Good Omens Season 2 on TV, Ursula LeGuin Prize for Fiction, The Defiant Middle Book Review, The Henna Artist on TV, Flannery o'Connor Short Fiction Prize, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl, Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper, and Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone

It's here, the final week of October, and Samhain/Halloween/All Hallows Eve! Spooky time! I'm really looking forward to November and December, with all my family's birthdays and the holidays that I love the most (I love unwrapping gifts by a warm fire in a cozy chair!). The trees are so beautiful this time of year, and the air is so crisp and cool/cold. I much prefer warming up after being cold than sweating and trying to get cool during the summer months. Blech. Anyway, here's some inspiring book/TV/films news and some reviews for your perusal. 

I'm so thrilled that they're doing another season of this wonderful series based on a great, funny and fabulous novel by the late Terry P and the delightful Neil G. The first season was fantastic.

TV: Good Omens Season 2

Good Omens creator Neil Gaiman "has revealed the sweet tribute to author Sir Terry Pratchett https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50039739 on set of season 2, writing that his late friend is there 'in spirit,' " Metro reported, noting that as filming is taking place, Gaiman "shared a behind-the-scenes snap on social media of a chair set up on set in Terry's honor, with his multicolored scarf draped over the back and his hat perched on the armrest."

Michael Sheen and David Tennant reprise their roles in season 2 of the series, which is based on the 1990 novel co-written by Gaiman and Pratchett, who died in 2015.

"Terry is here in spirit and hat and scarf https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50039740. When we shoot in the bookshop we will hang them in there but for now they are here on his chair. #GoodOmens2," Gaiman tweeted. The scarf and hat also appeared in the first season of the show.

 I met and talked to the brilliant Ursula LeGuin, and her loss was a huge one to the SF/F community. I'm glad that they're honoring her with a prize for speculative fiction. I think she would have approved, especially if the award were given to women writers.

Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction to Launch Next Year

The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust has announced the creation of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50040899, with $25,000 to be awarded annually to a writer for a single work of imaginative fiction.

The award will be given for the first time on October 21, 2022, (October 21 was Le Guin's birthday) and will honor a writer "whose work reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula's own work, including but certainly not limited to: hope, equity, and freedom; non-violence and alternatives to conflict; and a holistic view of humanity's place in the natural world."

Nominations for the inaugural prize will open on February 1, 2022. To be eligible for the prize, a book must be "a book-length work of imaginative fiction written by a single author; published in the U.S. in English or in translation to English (in the case of a translated work winning the Prize, the cash prize will be equally divided between author and translator); and published in 2022.

Theo Downes-Le Guin, Le Guin's son and literary executor, said: "Many will appreciate an irony in that Ursula herself was suspicious of literary awards and prizes. At the same time, she recognized their genuine value in honoring a writer and increasing the visibility of good, undervalued writing. She also knew that a bit of money, at the right moment and in the right spirit, can be a turning point in a writer's ability to continue writing. I hope the Prize will provide meaningful help and recognition to writers who might otherwise not receive it."

The award will also give weight to writers whose access to resources may be limited due to race, gender, age, class or other factors; who are working outside of institutional frameworks like MFA programs; who live outside of cultural centers such as New York; and who have not yet been widely recognized for their work.

The Ursula K. Le Guin Literary Trust will create a shortlist from the nominated works, and a panel of five jurors will choose the winner. The inaugural list of jurors includes adrienne maree brown (Grievers), Becky Chambers (the Wayfarers series), Molly Gloss (Unforeseen), David Mitchell (The Bone Clocks) and Luis Alberto Urrea (The House of Broken Angels).

This is a review for a book that I would really like to read, as I feel that women, especially women in history, have gotten short shrift, if they were noted at all. This brings many deserving women into the spotlight after millennia of invisibility.

Book Review

The Defiant Middle: How Women Reclaim Life's In-Betweens to Remake the World

Women, notes journalist Kaya Oakes, often find themselves caught between opposing expectations: what their families and societies want for them, their own dreams and ambitions, and the limits (and surprises) of their experiences. In The Defiant Middle, her thought-provoking fifth book, Oakes examines the lives of women throughout history, with a focus on the medieval era, who "defied expectations and reinvented themselves, along with their world."

Oakes organizes her work into several provocative categories of identity, including "Barren," "Angry," "Crazy," "Butch/Femme/Other" and "Alone."

Her subjects are sometimes officially saints: women who are now venerated by the Catholic Church and other religious groups. But all of them are gloriously messy humans who, during their lifetimes, elicited powerful reactions in the (mostly male) people who had control over their lives. She touches on women from the Bible, most notably Mary Magdalene, discussing how women's significance in the text is often limited to their fertility and their purported sexual histories. Oakes also explores the stories of women who express different gender identities or dressed like men for particular purposes, spanning eras and continents, including Joan of Arc and Pauli Murray.

Oakes shares anecdotes and frustrations from her own life (acknowledging her privileged status),and blends them with scholarly research and incisive analysis of what her subjects' stories might mean for women today. After a meditation on Julian of Norwich, she writes about "how to tell the difference between loneliness and its longing for others, and longing for solitude's pitched and heightened awareness." And in a chapter that reimagines "barrenness" as a potentially fertile field of selfhood, she writes, "This is the unexpected second bloom, the surprise spring of water, the stranger appearing, walking on the heat-shimmering road. The woman, emerging, on her own."

While Oakes admits that it probably won't get easier to be a woman even with gradual progress toward gender parity in many areas, she does offer a mix of inspiring role models, food for thought and wry encouragement.

Most of all, she urges her readers to see every aspect of their identities--especially the ones labeled deviant, inadequate or "too much" by society--as opportunities for discovery. Both an unusual feminist text and a tribute to trailblazing women, The Defiant Middle offers a lens and a roadmap for women seeking to grow beyond constricting and conflicting expectations. --Katie Noah Gibson , blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50040970

 I read this book and enjoyed it, though I did have a few problems with the plot and characters. Still, I think that will all be smoothed out in the TV version, where visuals can make the oddities more understandable, in context.

TV: The Henna Artist

Netflix will develop The Henna Artist https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50042134, a series based on Alka Joshi's debut novel from Miramax TV. Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), who will star and executive produce, told Deadline last year: "The Henna Artist has tremendous potential to become that bingeable, high-quality, multilayered television show that honours the glory and beauty of India, its culture and its people."

The project will be written and executive produced by Sri Rao as part of a first-look deal Rao has signed with Netflix. Deadline noted that under the pact, "he will create and develop scripted and unscripted series for Netflix through his Sri & Company. Mirsada Abdool Raman will continue as Head of Development for Sri & Company, a role she has held since October 2020. The company's mission is to tell stories that center on South Asian characters and artists, with a particular focus on women and the LGBT community."

