RIP William F. Nolan, Dune Movie Update, Tonight Show Picks "The Plot", Three Women/Shining Girls on TV, Strange Love by Ann Aguirre, Becoming Crone by Lydia Hawke, Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah, The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St. George, and The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

It's been a busy and frustrating week, but somehow I survived, and I managed to read 5 books (one was a re-read) while avoiding the hot weather and bugs outside. The "dog days" of summer are fast approaching, and I'm going to spend them indoors in the cool AC with my family. August is almost here, and thus the end of summer also looms on the horizon. Fall is my favorite season, so I will be happy when it arrives, along with a whole new list of books from authors old and new. Have a cool glass of iced tea or coffee and lets get to the tidbits and reviews.

Logan's run was one of my favorite science fiction movies when I was 16, and I remember it being so influential on me that I read the book AFTER I saw the movie, which was something I rarely did. Mr Nolan lead a colorful and fascinating life, and, as with many science fiction authors who have passed away in recent years, his like will never be seen again. RIP.

Obituary Note: William F. Nolan 

Author William F. Nolan https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49210659, who was best known for the Logan's Run series of science fiction novels, the first of which was adapted into a film and TV series, died July 15. He was 93.

Locus reported that Nolan worked as a writer and designer of greeting cards for Hallmark, a painter of murals, an aircraft assistant and at various other jobs in the '40s and '50s. In 1956, he became a freelance writer. In addition to his fiction and TV writing, Nolan was an editor for and contributor to auto and racing magazines, and a book reviewer.

In the 1950s, he helped found the San Diego Science Fantasy Society, contributing substantially to the fanzine Rhodomagnetic Digest, publishing and editing the Ray Bradbury Review, "working with 'The Group,' a coterie of up-and-coming young writers which included Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, John Tomerlin, George Clayton Johnson and others, and later served as managing editor of the first three issues of Gamma (1963-1964)," Locus noted. Nolan published short fiction and criticism frequently throughout his career under his own name and multiple pseudonyms.

His first novel was Logan's Run (1967, with George Clayton Johnson), which became a Nebula Award-nominated film in 1976 and later a TV series. Nolan wrote several sequels, including Logan's World (1977), Logan's Search (1980) and the novella Logan's Return (2001).

Norman's Sam Space series was an SF/hardboiled homage to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, and included the Edgar Award winner Space for Hire (1971). He also wrote horror and paranormal works, as well as numerous crime and mystery titles, among them one "Nolan considered his best novel, The Marble Orchard (1996)," Locus noted. He was a prolific anthologist, editing numerous reprint volumes and some originals, along with nonfiction books about authors and writing.

His many awards include a Living Legend Award from the International Horror Guild (2002), a SFWA Author Emeritus Award (2006), the HWA Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (2010), and a Special Convention Award from the World Fantasy convention (2013). He was named a World Horror Grandmaster in 2015.

I'm really looking forward to this movie, which stars Jason Momoa, one of my all time favorite actors (originally from Stargate Atlantis) and several other great folks in a new version of the classic movie based on a classic series of books by Frank Herbert.

Movies: Dune

Warner Bros. has released a series of character posters from Dune https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49210689, the highly anticipated film adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel. Deadline reported that the movie, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September before hitting theaters and HBO Max on October 22. Villeneuve directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth.

The character posters feature Timothee Chalamet, who stars as Paul Atreides; Zendaya (Chani); Rebecca Ferguson (Lady Jessica); Jason Momoa (Duncan Idaho); Oscar Isaac (Duke Leto Atreides); Javier Bardem (Stilgar); Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck); and Stellan Skarsgarrd (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen). The cast also includes Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen and David Dastmalchian and Charlotte Rampling.

 

One of the few things I like about Jimmy Fallon is that he promotes one book for everyone to read over the summer, and that book ends up being a bestseller from all the attention he's gotten for it. Though I've not read "The Plot" I imagine now I'll be able to get a cheap copy before the summer is out and read it. Anything or anyone who gets more people to pick up a book is a hero, in my estimation.

Tonight Show's 'Fallon Summer Reads' Picks The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

On Tuesday, on the Tonight Show's "Fallon Summer Reads https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49212056" segment, Jimmy Fallon announced that The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon Books) has been selected as this summer's pick. Hundreds of thousands of viewers cast votes, and over the next weeks, Fallon will read the book and talk about it with readers on Twitter and Instagram (#FallonSummerReads). Korelitz will appear on the Tonight Show during the week of August 9.

In May, Shelf Awareness said, "This staggeringly good literary thriller is about a staggeringly good literary thriller written by a failed novelist who has stolen the book's plot from a deceased student."

 These sound like two great TV programs based on books, so I eagerly await their premier!

TV: Three Women, Shining Girls

Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies) will star in Three Women https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49213473, a Showtime hourlong series based on the nonfiction book by Lisa Taddeo, who is adapting. Deadline reported that Showtime "has given the project a straight-to-series order, with filming set to begin in the fall."

Three Women is executive produced by Taddeo, showrunner Laura Eason, Kathy Ciric and Emmy Rossum. Louise Friedberg (Y: The Last Man) will direct the first two episodes, which she will also executive produce.

"Shailene Woodley is an undeniable powerhouse who never fails to give an unflinchingly honest performance," said Amy Israel, executive v-p, scripted programming, Showtime Networks. "We are beyond thrilled that she will be at the forefront of this electrifying show. Three Women promises to be a riveting and immersive exploration of female desire, told by women in charge of their own narratives. Lisa Taddeo and Laura Eason's adaptation crackles with emotion and edge and, coupled with Louise Friedberg's exceptional direction, this Showtime series promises to be everyone's next obsession."

Emmy nominee Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) has joined the cast of the AppleTV+ series Shining Girls https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49213474, based on the 2013 novel by Lauren Beukes, in a series regular role. Deadline reported that Soo "will portray the intelligent and sure-footed Jin-Sook who works in the research department at the Adler planetarium."

She will star opposite Elisabeth Moss, who is an executive producer on the project. The cast also includes Wagner Moura and Jamie Bell. The series will be adapted for TV and executive produced by Silka Luisa, who also serves as showrunner.

Yet another reason to love Ron Perlman! Not only is he a great actor, but he knows that wearing a mask outside of your home is still important.

If a little tough love is needed, we still have Ron Perlman's tweet from June 16, 2020 https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49213504 to fall back on: "Sure, wearing a mask is about 60% likely to protect you from contracting the virus but it's 100% certain to prevent you from being an a**hole."

 REVIEWS:

I just completed an inadvertent re-read of Strange Love by Ann Aguirre, because it was cheaply available in ebook format for my Kindle Paperwhite ereader. Though I read and reviewed it in February of 2020, I found more nuance to the book during this re-read. I also noticed that there were still a few typos that hadn't been fixed, but they're not too heinous to ignore, so I breezed right past them. The alien/human sex scenes were still a bit too wet and squishy, in addition to being weird, for my tastes, but they're still better than most romance novel sex scenes, which are often highly sexist and misogynistic. It's a highly readable book, though, still very engrossing with prose that grabs you and doesn't let go until the final page. 

