voices, (instead of all old white men or women) I felt compelled to check this one out of the library. Here's the blurb:

A vivid, evocative YA lesbian romance about how the universe is full of second chances.
Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the “wrong” side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends.
One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the girls are brought together despite themselves—and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.
Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And now it’s up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more.
The Weight of the Stars is the new LGBT young adult romance from K. Ancrum, written with the same style of short, micro-fiction chapters and immediacy that garnered acclaim for her debut, The Wicker King.

Though it is obvious that Ryann is gay from the outset (and that she has gay friends, and friends of various religions and ethnicities), to me this book didn't read like a "YA lesbian romance," really, because the protagonists don't actually like each other for a good portion of the book, and then, when they do fall in love, its not expressed in a sexual fashion, it is more delicate and subtle than that. They do things for each other that are mature expressions of love, and readers are allowed into Ryanns mind and heart, so they understand why she must go into space ahead of her beloved Alexandria. Ryann is so tough, yet so caring and compassionate that I adored her from the first chapter on. I'd give this book an A, which almost seems inadequate, and recommend it to anyone who likes young brilliant characters in their science fiction. 

The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear  is the 16th Maisie Dobbs mystery produced by the talented hands of Winspear. This one takes place during the London Blitz in 1940, when the Germans bombed London almost to ruins. I've liked sensible, yet sensitive Maisie right from the first, and I feel like she's an old friend by now, having seen her through deaths and birth and romance and pain. Winspear's prose is never stodgy, and her lively characters keep readers turning pages into the wee hours. Her plots are often straightforward, but in this volume, I found that I couldn't figure out whodunnit at all in advance of the reveal in the last couple of chapters....amazing! Here's the blurb:

Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror and survival.
When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice—Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie get out of Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death.
As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend—and the possibility that she might be falling in love again.

Though Joseph Kennedy (father to John F and Robert Kennedy) gets roasted for being the worst American Ambassador to Great Britain ever, (he was, apparently, a Nazi sympathizer in addition to being a bootlegger) I found Maisie's insight into the American mindset in the year before we joined the allies in WWII to be fascinating. From the British standpoint it is clear that America should have joined in the battle against fascism in 1939-40, before the German bombing raids began. However, hindsight is always 20/20, and who knows if Americans would have been so committed to the war had it not been for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941? At any rate, this book captures the whole look and feel of WWII London and gives readers a finely tuned mystery to solve as well. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other Maisie Dobbs mysteries. I can hardly wait for the next installment myself!

The Library Book Comes to TV, RIP Vonda McIntyre, Phenominal Woman on Stage, Chronicles of a Radical Hag by Lorna Landvik, Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg,The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick, and A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

I can't believe that it is April already, and an entire month has passed since my dad died. But the weather is warming, the trees and bushes are blooming and I am looking forward to writing about the four books I've just read this past week. Also, I am enjoying one of my favorite lunches, a bacon, turkey and avocado sandwich with lettuce and a bit of kosher salt. I am also having an "Opal" apple, which is crisp and sweet. So, forward, into spring reading!

This is a book that is on my Amazon "wish" list, and my mother has also expressed a desire to read it, so I think it is great that they're making a TV series out of it. 

TV: The Library Book

Television rights to The Library Book http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40234728, the bestselling title by Susan Orlean, have been acquired by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content, in association with Brillstein Entertainment, Variety reported. Orlean is adapting the book for TV in addition to serving as executive producer. James Ponsoldt (The End of Tour, The Circle) will executive produce and direct the pilot.

"Susan has created a captivating narrative that is part mystery, part magic, and part love letter to the dedicated stewards who fight to keep these beloved institutions alive," said Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount TV. "Each day at the library, the human drama that unfolds among staff and patrons of every socio-economic level--funny, sad, inspiring, unexpected--speaks to the highs and lows of our country right now."

Orlean commented: "I am so excited to see this book leap from the page to the screen and tell the story of a place that's so well-loved and complex and interesting. I've been a fan of James' since his first film, and to have Paramount Television and Anonymous Content as our partners, with their great respect for writers and writing, makes this my dream team."

I remember reading Dreamsnake, one of Vonda's most famous books, twice. Once when I was a teenager and once again when I was in my mid 30s. I had good reactions to it both times, but I remember them being different reactions, as the second time I got more out of the subtleties of the book. I wasn't aware that she'd given Sulu a first name, but that doesn't surprise me. She was an amazing author, and she will be missed. Rest in peace.

