Hiya book lovers! It's Valentine's Day Week, and I'm very excited about the 7 new books that I got for Valentine's Day gifts from my hubby Jim. Of course, I also got some vegan chocolate, which is delicious, and the perfect compliment to a day of reading. FYI, yesterday was the SuperBowl, which is the anniversary of this blog, which I started on Superbowl Sunday in 2005. I was just finishing up a book, though, so I had to postpone this post until this evening. But I'm really looking forward to this week, and to discussing Cloud Cuckoo Land with my Library Book Group, and also getting my Inflectra infusion, because last weeks colonoscopy has my guts in an uproar. Anyroad, here are some tidbits and reviews for your edification.
I love Allende's works, and I think she's amazing for launching a literacy non profit.
Image of the Day: Isabel Allende Helps Launch Literacy by the Bay
Sausalito Books by the Bay https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCJkO4I6alucRx3Sw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXW5GmpoMLg-gVdw, Sausalito, Calif., launched its new nonprofit Literacy by the Bay last week with an assist from legendary local author Isabel Allende. In a rare live event, Allende spoke to an SRO crowd of more than 200--about her writing, her feminism, and leading a passionate life.
Sausalito Books by the Bay owner Cheryl Popp, who was in conversation with Allende, explained that the new nonprofit aims to help children, young adults, people of all ages and backgrounds grow as successful readers, writers, and communicators. "By improving literacy, we enrich and inspire lives, as well as our community," she said. The 501(c)(3) will also help the bookstore remain sustainable, which has been a challenge. (The store opened its doors only three months before the pandemic hit.)
I read and somewhat enjoyed this book, so I'm glad to see that Costco has chosen it as their February book pick.
Costco Picks: Something Wilder
Alex Kanenwisher, book buyer at Costco, has selected Something Wilder by Christina Lauren as the pick for February. In Costco Connection, which goes to many of the warehouse club's members, Kanenwisher writes:
"Because February is a month known for romance, I have a suggestion for a romp of a read: Something Wilder by the writing duo known as Christina Lauren.
"Lily Wilder is ready to lead a group on a treasure hunt, when a man she used to love walks back into her life. Let the adventure, laughs and healing begin."This book is a lot of fun to read. It's full of twists, turns and the kind of surprises I don't often encounter in a romance novel."
I'm looking forward to seeing this in March.
TV: The Night Agent
Netflix has set a March 23 premiere date and released a teaser trailer
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCKwesI6alucB4kGg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXWMCjpoMLg-gVdw and first-look images for The Night Agent, based on Matthew Quirk's 2019 novel, Deadline reported. Created and showrun by Shawn Ryan (S.W.A.T., The Shield), the 10-episode series stars Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Hong Chau, Sarah Desjardins, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Eve Harlow, Enrique Murciano Phoenix Raei and DB Woodside.
Deadline noted that when Ryan "announced that he was adapting the show in late 2020, he was discussing some of the favorite books he'd read that lockdown year. He listed The Night Agent in the category of 'Books I Read, Decided to Adapt for Television and May Have Already Finished Writing the Pilot Episode.' Netflix ordered The Night Agent to series seven months later."
I find the idea of a blind date with a book delightful, and though I've only participated once, I found it to be a thrilling experience.
Robert Gray: Blind Date with a Book: 'Who Knows, You May Just Find the Perfect Match!'
It's not an origin story, but in 2013 Shelf Awareness ran a "Cool Idea of the Day" item about a paper-covered books display at Malaprop's Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCKwesI6alucB4lGA~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXWMCjpoMLg-gVdw, Asheville, N.C., with a sign reading: "Blind Date with a Bookseller (or their favorite books, anyway. It's almost the same thing). We love you. We want you to ride off into the sunset with the book of your dreams. But we also want you to enjoy the pleasant surprises of life.... If you're brave and true, step forward. pick one that calls to you. Embrace the sweaty-palmed anticipation of the unknown."
I'm sure this wasn't the first Blind Date with a Book moment in history, but it was definitely a harbinger of things to come, as just a few months later we highlighted other indie bookstores offering them in Valentine's Day promotions.
In this week's bookshop newsletter, Gibson's Bookstore https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJscFCKwesI6alucB4lHg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x6iXWMCjpoMLg-gVdw, Concord, N.H., wrote: "If you like to live life on the edge and trust our booksellers implicitly, you should stop in and peruse our Blind Date with a Book Display! At any given time, this display has up to 12 different paperbacks chosen by our booksellers, wrapped up in mysterious little parcels with vague yet extremely specific blurbs written on the outside.
"Browsing the display you might find 'John Tucker Must Die, with bisexual witches' or 'Lesbian necromancers in space' or 'Exiled witch on house arrest for turning her narcissistic, internet-troll, gun-loving, beer-drinking, ex-coworker into a talking cat.' We'll be honest, sometimes the formal publisher marketing lets a book down. We strive to fix that."
Here are the Reviews for this week:
The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris is the 4th book in her Gunnie Rose series about an alternate future Western with magic and gangs and some old fashioned monarchies. Having read all of the Sookie Stackhouse fantasy novels, as well as the Gunnie Rose series and the Midnight, Texas series, I'm familiar with Harris's prose style (straightforward and muscular, yet with a vein of shining light that dazzles) and plots (always swift and sure) enough to know that I'm going to have to read whichever book from her series in one sitting. This particular series is always a thrill ride with a zesty cast of characters and a strong female protagonist. Here's the blurb:
Bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns to
her alternate history of the United States where magic is an
acknowledged but despised power in this fourth installment of the Gunnie
Rose series.