Strange Love by Ann Aguirre is a science fiction romance hybrid that appears to have been self published by Aguirre. I've read at least 4 of her other science fiction novels that were published by traditional publishers, so I knew that Aguirre, unlike most self published authors, knows how to write and is an experienced storyteller. Here's the blurb:

He's awkward. He's adorable. He's alien as hell.
Zylar of Kith B'alak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he'll lose his chance to have a mate for all time. Desperation drives him to try a matching service but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This 'human being' is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.

She's frazzled. She's fierce. She's from St. Louis.
Beryl Bowman's mother always said she'd never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? She doesn't know what the hell's going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants.

They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.

 

Zylar and Beryl's romance is certainly strange and unusual, but that said, the love scenes are not as weird or laughable as one might assume. Though the discussion of lubrication and fluids tends to go on and on, the actual sexual exchanges between the two protagonists are blush-worthy and intimate and hot, which surprised me as a reader. I also liked that there was a warrior "fight for your right to marry and have children" element to the book, because heroines who can't do anything but be blond and bouncy and petite and dumb as a box of hair make me ill. The focus on females being able to care for a clutch of eggs/infants was a bit of a turn off, as science fiction pointing to traditional roles for women seems to be a waste of a good venue for hopeful feminist futures to me. That said, the females in the book have a great deal of independence and agency, and there is even a satisfying takedown of a rich alien dude-bro who is a complete jerk. Note to those who loathe typos, there were three instances of words in the wrong place and missing words in this book that are jarring. But on the whole, the copy is clean and the plot zippy. I'd give it an A- and recommend it to anyone who enjoys wild romantic relationships in a science fiction setting.

Becoming Crone by Lydia Hawke was a delightful ebook that I downloaded the moment I read the words "60 year old woman" and "magic" in the blurb. There are very few books published that deal with female protagonists over the age of 45, and even then, those women are usually portrayed as being grandmother figures who are ill, cranky and ugly and only there to cook and clean for all the other characters, and to dispense a bit of common sense/wisdom to the foolish young people. This book defies all those tropes, by having Claire, the protagonist, be a spry 60 year old who is hoping to reinvent herself, and finds that her life suddenly takes a huge turn for the better once she accepts her magical heritage. Here's the blurb:  She wanted purpose. She got dark magic and war.

Claire Emerson is adrift. After a lifetime as a wife, mother, and grandma, she never saw divorce or loneliness coming and is desperate for some sense of purpose. But when her sixtieth birthday brings a snarky gargoyle, an annoyingly sexy wolf shifter, and an unknown magical calling, she thinks she's losing the only thing she has left: her sanity.

Refusing to believe she's the powerful defender of humankind her so-called protectors claim, Claire attempts a return to her safe life... only to have her powers ignite when she's attacked by dark supernatural creatures. And without the training she was supposed to have received, she has no idea how she'll defeat sinister mages plotting her demise.

Can Claire overcome creaky joints and major hot flashes in time to save the world - and her own life?

Becoming Crone is the page-turning first book in The Crone Wars paranormal women's fiction series. If you like spunky heroines, snappy banter, and triumphing over self-doubt, then you'll love this ageless adventure.

I loved the sparkling clean, witty and bright prose, as well as the nearly flawless plot that flew by on owl's wings. I wish that the publisher's blurb didn't add the word "ageless" to their description of the book, however, as if a woman's age is something to be ashamed of, to hide or lie about because it somehow makes women "less" competent or useful or intelligent, while men are seen as more powerful and wise as they age. Though Claire has some self esteem issues (mainly due to the sexism of her entire family),she soon finds her inner core of strength and power and kicks major arse throughout the rest of the book. I couldn't get enough of this fantasy tale of a woman my age tearing apart the patriarchal tropes and fighting evil to save the day. Becoming Crone gets a heartfelt and well deserved A from me with a recommendation that all women read it, (and enlightened men) ASAP.

Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah was a cheap paperback that I grabbed onto, thinking that though its one of her earlier works that I'd enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed her more recent offerings, like The Nightingale or The Four Winds. Unfortunately, though the prose was good and the plot straightforward (if a bit transparent to anyone who watched Dallas in the 80s), the story itself came off as a cheap trope from a romance novel, and the author added in a religious element that was clunky and ill conceived. Here's the blurb: Kristin Hannah is beloved by readers around the world for her unique blend of powerful emotion and exquisite storytelling. In Comfort & Joy, she offers a modern-day fairy tale—the story of a woman who gets a miraculous chance at happiness.

Joy Candellaro once loved Christmas more than any other time of the year. Now, as the holiday approaches, she is at a crossroads in her life; recently divorced and alone, she can’t summon the old enthusiasm for celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a ticket and boards a plane bound for the beautiful Pacific Northwest. When an unexpected detour takes her deep into the woods of the Olympic rainforest, Joy makes a bold decision to leave her ordinary life behind—to just walk away—and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

In the small town of Rain Valley, six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without a mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world, talking only to his invisible best friend. His father Daniel is beside himself, desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, these two unlikely souls form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.     

But not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart, and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist, and go in search of what she wants . . . and the new life only she can find.

The blurb neglects to mention (SPOILER) that the reason Joy gets on the first plane out of town is because she discovers her sleazy husband in bed with her dirtbag sister, and then said sister has the gall to come to her home to rub her face in the fact that her ex is marrying her because the sister is pregnant, which is something her ex denied Joy previously, saying that he didn't want children (when what he obviously meant is that he didn't want children with Joy, but of course he doesn't have the decency to tell her that, the bastard).  But when Joy appears suddenly in Bobby's life, (after a devastating plane crash) and begins to make a difference to this grief-stricken boy and his father, Daniel, it twigs the reader to the real reason that only a few people actually seem to be able to "see" Joy....she's not really there, she's in a coma and appears like a ghost to Bobby (though his dad only pretends to see her for his son's sake). She awakens after spending several months with Bobby and Daniel, in the hospital with her scumbag sister by her side. She proceeds to forgive her sister and her sh*tty ex, for reasons that are never clear (and WHY anyone would forgive these reprehensible people is beyond me anyway...they do not deserve one ounce of her kindness or forgiveness! They're liars and cheaters and if there's a hell, they're headed there, IMO),and of course she sets off in search of Bobby and Daniel, though everyone tries to tell her that they were figments of her imagination. There's a convenient HEA, but I still felt that the whole plot contrivance was awkward..."It was all a dream" has been done to death, KWIM? Hence I'd give this slender paperback a B-, and recommend it to anyone who wants something like a Hallmark channel romance in book form.

The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St George is a historical romance that I also found in cheap paperback form, and bought on a whim. The prose is decent, but the plot tries to be more complex than it actually needs to be. Still, this tale of young wealthy American women being courted and basically sold to impoverished English nobility during the latter part of the 19th century is a good distraction if you're on a long flight or waiting in the doctor's office. Here's the blurb: Sparks fly when a runaway heiress bargains with a devilish rogue to escape a marriage of convenience.

No one would guess that beneath Violet Crenshaw's ladylike demeanor lies the heart of a rebel. American heiresses looking to secure English lords must be on their best behavior, but Violet has other plans. She intends to flee London and the marriage her parents have arranged to become a published author--if only the wickedly handsome earl who inspired her most outrageously sinful character didn't insist on coming with her.

