Upcoming Book Adaptations, Review of Let Me Be Frank, Bookish Oscar Winners, Gentleman Jack Season 2, Oprah Winfrey Wins Pen/Faulkner Award, Dark Matter on TV, City of Time and Magic by Paula Brackston, Spirelli Paranormal Investigations, Season One, and A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear

Hello Bibliophiles and friends of bookish folk! Here we are in the final days of March, ready to head into a rainy and warm April. I've been dealing with a lot of health issues, not the least of which is fatigue. I could sleep for 7 hours a night, then have a nap mid-evening and still be tired enough to go to bed around midnight. Yet I often find myself wide awake at 4 or 5 AM. So I read for an hour or so and then go back to sleep. I feel like a cat, drowsing all day and then getting the "zoomies" at inopportune times. This could be because of newer meds I'm on, but who knows? Anyway, here's the latest crop of tidbits and book reviews.

I'm really looking forward to these new book adaptations.

TV: '10 Upcoming Book-to-Television Adaptations'

Noting that a number of promising TV series that are in the works are based on great novels, Indiewire showcased "10 upcoming book-to-television adaptations https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51536231 we can't wait to see," including Pachinko, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Time Traveler's Wife, Conversations with Friends, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Interview with the Vampire, The Sandman, House of the Dragon, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Power.

This sounds like a wonderful, funny book, and I will be keeping an eye out for it at the library and bookstores.

Book Review: Let Me Be Frank: A Book About Women Who Dressed Like Men to Do Shit They Weren't Supposed to Do

In 2013, television writer and actor Tracy Dawson was passed over for a job writing shows because they didn't have any "female needs." Naturally infuriated, she became interested in women over the centuries whose opportunities and options have been limited by their sex. From this curiosity is born Let Me Be Frank: A Book About Women Who Dressed Like Men to Do Shit They Weren't Supposed to Do, in which Dawson profiles several dozen women from the 1400s BCE through the present. In a pithy, one-liner-laden style, she brings these remarkable and little-known histories to light with comedic flair.

Some of the women are classics: Joan of Arc, Kathrine Switzer and a chapter's worth of once-anonymous literary figures who are now household names (Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, the Brontes, George Sand). But the majority are more obscure: Maria Toorpakai, professional squash player born in 1990 whose native Pakistan forbids women from the game; Hannah Snell, who served as a Royal Marine in the 1750s; Ellen Craft, who fled slavery in 1848 disguised as a white male slaveowner. A teenaged Dorothy Lawrence, rejected as war correspondent in World War I, took herself to the front by boat, bicycle and soldier's garb. The 1890s entertainer and male impersonator Florence Hines, 1941 comic book creator Tarpe; Mills and 1980s miner and entrepreneur Pili Hussein are among these diverse, colorful stories. Others are antiheroes, like witch-pricker Christian Caddell or all-around scoundrel Catalina de Erauso. Dawson is careful to point out that her focus is on "women who dressed as men to gain access and opportunity, not on gender identity," since the latter is notoriously difficult to parse from a historical perspective, particularly since many of the women she profiles have left scant records. Their motivations vary as widely as other aspects of their identities and stories, but each of these women pushed boundaries in ways that remain inspirational for Dawson and her readers today.

Let Me Be Frank is peppered with punchy jokes in an informal, conversational tone that suits Dawson's background in television. Joan of Arc is compared to Beyonce; U.K.-born Annie Hindle, the first male impersonator to appear on the American variety stage back in 1868, even married other women (dressed as one of her male characters). Dawson delivers these historical profiles, born of research, in a lighthearted voice. Tina Berning's portraits evoke the women's personalities and literally color the narratives. The result is an easy-to-read, eye-opening look at female bravery amid the sexism and misogyny throughout history; it is funny and rousing and proud. --Julia Kastner , librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

Though the Oscars this year was overshadowed by Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on stage for making fun of his wife's allopecia, (he apologized later, but seriously, did no one teach Smith, when he was a boy, to use his words and not his fists to resolve conflicts?) there were some groundbreaking wins, including a deaf actor for CODA and a POC for an acting award. Diversity on display! 

Bookish Oscar Winners: Dune, The Power of the Dog, Drive My Car

At last night's Academy Awards ceremony https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51567860, three book-related films took home Oscars, with Dune picking up six of the golden statuettes. This year's bookish Oscar winners are:

Dune, based on the novel by Frank Herbert: Cinematography (Greig Fraser); editing (Joe Walker); music (original score); production design; sound; visual effects

The Power of the Dog, based on the novel by Thomas Savage: Director (Jane Campion)

Drive My Car, based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, from his collection Men Without Women: Best international feature film

A number of book-related movies earned Oscar nominations but didn't win. These included Nightmare Alley, based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham; The Lost Daughter, adapted from the novel by Elena Ferrante; The Tragedy of Macbeth, based on William Shakespeare's play; House of Gucci, based on the book by Sara Gay Forden; Cyrano, adapted from the play by Edmond Rostand; and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, based on the Marvel character.

I enjoyed the first season of Gentleman Jack, so now I'm excited to see that the second season premiers next month in April. 

TV: Gentleman Jack

A trailer has been released for the second season of the HBO/BBC series Gentleman Jack https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51569432, based on the diaries of 19th century landowner and social rebel Anne Lister.

Deadline reported that Sally Wainwright's period drama "turns all eyes to Suranne Jones' Anne Lister and Sophie Rundle's Ann Walker as they set up home together at Shibden Hall as wife and wife, while BAFTA-winning After Love star Joanna Scanlan will join the cast as Isabella 'Tib' Norcliffe, Anne Lister's outrageous former lover."

Series two premieres its eight episodes weekly on BBC One beginning April 10 and drop on HBO at a later date. Executive producers are Wainwright and Jones; Faith Penhale and Will Johnston for Lookout Point, and Ben Irving for the BBC. The project will be directed by Edward Hall, Amanda Brotchie and Fergus O'Brien, produced by Lookout Point for the BBC, and co-produced with HBO.

 Congratulations to Oprah, whose book club inspired a lot of readers to read more broadly and deeply, and created readers out of non readers.

Oprah Winfrey Named Pen/Faulkner Literary Champion

Oprah Winfrey has been selected as the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51595654, an annual commendation that recognizes a lifetime of devoted literary advocacy and a commitment to inspiring new generations of readers and writers. Winfrey will accept her award, along with this year's PEN/Faulkner Award winner and finalists, in a virtual celebration to be held on May 2.

"Oprah Winfrey is a literary force field," said PEN/Faulkner board v-p Mary Haft. "She has been like a lighthouse, standing sentry and shining a beacon of light onto literature and into the lives of writers and readers."

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation created the PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion in 2020, on the occasion of the organization's 40th anniversary. The inaugural recipient, recognized in 2021, was award-winning actor and longtime Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton (Editor's note, I LOVE LeVar Burton! Not just for his promotion of reading, but also because he was Geordie LaForge in Star Trek The Next Generation.)

I loved the Dark Matter series that was on the SciFi channel, so now I'm really looking forward to this new interpretation.

TV: Dark Matter

Apple TV+ has given a nine-episode series order to Dark Matter https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51595700, based on Blake Crouch's sci-fi novel, with Joel Edgerton attached to star, Deadline reported. Crouch will write the pilot script and serve as showrunner. The project has been in development at Apple since 2020.

Matt Tolmach (Jumanji franchise) is exec producing, and Sony Pictures Television will produce for Apple TV+. Edgerton and Crouch are also executive producers, and Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me) is set to direct the first four episodes.

