State of Terror becomes a Movie, Great Expectations on TV, Wise Owl Books and Music Comes to Seattle, Edmonds Bookshop Celebrates 50th, Bookselling Injuries, Finder by Lilith Saintcrow, I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel, The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan

Ah, the final day of freezing February! Welcome Bibliophiles and Readers, I hope this finds you all curling up somewhere cozy with a good book, a blanket and a nice hot cuppa tea (or coffee) I've just finished a great book and I will put my three reviews at the end of the post, so you can find out what I've been up to for the past 7 days. Spring weather is right on the horizon, so hang in there, and keep those eyes on the page!

I read and enjoyed this page-turning thriller by Penny and Clinton, and I loved that two such strong women wrote about what it is like to be a woman in politics who has to make hard decisions every day, and who's always held to a much higher standard than her male counterparts (while also being vilified for being a woman and a human being who makes mistakes) and dealing with misogyny at every turn. I just know that this will be a great movie, so I'm looking forward to it's premier.

Movies: State of Terror

Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and co-author Louise Penny "are set to make their explosive blockbuster debut as producers of an upcoming movie adaptation of their novel State of Terror https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51309912," Entertainment Weekly reported. They will serve as executive producers and consultants on the project, in collaboration with Hell or High Water producer Gigi Pritzker's independent media company Madison Wells (The Eyes of Tammy Faye). A release date, as well as cast and crew details, have yet to be announced.

"I am thrilled that my production company, HiddenLight, and I will be working with Madison Wells on this project," Clinton said. "It's particularly exciting to be collaborating with such a talented team of women and we couldn't be more excited to see this story come to life."

Penny added: "Just when I thought co-writing State of Terror with my amazing friend Hillary could not get more exhilarating, along comes the remarkable opportunity to work with Gigi and Rachel at Madison Wells. Talk about badass women! Together we promise to create a production that will entertain, thrill, give pause for thought and perhaps even laughter, move the viewers, and break boundaries. Onward!"

 I also enjoy adaptations of classic novels onto the big or, in this case, the small screen. I adore Olivia Colman, so I think this will be a wonderful series.

TV: Great Expectations

Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter, The Crown) has been cast as Miss Havisham in the FX and BBC limited series adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic novel Great Expectations https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51238975, Deadline reported, adding that Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) will play Pip. The cast also includes Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle and Matt Berry.

Great Expectations marks Knight's second adaptation of the writer's works, following A Christmas Carol. These are the first of a number of Dickens adaptations ordered by the BBC and FX, Deadline noted.

 Hurrah! Another bookstore opens in Seattle! I would love to visit this store, which sounds utterly delightful, but COVID prevents me from going too far from my home for any non-medical reason. Still, it looks like a place that I could spend hours browsing in!Also, bonus points for being near the only vegan doughnut shop in the area, Mighty O Doughnuts, which is also located in Tangletown, just south of the Phinney/Greenwood neighborhood where my husband and I used to live when we first moved to Seattle in 1991. Yummy doughnuts and books...what could be better?!

The Wise Owl Books & Music Comes to Seattle, Wash.

The Wise Owl Books & Music https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51276984, a book and vinyl record store offering a mix of new and used titles, has opened a bricks-and-mortar store https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51276985 in Seattle, Wash., the Seattle Times reported.

Owner Christina Gilbreath opened the Wise Owl as an online and pop-up store in October 2020, and officially opened the physical store on December 4, 2021. There are sidelines, such as stickers, pins, candles and cards, in the front of the store, vinyl records in the back and shelves of books throughout. While Gilbreath sells books for children and adults across all genres, the store's used inventory has a definite lean toward science fiction and fantasy.

Gilbreath explained that her mother, who had always dreamed of owning a used bookstore and had been collecting used titles for years, was an avid reader with a particular fondness for SF and fantasy. When she died in 2019, Gilbreath inherited about "40 boxes of used books," many of them genre titles. Gilbreath had no idea about her mother's bookstore dream until after her death, and as a tribute to her decided to merge that dream with her own dream of owning a record store. It became a "legacy project.”

The store's name, she added, is a tribute to her mother, who "knew everything. You could ask her anything and she always had an answer."

The shop is located at 2223 N. 56th St. in Seattle's Tangletown neighborhood. Gilbreath was careful not to open too close to any existing bookstores, and she said the Tangletown community has been "lavishing" her book and record store with love. Her plans for events include author events, readings, game nights, live music and book clubs. She continues to host monthly pop-up appearances at Pilgrim Coffeehouse, where the Wise Owl got its start.

The success of the pop-up shops, she said, and the need for more storage and display space accelerated her plan to get a permanent storefront. "Everybody just kept asking, 'where's your storefront, where can we come visit you?' "

 Another bookstore that has survived the vagaries of doing business in the PNW! Congrats!

Happy 50th Birthday, Edmonds Bookshop!

Congratulations to Edmonds Bookshop https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51278207 in Edmonds, Wash., which is turning 50 years old next month.

The bookstore will celebrate with an anniversary party on March 5. Per the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51278208, the anniversary event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and feature prize drawings, a bookmark design contest for children, commemorative tote bags and T-shirts and recognition of past owners, longtime customers and some of the store's favorite authors.

Store owner Michelle Bear said: "Edmonds Bookshop is thrilled to mark fifty years of continuous service to our local community, and to be part of the thriving downtown Edmonds scene."

 These are hilarious, but completely understandable, knowing how books often fall onto bibliophiles from their overstuffed shelves.