Christian Halston, Earl of Leigh, has a scheme of his own: escort the surprisingly spirited dollar princess north and use every delicious moment in close quarters to convince Violet to marry him. Christian needs an heiress to rebuild his Scottish estate but the more time he spends with Violet, the more he realizes what he really needs is her--by his side, near his heart, in his bed.

Though Christian's burning glances offer unholy temptation, Violet has no intention of surrendering herself or her newfound freedom in a permanent deal with the devil. It's going to take more than pretty words to prove this fortune hunter's love is true.

Of course Christian falls for Violet,but when the truth comes out that he planned on abducting her and forcing her to marry him so that he could refurbish one of his three estates, it all comes crashing down, and though they're married, Christian learns that he's got a lot of apologizing to do in order to convince Violet that he really does love her, even without her money. Violet forgives him, (once she discovers she's pregnant) and there's the requisite HEA ending, but I still felt that Violet was portrayed as being way too naive and Christian as way too underhanded to make this marriage work. Still, it was a good distracting read, and I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting paperback romance that they can read in an afternoon.

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh is a delicious fantasy ebook that I found curious and complex, as it combined gothic romance with mystery and dark fantasy ala Anne Rice to make a delicious New Orleans gumbo of a novel. Here's the blurb: New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans is a safe haven after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent in the middle of the carnival season, Celine is quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its fancy soirées and even its danger. She becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's enigmatic leader, Sébastien Saint Germain.

When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in Sébastien's own lair--the second dead girl to turn up in recent weeks--Celine battles her attraction to Sébastien and suspicions about his guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

After a third murder, New Orleans becomes gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose--one who has now set Celine in his sights. As the murderer stalks her, Celine finally takes matters into her own hands, only to find herself caught in the midst of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night, where the price of forbidden love is her life.
At once a sultry romance and a decadent, thrilling mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet.

Though there was a touch too much horror and gore for me, this Anne-Rice-lite tale was so engrossing I was up until the wee hours turning pages to find out what happened next to the feisty and overly proud Celine. The prose was rich and sweet and the plot shadowy and slick. It's one of a few novels that left me feeling hungry in both body and soul. Therefore I'd give it a B+, and recommend it to those who love Anne Rice's early works (especially Interview with a Vampire,which is her best novel, IMO). 

 

Happy Birthday Beaverdale Books, Bookshop.Org Hits $15 Million, The Sympathizer on TV, Indie Bookstores as Vacation Destinations, The Lady Brewer of London by Karen Brooks, A Cup of Silver Linings by Karen Hawkins, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado, Ink and Shadows by Ellery Adams, and Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons by Nancy Springer

Greetings book lovers! I hope you all are staying cool and reading during this hotter-than-hades summer.

The last time I visited my home state of Iowa, I had my dad take me to Beaverdale to a bookstore, so I could look around at how much things had changed in Des Moines since I left home in 1979 to go to college. Even though this was years ago, I was astonished at how much Ankeny and Des Moines had grown and changed...sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse. At any rate, thank heaven for indie bookstores!

Happy 15th Birthday, Beaverdale Books!

Congratulations to Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, Iowa, which celebrated its 15th anniversary https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49148220 July 10 "as staff welcomed customers new and old and children flipped through pages of colorful cartoons. The store offered daylong perks of free beverages and cookies; exclusive offers like free advance reader copies and discounted books; and opportunities to interact with local authors," the Register reported.

Founder and owner Alice Meyer opened the store in 2006 at 2629 Beaver Ave. This past year "was unique in its history, however, as the store had to close its doors to in-store business for 13 months," the Register noted.

"But, people were still buying books. I think I expected it to be a lot worse than it was. It was kind of surprising," said Meyer. "It was pretty crazy, especially during the holidays, but people were very supportive. I think at the time, big, online folks did not make books a priority. They were busy selling other stuff like hand sanitizers. And I think people realized that they needed to support their local businesses."

 I love this idea of a collective online bookstore that represents independent bookstores and helps them fight against the raging river of Amazon.com.

Bookshop.org Hits $15 Million Mark

Sometime overnight, Bookshop.org https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49181040 hit the $15 million mark in money earned for independent bookstores in the U.S. The money consists in part of a pool of a 10% cut on Bookshop sales that are made directly or through an affiliate, with the pool distributed to indie bookstores around the country, even stores that don't use Bookshop. In addition, bookstores that do use Bookshop as their e-commerce site receive a 30% commission on the cover price of their book sales, which don't count toward the general pool.

Bookshop financially helps more than 1,200 indie bookstores in the U.S., with an additional 26,000 non-store affiliates contributing to the results by linking to Bookshop. Its year-on-year growth is 17%, and, of course, since its fortuitously timed launch in January 2020, it has been a lifeline for many indies during the pandemic, particularly new stores and established stores without strong e-commerce operations. Bookshop hit the $10 million milestone this past December. Since its launch in the U.K. in November 2020, Bookshop has 470 bookshops on board there and has earned some 1.48 million(about $2.03 million) for indies.

From the beginning, Bookshop.org has said that besides supporting indies, one of its main goals is giving online shoppers an ethical alternative to Amazon that supports local businesses. The company noted that Amazon's market share of U.S. book sales has grown at an average of 8% per year since 2015. If it continues at that rate, it will account for 80% of books sold directly to consumers by the end of 2025. Bookshop estimates that in the past 16 months it's captured about 1% of Amazon's book sales.

In an essay on Medium https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49181041, Bookshop.org CEO Andy Hunter said in part: "The future is not something that happens to us. It is something we create. People all over the world are waking up to the fact that our small choices--from buying local, to recycling, to choosing clean energy, and shopping from ethical companies--are shaping the world that we live in. I want my children to grow up in a world that includes thousands of bookstores; if you do too, we need to change our habits."

This sounds fascinating, and I can't wait to see it.

TV: The Sympathizer

Robert Downey Jr. will co-star in as well as produce an adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel The Sympathizer https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49181069 for A24 and HBO. Variety reported that Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) will serve as co-showrunner with Don McKellar (Exotica, Last Night). Filming is set to take place in Los Angeles and in Vietnam.

"Adapting Mr. Nguyen's important and masterful work requires a visionary team. With director Park at the helm, I expect this to be a creative producing adventure for Susan, me and Team Downey, and a stimulating process for myself in playing these complex supporting roles," Downey said. "A24 and HBO are the perfect combination of partners and co-parents.... It's exactly the type of challenge I've been craving, and I believe we will deliver an exceptional viewing experience to our audience."

Chan-wook will direct and executive produce the project alongside Downey, McKellar, Kim Ly, Rhombus Media's Niv Fichman and Team Downey's Amanda Burrell and Susan Downey.

I always stop at a bookstore, no matter where I travel, or have traveled in the past. Whether it's a cozy little bookshop in Ireland or a fancy modern bookstore in Vancouver BC (Canada), there are always great booksellers and wonderful fellow bibliophiles to make a connection with, thereby getting a feel for the local gestalt. I always learn something and I try to restrain my book purchases due to limited space in my luggage. But adventures in the world would not be the same without book stores, for sure!

