Quote of the Day on Banned Books, Obituary note for Thich Nhat Hanh, Bookseller Cat in Cedar Rapids, IA, SaintX on TV, Gerrold is Heinlein Award Winner, Wedding at Island Books, Survival of the Thickest on Netflix, The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston, The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers

Welcome, Bibliophiles! This is my 800th post on this blog! Hurrah!

Just recently I got word from my friend Jenny that the Kent, WA (a town right next to the one I live in) school district has a few schools whose librarians (or other school staff, it's never made clear who is actually physically removing the books in the news stories) are surreptitiously removing any books from their school libraries that have anything to do with the LGBTQ community or anything to do with the BIPOC or other marginalized people. This kind of underhanded censorship is fascism at its worst. FOR SHAME Kent School District! Stop erasing history and trying to whitewash current book collections of diverse representation (which is extremely important to young people, especially teenagers who are discovering their sexuality and need guideposts and stories of others who have gone through the same kinds of questioning of their sexuality!) Our young people require representation of all types in their literature, and they should be allowed to explore all texts that bring various aspects of humanity to light. Censorship extinguishes light. 

Quotation of the Day

'If We Oppose Banning Some Books, We Should Oppose Banning Any Book'

"Book banning doesn't fit neatly into the rubrics of left and right politics.... If we oppose banning some books, we should oppose banning any book. If our society isn't strong enough to withstand the weight of difficult or challenging--and even hateful or problematic--ideas, then something must be fixed in our society. Banning books is a shortcut that sends us to the wrong destination."--Viet Thanh Nguyen, in "My Young Mind Was Disturbed by a Book. It Changed My Life"

The world is a lesser place now that Thich Hanh is gone. Rest in peace, Master Hanh.

Obituary Note: Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50961797, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk "who was one of the world's most influential Zen masters, spreading messages of mindfulness, compassion and nonviolence," died January 22, the New York Times reported. He was 95. "Traveling widely on speaking tours in the United States and Europe (he was fluent in English and French), Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced tik nyaht hahn) was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism, urging the embrace of mindfulness, which his website describes as 'the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment.' "

Sharing the news of his passing, Plum Village, the international community of mindfulness practice centers and monasteries founded by Thich Nhat Hanh (referred to by many of his students as Thay, the traditional title for a master in Vietnamese), said, in part: "Thay has been the most extraordinary teacher, whose peace, tender compassion, and bright wisdom has touched the lives of millions. Whether we have encountered him on retreats, at public talks, or through his books and online teachings--or simply through the story of his incredible life--we can see that Thay has been a true bodhisattva, an immense force for peace and healing in the world. Thay has been a revolutionary, a renewer of Buddhism, never diluting and always digging deep into the roots of Buddhism to bring out its authentic radiance."

A prolific author, poet, teacher and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh was exiled from Vietnam after opposing the war in the 1960s and became a leading voice in a movement he called "engaged Buddhism," the Times wrote. His following grew as he established dozens of monasteries and practice centers around the world. The original Plum Village is near Bordeaux in southwest France. In 2018, he returned home to Hue, in central Vietnam, to live out his last days at the Tu Hieu Temple, where he had become a novice as a teenager.

Thich Nhat Hanh published more than 100 books, including The Miracle of Mindfulness; Peace Is Every Step; The Art of Living; The Path of Emancipation; Awakening the Heart; At Home in the World; You Are Here; Making Space; Breathe, You Are Alive; The Blooming of a Lotus; Happiness; No Mud, No Lotus; Touching Peace; and No Death, No Fear.

Expressing his condolences, the Dalai Lama said https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50961800:

"In his peaceful opposition to the Vietnam war, his support for Martin Luther King and most of all his dedication to sharing with others not only how mindfulness and compassion contribute to inner peace, but also how individuals cultivating peace of mind contributes to genuine world peace, the Venerable lived a truly meaningful life. I have no doubt the best way we can pay tribute to him is to continue his work to promote peace in the world."

 

Go Frank! I love that this bookstore is near my mom's hometown in Iowa, and that they have a beloved bookstore cat/mascot! Mom's a huge fan of both books and cats.

Bookseller Cat: 'The Frank Shop' at Next Page Books

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret," Next Page Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50961809, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, posted on Facebook. "It won't be long now before we open The Frank Shop here inside the store  We'll carve out a little area where Frank will display and sell a few of his favorite things such as books, bookmarks, notecards, coffee mugs, and plush toys, to name a few.

"This is Frank's first go at owning his own shop, but I'll be here to support him every step of the way. And, of course, I'll handle actual sales transactions because Frank still struggles with the register. But he's a quick learner. Pictured are a few of the items that have arrived at the store, but more merchandise is on the way! This is going to be a game changer!"

 This sounds really exciting...I am looking forward to seeing it.

TV: Saint X

Hulu is adapting Alexis Schaitkin's novel Saint X https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50962938, giving an eight-part series order to the project from writer Leila Gerstein and director Dee Rees. Deadline reported that the drama, "which is told via multiple timelines and perspectives, explores and upends the girl-gone-missing genre. It's a show about how a young woman's mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth."

Produced by ABC Signature, the project will be written and executive produced by Gerstein, the Hart of Dixie creator who was a consulting producer on The Handmaid's Tale. Rees (Mudbound) is directing and exec producing.  Deadline noted that Saint X "is Hulu's latest book adaptation following the likes of The Handmaid's Tale, Shrill, Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People and Nine Perfect Strangers as well as the upcoming series Conversations with Friends."

 

I have enjoyed the writing of David Gerrold for years. This award is well deserved! 

Awards: Robert A. Heinlein Winner

Novelist and screenwriter David Gerrold has won the 2022 Robert A. Heinlein Award https://www.shelf awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50962942, which honors "outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space." Organizers cited Gerrold for his "body of work, including his emphasis on young adult space travel novels and inspired creation during Star Trek screenwriting. Hella (2020) is his most recent YA novel about space colonization." The award will be presented May 27 during opening ceremonies for Balticon 56, the 56th Maryland Regional Science Fiction Convention.

