Welcome to the second week of January, though I've taken more time than usual to get to this blog post due to dental issues (I had another tooth removed) and issues with my Crohn's and a kidney infection. I've been taking it one day at a time, but most of those days required a lot of medication and sleep to get through, so I've not been in a coherent enough state to write any reviews. Still, I have a lot to talk about in this issue, starting with an obit for another great author, Fay Weldon. It should also be noted that Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of famed crooner Elvis, died unexpectedly just a couple of days ago, at age 53, which is way too young to pass on. Her son had just died a few months ago, and she was reportedly crushed by his passing. RIP Lisa Marie.
I read several Fay Weldon books back when I was in college, and I enjoyed her witty prose style. She lived a long and eventful life, and will be remembered through her work that went from page to screen. RIP.
Obituary
Note: Fay Weldon
English
author Fay Weldon https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAiKw-kI6algKxF-SQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jPWMKhpoMLg-gVdw,
"who
chronicled the ups and downs of British life in novels, TV dramas,
plays and short fiction for more than five decades," died
January 4, the Guardian reported. She was 91. In more than 30 novels,
including The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Splitting and the Booker
prize-shortlisted Praxis, Weldon "charted lives shaped by class
and the sexual revolution.... The sharp dialogue, scathing wit and
satirical energy of her fiction were forged in the world of stage and
television, where her screenwriting credits included ITV's Upstairs
Downstairs and an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for the BBC."
Weldon
began her career writing scripts for radio and television,contributing
to series such as ITV's Armchair Theatre and BBC's Wednesday
Play. An ITV drama, The Fat Woman's Joke, would become her first
novel, published in 1967. Four more novels appeared over the
following decade, as well as a series of plays for stage and screen.
Her sixth novel, Praxis, was published in 1978 and earned her an
appearance on the Booker prize shortlist. Auto da Fay, her
autobiography, was released
in 2002.
Weldon's
best-known novel, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, was published in
1983. The Observer called it her "nastiest novel so far...the
most mutilating kind of satire, whose only 'point' is to bring you up
against the bars of your cage." The BBC adapted the book for TV
in 1986, and a film version starring Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr
was released in 1989.
In
the Guardian, Claire Armistead wrote that Weldon "was to an
unusual extent
the creation of her own extravagant imagination.
A polemicist
whose opinions shaped themselves around the plot of her latest book,
a pragmatist who giggled her way through every sentence, she was
mischievous and evasive, yet wittily life-affirming.
'I long for a day of judgment when the plot lines of our lives will
be neatly tied, and all puzzles explained, and the meaning of events
made clear,' she wrote in her rackety 2002 autobiography, Auto da
Fay. 'We take to fiction, I suppose, because no such thing is going
to happen,
and at least on the printed page we can observe beginnings, middles
and ends and can find where morality resides.'"
The
Death of a She-Devil, a follow-up to her 1983 novel, was published by
Head of Zeus in 2017, the Bookseller noted. Her editor, Madeleine
O'Shea, said: "I started working on Fay's books as
an assistant when I first joined Head of Zeus and later became her
editor. Brilliantly clever and opinionated, Fay was full of energy,
wisdom and mischief. She made me laugh, made me think and taught me a
lot. To read her books is to hear her voice--varied, quick-witted and
always entertaining."
Head
of Zeus CEO Nicolas Cheetham added: "Fay was like family. One of
the first authors to join Anthony and I at Quercus, Corvus and then
Head of Zeus, her books--historical fiction, ghost stories, dystopian
SF--launched our lists."
The
Booker Prize tweeted : "We are
saddened to hear that the brilliant Fay Weldon has died. As well as
being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1979, she was a judge in
1983 and delivered one of the most memorable speeches in Booker
history. Our thoughts are with her family and friends."
Weldon's
death was confirmed by her son Dan Weldon, who did not specify a
cause but said she had experienced strokes and had some health
problems, the New York Times noted, adding that while she was too
weak to hold a pen, she was still writing in her head. "'She was
thinking about writing poetry," he said. "She was a writer
to the very end."
Author
Jenny Colgan, writing in the Guardian, recalled: "Fay was noisy
in an era when women were expected to be quiet. She used
her voice and took up space; she said what she felt, she brought
energy and fun. And she was, as her book festival audiences could
doubtless confirm, that very best and most attractive type of person:
someone who is utterly, fearlessly and for ever true to themselves,
to hell with the consequences. We will miss her."
I adore Maya Angelou, and I wish that I could see this stage production of a musical adaptation of her work.