Deeper Understanding

Robert Gray: #ComedyBooksellingInjuries--It Only Hurts When I Read

"Booksellers! What's your most comedy bookselling injury? https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51278247" the Gutter Bookshop <https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51278248 in Dublin, Ireland, tweeted on Monday. "I'm asking this question because I have (yet again) strained the webbing between thumb & forefinger due to over-zealous use of a tape gun... #BooksellingInjuries."

Part of a bookseller's job description is to be like a duck, appearing to float serenely on the water's surface while paddling like hell underneath. A bookshop's magic depends upon not letting patrons see too far below the surface, where the muck and weeds lurk, as well as the ever-present threat of comedy bookselling injuries.

Gutter Bookshop's tweet prompted an entertaining and enlightening thread. Buffalo Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51278249 in Buffalo, Minn., responded: "Honestly, there are so many to choose from, my assistant keeps track '2 days since Shannon's last accident'. I once tried to scoot sideways on an IKEA kids 3legged stool (they do NOT scoot) fell off on my bum and banged my head on the shelf behind me."

Other highlights:

* As a young bookseller many years ago, I lived in fear of injury inflicted by the terrifying 'Donleavy Nail'--a vicious 2in sharp nail projecting from the back of the shelf housing the orange-spined Penguin editions of JP Donleavy. No-one ever thought to just hammer it back in.

Emotional and psychological injuries are also quite common among booksellers: "I have sustained frequent and traumatic blows to my patience," someone noted, while another tweeted: "Emotional rather than physical injury, but I was called out (and misquoted) by a famous author in his national newspaper column for not recognising him when he offered to sign his books."

We've all been conked on the noggin by mysteriously plummeting tomes. It might be the most common bookseller injury, which makes sense. Bookstores are haunted after all. You can look it up... in books ranging from Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop ("This shop is haunted by the ghosts/ Of all great literature, in hosts") to Louise Erdrich's The Sentence, where a spectral former customer named Flora torments bookseller Tookie ("I ran the scene over and over in my head. Not only had she thrown down the books, but she really might have tripped me.").

It now occurs to me that all those books assaulting us from on high over the years weren't the work of ghosts, or at least not human ghosts. Have we considered the possibility that bookshelves, bookcases and books, all deceased remnants of once magnificent living trees, might just be eking out their subtle revenge on convenient representatives of the species that killed them? Now that would be a comedy bookselling injury for the ages.

 

Finder (Watchers book 6) by Lilith Saintcrow is a great addition to this paranormal/urban romance series, which I've read all the way through. Saintcrow is an expert storyteller, and her prose is deft and deliciously arch. Her plots have just enough twists and turns to keep readers reading long after their bedtimes, and, because she's so prolific, it seems like you can never run out of her series books to read. All the books in the Watchers series involve a witch/lightbringer of some type (healers, fire witches, etc) who falls in love with their protectors, called "watchers" who must use their symbionts to protect the witches from dark and dreadful monsters who seek to kill them and absorb their light. Here's the blurb:

He’s not the only one watching her…

For years Jorie Camden has been quietly helping her police friends pursue cold cases, and she’s paid the price over and over again, her talent for Finding stretched to the limit. Now something different is stalking the streets, taking children—something old, and foul, and Dark. The cops won’t admit there’s a problem, so what can a Lightbringer do but solve the mystery on her own?

Caleb is a Watcher of Circle Lightfall, and his mission is simple: protect the witch he’s assigned to—the witch who just happens to be able to touch him without causing agonizing pain. It’s his one shot at redemption, and it’ll take every weapon he has, plus his willingness to play dirty. Even if his witch seems to be chasing something no one can see.

Yet something Dark is indeed in their city. And now that it’s aware of pursuit, it has plans for Jorie and her talent—plans not even Caleb might be able to stop…

“Darkly compelling, fascinatingly unique. Lilith Saintcrow offers a breathtaking, fantastic ride.”—NYT bestselling author Gena Showalter 

Each of the books in the series focuses on a different watcher and witch combo, often pointing out how different they are from each other before showing how perfectly the two mesh with one another. All the watchers are men who have either a police or military background, who have done terrible things in their lives before they were given the symbiont and turned into a secret service style protector who watches over a lightbringer witch. The witches are always petite and delicate (A trope that I despise) and beautiful, self-sacrificing young women who want to help others with their powers to the detriment of themselves (they've all got real self esteem issues and don't see their value). All of these witches are reluctant to allow a watcher to take a bullet for them. Of course the lusting watcher eventually saves the lightbringer and the two reassure one another of their value and love. While I enjoyed this installment of the series, I knew where the plane was going to land, so to speak, so the book felt a little rote at some point. Still, I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has read the other books in the series.

I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel is the book that we're reading for my library book group, meeting soon in March. This slender volume is a delight for readers and bibliophiles everywhere, as it covers all the bases of bookworm dilemmas and joys, from "literary sins" to 'how to organize your bookshelves." Each chapter is a jewel of wit and wisdom. Here's the blurb: For so many people, reading isn't just a hobby or a way to pass the time--it's a lifestyle. Our books shape us, define us, enchant us, and even sometimes infuriate us. Our books are a part of who we are as people, and we can't imagine life without them.

I'd Rather Be Reading is the perfect literary companion for everyone who feels that way. In this collection of charming and relatable reflections on the reading life, beloved blogger and author Anne Bogel leads readers to remember the book that first hooked them, the place where they first fell in love with reading, and all of the moments afterward that helped make them the reader they are today. Known as a reading tastemaker through her popular podcast What Should I Read Next?, Bogel invites book lovers into a community of like-minded people to discover new ways to approach literature, learn fascinating new things about books and publishing, and reflect on the role reading plays in their lives.

The perfect gift for the bibliophile in everyone's life, I'd Rather Be Reading will command an honored place on the overstuffed bookshelves of any book lover.