 

One of my favorite bookstores in the area has always been the iconic Island Books, where I spent way too much of my time and money when I was on staff at the Mercer Island Reporter. I really miss this wonderful store and its former owners, Roger and Nancy Page. I wish to heck I'd had the idea of getting married in a bookstore, because I am sure that Roger and Nancy would have been glad to help.

Bookstore Wedding: Island Books

Island Books, Mercer Island, Wash., shared a photo on Facebook of a wedding held Monday at the bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50994747, noting: "What an honor to host this amazing couple at @island.books."

 

I love this gal's stand up comedy, she's hilarious. I look forward to watching this series on Netflix.

TV: Survival of the Thickest

Michelle Buteau will star in a comedy series for Netflix based on her book of essays Survival of the Thickest https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50994763.

Deadline reported that the comedian, who hosts the streamer's reality show The Circle and starred in the movie Always Be My Maybe, created the new project with Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, showrunner of NBC's The Carmichael Show and co-executive producer of New Girl.

"It's been so damn amazing finding a home with Netflix," said Buteau. "To say I'm excited to continue my relationship with them is an understatement. I'm over the moon and I'm under it. Danielle has been a dream partner and I can't wait to share what we've been cooking up."

"Michelle Buteau is many things: a brilliant writer, a gifted stand-up comedian and an empowering performer," said Pakosta, head of comedy at Netflix. "But above all else, she is one of the funniest people alive. Paired with Danielle Sanchez-Witzel--one of TV's sharpest visionaries--Survival of the Thickest will bring Michelle's unique point of view to life."

The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston is the third book in her "Found Things" series, about a young woman who can travel through time when she finds an object that "sings" to her about something that needs to be "fixed" in a specific era. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, and the second wasn't as easy to read as the first, but was still interesting, but the third book gets bogged down by too many intricate details about whatever historical period that Xanthe has traveled to. So while the prose itself is good, if a bit too ornamental and fussy, the plot moves at a measured pace until the author decides to info-dump historical details and bring the whole story to a halt. Here's the blurb:New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston's second novel in the Found Things series, Secrets of the Chocolate House, was called a "time-swapping romance [that] will please fans of Alice Hoffman" (Publishers Weekly). Now, Brackston returns to the Found Things series with a third book, The Garden of Promises and Lies.

As the bustle of the winter holidays in the Little Shop of Found Things gives way to spring, Xanthe is left to reflect on the strange events of the past year. While she's tried to keep her time-traveling talents a secret from those close to her, she is forced to take responsibility for having inadvertently transported the dangerous Benedict Fairfax to her own time. Xanthe comes to see that she must use her skills as a Spinner if she and Flora are ever to be safe, and turns to the Spinners book for help.

It is then that a beautiful antique wedding dress sings to her. Realizing the dress and her adversary are connected in some way, she answers the call. She finds herself in Bradford-on-Avon in 1815, as if she has stepped into a Jane Austen story.

Now in Xanthe's time, Fairfax is threatening Xanthe into helping him with his evil doings, and demonstrates all too clearly how much damage he is capable of causing. With Fairfax growing ever more powerful, Xanthe enlists the help of her boyfriend Liam, taking him back in time with her. It is a decision that might just ensure she prevails over her foe, but only by putting her life—and his—on the line.

It took me twice the time it would normally take to read this book, which was irritating, and I must say that my dislike of Xanthe's mother, who is whiny and codependent and very avaricious continues to grow with each book in this series. I also found the boyfriend Liam to be nothing but a caricature of an overly protective, sexist guy who is way more into Xanthe than she is into him. Like her mother, she seems to only exist to find the reason that a particular object has been singing to her and make things right in history and then "spin" time to get back home to her poor old mom. This MO of hers is repeated throughout each book, and her naive attitude is also wearing and tedious. I'd give this lackluster novel a C+, and recommend it only to those who have to read all of a series for the sake of closure.

The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers is a magical/paranormal dark story that verges on the horror genre and is ultimately unsatisfying, unless you are a fan of demons and circuses. Here's the blurb: Spanning Jazz Age Paris to modern-day American, The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a decadent and magical tale of family secrets and lost love set against the backdrop of an extraordinary circus from the author of A Witch in Time.

Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder—a world where women weave illusions of magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. Bound to her family's circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything.

Virginia, 2004: Lara Barnes is on top of the world until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. When her desperate search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals, Lara is swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love.

Soon secrets about Lara’s family history begin to come to light, revealing a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiancé’s mysterious disappearance.

The prose was ornate and almost opaque at times, while the plot meandered and zig-zagged without seeming to get anywhere for at least half the novel. The fact that the Secret Circus is actually (SPOILER ALERT) the 8th circle of Hell comes as no surprise to the reader, when all the rides and acts of the circus seem to involve death, pain, suffering and torture of one kind or another. The demon presiding over this level of hell is the great-great grandfather of the protagonist, Lara, who is willing to sacrifice her soul and life in order to find out what happened to the fiance who left her at the altar. That her mother makes a deal with the demon to take her daughters place comes as no real surprise by the end of the book, but what is most surprising or off-putting about this novel is the way that the Secret Circus is described as being so enchanting, beautiful and fascinating, when the weird players are all souls damned to suffering through their acts for all eternity. That some of them richly deserve it (like the little monkey who contains the damned soul of Benito Mussolini) is beside the point when one of Lara's ancestors is murdering people every 30 years for petty revenge and to keep herself looking young/immortal. That only now, after it's been going on for over 100 years does the demon see fit to send out his two time great granddaughter to kill her great aunt and send her soul back to hell again seems to, again, be beside the point, as the demon comes off as a coward who sends others to do his dirty work for him, and to clean up his mistakes. Why anyone would long to return to this hellish circus is beyond me. I don't find pain and suffering and torment beautiful or desirable. Nor do I find cowardice and cruelty romantic. So I'd give this book a B-, and only recommend it to fans of Steampunk-ish horror or very dark fantasy.

Pandora's Jar: Women in Greek Myths Review, New Co-owner of Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa, The Raven Spell by Luanne G Smith, The Halo Effect by MJ Rose, and A Night's Tale by Sofie Kelly

I'm amazed that January is almost over! Only one dental appointment left in what has been a tough month for my health, and a cold month of freezing rain, some snow and mudslides and windy ice storms. Hopefully, that kind of weather is on the wane, and spring will be just around the corner. Meanwhile, here's the scoop on some books that I've read this past week, and a book that I hope to read one day. I love feminist history, and the drive to bring forth women's stories that have been erased or hidden during the past centuries. 