Rao commented: "For the longest time, no one in Hollywood was interested in my experiences as an Indian-American person. I often found myself creating worlds that were filled entirely of white characters. But I held on long enough to get to this point where the industry is slowly changing. Our mission at Sri & Company is to find the most talented South Asian writers, actors, authors, and other artists from around the world and create compelling content that's entertaining for all audiences, regardless of the color of their skin."

I wish that I'd seen this portrayal of Poe in St Charles. I imagine he was scary but very interesting as a storyteller.

Image of the Day: Edgar Allan Poe (played by Howie Hirshfield) stopped by Main Street Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50074814 in St. Charles, Mo., as part of the town's annual Legends & Lanterns Festival. Every year in October, characters and historical figures like Lizzie Borden, Stingy Jack and Guy Fawkes roam the street and "terrorize" the citizenry. Some of the more popular folks, said Main Street Books owner Emily Schroen, are the authors who hang out in the Writer's Block, including the Brothers Grimm and Mary Shelley. This year, Poe "deigned" to "pose with a collection of his work."

 I loved O'Connors works, and I am glad that Roxane Gay was part of the selection process. Congrats to Ms Johnson.

Johnson Wins Flannery O’Connor Short Fiction Prize

Toni Ann Johnson won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50112466 for her collection Light Skin Gone to Waste, which will be published by the University of Georgia Press in the fall of 2022. The prize "seeks to encourage talented writers of short stories by presenting their work to a wider readership," and winners are offered publication of a book-length collection and $1,000.

Flannery O'Connor series editor Roxane Gay said: "Toni Ann Johnson's Light Skin Gone to Waste is one of the most engrossing short story collections I've read in recent memory. These interconnected stories about a black family living in a predominantly white suburb of New York City are impeccably written, incisive, often infuriating, and unforgettable. At the center of many of these stories is Philip Arrington, a psychologist who tries to reshape the world to his liking as he moves through it, regardless of the ways his actions affect the people in his intimate orbit. With a deft eye for detail, crisp writing, and an uncanny understanding of human frailties, Toni Ann Johnson has created an endlessly interesting American family portrait."

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl is a memoir/autobiography of the famed drummer for the groundbreaking grunge band Nirvana, and the founder of the Foo Fighters, a band that he's also had considerable success with. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, as I wasn't the worlds biggest fan of grunge or Nirvana, and I was often creeped out by Kurt Cobain, who killed himself and was a heroin addict, leaving behind a mentally ill and drug addicted wife and a daughter who was still a toddler by the time he died. I'd heard a great deal about Grohl, however, being a very positive influence on other musicians and being tapped to play with a number of other famous musicians (like Paul McCartney) and bands (like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers). It seemed that with the Foo Fighters he'd proven his solo musical prowess, while at the same time being a humble fan of the greatest rock and punk bands of our time. I was therefore a bit surprised that Grohl is not only a talented musician, he's also a decent writer and a genuinely good guy. Here's the blurb:

So, I've written a book.

Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ("It's a piece of cake! Just do 4 hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!") I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child. 

This certainly doesn't mean that I'm quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it's like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.

Fair warning, the chapters are often very short, and he doesn't get to his time with Nirvana until you're halfway through the book, and then it's only a short chapter that ends with how devastated he was after Kurt Cobain's death. His claim that initially he had no idea that Cobain was a heroin addict rings just a bit too naive, but the rest of the book is so full of his joy at meeting all of his rock and roll heroes and legends and playing music with them that you forgive him for not drilling down on the whole Nirvana thing. He also never even mentions Cobain's widow Courtney Love, or his daughter Frances Bean. I have a strong feeling that was on the advice of an attorney. There's a great quote toward the end of the book that about sums it up nicely, " I believe people are inspired by people. That is why I feel the need to connect with my fans when they approach me. I'm a fan too." Still I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, even as a non musician who is just a fan of regular rock and roll. I'd give this funny and optimistic look at a life and career an A, and recommend it to any young people who find that their passion leads them to a life as a performer.

Payback's A Witch by Lana Harper is a paranormal romance/rom com fantasy that reads like the very best YA witch stories...full of wonderful characters and intriguing situations. This book has the added benefit of being extremely well written, with nearly magical prose and a plot that whooshes along like a witch on a broomstick at Halloween. I also loved that the main character is bisexual and that she falls for a female witch during the first quarter of the book. Here's the blurb: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The L Word in this fresh, sizzling New York Times bestselling rom-com by Lana Harper.

Emmy Harlow is a witch but not a very powerful one—in part because she hasn't been home to the magical town of Thistle Grove in years. Her self-imposed exile has a lot to do with a complicated family history and a desire to forge her own way in the world, and only the very tiniest bit to do with Gareth Blackmoore, heir to the most powerful magical family in town and casual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams.

But when a spellcasting tournament that her family serves as arbiters for approaches, it turns out the pull of tradition (or the truly impressive parental guilt trip that comes with it) is strong enough to bring Emmy back. She's determined to do her familial duty; spend some quality time with her best friend, Linden Thorn; and get back to her real life in Chicago.
On her first night home, Emmy runs into Talia Avramov—an all-around badass adept in the darker magical arts—who is fresh off a bad breakup . . . with Gareth Blackmoore. Talia had let herself be charmed, only to discover that Gareth was also seeing Linden—unbeknownst to either of them. And now she and Linden want revenge. Only one question stands: Is Emmy in? But most concerning of all: Why can't she stop thinking about the terrifyingly competent, devastatingly gorgeous, wickedly charming Talia Avramov?

I laughed and cried my way through this book, as I couldn't put it down and had to read it all in one sitting. Though I know it's compared to the new version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I found Emmy to be more like a a richly detailed character from Leia Bardugo's Grishaverse, or Samantha Stevens from Bewitched at her most charming. And I was so glad that it has an HEA ending. I can't say much more without going into spoiler territory, so I will just give this marvelous book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys well told tales of LBGTQ witches and Happy Potter Style contests that will have you cheering on the good gals who are doing their best to stick it to the bad guy.

Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone is a Gothic romantic dark fantasy that has such a gorgeous cover it was irresistible. I had high hopes for the inside of the book, too, hoping that it would be as fascinating as it looked. Unfortunately, it was dark and tortuous reading, really more horror novel than dark fantasy, and the characters were so melodramatic that they often made me want to laugh, when instead their situation should have elicited only tears. Here's the blurb: A lush, gothic fantasy from debut author Lyndall Clipstone about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.