I can't really find much to critique about this book, because it was like reading a memoir about my favorite subject, written by an expert. Anyone who reads over 100 books a year, as I do, will recognize themselves within these pages, and find themselves nodding in agreement, laughing or even shedding a tear at Bogels deft reflections on the joys and sorrows of the reading life. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves books. Bogel is one of us.

The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan is a contemporary romance with a twist, and surprisingly poignant and wise. I was expecting a light read, but found myself highlighting passages like this "There's this Hebrew meditation that I read about...it's called husa, and it means, roughly, 'compassion for something that is flawed.' Husa is acceptance, devoid of judgement. The kind of love an artist has for their creation, even as they recognize it's imperfection. To practice the meditation, we ask God for husa in prayer. 'The soul is yours, the body is your creation, husa, have compassion for Your work.' What I'm trying to articulate is that you're precious, not in spite of, but because of, all the ways you believe you're broken." That touched my heart, because I think many of us, especially women, see ourselves as broken, flawed, not acceptable or good enough. Anyway, there are several paragraphs like this one sprinkled throughout a very thoughtful, well written text. Here's the blurb: Naomi and Ethan will test the boundaries of love in this provocative romance from the author of the ground-breaking debut, The Roommate.

Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won't hire her.

Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag nominated him as one of the city's hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Low on both funds and congregants, the executive board of Ethan's new shul hired him with the hopes that his nontraditional background will attract more millennials to the faith. They've given him three months to turn things around or else they'll close the doors of his synagogue for good.

Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems--until they discover a new one--their growing attraction to each other. They've built the syllabus for love's latest experiment, but neither of them expected they'd be the ones putting it to the test.

The plot was much deeper than the blurb would have you believe, because it discusses not just the physical attraction of two "hot" people, but their mental and spiritual journey as well. Even the characters are delightfully maudlin-mush-free, and the dialogue is realistic and intelligent. This book would make a great short series for Netflix, or a movie for Apple+. Though it has the inevitable HEA, it's not overly sweet or sentimental, and it was one of the few romances I've read that I was sad to see ending, because I'd fallen in love with the well rounded characters. I'd give this book an A, and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a more realistic love story with a female protagonist who has a past, but is also strong enough to forge a better future for herself.

 

Students File Suit Over Book Bans, Obituary for PJ O'Rourke, The Color Purple Musical Film, The Beekeeper's Promise by Fiona Valpy, Summer Island by Kristin Hannah, and An Impossible Impostor by Deanna Raybourn

I can hardly believe that February is almost over! This month zoomed by! I've been busy with Doctors appointments and tests, plus binge-watching several shows (Star Trek Discovery is back! Hurrah! ST Picard is going to start its second season on March 3, even more hurrah!) and getting letters ready to send out, while also buying lots of books to read in every spare moment. So here's some tidbits and reviews to keep you going over the late winter slump and snow.

There's been a huge increase in the number of banned books and challenged books this year in schools across America, which is worrying. Especially considering that many of these books contain POC characters/authors and LBGTQ+ characters/authors. Anything even remotely sexual in any books is being challenged, when I don't think many of these parents realize that the internet is full of pornography and graphic sexual images that any student with a phone can find in an instant. Plus, as has always been the case (even from when I was in school in the stone age) when you ban a book, kids will go out of their way to find that book and read it because they're curious as to what the fuss is about (and most kids like thumbing their noses at their parents, too) So parental bans don't have the effect of keeping students in the dark, or innocent of real life as they're supposed to. So many kids also need to read about kids like themselves, whether they're kids of color or a student on the LGBTQ spectrum and want help sorting out their feelings about their sexuality. Hence I laud these students for suing the school district. 

Students File Suit over Wentzville, Mo., Book Bans

A pair of Missouri high school students have sued the Wentzville School District https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51205771 over its decision to ban certain books, including Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Kiese Laymon's memoir Heavy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Represented by lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, the students filed the suit in federal court on Tuesday. According to the suit, the Wentzville School District's book bans violate their civil rights by threatening their ability "to learn and engage with a diversity of ideas and information, including seeing their own experiences reflected in the books and developing greater understanding of the experiences of others."

The Wentzville School Board voted 4-3 to ban The Bluest Eye from high school libraries late last month. In addition to The Bluest Eye and Heavy, the district also banned All Boys Aren't Blue by George Johnson, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari.

My husband and I used to be big fans of the hilarious PJ O'Rourke and his satirical columns in places like Rolling Stone or the Atlantic Monthly. While I didn't agree with his stance on many things (he was an old white conservative), I did enjoy his "willingness to mock everyone who deserved it." RIP, PJ.

Obituary Note: P.J. O'Rourke

P.J. O'Rourke https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51205794, "the conservative satirist and political commentator who was unafraid to skewer Democrats and Republicans alike in bestselling books like Parliament of Whores, in articles for a wide range of magazines and newspapers, and on television and radio talk shows," died February 15, the New York Times reported. He was 74. Although a proud conservative Republican, O'Rourke "was widely admired by readers of many stripes because of his fearless style and his willingness to mock just about anyone who deserved it, including himself."

In addition to his 20 books, O'Rourke wrote a column for the Daily Beast for a time and appeared regularly in the Atlantic, the American Spectator, Rolling Stone and the Weekly Standard, where he was a contributing editor. He was the conservative side of a point-counterpoint segment on 60 Minutes in the mid-1990s, opposite Molly Ivins, and a guest on many talk shows. He was also known for appearances on NPR's comedy quiz show Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me.

