Hello everyone! I have been ill with Crohns and recovery from a procedure, so I've not been able to write and I've neglected my blogging duties for far too long. So here's a bunch of tidbits and a few reviews, some of them partial, sorry.
This is a brilliant quote from an author on the importance of Independent bookstores, which I agree are vital to authors and the communities in which they reside.
Quotation of the Day
Booksellers 'Were the Original Readers for Me'
"Long before anyone seemed to think of me as shiny, long before anyone seemed to have a clue in hell who I was, indie bookstores kept me on shelves. Indie bookstores believed in me, they took chances on me; individual booksellers fell in love with my work and pushed in and hand-sold it.
"Because of that, I came up through this industry with an incredibly profound and very personal awareness of the power of a hand-sell. The power of an individual bookseller in an individual store--not a corporate hierarchy--of one person in one store saying, I love this book, you should try it. And what happens when a hundred of those people or a thousand of those people say, I love this book, you should try it.... I knew there were a lot of booksellers out there who believed in my work because I see it through the readers, but I owe them everything. They were the original readers for me--they found out about me when nobody else had a clue. I'm incredibly, incredibly grateful for that."
--V.E. Schwab, whose novel The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (Tor) is the #1 October Indie Next List Pick in a q&a with Bookselling This Week
I read the first 5 books in the Sword of Truth series only after watching the first two seasons of Legend of the Seeker, which really grabbed my attention and filled my imagination and dreams. What an intricate world! What whole and satisfying characters! Unfortunately, the books were a lot more gory, full of war/battles and political machinations that didn't really interest me, and I felt they dragged the plot down to a crawl. So I stopped reading the books and kept my hopes up for another season of the TV series. Those hopes never came to fruition, but I still hold a fond place in my heart for the characters. RIP to this talented author.
Obituary Note: Terry Goodkind
Fantasy author Terry Goodkind, known for the Sword of Truth series, died September 17. He was 72. His publisher, Tor Books, noted that Goodkind "first established a career as a woodworker and artist, before eventually writing his debut novel, Wizard's First Rule, in 1994." That book launched the long-running Sword of Truth series, which eventually reached 21 titles, including the most recent entry, Heart of Black Ice, which was published in January. In 2019, he launched the Children of D'Hara series, set in the same world, publishing five installments between April 2019 and June 2020.
In 2008, film director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) and ABC Studios picked up the rights to adapt the Sword of Truth series as a television show. The series premiered in November 2008 as Legend of the Seeker. The first season covered the events of the first novel, and the second adapted its sequel, Stone of Tears. The series "was canceled in 2010, and efforts to bring the series to another network didn't pan out," Tor noted.
Goodkind wrote several related series, including the Richard and Kahlan books and the Nicci Chronicles, Locus magazine noted. His standalone titles include The Law of Nines, The First Confessor, Nest, The Girl in the Moon and The Sky People.
"It is impossible to put into few words just how amazing of a man, a husband, a writer, a friend, and a human http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz45695471, Terry Goodkind truly was," the author's Facebook page posted. "He is already desperately missed. We are forever grateful for him having shared his life's work with all of us, as he was always grateful to be held in our hearts."
Goodkind once wrote: "To exist in this vast universe for a speck of time is the great gift of life. It is our only life. The universe will go on, indifferent to our brief existence, but while we are here, we touch not just part of that vastness, but also the lives around us. Life is the gift each of us has been given. Each life is our own and no one else's. It is precious beyond all counting. It is the greatest value we can have. Cherish it for what it truly is.... Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it."
Another talented author has left us, and I feel terrible for his family and friend and the literary community. Forrest Gump was an everyman, and a wonderful, revelatory movie.
Obituary Note: Winston Groom
Winston Groom http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz45697781, "a Southern writer who found a measure of belated celebrity when his 1986 novel, Forrest Gump, was made into the 1994 Oscar-winning film starring Tom Hanks," died September 17, the New York Times reported. He was 77. Groom had published "three well-regarded novels and a nonfiction finalist for a Pulitzer Prize when he wrote the book that would define him as a writer and turn the Gumpian phrase 'life is like a box of chocolates' into a modern-day proverb." The film grossed more than $670 million globally at the box office, earned 13 Academy Award nominations and won six Oscars, including best picture.
"Forrest Gump is not the only reason to celebrate him as a great writer," said P.J. O'Rourke, the political satirist and journalist who knew Groom for decades. He called Groom's debut novel, Better Times Than These (1978), "the best novel written about the Vietnam War.... And this is not even to mention Winston's extraordinary historical and nonfiction works."
Groom wrote a sequel, Gump & Co. (1995), in the wake of the movie's success. His other books include Conversations with the Enemy (1983), a Pulitzer Prize finalist for general nonfiction; Shrouds of Glory (1995); and Patriotic Fire (2006). His most recent book, The Patriots: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Making of America, will be released in November by National Geographic.
Don Noble, a University of Alabama professor emeritus of English and 40-year friend of Groom's, noted that the novel Forrest Gump is considerably different from the film "You can make a lot of money as a comic writer, but you can't get no respect. But Forrest Gump is really actually quite a fine novel. It's more subtle and more complicated... richer than the movie.... One of the ways that you mark the kind of immortality, or possibility of immortality of a writer, is how many characters they put into the popular culture. Most writers never put a character into the popular imagination... but Winston did. Gump entered the language."
Alabama Poet Laureate Jennifer Horne recalled that, as an editor at the University of Alabama Press in the early part of the century, she had worked with Groom on the UA football book The Crimson Tide: An Illustrated History of Football at the University of Alabama. "At the time, I was in awe. He was a big deal, a famous author and all that.... He hit every deadline. He cared about his writing, but he didn't fight with us, as editors. He was just gracious, a gentleman. He did not pull rank.... In your home state you don't necessarily get the credit you deserve. He just kept growing as a writer. You can rest on your laurels, but he didn't do that."
