RIP Judith Krantz, All Creatures Great and Small Reboot,The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen, Mrs Everything by Jennifer Weiner, Wool by Hugh Howey and Under the Moon by Lauren Myracle

I can't believe it's already the middle of the year and the end of June! Fall, my favorite season, will be here before we know it. Meanwhile, I am saddened to post that Judith Krantz, whose sexy, scandalous novels thrilled me as a teenager, has passed away. I always felt she didn't get her due as a writer because of sexism and snobbery among the literary crowd. Her prose was sparkly and juicy, her characters fascinating and her plots completely engrossing. Once you started a Krantz novel you couldn't stop reading, at least I couldn't, until it came to a satisfactory HEA ending. RIP Ms Krantz, I know that my mother and I both appreciated your mastery of glitzy storytelling.

 Obituary Note: Judith Krantz

Judith Krantz http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41052207>, "who almost single-handedly turned the sex-and-shopping genre of fiction into the stuff of high commerce, making her one of the world's bestselling novelists if not one of the most critically acclaimed," died June 22, the New York Times reported. She was 91. Although she did not publish her first book until she was 50, Krantz's 10 novels--beginning with Scruples in 1978 and ending with The Jewels of Tessa Kent in 1998--have together sold more than 85 million copies in more than 50 languages.

Most of her books also became TV movies or mini-series, often produced by her husband, Steve Krantz. Her other works include the novels Mistral's Daughter (1982), I'll Take Manhattan (1986), Dazzle (1990), Scruples Two (1992) and a memoir, Sex and Shopping: Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl (2000).

The formula Krantz "honed to glittering perfection" involved "fevered horizontal activities combined with fevered vertical ones--the former taking place in sumptuously appointed bedrooms and five-star hotels, the latter anywhere with a cash register and astronomical price tags," the Times wrote, adding that a "hallmark of the formula was that it embraced sex and shopping in almost equal measure, with each recounted in modifier-laden detail."

In response to critics of her style, Krantz told the Los Angeles Times in 1990: "I write the best books that I know how; I can't write any better than this. People think that because I had a good education, I'm not writing on the level that I should. They think I'm harboring some slim little intellectual volume, that I am really Isaac Bashevis Singer in disguise."

Krantz "was renowned for her discipline and rigor http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41052208," the L.A. Times reported, "writing 10,000 words per week and spending countless hours researching the historical eras in which her books were set. Her books often featured working women and themes of empowerment and achievement, complex characters and intricate plots."

Because of her love for reading and writing http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41052209, Krantz was an enthusiastic supporter of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and an active member of the Council of the Library Foundation, the Hollywood Reporter noted. In 2014, she received the Light of Learning Award from the LFLA. In recognition of her many years of support, the Los Angeles Public Library named the Judith Krantz Fiction Collection in her honor.

 

 I used to watch All Creatures Great and Small with my family, and later with an elderly woman I took care of during my grad school days. I'd read all the books, as had my mother, and my brother Phil. Though I loved the original TV series, I am excited to see the Masterpiece reboot, and I hope that they do it justice.

PBS Masterpiece will co-produce All Creatures Great and Small http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41082097, a new adaptation of the bestselling books by James Alfred Wight, published under the pen name James Herriot. The project will shoot on location in Yorkshire, England, and is timed for release in 2020, the 50th anniversary of the original publication of the much-loved books, which have never been out of print and sold 60 million copies internationally.

The six-part series, plus a Christmas special, will be produced by Richard Burrell (New Tricks, Silent Witness). Executive producers are Colin Callender and Melissa Gallant for Playground, Hugo Heppell for Screen Yorkshire and Rebecca Eaton for Masterpiece. Ben Vanstone (The Last Kingdom) is lead writer and executive producer, while Brian Percival (Downton Abbey) is lead director.

"Revisiting James Herriot's beloved stories is an immense privilege and we are honored that Alf Wight's family have entrusted us with his legacy. It is a responsibility we take very seriously," said Callender. "At a time when the country feels more divided than ever, Herriot's glorious books remind us how to connect and belong again. The series will embrace the fun and the nostalgia of revisiting the England of the past, while celebrating Herriot's values that, despite all our current upheaval, still underpin British life today."

Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of Masterpiece, added: "When it originally aired on public broadcasting, All Creatures Great and Small captured the hearts of millions of television viewers. We promise that the new series will have all the wit, warmth, and quirky charm of the original--and of course, lots of irresistible animals."

Wight's children, Jim Wight and Rosie Page, commented: "The books of James Herriot have enchanted millions of readers worldwide for almost half a century. We are delighted that our father's work will be brought to life once again for a new generation of viewers Great and Small."

The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen is a fussy, talky novel that I really wanted to love, but just couldn't. I am a huge fan of epistolary novels (they tell at least part of the story via letters or emails) and I am also a fan of well wrought European/British/Irish Lit, so when I read that this was a novel that contained both, I assumed it would be full of dry wit and lean, elegant prose with a decisive plot. Sadly, the prose is full of every single thought of the protagonists, William and his flighty wife Clare, even if they're redundant, boring and have little use in moving the draggy plot forward. I could care less what these people had for lunch, or their guilty conscience over every stray thought, or their malaise and self loathing. What I did want to know was more about Winter and her "Great Love" and her life, which seemed vastly more interesting, and I wanted to read more of the dead letter office's letters (William works at the dead letter office in his area of London). So even from an epistolary viewpoint the book was disappointing. There was also the tendency, which I often see in European authors, to whinge on and on about their crappy parents, their low self esteem and their inability to decide what they want from life or a partner. Anyway, here's the blurb: Lost letters have only one hope for survival...