'Planning a Vacation? Add Indie Bookstores to Your Travel Itinerary'

"Whenever I travel, there's one must-see on my itinerary: a local independent bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49182402," Suzanne Perez noted in a piece for NPR station KMUW in Wichita, Kan., sharing some of her favorite destinations. "I'm a reader, and readers love bookstores. An hour or two of peace and quiet, browsing the shelves, is heaven on a normal day. It's even better on vacation.

"But beyond that, local bookstores provide a window into the real flavor, culture and history of a place.... I make a point of buying a book wherever I travel--usually something related to the destination. Booksellers are the friendliest people on the planet, and I love when they press a book into my hands. Even better is coming home with a beloved title that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. Books are the best souvenirs."

The Lady Brewer of  London by Karen Brooks was a mighty tome, though I read it in ebook format, it still took me days to read it, when normally it only takes me hours to read an ebook, because the font sizes are easier to see and there's a timer on my Kindle Paperwhite that only allows me so much time to finish each chapter. Still, this historical novel, which takes place in the 15th century, is loaded with information on the misogyny and horrific treatment of women and children at the time. It's also full of recipes for beer and ale, which are two different things, surprisingly. Here's the blurb:

An unforgettable historical tale set in fifteenth-century England of a brilliant woman’s defiance, courage, and ingenuity—from the author of The Locksmith’s Daughter and The Chocolate Maker’s Wife. 

1405: The daughter of a wealthy merchant, Anneke Sheldrake suddenly finds her family bankrupted when her father’s ship is swept away at sea. Forced to find a way to provide for herself and her siblings, Anneke rejects an offer of marriage from a despised cousin and instead turns to her late mother’s family business: brewing ale. 

Armed with her mother’s recipes, she then makes a bold deal with her father’s aristocratic employer, putting her home and family at risk. Thanks to her fierce determination, Anneke’s brew wins a following and begins to turn a profit. But her rise threatens some in her community and those closest to her are left to pay the price.

As Anneke slowly pieces her life together again, she finds an unlikely ally in a London brothel owner. Determined not only to reclaim her livelihood and her family, Anneke vows not to let anyone stand in the way of her forging her own destiny.

Anna/Anneke is raped and then nearly murdered three times by the same character who is a member of the clergy, and eventually it gets ridiculous how many times this particular boogeyman pops up just when Anneke is recovering and making a living as a brewer. The plot redundancies are numerous, and by my reckoning, at least 200-300 pages could have been removed from the novel by an experienced editor and the book would have been the better for it. I was also annoyed by the use of rape as a way for the strong female protagonist's life to change, because it's ubiquitous in historical novels, so much so that I can't think of any that don't include the supposedly strong woman lead being beated, raped and/or nearly killed. This is taking rape from being the heinous act that it is and turning it into a sort of thrill-seeking, voyeuristic plot device, which normalizes it, and is disgusting and so very wrong on many levels. Other than that, though, I liked Anneke's story, and I loved the fact that she was a redhead, too. I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to fans of the Outlander series, which also has too much gratuitous rape within it's pages. 

A Cup of Silver Linings by Karen Hawkins is the sequel to the Book Charmer, which I read twice, once for myself and again for my library book group. I loved both novels, which are cozy books that have strong romantic subplots, and are full of magic realism, like Sarah Addison Allen's works. Here's the blurb: New York Times bestselling author Karen Hawkins returns to her beloved Dove Pond series with another “mesmerizing fusion of the mystical and the everyday” (Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author)—but this time, the magic is in the tea leaves.

Ava Dove—the sixth of the seven famed Dove sisters and owner of Ava Dove’s Landscaping and Specialty Teas—is frantic.

Just as her fabulous new tearoom is about to open, her herbal teas have gone wonky. Suddenly, her sleep-inducing tea is startling her clients awake with vivid dreams, her romance-kindling tea is causing people to blurt out their darkest secrets, and her anti-anxiety tea is making them spend hours staring into mirrors. Ava is desperate for a remedy, but her search leads her into dangerous territory, as she is forced to face a dark secret she’s been hiding for over a decade.

Meanwhile, successful architect Ellen Foster has arrived in Dove Pond to attend the funeral of her estranged daughter, Julie. Grieving deeply, Ellen is determined to fix up her daughter’s ramshackle house, sell it, and then sweep her sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Kristen, off to a saner, calmer life in Raleigh. But Kristen has other plans. Desperate to stay with her friends in Dove Pond, Kristen sets off on a quest she’s avoided her whole life—to find her never-been-there father in the hopes of winning her freedom from the grandmother she barely knows.

Together, Ava, Kristen, and Ellen embark on a reluctant but magical journey of healing, friendship, and family that will delight fans of Alice Hoffman, Kate Morton, and Sarah Addison Allen.

The rigid grandmother trope was well done here, though it took a couple of vivid dream conversations with her dead daughter to get Ellen to loosen up and agree to help her granddaughter stay in Dove Pond with her father (who really isn't her father so much as a sperm donor). I did feel bad for Ava, yet I felt her secret, once revealed, had much higher consequences than necessary. Still, I would give this page-turner an A, and recommend it to anyone looking for an engrossing read with just the right amount of magic.

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado is a delicious YA novel about a larger teenager coming to terms with her body and her destiny. I find books about larger women/girls who don't end up having to lose weight to be happy to be exceedingly rare, so when I happened upon this novel, I pounced on it with all due fervor. Thankfully, the prose was juicy and the plot glides along, so I found myself reading into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: Coming of age as a Fat brown girl in a white Connecticut suburb is hard.
Harder when your whole life is on fire, though.

Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.
People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it's hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn't help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. Be quieter.

But there's one person who's always in Charlie's corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. Popular. Athletic. Totally dope. So when Charlie starts a tentative relationship with cute classmate Brian, the first worthwhile guy to notice her, everything is perfect until she learns one thing--he asked Amelia out first. So is she his second choice or what? Does he even really see her?

Because it's time people did.

A sensitive, funny, and painfully honest coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega tackles our relationships to our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.

I truly loathed Charlie's mother, who was a complete idiot and diet fanatic with supposedly good intentions, set to destroy her relationship with her daughter due to her own ignorance and prejudice. But Charlie manages to rise above it all and makes a real success out of her life without changing her body or who she is. I would have every young women in high school read this book, if I could. It's brilliant, and gets a well deserved A from me, with a recommendation that EVERY women/girl on the planet pick up a copy and read/learn from it. 

Ink and Shadows by Ellery Adams was an ebook that I got for cheap, so I wasn't expecting a lot. I was surprised, therefore, at the quality of the prose, which was sterling, and the way that the plot managed to move along effortlessly to make this another page-turner of a cozy mystery. Being a bibliophile, I tend to be attracted to books about bookstores and their owners (or librarians) and this particular mystery was deeply entrenched in a small town bookstore with an owner who is a minor sleuth in her spare time. Here's the blurb: New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams is back with the latest in her acclaimed Secret, Book, and Scone Society series. Local bookstore owner Nora Pennington is back on the case in Miracle Springs, North Carolina when an accidental death turns out to be something much more sinister.
 
