NK Jemisin is Indies First Spokesperson, Firefly Lane and Gormenghast Becoming TV Shows, Obit for King of Hay on Wye, The Hunchback Assignments and The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade, and Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Part Two of my book reviews today starts with the wonderful author of the Broken Earth trilogy, NK Jemisin. Congratulations to her on being named a spokesperson. 

N.K. Jemisin Is This Year's Indies First Spokesperson

Science fiction and fantasy author N.K. Jemisin will be the spokesperson this year http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41565009 for Indies First, the campaign supporting independent bookstores that takes place on Small Business Saturday, which this year is November 30, Bookselling This Week reported.

Jemisin the first author in history to win three consecutive Hugo Awards for Best Novel, all for her Broken Earth trilogy. She is also the winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel and the Sense of Gender Award for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the first volume in her Inheritance Trilogy. She is published by Hachette's Orbit imprint.

In November 2018, Jemisin published How Long 'til Black Future Month?, a collection of short stories that, BTW said, "sharply examine modern society with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption." The paperback edition was published on Tuesday.

Jemisin has already created a video http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41565010, in which she encourages viewers to visit their local indie on November 30, the seventh annual Indies First Day. Appropriately the video was filmed at the Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, N.Y.

I loved both Firefly Lane and the Gormenghast trilogy, which I read about 15 or so years ago. I'm really excited to see both becoming TV series. I will avidly await their premiers!

TV: Firefly Lane; Gormenghast Books

Sarah Chalke (Friends from College) will be the co-lead opposite Katherine Heigl in Netflix's upcoming series Firefly Lane http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41593891, based on the bestselling novel by Kristin Hannah. Maggie Friedman will write, executive produce and serve as showrunner for the project, Deadline reported. The cast also includes Ben Lawson.

Friedman executive produces with Stephanie Germain and Lee Rose. Hannah is co-executive producer. Peter O'Fallon will direct and executive produce the first episode.

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Showtime has given a script-to-series order to the planned adaption of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast book series http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41593892 (Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone) and will co-produce along with Fremantle, "with a writers room set to be opened soon," Variety reported. The BBC had previously adapted the first two books into a four-episode miniseries starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christopher Lee in 2000.

Toby Whithouse (Being Human) will serve as showrunner and executive produce along with Neil Gaiman, Akiva Goldsman, Dante Di Loreto, Oliver Jones, Barry Spikings and David Stern.

"The joy of trying to describe Gormenghast to people is one where words will fail you and that's why there have been people who wanted to film Gormenghast ever since Peake wrote the first book," Gaiman said http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41593893.

"The BBC once tried but they were all making it in times when depicting the impossible on the screen was too difficult. The great thing now is that we can make it and actually show it and take you there. We are now in a world where you can put the impossible on screen and with Gormenghast, you're not just dealing with a castle the size of a city but dealing with these incredibly glorious and memorable people."

I've wanted to visit the town of Hay on Wye for at least a decade now, it's got a top spot on my bucket list and I was saddened to hear of the death of the King of Hay himself, Richard Booth. RIP Mr Booth.

Obituary Note: Richard Booth

Bookseller and self-appointed "King of Hay" Richard Booth http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41622109, who turned the small Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye "into a second-hand bookshop capital," died August 20, BBC News reported. He was 80. Booth opened his first bookshop in the town's former fire station in 1961. His passion for Hay-on-Wye "led him to proclaim it an independent kingdom on 1 April 1977, crowning himself as monarch and issuing passports to locals."

"This town has become what it is because of him," said Anne Addyman of Addyman's Books. "We are absolutely devastated. It feels like we have lost our father, he is such a legend. We are going to have black books in the windows and a week of mourning for the king of Hay. He was unique. He was the first person to diversify a rural economy; what he did was cutting edge in the '60s and '70s. There are now over 50 book towns in the world. Hay is still the best. He was like the emperor of the book town movement as well."

Booth was chairman of the Welsh Booksellers Association, life president of the International Organization of Book Towns, and was honored with an MBE in 2004. He sold his bookshop in 2007.

Hay Festival http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41622110 director Peter Florence told the Bookseller: "Richard was a maverick http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41622111, full of mischief and delight, who had an idea of genius about how to diversify a rural economy with secondhand book dealing and made a life of it. He inspired generations of bookdealers and browsers. There are many people in Hay who are here because of him. We all owe him the easygoing, happy spirit of the town.

"There was a time in the '70s and '80s when he was a tremendously charismatic, visionary entrepreneur who had great fun. He was a book man, and he loved a good deal, but I always thought he wasn't really in it for money; he was in it for the craic, for the party and the good times. And everybody treasures that image of him now."