Inside the walls of the Dead Letters Depot, letter detectives work to solve mysteries. They study missing zip codes, illegible handwriting, rain-smudged ink, lost address labels, torn packages, forgotten street names—all the many twists of fate behind missed birthdays, broken hearts, unheard confessions, pointless accusations, unpaid bills, unanswered prayers. Their mission is to unite lost mail with its intended recipients.
But when letters arrive addressed simply to “My Great Love,” longtime letter detective William Woolf faces his greatest mystery to date. Written by a woman to the soulmate she hasn’t met yet, the missives capture William’s heart in ways he didn’t know possible. Soon, he finds himself torn between the realities of his own marriage and his world of letters, and his quest to follow the clues becomes a life-changing journey of love, hope, and courage.
From Irish author Helen Cullen, The Lost Letters of William Woolf is an enchanting novel about the resilience of the human heart and the complex ideas we hold about love—and a passionate ode to the art of letter writing.

I don't know why no one told this author that you need to "Show" not "Tell" too much when writing a novel, but honestly I kept having to put the book down because it was boring me to sleep. And when I wasn't bored, I was annoyed with William for being a secretive jerk, and at Clare for being stupid and having an affair just for the "experience" of pretending to be someone else. How anyone with a brain could have thought that was a good idea is beyond me. I detest characters who are too stupid to live, and it bothers me more when its a sexist portrayal of a woman and a man. I can't give this book any better grade than a C, and I'd only recommend it to those who like books that rummage around in the heads of not very bright characters.

Mrs Everything by Jennifer Weiner was another book that I longed to love. Weiner's first big hit was a book called "Good in Bed," and it was a true delight. I read 4 of her other books, and found them less and less delightful, until I read about this one, and I assumed Weiner had back to her roots and written another fun and sexy novel. Sadly, this book contains the story of a Michigan Jewish family during the 50s and beyond, focusing on the sisters, Jo and Bethie, who are not great women. They come off as petty and vindictive and downright stupid, for the most part. I wanted to throttle the both of them, not only for their blindness to their own faults but for the way that they blamed each other for their lot in life, when both women needed to take responsibility for their choices. There is only so much you can attribute to crappy parents and siblings. Here's the blurb: Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise.
Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?

In her most ambitious novel yet, Jennifer Weiner tells a story of two sisters who, with their different dreams and different paths, offer answers to the question: How should a woman be in the world?

 The answer to that question is definitely NOT the way that Jo or Bethie are "in the world" because they both spend a majority of their lives screwing up. Jo is a lesbian who becomes "too tired" to fight to be who she is, so she marries a con man, has three children and only after said con man rips her off, and moves in with her best friend (after having a long term affair with her) does she finally get her sh*t together and find her true love and go to live with her, and, inevitably, Jo gets breast cancer so she's not able to enjoy too much time with her beloved because I guess Weiner didn't think she'd suffered enough with a life in the closet married to a scumbag? And Bethie, who blames her skeevy perv Uncle's childhood molestation of her on her sister Jo (and her mother), can't seem to live without a man and drugs, so she spends a lot of the book in a drug induced haze, only finally coming around when she's raped, becomes pregnant and the drug dealer boyfriend dumps her. Enter Jo, who forgoes a trip around the world to pay for her sister's abortion, and when Bethie ends up traveling all over instead of her sister, she suddenly doesn't mind? Really?
Bethie joins a women's commune, and in a stunning bit of stereotyping (this book does that a lot) ends up monetizing all the jams and jellies and spa products, like soap and lotion that they make, and builds a homemade/commune made empire. Because of course a Jewish girl is going to have a head for business, even if she's only been a strung out junkie mere chapters before. Insert eye rolling here. Jo's youngest is similar to her auntie in her love of drugs and her inability to do anything that resembles getting her life together and having a career. Of course Lila finally does get it together, but only after her mother has died and we're at the tail end of the book. I don't like books where I can't really empathize with or admire any of the protagonists, and unfortunately, there wasn't much to like about any of the women in this novel. Jo's other two daughters are terrible people, one of whom supports her rapist/sexual harasser boss, even against her own sister's experience of sexual harassment. Weiner's prose was decent, but her plot labyrinthine and not worth the effort, in the end.  Again, I can't give the book more than a C, and I'd only recommend it to people who like messy stories with unlikable characters.

Wool by Hugh Howey is a dystopian fantasy that is surprisingly engrossing and fascinating.  It's the story of an underground silo in the far future, where humanity have had to live and work for generations, without the outside world which is barren and riddled with chemical/acid storms that literally disintegrate a human being after about a half hour or so. Here's the blurb: For suspense-filled, post-apocalyptic thrillers, Wool is more than a self-published ebook phenomenon―it’s the new standard in classic science fiction.

In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.

His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising.
This book was more exciting than the Hunger Games trilogy, and with a better plot and characters than the Divergent series. The prose was taut and lean, and the plot brilliant. After the first 100 pages, I couldn't put it down. I loved Jules/Juliette, who was an amazing, strong and intelligent woman. Her ability to figure out solutions in the most difficult situations made my heart sing. I also liked the mayor (the original, not the evil IT guy Bernard) and the original sheriff, though I found the guys ability to want to die once their wife was dead to be a bit melodramatic. I look forward to the next book in the series, and the third book as well. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in thoughtful dystopian fiction.

Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle is a beautifully rendered graphic novel done in black, while, gray and blue tones, which lends it an air of noir. This is a background/ origin story for Selina Kyle, the Catwoman we've watched as a teenager on TV's Gotham and as an adult, played by Michelle Pfieffer in the movies and by Eartha Kitt and Julie Newmar on the Batman TV show in the 60s/70s. It's not an easy story to read, as there's a great deal of abuse and neglect, but Catgirl eventually finds her own family and embarks on a life of crime and friendship. Here's the blurb: When fifteen-year-old Selina Kyle, aka the future Catwoman, becomes homeless, she must confront questions of who she is and who she will become.

She rejects human cruelty, but sometimes it seems as though brute force is the only way to "win." And if Selina is to survive on the streets, she must be tough. Can she find her humanity and reconcile toughness with her desire for community ... and love?