Doesn't this book sound delicious? 

Book Review: Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

Classicist Natalie Haynes (The Furies) brings her prodigious expertise to Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, a thorough consideration of the perspectives, reputations and visibility of some of ancient Greece's most famous female characters.

The title refers to the first correction Haynes offers: rather than the mythic Pandora's box, Pandora in the original Greek opened a jar, which is only the first of several misconceptions. Not that there will ever be an authoritative version: even Homer, Haynes reminds us, drew on earlier sources. Myths "operate in at least two timelines: the one in which they are ostensibly set, and the one in which any particular version is written," and Haynes has a firm grasp of numerous iterations. In her capable hands, Pandora and others appear as multifaceted, complex characters, even across conflicting accounts. Best of all, despite its impressive depth of research, Pandora's Jar is never dry, and frequently great fun.

After the opening chapter's title character, Haynes introduces readers to Jocasta, Helen, Medusa, the Amazons, Clytemnestra, Eurydice, Phaedra, Medea and finally Penelope. Readers unfamiliar with their stories are guided through the relevant versions. These myths involve traumas of marriage, motherhood, rape and betrayal; their themes are serious and unforgiving. Perhaps surprisingly, some of the misogyny and erasure that Pandora, the Amazons, Eurydice and others have experienced have surprisingly modern origins. "Not for the first time, we see that an accurate translation has been sacrificed in the pursuit of making women less alarming (and less impressive) in English than they were in Greek."

Among Haynes's subjects, "some have been painted as villains (Clytemnestra, Medea), some as victims (Eurydice, Penelope), some have been literally monstered (Medusa)," but each contains depths: "Medusa is--and always has been--the monster who would save us."

Haynes's authorial voice is remarkable: expressive, nuanced, impassioned. Her tone is absolutely accessible, even conversational, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious. Haynes (also a stand-up comic) is as well versed in the modern world and its concerns as in the ancients. The book opens with 1981's Clash of the Titans, and refers to Beyonce and Wonder Woman with the same ease and mastery as it does Homer, Ovid, Euripides, Aristotle, Aeschylus and many more ancients and more recent writers. Haynes's assessments of the visual arts (from ancient pottery through Renaissance paintings to modern television and movies) offer another dimension in this meticulous study.

The classics are as relevant, subversive and entertaining as ever in this brilliant piece of work. Clever, moving, expert, Pandora's Jar is a gem, equally for the serious fan or scholar of Greek myth, for the feminist or for the reader simply absorbed by fine storytelling across time and geography. --Julia Kastner , librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

 The last time I was in Iowa my dad took me to Beaverdale books, which was a nice little bookstore that now has a new co-owner.

New Co-owner for Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa

Hunter Gillum has become a co-owner of Beaverdale Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50928770 in Des Moines, Iowa, joining Alice Meyer, who founded the bookshop in 2006. The Register reported that regular customers "will likely already recognize the local bookshop's new co-owner... who not only worked at the store for years but has his own book club." Gillum became store manager in 2017 and was officially instated in his new role effective January 1.

Born in nearby Indianola, Gillum "moved to Iowa City for college before graduating in 2015 and making his way back to central Iowa, where he eventually began working at the local bookstore," the Register noted.

"I was a book person before coming here, and it's just like... kind of a book person's dream, doing all this stuff, like reorganizing your books, or sorting your books and stuff like that, stuff that I would be doing at my home," Gillum said.

Meyer recalled that sometime last year Gillum "took over the buying for the store. Because at the time, I think I was doing the buying, the events and the accounting. He just developed great relationships with our sales representatives, and just really amped up the titles that we carried in the store just by virtue of being able to meet with them and increase our inventory."

The ownership transition had been in the works for some time. "I always had a time frame for me," Meyer said, "and just recognizing that (Hunter) is the right person for the job.... We actually were aiming to do it last fall, but things were still kind of crazy and it just didn't get done.... I think that the first thing I always look for when hiring somebody is their reading habits. I knew that that was there. And he's so good with the customers and people rely on him for recommendations... and (him) taking over the buying was a godsend for me."

The Raven Spell by Luanne G Smith was an inexpensive ebook that looked interesting, but that I didn't necessarily have high hopes for...I am always glad when I'm wrong, and a book turns out to be well written and engrossing. I'd read the Vine Witch and it's sequels, so I was familiar with the author. Smith brings some magic and mystery to this novel, where myths like Corvids (Ravens and Crows) being shapeshifter/magical birds who carry the souls of the dead is mingled with a Victorian penny dreadful vibe and a smidge of Discovery of Witches to create a rich novel with a rounded view of magic as not being necessarily good or evil, but being reliant on the person wielding it for it's effects. Here's the blurb:

In Victorian England a witch and a detective are on the hunt for a serial killer in an enthralling novel of magic and murder by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Vine Witch.

After a nearly fatal blow to the skull, traumatized private detective Ian Cameron is found dazed and confused on a muddy riverbank in Victorian London. Among his effects: a bloodstained business card bearing the name of a master wizard and a curious pocket watch that doesn’t seem to tell time. To retrieve his lost memories, Ian demands answers from Edwina and Mary Blackwood, sister witches with a murky past. But as their secret is slowly unveiled, a dangerous mystery emerges on the darkened streets of London.

To help piece together Ian’s lost time, he and Edwina embark on a journey that will take them from the river foreshore to an East End music hall, and on to a safe house for witches in need of sanctuary from angry mortals. The clues they find suggest a link between a series of gruesome murders, a missing person’s case, and a dreadful suspicion that threatens to tear apart the bonds of sisterhood. As the investigation deepens, could Ian and Edwina be the next to die?

I think that I knew early on that one of the sisters was not as she appeared, so that was satisfying, to see that particular plot point come to a head. I did feel that there was a melancholy, relentless darkness to this novel that borders on horror fiction, but just manages to skirt the line with verbal dexterity. The prose is brooding and evocative, while the plot, though full of twists and turns, still manages to be clear and evenly paced. I'd give this book a solid B+, and recommend it to those who like darkly rebooted fairy tales.