O'Rourke's first book was Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude People, published in 1983 (and reissued in 1989). Perhaps his best known work was Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government. Other books include How the Hell Did This Happen? The Election of 2016; Republican Party Reptile: The Confessions, Adventures, Essays and (Other) Outrages of P.J. O'Rourke; All the Trouble in the World; Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics; Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut; and Holidays in Hell.

"P.J. was one of the major voices of his generation," wrote Morgan Entrekin https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51205795>, CEO and publisher of Grove Atlantic, in a statement. "He was also a close friend and partner for more than 40 years. P.J.'s loyalty and commitment to first Atlantic Monthly Press and then Grove Atlantic enabled me to keep the company independent. For that I will be forever in his debt. His insightful reporting, verbal acuity and gift at writing laugh-out-loud prose were unparalleled.... His passing leaves a huge hole in my life both personal and professional.""

Peter Sagal, host of Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me, tweeted "a few words about P.J. It is very rare in life to be a fan of someone and then become their friend, but it happened to me with P.J., and I discovered something remarkable: Most well known people try to be nicer than they are in public than they are in private life. P.J. was the only man I knew to be the opposite. He was a deeply kind and generous man who pretended to be a curmudgeon for public consumption. He told the best stories. He had the most remarkable friends. And he devoted himself to them and his family in a way that would have totally ruined his shtick had anyone ever found out."

I will be so excited to see this film, as I have heard that the musical was wonderful. I read the book ages ago, and I've always wondered what a new adaptation would be like. 

Stage to Screen: The Color Purple Musical

Oprah Winfrey, who made her acting debut as Sofia in Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51206727, "is returning to the story in a new role as one of the producers, joining forces with Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Scott Sanders, producer of the Broadway musical," Oprah Daily reported. Winfrey, who will help bring The Color Purple musical--which first premiered on Broadway in 2005--to the screen, said: "To reinvent the movie at this time is to reinvent a phenomenon."

The film will be directed by Blitz Bazawule from a script by Marcus Gardley (The Chi). According to Warner Bros., The Color Purple will hit theaters on December 20, 2023.

Winfrey, who played Sofia in the 1985 film, personally delivered the news to Danielle Brooks that she had been cast in the role for the new movie, as she had in the 2015 Broadway production. Winfrey chose to tell Brooks the news because of the powerful impact playing Sofia had on her: "I wanted to be the one to tell you because I have such love of this character and everything she represents, everything she brought to my life. What I'm hoping is that she does the same thing for you."

Winfrey did not personally deliver casting news to every performer as she did with Brooks, but "she was deeply invested in choosing the perfect person for each role," Oprah Daily wrote. The cast also includes Fantasia Barrino as Celie, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, Colman Domingo as Mister, H.E.R. as Squeak, and Halle Bailey as Nettie

 

The Beekeepers Promise by Fiona Valpy is a historical romance novel set in the countryside of France during WWII. I've read several other Valpy novels, and while I appreciate her research and ability to take readers into the heart and emotions of a particular time period, I always long for an editor to cut out some of her more flowery paragraphs that stop the plot cold, or at least slow it to a snails pace. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for things to get back on track, and I found myself reading into the wee hours to see what happened with the main characters. Here's the blurb:

Heartbroken and hoping for a new start, Abi Howes takes a summer job in rural France at the Château Bellevue. The old château echoes with voices from the past, and soon Abi finds herself drawn to one remarkable woman’s story, a story that could change the course of her summer—and her life.

In 1938, Eliane Martin tends beehives in the garden of the beautiful Château Bellevue. In its shadow she meets Mathieu Dubosq and falls in love for the first time, daring to hope that a happy future awaits. But France’s eastern border is darkening under the clouds of war, and history has other plans for Eliane…

When she is separated from Mathieu in the chaos of German occupation, Eliane makes the dangerous decision to join the Resistance and fight for France’s liberty. But with no end to the war in sight, her loyalty to Mathieu is severely tested.

From the bestselling author of Sea of Memories comes the story of two remarkable women, generations apart, who must use adversity to their advantage and find the resilience deep within.

The one chapter in the past and the next in the present trope has become well worn ground nowadays in historical romance novels, so much so that I've become a bit tired of seeing it at all. That said, Valpy handles Abi and Eliane's stories with equal deftness, and I enjoyed reading about how the resistance played out in farms across France, where Paris was almost a fairy tale land, far away from the hardships of working the land. I also enjoyed learning more about beekeeping, and the different kinds of honey that you can get from various areas with different foliage. At any rate, I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone looking for an emotional immersive historical French romance.

Summer Island by Kristin Hannah is one of her earlier romantic novels, and it's a snapshot of the 90s in the Islands of Puget Sound in Washington state. You can tell that Hannah has grown as a writer, as she uses less religious references in this novel than she does in her really early efforts. Her current novels have nearly zero religious references in them, so I gather that she's found her niche outside of Christian lit. This particular book references places in the Seattle area that are familiar to me, from the radio stations that my husband worked at when we first landed here in 1991, to the restaurants, cultural spots and neighborhoods that make Seattle such a special place to live. My husband and I also had the chance to visit Bainbridge, Lopez and Vashon Islands, all of which are referenced in this novel, so that was awesome, too. Here's the blurb:

The author of the cherished bestseller On Mystic Lake returns with a poignant, funny, luminous novel about a mother and daughter--the complex ties that bind them, the past that separates them, and the healing that comes with forgiveness.

Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice. Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humor. When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora's past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic: Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretenses, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn't spoken to for almost a decade.

Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone's hearts had been broken. . . .

What began as an expose evolves, as Ruby writes, into an exploration of her family's past. Nora is not the woman Ruby has hated all these years. Witty, wise, and vulnerable, she is desperate to reconcile with her daughter. As the magazine deadline draws near and Ruby finishes what has begun to seem to her an act of brutal betrayal, she is forced to grow up and at last to look at her mother--and herself--through the eyes of a woman. And she must, finally, allow herself to love.