School Library Journal: Fourteen-year-old Selina Kyle's life is in the litter box. Her mother's latest in a string of boyfriends, Dernell, is short-tempered and vindictive. Selina is frustrated by her superficial friendships at school, despite her unflinching loyalty, and dreamy Bruce Wayne barely notices her. Selina rescues a tiny kitten by a dumpster, finding joy and purpose in caring for the creature. But when Dernell locks Selina in a closet and kills the kitten, she runs off, reeling from guilt and anguish, and begins a solitary life on the street. Another runaway, Ojo, teaches her parkour and invites her to join his gang in their latest heist: stealing a rare book from the private library of a local billionaire. 

This look at Catwoman's backstory is dense with plot, emotion, and action. Myracle offers a fresh take on the frequently sexualized portrayals of this character, creating a strong, sympathetic, but no less flawed Selina. Like teenagers and cats alike, she is a compelling set of contradictions; scrappy and vulnerable; quick to protect but slow to trust. Goodhart's illustrations are similarly nuanced, beautifully depicting both dynamic action and subtle emotion. His monochrome blues and purples evoke the titular moonlight and underscore Selina's nocturnal destiny. He displays a particular talent for illustrating hair; Selina's glossy black mane shines and bounces. Myracle doesn't shy away from the grisly circumstances of a runaway teen. There is mature language throughout, grisly domestic violence, and self-harm. VERDICT A sensitive origin story of a beloved antihero.—Anna Murphy, Berkeley Carroll School, Brooklyn .
I fell in love with this scrappy, abused but feisty version of Catwoman, and I loved the portrayal of Bruce Wayne as an awkward child but a protective teen friend to Selina. I always feel that good books are too short, and this graphic novel was no exception. I wanted more at the end because it was so good. I'd give it an A and recommend it to anyone who wonders about how Selina came to be the beautiful criminal Catwoman, who steals Batman's heart.

Chronicles of Narnia on TV, Joy Harjo is Poet Laureate, Little Women Movie, Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride, Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan, Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older and Nevermoor, The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

So this past week has been a tough one as I've had to deal with an upper respiratory infection and a lot of pain and swelling in my sinuses, ears and joints. Now that I'm on antibiotics and a short course of cortisone, I'm feeling better. I can't feel too sorry for myself, however, after watching the movie made from the wonderful YA novel "Five Feet Apart" about teenagers suffering from Cystic Fibrosis and how they manage to have relationships with friends and fall in love despite the death sentence of CF. I cried like a baby after reading the book, but the movie, with the glorious Cole Sprouse, destroyed me. There is an intensity and beauty about that young man that is ferociously sexy. Hey, just because I am old enough to be his grandmother doesn't mean I don't recognize sexy when I see it! LOL. Speaking of book to movie/TV adaptations, I loved the books and later the movie versions of CS Lewis's masterpiece, so I am thrilled to see that a Netflix series has been ordered. I look forward to it's debut.

TV: The Chronicles of Narnia

Matthew Aldrich will oversee the development and creative live-action adaptation of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40996054 series for Netflix. Deadline reported that Aldrich "will work across both series and film and serve as a creative architect on all projects under the rights deal inked last year." Most recently he co-wrote Coco for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, the Oscar-winning film that grossed more than $800 million worldwide.

Netflix and The C.S. Lewis Company entered a multi-year deal last fall through which Netflix will develop stories from across the Narnia universe into series and films for its members worldwide.

One of the few things I liked about living in Florida was the manatees. I love that there's a bookstore named for them, and now a martini! Sounds delicious!

Blue Manatee Literacy Project and Bookstore http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40996039 in Cincinnati, Ohio, is celebrating National Martini Day, which is tomorrow, by offering its own signature cocktail called a Blue Manatini, Local12 reported. The store will have a tasting for the cocktail, which was created by Molly Wellmann, co-owner of several local bars, an award-winning bartender and mixologist, and author of Handcrafted Cocktails: The Mixologist's Guide to Classic Drinks for Morning, Noon & Night (Betterway Home).

In the "its about time"  news of the week, we finally have a Native American as our Poet Laureate. Her poems are beautiful and a tribute to America.

Joy Harjo Named U.S. Poet Laureate

Joy Harjo has been named http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41023047 the 23nd U.S. poet laureate by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. An enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Harjo is the first Native American poet to serve in the position. She succeeds two-term laureate Tracy K. Smith, and will begin her year-long term with a public reading of her work at the library in September.

Hayden observed that Harjo "has championed the art of poetry--'soul talk' as she calls it--for over four decades. To her, poems are 'carriers of dreams, knowledge and wisdom,' and through them she tells an American story of tradition and loss, reckoning and myth-making. Her work powerfully connects us to the earth and the spiritual world with direct, inventive lyricism that helps us reimagine who we are."

Calling her appointment "a tremendous honor," Harjo said, "I share this honor with ancestors and teachers who inspired in me a love of poetry, who taught that words are powerful and can make change when understanding appears impossible, and how time and timelessness can live together within a poem. I count among these ancestors and teachers my Muscogee Creek people, the librarians who opened so many doors for all of us, and the original poets of the indigenous tribal nations of these lands, who were joined by diverse peoples from nations all over the world to make this country and this country's poetry."

Harjo has published eight books of poetry, including Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings; The Woman Who Fell From the Sky; and In Mad Love and War, which received an American Book Award and the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award. Her next collection, An American Sunrise, will be published by Norton this fall. Harjo has also written a memoir, Crazy Brave; a children's book, The Good Luck Cat; and a YA work, For a Girl Becoming.

Harjo told the New York Times that during her time as poet laureate http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41023048 she hopes "to remind people that poetry belongs to everyone" and it can draw from a range of human and natural experiences, "sunrise, sunset, eating, enjoying company, births, death, all of it."

I am a huge fan of Little Women, as it's one of the few classic novels I've read more than twice, and with every reading it grows richer in context and meaning. I am looking forward to this new movie adaptation. 

Movies: Little Women

Vanity Fair showcased a first look at the movie adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41024856, which is written and directed by Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) and stars Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson (Meg), Florence Pugh (Amy), Eliza Scanlen (Beth), Timothée Chalamet (Laurie), Laura Dern (Marmee) and Meryl Streep (Aunt March).

"This feels like autobiography," Gerwig said. "When you live through a book, it almost becomes the landscape of your inner life.... It becomes part of you, in a profound way."

