Raven Bookstore Writes to Amazon's Bezos, Carrie Fisher: A life on the Edge, Hugh Laurie develops Agatha Christie's novels for TV, Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale, The Library of the Unwritten by AJ Hackwith, The Marked and Rose & Thunder by Lilith Saintcrow and Tailing a Tabby by Laurie Cass

Happy Halloween Week, to all my fellow book lovers and general readers! It has taken me 10 days to get back to writing reviews due to ill health not just of myself, but of my beloved Mac computer that is only 5-6 years old, but apparently was created with planned obsolesence in mind, because the hard drive is dying and Apple would rather that you pay another $1,200 for a new Mac than pay a couple of hundred dollars to have the hard drive repaired/replaced. I think that kind of stinks, and I hope that Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave at his company's greed, but if not, I hope he understands when I have my son, the computer whiz, repair the computer that I can't afford to replace. At any rate, it's been cold and gray for the past 10 days, but today the sun is shining and it's a beautiful autumn day full of color and with a smokey tang to the air. I'm excited to get started.

I think this is a brilliant idea, though it reminds me of Don Quixote tilting at windmills, because Amazon is such an enormous and wealthy company that I don't believe they actually care about the indie bookstores and their owners anymore. Jeff Bozos, their CEO, has so much money he could give everyone in the world thousands of dollars and not run out of cash. He doesn't, of course, but I still laud Denny Caine for writing this letter and making a plea for a better and more fair Amazon.

Raven Book Store Writes to Jeff Bezos

Yesterday, on Twitter, Raven Book Store http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196335, Lawrence, Kan., posted this letter to @JeffBezos "from a small independent bookstore in the middle of the country":

Last Wednesday a customer bought a stack of books from us. Right before he left, he asked me, "What parts of your business are affected by Amazon?" I blurted out, "every part." I had never articulated this before, but it's true. I know I'm not alone in saying this, and not just among bookstores, either. Your business has an unfair impact on every retail small business in America. I'm writing you to try to illustrate just how many people your business affects in a negative way.

Let's start with books, because that's where we overlap and books are my bread and butter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it certainly seems like the book part of your business is modeled like this: sell books at a loss to hook people into Prime subscriptions, Kindles, Alexas, and other higher-margin products. While this strategy has worked really well for you, it's totally disrupted everything about the book business, making a low-margins business even tighter. Most dismayingly to us, your book business has devalued the book itself. People expect hardcovers to be 15 bucks and paperbacks to be under 10. Those margins are a nightmare for our bottom line, of course, but they also cheapen the idea of the capital-B Book. There's already enough happening to cheapen the idea of truth, research, and careful storytelling. We're dismayed to see the world's biggest book retailer reflecting that frightening cultural shift by de-valuing books.

This isn't just about business competition to us. We wish it was! We like business competition, we think it's healthy. But the way you've set things up makes it impossible to compete with you. Often the tech and e-commerce world brags about "disrupting" old ways of doing things with new, sleeker, more efficient tricks. But we refuse to be a quaint old way of doing things, and we are not ripe for disruption. We're not relics; we're community engines. We create free programming. We donate gift certificates to charity silent auctions. We partner with libraries and arts organizations. That stuff might seem small to someone aiming to colonize outer space but to us and our community it's huge. Our booksellers are farmers, authors, activists, artists, board members, city council representatives. For so many places, the loss of an indie bookstore would mean the loss of a community force. If your retail experiment disrupts us into extinction you're not threatening quaint old ways of doing things. You're threatening communities.

When I taught high school English, we did a business letter unit. Part of what I taught was to make sure every business letter has some kind of request so it's not a waste of time or paper. So, what to request from you? Some of my peers want to break your company up. Some of them want to nationalize it. Some of them want it wiped off the earth. I see where they're all coming from, but I don't think that's what I'm after today.

I could also request you stop profiting off ICE's violence http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196338, stop enabling counterfeit merchandise http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196339, stop fostering a last-mile shipping system that causes injury and death http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196340, stop gentrifying our cities http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196341, stop contributing to the police state with your doorbell cameras http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196342, stop driving your warehouse workers to exhaustion or injury http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42196343, or so many other things. Perhaps I could just request an explanation of why this chaos and violence is apparently so essential to your strategy.