The Hunchback Assignments and The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade are the first two books in the Hunchback Assignments series. I loved that the first and second books in this series were carried by the library, only to discover, as is often the case, that the next two books in the series aren't available at my local KCLS location. So I will, unfortunately, have to purchase them in order to explore the further adventures of Modo and Octavia.  These are YA steampunk adventure tales based on the classic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo in 1831. Though they take place at a later date in the 19th century, Slade manages to keep Hugos flavor of Victorian England and Europe intact while adding the futuristic steampunk inventions and creepy evil scientists ala Frankenstein. The prose is easy, breezy and fun, which keeps the more frightening characters and plot points from bogging down the entire novel.  Here are the blurbs: A gripping new series combines Steampunk, spying, and a fantastic Victorian London.
The mysterious Mr. Socrates rescues Modo, a child in a traveling freak show. Modo is a hunchback with an amazing ability to transform his appearance, and Mr. Socrates raises him in isolation as an agent for the Permanent Association, a spy agency behind Brittania’s efforts to rule the empire. At 14, Modo is left on the streets of London to fend for himself. When he encounters Octavia Milkweed, another Association agent, the two uncover a plot by the Clockword Guild behind the murders of important men. Furthermore, a mad scientist is turning orphan children into automatons to further the goals of the Guild. Modo and Octavia journey deep into the tunnels under London and discover a terrifying plot against the British government. It’s up to them to save their country.
The Dark Deeps: A fantastic Steampunk adventure in the deeps
Transforming his appearance and stealing secret documents from the French is all in a day’s work for fourteen-year-old Modo, a British secret agent. But his latest mission—to uncover the underwater mystery of something called the Ictíneo—seems impossible. There are rumors of a sea monster and a fish as big as a ship. French spies are after it, and Mr. Socrates, Modo’s master, wants to find it first. Modo and his fellow secret agent, Octavia, begin their mission in New York City, then take a steamship across the North Atlantic. During the voyage, Modo uncovers an astounding secret.The Dark Deeps, the second book in Arthur Slade’s Hunchback Assignments series, is set in a fascinating Steampunk Victorian world. Modo’s underwater adventures and his encounters with the young French spy Colette Brunet, the fearless Captain Monturiol, and the dreaded Clockwork Guild guarantee a gripping read filled with danger, suspense, and brilliant inventions.
Modo is a steampunk version of Quasimodo, the original hunchback, and yet here he has more agency as a character, and is able to change his appearance for short periods of time, which helps him as a spy and detective, to be able to move about in the world without a mask to cover his disfigured face and a cloak to cover his twisted spine and hump. Modo is wily and yet innocent, and though his age might be an excuse (he's either 14 or 15 years old, we aren't sure, and neither is he) he seems to 'fall in love' or 'crush' on the women he encounters with alarming regularity. Modo wants so badly to be 'normal,' to be loved and cared for in ways both maternal and carnal, that its almost tragic to witness his despair whenever his good looking disguises begin to degrade and he becomes the 'monster' he believes his disfigurement makes him. The two young women in these books who work with Modo are, meanwhile, catty, shallow and cruel in their constant quest to see his 'real' face. Once one of them does, and acts with revulsion, we are shown yet again how Modo fights against a prejudice that will never end, at least for thoughtless and stupid young women, apparently. Though I didn't like either Colette or Octavia, I did like the way the books soared to a "happy for now" ending where Modo is once again able to use his gifts for the good of his nation's security. A definite A for both books with a recommendation to anyone who likes reboots of classic stories and steampunk retellings in particular.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells is the second book in her "Murderbot Diaries" series.  I read and enjoyed the first book, though the plot stalled a bit once or twice. Wells prose is surprisingly delicate and glossy, which makes her tiny plot potholes all the more jarring. Still, I found this short novel fascinating. Here's the blurb:

Artificial Condition is the follow-up to Martha Wells's Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning, New York Times bestselling All Systems Red
It has a dark past―one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.
Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.
What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…"The Murderbot series is a heart-pounding thriller that never lets up, but it's also one of the most humane portraits of a nonhuman I've ever read. Come for the gunfights on other planets, but stay for the finely drawn portrait of a deadly robot whose smartass goodness will give you hope for the future of humanity." ―Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous

I loved the back and forth quips and dialog between Murderbot and ART, who really is an a**hole AI, and I continue to love the way that Mbot can't help but save the stupid humans from harm or death. Its horror and disgust at the very idea of the sexbot and her use by humanity is hilariously prudish. This series grows more interesting with each book. I'd give this one a B+ and recommend it to anyone who enjoys AI stories and science fiction mysteries.

Seattle Street Named Posthumously for Barbara Bailey, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Review, Becoming Superman by J. Michael Straczynski, And The Hound of Justice by Claire O'Dell

I'm going to cut this weeks reviews into two posts, because I have so many books to review and because, due to having visitors from Canada, I will not be able to post a review next week at all. So lets get down to it.

I think this is a marvelous way to memorialize Barbara Bailey, Seattle bookseller and founder of two local bookstores. 

Seattle Street Named After Late Bookseller

Last week in Seattle, Wash., Mayor Jenny A. Durkan presided over the public unveiling of E. Barbara Bailey Way, named in honor of LGBTQ+ activist, civil rights champion and bookseller Barbara Bailey, who died in September 2018 http://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41536663. Others celebrating included Michele Hasson from the AIDS Memorial Pathway project; Pride Foundation CEO Katie Carter; and Thatcher Bailey, activist and brother of Barbara Bailey.

The new E. Barbara Bailey Way is at the festival street portion of East Denny Way, between Broadway East and 10th Avenue East, near the former site of Bailey/Coy Books. The street connects the new AIDS Memorial Pathway plaza to Cal Anderson Park and the Capitol Hill Link Light Rail station, creating a gathering place for Capitol Hill residents.

Born and raised in Seattle, Bailey began her career in bookselling at a small bookstore in Sun Valley, Idaho. After returning to Seattle in the late 1970s, Bailey opened B. Bailey Books in Rainier Square. In 1982, she opened another, bigger store on Broadway called Bailey/Coy Books. In 2003, Bailey retired from the book industry and sold the store to Michael Wells. It closed in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis.

At the time of Bailey's death, Mayor Durkan noted that her bookstores were "safe and welcoming spaces for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly for those just coming out and during the height of anti-LGBTQ+ actions." Bailey/Coy Books was also known for its "carefully curated inventory" and "friendly staff."

My mother and I have both read and enjoyed Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, though it was a bit too gross for my tastes. Still, this book is coming out in a couple of weeks, and I am looking forward to getting a copy for my mom and I to share.

Book Review

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death

Caitlin Doughty wrote Smoke Gets in Your Eyes http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41536702 to share what she's learned about the mortuary business and, more importantly, about death, with adult readers. Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death is a delightful follow-up and expansion on that project, aimed at younger readers but absolutely for adults as well. Doughty's continuing experience in the business (from crematory operator to mortuary owner, with a degree in mortuary science) means her expertise has grown. Her sense of humor and fun when approaching topics often considered morbid, however, is her most valuable contribution.