Gerwig shot on location in the book's Massachusetts setting, where Alcott and her three sisters grew up. "It gives gravity to what you're doing," Ronan said. "The physical place really reminds you of the story you're trying to tell." 

The director also relied on paintings from the era "to give the film a vividness that the black-and-white and sepia portraits of the era couldn't accomplish," Vanity Fair wrote. "An 1870 painting by Winslow Homer called High Tide created the texture for the beach scene; costume designer Jacqueline Durran modeled Jo's look after a figure in the work."

"They were just people. They were not in a period piece, they were just living," Gerwig added. "They were the most modern people who had ever existed, up till that point."

Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride is the sequel to her hilarious and wonderful urban paranormal fantasy Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, which I read last week. Our confused and somewhat tender-hearted vegetarian protagonist Sam (Samhain) LaCroix, grows up considerably in this book, and we find out what he's made of as he learns to stick to his own code of morality and lead with his heart, even when no one around him believes he will survive (and they all believe they're stronger and wiser than he is). Here's the blurb:

With the defeat of the evil Douglas behind him, Sam LaCroix is getting used to his new life. Okay, so he hadn't exactly planned on being a powerful necromancer with a seat on the local magical council and a capricious werewolf sort-of-girlfriend, but things are going fine, right?
Well . . . not really. He's pretty tired of getting beat up by everyone and their mother, for one thing, and he can't help but feel that his new house hates him. His best friend is a werebear, someone is threatening his sister, and while Sam realizes that he himself has a lot of power at his fingertips, he's not exactly sure how to use it. Which, he has to admit, is a bit disconcerting.
But when everything starts falling apart, he decides it's time to step up and take control. His attempts to do so just bring up more questions, though, the most important of which is more than a little alarming: Is Douglas really dead?
Necromancing the Stone is Lish McBride's sequel to Hold Me Closer, Necromancer.

Though Sam comes off as too self effacing and weak, especially in the first book, it becomes obvious here that his kind heart is actually his strength, because he understands loss, pain and love. The fact that he shows mercy to his greatest enemy proves that strength, and I found it appalling that all the other male characters (and some of the females) didn't want to support him, but judged and ridiculed him instead of trying to help him navigate his new world as a necromancer. I also found his Uncle Nick and his mother strangely aloof and not willing to help Sam, even when his survival was at stake. The fact that Sam manages to figure it out despite crappy parenting is a minor miracle. Oh, and I think his girlfriend is an idiot, but I won't spoiler you as to why. I'd give this excellent tale, told in springy prose and with a jaunty plot, an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read the first book. 

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan is a summer YA LBGTQ romantic novel that is delightful and inspirational, as it follows the journey of Elle/Lou Parker as she connives and schemes with her best friend Seeley to win the affections of handsome swimmer Nick over their summer vacation in a run down amusement park in Florida. Here's the blurb: Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:

  *  She's landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.
  *  Her crush, the dreamy Diving Pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the Princess of the park. But Lou's never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.
  *  Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, who's always been up for anything, suddenly isn't when it comes to Lou's quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou's scheme to get close to Nick.
  *  And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland--ever--unless she can find a way to stop it from closing. Jennifer Dugan's sparkling debut coming-of-age queer romance stars a princess, a pirate, a hot dog, and a carousel operator who find love--and themselves--in unexpected people and unforgettable places.
I laughed when I read that poor Lou spent last summer as a hot dog, as well, leaving Nick to respond to her name on the cast list by saying, "Another summer in the bun, huh?" But though Lou identifies as bisexual (though she's afraid to come out to her father, you realize he already knows) and her best friend is a lesbian, her infatuation with Nick seems to take on a stalkery cast as she determines that the best way to win him is to pretend that she's seeing her BFF Seeley. Her opposition to the park closure, though the park owner tells her repeatedly that he is determined to sell it, also seems terribly insecure and wrong headed, and more a response to her grief at losing her mother (who fled the relationship and divorced her father), and resistance to change and growth than anything. Dugan's prose is a light and airy confection, and her humor carries the oddly straightforward plot along at a clip. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who remembers what it is like to be a yearning teenager.

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older is an urban paranormal YA fantasy that brings together the legends of the Latino and African American communities of New York's Harlem and Spanish Harlem. Here's the blurb: Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes their first party. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep tears... Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on.

With the help of a fellow artist named Robbie, Sierra discovers shadowshaping, a magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one. Now Sierra must unravel her family's past, take down the killer in the present, and save the future of shadowshaping for generations to come. 

It's hard to describe how tightly woven Older's prose is, and how intricate his plot, other than to say that it's so engrossing and fascinating that you can't miss a word, lest you find yourself losing the thread of what is happening to Sierra and her family and friends. I loved the diversity of this book, and the way that urban art became essential to survival. Sierra is a fierce and wonderful young woman who soldiers on despite prejudice and sexism at every turn. I'd give this haunting book an A, and recommend it to those who enjoy learning about cultural magic and urban legends.

Nevermoor, The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend is a delightful combination of  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Neil Gaiman's children's books, the Harry Potter series and The Addams Family, with a bit of Tim Burtonesque Nightmare Before Christmas thrown in for good measure. Here is the blurb: A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world--but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination.

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart--an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests--or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

Perfect for fans of the Harry Potter series and Neil Gaiman, this fast-paced plot and imaginative world has a fresh new take on magic that will appeal to a new generation of readers.

I flat out loved this engrossing and fast-paced YA fantasy. Our protagonist Morrigan, or Mog as Jupiter likes to call her, reminded me of Harry Potter and of Charlie in her life of being a despised and disposable child, and in her lonely belief that she's not talented, not beautiful and generally worthless. Jupiter is the first person who can see Morrigan for who she really is, a talented and rare person who will change their world for the better. As is often the case with magical orphans, Morrigan builds a family out of those surrounding and supporting her in the Hotel Deucalion. From the giant cat to her troublesome friend Hawthorne, Mog has help when she needs it most, to get her through the trials and into the Wundrous Society. I loved the imaginative prose and the rolicking plot, and I'd give this fun fantasy an A, recommending it to anyone who likes Harry Potter with a bit more of a gothic/Irish spin to it. 