When Violeta Graceling and her younger brother Arien arrive at the haunted Lakesedge estate, they expect to find a monster. Leta knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn… Now, to save Rowan―and herself―Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.

With all that mystery and moodiness and sorrow and pain, you'd think this book would run along at a clip. Instead, the overwrought prose stutters and stops over a sloppy plot that gets bogged down under it's own weight. I had several points where I had to set the book down before I perished of boredom...I just didn't care for the fate of the weird and creepy Rowan (I couldn't see anything likeable or romantic about him) and the mean and hissing feral cat-like overprotective sister Leta. Why she refused to let anyone help her with her brother, even when he begged her to let him take responsibility for his darkness himself, is beyond me. But then, I was never close to either of my brothers, so I suppose I don't understand this deep seated need some sisters have to play over protective mother to their siblings. Anyway, I'd give this book a C, and only recommend it to those who like painfully slow and horrific love stories. 

Robin Theater Adds Bookstore, Aristotle and Dante Movie, Quote of the Day, Robert Gray on A Reader's Dilemma, Eddie Jaku Obituary, The Sandman on TV, The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, Magic Dark and Strange by Kelly Powell, and Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

Howdy there, book friends and nerds! It's the third week of October already, and we're on our way to the holidays, starting with Samhain/Halloween next week. Last year we didn't get any candy or participate due to the COVID 19 quarantine, but this year I have a feeling that a few brave, masked souls might take a chance and venture forth in search of trick or treats. Anyway, here's the latest news and reviews.

Brilliant idea! Two of my passions, books and theater, all in one place!

The Robin Theatre, Lansing, Mich., Adds Bookstore

The Robin Theatre in Lansing, Mich., has added a bookstore called Robin Books , the Lansing City Pulse reported https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49977922.

The small general-interest store offers a curated selection of new and used titles, from literary fiction and nonfiction to plays and mythology, as well as gifts.

The bookstore will soon start "testing," with indoor shopping hours scheduled for every Saturday in October. Customers can also shop by appointment, and Robin Books is now accepting donations of gently used books.

Owners Dylan Rogers and Jeana-Dee Allen, who founded the Robin Theatre in Lansing's REO Town in 2015, said they were inspired to start a bookstore on a trip to Bogota, Colombia, where they visited a "magical bookstore."

Rogers added that they're reaching out to local authors to plan readings and signings, and working toward establishing consistent hours. "I want to build something that is charming, interesting and valuable to the community."

I read this novel and I'm very curious to see how it's adapted to the big screen.

Movies: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Several cast members have been announced for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49977956, a film adaptation of Benjamin Alire Saenz's 2014 YA novel. Deadline reported that Eugenio Derbez, Eva Longoria, Max Pelayo, Reese Gonzales, Veronica Falcon, Isabella Gomez, Luna Blaise and Kevin Alejandro will star in the project. Aitch Alberto wrote the script and will make her directorial debut on the movie.

"At its core, Ari and Dante tells a story of self-discovery and acceptance," Alberto said. "My own journey helped me realize there is nothing more important than standing up and fully embracing who we are and being seen for it. I'm motivated to place a lens on male vulnerability that includes a more empathic and compassionate gaze that helps redefine masculinity specifically for the Latino/a/e/x community. To say this is a dream come true is an understatement."

Truer words were never quoted. I've long maintained that children's lit authors and poets have to be the best writers, because they have to pare down their prose or poetry and make every word count.

Quotation of the Day

'Good Children's Literature Is a Serious Business'

"Good children's literature is a serious business. Not serious as in boring or 'improving,' but serious in attention and ambition, serious about beauty and wonder, about engaging the brain but also the heart, about sadness and difficulty, but also about silliness and joy. Above all, it is serious about the legitimacy of a child's world--which is a world away from being child-ish.

"Good children's literature literally impresses upon a growing brain how the world--or word--is and can be. There is much great children's literature in English, both old and new. But we must ensure not only that it continues to be written but that it is available. We must take care not to devalue the seriousness of writing for children, because by doing so we risk devaluing and narrowing childhood too."--from "The Guardian view on children's books: take them seriously https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49980553"

 I find myself struggling with this dilemma on a daily basis, especially for hardback and paperback books that I pay for, so I feel like I have to give them the benefit of the doubt, even when it's apparent that the book won't live up to the jacket copy or the blurb hype. As Nancy Pearl said, you can take fewer pages to decide if you want to proceed with a book the older you get. Since I'm 60, that means that books only have 40 pages or less to grab my attention and keep me wanting to read. So far this year I've returned 6 or so books as "unreadable" to Amazon, because they were just too dull or too poorly written.

Robert Gray: A Reader's Dilemma: To Resist, Finish, Adjourn or Abandon

"That book has got to set its stall out in 20 pages. I used to be a stand-up. I couldn't walk out on a stage at the Comedy Store and go: 'Stick with me, I'll get funny in about ten minutes.' There has to be something within the first chapters that's got me interested or hooked or engaged or, really, what's the point?"--Author Mark Billingham, speaking recently at the Times and the Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival

Billingham's "20-page rule" comments, which were also shared in the Guardian struck a chord, as such opinions always do when the conversation turns to finishing or bailing out of books in the early chapters. He confessed to giving up on five out of every ten books he starts because "life's too short.... There are so many great books out there. Even more so with genre fiction. We're supposed to tell you a story and if that story isn't grabbing you--it may not be crash bang wallop in the plot, it may be a voice--then for God's sake throw it across the room angrily."

He also contrasted his reading patience with that of his wife, who even if she admits to not enjoying a book will persevere as if it were a "war of attrition."

It's a long-running, unresolvable debate, a literary bloodsport. 

So, about those 20 pages. I can be an impatient reader in the early stages of any book, and I bail... a lot. But that's also a survival skill when new books and ARCS, print as well as digital, are flying at me like meteor storms.

I guess I subscribe to librarian, author and action figure Nancy Pearl's "Revised 'Rule of 50 https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49980629.' " In 2011, she told the Globe & Mail she had originally developed her Rule of 50 on the spur of the moment:: "Give a book 50 pages. When you get to the bottom of Page 50, ask yourself if you're really liking the book. If you are, of course, then great, keep on reading. But if you're not, then put it down and look for another." It's a reader's version of Marie Kondo's "Sparking Joy" theory.

In her 50s and 60s, Pearl decided to update her rule: "I could no longer avoid the realization that, while the reading time remaining in my life was growing shorter, the world of books that I wanted to read was, if anything, growing larger." This was her revision: "When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number (which, of course, gets smaller every year) is the number of pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book. As the saying goes, 'Age has its privileges.' And the ultimate privilege of age, of course, is that when you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover."

