Black Cake Comes to TV, The Greatest Beer Run Ever Movie, Banned Books Display, A Gentleman in Moscow on TV, Things My Son Needs to Know about the World by Fredrik Backman, Violeta by Isabel Allende, Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson, and Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

Hello Bibliophiles and Book Dragons! August is almost over, and my favorite time of year is just days away....fall/autumn. While my husband has been very ill this whole month, and I've been recovering from an infected tooth removal that was very painful, I still managed to get four books read and ready for review. Lets get to the tidbits and then the reviews following after.

Though I've not read the book, this sounds like a riveting TV show.

TV: Black Cake

Chipo Chung (His Dark Materials) and Anthony Mark Barrow (V) have joined the cast of Black Cake https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXbxb4I6aoxIEpyHA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCCcT2poMLg-gVdw, a family drama in the works for Hulu that is based on the book by Charmaine Wilkerson. Deadline reported that "Chung will play Eleanor Bennett, who leaves behind a series of recordings after losing her battle with cancer. Her stories chronicle her journey from the Caribbean to America that shock her surviving children, and challenge everything they thought they knew about the woman who raised them.... Barrow will recur as Clarence 'Little Man' Henry, the head of a powerful family in Jamaica in the 1960s who is feared and respected by the Island community."

Marissa Jo Cerar wrote the adaptation and serves as showrunner for Black Cake, which is from Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and Aaron Kaplans' Kapital Entertainment.

This is something else that might not appeal to me in book form, but as a movie could be quite inspiring and funny.

Movies: The Greatest Beer Run Ever

A trailer has been released for The Greatest Beer Run Ever https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXcl7kI6aoxJxl1Hw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCDpbxpoMLg-gVdw, based on the book The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War by John "Chick" Donohue and J.T. Molloy. People reported that Zac Efron "stars as real-life accidental local hero Chickie Donohue, who in 1967 decided on a whim to bring beer from his New York neighborhood to his friends serving in the Vietnam War." The film, which also stars Russell Crowe and Bill Murray, premieres in theaters and on Apple TV+ September 30.

"When I met with Zac, what struck me was he was at a very interesting place in his career," said director Peter Farrelly. "He said, 'I really want to do something different.' And what he does here, in my eyes, is that.... Zac's the most open actor I've ever worked with. A lot of times you do a scene, you go up to the actor afterwards, and you're giving him notes, but you can see they're in their own head, like running it through, figuring it out themselves, they're really not listening to you. Zac's the opposite."

Please do read banned books! They're always the juiciest ones!

Banned Books Display: Novel Bay Booksellers

Novel Bay Booksellers, Sturgeon Bay, Wis., shared a photo of the shop's banned books display on Facebook, noting: "This morning: Overheard at the banned book display https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXckeUI6aoxJx0nSQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCDpCtpoMLg-gVdw: man pointing to Where the Wild Things Are says, 'That book scared me.' Another man says, while pointing to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 'Maya Angelou? She's a national treasure!' A group makes a beeline for the display because as one young adult said, 'That's how you know what to read.' "

I did read a Gentleman in Moscow, and though I had problems with it a couple of times, I did enjoy it in the end, and now I am looking forward to the adorable Ewan McGregor to do this role justice with all of his delightful Scottish brio.

TV: A Gentleman in Moscow

Ewan McGregor (Star Wars franchise, Halston, Trainspotting) will play Count Alexander Rostov in the upcoming series A Gentleman in Moscow https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXdlusI6aoxJ01xHQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCD5ejpoMLg-gVdw, an adaptation of Amor Towles's 2016 novel. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the project "is set to commence production later this year and will debut in the U.S. on Showtime and on Paramount+ internationally."

"It's an amazing, wonderful story, and I am very excited to get to play such a fabulous role," said McGregor, who is also executive producer.

A Gentleman in Moscow is written by showrunner and executive producer Ben Vanstone (All Creatures Great and Small, The Last Kingdom). It is the first production to come through eOne's first-look deal with Tom Harper's company Popcorn Storm Pictures.

Harper, who will also executive produce with Xavier Marchand (Nautilus, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) and Towles, said: "The book is a rare and delicious treat, and I fell in love with it the moment I picked it up six years ago. We are thrilled that Amor entrusted this brilliant team with bringing the [Hotel] Metropol to life and couldn't be more delighted that Ewan will be playing the Count."

Things my Son Needs to Know about the World by Fredrik Backman is a funny little non fiction book (I mean that literally, it isn't even 200 pages long) that had me wondering what Backman, the author of great books like A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here had to say to his son that was so important that he made it into a book. What this book ends up being is a collection of essays about how immature and awkward and ridiculous Backman is, as a man and a father, and how deeply grateful he is to have a competent and intelligent wife, who seemingly overlooks his stupidity on a regular basis. Here's the blurb: 'You can be whatever you want to be, but that's nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are'

In between the sleep-obsessed lows and oxytocin-fuelled highs, Backman takes a step back to share his own experience of fatherhood and how he navigates such unchartered territory.