On
Stage: Maya Song https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAiKw-kI6algKxEnSQ~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jPWMKhpoMLg-gVdw, a musical tribute to the poetry of the
late Maya Angelou, will be presented on Martin Luther King Day,
January 16, at St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City,
Playbill reported. Directed by Jacob Ming-Trent (The Merry Wives),
the event features Aisha de Haas (Caroline, or Change) and Meecah
(Hamilton). Ray Leslee (Avenue X) has set Angelou's poetry to music.
Lyrics are used with permission of Caged Bird Legacy.
I am excited to see what the Star Trek reboot director/producer JJ Abrams does with this famous thriller/suspense novel that had a successful adaptation previously.
TV:
Presumed Innocent
Ruth Negga (Passing, Loving) will star
opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Presumed Innocent
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscAiKw-kI6algKxEnEg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6jPWMKhpoMLg-gVdw,Apple TV+'s upcoming limited series
from David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot and Warner Bros. TV, Deadline
reported.
The project is inspired by Scott
Turow's 1987 novel, which was previously adapted into a 1990 movie
starring Harrison Ford. As reimagined by Kelley, who is an
attorney, the TV series "will be exploring obsession, sex, politics and
the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family
and marriage together," Deadline wrote.
Kelley serves as writer, executive
producer and showrunner. Abrams and Rachel Rusch Rich executive produce for
Bad Robot. Kelley executive produces through David E. Kelley
Productions alongside Matthew Tinker.Gyllenhaal, Dustin Thomason and Sharr
White also serve as executiveproducers. Turow and Miki Johnson are
co-executive producers. Anne Sewitsky will direct and executive
produce the first two episodes.
Though I'm not a huge fan of the British Royal Family, I've always had a soft spot for Prince Harry, because he's a rascally redhead and a rebel to boot. I was thrilled when he married American actress Meghan Markel, because I'm a big fan of the TV series she starred in, SUITS, and I think she's just gorgeous, and I believed that her biracial heritage would bring that strength and beauty to the stuffy white royal family. Now that Harry and Meghan have two children, I've come to understand just how racist and sexist the royal family are, and it horrifies me that The Duke and Duchess had to move to California to escape their relatives and the plague of paparazzi who killed Princess Diana, Harry and William's mum. Shame on these toxic people for their treatment of Harry and Meghan and their children. I'm glad that Harry's book is doing so well.
Spare
Sets First-Day Nonfiction Sales Record for PRH
On its first day of publication,
Tuesday, January 10, Spare, the memoir by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, sold
more than 1,430,000 copies in all formats and editions in the U.S., U.K.,
and Canada, Penguin Random House has announced. This is the largest
first-day sales for any nonfiction book ever published by PRH. The U.S.
printing was two million copies; PRH has already gone back to press on
the title.
Spare was released in print and digital
formats in the U.S. by Random House, in Canada by Random House Canada
and in the U.K. by Transworld. Altogether Spare has been published in 16 languages.
Random House Group president and
publisher Gina Centrello commented: "While many books by public
figures can be fairly categorized as 'celebrity memoir,' Spare is not that.
Vulnerable and heartfelt, brave and intimate, Spare is the story of
someone we may have thought we already knew, but now we can truly come
to understand Prince Harry through his own words. Looking at these
extraordinary first day sales, readers clearly agree, Spare is a book
that demands to be read, and itis a book we are proud to publish."
Barnes & Noble was one of many
booksellers benefiting from Spare sales,saying on Tuesday that Spare was
"certain to set record-breaking day-one sales" at the company. B&N
stores across the country "have experienced exceptional numbers of customers
today," B&N continued. "Most booksellers report customer levels
comparable to day one of Michelle Obama's Becoming, the publishing
sensation of 2018."
B&N noted that Prince Harry's
writing partner is "the exceptional J.R.Moehringer, well known for partnering
also with Andre Agassi on his autobiography, Open, and with Phil
Knight on his memoir, Shoe Dog. Both of these searing and fascinating
autobiographies rank among the bestselling memoirs of all time."
B&N director of books Shannon
DeVito commented: "We are experiencing the most extraordinary
first-day sales, buoyed by the explosive headlines and litany of press. The leaking of
extracts has only heightened the frenzy and is drawing customers into
our bookstores in amazing numbers.
The appeal of Spare is vast, piquing
the interest of both fans and followers of the Sussexes, as well as
their critics, and anyone interested in the British Royal
Family."
I've read a lot of reviews and heard good word of mouth about this book, so I'm going to wait until I can find a cheap paperback copy and then see what all the fuss is about.