Currently I can bail out at 29 pages, but it's still complicated. These are my options:

Resist: I choose not to read almost every book in existence, strictly on a raw numbers basis.Finish: Open book, read to "The End." Optional use of bookmarks (aka "quitter strips") to rest along the way.Adjourn: So many books on my shelves are still bookmarked after years of neglect. I didn't abandon them; I just got... distracted. Abandon: I have (more often than I'd like to admit) simply closed the cover early and moved on. Ceremonially, the key moment is when the bookmark is removed, not moved.

So read any book you want to and bail when you have to. After all, nobody's watching. Except e-book providers. They always know the page where you stopped reading. --Robert Gray

 What an amazing human being, to hold no hatred in his heart after the horrors that were inflicted upon him during the Holocaust. May he rest in peace.

Obituary Note: Eddie Jaku

 

Holocaust survivor and author Eddie Jaku died October 12 at age 101.

Born Abraham Jakubowicz to a Jewish family in Leipzig, Germany, Jaku

emigrated to Australia in 1950, where he lived for the rest of his life.

His memoir, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an

Auschwitz Survivor, was published in May of this year (in the U.S. by

Harper) and became an international bestseller.

 

Jaku was expelled from school in 1933 for being Jewish. He earned an

engineering degree in a different city under an alias, which later

spared him from the gas chambers to work as a slave laborer. Most of his

family and friends did not survive the Holocaust. Jaku was sent to his

first concentration camp after Kristallnacht in 1938. He was in

Auschwitz near the end of the war and forced into a death march away

from oncoming Soviet troops. Jaku escaped and spent months in hiding

until discovered by Allied troops.

 

Jaku was a longtime volunteer at the Sydney Jewish Museum, where he

shared his story and prisoner number tattoo with visitors. In a 2019

speech, he said "I do not hate anyone. Hate is a disease which may

destroy your enemy, but will also destroy you."

 

Still excited to watch this series when it debuts! I loved reading the Sandman graphic novels years ago, and I imagine watching the characters come to life will be thrilling.

TV: The Sandman

Gwendoline Christie "looks devilish in the first look at her character" in the upcoming Netflix series The Sandman https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50008333, based on the comic book series by Neil Gaiman, Deadline reported. During last Saturday's virtual DC FanDome event, "viewers got a glimpse at the Game of Thrones alum as the series' Lucifer, the ruler of Hell. The first look images see Christie donning dark attire and a pair of ominous-looking wings."

Christie will star in the project with Tom Sturridge as Dream/Morpheus and a cast that includes Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, David Thewlis, Jenna Coleman, Stephen Fry, Patton Oswalt, Joely Richardson, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Kirby Howell-Baptiste. Allan Heinberg is the show runner and an executive producer. Also on the project as exec producers and co-writers with Heinberg are David S. Goyer and Gaiman. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman is the 4th and final book in her Practical Magic series, which I've read and adored over the years, as I have with many other Hoffman novels. Alice Hoffman's prose is nearly perfect, clean and yet lush and evocative and emotional. She really makes you feel as if you could run into one of the Owens sisters on a street in Boston, or at a shop in England. And her magic also seems real, steeped in history and midwifery and herbal lore that it is. Here's the blurb: Master storyteller Alice Hoffman brings us the conclusion of the Practical Magic series in a spellbinding and enchanting final Owens novel brimming with lyric beauty and vivid characters.

The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work.

A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love.
The Book of Magic is a breathtaking conclusion that celebrates mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love.

The plot was so smooth and lovely, and the characters so fascinating, I cried when I finished the book, because I didn't want to say goodbye to these women, generations of whom have become my friends on the page. I truly believe that love is magic, and magic is love, in many senses, and that what you put out into the world comes back to you. Anyway, I can't praise this book enough, and I'm giving it an A, and recommending this novel to anyone who has read any of the Practical Magic series, or who has even seen the movie. Though it's an expensive hardback, it's worth every penny.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is a contemporary romance that reads like a YA romance with more science and Big Bang Theory-style nerds thrown in. the prose is fun and moves along the sleek plot easily. Unfortunately, it sometimes reads like a BBT script, in its stereotypical view of science nerds and female scientists, who are, I am certain, not all pretty petite extremely shy dunderheads. Here's the blurb: When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.
Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope. 

My problem with this book was that anyone who is a third year doctoral candidate would certainly be more mature than Olive, who acts like a timid teenager with raging hormones. I think it's sexist to portray a woman involved in the sciences as being so silly and shy that she can't even string a sentence together when confronted with a man or a group of people. Having women act like little girls, shy and tongue-tied is misogynistic and inaccurate. Women in STEM professions have to be stronger to hurdle the minefield of sexist men and their old boys network and be successful. Also, Carlsen was not only an asshole, he was also immature and patronizing toward Olive and all the other females he encountered. Though it's lighthearted and has the requisite HEA, I still found myself being very disappointed in the cliches and stereotypes found in every chapter of this book. So I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to those who want a frothy romance that sets women in STEM back a decade or so.

Magic Dark and Strange by Kelly Powell was an ebook that I got for under a dollar on Amazon for my Kindle. I wasn't expecting much from it, to be honest, because often ebook deals are for self published authors whose work is, at best, subpar. I was, therefore, surprised by how much I adored this book, which had fantastic prose, great characters and a substantial plot. Here's the blurb: The Bone Witch meets Sherlock Holmes in this thrilling historical fantasy about a girl with the ability to raise the dead who must delve into her city’s dangerous magical underworld to stop a series of murders.

Catherine Daly has an unusual talent. By day she works for a printer. But by night, she awakens the dead for a few precious moments with loved ones seeking a final goodbye. But this magic comes with a price: for every hour that a ghost is brought back, Catherine loses an hour from her own life.
When Catherine is given the unusual task of collecting a timepiece from an old grave, she is sure that the mysterious item must contain some kind of enchantment. So she enlists Guy Nolan, the watchmaker’s son, to help her dig it up. But instead of a timepiece, they find a surprise: the body of a teenage boy. And as they watch, he comes back to life—not as the pale imitation that Catherine can conjure, but as a living, breathing boy. A boy with no memory of his past.

This magic is more powerful than any Catherine has ever encountered, and revealing it brings dangerous enemies. Catherine and Guy must race to unravel the connection between the missing timepiece and the undead boy. For this mysterious magic could mean the difference between life and death—for all of them.

Catherine was a bright and lively character in an otherwise somewhat gloomy milleau, where young people with talent are practically enslaved by business/factory owners. It's a bit steampunk and a bit Oliver Twist, but Powell manages to transport the reader to the grimy streets and misty graveyards with such deftness that you can almost smell the soot in the air and the grave dust in the cemetery. The mystery was well thought out, and added chills and thrills to the plot. I'd give this book an A-, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical mysteries lead by strong female protagonists.