Part memoir, part manual, part love letter to his son, this book relays the big and the small lessons in life. As he watches his son take his first steps into the world, he teaches him how to navigate both love - and IKEA - and tries to explain why, sometimes, his dad might hold his hand just a little bit too tightly.

This is an irresistible and insightful collection from one of the world's most beautiful storytellers - the bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and Beartown.

The thing is, there's less actual advice and more comedic riffs on Backman's own life and inability to act like a responsible adult in this book. It's almost cringe-worthy that a grown man thinks it's charming that he's always screwing up in the most destructive or embarrassing ways, and he feels the need to relay all this to his infant/toddler son. These are not things I'd want to relive once I am a teenager or young adult, especially about my father. There are some things that are actual advice, and I get why he's spouting those, but by the time his son is a young man, these things will seem hopelessly outdated and old fashioned. Though I did laugh at times in this book, I really felt that what Backman needs is someone to tell him that he can stop trying to be a stupid teenage boy who wants to be in a rock band with his buddies, and grow the heck up and face his responsibilities with a bit more gravitas and expertise. Children learn by making their own mistakes, not by reading about their parent's mistakes. Anyway, I'd give this book a B, mainly because I really admire Backman's wife for putting up with him, and I am glad that his son has made him reflect on what it means to be a man.

Violeta by Isabel Allende is a fictional work about a 100 year old woman describing her life and loves in detail to her grandson. While it is lovingly and evocatively written, I was ultimately bored when the plot was mired in all the horrible South American and American politics. Here's the blurb:

This sweeping novel from the author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century.

Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family with five boisterous sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.

Through her father’s prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses everything and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling.

She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting times of devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life is shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women’s rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and ultimately not one, but two pandemics.

Through the eyes of a woman whose unforgettable passion, determination, and sense of humor carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende once more brings us an epic that is both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional.

There was a great deal of Violetta's life story that was passionate and engrossing, but I failed to make a strong connection to her as a protagonist because she seemed like a person who wasn't happy no matter what was happening, and just when it seemed that she might finally grasp the brass ring, something else would come along and destroy her life and her chance at happiness. It was all very melodramatic and over the top. What might be seen as passionate by others seemed like tantrums and immature behavior to me. Still, I'd give this novel a B-, and recommend it to anyone who likes telenovellas about a long and political life. 

Yes, Chef, a memoir by Marcus Samuelsson is an eye opening non fictional look into what it takes to become a world-class chef, especially if you are a person of color (POC, or BIPOC). I found the prose and the storytelling riveting and I could hardly put the book down as Marcus glides through the various kitchens and encounters the powerful people who run them, who are also mostly racists. I also enjoyed Marcus's take on the great food network chef stars like Gordon Ramsay and Bobby Flay, both of whom are real racist, classist jerks, unsurprisingly. Here's the blurb: “One of the great culinary stories of our time.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
 
It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations. Yes, Chef chronicles Samuelsson’s journey, from his grandmother’s kitchen to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of chasing flavors had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs, and, most important, the opening of Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fulfilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, and bus drivers. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home.  

I loved that Marcus S was so driven to mix various cultures flavor profiles to create something new and exciting, while still maintaining the quality and cultural importance of each dish. He had my mouth watering at the description of so many of his dishes. What I didn't love was that Marcus sacrificed everything on the altar of his ambition, including treating his former girlfriend and mother of his daughter like they didn't exist, and having his parents pay his child support for years. He doesn't even meet his daughter until she's 15. I understand being scrappy and working hard to pursue your dream, but you don't have to use that as an excuse to be a sh*tty person/parent. Chefs are allowed to have personal lives. I was also dismayed by the amount of racism and classism there is  in the restaurant business. I would have thought we would have evolved more by this point, but I was obviously mistaken. This made me realize how many cooking shows on the Food Network are all white affairs. This is a real shame, as Chefs like Marcus S bring exciting African cuisine to people who might not have had a chance to experience or enjoy it. I also loved that Marcus paid it forward by helping other POC and children of color learn about cooking and African cuisine in particular. Anyway, I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who is a "foodie" or interested in what it takes to be a world-class chef.

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor is an atmospheric, dark and almost gothic YA fantasy that has echoes of the wonderful "Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern in it, with a bit of the glamor and mystique of Alice Hoffman's Magic series and MJ Roses jewelry and scents fantasies. The prose is luxurious and the plot twisty enough to keep readers glued to the page. Here's the blurb: Decadent and darkly enchanting, this lavish YA fantasy debut follows seventeen-year-old Jani as she uncovers the deeply disturbing secrets of the legendary Hotel Magnifique.