The Halo Effect by MJ Rose is a psychological romantic thriller with horror overtones, meaning that there's plenty of blood to satisfy even the most dedicated Stephen King fans, or CSI converts. Here's the blurb:

Dr. Morgan Snow is a well-known sex therapist with a prestigious clinic devoted to the psychology of sex. One of her patients, Cleo, is a beautiful, cultured prostitute who runs her own call-girl business. Cleo has been coming to Dr. Snow because she's fallen in love, but is unable to have a healthy sexual relationship. One day, Cleo arrives with a manuscript for a tell-all book....and then disappears. A serial killer has been at work in the city, and Detective Noah Jordan turns to Morgan Snow to find out more about the psychology of a sexual murderer. Both Morgan and Noah suspect there is a link between the serial killer and Cleo's sudden disappearance, and work together to find her - before it is too late. From Publisher's Weekly:
The mutilated body of a prostitute in a nun's habit, her pubic hair shaved into a cross, appears on page one of this suspense thriller, making it plain that Rose's latest (after Sheet Music) is not for the squeamish. The novel is the first in a new series featuring the Butterfield Institute, a Manhattan sex therapy clinic employing psychiatrist Dr. Morgan Snow. One of Morgan's patients, the clever and selective call girl Cleo Thane, has written a memoir full of thinly disguised portraits of her clients, powerful men with odd fantasies and fetishes. She leaves this potentially explosive manuscript with Dr. Snow and then misses several appointments, causing Morgan to suspect foul play. Yet NYPD Det. Noah Jordain and his team, diligently pursuing leads in what's become a gory, ritualistic series of prostitute murders, have no evidence that Cleo, whose clientele puts her in a class by herself, might be a victim. Noah and Morgan are drawn to each other, but when Morgan can't persuade Noah to devote more effort to the search for Cleo, she determines to go undercover and meet Cleo's principal clients herself. Ill-equipped for this masquerade, Morgan is soon in over her head and in peril. The mystery takes second place to the catalogue of sexual eccentricities, but Cleo is an engaging guide to the world of dysfunction Rose painstakingly constructs.

---

I have no idea where the line above came from or how to delete it, so sorry about that. Anyway, I agree with the above review that there are many places in this book where the sexual fantasies and fetishes are written in excruciating detail, and the murders are given just as much time and almost loving description of the blood, gore, wounds and placement of the women's bodies. It goes well beyond fascinating into nauseating, and I wasn't titillated as much as horrified and disgusted by the way women and sexuality are treated in this book, as if consent is never really an issue, and men are nearly all perverted in their desires to be dominated or to dominate in bizarre sexual ways. Even Dr Morgan allows the detective she's working with to basically force sex on her because she has become "frigid" since her divorce, which is baloney, honestly, and what men often think of women who don't have active sex lives but do have successful careers. It's just another way for the misogyny of the patriarchy to try and show that women are really only happy or fulfilled if they are sexy heterosexual beings, there to please and placate and mother/take care of men. Women who are happy being single and having a career and don't want children are seen as an unnatural aberration, when that couldn't be farther from the truth. So I became frustrated with the overt sexism in the novel, and I also felt there was way too much attention paid to the gory details. I also didn't like the pushy Detective Jordain, nor did I like any of the men presented in the novel. Still, it was well plotted and certainly moved along at a clip. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone who finds blood, gore, sexual perverts and serial killers riveting reading.

A Night's Tale by Sofie Kelly is a "Magical Cats Mystery" that is full of fun and romance and intrigue. The prose is charming and the characters (including the cats) delightful, while the plot is straightforward and strong. Here's the blurb: In the charming town of Mayville Heights, librarian Kathleen Paulson and her two cats pounce on clues to catch a killer, in the eleventh installment of this New York Times bestselling series.

Spring is coming to Mayville Heights, and Kathleen’s brother, Ethan, has arrived in town with his band, The Flaming Gerbils. But not everything goes as scheduled when one of Ethan’s bandmates gets into a fight with a man interested in investing in the town. When the businessman’s body is later found, Ethan’s friend is implicated in the crime.

Kathleen wants to help her brother by solving the case, but she has no shortage of suspects from which to choose. Prior to his death, the investor was fighting like cats and dogs with lots of people. If this librarian wants more than a whisker’s chance of solving the case, she will need to rely on her trusty feline sidekicks, Owen and Hercules.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery, and I liked that Marcus and Kathleen were becoming a real item, because I always like a bit of romance in my novels, to keep things spicy. Although Kathleen's brother Ethan is a big baby and a real jerk a lot of the time, I appreciated Kathleen's commitment to helping him keep his friends out of jail by solving the case. In the end, I had a feeling the guy who actually committed the murder was the one, but the author keeps the clues close to her chest, so the full view of what happened is still somewhat surprising by the final chapter. BTW, I had to laugh at the band name of The Flaming Gerbils...nicely done, Ms Kelly! I'd give this book an A-, and recommend it to anyone looking for an engrossing, light mystery that involves magical cats who can disappear...but as a former cat owner, I can tell you that this isn't too far-fetched an idea for most cat people.  

 

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar becomes a Movie, Tell Me an Ending, Boynton Books gets their own Imprint, Children of Blood and Bone Movie, A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth, The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey, and When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord

January has been a rough month so far, as I've not been able to get my infusion for Crohns because my insurance company has been ignoring requests for approval for the past 6 weeks, and therefore my Crohns has been acting up so I'm in pain in the bathroom for hours on end, and we've had snow and sleet and very cold rain to contend with as well. My main source of book news, Shelf Awareness, was on the fritz this month, so I wasn't getting their daily email newsletter at all. I emailed their subscription person, who told me that they were experiencing technical difficulties, and now I'm getting the Shelf Awareness wit and wisdom in my daily email box once again. Though I have over 25 books to read in my TBR, I have discovered that some of them are not terribly well written, and have plots that are sluggish at best. I also found that there were times when just streaming a movie or a TV program online was easier on my attention span than ploughing through a mediocre memoir or a dull novel. Hence, I have only 3 books to review after the many tidbits I've collected. So here we go, and thanks for hanging in there with me, fellow readers/bibliophiles. I hope your Januaries are going better than mine.