Nora Pennington is known for her window displays, and as Halloween approaches, she decides to showcase fictional heroines like Roald Dahl’s Matilda and Madeline Miller’s Circe. A family-values group disapproves of the magical themes, though, and wastes no time launching a modern-day witch hunt. Suddenly, former friends and customers are targeting not only Nora and Miracle Books, but a new shopkeeper, Celeste, who’s been selling CBD oil products.
 
Nora and her friends in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society are doing their best to put an end to the strife—but then someone puts an end to a life. Though the death is declared an accident, the ruling can’t explain the old book page covered with strange symbols and disturbing drawings left under Nora’s doormat, a postcard from an anonymous stalker, or multiple cases of vandalism.
 
The only hope is that Nora can be a heroine herself and lead the Secret, Book, and Scone Society in a successful investigation—before more bodies turn up and the secrets from Celeste’s past come back to haunt them all.
SPOILER: I was greatly saddened that the owner of the herbal shop and her daughter end up dead, and though the person who killed them is caught and will end up in prison for life, the fact that women are the targets of evil men who seek to destroy them by gaining power over them both physically and mentally isn't really discussed or shown for the societal scourge that it has been for centuries. Why authors are afraid to discuss misogyny, even in a book with romantic subplots (they're almost always heterosexual romances, too...there's rarely anyone from the LGBTQ+ community represented, unfortunately) boggles my mind. It's 2021, people, lets get some diversity going here! Main characters of color and characters with other sexualities would be more normal that representing towns full of all white heterosexuals. Still, this book deserves at least a B-, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in small town bookstores.

Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons by Nancy Springer is a short story that I was able to get for free for my Kindle Paperwhite. It was beautifully written and way too short a story for my tastes, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. Here's the blurb: Nancy Springer's nationally bestselling series and breakout Netflix sensation is back! In this short story, Enola Holmes is on the case when a young porter - the boy in buttons - disappears without a trace.

Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, owns a building in the heart of 19th century London, a place she uses under pseudonyms to front for her investigative work. Employed there is a porter - Joddy, a young boy in a uniform festooned with buttons - whose even younger brother substitutes for him when he's sick. But Paddy disappears after one day at the job and Enola Holmes is alerted to this by the still ill Joddy.

Determined to find the missing porter, Enola travels to the rough part of London where the boys live and starts searching Aldgate Pump area for the missing boy. When she finds the missing buttons - but not the boy - she decides that drastic action is essential if she's to save the missing boy.

This is the kind of story that will keep you occupied in a doctors waiting room, or while you wait in line or ride on the bus/subway/train to get to your job. Enola is brilliant and smart, and her compassion, though late to the game, is welcome in helping the starving street urchins, much as her brother Sherlock does with the Baker Street Irregulars in A Conan Doyles original tales. I'd give this story an A and recommend it to anyone who liked the Netflix series about the marvelous Enola Holmes.

Iron Dog Books, Leningrad Comes to TV, Persuasion on Stage, Powell's Archive Project, The Alchemist Movie, Former POTUS Obama's Summer Reading List, Clark and Division Review, The Coming Storm by Regina M Hansen, The War Nurse by Tracey Enerson Wood, and The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen

Hello from the mid-summer heat wave in the PNW! So far, we've survived, thanks to air conditioning and fans, but, having lived near Seattle since 1991, I can honestly say that I've never seen it get this hot out here, with temperatures going up to 113 degrees on multiple days! Whew! It's cooled down considerably this past week end and week, thank heaven, and I'm fortunate that I've been able to read on my Kindle Paperwhite and read a variety of "dead tree" books to keep my mind occupied while everything from the rose bush to the garden withers under the burning rays of the sun. I've also binge-watched Netflix's Virgin River season 3 and Amazon's delightful Leverage Redemption, which is a long-awaited reboot of the show that brought Robin Hood and Hijinks into the modern age. Anyway, here are the latest tidbits and reviews.

I love the story of this scrappy book van becoming a bookstore with a number of followers. I will have to look them up next time I'm in BC!

Iron Dog Books

The Canadian Independent Booksellers Association showcased Hilary and Cliff Atleo http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49043065, who launched Iron Dog Books , Vancouver, B.C., in 2017. "Their bookstore was based out of an 80 square foot renovated cube van, which they referred to as the 'food (for the brain) truck.' They spent two years travelling to events, markets, and festivals in BC's lower mainland before expanding to a brick-and-mortar location in Vancouver," CIBA noted.

Curation is key at the bookshop. "I don't believe in a hierarchy of literature, but rather a topography," Hilary Atleo said. "Each area of the map has highlights worth visiting."

CIBA noted that Iron Dog Books "has become a beloved community hub, and the truck still rides on. One of the unique benefits of the truck is being able to bring the store to new audiences. At events that are not about reading, the truck becomes a conduit of discovery or rediscovery--not only of a particular title, but of books and reading more generally."

I love stories of women's contribution to history, so this sounds like it will be a "Must See" for me in the future.

TV: Leningrad

Michael Hirst (Vikings, The Tudors) will write a TV series adaptation of Anna Reid's 2011 book Leningrad http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49043099: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944, which draws on personal diaries, Deadline reported. The project is a co-production between Range Media Partners and Svetlana and Alexey Kuzmichev's Orangery Productions.

"Because the authentic voice of the people is crucial to telling the true story, one of the great resources are the diaries kept by so many people, specifically women, in the city," Hirst said. "The majority of our main characters are women, not only because they are often overlooked or even ignored in historical accounts, but also because while many of Leningrad's men went to war and died in battle, the women remained. I think it's entirely right to tell the story of the Siege through the female experience."

 Ooooh, a Jane Austen adaptation to the stage! Wonderful!

On Stage: Persuasion

Bedlam http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49073275 (Sense and Sensibility, The Crucible) is returning Off-Broadway this fall with Persuasion http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49073276, a new play by Sarah Rose Kearns adapted from Jane Austen's novel, Playbill reported. Directed by Eric Tucker, the production will begin September 11 at the Connelly Theater ahead of a September 21 opening.

"We feel extremely lucky to have come through the pandemic as a company and fortunate to be able to return to the stage," said Tucker. "I'm also happy to announce Bedlam is launching a new pipeline initiatives program to make our shows available to anyone in New York who may have been prevented from attending due to the cost of a ticket, to encourage audience development and community engagement."

 This is such a cool project, but I've got way too many stories about finding great books, having book chats with employees, buying some of the softest t-shirts I've ever touched, and enjoying unpacking the haul of new books and book stuff when I get home to ever contribute to the archive project.

PowellsArchiveProject: Powell's Books, Then & Now

Powell's Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49075817, Portland, Ore., shared a pair of photos on Facebook, noting: "Powell's on Hawthorne then & Powell's on Hawthorne now http://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49075818>. We first opened shop on Hawthorne in 1992 and then shifted storefronts on the street in 1995. This particular photo looks to be from the late '90s/early '00s. #TBT reading challenge: You're shopping at Powell's at the turn of the century. What book are you picking up?

"We are working on creating a lasting archive of #50YearsOfPowells, and in order to accomplish our goal we invite you to share your own Powell's history with us! Please share your memories, treasured book finds, merch, ephemera, and more with us via email at archive@powells.com or tag us in any social posts with the hashtag #PowellsArchiveProject

I wonder if Kevin Frakes is any relation to Jonathan Frakes of STNG fame? Either way, this is a book to movie adaptation that is long overdue, IMO.