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town.
 
The hotel is legendary not only for its whimsical enchantments, but also for its ability to travel—appearing in a different destination every morning. While Jani and Zosa can’t afford the exorbitant costs of a guest’s stay, they can interview to join the staff, and are soon whisked away on the greatest adventure of their lives. But once inside, Jani quickly discovers their contracts are unbreakable and that beneath the marvelous glamour, the hotel is hiding dangerous secrets.
 
With the vexingly handsome doorman Bel as her only ally, Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa—and the other staff—from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel. To succeed, she’ll have to risk everything she loves, but failure would mean a fate far worse than never returning home.

While I understand that we're supposed to find Jani's extreme attachment to her pouting and spoiled/selfish sister Zosa charming, I didn't really like either girl, and found Jani's mean French snobbery, rudeness and dissatisfaction with everything around her, good and bad, to be tedious and annoying. I wanted to smack them both for getting into trouble that nearly gets them killed in every chapter (and it ends up with Zosa losing some of her fingers), when they're repeatedly told what is dangerous and what to steer clear of. In a hotel full of power-hungry psychopaths, it's a wonder that either girl gets out alive. Also, I don't see how the "romance" between Jani and Bel was kept alive when both seemed to have nothing but angry words and contempt for the other. I guess that is what counts for courting in France? The magic was a bit too grotesque for me, and most of the characters wielding it were pure evil, so I found myself struggling to see the point of this fantastical journey. Still the ending was lovely and I was glad to have read it. So I'd give this pretty volume an A-, and recommend it to anyone who is a Francophile and a lover of dark and disturbing magical fantasy stories.

 

Support for Salman Rushdie, Make A Wish at Mysterious Bookshop, Lessons in Chemistry Comes to TV, Quote of the Day, RIP Nicholas Evans, The Decameron on TV, The Second You're Single by Cara Tanamachi, Starcrossed by Allie Therin, and The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Welcome to the 4th week of a very long and hot August! I can hardly wait for the cool and crisp Autumn weather coming in September and October. Meanwhile there's been a lot going on in the world of books and authors, notably the knife attack on Salman Rushdie decades after the fatwa was issued on him by the Ayatolla for writing a book that contained the Satanic Verses from the Muslim religion. I'm sure he assumed that he was in the clear 30 plus years later...and now some insane guy with a grudge attempts to remove Rushdie from the literary landscape over what? Religion and censorship? Seriously? Anyway, in good news, one of my recent favorite books Lessons in Chemistry is being made into a movie, as is the Decameron, one of my favorite classic pieces of fiction. Lots of news and reviews and quotes to get to, so here you are.

 

My good thoughts are with Salman Rushdie for his full recovery.

 

Bookselling News

 

Support for Salman Rushdie

Shelf Awareness joins the many people, companies and organizations in

the book world that have expressed shock and outrage about Friday's

violent attack on Salman Rushdie, and we wish him the best and a speedy

recovery.

 

A family statement from Zafar Rushdie, Rushdie's son, said yesterday,

"Following the attack on Friday, my father remains in critical condition

in hospital receiving extensive ongoing medical treatment. We are

extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and

additional oxygen and he was able to say a few words.

 

"Though his life changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty &

defiant sense of humor remains intact. We are so grateful to all the

audience members who bravely leapt to his defense and administered first

aid along with the police and doctors who have cared for him and for the

outpouring of love and support from around the world. We ask for

continued patience and privacy as the family come together at his

bedside to support and help him through this time."

 

Henry Reese, who was moderating the event on Friday and was injured in

the attack when he went to Rushdie's aid, is co-founder of City of

Asylum in Pittsburgh, Pa., which promotes free expression, provides

sanctuary for writers and artists under threat of persecution and has a

bookstore. He suggested to CNN that people react to the attack by buying

a book by Rushdie and reading it; writers should "write to the full

extent of truthfulness and their ability"; and all should recognize that

creative expression "brings people to discuss important issues and to

think about people other than themselves."

 

Among words of support expressed after the attack:

 

President Joe Biden, in part: "Salman Rushdie--with his insight into

humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be

intimidated or silenced--stands for essential, universal ideals. Truth.

Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are

the building blocks of any free and open society. And today, we reaffirm

our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with

Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression."