 

City of Time and Magic by Paula Brackston is the 4th (and final?) book in her "Found Things" series of paranormal/magical romance novels. I actually bought the hardback copy of this book because I was interested in reading about the main character Xanthe's time-traveling rescue of her boyfriend Liam. Though I enjoy her time-traveling books, one of the two problems I have with Brackston is that she over-writes her books, creating paragraph after paragraph of scenery descriptions that slow the plot to a crawl and do nothing to advance the work of the characters in the story. In other words, they're boring descriptions that become ridiculous after you've read 5 or 6 of them. I can't go into raptures about a leaf or some flowers in a meadow or a forest at twilight...all that does nothing for me as a reader. I also don't like Brackston's infantilizing of her female characters who "need" men to help them and love them, otherwise they're weak and useless and have zero self esteem. Blech. Come into the 21st century, Brackston, where women have agency! Here's the blurb: Xanthe meets Brackston's most famous heroine, Elizabeth Hawksmith from The Witch's Daughter, in this crossover story with all the "historical detail, village charm, and twisty plotting" of the Found Things series (Publishers Weekly).

City of Time and Magic sees Xanthe face her greatest challenges yet. She must choose from three treasures that sing to her; a beautiful writing slope, a mourning brooch of heartbreaking detail, and a gorgeous gem-set hat pin. All call her, but the wrong one could take her on a mission other than that which she must address first, and the stakes could not be higher. While her earlier mission to Regency England had been a success, the journey home resulted in Liam being taken from her, spirited away to another time and place. Xanthe must follow the treasure that will take her to him if he is not to be lost forever.

Xanthe is certain that Mistress Flyte has Liam and determined to find them both. But when she discovers Lydia Flyte has been tracking the actions of the Visionary Society, a group of ruthless and unscrupulous Spinners who have been selling their talents to a club of wealthy clients, Xanthe realizes her work as a Spinner must come before her personal wishes. The Visionary Society is highly dangerous and directly opposed to the creed of the Spinners. Their actions could have disastrous consequences as they alter the authentic order of things and change the future. Xanthe knows she must take on the Society. It will require the skills of all her friends, old and new, to attempt such a thing, and not all of them will survive the confrontation that follows. 

As I said, her prose isn't perfect (it's still above average, however), but the story does manage to survive the ups and downs of her plot, which, when it's not fallen still with descriptions, is fairly zippy and fresh. I did like the parts of the story not focused on the men posturing like roosters and the "is she or isn't she in love" sections. Still, I'd give the book a solid B, and recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed previous books in the series. 

Spirelli Paranormal Investigations, Season One, episodes 1-6, by Kate Baray was a very affordable set of ebooks that were plotted out in "episodes," each a different mystery that Spirelli and his dragon assistant must investigate and bring to a close. The episodes were short and written with dynamic prose, so that readers can finish each episode in a matter of an hour or two. These paranormal mysteries are by turns hilarious and fascinating, and will keep you turning pages well past your bedtime. Here's the blurb: Jack Spirelli, paranormal investigator, public debunker of paranormal frauds, and private fixer for the magic-using community has opened his doors.

Jack’s in a crunch. Since he went pseudo-public with Spirelli Paranormal Investigations, his business has sky-rocketed. Debunking the scum who prey on vulnerable targets makes up half his business now. And the rest of his time? Jack’s on speed dial with the Texas Lycan Pack, the Inter-Pack Policing Cooperative gives him an occasional ring, and anything that goes bump in the night might just call him with a job.

He needs an assistant, another investigator, and some additional muscle, but maybe the dragon who just walked in and applied will do for now.

Each of the six stories in Season One covers a new Spirelli case.

Jack Spirelli reminded me of a cross between Harry Dresden of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and one of Cassandra Clare's Lycans from her Shadow Hunters series. The only problem is that Jack isn't magical, and while he has props to help him, like magical potions and such, he is still at a disadvantage in the witch/dragon/magical creatures community. He and his dragon assistant manage to survive several magic attacks, however, and I enjoyed the witty dialog between the two characters throughout the novellas. Fun and distracting, I'd give this series an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves Harry Dresden or the Rockford Files on magical steroids.

A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear is the 17th book in her Maisie Dobbs mystery series. I've read and enjoyed these books right from the start, and now that we're well into WWII with Maisie and her family and friends, I was so glad to see that she's progressed well and is thinking about marriage and spending more time with her adoptive daughter. Here's the blurb: 

October 1942. Jo Hardy, a 22-year-old ferry pilot, is delivering a Supermarine Spitfire—the fastest fighter aircraft in the world—to Biggin Hill Aerodrome, when she realizes someone is shooting at her aircraft from the ground. Returning to the location on foot, she finds an American serviceman in a barn, bound and gagged. She rescues the man, who is handed over to the American military police; it quickly emerges that he is considered a suspect in the disappearance of a fellow soldier who is missing. 

 Tragedy strikes two days later, when another ferry pilot crashes in the same area where Jo’s plane was attacked. At the suggestion of one of her colleagues, Jo seeks the help of psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs.  Meanwhile, Maisie’s husband, a high-ranking political attaché based at the American embassy, is in the thick of ensuring security is tight for the first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, during her visit to the Britain. There’s already evidence that German agents have been circling: the wife of a president represents a high value target. Mrs. Roosevelt is clearly in danger, and there may well be a direct connection to the death of the woman ferry pilot and the recent activities of two American servicemen.

 To guarantee the safety of the First Lady—and of the soldier being held in police custody—Maisie must uncover that connection. At the same time, she faces difficulties of an entirely different nature with her young daughter, Anna, who is experiencing wartime struggles of her own.

Winspear's prose is clean and crisp and her plots are beautifully wrought, keeping readers thirsting for more. I loved reading about female pilots during WWII, especially the English ones, because I already knew about the American women who ferried planes to airfields and back here in the states, as I researched them during my preparations for playing Rosie the Riveter on the WWII floor of the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The mystery was an interesting way to bring to light the prejudices of the era toward POC and women holding non traditional jobs. I'd give this satisfying book an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read the other Maisie Dobbs mysteries.

 

Libraries are Vital During Russian/Ukrainian War, Bookseller Confession, Backlist Highlight Reading, Netflix Greenlights Dr Seuss, Honest Book People, Stripey Badger Bookshop Transforms, Crawdads Movie, With Love From London by Sarah Jio, The Woman Who Up and Left by Fiona Gibson and The White Rose Network by Ellie Midwood

Apologies to all my bookworm/bookdragon friends for not posting for 10 days. I've been having health issues and bad luck with a run of books that were just unreadable, they were so awful, and then I'd stream a show on Netflix or Amazon to "clear my mental palate" and end up spending so much time on everything else that I didn't get through many books during the past week. Also, my Kindle broke down, due to WiFi issues, so that also slowed my progress. At any rate, here we are, near the end of March, looking forward to spring and a plethora of new releases! I hope all my fellow readers are enjoying the emerging flowers and sunshine and bright hopes that springtime always brings on a breeze.

The horrible Russian/Ukrainian war continues apace with all it's destruction, but fortunately, their libraries are hanging on and doing their best to provide services to displaced families.

Libraries are Vital During Wartime

Ukraine's libraries "are playing vital roles https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51438249 in supporting Ukraine's war effort from giving families shelters during Russian bombing raids to making camouflage nets for the military and countering disinformation," NPR reported.

"It's really scary when schools, libraries, universities, hospitals, maternity hospitals, residential neighborhoods are bombed," said Oksana Brui, president of the Ukrainian Library Association.