"Every question in this book is 100 percent ethically sourced (free range organic) from a real live child." And children do ask "the most distinctive, delightful questions": We eat dead chickens, why not dead people? Can we give Grandma a Viking funeral? What would happen if you died on a plane?

Doughty's answers are as delightful and distinctive as the questions. She blends humor with respect for the dead, joking around but repeatedly reminding her readers that it's never okay to do something with a person's remains that they wouldn't have liked. ("Did Grandma want a Viking funeral?") Her investigations of ritual, custom, law and science are thorough, and she doesn't shy from naming the parts of Grandma's body that might leak after she is gone. She uses big words sometimes, but explains what they mean; she keeps her explanations simple enough for younger readers, but there are asides for grown-ups, too, including references to Justin Timberlake and vinyl records that she winkingly tells the kids to ignore.

Can I preserve my dead body in amber like a prehistoric insect? First of all, Doughty is on to us: she knows this is really a question about being brought back to life, à la Jurassic Park, and she informs the reader that a second species will be required to graft that DNA onto. "Hybrid panther humans of the future! (This is made up, it's not going to happen--don't listen to me, I'm just a mortician.)" As for the title question, Doughty begins: "No, your cat won't eat your eyeballs. Not right away, at least." (Spoiler alert: "Snickers is more likely to go for the tongue," but only out of necessity, or maybe because he's trying to wake you up.) Will I poop when I die? "You might poop when you die. Fun, right?" This irreverent voice is winning, and pitch-perfect for her younger audience, but, honestly, adults need a little humor as well when considering "postmortem poo."

Dianné Ruz's accompanying images keep the same tone of playful but plainspoken discussion. "Don't let anyone tell you your curiosity about death is 'morbid' or 'weird,' " Doughty reminds readers. If they try to say so, "it's likely they're scared of the topic themselves." This informative, forthright, comical guide to bodies after death is just the antidote--and surprisingly great fun as well. --Julia Kastner , librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41536704

Becoming Superman by J. Michael Straczynski is a gutsy, searing and beautifully written memoir by the man who wrote two of my favorite TV programs of all time, Babylon 5 and Sense8. Though I knew, from the previews and blurbs that there would be lots of abuse and horrors of his childhood revealed, I felt compelled to find out how someone survives such a horrendous upbringing with truly evil parents/grandparents and still manages to be sane enough to create such wonderful characters and fantastic scripts for TV shows. How is it possible to have a strong sense of self and good core values of empathy/compassion and kindness when you've never been shown those values during your childhood and early adulthood? Here's the blurb:

For four decades, J. Michael Straczynski has been one of the most successful writers in Hollywood, one of the few to forge multiple careers in movies, television and comics.  Yet there’s one story he’s never told before: his own.
In this dazzling memoir, the acclaimed writer behind Babylon 5, Sense8, Clint Eastwood’s Changeling and Marvel’s Thor reveals how the power of creativity and imagination enabled him to overcome the horrors of his youth and a dysfunctional family haunted by madness, murder and a terrible secret.
Joe's early life nearly defies belief. Raised by damaged adults—a con-man grandfather and a manipulative grandmother, a violent, drunken father and a mother who was repeatedly institutionalized—Joe grew up in abject poverty, living in slums and projects when not on the road, crisscrossing the country in his father’s desperate attempts to escape the consequences of his past. 
To survive his abusive environment Joe found refuge in his beloved comics and his dreams, immersing himself in imaginary worlds populated by superheroes whose amazing powers allowed them to overcome any adversity. The deeper he read, the more he came to realize that he, too, had a superpower: the ability to tell stories and make everything come out the way he wanted it. But even as he found success, he could not escape a dark and shocking secret that hung over his family’s past, a violent truth that he uncovered over the course of decades involving mass murder.
Straczynski’s personal history has always been shrouded in mystery. Becoming Superman lays bare the facts of his life: a story of creation and darkness, hope and success, a larger-than-life villain and a little boy who became the hero of his own life.  It is also a compelling behind-the-scenes look at some of the most successful TV series and movies recognized around the world.

This was a terrifying and difficult book for me to read, and yet, it was so well written that I could not put it down. It took me two days to read it, however, because I had to set it down and regroup after reading some of the more horrendous scenes of physical abuse and neglect. JMS is an amazing human being, and was an amazingly resilient child who based his core values on Superman and other comic book heroes, because there were no heroes, no decent human beings in his day to day world growing up. I honestly do not think that 99 percent of us, those of the Baby Boomer generation, could have survived in JMS's family without becoming a monster, going insane or committing suicide. Yet nestled inbetween all the horrors, a writers journey to success becomes clear. Writing became his salvation, and his advice on writing is gold, grounded in reality and yet hopeful and salient. Knowing the background of how hard he struggled to survive and become a writer makes me love Babylon 5 and Sense8 even more, because both were glowing with the best that humanity has to offer in the way of creativity, love, kindness, empathy and understanding of other races, creeds, sexual orientations and cultures.  I could also identify, in a small way, with his disgust at the way his Russian heritage was used as an excuse for barbaric behavior on the part of his grandparents and his father. My paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were both full blooded Germans who were also racist, cruel and abusive people, and horrible parents. Because of my proximity to them and their age, I didn't get abused by either as my parents did, which is fortunate, but I can imagine if I would have had to stay with either for more than a couple of weeks how terrible my childhood would have become with abusive people in charge of me at my most defenseless. I am thankful that JMS wrote this memoir, and though it was hard to read, I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who dreams of being a scriptwriter, or fans of JMS and his shows, or the comic books/graphic novels he's written. This is an important book that should become a classic.