Summer Island is a beautiful novel, funny, tender, sad, and ultimately triumphant.

This was a beautifully written tear-jerker of a novel that would be perfect for a made for TV/Streaming movie, if anyone had a mind to do so. Though I would find it very hard to forgive most of the really SH*TTY behavior of Nora and Ruby (and Ruby's wimpy sister) I could empathize with being married to someone who has serious alcohol problems and being overwhelmed by work, children and family life. It does suck the soul from you when you have to "do it all" and your partner is a liability with a host of mental/physical problems. There are many women who face these problems, and the loss of time for self care, every day, all around the world. Add to that hospice care, (caring for those at the end of life) or caring for elderly parents, and I don't blame any woman for wanting to run away and find themselves again...however, I would plan to have someone help in my stead, and I would come back, because abandoning a child has horrible repercussions in their future. So, I would give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone who has a difficult relationship with their parents.

An Impossible Impostor by Deanna Raybourn is the 7th book in the Veronica Speedwell mystery series that I've become thoroughly addicted to in the past several years. These Steampunkish romance mysteries are always a treat, and this one is no exception. Once it landed on my doorstep I was unable to put it down, and read it through in one sitting. Here's the blurb:

While investigating a man claiming to be the long-lost heir to a noble family, Veronica Speedwell gets the surprise of her life in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before.
 
But now a man matching Jonathan’s description and carrying his possessions has arrived at Hathaway Hall with no memory of his identity or where he has been. Could this man truly be Jonathan, back from the dead? Or is he a devious impostor, determined to gain ownership over the family's most valuable possessions—a legendary parure of priceless Rajasthani jewels? It's a delicate situation, and Veronica is Sir Hugo's only hope.
 
Veronica and Stoker agree to go to Hathaway Hall to covertly investigate the mysterious amnesiac. Veronica is soon shocked to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past. To help Sir Hugo discover the truth, she must open doors to her own history that she long believed to be shut for good.

So Veronica's con-man and thief of a husband, whom she assumed dead in a volcano eruption, is back and blackmailing Veronica to keep quiet while he attempts to get his hands on a huge diamond. Evil and manipulative, her ex soon has Veronica neatly trapped and helping him dupe these wealthy people. Veronica seems to weaken and show more vulnerability in this book that in previous novels, and I found it irritating that she allowed Harry to run roughshod over her and her relationship with Stoker. Thus the ending of this book wasn't as happy as previous volumes, though I love that Veronica is finally free. Still, I felt she gave too much rope to Harry, and allowed him to steal and manipulate her repeatedly. I can only hope that in the next volume, she and Stoker will be back together and perhaps marry so that nothing can come between them ever again. As with previous works, Raybourn's prose is lush and lovely, and her plots never flag. I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other Veronica Speedwell mysteries.                                                                                                                                                                  

 

Presumed Innocent and Legendborn Come to TV, Parton and Patterson at Parnassus, Travel literature of the Past, The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder, The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury and No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado

Happy Valentines Day, a bit early! My loving thoughts go out to all my fellow bibliophiles and readers everywhere, and to my husband Jim and son Nick, who are the lights of my life. BIG hugs to you all!

This sounds fascinating, and I hope that they do an especially good job with Legendborn, which is a POC YA fantasy novel. 

TV:  Presumed Innocent; Legendborn

David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams are teaming up for a limited-series adaptation of Scott Turow's bestselling 1987 novel Presumed Innocent https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51109745 for Apple, which has ordered an eight-part series. Deadline reported that the project marks the first Apple series order for Kelley, who will serve as showrunner on the project and will exec produce alongside Castle Rock showrunner Dustin Thomason, Abrams and Bad Robot's head of television Ben Stephenson. The novel was previously adapted as a 1990 film starring Harrison Ford.

The Punisher and Gossip Girl writer Felicia D. Henderson will adapt Tracy Deonn's YA fantasy novel Legendborn https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51109746 after Black Bear Television acquired the rights, Deadline reported that Henderson will write and exec produce a series based on the book. She is currently showrunner of Netflix's Emma Roberts-produced YA vampire series First Kill.

 I love that they chose a bookstore in Tennessee to do this particular segment of my favorite news magazine show, CBS Sunday Morning (I record it every week and watch it religiously).

Image of the Day: Parton and Patterson at Parnassus

On Facebook, Parnassus Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51110872, Nashville, Tenn., admitted:  "Okay, so maybe we weren't closed for inventory on Thursday.... We were beyond honored to host Dolly Parton, James Patterson, and the crew from CBS Sunday Morning in honor of James and Dolly's upcoming book, Run, Rose, Run! [Little, Brown, March 7] Stream the companion album on March 4, watch for Parnassus' cameo on CBS Sunday Morning on March 6, and pre-order the book today!"

I've never heard of this book, but I am intrigued about the combination of great chefs and writers coming together to change the food world forever! I will have to keep an eye out for these delicious books.

Travel literature of the Past

Have you heard of Luke Barr? If not, you are in for a treat. A few years ago, he wrote the divine Provence, 1970 about the summer when Julia Child, Richard Olney, MFK Fisher, and James Beard all converged in France and changed the food world forever. Barr was MFK's nephew, and he had access to everyone's letters and papers so this sumptuous little book too reads like a novel. Provence has never had better representatives than these four. (Peter Mayle, please forgive me.) Their love of the countryside, the vineyards, the farmers and the markets comes shining through in every word they wrote. They were rapturous and so too becomes the reader. The smell of all those ripe grapes leap off the page and you can just imagine the farmer with his sheep cutting back the vines in the most ancient of ways. Also from Barr came Ritz & Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class.