Or maybe I could request a leveling of the playing field. Small business owners are led to believe that if their idea is good enough, they can grow their business and create more jobs. Yet your company is so big, so disruptive, so dominant, that it's severely skewed the ability for us to do that. I think a big part of leveling the playing field would mean fair pricing on your part. For our part, we try to level things by being really good at what we do, and being really loud.  So we use our platform to try to teach people what's at stake as your company increases its influence and market share. I think it's starting to work. I get the feeling that we're seeing chips in Amazon's armor. Whenever we share stuff like this, it seems to resonate with our audience. Maybe someday you'll hear what we have to say. Maybe we can talk about it over pie and coffee at Ladybird Diner across the street, my treat. I'd love to show you around a vibrant community anchored by small businesses, here in Kansas, here on earth. Maybe it'll help you realize that some things don't need to be disrupted.

Sincerely, Danny Caine, Owner, Raven Book Store,Lawrence, Kan.

 This sounds like an interesting book about the late, great Carrie Fisher, however, I would like to note that her "late career weight gain" should not be the subject of gossip or shaming in a book about a feminist icon. Being fat and accepting your body as it is, is a hallmark of feminism. It is only through the media and the mostly male run diet and exercise industry that women are constantly told that they aren't pretty enough, thin enough or smart enough to do whatever they want with their lives and achieve their career goals. This patriarchal BS is never going to die until women stop paying into it. At any rate, I loved Carrie Fisher and I hope that I get the chance to check this book out at the library.

Book Review: Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge

Until author Sheila Weller wrote 2008's Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation, her subjects had tended toward the lurid. That such a writer has tackled the life story of Carrie Fisher would likely have amused the actress, who was also an author, a script doctor and, perhaps above all, an irreverent wit.

From her stage show and subsequent book Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher was known for her comic observations about the trials of being the offspring of flamboyant actress Debbie Reynolds and caddish crooner Eddie Fisher; about sealing her fate (for better or worse) and fortunes (for better) as brainy badass Princess Leia in 1977's Star Wars; and about coping with drug addiction and bipolar disorder. (Weller notes that Fisher was one of the first celebrities to discuss publicly having a mental illness.) Given Fisher's openness about her life, any Carrie Fisher biographer would have a galactic challenge: What can she tell readers that Fisher hasn't already?

Lots, if that biographer is Weller. She cast a net far and wide to land interviews with subjects famous and not, speaking on the record and off, but Fisher defenders nearly all. In Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge, Weller blends their recollections with what she calls Fisher's "provocative, braggingly self-deprecating (a neat trick), honest enough" accounts, as of her early failed marriage to singer-songwriter Paul Simon and her late-career weight gain. The result is a robust, many-faceted portrait of a woman whose longstanding feminism (Fisher marched for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980s) elevated everything she touched. Here's Fisher the script doctor's rule of thumb: "Make the women smarter--and the love scenes better." Weller reminds readers that Carrie-as-Leia's likeness was ubiquitous at the Women's March in January 2017, one month after the actress's sudden death at age 60; the cause was cardiac arrest with a likely assist from the drugs named in her toxicology report--a heartbreaking exit given her decades devoted to exorcising her personal demons.

The question while reading Carrie Fisher isn't "How did her life veer off course?" but "How did she keep it together for so long?" The answer would seem to lie in Fisher's mutual emotional support system. Going by the company described in Weller's book, it would probably be quicker to list the people who weren't Fisher's friends than the people who were. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

I love Hugh Laurie and look forward to his adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel.

Hugh Laurie (The Night Manager, House) is developing a script for a TV adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's novels http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz42221692, "but which of the Queen of Crime's books he is adapting is being kept strictly under wraps," Variety reported.

The project is through ITV-owned producer Mammoth Screen and is being developed for the BBC. In 2016, the BBC and Agatha Christie Ltd. inked a deal for seven adaptations. The BBC's Mammoth-produced projects since include three-parter Ordeal by Innocence and The ABC Murders, Variety noted.

Having interviewed the CEOs of Washington's Value Village thrift stores and Goodwill thrift stores, I can say that I have a deeper understanding of just how much money the stores make, and how little that they really do in terms of "giving back" to the community. The Salvation Army and St Vincent DePaul thrift stores are a different story because the former is connected to alcoholic rehabilitation and the latter is connected to food kitchens and outreach through the Catholic church. I still think this would be a fascinating read, because so much of what goes through these thrift stores ends up being resold or repurposed in third world countries.

Book Review: Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

What happens to the abundance of clothes, toys, books and appliances donated to Goodwill and other charitable organizations? While people may believe that their unwanted stuff will find new homes in the community, the reality is that drop-off is often the first stop in a global and mostly hidden multibillion-dollar industry.

"In 2015, Americans tossed out 24.1 billion pounds of furniture and furnishings," writes Adam Minter (Junkyard Planet). "Along with all those old sofas went 32 billion pounds of textiles--including clothes, bedsheets, towels, and wiping rags--and 45.3 billion pounds of what the Environmental Protection Agency calls 'miscellaneous durables.' "

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale dives into this marketplace of excess by exploring some of the socio-economic reasons for its existence: the KonMari decluttering craze, minimalist living trends and adult children with little interest in their parents' "brown furniture," as observed by professionals specializing in "home cleanouts" after a death or downsizing.