The Hound of Justice by Claire O'Dell is the second book in the Dr Janet Watson Chronicles, a Sherlock Holmes retelling in which Sara Holmes is a brilliant black CIA operative and Dr Janet Watson is a black veteran and an amputee and surgeon who works in a hospital in the future. O'Dell's prose is meticulous and somewhat fussy with details, which makes her plot slow to a crawl at times when readers are having to listen to Watson's every thought, which is boring. Still, the introduction to Watson's extended family was wonderful, and a welcome respite from her anger and self esteem issues. Here's the blurb: Dr. Janet Watson and former covert agent Sarah Holmes, introduced in the acclaimed A Study in Honor, continue their dangerous investigation into the new American Civil War with the help of fresh allies, advanced technology, and brilliant deduction in this superb reimagining of Sherlock Holmes.

It's been two months since Dr. Janet Watson accepted an offer from Georgetown University Hospital. The training for her new high-tech arm is taking longer than expected, however, leaving her in limbo. Meanwhile, her brilliant friend and compatriot, Sara Holmes, has been placed on leave--punishment forgoing rogue during their previous adventure. Neither is taking their situation very well.
Then an extremist faction called the Brotherhood of Redemption launches an assassination attempt on the president. The attempt fails but causes mass destruction--fifty dead and hundreds more injured, and Holmes takes on the task of investigating the Brotherhood.
Holmes is making progress when she abruptly disappears. Watson receives a mysterious message from Holmes's cousin Micha and learns that her friend has quit the service and is operating in the shadows, investigating clues that link the Brotherhood to Adler Industries.
She needs a surgeon, Micha tells Watson. She needs you.

Reunited once more, Dr. Watson, Holmes, and Micha embark on a mission through the deep South to clear Holmes's name, thwart the Brotherhood's next move, and most important, bring their nemesis to justice for the atrocities she's committed in the New Civil War. 

Both Holmes and Watson, in these books, are lesbians, and while I think that was a good idea, I found that having most of the characters be gay seemed to stretch my credulity. However, I loved Watson's new girlfriend, who just happens to be a bookstore owner, and I found her fumbling of their first date charming and funny. What I didn't enjoy about the book was all the political rants, and while I realize that Dr Watson takes a stand for "everything being political" and is lionized for it, I get depressed and disgusted with that kind of world view, and I can't live it and stay sane, particularly in this current horrific political climate. I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone interested in a wildly different take on the Holmes/Watson mystery solving duo. Warning, though, you have to be patient to get through these novels, but it is worth the time and effort. 

Next up, more reviews and tidbits in part two of today's blog post.

Children of Blood and Bone Movie, Little Women Trailer, Quote of the Day, The Lady in the Coppergate Tower by Nancy Campbell Allen, Dragonfly by Leila Meacham, The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford, and The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

It has been a rough week and a half, due to a Crohn's flare and problems with my insurance coverage, among other things. Crohn's disease just takes the wind from my sails, and that is after I've taken pain medications and am out of pain. So the bright side is that I get a lot of reading done when I'm sick, but then I don't have the energy for writing reviews. But, today I decided I wouldn't let the day end without giving it a shot. So here are the latest tidbits and 4 book reviews. 

I loved this book, so I am thrilled that Disney is adapting it into a movie. I hope it will be as popular as the Black Panther movie was (for all the right reasons, BTW.)

Movies: Children of Blood and Bone

Disney "is giving a full embrace" to Children of Blood and Bone http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41510619 the film based on Tomi Adeyemi's bestselling novel that originated as a Fox 2000 property, Deadline reported. Kay Oyegun (This Is Us) is making a deal to write a new script adaptation with Rick Famuyiwa, who will direct.

The project "caught the fancy of Lucasfilm and ... its chief Kathy Kennedy is in the process of making this the first feature property to be produced by Lucasfilm since the Disney acquisition that isn't Star Wars or Indiana Jones," Deadline wrote.

This is another movie adaptation that I'm looking forward to, because it is based on a book that I've loved since childhood.

Movies: Little WomenTrailer

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41563300>A trailer has been released for Greta Gerwig's (Lady Bird) highly anticipated adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41563301, which hits theaters on Christmas Day, Entertainment Weekly reported.

"We wanted [the trailer] to feel like the movie feels, which is both classical and fresh," Gerwig said. "We wanted it to feel light on its feet. And even though it does take place in the 19th century, we in no way wanted it to feel like it was something that was past. We wanted it to feel like it was present right now."

EW added: "Good luck not being knocked over by the very present emotion of seeing Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Amy (Florence Pugh) brought to vivid life in the joyous, colorful footage, with glimpses of gentle Marmee (Laura Dern), stern Aunt March (Meryl Streep), and the wonderful, almost-irresistible Laurie (Timothée Chalamet).""It's like their hearts are as big as the landscape," Gerwig said.

This is an excellent quote, and very true! Bookstores always make me feel at home.

Quotation of the Day

'This Is a Place for You to Feel at Home'

"I've been hearing for the past ten years that print is dead, that books are dying, and that independent bookstores are simply a thing of the past. Funny, things look pretty great from our perspective! In all seriousness, I'd like to chat a little about the value I see in local bookstores, not just my own, but those all over the country and the world. It's true, it may be easier to order a book online, but that doesn't make this space any less loved, used, or needed. I do not hate the way books are sold now or the fact that some people just order them with a click of a button on their phone. What I care about, what I truly deeply care about, is that books are being loved, read, and discovered.

People are reading more now than ever before, here you are reading this! I believe we are having a reading revival and if it's from a tablet, a phone, a book you bought online, or a book you discovered in an independent bookstore, I celebrate the reading that is happening--no matter the form. So I welcome you to come on in, find a gift for your friend, a new set of stationery for your cousin, a new book for your dad, and a new journal for yourself. I invite you to join our book club, meet a visiting author, purchase an autographed copy, or simply browse the racks. This is a place for you to feel at home, and that's something we hope to have in common with books!"