This movie looks outstanding! I can hardly wait to see it.

Movies: Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Wes Anderson will direct and write The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50836116, based on Roald Dahl's 1977 story, for Netflix, Deadline reported, adding that the "original book is made up of several short stories, and while it's unknown which ones would be covered in this project, sources do say it would consist of three mini-films similar to the Coen brothers' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Production is expected to start next week in London."

Benedict Cumberbatch will play the title role, with Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, and Ben Kingsley joining the cast, sources told Deadline. Anderson's previous adaptation of the author's work, Fantastic Mr. Fox, was an Oscar-winning animated film. Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl catalogue last September.

 

There was a show on Netflix that had this exact same plot/storyline...it starred Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson, and it had a kind of Blade Runner/Noir feel to it. I hope to find a copy of this book, and see if it ends the same as the Netflix program.

 

Book Review: Tell Me an Ending

 

Set in the town of Crowshill outside London, Tell Me an Ending by Jo

Harkin boldly imagines an eerily plausible present where people with unwanted memories can have them deleted by a secretive British tech company named Nepenthe. Harkin's intriguing debut features multiple interconnected narratives nestled within the larger whole, as well as characters whose memory deletions send them traveling across the globe in search of answers to missing pieces of their lives.

 

Central to the story is the enigmatic Noor, a socially awkward Nepenthe psychologist with a tea addiction. Noor falls in love with her client, Elena, precipitating a personal and professional crisis that deepens when she discovers her boss and mentor, Louise, is committing an even more serious violation of company policy involving Elena and other clients. As Noor investigates Louise's actions, she is drawn into a horrifying cover-up at Nepenthe that threatens to destroy her faith in its mission.

 

Nepenthe's premise is deceptively simple: a PTSD sufferer or someone struggling with a distressing experience can have that traumatic memory erased in a safe and highly effective manner, deleting only the targeted memory and leaving everything else intact. The technology, it turns out, is not foolproof--some former clients start experiencing "traces" of removed memories. Nepenthe is sued and must offer all clients the opportunity to restore deleted memories, including those who had requested to erase the act of memory deletion itself.

 

For college drop-out Mei and former police officer William, there is initially some relief in discovering that the traces they experience are not signs of madness but actual memories that were removed. Meanwhile, for Irish architect Finn, the revelation that his wife secretly deleted a memory sends shockwaves through their marriage. Oscar, a young man with no memory at all but a full bank account, worries that he must have done something terrible in his past. He travels from Budapest to Marrakech, leading a life on the run until the truth of his life story catches up to him.

 

Harkin masterfully probes her characters, questioning whether deleted memories translate into altered narratives that fundamentally transform who a person is and their relationships with loved ones, echoing a question Noor asks herself: "Does wiping a note change the rest of the symphony?" As Noor uncovers the extent of Louise's deception and its impact on William, Mei and others, she finally confronts the true cost of the technology she has devoted her career to promoting. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer

 

I've adored Sandra Boynton's work since I first came across her cards and children's books nearly 40 years ago. Her animals are hilarious and her artistry amazing. I love that she makes a Star Trek Next Gen reference below. 

 

S&S Launches Boynton Bookworks Imprint

 

Simon & Schuster has launched Boynton Bookworks, an imprint devoted to the past and future works of American cartoonist, children's author and songwriter/producer Sandra Boynton. The imprint will bring Boynton's considerable backlist under one roof for the first time.

 

"Sandy's work is deceptively simple and utterly original," said Jon Anderson, president and publisher of S&S Children's Publishing. "Boynton Bookworks will be a showcase for her singular genius (she'll hate my using that word, but it's true!) and is the obvious next step in her remarkable career."

 

"And I'll be in the Picard role," said Boynton. "I get to set an improbable course and say 'Make it so.' Then the supremely competent crew takes it from there. I'm so stunned and grateful that Jon is giving me this wild opportunity."

 

Along with becoming the new home for Boynton's entire Little Simon backlist, Boynton Bookworks will publish its inaugural list in Fall

2022, including two new board books--Pookie's Thanksgiving and Moo, Baa, Fa La La La La!--as well as a deluxe picture book edition of Boynton's

Hippos Go Berserk!, first published in 1977 and in print ever since.

Boynton has completely redrawn and redesigned Hippos Go Berserk! for the

Boynton Bookworks launch.

 

In addition, beginning in Fall 2022, the new imprint will welcome all of

Boynton's previously published titles, including new editions of 22 Boynton books and six songbook/CDs.

 

This was a fantastic book that I loved reading and reviewing, so I'm thrilled to see that they're making a movie out of the first novel. Though I have a copy, I've not read the second book in the series. 

Movies: Children of Blood and Bone

"Following a bidding war that saw several major players in the mix," Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to the Children of Blood and Bone https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz50867416 trilogy, the action fantasy film based on Tomi Adeyemi's YA novels, Deadline reported. Adeyemi will adapt, write the script and executive produce.

Paramount is "fast-tracking this big-screen adaptation with Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill Entertainment and Karen Rosenfelt of Sunswept Entertainment producing," Deadline noted. "Children of Blood and Bone and its sequel Children of Virtue and Vengeance are published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, a Macmillan imprint, and sources say the third and final book in the trilogy will be published in 2023."

"Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone has not only become a phenomenon in the YA world, it has transformed every expectation of what world-building fantasy can be," said Daria Cercek, co-president of Paramount Pictures Motion Group. "It's with enormous pride that our studio--along with Tomi and our partners Wyck, Marty and Karen--set out to bring this franchise to life on the big screen. With its thought-provoking and timely themes, we know that this story will resonate with a global audience."

"Paramount's passion and enthusiasm to bring this story to life has been incredible," Adeyemi said. "We are all so excited for this new chapter and are already hard at work."