 

The National Coalition Against Censorship, in part: "Mr. Rushdie has

bravely defended freedom of expression throughout his career, determined

not to be silenced by fear and encouraging others to speak out. An

established advocate for writers' protections, Mr. Rushdie is the

founding president of the International Parliament of Writers (which has

since evolved into the International Cities of Refuge Network), which

offers resources and shelter to artists and writers at risk of

persecution. At the time of the attack, Mr. Rushdie was participating in

a public discussion on the role of the United States as a refuge for

artists and writers in exile.

 

"Mr. Rushdie's famous refrain, 'What is freedom of expression? Without

the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.' underscores the key

democratic tenets--the right to disseminate and access ideas, the right

to public debate, and, crucially, the right to disagree--whether it be

with fellow civilians, institutions, or governments."

 

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel, in part: "PEN America is reeling from

shock and horror at word of a brutal, premeditated attack on our former

president and stalwart ally, Salman Rushdie.... We can think of no

comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on

American soil.

"Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing

him a full and speedy recovery. We hope and believe fervently that his

essential voice cannot and will not be silenced."

 

Ayad Akhtar, PEN America president, in part: "As a former president of

our organization, Salman means so much to us. His leadership in the wake

of 9/11 set the course for the two decades which have followed. He has

been and remains a tireless advocate for imperiled writers, for

unfettered intellectual and creative exchange, and one of the last

half-century's great champions of freedom of expression.

"On a more personal note, as a writer whose own work is fundamentally

shaped by an early encounter with The Satanic Verses, it is particularly

horrifying to me that the nightmare set in motion by the fatwa in 1989

is still with us. We are all thinking of Salman today across the PEN

America community, and praying for his recovery."

 

This is just so awesome...I was totally like this as a little girl, so I get where she's coming from...bookstores are the best!

Make A Wish Comes to the Mysterious Bookshop

The Mysterious Bookshop, New York, N.Y., shared this experience  https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXZlr8I6aoyd0ogEg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCC5f3poMLg-gVdw from owner Otto Penzler:

"This past Thursday is a day that will live in my memory forever. The bookshop was visited by a young woman who was wheeled in by a volunteer of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Katelyn's wish, for which she had been waiting for several months, was to visit the Mysterious Bookshop. The utter joy on her face as she browsed the shelves was unmistakable.

"As it happened, the first two books she seized were anthologies I had edited. I have autographed many books over the years but there was never a person who was more pleased to have a book inscribed to her than Katelyn, and never one I was happier and prouder to accommodate."

 I LOVED this book so much, I can hardly wait to see it on the small screen.

TV: Lessons In Chemistry

Apple TV+ has rounded out the ensemble cast for Lessons in Chemistry https://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXZlr8I6aoyd012HA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCC5f3poMLg-gVdw as production begins on the series, which is based on the debut novel by Bonnie Garmus, Deadline reported. Joining the project's star and executive producer Brie Larson (Room) are Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick); Aja Naomi King (How to Get Away with Murder); Stephanie Koenig (The Flight Attendant); Patrick Walker (Gaslit); Thomas Mann (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty); Kevin Sussman (The Big Bang Theory) and Beau Bridges (Acting: The First Six Lessons). The series will premiere globally on Apple TV+ in 2023.

From Apple Studios, Lessons in Chemistry is produced by Aggregate Films. Lee Eisenberg (WeCrashed, Little America) serves as showrunner. The series is exec produced by Larson and Elijah Allan-Blitz of their Great Unknown Productions; Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan for Aggregate Films; and Unbelievable co-creator Susannah Grant. Natalie Sandy executive produces through Piece of Work Entertainment alongside Eisenberg. Louise Shore also serves as executive producer and author Garmus serves as co-EP.

 

Jamie Ford is a great guy, and a wonderful writer whose work I've been enjoying for decades. I think it's marvelous that he's acknowledging the impact that indie bookstores have had on his life and career. I need to get my hands on a copy of his latest ASAP!

 

Quotation of the Day

"I owe my career to indie bookstores. Truly. It's wonderful to be a bestselling author, whatever that means. But indie bookstores are reality. They're what booksellers are reading and recommended to their readers, they're what readers are coming in and asking for. They're not the dictates of a large retail corporation and they're not affected by co-op. It's a more honest, more pure system that comes from an ecosystem that's created by independent booksellers. It's real, it's tangible, it's substantial. When it comes to going out on tour, I do go out of my way to visit as many indies as I can, either for an event or for a stock signing. For my first book we drove from Bellingham, Washington, down to California and we hit every indie store on the way just to pop in and do stock signings and say hi to people.

"Bookstores matter.... I don't have any kind of success on my own outside of that ecosystem. It's just impossible. My career is built upon that support."--Jamie Ford, whose novel The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is the #1 book on the August Indie Next List

I remember when the Horse Whisperer came out, and everyone was so dazzled by it and the idea that you didn't need to brutalize an animal to tame it enough for riding. I also loved the movie. RIP Nicholas Evans.