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith is a mystery thriller written by JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame, so as to be differentiated from her YA fantasies. I was 100 pages into the novel before I remembered that salient fact, otherwise I would never have downloaded it to my Kindle. JK Rowling has shown herself to be a TERF and a bigot, and as such I don't want to support her with my book dollars. However, I was able to get a good deal on this ebook, so I wasn't out too much money in the end (what a relief!). Still, while Rowling definitely knows how to tell a story and create memorable characters (I've been enjoying the Cinnemax streaming version of the Cormoran Strike novels for a few years now), her plot in this novel plodded on and on, until I thought I'd never reach the end. This was one of those books that could have used a hardcore editor who isn't afraid to slice away all the redundancies and puffy paragraphs out of a novel, trusty red pencil at the ready. The story could easily have been told in 300 pages, rather than 945 (almost a thousand!) pages. Few authors can keep momentum going in their books for that long. Here's the blurb: In the epic fifth installment in this “compulsively readable” series, Galbraith’s “irresistible hero and heroine”  take on the decades-old cold case of a missing doctor, one which may be their grisliest yet.

Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough—who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974.
 
Strike has never tackled a cold case before, let alone one forty years old. But despite the slim chance of success, he is intrigued and takes it on; adding to the long list of cases that he and his partner in the agency, Robin Ellacott, are currently working on. And Robin herself is also juggling a messy divorce and unwanted male attention, as well as battling her own feelings about Strike.
 
As Strike and Robin investigate Margot’s disappearance, they come up against a fiendishly complex case with leads that include tarot cards, a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot all be trusted. And they learn that even cases decades old can prove to be deadly.

Although I love Robin and Strike as characters, the whole "will they, won't they" romantic subplot has gotten more than a bit stale in this 5th installment of the series. I mean, it's obvious that they've fallen for one another, and while it's probably not a good idea to date your boss, I think Robin and Strike could make a go of it, regardless, because they are friends first, and they know each other so well, they can navigate the pitfalls of dating much better than most people. The more lurid and gross aspects of the case they're trying to solve seemed excessive, since it's gone over and over while either Robin or Strike sums up the case in nearly every chapter. That kind of redundancy is boring as heck, and I really would have preferred that Rowling saved it for the end of the book. There's also a lot of death, funerals, sick and crazy people and general misery in this novel that will make you depressed if you aren't already, and it will also make you want to steer clear of London and Cornwall for the rest of your life. Anyway, after slogging through this way-too-long novel, I'd give it a C+ and only recommend it to die hard Rowling/Galbraith fans, or those who, like myself, love Tom Burke's portrayal of Cormoran Strike on the streaming series.

 

 

Powell's Selling Beer for BINC, School for the Blind Movie, House of the Dragon on TV, Powell's Protest Display, Sue Grafton's Alphabet Books Coming to TV, Nobel Peace Prize for Journalists, Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson, Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce, and The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher

Hurrah for mid-October's cooler temps for allowing bibliophiles the joy of curling up in a cozy chair with a blanket and a hot cup of tea and a good book! I know that, though there are new seasons of several of my favorite shows on offer from streaming services, that my books beckon from atop my fluffy comforter, just waiting to take me on adventures all over the world. So I heed their call and I hope you will, as well. Lets tackle those towering TBRs!

While I consider Powell's to be a mecca for book lovers like myself, my husband hasn't been as keen to visit the City of Books. Now that they're going to be selling his favorite beverage, beer, however, I think he will be much more excited to make the drive from Maple Valley, WA, to Porland, OR. 

Powell's Books, Ex Novo Brewing Selling Beer to Support BINC

Powell's Books in Portland, Ore., has partnered with craft brewery Ex Novo Brewing to create the City of Books IPA https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49885564, with 10% of the proceeds going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundaton https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49885565.

The 6.2% West Coast Style American IPA will be available for purchase at Powell's downtown location on October 16 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., or until supplies last. Purchases are limited to two four-packs per customer. Limited amounts of the City of Books IPA will also be available at Ex Novo's North Portland and Beaverton locations.

"We discussed different options for styles of beer, but when you live in the Pacific Northwest we all know that IPA is king," said Ex Novo brewer Ryan Buxton. "We wanted just a touch lower ABV than your typical IPA to make it easy to drink more than one or to sip on while enjoying a good book."

 This sounds like a great movie, I've always been a fan of Harris and Madigan.

Movies: School for the Blind

Ed Harris and Amy Madigan will star in School for the Blind https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49885600, "a $4.5 million budgeted indie that will be produced by Picturehouse, John Boccardo's Blind Faith Productions and Neil Koenigsberg," Deadline reported. Lou Howe is directing from his adaptation of Dennis McFarland's 1995 novel.

"It will be wonderful to see the magic Amy and Ed will bring to School for the Blind," said Bob Berney, CEO of Picturehouse. "It's a terrific gift for Lou to have these two actors portraying an estranged brother and sister in this exciting new drama."

Though I am not a fan of Game of Thrones, this series with Matt Smith at the helm sounds delicious.

TV: House of the Dragon

WarnerMedia released "a spine-tingling" first teaser for its Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49917336, which "chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen and the events leading up to the Targaryen civil war, known as the Dance of the Dragons," Deadline reported. HBO will  air the 10-episode series, based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, in 2022.

 This is a great idea, and I am so glad that Powell's has taken the lead on fighting this heinous Texas Taliban abortion ban.

'Mad As Hell' Floor Display at Powell's Books

Powell's Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49919333, Portland, Ore., shared a photo of the store's "Mad as Hell" display https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49919334 on Instagram, advising readers to "channel your anger with these recommended reads now on display in the Red Room or online."

Bookseller Katherine M. observed: "The idea for this display came after the Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy in Texas, went into effect on September 1, 2021. Most women don't even know that they're pregnant in that time frame, which made me so angry. I figured that if I'm angry, then countless other women must be mad as hell too. Every book on this display either discusses women's anger or it presents a subject matter that all women--actually, make that EVERYONE--should be angry about. From Black girls being discriminated against in the classroom to being harassed--sexually or otherwise--on the street, there's no better time to stand up, get angry, and do something about it."

I've only read one of these books, but I found it fun and I imagine the TV series version will be great!

Studio Acquires TV Rights for Sue Grafton's Alphabet Books

A+E Studios has acquired exclusive rights to Sue Grafton's book series https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49919354 featuring private investigator protagonist Kinsey Millhone "in a competitive situation with multiple bidders," Deadline reported. Under the deal, the studio can develop and produce the entire library of the author's alphabet mysteries for TV.