While some of Ukraine's libraries have been destroyed by the fighting, she said that all over the country, libraries are "buzzing like hives," full of librarians, readers, refugees and volunteers. "Refugee reception points, hostels and logistics points are organized here. Camouflage nets for the military are also woven here. Home care courses are held here. Books are collected here to be transferred to libraries in neighboring countries that receive Ukrainian refugees."

Libraries are also bringing in specialists to provide psychological help to residents struggling to cope with an unwelcome new reality. "There are bomb shelters in libraries," Brui added, pointing out a children's library in Mykolaiv where kids, their families and a few dogs were being kept safe. --Robert Gray

 I just love this...it's so sweet and hilarious! Thank you Ms duBois!

Bookseller Confession: ' The Snow Is All My Fault'

If you're looking for someone to blame for this past weekend's snow storm, Alissa du Bois, owner of Otto Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51438260, Williamsport, Pa., is willing to shoulder the blame. She even wrote a confession and posted it on Facebook:

Dear readers and friends, This is the signed confession https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51438261 of one of your booksellers.

I did it. The snow is all my fault. It started with a book, a simple, harmless book. But we all know that books aren't harmless, and readers can be fearless, and magic lies within. I confess to loving snow, and to loving it in all its forms. I confess to wanting, perhaps needing, a winter snow storm that would be the equivalent of the rainstorm in a favorite Toot & Puddle story.

I've been plotting for weeks! Silent, every time one of you pooh poohed winter and cried out for it to end. I remembered a new book, Song for Snow, and have been chanting for days as I went about my bookish business;

"Come home, snow," "Fall from high... cover the trees and fill the sky..."

Thanks to this magical chant, found within the pages of the book, here we are today.

It is my fault, for I opened the book, full well knowing the power contained within, and chanted for the snow. I would ask for you to forgive me, but I feel no remorse, and have no time for regrets.

I must go outside to meet the storm and embrace its wonder. This and many other powerful books can be found inside the bookstore.

Your very guilty bookseller,  Alissa (aka auntie, bookstore auntie) Song for Snow is written by Jon-Erik Lappano

 

I nearly worship Nora Ephron's works, they have perfect prose, hilarious storytelling and amazing longevity. Avail yourself of the master of comedic fiction/nonfiction. 

 

Tasty Backlist: Highlighting Backlist Reading

 

I don't know about you, but practically all I have done lately is eat.

It's all those gym commercials and resolutions about losing weight. They make me hungry. I figure my reading might as well stick to the theme, and the backlist doesn't disappoint. Maybe what we all need right now is a bunch of great food-themed fiction to make up for all this infernal dieting before the swimsuit season.

 

There is no better place to start than Nora Ephron. I'm still mad at her for dying before that mess in 2016; we have needed her humor more than ever. She will reliably make you laugh and serves up some delicious recipes, too, in her first novel, Heartburn, based on her marriage and divorce from Carl Bernstein. She tells us everything we need to know about her erstwhile husband when she says he has no imagination because of ''having grown up with the single row box of crayons instead of the big box.'' Plus you get a good recipe for bacon hash. Ephron has a whole pile of wonderful nonfiction, like I Feel Bad About My Neck and I Remember Nothing, where food always at least makes an appearance. She died in 2012 so there may be loads of 30-somethings who have never heard of her. Since she practically invented Sex in the City and plenty of other imitators, there are likely lots of new readers just waiting to meet her.

 

YAY! I've been loving Dr Seuss since I was a kid. 

TV: Netflix Greenlights Five Dr. Seuss Projects

Netflix has greenlighted five new animated series and specials inspired by Dr. Seuss books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51469969, including One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; The Sneetches; Horton Hears A Who!; Wacky Wednesday; and Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose.

Deadline reported that the deal "expands the partnership between Netflix and Dr. Seuss Enterprises following the launch of the critically acclaimed animated series Green Eggs and Ham in 2019."

Dustin Ferrer (Esme & Roy, Shimmer & Shine) will serve as showrunner for all five projects, and additional showrunners will be revealed in the coming weeks. Netflix said: "Introducing concepts of foundational learning, this new slate of programming will explore themes of diversity and respect for others all told through fun and engaging stories that incorporate the whimsical humor, distinctive visuals and rhythmic style of Dr. Seuss."

Heather Tilert, director of preschool content, Netflix, commented: "Netflix is a trusted home for characters kids love, and generations of kids love the characters imagined by Dr. Seuss. These beloved stories have been a core part of families' libraries for many years and it gives me great pride that we are bringing them to our catalog of Netflix shows, in a fresh and modern way that resonates with audiences today."

 

This is awesome but not surprising....book people rock!

Book People Are Honest People

As New Zealand celebrated Waitangi Day recently, "one of the country's largest city libraries was closed, with staff and security given the day off," the Guardian reported. "But an error with the automated door programing meant Tūranga's doors opened to the public https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51472818 as usual--and the unstaffed and unsecured library was happily used by the public, who browsed and checked out books for hours before someone realized the mistake. As well as its books, the library is home to a wide variety of artworks and sculpture--but staff say nothing was stolen, and there were no serious incidents to report.

A library staff member, who said 380 people entered the Christchurch building that Sunday morning, noted: "Our self-issue machines automatically started up and 147 books were issued by customers. No book-theft alarms went off, and at this stage nothing has been reported missing, nor have we spotted any damage."

"We're grateful for the honesty of the people who used the library during this time," said Bruce Rendall, the head of facilities, property and planning at Christchurch city council. --Robert Gray

 

I adore the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small (though I still love the original), and now I love it even more, knowing that the veg stand is in a delightfully-named bookstore in England!

The Stripey Badger Bookshop Becomes A Vegetable Stand

British Bookseller the Stripey Badger Bookshop https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51533781, Grassingon, was closed Tuesday while the town was being filmed as Darrowby for the third series of All Creatures Great and Small. "Here we are being transformed into G F Endleby. Tomorrow the veggies will be out," the bookshop posted, adding on Wednesday: "So here we are. Filming series 3 of All Creatures Great and Small has begun in Darrowby /Grassington. The vegetables at G F Endleby have never looked better ."

Though I don't think this book was worth all the hype surrounding it and its author, I am glad to see that they're making a movie out of it.

Movies: Where the Crawdads Sing

Sony's 3000 Pictures released a trailer and new photos for Where the Crawdads Sing https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51533846, based on the bestselling novel by Delia Owens, Deadline reported.

Directed by Olivia Newman, the film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People), Taylor John Smith (Sharp Objects), Harris Dickinson (The King's Man), Michael Hyatt (Snowfall), Sterling Macer, Jr. (Double Down) and David Strathairn (Nomadland).

Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild) adapted the screenplay, with Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter producing, and Betsy Danbury and Rhonda Fehr serving as executive producers. Where the Crawdads Sing is slated for release in theaters on July 15.

With Love From London by Sarah Jio is a YA romantic/comedy novel that is an easy-reading treat, the kind of book you can bring with you on a plane or on vacation that will provide just the right amount of distraction to stave off boredom and frustration. Here's the blurb: When a woman inherits her estranged mother’s bookstore in London’s Primrose Hill, she finds herself thrust into the pages of a new story—hers—filled with long-held family secrets, the possibility of new love, and, perhaps, the single greatest challenge of her life.

When Valentina Baker was only eleven years old, her mother, Eloise, unexpectedly fled to her native London, leaving Val and her father on their own in California. Now a librarian in her thirties, fresh out of a failed marriage and still at odds with her mother’s abandonment, Val feels disenchanted with her life.