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth is a strange YA fantasy novel that combines Dungeons and Dragons with Anime and LOTR with popular videogames to create a LGBTQ coming of age story that I suspect has more than a little Mary Sue (placing the author in the story thinly disguised as the protagonist) involved in it. The prose is decent, if slightly amateurish, and the plot very much like a D&D game, where you know the outcome before you get halfway through the book. I do appreciate that the author wanted the story to be all about LBGTQ relationships, as those are most often sidelined in fiction, but having nearly all the characters hew to stereotypes of gay and lesbian or bisexual people got to be more amusing than realistic, eventually. I also felt that, as an imprint of Simon and Schuster, the editors were probably not young enough to feel comfortable editing Ms Shuttleworth's prose. This book came in at over 500 pages, and at least 150 of those should have been edited out to make it a leaner novel with a swift adventurous plot. Here's the blurb:
The Cruel Prince meets City of Bones in this thrilling urban fantasy set in the magical underworld of Toronto that follows a queer cast of characters racing to stop a serial killer whose crimes could expose the hidden world of faeries to humans.

Choose your player.
The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family.
A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge.
A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne.
The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret.

For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts—until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world.

Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that’s not bad enough, there’s a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way?

Wish them luck. They’re going to need it.

Of all the characters, I liked Naus the excommunicated Fury the best, mainly because she knew who she was, and she didn't deviate from that place of self knowledge/understanding much at all. Unlike the main protagonist, Arlo, who constantly whines about being scared, feeling inadequate, lacking courage and wanting to run away. She makes tons of mistakes and is generally too naive and innocent to live...she's almost sickeningly sweet and nice. Blech. I much prefer a pissed off Fury kicking ass and taking names. Still even for being over written and under edited, this was a fun book to read, if way too long and with an unsatisfying ending. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to anyone under the age of 25 who is a fan of videogames, Anime and D&D. 

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey is the 16th book in her Elemental Masters series, all of which I've read and enjoyed. Somewhat like reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, Lackey's EM books just get better and better with each iteration. This edition, as the title suggests, revolves around legendary shooter Annie Oakley, who traveled the world with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in the late 19th century. Here we are lead to believe that Annie and her husband Frank Butler are both untrained elemental mages (she's an air mage and he's a water mage) who encounter fully fledged EMs in Germany while they're on tour during the Autumn and Winter. Here's the blurb: The sixteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series follows sharpshooter Annie Oakley as she tours Europe and discovers untapped powers. 

Annie Oakley has always suspected there is something "uncanny" about herself, but has never been able to put a name to it. But when Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show goes on tour through Germany, Bill temporarily hires a new sharpshooter to be part of his "World Wide Congress of Rough Riders": a woman named Giselle, who also happens to be an Elemental Master of Air. Alongside this new performer, Annie discovers that she and her husband, Frank, are not simply master marksman, but also magicians of rare ability.

As they travel and perform, Annie must use her newfound knowledge and rare skill to combat creatures of the night scattered across the countryside, who threaten both the performers and the locals. Annie's got her gun, and it's filled with silver bullets. 

Turns out that there's a werewolf who abused Annie during her childhood and put a spell on her so that only he can have sexual relations with her once she's reached adulthood and he's "turned" her into a werewolf against her will. This scumbag is on the hunt for Annie, so she has to train fast to be able to protect herself and her friends/family from this dangerous pack of animals. As with all of her novels, Lackey's prose is pristine and her plots dash along like a full team of horses pulling a cab or sleigh. I love that Lackey never allows her books to slow down or meander along, you're grabbed by the novel from the first page to the last. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of her other Elemental Masters series. 

When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord is a delightful YA novel that combines theater kid tropes with a coming of age novel about finding yourself and your birth mother and your place in this world, all at the same time. There's also a "frenemies" to "Beloveds" romance that is full of zippy one liners and all sorts of dramatic hijinks. Here's the blurb:A bighearted novel about falling in love, making a mess, and learning to let go, from Emma Lord, the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese Witherspoon YA Book Club pick You Have a Match.

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream of becoming a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super introverted dad, who raised Millie alone since she was a baby. Not her drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not her “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm. Millie needs an ally. And when an accidentally left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do—find her mom.

But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?

Though I adored Millie, I found her parents to be utterly ridiculous and terrible at the same time...and her birth mother gets away with being an awful person because she was young when she had Millie and "couldn't handle raising a child." If you really feel that you can't raise a child and you're unexpectedly pregnant, get an abortion, or give the child up for adoption, don't leave the poor thing with a weak father who struggles to raise himself, let alone a kid...plus he seems rather cowardly as a person, so Millie ends up having to parent him by the time she's a teenager, something no kid should ever have to do (she has to set him up on dates and help him figure out how to act in public or at parties, because yes, he's just that immature and wimpy that he can't go out of the house himself). Personally, I think Millie should have told her mother what a pain in the arse her father is, and how much of a terrible impact her mom's abandonment has had on her life. Instead, because she sobs and cries and wails, Millie feels sorry for her, and tries to build a relationship with this fool. What a waste of time. Lord's prose is bouncy and bright, and her plot easy and well choreographed. Still, I knew who Millies mother was fairly quickly and I also knew the ending well before I was halfway through the book. I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to anyone who remembers what it was like to be a "Drama Geek" and have a crush on someone you see as a rival at first.

 

Bookstores Save Belgian Community, School for Good Mothers on TV, To Kill a Mockingbird Returns to Stage, RIP Joan Didion, GRR Martin Previews House of the Dragon, Briar Girls by Rebecca Kim Wells, The Bait by CW Gortner and MJ Rose, and For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Welcome to 2022, bibliophiles! Normally I would have posted before we were 8 days into the month, but one of the e-books I was reading turned out to be over 400 pages, and took me much longer than expected. To be fair, I've also been watching a number of shows on streaming services like HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Xfinity and Paramount Plus. Some have been great, like "Superintelligence" on HBOMax, while others, like "The Power of the Dog" on Netflix was a complete waste of time, as it was poorly written, full of misogyny and not terribly well enacted (though they hired some high powered, high profile actors to do the job), so I feel that I was roped into watching that one because of the loads of hype it was given online. Still, I have well over 25 books I was gifted over the holidays to read, so I can tuck into those and will have plenty to review in the coming months. Speaking of book reviews, I will have, by the end of this year, close to 850 posts on this blog. I'm considering closing down my blog after I reach 1000 posts, (probably during 2025) because it will have served its purpose by then. I will also be 65, and I'm thinking that retirement from all responsibility, including blogging reviews for every book I read, sounds heavenly. What do you think?