Grafton died in 2017. This marks the first time screen rights to the book series have been made available, Deadline noted. Steve Humphrey, Grafton's husband for more than 40 years, is serving as executive producer on the adaptations.

"We are actively speaking with interested platforms and seeking a showrunner for the series, as well as the perfect actress to embody the coveted lead role of Kinsey Millhone," said A+E Studios president Barry Jossen. "Sue Grafton is the ultimate storyteller who spent decades entertaining readers through her rich characters and spellbinding mysteries."

Humphrey commented: "We are thrilled to be joining with A+E Studios to introduce Kinsey Millhone to a new and wider audience. The success of Sue's mysteries has always centered around her compelling characters, and, with the support of her family and children, we are committed to maintaining the tone and tenor of Sue's books that fans love. Working with the team at A+E Studios is the perfect partnership to making this a reality."

 It's about damn time someone recognized journalists/reporters for all their hard work! Especially investigative and embedded journalists, who risk their lives bringing the truth to the public.

Awards: Nobel Peace Prize 

The Nobel Peace Prize https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49950554 for 2021 was awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov  "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.... At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions."

In a statement, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said, in part: "This is the first time in its history that the Nobel Committee has so explicitly recognized the global freedom to write and those who risk their freedom and safety to uphold it. This timely honor comes at a moment when that liberty faces unparalleled menace. And they got it exactly right: Free expression and the freedom to write are prerequisites for peace and democracy. Like so many journalists and writers whom PEN America defends, Maria and Dmitry put their lives and the lives of their families on the line every day to unmask truths, uplift facts, and hold the powerful to account."

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson is a fascinating new YA dark fantasy that I've been dying to read since I was given an extended excerpt 6 months ago. Rogerson's prose is evocative and deeply beautiful as it glides along the chilling but graceful plot, which never misses a step. Though it was on my Kindle ereader, I could not put it down. Here's the blurb:From the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling new YA fantasy about a teen girl with mythic abilities who must defend her world against restless spirits of the dead.

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.

Though I'm not a fan of the horror genre, and I generally do not like 'grim dark' fantasy, which borders on horror fantasy, this book was sublime and full of righteous feminist fury, as our fierce female protagonist, Artemisia, refuses to allow the variety of ghosts/malevolent spirits to overtake and murder her friends at the convent and within the villages. Her hatred of herself and her powers only make for a character whose struggle within the patriarchal church system seem all the more realistic. Having read Rogerson's other two YA fantasies, I was excited to see what she'd do with this "dark" world, and I was not disappointed. I'd give this book an A, and a hearty recommendation for those who like warrior nun stories or just fiction where women kick ass and take names.

Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce is the second book set in WWII England with a young woman working for a women's magazine who is all to ready to change the world through her dauntless optimism and idealistic outlook. Here's the blurb: From the author of the “jaunty, heartbreaking winner” and international bestseller Dear Mrs. Bird, a new charming and uplifting novel set in London during World War II about a plucky aspiring journalist.

London, November 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Henrietta Bird from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles (now stationed back in the UK) is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, is bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty and standing by her friends.

Every bit as funny, heartwarming, and touching as Dear Mrs. Bird, Yours Cheerfully is a celebration of friendship—a testament to the strength of women and the importance of lifting each other up, even in the most challenging times.

I read Dear Mrs Bird a couple of years ago, and while I found it charming, Emmy Lake's relentless (and ridiculously naive) outlook on life and the war and her job eventually began to grate on my nerves, until I started to dislike her just on principle. Fortunately, in this installment, Emmy has grown up a bit, and though she's still super sweet and optimistic, she does face reality by realizing that she can't change everything overnight or alone. So when Emmy joins forces with factory working women who are also moms struggling to find reliable childcare, there is a sense that it will work out, because there's more than one woman planning and plotting to force factory owners to help women with the war effort. Emmy's relationship also comes to a head, and she finally manages to marry her soldier sweetheart. I found that in this time of COVID and quarantine and people struggling with jobs and family issues, this book was a panacea that went down a treat and left me feeling hopeful for the first time in months. I'd give it an A and recommend it to anyone who wonders about the struggles of women munitions workers during WWII in England.

The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher is a book that I got as an ARC 4 months ago from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was actually about to buy a copy, due to good reviews that I read on Shelf Awareness and Goodreads, when I noticed that I already had a copy sitting in my TBR book cart by my bed. I realize, however, that this is an uncorrected proof, and that the final copy of the book is probably edited down somewhat and is free of the few typos that I found in the text. Still, I was delighted by the ease with which Crutcher's fine prose drew me into the novel's world, and kept me happily turning pages for hours. Here's the blurb: A deeper magic. A stronger curse. A family lost...and found.

Persephone May has been alone her entire life. Abandoned as an infant and dragged through the foster care system, she wants nothing more than to belong somewhere. To someone. However, Persephone is as strange as she is lonely. Unexplainable things happen when she’s around—changes in weather, inanimate objects taking flight—and those who seek to bring her into their family quickly cast her out. To cope, she never gets attached, never makes friends. And she certainly never dates. Working odd jobs and always keeping her suitcases half-packed, Persephone is used to moving around, leaving one town for another when curiosity over her eccentric behavior inevitably draws unwanted attention.

After an accidental and very public display of power, Persephone knows it’s time to move on once again. It’s lucky, then, when she receives an email from the one friend she’s managed to keep, inviting her to the elusive Wile Isle. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. However, upon arrival, Persephone quickly discovers that Wile is no ordinary island. In fact, it just might hold the very things she’s been searching for her entire life.

Answers. Family. Home.
And some things she did not want. Like 100-year-old curses and an even older family feud. With the clock running out, love might be the magic that saves them all.

I enjoyed Persephone's journey of magical self discovery until the last couple of chapters of the book, where things got a bit wobbly and the ending was a mysterious mess that I didn't feel answered all of the questions posed in the book. For that reason, I'm going to give this book a B-, and hope that the final version has a better ending than the ARC. 

 

RIP Leila Meacham, Parable Bookstore in Tacoma, Roxane Gay is Indies Spokesperson, Sandman and Amber Brown Come to TV, Last Mrs Parrish Movie, Most Influential Book People, Amush or Adore by Gail Carriger, The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young, The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith and Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

It's October, and the official start of Autumn, my favorite time of year! October is also the gateway to the holidays, as it holds my mother's birthday and my wedding anniversary on the same day, October 5th. I'm so looking forward to the bright foliage and cooler temps, with my sons, husbands and my birthdays right around the corner. It's definitely time to cuddle up with a good book and a nice hot cuppa tea.