In a bittersweet twist of fate, she receives word that Eloise has died, leaving Val the deed to her mother’s Primrose Hill apartment and the Book Garden, the storied bookshop she opened almost two decades prior. Though the news is devastating, Val jumps at the chance for a new beginning and jets across the Atlantic, hoping to learn who her mother truly was while mourning the relationship they never had.

As Val begins to piece together Eloise’s life in the U.K., she finds herself falling in love with the pastel-colored third-floor flat and the cozy, treasure-filled bookshop, soon realizing that her mother’s life was much more complicated than she ever imagined. When Val stumbles across a series of intriguing notes left in a beloved old novel, she sets out to locate the book’s mysterious former owner, though her efforts are challenged from the start, as is the Book Garden’s future. In order to save the store from financial ruin and preserve her mother’s legacy, she must rally its eccentric staff and journey deep into her mother’s secrets. With Love from London is a story about healing and loss, revealing the emotional, relatable truths about love, family, and forgiveness.

I must say that most of the guys in this book are asshats, and I wasn't too pleased to see Val have to go through so many liars until she comes to her senses and hooks up with Eric. I also don't understand her ability to forgive her mother for abandoning her without telling her why she was leaving (Val's father was an evil, controlling abusive scumbag who forced Eloise to leave and then refused to allow any communication between mother and daughter). Eloise comes off as a very weak and stupid woman who can't seem to figure her life out at all, and who can't figure out a way to communicate her situation to her child, though I would think any mother worth the name would try a lot harder than just sending letter after letter, when it's obvious that they're going unread and being unanswered. I also don't understand why Eloise couldn't stand up for herself and stop allowing her ex-husband to force his way into her life and then control her every action thereafter. She was like a spineless homesick child, and I don't care how many scavenger hunts she provides for her adult daughter after she's passed, she still wouldn't get any forgiveness from me for all the pain caused by having to grow up without answers and without a mum. I was glad that the bookstore survived, though I found Eloise's best pal Millie to also be rather controlling and judgemental (and she withholds important information from Val, which is just mean and stupid) but I guess old crabby women characters are a trope in British fiction. I've read several books by Jio, and this falls somewhere near the lower middle in terms of quality. The prose is clean and clear, but the plot meanders too much and too many of the characters are unlikable. So I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to those who enjoy a good British rom-com.

The Woman Who Up and Left by Fiona Gibson was a cheap ebook that I acquired about a month ago, and it looked to be right up my alley. This was another British book, and normally I love English and Irish humor and rom-coms, but for some reason, these latest books I've read have been less hilarious than pathetic, with female protagonists who are complete doormats for all the male characters in their lives, from husbands and exes to sons and even grandchildren. Here's the blurb:

Forget about having it all. Sometimes you just want to leave it all behind.

Audrey is often seized by the urge to walk out of her house without looking back – but she can’t possibly do that.

She is a single parent. She is needed. She has a job, a home, responsibilities…and a slothful teenage son’s pants to pick up.

But no one likes being taken for granted – Audrey least of all – so the time has come for drastic action. And no one’s going to stand in her way…

A brilliantly funny and uplifting novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mum Who’d Had Enough and When Life Gives You Lemons. Perfect for anyone who’s ever wanted to escape it all!

To be honest/blunt, Audrey's son is a complete and utter jerk, who wants his mother to wait on him hand and foot all day, every day, so even though he's an adult, he doesn't have to lift a finger, and instead brings around his girlfriend for sex and sometimes plays at being a street performer (which he has zero talent for) for a career, just to pretend he's actually doing something with his life. Though his mother has taught him how to care for himself, he complains that he is incapable of doing so, and makes bigger messes for his mother when he tries (on purpose, so she won't try to make him be responsible for himself ever again). Add to that Audrey trying to keep her own two jobs and love life going, and you have one exhausted and frustrated, fed up woman. But, because she's a spineless, stupid people pleaser, Audrey can't seem to assert any boundaries, and when she finally goes away for a week long cooking class, she constantly calls her son and responds to his texts as if the house is on fire and he's in deadly danger (spoiler alert, he's not, he's just an immature turd who cares nothing for his mother's health, happiness or comfort). She even leaves the cooking classes early to run home because jerkson jerkface whines that he needs her. Why we're supposed to find this poor abused and used woman's life "hilarious" I don't know. There's nothing funny at all about women who are treated like slaves in their own home. I kept wishing that Audrey would tell her son to get his sh*t together and get the hell out of the house and into his own apartment, and/or to get a handle on cleaning up after himself and his girlfriend, otherwise they'd have to leave. She should have packed his bags and booted him out, instead of constantly making excuses for him and doing all the work of cooking/cleaning, etc, herself. She even tries to help him when he gets his girlfriend pregnant, and the girls mother blames Audrey! Unbelievable! I would have given the girls mother a punch in the nose if she came at me with that BS. But Audrey keeps trying to make everyone but herself happy, until finally her son matures enough to take responsibility for his girlfriend and their baby, and by the end things are going well for both Audrey and her son the jerk. I'd give this annoying and unfunny book a C-, for making women/mothers seem like stupid slaves, whose only and best way of life involves motherhood and keeping a home/cooking for family, to the exclusion of anything that makes them happy or fulfilled. Blech on that old "traditional" sexist BS. I can't really recommend this kind of crap, either. 

The White Rose Network by Ellie Midwood was another cheap ebook that was billed as a page-turning historical fiction/romance novel. While I appreciate the new and different perspectives that most historical fiction novels provide, this WWII novel focuses on a resistance group within Germany, mainly comprised of intellectuals, (University teachers and students) who apparently organized marches and printed/distributed anti-war pamphlets right under the nose of the Nazi's in Munich and Berlin during the middle of the war, without being caught and shot/killed. After studying WWII during high school and college, with a special summer-long history class between college and grad school that focused on Germany after WWI and throughout WWII, I never heard or read about anything like a widespread German resistance to fascism, and I would have remembered something with a catchy name like the White Rose Network. It would also appear that, though the author claims she got all her information about this resistance from diaries and letters or other significant documentation, the WRN had very little impact on the genocide of 6 million Jews and others, such as homosexuals or political prisoners, who died mostly in horrific concentration camps, some of which were within Germany itself, or near enough that people would have been able to smell the ovens that cremated so many bodies, day after day. These were children of privilege, it's pointed out, who grew up with intellectual parents of a higher class, so they were able to buy their way out of a lot of bad situations, which I can believe, but only to a point. Here's the blurb: 1943, Germany: “I won’t be able to live if anything happens to you,” she whispered into his ear as they said goodbye, not knowing if they would ever see each other again. The White Rose Network brings to life the incredible true story of Sophie Scholl––one of history’s bravest women, who risked everything to lead a revolution against darkness.

Sophie Scholl was born to be a rebel, raised by parents who challenged the brutal Nazi regime. Determined to follow in their footsteps, she leaves for university, defying Hitler’s command for women to stay at home.

On her first day in Munich, Sophie’s brother Hans introduces her to his dear friend. When she meets Alexander, with his raven-black hair and brooding eyes, she knows instantly that she isn’t alone. There are more courageous souls like her, who will fight against evil.

Together, and with others who also refuse to back down, they form the White Rose Network. In an underground vault, Sophie and Alexander conspire in whispers, falling in love as they plot against Hitler. Promising her heart to Alexander is the most dangerous act of all––with each risk they take, they get closer to capture.