Obituary Note: Vonda N. McIntyre

Award-winning science fiction author Vonda N. McIntyre http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40258173 died April 1, File 770 reported. She was 70. McIntyre wrote novels, short stories and media tie-in books, edited a groundbreaking anthology of feminist SF, and founded the Clarion West Writing Workshop. She won the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards for her 1979 novel Dreamsnake, and another Nebula for her 1996 novel The Moon and the Sun.

In her obituary, Tom Whitmore wrote: "In media fiction, she will probably be most remembered as the author who gave Ensign Sulu a first name (Hikaru) in her Star Trek novel The Entropy Effect: that name was later written into one of the Star Trek films. With Susan Janice Anderson, McIntyre edited one of the first feminist science fiction anthologies (Aurora: Beyond Equality, 1976)." She also founded Book View Café, an online publishing collective for member authors to sell their e-books.

Nisi Shawl, a Clarion West board member, said, "Vonda was one of Clarion West's founders, and has always been our fairy godmother, bringing comfort and whimsy to class after class with her impromptu visits and gifts of crocheted sea creatures. She was the Good Witch of the Northwest, a fearless public reader and a stellar private writer who is missed by all."

Whitmore observed that McIntyre "did ten times as much behind the scenes in the science fiction community than she did out in the open. Her award-winning stories, her media tie-ins, and her editing were all quite visible, and important: more important in the long run will be her legacy of support for individuals and institutions.... She was a quiet, tireless force helping bring women's voices forth in the SF community," which "lost a major pillar today."

In a tribute on Krypton Radio, Susan Macdonald described McIntyre as "one of the strongest and most unique voices in science fiction http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40258174....

It is hard to fully express how much Ms. McIntyre meant to the science fiction community. Her generous and nurturing nature has helped launch many a writing career, and she was a favorite at science fiction literary conventions wherever she went. While we are saddened by the knowledge that there will be no more pleasant conversations and chance encounters with Vonda McIntyre, no more guiding words, and no more of her smiles, so long as we remember her, she will never truly leave us."

Another amazing woman, Maya Angelou, will be getting a one woman stage play, which sounds fascinating. I imagine it will be hard to fit everything in her life into a two hour play, but I hope that her son manages it. I would love to watch it, preferably on Broadway.

On Stage: Phenomenal Woman

Maya Angelou's life and writings are being adapted for "a one-woman stage performance with hopes for Broadway and the support of her son Guy Johnson," Deadline reported, adding that the production will also draw from private musings that have never before been made public. The producers "have secured exclusive theatrical rights for key works from Angelou's estate and signed Johnson to help develop the project."

Phenomenal Woman: An Evening with Maya Angelou http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40291942 is being developed and produced by Corstoria's David Michael Rich, who was Angelou's representative for more than 11 years, and by Branded

"My mother lived an extraordinary life," Johnson said. "She brought a sense of passion to living and invested herself wholly in it. What she wanted most was justice for all human beings, and the freedom to experience joy and laughter. We hope to capture her joie de vivre. We're going to include some private anecdotes that will be a revelation to audiences."

 Chronicles of a Radical Hag (With Recipes) by Lorna Landvik is a delightful read that was right up my alley. As a former journalist, I empathized with the newspaper columnist Haze Evans, who had the luxury of working at a small town Minnesota newspaper back in the 60s, when everyone read the local paper and reporters were not seen as the enemy,or as dinosaurs in a dying industry, as they are today. That said, the newspaper Haze (her brother nicknamed young Hazel "Haze" and it stuck) works at has a cast of characters typical of small local newspapers, not unlike the MI Reporter where I worked, and this book not only tells Haze's life story, it dips into their stories as well. The prose, as with all of Landvik's books (I've read nearly everything she's written) is pitch-perfect and allows the plot to glide along like a bullet train heading for the station. Here's the blurb: 

A bittersweet, seriously funny novel of a life, a small town, and a key to our troubled times traced through a newspaper columnist’s half-century of taking in, and taking on, the world