--Bridgeside Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41566870, Waterbury, Vt.

The Lady in the Coppergate Tower by Nancy Campbell Allen is a lovely steampunk fantasy/romance that adds elements of famous fairy tales, among them Rapunzel, to create a truly engaging story. This book was recommended to me by the people on the Gail Carriger author page on Facebook. The prose was precise and elegant, while the plot moved swiftly along, like an automaton on wheels! I loved the connections to Dracula and the fearlessness of the protagonist Hazel and her employer (and paramour) Dr Sam. Here's the blurb:

Hazel Hughes has spent her life believing she is a Medium someone who can talk to ghosts. But as of yet, that skill has remained frustratingly elusive. She is also suffering from a reoccurring childhood dream of someone who looks almost exactly like Hazel, but this dream version of herself is slowly going mad.
Sam MacInnes is a talented surgeon who runs in the highest social circles thanks to his family s position and history. When Sam hires Hazel to assist him with his medical practice, he is immediately drawn to her intelligence, wit, and beauty. Their potential relationship is derailed one evening when a mysterious count arrives in London and reveals to Hazel the truth about her past: she was abducted at birth and her twin sister has fallen dangerously ill.
Hazel agrees to travel to Romania with Count Petrescu in order to save her sister, and Sam insists on accompanying her. The count has secrets, though, and the journey grows more sinister with every mile that draws Hazel closer to her homeland. Even as her feelings for Sam become deeper and more complicated, she fears she might not survive the quest to save her sister with her heart intact, not to mention her life. She must learn to draw on gifts she doesn t know she has if they are going to ever return home again.
Hazel and Sam must fight their way past dark magic, clockwork beasts, and their own insecurities as they try to reach her sister in the impenetrable Coppergate Tower before time runs out.

I was swiftly engaged with this book and couldn't stop reading, though I knew I was losing sleep over it. A real page turner like this deserves an A, and I'd highly recommend it to fantasy romance readers and Gail Carriger fans.

Dragonfly by Leila Meacham is a whopper of a novel. Though I realize that my large print edition adds at least 300 pages due to font size, I still imagine the regular type editions clock in at a hefty 500 pages or so. This book was 850 pages and I had trouble lifting it with my arthritic wrist. Still, after the first 50 pages, the book really begins to move, and once the plot started moving it was full steam ahead for this enchanting WWII story. The prose was straightforward, if a bit simplistic, and the plot, as I said, was a juggernaut. The 5 main characters were likable and represented a generation of Americans who proved to be the kind of people we all want people around the world to think Americans are like. Here's the blurb: 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Roses comes a gripping new novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris

At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country. The men and women from very different backgrounds-a Texan athlete with German roots, an upper-crust son of a French mother and a wealthy businessman, a dirt-poor Midwestern fly fisherman, an orphaned fashion designer, and a ravishingly beautiful female fencer-all answer the call of duty, but each for a secret reason of her or his own. They bond immediately, in a group code-named Dragonfly.
Thus begins a dramatic cat-and-mouse game, as the group seeks to stay under the radar until a fatal misstep leads to the capture and the firing-squad execution of one of their team. But...is everything as it seems, or is this one more elaborate act of spycraft? 

Though I found it hard to believe that there were two high ranking German SS officers who were against Hitler and wanted to help the Allies win the war, (and were willing to die for their cause and for allied spies that they knew of but didn't turn in), I still enjoyed the intricacy of the background of Nazi occupied France, of how people survived, of the way that cruelty and murder became commonplace, and love and sacrifice were also the order of the day for people. The mural and the joy that it brings in a dark time was also touching. This is one of those books that would make a great Netflix series. At any rate, I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who wants some insight into WWII spycraft and the greatest generation.

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford sounded like a fun contemporary sf/fantasy novel, and so it was. The prose was punchy and tough, and the plot had plenty of twists and turns. That said, there was a real "the bad parts of real life in LA" kind of vibe in the book, and if you find bad language/swearing and gruesome murder/murderers objectionable, this is not the book for you. Still Teagan is a hoot, a sassy and pugnacious telekenetic young woman who is hard on the outside but has a marshmallow heart. Here's the blurb: Full of imagination, wit, and random sh*t flying through the air, this insane adventure from an irreverent new voice will blow your tiny mind.
For Teagan Frost, sh*t just got real.
Teagan Frost is having a hard time keeping it together. Sure, she's got telekinetic powers -- a skill that the government is all too happy to make use of, sending her on secret break-in missions that no ordinary human could carry out. But all she really wants to do is kick back, have a beer, and pretend she's normal for once.
But then a body turns up at the site of her last job -- murdered in a way that only someone like Teagan could have pulled off. She's got 24 hours to clear her name - and it's not just her life at stake. If she can't unravel the conspiracy in time, her hometown of Los Angeles will be in the crosshairs of an underground battle that's on the brink of exploding. 