As snowflakes fall on a frosty February morning, Sophie and her brother scatter Munich University with leaflets calling for resistance: “We will not be silent; we will not leave you in peace!”

But their lives hang in the balance, with the secret police offering a reward to anyone with information on the White Rose Network. It is only a matter of time before the Gestapo closes in… And when Sophie is imprisoned in an interrogation room, staring a Nazi officer in the eye, will she take their secrets to her grave? Will she sacrifice her freedom for love?

Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Lilac Girls will be completely gripped by this heartbreaking and addictive page-turner. Based on a true story, this inspirational tale shows that, in the face of evil, giving up is not an option.

So again, I have a lot of trouble with this "based on a true story and a real woman" tale, mainly because the characters are all archetypes and Sophie comes off as a perfect martyr to the cause, never flinching and ready to happily sacrifice her life for the cause of a Germany free of the Nazi regime. She also refuses to name her accomplices, and while this is seen as brave, it's ultimately fruitless and worthless, as all her compatriots in the WRN are caught, imprisoned and killed. I believe we're supposed to glean from this that the German people were not at fault or to blame (at least a majority of them) for the Holocaust or any other Nazi atrocities. I don't completely buy this. Of course there were people who didn't agree with Hitler's fascist regime, but they either kept silent and saved their own skins or they spoke up and died in a concentration camp or by being shot on the spot. Those left were as complicit in "turning in" their neighbors and friends as the Nazi party fanatics. Sophie and her band of wealthy intellectuals seemed to have had zero effect on the Nazi war machine and Hitlers chilling "final solution." So while it was nice, I suppose, to read about some Germans with a conscience during WWII, I didn't find it at all inspiring or uplifting because ultimately they FAILED. They saved no one from death, least of all themselves. The prose was rather fan-fiction-ish and immature, and the plot read a lot like a propaganda script. Therefore I'd give this book a B-, and only recommend it to the most rabid fans of WWII history.

 

Powell's Books and Others Support Ukrainian Community, Fire Island Movie, RIP Celeste the Bookseller Cat, the Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake, If You Ask me by Libby Hubscher and Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur

March is just flying by, and as we ease into St Patricks Day next week, I'd like to show some hopeful tidbits about the ongoing Russia/Ukrainian war. As the Russian invasion continues, many independent booksellers worldwide are expressing their support for Ukraine with fundraising initiatives, reading lists, book displays and more.

Powell's Books https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51375921, Portland, Ore., donated 20% of all Powells.com sales from March 4 to CARE's Ukraine Crisis Fund, noting: "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is indefensible. The unprovoked attack has already claimed the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands more. There is an urgent need for humanitarian aid for those who have been forced to leave their homes and for those who have remained in Ukraine fighting for sovereignty."

This is an especially hopeful idea of groups coming together to support refugee children.

Children's Book Community Supports Ukrainian Refugee Children

Jadzia Jędryas, publisher of the Polish children's book publishing house Dwie Siostry (the originating publisher of the Big Picture MAPS series, now an imprint of Candlewick), together with the Polish Reading Promotion Foundation https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51375950, have begun a campaign to make books available to Ukrainian refugee children sheltering in Poland.

The Polish Reading Foundation--a fund that aims to level the playing field for children via reading (Jędryas's Dwie Siostry is a founding member)--launched the fundraising effort on Friday, February 25. The goal is to buy books from Ukrainian publishers, then transport them to Poland and distribute them to Ukrainian children and their families in Poland. The Foundation has secured both a warehouse and distribution for free; funds raised will go solely to purchase books.

Jędryas explained that a purchase of books from Ukrainian publishers not only assists children in need but also supports those publishers' ongoing existence at this challenging time. The books will be distributed gratis to each of the already more than 100,000 refugee children sheltering in Poland.

 I always enjoy reading about the latest adaptations of classic literature to movies or TV series. This looks like a fun modern adaptation that I will look forward to seeing this summer.

Movies: Fire Island

Hulu shared a first look at the upcoming Fox Searchlight film Fire Island https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51375992, "inspired by another (albeit, much longer) miniseries, the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice," which screenwriter Joel Kim Booster "would watch with his mother 'at least once a year,' " IndieWire reported. Jane Austen's novel was a cornerstone for the project, as was the 1995 interpretation, Clueless. Fire Island premieres on Hulu on June 3.

Directed by Andrew Ahn (Spa Night), the "gay-centric rom-com centers on a group of friends who embark on a week-long vacation filled with hook-ups, debauchery and friendship make-or-break moments," IndieWire wrote. The cast also includes Booster, Bowen Yang, Zane Phillips, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, Torian Miller and Margaret Cho.

"I can't even tell you how many times I've watched Clueless, from a time before I even understood most of the jokes," Booster said. "Jane Austen's observations about the way people are awful to each other without being awful to each other--I was like, 'Oh, my God. This is shade. This is what gay men do all the time.' "

Yang (Saturday Night Live) added, "A Jane Austen narrative meeting an Asian-American narrative meeting a queer narrative: Those three helices come together in a way that's greater than the sum of their parts. And to say that something is greater than a Jane Austen narrative is insane, unhinged of me, to do. But I said it."

RIP to this great bookstore kitty cat.

Bookseller Cat: RIP Celeste at Talk Story Bookstore

Ed Justus, co-owner of Talk Story Bookstore, Hanapepe, Hawaii, recently posted a tribute marking the loss of the shop's long-serving bookseller cat. It read, in part: "At 19 years old, 'Celeste' has passed away https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51405674.

Affectionally known as 'The Boss' or more popularly by her Instagram handle 'Celeste_the_Cat_Boss,' she spent her life doing exactly what she wanted to do: sleeping in her basket behind the desk, getting treats on demand (often ringing a bell to do so), and glaring at the customers as they adored her. Calculating to human years, Celeste lived to be 87....

"When Talk Story Bookstore began in 2004, Celeste moved into the store and became 'The Boss.' Over the years, she shared the store space with many cats which have come and gone, but Celeste was always there, a fixture of the bookstore. In her life, she must have encountered hundreds of thousands of people, making an impression upon them for better or for worse. Celeste has had videos made of her, been interviewed on national television shows and social media streams, was a council candidate campaign manager, trended on Reddit with seventeen thousand likes and on Cats of Instagram with one hundred thousand likes, gained three thousand followers on her own Instagram and was named by Mental Floss dot com as one of the Top Ten Bookstore Cats in the World. No small feat for this 'runt of the litter.'

"Her likeness and cattitude has been immortalized in book and sticker-form by my wife, Yuriko, in the creation of the 'Mochi-Celeste https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51405676' character, who brings smiles and laughter to people of all ages. Even though Celeste is no longer with us, her spirit lives on through 'Mochi-Celeste' and in the bookstore itself.

"Even though her basket behind the desk sits empty, I still feel her presence there, judging me as I work and run the store. Or when I unlock the store in the morning, I still await her complaining meows to me that she hasn't been feed yet. I miss her. We both do. She was one-of-a-kind. Celeste had been my ever-present companion, the longest person I have ever had in my life on a continuous basis. She was family. I am grateful she shared her life with us and with all those that met her. Celeste, you were unique. You will be missed. And remembered."

The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake was a cheap ebook that I thought looked amusing and diverting, and with all that is going on in the world, we all need diversions to stay sane. This particular novel was full of characters who blush constantly, both the women and the men, and everyone seems incapable of speaking up about their feelings or communicating their passion or joy in words. Though the main character is Danish, so one would expect her to have some problems translating her ideas and feelings into English, there was only one other character who was able to actually articulate and communicate what she wanted, while everyone else stuttered and blushed and couldn't talk to one another to save their lives. It was pathetic and sad, really. Here's the blurb: The perfect recipe for hygge: make a hot chocolate, draw the curtains, snuggle under a blanket and read your way to happiness!