Movies: The Alchemist

Westbrook Studios, Netter Films and PalmStar Media have set a September start date in Morocco for The Alchemist http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49075835, based on Paulo Coelho's novel, Deadline reported. PalmStar principal Kevin Frakes will direct while Sebastian de Souza, Tom Hollander and Shohreh Aghdashloo are starring in the movie, which will be ready for release in late 2022.

The cast also includes Jordi Molla, Youssef Kerkour and Ashraf Barhom. The film is produced by Will Smith and Jon Mone for Westbrook Studios; Frakes and Raj Singh for PalmStar; and Gil Netter for Netter Films.

"Hundreds of millions of people over the past three decades have found inspiration in The Alchemist to pursue their dreams, listen to their hearts, and never to lose hope when faced with adversity," said Netter. "Paulo Coelho's words are profound, and now we will finally be able to bring those words to life."

Frakes added that Coelho "wrote it best. When you really want something to happen, the whole universe will conspire so that your wish comes true. It has long been my dream to bring this story to the world, and now we can do that in a way that speaks to Coelho's vision, with a cast and crew that represents the global well of support for The Alchemist."

Oh how I miss the smart presidents...Rhodes Scholar Bill Clinton, brilliant Barack Obama and all the other POTUS's who enjoyed browsing a bookstore and reading real books! I love that former president Obama has another reading list out, and that Project Hail Mary is on it (A book that I read and loved, BTW...it's reviewed here on my blog). 

Obama's Summer Reading List 2021

Once again Barack Obama has released his summer reading list. On Facebook, he wrote http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49116618, "Whether you're camped out on the beach or curled up on the couch on a rainy day, there's nothing quite like sitting down with a great book in the summer. While we were still in the White House, I began sharing my summer favorites--and over the years, it's become a little tradition that I look forward to sharing with you all. So without further ado, here are some books I've read recently. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did."

At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop

Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

This sounds like a great book, one that I'd be interested in reading, following Jamie Ford's brilliant "Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," which was a revelation for me, detailing a part of history that I knew little about.

Book Review: Clark and Division

The incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II is undoubtedly one of the most egregious episodes in 20th-century U.S. history. Third-generation Japanese American Naomi Hirahara carves a little-known sliver from that grievous experience and layers it with mystery to create her provocative novel Clark and Division.

The War Relocation Authority eventually began releasing young adults to relocate in small numbers in such cities as Chicago, Denver and New York--because they were forbidden to return to their West Coast homes. In September 1943, Rose Ito was the first in her family to be discharged from Manzanar to resettle in Chicago. Her parents and younger sister, Aki, apply to follow her in the spring, although the official government literature states, "Don't bunch up in numbers more than three." Aki wonders about their quartet being "too many," but tragically, Rose is killed on the tracks of Chicago's Clark and Division subway station the night before the family's reunion. Her death is ruled a suicide, but "Rose wouldn't do that," Aki insists. She's convinced she knew her beloved, feisty, determined sister best, but is shocked when the coroner reports that Rose had had a recent abortion. Aki's doubts and questions immediately multiply; her stubborn streak is emboldened as she chases down Rose's roommates, friends, any acquaintances willing to talk. What Aki uncovers couldn't be more timely--anti-Asian racism and violence, illegal medicine, mob control, dirty cops.

Born in California to a Japanese immigrant mother and a father born in California and raised in Hiroshima, Hirahara's lauded literary career highlights her dual heritage. The author of nonfiction, young adult and three mystery series (Mas Arai, Ellie Rush, Leila Santiago) delves into her first historic fiction with Clark and Division. Although she's skillfully integrated historical events in many of her previous titles, her 10th novel incorporates three decades of researching and collecting the oral histories of Americans imprisoned for being of Japanese heritage. As a former journalist and editor for the Rafu Shimpo, the nation's most prominent Japanese American newspaper since 1903, Hirahara was involved in reporting on the Japanese American demands for redress and reparations that resulted in the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which issued a national apology and $20,000 to each incarceration survivor.

While Clark and Division is currently a standalone endeavor, Aki Ito shows plenty of intriguing tenacity to star in a series of her own. Readers are sure to agree. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon

 

The Coming Storm by Regina M. Hansen is a wonderful YA fantasy novel based on Celtic and Canadian/Norse myths and legends. It's extremely well written, with lyrical prose that sails along the rich plot and enfolds the reader in the protagonist, Beet MacNeill's world and doesn't let go until the last line on the last page. Here's the blurb: Music, myth, and horror blend in this romantic, atmospheric fantasy debut about a teen girl who must fight a powerful evil that’s invaded her Prince Edward Island home—perfect for fans of An Enchantment of Ravens.

There’s a certain wild magic in the salt air and the thrum of the sea. Beet MacNeill has known this all her life. It added spice to her childhood adventures with her older cousin, Gerry, the two of them thick as thieves as they explored their Prince Edward Island home. So when Gerry comes up the path one early spring morning, Beet thinks nothing of it at first. But he is soaking wet and silent, and he plays a haunting tune on his fiddle that chills Beet to the bone. Something is very, very wrong.

Things only get worse when Marina Shaw saunters into town and takes an unsettling interest in Gerry’s new baby. Local lore is filled with tales of a vicious shape-shifting sea creature and the cold, beautiful woman who controls him—a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Marina. Beet is determined to find out what happened to her beloved cousin, and to prevent the same fate from befalling the handsome new boy in town who is winning her heart, whether she wants him to or not. Yet the sea always exacts a price.

You can almost hear the violin music and smell the salt in the air in this novel, and I found it to be one of those YA novels that will speak to anyone of any age, who really likes a good, engrossing tale. My only, slight problem with the book was that Beet seemed to be more than a bit mean and b*tchy to everyone in her life, from her mother to the young man who wants to help her (and eventually date her). I couldn't fathom any reason why this teenage girl was such a pill,unless it was because that is the stereotype of "hormonal" teenage girls, is that they're horribly nasty creatures who can't get along with anyone, save their fellow nasty teenage girls, who are, of course, boy crazy, because "all" teenage girls are boy crazy, right?! In reality,this is just one more stupid stereotype that readers could do without, especially female readers. Still, I'd give this novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes myths and legends associated with the sea.

The War Nurse by Tracey Enerson Wood is a well-researched historical fiction novel that suffers from it's greatest attribute. While the prose was clean, it was also somewhat stiff and formal, and at times the historical detail overwhelmed the thin plot to the point of sinking it like a stone. Here's the blurb:

Based on a true story, The War Nurse is a sweeping historical novel by USA Today bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood that takes readers on an unforgettable journey through WWI France.

She asked dozens of young women to lay their lives on the line during the Great War. Can she protect them?

Superintendent of Nurses Julia Stimson must recruit sixty-four nurses to relieve the battle-worn British, months before American troops are ready to be deployed. She knows that the young nurses serving near the front lines of will face a challenging situation, but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that awaits when they arrive at British Base Hospital 12 in Rouen, France. The primitive conditions, a convoluted, ineffective system, and horrific battle wounds are enough to discourage the most hardened nurses, and Julia can do nothing but lead by example—even as the military doctors undermine her authority and make her question her very place in the hospital tent.