I loved that Teagan was friends with the homeless community, and that their king, who knows all, is named Africa. I also loved that the head of their small CIA-like cell is a handicapped woman in a wheelchair who kicks ass, even when she's forced out of her chair. What I didn't love where that the guys in the group were asshats. And I didn't love that the serial killer was so easily manipulated, and the person pulling his strings somehow justified what he was doing as being for the common good. Blech. Still, I enjoyed this story and it kept me entertained until the last page. I'd give it a B,and recommend it to anyone who likes "realistic" modern sf/f with lots of gore and swearing.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal was one of those books that I was going to purchase, because it sounded, from the blurbs, like it was right up my alley, so I wasn't sure I wanted to wait for it to get to me via the hold system at the KCL. Now that I read it I am glad that I decided to wait for the library copy instead of buying it. This was a very disappointing novel about three sisters, Rajni, Jezmeen and Shirina who are forced to go on a trip to India together to fulfill their bossy mother's last wish after she dies. These young women were born in England, and all are somewhat spoiled and set into their roles within the family dynamic in such a way that they don't seem to be able to get out from under everyone's expectations. Rajni is a hard-ass and rigid in her role as the sister who tells everyone else what to do and how to behave, Jezmeen is a shallow idiot who only seeks fame, but after a meltdown that includes her kicking a rare species of fish to death (which she really doesn't seem to regret, she's just pissed off that she was caught on camera doing it) she's become infamous and is losing possible acting jobs, and Shirina is a lemming and a weak pushover who allows her evil MIL and her wimpy and cruel husband to try and force her into aborting her pregnancy because they want her to have a boy first (because boys are more important than girls in India, apparently, which is backward and disgusting). Here's the blurb:

The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina—were never close and barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. Rajni, a school principal is a stickler for order. Jezmeen, a thirty-year-old struggling actress, fears her big break may never come. Shirina, the peacemaking "good" sister married into wealth and enjoys a picture-perfect life.
On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites. After a trip to India with her mother long ago, Rajni vowed never to return. But she’s always been a dutiful daughter, and cannot, even now, refuse her mother’s request. Jezmeen has just been publicly fired from her television job, so the trip to India is a welcome break to help her pick up the pieces of her broken career. Shirina’s in-laws are pushing her to make a pivotal decision about her married life; time away will help her decide whether to meekly obey, or to bravely stand up for herself for the first time.
Arriving in India, these sisters will make unexpected discoveries about themselves, their mother, and their lives—and learn the real story behind the trip Rajni took with their Mother long ago—a momentous journey that resulted in Mum never being able to return to India again.
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a female take on the Indian travel narrative. "I was curious about how different the trip would be if it were undertaken by women, who are vulnerable to different dangers in a male-dominated society," Balli Kaur Jaswal writes. "I also wanted to explore the tensions between tradition and modernity in immigrant communities, and particularly how those tensions play out among women like these sisters, who are the first generation to be raised outside of India."
Powerful, emotionally evocative, and wonderfully atmospheric, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a charming and thoughtful story that illuminates the bonds of family, sisterhood, and heritage that tether us despite our differences. Funny and heartbreaking, it is a reminder of the truly important things we must treasure in our lives.

I didn't find this book funny or heartbreaking, it just made me angry that none of these women could really be mature enough to get it together and move forward with their lives. They were too mired in tradition or fear. The prose was workmanlike and sometimes dull, while the plot was easily unraveled and stalled in spots. After reading how women are treated in India, I never want to step foot in such a horribly sexist country. So I'd give the book a C, and only recommend it to women who find Indian travel narratives told from a woman's POV fascinating. Take my advice, though, get the book from the library if you are unsure whether or not you will enjoy it. It will save you money better spent on much better books.

 

Reading With JMS, Riggio Helps 100 College Students, Plot Twist Bookstore Closing, RIP Toni Morrison, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman, The Woman in the Water by Charles Finch and River of No Return by Annie Bellet

This is my first post of August, and it's a long one because of some fascinating bits of information on writers like JMS, who wrote one of my favorite science fiction TV series, Babylon 5, and the obituary of the great Toni Morrison, who died on Monday. Also, August 1 would have been my father's 87th birthday, and this will be the first time I haven't been able to call and wish him a happy birthday and see how he's doing. But I know that wherever his spirit is now, he's happy to not be stuck in a body that doesn't allow him to remember anyone, to eat or move or laugh or talk, all things he loved in his long and garrulous life. At any rate, on with the fun stuff, gleaned from Shelf Awareness.

Reading with... J. Michael Straczynski

J. Michael Straczynski http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41368857 has written hundreds of hours of television shows; comic books for Marvel and DC that have sold more than 13 million copies; and screenplays of movies that have grossed over a billion dollars. Becoming Superman is his first memoir (Harper Voyager, July 23, 2019).

On your nightstand now:

Rereading A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I believe that an appreciation of poetry is essential for any writer in any field. That economy of language reminds you of the importance of choosing exactly the right word, not the word next to the right one on the shelf. On a conceptual level, I admire Ferlinghetti's writing which comes at you from a right angle with a huge impact, so I reread his work every couple of years to keep my brain flexible.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Mad Scientists Club by Bertrand Brinley. I liked this series because it showed kids who got away with making trouble in a small town, one of the few to actually applaud mischief. But their hearts were in the right places, and they approached everything from a perspective of (well, close to) actual science in their methodology.

 

Your top five authors:

Norman Corwin was the country's premiere radio dramatists in the '40s and is still considered a writer's writer, inspiring such folks as Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, Walter Cronkite, Charles Kuralt and many more to become better writers. I briefly studied under him at SDSU and still can't figure out how he did some of what he did.

Harlan Ellison was an inspirational figure because like me, he came from the streets, he was a scrapper and a troublemaker and didn't have the best grades, but he kept honing his craft and succeeded. I'd been raised to think that writing was an ivory-tower profession, populated by writers from good New England families who wrote while wearing smoking jackets and reclining on macassar fainting couches. Knowing he could make it helped keep me going, and in time we became friends.

Richard Matheson was the quintessential fantasist: his stories and scripts were brilliant in their use of the tropes of fantasy but were also and always grounded in emotion. Whenever I think I'm getting too smart and facile for my own good, I reread his stuff to be reminded of the importance of just writing honestly and from the heart.

Rod Serling was the best of us (along with Paddy Chayefsky) and reading any of his scripts or watching any of his Twilight Zone episodes is like taking a master's class in writing. I have a tendency to over-write, and as much as Serling may be known for long monologues, the construction of those pieces is laser-sharp, not a single wasted word in there anywhere, the result of a clockwork mind clicking along at 10,000 revolutions per second.