Felicia, Lizbeth Rose’s half-sister
and a student at the Grigori Rasputin school in San Diego—capital of the
Holy Russian Empire—is caught between her own secrets and powerful
family struggles. As a granddaughter of Rasputin, she provides an
essential service to the hemophiliac Tsar Alexei, providing him the
blood transfusions that keep him alive. Felicia is treated like a
nonentity at the bedside of the tsar, and at the school she's seen as a
charity case with no magical ability. But when Felicia is snatched
outside the school, the facts of her heritage begin to surface. Felicia
turns out to be far more than the Russian-Mexican Lizbeth rescued. As
Felicia’s history unravels and her true abilities become known, she
becomes under attack from all directions. Only her courage will keep her
alive.
Though this book wasn't focused on Gunnie Lizbeth, I really enjoyed getting to know her half sister Felicia, who was so strong and smart and didn't suffer fools that I found myself liking her right away, though I usually have a problem with teenage girl protagonists who are nearly always drawn as bitchy and mean. Felicia doesn't really have the time for that kind of thing, as she's catching up on her growth after years of anti-growth spells and malnutrition, (and crappy parents) and trying to learn, as fast as possible, how to use her newfound killing powers to protect herself and others. Her misogynist grandfather wants to marry her off to use her as a brood mare to create more magic users that he will have power over, and he doesn't care what Felicia feels about it. Felicia and her friends do, though, and many battles are won and lost within this slender volume. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone else who's as fascinated with this "wild West of the future" series as I am.
Lightlark by Alex Aster is a brilliant YA fantasy that combines some of the Hunger Games style battles with dark fairy tale retellings and juicy romances. Here's the blurb:
Welcome to the Centennial.
Every 100 years, the
island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that
only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a
summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The
Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses
that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something
to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses,
one ruler must die.
Isla Crown is the young ruler of
Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love
with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end
their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial.
To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray…even as love complicates everything.
Filled with secrets, deception, romance, and twists worthy of the darkest thrillers, Lightlark is a must-read for fans of legendary fantasy writers Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, and Leigh Bardugo.
Aster's prose is gorgeous, almost poetic, and full of lush character and background descriptions that put you right into the action and the people/place. Her plot was swirling and delirious, yet gripping enough that I couldn't stop turning pages. There are also twist and turns that intrigue and satisfy, though readers are certain to wonder how things will turn out when everyone could be a liar and betrayer. I'd give this beautiful novel an A, and recommend it to anyone who loves fine prose and pristine plots and riveting characters.
The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith is the first Poppy Denby Investigates book in what looks to be a real zinger of a series of mysteries set in the 1920s. Here's the blurb:
It is 1920. Twenty-two year old Poppy Denby moves from Northumberland to live with her paraplegic aunt in London.
Aunt
Dot, a suffragette, was injured in battles with the police in 1910. Her
contacts prove invaluable. Poppy lands a position as an editorial
assistant at the Daily Globe. Poppy has always wanted to be a journalist
and laps up the atmosphere of the news room. Then one of the paper's
hacks dies suddenly and dramatically. His story was going to be the
morning lead, but he hasn't finished writing it. Poppy finds his notes
and completes the story, which is a sensation. The editor, realising her
valuable suffragette contacts, invites her to dig deeper. Poppy starts
sifting through the dead man's files and unearths a major mystery which
takes her to France - and into danger.
By the end of the story Poppy is a fixture on the paper, and is being courted by a photographer. Further mysteries lie ahead.
'A delightful period romp, neatly sprinkled with the choicest historical detail.' D.J. Taylor Author of Bright Young People
This book reminded me of a Canadian TV mystery series called the Frankie Drake Mysteries, starring Lauren Lee Smith as the slinky, sexy, and smart Frankie Drake in 1920s Toronto. Poppy is a bit younger and less savvy than Frankie, but she's just as determined to solve the mystery by her wits and resourcefulness alone. I loved Poppy's determination and I enjoyed her insistence on becoming a journalist, having been one myself, and realizing that some of the sexism shown to Poppy is still in play in newsrooms today. The prose was spicy and the plot flew by, so I'd give this first book in a series an A, and recommend it to those who like historical female sleuths in their cozy mysteries.
Hang Fire by Devon Monk was a wonderful short story set in her Steampunk series, Dead Iron and Tin Swift. I've probably read it before, and I just read it so long ago (5 years) that I'd forgotten what it was about when I found it on my Kindle Paperwhite. Plus, I was really jonesing for something by one of my favorite authors of all time, and this story was near to hand. Here's the blurb:
A steampunk short story set between DEAD IRON and TIN SWIFT in the The Age of Steam series. Ceder Hunt gave his word to find an ancient weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. But on the trail out of Oregon, he and his companions discover they have become the hunted. If guns and steam matics won't save them, maybe Cedar's dark curse will. Originally appeared as an online serial.
As with anything written by Monk, the prose was stellar and the plot enchanting. You can't go wrong with anything Devon Monk writes, because her mastery of prose style and plot are legendary. She is, in my opinion, the Steinbeck of fantasy/paranormal/urban fantasy and science fiction/romance. This short story is no exception, and I was gripped from the first sentence to the last. I'd give it a well deserved A, and recommend it to anyone who has read her Steampunk series. It won't let you down.
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