This is another kind of travel lit. Here in turn of the century London, Monaco and Paris we learn about the beginnings of luxury travel. Chef Escoffier and hotelier Ritz created the idea of the luxury hotel experience where the ubiquitous "My pleasure" is just the beginning. It is sort of travel history but it is also rife with scandals and risk which keep it always on the right side of fun. And isn't that just what we need most in deep winter? --Ellen Stimson https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51139910

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder is a YA Fantasy retelling/reboot of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale with the sleeping beauty being a boy prince instead of a princess, and the grrls coming to save him are a lesbian and an adventurous bisexual young woman who just happens to be a bookworm/archeologist along the lines of Indiana Jones. It's a zippy, "can't put it down" read, with juicy prose and a tornado of a plot that will leave you breathless. Here's the blurb: Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones in this thrilling fairytale retelling for fans of Sorcery of Thorns

Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.
Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way.
Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who’s been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him.
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi—until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she’s stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.

Dark magic, Witch Hunters, and bad exes all stand in her way—not to mention a mysterious witch who might wind up stealing Shane’s heart, along with whatever else she’s after. But nothing scares Fi more than the possibility of falling in love with Briar Rose.
Set in a lush world inspired by beloved fairytales, The Bone Spindle is a fast-paced young adult fantasy full of adventure, romance, found family, and snark.  

I loved this book right up until the last few pages, when the ending fell apart and was unsatisfying as heck. Why fantasy authors feel the need to make endings wishy-washy so they can start the sequel from that crappy end point is beyond me. Still, it was a pretty exciting and humorous adventure up until that part. I'd give this book an A-, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys modern retellings of legends and fairytales. BTW, the cover design for this novel was exceptionally beautiful.

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury another YA fairy tale retelling of Aladdin and the magic lamp. It's got sparkling prose, a whirlwind plot and some nice twists and turns in a well-worn plot path that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. I was particularly glad to see that a lot of the cultural cliches about middle eastern people had been removed from the narrative, and in its place was some serious background that "unDisney-fied" the decades of racist and sexist storytelling that has seeped into our cultural subconscious.  Here's the blurb: She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world. . . .
 
When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years—a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes. 


 
But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?
 
As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of the Aladdin story from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury. 

This was another page turner that I read in a day, because I found it hard to leave this imaginative world once I entered it. The cover art was another winner, lovely and discreet, and that made me want to delve into this desert world even more. A solid A, with the recommendation that all those who love the Aladdin story give this one a peek. It's well worth the time to get to meet Zahra the Jinn, who proves that love is the greatest power in the universe.

No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado is a YA fantasy novel about a young biracial fat woman who learns the hard way that building a life out of lies is a way to build yourself a house of hurt. Though I loved the author's previous book, this book set me back on my heels, because the protagonist, Kat Sanchez, lies so easily and makes excuses for lying without compunction that I couldn't fathom how she would even begin to redeem herself by the end of the book. Not only does she commit an illegal and immoral act by "catfishing" two young women, (using the photos of one white girl to engage the attentions of another white gay girl), she allows her parents to treat her like trash and says nothing when her reprehensible mother tries to pretend she doesn't exist in the family, or is, at best, an afterthought. Having crappy parents (and wonderful, supportive grandparents, with whom she lives) is no excuse for sh*tty behavior, though, and when it all comes crashing down, as it inevitably does, Kat loses a friend and a girlfriend/partner, and while she does get her father to recognize that she's been treated shabbily by her family, her mother remains a nasty piece of work, and she still isn't invited to actually live with her brother and parents in their home...I mean, WTF, people? Some folks should NOT be allowed to become parents, because they don't see their children as the precious gifts that they are. Here's the blurb:  

You should know, right now, that I’m a liar. 
 
They’re usually little lies. Tiny lies. Baby lies. Not so much lies as lie adjacent.          
But they’re still lies.

Twenty one-year-old Max Monroe has it all: beauty, friends, and a glittering life filled with adventure. With tons of followers on Instagram, her picture-perfect existence seems eminently enviable.              
 
Except it’s all fake.          
 
Max is actually 17-year-old Kat Sanchez, a quiet and sarcastic teenager living in drab Bakersfield, California. Nothing glamorous in her existence—just sprawl, bad house parties, a crap school year, and the awkwardness of dealing with her best friend Hari’s unrequited love.
But while Kat’s life is far from perfect, she thrives as Max: doling out advice, sharing beautiful photos, networking with famous influencers, even making a real friend in a follower named Elena. The closer Elena and “Max” get—texting, Snapping, and even calling—the more Kat feels she has to keep up the façade.    
 
But when one of Max’s posts goes ultra-viral and gets back to the very person she’s been stealing photos from, her entire world – real and fake — comes crashing down around her. She has to figure out a way to get herself out of the huge web of lies she’s created without hurting the people she loves.   
 
But it might already be too late.

Though the prose here is wonderful and bright, and the plot measured and even, I didn't like the protagonist at all, even when she comes clean about her lies. I felt she should have been jailed for using someone elses image to pretend that it was her own, and she should also have lost some of her circle of friends when it became apparent what a narcissistic crappy person she was, and how she made everything all about her, while ignoring the harm she was doing to her friends. So I'd give this book a B-, and only recommend it to those who can stomach a sh*tty protagonist who is a self-centered jerk for most of the book.