Mark Twain was someone I discovered as a young writer, and though some contemporary readers may consider him old-hat, there's an energy and canny intelligence in his work that survives the ages. For construction of narrative, humor and most particularly a way of looking at action in a fresh or unusual way that enlivens the narrative, there's nobody better.

Book you've faked reading:

Ulysses by James Joyce. The first time I tried to read Ulysses was when a friend in college bet me 20 bucks I couldn't finish it. I lost that bet. I've probably tried half a dozen times over the long years to finish the triple-damned thing, but I just can't get there, so I lie. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Land of Laughs, Jonathan Carroll. That Carroll's name is not more widely known is unfortunate because he is a superb craftsman and a surrealist thinker and a damned fine writer. Land of Laughs was the first book of his I read and remains one of the best in his canon. It's creepy and smart and populated with rich, interesting characters and definitely needs to be more widely read.

Book that changed your life:

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (collection) Harlan Ellison. As someone who was largely self-educated as a kid, my sense of what constituted science fiction came from the ranks of classic SF: Ray Bradbury, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Arthur Clarke, Isaac Asimov--stories that wrote from the technology out to the characters. I Have No Mouth was one of the breakthrough books of the New Wave of SF and turned that motif absolutely upside down. It was like nothing I'd ever read before, and it spun my head around 180 degrees both as a writer and a fan of the genre.

Favorite line from a book:

"For the love of God, Montresor!" --from "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe. I can't even tell you why. It just so perfectly encapsulates the dilemma faced by the character, and embodies the story's theme of revenge that it sticks with me always.

Five books you'll never part with:

Mark Twain's Speeches because the man knew how to put together a talk that was entertaining and informative and challenging and boy howdy do I need that.

The Oxford English Dictionary (bookshelf edition) because it's endless fun browsing through not just the words themselves but the Indo-European word derivations provided for many of the definitions, tracing back the work through many iterations, each adding new and unexpected shadings of meaning.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, because she was one of the best of us, because her storytelling skills were impeccable and because there are some nights when apparently sleep just isn't a priority for me.

The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, William S. Baring-Gould. I'm a big Sherlock fan and love to reread this for the details behind the creation of those stories. I learn something new every time.

The Literature of England, edited by George K. Anderson and William E. Buckler, because I fell in love with classical English literature in college, and this was one of the best texts I ever came across for a generalist view of that period.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury, just to experience that sense of wonder all over again.

Favorite poem:

Ulysses by Tennyson because of what it says about the raw, naked courage required to keep going under the worst of circumstances, and to then go one step forward to reinvent oneself, to push off into new possibilities; that there is hope, even at the end of all things.

I desperately wish that more extremely wealthy men, titans of industry and the internet included (I am looking at you, Jeff Bezos!) would do this, thus ensuring that a generation of young adults coming out of high school would be able to get a college education and join the workforce without hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt hanging over their heads. It only takes one measly million, which is pocket change to the very wealthy, to get 100 students through college with paid tuition (and one hopes paid textbooks as well, as they are expensive).

B&N's Riggio Donates $1 Million to 100 College Students

Len Riggio, executive chairman of Barnes & Noble, which will soon be sold to private equity company Elliott Management, recently showed a great deal of generosity to a group of students who are mostly from poor and working-class families: he has donated $1 million http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41422863 to the "100 Strong Scholarship Fund," which will provide full tuition for 100 recent high school graduates who are beginning studies this fall at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the Brooklyn Paper. Riggio announced the donation after giving the keynote address at the college's commencement ceremony on June 13. Claudia V. Schader, president of Kingsborough Community College, the only community college in Brooklyn, said the scholarships would help students focus on education and not worry about finances. "Many of our students are the first in their families to go to college," she continued. "Many work full- and part-time jobs, and care for their children and parents. Mr. Riggio's very generous gift will allow these students the opportunity to focus on their academic success and lifelong learning, without concerns of how they will fund their education."

Though I am sorry to see them go after only a few years, I have already advised family and friends in Iowa to take part of my book list to The Plot Twist and see if they can score some books for 50 percent off! 

Iowa's Plot Twist Bookstore Closing

Plot Twist Bookstore http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41483817, Ankeny, Iowa, which opened in 2016 http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41483818, is closing at the end of August http://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41483819, the store announced.

"Thank you for your support of Plot Twist and please know I am so glad to have had the opportunity to serve you and share my love of reading," owner Mary Rork-Watson wrote. "I encourage you all to support our local businesses." The 1,400-square-foot store sold new books and gifts for all ages, and hosted community events.

  

I've not been a huge fan of Morrison's, but I am still cognizant of her contribution to the world of  words, books and wise speeches. She was an amazing woman. RIP.

Obituary Note: Toni Morrison

Celebrated author Toni Morrison, who became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, died August 5. She was 88. In a statement announcing her death "with profound sadness," the Morrison family said "our adored mother and grandmother... reveled in being with her family and friends. The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing. Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life."

Morrison was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for Beloved. Her many other honors include the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature, with the Swedish Academy recognizing her as an author "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality"; the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1996; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented to her in 2012 by President Barack Obama.

Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was released by Holt, Rinehart & Winston in 1970, and Knopf published her other novels, including Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Tar Baby (1981), Jazz (1992), A Mercy (2008) and God Help the Child (2015).

Morrison's nonfiction works include Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (1992) and What Moves at the Margin: Selected Nonfiction (2008, edited by Carolyn C. Denard). In October, the University of Virginia Press will release Morrison's Goodness and the Literary Imagination, featuring her celebrated 2012 Ingersoll Lecture at Harvard University. Morrison also wrote several children's books with her son Slade, including Please, Louise (2014), Peeny Butter Fudge (2009) and The Book of Mean People (2002).From 1967 to 1983, Morrison worked as an editor at Random House--the first female African-American editor in company history. "She was a great woman and a great writer, and I don't know which I will miss more," said Robert Gottlieb, her longtime editor.