I read Roses years ago, and loved the epic romantic tale dearly. I had no idea that she started writing novels later in life. RIP. 

Obituary Note: Leila Meacham

Leila Meacham a writer and former teacher who "didn't find success as a novelist until late in life, but her writing uplifted many in her final days as she detailed her fight with pancreatic cancer on social media," died September 19, the San Antonio Express-News https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49811840 reported. She was 83.

Meacham wrote a series of historical romances "that captivated audiences nationwide," the Express-News noted. Roses, a New York Times bestseller, was published in 2010, when she was 70, but she felt her second book represented her best work, according to her husband, Dick Meacham: "If you asked her, I think her favorite was Tumbleweeds." Her other books include Somerset, a prequel to Roses, Titans, Ryan's Hand, Crowning Design, Aly's House and her most recent work, Dragonfly.

Meacham's "passion for writing and reading initially took the form of a career in education," the Express-News wrote, adding that between the 1960s and the 1990s, she taught English at schools in multiple states, including Judson High School and Kitty Hawk Middle School in Texas.

She was working on a ninth book, tentatively titled April Storm, when she was diagnosed with her disease in August 2019. Her husband said she had nearly finished the novel when she passed away.

In one of her last Facebook posts, Meacham wrote about resuming chemotherapy after a fall: "Alas, alas. Surely there is a divine plan behind this, a reason to smile again. Regardless of mine, you all keep smiling, hold on to the faith, and prayer my stamina and strength."

 YAY! Another bookstore blooms in the Puget Sound area! This sounds like a divine and delightfully inclusive store, so I hope that it will stay around for a long time.Go Tacoma!

Parable Opens in Tacoma, Wash.

Parable https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840726, a new and used bookstore with a focus on books by women authors, people of color, and queer and trans people, opened earlier this month in Tacoma, Wash., the Tacoma Ledger reported https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840727.

Co-owner LaKecia Farmer opened the store alongside their twin, Le'Ecia Farmer, and cousin Deatria "DeeDee" Williams. In addition to books for children, teens and adults, Parable carries plants, records, clothing, accessories and a variety of local artisan goods. The name is a reference to Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower, and Farmer said the inventory centers "social-justice and speculative oriented themes." And while the owners plan eventually to serve tea and other refreshments, that part of the store is still being built out and permits still need to be acquired.

Located in an older building in Tacoma that required renovations, the store had to delay its opening a bit due to "several mishaps." Farmer reported that despite "getting derailed" repeatedly, the delays "proved our tenacity" and gave them more time to learn about their community.

"We always wanted to start a business together, we have the entrepreneurial spirit," Farmer told the Ledger. "I was walking in our neighborhood and saw an empty space and we all dreamed of what it could be used for. We thought of multiple generations--from new parents reading to their toddlers to elders sipping tea--enjoying our space. So we started fundraising at the end of the year."

The Parable team has started hosting community events, and fostering education through those events is a "top priority." There will be book club meetings and children's reading circles, and in October a monthly event series called Black Mamas Meetup will make its debut. The plan is to have a series of grand opening celebrations over the next few weeks featuring comedians, DJs and live music.

 I adore the sharp and incisive wit of POC Roxane Gay. Congrats to her for being an Indies spokesperson.

Roxane Gay Is this Year's Indies First Spokesperson

Author, editor and professor Roxane Gay will be the 2021 spokesperson for Indies First https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840731, the American Booksellers Association's national campaign in support of independent bookstores that takes place on Small Business Saturday, November 27.

"Independent bookstores have been the foundation of my writing career but more importantly, they have also been the foundation of my reading life," said Gay. "Stepping into a bookstore where the books are carefully curated and enthusiastically recommended is an unparalleled experience."

She added that indie booksellers are passionate about books and community: "And it is because of their work that I am thrilled to serve as this year's spokesperson for Indies First. This vital initiative features independent booksellers and authors during the busiest book buying time of the year, culminating with Small Business Saturday.

Independent bookstores are a place to find connection, to celebrate books, and to nurture a diverse community. They are a place where we can imagine and contribute to a better future. I am excited to work with the ABA to raise awareness of the importance of independent bookstores, now more than ever."

Gay, whose new imprint, Roxane Gay Books, debuts at Grove Atlantic in 2023, is the author of the Ayiti, An Untamed State, Bad Feminist, Difficult Women and Hunger, as well as World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming, is working on TV and film projects, and has a newsletter, The Audacity https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840732.

 So much great new TV drama to look forward to...I can hardly wait for the debut of Sandman.

TV: The Sandman; Amber Brown

Noting that "audiences have been waiting years for a proper adaptation of author Neil Gaiman's The Sandman https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840783," IndieWire shared the first footage from its upcoming live-action series, adding that "now we're one step closer." Netflix describes the series as a "rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven."

The cast includes Tom Sturridge, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Mason Alexander Park. IndieWire noted that The Sandman was slated to enter production last year before the Covid-19 pandemic forced a delay. Filming began in October 2020 and wrapped this summer. No release date has been provided yet

Sarah Drew (Grey's Anatomy) and Carsyn Rose (The Rookie) will star in Amber Brown https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840784, an Apple TV+ comedy series based on the books by Paula Danziger.

Deadline reported that the series, which co-stars Darin Brooks (Blue Mountain State) and Liliana Inouye, is written and directed by Bonnie Hunt (Life with Bonnie), who also serves as executive producer and showrunner.  Filming on the series, produced by Boat Rocker, is underway in Salt Lake City.

I read and enjoyed this book, so I hope that the movie lives up to the printed page.

Movies: The Last Mrs. Parrish

Liv Constantine's novel The Last Mrs. Parrish https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49840788 "is getting the movie treatment at Netflix," Variety reported, adding that the streaming service acquired the rights to the book and plans to adapt it into a feature film. Casting has not been announced yet. Lisa Rubin (Gypsy) is adapting the screenplay. While the search proceeds for a director, Rubin will be working on bringing another popular novel, The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins, to the screen.

Margaret Chernin, Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine will serve as executive producers on The Last Mrs. Parrish. Producers include Liza Chasin for 3dot Productions through her overall deal with Netflix, as well as Molly Sims for Something Happy Productions.

 I read NK Jemisin's science fiction trilogy, and I am thrilled that she was chosen to be one of Time Magazines most influential people...this is awesome news.