Obituary Note: Nicholas Evans

Nicholas Evans https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXZxeUI6aoydh1xSw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCC8StpoMLg-gVdw, the British journalist, filmmaker and author "whose novel-turned-film, The Horse Whisperer, broke publishing and movie records, along with the hearts of readers who made the book a bestseller in 20 countries," died August 9, the New York Times reported. He was 72.

In 1993, Evans had been working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker when he began thinking about an idea for a novel. He "had found an intriguing subject: the mystical, manly art of horse whispering. His source was a farrier, and Mr. Evans soon learned that the vocation of calming horses had a long history stretching back centuries," the Times wrote. To escape the class implications of the English horse world, Evans "looked to the American West for his story.

He came up trumps when he met Tom Dorrance, a terse cowboy then in his 80s, and watched him soothe a frenzied mare in California. He then found two other cowboys who practiced the same compelling magic, and began to craft a character inspired by these three men."

Evans wrote about 150 pages of what would become The Horse Whisperer, then showed the draft to agent Caradoc King, who sent the partial manuscript to a number of publishers on their way to the Frankfurt book fair that year. Suddenly, Evans was in the middle of a bidding war, juggling offers from Hollywood as well as from book publishers.

Hollywood Pictures and Robert Redford's film studio, Wildwood Pictures, "won the bid, at the time the largest amount ever paid for the rights to a first novel (almost $6 million in today's money). Mr. Evans's North American book advance, of $3.15 million from Dell Publishing, set another record," the Times noted.

Published in 1995, The Horse Whisperer was a global bestseller, translated into 40 languages, though not a critical success. The movie, which came out in 1998, was more favorably reviewed and a modest box office success. Coincidentally, Evans also unknowingly introduced the word "whisperer" into the popular lexicon to denote experts who can tame complicated creatures.

Charlie King, managing director of Little, Brown Book Group, told the Bookseller that Evans "was a masterful storyteller and one of the most successful, best-loved novelists of his generation. His era-defining bestseller The Horse Whisperer and his four subsequent novels, The Loop, The Smoke Jumper, The Divide and The Brave, have been enjoyed by millions of readers around the world. Little, Brown is extremely proud to be Nick's publisher--he will be greatly missed, but his words will live on for years to come."

 I reread the Decameron back in the early 2000s, and I remember thinking that it had changed so dramatically since I'd read it as a teenager in the 70s...of coarse the book hadn't actually changed, I was the one who changed over the years and had a deeper understanding of movies like the Mask of the Red Death and other plague/epidemic stories that show us how humanity reacts to a deadly disease. Now more than ever we can appreciate the Decameron "post-Covid," especially now that we know it might never not be part of our lives.

TV: The Decameron

Netflix has given an eight-episode series order to The Decameron https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAXakrgI6aoydkogHA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCCJPwpoMLg-gVdw, which is "loosely inspired" by the collection of tales about love in the 14th-century by Giovanni Boccaccio. Deadline reported that the project is from Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters) and Jenji Kohan (Orange Is the New Black), who executive produced the teen drama alongside her.

Created by Jordan, who serves as showrunner, The Decameron is "set in 1348 when the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic in human history which killed as many as 200 million people, strikes hard in the city of Florence," Deadline noted, adding: "A handful of nobles are invited to retreat with their servants to a grand villa in the Italian countryside and wait out the pestilence with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, what starts as a wine-soaked sex romp in the hills of Tuscany descends into an all-out scramble for survival."

"Kathleen Jordan is the real freakin' deal," said Kohan, who exec produces. "I am so excited and grateful that I get to work with her and we get to make this awesome, funny, timely, weird show together for Netflix."

Jordan added: "I'm absolutely thrilled that I get to work with Jenji, Tara, Blake, and Netflix again. I can't wait for people to meet this ridiculous group of characters. I'm sure Giovanni Boccaccio would be... confused?"

The Second You're Single by Cara Tanamachi was a book that I won for free (in paperback form) from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. This novel doesn't actually hit shelves until late January of next year. I found it very readable, a real page turner if you like, and full of witty banter and funny situations, plus the plot is lively and quick, though there tends to be too many predictable moments in it. Here's the blurb: Cheerfully irreverent, bitingly funny, and filled with romantic charm, Cara Tanamachi's The Second You're Single is all about navigating the most romantic month of the year, and how love always seems to arrive when you least expect it.

Freelance writer Sora Reid believes in inertia. She’s the odd one out in a close-knit family of go-getters, including her Japanese-American mom, who hints about her need to lose weight, and her soon-to-be married, overachieving younger sister, who needs her to have a date for the wedding, since a wedding party couples' dance with their Scottish great uncle Bob simply won't do. For Sora, minimal input, minimal expectations is the way to go. She’d rather stay at home with her insufferable neighbor and her adorable pitbull.