Manufacturers also play a critical role, with questionable product expiration dates, marketing gimmicks and lifespan claims. Minter's dogged and thorough reporting into the infant car seat industry, for example, might surprise parents, as it shows that used car seats likely remain quite functional--and, most importantly, perfectly safe--despite warnings from industry groups about the need for regular replacement.

The phenomenon of "fast fashion"--trendy clothing produced rapidly and sold cheaply--has grown: "Between 2000 and 2015, global clothing production doubled, while the average times that a garment was worn before disposal declined by 36 percent." Younger generations reportedly wear an item only between one and six times before it is tossed away, either because of inferior quality or the inexpensive cost and convenience of buying new.

Armed with a passionate curiosity coupled with an investigative journalism background as a Bloomberg reporter, Minter interviews and observes dozens of buyers, sorters, cutters and shippers while tracking the journey of the approximately four million tons of used clothes exported around the world each year. Secondhand details an intricate and diverse network of operations spanning the United States, Canada, West Africa, India, Asia and many other points along the way. Minter provides an eye-opening look at the ways used clothes are sold and repurposed as furniture stuffing and rags, a high-demand product for the hospitality, automotive and healthcare fields, among others. "Nobody counts the number of wiping rags manufactured in the United States and elsewhere every year. But anyone who knows the industry acknowledges that the numbers are in the many billions, and growing.... The alternative is environmentally-unfriendly paper towels and synthetic wipes."

In an accessible and engaging style, Secondhand unravels the complexities of a vast yet mostly hidden and often secretive enterprise of used clothes and goods. (A surprising number of Minter's sources in the field refused to give their names.) The result is an unparalleled look at the lifespan of everyday things and the unexpected ways our society's abundance of discarded items are, refreshingly, being repurposed for a second life. --Melissa Firman

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith was a highly anticipated novel that I'd read several good reviews about, and I was certain was going to be a character-driven fantasy full of great imaginary books curated by Lucifer himself. Though the book takes place in Hell's Library (with some side trips into Seattle), the characters were not at all what I thought they'd be, and the underlying idea that humans choose to send their own souls to heaven, hell or purgatory, depending on the weight of their grief/guilt was a big surprise to me. Here's the blurb: 

In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.
Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.  

It should be noted that the Archangel Uriel, who is a woman in this book, doesn't come off in a happy/good light, but is instead cruel and predatory, and is mainly interested in advancing her political stature with the Creator in heaven. Again, a surprising twist in a book full of religious tropes turned on their collective heads. The prose was lively and danced along a brilliant roller coaster of a plot full of fascinating twists and turns and intricate characters who definitely warrant a sequel. I'd give this frist novel from Hell's Library an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in diverse religious historical fantasy. 

The Marked by Lilith Saintcrow is a weird urban romantic fantasy/horror/crime drama hybrid that had me flinching and yet turning pages until the wee hours of the morning. Jude and Preston were such full bodied characters, they practically lept from the page,and though Jude seemed dazed and confused for much of the novel, I still felt for her trying to navigate a world she never knew existed while trying to dodge a serial killer named "the Skinner" who literally wants to skin her alive and absorb her powers.  Here's the blurb: A winding road, a freak storm, and a lightning strike. Jude Altfall’s life, just beginning to coalesce after her divorce, is shattered afresh. Dazed with grief, she’s not sure if the weird things happening around her are hallucinations…or something more. And there’s the mark on her hip—a tattoo she can’t for the life of her remember getting.

Preston Marlock left a shadowy government agency two years ago, to hunt a killer. Each time the bastard strikes the trail goes cold, and not even Marlock’s more-than-natural abilities are helping. Now the killer’s taken one of his very few friends, and there’s a surviving witness. The Altfall woman is now that most precious and fragile of targets, newly Marked. All Marlock has to do is dangle her like bait, and the killer will eventually show up.
The Skinner knows some people are different. Special. He has a collection of stretched skin and pretty pictures, each harvested with care. The trick is to take them while the victim is still struggling, still alive, otherwise their power is lost. He is careful, methodical, and precise, but chance robs him of a prize. Once he realizes Jude Altfall has what he covets, and has possibly seen his face, her fate is sealed. And just to be cautious, the Skinner might swat at the annoying fly who has buzzed along his trail for two years.