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Two Quotes of the Day, B&N Bookclub Picks Mrs Everything, Cool Idea of the Day, Dime a Demon by Devon Monk, Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Harmony by Lilith Saintcrow and Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride,

I am ridiculously overdue for a new post, but it has been a busy and trying two weeks. Today I am battling my Crohns and what feels like a cold. So, while I wait for my sinuses to unclog, I will post my latest news and reviews. 

I read this book with my book group, and though I had some problems with the moms and the kids in the book, I did enjoy the peek into this society in the 70s.

TV: Little Fires Everywhere

"It's been a little over a year since Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington announced they were bringing Celeste Ng's bestselling novel Little Fires Everywhere http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40964204 to the screen and now we have our first look at their upcoming Hulu series," the Hollywood Reporter wrote. Joining Witherspoon and Washington in the cast are Joshua Jackson, Jade Pettyjohn, Jordan Elsass, Gavin Lewis and Megan Stott.

The book was a Witherspoon book club pick in 2107, "and the actress quickly scooped up the rights for adaptation through her production company, Hello Sunshine," THR reported. The show will be produced in conjunction with ABC Signature Studios and Kerry Washington's Simpson Street. Liz Tigelaar (Life Unexpected, Bates Motel) is the writer and showrunner on Little Fires Everywhere, with Ng on board as a producer.

 Excellent quote, and I totally agree. I love independent bookstores, and wish that we had one nearby where I live.

Quotation of the Day

'Amazon Doesn't Play with My Kids'

British bookseller Rachael Rogan, owner of Rogan's Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40965836> in Bedford, "says that locals send her e-mails with a link to Amazon asking her to order a book. When she tells them they could buy it cheaper if they ordered it themselves, she says they tell her: 'Amazon doesn't play with my kids; Amazon doesn't bring authors to Bedford; Amazon doesn't recommend books when my child is going through hell and needs something to lift them up.' "-Stephen Moss in a Guardian piece headlined "Unputdownable! The bookshops Amazon couldn't kill

I have a copy of Mrs Everything that I plan on delving into this week. I hope it's as good as her first big novel, Good in Bed, which I really enjoyed.

B&N's June Book Club Pick: Mrs. Everything

Barnes & Noble has chosen Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner (Atria) as its June national book club selection. The novel will be the focus of a book club night at B&N stores around the country on Tuesday, July 16, at 7 p.m.

Liz Harwell, B&N's senior director of merchandising, trade books, said, "Bestselling author and New York Times columnist Jennifer Weiner has written a powerful novel that follows an American family across five tumultuous decades and is a perfect mix of powerful, poignant, and funny. Our Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition, with an enlightening behind-the-scenes essay from Jennifer Weiner and reader's guide, gives Book Club attendees even more to think about and discuss."

I love the idea of a bookstore Time Capsule, and I would love to be around to open it up 50 years from now and see how current people react to the things we found to be important in this era.

Cool Idea of the Day: Vroman's Time Capsule

Contest winners Alan Liao and Haydn Schlinger, with Joel Sheldon and Sherri Gallentine. Vroman's Bookstore http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40965879 in Pasadena, Calif., last week held a ceremony to mark the burial of a time capsule in the wall of the store, at the spot where its new wine bar is under construction. Among the contributions were pennies stamped with the store's logo, added by Vroman's chair Joel Sheldon; a letter to future booksellers by head book buyer Sherri Gallentine; bookmark designs by the winners of the store's 2019 Kids Bookmark Contest; and a Polaroid commemorating the event, which was broadcast live on Vroman's Facebook http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40965880 page. Assistant promotional director Gilbert Martinez said, "We look forward to the moment when these kids and their families, and former employees, can be here when Vroman's of 2069 digs up the capsule in celebration of another half a century serving Pasadena!"

This is another great quote that resonates with me. I totally agree with Alexander McCall Smith on the joys of holding and reading a physical book! I just recently read two and a half books on a Kindle, and it diminished my enjoyment of the stories to not be able to smell the pages and see the printing and hold the actual tome. 

Quotation of the Day

'Preserving the Pleasures of the Bookshop'

"When real bricks and mortar booksellers disappear we are denied the chance to browse. How many times do we enter a bookshop and discover an author we've never heard of, or a book that we would never have thought existed but that we feel we would like to read? In a real shop, you can start a life-time love affair with the works of a newly-discovered author, obscure or well-known....

"These local bookshops, intimate in scale in an age of the big and the characterless, are little fortresses dedicated to defending an artifact that survives because we love it so much--the book. Electronic books are all very well, but you can't touch the text; you can't smell the paper; you can't put it on a shelf to remind you of what it says; you can't wrap it up and give it as a present; you can't kiss its cover in gratitude. Actual bookshops survive because we love the physicality of the book--and want a real, physical existence rather than a virtual one. Still. Just."

--Bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith in an opinion piece for the Scotsman, headlined "Preserving the pleasures of the bookshop "

Dime a Demon by Devon Monk is the latest book in her Ordinary Oregon series, and since I couldn't wait for the paperback to come out, I bought the Kindle version, which my husband downloaded to an older model Kindle Fire that he got at a garage sale for $10. I love nearly all of Monks series, of course, so I devoured this sweet book in one sitting, though my enjoyment was decreased by the Kindle's inability to keep the battery charged for more than a few hours. So it would turn off and I'd have to plug it in a couple of times before I was done with the book, which was irritating at best. Still, this tale of Myra and her demon lover was delicious and well told in Monk's excellent prose. Here's the blurb: Myra Reed’s life is going great. Being a cop is great. Guarding the library of arcane secrets is great. Even dealing with the monsters and gods vacationing in the little beach town of Ordinary, Oregon is great.
Then the demon, Bathin, strolls into town and steals Myra’s sister’s soul.

So much for great.