When trainloads of soldiers stricken by a mysterious respiratory illness arrive one after the other, overwhelming the hospital's limited resources, and threatening the health of her staff, Julia faces an unthinkable choice—to step outside the bounds of her profession and risk the career she has fought so hard for, or to watch the people she cares for most die in her arms.

Fans of Martha Hall Kelly's Lost Roses and Marie Benedict's Lady Clementine will devour this mesmerizing celebration of some of the most overlooked heroes in history: the fierce, determined, and brave nurses who treated soldiers in World War I.

The novel is told in first person, almost diary-style writing from the main character, Julia, who ends up being kind of a cold and aloof icon of womanhood, instead of seeming like a real person who has to survive adverse conditions and a great deal of suffering and death over the course of two years. While I gather that this was based on real people and a real woman who had to make the choice between having a nursing career or marriage and family, it still seemed highly judgemental in the way the author dealt with that reality, as if she made the lesser, more unfulfilling choice because Julia chose her career of helping people. However, this was a fascinating snapshot of the women who worked so very hard to save lives during the Great War. I'd give this book a B-, and recommend it to anyone who wants the inside story of nursing during WW1.

The Paris Apartment by Kelly Bowen is another historical fiction novel, about a young woman who discovers that her ancestor has left her an intact apartment full of what she thinks are masterpieces of art stolen from Jewish families by the Nazis during WWII. She spends most of the novel trying to find out who actually owned the art works, so that she can give them back to their rightful owners. Interspersed with modern day Lia's story is that of Estelle, who lead a double life as a resistance spy in Paris during the Nazi occupation. Here's the blurb: This heart-wrenching novel about family and war unearths generations of secrets and sacrifices—perfect for fans of The Paris Orphan and The Lost Girls of Paris.

2017, London: When Aurelia Leclaire inherits an opulent Paris apartment, she is shocked to discover her grandmother’s hidden secrets—including a treasure trove of famous art and couture gowns. One obscure painting leads her to Gabriel Seymour, a highly respected art restorer with his own mysterious past. Together they attempt to uncover the truths concealed within the apartment’s walls.
 
Paris, 1942: The Germans may occupy the City of Lights, but glamorous Estelle Allard flourishes in a world separate from the hardships of war. Yet when the Nazis come for her friends, Estelle doesn’t hesitate to help those she holds dear, no matter the cost. As she works against the forces intent on destroying her loved ones, she can’t know that her actions will have ramifications for generations to come.

Set seventy-five years apart, against a perilous and a prosperous Paris, both Estelle and Lia must unearth hidden courage as they navigate the dangers of a changing world, altering history—and their family’s futures—forever.  

What is heartbreaking about this fantastically engrossing tale is that it's too short, because it's so well written with evocative prose and a robust plot full of intrigue, that readers will want the story to continue until every last painting has found it's proper home and the story of how it was obtained is revealed. the only "spanner in the works" in the entire novel is Lia's love interest, an artist who examines each artwork and helps Lia mount a show of the works and find their true owners, who is kind of a big whiny baby. His sad-sack story is not that just not that important to the plot, and comes off as the immature posturing of a wealthy guy raised with everything he could want but love...boo freaking hoo. Yet even with the immature wealthy artist idiot in the somewhat forced romantic subplot, I still couldn't put the book down. I'd give this book an A-, and recommend it to anyone who has dreamed of finding treasure in some old relative's attic and cashing in, which is what I would have done, of course.

Julia Comes to TV, That Summer by Jennifer Weiner, The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, The Italian Villa by Daniela Sacerdoti, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao

Happy 4th of July, America! In celebration of Independence Day, I'm going to post a lot of book reviews and not many tidbits. Thankfully, the heat wave has calmed down to acceptable levels (below 85-90 degrees) and everyone's out on their patios or decks grilling and chilling. 

I adored Julia Child, so I plan on watching this series, which should be wonderful, with such a great actress playing Julia and DHP playing her husband. 

TV: Julia

Judith Light will star as Blanche Knopf, co-founder of the Knopf publishing house and "widely credited with bringing in Julia Child's hugely successful Mastering the Art of French Cooking," in the HBO Max series Julia http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz48976506, Deadline reported.

HBO Max picked up the eight-episode series, which is currently in production, last January after ordering a pilot. Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley) plays Child and David Hyde Pierce her husband, Paul. The pilot was written by Daniel Goldfarb and directed by Charles McDougall.

Here are 5 reviews of books I've been reading lately.

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner is a women's fiction novel (what used to be called Chick Lit, but fortunately authors like Weiner made it clear how sexist BS labels like that weren't going to fly, so it's not used much anymore) about the consequences of rape on the survivors, the perpetrators and their families. It's also about misogyny, societal sexism and patriarchy and privilege, and how white wealthy men have used their power and status to evade the consequences of their abusive actions for centuries. I have to say that I've read several of Weiner's other books, and there's only one that I'd actually recommend, and that's Good in Bed, which was her most popular novel that was made into a movie. Here's the blurb: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Summer comes another deliciously twisty novel of intrigue, secrets, and the transformative power of female friendship.

Daisy Shoemaker can’t sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she’s got it good. So why is she up all night?

While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana’s glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy’s simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?

From the manicured Main Line of Philadelphia to the wild landscape of the Outer Cape, written with Jennifer Weiner’s signature wit and sharp observations, That Summer is a story about surviving our pasts, confronting our futures, and the sustaining bonds of friendship.

SPOILER ALERT! I was looking forward to this novel's indictment of the patriarchy and the wealthy white male establishment that keeps allowing men and boys to rape and sexually harass/abuse women and girls without being held accountable for ruining those women's lives. What I got was a novel that had a lot of cliches and then, in the end, totally left two of the three perpetrators of the crime of rape OFF THE HOOK! Daisy's scumbag privileged, controlling sexist husband, who raped a 15 year old girl after rendering her unconscious with alcohol and having a friend hold her down (while another guy, who turns out to be Daisy's gay brother WATCHES AND DOES NOTHING after fumbling on top of the victim for awhile) just gets defensive and when his wife divorces him, he is still allowed in her and their daughter's lives! And they don't bother to tell the daughter that her father raped someone her age! WTF, Jennifer Weiner?? What kind of justice is that? He doesn't lose his job, he doesn't really lose his family, and he NEVER APOLOGIZES to the woman who he so callously raped! Daisy's equally scumbag brother Danny, who apparently gets a pass because he's gay and takes in foster kids with his husband (who also knew what Danny did that summer and also seems to feel that it was perfectly fine to say NOTHING about this to anyone, including his sister in law or his niece....when Danny had the chance to say something to his sister before she married the rapist scumbag, he totally pussy-footed around it and in the end didn't say anything helpful at all! HE LET A RAPIST MARRY HIS SISTER! What an asshat!) also gets no consequences AT ALL, and is forgiven and taken back into the family, and works with his sister like nothing ever happened. WTF JW?! Just because he wasn't out of the closet and he had a crush on Daisy's husband as a teenager, we're supposed to feel sorry for this sh*thead who attempted to rape a 15 year old and then watched while his two other friends did the deed instead? UGH. DISGUSTING. I hate these wishy-washy and pathetic people who don't get justice for Diana, who should have shot the three scumbags when she had the chance. As a rape survivor myself, I can say with certainty that I would NEVER allow the scumbag who raped me anywhere near my family, especially my child. He doesn't deserve forgiveness or any speck of kindness, he deserves the misery of life in prison or death, period. Men who think women are disposable vessels for their need for power, lust and domination don't deserve to be anywhere near females of any age, ever again. Daisy spent 20 years of her life as a slave to her rapist husband, who degraded her, infantilized and controlled her, and that right there is more than enough reasons to see him completely out of her life, preferably in jail. Hence, I'd give this novel, which was well written and engrossing, a C, but I'd only recommend it to those who don't mind crappy, unsatisfying, awful endings.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is a historical fiction novel that was engaging and fascinating. I was surprised at how deftly the author managed to create the scene of the 18th century apothecary and her work, while making the female characters so three dimensional that they seemed more real than the modern day character. The prose was sublime and the plot ran along on fleet foot. Here's the blurb: A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary…

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.
With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.