It's autumn in Yulethorpe and everyone is gloomy. It's cold, drizzly and the skies are permagrey. The last shop on the high street - an adorable little toy shop - has just shut its doors. Everything is going wrong for Yulethorpe this autumn. Until Clara Kristensen arrives.

Clara is on holiday but she can see the potential in the pretty town, so she rolls up her sleeves and sets to work. Things are looking up until Joe comes to Yulethorpe to find out exactly what is going on with his mother's shop. Joe is Very Busy and Important in the City and very sure that Clara is up to no good. Surely no one would work this hard just for the fun of it?

Can a man who answers emails at 3 a. m. learn to appreciate the slower, happier, hygge things in life - naps, candles, good friends and maybe even falling in love?
Clara, the female protagonist, is really just too sweet and kind and pretty to be real (she seems like a male fantasy of a pretty blonde Danish woman) while Joe is a complete and utter asshat who is overworked and has zero compassion or time for anyone but himself and his money-making career. I couldn't imagine what Clara would see in such a jerk, who treats her with suspicion and paranoia and sexism, only occaisionally unwinding enough to do the right thing and be kind or gentle with her...and he expects her to not even look at another guy, though he himself has shown her nothing but disdain. I just didn't buy that these characters were real enough to make sense in the cutesy plot with its sweet pink prose. I'd give it a C+, and only recommend it to those who like their romantic comedies simple and unrealistic.

If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher is yet another rom-com style book, what used to be called "Chick Lit" and is now called "Women's fiction." I really wanted to love this book, because the main character, Violet, is an advice columnist at a local newspaper. However, once again we have a cliche-ridden version of a woman who is just so perfect that she's shocked and "destroyed" when she discovers her husband plowing the local 20-something fitness fanatic in their bed at home. Because over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, you'd think someone smart enough to work in journalism and give cogent advice to anyone who writes in would be aware of the fact that most husbands cheat on their wives, especially after there has been something upsetting related to money or health that has imploded the couple's emotional well being (in this case it's miscarriage and infertility). the husband is the usual over-confident jerk who bullies and belittles his wife and then expects her to take him back once his affair has run its course (or the young woman realizes what a sh*thead he is). Here's the blurb: When an advice columnist’s picture-perfect life implodes, she opts to go rogue in this hilarious, heartwarming romance from the author of Meet Me in Paradise.

Violet Covington pens Dear Sweetie, the most popular advice column in the state of North Carolina. She has an answer for how to politely handle any difficult situation…until she discovers her husband, Sam, has been cheating on her. Furious and out of sensible solutions, Violet leaves her filter at the door and turns to her column to air her own frustrations. The new, brutally honest Dear Sweetie goes viral, sending more shock waves through Violet’s life. When she burns Sam’s belongings in a front-yard, late-night bonfire, a smoking-hot firefighter named Dez shows up to douse the flames, and an unexpected fling quickly shows potential to become something longer lasting.

A lot of people want to see the old polished Violet return—including her boss, who finds her unpredictability hard to manage, and Sam, who’s begging for another chance. But Dez appreciates Violet just the way she is—in fact, he can’t get enough of her. The right answers don’t come easily when Violet finds herself at her own personal crossroads. But maybe, by getting real, Violet can write her own happy ending.

Violet is, oddly enough, a shrinking Violet who is clumsy and keeps hurting herself  with pratfalls and cuts, and she reacts to everything like a sullen teenage mean girl who burns her husbands belongings (all but his Star Wars collectables, for some stupid reason) and can't seem to confront her mother or her neighbors when they, too, treat her like crap, with judgement and bullying. She doesn't develop a spine until late in the book, and then only after a man (a local hot firefighter who saves her several times when she gets herself into trouble) repeatedly tells her that she's pretty and talented and deserves much better than her jerk husband and creepy neighbors. Ugh....why does it always have to be a man who gives a women self esteem? Why can't she see for herself that she's worthy? And why are her friends even cruel to her, laughing at her exploits and threatening her job? Blech. I didn't like any of the people in this book besides the firefighter, and even he seemed to fall into a cliche of "hero who rescues damsel in distress and falls in love at first sight." And why oh why do all the romantic novels I read nowadays have females (and males, sometimes) who blush constantly, at the first sign of attraction? I've never blushed a day in my life, and I don't know anyone who has. Anyway, I'd give this book a B- and recommend it to anyone who likes "women rising from the ashes of divorce" kind of books.

Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur is a YA romance that has a slow start but eventually picks up with a teasing plot and generous prose. Here's the blurb:

In a delightful follow-up to Written in the Stars, Alexandria Bellefleur delivers another queer rom-com about a hopeless romantic who vows to show his childhood crush that romance isn’t dead by recreating iconic dates from his favorite films...

Brendon Lowell loves love. It’s why he created a dating app to help people find their one true pairing and why he’s convinced “the one” is out there, even if he hasn’t met her yet. Or... has he? When his sister's best friend turns up in Seattle unexpectedly, Brendon jumps at the chance to hang out with her. He’s crushed on Annie since they were kids, and the stars have finally aligned, putting them in the same city at the same time.

Annie booked a spur-of-the-moment trip to Seattle to spend time with friends before moving across the globe. She’s not looking for love, especially with her best friend’s brother. Annie remembers Brendon as a sweet, dorky kid. Except, the 6-foot-4 man who shows up at her door is a certified Hot Nerd and Annie... wants him? Oh yes.

Getting involved would be a terrible idea—her stay is temporary and he wants forever—but when Brendon learns Annie has given up on dating, he’s determined to prove that romance is real. Taking cues from his favorite rom-coms, Brendon plans to woo her with elaborate dates straight out of Nora Ephron’s playbook. The clock is ticking on Annie’s time in Seattle, and Brendon’s starting to realize romance isn’t just flowers and chocolate. But maybe real love doesn’t need to be as perfect as the movies... as long as you think your partner hung the moon.

I read this author's other rom com novel, Written in the Stars, and I thought this book would be equally interesting. I loved the fact that it was set in Seattle, and highlighted nearly all the great things about this beautiful city. However, Brendon's "crush" and chasing of Annie eventually comes off as immature stalking that most women past high school age would find tedious and eventually alarming. Annie, of course, can't resist the adorable Brendon (because women aren't able to say no to a guy who is persistent, right? Blech, how misogynistic!) and eventually decides to give up her career and life to be with him, because again, that's what women do, right? They give it all up for love of a guy, never mind that they've worked long and hard to get the degrees and experience to reach their career goals...love is so much more important! Settling down with a guy and having babies is what women are for, right?! WRONG. Sexist societal BS aside, I would really like to read a romantic book just once where the woman doesn't have to compromise and/or give up everything in her life to be with the guy, who is usually vastly less successful than she is, and is most often an immature doofus. Don't these women come to resent having to give up their dreams and desires for a guy? So I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to women who have very old fashioned values and believe love conquers all. 

 

Book People Protest War in Ukraine, Fantastic Beasts 3 Movie, Amazon Closing Bricks and Mortar Stores, Obituary of Duval Hecht, Tiny Tales by Alexander McCall Smith, Love & Saffron by Kim Fay, Crystal Magic by Madeline Freeman and Sons of Ymre: Erik by Lilith Saintcrow

Hello March, and welcome to a wet and cold start to spring! There's a lot going on in the world, and the world of books, so let's get right to it, shall we?