I love this idea, of a town reinventing itself as a literary destination, only to encounter problems like attrition, difficulties arising from COVID quarantine, people switching to Amazon or other online booksellers, etc. I sincerely hope that Mayor Laffut is right, and that the pendulum is swinging back for bookstore owners.

 Bookstores Save Belgian Community

"Nearly 40 years ago, books saved this village" was the headline for a Washington Post article about Redu, Belgium, a community that had been shrinking fast as farm jobs disappeared and families moved away. "But in the mid-1980s, a band of booksellers moved into the empty barns and transformed the place into a literary lodestone. The village of about 400 became home to more than two dozen bookstores--more shops than cows, its boosters liked to say--and thousands of tourists thronged its charming streets.

"Now, though, more than half the bookstores have closed. Some of the storekeepers died, others left when they could no longer make a living. Many who remain are in their 70s and aren't sure what will happen after they're gone. It's not just the businesses at risk. It's Redu's identity."

With only a dozen or so bookshops remaining in this "village du livre," the less optimistic "say that their trade has fallen out of fashion, and that people, especially young people, are reading fewer books," the Post wrote. Bob Gossens, owner of Bouquinerie Générale, said, "We are like Asterix: The last village fighting everyone. The Internet is breaking everything." 

Anne Laffut, the mayor of Libin, the municipality in which Redu is located, offered a counter-narrative: "Life is changing, but nothing is dying. Everything is evolving.... There is a change of mentalities. The elders think the village is changing because there are fewer bookstores and it is a disappointment. But there is a new generation which is very active in Redu. Many volunteers are teaming up with the same desire for the village to continue to endure." --Robert Gray

 This sounds like a great TV show, and I can hardly wait to see it...I'm also excited for the return of To Kill A Mockingbird to the stage!

TV: The School for Good Mothers

Jessica Chastain (Ava, Scenes from a Marriage) has optioned the TV rights to Jessamine Chan’s debut novel, The School for Good Mothers, through her production company Freckle Films, beating "a number of rivals to the rights," Deadline reported. 

Freckle Films will team up with Finding Ohanadirector Jude Weng and Endeavor Content to adapt the project. Weng will direct, and is an executive producer on the scripted series with Chan, Chastain and her Freckle Films partner Kelly Carmichael.

On Stage: To Kill a Mockingbird


 

Baize Buzan, an original ensemble cast member of the Broadway stage adaptation of Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, "will return to the production January 5, the same day that Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Greg Kinnear makes his Broadway debut, succeeding Tony nominee Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch," Playbill reported. Buzan will follow Tony winner Celia Keenan-Bolger in the role of Scout Finch.

Daniels and Keenan-Bolger played their final performances January 2. Mariah Lee will also join the cast as Mayella Ewell January 11. To Kill a Mockingbird began performances November 1, 2018, at Broadway's Shubert Theatre. "On February 26, 2020--a few weeks before the Broadway shutdown--the Broadway cast gave a history-making free performance at Madison Square Garden in front of 18,000 New York City school children," Playbill wrote.

To Kill a Mockingbird will launch its national tour March 27 at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, N.Y., starring Emmy winner Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch. Performances will begin in London at the Gielgud Theatre March 10 starring Rafe Spall.

 

RIP Joan Didion, famed author, critic.

 

Joan Didion, author of fiction, commentary and memoir that for many defined "the fraying edges of postwar American life," as the New York Times put it, died on December 23 at age 87.

Shelley Wanger, her editor at Knopf, said, "Joan was a brilliant observer and listener, a wise and subtle teller of truths about our present and future. She was fierce and fearless in her reporting. Her writing is timeless and powerful, and her prose has influenced millions.

"She was a close and longtime friend, loved by many, including those of us who worked with her at Knopf. We will mourn her death but celebrate her life, knowing that her work will inspire generations of readers and writers to come."

She began her career working as an editor and writer at Vogue and contributing pieces to a variety of magazines. In 1963, she published her first novel, Run River.

Didion's first volume of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, was published in 1968, and her second, The White Album, was published in 1979. Her nonfiction works include Salvador (1983), Miami (1987), After Henry(1992), Political Fictions (2001), Where I Was From (2003), We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live (2006), South and West (2017), and Let Me Tell You What I Mean (2021).

Didion and her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, collaborated on a variety of projects, including screenplays for The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Play It As It Lays (1972), which was Didion's second novel, A Star Is Born(1976), and Up Close and Personal (1996). Didion's other novels include A Book of Common Prayer (1977), Democracy (1984), and The Last Thing He Wanted (1996).

Her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, written after Dunne's death, won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005. Less than two years after Dunne's death, their daughter, Quintana Roo, died of acute pancreatitis, which Didion wrote about in her 2011 memoir, Blue Nights.

In 2005, Didion was awarded the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Belles Letters and Criticism. In 2007, she was awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. A portion of National Book Foundation citation read: "An incisive observer of American politics and culture for more than 45 years, Didion's distinctive blend of spare, elegant prose and fierce intelligence has earned her books a place in the canon of American literature as well as the admiration of generations of writers and journalists." In 2013, she was awarded a National Medal of Arts and Humanities by President Barack Obama, as well as the PEN Center USA's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Glad to hear GRRM has another series coming out...I imagine it will be as popular as Game of Thrones.

  George R.R. Martin Previews HBO's House of the Dragon

George R.R. Martin has seen a rough cut of the first episode of House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series based on his novel Fire & Blood. The series premieres on HBO and HBO Max this year. 

On his blog, Martin gave an early thumbs up to the project, writing: "I am anticipating House of the Dragon pretty eagerly myself, for what it's worth.  Okay, I am hardly objective. And I know a lot of what you will be seeing. (I, um, wrote the book). Also... mum's the word now, don't tell anyone... I've seen a rough cut of the first episode. And loved it. It's dark, it's powerful, it's visceral... just the way I like my epic fantasy."