The curmudgeon who wrote the column “Ramblin’s by Walt” in the Granite Creek Gazette dismissed his successor as “puking on paper.” But when Haze Evans first appeared in the small-town newspaper, she earned fans by writing a story about her bachelor uncle who brought a Queen of the Rodeo to Thanksgiving dinner. Now, fifty years later, when the beloved columnist suffers a massive stroke and falls into a coma, publisher Susan McGrath fills the void (temporarily, she hopes) with Haze’s past columns, along with the occasional reprinted responses from readers. Most letters were favorable, although Haze did have her trolls; one Joseph Snell in particular dubbed her “liberal” ideas the “chronicles of a radical hag.” Never censoring herself, Haze chose to mollify her critics with homey recipes—recognizing, in her constantly practical approach to the world and her community, that buttery Almond Crescents will certainly “melt away any misdirected anger.”
Framed by news stories of half a century and annotated with the town’s chorus of voices, Haze’s story unfolds, as do those of others touched by the Granite Creek Gazette, including Susan, struggling with her troubled marriage, and her teenage son Sam, who—much to his surprise—enjoys his summer job reading the paper archives and discovers secrets that have been locked in the files for decades, along with sad and surprising truths about Haze’s past. 
With her customary warmth and wit, Lorna Landvik summons a lifetime at once lost and recovered, a complicated past that speaks with knowing eloquence to a confused present. Her topical but timeless Chronicles of a Radical Hag reminds us—sometimes with a subtle touch, sometimes with gobsmacking humor—of the power of words and of silence, as well as the wonder of finding in each other what we never even knew we were missing.

I agree with the blurb that there is warmth and wit aplenty in this novel, though it doesn't really have an HEA, per se, it's still a very satisfying read, especially to those who love Fanny Flagg's books, or Elizabeth Bergs fine tales. My only small nitpick is that the son, Sam's voice doesn't come off as authentic...he's too innocent and "sensitive" to sound like a real teenage boy (and I should know, I raised one, who will turn 20 this November).  I'd give this concise and insightful book an A, with a recommendation to anyone who enjoys quirky character-driven stories. 

Speaking of well-told tales, Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg, which is the sequel to her wonderful and popular "The Story of Arthur Truluv," serves up a helping of delicious small town characters as well. Though I wept a lot while reading the story, I also laughed and fully enjoyed Berg's wry and dry sense of humor.  Here's the blurb: The feel-good book of the year: a delightful novel of friendship, community, and the way small acts of kindness can change your life, by the bestselling author of The Story of Arthur Truluv
Lucille Howard is getting on in years, but she stays busy. Thanks to the inspiration of her dearly departed friend Arthur Truluv, she has begun to teach baking classes, sharing the secrets to her delicious classic Southern yellow cake, the perfect pinwheel cookies, and other sweet essentials. Her classes have become so popular that she’s hired Iris, a new resident of Mason, Missouri, as an assistant. Iris doesn’t know how to bake but she needs to keep her mind off a big decision she sorely regrets.

When a new family moves in next door and tragedy strikes, Lucille begins to look out for Lincoln, their son. Lincoln’s parents aren’t the only ones in town facing hard choices and uncertain futures. In these difficult times, the residents of Mason come together and find the true power of community—just when they need it the most. “Elizabeth Berg’s characters jump right off the page and into your heart” said Fannie Flagg about The Story of Arthur Truluv. The same could be said about Night of Miracles, a heartwarming novel that reminds us that the people we come to love are often the ones we don’t expect.
I loved that Berg made Lucille's "death" into a clumsy figure whom she regularly tells to go take a hike, as she's not ready to go just yet! Now that takes a certain amount of chutzbah, to put off a deity like death. Still, I think only Berg could make the raggedy angel of death come off as somewhat frazzled and adorable. I was gratified to see that Maddy and Nola, her child, come back into the picture as well (they were main characters in Arthur Truluv). Nola is adorable and smart, as is the new neighbor boy Link, who learns to bake and gains insight into the world at the same time. Great story with Berg's usual exquisite prose that propels her swift and page-turning plots. A definite A, with the recommendation that anyone who has read Arthur Truluv MUST read this follow up book, ASAP. Berg will not let you down, trust me.