Thank the heavens that Third Place Books has so far weathered the pandemic economic storm and is still going strong. I pray that all the great indie bookstores in the Seattle area make it through until we have a vaccine, hopefully by the end of this year.
Third Place Books in Seward Park
All three Third Place Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz45731610 locations, in Lake Forest Park, Ravenna and Seward Park, Wash., are open with shortened hours, reported managing partner Robert Sindelar. The stores are also limiting the number of customers allowed in at one time, and there is a greeter at the door who makes sure customers read the stores' code of conduct.
Most customers, Sindelar continued, are very happy to comply with the safety measures, and many have thanked the store for providing clear guidelines and being open for browsing. While some people have had issues with the policies, they are in the minority.
"We feel very fortunate that our sales company-wide are around 80% of traditional sales," Sindelar said. He noted that event sales are down dramatically, with fewer events and fewer books sold at them, which accounts for most of the discrepancy. And on the subject of holiday buying, the plan is "relatively similar" to previous years. --Alex Mutter
I've read more than a couple of ebooks these past 10 days, and I have discovered that having the ability to make the font size larger on the Kindle Fire has been a real blessing for my tired eyes.
Sword Song by Tricia O'Malley was the first ebook I picked up for 99 cents on an Amazon sale, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was to read.
Here's the blurb:
Sasha Flanagan lives her life by the sword – quite literally. As a
collector and dealer of antique blades and an expert swordswoman, she’s
spent much of her life single-mindedly pursuing her goal to own one of
the most elite weaponry galleries in the world.
Murdering fae popping out of dark alleys are certainly not part of her carefully designed life plans.
Sasha
quickly finds herself drawn into a centuries-old curse – in which, to
her surprise – she holds the leading role. Tasked with finding a
mythological sword while accompanied by a rag-tag band of magickal
beings shakes her understanding of the world as she knows it. The added
distraction of a devastatingly handsome protector, Declan, is the last
thing Sasha wants or needs.
Declan has shadowed Sasha since they
were both but wee children. He has grown up with her – silently
watching her every move – his heart aching when hers ached and his pride
swelling at her accomplishments. Whether Sasha wants his help or not,
Declan will die before he sees her harmed. As the clock runs out on
their quest, Sasha isn’t sure which is in greater danger: her heart or
her life.
This book reminded me of Buffy the Vampire slayer in tone, if not completely in substance. Still, it was fast-paced and had a witty cast of magical characters, all of whom come together to slay the bad guys and help the good guys/gals get away for future snogging. The prose was delightful and light, while the plot was breezy and never stopped on it's epic quest. I'd give this ebook an A, and recommend it to anyone looking for a distraction from the increasingly grim headlines in the papers.
The Art of Inheriting Secrets by Barbara O'Neal is a lovely British mystery/romance with some history thrown in for good measure. It was a pleasure to read as an inexpensive ebook on my Kindle Fire. Here's the blurb:
When Olivia Shaw’s mother dies, the sophisticated food editor is astonished to learn she’s inherited a centuries-old English estate—and a title to go with it. Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime.
One glance at the breathtaking Rosemere Priory and Olivia understands why the manor, magnificent even in disrepair, was the subject of her mother’s exquisite paintings. What she doesn’t understand is why her mother never mentioned it to her. As Olivia begins digging into her mother’s past, she discovers that the peeling wallpaper, debris-laden halls, and ceiling-high Elizabethan windows covered in lush green vines hide unimaginable secrets.
Although personal problems and her life back home beckon, Olivia finds herself falling for the charming English village and its residents. But before she can decide what Rosemere’s and her own future hold, Olivia must first untangle the secrets of her past.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the old mansion and the way that the town and its people came together to help the protagonist try to save the entire estate, which is a massive undertaking. I also loved that the romance was contemporary enough that it defied classism and British Indian Samir could love and marry the American countess Olivia, who was white, but fell for Samir just as fast as he fell for her. Though she seemed a bit weak and damsel-ish at times, I still felt for Olivia, who had to deal with one shocking death and revelation after another. The prose was lovely and bright, while the plot flew on wings toward the satisfying ending. I'd give this book an A as well, and recommend it to those who like British romantic mysteries.
I'm currently only 200 pages in to A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, though I've been slogging away at this book for a month now. For some reason, the fussy, overblown prose and reflective nature of the plot, which doesn't involve a lot of action, but more memories and reactions than I usually like, has made this book as dry and boring for me to read as a textbook. Here's the blurb:
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a
Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a
grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable
man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must
now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in
Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly,
his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of
emotional discovery.
Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of
characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this
singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a
deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
I realize that we are meant to have great sympathy for the Count, who is reduced to such terrible circumstances as to live in only two rooms in the servants quarters, but considering that the Bolsheviks killed or exiled so many other aristocrats without a penny to their name (and they'd never had to support themselves before so they had no training or trade to fall back on), it seems to me that he got off easy, and is still living a life of ease, discussing proper protocol with a little girl who wants to know how to be a princess, and eating excellent cuisine in the hotel restaurant, while also drinking fine wines and holding forth on subjects both arcane and academic. He has a hoard of gold coins to use to keep himself in nice clothing and trim hair/beard, and he even has a cat that has adopted him, to keep him company. Yet he still wants to end his life out of a sense of guilt for the death of his sister, many years prior. This seems rather childish of an otherwise mature man of years. Anyway, I have until October 13 to finish this glacially slow book, and I hope that as I read on, it will become less of a struggle to stay awake. I won't put a grade to the book just yet, but right now it wouldn't get any better than a mediocre C from me. So, stay tuned!
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