 

 

UK Blackwell's Bookstores Up for Sale, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret Movie, Tom Ellis in Washington Black series, A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin, Nives by Sacha Naspini, and Believe Me, A memoir of love, death and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard

Welcome to February, the month of love! Actually yesterday was my son's original due date, had he not decided to make his appearance in late November, 22 years go. So I always think of February 5 as a special day of "what if," though Nick is fine just as he is, and grew up to be a strong, smart and handsome young man whom I'm very proud to call son. At Any rate, I've been binge-watching and reading up a storm, so lets get to it.

I bought a book on Amazon recently that was actually put up for sale by Blackwell's in Oxford, and much to my delight, it came with a historic information bookmark and a cheery greeting from the good British folk of England, a place I have always wanted to visit. Now it turns out that the iconic stores are up for sale. Now more than ever I wish that I could win the lottery and buy these wonderful bookstores, where I wouldn't change a thing. My neighbors, BTW, have the surname of Blackwell, and they're lovely people. 

U.K. Bookseller Blackwell's Put Up for Sale

U.K. bookstore chain Blackwell's https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51073926, which has been owned by its founding family since the first store opened in Oxford in 1879, has been put up for sale "for the first time in its 143-year history after scrapping plans to hand ownership of the business to its employees," Sky News reported. The company has appointed corporate financiers to oversee a sale process.

Sources said discussions with prospective buyers had been underway for some time, and that a deal was possible in the coming months.

Blackwell's operates 18 stores--as well as online--including its flagship bookshop in Oxford, where the company is based, and also trades under the name Heffers at a store in Cambridge, as well as in London and Edinburgh.

"The sale of Blackwell's represents a genuinely unique and exciting opportunity for any potential buyer to own a much loved and trusted bookselling brand," said David Prescott, Blackwell's CEO. "The business has been quietly and successfully transitioning itself in recent years to establish a substantial global online presence alongside a core portfolio of iconic shops. We hope that a new owner and investment will help us to secure a long term future for Blackwell's and its booksellers for many years to come."

Blackwell's "explored a refinancing process last year that would have seen it converted into a structure owned by its roughly 350 staff, but concluded that it was impractical owing to the impact of the pandemic," Sky News wrote.

Toby Blackwell, the controlling shareholder and company president, said he "would have loved to have handed over the company to its staff, but I also accept that in order to grow and remain competitive in the future, it is time for new ownership, ideas and investment. I have always stood for innovation and transformation in the constantly changing world of bookselling. I am delighted to have supported, and now see, Blackwell's become a significant player in online bookselling and to have helped keep alive the concepts of service and expertise so well embodied by our chairman and board and our wonderful staff."

 I remember reading this book as a young teenager, and being shocked that there was actual masturbation described therein, at a time when female masturbation was almost never discussed in any form of media. So I look forward to seeing this film, and what they plan on doing with the iconic Margaret.

Movies: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Lionsgate's film adaptation of Judy Blume's classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51073981 has been scheduled for a September 16 release, Deadline reported. Kelly Fremon Craig is directing her script, with Gracie Films' James L. Brooks producing. The two teamed up on The Edge of Seventeen. The movie stars Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Abby Ryder Fortson (as Margaret), and Benny Safdie.

I adore Tom Ellis, particularly during his 5 season stint as the Devil himself in Lucifer. I'm also a fan of Sterling K Brown in This is Us, so I look forward to seeing what these two dashing gentlemen come up with.

TV: Washington Black

Tom Ellis (Lucifer) will be a series regular in Washington Black https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51076842, the Sterling K. Brown-fronted adaptation of Esi Edugyan's novel, which received a straight-to-series order at Hulu, Deadline reported. Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (Twilight Zone) is adapting the limited series for 20th Television. Ellis, who will play Christopher "Titch" Wilde, joins Ernest Kingsley Jr., who stars in the title role, along with Iola Evans, Edward Bluemel, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Brown.

Washington Black is executive produced by Hinds, who also serves as showrunner, along with Brown under his Indian Meadows Productions banner, series writer Jennifer Johnson, and The Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, Lindsay Williams and DJ Goldberg. Series directors Wanuri Kahiu and Mo Marable also serve as executive producers, along with Anthony Hemingway. Esi Edugyan is co-producer.

 

A Special Place For Women by Laura Hankin was a book I bought for two reasons. First, because it was supposedly about feminism and a group of women supporting other women, and secondly because the authors last name is the same as my great Aunt Frieda Hankin, and I wondered if we might be related. Still, I always love books with strong, intelligent female protagonists, and all the better if they happen to be journalists. Unfortunately, the female protagonist in this novel, Jillian, has feet of clay, and is only interested in furthering her career at the expense of others, and in getting into the pants of her hot boss, a married editor, which is always a bad idea. Jillian is, frankly, a terrible person, an insecure and stupid young woman who literally burns down the place she's supposed to be investigating and causes irreparable harm to any number of people, including the one guy who has stuck by her side since childhood. Here's the blurb: It’s a club like no other. Only the most important women receive an invitation. But one daring young reporter is about to infiltrate this female-run secret society, whose bewitching members are caught up in a dark and treacherous business. From the author of Happy and You Know It.

For years, rumors have swirled about an exclusive, women-only social club where the elite tastemakers of NYC meet. People in the know whisper all sorts of claims: Membership dues cost $1,000 a month. Last time Rihanna was in town, she stopped by and got her aura read. The women even handpicked the city's first female mayor. But no one knows for sure. 

That is, until journalist Jillian Beckley decides she's going to break into the club. With her career in freefall, Jillian needs a juicy scoop, and she has a personal interest in bringing these women down. But the deeper she gets into this new world—where billionaire "girlbosses" mingle with occult-obsessed Bohemians—the more Jillian learns that bad things happen to those who dare to question the club's motives or giggle at its outlandish rituals.  