Luckily, Myra has a plan to evict the demon and save her sister’s soul. Step one: shut down the portals to hell popping up in town. Step two: get rid of the pink know-it-all unicorn. Step three: don’t die while teaching Death how to be a cop. Oh, and there’s a step four. Absolutely, positively, no matter what, do not fall in love with the handsome, charming, jerk of a demon she’s trying to kick out of town. Logically, it’s a good plan. But when it comes to Bathin, Myra’s very illogical heart has some plans of its own.
 

Myra is the bookish sister, and in the 5th Ordinary Oregon book, we get to see her secret magical library, filled with ancient books and books that have become embodied so they're walking and talking and making tea. Truly, a bibliophiles dream come true! Then there's the super hot demon Bathin, who falls in love with Myra, though she tries her best not to fall in love with him. Add to that Bathin's mother, who appears as a pink unicorn, and all sorts of havoc and hijinks ensue. I loved the characters, the prose, the witty, swift plot and the entire town of Ordinary. I would love to visit such a place. Anyway, this book gets an A, and I'd recommend it to anyone who has read any of the previous books in the series.

Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis is really more of a novelette or an expanded short story than it is a novel. However, having read two other books in the Harwood Spellbook  series, I couldn't resist this prequel...I just wish I would have gotten it from the library and not paid almost $10 for it. Anyway, here's the blurb: In the world of the Harwood Spellbook, 19th-century Angland is ruled by a powerful group of women known as the Boudiccate - but in order to become a member of that elite group, any ambitious young politician must satisfy tradition by taking a gentleman mage for her husband.Amy Standish is a born politician...but Jonathan Harwood is her greatest temptation. On the night of the Harwoods' Spring Solstice Ball, in an underwater ballroom full of sparkling fey lights and danger, Amy will have to fight the greatest political battle of her life to win a family and a future that she could never have imagined.It will take an entirely unexpected kind of magic to keep everything from crashing down around her.Warning: this novella contains forbidden romance, dangerous magic, and political intrigue in an underwater ballroom. What could possibly go wrong?

This was a slight, but enjoyable story that I wanted more of, but was glad to have read Amy's story anyway. Burgis' world building is excellent and inclusive, and her prose is delightfully crisp and lovely. The plot zips along and you can read this 81 page book in about an hour. I'd give it a B for brevity and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other books in the series.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens has been on the bestseller list for months now, and it has gotten loads of great reviews and TV interviews for the author. I am usually not enamored of "bestseller" books because they tend to involve a lot of soap opera level drama and sexual voyeurism, with lots of gore and usually violence against women. It's almost a formula for certain bestselling authors, and I find it boring and predictable, not to mention lionizing reprehensible characters by giving them a 'cool' cache that is supposed to fascinate the reader (not me, I find such characters disgusting and frightening). So I wasn't surprised when this book began with a child who was witness to constant, continual abuse against her mother and siblings, until all of them abandoned her as a child of four (!!) to deal with her hideous, cruel, drunken father all by herself. Though one of her brothers apologizes much later, (and her mother tries, in a very wimpy way, to send for her once), I could barely stomach the idea of a little girl nearly starving to death and trying to learn to clean and cook for her father and herself without any help at all, knowing that one wrong word could send her father into a fury in which he'd physically and mentally abuse her. Fortunately, there is a local person of color, Jumpin' and his wife, who help little Kya with food and clothing, and a local fisherman's son Tate teaches her to fish and navigate the swamp in an old boat, (he also teaches her to read), so Kya can sketch the wildlife and grow up in their family's tiny shack when her father abandons her as well. Here's the blurb: For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The latter part of the book is taken up with a "To Kill a Mockingbird" style trial, in which the local Southern prejudiced people try to hang a crime on the 'wild' child who was different enough to make them all uncomfortable, especially when the town football hero and rich asshat decides to lie to Kya and use her for sex while never intending to marry out of his social class. I won't spoil the little twist at the end, but I did see it coming a mile away. That said, though it was predictable, the prose was lush and gorgeously poetic while the plot marched along with grace and precision. I will admit that I cried at the end, and I would give the book an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes Southern fiction and To Kill A Mockingbird, or the stories of Flannery O'Connor. 

Harmony by Lillith Saintcrow is a stand alone book that is something of a departure for the author of urban paranormal fantasy and steampunk fantasy novels (all of which I have read and loved). Harmony tells the story of a teenage girl and her father who are  grieving the loss of Val's mother and struggling to get by when they become involved with a strange religious cult outside of town. Here's the blurb: After an accident claims her unconventional mother, Val Smith has to live with her boring, reliable father. Grief and change aren't good for anyone, but Val and her dad are doing okay--until they visit a place like paradise. Harmony Home is safe, secure, and secluded, a place where where everyone belongs to everyone else. For a commune it's pretty okay, at least at first. There are strange things--the metal boxes in the clearing, the Red House where secrets are kept, and little Sarah, who pushes buttons inside people to "make them glow." Val and her dad are honored, temporary guests, at least at first, and it's exciting to be special, to be chosen. By the time Val's uneasy, it's too late. Even heaven can be a trap, and Val's going to need all her new talents to break free...

Warning, SPOILERS follow! Though I was glad that Val finally woke up and realized that the cult leader was insane, she did so too late to save her dad, and ends up on the lamb with her boyfriend Owen and his little sister Sarah and the evil Clover, (the cult leaders second in command) who beguiled her father and got them mixed up in the cult in the first place! While Clover appears to care for Val and the other two "talented" healer children, I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her, as she seemed perfectly okay with allowing the evil cult leader to lock Val up against her will and kill her father in hopes of forcing Val to resurrect him with her powers. If I were Val, I would be looking or ways to get away from the mind control and manipulation that Clover metes out throughout the novel. But all we know at the end is that Clover is driving them away from Harmony home that is burning to the ground. While I enjoyed the paranormal fantasy aspect of this book, as well as Saintcrow's sterling prose and lightening fast plots, the creep cult thing nearly put me off the whole book halfway through. Still, I'd give it a B+, and recommend it to anyone who likes books like Stephen King's Carrie. 

Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride is dark urban fantasy that veers close to horror, but manages to keep within Shadowhunter (The Mortal Instruments, Cassandra Clare), territory, thankfully. Though I found the book hard to get into at first, mainly because the main characters are idiot slacker skateboarder guys who work at a fast food restaurant together and have little or no ambition. These kinds of guys are not my speed, so I got fairly impatient with them at first. Fortunately it's discovered that the protagonist, Sam (short for Samhain, because his mother is a witch) is actually a necromancer whose powers have been blocked since he was a child, and he's now being incarcerated and abused by another powerful adult necromancer named Douglas. Here's the blurb:

Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he's doing all right―until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.
Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he's a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.
With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

First of all, if you can read the title of this book and not start singing choruses of Elton John's "(Hold Me Closer)Tiny Dancer," you are a better person than I. I kept hearing that song on an endless loop in my head during the entire novel. I did find the sexist trope of the protagonist guy having sex with his fellow incarcerated person, a fae hybrid werewolf, and then saving her, (with the help of her big bad brother werewolves, of course) to be ridiculous and annoying. But that said, it was good to see that all the slacker guys were there in force to try and help their best friend fight for his life. What I didn't understand was how his mother could block his powers, only tell him about them when she's confronted by her son, and then do NOTHING to help keep him safe from the big bad sociopathic necromancer Douglas. Seriously? WORST mom ever. The very least she could have done was to unbind him so he'd have a fighting chance BEFORE he was abducted by Douglas. Of course, Sam's father is also an asshat who denies he's Sam's father and refuses to believe he has passed on the necromancer genes to his two daughters, Sam's stepsisters.I did like that the book was set in Seattle and surrounding areas, and that the prose is witty, cynical and very readable, with a plot that moves fast once you get beyond the first couple of chapters. I'd give this novel a B,and recommend it to anyone who likes dark urban fantasy with a sense of humor. Fans of Lilith Saintcrow and Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure will really appreciate this goofy fantasy.

Quote of the Day, TV's Angel of Darkness, Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes,Deadhead and Buried by H.Y. Hanna,Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis, The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal, and Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor

I've been busy reading and welcoming Spring/Summer! Here's a great quote to start things off.

Quotation of the Day

'It Is a Precious Thing that You Do'

"The point of the story is that a lot of you have probably encountered that situation, whether you're a journalist covering books, a bookseller or a publisher and you're deciding whether to champion something controversial.... In the end I didn't stop and that was partly because I had grown up with powerful stories of journalism in adversity; and because I was inspired by those sources; and because I had lived as a kid in books about this sort of thing. So as I embark on this next phase, maybe the hardest phase, of any of the investigative reporting I've done. As I relive that and much, much worse.... As I weather threats right now over this, I'm just grateful to you guys in this room. Honestly. Because it is a precious thing that you do. And getting the books out, and defending them, and telling the story in the media is really, really important. I think it matters to us as a country with a free press. I'm going to tell you right now it really matters to me. So, thank you, all of you. I really appreciate it."

--Ronan Farrow, a surprise additional guest speaker during yesterday's Little, Brown Literary Luncheon at BookExpo, discussing his forthcoming book, Catch and Kill

I read the Alienist many years ago, and found it well written but too disturbing and horrific for my tastes. However, when the TV series debuted on TNT, I recorded it and watched every episode unfold with excellent acting and a screenplay that moved swiftly and in an engrossing manner. So I am glad to see that there will be a sequel with the same great actors coming to TV soon. For once, the screen adaptation is better than the book.

TV: The Angel of Darkness

Melanie Field (Heathers) has been cast as a series regular in TNT's The Angel of Darkness http://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz40878879, a limited series based on the sequel to Caleb Carr's bestselling novel The Alienist. In addition, newcomer Rosy McEwen is set for a recurring role in the new series, which also features returning lead cast members from The Alienist Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning. Frank Pugliese (House of Cards) will serve as showrunner.

The Alienist "was a top 10 cable drama, having reached more than 50 million people across multiple platforms," Deadline wrote, adding that it earned six Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series. 

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes was recommended to me as being an epic adventure of dark fantasy that had a strong female protagonist. I was expecting a short and tightly written novel, and was instead presented with an enormous tome of over 650 pages that could have spared readers a lot of tedium by being professionally edited.Orbit, the publishing label, is an imprint of Hachette, which is a mega media company that should have dozens of editors on hand to make sure that verbose wordsmiths are reigned in, especially with fantasy action/adventure/revenge stories like Seven Blades. 

That said, I slogged through this beast, mainly because I like a challenge (as does the protagonist, Sal the Cacophony), but it was rough going. The story is told from the first person, as Sal is being interrogated by Revolutionary officer Tretta Stern. Sal's tale jumps backwards and forwards in time, but is always dark, violent and full of modern swearing (be warned, those who don't like F bombs!), sex (Sal is bisexual) and drinking. Here's the blurb: Acclaimed author Sam Sykes returns with a brilliant new epic fantasy that introduces an unforgettable outcast mage caught between two warring empires.

Her magic was stolen. She was left for dead.
Betrayed by those she trusts most and her magic ripped from her, all Sal the Cacophony has left is her name, her story, and the weapon she used to carve both. But she has a will stronger than magic, and knows exactly where to go.
The Scar, a land torn between powerful empires, where rogue mages go to disappear, disgraced soldiers go to die and Sal went with a blade, a gun, and a list of seven names.

Revenge will be its own reward.

I don't know how acclaimed Sam Sykes can be when I've never heard of him, but I found his book to be like a John Woo movie, with lots of weapons and violence and death, and not enough story inbetween rounds of battle. I also didn't like the crude and cruel behavior by nearly everyone in the book, and those who weren't were seen as weak and pathetic. From what my son has told me, this novel has a number of similarities to the John Wick movie saga, with Keanu Reeves standing in for Sal. Cynical and violent movies with a high body count and lots of weaponry in the service of "vengence" or "justice" aren't my thing. The prose is workmanlike, but the plot stops and stalls way too often. So I'd give this book a C, and recommend it to mainly guys who enjoy death and mayhem.