The one thing that disrupts her inertia: an intense dislike for Valentine’s Day. What is it with the commercial love machine? Why do we pin our hopes on one romantic day, when staying home with a package of bacon and a bottle of tequila would be way better? Sora’s been betrayed and disappointed more than once and her heart is starting to feel like her Grandma Mitsuye’s antique Japanese ceramic bowl, with its many gold-filled cracks.

When her pledge to stay single in February inspires readers to #gosolo, Sora has a responsibility to empower her readers. But relationships aren’t built to last, so it shouldn’t be that hard. Right?

Enter Jack Mann. A muscle-bound baker who looks like he lifts logs on the weekends, Sora hasn’t thought of Jack since they were in elementary school together. When they see each other at the local grocery store and the attraction hits hard, Sora knows she has to shut it down, quick. She can’t #gosolo AND get the guy. She can’t let down her readers. And relationships always end, so why should Jack be any different–even though he’s confounding all her long-held expectations of love?

There's a splendid HEA at the end of the novel that I appreciated for it's ingenuity and charm. I also felt that way about the characters, for the most part, they were charming and funny and sincere. However, there were many cliches and tropes added into the text that just felt like lazy writing to me. For example, the classic wealthy, skinny, ultra beautiful ex for the male protagonist, who just can't seem to let him go because he was so stupid and easy to manipulate, and the jerkish, abusive ex husband/fiance/boyfriend of the female protagonist who seems almost dangerous in his need to seek out his ex for some more abuse or scare-tactics. The fact that Sora finds her one true love during "Solo February" is straight out of a Hallmark movie. Contemporary romance cliche's aside, I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys fun and funny romantic stories. I'd like to point out one more thing that irked me about this book, and that was the belief that Sora held that is widely accepted by society that the only "Real" journalists are the ones covering politics, sports, war, religion, tragedy or foreign/domestic terrorism. That is NOT the goal of every single female journalist out there, trust me. I believe that during my 35 year career as a journalist that the only time I hated my work was when I was forced to write about any of those things. I much preferred writing about local artists or interesting people or odd businesses. Just because there is joy or laughter or happiness involved doesn't make an article have any less value to readers than the doom and gloom reporting of our brethren. In fact, my articles were often the most popular ones in the newspaper. I won over a dozen writing awards for my fun and funny articles. So don't buy into the whole "if it bleeds, it leads" nonsense as having the only gravitas to make a journalistic career. BS. Write about what is beautiful and joyous about life and I guarantee you won't burn out half as fast as your fellow ulcer-prone reporter brethren.

Starcrossed by Allie Therin is the second book in the Magic in Manhattan series, which I've really enjoyed reading. There's only one more book in the trilogy, but I've not been able to find or procure a cheap copy yet...but I'm on the hunt for one! Here's the blurb: When everything they’ve built is threatened, only their bond remains…

New York, 1925

Psychometric Rory Brodigan’s life hasn’t been the same since the day he met Arthur Kenzie. Arthur’s continued quest to contain supernatural relics that pose a threat to the world has captured Rory’s imagination—and his heart. But Arthur’s upper-class upbringing still leaves Rory worried that he’ll never measure up, especially when Arthur’s aristocratic ex arrives in New York.

For Arthur, there’s only Rory. But keeping the man he’s fallen for safe is another matter altogether. When a group of ruthless paranormals throw the city into chaos, the two men’s strained relationship leaves Rory vulnerable to a monster from Arthur’s past.

With dark forces determined to tear them apart, Rory and Arthur will have to draw on every last bit of magic up their sleeves. And in the end, it’s the connection they’ve formed without magic that will be tested like never before.
 Rory and Ace's romance is utterly delicious, and I genuinely love the way that they love one another, even though it's across class lines and they have to deal with prejudices of both types, against homosexuals and class mixing. Therin's prose is practically liquid it flows so well over the rapid, action-based plot. I can hardly wait for book 3! I'd give this sequel an A, and recommend it to anyone who read the first book in the series. 

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones is a delicious fantasy that I actually paid 10 bucks for, which is 8 more dollars than I usually pay for an ebook. The prose was mesmerizing and the plot cool, dense but filled with action and adventure so readers are racing along though they might feel they're lost...trust in this author, though, and she will not leave you at the mercy of the strange things in the woods! Here's the blurb:

A magical, ethereal fantasy from IndieBound bestselling author Emily Lloyd-Jones.
 
Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid “Mer” is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince’s orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer’s old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both.
 
The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing…but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.

The Drowned Woods—set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters—is part heist novel, part dark fairy tale.