The select group of women who populate the club may be far more powerful than she ever imagined. And far more dangerous too. 

So deplorable Jillian mocks and debases everything these women are trying to do to help uplift one another and make inroads for women in society (and break the glass ceiling) while claiming she's getting "revenge" for a failed political attempt by a young female candidate (Nicole), only to learn that this candidate left because of the potentially corrupting nature of power, rather than anything to do with the women's club or it's members. Jillian also realizes late in the novel what every reader has known all along, that her editor, manipulative Miles, has only been using her to bolster his own career, and had no real intention of helping her at all. The fact that she screws up everything she touches, and faces little or no consequences for doing so, really irritated me. I mean she lied, cheated, steals from and commits arson to this group of women, and they thank her for it? Really? By the end of the book I was hoping that her friend/lover Raf, whom she treated like crap, would have dropped her sorry ass and that she'd be doing a nice long stint in prison. So while the prose was nicely done and the plot fairly straightforward, I was not at all happy with this novel, and I'd give it a B-, and that's being generous. I would only recommend it to those who like rather dim female protagonists.

Nives by Sacha Naspini is a short novel about an Italian farm woman who is mourning the loss of her husband and reflecting on her life, when she decides to call the local veterinarian when her pet chicken becomes hypnotized by a Tide commercial on TV. Here's the blurb:

One of the most exciting new voices in Italian literature brings to life a hauntingly beautiful story of undying love, loss, and resilience, and a fierce, unforgettable new heroine

Meet Nives: widow, Tuscan through-and-through, survivor. Nives has recently lost her husband of fifty years. She didn’t cry when she found him dead in the pig pen, she didn’t cry at the funeral, but now loneliness has set in. When she decides to bring her favorite chicken inside for company, she is shocked, confused, and a little bit guilty to discover that the chicken’s company is a more than adequate replacement for her dead husband.

But one day, Giacomina goes stiff in front of the tv. Unable to rouse the paralyzed chicken, Nives has no choice but to call the town veterinarian, Loriano Bottai, an old acquaintance of hers. What follows is a phone call that seems to last a lifetime, a phone call that becomes a novel. Their conversation veers from the chicken to the past—to the life they once shared, the secrets they never had the courage to reveal, wounds that never healed.

Nives reverberates with the kinds of stories we tell ourselves at night when we cannot sleep: stories of love lost, of abandonment, of silent and heart-breaking nostalgia, of joy, laughter, and despair. With delicate yet sharp prose and raw, astonishing honesty, Sacha Naspini bravely explores the core of our shared humanity.

While it's rare to find a book with a female protagonist over the age of 50, this novel doesn't flinch when providing a view inside of an older woman's life that is full of regret and bitterness at what might have been. As Nives (a name that is pretty much on point for the character, who slices everyone around her to ribbons with her sharp tongue) peels back the layers of her past while on the phone with Bottai, we learn that her anger and disappointment in her life can all be traced back to her youth, when she and her female friends all had affairs with a local gigolo and when Nives began an affair with Bottai, and became pregnant at the same time his wife became pregnant. Nives reveals that her daughter is actually their daughter, but now that she's grown and has children of her own, she counsels Bottai to not tell their daughter the truth of her parentage. After excizing the blister of her past, Nives realizes that she's actually had a good life, and decides to enjoy what she has left of it on her farm. Though the ending is abrupt, it's decisive and not out of order for the character. I found the prose to be well translated and the plot, which was mostly dialog, moved rapidly along. I'd give this bittersweet book a B, and recommend it to fans of Italian literature in general.

Believe Me, A memoir of love, death and Jazz chickens by Eddie Izzard is this months library book group book, which took me well over a month of slow page by page reading to finish. My dear friend Jenny Z is a huge fan of Izzard, who is known as an actor and stand up comedian. Hence I was looking forward to this book as being funny and insightful, but I was disappointed right from the start by the redundant prose and long, boring ego trips the author declaims in nearly every paragraph. Izzard is like one of those "rubbish" children who are always doing something stupid to try and get attention at all costs, because their egos are so fragile they need constant applause for every lame attempt at art or performance. This got annoying and boring after the first chapter. So getting through the book was quite a slog. Here's the blurb: “Izzard is one of the funniest people alive, a talented actor, a sharp cross-dresser, an experienced marathon runner, and a great writer. You will have to read this if only to find out what a jazz chicken is.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

With his brand of keenly intelligent humor that ranges from world history to historical politics, sexual politics, mad ancient kings, and chickens with guns, Eddie Izzard has built an extraordinary fan base that transcends age, gender, and race. Writing with the same candor and insight evident in his comedy, he reflects on a childhood marked by the loss of his mother, boarding school, and alternative sexuality, as well as a life in comedy, film, politics, running and philanthropy.

Honest and generous, Believe Me is an inspired account of a very singular life thus far.

I completely disagree with the above blurb, as I found very little interesting or extraordinary about Izzards life or comedic talent (or lack thereof. I tried watching two of his recorded stand up specials and I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes because he just wasn't funny, at least to me.) He babbles on about being a transvestite and later transgender person, then whines about doing marathons for charity, and then complains even more about how hard it was for him to become a comedian after being a street performer for 10 years. He covered the same ground over and over, ad nauseum, about learning comic timing or bits or jokes, hanging out with people with actual talent, and then going back to his pathetic past endeavors. YAWN. Where the heck was his editor? This book should literally have been half the size that it was, because it turns out that there wasn't much to say about Izzard or his life that couldn't be covered in about 140 pages. Hence I'd give this wittering and dull effort at a memoir a C-, and I would only recommend it to die hard fans of Izzards bizarre brand of comedy.