Costco Picks: The Maid
Alex Kanenwisher, book buyer at Costco,
has selected The Maid: A Novelby Nita Prose as the
pick for January. In Costco Connection, which goes to
many of the warehouse club's members, Kanenwisher writes: "The Maid is Nita Prose's debut
novel. It tells the story of Molly, an eccentric maid who sets out to uncover
who killed one of the guests at the hotel where she works. Molly, who
has been alone since her gran died and who struggles with social skills,
is used to being overlooked. It's that quality that gives her an
advantage in solving the mystery.
"Molly is a delightful character,
and this novel is full of heart while also serving as a reminder that we're
never as alone as we think we are."
This is a real shame, because UW Tacoma is a nice campus that I'm sure will be all the less wonderful for their loss of an in-house bookstore. I've been to many author speaking/signing events at the UBookstore in the UDistrict in Seattle, next to UW, and I've loved every moment that I spent there, among my fellow book lovers and the booksellers who were always so knowledgeable about nearly every genre of fiction or non fiction. Dwayne was the curator of the SF/F part of the UBookstore for decades, and his impeccable curation of that genre was of great value to me and many other sci-fi fans. So RIP to the Tacoma location.
University Book Store Closing Tacoma,
Wash., Location
The University Book Store will close
its Tacoma, Wash., location today, the Tacoma Ledger reported.
Following the Tacoma bookstore's
closure, UBS will move to a model where University of Washington Tacoma
students buy their books and course materials online and pick them up at a
physical location, which has yet to be determined. The Tacoma store
opened in 1990 on Pacific Avenue and was one of UW Tacoma's first retail
tenants.
The Tacoma bookstore had five staff
members: one full-time employee and four part-time student employees. UBS
chief operating officer Trevor Peterson said the full-time employee
will move to the UBS flagship store in Seattle.
While a specific reason for the closure
was not given, UW Chancellor Dr.Sheila Edwards Lange did point to
difficulties associated with the changing retail market in a school-wide
e-mail. UBS also closed its Bothell, Wash., location in the past
year.
The Ledger noted that many stores on
Pacific Avenue have closed over the last few years because of "rent
increases, lack of shoppers and a variety of other factors."
Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty is a delightful science fiction comedy/mystery with a nice bit of political commentary (in the sense of discussing how heinous the military, and its government offshoots are) woven in for cynic's sake. Here's the blurb: Amateur detective Mallory Viridian’s talent
for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove her to live on an
alien space station, but her problems still follow her in this witty,
self-aware novel that puts a speculative spin on murder mysteries, from
the Hugo-nominated author of Six Wakes.
From
idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory
Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the
insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being
surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it
makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the
opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she
has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is
alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and
markedly devoid of homicide.
But when the station agrees to
allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar
reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and
humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck
smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering
how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to
solve the crime—and fast—or the list of victims could grow to include
everyone on board.
Though Lafferty's prose is slick and nearly spotless, her plot gets a bit bogged down halfway through the book with too much character background that seems to go nowhere and doesn't function to move the plot forward at it's normal swift click. Fortunately, it picks up again and then it's smooth sailing from there on. That said, this book was a delight to read, by turns funny and poignant and intriguing. I loved Mallory and Xan, and I found the inclusion of older, wiser women (though they were often scary) to be inspiring and fascinating. There was also plenty of diversity and some rock aliens that will make you wonder about every pebble you encounter from now on. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys the works of John Scalzi or Douglas Adams.
St Valentine, St Abigail, St Brigid by CL Polk was a delicious short novella that I was able to snag for my Kindle for a song. I've read everything else that Polk has written, and I've enjoyed them all a great deal. This story was no exception...captivating prose and characters combined with a zingy plot to create a work that I sincerely wished was much longer. Here's the blurb:
From the award-wining author of Witchmark comes a Tor.com Original short story, C. L. Polk's St. Valentine, ST. Abigail, St. Brigid
All
magical requests comes with a price. A girl with witchcraft, no
friends, and only her mother’s bees to confide in will pay whatever’s
necessary to keep the girl she loves safe. This is a beautiful, queer short story.
I love that all of Polk's works are diverse and include LGBTQ characters who are so well drawn they feel real/alive. Polk's prose is lyrical and lovely, and their plots dance along so gracefully you barely know you're reading, and often get to the end feeling that you'd stepped into another world, and are sad that you have to close the book and come back to reality. This tale is cautionary and yet warm and beautiful, and deserves an A, with the recommendation that anyone who loves fairy tales should pick it up ASAP.
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey is a sweet and charming romantic comedy novel, which revolves around a Mr Rogers-like children's TV host and one of his fans who falls in love with him (hence there is a bit of the Mary Sue about this tale, so steer clear if you loathe fan fiction). Here's the blurb:
A charming and heartwarming new romantic comedy by the acclaimed author of Waiting for Tom Hanks, Kerry Winfrey.