Deadhead and Buried by H.Y. Hanna is an "English cottage garden mystery" and involves a young woman named Poppy who inherits a gardening business and house from her grandmother and ends up finding a dead body in the back garden, along with a ginger tomcat. Here's the blurb:

City girl Poppy desperately wants to pay off her debts, quit her dead-end job, find her father... oh, and keep a plant alive. But she knows that these are just hopeless dreams--until the day a letter arrives. Suddenly, Poppy is on a train heading deep into the English countryside to claim a mysterious inheritance. And the last thing she expects to receive is a cottage garden nursery--complete with romantic climbing roses, scented herbs, a bossy, talkative ginger cat... and a dead body.

Now she must solve the mystery or risk losing her new home and the chance for a fresh start. But who would want to murder a gardener in a sleepy little village? Could a reclusive inventor have something to do with the killing? What about the brooding crime author next door? And why is her long-lost cousin so desperate for her to sell the cottage?

Poppy might not know her pansies from her petunias, but that doesn't stop her digging for clues. The only problem is that she could be digging her own grave too...

This book follows British English spelling and usage.

While I enjoyed the requisite eccentric English side characters, I found Poppy the protagonist to be weak and pathetic. It seems to be a theme in a number of books I've read that young British women hate themselves and all seem to have had terribly cold and cruel parents. The prose was clean and the plot easily followed, but there wasn't enough cat and cozy in this mystery to make me want to read more in the series. I'd give it a B- and recommend it to those who are interested in plants and gardening.

Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis is the second in the Hardwood Spellbook series of magic fantasy (I read the first, Snowspelled, several months ago). Burgis provides clean and lyrical prose that moves these swift 'mystery' plots along at a rapid pace. I like the protagonist, Cassandra Hardwood, because she believes in education for women and is a bibliophile like myself, though in her world, women are denied magical training based on their gender. Here's the blurb:

Cassandra Harwood scandalized her nation when she became the first woman magician in Angland. Now, she's ready to teach a whole new generation of bright young women at her radical new school, the Thornfell College of Magic…
Until a sinister fey altar is discovered in the school library, the ruling Boudiccate sends a delegation to shut down Thornfell, and Cassandra’s own husband is torn away from her.
As malevolent vines slither in from the forest and ruthless politicians scheme against her, Cassandra must fight the greatest battle of her life to save her love, her school, and the future of the young women of Angland.

This slender volume packs a real storytelling punch, and I like that there is a lesbian love story as well as the inevitable heterosexual love story and marriage. A light and fun read, I'd give this magical tale an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read Snowspelled.

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal is the sequel to the wonderful The Calculating Stars that I reviewed in my last blog post. Kowal's prose is excellent and evocative without being sticky sweet with nostalgia about the era (the late 50s and early 60s). The plot is regimented and snappy, and the characters charming and believable. Here's the blurb via Publisher's Weekly: Kowal continues her exquisite exploration of race and gender relations in an alternate 1961 that is still shockingly close to our own. The stunning second part of Kowal’s duology picks up 10 years after a meteor strikes Earth (depicted in The Calculating Stars) with series heroine Elma now serving as a pilot to the lunar colony. After she survives being taken hostage by a terrorist organization opposed to space travel, Elma is asked to join the first Mars mission, replacing a close friend and incurring the resentment of the existing crew. For Elma and her colleagues on both ships, contained in close quarters for three years far from family and friends, the journey is filled with tension, joy, terror, and sorrow, including the deaths of crew members and an anxious period when contact with Earth is cut off. The clever details of life in space—from baking challah in zero gravity to finding tricks for communicating privately, as well as the more horrifying practicalities of how to deal with illness and corpses—create an immersive world that will stay with the reader well past the final page.

I enjoyed this book more than its predecessor, mainly because more happens to Elma in this book, in terms of the space program, and there's more about race relations and how untenable life on earth is becoming due to global warming. There's also a lot about the difficulties of space travel and general living conditions in zero gravity. A well told page turner that deserves an A, and a recommendation to all those who read the Calculating Stars.

Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor is the 10th and final book in the Chronicles of St Mary's, which I've read all the way through from book one. Honestly, the protagonist in these books, Max, tries my patience (to be fair, she tries everyone's patience) because she tends to be impulsive and reckless with her own life and eventually everyone else's. That said, she has an firm grasp of history and an interestingly crude and cynical interpretation of major historical events, and with her eccentric/crazy cast of side characters in St Mary's, she manages to keep history on a somewhat even keel.  Here's the blurb:

You can't change History. History doesn't like it. There are always consequences.
Max is no stranger to taking matters into her own hands. Especially when she's had A Brilliant Idea. Yes, it will mean breaking a few rules, but - as Max always says - they're not her rules.
Seconded to the Time Police to join in the hunt for the renegade Clive Ronan, Max is a long way from St Mary's. But life in the future does have its plus points - although not for long.
A problem with the Time Map reveals chaos in the 16th century and the wrong Tudor queen on the throne. History has gone rogue, there's a St Mary's team right in the firing line and Max must step up.
You know what they say. Hope for the best. But plan for the worst.

Of course Max's plans go awry, but there are safeguards that happen to make things come right in the end. That said, SPOILER ALERT, I was once again pissed off about the blatant sexism displayed in the book, as Max is outraged by being double crossed by the time police, but it takes two men, Dr Bairstow and her husband Leon to fix the situation and get Max her son back. Never mind that she could, and should, have rained hell down upon the Time Police (and the female head of the TP) as a mother and a member of St Mary's, but the fact that as a woman she is incapacitated by her emotions and therefore unable to get rid of Clive and get her son back is a bridge too far into misogyny. Since this is the 10th book, I would really have liked to see Max triumph, instead of relying on her father figure and her husband to pull her out of a terrible situation. Still, it wasn't a bad book, and the prose was fun and clean, while the plot ziplined along. I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to anyone who has read the other 9 books in the series, and isn't bothered by the sexism woven throughout the text.