The New York Times noted that Morrison "was one of the rare American authors http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz41506638 whose books were both critical and commercial successes. Her novels appeared regularly on the New York Times bestseller list, were featured multiple times on Oprah Winfrey's television book club and were the subject of myriad critical studies. A longtime faculty member at Princeton, Ms. Morrison lectured widely and was seen often on television."

In her 1993 Nobel lecture, Morrison said: "Be it grand or slender, burrowing, blasting, or refusing to sanctify; whether it laughs out loud or is a cry without an alphabet, the choice word, the chosen silence, unmolested language surges toward knowledge not its destruction. But who does not know of literature banned because it is interrogative; discredited because it is critical; erased because alternate? And how many are outraged by the thought of a self-ravaged tongue?

"Word-work is sublime, she thinks, because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference, our human difference--the way in which we are like no other life.

"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives."

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman wasn't what I was expecting, (from the title and blurb) but turned out to actually be something surprisingly refreshing and different. Nina is a somewhat stereotypical introverted bibliophile who works in a bookstore, has a disastrous history with dating and has a cat named Phil. Into her well-ordered OCD life comes news that she's the daughter of a wealthy lawyer who just died and left her "something" in his will, along with a family of siblings, nieces and nephews that she's never met (or even heard of). What follows is a funny and often poignant story of a woman learning to embrace life and all it's surprises. Here's the blurb: Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own...shell.

The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?

Nina considers her options.
1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)

It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

Rarely have I read prose that is so fully described as effervescent, so light and bright and bubbly that it nearly tickles your nose. The plot is straightforward and easy, providing a nice framework for this delightful beach read. Though I am not an introvert, I could empathize with Nina's desire to escape the chaos of her newfound family, and I felt for her in her frustration with her Aussie mother's abandonment, leaving Nina to be raised by a housekeeper, who was, thank heaven, up for the task. I'd give this page-turning novel an A, and recommend it to anyone seeking a light and satisfying read.

The Woman in the Water by Charles Finch was recommended to me because I love Sherlock Holmes remakes and reboots, and I enjoy certain types of cozy mysteries as well. This is a prequel to the Charles Lenox series, and I was told it was a good place to start to see if I would enjoy delving more into this series of 19th century mysteries. Unfortunately, though well written, I found the novel too "talky," with lots of paragraphs that aren't really germane to the story blathering on about every feeling of uncertainty and emotion that young Lenox has while trying to solve the mystery of who murdered two young women and threw their bodies into the Thames. This clogged the plot and slowed the story to a crawl, which made it boring. Here's the blurb:

A chilling new mystery in the USA Today bestselling series by Charles Finch, The Woman in the Water takes readers back to Charles Lenox’s very first case and the ruthless serial killer who would set him on the course to become one of London’s most brilliant detectives.
London, 1850: A young Charles Lenox struggles to make a name for himself as a detective…without a single case. Scotland Yard refuses to take him seriously and his friends deride him for attempting a profession at all. But when an anonymous writer sends a letter to the paper claiming to have committed the perfect crime―and promising to kill again―Lenox is convinced that this is his chance to prove himself.
The writer’s first victim is a young woman whose body is found in a naval trunk, caught up in the rushes of a small islet in the middle of the Thames. With few clues to go on, Lenox endeavors to solve the crime before another innocent life is lost. When the killer’s sights are turned toward those whom Lenox holds most dear, the stakes are raised and Lenox is trapped in a desperate game of cat and mouse.
In the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, this newest mystery in the Charles Lenox series pits the young detective against a maniacal murderer who would give Professor Moriarty a run for his money.

The prose was crisp and British, similar in style and tone to that of  Conan Doyle, of course, but all the minutia created logjams in the plot, and put me off this series forever, I'm afraid. So though I didn't figure out who the murderer was until the last 1/3 of the book, I can't give it more than a C+, and recommend it to those who like fussy and stuffy mysteries with a somewhat boring plot and protagonist.

River of No Return by Annie Bellet is book 9 in her twenty-sided sorceress series, and this one's a real corker. Jade and Alek are once again called on to save their friends and shifters from a diabolical scheme to get ahold of the heart of an evil sorcerer that Jade keeps as a tiny jewel around her neck. At first it seems there are several bad guys going after the crew, but it turns out that there's really only one evil vampire behind it all. Bellet's prose is clean and clear as quicksliver and her plots faster than a bullet train. Here's the blurb: Supposedly, nature abhors a vacuum. I'm finding this is true in the worst way...  Defeating her evil ex-boyfriend hasn't exactly been the reprieve from trouble that Jade hoped for. When Alek's mentor shows up with an injured Justice and government agents start asking questions she doesn't want to answer, Jade's problems are just beginning. Enemies new and old make their moves as a war looms on the horizon in this exciting ninth book in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series.

Bellet's Twenty Sided Sorceress books are always a treat because she never wastes a word, and most of her novels, like this one, are barely over 200 pages long, so you can finish them in an afternoon. Like Seanan McGuire, Jade always ends up bloody and near death, having to battle sorcerers, shifters, vampires and everything inbetween while her white tiger boyfriend Alek has to fight to stay alive as well. Usually at least one minor character dies, and Jade feels a crap ton of guilt over losing her friends and also over not telling them what is going on as a way to protect them from harm, which always backfires. Still, other than the cover illustration, which has beautiful Jade looking like a salt-sucking alien from Star Trek, or a neanderthal of some kind (why? What is wrong with the publisher that they'd let this ugly illustration go by?), I liked this book and would give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other books in this series.