I adored Nella,whose history was astonishing and fascinating, and I also enjoyed Eliza's tale, though she seemed way to young and ignorant to be of much help to Nella in her poison workshop. Caroline was less interesting than those women she's researching, but her chapters of the book provided much needed respite from the frantic pace and energy of the historical chapters. The prose was delicate and emotive, which worked well with the twisty and suspenseful plot. I'd give this well written and riveting tale an A, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in "wise women" and apothecaries and healers of the past.

The Italian Villa by Daniela Sacerdoti was an ebook that I picked up for a good price on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. I love historical romance/mystery hybrids, and this one didn't disappoint. The prose was smooth and cool, which helped the hot and fast paced plot move along nicely. Here's the blurb: Callie, a lonely small-town waitress, is still reeling from the discovery that she’s adopted when she arrives in Montevino, Italy in search of answers – the keys to the stunning hillside villa she has just inherited clutched tightly in her hand. Inside the rusted gates, and through a large wooden front door dripping with sun-kissed flowers, Callie can’t decide if she’s more astonished by her new home or her first encounter with the mysterious young groundskeeper, Tommaso.

Wandering the villa barefoot at night, Callie finds a diary belonging to a woman named Elisa, wrapped in faded blue ribbon and hidden in her birthmother’s antique wardrobe. Page by page, Callie is swept away by its story of love, passion, heartbreak and betrayal as she reads how Elisa married her childhood sweetheart in secret before fleeing to the woods to join the resistance. They vowed to find each other again when the war was over, but history had other plans.

Callie is certain that her and Elisa’s lives are somehow connected, and that the truth about her family is hidden somewhere within the diary’s crinkled yellow pages. It gives her the courage to start asking questions around the close-knit village until, at long last, she feels her closed-off heart begin to open. Perhaps even enough to let someone in. But when a devastating betrayal in the final pages of the diary unlocks a heart-breaking secret about who Callie’s mother really is, the chance for a new life shatters in front of her. Can she persuade the locals to forgive her past and accept the truth about her identity?

SPOILER, I wasn't surprised that the woman who was so rude to Callie when she arrives at the villa, who claims to be her auntie, is actually her mother. Turns out this auntie had an affair with her sister's husband and feels that this betrayal leaves her morally bankrupt and undeserving of love or care. The fact that Callie is able to help her forgive herself and get her life back on track, while Callie herself falls for the handsome Tommaso, is a testament to the strength of this strong protagonist. I'd give this novel a B+ and recommend it to anyone who dreams of making a life in sunny Italy.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a bizarre Japanese fantasy time travel novel that I read in ebook format, because it was cheap and easily accessed. This novel was translated from the Japanese, so the prose was somewhat stiff and proper, and the plot, though not really swift, still moved at a regular pace and didn't have any large holes to derail it. Here's the blurb: If you could go back, who would you want to meet?

In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time.

Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.

Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?

The last line of the blurb is misleading, as one of the many rules of time traveling in the cafe is that you can't change anything in the past, you can only talk to whomever you want to talk to for a few moments until your coffee gets cold, at which point you have to drink it and travel to your current time. Of the four people whose stories are told here, the final one was the most interesting, I felt. A woman who knows that she will die in childbirth would like to meet the daughter she will not live to raise. Because I am a mother myself, this story left me weeping and I believe will resonate with many moms out there who know the fears you face in giving birth to a child. The addition of the "ghost woman" who will curse you (physically, not vocally) if you try to remove her from the time-traveling chair (you have to wait until she makes her daily trip to the bathroom) seemed weird, but having read a number of Japanese folk tales in college, it made sense that they'd add this extra element of the supernatural to make the story that much more intricate and detailed. While I felt many of the characters were either too passive and weak (while one was too loud and aggressive), I understand that there were certain cultural norms that came into play here that wouldn't make as much sense to me because I'm not Japanese and haven't lived within that culture. So I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to anyone who likes odd time travel tales.

Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao is a succulent YA novel that has romance and coming of age threads throughout the narrative. I got this book in ebook format for my Kindle Paperwhite for a very low price, and I was surprised by the quality prose and the compelling plot, as many of the cheap ebooks that I get aren't very well written. This novel, however, was riveting, full of great characters in interesting circumstances, so that it rose above the usual "fish out of water" first generation immigrant story. Here's the blurb: A teen outcast is simultaneously swept up in a whirlwind romance and down a rabbit hole of dark family secrets when another Taiwanese family moves to her small, predominantly white midwestern town in this remarkable novel from the critically acclaimed author of American Panda.

Seventeen-year-old Ali Chu knows that as the only Asian person at her school in middle-of-nowhere Indiana, she must be bland as white toast to survive. This means swapping her congee lunch for PB&Js, ignoring the clueless racism from her classmates and teachers, and keeping her mouth shut when people wrongly call her Allie instead of her actual name, pronounced Āh-lěe, after the mountain in Taiwan.

Her autopilot existence is disrupted when she finds out that Chase Yu, the new kid in school, is also Taiwanese. Despite some initial resistance due to the “they belong together” whispers, Ali and Chase soon spark a chemistry rooted in competitive martial arts, joking in two languages, and, most importantly, pushing back against the discrimination they face.

But when Ali’s mom finds out about the relationship, she forces Ali to end it. As Ali covertly digs into the why behind her mother’s disapproval, she uncovers secrets about her family and Chase that force her to question everything she thought she knew about life, love, and her unknowable future.

Snippets of a love story from 19th-century China (a retelling of the Chinese folktale The Butterfly Lovers) are interspersed with Ali’s narrative and intertwined with her fate.

I loved that Ali (and Chase) fight against the rampant racism at their school, despite the consequences to their GPA and their family's disapproval. Ali's strength in martial arts and her refusal to allow convention (and her parents) to force her into an arranged marriage left me feeling like Rocky at the top of the steps in Philly, punching the air in triumph. She turns a terrible arranged marriage park into a place of acceptance of all kinds of love (LGBTQ fans will enjoy that part of the final chapter) and still manages to keep her own relationship going, despite her nasty and relentlessly disapproving mother in what can only be viewed as a satisfying ending. I'd give this ebook an A,and recommend it to anyone who likes YA stories that are unique and have a strong female protagonist.