What Russia is doing to invade the Ukraine is horrible, and reminiscent of other evil dictators plowing through other countries by force, attempting to loot other lands for their own benefit. I'm glad to see that book people are standing up for the Ukrainian people, calling for an end to Russian imperialist aggression.

Book People Protest War 

PEN International released a letter signed by more than 1,000 writers https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51311666 worldwide, expressing solidarity with writers, journalists, artists and the people of Ukraine, condemning the Russian invasion and calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed.

"We, writers around the world, are appalled by the violence unleashed by Russian forces against Ukraine and urgently call for an end to the bloodshed," the letter stated. "We stand united in condemnation of a senseless war, waged by President Putin's refusal to accept the rights of Ukraine's people to debate their future allegiance and history without Moscow's interference.

"We stand united in support of writers, journalists, artists, and all the people of Ukraine, who are living through their darkest hours. We stand by you and feel your pain.

"All individuals have a right to peace, free expression, and free assembly. Putin's war is an attack on democracy and freedom not just in Ukraine, but around the world.

"We stand united in calling for peace and for an end to the propaganda that is fueling the violence. There can be no free and safe Europe without a free and independent Ukraine. Peace must prevail."

Though I am no longer a fan of JK Rowling, I am still a devotee of her work, and these movies in particular are delightful in a way I've not seen since the Harry Potter movie years. So I'm really looking forward to seeing this next month. 

Movies: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Warner Bros. has released a trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51311702, the third installment of the movie franchise based on J.K. Rowling's book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Indiewire reported that the new trailer "pits Dumbledore (Jude Law) against rebel Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) in a battle to protect the fate of mankind living alongside wizard." The Secrets of Dumbledore premieres April 15 in theaters.

Set in the 1930s, the film "centers on the lead-up to Wizarding World's involvement in World War II, with hero Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) entering battle against Grindewald alongside Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams), Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner), and Dumbledore, as they battle Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) and more of Grindelwald's followers." Alison Sudol also stars as Queenie, with Victoria Yeates, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, and Dave Wong rounding out the ensemble cast. At least two more films are reportedly planned for the Fantastic Beasts saga.

 I'm thrilled to read that Amazon has decided to close it's "storefront" brick and mortar stores and concentrate on their food delivery and fashion industry. And I agree with Tom Nissley, Indie bookstores are much better at selling books than an Amazon AI.

Amazon Closing All Amazon Books Stores

Big news from Amazon: the company is closing all of its Amazon Book books and electronics stores, as well as all of its pop-up and "4-star" stores, a move that was first reported yesterday by Reuters. Altogether, 68 stores are involved--66 in the U.S. and two in the U.K. There are some 24 Amazon Books stores around the country.

The company said it was making the move to concentrate its bricks-and-mortar efforts on Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, Amazon Go and a new venture, Amazon Style fashion and accessories stores, the first of which is set to open in Los Angeles this year, and will feature a variety of high-tech touches, including "just walk out" cashierless technology.

Amazon Books initially opened in Seattle https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51342382 in 2015 (a story first reported by Shelf Awareness) and slowly expanded over the years. Observers noted that one of the main functions of the bookstores was to promote Prime membership as well as introduce Amazon's electronic products. The selection of books, usually displayed faceout with much room around each, was thin. Especially since the pandemic started, Prime membership has grown dramatically, to about 150 million in the U.S., possibly a saturation point, making the stores' function as a Prime signup spot moot.

The AP quoted Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, stating that Amazon's non-food stores "were designed for people to pop in and browse rather than as destinations where people would head on a mission to buy something. Ultimately, this wasn't great for driving footfall--especially in an era where people are visiting shops less."

Tom Nissley, who worked at Amazon for a decade before opening indie bookstores Phinney Books in 2014 and Madison Books in 2019, told GeekWire that Amazon's decision to close its bookstores "emphasizes that it's not what they're good at https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51342385 and it is what we're good at." He continued, as GeekWire put it, to say that "the stores, like the company's website, should have seized on what Amazon was good at, which is being able to provide everything. Instead, Amazon's super curated, face-out approach to selling books was the opposite of that."

Nissley added, "I always wondered if they would try to do something like Powell's or something where, 'Yep, we're Amazon. We have everything. And now we have it right here.' I'm sure the cost would have been immense."

Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, commented: "The closing of Amazon's physical bookstores proves that there is more to a successful bookstore than the transaction of selling books. Amazon learned the hard way that what independent bookstores do is special, and it's hard. Especially when faced with an unfair competitor. Hopefully, these closures bring the book business one small step closer to a level playing field. In the long-term, breaking up and regulating Amazon is the only way to achieve that goal."

When in grad school in Cambridge, MA, I worked for a blind woman for whom Books on Tape was a lifeline.  It was her main form of entertainment, when she wasn't listening to the news on TV. I would often sit and listen with her, and we'd both get misty eyed over James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small series. So we both owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mr Hecht. RIP.

Obituary Note: Duvall Hecht

Duvall Hecht https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51342414, a pilot, Olympian rower, banker and entrepreneur who, in 1975, "sold his 1965 Porsche, hired a college drama coach and created what would become volume No. 1 in the soon-to-be-massive Books on Tape catalogue, a recording of George's Plimpton's football tale, Paper Lion," died February 10, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was 91.

"It never once seemed like a wacky idea to me," he said in 2001, shortly after selling his startup to Random House for an estimated $20 million.Hecht competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, and four years later won gold in Melbourne, Australia. While in the Marines during the mid-1950s, he became a fighter jet pilot and, after his discharge, a Pan Am pilot, which he found to be little better than being a bus driver, according to his wife, Ann Marie Rousseau.

As a commuting investment banker in downtown L.A., "he sought alternatives to the radio. For a while, he set up a reel-to-reel tape recorder on the passenger seat and listened to books that had been recorded for people who were blind. When cassette tapes first arrived on the scene, he turned to those as a possibility, but could find only motivational recordings," the Times wrote.

The rest is history. After recording Paper Lion, he began placing ads in newspapers around the U.S. and within five years sales were approaching $2 million and he had tens of thousands of customers for his audiobooks. Customers would rent book tapes for 30 days, and since Hecht didn't charge a deposit, they were on an honor system to return them.

After selling the company, he pursued a new career as a long-haul truck driver, a dream he'd had since he was 16. Rousseau said she would sometimes accompany him on his cross-country trips and marveled at how much he enjoyed the open road. "And on those trips, of course, we would listen to Books on Tape."

"We have weavers and sculptors who rent from us https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz51342415," Hecht told the Wall Street Journal in 1986. "There's even an undertaker who listens with a tiny earpiece during funerals." Most of his customers were overachievers, Hecht noted, people "crazy with frustration because they're two hours behind the wheel and all that time is going down the sewer.”

He once observed: "Listening is just returning literature to its original form, before Gutenberg got into the act."

 

Tiny Tales by Alexander McCall Smith is a delightful svelte tome of very short (some only two pages long) stories that all have a funny or positive or bittersweet spin. Some are laugh out loud funny, while others carry the sweet ache of a story well told, with an ending that, if not happy, is at least satisfying. Here's the blurb: It is often said that the best things in life come in small packages; anyone in search of proof need look no further than the stories in this collection from the acclaimed author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series: brief, utterly engaging tales that offer lasting surprise and delight, accompanied by charming illustrations by Iain McIntosh.