He also praised showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, saying that they "have done an amazing job, and the cast... just as with Game of Thrones, most viewers will only have heard of a few of the actors, but I think you are going to fall in love with a lot of them. (Only to have your heart broken later when... but no, that would be telling). I think the Targaryens are in very good hands. Anticipate away. I do not think you will be disappointed. Current Mood: excited excited."

Briar Girls by Rebecca Kim Wells is a YA fantasy fairy tale retelling of  Beauty and the Beast married with Sleeping Beauty. The prose was delightfully intricate and the characters fascinating, especially the more feminist characters and the LGBTQ characters who are treated like any other character, which I appreciated. Here's the blurb:The Cruel Prince meets A Curse So Dark and Lonely in this epic reimagining of “The Sleeping Beauty” that follows a teen girl on a quest to wake a sleeping princess in an enchanted forest, while searching for the truth behind her own deadly curse.

Lena has a secret: the touch of her skin can kill. Cursed by a witch before she was born, Lena has always lived in fear and isolation. But after a devastating mistake, she and her father are forced to flee to a village near the Silence, a mysterious forest with a reputation for luring people into the trees, never to be seen again.

Until the night an enigmatic girl stumbles out of the Silence and into Lena’s sheltered world. Miranda comes from the Gather, a city in the forest brimming with magic. She is on a quest to wake a sleeping princess believed to hold the key to liberating the Gather from its tyrannical ruler—and she offers Lena a bargain. If Lena assists her on her journey, Miranda will help her break the curse.
Mesmerized by Miranda and her promise of a new life, Lena jumps at the chance. But the deeper into the Silence she goes, the more she suspects she’s been lied to—about her family’s history, her curse, and her future. As the shadows close in, Lena must choose who to trust and decide whether it’s more important to have freedom…or power.                                                                                                                                                                  The plot of this novel was somewhat convoluted, and the whole "horrible and selfish parents" trope has been done to death in YA fiction, but I still enjoyed the book, for the most part, though I think the author should have had an editor who cleaned up the places where she goes into too much description of the forest and Lena's curse and connection to it. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to those who like retold fairy tales.

The Bait by CW Gortner and MJ Rose was an ebook sequel to The Steal, which I read and reviewed about 6 months ago. This series is a sort of noir crime thriller mixed with an old fashioned 50s era love story, full of cynical guys and dames who smoke and drink their way through life's traumas, while wearing stylish clothing and designer jewelry. The prose is impeccable, and the plot fairly straightforward and swift, but if you find the racism/misogyny and hypocritical social mores and classism of that era frustrating (as I sometimes did) then you might want to give this series a pass. Here's the blurb: Revenge is a diamond best served cold.

A year after THE STEAL, Ania Throne is determined to take back what the Leopard stole from her. Together with her lover and partner, Jerome, she stages a spectacular heist during the Venetian Carnival, to lure out the treacherous mastermind they unmasked. She’s willing to risk it all—until her revenge takes a dangerous twist that could cost her what she loves the most.

Jerome Curtis has given up everything for Ania. She needs his help and he’s fallen head over heels for the world’s most eligible jewelry designer. But when their daring scheme to catch the thief who escaped turns on them, he’s targeted for a crime he never wanted to commit—and he has to find a way out fast.
From a glamorous costume gala to the winter canals of Venice, Ania and Jerome must confront the choices they’ve made and bait a new trap to catch the Leopard, before the Leopard springs his trap on them. This time, the stakes are personal, but with more than diamonds on the line, can they escape the bait or will it separate them forever?
The second novella in To Catch A Leopard, THE BAIT is a nail-biting romantic caper by bestselling authors C.W. Gortner and M.J. Rose.

While the book is short and well written (and yes, it is a nail biter, along the lines of early James Bond movies) I still had trouble with the pettiness and downright stupidity of the main characters, Jerome and Ania. Why would someone who has grown up with a notorious jewel thief leave her first big heist on her nightstand, right in the open for anyone to see? And why would she be surprised when said thief steals it and uses it to try and bring her and her boyfriend down? I suppose things will turn out better for our lovers in the next installment of the series, but I am not sure I really want to read it, as the sexism gets hard to take after awhile (and yes, I realize it is accurate for that era). So I'd give this sequel a B- and recommend it to anyone who read the first book in the series, so they can see where this whole thing is going.

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten is yet another ebook that is a retelling of Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast that I'd assumed would be a fast read. Unfortunately, the author seems to have fallen in love with her own prose style/voice and would ramble on for paragraph after paragraph about the beauty of the forest, or the darkness of the shadows, the colors of the sky, the people, the food, etc. Her descriptions were so detailed they became boring and slowed the plot to a crawl. I was so glad to get to the end of this overly puffed prose piece that I nearly wept. At least 100 of the novel's 400+ pages could have been edited out for clarity and to move the characters/plot along. Here's the blurb: 

 The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose—to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.
Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood—and her world—whole.

Ever since childhood, Redarys has known that her sister Neve, the firstborn, would ascend the throne while she would be sacrificed to the fabled wolf of a magical wood. But unlike her forebears, she doesn't have a grisly fate in store. When a new religious sect tips the balance, the woods and its devoted wolf can no longer stave off the corruptive force they had held back for generations. Only by rejecting the role of sacrifice and choosing to share the burden of her partner, does their world stand a chance. This dark retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" and other folktales contains bloodthirsty trees, demonic dead kings, and a Green Man figure. While the lore defines this world and its politics, it is the bonds that shape this character-driven narrative. Through switching perspectives, both sisters demonstrate that their choices are made out of love and that they are not without consequences. Even though other characters tend to get lost in the mix, the action and romance will easily sweep readers along. Review by Rachel Forbes, School Library Journal

The action and romance are points of light that keep this whole novel from devolving into one long "How I love plants and the forest" rant, but I don't feel they were enough to fully sustain such a huge book. While I liked the female protagonist, Red, I thought her mother and sister seemed obsessive and insane and the priestesses completely evil. There was so much emphasis on blood sacrificed to the woods by all the characters, it became gruesome and made the book lean more toward horror fiction than I am comfortable with (I'm not a fan of the horror genre in general). At any rate, I'd give this book a C, and recommend it only to those who like their allegory blood drenched and their love stories agonizingly sacrificial.