Saintcrow's prose is, as always, brilliant, clear and precise, just as her plots are always woven with great care to be full of maze-like twists and turns that never bore the reader with too much backstory or unnecessary details. Though I am not a fan of the horror genre in general, I'd still give this novel an A, and recommend it to those who like their dark fantasy laced with all kinds of weird romance and twists/turns that you won't see coming.

Rose & Thunder by Lilith Saintcrow is a unique retelling of the Beauty and the Beast legend, with roses, curses, magic servants and a big library throughout...but that is where the similarities end, because Saintcrow's Bella (Isabella) is a witch, and a wanderer, and her beast, Tremont, is a weretiger whose scars and duty to the curse keep him in agony until Isabella can find a way to break the curse and enact a rescue. Here's the blurb:

Beauty…
Isabella Harpe, last in a long line of witches, drifts with the wind. Her tarot cards always ready to bring in enough to live on, and her instincts keep her mostly out of trouble. Unfortunately, bad boyfriends and even worse luck strand her near the most dangerous place for a witch to land—beside a cursed town, and an even more cursed man.
The roses…
Jeremy Tremont’s family built their house over an ancient place of power, turning it into an uneasy, rose-choked sanctuary for the weird and the dangerous alike. Scarred, quiet, and difficult, he’s not Isabella’s idea of a prospective employer, no matter how badly she needs the money. He’s paying well, and there’s only one catch: she has to be home by dusk. Because in Tremont City, bad things happen after nightfall.
And the curse.
Secrets hide in every corner, an ancient curse cloaks itself in silence, and Isabella’s arrival has begun a deadly countdown. Despite that, she may have found a home—all she has to do is figure out how to break the curse.
Oh, and survive in the dark…

Though I found Isabella interesting as a protagonist, her stubborn and stupid determination to flout the rules that Tremont sets down for her safety became tedious after awhile, and I wanted to smack her alongside the head more than once, because she didn't seem to have the slightest notion of how to defend herself or prepare for a time when she'd need to defend her life. For someone who has traveled alone as a woman around the country, this seems to me to be the height of stupidity, and I loathe female protagonists who are too stupid to live, and require men to save them at every turn. That said, Jeremy Tremont's "shyness" and inability to relate to Isabella also seemed rather stupid, and his fear of showing his scars also seemed a bit too much, especially considering how many women hook up with physically ugly older men because the men have other qualities that they value, like financial stability. And we don't really see much of Isabella's powers as a witch, other than her ability to tell when she's in trouble/danger, and when she's safe. Still, Saintcrow's prose is lovely and evocative, and her plot marches along with precise grace. I'd give this urban fantasy take on Beauty and the Beast an A-, and recommend it to anyone who likes modern retellings of classic fairy tales.

Tailing a Tabby by Laurie Cass is the second book in her Bookmobile Cat Mystery series. I'd read the first book, and then, after sending my mother all of the books in this series to date, I got a package of the second, third and fourth books in the series from mom after she'd read and enjoyed them. These are cozy mysteries that tend to be fairly bloodless and focus mostly on the quirky townspeople and the protagonist and her pet, in this case, Minnie the librarian and her cat Eddie. My 82-year-old mother likes them because she can read a chapter or two before bed each night until she's finished with the book, and because they're mass market paperbacks, they're light and easy for her to hold in her arthritic hands. While I enjoy easy reading as a mental palate-cleanser, I don't like books that are boring enough to send me to sleep, as this book proved to be. Here's the blurb: In the bookmobile, librarian Minnie Hamilton and her rescue cat, Eddie, roll out great summer reads to folks all over the lake town of Chilson, Michigan. And when real-life drama turns deadly, Minnie makes sure justice is never overdue.
The bookmobile is making its usual rounds when Minnie and Eddie are flagged down by a woman in distress. The woman’s husband, a famous artist, needs emergency medical care. After getting him into the bookmobile, Minnie races the man to the hospital in time…but his bad luck has only just begun.
After disappearing from the hospital, the artist is discovered slumped over the body of a murdered woman. Minnie knows that her new friend didn’t commit the crime, but the evidence paints an unflattering picture. Now this librarian and her furry friend have to put the investigation in high gear and catch the real killer before someone else checks out.

Cass's prose is overly-detailed and tedious, and her plot moves as slowly as molasses in January, so it took me a lot longer than usual to read the 340 pages of this mystery novel. Minnie and Eddie put me to sleep more than once, and I found that the threads of who she'd interviewed as suspects and who was exonerated got lost among her dates and romantic conundrums at her aunts boardinghouse. Still, it wasn't horrible, and I can understand why my mom loves these books. So I'd give Tailing a Tabby a B-, and recommend it to those who like small town female sleuths and their cats.