First of all, I adored that this story was set in Wales. I've always wanted to visit Wales, and I was delighted by all the historical and cultural background brought into this fairy tale. Second, I loved that one of the protagonists, Fane, had a Corgi (who was a very good boy!) who traveled with him and proved to be sensitive to magic (it makes him sneeze!) and who was also helpful during the groups quest for the magical objects. This was a sort of Lord of the Rings, Welsh Edition, with a motley crew of people thrown together by circumstance going out to right the world. What surprised me was how naive and trusting Mer was of all these people, known and unknown, that she trusts with her life when it seemed plain to me that the other guys all had a secret agenda or two and were more than willing to sacrifice her life to get what they wanted. Though there was a lot of earth shaking drama at the end (pun intended) I still really enjoyed the world building and some of the characters in this richly detailed novel. I'd give it an A-, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Welsh Folklore. 

The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers Review, Cool Idea of the Day: Authors for Abortion Rights Event, Spellbound, A Paranormal historical Romance by Allie Therin, Widow's Web and Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep, and the Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

Hey Book Lovers and Book Dragons! Welcome to the dog days of summer, or as I like to call it, "stay inside with the AC on high and read some good books while avoiding the sun's deadly radiation!" I've been enjoying some ebooks and a couple of regular books, but my reading has been interspersed with medical woes, as my husband was in the hospital all last week, and just got home late Friday. He's requiring a lot of support, so I haven't been able to concentrate on reading as much as I usually do. However, next week I'm having a tooth removed, so that will also eat into my reading time, I'm sure. So here are 4 book reviews from me and some tidbits from Shelf Awareness.

 

This actually sounds like a fascinating book. I will have to scrounge up a copy.

 

Children's Review: The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers

"The useless bits. The leftovers. The bad patch jobs." These are the

anatomical exhibits in Rachel Poliquin's brilliant museum for budding scientists. A wisdom tooth and a disappearing kidney guide the audience through a series of intriguingly bizarre wings within the human body, each containing some vestigial structure. The talking molar delivers fascinating background through delightfully witty dialogue, and Clayton Hanmer's illustrations ingeniously reinforce the concepts with clever detail and comic appeal. The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers is an enjoyable tour that will educate the whole family.

Throughout the tour, a mystery unfolds about the wisdom tooth's

assistant kidney. Tooth points out, "You're a kidney. Kidneys are very important. They are not leftovers. You do not belong here." But the kidney insists that it does. It also vanishes periodically during the excursion, leaving nothing but, hilariously, a tiny pair of shoes. Subtle clues lead up to a final reveal of how the organ fits quite appropriately into the museum.

 

Young readers will find myriad reasons to love learning science in this innovative presentation of the human body's transformation. And readers of any age are likely to learn a fascinating tidbit or two. The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers is the hottest ticket in town, don't miss it. --Jen Forbus, freelancer

 

This is an awesome idea, and I hope that it helps in the fight for women's right to bodily autonomy. 

Cool Idea of the Day: Authors for Abortion Rights Event

Next week, Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the National Network of Abortion Funds are partnering for an online event in support of abortion rights https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAWAkbkI6aoyKx9xGg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCUpDxpoMLg-gVdw.

Authors Jasmine Guillory (The Wedding Date), Jenny Han (To All the Boys I've Loved Before), Emily Henry (Beach Read), Taylor Jenkins Reid (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) and Jia Tolentino (Trick Mirror) will join for a night of interviews, conversations, games and fundraising, while Emma Straub, author and owner of Books Are Magic, will host.

The event is ticketed, and money from every ticket sold will go to one of six abortion funds the participating authors have chosen. At any point during the event, viewers will be welcome to send donations to the bookstore's Venmo, which will then be sent to a fund of the sender's choosing or distributed evenly among the six chosen by the participating authors. More information can be found here https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAWAkbkI6aoyKx9xGg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jCUpDxpoMLg-gVdw.

Spellbound: A paranormal historical romance by Allie Therin was a bargain ebook that I snapped up on Amazon for two bucks. After reading it, I realize I would have paid full price or more for a book this delightful and full of mystery, romance and adventure, not to mention the gay male protagonists! YEAH! I'm waving my PRIDE flag over that! Anyway, the prose was sassy and fun, and the plot ran off like a runaway horse carriage, but that was just fine with me, as it never felt labored or dull. Here's the blurb: To save Manhattan, they’ll have to save each other first…

New York, 1925

Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.

Rory Brodigan’s gift comes with great risk. To protect himself, he’s become a recluse, redirecting his magic to find counterfeit antiques. But with the city’s fate hanging in the balance, he can’t force himself to say no.