In Tiny Tales, Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness, and happiness in thirty short stories accompanied by thirty witty cartoons designed by Iain McIntosh, McCall Smith’s longtime creative collaborator. Here we meet the first Australian pope, who hopes to finally find some peace and quiet back home in Perth; a psychotherapist turned motorcycle racetrack manager; and an aspiring opera singer who gets her unlikely break onstage. And, of course, we spend time in McCall Smith’s beloved Scotland, where we are introduced to progressive Vikings, a group of housemates with complex romantic entanglements, and a couple of globe-trotting dentists. These tales and illustrations depict the full scope of human experience and reveal the rich tapestry of life—painted in miniature. 

I've read several other novels by AMS, and I enjoyed most of them. Smith's a master prose stylist who manages to create engaging characters and interesting places for them to inhabit effortlessly. His plots are precise and insightful...there's nary a plot hole to be found. Yet I've detected more than once a slight vein of misogyny throughout his work, as if he's able to laugh and point to the foibles of women as ridiculous, yet many of the men in his books skate by judgement and prejudice completely, though they're no prizes themselves. But its only a whisper and a dab, here and there, and thus easily ignored. I fell in love with these stories and read the book all the way through within about 4.5 hours. It deserves an A, and a recommendation to anyone who needs a book to read on an airplane, or before bedtime or in a doctor's waiting room. Just a word of warning, these short stories are like potato chips, in that you won't want to stop at reading just one.

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay is an epistolary book that is as warm and sweet and delicious as cake or bread fresh from the oven. The book's subtitle is "A novel of friendship, food and love," and it lives up to every accolade on the back cover blurbs. Here's the official blurb: In the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.

When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter--as well as a gift of saffron--to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic--exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives.
 
Food and a good life—they can’t be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen’s decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen’s friendship—a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other.
 
A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidote to most any heartache, and that human connection will always be worth creating.

The prose is fantastic, it reads like two classic authors letting their hair down and corresponding, with a tenderness and care that is heartrending. The plot is straightforward and clear, until the twist at the end, which left me in tears. Having corresponded with my mother and friends (and corporate entities) since childhood, I could understand why these two character's letters became a lifeline of friendship and a bond between two women of different eras. I'd give it an A+, and I can't recommend it enough, to anyone and everyone who enjoys correspondence and is curious about life during the early 60s. 

Crystal Magic: Clearwater Witches #1 by Madeline Freeman was a YA fantasy novel that I got for a cheap price due to being an Amazon Prime member.  Though it was a fast read, there were times when I could feel the plot flag and drag, and the prose, though decent, just couldn't close up the plot holes. Here's the blurb: Krissa Barnette has a secret.

When she’s upset, she can hear what other people are thinking. And when she’s overwhelmed, things explode.

A move to Clearwater, Michigan, gives her the chance to reinvent herself, but a fresh start is further away than she realizes. Her abilities magnify—making her a target for Crystal Jamison and the town’s circle of witches.

Even with new friends at her side, Krissa can’t ignore the witches’ magnetic pull—especially when a strange illness rips through the town.

If Krissa doesn’t push her fears aside, she could lose more than control. Learning to wield magic could consume her. Ignoring her gift could destroy the world.

This book reminded me of a cross between early Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the girl on the cover looks a lot like a young Sara Michelle Geller) and any CW female-lead show that involves witches, vampires or magic of any kind. The story is always the same. Young woman with powers beyond her ken is an outcast at her high school because she's "weird" and "different" but she lacks the self confidence to actually DO anything to become stronger or more accepted until she encounters a guy who likes her and a band of fellow outcasts who become her friends. Yet she doesn't know if she can trust them with the truth about who she really is, and thus spends a lot of time whining about her parents who are either dead, not a part of her life, divorced so that only one parent is caring for her, or hopelessly negligent and clueless, (or suffocating and old fashioned, so they don't understand anything about the modern world and try to isolate their child from real life). Yes, there are few decent examples of parents in the YA world, which in my opinion is laziness on the part of the writer, because they have to fall back on this hackneyed trope instead of writing about young adults who had good parents who help the protagonist find her way through the labyrinth of hormones and high school. This author falls down the rabbit hole of teenagers messing with magical forces they don't understand, which leads to time travel and of course serious consequences for their actions. The ending of the book was just a set up for the next volume, which I don't plan on reading. So I'd give book 1 a C+ and recommend it to devotees of the CW.

Sons of Ymre: Erik, by Lilith Saintcrow is the start of a new series that looked, from the outset, to be like another "Watchers" series. Unfortunately, it was set up with a lot of misogyny and violence, with the lead female character being kidnapped and kept in the dark by her captors, so the whole book comes off as a serial killer/rapist fantasy, where the so-called "good guys" are not too far from the monsters they kill who are hunting the lead female character.  I was shocked the Saintcrow could write such an unconscionable novel that panders to "Incel" like men who see women as chattel or prizes to be won, not as people with agency. Here's the blurb:

Long ago, there was a mad god who almost destroyed the world. And he is still out there, waiting…

On a cold winter's evening, Liv Stellack escapes a bad date…and walks straight into nightmare. Kidnapped and held without ransom, she's ready to use every trick in the book to escape. But her captors aren't criminals, they're Sons of Ymre, hunters of the unclean things living in the cracks of sanity and dreams—and Liv is a valuable tool in their war against the Mad God.

Erik knows the beautiful woman they've rescued can't possibly understand the danger she's in, or the fact that she's being held for her own protection. Some things can't be explained, only shown; he and his fellow Sons have to keep their precious potential alive long enough for the days to lengthen so she can be transported to another temple and learn how to fight an evil older than recorded history.

But treachery lives in the Mad God's chosen, and it's soon obvious that one of the Sons can't be trusted. Fleeing for their lives, Liv and Erik must make an uneasy alliance, depending on each other to reach tenuous safety.

That is, if the monsters don't get them first…

So while Erik is imprisoning Liv "for her own protection" he's also not telling her the truth about what the Sons of Ymre have planned for her, including tossing her into a magic flame well (and hoping she survives) and then requiring her to be "sealed" which is just another word for forcing her to have sex with one of the Sons so that she won't run away but will be bonded to them and their cause no matter what. This means that Liv is required to give up her whole life as a paralegal with friends and family to magically soothe and heal the Sons when they get beat up by monsters and when they go crazy from the Mad God's whispering in their heads (the latter is something they choose to become invested in, unlike Liv, who isn't given a choice). The point is made that the monsters will torture and eat her unless she has the Sons magical protection, but when one of them goes rogue and captures her it's evident that she's got a target on her back no matter who she's with. Therefore it seems she should be given a choice of how to live or die and whether or not she wants to have sex with one of her kidnappers. 

This whole novel creeped me out, and made me mad at the same time. It's hard enough for women to have agency in the real world, let alone a female author romantisizing kidnapping/rape and violence against women, while pushing the lead female into a traditional "healing/mothering/savior" role and making her seem powerless and stupid for having a modern job with ambition beyond being a heterosexual wife and stay at home mother. Even when Liv tries to save herself, the point is repeatedly made that she's a tiny little woman who is ultra feminine and weighs so little she can be carried by a big, strong man like a little baby! Infantilizing women has been traditionally the way men were able to force women into patriarchal roles, ie making them stupid, small and weak like children so they can't help themselves but must be ruled over by men. Ugh. SHAME ON YOU Lilith Saintcrow! With all the kick-ass heroines you've created in the past, you should know better. I'd give this book a D, and not recommend it to anyone.