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick was the second book of hers that I've read, after reading last year's The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper with my library book group. I felt right away as if the title were a misnomer, as it is really not a library of lost and found objects or people as much as it is a library run by a very insecure, neurotic woman who can't seem to say no to anyone who takes advantage of her good nature. Martha Storm, the protagonist, is a complete wimp when we meet her, without an ounce of spine or self esteem. She grows a spine during the course of the book, which is great, but even then I felt her character lacked authenticity. Here's the blurb: Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people—though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she’s invisible.All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend—her grandmother Zelda—who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier.

Filled with Phaedra Patrick’s signature charm and vivid characters, The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming and poignant tale of how one woman must take control of her destiny to write her own happy ending. Publisher's Weekly: An introverted librarian opens a book into a fantasy world that also reveals secrets from her grandmother’s past in this pleasing novel from Patrick (Rise and Shine). In addition to volunteering at the library, Martha Storm also helps the people in her small, unnamed seaside village with small tasks. With her parents long dead, she lives in her childhood home, surrounded by her neighbor’s stuff that she has promised to mend and store. One evening, after returning from the library, she finds a small package at her door containing a book of fantastical short stories. Inside is a handwritten inscription from her grandmother Zelda, who died under mysterious circumstances years before the date of the inscription. Martha sets off to discover where the mysterious book came from and what happened to her grandmother, the one person who ever encouraged her to explore her creativity. Along with a handful of quirky supporting characters—including divorcée Brenda, bookseller and fellow book lover Owen, and lovesick Suki—Martha breaks out of her shell as she starts to piece together her grandmother’s life in the small village. With a happy ending that is hinted from the beginning, Patrick’s novel is just the kind of charming story Martha loves to read.   

SPOILER, I knew from the moment that we met Zelda that she was gay, and her caregiver was her lesbian lover...I mean it was obvious. What wasn't obvious, and what bothered me about this story was how hideous Martha's father was, and how abused her mother Betty was and yet she never left the controlling bastard, who dominated and emotionally abused her for their entire marriage. Also, Martha's sister Lilian is a complete B*tch, who acts much like their father (Martha finds out later that the bastard wasn't really her father, something she should be grateful for) and is condescending, dismissive and controlling toward not just Martha, but everyone else in her life. These two wastes of oxygen should have been ejected from Martha's life ASAP, but instead they make excuses for their father (he was lonely, apparently...well duh! Anyone who is that abusive, prejudiced/homophobic and vile isn't going to have many friends, other than the women in his family whose spirits he crushes). Martha even takes care of her crushed, spineless mother and her Nazi-like father when they become ill, caring for them until their deaths and giving up her chance at having a family and career for herself. Lilian the snobby b*tch is nowhere to be found, of course, when her sister and her parents need help. This makes Martha look even more stupid and spine-free, but eventually her horrible sister apologizes (insincerely, in my opinion) and Martha forgives her terrible parents their trespasses. There's a modified HEA ending, which is only partially satisfying, and though the prose is decent, there are times when it meanders and makes the plot slow to a crawl. Still, I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to those who like lifestyle makeover stories and tales of middle aged women who reinvent themselves.

A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn is the 4th book in the Veronica Speedwell steampunk mystery series. I really enjoy Ms Raybourn's spiffy and bright prose and her twisty and fascinating plots, which never flag and always keep me turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: Lured by the promise of a rare and elusive butterfly, the intrepid Veronica Speedwell is p ersuaded by Lord Templeton-Vane, the brother of her colleague Stoker, to pose as his fiancée at a house party on a Cornish isle owned by his oldest friend, Malcolm Romilly.
But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly’s bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to her have gathered, each a possible suspect in her disappearance.
From the poison garden kept by Malcolm’s sister to the high towers of the family castle, the island’s atmosphere is full of shadows, and danger lurks around every corner.
Determined to discover Rosamund’s fate, Veronica and Stoker match wits with a murderer who has already struck once and will not hesitate to kill again.

Though this book keeps to some very old tropes (like the butler did it, though he actually didn't) I enjoyed the unmasking of the deep feelings that Stoker and Veronica have for one another, and the truth about Stoker's brother's romance with Romilly's bride. Stoker's brother, Lord TV, is a cad and a jerk, in my opinion, and this book has done nothing but confirm that for me. Still, I would give the book a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes strong female protagonists and handsome aristocrats born on the wrong side of the blanket...and butterflies. I've long been a fan of butterflies, and this book gives some excellent bits of information on them, though the butterfly Veronica is after is, sadly, completely fictional.