Being with Arthur is dangerous, but Rory’s ever-growing attraction to him begins to make him brave. And as Arthur coaxes him out of seclusion, a magical and emotional bond begins to form. One that proves impossible to break—even when Arthur sacrifices himself to keep Rory safe and Rory must risk everything to save him.

Rory and Ace are amazing characters whose love story is everything a romance reader could want. I also loved Mrs B and the other paranormals that Ace has gathered to help save the world from magic artifacts. The historical component adds a great deal of depth to the narrative, and the chasm between the classes is highlighted and shown for the cruel game that it is. I'd give this enjoyable book with an HEA ending an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys LGBTQ romance/mystery adventures.

Widow's Web and Deadly Sting, books 7 & 8 of the Elemental Assassins series by Jennifer Estep were interesting stories, but unfortunately they remained part of the "color by numbers" pattern set up by the first couple of books, so that readers now know exactly what will happen within the confines of Gin's world. There's also way too much time spent in recapping previous plotlines/story arcs, so that about half the book is taken up with what happened three or four books ago, explaining all the background and history of Gin and her family in dull detail. I think if you've gotten this far in the series, you don't really need an extensive recap, because you've read it all before, again and again. Here's the blurbs: 

Widow's Web:

The seventh book in the hugely popular Elemental Assassin series by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Estep—Gin Blanco is back and ready for action.

I used to murder people for money, but lately it’s become more of a survival technique.

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town anyway. Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back, she thinks he’s hers for the taking. Salina’s playing a mysterious game that involves a shady local casino owner with a surprising connection to Owen. But they call me the Spider for a reason. I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.

Deadly Sting:

The eighth hotly anticipated book in the Elemental Assassin series by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep: it’s Gin Blanco's party—and you’ll cry if she wants you to.

Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me— Gin Blanco, aka the Spider—it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’s priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.

I find myself, once again, wondering why Gin has so many friends/relatives and a boyfriend who are all pretty worthless when it comes to saving the day or dealing with threats to everyone's life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Even her supposedly "accepting" boyfriend Owen, who loves her knowing that she's an assassin, turns on her the minute she kills an INSANE ex-girlfriend who clearly is a sociopath and set to kill everyone Gin and Owen have ever cared about, along with a lot of innocent civilians. But Owen, who is normally pragmatic, seems to think that his crazy ex can be redeemed by therapy, though she will have murdered a ton of people by the time they get her in handcuffs, if that is even possible. Gin, as usual doesn't care about some fantasy of redemption, and she finally does what needs to be done and kills the bitch, but Owen decides to break it off with her because his feelings are hurt...like a big pouty baby. Ugh. Anyway, I hope Gin dumps Owen and moves on with her life, and only keeps her sister around because Bria seems to be the only person with the balls to kill the bad guys and back her sister up (the two dwarf ladies are good for healing and helping get rid of bodies, so I'd keep them too). Finn is a sexist creep and keeps getting his "sister" into life-threatening danger while he's busy messing around. Anyway, I'd give these two volumes a B- and recommend them to the patient folks who waded through the redundancies of books 4-6. 

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a mystery within a mystery wrapped in a meta-mystery/thriller. It's one of those books that British people would call "Too clever by half" and I think the conceit of the book being written while the books being written and the characters interacting about the books being written about their characters can be fairly confusing just for the sake of style. Still, the prose was good, if a bit arch, and the plot, though labyrinthine, eventually gets the job done in fairly good time. Here's the blurb:  

"Investigations are launched, fingers are pointed, potentially dangerous liaisons unfold and I was turning those pages like there was cake at the finish line." —Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times must-read books for summer 2022

Ned Kelly award winning author Sulari Gentill sets this mystery-within-a-mystery in motion with a deceptively simple, Dear Hannah, What are you writing? pulling us into theornate reading room at the Boston Public Library.

In every person's story, there is something to hide...

The tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

The reason this book becomes a page-turner is that it's like a runaway freight train..it starts moving at a regular pace but picks up speed and complications so that by the time you look up you've been reading for several hours straight and are almost at the end. After all the complex plot points, death and mayhem, the ending was something of a disappointment. I was expecting something explosive, but what I got was a creepy letter and two women who are stupid enough to fall in love with murderers. So of course all their common sense and logic flies out the window and they immediately become whining, obsessed, desperate, giggling cretins. It's so cliched and weak that I wanted to barf. I realize it's a trope that love makes fools of us all, but still, women don't automatically become brainless dogs, following around at their master's heels, willing to die for them, when they fall in love. I didn't become a blushing ninny when I fell in love with my husband, and I know a number of other women who managed to maintain their sound minds after being in a relationship. Still, I'd give this novel a B- for the attempt at a novel within a novel. Now if the author could just ditch the sexist stereotypes.