Time 100: 'Most Influential' Book People

Time magazine recently released its annual list of the "100 Most Influential People https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz49849846." Among the authors showcased:

N.K. Jemisin:

Stacey Abrams wrote: "World-building is the core of extraordinary science fiction--the ability to craft the contours, substance and heft of whole societies. What N.K. Jemisin accomplishes in each of her works defies the standard 'us vs. them' narrative and instead dares readers to bring their lived experiences into the space she has imagined. As our nation grappled with the stubborn ephemera of justice and the harsh consequences of a pandemic, Jemisin, who received a 2020 MacArthur 'genius' grant, constructed a revolutionary exploration of the places where we live in The City We Became. Through the anima of New York, she invited us all to become freedom fighters. We are slowly emerging from extended isolation; and for millions, the notion of a shared public identity remains brittle. But Jemisin's genius is in how effortlessly she shatters our misconceptions about one another and our world, then invites us to dream to do better." 

Ambush or Adore by Gail Carriger was a delightful ebook that I grabbed the moment it became available, as I love Carrigers trademark wit and saucy characters set in a Steampunk London/UK in the late 19th, early 20th century. Carriger is one of those authors whose prose is pristine and glides beautifully along her deliciously adventurous plots. Sparks between characters bubble and fizz, and there's always plenty of intrigue to keep readers turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb:
INTELLIGENCER

Agatha Woosmoss, the Wallflower, is the greatest intelligencer of her generation. And no one knows she exists. She has been invisible, capable, and cunning for well over four decades. Her greatest skill is in her ability to go forever unnoticed.
Except by one man.

VERSUS INTELLECTUAL

Pillover Plumleigh-Teignmott is a professor of ancient languages at Oxford University. He’s tried to ignore his training as an Evil Genius and live a quiet life away from politics and intrigue.

When an assignment goes horribly wrong, Agatha must hide and heal. So she goes to ground with the only person who’s always kept her safe, Pillover.
Can Pillover hold onto the deadly woman who specializes in getting away? Will Agatha realize that patience is indeed a virtue, and that perhaps it is good to be noticed by the one who waits?

Spinning off from Miss Gail’s Finishing School series, this story stands on its own and spans decades but was written after Defy or Defend. May contain vampires, old injuries, lost love, and the reappearance of many favorite characters.

Delicate Sensibilities?
This tale concerns a considerable amount of pining and the repressed passion of two people who secretly adore each other and occasionally act on it. Agatha and Pillover are mature characters who act maturely, please be aware of this. If you like gruff but caring men with secret sorrows and the tough smart women they love, you’ll also enjoy How to Marry a Werewolf.

The ending had me sobbing, but in a good way, as it was poignant and heartfelt. I loved Agatha, though she was depicted on the cover as thin, was described in the book as red-headed and chubby, which made her all the better as a spy, and all the more lovable to her oldest friend/lover Pillover, the dusty don. I'd happily give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who likes Steampunk romance with strong female characters and lots of witty banter.

The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young is a novel that could be seen as a YA fantasy romance, or as a fantasy romance for adults who enjoy books about abusive relationships, domestic violence and general misogyny. The entire Roth household, whom the protagonist is forced to return to after she's raised by her aunt in a far distant town, is full of crude brutish men who consider women to be only useful as breeding stock or as game pieces to be manipulated and/or married off to the family's advantage. The protagonist Bryn's Uncle Henrik is a vile pig of a man, whose whole household bends to his will because they're all terrified of him, as if he were a mafia don or the head of a Yakuza clan. At one point a character beats a 10 year old child for making a math mistake, and it's considered a "mercy" for the silversmith to pre-emptively beat him because he knows that what Henrik would do to the child would be much worse...which is so wrong it's nauseating. It's NEVER okay to beat a woman or a child for any reason, full stop. Abuse is unforgivable.  Yet Young normalizes it in her text as necessary, which is just wrong on every level. Here's the blurb:
New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with The Last Legacy, a captivating standalone about family and blood ties, reinventing yourself, and controlling your own destiny.

When a letter from her uncle Henrik arrives on Bryn Roth's eighteenth birthday, summoning her back to Bastian, Bryn is eager to prove herself and finally take her place in her long-lost family.

Henrik has plans for Bryn, but she must win everyone’s trust if she wants to hold any power in the delicate architecture of the family. It doesn’t take long for her to see that the Roths are entangled in shadows. Despite their growing influence in upscale Bastian, their hands are still in the kind of dirty business that got Bryn’s parents killed years ago. With a forbidden romance to contend with and dangerous work ahead, the cost of being accepted into the Roths may be more than Bryn can pay.

I really loathed this book, though the prose was decent, the plot was labyrinthine and the ending unrealistic in light of the rest of the book. I couldn't imagine falling in love with a man who beats children, and Bryn forgiving him so easily was disgusting at best. I'd give this book a D, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, as I am opposed to domestic abuse and any glorification thereof.

The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith is a YA novel that was supposed to be a magical fantasy romance, but it got waylaid by the horror genre and ended up being a blood-soaked tale of murder and revenge. The prose was clean and precise, but the plot was way too twisty for my taste. Here's the blurb:The Last Magician meets The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy in this thrilling and atmospheric historical fantasy following a young woman who discovers she has magical powers and is thrust into a battle between witches and wizards.

In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?

Frances is one of those protagonists who is too stupid to live, as she spends most of the novel making stupid, reckless decisions and mistakes that get more than a few people killed. However, once she discovers her boyfriend/lover is a psychopathic killer who is obsessed with her, she suddenly thinks that the murders that she committed are forgivable and forgettable in light of his serial killing tendencies. So readers are just supposed to chalk up her murders to innocence and naivite, while her boyfriend's manipulations are the real evil? Seriously? I call BS on that, and I can't imagine wanting to read any more of this author's books, which should be pegged in the horror fantasy genre and left there to their own blood-soaked devices. I'd give this book a C, and only recommend it to those who find books with a body count fascinating. 

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune is a magical, poignant fantasy by the author of the wonderful House in the Cerulean Sea (which I loved dearly). I was concerned that this second book by Klune wouldn't be as good as the first, and while it dealt with more profound subject matter, it was easily as good a novel as his bestselling "Cerulean Sea" book. Klune's prose is faultless, and his plot surprisingly refreshing and heartfelt. Here's the blurb:
A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place in Under the Whispering Door, a delightful queer love story from TJ Klune, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.
And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.
But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home. 

Oh how I loved Wallace and Hugo's romance...such tenderness and generosity! And if you're a tea afficionado, you will love reading about Charon's Crossing and all the teas and sweets that they have to offer. I adored feisty Mei, and grumpy old Nelson and loyal Apollo. This is one of those books that will make you laugh and cry and want to visit an out of the way tea shop every single day of your life. I didn't want it to end, it was such a lovely book, and one I think I will never forget. I'd give it a well deserved A,and recommend it to everyone and anyone, especially allies of LGBTQ people and characters.