Teddy
Phillips never thought she would still be spending every day surrounded
by toys at almost thirty years old. But working at a vintage toy store
is pretty much all she has going on in her life after being
unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend. The one joy that she
has kept is her not-so-guilty pleasure: Everett’s Place, a local children’s show hosted by Everett St. James, a man whom Teddy finds very soothing . . . and, okay, cute.
Teddy
finds the courage to write to him, feeling slightly like one of the
children who write to him on his show. He always gives sound advice and
seems like he has everything figured out—and he pretty much does:
Everett has a great support system, wonderful friends, and his dream
job. But there is still that persistent feeling in the back of his mind
that something is missing.
When a woman named Theodora starts
writing to Everett, he is drawn to her honesty and vulnerability. They
continue writing to each other, all the while living their lives without
meeting. When their worlds collide, however, they must both let go of
their fears and figure out what they truly want—and if the future they
want includes each other.
One of the things that bothered me about this book was Teddy's lack of spine and immaturity, which was, I gather, meant to make her seem attractive, but only made her seem somewhat pathetic, since she's almost 30, and has no need to be such a big baby who lets everyone in her life push her around and make her a doormat. I kept wanting to scream "GROW UP ALREADY" to her, as she made mistake after mistake that could easily have been avoided by the use of the word NO. It sickens me that there are men who love women who act like children, thereby fulfilling some kind of pedophile fantasy, when they're looking for someone to enslave, abuse and/or treat like a mommy who will take care of their every need. Fortunately, Teddy finally wises up and grows up enough to be a match for Everett, but he and a couple of other people in her life have to drag her kicking and screaming into adulthood. This kind of misogyny seems tremendously outdated in the 21st century, but I gather that Winfrey finds strong female protagonists who know their own minds to be unsexy, sadly. Still, it wasn't the worst thing I've read in the past several months, so I'd give it a B-, and recommend it to those who think that introverts, especially female introverts, are immature by nature.
Spider's Trap by Jennifer Estep is the 13th book in her Elemental Assassins Series. These books are paranormal romances with some action adventure/thriller threads added in for spice. Here's the blurb:
The next thrilling book in Jennifer Estep’s New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Elemental Assassin series—“an extraordinary series.…One of the most intriguing heroines in the genre” (Romantic Times Book Reviews).
Keep your friends close but your enemies within stabbing distance.
One
important lesson I’ve learned in the assassination business is that to
be the best you have to roll with the punches. Now that I’m queen of
Ashland’s underworld—by default, not by choice—a lot more punches are
being thrown my way. But I suppose that’s the price of victory for
taking down some of the underworld’s top dogs. Good thing I have my Ice
and Stone magic to help me survive my volatile new position. Just when I
think things are finally settling down, someone tries to murder me
during a hush-hush underworld meeting. But the real surprise is how
strangely familiar my shadowy assailant seems to be.
My job is
to maintain order among killers, crooks, and thieves, and soon I’m
embroiled in a bloody game where the ability to keep secrets could be
the greatest superpower of all. My enemies have all sharpened their
knives and laid their traps, waiting for me to fall. But this Spider
weaves her own webs of death
This is another exciting episode of Gin's assassination adventures, and I did enjoy it, though by the time you reach this point in the series, you're used to all the flashbacks and redundant infodumps of all that has gone before. They take up way too much of the book, but apparently editors don't redline all the fluff out of books anymore. Still this story was interesting in that the latest of Gin's big bads is the son of a nemesis from her past who is after her underworld nemesis, and yet she's called on to help someone who doesn't want or need her help, supposedly. But of course, Loreli ends up needing her help to dispose of her stepbrother anyway, and as usual Gin nearly gives her life to do so. Gin prevails, and alls well that ends well for the Spider, the South's greatest female assassin. I'd give this book a B-, mainly because it was easy reading and the women didn't rely on the guys too much for backup. I'd recommend it to all those who've read the other books in this series.
Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M Lee is a YA fantasy that had a lot of potential, but got bogged down by details and unnecessary narration about a third of the way through. I got so bored I didn't know if I could finish it. Here's the blurb:
In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.
In
a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess
magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own
secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she
was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of
her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she
came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and
maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away
from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the
shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and
intrigues her.
Then Reev disappears. When keeping
silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it
takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and
risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to
save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking
truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique
power.
Lori M. Lee makes her debut with this captivating YA fantasy.
I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't wade out of the dull and thick prose and the sluggish plot to really get into it. I'd give this book a C-, and I can't really recommend it to anyone because I didn't find it compelling enough to complete.
